Trying to Travel On A Low Budget

I'm about to embark on a 2 week long road trip around NZ!  My flaky friend (perhaps I should stop calling her that, now that she's actually ON THE PLANE and definitely coming, eh?) and I are flying down to Christchurch, grabbing a rental car, and driving it around the South Island and back up to Auckland.

Tips for low budgeting:

1)  Very obviously, compare prices.  Car rentals can range anywhere from $500 to $1200 for the same 13-day period, depending on the company.  Surprisingly (to me), the major car rental companies like Budget, Avis, and Hertz were on the very high end of estimates.  Smaller outfits and companies specific to NZ or the Oz/NZ region were much, much cheaper (Driven rentacar, JUCY, USave, ABC Rentals).

2) JUCY offered us cars with no one-way fees, interisland ferry discounts, and a deal for driving a rental car from the S. Island and dropping it off in Auckland.  Apparently lots of people drive down to the S Island and leave their cars, meaning that there is a shortage of rental cars on the North Island.  We saved about $5/day doing that.  (We would have saved more, but I don't know how to drive stick-shift!!).

3)  Know how to drive stick-shift.  In the US, all rentals I've ever seen have been automatic.  All the work vehicles I've ever driven have been autos, too.  I tried to learn stick in my teens and once in my twenties, but I was too uncoordinated to get it and always ended up hurting the vehicle I was learning on.  :(  So, trying to to learn stick using my left hand instead of my right hand (because the steering wheel is on the right side of the car in NZ!)?  Difficult!!  We would have only paid $35/day for the cheapest rental instead of $42/day if only I'd have known how to drive stick with my left hand.

4)  Fore-go the rental car insurance.  In NZ, the cars automatically come with insurance and you only have to pay up to $1,200 (less, most times) for a totaled car.  My credit card covers rentals, as well.  Additional insurance for $0 excess costs $10/day or more.

5)  Look for discounts online on the things you know you will be doing.  I looked for interisland ferry discounts and easily found 25% off!

6)  Camp.  I'm bringing my tent and sleeping bag.  If we aren't tent camping, we'll be in a hostel.  I'm hoping all overnights will be less than $30/day.  Hostels will give us a chance to re-freeze our ice blocks and cool down our food, and charge our batteries (literally and figuratively!), esp. if it is raining outside.  My tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad are well-tested to be AWESOME, so I know I'll get as good (maybe better!) of a night's sleep outside than inside a potentially noisy, dirty hostel.  Oooh, here's a tip:  if you want a good night's sleep, AVOID hostels in the city at all costs.  Or invest in Purell and an amazing pair of ear plugs.  The last time I was in a city hostel, 3 of the people in my room were sick, 4 snored, 3 took turns getting ready to go out for the night, keeping the room lit and noisy until 12 am, and 2 got up for the day at 5:30 am and rustled around until I had to get up at 7 am.  Yeah...I got about 4 hours of sleep that night!  (It was an 8 person room, all they had available.  Book EARLY if you want a room for only yourself and your companion, and don't think that just because there are only 4 people in the room, you'll get more sleep...my companions were stuck in a 4 person room with 2 people who snored very loudly the entire night, and got even less sleep than I did!)

7)  Buy food at the grocery store and bring a cooler and ice blocks.  Hostels usually have a fridge where you can put your food for the night.  I just bought one of those compressible insulated lunch bins for $10--it's large enough for 2 liters of milk, fruit, lunch meat, veggies, and whatever else we'll want to keep cool.  I have several plastic ice blocks to use in it.  Since we're going on a plane for the first leg of the trip, I'm glad the cooler packs down flat and tiny.  Breakfasts and lunches will most likely take place in the car or on the side of the road (not bad, since it's NZ--the side of the road can be some of the most spectacular places!).  I've budgeted $40 a day for food, but I think we can get by on much, much less.  Breakfasts:  oatmeal or cereal, milk, fruit, toast, jam, butter, peanut butter, tea.  we'll probably get eggs and bacon for hostel breakfasts.  Lunches:  sandwiches (bread, pb&j or lunchmeat and mayo/mustard, cheese, salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, & chips).  Snacks:  fruit, chips, nuts, trail mixes, cheeses.  We'll most likely eat our dinners out or get takeaways.   We'll bring silverware, buy napkins, plates, bowls, plastic wrap, cups.

8)  Bring cards and a frisbee.  Packs down teeny and are good for hours of entertainment!

Even with all this bargaining, I plan to spend $2K for two weeks.   Yowza!  I don't plan on paring down my experiences to save money during this trip, but I would love to cut down on my accommodation and food costs if at all possible. 

Dollhouse

Watching the series finale now...I'm going to be so sad when it's over!  Goodness, I hope they end this well.

Home Stretch

Whew!  I'm back from my second trip of ...many.  My last work trip before my Fun Fabulous February!! :)  From here until mid-March, my trips are all fun trips and new experiences.  Yay!

I have exactly one week and then I'm off!!  I don't have a huge backlog of posts, so things will be really quiet around here from Feb 1 to about March 10.  There's a week in there where I'll be back in Auckland and working and posting, and then the madness starts again.

Back

I am in Central North Island for work, and I'm staying at the house of the girl I'm mentoring.  I'm definitely not used to 'saving money' for work trips--usually I get a hotel room all to myself, my own rental car, and the time when I'm not working is my own to do what I want with.  I'm also used to having a company credit card to use for food and incidentals.  Not here!  We're doing this low-budget styleeee.

Luckily, the girl I'm mentoring is my age, as are her roommates, and they are awesome, so I don't mind at all (except when one of the roommates brought an *ahem* friend home and they were pretty noisy all night!  That was awkward.  I accidentally talked about 'getting lucky' the next day, which was pretty funny!).  I feel like I've made new friends here in NZ, pretty easily too!  I wish it were this easy in Auckland.

I was pretty lucky, also, that the girl I'm mentoring is a member of a local maori iwi (tribe) and she and her kaumātua (elder, like a grandfather but not blood related) were very welcoming to me on their land and marae (like a sacred tribal house).  He talked of spirits in NZ, similar to the menehune in hawaii, which plants can be used for what ailments, and while his 'scientific explanations' for everything were full of holes, erroneous, and didn't make much sense to me, the fact that he cares about his land and NZ came through loud and clear. 

