New Year's Eve

My plan for NYE is to drive up to One Tree Hill and view the fireworks on the Sky Tower!  I don't think one of those huge clubby downtown parties would be fun by myself, and I'm not sure how safe it is for a single girl to camp on the beach when everyone is drinking and being ridiculous.  All I really wanted for NYE was some fun fireworks, anyway!  May it be a good one for all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[EDIT:  didn't make it that far, just walked up the road from my apartment and had a great view of the fireworks!  I discovered when driving around that I had a great view only a block away from my apartment...I thought I'd be alone on the street but it seems like a lot of people also noticed the view there...there was a pretty large group of families tonight.]

2010 & Proper Pronunciation

Is it 'Twenty-Ten' or 'Two-Thousand-Ten?'

What gets your vote?  See my poll. --->

Just curious...

Either way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009 Spending

I just went over my income for 2009, so here's my spending summary:

• $16,045, or 40.9% of my net income, was spent on needs (rent, groceries, electricity, and medical expenses)
• $8,439, or 21.5% of my net income, was spent on wants (internet, cell phone, eating out, charity, and misc expenses)
• the remainder, $14,790, or 37.6%, was saved in various funds for my 2009 goals
• $118.38 was saved in my Kiwisaver account.

I'm doing well tracking my finances every day, keeping within my monthly budget, and accomplishing my short-term goals.   I'm not doing so hot at saving for longer-term goals and other permanent things.  I will address this issue and other improvements that I could make in 2010 in future posts.

2009 Income

What a doozy to begin to figure out!  However, my 2009 spending is actually much easier than most.  It was the first year since starting the blog that I a) didn't move continents/hemispheres,  b) stayed in the same apartment with the same rent, c)  was debt-free, d) didn't change my full-time status at work, or e) some combination of the above. 

In 2006, I moved apartments within my CA city and was still paying debt off.  In 2007, I was debt-free, but moved in with XBF, and I went part-time at work to take classes.  In 2008, I was still debt-free, still taking classes and then I moved from CA to NZ, was unemployed for a few months, and also moved apartments within Auckland.  Whoa.

In 2009, I grossed $49,938.13.  I paid $10,588.22 to the NZ government through taxes (21.2%) and I contributed $118.38 to my Kiwisaver (100% matched by my employer up to 2%), leaving me with a net income of $39,231.53. My salary is technically $51,300, however, I took some unpaid leave to hang at home in the US.  All in all, I had over 6 weeks of vacation time in 2009.  Well worth it to me to take vacation over the money.

2009...An Epic Year

In 2009, my long-term, live-in boyfriend and I broke up, I hiked the Tongariro Crossing, I had an Immigration interview and became a permanent resident of NZ, I camped near and hiked on Tarawera, I visited 3 of my best friends in DC, I went to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel, I camped at Kaphia, my best friend from home became pregnant and had a baby girl, I saw kauri trees, I turned 31, I visited the South Island for the first time since moving to NZ, I saw penguins and sea lions in Otago, I presented a poster at a conference and that poster is now in the Auckland Museum, I visited all the geothermal spa sites in Taupo and a few in Rotorua, I had a BBQ with long lost friends from high school, my contract at work was renewed for 2 more years, I got a new roommate who I like, I made three friends in NZ and then they all left, my dad almost lost his thumb, my mom and sister were in relatively good health, I joined the Kiwisaver, and so much more! 

Halfway through the year, my 2009 goals were complete.  To review, my original 2009 goals were:

1) $5K in a 2009 US Travel Fund, to be used to pay for airfare to the US to visit my family, once in the summer and once for Christmas.

Update:  SUCCESSFUL.  $2,500 of that money was used for a trip home in July.  I decided not to go home for Christmas, so that $2,500 is being spent on Christmas presents, items on my 'Wish List' (see sidebar), and some NZ travel. 

2) $1.1K in a New Laptop Fund. Just in case.

Update:  SUCCESSFUL.  Money is now gathering interest in my savings account.

3) $3K Car Fund, for renting or leasing a car this summer (Nov-Mar) to travel around NZ.

Update:  SUCCESSFUL.  I put $2,700 towards some NZ traveling when some friends come to visit in Feb 2010, and $300 for a weekend in Dunedin/Otago with some friends after a conference down there.

After these goals were done in July 2009, I then scrambled around to define some more goals.  They came pretty easily, and were not confined to financial outcomes, but I'll only focus on the financial bits for now.

2009 (July - December) Financial Goals

• Fill out US EF goal to $5K USD (approx. $3.8K NZD)

Update:  SUCCESSFUL.  That goal was probably the most difficult of the year...it just seemed that I'd never ever get there!  I think the NZD-USD conversion really threw me for a loop.  I also ended up only needing to save $3.1K due to the exchange rate changes and other income (interest).

I also identified some potential 2010 financial goals:

2010 Goals (Financial)

• Save $6K for US travel (this is already done, but $2.8K instead of $6K, because I'm planning on going back once instead of twice next year, and because I completely miscalculated the amount I saved in 2009.  Ugh.)
• Save $4K for NZ, Oz, Pacific Islands Travel 
• Fill out my #1 and #2 slush fund objectives  (These later turned into my Long-Term Goals, see side-bar for their progress.  They are:  House Downpayment Fund, Europe Fund, Kiwisaver Fund, and Future Roth Contribution Fund)

I amended my 2010 financial goals a little bit to be more realistic.  New post coming soon.

Happy Holidays!

To those of you who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas today!  To those of you who don't, Happy Holidays!

Fire! Unprepared!

My roommate almost burned our building down today.

I came home from my jaunt around town in my fancy rental car, and smelled something burning.  I rushed into the kitchen, and there were three eggs sitting in a dry pot, cracked open and burned to a crisp, flames shooting from the bottom of the pan around them.  The burner was on high, and no one was in sight. 

Luckily the flames were contained in the pot and so I turned off the burner and moved the pot to a cool burner.  Then I grabbed the fire extinguisher our landlord thoughtfully left for us, pulled the pin, and aimed at the pot.

It was also lucky that I am the floor fire warden at work, and have had training about how to deal with kitchen fires and how to use a fire extinguisher.

It was 1:30 pm; my roommate had left the house around 9:30 am!!  OMG, what if I hadn't come home then?!  My plan was to go about an hour and a half out of town but I decided to go elsewhere today, at the last minute.  Whew.

Our patio window and bedroom windows were wide open and a breeze was blowing straight through the apartment; otherwise I'm sure the fire alarm would have gone off already.  But there was nothing.  I guess the fire has to be much bigger before it goes off.

Also worriedly, neither of us has renter's insurance.  My theory was, I don't own enough in NZ to replace to justify the cost, and that my landlord's home insurance should cover their belongings in the house.  But now I don't know.  I kind of want insurance.

What I'd grab in a real, get out now fire:  my grandmother's heirloom ring; my laptop; my backpack with my wallet in it; and my paper file carrier with all my tax info on it.
Whoo, it was a scary day.

No Party

My Orphan Party on Christmas is cancelled.  :(  I bought all these decorations, food, games and presents for everyone that was coming (7 people), and had already taken everything out of their packages and boxes (even the presents--can you return lottery tickets?) and set it up, so I can't get my money back for anything.  Argh.

Unfortunately, the flakiness gene is rampant these days.  Three days before Christmas, and suddenly everyone has other plans (including my roommate and her friends!), even after confirming that they were coming last week and were bringing certain items for the menu!  I'm pretty bummed that I'll be alone on Christmas even after all my planning!  Guess that's what I get.  Lesson learned:  go home for Christmas.  And don't take anything out of their boxes/packages until the day before your party!  :) 

I wonder if it's too late to volunteer somewhere?  At least then I wouldn't be alone and I could actually help someone else!

I love Saturdays in December...

...because it means two episodes of Dollhouse!  Yay!

*Now With Transportation!

I had to rent a car for yesterday's work--I was picking up some samples and boy are they heavy.  No freakin' way was I carrying those around on the bus/while walking.  I also need the car to do a little sampling field trip next week for 3 days.  So instead of trekking out the half hour to the rental car place and back twice in 3 days, I just rented the car through the weekend.  Yeah!

