New Goal Changes

I just talked to my mom about the $5K sitting in my bank account in the US that I have renamed my US EF--it is really her money, but she never takes it when I offer it to her.  Today on the phone/Skype, she was worrying about something money-related and I hate when she does this, because I feel like she could just take the dang $5K and solve her problem, but she never does.  Anyway, when I reminded her, she said she wants to use the $5K towards their trip to NZ.  Done!  

That $5K US is more than I was going to save up for their trip--$7K NZD.  It seems superfluous to have over $14K NZD for their trip over here...so I am scrapping the 'Send Mom and Sis to NZ' fund for now, until it is apparent that they'll need more money than that to travel over here.  

Instead, I think I want to fill out all $3K of my 2011 Travel to US fund this year.  Once 2011 rolls around, I'll figure out some more goals.  I think I want to increase my savings for long-term goals (Roth, house DP, Europe trip), and save up a little for the US, since that $5K US EF is the one that is now getting used for my family's trip over here.  Yup...2011 will be the year to save up for my move back to the US...and maybe a bit of travel beforehand.  Because Lord knows I don't travel enough.  :/

Maxing Out Benefits

My Kiwisaver is at $1,705 NZD currently (losing money due to the market...of course).  When I move back to the US, I can pull that out after one year of living elsewhere, with no penalties or extra taxes to pay.  I'm considering doing this to turn right around and put it in my Roth IRA.

In July, I'm eligible to receive the annual tax credit* into my Kiwisaver, up to $1,042.86 per year.  How much we get depends on a) the amount we contributed and b) how long we were enrolled in the Kiwisaver that year.  I joined the Kiwisaver in mid-December 2009, so I am eligible for up to 7/12 of the credit (~$608)...I'm being conservative just in case.  I can't figure out how much exactly I've contributed, because my Kiwisaver scheme provider is very late with posting payments to my account, and I received a raise in April that was supposedly back-dated to Jan 1.  It is confusing.

In any case, you receive a match for your contributions only (i.e. not your employer's).  I did the math and figured out that at the very most, I should have to contribute an extra $7 in order to get the full 7 month's worth of match.  I'll do this in June, just in case.  Hurrah for taking advantage of free money!

*Just as an aside, the tax credit cannot be pulled out if you move overseas...that stays with the NZ gov't.  However, I can keep the earnings made on that money.  Come on, stock market!

Denial

Last night I went on a flight spending spree:  I bought 3 flights, 2 of them international.  I don't even want to tally the damage right now--it's that bad.  I spent 4 hours online and on the phone with kayak, rovia, orbitz, and fatwallet, choosing the cheapest flights that left/arrived at the best times for me, and also had the shortest duration.  I feel confident that the prices I paid were in the upper 90% percentile of cheapness, but I have that same horrible feeling that I did back when I owed money to 3 credit cards and had two student loans piled on top of them:  I can't look.  I don't want to look.  I just know it is going to be a disaster.

The two extra weeks on top of my 5 week vacation (aka the roadtrip) are making me feel guilty.  I have to keep reminding myself that it'll be worth it to see a new part of the country, but I still maybe feel like it isn't really necessary.  It's WAY over my allotment of leave time, and I feel very guilty being away from the office for 50 days straight.

Normally when I travel far away, I travel to see people that I love:  my friends and family.  While my family lives in a podunk town, most of my friends live in really cool places, so in addition to the whole purpose of my trip--seeing my wonderful friends--I also usually get to spend time in a really awesome new place.  My number one priority is seeing people, secondary to that is experiencing a new place.  It's that first element that is missing here:  I need to be traveling to SEE someone in order for my expenses and time to feel worthwhile.  I just realized that!

It's time to figure out who I know on our road trip route so I feel like it's worthy of my time and I can get the most out of it.  I have an old college roommate who lives in Vegas, so that's easy; I have family in Fresno and Los Angeles, and one of my best friends from college lives in San Francisco.  But the long stretch from Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Utah and on to Yosemite?  Hmmmmmm.  I'm coming up with zilch, unless I can count some really cool views and rocks as my friends.  :)

Ladder Up!

Due to my emergency fund, I always have a minimum of $10K NZD in the bank in a savings account, gaining interest.  More recently, my balance has been about $18K NZD due to the other goals I'm saving for:  $1.1K for a laptop, $1.8K in my future Roth fund, $1.2K for Europe and House downpayment funds, and various travel funds ($3.2K for Australia, another $3K for US 2010 travel).  The long-term funds especially seem prime candidates for a CD laddering scheme.