They have an organic garden at their marae, and to feed me, they let us pick strawberries, blackberries, all sorts of salad and beans, corn, etc. to cook for breakfast, dinner, or lunch.  It was so yummy!!  It makes me want to have a garden and house and all that even more, even sooner!

So yeah, I've been pretty blessed.  They don't have internet at the house I'm staying at, and I don't even miss it.  Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I just got rid of my internet, TV, etc. altogether!

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)

Counting Down

I just got back from the first of my 8+ trips last Friday, and am going back out tomorrow morning!  I'll be gone until Wednesday.  I then have 4 days, and then Friend #1 comes. 

Friend #1 and I still haven't finalized an itinerary for ourselves.  She's been in super-stress mode lately and therefore we have completely different ideas about what we should do.  I have been saving up vacation time and money for this epic trip for almost a year, and don't want to 'take our time' or let our anticipated activities fall through because we haven't booked in advance.  In other words, I want to go all out, screaming mad on this vacation, and do and see as much as possible.  Whereas, she wants to just chill on the beach, in roughly the same spot, during the whole vacation, and just see where our whims take us each day.

Problem. 

When we talked about this trip, and until now, we talked about going crazy and doing everything possible.  I understand that things have changed for her, but I'm really not willing to spend as much time or money to go BACK to the South Island, again, to make up for all the little experiences and fun we will miss by sticking to one area.  Also, I gave up going home to my family for Christmas for this trip! 

The major expense is just getting down there and back.  So, to get down there and just 'chill on the beach' is something that doesn't make sense to me--we could go to the beach near Auckland!  And spend virtually nothing in comparison. 

To do the inter-island ferry crossing, it's at least $300 (this is her non-negotiable activity, it seems).  Add the car rental at $45/day, gas to drive down the whole of the North Island to get there (2 days), accommodation, the flight back to AKL from Christchurch, and the two weeks' vacation I've specifically saved up for this, and it's very unlikely that I will have this kind of time or money to spend on an NZ vacation ever again.  We are going to have to compromise!

Family and College Education

I have two much younger cousins.  One is 14, the other 16.  They are nearing college age and I'm getting pretty worried for them.  They go to my old high school, which is really funny because their teachers are my old classmates!  However, it is NOT a good prepatory program for college, even in the advanced level classes.  They are average students, C level, and most scholarships are probably out of their reach.


My aunt used to work as an admin assistant at the local chemical processing plant, but lost her job last August.  She now cleans houses, and even under very trying circumstances, is one of the most cheerful and fun people I've had the pleasure to meet.  My uncle is physically disabled and from the stories I've heard, probably has lots of undiagnosed mental problems (guess which one is blood related to me! :/).  The four of them have lived in the same trailer and leased plot of land for about 15 years now, and the trailer is absolutely falling apart.  It has two tiny bedrooms, so my aunt and girl cousin share one room, and my boy cousin and my uncle share the other.  They grow or hunt most of their own food, and sell veggies on the side of the road in the summer to supplement their meager income.
 
They are so poor that when their microwave and stove and oven all broke at the same time a few months ago, they couldn't afford to replace either one.  They ate cold food or on their outside grill for months, when it wasn't too cold outside.  They didn't tell any of us for quite a while, but when they did, luckily, my mom and dad were remodeling their kitchen and gave them our still-working old ugly mustard-yellow stove and oven.  My sister had an old microwave sitting in storage from her days in her apartment last year, and she agreed to give them that, so wonderfully, my family was able to replace their items without much trouble at all. 

But college time is coming up for both of them.  The girl would love to study English and write novels.  The boy would be an amazing engineer--he's always taking things apart or inventing things; he's very much like my dad and grandpa in that way (both were drafted into military service at a young age and their families couldn't afford to send them to college).  Both cousins have been asking me some very good questions about my education arc recently--how I got to live in Hawaii, California, and now New Zealand.  They've both know that my education allowed me to 'escape.'

I'm really the only person in their family that is what they would consider 'successful':  actively traveling the world, easily supporting myself and making my name in a career that I love.  Everyone else they know in our family (except for my mom) is on disability, is unemployed, or gets fired from jobs at least once a year.  Only my mom and I have bachelor-level college degrees or higher in the family. 

Because they look up to me and because I know what lives are likely to be like if they don't go beyond community college, I feel responsible for helping and encouraging them.  Their parents never graduated from high school, but would like my cousins to go to college.  They can't pay for it, offer up their one very old car for use, or offer help with any studies above the 10th-grade level.  In that kind of situation, I think it takes a huge leap of faith to imagine that you will be able to stop the cycle.

What I want to know is, what can I do to help?  Did you have someone encouraging you at those ages?  What did they say or do?  I was lucky in that I always knew I was going to college.  I never had to doubt that that opportunity was there for me, or wonder if I would get into my top choice.  I made really great grades in high school, was involved in a buttload of extracurriculars, got lots of scholarships, and had encouragement from and a role model in my mom and the financial support of my dad.  They don't have those assets.  Even more than financial advice for them, I need to know what I can do to help them realize that their dreams are boundless if they have enough determination.  How do I show them that it is possible?

Half-Way Mark

The month is over half over, and I'm at $1,850.80 for spending (including my $1260 rent this month--3 fortnightly payments are scheduled in January!).

*I've contributed to charity this month, one of my 2010 goals.  Of course, this went to the Haiti Relief Fund through UNESCO NZ.

*I've spent $294.73 on groceries.  It pains me to say that I don't think I've been eating better, more organically, nor have I changed my shopping habits much.  This is just what happens when I am not super-careful with grocery spending.  I even ate the same thing for dinner all of last week, and plan to this week as well.  It was pasta with chicken and a lemon sauce last week, and rice with peppers, chicken, carrots, and beans this week.

*I've spent $23.90 on eating out, for a pizza.

*$222.17 was on misc--light bulb extender, flosser, lumosity membership ($100), movies and bus fare, renting a spanish language CD, an airbed and pump, a rechargable battery charger, and a few other things I can't remember now. 

*I also saved $340 to my House DP, Europe, and Roth Funds, bringing that total up to $2,190.80.

