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Archive for April, 2009

some mixed thoughts

April 29th, 2009 at 01:10 am

First of all, an achievement: I realised today, as I filled my 2L water bottle from our kitchen tap, that I have not bought bottled water for ... a long time. I cannot remember the last time I bought bottled water. I would say it has been well over a month. Maybe two?
A plus to this is, our tap water actually tastes good at our new house! Even DF's sister noticed, as when we were sharing at our last house, she would buy her water as she didn't like the tap water there. It did not bother me that much that I had to buy it, but it did taste rather... tap-water-ish. But here, now, it tastes like filtered tank water. So DF and I have only discussed a few times the need to purchase a filter of some kind. It is kind of one of those things that is at the back of the list.

The youngest apprentice at work buys a bottle of water every day. It is a 1L bottle that costs $2.50. Multiply that by 5, and that's $12.50 she spends, every week. Which is $650 a year. Which might not be that much if you earnt a reasonable wage, but being an apprentice, I know she earns $220 a week. *sigh* sometimes I wish I could shake people...

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I am beginning to plan to make a herb garden, and a lettuce garden. I have read that you should plant flowers with lettuce so as to deter and confuse pests. So I might look into that too. I have been reading the gardning book that we were given as a housewarming present - and am a little overwhelmed. I have decided it would be in my best interests to formulate a table so as to figure out where to plant which herbs. Some need full sun, others need morning sun, some need drainage (coriander), some need wet roots (mint), plus I have to figure out the ones I need to plant now, seeing as it is becoming winter, and the ones I will have to plan to start in September, at the start of spring etc etc. Eek! At the moment it's all tumbled around in my head, so I think writing a list will be helpful. DF has it in his head I am going to fail (ok, my history with plants is really not that great) and that I am taking on too much work. This is when I had all these vast goals of making a huge vege patch. My response? 'I'll show YOU!'
Unfortunately, I agree somewhat with him. It's quite possible this venture could fail in epic proportions. My balloon has deflated to the herb garden size - so fingers crossed if this goes without a hitch, I may start a small plot with tomatoes and carrots as well.

I would feel the happiness of a zen master if I was able to grow my own salad, let me tell you.
I will do my best. You will see many photos on this blog of my efforts.

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I had an argument yesterday, that has been ongoing and that a lot of you know about, with my mum and her partner about my mums alcohol consumption. Long story short, I am working at home today (as I usually work at their house in their home-office). I have not actually told them I am working at home, but I was meant to start an hour ago, so I am thinking they have gotten the picture. Either that, or they haven't noticed.

It could be a good thing. It's possible this may be the beginning of the end of my employment there. I have worked there since 2001, and as most of you know, have grown increasingly frustrated with their spending and lack of restraint, and their poor business choices (buying a brand new $42k van, paying an extra 10k in interest, when they could have bought a second hand sedan for under $10k???)

It is interesting though, I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I feel no emotion (except small bouts of anger) any more. Through working there, I have had many incidences of sadness and despair - but now I just feel nothing. I just do not care how things turn out for them any more. You cannot help someone who does not help themselves. I have tried, and I still do, but at the same time, I have a clear voice in my head saying 'this is not your problem, this is not your fault, there is not a great deal you can do beyond what you have.'

Is this a good realisation? Or have I been ground down so much by stress and anxiety that I have no feeling left for this part of my life? I don't know. We will see I guess.

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I have been practising yoga again (I have done it off and on since I was 11 years old) a few times a week. Perhaps this is another reason for my non-feeling-ness. Maybe I am confusing 'not feeling' with calmness? Is that possible? I never even thought of that until just then. (amazing what blogging does!)
I have been using a yoga DVD. I much prefer doing this than having no one there - as it helps you hold the positions for the right amount of time. I have even fallen into an almost sleep-like relaxation during savasana a few times, even though the lady has been talking the whole time. I was never able to do that when I was younger. Interesting that we change as we get older.
Does anyone else do yoga here?

more everyday pics

April 28th, 2009 at 05:17 am

Thought I would share some more seeing as some of you enjoyed the last few:

The bathroom at the greek orthodox community centre that the awards night was held at last week:



talk about... DECADENT!
gosh i would love to have a bathroom like that.

