GST Increase

Yo New Zealanders!  If you have any big purchases coming up, do it TODAY (or TOMORROW).  GST increases to 15% on Friday, and you know what that means:  everything becomes more expensive!  I bought as many of my non-perishable staple groceries as I could carry today to try and save.

My Dumb Roommate

I found out that she kicked out the wonderful paying garage tenant FOR NO GOOD REASON.  One of her friends said that they wanted to rent our garage, maybe, so she terminated the lease for the good tenant and ...nothing ever came of the new tenant.  Her boyfriend has been parking there in the interim.  I expressed my annoyance that it was all for nothing and said that I'd start advertising the spot right away, but she objected and said that she thought her friend may want it still.  I think she just wants her BF to have a free place to park.

Nuh-uh.  No way.  If you want your boyfriend to have a place to park, have him rent it at half price, paying me my $20 a week and excusing him from your $20.  I'm not letting anyone free-load off of me!

So yeah, I'm annoyed.  That was an extra $100 that could have been in my pocket by now.  I told her that I'm keeping her half of the AECT dividend in return for the money that she lost me.

I can deal with her not doing dishes for DAYS and not cleaning out the dryer filter for MONTHS (it was choking the dryer when I got back--she obviously didn't clean it at all, which IS A FIRE HAZARD and she's already caught the place on fire once), but losing me an extra source of passive income for nothing?  Nope, not having it.

Finale Tally

So I sorted out my finances just now.  Only took me about 3 hours!  Most of that was trying to find my passwords for stuff, since I haven't entered them in in about 2 months and Lord knows, I can't remember in my head what they all are!

I didn't bother adding up how much I spent.  That is just too much work.  All said and done, though, here are the final results:

1)  I saved enough to meet my stretch goal of completing my 2011 US Travel Fund ($408.78).  (It was more but interest took care of the rest!)
2)  I have $900 NZD left over to live off of until my next paycheck (next Friday).
3)  I had to transfer ~$4200 NZD to my US bank account to pay for my US credit card bills and to top up my $5K NZ Family Travel Fund (I used some of it already since the payment was due next week).
4)  My roommate owes me $121.50 for utilities and $100 for the garage that she is supposedly renting out on her own.  Who is she renting it to?  For how much?  I don't know.  I've been back for 2.5 days and I still haven't seen her in the apartment!
5)  No charges are pending on any of my credit cards, so that should be that.
6)  since the end of the month is in 1 week and I probably won't spend the entire $1100 NZD I have in the bank (leftover plus what roommate owes me), I think I can do my 10% charity project this month, too!  $310 to some lucky charity...hmmm.  I think the hardest part will be to decide who gets it.

Looks like I came out slightly ahead, even though I have been on vacation for nearly 2 months!!  And I didn't hold back, let me tell you.  I bought everyone that I stayed with dinner.  If I stayed for more than 2 nights, I left a card with a little bit of $$ in it to cover electric, food, etc. associated with my stay.  I also sent them all a fun postcard from the road.  I love all of my friends and family!!!  I stayed with friends in Boston for 3 nights, Rhode Island for 1 night, San Diego for 5 nights (2 sets of friends), Fresno for 1 night, Bakersfield for 1 night, and my family for many many nights!  That really cut back on a lot of expense associated with all the travel I did.  I can't believe I spent so much time on vacation...I feel like a slacker, a little bit!  Not only that, but I'm already planning on another trip--my friend and I are discussing traveling around Australia next February.  I've already saved up $4K for it, so I should be good to go, except for vacation time, which should accrue with all the fieldwork and projects I have coming up.  :)

I'm on a vacation high:  during and after this trip, I just felt/feel like the luckiest person alive!

No Tally Yet...

I have been back from my trip for two days and I haven't tallied up the damage for my 2 month vacation yet...very un-me-like.  However, I was paid for the entire time I was gone, and I know I have the cash to cover all of my credit card bills that I racked up over that time period.

I also have finally gotten to a point where I completely, 100% trust myself with money.  I usually can intuitively sense if I can afford something or not, if it is worth it to me to invest my money or buy whatever item.  That is a great feeling--to be able to go on vacation and NOT obsess over every little purchase or write it down in a little book!  That said, I will continue to detail my purchases in real life so that I know how much I can safely save each month.  I like knowing to the penny how much that is.

Pictures and stories coming soon...

I'm Back, I'm Back, I'm Back!!!

I am now back in Auckland and hope to resume a normal life and posting schedule, along with not living out of a suitcase!  I had THE BEST time on my August 3 - Sept. 21 vacation in the US.  I saw sooo many loved ones, I can count on one hand the number of people that I love that I didn't get to see.  That is pretty awesome, I think.

Alas, I spent oodles of money on trips, presents, clothes, dinners and lunches out, and just normal galavanting around that happens when you are on vacation.  I can't believe it was So. Long.  After about 3 weeks in, I still had 4 weeks of vacation to go, and I was feeling a little guilty about taking so much (paid) time off!  I just told myself that I'd work hard when I got back, so I have to make up for it by working my butt off for the next 4 months.  Then again, we ran into a lot of Germans on my road trip, and they get 6 weeks of vacation off every YEAR!  So I guess the length of time I was off isn't really that rare in the world...

My NZ bank account is bursting at the seams because I was paid in NZD but spending USD, and nothing was coming out of my account except for rent and half of electric and internet.  Oh, and I still saved $340 towards my long-term goals each month (see sidebar).

Yay!  I look forward to catching up on all of my favorite blogs (and sleep!).

On Hoarding

It's a sickness, I think.

While I was home, my mom looked through storage and brought out a bunch of folders, binders, and report covers that had my name on them and some of my info written on the front.

FROM HIGH SCHOOL.

Yes, my 'Algebra 2' binder has been sitting in my parents' house for over a decade and a half.  In a stack along with funky subject dividers with designs from what I swear was my 8th grade TrapperKeeper.  No joke.  These binders were all empty, the contents long thrown away years ago by yours truly, having mastered Google well enough to be confident in my ability to algebraically Algebra 2 something, if ever the need arose.

There was even a manila folder in the mix.  A MANILA FOLDER.  These things cost about 3 cents, if that.  As I explained to my mother, I highly doubt a Great Manila Folder Drought will happen anytime soon.  She is imagining that someday, somehow, she will NEED that manila folder, and her wasteful daughter with no forethought as to the dire straits that occur when papers need to be filed together will have thrown it away, alas.  It isn't like she could simply paper clip or staple these papers together, NOOOOOO!

She actually fought me humorously for a few minutes before futilely relenting and allowing me to throw the whole stack in the garbage.  Seriously.  If you have not used something in two decades that is worth about 20 cents (there are awesome back to school sales here now!), it is time to throw it out!!

OK, This is Seriously Cute

My mom calls her ING account her '-ing' account, as in look-ing or walk-ing.  She just throws it out there in casual conversation, and I started cracking up.  "Your WHAT account?"   She goes, "It has less syllables."

Hahahahaha.  Does anyone else do this??