I have so many plans for that lil car!  It's adorable.  And you know what I love?  I could turn down the $10/day optional insurance without any worries!  A) my credit card covers me for up to 30 days in NZ and B) I'm only liable for $1K if the cc falls through (this is just how the rental car company does it...).

Anyway, where should I go this weekend?

I'm thinking:

• the Mercer cheese shop (alfred alferink, I think the name is)
• gold panning in the coromandel (can i handle the 'mandel?)
  
• the mall (all of them?)
• Bunnings, a big house repair shop (maybe they are like Home Depot and will have some cool furnishings for my walls for my room??
• a cheap grocery store, Pak N Save!
• the beach, any of them!  (although I was told about a secret beach near mission bay recently...will try to get there, I think!)

Hmmm...maybe I will have to extend my rental lease!  Since I knocked all but two short-term goals off of my list this year, I kinda decided to spend all of my second December paycheck as a reward.  I'm well on my way to doing that, but still have about $600 left.  Merry Christmas to me!

Interior Designing (Before)

As part of my holiday project to spruce up my room, I've started to buy new accessories and have gotten creative with the stuff that's already in there.  I'll now share some before pictures!

View as you walk into my room (I took the pic at night, sorry for the bad lighting!).

View back towards the door.  You can see I have this weird entry/hallway to my room, and I have no idea what to do to the walls there.  I don't want it to feel too claustrophobic.  Also, there's the electric panel on the left.

I'll go in a clockwise fashion around the room.  here's the shelves (you see the side of them as you walk into the room), and my desk area.  I love the bulletin board but it's pretty boring and messy.

Moving over to the right, my bed area.  Again, messy, brown, and boring!  Lots of wall space that I'm not sure what to do with.

All that wall space...

Continuing around the room, here's my 'craft corner.'  I bought a few picture frames; they and my paint canvases are just living on the floor til I decide what to do with them.

Craft corner and wardrobe.  Again, there's some weird wall space above the wardrobe that I'm not sure what to do with (if anything).  Which brings me to: 

My wardrobe!  Packed to the gills.  I've installed the lime green/blue fabric drawers and the sweater organizer/hanger, but it still needs some work to make it look neater.

As you can see, there's no real theme or anything--the walls are a sort of cream/off-white color, the wardrobe is white, the headboard and nightstand are a dark brown, and the desk and shelves are a tan/light wood color, the curtains are navy blue, and the carpets are a lighter navy blue.  Ugh.  I can't change:  the curtains, the carpets, the wardrobe, the walls, the headboard, or the nightstand colors.  I can change:  that ugly light wood on the desk and shelves.  I'll just have to live with the other colors, as I'm not going to spend the money to change or replace things that my landlord has provided to me/owns.

I did have some of my paintings up on the walls, and that made it more 'homey' and not so boring, but I've decided that I really dislike my own paintings, and I'm not good at it, so I took them all down.  I'll throw up some real photographs that I've taken, instead. 

I've already bought a colorful new duvet cover that brightens things up tremendously.  I'm planning to rearrange the furniture, too.  If anyone has any suggestions, please make them!  'After' pictures to come when I've finished!

Taking the 'Pay' Out of Painful

Surgery went fine, it took like 15 minutes.  I'm so happy it's over with and that it wasn't as bad as they said it would be (I researched it online and people said it was VERY VERY PAINFUL).  Doc is 99.9% sure that  it's NOT malignant from its appearance, but they are doing some lab tests to be sure.  Whew.

Again, so lucky this is free here (aside from the initial premium of ~$400), there are no co-payments, no nothing as long as I go to the student health center on campus.  If I'd had to pay, it definitely would have made the surgery more painful!!  It is still seriously weird to breeze by the front desk after the appointment, not having to stop and pay.

Dentistry costs mucho moolah, though!  In that way it is the total opposite of the US (I'm not talking root canals here; the 6-month regular cleanings and annual Xrays are usually free or pretty cheap in the US, at least with all the insurances I've had).  My eye exam was also expensive here compared to the US, even with work covering for most of the exam and $200 allowance for new glasses--and that was only because I use a computer for >50% of my work.  Glasses here can easily run over $400.  I got the cheapest lenses and frames that they offered (that I could use the $200 allowance with) and I still had to pay $135 out of pocket.  Crazy!

I guess I need US insurance for dental and vision, and NZ insurance for my main medical.  Then I'd be set!

My XBF-linked health insurance ends next Feb, though.  I could pay to have it renewed but I don't think he likes that I'm still linked to him like that.  I'd be down with keeping it if he'd let me for all the awesome perks, but I have a feeling that I'll have to find my own insurance.  Heh.  Probably with Southern Cross, since everyone seems to like it, and since I supposedly get a discount through work. 

I get basic health care as a right as a permanent resident (THAT IS SO WEIRD AND AWESOME!), but the copayment would be $60 at the student health center that I go to.  And I'm still hesitant to go completely without insurance, because I have heard stories about how the US insurance companies treat people who have a gap in insurance coverage.  If I ever want to go back to the US, I need proof of coverage.  I don't want to mess with that!

A Surgery and An Embarrassment of Riches

OK kids, it's time to play Good News, Bad News!

Good News:  My mom sent two packages of my stuff over last week, and one arrived today!  I had to bus it all the way out to Morningside ($3.20 each way) to pick up the package as I was not home when they tried to deliver it, but whatevs.  I got my package!  This one contained some US snacks, my new rainjacket, new contacts, new glasses, my earbuds, and a few cute messages and cards from family.  It makes me sooo happy!  (Note:  a 7 lb package from the US cost $65 USD to get to me.  The other package is 11 pounds...WHOA!)

Bad News:  I went to the doc today and they are doing surgery on my scalp tomorrow.  It is a long story and I don't want to gross anyone out, but I have several small 'lumps' on my head and recently they've been hurting and ugh...growing.  The doc wants them out immediately to test them for, you know, the C word (esp. given that I'm so tired and seem to get ill quickly lately).  I am not even thinking about that last part of that sentence, so I'm focusing on being nervous about being cut up.  I am so squeamish!  and scalps bleed a lot.  They have to shave a little (teeny tiny) bit of my head!  Not looking forward to tomorrow; I'm pretty scared.  This is the kind of time where I actually miss having a boyfriend.   :(

Good News:  The surgery (all of it) is free.  Not only that--I originally went to the doc to handle my ongoing (neverending...) hayfever allergy, and to get a refill on another med, and I walked out of the pharmacy with 4 prescriptions, free of charge:  nasal spray, antihistamine tablets, and two topical lotions.  Crazy!

Good News:  they are renovating our offices, and someone filed an OSH (Health and Safety) complaint about the ground floor hallway where the construction workers are storing all the crap they pull out of our offices, and which they use as workspace.  It's dusty and dirty and there are cords running across the entire floor, so I don't blame them for complaining!  And the elevator smells strongly of paint fumes...  Therefore, the bosses came around the office today to tell us that we are not to come into the office until after the holidays--and said that if we 'can't' work from home--BONUS!  Time off!  I will have to finish some work for the rest of this week from home, but I'm taking next week off, baby!

Good News:  3  Bad News:  2

Shopping to Fill the Holes

I have been brave thus far, but faced with the real prospect of my first Christmas away from my family, I am starting to get little twinges of sad.  And then I stop it before I can dwell too long.  It's more than the holidays, though--I've never been away from home for this long, other than one year when my family came to visit me for Xmas during grad school.  I've definitely not been away from my family for this long before.  I just want to go home and be able to hug my mom and dad!  Oh, poor little 31-year old kindergartener.

Is it any wonder that I keep making up little projects for myself to keep from thinking too much?  And therefore, spending money to fill in the gaps?

I've dived (dove?) into organizing my Orphan Party on Christmas Day, making lists, buying decorations, planning the dinner.