And a dinner I made recently:

Roast Beetroot, Rocket, Grape Tomato, Feta, Walnut & Pinenut salad.

net worth?

April 26th, 2009 at 02:58 am

how do you work out your net worth? i have heard different things, of what you should and shouldn't include. so if someone here can give me a straight answer - that would be great!
i just figured it would be interesting to work it out.

accounts back up

April 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 am

Our bond refund FINALLY came through into our bank account today. DF also got reimbursed for some petrol he paid for from work, and our pay has gone through - so our accounts are back where they started at (over $11k) before DF bought his engine. That is a relief. I do not like seeing it under $10k. Yes, the accounts COULD be up at around $14k right now if he hadn't bought the engine - but then he would still have two cars that do not work sitting downstairs.

DF still has to transfer his $900 stimulus into the joint account, and then we are going to close our old accounts.

I have been trying to only do one shop a week, but this week we have run out of a couple of things (coffee and ginger beer) so I will have to make a stop on my way home from work today.

my work won!

April 22nd, 2009 at 12:53 am

At the awards night last night, my boss won the regional award for Best Bakery! How exciting. He has only owned it for three years (same time I have worked there).
And my friend, well, she did not talk to me for about half an hour when she found her name in the book, but everything was fine after that.
My boss and colleague got quite sloshed as we were lucky enough to be at a table with a bar tab, picked up by one of the major flour companies.

The only downside was that there was an incredibly sleazy guy sitting at the table who took a like to my friend/colleague. At the end of the night he also took a like to Chivas Reagal on the rocks - which I don't think the flour company boss was very happy about either!

I got $50 from my boss for driving, and I probably used $30 of petrol. So $20 for 4.5 hours of driving isn't bad, when you consider I was going anyway! AND I don't have a hangover like the other two. I consider that a plus, on a Wednesday morning...

i upped my km/L !!!

April 21st, 2009 at 04:36 am

The experiment I mentioned - well, I did it as much as I could stand. Mainly my downfall was airconditioning - there were a couple of days where I could NOT drive without it. Well. I could - if I wanted to arrive a sweaty mess to a cocktail party. Some of the days this week were over 30 degrees! And it's supposed to be getting colder? Bah.

So really I did not try much at all with my experiment this week, but I did manage to do 202 kilometres (125.51 miles) with 15.4 litres (4.06 gallons), which cost me $18.25.

So, if I am working that out correctly, I got:

13.11 kilometres per litre

or

30.91 miles per gallon.

So I got nearly an extra kilometre per litre.

So apparently 30.91 mpg is bad??? I have no idea. I have people in my (real) life saying 13.11 km/l is GOOD, but my last post had people saying it was bad. So I am severely confused now. (remember i drive a 4 cyl automatic in a hilly area, with a sports exhaust system that is apparently meant to increase 'performance', ie. use more petrol? it was like that when i bought it)

did i do the right thing?

April 20th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Tonight I am driving my boss and colleague (also my closest friend) to a Gala Awards Night for the Baking Industry. My boss is up for an award for Best Bakery, and my colleague has won two awards. My boss said he would pay $50 to the person who drove, so I said I would do it, as my car just got serviced (and it will only cost me $20 in petrol).

Here is the thing: my colleague has NO idea that she has won the awards. Every single person at work knows except her. She is one of those people that does not think she is 'worth' anything and also thinks it would be embarrassing to get an award in front of people.

My boss asked me for help to get her to actually go to the award night (tickets cost $70 each but my boss managed to get three for free). So I called her and said 'We're going, I told Boss we would go' and used his nomination as an excuse.

So here's the thing, I am worried she will hate me or atleast be angry with me once she finds out I lied to her! I know that this sounds silly, but our relationship is based a lot on trust.

She has OCD and there are a lot of things that she will not do - and there are things I have to do for her that she would not ask anyone else (like open a can of drink - a small thing but huge at the same time - as she can't open cans due to not having long nails) and there are things I have to reassure her about that she would not trust from other people.

