We've moved!

Hello readers!

My blog almost died from lack of posting. Life had gotten very busy with the move. We are still sorting the last few boxes that contain books, clothes (mine) and random stuff. Funny having a child though because we had to unpack and sort for 3 straight days including looking after the little one in between. We got to bed knackered during those nights but it’s all worth it having the house almost set up for humans to live in. We are quick to get back to our routine and that should only save us money.

Spending went out of control…well, not really, but going over grocery budget felt like it was out of control. I was prepared for that. Surprisingly, we only did a couple of take-aways and did more cooking than when we were settled in the last apartment. It helped that we were conscious of what the spending would do to our budget. As you know we are saving as much as we can until before Christmas when we fly out of the country for a month.

Speaking of which, I was very much annoyed at our travel agent. After telling her on the phone and on email that we are only staying in HK for 3 days, she still booked us for 4 days. Now it’s too late to change flights as we might end up not having seats on the day we want to leave or we’d end up paying more. J like the idea of staying one more day anyway so we just went ahead with it. Flights and accommodation totalled $5,000. Eek.

We have not found new tenants yet. It sucks and for the first 2 weeks of not posting that stressed me a lot. The landlord was being difficult as well by telling us that we should still have our contents insurance in place at the apartment to cover burglary or fire. Fortunately Tenancy Services said that we can’t be held liable for those incidents unless we caused or contributed to their eventuating. Plus contents insurance only covers items we own and not others’. Duh. For renters out there, you are NOT required to have insurance on your stuff, that’s your choice.

Despite all the stress and issues, we are happily living in our own home. Though we live away from the city, commute isn’t bad at 15 minutes. We enjoy our spacious backyard, all-day sun, and “malls” close by. Sustainability of the area was one of the main things we considered. We didn’t want to go to another area to get stuff. Supermarkets, banks, shops, cafes, fast food, hardware, and other random items can be easily accessed in one big area. We love it! Not many people find the distance a minor consideration of house-buying if the area is right. We did struggle at first with the idea that we’d no longer be “city people” but Wellington is bloody small. Where we are originally from the city covers Wellington City, Hutt Valley, and Porirua!