I have a coworker who once told me that he would like to retire at 32. He is now 25. He must’ve it all figured out because he said he needed at least $2 million to live off on interest income every year until who knows when. I suppose that meant he only considered his current lifestyle. I didn’t really ask how he’d manage to achieve that because he has this tendency to just buy airplane tickets on GrabASeat when he sees them on sale. I know cheap tickets save us money but if we travel many times a year because of cheap tickets, it’s just like splurging on a big trip in the summer.
He seems to know something about investing but, again, I don’t know and don’t ask if he invests. Sometimes I just make conclusions based on his spending. Since I started working at my job, I’ve known that he wants to purchase a Mini car. At one point he came close to buying a vintage one had it not been for its corroding chassis. It was around NZ$6,000 and it was in Auckland. He was willing to fly to Auckland and drive the car all the way back to Wellington. He said that he could sell the car for much more when he returns to the US. He is American by the way. I didn’t know that Minis could really sell for more in the US of A.
One time at lunch he saw me munching on a sandwich that I bought for $5 and he said that it was expensive. It was a big sandwich and I was in my first trimester back then. I would not even think of buying a tiny sandwich to get me through lunch. Yet when we walk into a coffee shop for a team meeting, he buys coffees for $4 or even more should he decide to get a scone with it. I try to believe that he means well when he says it’s expensive to eat here or there, but I wonder if he knows that he has the lowest salary in our team. I don’t mean to make him sound inferior but when he gives that that-place-is-expensive advice, obviously he’s tried it but he’s got this look to warn you as though you could not afford it instead of preventing you from spending more than you should.
I don’t know how to describe his personality about finances. It seems like he’s financially bipolar. :-P
Jan 28, 2008
Jan 26, 2008
Then I go and spoil it all by doing something stupid like...
withdrawing money from our online bonus saver account before the month ends!!!
I opened a term deposit account with my other significant bank by transferring some amount from our main savings. I realized a few minutes later that I should have waited until 1 Feb to transfer the money to take advantage of bigger interest income from our savings! Ggrrr! We had already taken money from that savings account to pay off CC1 a little over a week ago. This new term deposit will have to wait for a month before it earns interest!
Bad move! For a while there I saw an image of me pulling my hair and looking agitated.
I opened a term deposit account with my other significant bank by transferring some amount from our main savings. I realized a few minutes later that I should have waited until 1 Feb to transfer the money to take advantage of bigger interest income from our savings! Ggrrr! We had already taken money from that savings account to pay off CC1 a little over a week ago. This new term deposit will have to wait for a month before it earns interest!
Bad move! For a while there I saw an image of me pulling my hair and looking agitated.
Loose change in the car
It pays to always keep loose change in the car. We try to replenish our loose change in the car but this time we didn’t. J said I promised I would but I didn’t. I said I promised I would and I did. Whatever it was surely doesn’t matter anymore because we were issued a $40-illegal parking ticket!
J ran an errand for me and parked along Cuba St. and thought he wouldn’t take a long time to finish the errand. He didn’t pay by credit card either because it would charge him in full. So with all fingers crossed, he dashed to run the errand for me. He ended up waiting in line for probably longer than he expected and got back to the car with the ticket. Learning from this experience, I immediately took a handful of loose change from our loose-change box and put them in the car.
The same day we received a check for $18 from our previous gas provider. So for that day we lost $22. Still a loss! Make sure you have change in your cars!
J ran an errand for me and parked along Cuba St. and thought he wouldn’t take a long time to finish the errand. He didn’t pay by credit card either because it would charge him in full. So with all fingers crossed, he dashed to run the errand for me. He ended up waiting in line for probably longer than he expected and got back to the car with the ticket. Learning from this experience, I immediately took a handful of loose change from our loose-change box and put them in the car.
The same day we received a check for $18 from our previous gas provider. So for that day we lost $22. Still a loss! Make sure you have change in your cars!
Jan 24, 2008
Another credit card approved
After almost 2 weeks, I received a mail in the post from my bank telling me that my credit card application was approved. The card is arriving in the mail soon. This new card is not exciting with its 21.95% interest rate! We decided to get it just to take advantage of earning rewards as we use a credit card to pay J’s student loans that could stretch for maybe 4 or 5 years. This change was already accounted for in the payoff plan. We are not worried about abusing the card because we always pay the monthly payments in full.
Speaking of student loans, I was so annoyed to see the interest rate for the next payment go up by another $5. We are still 2 weeks away from the next due date. J has not checked out yet whether the transaction fees they charge us is directly proportional to the amount paid or if it is a fixed amount. We get charged ~$16 for every payment excluding the monthly due. Ain’t debt great?
Speaking of student loans, I was so annoyed to see the interest rate for the next payment go up by another $5. We are still 2 weeks away from the next due date. J has not checked out yet whether the transaction fees they charge us is directly proportional to the amount paid or if it is a fixed amount. We get charged ~$16 for every payment excluding the monthly due. Ain’t debt great?
Jan 23, 2008
Help me decide, please!
I’m still not decided where to allocate my maternity subsidy. Here in NZ, J and I get paid every fortnight and on the same day. The next payday is on 31 Jan, next is 14 Feb, and so on and so forth.
I will still get paid on 31 Jan for at least half of my fortnightly pay because my maternity leave does not officially start until 28 Jan. My maternity benefit starts on 7 Feb, which falls in the week between 2 paydays, and the rest of the benefit will be deposited to me every 2 weeks following that date. Our spreadsheet tracks our incomes and expenses based on our pay schedule. I can't adjust our spreadsheet just because I'll be on maternity benefit for 14 weeks.
So my question is to which payday should I allocate my maternity benefit, the prior (31 Jan) or the latter (14 Feb)?
I will still get paid on 31 Jan for at least half of my fortnightly pay because my maternity leave does not officially start until 28 Jan. My maternity benefit starts on 7 Feb, which falls in the week between 2 paydays, and the rest of the benefit will be deposited to me every 2 weeks following that date. Our spreadsheet tracks our incomes and expenses based on our pay schedule. I can't adjust our spreadsheet just because I'll be on maternity benefit for 14 weeks.
So my question is to which payday should I allocate my maternity benefit, the prior (31 Jan) or the latter (14 Feb)?
Jan 22, 2008
Oh debt - you're worth it!
People have come to see us at our home in the last week or so. We don’t really have guests often, mostly none at all. We don’t have that many friends here yet and we’re not about holding parties or gatherings just for the sake of having people around.
Like I said in some previous post, most of our credit card debts were for setting up our home. We bought new lounge suite, an expensive lounge rug, flat screen tv, wood furniture, etc. They were bought last year and we’re not finished paying them all off yet!
When people walk into our place, they like what they see and often we hear a “wow” in their words of appreciation. At first I thought it was because of the view from the lounge area because it overlooks the neighboring suburb. I realized that our furniture helps in creating that wow feeling. Our place is not overly designed with furniture. I’m a minimalist and so is J. I’m sure at some point we could improve on some more, like maybe getting a better looking dining furniture or buying a really nice set of china, but that’s not necessary at this point.
