July Goals Roundup

July was the first month I tried to make and follow monthly goals. I've always done yearly goals, but a year is a really long time! I tend to do really well on my financial goals each year--I've been really lucky to find it so easy--but I've been having a harder time shifting my focus to non-financial goals. And there are so many! I have oodles of non-financial goals, and a few nagging financial goals, that I thought I'd better make a plan to fit them into my year so that they actually get done!

How'd I do? Fair to good, I'd say. The first two weeks were a breeze--I was quite motivated. Having my goals listed out like that, and viewable every day on this blog, reinforced my commitment to them. Around about the two week mark, though, I was stricken with a stomach bug, and my motivation faded quite a bit. I also caught a cold last week which made me lag quite a bit, too. Ah, winter bugs.

Bolded goals will be carried over into August.

Non-Financial Goals: This month's focus is on SLEEP.

1. NUMBER ONE GOAL: Sleep 8+ hours a night.  (all month) Grade: C. I probably got 8 hours of sleep approximately 70% of the time. I definitely slipped up a few nights and stayed up way past my bedtime.
2. Use SPF every day and night cream each evening.   (all month) Grade: A-. 90%. I skipped a few nights when I showered earlier in the day, and when I was out of town and forgot my night cream.
3. Floss every night.  (all month) Grade: A. 95%. This is totally a habit. 
4. Use mouthwash every night.  (all month) Grade: B. 85% This is almost a habit.
5. Eat breakfast every day.  (all month) Grade: A+. 100%. Totally a habit.
6. Get 30 minutes of exercise each day.  (all month) Grade: A. 90%. I walk to work and back each day during the week, and usually go out for groceries on the weekend, making this a no-brainer most days.
7. Track time at work each day. (all month) Grade: D. 60% I started to but lost interest on Week 3.
8. Start making a list of US goods to buy (yaaaaaaay!). (Weeks 1-4) Grade: A+. I have a great start on this.
9. Dress up once per week at work. (Weeks 1-4) Week 1 done; Week 2 skipped due to illness; Week 3 done; Week 4 skipped as I was sick again.  Grade: F. 50%. illness zapped my motivation. 
10. Call hotel in NC to book weekend for family beach vacation in September. (Week 1) Grade: A+. Done.
11. Book private snowboarding lessons over my birthday weekend! (Week 1)  Grade: A+. Done and it was awesome.
12. Back up my computer. (Week 2) Grade: A+ Done.
13. Research work-related courses in my area or at work. Find out associated costs. (Week 2) Result: researched drawing, photoshop, and illustrator, as well as computer courses (mostly Office). Signed up for as many free tutorials and workshops as possible (Excel, Access, Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Outlook, Powerpoint). I have access for two weeks from 23 July. Drawing/GIS/MATLAB/media training/CAD/cartography/taking minutes will have to wait as it is time and expense-intensive or low on my priority list. Grade: A+ Done. I hope to make time this week to take the online courses.
14. Confirm dates and itineraries for September family and friend visits. (Week 2-3): Sept 8 weekend: family BBQ and trip to see HS people. Sept. 15 weekend: trip to DC to see heaps of grad school friends. Sept 21: trip to NC to spend with family and college friends. weekdays: plans with HS friends and shopping! Grade: A done. Waiting on one family member to get back to me, though.
15. Use free pass to gym to check it out.  (Week 2) Postponed to Week 3 (I was out sick) Grade: A+ Done
16. Join the gym if if passes muster, including buying personal training sessions and getting a locker. (Week 3 postponed to Week 4) Grade: A+ Done, have bought membership, gym lock for a locker, and two personal training sessions.
17. Read the manual to my camera. (Week 4) Downloaded manual. Still need to go through the CD that came with the camera, though! Grade: C. Done, still need the CD
18. Check out the German language audio tapes from the library. (Week 4) Grade: A+ Done. Haven't listened to it yet, but it's on my mp3 player!
19. Start photo book of the family tree for Dad, Uncle, and Aunt on my Dad's side online. (Week 4) Grade: A+ Done. I've chosen vistaprint.
20. Research dermatologists in my area and associated costs. (Week 4) Decided on a Dr.; contacted re: costs of mole mapping/eczema. Grade: C. Decided on a doctor, need to call to get prices. She came highly recommended.
21. Research weekend road trip options from Sydney to Canberra (or vice versa). (Trip Postponed)  Dates set for late August. Will road trip from Sydney --> Canberra and back, taking the Grand Pacific Drive one way. Grade: A. I've done the research, just need to print it out and make a real plan for stops, driving times, accommodation, etc.