Despite my declaration that I was going to spend more this year, it is very hard to break the habit of being super-frugal and just going for it when I think something will improve my life or make me healthier.  Instead, I tend to go for broke a few times a year and act like a miser the rest of the year.  Extremes, if you will.  I don't think it's healthy.  I am also a travel fiend.  I'd love to just take a few cheapy trips throughout the year but since my family lives so far away, I always end up spending lots of money on airfare each year.  Which kind of opens up the floodgates.  Once you know you are spending $2500 once during the year, it becomes easier to do it twice or three times. 

I'm in the midst of making my February budget and travel itineraries for the time that my two friends are visiting.  Between my February income and my travel funds, I should be able to have a great time without any debt.

Planning

I firmly believe that the key to any good trip is planning.  Well, that, and flexibility and a good attitude because things NEVER go as planned.  :)

I'm currently in charge of putting together no less than 9 itineraries, .  And I mean, from top to bottom, flights, car rentals, accommodation, activities, the works.  It is really confusing to keep track of what has been done for each, and I'm about to scream!

1)  A 2 day trip to Rotorua for work starting tomorrow. I had to make the car rental, accommodation arrangements, pick up the car, and gather and load all field gear and maps, prime the laptop with the software we'll need, teach my field assistant how to use all of the equipment, and load the car and make sure we had everything we'll need.

2)  A 2 day trip to Turangi (flight to/from Taupo) for work next week.  I am supervising a Master's student, and believe me, supervising someone else making the arrangements is almost the same amount of work as just doing it yourself.

3)  The fun stuff:  A 10 day trip around the northern half of the South Island in early February with visiting friend #1.  This one is the hardest.  There's so many options, and so much to do in such a short time.  Drive?  Fly?  Take the interisland ferry?  take it easy or go as hard as we can and see as much as possible?

4)  A trip north with visiting friend #1, for 5 days.  Easy, I know exactly where we'll camp and what we'll do.

5)  A 2 day trip hitting the nearby North Island touristy sites with visiting friend #2 in late Feb. (Waitomo glowworm caves, Rotorua).  Again, easy--I've been to these places before.

6)  A 4 day trip to a pacific island with a visiting friend also in late Feb.  Easy--other than the Expensive Experience that I posted about, I have zero plans.  We'll shop, drink, snorkel, eat local food, spend time on the beach at our leisure, and just generally have a great time.  The flight and accommodation was a package deal. 

7)  A 3 day trip around the bottom half of the south island with the same visiting friend.  This one is easy because he knows exactly what he wants to do for one day, and I know what to do for another.  The third day will be taken up by driving.  Plus, I know the places very well.

8)  A 4 day trip to Australia in April with a coworker.  This one is hard also, because I don't know the area, what there is to do, or even which city we'll end up going to (coworker doesn't want to go to Sydney or Brisbane).

9)  A 4 day trip around Auckland for work in March.  Easy peasy, esp. accommodation.  :)

Far off, I also need to plan my trip to the East Coast/home for a friend's wedding on August 21 in the Northeast.  I'll plan my trip back home to my parent's house around this wedding.

Health Insurance Costs

I have to replace my health insurance by February 28.  The current policy I have ends the day before, and given the struggles of the American system is going through right now, I don't want to chance coming back to the US and saying, "Oh, I was covered through the NZ government, so I don't actually have consistent coverage!"  God knows how they would react to that (although I can guess!).

So I'm shopping around right now.  We are supposed to get a discount through work.  I've contacted TOWER and Southern Cross (the work-discounted companies, which are also the largest health care companies in NZ) for quotes.  The NZ Health Insurance Hotline also helped a LOT by narrowing down my choices after I told them what I was looking for.  They also gave me a quick summary of their assessment of each company:
"We recommend Accuro by quite a margin, Southern Cross premiums are good but their covers are very restrictive as you will see when comparing policies. Towers policies are very good but they come at a cost."

Of course, I realize that they may be paid by Accuro to say that, but I intend to look at each of the policies and decide for myself.

For my age and health bracket, with the employee discount, I'd pay $90/month for the UltraCare 400 plan under Southern Cross, with $0 deductible (excess). It includes surgical, specialist, diagnostic test cover, as well as cover for Dr.'s visits, and optical and dental coverage.  $400 for optical and dental each, in fact.  My insurance agent said that when I go to the Dr., I'd just swipe my health insurance card, and they'd take care of the paperwork; I'd walk out paying nothing out of pocket, nor would I have to submit a claim to get reimbursed. 

(Want to know how much you'd pay for similar coverage in NZ? Click here.)

TOWER quoted me $174.23 per month and the Accuro quote was $98.77 for the same options.  Changing the excesses didn't make much of a difference.

Obviously,  the fight is between Accuro and Southern Cross.  I'm still leaning towards Southern Cross even though the NZ Health Insurance Hotline people warned against it, mainly for the dental and optical cover.  Acurro only covers 80% of costs up to $500 and $300 for dental and optical cover, and the Southern Cross policy covers 100% for $400 for each.   I KNOW I'm going to the dentist and optician once or twice a year, so I'd better make sure I'm covered there. 

But of course, I have some major comparing to do.  Excel, here I come!

Checking In

My main New Year's goal, flossing, is now pretty much set in my routine.  With a little determination, I will make it a no-brainer and not even have to remind myself that I need to do it each night.  What a relief that this hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be!

Eating more fruits and veggies has been going...ok.  I am definitely eating more of them, but still not as many as I would like, and not organic.  I can't seem to make it to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays--it's about a fourty-five minute walk from where I live, and I love sleeping in on Saturdays to catch up on my week's sleep.

I've been playing Lumosity games lately--every day for 18 days now.  This also has been almost set into my routine, mostly because it's fun!  It may be my imagination, but I *think* that my memory has been a little bit better recently.  It's really interesting to see how being really hungry or tired affects my scores.

I'm putting sunscreen on every day, too, but not as religiously as with the flossing.  Oh, if all of my goals were as easy as flossing every day...I never thought I'd ever say THAT!  :)

Irresponsible!

I don't care if you swear off of credit cards to get your debt down; everyone has to find their own strategy that works.  But does John Wilder's story make anyone else a little...angry?

More and More Travel!

