February 2015 (!) Budget and March Goals

Some months I go totally over budget, some months it is super easy to stay within budget. I actually went shopping this past week to spend about $150 on purpose, to fully satisfy the $750 USD spending requirement to get airmiles. I didn't find much that I wanted or needed out there, honestly. I ended up pre-buying a lot of household supplies, buying little $10 items that are on my US trip list off of Amazon, and charging work expenses on my cc.

The issue is that I am not sure when certain charges hit my cc. My electric and internet bills should hit in March--that is about $200; my cityhop charges should hit as well ($120); and I'll pay for my NZ passport (I'm a citizen, y'all!) ($140). :) That leaves about $500 NZD to spend in March. Groceries are going to take up most of that, and of course the rest will be Misc. expenses. With all that nearly already spent, I will have to be pretty cognizant of my spending in March. But let's talk about Feb:

	Feb 2015 Budget
Category	Spent	Budgeted Amount	Balance
Rent	$880.00	$880.00	$0.00
Groceries	$467.69	$425.00	-$42.69
Internet	$28.33	$28.33	$0.00
Electricity	$0.00	$50.00	$50.00
Eating Out and Alcohol	$83.40	$125.00	$41.60
Charity	$0.00	$25.00	$25.00
Cell phone	$94.38	$60.00	-$34.38
Medical	$0.00	$65.00	$65.00
Misc	$787.64	$600.00	-$187.64
Savings	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00
Total	$2,841.44	$2,758.33	-$83.11
Remainder	$53.68

Income: $2895.12

Rent: On track. Next month, I need to find new carpark renters so I might be in the red already in March! Plus my Kiwisaver should go up to 8%. Ouch.
Groceries: Over by a bit. Oh well.
Internet/Electricity: I am LOVING not paying the full amount anymore. Will never do it again...
Eating out: Under budget. :)
Charity: Need to contribute in March
Cell phone: Way over due to my Skype subscription. No one evvvver uses it so I might cancel it though.
Medical: none. This should change in March, I have a few appointments.
Misc: OVER!!! I did a lot of fun stuff in Feb: an Eddie Izzard show, a housewarming, surfing, stand up paddleboarding, hiking, a pampered hair appointment, an anti-valentine's day party I organised, a waiheke wine tour and sculpture walk, three leaving do's in one day, gay pride parade, brunch in mission bay, tennis lessons...it was a really full month, actually!! It was worth being over budget in that category--at least I'm underbudget for the month! :)

This month, I knocked a few goals off the list:

1. Became an NZ citizen.
2. Did my Feb PhD pampering--got a head massage and haircut.
3. did the Whatipu caves hike
4. Made a physical recipe book
5. started up tennis lessons again.

I did just OK on the fast food ban (forgot once or twice!!) and had some extra room in the budget so ended up taking the cityhop car out for a spin for longer than I set out to in the beginning of the night.

For March, I want to continue my ban on fast food, the cityhop car (except between 12 - 6 am and 1 whole day), and try to keep my grocery spending down (yet again). I also want to re-commit to sleeping 8 hours a night. With all the family upheaval, my sleeping patterns have gotten whacked out.

From my goal list, in March, I also want to:

1. file my taxes
2. attend a meet up event to meet my quarterly goal
3. Get medical check up.
4. Apply for an NZ passport, 
5. Back up laptop.
6. Get my March PhD pampering--a massage. :)

February Blues

[Fair warning: this started out as a budget roundup and ended up a rant.]

At least things are ticking along on the money front. Everything else in my life has gone up ended, though.

February was a really hard month. Despite it being my favorite season in NZ, summer, and having a full social calendar, I struggled a lot. My aunt went into the hospital in ICU, got better, was discharged to a nursing home until she could regain strength, and suddenly relapsed and died. My sister went into the mental hospital and hasn't gotten better. She has not been well for nearly a year now, and has gotten quite angry and mean to all of us, which she has not really been before. My dad hasn't left the house in weeks because he is feeling awful--he couldn't even make it to the hospital to say goodbye to his sister because he was so sick. The last thing worries me more than anything has in the past 15 years he has been ill.