Although paying off credit card debts seem to take awhile, the “wow” comments make it all worth it. When we bought our furniture, we only considered our comfort and style. Who knew they’d be pleasing to other people too! :) It's a good feeling that despite having debt, we have something to show for it.
Like I said in some previous post, most of our credit card debts were for setting up our home. We bought new lounge suite, an expensive lounge rug, flat screen tv, wood furniture, etc. They were bought last year and we’re not finished paying them all off yet!
When people walk into our place, they like what they see and often we hear a “wow” in their words of appreciation. At first I thought it was because of the view from the lounge area because it overlooks the neighboring suburb. I realized that our furniture helps in creating that wow feeling. Our place is not overly designed with furniture. I’m a minimalist and so is J. I’m sure at some point we could improve on some more, like maybe getting a better looking dining furniture or buying a really nice set of china, but that’s not necessary at this point.
Although paying off credit card debts seem to take awhile, the “wow” comments make it all worth it. When we bought our furniture, we only considered our comfort and style. Who knew they’d be pleasing to other people too! :) It's a good feeling that despite having debt, we have something to show for it.
Jan 21, 2008
Splurging on pets
Our dog (or us?) celebrates his first birthday today. I found myself searching the Internet for birthday cakes for pets. I could buy one for $45, baked and ready, or for $19.95 for a recipe that needs baking. J always manages to change my mind about splurging on our pet like that, and tells me that our dog does not know it’s his birthday and that the dog doesn’t care.
I don’t go crazy on our pet. How could I? Our pet is my first pet ever. I have no idea about splurging on pets. My idea of splurging is when humans start treating their pets as humans - when they buy their pets items that humans would normally get for themselves. One thing I think is overboard is buying booties for dogs.
And although our dog didn’t get anything for his first birthday, I decided to splurge a bit on food today instead. Isn’t that the same thing (a.k.a. expense) in the grand scheme of personal finance management?
Ugh!
I don’t go crazy on our pet. How could I? Our pet is my first pet ever. I have no idea about splurging on pets. My idea of splurging is when humans start treating their pets as humans - when they buy their pets items that humans would normally get for themselves. One thing I think is overboard is buying booties for dogs.
And although our dog didn’t get anything for his first birthday, I decided to splurge a bit on food today instead. Isn’t that the same thing (a.k.a. expense) in the grand scheme of personal finance management?
Ugh!
Jan 19, 2008
Finances with my partner in life
I found out that J used his allowance to purchase our take-away dinner and his prescription renewal. I don’t like that very much! Those expenses must be pulled from the right fund and not from his allowance! It also does not help in tracking our spending habits especially when he does not mention such items to me. I also get concerned as to why he’d decide to use his allowance for prescription and food that we both eat. I know I track our expenses down to the cent if I can, but that’s only because I want us to be aware of our finances. I don’t want him to think that he needs to do that to save us money - by not pulling funds from our live-off money. Live-off money is the amount left after all bills are paid and savings have been stashed away for the budget period in consideration.
So my concern is... am I being too money conscious that it puts my partner off?
Is it alright?
Yesterday he went to Briscoe’s to look for outdoor chairs that might be on sale. They are currently having a 30-50% off on everything. He ended up buying a bathmat and a hallway runner totaling $60. I really didn’t mind that. In fact I’ve always been thinking of getting another bathmat because we only had 1. The runner is an extra but it’s also one of those purchases that I don’t find excessive. After a few minutes of arriving home with his shopping goods, he asked me about what I felt about the purchase. I was not prepared to answer that question because I didn’t really think anything about the purchase. When I mind something, I do speak my mind. I just really don’t want him to think that he needs to run by every little thing with me when he buys something that is fundamentally good for our family. I trust him and I think it’s important that our partners know and feel that coming from us. I know that he has a weakness for gadgets but so far nothing is too excessive yet.
I talked to him about this and didn’t really get a reason why he used his allowance. He was sweet to tell me that there are times he just wants to buy food for his baby though. Aww. I transferred the money to his account this morning. We even talked about getting him a massage for the well-done job he's done clearing a LOT of leaves around our house. That would be another story to post.
So my concern is... am I being too money conscious that it puts my partner off?
Is it alright?
Yesterday he went to Briscoe’s to look for outdoor chairs that might be on sale. They are currently having a 30-50% off on everything. He ended up buying a bathmat and a hallway runner totaling $60. I really didn’t mind that. In fact I’ve always been thinking of getting another bathmat because we only had 1. The runner is an extra but it’s also one of those purchases that I don’t find excessive. After a few minutes of arriving home with his shopping goods, he asked me about what I felt about the purchase. I was not prepared to answer that question because I didn’t really think anything about the purchase. When I mind something, I do speak my mind. I just really don’t want him to think that he needs to run by every little thing with me when he buys something that is fundamentally good for our family. I trust him and I think it’s important that our partners know and feel that coming from us. I know that he has a weakness for gadgets but so far nothing is too excessive yet.
I talked to him about this and didn’t really get a reason why he used his allowance. He was sweet to tell me that there are times he just wants to buy food for his baby though. Aww. I transferred the money to his account this morning. We even talked about getting him a massage for the well-done job he's done clearing a LOT of leaves around our house. That would be another story to post.
Jan 18, 2008
Investing and saving – slowly but surely
Today I invested another $250 into our mutual fund. It took nearly a month since the first $250 investment that we made. It earned almost $2 since then. Not bad considering the market these days.
I still do not fully understand why things are the way they are at the moment. In the news this evening they were reporting about the decline of markets everywhere since the beginning of the year. USA might go on recession? Really? What is going on?!
I have already been considering investing in other types of mutual funds Raboplus offers but only after we have invested at least $1000 in our cash advantage fund. Patience, patience, patience!
Officially my maternity leave does not start until the last week of this month but I already did yesterday. The rest of the days leading to my official maternity leave are filed as sick days, so that means I’ll still get paid for those days.
During my maternity leave, saving and investing will slow down to a rate most unwelcome. Expenses will, well, increase having my folks over and the addition of the new little member. By how much they will increase I still don’t know. I think I’ve already given myself enough time to stress over that that I’m fine about that now. The spreadsheet has helped to give me ideas on how to spread the resources and plan ahead. So far this is what I came up with.
Baby Fund
It will still get its $50/fortnight contribution.
Emergency Fund
It looks like the most sensible thing to do here is to decrease our fortnight contribution by 60%. Ouch.
Debt Reduction
Now that CC1 is paid off, tackling CC2 and CC3 are next in line but they will be paid slowly. Hopefully there will be no need to use any of our credit cards during my 15-week work hiatus.
Savings
Overall, stashing money in savings will drop to around 7% from the usual 14% a fortnight.
KiwiSaver (Retirement)
Should J’s KiwiSaver start during my leave that would only mean that his take home pay would be deducted by at least $100 a fortnight. That’s fine! That’s still money invested and that’s always a good thing.