So I know that I did 'stretch the truth' with this award thing - but I hope she can see that I did it in order to get her to accept something she deserves, and that I would not lie to her about something that would affect her 'safety'.

dead toaster

April 19th, 2009 at 08:21 pm

Well, I have not posted for a few days.
On Saturday I bought a skirt that I had been eyeing off for months ($35). I also bought a singlet top ($10.38) and another nice top with lace-y bit on the shoulders ($31.99). Our toaster died, which we paid $9.98 for about four years ago. I decided to upgrade, and bought a $27.95 Breville toaster. Fingers crossed it lasts a bit longer! I also bought a coffee $3.75 and a headband $3. Yesterday we went out for lunch, so DF and I bought a membership to the RSL (won't let you in without one) $11. Lasts until the financial year end (June) but they also gave us $12 in drink vouchers. Our meals were delicious - we spent $27.95.

DF hopes to have his car going by the weekend. It is exciting for him as he hasn't had a car (that goes) in YEARS.

I have been having a recurring dream that my car won't start. Which is odd because I have NEVER had a problem with the ignition in real life, it always turns over in the first few seconds. I wonder what this dream is meant to mean?

more everyday pics

April 17th, 2009 at 11:19 am

I have decided to post an 'Everyday Pics' entry every week. Sometimes there will be a few photos, other times I may only be able to muster one shot. But I am going to do my best to do a post every week. I like sharing small snapshots - I hope others do too.

I like to go op-shopping and find things like this:

I was particularly proud of this flour container as I also found the creamer and sugar ones which matched. The flour one I remember in particular, as I read the price tag wrong. Initially I thought it said $10.50, and I put it back on the shelf. Then I picked it up again because I really liked it, and realised it said $1.50. Then I got to the cashier and they told me it was half price day!

My beloved Global knives:

I used them at a restaurant I worked at, and ever since then fell in love with them. They are made like Samurai swords - the steel is heated and folded many times to create great strength. They are also perfectly balanced handle-to-blade. I was beginning to save for them when Dad bought them for me for my birthday.

This is one of my favourite dresses in my wardrobe:

It's also the one that the boning dug into me - which is fixed now. I bought it in 2007 for a friends wedding. I can never find excuses to wear it, but tomorrow I am wearing it to an engagement party. I just love it, the floaty lace and the silky satin sash...


Well, I hope you like the latest instalment of my 'everyday pics'. More to come next week!

12.26km per litre! :O

April 15th, 2009 at 11:48 pm

I am ashamed to say that's how much my car does.
I mentioned it to DF's BIL and he said 'that's actually... not that great...' to which DF overheard and replies: 'it's great considering how whitestripe drives'
(!!!) Frown

Lets go, pedal to the metal!

So DebtFreeMe was the closest guess, at 22km a litre.

Now I have made it a goal of reducing that by nanny-driving (driving like your grandmother is in the back seat).

I will be filling the tank up on the way home from work today. Let's see how THAT goes!

$474 at the mechanics...

April 15th, 2009 at 10:03 am

... YAY!

Well, I was expecting $500-$600, so I am quite happy. All the normal service things were done, and the brakes.
my steering wheel no longer shakes, the handbrake is much tighter, he oiled my tyres for me, and he must have liked my music because he played 10 songs of the CD I had in there - but only drove a few kilometres Big Grin (bob dylan, jimi hendrix, jefferson airplane and the yardbirds).

Other than that, today I spent $3.15 on a drink in the morning, $3.80 on a drink in the afternoon, and $8.10 on a muffin and a coffee. I NEARLY bought a skirt and a necklace... NEARLY... but I decided to think about it. I am still thinking about it, so I might go in and have another look on Friday afternoon.

seeking some advice: money from my dad

April 15th, 2009 at 02:36 am

First of all I am seeking some advice:
My dad has put $60 into my account every fortnight for... ever. When I was younger it was $20 a month, but it increased a few years ago.
I don't ask him for anything else ever - this probably stems from when I was young my mum would force me to ask my dad for anything I needed or wanted - so as soon as I started earning my own money I was fiercely independant.
Anyway, back to it. I appreciate the money I get from my dad, but I know I would be alright without it. He and his wife have a 12 year old daughter and they are still paying off a mortgage. I am closing the bank account where he puts the money - so my dilemma is: how do I word this?
I was thinking of writing an email (which is how we normally communicate) and saying, that I am closing the bank account, and that while I appreciate the allowance he gives me, and every time I see it deposited in my bank I do think of him, but that now is a time where I would be happy if he would like to use this money for my little sister (this is not the one that was sent to the grandparents - this is the complete other side of the family), or for their mortgage (they are good with money - the only thing I berate them with is that they don't pay extra! argh! and they only bought their house for $87k 10 years ago!). But that I would be happy to give him my bank details anyway for emergencies. And then I would ask how he felt about this.

