Apparently I know myself pretty well. I have this penchant for buying things at the local organic health food shop. I'm even a card-carrying member. I was not aware of this until I went yesterday, but it seems when I got my last $5 off voucher for being a member, I wrapped it around my card so when the woman at the counter asked me, "Do you have a Healthy Life card?" I saw I had $5 off! Considering my purchase was $15, this pre-thinking saved me 1/3rd of my grocery bill!
I got spelt flour, steel cut oats and some barley flakes and had a magazine included with my purchase. Normally I dispise health foods magazines. They feel like advertising done with fear and I really don't like that - especially since they claim these magic pills fix everything. And it's simply not true - and a health food shop should know that. Basically, I feel a lot of health magazines spread lies to sell their health-product that's actually no good and because people read it in a health magazine, they don't think to check. But I digress.
I found coupons for bottles of glucosamine, fish oil tablets and zinc - all things we normally have regularly anyway (which is really how you should coupon cut). I can get all three bottles for somewhere around the realm of $5. Nice. So I clipped those and wrapped them around my card as well. Since it's a shop I tend to go into not for specific items but just to find ideas and healthy things I wish to cook with (I almost never enter the supplement area without knowing what I want though). This should save me heaps of money.
Steel cut oats are a brilliant idea for a purchase, by the way. Usually in the morning I am made of this word called 'blargh'. It only turned into chipper when I've had my coffee. Which can take awhile as I can never seem to find the coffee maker (or my brain) first thing in the morning. I love breakfast. I feel it's the most important meal of the day. As a nutrition student, I've seen studies on just how beneficial breakfast is to dieting - and I still can't manage it.
That's where cheap-as-chips steel-cut oats come in. One cup oats, four cups water, set on low in the slow cooker and by morning BAM delicious slow cooked hot breakfast when you wake up. Oh heaven! If only my crockpot can fry eggs and turkey bacon, I'd never need a man. Because we all know I keep men around to fry eggs. That makes sense. Also, my sexism is a lie. Just like the cake. (Bu-cake-ke!)
So it's been a week and my budget is showing me as spending $20 more per day than I've allowed. Here's the thing - I don't owe anyone a dollar at this moment. I don't owe anyone anything for, hm, 3 days. And then, I owe about $500. And then... another week of not owing anything. Which means - holy shit I'm doing this. By the end of tonight the $20 per day over will be eliminated. By tomorrow I'll be ahead. By wednesday, I'll be leaps and bounds ahead. That cookbook IS IN SIGHT, baby.
Speaking of books, my fiance and I have this bizarre habit of reading to each other every night before bed. I read things like Nanny McPhee and The Magic Puddin' to him and he reads Little Miss and Mr. Men to me. Because we're six. Admit it, you think it's cute. Pervert.
Anyway, I discovered that Glynn was out of books to read me. They cost anywhere from $3-5 each, depending where you buy them. Glynn said to me, "Get the packs they have now, those are only $30." But my budget for books was $20!! Except... it wasn't. It was $30. And... here's where I stuffed up in my favour - I have books in my budget twice. Apparently I really love books.
My budget program, for some reason, has books listed under 'Departmental'. I guess at some point I felt this was entirely illogical and put it under 'Entertainment'. But departmental still has a $40 book budget, whereas entertainment has a $30 budget. I guess that means I buy $30 worth of entertaining books and $40 worth of useful books? Ha. So, I gave myself a $70 book budget. I love me.
I finished my Dresden File book I was reading and am disappointed because I recall saying I wouldn't buy one all month and I'd depend on free books. That's not difficult, but damn, the book left off on a point where the next book will obviously take off from - and it made me almost go out and buy the next one on my Kindle right then and there. But I didn't.
Tonight when Glynn gets home we're going to cut these giant oil barrels in half he brought home from work. We're scrubbing out the inside, putting rubber sealing on the edges ($3 a metre) and spraypainting the cans ($15 a can) candy apple red and then stenciling ($15 stencil) the names of the contents along the side in black paint (gift from friend) to make customized pots for the apple and orange trees we have.
Normally those trees would take about $60-200 pots each, depending on your taste. This is costing us about, oh, $45 for 4. Plus, the stencils are reusable. Plus, I can plant things like thyme, rosemary, sage and coriander at the base of the trees to grow as ground covering beneath it. So I'm going to write on shiny red paint in deep matte black "gala apple ° coriander ° thyme" along the outside of the pot. I think it will look quite nice when it's done.
Later this week I'm entertaining a lovely woman by teaching her to make soap. This is extremely beneficial to me - I get to spend time with people I want to spend time with, I get to make soap, I get to use things I already have and I get to spend a few hours doing something for pretty much no money at all, except materials I already have. Plus, I might get to impress her with my soap-making abilities (I am such a loser when it comes to pretty girls). Or I might do that fumble where I made soap on a stick.
