Annual Work Review

I just had the easiest annual work review ever. I was really scared because it was with my boss's boss. He isn't scary, just an unknown entity to me. Last year my review was done by one of his underlings because he was super busy and I didn't qualify for one-on-one time with him, as a lowly part time worker. My status hasn't changed but he said he had more time this year to meet with everyone. They are required to meet with every employee once per year to discuss accomplishments, development opportunities, etc.

However, he really has absolutely no idea who I am or what I do exactly, and also has no control over my salary or tasks or workload. So we mainly just talked about his hobby writing music reviews and how great my boss is. My PhD is in progress and I'm working as hard as I can on it, staying up all night. It feels like 1 step forward, 2 back all of the time - I keep finding mistakes in what my advisor told me to do and having to re-do work.

Anyway, another annual review done! Whew!

Sept 2024 Budget Report

Another good month. However, things will change next month.

Income: $5,620.03

Salary: $3056.68

PhD stipend: $1269.24

Lending Crowd repayments: $619.11

Garage rent: $325

Entrust dividend: $350

Spending: $2537.11 (45.1%)

 

Spending categories:

Rent: $1390 - My flatmates left and I had to pay a whole week and a half's rent by myself. Ugh. Luckily I found someone but it wasn't ideal. I couldn't find a couple to move in so I had to settle for a single person paying less. Oh well.

Groceries: $568.39 ($500). A bit overbudget but that's ok.

Power + Internet: $0 ($150) - Didn't get the bill for September yet!

Eating out: $176.80 ($150) - Also overbudget but I tried Popeye's (meh, including the bisuits), got some Zambrero, got some BurgerFuel, and some McDonald's 3x.

Charity: $0 ($60)

Cell phone: $22 ($35) - top up

Medical: $61.20 ($100) - I got full body hives one day and the over the counter meds didn't treat them at all. I had to go to the doctor quickly to get stronger meds.

Misc: $268.72 ($485) - 

alcohol, entertainment, travel: $0

self care: $61.80 - massage

fees: $10 - Wise debit card fees

gifts: $10.99 - dad's 75th birthday card

goods and wants: $31.78 - algae spray to treat patio and balcony tiles; face mask

transportation: $154.15 - 6x short e-scooter rides, 4x evenings of Mevo car hire

 Sept 2024 Savings: $3000 (53%); $82.92 moved to income in October 2024.

I was able to save ~53% of my take-home income ($3K), which is a great end to my high savings streak.

Other news

• My PhD stipend has now ended, so my income going forward will be greatly reduced, unfortunately.
  
  
• My first 1 year CD has now matured, earning me $517.04 ($625 minus taxes). I started a new $10K CD for 6 mo as that has the highest interest rate right now (5.8% p.a.). I'll just keep chasing the high rates until I can finish my PhD and figure out how to invest instead of keeping tons of money in savings accounts.
  
  
• The money from the CD and the money I saved in Sept went to my $10K Post-PhD Medical Fund. It's now ~46% complete (see sidebar). 
  
  

Net Worth tracking

NZ Savings: $118,632.48 NZD

LendingCrowd: $3,823.76 NZD - principal still owed, paid in weekly installments

Kiwisaver: $100,626.03 NZD - I broke $100K finally!

US investments: $56,709.58 USD

Total Net Worth (Sept 2024): $312,683.41 NZD