On top of that--well, to the side, really--I have been working through some tough personal issues. My first bits of PhD data is crap and unusable; basically I have to re-do everything I did over the past year, over again. I'm not doing enough reading or progressing as fast as I should be, and my supervisors are noticing that I am unfocused in both my job and my PhD, despite working until 11:30 pm (when they kick us out of our office building) almost every night.

And then there are my own inner demons that I am battling. I'm well past my mid-30's now, everyone around me is married, or married and has 1+ kids. I'm not meeting any guys that are both available and the least bit interesting. I really only want to give up my delicious freedom if being with the dude is more fun than I am having right now with my friends, but still, my brain is kind of telling me to panic and settle already, for whatever. It is disconcerting. I've never felt the time pressure like I have been this past month. I think with so many of my close family members being sick, dying, or mentally ill, I have realized that it is highly probable that I will end up very, very alone in just a few short years if I don't get a move on with this whole marriage and kids thing. I don't want to be 40 and still out drinking and looking around for dates, most of which will be divorced and fathers of kids by then. I am terrified of being that old lady slowly limping along in the street, carrying her heavy groceries by herself. I already feel like I AM that lady...

There is one guy that my heart orbited around for awhile last year, but he is definitely not boyfriend material, and I've come to accept that, finally. Another new guy is basically the biggest catch I've ever met but he has just gotten out of a very complicated relationship and is just not in the right headspace to be what I need or want. I'm coming to accept that, as well. I have to say I'm impressing myself in this regard. I am moving on quickly, and really trying. I go to everything I'm invited to with potential strangers (friends of friends of friends, etc) and meet as many people as possible. I am advertising to everyone that I am looking, feel free to set me up. I have been online dating and also going to meetup ...meet ups. I'm even trying this thing my friend keeps going on about which involves basically stopping cute guys on the street. I'm trying, dammit! And yet nothing happens. I'm sort of stumped. I know what you are thinking: What is WRONG with this girl?!  but I don't have an answer. My friends say I should definitely have more luck, even the really honest friends. :)

At least I have amazing friends who are completely, 100% there for me, through all of this.

In any case, I'm just keeping my head above water because of how awesome my friends are, and the summer sunshine. And my plants! I love taking care of my plants. :) It is the little things that matter in times like these.

On A Mission

I know it sounds a bit expensive, and I was reluctant at first, but I'm desperate!

One of my cc's is offering 15K airmiles if I spend $750 USD (~$950 NZD) in January, February, and March, and I've taken on the challenge. So far, I (more than) have achieved that in January, and have about $350 NZD more to spend in Feb to make that goal.

With careful planning (read: use the card FOR EVERYTHING!), I should be able to get this done within my budget. Groceries are over $400 NZD alone, I've switched my internet and electricity bills (roughly $85 and $100, respectively) to be paid with this card, and I am now paying for my cityhop car with it (~$75/mo). That, plus my 'misc' expenses, which are about $600/mo, should do the trick, plus eating out and other odds and ends.

It turns out, I DO spend $750 USD every month easily! 15K more airmiles, here I come.

Net Worth Tracker (Jan 2015)

NW decreased this month due to a spending hangover from December...I am hoping my Dad makes good on a promise he made me to send me some cash. When I started my PhD he promised to send me money each month but so far it is sporadic at best. I am not counting on that money, but boy would it be nice! It would just keep me afloat with all the extra spending I've been doing. Oh well. Gotta stand on my own two feet and make my new PhD budget work!

