January 2017 Goals

A few goals to start me on my way to a good 2017:

To get me further along my two main goals for the year: wake up/go to bed earlier & incorporate more movement into my days:

1. Restrict internet using LeechBlock in the wee hours, slowly moving the restricted times earlier and earlier (move by 15 min or 1/2 hour blocks each week). I started at 2 am!! This seems to be working OK.
2. Set reminders on work computer to move around more during the work day/take breaks. Experiment with working in 45 min chunks. Breaks are times where I am moving, picked from a list of tasks. Could be as simple as watering the office plants, going to the printer to collect my items, taking a bathroom break, or going to the tea room to wash my dishes or refill my water bottle. I did 1-3 45 min chunks a few days last week, it seems to work naturally with my work habits.

Other goals (icing on the cake!):

1. Make achievable, detailed plan with supervisors for year.
2. Complete my therapy course. (postponed until March--final survey)
3. Complete a mindful eating course.
4. Keep up with once a week cooking. 
5. Start planning one social event per weekend (if I am keeping up with my weekly cooking). Week 1: hot tub/drinks night Week 2: Women's March/movie night Week 3: birthday lunch and cat cafe treat
6. Log my daily habits (without judgment) to track moods/hormones/effects of behaviour experiments.
7. Renew contents insurance.Paid 26/1: $376.32. Need to pull funds from savings to cover and adjust totals on right --->
8. Plan May/June travel and book flights home.
9. Buy/prep/collect all items for Routeburn trek and "practice pack" to help reduce weight.
10. Practice hike/break in shoes: max Routeburn km per day: try 9, 11, and 12 km hikes. Coast to Coast?
11. Compile list of meetups that look interesting and fun things to do with friends.
12.  Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work. Add OrCID to CV/work blog.
13. Revamp work blog into personal research page. 
14.  Get ergonomic desk assessment at work.
15. Make weekly goals.
16. Review monthly and yearly and lifetime goals. 
17. Monthly pampering:  Cat cafe! :)
18. Test that google back up goodsync is working to back up my google drive at work. 
19. Floss every day.
20. Stretch every day. (some days)
21. Meditate every day. (some days)
22. Check my self criticism. (I tried. :))

2017 Goals!

Ooh, I love a blank slate. A brand new year is perfect for those, if not daunting when I look at the list of accomplishments I want to tick off throughout the year. But I am in therapy, and know that I don't need to be perfect--these are simply aims that I will try to cross off, not absolutes. The point is to design a framework for happiness and do the best that I can.

In my 2016 Goal review, I said I wanted 2017 to be about balance for utmost happiness. Balancing my health with work/PhD, and making a concerted effort to identify the things within my control that make me happiest, and doing those things.


Healthy habits in 2017
I still struggle to go to bed early, wake up early, and to get enough sleep and take care of myself in a healthy way. I still think the best way to be healthier is to build on a keystone habit--something that I do every day that encourages other healthy habits. I've tried many things, but they have not turned out to be keystone habits:

1. brain training every day
2. meal planning every week/eating healthy (I'm proud of this, and this is an important part of being healthy for me, but this isn't a keystone habit in itself)
3. stretch/yoga every day (body feels better but this isn't a keystone habit)
4. write down everything I eat/track moods (good for ID-ing correlations but it alone doesn't seem to be a keystone habit)
5. get 8 hours of sleep (this definitely helps my mood but it alone doesn't seem to be a keystone habit)

More ideas for keystone habit to try this year:

1. wake up at a certain (earlier) time every day*
2.  work out every day*
3.  track time, ID inefficiencies, and schedule my days
4.  track health habits (I do this daily now)
5. 15 minutes organisational/plan/review specific goals every day--make daily, weekly, and monthly goal lists to review during this time.
6. deep breaths/meditate/gratitude every day
7. take a break every hour at work

*I really think adjusting and regulating my sleep schedule as well as working out regularly are the major projects to work on this year.

Work/PhD in 2017
I have a ton of ambition but lack a lot of motivation when it comes to my PhD. Work is easy for me, garners me a ton more in salary, has more deadlines, and is fun, so I end up doing it instead of the PhD a lot of the time. It'd be nice to alleviate my PhD guilt by doing more for it this year. Even completing just a few minutes or tasks a few days a week would help. Therapy is helping me with this by challenging my beliefs and breaking down why I procrastinate/avoid.