Financial Goals:

1. Track every penny. (all month)  A+ Done. of course.
2. Call SuperLife to confirm disability and life insurances. (Week 1) A+ Done. Called and Life ins. is set up. Need to call again to confirm disability (again).
3. Call Chase; get refund for negative balance on cancelled card (due to a refund). (Week 1).  A+ Done
4. Redeem 30K points from Sapphire card--airmiles or cash? (Week 1) AIRMILES A+ Done
5. Send email to friends to collect ski trip money ($32 per night per person, score!). (Week 1) A+ Done
6. Send roommate June bills summary. (Week 1) A+ Done. Need to send her July bills now too.
7. File Expense Claims at work. (Week 1) A+ Done and paid.
8. Activate British Airways cc and make first purchase to get 50K points. I'm on my way to Europe (or somewhere, at least!)! (Week 2) Grade: C. I activated the card but haven't made my first purchase yet.
9. Cancel Sapphire card (if I have to). (Week 2) A+. Done. made it a no-fee card.
10. Chase up Rabobank re: transferring all assets into my Trust. (Week 2) Verdict: I can't put any NZ accounts in my US trust; I need a 'trust deed' over here and even then it isn't guaranteed to skip probate as any accounts > $14K have to go through probate BY LAW. The only way to get around this is to transfer all my NZ $ to USD, into an account which is in the name of my trust. (But interest rates are so much lower over there!) A+ done but not with the outcome I wanted.
11. Save $500 to long-term goals. (Automatic debit, Week 3) A+ Done of course.
12. Encrypt Excel file of accounts with TrueCrypt;  (Week 4) A+ done
13. Load into Drop box. (Week 4) A+ Done
14. Tell Mom the password via phone. (Week 4) This was more complicated than I thought: I'll have to counsel my computer illiterate mother through this process when I go home in September. Grade: F. I'll talk her through it in September.
15. Start researching asset allocations, balancing portfolios, possible solutions to terrible returns when everyone else's returns are rebounding. Consolidate accounts: move T Rowe Price Roth IRA to Vanguard. Look into buying Vanguard's Admiral Shares. (Week 4)  Initiated transfer of Roth to Vanguard. Once that is done, all of my long-term investments will be in the same place and it will make it easier to balance my portfolio and decide what funds to invest my Roth in. Grade: A+. Made the first step.

Updating My Master Document

The nightmare of decisions!

I live 9,000 miles from home, so while making a Master Document is even more crucial than usual as I am not near anyone that can handle my affairs, I can't just 'lock it up in my desk drawer or safe' and give someone the key in case I die, or encrypt it on my laptop and make sure someone knows how to get at it here in NZ.

I have to somehow give access to someone 9,000 miles away to a document that is regularly updated. A very sensitive document with all sorts of financial account information and passwords...cue research!

I had initially thought that I could encrypt the file and then upload it via google docs, but that doesn't seem to be good enough, secure enough, or even a good way to handle this. I then stumbled across the option of encrypting a Lastpass, Keepass, or 1Pass file and somehow sending this to my family, along with the master password for it. But I decided on the following course of action, which was undoubtedly the most time consuming and complicated of them all but seems to address all my concerns:

Sign up for Dropbox.

Sign up for TrueCrypt.

Create a TrueCrypt container in my Dropbox folder.

Place Master Document in the container.

Give family password for the container.


