As usual, right before pay day, I spent a day just getting myself annoyed about debts. J has student loans in USD that we're paying with NZD. It's only good to pay when NZD is doing great but when it's in the dirt, it is sooooo nasty!
As of yesterday, to pay US$1 we have to shell out NZ$1.53. It was harsh and it's not any better today at all.
My hopes of a debt-free life deflates every time similar things happen. Anything that drains our money without our control makes me feel hopeless for long moments at a time. I'm not a happy person to deal with. I get introspective and resentful. You would not want to be around me.
But I bounce back pretty quickly. I just need to vent for a day or two. I need to rationalize my behavior and my mindset. It's all just temporary. Sometimes I say, "It's just money." Yes it bloody is! However, I don't get money just by sitting around. I work hard for it. I have to earn it.
I was tempted to consider looking for a higher-paying job. I can't really consider another job in addition to my full-time one because I have a child. It doesn't even matter how little I'd earn so long as I'd be earning something more to pay debts off soon. Question is, would I be able to live a LIFE working my ass off? Maybe we just need to be more frugal and wise with our money.
Washing machine
J brought up the idea of replacing our recently purchased laundry machine for the cheaper (by $1K) and bigger (by 1.5kg more capacity) Electrolux brand. The Miele one is not in stock yet and won't get delivered until we move houses. I'm fine with that so we'll see how that goes.
Another HP paid off
Yes! No more HPs apart from the washing machine. Dented savings a little bit but that's fine. Now the future pay periods look a tad cleaner in the Debts section without HP payments.
No savings this month
The Savings section in our budget spreadsheet for September is blank. All discretionary money goes to debt this month. Like I said, from October to January we'll only be paying minimums in preparation for our trip out of NZ. We must use cash as much as possible.
Trust fund
Now that we're certain that we're moving to our own home, I can submit the application for our baby's educational trust fund. I wanted to go straight to ING but when I called to ask for help with filling in the application, the customer service person advised to me to get a lawyer's help. Duh. So it's going to be with National Bank's Thoroughbred Education Fund. For a start we'll only be contributing at least $25/fortnight with consideration of 4% inflation. $25 is not a lot I know but we'll definitely up that in increments of $10 as our debts (apart from mortgage) get less and less over time. Hopefully by the time he turns 3, we'll have $100/fortnight put into his trust fund.
That's it for now. Have a top weekend everyone!
As of yesterday, to pay US$1 we have to shell out NZ$1.53. It was harsh and it's not any better today at all.
My hopes of a debt-free life deflates every time similar things happen. Anything that drains our money without our control makes me feel hopeless for long moments at a time. I'm not a happy person to deal with. I get introspective and resentful. You would not want to be around me.
But I bounce back pretty quickly. I just need to vent for a day or two. I need to rationalize my behavior and my mindset. It's all just temporary. Sometimes I say, "It's just money." Yes it bloody is! However, I don't get money just by sitting around. I work hard for it. I have to earn it.
I was tempted to consider looking for a higher-paying job. I can't really consider another job in addition to my full-time one because I have a child. It doesn't even matter how little I'd earn so long as I'd be earning something more to pay debts off soon. Question is, would I be able to live a LIFE working my ass off? Maybe we just need to be more frugal and wise with our money.
Washing machine
J brought up the idea of replacing our recently purchased laundry machine for the cheaper (by $1K) and bigger (by 1.5kg more capacity) Electrolux brand. The Miele one is not in stock yet and won't get delivered until we move houses. I'm fine with that so we'll see how that goes.
Another HP paid off
Yes! No more HPs apart from the washing machine. Dented savings a little bit but that's fine. Now the future pay periods look a tad cleaner in the Debts section without HP payments.
No savings this month
The Savings section in our budget spreadsheet for September is blank. All discretionary money goes to debt this month. Like I said, from October to January we'll only be paying minimums in preparation for our trip out of NZ. We must use cash as much as possible.
Trust fund
Now that we're certain that we're moving to our own home, I can submit the application for our baby's educational trust fund. I wanted to go straight to ING but when I called to ask for help with filling in the application, the customer service person advised to me to get a lawyer's help. Duh. So it's going to be with National Bank's Thoroughbred Education Fund. For a start we'll only be contributing at least $25/fortnight with consideration of 4% inflation. $25 is not a lot I know but we'll definitely up that in increments of $10 as our debts (apart from mortgage) get less and less over time. Hopefully by the time he turns 3, we'll have $100/fortnight put into his trust fund.
That's it for now. Have a top weekend everyone!
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