I still do not fully understand why things are the way they are at the moment. In the news this evening they were reporting about the decline of markets everywhere since the beginning of the year. USA might go on recession? Really? What is going on?!
I have already been considering investing in other types of mutual funds Raboplus offers but only after we have invested at least $1000 in our cash advantage fund. Patience, patience, patience!
Officially my maternity leave does not start until the last week of this month but I already did yesterday. The rest of the days leading to my official maternity leave are filed as sick days, so that means I’ll still get paid for those days.
During my maternity leave, saving and investing will slow down to a rate most unwelcome. Expenses will, well, increase having my folks over and the addition of the new little member. By how much they will increase I still don’t know. I think I’ve already given myself enough time to stress over that that I’m fine about that now. The spreadsheet has helped to give me ideas on how to spread the resources and plan ahead. So far this is what I came up with.
Baby Fund
It will still get its $50/fortnight contribution.
Emergency Fund
It looks like the most sensible thing to do here is to decrease our fortnight contribution by 60%. Ouch.
Debt Reduction
Now that CC1 is paid off, tackling CC2 and CC3 are next in line but they will be paid slowly. Hopefully there will be no need to use any of our credit cards during my 15-week work hiatus.
Savings
Overall, stashing money in savings will drop to around 7% from the usual 14% a fortnight.
KiwiSaver (Retirement)
Should J’s KiwiSaver start during my leave that would only mean that his take home pay would be deducted by at least $100 a fortnight. That’s fine! That’s still money invested and that’s always a good thing.
Jan 16, 2008
Keeping track
It’s payday today and yet a chunk of what I received today went to bills, not to mention the overdraft auto-payment. I pay rent and stash money in savings on payday. The next day I pay credit card bills, if there’s any. Of course there is and hopefully not for long! Whatever’s left is what we live off of for the next 2 weeks.
The spreadsheet I created tracks income and expenses for this year only. I even added charts just to get a visual of our progress (and regress). I decided to limit it to a year to see a specific time frame for our progress and to also observe the changes in spending habits once our child is born. I am also able to do savings projection. At our current savings-expense ratio, we might not reach our $20,000 savings goal by end of this year but it would be really close. My projection didn’t consider debt payoff projection and salary increases this year, which only mean more saving/investing power. That’s not bad, is it?
At the same time, though, I’m able to see how much goes to bills and debts. It’s a little unnerving to think that those digits are just part of life. It is the way it is. If we don’t spend then we don’t live. That’s the thing, goals are much more exciting to take on with challenges along the way.
Over the next 11 months, my life will have constant change with the baby growing each day. I can only say that things will be different but I can’t gauge the details of it. No spreadsheet can track that sort of life change. I’m going to be a mom! I’ll be an addition to the pf mom bloggers soon! The contents of my blog will soon include other expenses unknown to non-parents. I hope that will mean excitement rather than boredom for my readers.
The spreadsheet I created tracks income and expenses for this year only. I even added charts just to get a visual of our progress (and regress). I decided to limit it to a year to see a specific time frame for our progress and to also observe the changes in spending habits once our child is born. I am also able to do savings projection. At our current savings-expense ratio, we might not reach our $20,000 savings goal by end of this year but it would be really close. My projection didn’t consider debt payoff projection and salary increases this year, which only mean more saving/investing power. That’s not bad, is it?
At the same time, though, I’m able to see how much goes to bills and debts. It’s a little unnerving to think that those digits are just part of life. It is the way it is. If we don’t spend then we don’t live. That’s the thing, goals are much more exciting to take on with challenges along the way.
Over the next 11 months, my life will have constant change with the baby growing each day. I can only say that things will be different but I can’t gauge the details of it. No spreadsheet can track that sort of life change. I’m going to be a mom! I’ll be an addition to the pf mom bloggers soon! The contents of my blog will soon include other expenses unknown to non-parents. I hope that will mean excitement rather than boredom for my readers.
Jan 14, 2008
Would you bother getting back your $10 refund?
While I was awaiting my turn with help desk in Plunket office today, a woman was returning a baby capsule and a stroller. The Plunket person did the standard check of the units and noticed that one strap somewhere at the bottom of the stroller had a bit of a damage. It wasn't broken because it still strapped. She asked the woman if it had been there before she rented the stroller and the latter replied that she really was not sure because she never really found the need to use it. While doing the paperwork to release the check to refund her deposit, she was told that $10 would be deducted from her $35 deposit due to the damage. She was even asked if she minded that and she said no. I was actually surprised that she didn’t assert that she really did not know and never used that particular strap. I suppose she was in a hurry having left her child in the car and just couldn’t be bothered with $10. I’m not sure if I would do the same but I think I’d ask what my options are. Wouldn’t you try to get your $10 back?
Frugal Parenting
There has been additional overdraft today and I would not be surprised if we incurred further tomorrow. Thursday is pay day! Woo hoo!
We paid $105 to Plunket today for hiring a baby capsule for 6 months. That is frugal. A brand new baby capsule may as well be above $200 and it can only carry up to 10kg, roughly 6 months. That is if my baby does not get over that weight before that age. After 6 months, it’s a must to switch them to a car seat. The rent is only $95 with $10 deposit. It helps to have friends who are parents too. I would not have known about renting car seats or strollers/prams. I always thought those things should be bought especially for first time parents like us.
We paid $105 to Plunket today for hiring a baby capsule for 6 months. That is frugal. A brand new baby capsule may as well be above $200 and it can only carry up to 10kg, roughly 6 months. That is if my baby does not get over that weight before that age. After 6 months, it’s a must to switch them to a car seat. The rent is only $95 with $10 deposit. It helps to have friends who are parents too. I would not have known about renting car seats or strollers/prams. I always thought those things should be bought especially for first time parents like us.
Update: The Payoff Plan
1 down, 2 to go.
Today J and I made the decision to pull out money from savings to pay off CC1. We did it within 2 hours of discussing it. It feels good although we have 2 more cards to pay off. We paid off $1,637.50 of credit card debt today! That’s equivalent to a fortnight's pay check!
Today J and I made the decision to pull out money from savings to pay off CC1. We did it within 2 hours of discussing it. It feels good although we have 2 more cards to pay off. We paid off $1,637.50 of credit card debt today! That’s equivalent to a fortnight's pay check!
Jan 13, 2008
Getting Deals + Baby Shower
I didn’t know that The Warehouse Stationery had a sale on the cubby. J brought home my closet (the 12-cubby) for only $125.30! Not $179 as I originally mentioned. What a deal! I’m very pleased that we didn’t OD further.
I worked from home today and that means saving money. No further OD.
Baby Shower
2 weeks ago we bought a cot. Today I received a newsletter from the store that they are having their sale. They don’t go on sale with their cots but they are giving away $100 worth of beddings for every purchase of cot and mattress. Sucks to have missed that opportunity because we just purchased 2 sheet sets last weekend, but I would not have waited this late to get a cot because I’m so close to my due date. I’ll have a baby shower this weekend anyway. We’ll see what the baby will receive. I didn’t really plan to have a baby shower. In fact it was a co-worker who asked me about it and organised it with my manager. Aren’t they sweet and nice ladies? I didn’t want a baby shower only for the girls so I made it a point to invite male co-workers as well. It would just be another Saturday afternoon of food and booze, and of course gift giving to me. I hope that they would take advantage of sales.