Either way - I'm ahead, I've got plans, things are going well - and, oh, get this - I enjoy work again! I think the budget has made me love work because I don't need the money to cover bills I forgot to pay anymore. Now it's purely saving money and that's what I'm doing with it. So when my boss offers me a job, I am quick to take it and do it. Then I shove 10% into my savings and the rest into my account, so that at the end of the month I can pay off my credit card. Woohoo.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Budget Month - Day 6
There's a part of me that's regretting posting as much about my budget as I have been. Not in the sense of 'if I fail, now everybody will know' (which is, actually, exactly why I did it - pressure not to fail) but more along the sense of 'I feel like a snob'.
I do. I really do. I'm aware my partner and I actually have it pretty well and talking numbers is embarassing to people who makes less than us or are in worse situations that we are. The thing is - we were on the verge of ripping our hair out from financial troubles.
Honestly, nobody talks about the middle class or upper middle class when they discuss 'budget'. And again, I'm aware of how entitled I sound; hear me out. Most of the people in middle class and above have worked their way up to that point from lower class or just downright dirt poor.
Both my husband and I grew up with hardly anything, though our parents tried, there simply wasn't enough. Because of this, when we finally were able to have money of our own, we squandered it - didn't know how to budget at all. It was the opposite most teenagers find themselves in - usually from a comfortable income at home with their parents suddenly to broke uni student paying for an apartment and furniture; however, we came from poor and then worked hard and worked our way up the ladders perhaps a bit too quickly.
I became a model at a very young age and went from tiny city apartment in LA to being paid to travel the world. All very glamourous, really. Suddenly I had to buy Gucci heels and Diane Von Furstenburg wraps because I deserved it. Oh there's a damn expensive word if you ever earned some money in your life. I earned the money, obviously, so I deserved things that I thought I could afford. Funny, how when rent came around, I had to borrow until my next shoot was in, pay everyone off and then buy another damn designer something or other, leaving myself broke for the next bill. Ad nauseum.
My husband on the other hand, worked his arse off, dropping out of school at 16 to join an apprenticeship to become an engineer. He bought his first house at 20 because he "Liked the garage". No kidding. He didn't even see the house before he bought it - because of the garage. Obviously we came from two completely different money backgrounds, grew into money in two completely different ways and then ended up with exactly the same habits because of it.
And I think people need to talk about this. I think it's important. Someday, if we play our cards right, everyone who didn't have much and worked hard is going to find themselves with extra cash here and again. They're going to have to think about buying a house. They're going to have to think about kids. Etcetera.
Nobody talks about the gap there. They either discuss finances when you're broke and in school or they discuss finances when you're paying off your mortgage with 4 kids and two car payments. Nobody discusses money when you actually have the damn stuff. It's taboo to discuss it then. If I were going through a harder time, perhaps it would be less embarassing. And that's just not fair.
How am I supposed to pay for a house if I go straight from broke uni student to mortgage if I don't use my money wisely in that small few-year gap between the two? I believe more people between the ages of 20-25 should talk more explicitly about money - we're the ones spending it! It's embarassing to discuss how much money you have going to your retirement, but not how much you spent in one night at the bar buying rounds for all your friends? A little backwards I feel.
So I'm going to continue to talk about it because, well, nobody does. Nobody with money says to themselves, "You know what I should do? I should write a budget that sets me well below my means so I can be ready for anything." I think I have one whole friend that thinks like this - and she's IN finance! (Hi Bec!)
So, I'm going to sound entitled and I'm going to sound a little snobby. But I'm going to take that risk.. and I'm going to take that risk so that other single people without kids and mortgages will stop and think for a split second before they buy something they don't need and go, "Wait. Maybe this is better spent elsewhere." And maybe it'll make those days of mortgages and kids and car payments just that little bit easier.
Now I'm going to go and get those oil drums my husband brought home and cut them in half and paint them so my apple trees can go in them - so that I don't have to spend my hard earned money on expensive pots. Then I will get the wood I have and build my dogs a new kennel - so I don't have to spend the money on a new one. Because someday I'll have a mortgage. And I'd like to be able to afford it.
I do. I really do. I'm aware my partner and I actually have it pretty well and talking numbers is embarassing to people who makes less than us or are in worse situations that we are. The thing is - we were on the verge of ripping our hair out from financial troubles.
Honestly, nobody talks about the middle class or upper middle class when they discuss 'budget'. And again, I'm aware of how entitled I sound; hear me out. Most of the people in middle class and above have worked their way up to that point from lower class or just downright dirt poor.
Both my husband and I grew up with hardly anything, though our parents tried, there simply wasn't enough. Because of this, when we finally were able to have money of our own, we squandered it - didn't know how to budget at all. It was the opposite most teenagers find themselves in - usually from a comfortable income at home with their parents suddenly to broke uni student paying for an apartment and furniture; however, we came from poor and then worked hard and worked our way up the ladders perhaps a bit too quickly.