Whenever I want to update the file, I have to mount the TrueCrypt container on a separate drive on my laptop, change the file and save it, and then dismount the container. The file is then accessible to my mom in its updated form, as Dropbox syncs changes to files automatically. I have to make sure that the file is mounted on only one computer at a time.

It is complicated, and I think my mom is going to freak out by how much she has to remember to do, but it is the most secure way I know of to transfer updated files immediately to my executrix. The bonus is that the TrueCrypt container can also hold all of my other important documents, such as my will, power of attorney, life insurance policy, etc.

Here We Go Again, But It's My Last Time

That I've neglected to post about this until now shows how busy I am and how much I've given up hope that my sister will pull her life together. What's she done now? Well, that girl done got herself engaged, that's what.

That doesn't seem so bad until I give you the facts:
1) On July 1, we talked on the phone and she told me she had decided to take care of herself and not date for a while, as she knows she makes bad choices on that front and wanted to get herself together. She was staying with my parents through the fourth of July while her place was getting fumigated.
2) On July 9, all of a sudden she is in a relationship with this guy. Announced on Facebook, so I check him out. He's 12 years younger than she is (she's 31, he's 19) and is totally proud to live off of the government, bragging about 'free money'.
3) On July 12, via facebook again, they are engaged. Looking on his facebook further, he was apparently engaged to someone else as recently as July 4, and his wall is full of comments like, "Who is it this time?"

She says that he is a friend she met last year but she's never mentioned him to any of us. My parents are upset about the fast engagement, but hold out hope that she will stop being so needy and be able to take care of herself one day. I don't share that hope anymore. As sad as it is, I'm really done. She has to be in my life since she is blood related and all, and I'll have to see her when I am home, but I really can't relate to her. Her bad decisions affect the people who love her and she can't seem to stop making them. I'm not going down with her ship.

A year ago I was starting to realize that I needed to distance myself, and last October I did a lot of work to get over having a sister who could live some form of the life that she used to dream about. At this rate, she's going to be used by awful guys, morbidly obese, go in and out of mental hospitals, and have to rely on public assistance her entire life, despite not wanting that for herself. I don't think it is going to ever get better for her, I don't think she'll ever make better choices. I mean, maybe she will, and that would be awesome, but until then, I have to excuse myself from her drama. I can't care as much as I used to. I don't want to get dragged into making tearful pleas to her about what she is doing to herself. It's her life. I can't help her or talk her into living it the way she says she wants to. She's stable, mentally, and in my eyes, therefore has no excuse to make the bad decisions she does with guys and her health.

Recently, she also told me that, unbeknownst to me, she has thought of getting violent with other people during her episodes. That really scares me. I had thought that she only turned it inward, which is bad enough, but with the totally unpredictable behavior involved in her severe form of mental illness, I just don't trust that she wouldn't say, hurt my kids, if I ever had them. A tiny part of the reason why I don't want to have kids is that I don't want to have to choose between her and them. I also don't want to pass along this horrible illness to them.

So I guess I need to talk to her and tell her what to expect from me from now on--what my boundaries are. I tried to do this last year and she thought I was 'disowning' her and got really upset and angry. I'm past caring how she takes it now, though. Facts is facts: if you make consistently bad decisions, you are going to lose the good people around you. Heck, maybe she'll be better off without me nagging her and acting as a crutch during tough times.

Whoa...I Have Saved $30,000

It's all how you look at it, isn't it? I list my savings goals and progress on my blog sidebar (--->), but hardly ever look at the whole picture at once. I have saved $2K here, $4K there, etc. It's a long list of savings and goals, but it doesn't look like too much individually.

I do a little monthly check in on my net worth and savings, but hardly ever do anything with it except update my sidebar and keep truckin'. That is what motivates me to keep going: goals and visible progress and always striving to fulfill my dreams. While figuring out WHERE THE HECK $245.43 went (I had made a mistake several months back but luckily I was able to figure it out after several hours), I took a minute to step back today and realized I have over $30,000 in cash savings in an NZ bank account. HOLY MOLY! That is more money than I think I've ever had in one place. It gives me hope that I could eventually meet all of my goals, including getting LASIK, saving a 20% house down payment, traveling around the world (first stop: Europe!) and building up a nice retirement nest egg. 