I'm redecorating my room...actually, I can't say I'm re-decorating, because I haven't decorated it in the first place yet!  I've been in this apartment for a year, my contract at work will last a year and a half more, I'm a resident of NZ...it's time to make a more permanent mark on my surroundings.  Today I bought a new duvet cover and some photo frames.  I think I've decided on a color scheme of teal and chocolate brown with fun prints of red, orange and yellow on the wall (along with my own colorful photos).  We'll see how that turns out. 

As part of my room decorating, I've reorganized my closet.  New drawers, new hanging shelves, and space to put my laundry basket!  I'll also be rearranging my furniture in my room and adding a shelf for my rock and shell collection. 

Does anyone know what kind of paint to use to paint fake (particle) wood?  I want to paint my desk and two small shelves.

Cost thus far to decorate (over the past two weeks):

$38 fabric drawers in turquoise and lime green (will be hidden in my closet)
$17 6-shelf sweater organizer in light pastels (again, will be hidden)
$23 new duvet cover in teal and chocolate brown
$16 2 teal photo frames 4x6
$11 1 large teal rectangular photo frame, 4 4x6 photos
$9   3 chocolate brown foto frames, 8x10, 5x7, 4x6
$114 total

I'm not a great designer, by any means.  I've started watching HGTV online (with Hotspot Shield, that thing is a LIFESAVER!) to get some tips, though!

I think I've justified the cost because I recently completed my 2010 US travel fund.   Oy vey...I have to make it til August til I see my family again!  That thought makes me want to go buy some more stuff.  Thank God they don't have Target or WalMart here...esp WM because it's usually open 24-7 and I'd probably be on my way right now!

Shipping Mojo, GO!

My mom lovingly packed two boxes for me a few days ago, full of the stuff on my most-wanted list (over to the right), and shipped it to me.  Mom and Dad are covering the cost of the shipping as my Christmas present, along with buying a few tiny items. 

99% of the time, I found free shipping deals (to my parents) on my items, and the item costs much less in the US than in NZ.  So, I've saved a lot on items that I would have bought in the US during a trip home for Christmas, and packed them in my suitcase to bring back to NZ.  Whew!  Not only did I save the $3000 plane ticket home, I also saved lots on items that I've wanted for years now.  It doesn't feel good to spend the money, but it is good to know that I spent a lot less than I could have for the same item!

Mom also packed some US treats in the boxes.  I really hope they make it past Customs in time for Christmas...oh man.  I CAN'T WAIT to get those boxes!!  According to USPS, they should arrive in NZ in about 10 days.  Customs will probably hang onto them for a few more, and then...they will be with ME!

Don't really know...

Ok, so I'm not sure how I did it, but I had over $3500 in my bank account once I got paid today.  I'll have to check my US funds and see if my US checking has enough to pay off my US credit card bill next month, but I believe that I'll have enough--meaning that I shouldn't need to transfer anything to cover my US bills, and that $3500 is MINE, ALL MINE! [muahahahaha] to spend, er, save.

Since I only 'need' $1044 per fortnight to make my $2088 monthly budget, I usually leave about that much in there.  However, since I'll have to shell out a bit more for the Orphan Party on Christmas, and because I want to decorate my room before I have guests over (my walls are literally blank), I left a little bit more in my checking.

I took $2000 of that $3500 and put it in savings pots:

$200 to Roth
$70 to House Downpayment
$70 to Europe Travel Fund

$1434 to US Travel in 2010 Fund, making it 100% complete!


This left $226, and I added it to my Summer Fun travel Fund, since I now will be traveling for the entirety of February!

$en$e

Ha ha.  Ke$ha's Tik Tok has been all over the airwaves and TV here in NZ for the past several months, and I can't get her song out of my head, even though the video is so...trashy.  As in, if kids follow her lead, they will be homeless dropout parolees/alcoholics/single parents before the week is out.  For shame that I keep adding to the Official Video's Youtube counter.  And that she's inspired me to put two dollar signs in my blogger name, Sense = $en$e, just for this post!

Good news, soon I'll be partying it up too--my roommate and I decided to host an orphan party here in our apartment for our friends that aren't near their families on Christmas Day.  We'll decorate, set up a Skype station so everyone can call their families, bake cookies, play Christmas carols, play some card games, and have a good potluck dinner.  Still don't know what we're doing for New Year's, but I'm sure we'll think of something. 

Also, I'm taking basically the entire month of February off--my flaky friend has finally decided that she's actually coming, AND has bought her ticket.  So now all that money that I've been using to buy stuff needs to be replaced so I can have some Ke$ha-style partying when my friend arrives.  Half of my savings for Dec - Feb are going straight to the Feb Fun Fund.

Killing Spam

Like SavingDiva, I've recently noticed a great increase in the spam that I'm getting...therefore, comments will be moderated and word verification instituted.  Sorry all!  The many ruin it for the few...

NZ Performance Review, Part 1

Oh man, I've been dying to get home to update this blog about my first ever NZ performance review ever since it ended earlier today. Thanks to everyone who wrote nice things on my last post. It turns out that my boss has never had a PR...her first one is tomorrow! How funny. I'm sure that's why this one turned out the way that it did.

My previous experience in PR's from my last job is this: 1) your bosses each fill out a review sheet, ranking your performance in various areas, 2) all of these are collated and submitted to the chief financial officer, who then decides how much of a raise to give you. You are then called into his/her office, along with your direct supervisor, and they go through your rankings with you. Your supervisor then leaves, and the CFO tells you how much you're getting the next year!

Notice that in that type of review, the employee input is basically null. I was asked, do you have anything you would like to add? during the PR's each year, but that was it, and it was a pretty intimidating scenario, as we only saw the CFO when we got our raises or needed time off for bereavement leave, etc. (she even took her lunches in private, so even the few days she was in the office, none of us saw her).

This review was a total 180 from that experience. I had filled out a performance review sheet in the past few months, and submitted it to my boss a few days ago. The sheet asks about your job description, what problems you have with the company and your supervisors, what you like about the company and your supervisors, and finally--to describe where you'd like to be in the next year and the next 3-5 years, professionally, and what skills you'd want to learn. I went hog-wild! I wrote everything I've ever thought of for all the sections, including being very blunt about the problems I had.

Who knew? I just needed to be asked... :)

I had nothing but praise for the boss that I had the meeting with. At one point, I think she even blushed. But she's awesome! And my job description couldn't be better even if I tailor-made it for myself--which I kind of get to do, since my bosses are very interested in hearing my ideas. My boss agreed that some of the problems I had with the company were problems that she had too, and she actually researched ways to alleviate my issues, and presented them to me. Where she couldn't fix the problem, she said she'd talk to the higher ups about the issues.

We also had a heart-to-heart about why I didn't tell her that XBF and I broke up--she understands, but she still feels like I should have told her because it was 'a big event in my life' and she didn't want to say something wrong to offend me. And I may or may not be slightly Aspberger's in my line between personal/business, but I still don't understand why that is necessary to bring up at work (?). However, I think we both see each other's point of view; she'll respect my boundaries and I'll try to include her in my life a little more. Which is odd for a boss, but you know, I'm willing to bend a little for someone that so clearly goes out of her way for me.

So--it went well. Obviously. My feedback was mainly positive, although my boss had some suggestions and questions for me. I was happy to hear it all. It's amazing how different the benchmarks are for myself vs what my bosses expect: I hold the bar much, much higher for myself than they do. And I still think I'm capable of doing even more than that...the only person getting in my way is myself (and my health at times...gotta look into that).

We concluded the meeting by setting 5 S.M.A.R.T. goals for both her and I to strive for in the next year (some of the work is collaborative). She is so fabulous!

My second, other boss was on leave today and so we're meeting her next Monday to go over her reactions to my work. I was mainly worried about this particular meeting/boss today, so that one should go pretty well, also.

This Is It

On Wednesday, two days from now, I have my first official performance review at work. Yeah, the one I was supposed to have last February! The one I negotiated for in my initial contract! This one isn't for a salary review, that will come next Feb (hopefully?).

I'm actually somewhat glad it took so long, because I was a mess last February. And March. And especially April, when shiznit went down with XBF. The rest of the year has been recovery from that and from other boy issues that will remain nameless here!