Happiness in 2017
What makes me happy? And why am I not doing these things? is something I want to explore this year. The things that make me happiest seem very contradictory:

• I love being alone, but meeting new, fun people (as long as I have energy) makes me happier than being alone does. 
• I hate talking, but talking to loved ones makes me happier than not talking. 
• Running makes my body's joints ache in a bad way, but the endorphins I get from it make me ecstatic. 

I basically have to force myself to do the things that make me happy. I'd like to identify more happy-making activities and schedule time to do them, but playing it by ear and being flexible and spontaneous makes me happiest. Yet, I won't do most activities unless they are planned out...conundrum!

Financial Goals

1.    Create/check 5 and 10 and 20 year financial goals and make sure I'm on track to achieve these.
2.    Revise 2017 budget according to PhD salary and lifestyle in 2016 and #1.
3.    Review my NZ retirement allocations.*
4.    Review my US retirement allocations.*
5.    Review insurances, will, and Master Financial documents.*
6.    File US taxes.
7.    File state taxes.
8.    File NZ taxes.
9.    Renew basic Renter's insurance (including public liability). $12K for $350 and $1K excess.
   
10.   When I am in the US in May, check Experian and Equifax credit reports from the US. Check TransUnion after October 13 2017. Continue to check in on my scores quarterly via CreditKarma. (Note for future years: Equifax made me call in: 877-322-8228 to order my report--they refused me online.)
11.    Use airpoints for trips in 2017.  
12.    Apply for cc's strategically: another one before May 2017 trip.
13.    Save $500/mo to long-term House DP goal.
14.    Split monthly overages between LASIK and PhD fun Funds.
15.    Track every penny and stay out of debt.
16.     Look into peer to peer lending. Signed up July 2017.

Travel/Experiences/Social

1. Renew passport. See: https://nz.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/how-to-renew-a-passport/ and https://nz.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/how-passport/fees/.  Dude! I dropped off the passport form, old passport, $165 NZD bank cheque, and pre paid courier envelope on a Tuesday and my new passport was delivered by Weds the next week!
2.  Beat Stranger Danger: go to one meetup or other event where I know no one every quarter (Jan - Mar; April - June; July - Sept; Oct - Dec). Q1: wedding; Q2: Snowplanet and bday party; Q3:
3.   Do Coast-to-Coast hike.
4.   Do Routeburn hike in Feb with friends.
5.   Book ticket back to NZ in June? Work out what to do, will work pay for half my trip if I can work in an analysis trip? Answer: No.
6.  Visit family at home. 
7.  Plan and go on road trip w/ friend on W Coast in May--hopefully camping and hiking lots. 
8.   Explore Coromandel on Easter break. CANCELLED DUE TO CYCLONE COOK.
9.   Maintain a list of meetups that look interesting and fun things to do with friends.
10.  Find something to do for Xmas and New Year's Eve 2017. I'm thinking...Island Christmas? October update: Have contacted homeless shelters here to volunteer on Xmas. Update: half done. something to do for xmas but not NYE.

Learning/Projects

1.  Try a new (social) skill every quarter, or pick up old hobby.
2. Cancel Lumosity in July 2017. Keep playing with Lumosity paid games. WILL NOT RENEW. CANCELED JULY 2017.
3. Go to the Stardome 4x a year, in each season. Learn how to identify at least 5 constellations/heavenly bodies in each hemisphere. This site is neat for that. 

Career

1.  Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work in January, April, July, and November. Add bit about chairing a session at a conference. Add OrCID to CV/work blog.
2.  Revamp work blog into personal research website.
3.  Collaborate with educators/policy makers to improve curricula/public outreach. Spend 1 day /quarter on outreach and volunteering my time.
4.  Get details re: volunteering for affiliated work charity. Time commitment, location, dates, etc. how much can I miss?
5.   Give one public talk.
6.   Guide one field trip.
7.   Grant one media interview. ETA: March 2017: was interviewed in April. Aired in October.
8.   Apply for at least one award or grant. Applied Sept 2017. Supervisor will probably sabotage me because he is super jealous about my great funding situation, but a. it give me great practice writing research proposals, b. it looks GREAT on my CV when I am successful, and c. more money is always better.
9.   Draft first paper for PhD.
10.  Use behaviour tests to reduce avoidance/procrastination.
11.  Make achievable, detailed plan with supervisors for the year.
12.  Notice when I am being exceptionally harsh on myself and use my compassionate, kind voice instead of my self-critical voice.