Most of it is gaining 3.4% interest, so I don't feel too bad about having that much in savings, and anyway, every penny is earmarked for a goal. Time to start investing in CD's again...I can get 4.5% rate if I lock up a bunch of money for a year. Man, how I wish I'd locked in those 8% rates in 2008...but back then I had no NZD.

Gift Card Flush

Thanks to a promotion from Citibank, I will be receiving:

$100 gift card to WalMart
$25 gift card to WalMart
$100 gift card to Banana Republic
$100 gift card to Marshall's
$50 gift card to Old Navy
$50 gift card to amazon.com
$10 gift card to Old Navy

These places, in addition to Target, are where I regularly shop when I go home. Last year I spent over $1K at retail US stores, so I'm confident that I will shop at these stores and easily spend the balance on the card. That's just $435 of my own money that I don't have to spend. :)

I have already redeemed 10K points in gift cards to hand out as Mother and Father's Day presents to my family. The $25 gift card to WalMart will go to my sister for her belated birthday present/early Xmas present.

I also recently moved my 30K Sapphire card points to United airmiles. It would have been nice to get $300 in cash, but they are worth more as airmiles...

I wonder if anyone ever racks up as many cc's and promotions as are on offer?? This is such a fun game! My credit is still in the upper tier and I have many years til I have to qualify for a home loan, so I think I'm coming out quite ahead here!

July Goals

I need to get my life together. I kind of feel like I am unraveling at the seams...is the answer more goals? July goals, broken down by week (as usual, kicking butt on the financial goals, not so much on the personal ones...):

Non-Financial Goals: This month's focus is on SLEEP.

1. NUMBER ONE GOAL: Sleep 8+ hours a night.  (all month)
2. Use SPF every day and night cream each evening.   (all month)
3. Floss every night.  (all month)
4. Use mouthwash every night.  (all month)
5. Eat breakfast every day.  (all month)
6. Get 30 minutes of exercise each day.  (all month)
7. Track time at work each day. (all month) 
8. Start making a list of US goods to buy (yaaaaaaay!). (Weeks 1-4)
9. Dress up once per week at work. (Weeks 1-4) Week 1 done; Week 2 skipped due to illness; Week 3 done; Week 4 skipped as I was sick again. 
10. Call hotel in NC to book weekend for family beach vacation in September. (Week 1)
11. Book private snowboarding lessons over my birthday weekend! (Week 1) 
12. Back up my computer. (Week 2)
13. Research work-related courses in my area or at work. Find out associated costs. (Week 2) Result: researched drawing, photoshop, and illustrator, as well as computer courses (mostly Office). Signed up for as many free tutorials and workshops as possible (Excel, Access, Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Outlook, Powerpoint). I have access for two weeks from 23 July. Drawing/GIS/MATLAB/media training/CAD/cartography/taking minutes will have to wait as it is time and expense-intensive or low on my priority list.
14. Confirm dates and itineraries for September family and friend visits. (Week 2-3): Sept 8 weekend: family BBQ and trip to see HS people. Sept. 15 weekend: trip to DC to see heaps of grad school friends. Sept 21: trip to NC to spend with family and college friends. weekdays: plans with HS friends and shopping!
15. Use free pass to gym to check it out.  (Week 2) Postponed to Week 3 (I was out sick)
16. Join the gym if if passes muster, including buying personal training sessions and getting a locker. (Week 3 postponed to Week 4)
17. Read the manual to my camera. (Week 4) Downloaded manual. Still need to go through the CD that came with the camera, though!
18. Check out the German language audio tapes from the library. (Week 4)
19. Start photo book of the family tree for Dad, Uncle, and Aunt on my Dad's side online. (Week 4)
20. Research dermatologists in my area and associated costs. (Week 4) Decided on a Dr.; contacted re: costs of mole mapping/eczema.
21. Research weekend road trip options from Sydney to Canberra (or vice versa). (Trip Postponed)  Dates set for late August. Will road trip from Sydney --> Canberra and back, taking the Grand Pacific Drive one way.

