Monday, January 25, 2010

Fun Spending

I expect to spend the $2500 of my US travel, and $3000 for traveling around NZ this summer. I'll be updating this list as I spend that money.



$2500 NZD travel to US in 2009 Fund; to be spent on other items--$1382 left:



  • $145 for new glasses
  • $68.50 for Sister's Christmas present
  • $181.04 on presents for myself (they are all career-related items, though...)
  • $173 NZD ($123 USD) for a 3-in-1 jacket; I now have a new down jacket AND a GoreTex rain jacket. I've wanted one for about 10 years now. Regular price, $450 NZD/$280 USD. I found this jacket 'on sale' in an outdoors shop in NZ for $300, marked down from $450 smackeroonies! The Small in the store fit me perfectly, so I put it on hold with Bivouac so I could check prices on line before I laid down $300 NZD. Altrec.com was having a sale on this exact jacket, but only in size small, and only in the color I wanted (crystal/blue jay)! Plus Free Shipping! I also think that that was the LAST jacket for that price, because when I went back to the website after ordering my jacket, it didn't offer that jacket for less than $180 USD, and only in size large and in a different color. I'm also getting 1% back on my cc, and 6% back from FatWallet on this purchase! Woo hoo, a $280 USD jacket for $114 USD. :) Again, I can use this for my work and play. I work outside a lot so this will be an awesome addition to my outdoor gear. And I'm planning to spend a lot of time outdoors this summer; I'll need that rain gear!
  • new contacts, $179. Getting a contact lens fitting would cost muchos of $$, and plus my insurance here is awful in terms of dental + optometry costs--basically 0 coverage. So I ordered contacts from a Canadian company online.
  • Keep NZ beautiful tshirt in blue. better be worth it...they stopped making them last week and I had to pay $56 for it. I've wanted one since I moved to NZ, though.
  • $140 for Mom and Dad's Christmas present
  • $85 for Mom's Christmas present
  • 90 for sister's birthday present

$3000 NZ travel; $1772 $1998! (Added $226 to pot from December savings) left:


  • $300 Dunedin trip at the end of Nov. Rental car already booked; $44 is my share. I'm also expecting to pay less than $60 total for accommodation, and the rest will be food and entry fees and souvenirs. Since I'm tacking this trip on the end of a conference, work paid for my flights (they were the same amount whether I left on Friday or Sunday). Actual cost: $188.80. Underage: $111. 20 (Added back into the pot)

  • $240 flight to/from Dunedin next February when my friend comes to visit. This trip will have a different itinerary than the first trip to Dunedin. You can never get sick of seeing penguins (at least, I can't!). Rental car should be less than $130 for my portion, and we'll be sleeping at hostels.


  • Trip to a Pacific Island!!! next Feb. Flights + 4 nights accomodation are $799 NZD. We'll also need food and $$ for souvenirs and activities (snorkeling, volcano tour, partying). I'll spend roughly $600 more for a great expedition. Hilariously, 1 'dollar' in their currency is worth 0.014 NZD. However, inflation must have hit pretty hard because I'm seeing prices like '$42,000 Dollars." Eeeks!



  • traveling around NZ with my friend in February.  I am planning on traveling around NZ with her for roughly two weeks (14 days), tramping, camping, etc.  I think she's budgeted $2000 NZD for it; I should do the same.  I can't wait!
  • Friend #1 travel accomodations:  $89.95 for the christchurch-auckland flight (not counted yet)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man, I'm about due for a new eye test. Ouch!

I buy my contacts from lensesonline.co.nz: they're the cheapest I've found in NZ. Where do you get yours?

Sense said...

a canadian company, http://www.globallens.ca/index.shtml

they aren't the cheapest out there but they don't require a prescription to be sent in and they ship internationally. my eyes have stayed the same for 10+ years, so I refuse to pay for a contact lens fitting any more than once every 2 years or so. My last eye test was last april and it would have cost $$ to get the fitting; my last fitting was last year--no need for another one!!