I listed down what I already have and the items I’d like to have. I’m excited to find out what they will get my baby! Sometimes I feel that I’m not deserving of such a party. I don’t know. I don’t really have that kind of entitlement issue, where I’d think I deserve every good thing this world could offer me that would end up with people hating me. J said that the baby shower is my day and that I should not stress about preparing food for it. I can’t help it! It’s going to be held at home and I can’t stop thinking like a hostess. I’m glad that it wasn’t me who organised the baby shower. To me it feels like a selfish party – holding one to receive gifts! I know it is what it is, but I can’t help it!
I worked from home today and that means saving money. No further OD.
Baby Shower
2 weeks ago we bought a cot. Today I received a newsletter from the store that they are having their sale. They don’t go on sale with their cots but they are giving away $100 worth of beddings for every purchase of cot and mattress. Sucks to have missed that opportunity because we just purchased 2 sheet sets last weekend, but I would not have waited this late to get a cot because I’m so close to my due date. I’ll have a baby shower this weekend anyway. We’ll see what the baby will receive. I didn’t really plan to have a baby shower. In fact it was a co-worker who asked me about it and organised it with my manager. Aren’t they sweet and nice ladies? I didn’t want a baby shower only for the girls so I made it a point to invite male co-workers as well. It would just be another Saturday afternoon of food and booze, and of course gift giving to me. I hope that they would take advantage of sales.
I listed down what I already have and the items I’d like to have. I’m excited to find out what they will get my baby! Sometimes I feel that I’m not deserving of such a party. I don’t know. I don’t really have that kind of entitlement issue, where I’d think I deserve every good thing this world could offer me that would end up with people hating me. J said that the baby shower is my day and that I should not stress about preparing food for it. I can’t help it! It’s going to be held at home and I can’t stop thinking like a hostess. I’m glad that it wasn’t me who organised the baby shower. To me it feels like a selfish party – holding one to receive gifts! I know it is what it is, but I can’t help it!
Too Many Tools
A good chunk of my Sunday was spent trying out different personal finance tools available to Mac. Some I liked, some I dumped straightaway. We currently use a spreadsheet that is on Google Docs so that we could access it from anywhere and to enable us to update it even at work.
I created that spreadsheet after trying a $10-worth one. The spreadsheet I bought is actually simple to use and is quite good, but I’m really simpler than that. I decided to give it to my siblings who seem to be happy about using it. After some hours trying on different softwares, I told J that I thought I’d stick to our spreadsheet. We were considering purchasing software that would really work for us. I’ve still not tried Quicken but we’ll see… so far I’ve read good reviews about their online version.
Any recommendations?
I created that spreadsheet after trying a $10-worth one. The spreadsheet I bought is actually simple to use and is quite good, but I’m really simpler than that. I decided to give it to my siblings who seem to be happy about using it. After some hours trying on different softwares, I told J that I thought I’d stick to our spreadsheet. We were considering purchasing software that would really work for us. I’ve still not tried Quicken but we’ll see… so far I’ve read good reviews about their online version.
Any recommendations?
We OD-ed!
We’re dipping further into OD as days pass by. As I mentioned before, we got ourselves into credit card debt for setting up our life as a new couple. We started out with almost nothing here in New Zealand. We are migrants here and we basically just brought clothes and began life anew.
We have moved houses twice last year. The first one had tons of space but this new place has not enough. I need a dresser/drawer/closet, whatever that can hold my clothes in because I’m sort of feeling desperate about it by now. I am living in my suitcase. I use one of my suitcases to store my maternity and bigger-sized clothes at the moment. Some are in the closet though, sharing with J, but those are just really a few compared to what the suitcase has. The rest of my non-maternity clothes are in another suitcase and boxes.
With the baby coming soon, I need to start organizing my clothing storage situation. I thought of using a bookcase to store clothes in. I think that’s pretty cool. J suggested that we check out The Warehouse Stationery and sure enough I saw a 12-cubby that I liked and it was only $179! That’s a good deal I think. It’s not really made of high-class wood but it would do for years. I’ve been bidding on Trademe for more than a week now and I can’t really go beyond $250 for used dresser drawers that are not that big or have slight damages that are not worth going beyond $250 for. That’s what I think. Unfortunately, Kilbirnie branch didn’t have stock of what I wanted but CBD has. J, being nice that he is, offered to get it tomorrow.
The next question is where do we get the money to pay for the cubby? We dipped into OD remember? I still suggested dipping further because I don’t want to touch our savings and don’t want to use any of our credit cards either. At least once payday comes the overdraft gets automatically paid and we can breathe knowing we didn’t incur any more debts. Three more sleeps to payday excluding tonight!
I’m nowhere close to suggesting that you also do this. This works for us because we don’t dip into OD all the time. As per my previous post, it usually happens due to oversight on my part. Every pay period, which is a fortnight, we usually have enough extra to blow just in case we need to spend on something that doesn’t warrant the use of our emergency fund. Sometimes things just happen. When we don’t use up that extra, it gets snowballed into paying our debts. I allow the overdraft to happen, meaning I don’t pull money from savings or use credit cards, to learn from the experience. We are still trying to hone our PF skills and we need to understand our spending habits in order to achieve the “money smart” level.
We have moved houses twice last year. The first one had tons of space but this new place has not enough. I need a dresser/drawer/closet, whatever that can hold my clothes in because I’m sort of feeling desperate about it by now. I am living in my suitcase. I use one of my suitcases to store my maternity and bigger-sized clothes at the moment. Some are in the closet though, sharing with J, but those are just really a few compared to what the suitcase has. The rest of my non-maternity clothes are in another suitcase and boxes.
With the baby coming soon, I need to start organizing my clothing storage situation. I thought of using a bookcase to store clothes in. I think that’s pretty cool. J suggested that we check out The Warehouse Stationery and sure enough I saw a 12-cubby that I liked and it was only $179! That’s a good deal I think. It’s not really made of high-class wood but it would do for years. I’ve been bidding on Trademe for more than a week now and I can’t really go beyond $250 for used dresser drawers that are not that big or have slight damages that are not worth going beyond $250 for. That’s what I think. Unfortunately, Kilbirnie branch didn’t have stock of what I wanted but CBD has. J, being nice that he is, offered to get it tomorrow.
The next question is where do we get the money to pay for the cubby? We dipped into OD remember? I still suggested dipping further because I don’t want to touch our savings and don’t want to use any of our credit cards either. At least once payday comes the overdraft gets automatically paid and we can breathe knowing we didn’t incur any more debts. Three more sleeps to payday excluding tonight!