I had to fill out a looonng questionnaire about work over the last few months to prepare. It was all about S.M.A.R.T. goals, where I see myself in 3-5 years, and what I do and don't like about my job.

And I was honest. Every little complaint I had, I wrote down. And then I sent it to my boss.

Oh boy.

Are you 100% honest with your work about how you feel about things? Why or why not?

At my last job, I was not honest, not completely. I kept most of my complaints to myself, and the fact that I wanted to leave. I did tell them what skills I wanted to learn, and was able to ask them to pay for classes and books. Pretty sweet. But I never said what I thought was wrong with the company, not like I did with this job. For some reason I feel like I can tell them that I am planning on leaving eventually, that I hate the general meetings, that I do not intend on participating in their gossip-fests, and that it is bullshiznit that we don't get company credit cards and have to use our own money and then get reimbursed. Yeah! I would like to be the type of person that says exactly what she is thinking, rather than keeping it all to myself. I'm working on that. I think it also helped that I could write it down rather than saying it first.

Will let you know how it goes...I'm bracing myself for an onslaught of criticisms. It's funny, I always think I know what they are going to say...but they never do. At my last job, it was like the more I hated my job and the worse I thought I did, the better they rated me and the more money they threw at me. We'll see how this one goes...

Why Do You Blog?

When I started this blog, I did it because I was inspired by some great PF bloggers out there. I originally started paying off my debt because of Karyn, and then I stumbled onto the Budgeting Babe one day on my lunch break at work, and was hooked. When I started writing my own blog, I had just one or two payments left on my once-totaling $11K+ debt, and was excited to share my story, figure out what was next for me, and to keep that motivation going.

But that wasn't all: I have been writing in a pen-and-paper or online journal since I was very young. I remember my best friend moving to another state in fourth grade, and being so upset about it that I had to write it down to get it out. I shared that journal entry with my mom, a fact that amuses me today, because as the years wore on, writing became a way for me to get emotions out that I didn't want to share with anyone else. I could be blatantly, guiltless-ly honest, without feeling like I was gossiping or spreading rumors, or super paranoid or ashamed or whatever my teenage self deemed the emotions I was feeling to be. Whenever I'm feeling nostalgic, I can always turn to my 15 year old self and see how far I've come and what I was feeling back when Kurt Cobain died.

Anyway, I started thinking about this because, funny enough, I had to ask J. Money of Budgets are Sexy what a PR (page ranking) was a long while ago. (Mine is 3, by the way, apparently the 'average' for most websites.) That simple question just made me think about why I'm doing this whole blog thing, and what I'm getting out of it, and why I keep doing it. I think most of us bloggers do it mainly for personal satisfaction, track goals, to share knowledge, to connect with a like-minded community, and if a high PR or ad money comes out if it, great! If not, that's fine as well. I don't care if I make money doing this, or a high PR, or even if I have a huge following, either. I do it because, honestly, I need to. It's a part of my life now; I have to get some of my thoughts out, track my goal progress, etc., even if no one reads it (but I'm always happy when people DO read and comment, of course!).

Crazily, it's been way over three years since I started this blog. I remember trying to come up with a catchy, witty name (very unfortunately, I chose one that has a horrible acronym (STD), but we won't dwell on that, will we??). I never ever thought anyone would read this; I'm honestly not sure why I decided to make the blog public in the first place, as that really doesn't fit with my usual M.O. Now that I have, I think it's too late to go back. I continue to keep this public because of the wonderful community that has grown of it for me. Your comments regularly make me laugh, cheer me up, and entertain me. I also care about my fellow bloggers over there on my blogroll, and I feel so lucky that they share their lives with me on the internet. They've all taught me a lot, made me sad when things go wrong, and put a smile on my face when good stuff happens to them. I feel like I belong to a secret club or something. :)

So thank you, all, for reading this. Thanks for commenting, for linking back, for putting me on your blogrolls. Thanks for teaching me, and thank you for caring. I've enjoyed every minute with you all, and hope to continue this for as long as possible!

Some Pictures from Otago

View from the start of the walk to Sandfly Bay. The World's Steepest Street! This is in Dunedin, NZ.

The view looking down from the top (yes, we drove it). It looks like it just disappears!
Dessert pizza from Filadelphio's! Marshmallow, caramel, white chocolate, and banana. YUM!

View of the lighthouse at the tip of the Otago Peninsula (next to the albatross colony).


I surprised this guy and woke him up from his nap. This is Grumpy, growling at me and about to attack! Apparently you NEVER get between a sea lion and the sea, and you stay 10 meters away from them, and the males are very territorial this time of year. Oooooops.

View from The Chasm.
Sunset from Penguin Place on Otago.

Larnach Castle.Larnach Castle Green Room and Reflecting Pool.Gerbera flower at Larnach Castle. It had some beautiful gardens!

View of the sea from Larnach Castle.Sheep and two lambs. Awww.View of the beach where we were supposed to see penguins but didn't!

November Round Up

Total spent in November 2009: $1,661.80.

Rent: $840 as usual.
Groceries: $319.81. Under budget by $30.19 but still sooo expensive. 7 days of food were on work; 2 were included in my Otago trip.
Internet: $49. Under budget by $11.
Electricity: $76.63. Under budget by $23.37.
Eating Out: $36.40. Under budget by $63.60. Fast food and thai.
Charity: $0. Fail once again.
Cell phone: $55. Over budget by $5. $20 on my V8 card; $35 on Skype. No big deal, was under budget last month!
Medical: $0. Under budget by $65.
Misc: $284.96. Under budget by $115.04. Misc spending includes:

$19.50 transportation (taxis, busfare)
$63 entertainment (tix to ballet ($23), Great Ape Race ($25), drinks ($15))
$203 random (tissues while in the field, shoes, webcam, computer cables ($141), hairbands/toiletries ($19), pantyhose ($3), allergy medicine ($13), movie rental ($6), music download for road trip ($20))

Total income: $3,071 this month, a decrease because my Kiwisaver contributions started during this last paycheck (almost $40 per paycheck).

Which means, of course, that I've saved the leftover amount, $1,410.

---------------------------------------

Savings and Investments (NZ)

Kiwibank checking: $2,133.63

Kiwibank savings: $1,694.23

Raboplus: $15,743.02

Total: $19,570.88

$10K EF

$1.1K new computer fund;

$3,469 dedicated to NZ travel and other 'wants' expenses

$1,020 various long-term funds

$3,566 2010 US travel

total: $19,155 (not sure why this number doesn't match the total above, but I think it's because I need to transfer it to my US accounts to pay for some of the travel I put on US credit)

Retirement (NZ)

Kiwisaver: $80 ($40 my money, $40 my employer's)

Savings and Investments (US)

BoA checking: $1272.30

BoA Savings: $0

HSBC: $5,015.74

ING: $1.75

Total: $6,289.79

Retirement (US)

Roth IRA: $4,104.00

Traditional IRA: $5,555.91

Total: $9,659.91

Saving: Best Habit Ever

Got paid last Friday; was happy to transfer ~$900 to my 2010 US travel fund. My friend has planned a wedding in August so I'll definitely have to go back during that time...if I'm still invited. A few of my friends have randomly decided to elope or hold impromptu ceremonies that I unfortunately wasn't able to attend.

That makes about $1500 in savings this month. Saving a lot has become a happy habit. It seems like I'm saving a lot lately but it never gets old! And now with my new strategy of short- and long-term savings, I feel like I'm making headway on many of my goals, and taking care of my needs in both the near and far off future.

Once the weather (finally?) warms up I'll be saving less. I want to make the most of the good weather while it's here, and that will include (hopefully) lots of traveling around, festivals, social activities outside, and time away from home, where it's easy to NOT spend money.

Trip To Otago

Pics from my trip over the blog hiatus soon! but first up: a budget roundup.

Total cost of Friday afternoon to Sunday evening trip to the Otago Peninsula with 3 other people: $188.80

I budgeted $300 but since the others were students we were doing some pretty cheap sight-seeing. No $50 tours for us!