Uh-oh.  My Oz Fund is at $0 right now, and I have made plans to go to Australia in April for the Easter weekend.

The opportunity just came up very suddenly.  I can't refuse having company to a place I want to travel to; I don't really want to go by myself.  I could, but honestly, I have more fun and do more things when other people are around. 

All in all, though, I will only have 4 days (I won't have any time off so I have to go over the four-day weekend) to travel, so I think we've decided to just go to one city (Sydney or Brisbane).  The short time period should cut down on the expense.  Plus, Friend A says that she knows people in both cities, so we could crash with them, cutting down on accommodation costs.

I will have to go back eventually to experience the rest of Australia (Uluru, Perth, the Gold Coast, Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, etc.), maybe that's what my future Oz fund will go towards.  Including airfare, I think we can do this trip on about $750 NZD.

I've heard Sydney is just about the coolest city in the world, but Brisbane has koalas to cuddle!  Now to decide...

I guess my dilemmas these days aren't so bad.  :)

Vacation Decided

Thank you, thank you, thank you all who commented on my last post about spending some money on an expensive vacation experience. 

I think you all are right, it will be worth it, and I can afford it. At the very least, I won't regret that I tried to go--and I think I would regret it if I didn't try. 

Revanche's point is another reason I was hesitating:  I didn't want to miss out on time and experiences with my friend.

However, he will have to work at least one of the days (long story) and I'll have nothing to do, so I'll schedule this during his meetings with the people on the island.  Perfect!  As for cutting back on costs in other arenas (drinks and souvenirs), I think I can do that without impacting his experience too much.  He's also budget-conscious so I think he'll want to do cheap activities.  Doubly perfect!  I'll ask him about this before I book, of course, but I think I've decided to go for it.  I just needed that little bit of encouragement--thanks again!

Vacation Decisions

Oh man.  I have one of those dilemmas that people don't really offer pity for.  I am going to a tropical Pacific Island in February with a friend to do some sightseeing and charity work, and there is an experience that would most likely be the highlight of my year...and has the potential to probably be in the top 10 experiences of my life.  The problem?  It costs MUCHO. 

The flights and accommodation for 4 nights cost $800.  The experience costs $650 and includes a one-night stay elsewhere--yes, the experience costs almost as much as the whole trip combined, for 1/4 of the time!  I'm also not guaranteed that the weather will be good for that one day; I'd pay up front and probably wouldn't have time to make up for it if the weather went bad.

Dilemma...do I go ahead and book this experience, or do I just enjoy the time I have on the tropical island and make up for it with other experiences?  

I have budgeted $1,700 for the time my friend is in town; I could barely make this experience financially if I cut back on activities the other 3 days I'm on the island, don't drink much, and don't buy any souvenirs.  Most of me is saying just to go for it; when will I ever be on this island ever again??  And the other tiny bit is telling me to hold off and just enjoy the time with my friend (he wouldn't come with me on the trip).

What do you think, aside from the fact that I spend WAY too much on travel?

Fake Busy

Right now, my life is getting really really busy.  For work, I go out of town tomorrow for one day, then I go to a different place next Tues - Thurs, and then I go somewhere else the week after that for two days.   And of course in the days in between, I have to prepare for the next trip and gather equipment, etc.  After that, my friends arrive to visit and I'm basically away from work for the entire month of February!

In addition to that crazy schedule, I have been getting invites and inviting people to do more things around Auckland.  The only problem is, every single person cancels our plans at the very last minute, leaving me to do my own thing.  So I really only have a semblance of a social life:  I always have plans but I don't actually do anything with anyone!

The latest example:  I was invited to see avatar this weekend only two days ago.  When I talked to them today about it, they said that they went last night!  Without a text or anything.  ??

You'll remember that this trend started at Christmas, when everyone that had confirmed bailed on getting together for the day, and for New Year's.   And actually, even before that, when my friend that was coming to visit in December bailed and then decided she was coming in February instead.  So weird.  I want to just stop making plans and getting excited about stuff if this is going to keep happening!  Am I the only person that means what she says?   Barring an emergency, I show up where I am supposed to be, every time.  I am usually 5 minutes late, but I get there.  Ah, reliability...it's so underrated but it's the #1 thing I look for in a friendship.

Other Small Changes

Yesterday I posted about my main 2010 goal and how this one small change to my routine is going.  Talking about flossing every day is seriously boring, but it's a huge challenge for me, and it's really good for my health. 

Some other small changes that I've made recently (or will happen soon):


1) my roommate and I think we've found someone to rent our garage. That will be $25 a week off of our $210 pw rent for each of us. That is over a thousand 'extra' that I can save, if the guy rents it the whole year!

2) I am always thinking of ways to cut back my budget that are relatively painless.  This past week, I cancelled my $10 a month, 2000-text texting plan. I am not texting enough to make it worth $10, and they don't offer a lower priced, fewer text plan. I would have to send 50 texts in a month to justify the cost, and let's face it, I don't have any friends here that are texting that much. Therefore, I've decided to just pay the 20 cents for each text. If it turns out that I'm texting more than $10 worth in a month, then I'll sign up again. That's the beauty of pre-pay cell phones!! I should save about $2 a month this way.

3) As part of my get my brain into shape resolution (I haven't posted my 50 goals for 2010 yet, but this is on there), I signed up for Lumosity.com, a website that claims to improve brain function by playing a bunch of games. I did the free trial for 7 days and thought it was a good way to track progress in various mental arenas. Rather than just say, play chess every day against the computer, I'll just do this every day.  At least 15 minutes of my internet time is now devoted to improving my memory, reaction time, flexibility, and peripheral vision, instead of reading about Kate Gosselin's new hairdo or Tila Tequila and Casey Johnson's engagement. :) It is probably all in my head, but I feel like I'm mentally quicker and that my memory is slightly better than it used to be even a couple of weeks ago.  I used a coupon and got access to the games and tracking system for a year for $60 USD. At about $7 NZD a month, the cost is worth it to make me feel like I'm doing something good for myself, and it's fun to see myself 'improving.'