Financial Goals:

1. Track every penny. (all month) 
2. Call SuperLife to confirm disability and life insurances. (Week 1) 
3. Call Chase; get refund for negative balance on cancelled card (due to a refund). (Week 1)
4. Redeem 30K points from Sapphire card--airmiles or cash? (Week 1) AIRMILES
5. Send email to friends to collect ski trip money ($32 per night per person, score!). (Week 1)
6. Send roommate June bills summary. (Week 1)
7. File Expense Claims at work. (Week 1)
8. Activate British Airways cc and make first purchase to get 50K points. I'm on my way to Europe (or somewhere, at least!)! (Week 2)
9. Cancel Sapphire card (if I have to). (Week 2) 
10. Chase up Rabobank re: transferring all assets into my Trust. (Week 2) Verdict: I can't put any NZ accounts in my US trust; I need a 'trust deed' over here and even then it isn't guaranteed to skip probate as any accounts > $14K have to go through probate BY LAW. The only way to get around this is to transfer all my NZ $ to USD, into an account which is in the name of my trust. (But interest rates are so much lower over there!)
11. Save $500 to long-term goals. (Automatic debit, Week 3)
12. Encrypt Excel file of accounts with TrueCrypt;  (Week 4)
13. Load into Drop box. (Week 4)
14. Tell Mom the password via phone. (Week 4) This was more complicated than I thought: I'll have to counsel my computer illiterate mother through this process when I go home in September.
15. Start researching asset allocations, balancing portfolios, possible solutions to terrible returns when everyone else's returns are rebounding. Consolidate accounts: move T Rowe Price Roth IRA to Vanguard. Look into buying Vanguard's Admiral Shares. (Week 4)  Initiated transfer of Roth to Vanguard. Once that is done, all of my long-term investments will be in the same place and it will make it easier to balance my portfolio and decide what funds to invest my Roth in.

Be Likable, Be On Time, and Do Good Work

Neil Gaiman's advice to graduates about being successful at work has been weighing on my mind recently (technically his advice is for freelancers, but I think it applies to all kinds of work). Mostly because I was one of the two chosen to be let go from my old company, out of a group of four. Why me? I have 5 times the experience of the other three, combined. I have a graduate degree in the field. I only made $5K more than the other three did. Sixty percent of my salary was guaranteed from other sources, while one had 10% and the other two had 0% of their salaries supplied from outside the company. On paper, they would be smart to keep me. In reality, they didn't. I know that I was the first one chosen to go, in fact. One of the others that was kept doesn't speak English very well, and his position includes writing professional papers and giving talks. But he is likable and does whatever people tell him without complaint. The other is the same, but has zero experience in anything my old company does. Why were they kept and not me?

Putting aside any problems that the higher ups had (they are crazy), where did I go wrong? And what can I do in the future so that this doesn't happen again?

According to Neil, there are three components that make someone that you work with want to keep working with you, and you only have to exhibit two out of the three:

1. Be Likable
2. Be On Time (with your work)
3. Do Good Work

Here's my analysis:
1) Be Likable. This is probably where I went most wrong. By the end, I didn't like one of my bosses, and she knew it, therefore I was unlikable to her. I was also unlikable to one of the company directors. I view their actions--which were reprehensible, bullying, and unprofessional--as the cause for me not liking them. How could I have handled it differently? I don't know. I did what I thought I had to do, and professionally and ever-so-politely as I could muster. The only other recourse I had was to not speak up at all. I don't regret speaking up when I felt so deeply disrespected. This won't change in the future, even if it causes me jobs.