I make 3.5% p.a. on my savings currently.  With CD's, I could earn more.  Now I only have to decide how to do this...I haven't tried laddering CD's before.  I don't want to tie up the money for much longer than a year, since I don't know how much longer I'll be in NZ...also, I have an aversion to having too many bank accounts in too many places.  I want this to be simple, but I also want to get the best rate.

According to Interest.co.nz, this may actually be possible!  One of my banks is rated as the safest in NZ AND has the best rate of return for a 1 year CD:  5.6% p.a., with a minimum deposit of $1K.  So, that is a no-brainer for my longer-term goal funds.  As for my Oz trip, that should be at least another year off, too, but I'm not as sure about that.  My EF should be constantly available, so I'll want to start off slowly with this one and try to ladder it carefully--a bit renewing every month or so?  I'll have to do some number crunching and think some more about this one.  Any advice?

Garage Space

My garage has been sitting car-less since I moved in.  XBF wanted to rent a place with a garage for him to store and work on his motorcycle, so that was a major reason why we took the place.  When XBF moved out and the new car-less roommie moved in, we immediately went around putting up flyers and placing online ads to rent the space, as my landlords said that we could cut down on our rent by renting out the garage space.  That was last August.

The price we want is completely reasonable; the covered parking lot next door charges $15/day and is completely open to the public; we want $40 or $50 a week for a secure garage space right in the CBD, cheaper or comparable to others in the area.  All of the street parking within a 30 minute walk near us is paid parking, too.  It's a great spot!  I don't understand why it hasn't rented; people contact me and then decide to flake out when I write them back to set up a time for them to come see it.

Ah well.  It looks like our search is nearly over; my roommate's coworker is moving jobs to a place near to us, and wants to rent it.  But...she doesn't want to pay more than she does now, which is $32/week (she gets a deal at work).  Normally, that would be a deal-breaker, but my thoughts are that $16/week for each of us is MUCH better than $0/week!  And if we know the person renting it, it may be easier to arrange something if we, say, rent a car ourselves and want to park in front of the garage and block the exit overnight.  My roommate also mentioned that the renter may be open to letting us use the car from time to time.  Deal!

Due To Inclement Weather...

The first major project that I was assigned at work--for me to own start to finish, and get my first conference talk and publication out of--isn't going to happen anytime soon.  I'm kinda bummed!  The problem is, we can't do the fieldwork when it is raining or when it has rained in the past 36 hours.  If you have lived in Auckland, you understand what is going on--the weather has just turned gray and nasty and every-day rainy.  In other words, winter is here.  We were supposed to do the sampling this week, too--I'd wanted to do it much earlier (3 weeks ago), but the equipment wasn't available until now.

Oh well.  We'll get to it in December or January!

Charity for May Fulfilled!

I just got an email from Kiva saying that my loan was repaid!  I intend to turn around and lend that money over and over again. It feels awesome that the same money can be used to help many people in turn.  To me, it is spent money--I never expected it back.  Even so, I'm counting this as my charity budget for the month of May--so in effect, this money is helping me reach my May goals, too!

As for May's budget, I will barely squeak by, I think, in order to make my goal.  God willing, that is.  My bank account is sitting at $60 until Friday payday, and I still haven't bought groceries for this week.  I will have to transfer some $$ in order to help assuage my apprehension about accidentally overdrawing (not due to me overspending, due to, for example, my electric bill suddenly becoming due--I put those things on autopilot so I usually just make sure I have enough to cover electric and internet in there.).

My roommate owes me almost $300.  She usually is pretty late with her payments, but pays within a month of my bill to her--but she still owes me her share of the electric and internet bill from April.  So that is another reason why my bank account is so low.

I have spent $1,613.21 so far, and still have to pay for my internet bill share.  All told, I calculate that I can spend about $30/day and still make my May goal of saving $720 to fill my Oz fund, on top of saving $340 towards my long-term goals.

I used to be able to save at least $1K each month, no problem, but between my Kiwisaver contributions and my new health insurance premiums, it has become difficult.  I am thinking of getting my dentist and eye appointments done (the main reason that I signed up in the first place), and then cancelling my insurance and saving that $90/month premium to something else.  It doesn't cover the usual reasons that I go to the doctor anyway:  eczema and allergies--they are pre-existing conditions here.