I’m nowhere close to suggesting that you also do this. This works for us because we don’t dip into OD all the time. As per my previous post, it usually happens due to oversight on my part. Every pay period, which is a fortnight, we usually have enough extra to blow just in case we need to spend on something that doesn’t warrant the use of our emergency fund. Sometimes things just happen. When we don’t use up that extra, it gets snowballed into paying our debts. I allow the overdraft to happen, meaning I don’t pull money from savings or use credit cards, to learn from the experience. We are still trying to hone our PF skills and we need to understand our spending habits in order to achieve the “money smart” level.
Jan 11, 2008
the payoff plan - changed?
planning oversight
it's still 6 days away until the next pay day and we have already dipped into overdraft. we don't dip into OD all the time, only when there's an oversight on my part. this fortnight i forgot to consider that i was going to renew my passport and that entails costs. so yes, that was the reason for the OD; otherwise, we'd have enough to cover our food expense until mid next week. if i use the emergency fund now, it's already useless.
the payoff plan change
there might be a change in the payoff plan. i think the potential change is beneficial. after blogging about the payoff plan, i realized that we might as well benefit from paying the student loan. we currently pay it using CC2 that does not even earn us reward points but we pay off the monthly SL payments incurred in the card. so, we compared reward-earning plastics this afternoon and i applied for one! let's wait and see whether i get approved for it or not. it would be great to earn rewards from paying SL for maybe 4 or 5 years! don't you think so?
it's still 6 days away until the next pay day and we have already dipped into overdraft. we don't dip into OD all the time, only when there's an oversight on my part. this fortnight i forgot to consider that i was going to renew my passport and that entails costs. so yes, that was the reason for the OD; otherwise, we'd have enough to cover our food expense until mid next week. if i use the emergency fund now, it's already useless.
the payoff plan change
there might be a change in the payoff plan. i think the potential change is beneficial. after blogging about the payoff plan, i realized that we might as well benefit from paying the student loan. we currently pay it using CC2 that does not even earn us reward points but we pay off the monthly SL payments incurred in the card. so, we compared reward-earning plastics this afternoon and i applied for one! let's wait and see whether i get approved for it or not. it would be great to earn rewards from paying SL for maybe 4 or 5 years! don't you think so?
i'm in the mood for spending
uhmmm i think i'm in a spending mood. not good. not good. don't you just hate it when you get into this mood? like you've been good and something, somehow, pulls you away from your fiscally smart self?
anywho, to give you a background of my regular lifestyle here are some items that i/we are being fiscally smart about.
mobile phones
i have a 2-year old mobile phone that was really looking good and performing really well until our dog chewed it a few months back. it still works perfectly but it just looks ugly with all those teeth marks. whenever i see them they just make want to buy a new (but cheap) one. i was actually browsing online shops for a mobile phone today. no, no, no. my phone still works! i'm practical! i'm not about the "look". i'm about functionality! demmit. it's not like i'm looking for a better unit. it's the spendy part of me that just wants a NEW one. j has a horrible mobile phone because it loses reception when he's at work, and yet it's his work phone! hah!
movie watching
j and i want to watch I Am Legend this weekend. did i say that we dipped into OD already? he offered to pay for our movie date through his allowance though. yay! we don't really watch movies in the cinema. it's not cheap to do so. i think in 2007 we only saw movies in the cinema for 2 or 3 times, 1 of which was even free. our cancelled DVD subscription got us through half of last year until we decided to subscribe to a bundled service with TelstraClear to cover for our movie, tv, and internet.
hairstyling
last year i only had one professional hair cut and that was at the barber's! haha! j went to get his hair done professionally (1 of his 5 last year i think) as i waited. we started conversing with the lady barber and i asked her if she could do a simple cut with mine. she did! charged me $5 more than the regular man's hair cut of $15. i looked fantastic and young! it was very much worth it especially during my first trimester when i looked horrible.
manicure + pedicure
i remember when i used to have this at least once a month. that was way back home when i could have it for cheap (and way better at that!). having moved to NZ, the standard for cleaning nails (to me) is poor and not worth paying for. i only had it done once, which was just before this recent Christmas. had to do it because i could no longer reach for my legs without so much effort, what more with my toe nails! oh, i just realized that i did not have any manicure done professionally for the last 1.5 years! i've been poorly doing them myself.
clothes shopping
we don't really shop often. thanks to my mom who likes to shop for her kids (yes she still shops for us!). she just buys us stuff that i asked her to stop doing so because i don't have enough room to store my clothes in. i don't even know what to do with my maternity clothes once i give birth since we don't have plans to have more than 1 child. j and i have really good clothing selection at this time. we buy when we deem necessary.
electronics
well, uhm, we're not that cheap when it comes to buying electronics. first of all, quality is important to us and if that comes with cheap price that would be great. most likely though that's not reality, but when it comes to looking for deals i have 2 thumbs up for j. he's very good at it. in fact he got us 2 return tickets to Sydney for something like $600 including fees and taxes sometime last year.
i suppose there is balance in our spending ways. let's see what the arrival of the baby does to our balanced spending ways...
anywho, to give you a background of my regular lifestyle here are some items that i/we are being fiscally smart about.
mobile phones
i have a 2-year old mobile phone that was really looking good and performing really well until our dog chewed it a few months back. it still works perfectly but it just looks ugly with all those teeth marks. whenever i see them they just make want to buy a new (but cheap) one. i was actually browsing online shops for a mobile phone today. no, no, no. my phone still works! i'm practical! i'm not about the "look". i'm about functionality! demmit. it's not like i'm looking for a better unit. it's the spendy part of me that just wants a NEW one. j has a horrible mobile phone because it loses reception when he's at work, and yet it's his work phone! hah!
movie watching
j and i want to watch I Am Legend this weekend. did i say that we dipped into OD already? he offered to pay for our movie date through his allowance though. yay! we don't really watch movies in the cinema. it's not cheap to do so. i think in 2007 we only saw movies in the cinema for 2 or 3 times, 1 of which was even free. our cancelled DVD subscription got us through half of last year until we decided to subscribe to a bundled service with TelstraClear to cover for our movie, tv, and internet.
hairstyling
last year i only had one professional hair cut and that was at the barber's! haha! j went to get his hair done professionally (1 of his 5 last year i think) as i waited. we started conversing with the lady barber and i asked her if she could do a simple cut with mine. she did! charged me $5 more than the regular man's hair cut of $15. i looked fantastic and young! it was very much worth it especially during my first trimester when i looked horrible.
manicure + pedicure
i remember when i used to have this at least once a month. that was way back home when i could have it for cheap (and way better at that!). having moved to NZ, the standard for cleaning nails (to me) is poor and not worth paying for. i only had it done once, which was just before this recent Christmas. had to do it because i could no longer reach for my legs without so much effort, what more with my toe nails! oh, i just realized that i did not have any manicure done professionally for the last 1.5 years! i've been poorly doing them myself.
clothes shopping
we don't really shop often. thanks to my mom who likes to shop for her kids (yes she still shops for us!). she just buys us stuff that i asked her to stop doing so because i don't have enough room to store my clothes in. i don't even know what to do with my maternity clothes once i give birth since we don't have plans to have more than 1 child. j and i have really good clothing selection at this time. we buy when we deem necessary.
electronics
well, uhm, we're not that cheap when it comes to buying electronics. first of all, quality is important to us and if that comes with cheap price that would be great. most likely though that's not reality, but when it comes to looking for deals i have 2 thumbs up for j. he's very good at it. in fact he got us 2 return tickets to Sydney for something like $600 including fees and taxes sometime last year.
i suppose there is balance in our spending ways. let's see what the arrival of the baby does to our balanced spending ways...
