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Archive for September, 2010

rewards, rewards, rewards...

September 30th, 2010 at 06:38 am

Today I get to work and find that my new roster is up Smile I have more hours, and it appears that they will stay that way for a while.
I earn a little more per hour at this job than I did at my other one (before my pay cut, I mean). It will not make up for the paycut though, nor DF's either. But I am hoping that by cutting a few things and trimming where we need to on unnecesary items, we can still save, pay the bills and mortgage, eat, and do a few things here and there that we enjoy.

I have joined a couple of new survey sites and my regular ones seem to pumping my email inbox full at the moment. Usually when I DONT feel like doing them, I get a lot. So it seems they caught me at a good time Smile when I am motivated to actually DO THEM.

At this stage I am halfway towards: a $30 check, a $50 check, a $50 paypal payment, a $5 paypal payment and only a couple of dollars away from a $20 GC.

Oooh! Also just remembered Christmas is coming which means I get a $50 GC from work. Yay!

I posted my eBay sales yesterday. Total in profit I made roughly $25, but seeing as I got these items for free I am not complaining.

Once a friend finished with a dvd set of mine I am going to sell that also on eBay and will hopefully get back what I paid for it ~$60.

We also have credit card rewards to redeem. Big Grin We have atleast a $200 voucher at the moment, though I was thinking of waiting until the end of the year, and then we can use the voucher at the end of year sales. This particular store that the voucher is for, is known for their crazy discounts on Boxing Day. We usually go a couple of days after, and they have marked everything down even more (though, don't have as much stock as they would have, but it's better than fighting the crowds.) So by then we might have a $400 voucher. Now that would be SUPER fun! I might talk to DF and see if it would be wise to purchase clothing items we will need for 2011 at that time (tshirts, underwear, socks - you know, the boring stuff that kind of needs to be replaced every year or two...)

day off, textbooks

September 29th, 2010 at 12:19 am

Today is my Wednesday off. I'm quite liking these. I think if we didn't have to worry about the money so much, I'd love to make it a permanent thing Big Grin But wouldn't we all?

Today I am doing house tidying/cleaning until 2.30pm and then having coffee with a friend and doing the grocery shopping. Next week I might be catching up with an old school friend. And then I think that will be the last of the four day weeks for me.

We bought a new vaccuum cleaner on the weekend, so I am going to give the house a good vaccuum and mop (it has been, oh, about four weeks!) The vaccuum cleaner was a medium priced cheapo one. The cheapest was around $66 and 1600 watts, and the one we bought was $114 and 2000watts. Better than the one we previously had, but definately not a Dyson! LOL. It also came with a free mini dust-buster too, which is kind of cool.

We are in the process of getting an electrician friend of ours to change our hot water system over to 'night-time only' usage. Last time he was at our place he informed us that it was programmed to go on whenever it needed to to heat up water, and to cut costs we should get it changed to use the night time off peak tariff. So that is what we will do. No idea what it will cost though I am sure it will pay for itself in the long run.

I looked up the first textbook I need for my first subject. New it is $139.95. I have found one textbook exchange website where someone is selling it for $95, not including postage. I have tried on google to find other exchange sites but have only had luck with this one so far, and there is only one book available. I have a month before I need it, so I am not sure if I should wait it out, or buy it. I guess any saving is a good saving. I should really start keeping an eye out for the textbooks I need in the future as well.

This morning I got up relatively late (7am), took the dogs for a walk and bought some milk from the corner shop. I have emailed our most recent electricity bill to our friend and eaten breakfast - suddenly it's 9am! Big Grin The internet is sure distracting!

My plans for the day:
- vaccuum & mop
- tidy lounge & dining rooms
- kitchen
- 2x loads of laundry
- some gardening & tidying yard

update post

September 28th, 2010 at 01:36 am

Well, a lot has happened in the past few days since I last posted.