I became a model at a very young age and went from tiny city apartment in LA to being paid to travel the world. All very glamourous, really. Suddenly I had to buy Gucci heels and Diane Von Furstenburg wraps because I deserved it. Oh there's a damn expensive word if you ever earned some money in your life. I earned the money, obviously, so I deserved things that I thought I could afford. Funny, how when rent came around, I had to borrow until my next shoot was in, pay everyone off and then buy another damn designer something or other, leaving myself broke for the next bill. Ad nauseum.
My husband on the other hand, worked his arse off, dropping out of school at 16 to join an apprenticeship to become an engineer. He bought his first house at 20 because he "Liked the garage". No kidding. He didn't even see the house before he bought it - because of the garage. Obviously we came from two completely different money backgrounds, grew into money in two completely different ways and then ended up with exactly the same habits because of it.
And I think people need to talk about this. I think it's important. Someday, if we play our cards right, everyone who didn't have much and worked hard is going to find themselves with extra cash here and again. They're going to have to think about buying a house. They're going to have to think about kids. Etcetera.
Nobody talks about the gap there. They either discuss finances when you're broke and in school or they discuss finances when you're paying off your mortgage with 4 kids and two car payments. Nobody discusses money when you actually have the damn stuff. It's taboo to discuss it then. If I were going through a harder time, perhaps it would be less embarassing. And that's just not fair.
How am I supposed to pay for a house if I go straight from broke uni student to mortgage if I don't use my money wisely in that small few-year gap between the two? I believe more people between the ages of 20-25 should talk more explicitly about money - we're the ones spending it! It's embarassing to discuss how much money you have going to your retirement, but not how much you spent in one night at the bar buying rounds for all your friends? A little backwards I feel.
So I'm going to continue to talk about it because, well, nobody does. Nobody with money says to themselves, "You know what I should do? I should write a budget that sets me well below my means so I can be ready for anything." I think I have one whole friend that thinks like this - and she's IN finance! (Hi Bec!)
So, I'm going to sound entitled and I'm going to sound a little snobby. But I'm going to take that risk.. and I'm going to take that risk so that other single people without kids and mortgages will stop and think for a split second before they buy something they don't need and go, "Wait. Maybe this is better spent elsewhere." And maybe it'll make those days of mortgages and kids and car payments just that little bit easier.
Now I'm going to go and get those oil drums my husband brought home and cut them in half and paint them so my apple trees can go in them - so that I don't have to spend my hard earned money on expensive pots. Then I will get the wood I have and build my dogs a new kennel - so I don't have to spend the money on a new one. Because someday I'll have a mortgage. And I'd like to be able to afford it.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Budget Month - Day 5
I'm only 'off' from my budget about two days now. Meaning if I don't spend any money for two days, I'm back on track. This is possible, but I could also, y'know, just spend less for a lot of days instead. Considering this is including rent, electricity, trash, internet, phone, car, some groceries and health insurance, I really don't think it's fair to say I'm behind. Everyone has a lot of bills in the begining of the month (though I changed that and next month should be smoooth sailing!).
Today I was feeling a bit lonely, as my husband is away working to make extra money for our family to save up and I really wanted to get out and go shopping. Now "going shopping" is a very very bad thing to say. Obviously it's not "going to buy new clothes" or "going to buy something I need", it's "I really would like to purchase things with no thought as to how they fit into my budget". That's what "going shopping" means to a woman.
However, I was determined to spend very little, come home with things I needed or could use AND spend a lot of time doing it, because otherwise spending $100 on clothes in an hour is just depressing. Whereas what I really did - which was spend sixteen dollars in 5 hours was so very much better!!
How did I manage that one?
I went yardsale shopping! Driving around takes up heaps of time, plus with my iPod it's kind of fun. I got to blast Porn Academy and Metallica and Pantera and it was great. Driving in the sunshine with lots of open roads (I live in a rural-ish area) and singing and dancing and bartering.
Here's how my spending broke down:
$2.50 for one necklace (turned out to be the most expensive thing I bought for the value)
$4 on ALL those glass homebrew bottles, and the guy said I could come back for another 2 dozen for free
$1 for the five ice-cream bowls, which look PERFECT for taking photos in for my other blog, nothingbutanapron
$1 for the top
$2 for each pair of shorts
$1 for the video game
$1 for the awesome geeky bunny figurine
$1 for another necklace
That's right - two necklaces, 27 glass bottles, 2 pairs of shorts, a top, five bowls, a video game and a figuring for 15.50. I was SO proud of myself! I think I learned the trick to yardsales.
Don't bring more than $15.
If you find something more expensive you can go to the bank and get money for it. If it's not worth going all the way to the bank and back - it's not worth it. (Though the $50 for the entire set of Guitar Hero drums/guitars/games was SO TEMPTING)
At one point I spent around $12 I had and went to the bank and got another $20. Of course I didn't end up spending much more than that, but it was a DAMN good way to budget my yardsaling. Plus the, "Oh it's $6? Damn I only have a five," works really well for haggling.