So I was wondering how that sounded? I know there are LOTS of parents on here, and I thought I could get your input.

I have been thinking about it for ages. As I have said, I appreciate the money. And I also think it's crass to say 'dad, my new bank details are...'. And I also realise that I will be alright without the money. And I would prefer, in my heart, that they use it for themselves as well. I still get money for my birthday and christmas. They even give us money for DF's birthday!

So, any advice is welcome. Thankyou for taking the time to read!

Onto other updates:

I checked my old bank account today and the $900 stimulus has gone in (insert happy dance here).

The only thing I want to buy this week is a new pair of black heels. I do HAVE a pair, I just don't know where they are... and I need them by Saturday. Also, my feet go numb in them. Which is a good thing, considering otherwise they could be quite painful (I wouldn't know!) but I can't help thinking of the long term effects...

Not to say the new pair will be any different. I have accepted the fact that I do LOVE the look of gorgeous heels, but I that am much more of a ballet flat girl. But I have been reading lately that they are just as bad. *sigh* what am I supposed to do? wear joggers all the time? crocs? puh-lease!

I think I may wait a little while before I spend any more of it. No doubt everyone would have jacked up the prices because of it (or... won't have any good specials on). Also, DF just bought a new engine for his car, at the tune of $1920! But hopefully he and his BIL can just put it in, in one day, and DF will actually have a car of his own again.

I am also getting my car serviced today. It's car stuff all around. I am getting the brake pads and rotors done, I am guessing it will be around $500-$600 including the normal service as well. But I am praying that there is nothing else that needs to be done either. The mechanic is quite good, I have always gone there by myself and he has never tried to say 'oh, I had to do this' as all the horror stories go. With the brakes, he just did my normal service and said 'If I were you I would do these soon'. So I am very happy with him.

So there is a lot of money going OUT of the account at the moment, and not a great deal coming in (DF hasn't had a lot of work this week, and I have been sick a day and had two days off from public holidays). So the stimulus money ($900 for me and $900 for DF) will help keep it up at a normal level for a little while until we start earning a bit more again.

Come to think of it, I have been the main earner since we moved in to our new house. DF worked one day last week, so he only earnt $200. And consistently, the whole time we've been paying the mortgage, I have earnt more than him. However, that is only because Feb & March are typically slower months for tradesmen, and being a small business DF's dad can't afford to pay for hours that aren't worked. My mum asked me, when I mentioned DF only earnt $200 this week, "oh, how is that going to be for you guys though...?" I replied, "we don't spend more than we have, if it's not there, it's not there."
But, there will be weeks where DF will work 60 hours and rake in $1500 a week - which I could never do at my job. *sigh*
Of course, having the surplus $10k is making it easier Big Grin but my aim is to have that, and more, in there at all times.

my life in pictures

April 14th, 2009 at 03:36 am

Thought it might be time to upload a few pics - inspired by brooklyngirls travel photos. Not really the same thing, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

our closest beach, on a good day:

and on a stormy day:

the sunset at our last rental house:

at our first rental house during the rainy season (end of summer, March) this was originally a large field. in the background you can see a line in the water, this is the top of a 1.2m fence:

the city where I grew up as a child, i revisit every couple of years (Melbourne):


what I do for work:


what DF does for work (and you've seen the pictures from our house too):

what DF does as a hobby, which I sometimes do as well (screenprinting on shirts, he cuts the pictures out by hand)


what we do for fun:




That's all I can find for now. There are so many more photos on DF's computer, I will have to raid them and find some more! Anyway, hope you have enjoyed them Big Grin



where are they now?

April 12th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I guess it is the type of world we live in now where what we do and what we have achieved is used to measure how succesful we are. Today I was just thinking about all the people I went to school with, and what their 'defining factor' is at this stage in their life. I find it amusing that whenever I meet a friend from school and the talk turns to other old school friends, usually they have one or two big things they have done since leaving school, that they are known for. It's odd that five years of our lives can be broken down into a single event or achievement. I am happy that a good amount of these 'doings' are NOT directly financially related though, in the terms of 'I make this much, I have this much'. But I do find it odd all the same, that this is how we keep in touch now.