I was able to talk to my colleague. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but I pretended that I had not heard she had cancer. My friend told me, because she tells me everything - but to me something as serious as this should not be spread around the workplace like common gossip. So I let her tell me in her own words. It turns out it is Lymphoma, which is treatable. But she thinks that maybe when it is all done and the treatment is over, she may not want to come back to work. Which is completely understandable. In the meantime, she is grateful for our boss and his wife for working around her treatment dates and not giving her job away. I can imagine being faced with this sort of health issue and then having to think about your job future would only add to the stress.

To further add to an already crappy week, our main baker resigned. He is a fantastic guy and has only worked with us for one year. He has a rather rocky relationship with his partner, but they have three children. Last week he came home after spending a night at his brothers catching up, to find she had packed up the house and moved with their kids, back to the town they used to live in five years ago - where their parents both live. She has moved in with her parents. Apparently she had never been happy where they had been living, but never told him. She said if he still wanted to be with her and see their children, he had to move. So now, he is faced with packing the rest of their stuff, cleaning their house and organising breaking the lease. There are no job prospects where he is moving, and he is annoyed. But I have to admire him, he says to me 'they're my kids and family, you know. You gotta do what you gotta do.' Poor guy.

So, my boss is faced with losing two employees. I now definately have an extra day lined up, and a weekday too, I think. My best friend may also have another day to work as well.

One thing about this annoys me though:

I KNOW with 100% certainty that if there was ever a time that my boss would have put me onto an apprenticeship like he said he would a year ago, now would be the time. But that kind of hurts a little, because he wouldn't be doing it as a favour to me, he'd be doing it to get himself out of a jam. And that sucks!

But whatever. I know that this whole 'me going to uni' is just a slap in the face to him, and a small part of me just wants to go 'HAHAHA!'. I think that probably makes me evil on some level, but I don't care.

a silver lining?

September 22nd, 2010 at 09:14 am

Maybe I should just shutup and not talk about my dramas. Big Grin It seems that every couple of hours our circumstances change. I hate to sound like a rollercoaster of ups and downs because that is really what I do NOT strive for in my life! And one of the things I can't stand is sitting there listening to a friend go on and on and on about all the drama in his/her life. And yet this is what my life currently sounds like!

So, apologies to everyone. I really would rather blog about the more mundane financial things like cheap recipes, savings, comparing one item to another, and finding things on sale, because to me that is the Good Stuff of personal finance blogs Smile

Today my friend/colleague told me that she had accidently told my boss about my situation at my other work (the losing a day thing). She was very sorry (I really didn't mind anyway) but only did it because apparently a co-worker has been diagnosed with cancer - which is very heartbreaking. She will probably tell me herself next week, so I don't want her to know that I know yet. Nothing worse than something so horrible and serious spreading like common gossip. But in the meantime, my boss is stressing over who will cover this ladys shifts while she has treatments - of which my friend volunteered me for. Which, in such an unfortunate event, I guess is a silver lining for me. So my problem of finding more work is partially solved.

Now I just have to make extra money on the side to compensate for DF's loss of pay too.

Please keep my co-worker in your thoughts for me as she begins her treatments. She's a lovely little thing who I have worked with for nearly 5 years.

the first of many four day weeks.

September 22nd, 2010 at 12:36 am

So yesterday I recieve the news that I am now downgraded from two days to one day a week at my book-keeping job, and my pay will be cut in half per hour as well. Not sure when it was supposed to start, but I was so annoyed that I decided to not go in to work today. Not sure they will miss me, because I was pretty mad yesterday. I mean, I understand hard times call for these measures. But I don't think they need to be that extreme. If I were being that extreme, I would not cut a workers pay to a quarter of what it was. But anyway. This is why I am annoyed:

- DF's pay will be cut. Not sure how much, but he sacrificed $1.50 per hour a year ago to give his apprentice a pay rise. That apprentice has since qualified and left, and DF did not regain the p/h rate. He also only gets paid a max of 8 hours per day but is sometimes away from home for 12 hours. Frown
- DF's apprentice is being cut from 38 hours a week to just 15 (so is going from full-time to part-time).

And the owners of the business, DF's dad and my mother...?

Nope. That's it. Oh I think they said something about 'oh and we will have to cut back too...' Which doesn't really mean anything based on past events.