Anyway, as a result of getting sick earlier this month and trying to cut back spending to make my goal, I have barely done anything in May...I feel like a hermit!  I am sure that there will be a June backlash because I feel somewhat deprived.  Bad news for June's budget!  I have to re-learn how to straddle that line between spending as much as I want and just spending on essentials.  If I end up having a little bit extra after I fulfill my May goal, half will go to spending on something I want and the other half will be saved in my 2011 US fund.  How's that for a compromise?

I Don't Need One, But...

I've been thinking very seriously lately about buying a new laptop.  My old one works just fine, you see, but there are little things that I want that it doesn't have:

One, I can't store any of my music or pictures on it now--the memory is completely full of other programs and documents.  I've wiped it as clean as I can get it, but bottom line, I need more space!  The external hard drive I have is great, but it's just two more wires and two USB ports taking up space that I desperately need.  It is very annoying to have all of my devices take turns being plugged into my laptop.

Two, I want to get a laptop with a built-in microphone and webcam.  Hooking up everything is a nuisance, and now my Skype headphones only have the microphone working, so I have to wear it for the microphone, and put on a second pair of headphones to be able to hear the person I'm talking to.  I look and feel ridiculous, and it is annoying.

Three, I'd love to be able to hook this computer up to the TV while I work on other stuff with the new laptop at home.  That would be pure luxury!

Four, I want this laptop to be for media (pictures, facebook, music, watching movies and TV shows) and my other laptop to be for work...or vice versa.  There is less chance of me downloading something crazy and wiping out my entire hard drive that way.

Five, my battery may as well not be inserted into my laptop.  It lasts for 3 minutes unplugged.  I am tied to my power cord.

Anyway, you can see that all of these things add up to being annoyed, but no real need for a new laptop yet.  Should I wait until this one dies to get a new one?  Probably not...a) I will be pretty upset when that happens, and b) I will be desperate and so will not care too much about price.  My plan is to look for a laptop while I am in the US this summer.  If I find one in my price range with everything that I want...I'm getting it!

Laptops are infinitely cheaper in the US.  I looked up the least expensive laptop in NZ I could find:  $899 NZD--that's $630 USD.  At Best Buy, the exact same computer is $330 (plus tax) USD!!  Crazy talk!  I've saved up $1100 NZD for a new laptop already (see sidebar), so I could spend up to ~$770 USD.  I should definitely reach that amount:  I will also need the Office Suite installed in my computer because I constantly work on Excel and Word documents, and the EndNote bibliographic programs I have only work with Word.  I'd also want to get a warranty on the new computer in case of any damages.

Here are a few handy links to free and nearly equivalent programs (consider these instead of shelling out $$$ to install necessary programs to your new laptop).  I've only included the ones I personally use, but see Trent's list, he did something similar a while ago.

MS Office Suite:  Open Office
Norton Anti-Virus:  Avast!
Parental Block:  InternetFilter  I use this to track my internet usage, bandwidth used, and to make sure I am not on the internet at 3 am on a school night.  :)  In NZ, they charge by the bandwidth, so I find it very handy to see how much I've used up at any point during the month.
MS Internet Explorer:  Google Chrome  Firefox is also handy, and used to be my 'go-to'--but I've started having problems with it and find Chrome to be extremely user-friendly and the format saves me tons of time.  there have only been 2 pages that Chrome hasn't been able to open for me since starting to use it 3 months ago.  I have heard Opera is excellent, but I didn't like the format when I first started using it, so I abandoned it for Chrome.

Alternatively, if you are a student and have an .edu email address, go here for Microsoft products for cheap:  http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

(See also:  http://good-software.blogspot.com/  Search for 'free' and some interesting results pop up.)

Job >> Vacation?

My bosses recently granted me 37 work days off in a row later this year, however, I'm still holding off on buying plane tickets due to a niggling feeling that things aren't quite settled yet.  There is something wrong here...what is it?!

I don't think I want to do the 2 week road trip to Utah after my month of vacation.  Why on earth is this happening?   My bosses are OK with it, I have the money to do so (I'll get paid for the entire time I'm away), I like my travel-mates, think it will be a blast, and I'd get to see gorgeous pieces of country that I've never seen before.  The costs should be minimal for that 2 week window.  The XBF isn't a factor 'cause no one associated with him will be anywhere close to the destinations for the road trip; I'm fine with the portion of my vacation that does deal with seeing people from my past with him.  So, I don't understand what is happening.  But there it is:  a gut feeling that I shouldn't do it.