Medical/Physical/Mental Health

1.     Floss every day.
2.     Get normal yearly check up: thyroid levels checked. Get lumps on scalp removed.
3.     Scope out feasibility for LASIK--get preliminary exam.
4. Go to the dermatologist for mole check (grab mole map from existing--creepy--dermo for $40). Look on Grabone or Groupon for a deal. 
5.     Get free flu shot at work.
6.     Get eye check up. DONE April 2017. Need to go back for contacts check up.
7.     Order new glasses and new prescription sunglasses. 
8.      Get dental check up. 
9.   Pray/Meditate a few minutes every day.
10.   Fill out gratitude journal every day.
11.   Treat yo'self! Every month, schedule some luxury me-time in the midst of super stressful PhD life. Check Grabone and Groupon for deals.
           January: pedicure
            February: brow wax, rose gold jewelry
           March: beach wedding vacation
            April: brows waxed, haircut
            May: Trip home and camping/hiking trip on W Coast.
            June: home
            July: eyebrows
            August: ski trip
            September: car share
            October: car share
            November: pedicure
            December:Wellington trip
12.    Continue seeing physio.
13.     Stretch as many days as I can.
14.     Sign up for gym training sessions: learn how to do the splits, ab and arm exercises.
15.     Take a work out class: pilates, tennis, weight/strength training, stretch class, dance?
16.    Set reminders on work computer to move around more during the work day/take breaks.  Update: I use Sirocco software & Outlook Calendar reminders.
17.  See a therapist to better deal with PhD and giving up on finding a long-term partner or figure out a new perspective on Singledom Forever. Ask other therapist for reference to one in CBD.

Other

1.  Back up home computer 4 times a year: March/June/September/December.
2.  Test that google back up goodsync is working to back up my google drive.
3.  Identify staple pieces for wardrobe: Joanna Gaines Blog 1
4.  Make a physical recipe book so that I no longer have to reference my laptop for recipes while cooking: this is at home. I need to ship it here.
5.  Work on ancestry book for both sides of family. Update October: searched mom's mom's side of the family as one of our relatives popped up on 23 and me!
6.  Log general mood and correlating habits (sleep, food, hormones) for 3 months.  
7.  Analyse mood diary for patterns/correlative factors.
8.  Stop scratching eczema, twirling my hair, twirling my pen when stressed/thinking. Have to find something to replace these!
9.  Start thinking about 2018 goals. (see below)

2018 goal ideas:

1. Make a list of microresolutions to tackle.
2. Re-write my Foodist Kitchen 30 Day Challenge into one for Exercise.
3. Re-write my Foodist Kitchen 30 Day Challenge into one for Sleep.
4. Commit to using HeadSpace every day/vary time of day to test.
5. Commit to Exercise--hire a personal trainer?
6. Try a shorter version of an elimination diet like Whole30 or Perfect Diet. 
7. Add funds to peer-to-peer lending.
8. Move master docs online. 
9. Continue seeing therapist.

*priorities for 2017

Medium- and Long-Term Financial Goals

I've previously done a bunch of thinking about my long-term financial goals and have written them down, but I don't think I've shared them here recently. It'd be good to have them handy, so here they are:

GOALS

1. Stay out of debt; spend less than I earn.
2. Track every penny (exception: travel expenses).
3. Review annual spending and expected salary and adjust budget each year.
4. Make annual goals.
5. $50K net worth by 35.
6. $100K NW by 36.
7. $125K NW by 40.   
8.  $250K NW by 50. 
9. $500K NW by 60.  
10. Financial freedom and retirement sometime in my 60's.
11. Monetize a side hobby or create a substantial passive income flow (e.g. similar to my current car park rental situation).
12. Keep track of and utilize credit card rewards to fund travel.
13. Save for a house down payment of 20% ($50K NZD to start). 
14. See a financial expert, knowledgeable about the NZ-US tax system.
15. Maintain contents and disability insurance. 
16. Maintain will and Master Financial doc.
17. Make enough to live a comfortable life, wherein I can save, visit family a lot, travel to all of the places that I want to go to, and try all the experiences I want to try in life.
18. Contribute enough to retirement to get full employer match and full tax benefit from NZ and/or US gov’t. 
19. Buy a bike. 
20. Buy a car great for camping and hiking adventures. 
21. Buy a DSLR.
22. Buy a house. Ideally, a semi-private HOA-outside-maintained townhome that is solar-powered/energy efficient, well-insulated and sealed, sunny, fenced & grassed backyard, in a complex with tennis courts, pool/hot tub, bbq, gym, and allows dogs, near parks and bike, walking, and dog walking trails and near a river/ocean/lake. Close to work.

Once I've bought a house:

1. Get a dog. 
2. Buy a paddleboard or small boat if I live near a lake, river, or ocean. 
3. Buy a telescope.

2016 Goal Review

In 2016, I focused more on health, sleep, and finding my keystone habit. While I didn't find the latter, it was definitely a rebuilding year, a recovery year from a terribly stressful 2015.

Here are summaries of how I did and what I can do better this year:

Financial Goals
My financial goals included the usual: file taxes, review my 2015 budget and tweak it, check credit reports, stay out of debt, track credit card miles for travel, save $500/mo to my house down payment fund, contribute max to Kiwisaver retirement to get free gov't credit, as well as a new addition: buy renter's insurance finally.

I did most of my goals, but fell short of reviewing my retirement allocations and my will, insurances, and Master Financial docs. I keep procrastinating on these! These move up to #1 priority in 2017.

I also tried to keep track of travel expenses but I just don't care when I'm abroad and on vacation. I think I'm going to let that one go in 2017, and just ballpark it. I'm usually really good about keeping within my means, so it's OK.

1.    Revise 2016 budget according to PhD salary and lifestyle in 2015. Done Jan 2016
2.    Review my NZ retirement allocations.
3.    Review my US retirement allocations. These continue to SUCK.
4.    File US taxes.
5.    File state taxes.
6.    Review insurances, will, and Master Financial documents. 
7.    Buy basic Renter's insurance (including public liability). AA insurance? Quoted $338 annually for $10K of contents, $307 for $5K, $420 for $25K, $400 for $20K, $290 for $2K (their minimum), and $370 for $15K. Done Jan 2016. Even got $50 back in a promotion!
   $12K for $350 and $1K excess.
   
8.   Check Experian and Equifax credit reports from the US. Check TransUnion after October 13 2016. Join CreditKarma.
9.    Use airpoints for trip home in 2016.  Done! Tickets booked.
10.    Strategize credit card rewards to get free trip to West Coast for wedding in April/May 2017, and East Coast afterward. I think this is done! For 2017 travel, I have 80K United airmiles I can use for round trip airfare to/from the West Coast, and 48K American Airmiles I can use to get to the East Coast. I'll have to play with open-jaw ticket/stopover options, but I think I am OK. 
11. Figure out cc airmiles earnings for 2017 US trip spending.
12. In late June: book W Coast tix for May 2017 wedding, then on to East Coast for family visit & back. OR decide to go back home after conference to West coast later that year (?). Tix booked to W Coast for wedding. Need to book tix back to NZ.
13.  Transfer 2015 Kiwisaver money from Rabobank and contribute to Superlife Kiwisaver.
14.    Save $500/mo to long-term House DP goal.
15.    Contribute lump sum $2750 saved in 2015 to Kiwisaver. This should allow me to meet the Kiwisaver minimum contributions to get the tax credit.
16.  Figure out a method to track travel expenses. Any tips?
17.  Track every penny and stay out of debt.

Travel/Experiences/Social
I did most but fell short or abandoned some.

I didn't get to the coast to coast hike (moved to 2017). I did lots of traveling: Chile, home, Xmas and New Year's, plus a bonus road trip with colleagues after a South Island conference and an impromptu ski trip with people I didn't know. Fab!

I've given up on dating altogether (again). It just isn't happening for me no matter how hard I try, and is such a disappointment I can't even contemplate it without getting depressed. That dream has to die.