Budget:

Food: $80 Actual: $60.53
Accomodation: $75 Actual: $57
Admission/Souvenirs: $80 Actual: $10
Car: $37.50 Actual: $42.86
Gas: $30 Actual: $18.41

Total: $188.80

We saw the blue penguins (no pics; they're sensitive to the flash and we only saw them at dusk), albatrosses, sea lions, and gorgeous coast lines. It was FREEZING, though! Lots of antarctic winds and cold temperatures on top of it--luckily we had very little rain.

We went for some pretty amazing walks around the area, too. Since work paid for the flights, this was a pretty cheap way to see New Zealand! Very happy I went but I'm now totally exhausted from the conference last week and then the crazy traveling over the weekend.

The Excitement is Not Contagious.

I signed up for the KiwiSaver last week, and finally heard back from HR about it yesterday--I had to send in proof that I was a resident. I did that and they are processing it now!

Last night, I told my roommate about my new exciting investment opportunity with a certain amount of glee and happiness, and got a 'meh' response, like she was waiting to hear the punchline. I think I then dug the nerd hole deeper by explaining the rad 2% match and free $$ kick-start from the government, because even that didn't elicit any sort of reaction.

Pretty funny! But man, it would be nice to have some PF nerds around to talk to sometimes. :)

Conference Round Up

Just got back from my second conference in NZ. I went to this same conference last year in November, but this year was much better. A) I have more of a handle on the subject, having done some work in it this past year, and B) there were more young people at the conference compared to last year. Additionally, I had many friends as coworkers to hang out with last year, and so we didn't mingle with the older crowd as much, and just enjoyed ourselves by drinking together, out on the company. That was before I learned my Great Big Lesson to be careful about hanging out with co-workers. :) 

This year, I didn't know any of my coworkers that went that well. I've distanced myself from the new people that come into my company, and these were the people that went. They are all very nice, but my aversion to get too close to coworkers forced me to mingle outside of familiar faces, and really, that is what conferences are all about. 

As a consequence, I was offered a job in Germany, with 50 days of vacation a year! Wow, you Germans really know what's up. :) I made several contacts with companies in Australia, Japan, Chile, Kenya, Iceland, and other parts of NZ. Also, I think I have a potential friend date to go rock climbing with a guy from an Auckland-based company. I've also become involved in a sort of mentoring-type situation with a very awesome younger Māori woman that is trying to put together her master's project. All in all, the conference was a rousing success. 

I had a lot of fun meeting new people. I thought I'd forgotten how to do that. And I'm very happy that I kept my distance from my coworkers. I was friendly, but kept the conversation very gossip-free. As much as I love gossip, I think it is horribly damaging to people's reputations in the workplace. I really don't care if someone is having an affair, just as long as they do a good job and don't keep me from doing my work. ;) 

Instead of gossiping with co-workers, I come home and talk with my roommate about all of it--she'll never meet these people and can't do any damage. Speaking of rumors, I've heard a pretty awful one from one of my bosses...she says that the CEO of my company told her to really think hard about seeking a University position, as the HR people were going to restructure my company very soon. I knew the gravy train was going to end sooner or later! My company spends ridiculous amounts of money on very unnecessary items. I have a two year contract, so I think I'm safe, plus my other supervisor gets money from outside sources so that half of my job is incredibly secure for the next 5 years. At worst, I would have to take a pay cut and possibly go part time. 

Do you Kiwis know how the contract situation works? Can I still get laid off while on one if I haven't done anything wrong?

Catch Up Weekly Spending

I forgot to do my weekly spending report the past few weeks, due to my packing and running around and the process of getting my October spending report up!


So, so belatedly that this could almost double for a monthly report, here's my spending thus far:

Groceries: $252.29, $20 of which was just on cheese. I really should do a post on that. :)
Eating out: $19.70 yummy thai and a sausage at The Great Ape Race
Cell phone: $55, for a skype top up and a V8 card topup
Misc: $223.02

Misc spending breakdown: $19 transportation (bus fare, taxis), $23 to see a play, $25 entry fee for the Ape Race (also could be considered a charity donation, but it was fun and I got to see the Auckland Zoo so it was also entertainment!), $15 for drinks with some people, $2.82 for tissues when I had a cold out in the field, $25.33 for TV to laptop cables, $47.88 for a webcam, and $64.99 for 3 pairs of shoes for my conference in the past week.

Total spending in Nov.: $1390.01
Total saved in Nov.: $509 ($200 to Roth, $70 to House downpayment, $70 to Europe fund, $169 to 2010 US travel)

Next week I'm going to another conference, so work should cover my meal costs. I'm traveling around afterward, but that $300 I budgeted for the weekend trip has already been deducted from my travel fund.

I still need to spend money on some groceries for the four days that I'm in town before the conference, and on some conference clothes and shoes for next week. I got the feeling that I didn't dress well enough for the conference this past week...even though a good portion of the conference goers dressed much more casually than I did.

My goal is to spend less than $200 for the rest of the month (not counting that travel budget), so I can save $1000 more to my 2010 travel fund.

Capital One Showdown

Yup, I called Capital One Saturday. Not at 9 am on the dot (3 am my time), but later, once I woke up.

I was calm but oh so annoyed for the entire phone call. I complained and vented and got it all out of my system about how I could be trying to use this card to find a place to sleep or to get out of a jam. Then the agent said, "It takes a while for it to register that you're in a foreign country, they should stop flagging the account after a while." At which point, MY HEAD EXPLODED. I have been here for a YEAR AND A HALF. They have flagged my account no fewer than twelve times. How long does it take?? She answered, "Oh...well...sorry. I'll write a note in your account with your email address and phone number so that they can contact you if they have questions about a transaction, instead of freezing your card."

Sigh...another note on my account. I threatened to cut up my card if this happened again.

The thing is, I don't even get why they'd freeze my account NOW. They let the whopper, the $1600 transaction, through, and all the other smaller Christmas purchases that I have made in the past month. Why now?

I am annoyed that they are trying to protect me against myself here. Why can't they just rely on me to check my account and flag any transactions that are incorrect? I think the Kiwi self-reliance and personal responsibility factor is spoiling me a bit--now I want more freedom!

Flying Off the Handle

My American banks are pissing me off!!!!! First, HSBC double transfers my money, causing a $10 overdraft fee and a balance of less than $5 in my BoA checking account. My credit card payment (for the full balance) to Capital One was scheduled to go out from my BoA account a few days later, but of course, HSBC was dragging their feet getting my money back in the proper place, so I had to downgrade my payment to just the minimum--and I barely scraped that together. I think I had 3 cents in my bank account after that cleared.

Of course, not paying my cc in full will cause me to incur interest with Capital One. So I still have to follow that up and get HSBC to agree to pay me whatever that is. I paid the remainder 2 days after the bill was due, but man...it's such a stupid thing and not my fault and it's WASTING MY TIME. I mean, I waste time all the time, but I choose to do so. The companies who have my money should be bending over backwards to keep me happy; they shouldn't be the ones wasting my time.

I am SO UNHAPPY with them. They maintain that they sent me an email notifying me about this error; I maintain that I never received one. There is no chance it was sent to my spam filter; all my settings are set up properly. HSBC has the correct email address for me. Who's the liar?

So, today, when Capital One froze my credit card account for the fifteenth time, I SNAPPED. I also had a particularly trying day at work, and all this frustration just boiled over. I charged me and my friend's trip to Vanuatu next February to Capital One today. It was the last day to get the special fare deal (my friend waited to get back to me until today). $1529 for return flights and accommodation for 4 nights in Vanuatu for 2 people--that's a good deal! Anyway, I got home and checked Capital One to see if the charge had gone through, and to see if the interest I owed due to the HSBC debacle had shown up in my account--and they have frozen my card. AGAIN. After reminding them TWELVE times that I am in NZ indefinitely and that both American and NZ activity is completely normal. I waited on the phone once while I made the customer service agent type it into my account.

When I saw that my card had been frozen, possibly causing us to lose this deal, I was extremely angry. I don't get angry very often; mostly, I just take things as they come and try to deal, but today was different. It was time to fight.