4) I finally bit the bullet and automated the Long-Term Goal saving of $340 per month to my Raboplus account. That account gets all long-term goal $$, while my linked Kiwibank savings account gets the very short-term goal money while it's being built up. Right now the Raboplus account has $15.6K; it consists of my $10K EF, $1.1K laptop fund, my $2.8K travel to US in 2010 fund, $1K for my Future Roth fund, $350 for my House DP fund, and $350 for my Europe fund. My Kiwibank savings account has $3,380 (the rest of my car fund and 2009 US Travel fund), and will be spent during the NZ summer (mostly in February when my friends visit me in NZ). Anything leftover in the Kiwibank savings account will go towards my $4K Oz fund. Having these funds go to separate savings accounts really helps keep it all clear in my head.  It's all about organization!!

All of these changes should help me make the most of my money, either by freeing up some $$ to use for personal goals or savings, or by spending $$ on the things that matter the most to me.

Have you made any small changes?  How are they going?

Changes

For me, altering my habits and routine doesn't usually happen overnight.  I hate change!  I hate jumping into the pool without easing myself in bit by bit first.  I prefer to gradually, slowly adjust to the change.  For example, when I wanted to switch from whole milk to skim in college, it would have been too much to jump straight to the nonfat version in a day.  (I drank milk with every single meal in college--I made myself do that to keep myself from drinking too much soda, since it was so available in the dining hall.)  Over my first year, I went from whole to mixing whole and 2%, then to 2%, then to 1%, and finally, I've been drinking skim for almost ten years now--it's easy and it became my new habit.  I can't imagine drinking whole at this point.

I did the same thing with my transition from white bread to wholegrain bread.  At first I couldn't even imagine not eating white bread (yes, I had a very unhealthy, rural Southern, 'wholesome'(?), all-American upbringing, food wise:  I only ate sandwiches on white bread (Wonderbread!), and only drank whole milk.  Makes me ill to think about it now!).  Then I switched to wheat only, and now I choose the bread with the most whole grains, percentage-wise.

But some changes can happen overnight for me, it seems:  small, tiny changes.  It's been over a week since the new year started, and I'm doing very well with my sole resolution:  floss every day.  It's non-negotiable.  I don't even allow myself to think about not doing it, and I won't forget because I have a toothbrush-like flosser in my toothbrush holder--when I go to brush my teeth, I notice the flosser and it will remind me.  I used to negotiate with myself for flossing:  OK, I'll do it every other day, or once a week, and build up to it.  And then one day would turn into 3 and then I'd forget my schedule altogether.  That way doesn't work for me, quite obviously.

I think the fact that the change is so tiny has helped make the overnight interference to my routine easy.  It's amazing what a small bit of time or effort, made every day, will do for your health, life, and well-being.  I honestly don't even notice the extra step.  I foresee some trouble ahead during February, when I'm traveling basically the whole month, but hopefully I'll figure out a way to remind myself and keep it up. 

Once I get this down pat, I'll introduce another small change.  I'm considering adding a few 5 minute breathing/relaxation breaks for my next lifestyle change.  Can you think of others that are similar to this vein?  Every little bit helps!

Two Thousand Ten Poll

So, people voted in 'Two-Thousand-Ten' over 'Twenty-Ten.'  Six votes for the former, four for the latter.  One person hadn't thought about it, and 5 said that they would use both pronunciations.

I myself was staunchly pro-'two-thousand-ten' when I wrote the poll, but 'twenty-ten' is growing on me.  Fun!

On a slightly related note, I saw the movie '2012' last night.  Wow, what a piece of garbage.  It's not even the good kind of bad (like Tremors or Volcano), it's just. plain. bad.  (in my opinion, of course!).  If you don't like being preached to or nonsensical plot lines which are never explained, I would save yourself a few bucks or rent Tremors instead.

Sighting

Sorry, sorry, sorry:  to prepare for possible sightings at work when we move next week, I clicked on the ex's facebook.  I saw terrible pictures of him with my coworker in Italy together, being lovey on the awesome romantic trip we were supposed to take.  Blech.  Squared.  He also moved straight from living with me to living with her.  Wowza.  All of my friends that I could talk to about this are on 6 am (or earlier) time (shoulda planned this better), so to the blog I go to vent!

No wonder she can barely look me in the eyes.  I totally thought I was over it.  But then I saw the pics and my heart started racing and my face flushed and I got really angry again, like I caught them in the act or something.  Am I going to feel like this every day in the office?  Really?!  Why is this happening?  Seriously, he couldn't pick someone I don't share an office with to cheat and then get together with?  Terrible situation.  I swear, if I didn't absolutely 100% L.U.V. my job, I'd be soooo out of here.  This is all is just a Completely Disrespectful move on his part, and she was never truly my friend, or even a good coworker, if she could do something like that.  Who does sh*t like this?  I just can't get over it!

Back to the Coal Mines...

I had to go back to work today and it has thrown off my entire schedule and day-tracking system.  All day today I kept thinking that it was Monday!  I was really tired, and my eating schedule today was totally wonky--all I had was granola with a banana in the morning and munched on a bag of popcorn throughout the rest of the day.  When I got home after 11 hours in the office, my head was spinning and I'm pretty sure my blood sugar had dropped off beyond the detectable limit. 

Even with all that, it was actually nice to be back in the office, with my huge dual monitors (3 x the size of my laptop) and large capacity hard drive (6 times larger than my 2007 laptop)!  After almost 3 weeks away, I can honestly say that I came close to missing being at work!  Even working from home gets boring, I guess--it's nice to have a change of scenery every once in a while.

Bad news is, they are STILL not done renovating our offices, and my tiny temporary office is really noisy from the construction.  They are saying it won't be done until next week now...so I'm back to working from home until next week!

The State of Affairs

Or...Net Worth stuff.  My monthly updates describing my budget and spending doesn't include this info, but I need to start incorporating it so I can see how the Big Picture changes as I move from month to month.