Since getting the OK and realizing that this trip was an actual possibility, I've thought time and time again that I should cancel the trip and go with my original plan sans road trip.  What could it be?   Maybe I'm actually uncomfortable being away from my job for so long.   I have so many more experiences and things to learn from it, and I want to make the most of my time in this job.  I think I want to choose my job over more vacation.  The thought of 7 weeks away makes me antsy.

Wow!  That is pretty powerful.  I have committed to my travelmate, so I may still go, but it is interesting that I'm so apprehensive about it, all down to time away from my beloved work.  I am going to make more plans to install work software on my computer so that I can get as much work time as I feel comfortable with while I'm overseas.

Girl Buys House at 18

This girl is an inspiration, and has everything so together it makes me wonder what the 4H is wrong with her??  :)

Disclosure

My officemate asked me today about my finances, when I said something along the lines of 'being in debt is awful!' in response to her telling me about her financial situation.  I was happy to share my rags-to-'riches' debt story with her, but I don't know that I would have told her all that while I was in debt.  She's a curious person and asked me, "How much do you make, in New Zealand dollars?"  I told her I didn't share that information with people I worked with.  That was really awkward, since we are friends outside of work.  A very uncomfortable silence followed.  But, then again, asking that kind of thing isn't usually done amongst coworkers, and my personal decision is to not share that with anyone besides family and really close friends that are not in my field of work...and readers of this blog, obviously!  (For reference, it is $52,300 NZD; I used to make $55K USD when I left the US...ouch!).  It is kind of weird, since I am in charge of the budgets for the project that we work on, so I will know her salary for this year (she's been hourly up until now), but she won't know mine.  I also thought it was odd that she asked, given that I am kind of one of her bosses, as in I can give her tasks to do and rank higher than her.

Would you ask a coworker his/her salary?  Would you tell a coworker that asked?  Why or why not?

Shocking Statistic

I've had the privilege of hanging out with folks from all sorts of different countries in my life, but especially since moving to New Zealand (unsurprisingly).  I keep noticing how learned and aware of current and past cultural events they are--mention France or Nicaragua, they knew who the President was 15 years ago when X event occurred, and his role in the matter.  It has greatly humbled me--Austrian 22 year olds with only a high school education and absolutely NO interest in politics or any sort of pursuit of 'higher learning' know seemingly obscure facts about other countries and world history.  Being exposed to these people is a really good reminder that my graduate school education doesn't make me 'smarter' than anyone else.

In comparison, I just thought that I was terribly uneducated or ignorant or that my memory was failing me (again).  Then my English roommate and her Kiwi friend and I were talking last night, and the Kiwi friend mentioned that she had heard that only s.  The sadder part is that this figure has increased from a few years ago; once they passed the law that required you to have a passport to travel to Canada/Mexico, the number rose dramatically.

This FLOORED me.  And then I thought...maybe the two trends are not coincidences.  Maybe my cultural ignorance isn't completely my fault*.  Maybe it is the culture that I grew up in, where America is the end-all, be-all greatest place on Earth, is somewhat to blame.  Especially where I am from, hard-core patriotism means that you never say anything bad about the US.  It means you only move to another country if you aren't a true American.  If the flag touches the ground, you burn it.  When the national anthem comes on, your hat comes off, you stand still, eyes locked on the Stars and Stripes, feel deeply moved, and you automatically put your right hand over your heart in salute.  You grow up saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school.  Being an American isn't just about where you are born; it is a mindset that is ingrained in your psyche and shapes you osmotically.

Being an American comes with heavy responsibility, though.  You are to be loyal at whatever cost it takes, with any criticism of the US followed by the acknowledgement that you are very lucky to be born in the US.  It is considered very patriotic and honorable to go fight in a war that you don't believe in, just to serve your country.

Being an American also means that you are more likely to be bombarded with US news, 24-7, with more coverage about American movie stars and political scandals than any sort of international events.  American news is spoon fed to you on every channel, the more scandalish and cartoonish the better.  You have to dig to the second or third page of the paper, in the tiny 'World News' section, to read about anything not pertaining to the US.  It means you take ONE semester of 'World History' in high school, with the focus of that class being wars that Americans fought in, ancient civilizations from which the ideals of America are based (see:  Greece, Rome), and Africa, Australia, and South America are not even mentioned in passing.  It means that you don't pay attention to things like who won the election in the UK this week--they are simply off your radar because 'they don't affect' you.  Even if this is true, how can we stand to be so culturally ignorant without any consequences?  If 9/11 had occurred in any other country, would we still take our shoes off before boarding planes?