My next bill due is next week and is my Foxtel. Also, rent. And electricity. My food bill is paid. My groceries are up to date and so are the rest of my bills. If I spend like I have today for the rest of the week, I should be about $500 ahead.
Also, I popped another $30 into my savings, having already saved $110 for the month! And it's only day 5! For reference, my budget is not my income. My budget is far below my income, but I really have the ability to live way below my means and I'd like to.
It's time to grow up.
I'd cry, but I have no onions.
Today I was feeling a bit lonely, as my husband is away working to make extra money for our family to save up and I really wanted to get out and go shopping. Now "going shopping" is a very very bad thing to say. Obviously it's not "going to buy new clothes" or "going to buy something I need", it's "I really would like to purchase things with no thought as to how they fit into my budget". That's what "going shopping" means to a woman.
However, I was determined to spend very little, come home with things I needed or could use AND spend a lot of time doing it, because otherwise spending $100 on clothes in an hour is just depressing. Whereas what I really did - which was spend sixteen dollars in 5 hours was so very much better!!
How did I manage that one?
I went yardsale shopping! Driving around takes up heaps of time, plus with my iPod it's kind of fun. I got to blast Porn Academy and Metallica and Pantera and it was great. Driving in the sunshine with lots of open roads (I live in a rural-ish area) and singing and dancing and bartering.Here's how my spending broke down:
$2.50 for one necklace (turned out to be the most expensive thing I bought for the value)
$4 on ALL those glass homebrew bottles, and the guy said I could come back for another 2 dozen for free
$1 for the five ice-cream bowls, which look PERFECT for taking photos in for my other blog, nothingbutanapron
$1 for the top
$2 for each pair of shorts
$1 for the video game
$1 for the awesome geeky bunny figurine
$1 for another necklace
That's right - two necklaces, 27 glass bottles, 2 pairs of shorts, a top, five bowls, a video game and a figuring for 15.50. I was SO proud of myself! I think I learned the trick to yardsales.
Don't bring more than $15.
If you find something more expensive you can go to the bank and get money for it. If it's not worth going all the way to the bank and back - it's not worth it. (Though the $50 for the entire set of Guitar Hero drums/guitars/games was SO TEMPTING)
At one point I spent around $12 I had and went to the bank and got another $20. Of course I didn't end up spending much more than that, but it was a DAMN good way to budget my yardsaling. Plus the, "Oh it's $6? Damn I only have a five," works really well for haggling.
My next bill due is next week and is my Foxtel. Also, rent. And electricity. My food bill is paid. My groceries are up to date and so are the rest of my bills. If I spend like I have today for the rest of the week, I should be about $500 ahead.
Also, I popped another $30 into my savings, having already saved $110 for the month! And it's only day 5! For reference, my budget is not my income. My budget is far below my income, but I really have the ability to live way below my means and I'd like to.
It's time to grow up.
I'd cry, but I have no onions.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Budget Month - Day 4 Revisted
Bah, this is my blog, I can post if I want to. At least my posts have substance. I needed to get this out because it made me cry. I failed big time today - not at budgeting, just at *trying* to save money.
First my car was blinking hecticly at me for more fuel. Please, it blinked, give me something to eat, I'm hungry. Knowing now that the local petrol station is a rip off, I decided to chance it and go to a Caltex because I have a $.04 a litre fuel voucher from Woolworths. Watching it blink more sporadically as I got stuck behind a bobcat trailer was the worst part. Finally I get to the petrol station, put in $30 and proudly hand over my voucher going, Gee, this will save me eighty cents!
"I'm sorry we don't accept those."
"What? You're a Caltex!"
"Yeah but we're not a WOOLWORTHS Caltex. We're just a regular Caltex. That'll be $30."
So I failed at saving money there.
Then, I was on my way to the bank in a pretty big rush because when I called Medibank they told me the money was already set to come out (but I changed next month's to be easier on my banking system) and my account was short. When I got there, the money was already out - so I was in the negative in my account. Luckily, I got there in time to avoid overdraft fees, but I wasn't there in time to get a downright embarassing reaming from the teller about how she wasn't sure I could give her money (?!) because I was over, ladadada, go to hell. Not her saying to me go to hell, but me saying it to her. In my brain. Because I have no testicles for that.
So after failing once, then failing again.. I kinda just cried. I cried because I was humiliated at the bank during the worst time possible - when I was actually trying.
Then, as usual, I became the person I always become immediately after crying: Determined Woman. Oh, I don't know if you've met Determined Woman, but she's damn determined. "Fuck this shit. Fuck this shit to hell!" I said to myself, because I curse in my brain quite frequently. I stood up, marched into a bunch of stores and demanded jobs.