T has reconverted to her muslim religion (I had no idea at all that she ever was) and was married yesterday. She moved to another state two weeks ago to be with this husband, whom she has never been in the same room with alone.

AM and LM are now born again Christians but luckily not the type I have encountered before - they do not go overboard on everything and do not feel the need to preach to everyone about it.

C travelled to Fiji to help orphans learn English.

R, J and M have travelled Europe.

Z moved to Cairns and bought a house with her BF, which they are renovating.

S, previously a model, moved to Perth with her BF to work in the mines. She rakes in the money but she spends it just as fast.

N moved to the outback to a skill shortaged area with her BF to pay off their house.

AH had two more children (on top of the one she had at high school).

CF, CL, CU, M, G, SH, KC and EG have all had a child.

SG, SM got married.

N got engaged to her boyfriend, then had a flip out, broke off the engagement, started a relationship with another girl, A, and they moved inland.

M is a masseuse, and her sister became a model and has moved overseas.

P got her masters, got a two year contract job and bought my favourite car (i posted on this awhile ago).

R's mother died of cancer. R went A-wol and crashed her car, injuring four of her friends.

SS, a friend who was close at school, moved out hours away, and has had three children, all while excessively drinking and smoking.

K is having a baby this year.

AW bought a bakery with her BF.

KF re-started figure skating (? which i never knew she did anyway!)

CT constantly updates her facebook status as to do with something happening with her relationship ('what did i do wrong?' 'boys always hurt me' 'me heart is breaking' 'he doesnt love me anymore') Chronic overshare!!!

AH moved to live and work on an island resort.

KS works with GreenCorps, for minimum pay, planting as many trees as she can and caring for the environment.

JB got his pilot license, has bungee jumped and skydived.

HL got a tattoo.

MP and SC both bought cars which now feature prominently in their display pictures at all times - and sometimes that is ALL that is in their display pics.


And that's only a handful that I can remember right now. It's just interesting to see it all in one place. It's weird the way people's lives start to turn out - things you would have never imagined them doing they now do.






argh! more babies!

April 12th, 2009 at 07:30 am

Last week our friends R & M made the announcement at another friend, L's, birthday party. They are 14 weeks along and it was unplanned, but they are happy, although completely stumped as to what they should be doing (babies were not on the cards for another few years for them).

While it's extremely happy news all around, the 'childless' group is getting increasingly small!

C & E just had their baby girl last month.
DF's sister A & fiance D (D is DF's best friend) are due in July.
M & A are due next month.
A & A are also due next month.
As well as J & K also due next month, expecting twins.
My friends N & N had their second child in January.
A girl I went to school with is due in three months.
Another close friend R & her boyfriend J are planning on having a baby in a year.
A friend of R & M had a baby boy 4 months ago, who also attended the party, where the announcement was made.
The birthday boy's sister also attended the party and bought with her, her husband and new baby boy as well.
And now R & M are expecting as well.

And to top it all off, at the party last week DF spent half the night holding the 4-month-old baby boy for the friend so she could eat her dinner, and just about everyone cooed at him "It suuuuuiiittsss you, D!".

Can I just say, *PRESSURE*, anyone???

Personally I would LOVE to have a baby right now, but we are not in the financial place we would like to be in at that time. And I would rather be at ease financially, as I can imagine everything else will be chaos at that time, it would make things so much more harder having to worry about money too.

But jeez, I am feeling surrounded by babies at the moment, it's all getting a bit insane!


woke up late

April 12th, 2009 at 02:51 am

I woke up late today even though I set my alarm for 6am - I must be getting used to the sleeping in because i woke at 8.30! And I had to be at a friends house for coffee at 9am. Eek.
I had planned to do some yoga and pilates, make breakfast and finish writing a letter, but that all went out the window.
At my friends, we were meant to go to a cafe but seeing as we ALL woke up late, we went to the shop and bought pancake mix and made coffee at her house. I gave her $5 as I am the only weird person that eats yoghurt with pancakes. Frown They laughed at me! I do not like icecream that much, and I don't like jam or butter or maple syrup on pancakes either. Anyway, apparently I am strange...