US Accounts

BoA checking:  $2,437 (to pay off US credit card over the next 2 billing cycles; bills from my Feb 2010 travel are coming in)
---
BoA savings: $25 (gets transferred back and forth to/from checking to maintain $0 checking fees)
Savings Acct #1: $1  (ditto; this time for the ACH requirement)
Savings Acct #2:  $5,405.05  (US EF)
---
Roth IRA:  $4,108.20
Traditional IRA:  $5,582.08 
---


US Total (excluding checking and checking transfer $):  $14,694.33
--------------------------------------

NZ Accounts

Kiwibank checking:  $934.19 ($420 rent due soon; rest is for this week and a buffer for emergencies)
---
Kiwibank savings (short-term; to be spent soon):  $3,380.51

• $1,382.51    2009 US Travel (now reallocated)
• $1,998        Summer 2009-2010 NZ Travel

---
 Raboplus savings (long-term savings or spending is far off or undetermined):  $15,260

•     $10K EF
•     $1.1K   New Laptop
•     $2.8K   2010 US Travel
•      $1,360  Long Term Savings:

                                    $800 Future Roth
                                    $280 House Downpayment
                                    $280 Europe Trip

---
KiwiSaver (retirement): $118.38

---
NZ Total (ignoring checking):  $18,758.89

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

In 2010, I'll let the interest gather on the $5K US EF, unless I (or my family) need it.  I plan to use this as my starter EF when I move back to the US.  My NZ EF will be used to actually make the move, buy a cheap-o car when I get there, put down a deposit on an apartment, etc.  My NZ 'Future Roth' fund will be used to, of course, make Roth contributions when I am eligible again (ie, when I move back and get a job).  I don't expect my US net worth to grow by much--only interest payments on my savings, and anything the market does to my IRA's (hopefully good things!).

As for my NZ funds, I expect them to grow by leaps and bounds in 2010! 

• My Kiwisaver should increase to about $3,650 in 2010:  over $1.6K from the government kickstart and tax credit, another ~$950 from my contributions, and a matching ~$950 from my employer (ignoring any raises I may get).  That's more than my 401(K) ever grew in a year, I'm sure of it!  Very excited about this...
• My Raboplus long term savings should increase by at least ~$940 a month.  $340 of that is allocated to permanent goals like my Roth, House Downpayment, and Europe trip.  Another ~$600 will go toward my Oz trip, 2011 US travel, and my Send Mom and Sis to NZ! goal.  Half of the money I don't spend in my monthly budget will be put away here...at first, I think I'll put this money towards  my 2010 Travel to US fund, as I have to do some extra traveling for a wedding while in the US and I'm not sure how much flights are yet.
• My Kiwibank savings account, with its greater accessibility and lower interest rate, should only expect inputs from the other half of any money I don't spend in my monthly budget.  This money will fund my non-financial personal goals (post soon).

In any case, my net worth in both currencies should increase (market and God willing).  Now to just get started on confirming my personal goals for 2010!

Free Book for 1 Day!

Go to http://www.walletpop.com/ to download the free "Start Over, Finish Rich" book by David Bach, ONLY on January 4, 2010.

A Note on My 2010 Goals

I'm still working on my personal goals for 2010.  There are 50 of them, a nice round number, but I'm not sure I want to share them all.  Some are just a to-do that I would do anyway, like get my US taxes done on time (you don't have to file in NZ...they just bill you if you owe them, and you can request a refund if you think you'll get one.  Aaahhh, so nice).  But others will hopefully improve my quality of life.


I can already tell you that I'm going to spend more money in 2010, rather than less.  And I'm OK with that, whatever it takes to meet my main personal goals.   Having money is not my most important goal, and I should stop acting like it is.


As part of the happiness project blog, Gretchen says to pick one tiny, main goal for the year.  Mine?  Floss every day.  It seems so simple, so easy, is so key to health, and I have resolved over and over to start doing this daily, and yet I still haven't worked it into my nightly routine.  I do it when I have time, when I remember, when I feel obligated or have eaten something that is notorious for getting stuck in teeth (like popcorn).

Harvard Medical School researchers studied longevity and found one of the most important contributing factors was daily flossing.  (source link)

It takes about a minute and a half (I timed myself last night).  If I can spend hours on the internet looking at nonsense, why can't I take two minutes out of my day to be healthier?  There's really no excuse.

I'm also not using money as an excuse to not make the healthy decision anymore.  That means when I saw those flosser tools they have out now, I got them after reading some reviews on them, even though they were $6.  Normally I would have told myself, 'You have plenty of floss at home, why would you spend money on this?'  However, my new attitude is, if you have disposable income, money should not be an excuse to be unhealthy.  I don't know if they will work, or if they will make me want to floss more, but given their rave reviews, they deserve at least a try. 

So, folks, even though I have 49 other goals for 2010, flossing every day is my main goal.  So far, I haven't missed a night.  As punishment for not meeting this goal, I will have to blog anytime I miss a night, and explain why I missed it.  Exciting reading for you guys, for sure, but perhaps the thought of all that work to blog about missing a night (which will surely take longer than actually flossing) and the social pressure will hopefully cause me to stay on the wagon.

Hope your 2010's have been as good as mine has been so far!

Financial Goals for 2010 and Lessons Learned From 2009

Ah.  I think I've finally settled into a good routine here in Auckland.  I have an EF, a new laptop fund, my job is stable, I have several travel funds, and I've been in this apartment for a solid year.  I therefore I think I know what to expect as far as expenses and income go.  I've gotten my 2009 spending report over with (whew!), and can roughly project a good budget for the next year.  See the following:

Budget Discussion and Justification

You can see that I increased my budget in certain categories--an overall increase of $260 from $2,088/mo.  Groceries increased by $50; cell phone by $25; medical by $85; and misc by $100.  Some is due to circumstance (I have to switch up medical insurance), and some is because I want to increase my travel and experiences while I'm here in NZ.  My spending weaknesses (groceries and cell phone) seem to be impossible to curb, no matter what I do, and I'm tired of beating myself up about it and ruining friendships or my health over it, especially since I seem to be completing my goals fairly quickly and spending drastically under my means even with these weaknesses.  This budget gives me room to do a lot more of what I've been wanting to do: join more dance classes, keep in contact with friends back home more, get contents insurance, get healthier, eat more organic foods, take a cooking class, hire a personal trainer or nutritionist, and join a few sports clubs in the area.

With the extra $260 in my budget, I hope to not only conquer these financial goals, but some non-financial, personal ones as well. I'll post those as soon as I can make them SMART.  To force myself to spend money on my non-financial goals (I tend to get overexcited about filling out financial goals, at the expense of my non-financial goals!), if I'm under in any category of my budget, I'll split the money 50/50 between my financial and non-financial goals.  To help keep track, the money will be placed in separate bank accounts.