Jan 10, 2008
the payoff plan
reading this blog entry made me feel that i'm not alone in my impatience to pay off debt. i have to admit, it does eat me from time to time. though i feel that i have a form of control over it, i just wish that the next time i make a payment that they all disappear! for the next 4 or 5 years, there is a cash outflow going to debt. how do you just live with that?
the pay off plan
as mentioned in my previous post, i discussed with j about a plan i devised to pay off his student loans and to adjust our spending habits and budget. once i'm back from maternity leave and earning salary again (i will be on government subsidy for the entire 14 weeks of leave), we will be putting away $1,200 a month to debt - $600 to his monthly student loan payments using CC2, the other $600 distributed between CC1 and CC3. once CC1 is paid off, the full $600 goes into CC3 until it's all paid off. once both are paid, we will make the SL payments using CC3 and pay it off every month. i decided to do that so that i could see the reduction happening to CC2. once all of the plastics are zeroed-out, next to tackle are car loans and hire purchases. they should not take 6 months to get paid off as long as we don't miss our due payments. i'm still looking at it positively that all these pay offs would happen by end of this year. i also hope that while in the process of paying off the debts, our financial habits would be grooved accordingly.
putting away $1,200 a month to debt for maybe 5 years just makes my eyes roll. in the grand scheme of things, 5 years to pay off a student loan is a good thing. by then our baby will be 5 years old. maybe we could even celebrate our baby's birthday and being debt free at the same time. right now it just feels too far out, still in the tunnel without a light ahead of us. our plan to buy a property doesn't look promising in the next 3 years. i just don't feel comfortable getting a mortgage while we're paying for the SL. i also hope that we'll get good pay raises every year. that would certainly make paying debt a little less painful.
the pay off plan
as mentioned in my previous post, i discussed with j about a plan i devised to pay off his student loans and to adjust our spending habits and budget. once i'm back from maternity leave and earning salary again (i will be on government subsidy for the entire 14 weeks of leave), we will be putting away $1,200 a month to debt - $600 to his monthly student loan payments using CC2, the other $600 distributed between CC1 and CC3. once CC1 is paid off, the full $600 goes into CC3 until it's all paid off. once both are paid, we will make the SL payments using CC3 and pay it off every month. i decided to do that so that i could see the reduction happening to CC2. once all of the plastics are zeroed-out, next to tackle are car loans and hire purchases. they should not take 6 months to get paid off as long as we don't miss our due payments. i'm still looking at it positively that all these pay offs would happen by end of this year. i also hope that while in the process of paying off the debts, our financial habits would be grooved accordingly.
putting away $1,200 a month to debt for maybe 5 years just makes my eyes roll. in the grand scheme of things, 5 years to pay off a student loan is a good thing. by then our baby will be 5 years old. maybe we could even celebrate our baby's birthday and being debt free at the same time. right now it just feels too far out, still in the tunnel without a light ahead of us. our plan to buy a property doesn't look promising in the next 3 years. i just don't feel comfortable getting a mortgage while we're paying for the SL. i also hope that we'll get good pay raises every year. that would certainly make paying debt a little less painful.
interest sucks!
because i didn't want j to pay his student loan (SL) payment late this month (like last month), i asked him to pay it this week. the monthly due date is every 14th, and last month he totally forgot about it and paid on the 18th. sigh. men.
so today i checked his SL account online anticipating a slight reduction. to my dismay it wasn't reduced. if anything, it increased by some $100 USD! as you know i'm from NZ and the current rate is NZ$1=US$0.77. i was annoyed! j told me that the good thing about his SL was that there is no fees for late payments. i must've confused fees being inclusive of interests.
"the specific amount of interest taken from each payment depends on how many days there are between your payments, the principal balance of the loan, and the interest rate."
it's just really frustrating especially when you have goal to reduce debt. it would have made me feel better to see even a slight reduction you know. it's the biggest debt our family has and the longer we keep a balance in it, the longer it would take us from buying a house and saving more. anyway, given that quote up there, it annoys me because not all months have the same number of days. the best bet we could do is to pay fortnightly, just like how we do with our health insurance and savings. the problem is not having enough funds to shell out $600 every 2 weeks for SL. we are going to try splitting the monthly payment to $300 to be paid every 2 weeks, but i'm not sure if the transaction fee of $16 is fixed for every payment though. ugh. fees, fees, fees!!! they suck!
j and i have a plan for the next 4 or 5 years to pay off debt. maybe even less if we're gonna be good about paying more than we should! i'll write about that next time.
Jan 8, 2008
financial skills course
while waiting for the lift (elevator) this morning, my eyes caught a flyer on the bulletin board. i don't remember the title but it had "saving money" in it. of course i checked it out!
if you're in Wellington, New Zealand, please check the site out. it's not free though ($20 for a 3-hour session) but you might just benefit from it, especially if you're the type who'd rather sit and listen than spend hours on the internet researching (just like me).
Financial Skills Course at The Open Polytechnic of NZ.
if you're in Wellington, New Zealand, please check the site out. it's not free though ($20 for a 3-hour session) but you might just benefit from it, especially if you're the type who'd rather sit and listen than spend hours on the internet researching (just like me).
Financial Skills Course at The Open Polytechnic of NZ.
we bought an iMac
we saw a refurb iMac 17-inch 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo for a little over $1,000 with free shipping. we bought it. so yes, i've been blogging using the new white baby at home. i love it! after using j's slow and broken macbook, it's time to replace it.
about 4 months ago, or for as long as i can remember, we've been talking about staging an accident for the macbook to get it replaced using our content's insurance. we've obviously not done it. we're too conscientious individuals to do such a thing i suppose. when the macbook finally dies though, i'm not sure what j would do about it. maybe get a new one? but what would we do with 2 computers at home? one for each? is that frugal lifestyle?
i used CC1 to pay for this new iMac. so much about paying it off this month! hah! but i don't regret it because we have been good about spending and we deserve it. plus, who knows if we'll ever get a new one once the baby arrives. this is a good deal too! i guess the reason for justifying it is because i felt that i was being hypocritical. sometimes i feel bad about our debts, but when i see other people's total debts i see that my side is greener in more ways than that.
it is officially the first Apple product i bought. i'm quite pleased. :)
photo courtesy of transintl.com
photo courtesy of transintl.com
Jan 7, 2008
birth and taxes
yesterday i received in the mail IRD's response to my Paid Parental Leave Application last month. i'm only going for 14 weeks, which is the maximum paid parental leave either parent could take.
IRD's response was very specific - with dates and computations. that's good. now i actually know what i will get. not a lot i tell you although i get the maximum, just a weekly subsidy that's even taxable. sigh.