I am free every day but weekend nights, I can sell a cow to a horse and, at the health stores, I made sure to mention I was a nutrition student. At Harrison's, the beauty shop, I mentioned I make soaps and lotions and even displayed my knowledge in additives by describing their properties while showingly reading the first label I picked up. I was smooth. I would've hired me. If I can sell a cow to a horse, you should see what happens when I want to sell myself to an employer. It's magic.
So I was promised a heap of calls and nods and smiles and went on my determined way. I was not done! No! I went home and I called the magazine that had published me and never paid me. I had contacted them three weeks ago with no materialization of my cheque. I discovered that they had been confused by my statement of "I never got the cheque for $750" because, as it turns out, the cheque was for ONE THOUSAND dollars. Not seven fifty.
So now they're resending it. $250 more than I orginally thought I earned. That's right folks, determined as fuck me just managed to most probably get a second job AND get $1000 in a single day because someone humilated me. That's just how I roll.
At the mall I saw a gold buying place as well. I have an engagement ring from my ex I used to like until my soon-to-be husband bought the giant ring I currently own, which blew my ex's out of the water by like, oh, 10x the price. Let's ignore the fact my ex made me pay for my own ring anyway. So, it's not like it has good memories. I paid $600 for the ring. $200, hell, $100, would make me part with it. So I'm gathering that and a couple other things my mother gave me that I never liked (and aren't heirlooms) and I'm going to sell those.
Am I done there? NO! Fucking bitch at the bank who embarassed me, you have NO idea what I will do to prove to you I'm not some broke bitch who's going through a hard time - nope. In a month you're gonna see - my credit card will be paid off, Glynn gets his raise, and I'll have made thousands of dollars worth of deposits not counting the new job I'm certain I'm getting.
I'm also calling photographers today*. They promised me a large job shortly and I think it's about time they gave it to me. I'm going to demand to work with them in about, oh, five minutes.
I've also managed to get my health care switched to the middle of the month and Foxtel switched to around day 9 of the month, so that the first week I can focus on the car, electricity and insurance payments. I've made shit easier.
So what do I have to say to money right now?
Bring it on.
*Edit: DONE! I called them. Hopefully I will have more work very shortly.
First my car was blinking hecticly at me for more fuel. Please, it blinked, give me something to eat, I'm hungry. Knowing now that the local petrol station is a rip off, I decided to chance it and go to a Caltex because I have a $.04 a litre fuel voucher from Woolworths. Watching it blink more sporadically as I got stuck behind a bobcat trailer was the worst part. Finally I get to the petrol station, put in $30 and proudly hand over my voucher going, Gee, this will save me eighty cents!
"I'm sorry we don't accept those."
"What? You're a Caltex!"
"Yeah but we're not a WOOLWORTHS Caltex. We're just a regular Caltex. That'll be $30."
So I failed at saving money there.
Then, I was on my way to the bank in a pretty big rush because when I called Medibank they told me the money was already set to come out (but I changed next month's to be easier on my banking system) and my account was short. When I got there, the money was already out - so I was in the negative in my account. Luckily, I got there in time to avoid overdraft fees, but I wasn't there in time to get a downright embarassing reaming from the teller about how she wasn't sure I could give her money (?!) because I was over, ladadada, go to hell. Not her saying to me go to hell, but me saying it to her. In my brain. Because I have no testicles for that.
So after failing once, then failing again.. I kinda just cried. I cried because I was humiliated at the bank during the worst time possible - when I was actually trying.
Then, as usual, I became the person I always become immediately after crying: Determined Woman. Oh, I don't know if you've met Determined Woman, but she's damn determined. "Fuck this shit. Fuck this shit to hell!" I said to myself, because I curse in my brain quite frequently. I stood up, marched into a bunch of stores and demanded jobs.
I am free every day but weekend nights, I can sell a cow to a horse and, at the health stores, I made sure to mention I was a nutrition student. At Harrison's, the beauty shop, I mentioned I make soaps and lotions and even displayed my knowledge in additives by describing their properties while showingly reading the first label I picked up. I was smooth. I would've hired me. If I can sell a cow to a horse, you should see what happens when I want to sell myself to an employer. It's magic.
So I was promised a heap of calls and nods and smiles and went on my determined way. I was not done! No! I went home and I called the magazine that had published me and never paid me. I had contacted them three weeks ago with no materialization of my cheque. I discovered that they had been confused by my statement of "I never got the cheque for $750" because, as it turns out, the cheque was for ONE THOUSAND dollars. Not seven fifty.
So now they're resending it. $250 more than I orginally thought I earned. That's right folks, determined as fuck me just managed to most probably get a second job AND get $1000 in a single day because someone humilated me. That's just how I roll.
At the mall I saw a gold buying place as well. I have an engagement ring from my ex I used to like until my soon-to-be husband bought the giant ring I currently own, which blew my ex's out of the water by like, oh, 10x the price. Let's ignore the fact my ex made me pay for my own ring anyway. So, it's not like it has good memories. I paid $600 for the ring. $200, hell, $100, would make me part with it. So I'm gathering that and a couple other things my mother gave me that I never liked (and aren't heirlooms) and I'm going to sell those.