Projected 2010 Income and Savings

My total net income should be around $39,423 NZD or higher, and I calculate that I should be able to save over $11,300 with this budget.

That brings me to my goals:

Non-negotiable Contributions to Long-Term Goals in 2010 ($4,080):

1. Save $200/mo in my Future Roth Fund ($2,400). 
2. Save $70/mo in my House Downpayment Fund ($840).
3. Save $70/mo in my Europe Trip Fund ($840).
   

Short-Term Goals for 2010:

1. Save enough for the tax credit in my Kiwisaver:  $1,042.86.  That means I will have to make an extra lump sum payment of about $17 at some point during the 2010-2011 NZ financial year (July 1 - June 30).  My fortnightly payments of $39.46 come out of my paycheck automatically.  I'm really hoping I get a raise and that the extra will take care of that $17.  My raise would have to be approximately $845 for that to happen!  Crossing my fingers...salary review should be in February.
2. Contribute $50 to a charity every month. I did poorly contributing in 2009.  Oxfam NZ is looking good.
3. I will complete my Travel to Australia fund (total:  $4K).
4. I will save $1,000 in my 2011 Travel to US fund (total:  $3K).
5. I will save $2,000 in my 'Send Mom and Sister to NZ' fund (total:  $7K).
6. I will increase my permanent monthly savings by 1%, from $340 to $370 by the end of the year (hopefully when/if I get a raise out of my salary review in Feb.).

Improvements to my tracking methods

• I had some trouble resolving what I'd spent money on in my Misc category, so I'll give each misc category expense a subcategory:  alcohol, transportation, travel, household (needs), clothing and goods (wants), and entertainment. 
• I also had difficulting assessing exactly how much I'd saved, because I ended up spending some of the saved amounts before the year was up, and transferring some to my US bank accounts to pay my cc or to add to my US EF (which was expected).  Sometimes I charged work expenses to my US cc, but my employer paid me in NZD, and I had to transfer that to my US bank account.  Therefore, what should have been easy became a mess!  To try to fix this, I'll write down how much I transfer to savings each month, what goal it goes to, and any withdrawals on a separate spreadsheet and tally the expected vs actual every month.  
• Money for goals is to go into my Raboplus account ONLY, to keep them a bit more separated.  'Extra' money from raises or not spending as much as my budget details will be split 50/50:  half will go into my Kiwibank savings account to be spent at a close future date on a non-financial personal goal, and half will go into the Raboplus account to help complete one of the Short Term Goals.  I really have to stay on top of this, or else I will just try to knock every financial goal I have out by July, like I did in 2009.  I'm really looking for experiences and to make my life richer this year, not just under budget and cross financial goals off of my lists.

Looking Beyond 2010

By the end of 2011, I hope to fill the funds mentioned in goals number 4 and 5, and be able to send my mom and sister out to NZ for a fantastic Christmas holiday.

Non-Financial 2010 Goals

I want to create a page on my blog where I can keep these goals on the forefront of my blog (and mind), but I can't figure out how to do it in blogger. I know several blogger blogs have these, but I can't seem to.


Maybe that should be one of my goals:  learn html? :)


Anyway, I'll just create a post here and put it on my sidebar somewhere for quick reference instead. I'd really rather have a page link at the top of my blog, but the sidebar will have to do.


1. Finish will, revocable trust, power of healthcare, and power of financial attorney docs (I signed up for a free kit with Suze Orman several months ago).  Finish in 2011.


2. Ask friend to be executor, mom to be the power of attorney and health.  Or get a quote for a lawyer to do it.  Finish in 2011.


3. Decide where I want my ashes to be distributed/kept.  Done in 2010.


4. Create a document that my family can access with all of my passwords, etc.  Google docs?  Done in 2010.


5. Ask about discount on TOWER and Southern Cross insurance through work. *DONE* Otherwise, go with Accuro.  Done in 2010.


6. Assess and buy affordable yet full coverage medical insurance by February 27. Cancel old insurance.  *DONE*


7. File US taxes—start looking into filing and how to calculate income in 2009. Include ChaCha income for 2009. *DONE*


8. Make 2 new friends. (This is counted by getting their phone number and making plans after the initial or several few encounters.)  Done in 2010.  Two new PhD students.


9. Go out on 1 date. (This is a stretch goal...I'm not really looking but I should keep my options open, yeah?) Sort of.  It's complicated.


10. Establish a game night at my apartment (or rotating around) 1x month by December.  Sort of.  Had game night a number of times but nothing official.


11. Invite two coworkers to join game night.  Done.


12. Enjoy Pacific Island vacation by researching free or cheap things to do; bring paper and stationary to donate to the local schools. (Feb)  *DONE*


13. go to expensive experience on Pacific Island (Feb)  *DONE*


14. Check into malaria concerns for Pacific Island; make doc appt (Jan)  *DONE*


15. visit all 49-52 Auckland volcanoes.  To finish in 2011.


16. Make plans for next Christmas and new year’s so that I am not celebrating alone again! (by August).  Half done.  Xmas--no plans.  NYE--plans made in November.


17. Rearrange living room, with consent of roommate.  Moot; apartment being sold.


18. Decorate living room and bathroom to be more homey, with consent of roommate.  Moot; apartment being sold.


19. Find a way to scare birds off of our balcony.  Or ants.  Done.


20. Take a yoga class at a place that will accommodate my field work schedule.  Done


21. Take a pilates class at a place that will accommodate my field work schedule.  Done


22. Read a book on effective communication.  To complete in 2011.


23. visit doctor about thyroid and any other concerns.  Yes but nothing came of it.  revisit in 2011.


24. Try a non-gluten diet for one week.  2011.


25. get wrist brace for carpal tunnel *DONE*


26. brush up on Spanish; check an audio tape out from library.  2011.


27. learn german; check audio tape out from library.  2011.


28. drink 62 oz of water (or milk/juice) per day.  Done; reoccur in 2011.


29. start gratitude journal; write down 5 things I loved about my day.  2011.


30. finish decorating my room with favorite pictures; organize desk/wardrobe/nightstand/shelves; post pics to blog.  Moot; house being sold.


31. take photography or cooking class.  Nope. 