IRD decided that i could use some confusion (and maybe analysis) by paying me between payroll dates. i decided to add my subsidy to the payroll date following j's, which is also my payroll date if i weren't on parental leave.
knowing how much will be stripped off of our fortnightly income stresses me a bit. i've been playing with our money tracker spreadsheet to see how much we could still save in the next 14 weeks. i don't really expect that much to get saved away anyway. my folks are also coming to stay with us to help us in the first few months of parenthood, which we think is just superb. we'll get a lot of help around the house and not get so stressed. however, i know that more people in the house means more utilities expense, not to mention food. we don't really expect my folks to chip in food money knowing just how much help they'll provide during my parental leave. our debt reduction payments will be minimized during my leave and i just hope that that wouldn't hinder us from reaching our goals by end of this year.
in a way it guilts me that i'm allowing myself to stress about finances when i should be excited about welcoming a new member to our family! it's not like we are going to be tight. this is just the part of myself that is scared of financial discomfort. i've never had financial hardships before that's why i wonder how j handles the fact that he's got $40K of student loans to pay for X years is beyond me. but maybe that needs some getting used to. that's the thing though, i don't wanna get used to debt.
IRD's response was very specific - with dates and computations. that's good. now i actually know what i will get. not a lot i tell you although i get the maximum, just a weekly subsidy that's even taxable. sigh.
IRD decided that i could use some confusion (and maybe analysis) by paying me between payroll dates. i decided to add my subsidy to the payroll date following j's, which is also my payroll date if i weren't on parental leave.
knowing how much will be stripped off of our fortnightly income stresses me a bit. i've been playing with our money tracker spreadsheet to see how much we could still save in the next 14 weeks. i don't really expect that much to get saved away anyway. my folks are also coming to stay with us to help us in the first few months of parenthood, which we think is just superb. we'll get a lot of help around the house and not get so stressed. however, i know that more people in the house means more utilities expense, not to mention food. we don't really expect my folks to chip in food money knowing just how much help they'll provide during my parental leave. our debt reduction payments will be minimized during my leave and i just hope that that wouldn't hinder us from reaching our goals by end of this year.
in a way it guilts me that i'm allowing myself to stress about finances when i should be excited about welcoming a new member to our family! it's not like we are going to be tight. this is just the part of myself that is scared of financial discomfort. i've never had financial hardships before that's why i wonder how j handles the fact that he's got $40K of student loans to pay for X years is beyond me. but maybe that needs some getting used to. that's the thing though, i don't wanna get used to debt.
Jan 6, 2008
why do you bank where you do?
i chanced upon a blog entry about the subject (a question actually) and made me think. unfortunately i couldn't find it again. of course i have my reasons for banking where i do and not "just because".
when i started this blog, i was wary about sharing specifics like bank names. but now it seems that i get more and more comfortable sharing stuff like that if it means that my opinions could assist my (very few) readership. so here goes my list of banks and my reasons for investing in them.
when i started this blog, i was wary about sharing specifics like bank names. but now it seems that i get more and more comfortable sharing stuff like that if it means that my opinions could assist my (very few) readership. so here goes my list of banks and my reasons for investing in them.
when they introduced the Elect Account with no electronic transaction fees, i knew i had to switch my checking account with them. i think they were the first, if not the only, bank here in NZ to introduce a zero-transaction fee on checking and the first to introduce 8.2%pa on their online savings account. after that, more and more banks have followed suit. they are innovative in my opinion. the way they present information in their booklets and leaflets is simple and pleasing to the eyes.
when you read about them, you will find out why i like them. i also have started investing in managed funds and i do that with them. i'm still new to investing and they allow me to learn as i go forward.
although j and i are immigrants here, we support local businesses. these 2 are the only fully-Kiwi operated/owned banks in NZ. actually PSIS isn't a bank, it's a cooperative.
what about you? have you ever asked this question to yourself?
Jan 5, 2008
revamp of savings accounts
currently we have 5 savings accounts and 2 of them will be merged into 1 next week. now that they will be down to 4, 3 of which are all online accounts (8.2%pa), i got j to discuss with me what he thought of which title goes to what. here's what we came up with.
main
this one has the most amount and i'm allocating less money to this so that the other 2 can catch up.
baby fund
this is the merged account. we decided to switch the fund from the Fast Forward Saver (only 5%) to our new online account. we might put some of it in a term deposit once it has enough funds. this weekend i got myself busy comparing banks that offer 9%pa on term deposits.
JASA (just another savings account)
this is our account that will be responsible for funding our investments. it already started with the mutual fund and we hope to diversify more this year, bit by bit.
emergency fund
this used to be the baby fund, and since it's for emergencies we need to not feel bad about losing interest income if/when we pull out. and it's got the lowest return of 5%pa.
i feel much better having MORE order. now, is it normal/usual to have more than 2 savings accounts? how many have you got?
pricey comfort
for almost a month now i've been sleeping on the couch in the lounge (NZ's term for the living room). i had to move out of the bedroom because the bed was killing my back. i was having horrible nights just trying to get some decent sleep. the couch, meanwhile, is my saving grace. no more aches and pains! this last month of the pregnancy is making me more tired and making me nap almost everyday!
so anyway, what does it mean to sleep in the lounge? well, i have this nasty habit - i like to sleep with the tv on, when i can. it just helps me drift to sleep especially when i want to sleep already. it usually isn't a problem because i turn the timer on to a maximum of 30 mins. if by then i'm still wide awake then i adjust it some more.
the issue now is that we have a complicated entertainment setup. if i turn the tv's timer off, it will just turn the tv off and not the speakers. so i could be asleep and the tv off but there is still sound. i am guilty because i'm trying to be financially smart goddamit! but as most of frugalites know, comfort comes with a price.
my only consolation is that once i give birth i'm gonna be back in the bedroom with j. he is super supportive of this tv thing and when he wakes in the middle of the night to pee or take the dog out to pee, he comes to the lounge and turns the entertainment system off and gives me some kisses and cuddles before heading back to bed. very sweet guy!
and so, although, last month's electricity bill was only $35 (very low due to being away on holiday), i am already preparing myself for the inevitable. i just cross my fingers that it wouldn't be so bad like winter electricity bills!