Anyway. So yes, I'm very annoyed right now. But I am trying to make the most of it.
I have listed 5 items on eBay and 4 have watchers, and 1 already has a bid.
I'm going to catch up on some internet surveys. Even if it's only a couple of bucks I am sure it is worth it.
Also I plan to do a spot of gardening. It's rather overcast and raining today, which is probably the best conditions for it anyway.
I'm going to get some laundry done and do a lot of cleaning up. We have guests staying on Friday night, and are going away on Saturday for a friends childs first birthday.
I also have to find a tiny little tshirt to screenprint as a gift.

I am going to drop some hints at work and try to pick up another day - otherwise I will begin to look for some part-time work elsewhere. At the moment I am just not very confident in myself, I have had the same jobs for 8 years and 5 years - I am not so sure how I would go in a new environment, you know? I guess it's just the new-job jitters. But, I think I'd like something customer-service-ey or food-industry related - something where I can go and not have to think too much, as with the family business it was all worry, stress, worry, stress. And coupled with starting uni I think the least amount of thinking I can get away with at work is a good thing!

there is a storm brewing...

September 21st, 2010 at 01:13 am

DF and I are in an uncertain times at the moment. I think that my university course was started at a perfect time, because it gives me direction, even though the next 6 years are undoubtedly going to be tough. DF's dads business appears to be coming to a close. His dads inability to control his expenditure and finances, and take in any advice from others, means that in the next few months, unless some miracle happens, he may have to sell his house to pay his debts, and the business which has been running for nearly 10 years will have to fold. This leaves DF out of full-time work, and me out of part-time work. I don't see getting a job to be a big problem - I think that there is a lot of work out there, just not the glamorous, sought after jobs. If DF and I were in need of jobs, we would not be picky, which I think is a problem around here.

In other news, I am close to getting to a point where I feel that I would be better off never talking to or seeing my mother again. People constantly say that family is blood, and you can never let anything get in the way of that. But I know many of you SA'ers out there don't talk to close family at all, and it gives me hope that I am not the horrible person that I will no doubt be made out to be in the next couple of weeks. I don't really want to get into it in much detail (trust me, this entry could be a novel describing the events that have transpired over the past couple of days), as I am sure a few regular readers know of the difficulties I have with my mother and her drinking problems, paranoia and gambling problems etc etc. But basically the latest is that my DF is the alcoholic, and he is a bully and my mother is 'concerned' that I am with him. But when I questioned her on why, apparently it is because he confronted her yet again, this morning and yesterday, about her drinking and gambling habits. After some words from me, now she says she is no longer concerned about me, because I am 'the same as him'.

Seeing as in the 7.5 years DF and I have been together we have never fought and never separated, and always encouraged each other to have friends and have outside interests - I am glad DF and I are 'the same'.

In comparison, my mother and her partner have had hundreds of alcohol-fueled arguments and have separated completely and lived separately four times in the ten years they have been together. My mother has also driven all of her partners friends away and gets paranoid and jealous whenever he attempts to see a few mates who have stuck by him, or play a rare game of golf without her.

So, I guess I am glad that I am who I am, and DF is who he is. Smile In the end, we should surround ourselves with positive and supportive people. My mother is not positive or supportive towards me, and I am not towards her. So I guess it is a two-way street really, and we would both be better off.

On another note, my eldest sister does not talk to my mum either, and has sworn she will not for another 9 years. It was for a completely different reason, but I wonder how many siblings it will take before she realises her mistakes?

birthday celebration ideas???

September 20th, 2010 at 06:29 am

Not a lot has been happening financially with me. We seem to be spending a lot, probably too much.

We did get our tax refund though. On the weekend we went and bought a punching bag, two pairs of gloves and a pair of shoes for DF's work. Spent nearly $300 but did manage to save $62 by asking for deals & haggling. Big Grin Saved $6 on each pair of boxing gloves, saved $30 on the punching bag and saved $20 on DF's shoes. I feel too uncomfortable to haggle, but DF is pretty good, it seems.