I think one way to correct this 'ignorant' trend is to travel, but clearly, 4/5 of the US either are not interested in traveling, or can't travel.  I am not sure which is worse.

So why do YOU think that only  (this question goes out to everyone)?  Is it because we don't have the money to travel across the ponds?  Is it geography:  are we not interested in traveling to other countries because America is so geographically diverse and extensive, and other countries are so far away?  Or is it because we just aren't interested in experiencing cultures outside of our own, certainly not if they make us uncomfortable or if they don't speak English?  What, exactly, makes us so happy to be so culturally insulated and ignorant?

*It is MOSTLY my fault, I have to concede--after all, I am wholly responsible for my own actions and points of views, etc.  If I thought I should be learning about other countries' histories, I would have been doing that already!  More disturbing to me is that I just didn't think to do so--and that mindset isn't rare amongst my American friends.  Do you take it upon yourself to learn about other cultures, and to keep up with international news?  I definitely am going to work on changing this mindset.

All Systems Go

Bosses confirmed today that I can go to the US for 37 work days straight later this year, WITH PAY.  It is great to know that my bosses are behind me so solidly.  They want me to have a good time as much as I want to have a good time.

The plan is that I'll work extra before and during my time off to keep up and to make up for the time off.  Win-win:  I get to keep up with my work while also spending time with my family!

I had a plan to afford being away so long--and that plan was entirely based on having the majority of my time away as paid time off.  I've saved up $3500 for tickets and incidentals for this trip, which should cover all my plane tickets plus a few days of a rental car.  The rest of the trip will be paid for with normal monthly income--I have my entire grocery, eating out, NZ cell phone, and misc. budgets to use for this--almost $1100 NZD per month.

Covered Expenses:
1)  Accommodation will be covered for all but the last two weeks of the trip.  Yay for couch surfing and very generous family/friends in lots of cool places!
2)  Food will be paid for for 4 of the 7 weeks I'm away, as I'm staying with family who always make it a point to take good care of me.  :)
3) Car/transportation:  I'll have a car at my disposal for all but about 2 days of my trip.
4)  Gas for my 2-week road trip is covered.

Expected Expenses:
1)  Gas for the car (short 15 min. trips almost daily; one 3 hour round day trip, one 4 hour round day trip).
2)  Eating out with friends or family.
3) Food while I'm on my two 4-day trips away from my family, and while I'm on my 2 week camping road trip (3 weeks total).
4)  Camping incidentals:  low budget lodging or campsites, laundry/shower facilities, national park fees, propane for my camp stove...
5) Fun stuff:  shopping, activities while seeing friends, and sight-seeing.

37 Days Off

New Zealand has GOT to be the greatest place on Earth.  Forget Disney Land!

Earlier this year, I:

• took 2 weeks off to travel around the upper 2/3rds of the South Island in February
• experienced 4 days of South Pacific tropical paradise in Vanuatu
• spent 3 days traveling around the bottom third o f the South Island in early March
• traveled around the Northland during my 5 day Easter vacation

I was away from work for approximately 17 days in February-March.  All of this time off from work was actually time off 'in lieu,' meaning that I banked the work hours last September-November. I also get 20 paid vacation days off each year.  

I just asked my two bosses (doesn't that sound like a sitcom?  I think it does!) if I could take off basically all of August and September later this year.  I have a bunch of social obligations lined up and some great opportunities, to boot!

It was crazy, my bosses didn't even bat an eyelash at this proposition.  They each told me, separately, that I could take off as much time as I wanted, and that they'd work it out with HR (they tend to be sticklers).  Of course, some of that time is unpaid, but the point is, this would have never happened at my last job in the US. It is only because I'm in NZ that I even thought to ask in the first place--in the US, this would have been a guaranteed NO.

The time off comes to 37 days off, total.  Nuts!  

It is absurd that I am this lucky.  A) I have my dream job.  B) I make enough money to support myself, my traveling, AND save for the future, and C) I have enough time off to do what I want each year.  It is the Job Trifecta of Goodness.  Squared.