Am I done there? NO! Fucking bitch at the bank who embarassed me, you have NO idea what I will do to prove to you I'm not some broke bitch who's going through a hard time - nope. In a month you're gonna see - my credit card will be paid off, Glynn gets his raise, and I'll have made thousands of dollars worth of deposits not counting the new job I'm certain I'm getting.
I'm also calling photographers today*. They promised me a large job shortly and I think it's about time they gave it to me. I'm going to demand to work with them in about, oh, five minutes.
I've also managed to get my health care switched to the middle of the month and Foxtel switched to around day 9 of the month, so that the first week I can focus on the car, electricity and insurance payments. I've made shit easier.
So what do I have to say to money right now?
Bring it on.
*Edit: DONE! I called them. Hopefully I will have more work very shortly.
Budget Month - Day 4
"Our plants are growing our of their pots," I told Glynn last night.
"So buy more pots," he told me as his eyes glazed over at a photo of a tractor on eBay he's been eyeing this week (next week it will be an air compressor, watch).
"I can't! I didn't budget anything for plants! So I went on Freecycle and posted an ad looking for free pots."
He looked confused and looked back towards me, "You're actually serious about this thing, aren't you?"
"I want that cookbook," I confessed.
"Yeah, but you could just go out and buy it today. You're serious about this. You really want to budget."
I shrugged, "Just because we make a lot of money doesn't mean we need to spend a lot of money."
He seemed proud, "Even when you tell me you don't do anything when you're home, I don't believe you, you're always doing something to improve this family."
He finally sat down last night and looked at my budget, "You accounted for parking?"
"Only $20. Good thing I did! I spent $5!"
"Yeah but, I would have never thought about that."
"I know, that's what last month was for, figuring out where we spent money so I could put it in a budget."
"Bank fees? You put a budget for BANK FEES?"
"Good thing I did! $16 went to that."
"You really thought this through."
Except, I didn't. I've realized a critical flaw in my plan, that I do NOT think I should be held accountable for. What flaw did I have?
This month has 5 Wednesdays. Barely, but it does. Problem is, Wednesday is the day bills are due and also the day rent gets paid and the day Glynn gets paid. So my rent this month, instead of being $1440, is technically $1800. And the electric bill is another $86 more than I budgeted for. BUT, this is not fair. Theoretically I could simply pay my rent and electricity on Thursday and be perfectly within budget for the month and incredibly ahead with that extra money laying in the account.
I don't really think it's condusive to budgeting to pay my bills late just so I can say I win at budgeting. So - this last Wednesday of the month? We're gonna count it, but we're also going to add some money into my rent budget and my electricity budget for the month. Do you readers feel that is fair? Last month only had 4 weeks and I budgeted off of that.
On another note - I realized my Foxtel and my Health Insurance are due in two days. The former is $120, the latter is near $200 for the both of us. There's $150 in the account right now, $300 in cash on me and I really don't like that. It doesn't leave me with much. Especially since I owe a tad more money on my fruit/veg delivery this week as well.
I have never liked that my car payment, Foxtel and Health all came out the same day. That alone is near five hundred dollars spent in a single day. So today - I am calling Foxtel and Medibank and having them change my billing days to the middle of the month. That way I can pay for food, car payments and insurances (car/home) on the 6th, like normal, and the other ones on the 15th, so that it's easier to manage.
As for food - I have finished my mandarins. I finished my zucchinis. I finished my capsicums.
Currently I stand at:
1 pineapple
3 lemons
1 lime
1 corn
1 lettuce
1 broccoli
2 avocados
7 apples
5 bananas
2 sweet potatoes
1 ginger root
5 potatoes
7 tomatoes
1 radish
2 mushrooms
I ate more than I thought, and less than I thought at the same time. I obviously have a lot of fruit to use before Tuesday when I pick up my next box. Banana bread? Cliche. Apple pie? Done it three times this year. I'm sure I will figure it out and then post it for all to see.
Also, I have discovered recently that the trees lining my neighbourhood are edible. They're lillipilli trees and actually are good for making jam. Also good for making jam is the honey I get for free from the farm. The only other ingredient in jam, when the fruit is high in pectin, is water. I'm going out today to collect lillipillies and make a jam from it using free fruit, free honey and free water. I'm going to call it the "Free Jam", I think. Now there's taking budgeting to a whole. new. level.
I might buy an onion today.
"So buy more pots," he told me as his eyes glazed over at a photo of a tractor on eBay he's been eyeing this week (next week it will be an air compressor, watch).
"I can't! I didn't budget anything for plants! So I went on Freecycle and posted an ad looking for free pots."
He looked confused and looked back towards me, "You're actually serious about this thing, aren't you?"
