Lately, it’s been feeling like one step forward, one step back, financially speaking.
A Reduced to Clearance shop has opened up near us – as in, a store that sells items approaching their best-before date. It’s AMAZING. 30 cents for a box of tampons? 50 cent drinks? Cheap toilet paper, milk, stirfry sauces, canned veggies, cereal? I’m in frugal heaven there.
T’s tendency to ignore mail majorly backfired. We had to back pay his motorbike registration – it’s currently on hold and has been for awhile but earlier this year the ‘hold’ expired and it started accruing rego charges for a few months.
I got my first full pay from my new job. While it doesn’t really affect the finances, I’m back to a fortnightly pay cycle for the first time in a few years. What does matter is I’m taking home more, and I’ve also accomplished a goal that’s been languishing for a while – increasing my Kiwisaver contributions to 8 percent. A down payment/retirement is getting a minuscule bit closer. Speaking of which, I didn’t realise BNZ’s Kiwisaver scheme allows you to convert Fly Buys loyalty points into real dollars to go into your Kiwisaver account – ingenious. I’m happy with my Kiwisaver provider but I tip my hat to them on this.
I don’t drink coffee, and hate to spend money on drinks, but I’m trying to head out with coworkers once a week on their coffee runs. (I get a hot chocolate – $4.50 for a small.) Bonding is important, etc. And on the topic of small but regular expenses, I restarted our Spotify premium membership. It pains me to pay for something every month but it’s $12.99 a month – less than four bucks a week, a little over $100 a year. It’s worth it to have music on my commute. If I had lots of data on my phone plan I would stick with the free version (and live with only being able to shuffle tracks) but I don’t, so I’m sucking it up in exchange for offline access and total playback control.
Blast from the past
This time last year we were in … Bangkok! For longer than anticipated, too, thanks to that hospital sideshow.
This week’s links
For those who missed my post on the clusterfuck that is currently the Auckland property market (in a nutshell – buying sucks but renting in many ways is worse long term)
read this New Yorker piece, substitute all mentions of Vancouver for Auckland and you will get a pretty accurate picture of what’s going on
A traveller’s guide to New Zealand slang
And a stunning chronicle of an autumn road trip through the South Island
I love that the Wireless is consistently tackling issues relevant to young NZers’ lives, whether it’s how we’re screwed financially or whether we’d be better off in Dubai (you could not pay me enough to live in the Middle East for any amount of time, but YMMV)
Everyone is totally just winging it, so don’t stress!
What does self love even really mean? Via Yes and Yes
Little Miss Moneybags articulates the problem with found money
Ways to make your entry level job better, at Life After College
Stop asking me where I see myself in five years, says Gen Y Girl (AMEN!)
Finally, while I’ve taken a step away from publishing, I still I loved this interview with ex-Jezebel editor Anna Holmes:
I know many people freelance successfully, but I have no interest in making that my primary source of income. It’s too stressful, constantly having to try to think of stuff to pitch editors. The older I get, the less I want to write stuff that I’m meh about…
I don’t know what my next job will be, but it will probably be in media. A lot of times I’m just like, “I’m going to move to Namibia and work with orphaned elephants. Fuck this stuff.” I don’t have a five-year plan. Maybe that’s dumb, but it is who I am. I can’t pretend otherwise.