Net Worth Dec 2014:
$82,442.59 (NZ NW)
$21,219.15 (US NW)
$104,128.75 (US/NZ the same)

Net Worth Jan 2015:
$82,378.59 (NZ NW); -$64.39; -0.08%
$21,163.92 (US NW); -$55.23; -0.32%
$103,793.12 (US/NZ the same); -$335.63; -0.3%

Some strategies to cut down on my spending for Feb and make sure I don't go over again:

• No fast food (except for breakfast food). There isn't much chance of me indulging in breakfast fast food as they stop serving it long before I normally get up on a weekend! Fast food is crazy expensive here in NZ. I mean...it can be $15 for fries, drink, and a few burgers!! Insanity. Might as well get healthier takeout food, like Thai, for that amount! The real problem is that I associate driving the car with eating conveniently, and don't bother packing a lunch when I know I'll have the car. That habit needs to be broken. I just gotta bring food in the future.
• This brings me to my second item: only use the car for groceries between the hours of 12 and 6 am. This will allow me to get the car for free, plus grocery shop when NO ONE else is in there. Lovely! This will cut down on the fast food eating, too. If I don't have the car, I generally do not buy fast food. Also, only use the car for a getaway (whole day) once per month. That is $75 total for the whole month for transportation. Pretty good considering how much I'm spending normally these days. I'd opt to save up and get a car, but owning a car is a lot more expensive than $75 per month, with petrol, insurances, PARKING, WOF, etc., not to mention the initial outlay of cash to buy the dang thing! 
• Seriously regulate my grocery spending. Only buy things that are on sale, and stock up when they are. Go to the cheap Asian stores for the majority of my fruit and vegetables. Carefully meal plan from now on. I need to start dedicating an hour on Saturday to meal planning (and then go grocery shopping afterward at 12 am when the cars are free) and a few hours on Sunday evenings to cooking up stuff for the week. Investing a little time into this will save me a ton.

IF I can regulate the grocery, transport, and fast food costs, things should get easier on my budget. Just a few habits that I need to break!!

January Madness

Need to get my budget under control...I keep going over these days! It isn't even like I'm doing a lot of stuff--I'm just living as normal, yet it keeps being too much. I need to rein myself in.

	Jan 2015 Budget
Category	Spent	Budgeted Amount	Balance
Rent	$1,100.00	$880.00	-$220.00
Groceries	$617.84	$425.00	-$192.84
Internet	$28.33	$28.33	$0.00
Electricity	$36.74	$50.00	$13.26
Eating Out and Alcohol	$143.00	$125.00	-$18.00
Charity	$0.00	$25.00	$25.00
Cell phone	$0.00	$60.00	$60.00
Medical	$65.00	$65.00	$0.00
Misc	$403.50	$600.00	$196.50
Savings	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00
Total	$2,894.42	$2,758.33	-$136.09
Remainder	$0.70

I earned $2,895.12 this month. So little? Ouch. The only thing that is saving me these days is my carpark rent...

Rent was a biggie this month. I had to pay it 5 times instead of the normal 4. That is one reason why it felt so out of control...

Groceries were another. I was doing well until I went shopping at 12 am one night (to take advantage of free cityhop car hours). I went a bit nuts--literally! I bought a ton of nuts, muesli, and other items like it that were intended to make me snack healthier. It partially worked. I am full of nuts and seeds and salads these days. :)

Internet and Electricity are finally under control now that I share those expenses with my flatmates.

Eating out was OK until I borrowed the cityhop car. Somehow I associate having the car with drive thru's. That is gross and needs to stop!! No more fast food allowed, except for breakfast food, which is my favourite. :) Just have to plan ahead from now on. 

Charity was nil this month. Ah well, next one.

Cell phone  was also nil. I just topped up, but that applies to Feb.

Medical was $65, a part of my Treat Yo'self! PhD pampering.

Misc was not actually that low. I had to move several items I bought to February to keep January on budget. That means I have to spend less in Feb, but that is OK, as rent will be less, and the number of days in Feb are fewer. I will have to nip this in the bud so I don't keep moving my overbudget spending to the next month in perpetuity. I am lucky that a lot of my socialising in January took place at house parties and I didn't go out on the town ONCE.

MISC
alcohol	$            9.99
entertainment	$               -
exercise	$          20.00
fees	$               -
gifts	$               -
goods and wants	$        320.01
transportation	$          45.00
travel	$               -

Savings is now $500 instead of $600 as I'll start to see the effects of switching my Kiwisaver contributions up to 8% from 3%.

Next month is a new month!! Time for wiping the slate clean and getting back on track!