Anyway, I can't in good conscience take the extra 19 days off unpaid (I haven't earned my full 20 leave days yet, so I can't officially take all of my 20 paid days off) in September, so I proposed working an extra 5 days over the next few months and working 5 of the days while I'm in the US.  I would have 9 days unpaid left--I think my frugal brain can handle that concept.  

Budget-wise, I have a plan to handle the extra expenses I'll be incurring, and have some $$ saved up to use during this vacation, so if this plan flies with my bosses, the 9 days off unpaid will be absorbed into the ether.  

There is also nothing better than getting paid while on vacation.  

The funny thing is, my main concern is so much time away from a job that I love.  I WANT to work during that time.  It almost hurts me to think about not getting anything done for two months, so working while I'm away makes a LOT of sense.

This extended time off means that I won't be able to go home for Christmas this year again.  It sucks, but I will deal with it.  I also probably shouldn't make plans to do anything big, travel-wise, for Christmas/New Year's, but if the opportunity arises, I won't be turning it down, particularly for my top two areas that I want to visit in NZ:  Taranaki and Gisborne.  

Oh man...THIS is why my retirement savings is on the skids!

The Cost of Happiness: $85 USD

My mom sent me a package that I received today, full of my favorite goodies from America!  In it, there were FOUR boxes of girl scout cookies, 11 bags of my favorite snack food, some lotion with SPF in it (SCORE!), some 30 SPF sunblock from Neutrogena (can't get that here & it is the only kind I will use), and 2 boxes of Lil Debbie snack cakes!

The cost for sending me this?  $85 freaking US dollars.  Yes, I know.  My mom is the best.

(And yes, I sent her a very nice card and gift for Mother's Day.)

The Treading Water Kind of Progress

I read an article today about the affects that debt and dire financial straits can place on your physical and emotional health.  I've seen what it can do to a person--in particular, my mom aged a decade in a year or two when my dad and sister first became ill and they nearly lost the house.  The article got me thinking about my financial stresses.

Luckily, I'm not in debt anymore, and I don't have any major financial stresses.  That is, except for the stress I put on myself to stretch to save a little extra in May!  Another current niggling financial stress is whether or not I can afford to take 7 weeks off later this year, instead of the standard 4 weeks.  These are not bad stresses to have, and actually are fun and motivating for me to think about.

However, the biggest stress-inducing financial issue, always in the background, is that my net worth is almost nil, my retirement investments have decreased since 2008 and don't seem to ever gain, and that I am almost 32 with zero assets.  I am clearly behind the rest of my age group, and it bothers me, as I am usually well ahead of the bell curve.  It is a glaring truth that belies my confidence in my savings ability, my handle on my budget, and my anal-retentive penny-tracking.  Somehow, it feels as if all of my effort in the past 3 to 4 years has gone into treading water.  I'm not much better off then when I paid off all of my debt in October 2006.  The proof:

October 2006 net worth:  $4500; $1500 in retirement
November 2007 net worth:  $24K USD; $8K in retirement
August 2008 net worth:  $20K USD; $8K in retirement
May 2010 net worth:  $24.5K USD; $10,500 USD in retirement  (including all long-term NZD assets, but not counting the $7500 NZD savings that is earmarked for spending in the next 2 years)

I have saved 20 to 48% of my net salary on top of my Kiwisaver contributions every month this year.  And yet, I know it is not enough.  How much should I have in retirement at 32?  I can't answer that question, but it is undoubtedly more than $10K.  And especially more than $10K that seems to gain $0/year without contributions.

At this point, I'm doing everything I can to look long-term while also having fun living overseas and getting lots of experiences:  my expenses are relatively low, I save 15% of my salary in long-term savings like my Kiwisaver, I'm saving up for a house downpayment and a future Roth IRA contribution, and I'm paying cash for all of my traveling.  Sometimes I worry that maybe I shouldn't travel so much, or plan to travel so much, but every trip I've taken has been full of pretty amazing experiences.  The traveling I'm doing will never be cheaper:  I have no mortgage, no kids, plenty of paid time off at work, I live right next to gorgeous places, and most of the time I camp out or couch-surf with other, single friends who live in awesome places.  Yes, the traveling will only get more expensive as I get older, don't want to camp/hostel it as much, move closer to my parents and farther away from cool places, and as my friends grow up, have kids, and can't accommodate couch surfers.