I fired up Skype to call their number, navigated through all of their stupid telephone systems, and found out that they have NO customer service agents available to fix this problem. What? I am pretty sure that most companies have 24 hour service nowadays, yes? What if I was trying to find a place to sleep? What if I needed medical care? I've told them repeatedly that I'm in NZ and not to flag transactions here. There is just no excuse.

I ended up writing an angry, annoyed email instead of calling them. But it didn't help.

I'm just so fed up. So much so that I want to stay up until 3 am here and call exactly at 9 am on the dot.

Stop testing me, banks. My best friend is an excellent corporate lawyer. This is your warning. (Don't kid yourself if you think I won't break that out in my phone call at 9 am tomorrow!)

Loving Payday.

Paid today; $609 more saved.

Why the odd amount? Well, after my mandatory monthly long-term goal saving of $340 was met, I wanted to push my US 2010 Travel savings fund over the halfway mark. $169 went to that goal from the first paycheck of the month, and to even it out to a beautiful $2650. 53% of the way there!

KiwiSaver!

I filled out the paperwork and finally signed up for the KiwiSaver today!! I feel so great.

In the paperwork, they asked for my contribution level. I chose 2%, since that is the minimum you can choose, and you only need to contribute that much to get the $1000 government kick-start, and the 2% match by your employer. Hurrah!

I think I've decided to go with SuperLife as my provider. I need to choose my funds. In my Roth and Traditional IRA's with T. Rowe Price and Vanguard, respectively, I have pretty much an even split between high-risk international and domestic (US) index funds. No playing it safe here; my emergency funds act as my low-risk investments. I'm unsure as to how to diversify more...and I'm clue-less when it comes to figuring out the differences between small, mid, and large-cap funds. Help!

I also need to figure out if I want hedged or unhedged funds.

Any tips?

October Smash-Up

My October spending is a marvel--probably the lowest I've spent yet this year in a month, and with it being a 3 paycheck month to boot, it is also probably the highest save-to-spend ratio month yet!

Everything is under budget; everything looks great. No complaints here!

Rent: $840. This doesn't change much from month to month. In January, I will have to pay rent 3 times instead of 2 because of the way the fortnightly payments stack up, but I won't worry about that until Jan.

Groceries: $264.09. All because I was out of town for work for most of the month--and they paid for my food. This is still WAY HIGH to me, but it's under budget, so...can't complain!

Internet: $53.87. Love having a roommate! Internet bill went from $110 a month to $54. My roommate's friends stayed for a week and they were downloading youtube vids like crazy! We went over our allotted 11 GB by quite a few gigabytes, and each GB after that limit is $2.

Electricity: $86. Again, we had my roommate's friends come and stay with us for a week, driving this up.

Eating Out: $62. Being out of town for work kept this spending under budget.

Charity: $0. This is the only area where I'm actually ashamed of myself if I go underbudget. Need to step this up!! NZ charity suggestions welcome.

Cell phone: $30. My vodafone account needed a topup. This should be good to go until the end of the year, unless I need to use the phone to talk to anyone (I just text people in NZ, and call the US using a US phone card at this point.)

Medical: $0. I need a contacts prescription, a routine checkup, a check-in about my thyroid and iron levels, and I need a dentist appt. soon. This will go up very soon.

Misc.: $164.21. $1 fee for using a non-kiwibank ATM; $15 for a parking spot advertisement on trademe; $1 on busfare; $10 on a movie (500 Days of Summer); $4.50 on a card for a friend; $30 on an umbrella; $23 on stamps; and $80 on everyday tools for housework.

SAVINGS:

This month I saved (drum roll please): $3,167.05 of my $4,667.22 October income. Crazy--I saved more than I usually make in a month!

November holds a mish-mash, and I can't predict how much spending will be. I will be out of town for work for 9 days, and out of town for fun for 2. I'm using some of my saved money to buy items on my wish list. I am also gearing up for Christmas spending. I am only going to give the 3 members of my immediate family gifts, and I'm paying to have a large box of US items shipped to me as a present to myself for Xmas. The gifts and shipping should be much, much less than a $3000 NZD plane ticket. I hope it's worth it to miss Xmas with my fam!

Reversal?

I may have jumped the gun on the 'my friend is a total flake' thing. She's now saying she is still looking into coming, but has to have some downtime to work on some things. Well, OK, but I'm making alternate plans in case that doesn't happen. Once bitten and all that...

So...$$ gets moved back to its original positions in my goals list. I'm OK with that--I'd rather have travel plans than goals fulfilled, any day!

My Money is Unemployed

Now that my friend isn't coming in Dec., and I'm not going home for Christmas, I have both the $2500 I saved for my trip home for Christmas and the $3000 that I saved up to travel while my friend was in town, just sitting around doing nothing. In effect, that $5500 NZD just got laid off.

I waste money that doesn't have a job, so it's important that I figure something out pretty quickly. Currently, some of my money is in fire and rescue--its job is to wait around for rainy days and emergencies, and then swoop in and save the day. Some of it is in the entertainment business--its job is to fuel my dreams, give me hope, and give me the motivation to get through tough times with promises of the future. Other bits of my money works hard day to day--it feeds me, clothes me, puts a roof over my head, and lets me do things like go to the movies and play on the internet.

For now, that $5500 is getting split up in the following way, as its temp job:

$550 Long Term Goals (10%)
$550 Fun (10%)--$300 will go to my Dunedin trip later this month
$2519 to 2010 US travel, making it 100% complete
$1881 to Oz Travel, making it 47% complete

I can't help it; I'm just so addicted to seeing those savings bars get filled!

HSBC's Final Act

See here for background information.

When I went to look up the number to call HSBC about their bank error, I noticed that I had received the following email in return (NO mention of notaries, proving the charge, none of the paperwork listed in Single Ma's description of her experience...):

"Dear Sense,

Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A., the world's
local bank.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Your
request to reimburse the $10.00 fee on your Online Savings Account has been
processed. Please allow 2 business days for the credit to appear within
your available balance."

Hmmmm...fine--I'm getting my money back, but I'm still angry. A) I caught this error, through Single Ma, B) they never notified me of the error. What if I hadn't caught it and followed up? How many other people has this happened to, that just think it's their fault? How can they preferentially treat some customers to 'good' service, and not others? Especially since it would be so easy to include us on that email.

Here is the email I sent back:

Thank you for scheduling the reimbursement of $10 for the
overdraft fee I incurred on 10/30/09 for your error of processing a transfer
twice. I would also like to be reimbursed any interest that would have
accumulated during this time.

While I appreciate the swift resolution of the matter once it was brought
to HSBC's attention, why was I never initially notified of the error that took place on
October 30? I did not receive the email that went out about this error; I
happened to stumble across the news of the mass double transfer and that is
the only way I knew to follow up on this matter.

I should have been notified, along with all of your other customers that this happened to. If I was left off the notification email by accident, making this the second accident by HSBC in a week, that is, quite simply, too many accidents in too short of a time span. If I was purposely left off of this email, I find that to be an even more egregious error. Either way, I will be moving my money to another bank shortly, and will be calling HSBC
to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the way that this was handled.

I will definitely not be choosing HSBC nor its subsidiaries to handle my business in New Zealand, nor when I return to the US in the future.

Again, I am overseas in New Zealand currently. I can be reached at +64
21 XXX XXX during normal New Zealand hours (9 am to 7 pm) if you wish to
talk about this matter."

What do you think?

I think that something is fishy. Once that money is in my account, I am giving them a call and they will still get an earful. And I'm asking to be transferred to the manager straight up. And then I'm moving my money to ING.

I Really Hate Flakes

Well, it turns out that my friend that was supposed to come in December isn't coming anymore. She tells me this less than a month before she's supposed to come out! Grrr...this epic road trip around NZ and possibly Oz has been in the works since last June, and I've been planning and saving up for it like mad. I'm terribly disappointed.