I am going to try and list some things on eBay to sell, but not sure what. Really I just want less junk in my life, but for some items I think that someone might use them, so it would be worth it to try and get a little bit from them, even if it is only a few dollars. All I can think of at the moment are some books I have read but don't want to keep or read again, and some makeup products that I got for free and won't use. What do you sell on eBay? What have you sold that surprised you?

I have decided that I am definately going to change our life insurance and superannuation over to a new policy. It will save us money, and an added benefit is that we will be able to log into our bank and be able to see our superannuation balance as well. Not really doing anything, but it's a perk anyway. Makes me feel a little richer!

It is DF's 30th birthday in a little over a month. We are planning on hosting a big do - so it really is time for me to get started on organising everything. Things like this always stress me out a little, but are worth it in the end.

We will have to organise invitations in the next week or two, and food when the rsvp's come. DF will have to clean up our rumpus/shed area and mow and tidy the lawn. I will have to get the spare rooms ready for guests.

The other thing I have to organise in secret is some type of 'memorial' thing. DF has done collages in the past for his sisters 21st, his dads 50th and his grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. He made colour copies and laminated them, and everyone got one to keep.

So I was thinking of doing something like that, but instead just doing one large collage. Also was thinking of having a notebook for everyone to write DF a message on the night.

Any other ideas for a 30th Birthday? What memorable things have you had at a birthday or special event that someone has done for you?

update to yesterdays post...

September 15th, 2010 at 03:40 am

How much difference a day makes!

DF gets to work today to find out that there is actually a job booked for tomorrow that he was not aware of.

He also did a quote for someone who seems as though they have researched DF's work and doesn't appear to be getting any other quotes - he just wants DF to do the work. Big Grin

It is reassuring when DF hears things like that. He will never be 'the cheapest' floor installer & sander because he does not work that way - point blank refuses to, actually. In the famous words of Sailor Jerry 'Good work ain't cheap, and cheap work ain't good!'.

But when times are tough I guess people always go for the cheap work - and it's times like this that you really begin to stress that maybe the 'quality masters' are losing their place in industries, and the ones who do shoddy work and cut corners are going to be the ones to survive. Thankfully there are still people out there that have some sense!

Anyway. So on the work front, things seem to be moving along at a pace... a snails pace, but a pace nonetheless.

Last night we had a pesto pasta dish instead of getting our usual pizza that we get (Tuesday is cheap night, $6 pizzas from the place down the street). DF normally gets two pizzas and I get one, and we have the leftovers for lunch the next day. But I have decided the only times we are eating out for the next few months will be when people visit us, or for something super-special.
Although probably not the cheapest meal I could have made, I can guesstimate that the pasta dish was cheaper than one pizza!

I under estimated how much food we would need for this week though, and am running low even though it's only Wednesday. I think it's having an extra mouth to feed, in the form of my 15 year old sister. She goes home tomorrow, but whew! Not sure what to do for meals for DF and I tomorrow and Friday. Tonight we're having an Indian coconut curry which will probably use up all of our vegetables. Hmmm...

Have been experimenting with icy-pole recipes and made up my own, which I really quite like. I could see myself eating these all summer:

- 1-2 bananas
- 1-2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk

Blend or process until smooth and fill icy-pole moulds or cups and freeze until firm. I think the banana and milk make a nice ice-creamey texture and they don't freeze super hard either. Sooo goood...

stressing out. updates. etc.

September 14th, 2010 at 04:21 am

Our tax refund hit our account today. Woo! ~$3k.

Though it is rather stressful at the moment. I am trying to not let it weigh me down too much, but DF's dads business is not doing so well. Just when DF's dad had turned a corner financially speaking, and it looked like he might be able to manage his money appropriately - the industry up and dies on us! I am keeping my fingers crossed that he gets a slew of jobs to keep them super busy up until the new year - which is generally what happens, but not so sure it will happen this year with the economy and all. They say it's picking up, but I don't know who 'they' are or where they work either.

What worries me most is DF's ability to find another job. Well, let me rephrase. I don't doubt his ability to find a job (he is skilled in several industries), rather his motivation. Sometimes it seems like he has blind faith and loyalty to the business, and won't consider looking for outside work. Even when there is no work, he will do something to do with the family business (which equals no pay, obviously) instead of, I don't know... day labour? listing some junk on ebay?