Aside from all that hoopla, I just plain wasn't likable to my other coworkers, either. I know I wasn't.: when my new officemate moved in, she was pitied by my coworkers because I was quiet and weird and apparently didn't "have any friends" (she's now my best friend). Here's why I was described like that: after breaking up with my ex, I was in constant fear of stirring up more gossip, and of running into him and his new girlfriend at work, as this caused me an enormous amount of pain and threw off my productivity. To try to maintain my professionalism and work ethic, I retreated. I ate lunches in my office and outside. I didn't attend many company picnics or morning tea or birthday cake parties or Friday afternoon happy hours. I avoided staff meetings whenever possible (I had "real work" to do.). When I did go, I chatted amiably to the people around me, but I didn't speak or volunteer to lead the meetings. Personally, I didn't like anyone in the company as a friend, but that shouldn't matter. My company CEO thought of us as a family. Therefore, I should have put in some appearances and treated my coworkers like my family (Once, the CEO didn't lock the bathroom door and I walked in on him peeing. He thought it was no big deal--he started to chat with me as I waited for my turn in the hallway, totally mortified!). I eventually recognized my reluctance to socialize as a problem. Late last year, way before the lay off, I made several resolutions to attend company social functions at least once a month and to do more volunteering and brown-nosing. I even hugged my CEO after a personal chat we had--he was surprised but happy I did that, he said. Too little, too late...

So, lessons:
1) volunteer
2) speak up/participate
3) be seen
4) be helpful
5) ALWAYS be polite and friendly
6) suck up to the higher ups.
7) Learn what is important in your company, and do it.
8) eat lunch with coworkers in the lunch room once in a while
9) always project happiness

In my new job, it seems to be important that I know my place and follow their sometimes-nonsensical rules and plunder through endless red tape. Several people are angry that I got my position, and think that I am trying to take over other people's jobs. Therefore, I should show that I am a team player and not out to usurp anyone's duties. I defer to those that have been there much longer than I have to an embarrassing degree. I am unfailingly polite and responsive and uncomplaining in my execution of my duties. I eat lunch in the lunchroom at least twice a week. I walk around the hallways at least once a day, stopping in several people's doorways "just to check in" (my office is in a different building to those I work with.). I say hello in the hallways to everyone I pass. I volunteered to give a talk to the department. I write emails to the entire email list about current events or things they may find interesting. I keep the bridge between my old company and new company alive by alerting each what is going on in the other. In short, I'm an effing Muppet. Everyone will like me, GD it!


2) Be On Time (and Deliver your work on time). Again, fail. In my last job, I was given the freedom (or so I thought) to make my own work schedule. So I would work from home doing easy tasks in the AM til my brain woke up, and come in around 1 or 2 pm and work til 9 pm on the hard stuff.  I told my bosses about my schedule beforehand, of course. This schedule was perfect for my biological clock.

Unbeknownst to me, that counted against me. Even though I never blew off meetings or was late to anything or refused to meet in my 'unproductive time', making my own schedule was a problem because they couldn't SEE ME during every business hour of the day. The last few months of doing that, my boss would gently suggest that I was 'seen more.' But by that time, I was so embedded in my routine that I couldn't seem to break out of it completely. One or two days I could stick to it, and then I would slowly slide back to my old schedule as the week got more hectic and I had to finish work and pressure was on to get more done. By the end, I knew it was a problem for me and I still couldn't seem to change it, not if I wanted to produce as much work as I had been.

The other problem was that my boss didn't give me ANY DEADLINES, EVER. I told her many times that I need firm and concrete and upcoming deadlines, and she never obliged. Her fault, yes, but I should have learned how to set deadlines for myself, and how to stick to them. My problem is that I work on something until I think it is perfect. Only then is it 'completed' in my mind. Much of my work was therefore turned in much later than she would have liked, but I didn't find out about this until afterward.

Lessons:
1) Even if you have the freedom to make your own schedule, always make sure several people know when and where you are going to be each day. In fact, don't follow your own schedule. Do the 9-to-5 thing anyway. People will penalize you for it if you don't.
2) Stick to deadlines. If you don't have any, make your own.