I have $2.7K that I was going to use for this Epic Road Trip ($300 will be used for a weekend on the S. Island at the end of November). I'm not a fan of traveling by myself (plus, that's A LOT of driving to do all by my lonesome!), so I guess I'm not going to be going anywhere in December. I was so excited, I have been saving up all of my time off in lieu from doing all my fieldwork, for just this trip. Bummer.

I could scramble around and try to make other plans, but honestly...I don't feel like it, and everyone I know has to work or is going overseas or already has their (full) trips planned in December. I turned everyone down that invited me anywhere due to this initial plan. I'm now completely priced out of any trips home for Christmas (all of the cheap flights seem to be booked), so I'm missing Christmas with my family for nothing now! This all is making me sad. I know, I know, it could be much worse. :) It's new news, I'll cheer up in a bit.

(On the plus side, my friend coming in February has already booked his tickets. He unfortunately has to work for 5 of the 10 days he is here, but we'll try to make the most of the time off that he has. At least I know he won't flake, he's already invested $1K euros into it!)

Lots of time off and cash saved up, nothing to do with it. I'm really afraid that the time off will wither into the ether if I don't use it up soon, and the same with the cash. On the other hand, maybe I should just take this as a sign to save that $2.7K and 10 days off in lieu, in case something good comes along in January. Or maybe I should tell my supervisors that I plan to just tack on that time off to my NZ winter vacation next (Northern Hemisphere) summer, and do an epic round the world trip, visiting friends all over. You never know what could happen!

Drama Is Spelled With an H-S-B-C

Usually, the drama in my life centers around everything but my financial life. Usually, my money is my safe place--ordered in neat little packages of goals and funds and expenses vs. saving. Not so this week.

I recently completed my $5K goal, albeit with some (still on-going) drama. HSBC transferred the money from my US checking account TWICE on October 30, causing my heart to give out when I spied a ZERO and a -$4.11 overdraft in ugly red letters in my checking and savings accounts, respectively, two nights ago.

Luckily! I hadn't gotten around to transferring the $25 from my savings account to my checking account this month (I get free checking if I do this transfer, but the savings account interest is so minuscule that I always transfer it back into checking). So, the $4.11 overage was safely pulled from my linked savings (something that my NZ bank is apparently incapable of doing). HOWEVER, they charged me $10 for the privilege.

I thought that I had accidentally hit the 'transfer' button twice after I saw this. I am usually terribly careful not to do that, but hey, I'm human. So when I saw Single Ma's post about the same thing happening to her on the same day that my money was transferred, the light bulb went off--it was bank error, and definitely NOT in my favor!!

But that email that she received, politely informing her of the error and how they were going to fix it? I never got one. I only have $5K at HSBC, and she has $46K. Apparently somewhere in there is the line between getting an email notification and immediate action, and not saying a word and letting your customers think they are big dumb arses for incorrectly executing a transfer. Grrr. This makes me angry.

I sent an email to them already, but will follow it up with them as soon as I get a second off from work. They are going to get an earful.

I'm Back...and Swamped

Work is swamping me with lovely opportunities, but I still have my more annoying, day to day duties to do as well, so...I'm busy.

I've worked the past 25 days, with basically no breaks. My supposed 'days off' were spent catching up on work or preparing talks and organizing meetings. I just got back from a stint in the field, and have another big meeting this Friday.

On top of that, I have a few conferences coming up. One of my bosses just asked me to present something at a meeting in a week. I also have to put together and print out a poster for a conference the week after that. The last weekend in November, I'm traveling for fun on the S. Island--that will cost ~$300 and will come out of the $3000 I have saved for NZ travel over the 2009 summer. (If we ever have one...I heard today that this past October was the coldest it's been in NZ since 1945!! We also were sleeted on in the field this past week, and the higher elevations were getting snow!!!)

So, I'm sad to say, this blog is gonna get ignored a little more. My supply of scheduled posts is drying up. However--work will pay for my food for another 8 days in November! That phenomenon made October a really cheap and easy month. Monthly update coming this weekend.

My one financial goal for November is to decide and commit to a Kiwisaver scheme. I've gotten most of the legwork and research done already, I mainly just need to decide for sure on a provider and work out which funds diversify me the most.

I will also decide soon how to break up the $2500 that was allocated for US travel this Christmas. Another new development has changed some of my plans for that $: one of my best friends is coming to visit me in Feb. We're definitely planning on visiting some tropical islands: Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu...one or two of those. A return flight + 4/5 nights accomodation in one of those islands is going for about $900 NZD right now. I'd also need money for food and souvenirs and things. We are also planning on spending 3 days on the S. Island, and doing day trips around the N. Island (glow worm caves, Rotorua). All that will cost some money!

Credit Check-Up

I took advantage of my free credit report recently, after over a year of not checking (BAD PF blogger!). Although, I had to go through some crazy back way to do it--for some reason the US credit companies totally block everyone from other countries. Dude! I'm not a terrorist. I. Just. Want. My. Credit. Report.

Anyway, two of the sites blocked me, and the third allowed me to get my report after using HotSpotShield.

All is well, everything is lookin good. No terrorist (ahem!) stole my identity and credit.

The good thing is that I'm still using my US cc sporadically to buy my plane tickets home, and I use it while I'm in the US to buy everything. And then I pay it all off before I can be charged interest. So--my credit is still being built and should be intact when I move back to the US. Happy, happy!

New Savings Strategy Is Working!!

Every Sunday, I list out my spending for the week. Every month, I list my spending for that month. I always spend less than my income, and I usually save a lot, too--about 1/3 of my income. I have listed out my goals for the short and long-term, and have been able to accomplish or make satisfactory progress on many of these goals.

This all makes me happy, day-to-day, month-to-month, and looks great on paper, but where is it getting me?

This is where Net Worth comes into play, and we see if my strategy is actually working.

A while back, I had a cow because I realized that I was simply saving to spend instead of saving for the long-term. So while it looked like I was saving a lot and living within my means, etc., I was actually just delaying purchases and spending my entire income, instead of building wealth. I was on Step 1 of Financial Freedom, not some advanced step like I thought I was. Oh, what a hard revelation that was to accept. I've spent days mulling over this idea.

To track your progress, whether it be training for a marathon or eliminating debt, you have to know where you started. So, as of 2009, here is my Net Worth:

US Funds: $11,750
$2800 is in short-term funds, the rest is invested in long-term index funds.

This includes my Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, and HSBC savings account. This will only be growing as the stock market takes off (or doesn't), with monthly interest payments, and when I top up my HSBC savings account to $5K to serve as my US EF.

NZ Funds: $20,220
$680 of it this earmarked for my long-term goals, $10K serves as my EF, and the rest is savings for travel and replacing valuable items (car, laptop).

This includes all of my savings accounts, but not my checking account. This number should be actively growing every month with my contributions and interest payments.

Yup, I just broke the $20K mark, again. Although this time it's in NZD. I am still planning on opening that Kiwisaver account...I just need to devote a few more minutes to researching the various funds and companies, and figure out how to diversify. With work being so crazy, the earliest I can hope to do this is late November.

My Money is Traveling Without Me!

If you've noticed some funky stuff is going on over there on my goals section, it's because I have a currency trade limit. I've saved enough NZD to fill my US EF to $5K, but I can only transfer a certain amount at one time. So, I've just initiated a transfer of $2577 NZD to my US bank account using XETrade. $1911.10 USD is being deposited into my US EF, which means I still need ~$287 USD to fill it up.

I still have $526 NZD in my NZD bank account, earmarked for my US EF. Once all the transactions go through smoothly and I have that $5K in my US HSBC account, I can call the goals done. Due to the silly time periods it takes to transfer money, that could take a few weeks.

Here's my money's itinerary:

NZ savings account ---> NZ checking account ---> XETrade (here my $$ will have some plastic surgery and change from NZD to USD) ----> US Checking account ---> US HSBC account

Whew! I wish I could travel through ACH and wire!