1.     Do Coast-to-Coast hike. 
2.     Find someone to travel to Chile with and plan 2 week trip. DONE!
3.     Beat Stranger Danger: go to one meetup event where I know no one every quarter (Jan - Mar; April - June; July - Sept; Oct - Dec). (note: even though I'm not dating, I still think this is a really good idea.). Q1: photography class & friend's going away (I knew no one else going but talked to as many people as I could in 2 hours...I think that counts!). Q2: meetup pub quiz. Q3: ski trip with people I didn't know. Q4: beach bach with new people.
4.    Visit home. Half done: Airmiles used to book tix!
5.     Find something to do for Xmas and New Year's Eve 2016. BFF & I are thinking about booking a bach up north again. BACH BOOKED
6.     Go on one date. Nope. I'm not dating anymore. Or am I? ETA: Nope. I'm not.

Learning/Projects
Did some, not others. Seems to be the theme here!

I fell in love with photography on a course I took, but to advance and do more classes, I need to invest in a DSLR. Any recs?

Moved to 2017: artstation course, public speaking workshop, stardome learning.

1.    Take a photography course. Should be doable one Saturday! $185 NZD Done! Mar 2016--now I want to do a night course and the intermediate course!
2.     Play with smartphone camera.
3.     Do Lumosity (free version) several times a week. NOW PAID VERSION (cancel July 2017)
4.     Learn how to drive stick (Chile). FAIL
5.     Take public speaking workshop.
6.     Take an Artstation course.
7.     Refresh Spanish online using Duolingo. I have new goal of 50% fluency (as measured by Duolingo) by my trip, and 90+% fluency by end 2016 so that I can put this on my CV & LinkedIn.
8.     Go to the Stardome 4x a year, in each season. Learn how to identify at least 5 constellations/heavenly bodies in each hemisphere. This site is neat for that. First visit: May 2016;

Career
I added a grant and award to my CV this year, as well as several outreach events and organising. My PhD proposal got submitted and passed, hurrah!

For 2017: more media interviews, two conferences, and I want to get my first paper out as well as apply for another award. I am also aiming to add Best Poster or Oral Presentation to my CV by the end of my PhD. It may not happen this year, but I want to practice.

1.     Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work in January, April, July, and November. Sign up for ORCiD.
2.     Collaborate with educators to improve curricula/public outreach. First meeting done.
3.     Give one public talk.
4.     Guide one field trip.
5.     Grant one media interview. Done March 2016--but journalist postponed story. (I think it still half counts because I had to really get up the courage to say yes...) Done June. But it was over email. I should still do another talking-one to get the experience I need.
6.     Write PhD proposal.
7.      Write grant proposal #2. 
8.     Get awarded at least one grant. (DONE in January! $68K grant awarded.)
9.     Start writing first paper for PhD (lit review/methods). 
10.     Prep for Conferences #2 and #3 in 2017. Abstracts due Jan 2017.

Medical/Physical/Mental Health

I did OK here. I have started a good routine of flossing, stretches, vitamins, cooking/meal planning, eating healthy and cutting out junk food, and going to the doctors and physio for check ups, as well as treating myself to something nice and relaxing every month. I also joined the gym for a year (no excuses!) and started tracking my moods, wake up times, daily successes, eating habits, etc. every day.

This year I want to continue and expand those trends to include mole check up, more meditation/gratitude journaling, Float Tanking, and more physical exercise.