Part of me is counting on the large sum of money from my parents' life insurance policies.  This is a bad plan, but honestly, I don't see another way to save up the kind of money that I need to in the next 30 years.  How on earth do people build up $100K+ retirement portfolios by 35 or younger??  I feel like I never buy anything new, scrimp where I can, and am very, very aware of my spending.  Given the proof above, though, it is clear that I am NOT DOING ENOUGH.  Sigh.

I think my real problem is that I want too much RIGHT NOW.  I want to travel to and around Australia.  I want to do a 2 week road trip to Utah and back.  I want to fly my mom and sister out to NZ.  I want to go skiing in Queenstown.  I am not going to be in NZ for much longer, so why would I wait to do these things when the opportunity arises?  That kind of thinking is my downfall.  I have kind of fixed it with my long-term savings plan, but I wonder if it is enough?

What is your main financial worry?

"No Risk" House Purchase

A friend of a friend just bought a house very suddenly.  My friend was telling me about it today.  She works for a major US university, and apparently bought through a program that the university offers.  She described it as a 'No Risk' housing purchase.  Has anyone heard of this, or know what it is?  I'm so curious...

Stretch Goal

For the month of May, I figured I should set a few goals for myself--it works for lots of other bloggers!

These goals are made to keep me on track to complete my 2010 goals.  Since I was so 'bad,' budget-wise, the past 3 months, May should be a quiet month to balance this out.  Therefore, I want to complete a stretch goal* this month!

1)  floss every day.
****2)  save $720 above my long-term goal savings of $340/mo, for a total savings of $1,060.  Why $720?  Because it will complete my Travel to Oz fund, of course! See sidebar.  [The remaining $70 or so will be from my savings account interest.]  I will need to spend about $19/day or less to make this goal.*****
3)  Ask bosses for 7 weeks time off later this year.  I have been putting this off for too long, afraid that they will say no.
4)  Buy flights for 3) vacation time using my Travel to US in 2010 Fund.
5)  Make dentist appt for June (insurance kicks in after 90 days, so I will be eligible for checkups then).
6)  Make chili in crock pot.

I'll add some more as I think of them...

$125 Down the Drain and Rudeness

On the bright side, I can now use the borrowed car!  But man, $125 to get the car key duplicated is a LOT of moolah.

Work drove me crazy today.  I'm still sick and coughing, but it is a coworker's last day tomorrow and I was *required* to be there for her to hand over her work so I can start where she left off.  I told them how sick I was when they emailed and called to tell me how important all of the work was, and they said that it was imperative for me to come in.  So, when I woke up today still feeling terrible after a full 10 hours of sleep and saw that my inbox was full of 'Where are you?' emails that had arrived at 7:30 am (we hadn't set a day or a time for this meeting), I rallied and got ready and walked to work in the cold.  When I got in, they all treated me like a leper.  My boss actually crossed the room to sit and held her scarf in place around her mouth after I entered the room.  And I fielded several comments about how I should go home.  (REALLY?!  Noooo.)  The coworker that was leaving gave me a hug goodbye, and screamed 'germs!  germs!' the entire time.  So that kind of...ruined the sentiment.  Why even give me a hug then??  Seriously annoying.

Honestly...what was I supposed to do?!  I just found it all really rude.  Either leave the room or deal with it.  I doubt that scarf was doing much to filter out my germs, anyway, especially when I was coughing into my folded up jacket--at least 4 layers of cloth.  If that wasn't damping the germs, that scarf sure as heck wasn't, either!

I wanted me to stay home, too.  :(  Treating me like that wasn't making my illness any better!

April Spending and Goal Update

At the beginning of April, I went on a 5 day road trip up to Cape Reinga and had several very social weeks immediately thereafter.  Activity slacked off towards the end of the month, as I got ill (and still am) and as the people I hung out with started leaving NZ due to the onset of winter weather.

April was consequently a very spendy month.  However, it was also quite lucrative, being a 3 paycheck month and also the month in which I received a raise and was reimbursed for that raise's backpay since January.  Hurrah!

I also did some math while sick and bored sitting in bed these past few days, and I should receive an NZ tax refund for the past few years sometime in July.  I plan to save that money towards a few goals (post soon).

Snapshot:

Income:  $4,617.13
Spent:  $2,386.65
Difference (left to save):  $2,230.48


CATEGORIES
Rent:  $840  Quite normal.  Still want to rent out our garage.  I have a standing ad up for it, but get very few responses.  Of the ones we do get, they flake out after I write them to set up a time.