So my expenditure is $5 for today.

It's nearly noon and I plan to do some more unpacking and listen to Bob Dylan (he has been on high rotation this weekend) and clean up my clothes. I have this habit when I get ready to go out, of pulling out about 20 different things, then leaving them in a pile to 'put away later'. Does anyone else do this?

I also have to put away the dishes and clean the spare room still. And finish the letters, charge my ipod and camera, and make a cd for my car. Better get to it!

unpacking, and a gift.

April 11th, 2009 at 08:35 am

well, lo and behold it's already 5.30pm and I feel like I have done nothing all day Big Grin

It's actually been nice to bum around all weekend - and I still have a full 2 days to go!

Today I unpacked two massive boxes of stuff. They are the boxes you BUY to pack in (about 1.5m high). So I was happy with that effort. I couldn't really garden today as it rained all day. It was nice to laze around though. DF's friends mother came around and I showed her our house, she gave us a housewarming gift of an organic, water wise gardening book that is suited to our climate, which I thought was very thoughtful!

Tomorrow I think I will get more stuff done.

Time to cook dinner!

procrastination at its best

April 11th, 2009 at 03:53 am

Well I am just wasting time and procrastinating over my to-do-list. What better to do that with than a blog entry?

Last night I made a really cool housewarming party invitation. Once I make them all up properly I will post a picture of it, but basically when the guests recieve it in the mail they will have to unfold it and it turns into a 3D shape of a house. Hopefully DF likes it. I just think it would be cool to have an invitation that people talk about. Some friend of ours just send their engagement invitations via Facebook... and I just think that is plain tacky. But each to their own. What do you all think? Tacky or just 'modern' to do Facebook invite?

This morning I went to the market and did our grocery shopping for the week. I completely forgot it was Easter Saturday (yes, I know, how could I? I guess I am just not a very religious and/or festive person) and the shops were absolute mayhem. But it was ok. I was done in about 45 minutes.

I spent $94.12 on veges, fruit and other groceries. I also treated myself and bought two magazines (a glossy and a recipe one) and some pancake mix for breakfast Big Grin

This week so far (which ends tomorrow) I have spent $16.35 of my 'allowance'. I laughed at DF because he always goes on about how he doesn't spend much money on anything, so he thinks he will be absolutely fine with this whole allowance thing. 'I only buy beer anyway, I mean, pfft, you're the one that buys makeup, coffees and clothes'. (And I agreed! I thought that I was the one that would find it hard!)

HA! His spending total last week was $112.50. This week so far was $56 and I have no idea how much he has spent while he's been away. And his 'allowance' is meant to be $80 a week. Mine is $60 and last week I spent $63.64 and this week I have spent $16.35.

Anyway, I'm not particularly concerned. He's a good boy. I'm going to make it a monthly average.

His BIL bought him a $375 drill in payment for helping him put up the shed (this is the one I have blogged about - DF's sister and BIL are going to live in it - with a baby...)

Hmmm what other updates? *sigh* I can't think of any more. I guess this means I actually have to go and DO SOMETHING.

Take care now, bye bye then!


striking off the to-do-list

April 10th, 2009 at 06:42 am

[] Unpack and organise/tidy loungeroom boxes.
[] Sort Cd's out and pack up the ones we don't listen to (we have too many to fit)
[x] Tidy & clear dining table
[x] Clean bathroom
[x] Clean toilet
[] Tidy our office, spare rooms, kitchen and bedroom.
[] Start to stack bookshelf in office
[x] Washing/Hang Out/Fold/Put Away (including hand washing)
[x] Set up our laundry properly
[] Make a new CD for my car
[] Charge my camera, Ipod & Iriver
[] Write and send a letter to my little sister and SIL.

Unfortunately I can't do any more washing as the hose burst off the tap and I don't know how to re-attach it without DF. He won't be back until tomorrow or Sunday. *sigh* I'm not NORMALLY a helpless housewife - I just don't want to stuff it up as I have no idea if something's broken or if it just wasn't done up properly...?

There was water EVERYWHERE Frown

I kind of ran out of steam after having to clean up the laundry and move boxes out of the way of the water.

I also ate too much chocolate and then felt sick, and I have been surfing the internet for about an hour and a half.