1.     Floss every day! I keep skipping. My former self who did it every day for a year would be appalled.
2. Go to physio and get instructions for stretches for posture, splits, hip openers, shoulder therapy. Appt made for late Feb./early Mar.
3.     Get medical check up. Normal yearly check up. S. America vaccines. Get thyroid levels checked. Check for Zika/Chagas disease!!  Get DTaP/pertussis booster shot (cheaper in NZ!), flu shot (wait til flu season). Check eczema if they can. Done Mar & June 2016.
4.     Get eye check up. Early part of 2016. My prescription has changed. I ordered new glasses Dec 2015.
5.     Get another eye check up to confirm #5's results. I don't quite believe the new prescription (my eyesight got a lot...better?!) And I want to get my contact lens prescription, too. Jan 2016: done! different prescription, but eyes have definitely gotten better. Got my CL scrip, too--I ordered new contacts. I think I (sigh) actually need DIFFERENT glasses now, as my second prescription was weaker than the first. Basically, my eyesight is all over the place! 
6.  Order fitting sunglasses. :/ I hate the ones I bought from Zenni, they slip down constantly.
7.     Get dental check up. Early part of 2016. Jan 2016: made appt for late Feb. March: Get dental cleaning, check in with grinding guard, and electric toothbrush recommendation.
8.     Meditate a few minutes every day.
9.     Treat yo'self! Every month, get a massage or other deal via grabone to have some luxury me-time in the midst of super stressful PhD life.
           January: pedicure. Done.
           February: Try a Float Tank Nope. circumstances made this impossible the date that I wanted to go.
           March: Float Tank and S. America trip
           April: S Am trip
           May: ?
           June: Got hair cut: the works. Love it when I get my hair washed for me!
           July: eyebrows waxed
           August: Home
           September: Home
           October: eyebrows waxed
           November: ??
           December: spa pedicure (DO NOT GO TO SASSI)
10.    Take a work out class: pilates, tennis, weight/strength training, stretch class.
11.    Learn how to do the splits.
12.    Go to the dermatologist for eczema and mole check (grab mole map from existing--creepy--dermo). May was earliest appt. Will cost $300. I will see if my normal GP can prescribe the eczema meds I need instead. In that case I will need to figure something else out for the mole check. Doctor gave me eczema meds. I need to figure something else out for the mole check. Maybe next year.

Other
I did some of these, not others. Will move to 2017!

1.    Back up computer 4 times a year: March/June/September/December.
2.     Identify staple pieces for wardrobe: Joanna Gaines Blog 1
3.     Make a physical recipe book so that I no longer have to reference my laptop for recipes while cooking: this is at home. I need to ship it here.
4. work on ancestry book for both sides of family.
5.     Log general mood and correlating habits (sleep, food, hormones) for 3 months. (ETA: started in November). Half done!
6.     Time log for 3 weeks.
7.     Food diary for 1 week.
8.     Start thinking about 2017 goals. (see below)

2018 Spending Review & 2019 Budget

2018, in numbers.

Income from work and PhD salaries and garage rent in 2018: $41,505

Spending in 2018: $30,115

This does NOT count monthly savings ($500/mo), all travel spending, money given to me, and times where I saved up funds in other years, and then spent them this year. All that is just too hard to track, particularly because when I am on vacation and spending the night in a different place every night, the last thing I want to do is track my spending. I LIVE for my travel and don't let any work get in the way. :)

2018 Spending

Category	Spent	Per Month	Budgeted Amount	Balance	% spent
Rent	$12,255.00	$1,021.25	$11,700.00	-$555.00	1.0474
Groceries	$5,453.84	$454.49	$5,100.00	-$353.84	1.0694
Internet	$289.63	$24.14	$315.96	$26.33	0.9167
Electricity	$472.42	$39.37	$600.00	$127.58	0.7874
Eating Out	$1,841.53	$153.46	$1,716.00	-$125.53	1.0732
Charity	$460.00	$38.33	$360.00	-$100.00	1.2778
Cell phone	$260.49	$21.71	$480.00	$219.51	0.5427
Medical	$635.00	$52.92	$780.00	$145.00	0.8141
Misc	$8,447.71	$703.98	$8,400.00	-$47.70	1.0057
Savings	$6,000.00	$500.00	$6,000.00	$0.00	1
Total	$36,115.62	$3,009.63	$35,451.96	-$663.66

RENT: $12,255. Over budget, I had several weeks without flatmates and had to carry the rent myself. Things should be back on track in 2019. 

GROCERIES: $5,453: Over budget slightly. I increased the grocery budget mid-year, and slightly again for 2019.


INTERNET: $289: On target because I combined internet and electricity towards the end of the year.

ELECTRICITY: $472: Electricity seems to be under budget. 2019 might be over budget--I'm with a new company that combines internet and electricity so I am not sure yet what the costs will be like.


EATING OUT: $1,841: Slightly overbudget. Have made adjustments for 2019.

CHARITY: $460: Underbudget. I will aim to do better in 2019.

CELL PHONE: $260:  Under budget but this doesn't give the full picture, as I used roaming on my NZ SIM while in the US and Italy for 2.5 months, and used my travel funds to cover that cost.