Groceries $461.19 Overbudget  I can't even tell you what happened here.  I just spend too much, despite my best efforts.  I only did two big shops (over $50), the rest were small amounts here and there.  Maybe I need to cut down on the small, during the week, shopping excursions and cut back on snack foods.

Internet  $59.91 Right on target.  Roommate's friend that is staying with us is going to put $15 towards this.

Electricity $74.42 Winter is coming, and along with it, large electric bills.  This next month will be very expensive due to the flood and the resulting excessive use of all of our fans/heaters/carpet shampooers, etc.  Plus we had a houseguest.  

Eating Out $141.50  Overbudget  This is overbudget due to the eating out I did with people during my Easter trip. $116.90 of this total comes from eating out with friends.  I hardly ever do this (usually this category is taken up with takeout, which I eat at home in front of the TV), and given my goals to be more social, I am OK with being over budget in this category just this once.

Charity $0  or $55  depending on how you look at it.  I blew this this month because I accidentally overpaid for our road trip guests' portion of the bill.  I consider this to be charity and a way to make their NZ experience a good one. ?? Does that count?  I'm sure karma will pay me back for this error.  I just didn't do the math myself, I took my friends' word for it about the plan.  Oops.  Lesson learned:  always do the math yourself.

Cell Phone  $40  A vodafone topup and a V8 card topup.  These will all be topped up again next month, plus my Skype.

Medical  $0  Southern Cross automatically takes out the monthly $90 premium from my paycheck, but any other medical expenses will come from my budget category.

Misc $769.63 Overbudget  I spent about $380 on travel alone this month:  $338.83 from my Easter trip (including camp fees, gas, and car rental), $48 from my Waiheke trip.  $65 on alcohol; $30 on entertainment (movies and a rugby game); $10 on my stupid annual visa credit card attached to my debit card fee; $50 on my Mothers and Father's Days gifts; $244.29 on goods and wants (a new jacket, two scarves, paint supplies, and US supplies); and $33.50 on transportation (taxis from bars and friends' houses, busfare). 

Savings
This month, $340 was saved to long term goals.  This brings my Roth IRA fund up to $1,600 NZD, Europe fund up to $560, and my House Downpayment fund up to $560.  I save roughly 15% of my net salary into long-term funds:  2% gross salary is my contribution to Kiwisaver (retirement scheme), 2% gross is employer's contribution, and 10% net salary to the above goals, after tax.  If the NZD ever gains on the USD, I want to transfer this money to USD for use when I go back.

As for short-term goals, I like to concentrate on one goal at a time.  This year's first priority was my Travel to Australia fund, with a goal of $4,000 NZD.  I hope that would be enough for a few weeks over in Oz.  With this month's extra savings of $1,890.48, the fund is 80% complete at $3,211.96.  I hope to complete this goal in June.

My other two goals this year are to save $1K towards traveling home in 2011 and to save $2K towards my mom and sister's trips to NZ in 2012.  Usually my trips home cost approximately $3K; I hope to save the remaining $2K early next year.  My end goal is to save up $7K towards my mom and sister's trip to NZ in 2012; I hope to complete that goal after saving $3K towards going home in 2011.

To sum up my goals:

2010 Goals:
Goal #1:  Save $4K to go to Oz.  On schedule, 80% complete with $3,212 saved.  Hope to finish in June 2010 ($395/mo)
Goal #2:  Save $1K towards 2011 trip home.  Plan to finish in August 2010.  ($500/mo)
Goal #3:  Save $2K towards mom and sister's NZ trip in 2012.  Plan to finish in December 2010. ($500/mo)

2011 Goals:
Goal #1:  Save a total of $3K towards 2011 trip home.  This will be 33% complete at $1K by 2011.  Will need to save $2K more.  Plan to finish in April 2011 ($500/mo).
Goal #2:  Save a total of $7K towards Mom and Sister's NZ trip.  This will be 29% complete with $2K by 2011.  Will need to save $5K more; this should cover their plane tickets over and a few fun adventures while over here.  Plan to finish in December 2011 ($625/mo).  This is contingent upon my contract being renewed in August 2011.

Other ideas for future goals could be:  saving up for security deposit and first/last month's rent on a US apartment, renter's insurance, a car in the US and accompanying insurance and maintenance fees, dog and pet insurance (plan to get one from the pound).