Not exactly the productive day I had in mind!

So now I've had a rest and eaten my weight in chocolate... (just kidding, it was probably about 80grams of chocolate... given to me by my boss's 2 year old son)... I'm going to tidy up the DVD's, fold all our clean washing, hang out the last load I did, and sweep the floors.

Then I was thinking of doing something totally crazy and doing some painting!

my easter weekend List-To-Do

April 10th, 2009 at 01:58 am

Well, the long weekend has started for me. DF left this morning (got up at 4.30am) to help his BIL build the shed, and I got up rather late (9am!). So it was a nice sleep in for me, but poor DF, I think he was a little hungover - we went to my friends birthday dinner and I offered to drive, as I thought DF might feel more comfortable to be able to drink as he didn't know anyone except the birthday girl - anyway I think he drank a bit too much! (and we also spent a bit too much I think... dinner was $36.50 for both of us, and I think drinks cost $53.50 - and I only had 2 x lemon, lime & bitters!).

I have some goals this weekend, which I am going to list here to motivate me. I checked my old bank account and haven't recieved the $900 stimulus yet - I am not complaining though. It will get there. It just gives me more time to think about what I want to use it for. DF has just gotten his friend to book in an appointment to get a tattoo. I told him to go for it as he has one design that he has made up from an assortment of traditional American Sailor Jerry designs, and he has been wanting to get it forever. However, the waiting list is until September!

Ok, so my goals for this weekend:

- Unpack and organise/tidy loungeroom boxes.
- Sort Cd's out and pack up the ones we don't listen to (we have too many to fit)
- Tidy & clear dining table
- Clean bathroom
- Clean toilet
- Tidy our office, spare rooms, kitchen and bedroom.
- Start to stack bookshelf in office
- Washing/Hang Out/Fold/Put Away (including hand washing)
- Set up our laundry properly
- Make a new CD for my car
- Charge my camera, Ipod & Iriver
- Write and send a letter to my little sister and SIL.

I would also like to have a nice relaxing bath, do my yoga and pilates DVD's, go to the market tomorrow and maybe get started on some gardening, and MAYBE join the local video store and hire a DVD (?). Luckily it's a long weekend! I have today (it's now 11am though!) Saturday, Sunday and Monday to do all of this.

ef, new locks, stuff to buy

April 8th, 2009 at 06:18 am

I am still thinking of a way to track our EF savings when it is in our everyday account. I am thinking of chucking the whole lot into our mortgage for now, because we are not charged fees for redraw or extra payments - and it will save us the same money as when it is in our everyday account. But then there is the issue of tracking it in THERE!

I am not one of those people that can relax when everything is mushed together, which it is right now.

I also want to be able to track our extra repayments. And the extra repayments have to be tracked INDIVIDUALLY as well. *sigh* It is very complicated. Which is why I have not made extra payments, nor have a total for our EF yet. Grrr.

For the extra payments, I have worked out a system though. I think. I'll see how it goes and then I'll post about it later this month.

Last night DF got home early, so he put key-locks on all the windows. We did not need to put any on the high windows so I think we used 2 packs of locks, which had 4 in each pack. I think they were $42.88 for each pack. We had budgeted about $200 so I am pretty happy we only spent about $90 for them!

Other items needed:
-a rubbish bin
-new toilet seat (how exciting)
-a toaster

TAKE A GUESS!!! km's per litre?

April 7th, 2009 at 05:26 am

I have decided to do an experiment; seeing as so many of you all here know how many mpg's your car gets, I have decided to track how many km's I can get from my car. I NEVER let the tank go below half though, so I filled it to the brim today (cost me $8.77 because I already filled it on the way home on Sunday. I cleared my kilometre tracker thingee (what are they called?) and will see how much I have travelled and how much petrol I have used next time I fill up!


Lets make it a game! Anyone care to take a wild guess at how many kilometres per litre my car will get?

It's a 1998 Nissan Pulsar 1.8L 4 cylinder with a sports exhaust, petrol engine, and I do not carry anything unnecesary in my car that adds extra weight.

Leave your guess in the comments section!

I do not normally cry over news stories...

April 6th, 2009 at 04:25 am

but when I read this I could not stop crying for a full ten minutes.