$2500 Dilemma

I have $2,500 left in my 'Travel to US' account that I was going to use to go home for Christmas. However, I'm not going home this December. What should I use that for now?

a) add it to my 2009 NZ Summer Travel fund. I have met the goal for this fund at $3K, but I may need more; two friends are visiting me this summer.

b) add it to my 2010 Travel to US fund. This fund currently stands at $1581, and my goal is $5K, so $2500 could do some major damage to it! I'd love to have this fund done before 2010 even starts!

c) use it on Christmas presents for my family, and get everything on my Wish List; have a big box of US goodies sent to me.

d) some combo of the above. Split it equally?

e) something else...add it to my Oz fund? send mom and sis to NZ fund? long-term funds? a major shopping spree? YOU fill in the blank here. :)

Weekly Spending

Yo yo! It's Sunday, which means it's time for another weekly spending report. I like this a lot better than my daily updates, because it's less time-consuming. It's also often enough so that the amount of spending doesn't get to be too much to report. I like checking in every week to see if my spending is on track, too.

Misc: $137.94
Groceries: $120.77
Electricity: $86 (my share)
Internet: $53.87 (my share)
Eating Out: $22.70

Total this week: $421.28
Total spending for the month: $1500.17 (including $840 rent and all utilities)

Groceries--I had to return the rental car from work last Monday, and had a few hours before it was due back to the company, so I panicked and decided to go grocery shopping for the week. Big Mistake. I didn't have my shopping list with me, so I ended up getting repeats of stuff I already had in my cabinet. I did get dinner for 4 nights out of the $72 I spent last Monday, though. the $50 more I spent on food was on snacks for the field and evenings (I'm a late night muncher!).

Electricity was due, $172 or so, total. I'm looking to switch if anyone has any suggestions.

Internet was due also. $108 total ($45 of it is for the phone hookup, which we don't use but is necessary for internet access. IT IS MY MOST HATED BILL.)

Eating out: got some horrid pasta last Friday. I could have made this sh*& at home, and I'm a horrible cook! $18 for awfulness. I also bought some lunch while out shopping today ($4.70).

Misc.: All of this was spent today, in fact! It was really looking like I wasn't going to spend much more money this month, what with being in the field for the next week, so I decided to do some damage to my Wish List (see sidebar). I went to the Warehouse (crappier version of Wal-mart), Whitcoull's (a fancy Waldenbooks), and a few more places to spend some moolah!

I bought: a friend's card (she just had a baby) for $4.50; a new umbrella for $30; stamps for $23; a hammer, ratchet screwdriver, needle nose pliers, adjustable wrench, set of hex keys, a level, tape measure, joint pliers, 3 storage boxes that snap together (fun!), toothpaste, and a strand of Christmas lights for my balcony, all for $80. I almost bought a new duvet cover and matching sheets for $50 total because they were 50% off, but I decided against that for now because I wasn't absolutely loving any of the Warehouse's designs. Something else for my Wish List!!

My Life Is Work

OMG, finally. I finally have a day off. Two, actually--a whole weekend! It seems like such a long time. :)

I've worked at least 10 hours every day for several weeks now. Very late last night (1:40 am) I got my talk done. I woke up early to practice it, and presented it this morning, and got home at 7 pm tonight. I know lots of people (lawyers, doctors, business executives) work longer hours or these hours permanently, but I don't!

It's so odd--I wasn't nervous about my talk (a little anxious about getting it done to my standards in time, yes, and not super-excited about talking, but not totally freaking out) until I was a few minutes into the talk. That seems backwards, right? It doesn't make sense--I was happy with what I'd pulled together, esp. in light of the time crunch, and I started off very well. Why get nervous after I get into my groove and while I'm confident about my work?

Ah well. Perhaps this means that I need more practice. I can't explain it. It's funny--some experts in the subject of the talk walked in while I was mid-way through (they were early for the next meeting), and it didn't bug me one bit. My boss said that she became nervous for me at that point, but she was happy that it didn't faze me.

Anyway, I don't know if it was because I seemed really nervous or because I did a good job (or both), but several people congratulated me on the talk, and my boss said it was fantastic. Later, an expert gave a talk on the exact subject of my talk (the two talks were presented to slightly different groups of scientists--mine was the 'for dummies' version because of my audience and my lack of expertise on the subject) and he basically repeated what I'd said, with a few more details and one or two additions. So...I guess it was a success. Maybe my standards for myself are too high? Or perhaps I'm still suffering from 'I let him make me majorly insecure about myself'-itis.

Monday I leave to do some more fieldwork. Monday is supposed to be a holiday, but I'm working. I am getting fatigued from work, but I just keep thinking about how I'm banking all of these days off! Hopefully my friend comes to visit in December as planned and I can actually use all of these days. :) If she doesn't show, I'm gonna wonder why I worked myself so hard the past few months! (Grrr...she better show!!)

My first leisure traveling trip takes place the last weekend of November, after a conference. I'm very excited to enjoy the warmer weather that is coming!

$1200 Plan

Yup, I just met another goal--Fill US EF to $5K. I just patted myself on the back. It's all in the master plan.

I technically need to transfer the NZD to USD and deposit it in my HSBC account, but the NZD's are all there for the transferrin. I'd better get to that before the value starts dipping again.

I'm also doing the happy dance because I just realized that October is a 3 paycheck month! Wow. It looks like some major damage is gonna be done to my savings goals in Rock-tober. Yeah! I am killing them lately.

So, that $1200 I transferred to savings will be allotted in the following way:

• $163 to the remainder of the Fill US EF to $5K goal, making it 100% complete!
• $1037 to 2010 Travel Fund, making it 32% complete

Sunday Spending($)

I have two Sunday spendings to catch up on now: 10/11 and 10/18

10/11:

$25.27 on Misc (movie, busfare, parking advertising on TradeMe)
$57.30 on Groceries (mostly snacks for the movie and for the fieldwork)
$29.80 on Eating Out (pizza hut one late night at the office; subway for lunch while doing fieldwork)
$30 on Cell Phone (topped up my vodaphone account)

Total: $142.37

10/18:

Total: $0

That's right, ZERO! I was away for a work trip and spent absolutely none of my own money. Feels great!

I'm back from the field this week, and then leave again for the last week of the month. With all these work trips and being so busy with work, I've had very little time to spend. Good for the wallet, for sure. Total spending for the month: $1,142.89 (including rent payment of $840).

Too Busy

Back from another week of fieldwork.

Now that my boss has my report, she asked me to present it this Friday. At the same meeting that I'm arranging all the catering, A/V, etc for! So I'm organizing and presenting at this meeting, with a few days notice on the presenting front...sigh. When am I supposed to put together a fifteen minute talk in all that? Oy vey.

I mentioned that I didn't have time to put together my talk this week (Tues, Wed, and Thurs are chock-full of other activities and meetings at work), and she said not to worry about the powerpoint portion of the talk. Right...talk without slides? without an aid?

I'm not that good! I need slides and a laser pointer and pictures that illustrate my point! Not to mention that I haven't given an official talk in 6 years, not since I defended my master's.

I flat out do not want to do this. My boss said she'd be disappointed if I didn't, though. I'm hoping that I'll be so bad at it that she'll never ask me to present ever again. :)

Also, my other boss wants me to put together a talk for a big conference on Nov. 16. Right...I have this big talk this Friday, then 7 days in the field, then I have to present and organize another big meeting and talk for Boss #1 for Nov. 6 again, and then I have a week and then there's the conference. WHY don't these people give me more notice? I cannot put a talk together in a day. I said, absolutely not, I can't do that; I'm WAY too busy to put together a nice, polished talk for a conference THE WEEK BEFORE. Honestly.

So yeah. Venting. I do love my job, but hate talking and presenting. If only I could stay behind the scenes and do the fieldwork, written research, etc., I'd be a happy girl. Unfortunately, presenting is a part of this dealio. One that I will try my hardest to avoid and get out of, but one that I'll probably have to do from time to time.

Anyway, the fieldwork part of the past week was fun. Again, my field partner was still annoying. I have 9 more field days with her and she is driving me absolutely insane! I have to share an office with her while our other offices are being renovated, too. There's no escaaaaape! If I die in the next few weeks, it will be because of my head's exploded in an effort to just not hear her voice anymore, y'all. :)