In the new job, I get to make my own schedule but have set times that I work with one of my bosses each week (there are three). He finds random stuff for me to do, mostly cleaning. The rest of my week is up to me, but I've started arriving by 9:30 or 10 (when my other bosses arrive) each day, biological clock be damned!

Deadlines are still a problem for my bosses because everyone is SO LAX about everything here in NZ. I go through my day like a zombie running through my to-do list to make my personal deadlines. I make up the to-do list the week before and run through the morning of. It keeps me running around with no time between to think. I hope that changes soon. I really like thinking.


3) Do Good Work. Ok, this one I don't think I failed at. Because I was allowed to make my own schedule, I worked when my brain was at its best, and I did everything to my utmost ability and until it was 'perfect.' If I would have done more, I would have had no social life or time to sleep at all.

1) Be efficient
2) be responsive (immediately return emails from your bosses/higher ups)
3) Take initiative and do what needs to be done, instead of just what you are told <--this is why the boss that kept me on likes me
4) block off time for each task
5) Schedule your month, week, day
6) have yearly and monthly work goals
7) know your body and schedule breaks accordingly
8) double check everything
9) figure it out yourself
10) for most workplaces, you can get away with spending time getting things 80% done and leave the time-consuming 20% alone.

The boss that I still work with expects things to be perfect 100% of the time, so that 80/20 rule does not work in my new job. In my new job, several people have accused me of effing up already. In each case, the problem was caused by another person, but I didn't want to look like I was accusing someone else of screwing up, so I stayed silent and took the abuse, apologizing profusely and using my newness as a crutch. None of it was my fault at all, but gossip about my eff-ups has been rampant already, and I feel somewhat powerless to do anything about it, lest I get someone else in trouble like a 6 year old saying, "I didn't do it!" Any advice?

So I think in the new job I have at least 1 and 2 down and have corrected (maybe overcorrected?) several prior problems. I usually don't have a problem with number 3, and hopefully people will eventually recognize that my work is superb even though I was framed for the screwups (in one case, I KNOW someone deliberately made it look like I was messing up, just so he could spread gossip about me). Ah well. I'm looking for a new job in the US, anyway, so if worst comes to worst, I will be happy to move closer to home. :)

June 2012: Big Rent Month, Big Spending Month

The spending continues, although not on the same scale as last month. June was a three-rent-check month, which meant that savings was much lower than normal. 

	June 2012
Category	Spent	Budgeted
Rent	$1,260.00	$840.00
Groceries	$532.38	$450.00
Internet	$45.50	$45.00
Electricity	$161.14	$70.00
Eating Out	$173.25	$150.00
Charity	$103.16	$50.00
Cell phone	$40.00	$40.00
Medical	$0.00	$75.00
Misc	$291.42	$600.00
Savings	$500.00	$500.00
Total	$3,106.85	$2,820.00

Total spent: $3,106.85
Total Income: $3,401.94
Check 1: $1,670.97
Check 2: $1,670.97
Garage rent: $60

Leftover Income to save: $295.09

Rent: $1260
Groceries: $532.38
Internet: $45.50
Electricity: $161.14
Eating Out: $173.25. $147.15 of it was social, which is how I want to spend my eating out budget.
Charity: $103.16  Heart Association Lottery ($25); donation to my college ($6.73); Ronald Poppo recovery ($71.43)
Cell phone: $40. vodafone and v8 card topup
Medical: $0
Misc: $291.42. Alcohol: $25.50; entertainment: $55 (All Blacks ticket); Goods and Wants: $38.73 (hair dryer, cord, friend busfare); Transportation: $10.19 (taxi); work: $162 (parking for truck; GSNZ membership; speeding ticket; vacuum out work truck)
Savings: $500

More spending coming up: it's my birthday month so that means SKI TRIP!! I have about 12 people coming with me and we've reserved a house to stay in together. We're talking Skittle vodka, people. You'd never know that I'm now in my mid-thirties!