So, that is what is stressing me right now. Even though the tax refund calmed my fears a little bit, not I am not so sure if we should go ahead with our plans to buy a new TV. We are already discussing downsizing from the original idea of a 40" to a 32". I know a flat screen TV is not a neccesity - which is why we have not bought one yet - but it is something we have wanted to buy ourselves for a reallllly long time (like, five-years-long-time). And seeing as every tube-tv we have has broken in some way or another, bar the one we are currently using - which is about to, I might add, it is not as if we are going out and just buying one because everyone else has one.

*sigh*

Anyway. To further stress me out, DF has a couple of days off work right now, and is utilising his apprentice (who must work every day - or get paid for doing nothing) to paint the exterior of our house. I just wonder how much the paint is going to cost. Frown Though, I do forget sometimes that we have money put aside for renovations. And I guess we are saving a lot of money by not paying someone to do it. And atleast DF is actually doing something productive. I guess I should just calm down and breathe. Smile

Thanks for letting me get that out. You know when things seem so much bigger in your head? Yeah, that.

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In other news, I registered Banjo finally today, and re-registered Jed for the year. $20 it cost to register them! Instead of $224 it would have cost if we hadn't de-sexed and microchipped them. The surgery will pay for itself in two more years. Big Grin
On another note, they also seem, dare I say, a little happier? Since the surgery there has been NO, I repeat NO pee on our deck. It's incredible. And Jed seems to be finally mellowing a little bit, which is nice. Though we have another couple of years with Banjo acting like a crazed little thing before they both settle down. Banjo is much nicer and easier to hold than Jed (don't know how long that will last - Banjo is definately smaller than Jed which is one thing, but he is still growing), though now Jed will have moments where he will sit on your lap and not try to cover your face in slobber and claw you. Big Grin For about two minutes. This morning I read two pages of a book before I had to put him down. It was lovely!

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I know this completely contradicts my previous whine about money (or lack of), but in my defense I have been looking out for this sale for aaaaages. It just so happened to appear during the week where I have a big stress. *sigh*.
Anyway: every year Clinique have a special 'Gift Time' sale where if you spend over $60 you get a free makeup bag full of products. I always try to buy my foundation during this time. I pretty much buy foundation and an eyeliner pencil- any other makeup products I use come directly from this 'freebie' I get. I'm kinda cheap when it comes to makeup - except for the fact that I don't actually use 'cheap' brands, I buy the absolute basic items and everything else I do without unless I get it for free somehow. So anyway, I bought it today. The foundation is $49 and the eyeliner is $36. Eyeliner lasts me about 3 years - foundation about 1. They did not have my shade in stock, so they gave me a sample pot and will call me when it comes in. I also signed up for their rewards program. For every 200 points you get $10 to spend. I already have 85 points. It's at a chemist, so I am sure I will buy other items from them anyway.

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I made a delicious pumpkin, feta & caramelised onion tart for dinner last night. We had it with a garden salad and steamed vegetables, and because DF is working at home today, I was able to take the leftovers for lunch. Big Grin So good!

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My little sister is due to go home tomorrow as our mother is back from her trip. I have noticed over the week how much my poor little sister cares about what people think/what she looks like/what clothes she wears/letting down her friends/going to parties etc. Also realised how much I DO NOT CARE. Big Grin Is that a good or a bad thing? I am polite and nice, which helps I guess. Not sure if DF and I were at all a grounding influence on her, but I hope to maybe some extent we were. She does not get a lot of support from our mother, but maybe staying with us she has realised there is a bigger picture in life than the things she is currently worrying about. In *so many* ways my little sister and I are similar, but unfortunately my little sister is rather impressionable, which I never was. I wasn't really an outcast at school but I was always on the sideline because I didn't really understand why everyone worried about stupid little things when there was so much more to consider in life.

lunch, paid for.

