Whew, life's been busy.

It has been a good few days. I have not once worried about money and that's because we still have $55 left until pay day in our current (checking) account. It's not like we always dip into savings but lately I've felt a good sense of confidence on the current state of finances. It's probably because we have seriously considered getting our own home and that brought to me the real indication of our powers to achieve big goals!

Joining the movement

We're in the transition process to make Kiwibank our primary bank. In so doing, we have gotten rid of our overdraft facility with Westpac. We have not been dipping into it and I decided that getting rid of it will only make us focus on living within our budget. I feel good about that! We still have balance in our Low Interest credit card and we're considering transferring it over to Kiwibank as well. They currently offer a 4.99% for 6 months rate on balance transfers. They also have the lowest interest rate of 13.30%. 

Some debts almost gone

We have 2 hire purchase loans that will be paid off after 2 more direct debits. I can almost taste it! The total of the payments is around $200/month and once that money's available it'll go to savings. I'm still thinking of putting it towards debt but I'm still waiting on the increases and back pays to make that decision. 

Salary ups

J is not getting much because his organization didn't get enough funding from the government. Imagine a 0.51% increase! Zoiks. We're hoping he'd get something more on top of that based on his performance, just like in my organization. But mine would at least be at 3%. We haven't received any confirmation/memo yet, but since I'll have my session with my one-up this week, I'll find out what they think I'm worth for the next year. Fingers crossed that it's a LOT! :-P 

House hunting

The house we thought we wanted, we didn't really want. It's new and all but I think we struggled a bit with accepting its location and its inadequate insulation. We are now getting more and more set to get a house in Titahi Bay. We actually went to an open home on Sunday and the house sits on some 800sqm section! It's cheaper than the other house but it has got its age. It looks like a cottage from the outside and we like the idea of doing DIY in the next 5 years. We'll see what happens in this ongoing hunt for the house of our own. 

Spring

is coming very soon! I can feel the air getting less and less chilly everyday. I'm just excited! I'm not really a winter person.