"I want that cookbook," I confessed.
"Yeah, but you could just go out and buy it today. You're serious about this. You really want to budget."
I shrugged, "Just because we make a lot of money doesn't mean we need to spend a lot of money."
He seemed proud, "Even when you tell me you don't do anything when you're home, I don't believe you, you're always doing something to improve this family."
He finally sat down last night and looked at my budget, "You accounted for parking?"
"Only $20. Good thing I did! I spent $5!"
"Yeah but, I would have never thought about that."
"I know, that's what last month was for, figuring out where we spent money so I could put it in a budget."
"Bank fees? You put a budget for BANK FEES?"
"Good thing I did! $16 went to that."
"You really thought this through."
Except, I didn't. I've realized a critical flaw in my plan, that I do NOT think I should be held accountable for. What flaw did I have?
This month has 5 Wednesdays. Barely, but it does. Problem is, Wednesday is the day bills are due and also the day rent gets paid and the day Glynn gets paid. So my rent this month, instead of being $1440, is technically $1800. And the electric bill is another $86 more than I budgeted for. BUT, this is not fair. Theoretically I could simply pay my rent and electricity on Thursday and be perfectly within budget for the month and incredibly ahead with that extra money laying in the account.
I don't really think it's condusive to budgeting to pay my bills late just so I can say I win at budgeting. So - this last Wednesday of the month? We're gonna count it, but we're also going to add some money into my rent budget and my electricity budget for the month. Do you readers feel that is fair? Last month only had 4 weeks and I budgeted off of that.
On another note - I realized my Foxtel and my Health Insurance are due in two days. The former is $120, the latter is near $200 for the both of us. There's $150 in the account right now, $300 in cash on me and I really don't like that. It doesn't leave me with much. Especially since I owe a tad more money on my fruit/veg delivery this week as well.
I have never liked that my car payment, Foxtel and Health all came out the same day. That alone is near five hundred dollars spent in a single day. So today - I am calling Foxtel and Medibank and having them change my billing days to the middle of the month. That way I can pay for food, car payments and insurances (car/home) on the 6th, like normal, and the other ones on the 15th, so that it's easier to manage.
As for food - I have finished my mandarins. I finished my zucchinis. I finished my capsicums.
Currently I stand at:
1 pineapple
3 lemons
1 lime
1 corn
1 lettuce
1 broccoli
2 avocados
7 apples
5 bananas
2 sweet potatoes
1 ginger root
5 potatoes
7 tomatoes
1 radish
2 mushrooms
I ate more than I thought, and less than I thought at the same time. I obviously have a lot of fruit to use before Tuesday when I pick up my next box. Banana bread? Cliche. Apple pie? Done it three times this year. I'm sure I will figure it out and then post it for all to see.
Also, I have discovered recently that the trees lining my neighbourhood are edible. They're lillipilli trees and actually are good for making jam. Also good for making jam is the honey I get for free from the farm. The only other ingredient in jam, when the fruit is high in pectin, is water. I'm going out today to collect lillipillies and make a jam from it using free fruit, free honey and free water. I'm going to call it the "Free Jam", I think. Now there's taking budgeting to a whole. new. level.
I might buy an onion today.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Budget Month - Day 3
I have discovered a small problem with budget blogging. I love blogging in the morning when I first wake up. Yes, I wake up like this. No, I do not plan on changing. This leads to problems, however, because I can't really blog about how well I did that day if the banks haven't even opened, can I?
I'm doing well! (I can try, apparently) It looks like I'm doing badly, but I just paid off a gamillion necessary bills - and I've budgeted for that! I paid rent. I paid some utilities ($86 electricity, $150 mobile phones and $14.53 in bank fees [which I also budgeted for!]) and I did go out yesterday and I did donate some money to charity (and I'll be damned if it wasn't worth it).
All in all of my $159.43 budget per day, I've spent $242.11. Don't look at me like that! First of all if I simply go two more days without spending any money, I'm back on my average. Second of all, I don't have a single bill due for at least another week, and then it's just electricity, the last hundred of my (and Glynn's! Don't place the blame soley on me here) phone bill, and rent again.
As it stands I still have over $500 in utilities I've still budgeted for, another thousand eighty in rent, and another $333.70 in entertainment. I'm THRILLED. It may only be day 3 and my average may be two days off of 'in the clear', but my bills are paid, I'm considerably under budget and I've planned for this, thanks to calculating my expenses last month and preparing myself for things I had forgotten (like bank fees!).
As a side bonus, last night I got super tired and didn't end up cooking (wut?) and Glynn used the pizza bases and sauces I keep frozen and made pizza using only one capsicum and some mushrooms. So basically, I have a lot of ingredients on my list still left and *four days* to use them, which is so many levels of score. I did eat a mandarin for breakfast yesterday and I plan on doing it again shortly. I have not grocery shopped in 5 days. This is really good for me, especially if you know me and food.