September 12th, 2010 at 08:10 am

I had a work thing to go to today. I just got my little sister a job at my work, and staff had their lunches paid for. We were allowed to bring spouses but they would have to pay for themselves so DF did come. In the end my boss just paid for DF Big Grin I think we spent about $20 on drinks.

After that we decided to go and have a look at TV's at a store we're thinking of buying from. Ended up buying season 2 of Arrested Development for $24.98. (funniest show ever, I should add!). I figured that would be how much DF's lunch would have cost anyway, so it all evened out in the end.

weekend shopping, & icy pole ideas???

September 11th, 2010 at 07:26 am

Had a lovely start to the weekend so far. A store near us was having a sale on home-brewing supplies, so DF stocked up on a few items. Saved probably about $10. Not a huge amount, but now he is good for atleast another few months. (less trips to the store for DF means less spending - as he always goes in for one thing and comes out with ten extra items!).

I bought two summer tops for $15, three pairs of underwear for $21 and a hair accesory band for $9. Also shouted my SIL to a coffee and myself, $8.10.

I tried on a new style of dress that seems to be in all the stores at the moment and realised it actually looks alright on me - now thinking of finding one in a pattern that I like! The good thing about them being in a lot of stores is firstly, variety of prints and materials, and secondly, I can find the best price too. So I guess that will be my treat for the month. Might buy those in palce of the flip flops, seeing as I can't find any under $120 and don't really want to pay that much for them.

This morning I went to the market and spent approx $35 on fruit and veges for the week. I also bought some plastic icy-pole containers, so that through summer we can be cool & healthy Big Grin

Any ideas for what to make them with? In the freezer I currently have sliced strawberries and apple cider.

apparently there's no such thing as first dibs any more...

September 8th, 2010 at 10:16 am

A friend of a friend (I would say she's my friend, except that sometimes I feel like strangling her...) posted on facebook yesterday that she had some accounting text-books she wanted to get rid of, and would anyone be interested in buying them?
So of course I said yes, and said I would go and check what ones I needed. She said great, because she needed space on her bookshelf.
So I go away and come back, and lo-and-behold, someone else has written that they want them too, so this friend of a friend writes the ones she has, and the other person gets them all!

Is it just me, or is this rude?

It irks me a bit, but I am saved by the fact that DF's mother and aunt have also done the same degrees and would happily GIVE them to me. So phew.

lunch ideas?

September 7th, 2010 at 01:12 am

Still trying to figure out a way to tell my boss I've enrolled at university. I think pretty soon it will get to the stage of ridiculous. You know when you leave things just a little too long? I'm famous for that.

But I have thought of a possible way to slide the news in nonchalantly. I'm going to call my boss and his wife at home just to inform them that in February I'll have to take a few days off for exams. Then they will ask questions. So that solves my problem.

In other news, we are looking after my little sister for a week and a half while my mum is away. I have to pack her lunch and pick her up from school - feeling a little bit domestic right now, Big Grin I am sure I will be over it by the end of the week though.

Though also feeling rather unqualified to do it all because all I could find for lunch for her on Monday was some banana bread, an apple, a carmans muesli bar, a packet of Vege Chips and some Japanese seaweed rice crackers. Though apparently it's similar to what she takes every day anyway. Like me she doesn't like a heavy lunch and prefers to snack on things every couple of hours. Must run in the family. Smile

Any ideas, fellow parenting SA'ers? I'm stumped. She doesn't want a 'lunch' lunch, like a sandwich or a salad, or anything in containers that she has to carry around all day. Picky thing.

Anyways.

This weekend I have to drive her to work at 6am, then I will probably go to the market bright and early, 6.30am on the way home, right when it opens for the day. I'll have first pick of the produce!

Sunday I have a work lunch to attend. It is paid for me, but not DF. Not sure about my little sister either, though technically she just started working at my work too...? Though the juniors weren't invited. Hmmm. Will have to check on that.

I decided not to get my fitflops, because I couldn't find any under $120. Online they are $80!

Well, that's all my updates for now.

breaking the live band fast...