Text is http://www.peanutslaw.com/story.html and Link is
http://www.peanutslaw.com/story.html

It is such a horrible story and unbelievable that anyone could do such a thing. There is a petition that can be signed; I am not asking anyone to sign it but the story upset me so much that I felt like I had to share it so that it may help a little in some way.


off sick today

April 6th, 2009 at 01:19 am

There has been a stomach virus going around, my friend/colleague had it and my boss had before her, and before him our apprentice had it. Last night when we got home I felt a bit weird and was hot and cold - and dizzy and nauseaus when I was standing. I called my boss and he said he would go into work tomorrow (today) so I could stay home.

This morning I woke at about 8am. I have a headache and felt very tired and lethargic... but none of the other things everyone else had, even though my friend told me that what I was feeling was exactly how hers started (and she was continuously throwing up for about four days).

So I don't know, maybe I was able to fight it off in my sleep or something? I feel a bit bad taking a day off when I am not really sick, even though I truly believed I would be bedridden for a few days - but it is kind of nice to be bumming around at home for a day.

April Goal Plan!

April 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm

I am liking this monthly goal setting. I learnt very quickly to not set unreachable goals though - just because you write them down for everyone to see doesn't neccesarily mean you will get them done!

Ok, I have a few small sub-headings this month:

Money:
[] Keep track of all joint spending
[] Manage personal spending and keep to the alloted amount per week.
[] Sit down with DF and draw up a savings plan for the next 6 months.
[] Plan what to spend my stimulus money on! (yes - I am spending it)

House:
[] 30 minutes gardening per week
[] Unpack at least 3 boxes per week.
[] Write up a future To Do list for house repairs and maintenance
[] Write up a future To Buy list for the house
[] Call the pest people about the termites on the letterbox
[] Call and change my address details for all correspondence (yes I know - still have not done it)

Health:
[] 3 x 40 min exercise sessions per week
[] Atually WEAR my pedometer to get an average of my steps for EACH day of the week.
[] Begin this: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/detox/plan.htm
[] Re-introduce the 'one hour of body care per week' that I used to do.

Other:
[] Call my little sister every week
[] Catch up with my closest friend at least once per week (used to live near each other but since I moved I want to make the effort to see her like we used to)
[] Stand by my resolve to not respond to the other 'friend' I have previously blogged about. And yes, this is a goal! I find these things very difficult.

All of these SHOULD be achievable. If I have not done them, you all reserve the right to call me a lazy sod. Smile

$1268.13 in interest!

April 2nd, 2009 at 08:54 pm

That is how much our first addition of interest was for our mortgage. Kind of exciting even though it is really NOT exciting at all...

Our new loan balance is $303 117.38 - at least it is still UNDER the initial borrowed balance, eh?

March Totals

April 1st, 2009 at 08:52 pm

Income:
Job 1: $880.00
Job 2: $1680.45
Other: $120.00
Total: $2680.45

Expenses:
Rent: $411.42 (for 2.5 weeks)
Mortgage: $860.28
Groceries: $212.68 ($53.17 p/w)
Petrol: $164.70 ($41.18 p/w)
Phone & Internet: $39.76
Electricity: $83.70
Insurance: $61.36
Mobile Phone: $49.12
Loan Payments: $148.00
Skin Care: $29.95
Health/Beauty/Grooming: $6.50
Gifts: $50.44
Bank Fees: $4.00
Moving Costs: $278.00

Fun:
Takeaway: $168.30
Drinks: $68.24
Magazines /Books: $17.95
Clothes/Shoes: $37.50
Clothes Alterer: $20.00
Makeup: $22.95
Entertainment: $16.00
Staff Lotto: $8.00
House/Appliances: $15.98

Total Spent: $2784.83

So:
2680.45 - 2784.83
= (-)104.37

HOWEVER.
I was paying rent AND mortgage payments, and we had moving costs and takeaway food plus gifts given to those who helped us. So once I take those balances away:

Rent: $411.42
Moving Costs: $278.00
Takeaway: $50.30
Gifts: $24.40
Total: $775.10

So, total that WOULD HAVE been remaining if everything were normal:

$670.72

That makes me happy, to think that other than moving I did not drastically spend on anything.

Well, this will be the last 'me' totals. April will be 'our' totals. Eeek!