As a second bonus, after day one Glynn came home and said, "I got milk!" and I was horrified! I had planned spending the entirety of Day 1 without spending a cent. But, get this... his boss wanted him to buy some milk for work. His boss said to him, "What is milk these days? (rich men, go figure) Is it about $3 or $4? Bah, here's a five, keep the change." Well, when Glynn went to get milk is was 2 for $5! Free milk!
All I have left to do this week is buy a damn onion!
Edit: I don't know how I forgot this, but I've spent most of the last two days downloading free books using iPhone's Stanza application. I've downloaded 200 out-of-copyright titles. Books I read in school, books I wanted to read, books I only want to read for the fame (Proust), and others.
I also took a page out of one of my finance books and deposited $80 into my savings nearly immediately. It's not budging.
I'm doing well! (I can try, apparently) It looks like I'm doing badly, but I just paid off a gamillion necessary bills - and I've budgeted for that! I paid rent. I paid some utilities ($86 electricity, $150 mobile phones and $14.53 in bank fees [which I also budgeted for!]) and I did go out yesterday and I did donate some money to charity (and I'll be damned if it wasn't worth it).
All in all of my $159.43 budget per day, I've spent $242.11. Don't look at me like that! First of all if I simply go two more days without spending any money, I'm back on my average. Second of all, I don't have a single bill due for at least another week, and then it's just electricity, the last hundred of my (and Glynn's! Don't place the blame soley on me here) phone bill, and rent again.
As it stands I still have over $500 in utilities I've still budgeted for, another thousand eighty in rent, and another $333.70 in entertainment. I'm THRILLED. It may only be day 3 and my average may be two days off of 'in the clear', but my bills are paid, I'm considerably under budget and I've planned for this, thanks to calculating my expenses last month and preparing myself for things I had forgotten (like bank fees!).
As a side bonus, last night I got super tired and didn't end up cooking (wut?) and Glynn used the pizza bases and sauces I keep frozen and made pizza using only one capsicum and some mushrooms. So basically, I have a lot of ingredients on my list still left and *four days* to use them, which is so many levels of score. I did eat a mandarin for breakfast yesterday and I plan on doing it again shortly. I have not grocery shopped in 5 days. This is really good for me, especially if you know me and food.
As a second bonus, after day one Glynn came home and said, "I got milk!" and I was horrified! I had planned spending the entirety of Day 1 without spending a cent. But, get this... his boss wanted him to buy some milk for work. His boss said to him, "What is milk these days? (rich men, go figure) Is it about $3 or $4? Bah, here's a five, keep the change." Well, when Glynn went to get milk is was 2 for $5! Free milk!
All I have left to do this week is buy a damn onion!
Edit: I don't know how I forgot this, but I've spent most of the last two days downloading free books using iPhone's Stanza application. I've downloaded 200 out-of-copyright titles. Books I read in school, books I wanted to read, books I only want to read for the fame (Proust), and others.
I also took a page out of one of my finance books and deposited $80 into my savings nearly immediately. It's not budging.
Budget Month - Day 2
As promised in yesterday's post, I went out today with friends and actually thought I managed well! My date was kind enough to have read my blog and was very understanding about me trying to save money, which really helped. The chivalrous bastard in me really wanted to pay for my date, but hey, money isn't the only thing I got (and let's face it, I ain't got that no more, so I gotta depend on my personality - damn.).
According to my budget, I spent $438.50 today. Stop looking at me like that. $360 of it was my rent. What did you think I did? Buy shoes? $5 was parking and another amount was a gift (like I'd tell you how much that was). I think I did well for going to a place that looked like, well, above. I should let it be noted I spent nearly SIX HOURS at this place. So ha. For my money, it was a good deal.
Of course, I also had an amazing time. How else can you have an amazing time for six hours barely spending over ten dollars an hour unless you have excellent company? Which I did. I got to spend time with people I hardly spend time with (and people I'd like to spend more time with) talking of ghosts and life experiences and how it feels to freefall and sex and drugs and jazz (as opposed to rock and roll).
Now - to tackle more of my fruit and veg box. Let's work on the zucchini, shall we? I hate zucchini. Okay - actually I don't. I do. I don't. I can leave it, I guess. It's too, well, chini, for me. Needs less chini and more zuc. No, I have no idea what I'm on about either. All I know is zucchinis are those vegetables that make life difficult for me. I always end up giving them to the chickens.
Ba da bing! Not only do I always keep homemade pizza dough on hand (yes, everything) but I get to use 4 more tomatoes AND the capsicum. Plus I already have homemade sauce in the freezer (everything) - so this should be a nice quick easy thing to make up after a long day out with the girls.
Although I should mention right now one of the gifts I bought today was a capsicum for a beautiful lady's guinea pig. Problem is the shop I stopped at only sold capsicum by the bag. I somehow managed to get another 5 capsicum.
I still don't have that damn onion.
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