Jan 3, 2008
hallelujah to EFTPOS
yesterday i mentioned in an entry about not knowing where my wallet was. j confirmed that it wasn't at home after looking at the most probable places where i might put it. he then suggested that i call Reading Cinema where we watched a movie the day before. i honestly didn't think of calling them because in my mind it was just unimaginable to lose only my wallet. the rest of my bag's contents were still in the bag!
so anyway, i did call and after the lady i spoke to did a quick check with someone else i heard her say "sweet as". yes, my wallet was with them! yahoo! my wallet is just a rectangular coin purse that has a zipper on top. i don't carry cash with me anymore, ever since i moved to NZ. the only item that could be of quick use was my 10-pass bus ticket that i didn't expect to be returned to me. true enough the bus ticket wasn't in my wallet. everything else, including 3 credit cards, 2 EFTPOS cards, membership cards, and other extra things, were returned safely. my wallet was not with me for almost 20 hours without me knowing it!
when i picked up my wallet, they didn't even ask for identification before handing it back to me. people here in NZ can be trusting to a surprising degree sometimes. :)
no transaction fees
doing cashless transaction is efficient here in NZ i think because most payments here get rounded off to the nearest whole number. if you buy a $3.97 item, you'd end up paying $4 if you do so in cash. imagine how much those overpaid pennies coming out of one's pocket amount to! que horror! so anyway, i use a zero transaction fee checking account which makes it all the more great.
emergency fund part 2
after posting my previous entry, i got a response from Bank2 suggesting that i close SA2 and SA3 and open a new account (which is an online call account at 8.2% that i want actually!) instead. the sender attached an application form and the scanned document of Advice to Close Account with details in it already. so cool! j and i decided that could wait until next week, but i'm glad that i don't have to maintain 2 accounts and consider them as 1. simplicity!
oh, i forgot to mention that i got myself The Wealth Guide from Westpac. it's really simple to follow. you should get one if you're looking at investing in NZ.
oh, i forgot to mention that i got myself The Wealth Guide from Westpac. it's really simple to follow. you should get one if you're looking at investing in NZ.
emergency fund
after discussing with j how to sort out our emergency fund (of at least $1000), we decided to combine SA2 and SA3 for it. historically we've been pulling out funds from them for immediate needs instead of touching our higher-earning savings, like when we paid for our rental bond about 4 months ago.
currently our emergency fund sits at $511.78. since we only put $100 to that, it'll be early march by the time it reaches $1,111 not considering interests earned. that's fine. we don't foresee anything needing emergency funding in the near future. we'll see what having a baby means financially but i suppose we'll be alright most likely.
what this means is having more money put into savings or investments. i know that we don't have much to invest but i'm starting to think that perhaps it would be good to put at least $1500 to our mutual (cash advantage) fund. once our emergency fund reaches $1000, we'll stop putting money in it for a while to get more flow into our cash fund, and then further diversify our investment portfolio.
wow! listen to me talk about investment portfolio! i can't believe i'm this person now. in my past life, i thought all this investment talk was so complicated that i couldn't even be bothered. it must be parenthood hitting me - needing more stability and insurance for my family's future - or just exploring new things to keep me motivated... i don't know but i'm sure enjoying getting money smart. :)
currently our emergency fund sits at $511.78. since we only put $100 to that, it'll be early march by the time it reaches $1,111 not considering interests earned. that's fine. we don't foresee anything needing emergency funding in the near future. we'll see what having a baby means financially but i suppose we'll be alright most likely.
what this means is having more money put into savings or investments. i know that we don't have much to invest but i'm starting to think that perhaps it would be good to put at least $1500 to our mutual (cash advantage) fund. once our emergency fund reaches $1000, we'll stop putting money in it for a while to get more flow into our cash fund, and then further diversify our investment portfolio.
wow! listen to me talk about investment portfolio! i can't believe i'm this person now. in my past life, i thought all this investment talk was so complicated that i couldn't even be bothered. it must be parenthood hitting me - needing more stability and insurance for my family's future - or just exploring new things to keep me motivated... i don't know but i'm sure enjoying getting money smart. :)
Jan 2, 2008
the real deal
as of today i'm acknowledging j's outstanding student loan. this only means that our combined net worth is a big negative. boo hoo.
i used Sorted's Get Out of Debt Calculator and found out how much we need to pay to cut down payment time to half. it's paying the same amount of $600...fortnightly! another boo. obviously this is not achievable at present because of our set 2008 goals. but wow, paying it off in 4 years is motivating! i'm glad that i don't have student loans too. it's just imaginable to me just thinking about it. that in itself is a blessing already. thank God for my financially smart parents! although i really have to give it to j because he took the loan to earn his bachelor's and master's. his parents couldn't afford to pay for his college education. if i have to remind myself all over again, having done that was one of the things i liked and admired about him. :)
on our way to the midwife appointment, bringing up the possibility of cutting down payment time to half got him interested and i could tell that seeing the light at the end of the tunnel totally motivated him. paying his monthly due is part of our budget but it's only recently that i've recognized that i have to behave like half of it is mine in order to have more commitment to paying it ASAP.
so, to show my acknowledgment i'm adding our combined net worth badge on the side panel. wish us luck!!!
i used Sorted's Get Out of Debt Calculator and found out how much we need to pay to cut down payment time to half. it's paying the same amount of $600...fortnightly! another boo. obviously this is not achievable at present because of our set 2008 goals. but wow, paying it off in 4 years is motivating! i'm glad that i don't have student loans too. it's just imaginable to me just thinking about it. that in itself is a blessing already. thank God for my financially smart parents! although i really have to give it to j because he took the loan to earn his bachelor's and master's. his parents couldn't afford to pay for his college education. if i have to remind myself all over again, having done that was one of the things i liked and admired about him. :)
on our way to the midwife appointment, bringing up the possibility of cutting down payment time to half got him interested and i could tell that seeing the light at the end of the tunnel totally motivated him. paying his monthly due is part of our budget but it's only recently that i've recognized that i have to behave like half of it is mine in order to have more commitment to paying it ASAP.
so, to show my acknowledgment i'm adding our combined net worth badge on the side panel. wish us luck!!!
snowflaking + 2008 goals
i changed my mind since the last post about where to snowflake next pay period's extra money. instead of to CC3, i will put it in CC1. this means that CC1 will be realistically paid off by this month! yay yay!
i wish i put away the previous period's leftover to CC1 instead of CC3. i was so focused on paying off the cot. i forgot that CC1 has the highest interest of all our 3 credit cards. at least it's still not too late. i told j about this plan and he seemed to light up at the possibility of paying off one of our credit cards and the highest interest earning at that!
i don't know where my wallet is as of writing! ack!
while sitting with j during one of the non-working days this holiday season, i started talking about setting goals this new year. below are what we have agreed on.
here are our 2008 goals:
so much to do! makes me excited to know what 2008 has instore for my family! :)
i wish i put away the previous period's leftover to CC1 instead of CC3. i was so focused on paying off the cot. i forgot that CC1 has the highest interest of all our 3 credit cards. at least it's still not too late. i told j about this plan and he seemed to light up at the possibility of paying off one of our credit cards and the highest interest earning at that!
i don't know where my wallet is as of writing! ack!
while sitting with j during one of the non-working days this holiday season, i started talking about setting goals this new year. below are what we have agreed on.
here are our 2008 goals:
- pay off all of our credit card debts
- pay off the car loan - we are almost halfway there!
- pay off the sofa (hire purchase)
- increase payment to tv (hire purchase) - this one's on auto-debit and we have yet to find out if we can increase our monthly payments.
- finally enrol ourselves in KiwiSaver - j is in the process now, while i will wait til i'm back from maternity leave to get paid with salary again
so much to do! makes me excited to know what 2008 has instore for my family! :)
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