32. take a painting class  Nope.


33. knit another scarf or a hat or booties for friend’s kid OR crochet a blanket.  Nope.


34. improve chess level by 1 OR keep playing with Lumosity.  Nope.


35. Spend fifteen minutes a day on my 8 topics (ie my 15 minute method).  Nope.  See 2011 goals.


36. Fulfill all work goals.  Done. and more.


37. Stay hopeful and positive; never ever ever EVER give up.  Act the way I want to feel.  trying.


38. remember that the perfect is the enemy of the good.  Trying.


39. limit internet to 2 hours per night.  Nope.   See 2011 goals.


40. join a pay as you go dance class.  Done!  have 8 classes paid for left.


41. read (or re-read) 25 of top 100 best literature books.  Nope.


42. review grammar and writing rules.  Done; need to do it again!


43. find 3 new healthy, cheap, easy dinner recipes.  Learned one recipe for BBQ chicken that is delish.  Probably not healthy, though!  bbq chicken, turkey meatloaf, lemon pasta, oh yeah.


44. be more conscious of the health of various food and drink items that I consume each day, and research the foods I eat and how they are processed.   sort of.  still trying.  continue through 2011.


45. Dream about settling down: identify what I want my life to look like in a few years when I move back to the US and settle somewhere permanently.  Done.  I know what I want to do now.


46. eat an apple, a banana, and a salad at least 5 days a week.  Find healthy snacks.  Started eating hummus and whole wheat pita for snacky 3 pm time (eliminate need for the Drawer of Inappropriate Starches).  Sort of.  Salad every day; most days a few fruits.


47. walk >20 minutes a day.  Done.  am walking/running an hour a day now.  continue through 2011.


48. put on sunscreen at least 6 days a week (if going outside).  March update:  doing well on this (I have a lotion with SPF 15 in it that I put on every morning).  Done.  continue through 2011.


49. take a vitamin and iron pill at least 6 days a week.  April update:  need to get back to this.  Nope.

51.  Learn basics of cooking.  Slowly but surely.  2011

52.  Learn 2 new recipes for crock pots.  Done.  didn't really like them.

53.  Get dermatologist mole check.  2011.

54.  hire a personal trainer for 1 session.  2011.

55.  hire a nutritionist.  2011.

50.  FLOSS EVERY DAY.  JUNE update:  So far, I'm at 100%!

2009 Details

After reviewing my income and a general spending breakdown (needs vs wants) in 2009, I thought I'd better do a more thorough summary of my 2009 spending.  The devil's in the details...well, here are my devils:

NEEDS

Rent:  $10,800; 25.7% of my net.  In 2010, I'll spend $912.50 per month, or $10,950 because of the way the fortnightly payments are set up.

Groceries:  $3,981; 10.1% of my net salary.  In 2010, I'm upping my grocery budget to $400 per month, or $4,800.  Trying to minimize the cost is affecting my physical and mental health.  I'm tired of fighting a losing battle, and I want to eat more organic and local foods, which are more expensive.

Electricity:  $1,363; 3.5% of net.  This isn't the real cost as XBF paid for internet while I paid for electricity in the first half of 2009.  My roommate and I now split everything equally, so this should go down in 2010.  My budget is $100 per month, or $1,200.

Medical:  $651; 1.7% of net.  Most was in the form of my health insurance premium, $493, the rest was for glasses and a dental checkup.  This will go up in 2010 as my previous health insurance was through my XBF and I will have to get a new policy starting February 28, 2010.  The new policies that I've priced out come to roughly $100 per month or more.  Technically, I don't need health insurance as a permanent resident, but I'm wary of going back to the US without prior coverage.  God knows if this health care bill will actually go through or be any good for a few years.  I'm budgeting $150 per month for health care, or $1,800.  I know this is a big jump from 2009, but I think it's worth it to have quality health care.

Thus concludes my 'Needs' for 2009.  They total up to 40.9% of my net salary.

WANTS

Internet:  $333.29; 0.9% of net.  See Electricity above for why it is so low.  In 2010, I expect to spend approximately $60 per month, or $720 total.

Eating Out:  $833.40; 2.1% of net.  I'm happy with this number, I came in under budget every month.  I'm keeping my 2010 spending at $100/month  or $1,200 total, though.  I plan to do more socializing in 2010.

Charity:  $203; 0.5% of net.  Wow, I'm stingy.  In 2010, I want to spend $50 per month or give $600 to charity.

Cell phone:  $767; 2% of net.  I don't do a lot of talking but I'm  over budget a LOT in this category.  Like my grocery spending, I've done every trick I can think of and my social and emotional health is suffering for it.  I'm tired of that.  I plan to increase this spending in 2010 to $75 per month, or $900.  This spending can be broken down even further:

• Skype: $367
• V8 phone card: $150
• Vodafone: $250

Miscellaneous:  $6,302.31; 16.1% of net.  That is a huge chunk of my income on such a broad category, I know.  But I hate setting budgets for things like clothes or travel, only to come in WAY underbudget some months and WAY overbudget in others.  It works better for me to lump this all into one category and try to keep the spending reasonable throughout the categories. 

However, it was pretty hard to separate out my spending throughout the year using this method, so I've added some subcategories to my spreadsheet for 2010: 

1. travel (car rental, gas, lodging, etc.)  Not sure how to break this apart from travel fund money quite yet...)
2. alcohol
3. entertainment (movies, music, etc.)
4. transportation (bus fare, taxis, rental car and gas around town)
5. household (needs like toilet paper or light bulbs)
6. clothes and goods (wants like games or new headphones)
7. fees
8. gifts

Here is my Misc breakdown for 2009 in these subcategories:

• travel:  $1,092
• alcohol:  $319
• entertainment: $1203.87
• transportation:  $673.49
• household: $1,211.08
• clothes and goods:  $1,154.06
• fees:  $365.37
• gifts:  $283.44

 In 2010, I am increasing my budget to $500 per month, or $6,000 total.

Total 'Wants' in 2009 make up 21.5% of my income.  This amount doesn't include spending that was saved up for in a fund, such as my travel to US fund, or my NZ travel fund.  Not including the Kiwisaver, 37.6% of my salary was saved for long or short-term spending in various 'funds.'