MEDICAL: $635:  Under budget, but I think I made some reporting errors here. For 2019, I need to cover:

• 2 dental appointments
• at least 1 general check up for routine blood and lady-medical examinations
• 1 eye appointment
• monthly therapy appointments
• possibly a weekly physio appointment
• possibly a dermatology appointment

MISC: $8,448: Pretty much on the money (ha!).

It breaks down as follows:

alcohol: $120
entertainment: $156.20
exercise: (not tracked, counted towards other categories)
fees: $83.31
gifts: $348.54
goods and wants: $2,763.84
transportation: $1,682.86
travel: $4,386.34

SAVINGS: $6,000:  Exactly. This is automated. Monthly overages get split between all of my active short-term funds. This system is working well--I'm saving towards a house and everything else that I want.

I contribute the max of 8% salary to my Kiwisaver for retirement currently; that isn't counted in any of my savings tallies on this blog (but is included in my Net Worth posts).

2019 won't change much; my income has increased slightly and this will result in several categories getting a bump. :) Stay tuned!!

2016 Net Worth

I'm ending 2016 with a combined NZ/US net worth of about $128K. I started off the year around $110K, so that is an increase of $18K, or 15.65%.



This treats USD and NZD as if they were the same currency. I'm not sure how else to handle this--generally, as long as both numbers are growing, I think I'm OK.



The numbers are not growing exponentially, but linearly. I don't like this. I'd expect them to be exponential at this $$ amount. I blame the fact that the bulk of my money is in a low-interest savings account. I'm not legally allowed to invest money in the NZ stock market--I'd have to untangle a huge web of financial rules that even the advisors I've spoken to do not understand. My legal tax obligations would be a nightmare and are just too much of a mystery for me to risk it.

Why not xfer the money to USD and invest is in the US? My US investments are doing very, very poorly. Also, given recent events, I do not trust the US to a. grow economically or b. protect my money or interests.

One of my goals this year is to take a serious look at my investment portfolio to see if I could be doing better. I'm at a loss (literally).

Happy New Year: December 2016 Budget

Time goes by so fast these days.

I spent Christmas with my best friend and we had a wonderful day of stockings and presents, cooking delicious food, a beach trip, photos, playing games, and watching movies (Elf, Bad Santa 2, & Arthur Christmas). He really pulled out all the stops and I appreciated it.

We then drove up to a rented bach up north on Boxing Day and stayed til yesterday. Lots of beach, a ton of board games, cookouts, playing with friends' puppies, drinking, and some sunburn. It was great but I was plagued by a few bouts of depression and wasn't feeling super social. Plus, the aforementioned best friend did something during the trip that is proving to be hard to forget/forgive. The rest of the trip was marred by that incident and now I'm not sure anything is going to be the same again.

Ah, such is life. It's nice to have a few more days off until I have to be at work again. I'm taking the rest of the week off to recover, get my head together, and make a game plan for the year, particularly for my mental health. I'm going to need it.

Finance check-ins are usually the highlight of my life. I am usually able to figure them out even when the rest of my life is horrible. This month, I overspent thanks to the bach rental, gift-buying, and travelling I did, but with some creative accounting (I'll aim to spend less in January), I came out OK in the end:

Category	Spent	Budgeted Amount
Rent	$900.00	$900.00
Groceries	$436.41	$430.00
Internet	$26.33	$26.33
Electricity	$48.56	$50.00
Eating Out	$68.35	$150.00
Charity	$0.00	$50.00
Cell phone	$16.00	$40.00
Medical	$12.00	$75.00
Misc	$912.66	$700.00
Savings	$500.00	$500.00
Total	$2,920.31	$2,921.33
Remainder	$0.85

So: no extra savings this month, but I'm not in the red and don't have to dip into savings, either.

My mom didn't want to take the $1K USD I gave her for her trip, but I think I have come up with a good argument as to why she should take it for her travels. I hope she uses it/cashes it.

Everything is somewhat on budget except for the misc.

MISC
alcohol	$            6.00
entertainment	$               -
exercise	$               -
fees	$               -
gifts	$        191.99
goods and wants	$        331.67
transportation	$        212.00
travel	$        171.00

Happy New Year, everyone!