September 5th, 2010 at 12:45 am

We haven't seen a live band, concert or festival since January 2009 (for us, that's a reaaaally long time).
I just found out that a band we really like, Tame Impala, are playing in the city next month. Tickets are $42.30 each and we are thinking of going. Actually 99% sure we are going.

They are an Australian Band that have just come back from touring in the UK. Sounds like The Beatles & Jefferson Airplane rolled into one - they call themselves 'psychadelic mellow rock'.

Anyway, kind of excited! The night shouldn't cost more than $150 in total. We will either drive there and back on the day, or stay at a friends place in the city, depending on whether we can get them to go as well.

Weekend To-Do List, Enrolment

September 4th, 2010 at 02:46 am

I have completed a few things on my Weekend To-Do List, but have a lot more to do. Always the way!

I got one of the biggest jobs out of the way though. I enrolled! I have picked the first two classes I will be studying as well, starting 15th November through til February, and have finalised all of my funding and HECS-HELP loan. So I think all I have to do now is wait for my course materials to arrive in the mail. Exciting!

It took me ages to figure out how everything works with the courses and prerequisite courses, but I think it will all work out. And it's possible I may finish WAY earlier than in 6 years time if I can handle the workload - but also found out that I have 9 years to complete the course if something arises.

So, feeling a lot better about having all that sorted out.

I also completed and sent off both of our tax returns. YAY! $2900 coming our way in the next two weeks. New TV and the rest is going to savings.

And now this is everything else I want to accomplish this weekend:

- 2 x loads laundry, fold & put away. X
- Wash Dogs bedding. X
- Give Dogs their monthly flea products. X
- Wash Dogs.
- Sweep our deck & tidy, remove clutter.
- Tidy my desk.
- File all loose paperwork.
- Vaccuum & mop entire house. X
- Water outdoor plants. X
- Tidy lounge & dining areas. X
- Clean Walls & Windows. X
- Fruit & Vegetable Shopping @ Markets tomorrow.
- Meet a friend for coffee.


My plan is to get as MUCH AS POSSIBLE done today so I don't have to do anything tomorrow except market shopping & coffee with a friend. Big Grin

argh! I hate waste! what do you think?

September 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 am

So, I just bought home 4kg of fresh kangaroo meat for our dogs. I diced it up (took about an hour - eugh) and packed it into daily portions and put it in the freezer.

Then as I was throwing the packaging in the bin, I noticed on the pack it said it contained Preservative 221. Having heard something from a co-worker about something like that, I Googled it.

And have now freaked myself out, and am about to throw it all in the bin.

I looked at a few sites and articles just to make sure this wasn't a one off thing, but basically this explains it all:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/Are-preservatives-in-pet-food-products-a-concern_312.html

Sulphur Dioxide is coded as 220-228, and seems to strip the food/body of Thiamine.

I talked to DF and read him the above article. DF said $23.80 isn't a big deal and to throw it out if I am at all worried, which I am.

But I hate waste too.

But our dogs health is more important than wasting $23. I guess I am disappointed that I was, first off, excited that I would be saving money (they never mentioned it had the preservative to me, but apparently they don't have to) and secondly, that it was going to be good for them. HA!

I'm not going to ask for a refund, because I should have read the packaging first. And I've already chopped it all up. A refund is out of the question.

The choice I need to make is feed it to them this one time, and hope it doesn't hurt, or throw it all out and find another supplier who doesn't use this, or find another source of human-consumption-grade meat that is approx the same price.

Really I think I am just going to throw it out. I mean ...If someone gave you a steak and said 'You can eat this, but it could do X, X and X to you', would you eat it? I think not. What gives me the right to do that to my pets???

What do you think?
Am I over-reacting?

Accepted!

September 2nd, 2010 at 07:08 am

Last night I recieved in email form, an offer for a place in the course I applied for. Big Grin Yay! I'm officially becoming a uni student as of November! I have already responded and accepted the offer, obviously.

Things To Do Now:
- Pick my courses after 5pm tonight.
- Organise a HECS-HELP loan.
- Tidy my desk
- Send off our tax (nothing to do with uni, but thought I would put it in anyway)
- Buy some funky stationery just because.