The 50's housewife themed babyshower was great. I went yesterday. I love it when there is a dress up theme for a party and everyone actually goes to the lengths to dress up for it! I have been to a few babyshowers in my time and it was definately THE best I have been to. I can't stand the really terrible games like eating baby-food blindfolded, etc. I get that these events have to have those types of things (mostly) but please! No one wants pureed corn & pear on their dress!!!

DH and I are thinking of starting a family soon, and these things make me even more clucky. I have always wanted to have children, and being around people with kids, kids birthday parties, babyshowers, pregnant people, etc has always made me go 'awwh... one day'. But now that it's a decision we've made for the very near future, it seems the cluckiness bubbles over sometimes (and even DH said the same thing - nice to know it's not just me. & I think that is a sign we are both ready for the next stage!). Still annoys me when people ask the baby question though - none of your goddam business!

Wedding party updates:

Only 6-7 weeks away now and I have typically done NOTHING organisation wise. I know, I'm fantastic.

However, we have these things sorted out:
- Hall booked ($150)
- Main meal booked, deposit paid ($246 paid, $1056 to pay)
- Alcohol organised & paid for (FREE thanks to DH's uncle & auntie)
- Entree partially organised (various friends & family bringing so far: bruschetta, toasted turkish pide & dips, homemade vegetarian samosas, salmon & cream cheese/spinach & ricotta pastry twirls, mini quiche, cupcakes).
- Cake organised (FREE thanks to my best friend)
- Music organised (iPod playlists)
- Hair (FREE thanks to a friend who is doing it in return for posting pictures on her vintage hairstyling blog)
- Some decorations (MIL is preparing succulent plants in terracota bowls for tables instead of flowers)
- Photography (we have several friends with amazing photography skills & hugely expensive equipment - why bother paying someone else?)
- post-wedding 'honeymoon' (DH's uncle owns a hotel)

When I say I have these things organised, what I really mean is that people have come to us and offered their services/money etc. I had no part in sourcing any of this So when people look at all the things that are going into this party, it appears to be a lot. It is a lot more than I would have planned myself, but then again, I didn't plan any of it. Unlike many other brides, I have taken a backseat in all of this. I don't really mind what happens - it is after all, NOT a wedding. We are already married. It is just a party to celebrate it - a very, very post reception, I guess.

Only things I have to organise now are table cloths & chair coverings (Do I even need chaircoverings? what a waste of money...) and our clothes. No, I don't have a dress. I like the idea of dressing up for events, but when the time comes, I can't be bothered. DH loves dressing up for things. So, I am trying to put in the effort of finding something unique to us. I hope to wear the dress again. I have so far come up with these (which I can wear again to conventions):





What do you think?

Yesterday I applied online for a supermarket chain, check-out operator job. It was just a general application - I do not know if there are any positions available, but I pretty much put that I am available for any work (full-time, part-time, casual). I can work out the kinks later, if I do happen to get a call. They are supposed to call if there is anything fitting in with what I'm applying for. I guess I should probably start looking at office-ey type jobs too. I have had a break from those types of jobs since school (save for my book-keeping job) and I guess it might be time to change back. We'll see.

The hard part is... do I tell my current boss that I'm looking? Do I ask them to be referees? (The last two places I worked before this, five years ago, have gone out of business). I don't think I would get fired straight away if they were to know I intend on leaving... but you never know. And what if I can't find anything, then they'll know I want to leave. Argh. How annoying. I hate job hunting.

I've never had to have this conversation before in the past. Each time I've left a workplace, I've had another job lined up, and had only been employed on a casual basis, with the knowledge that I wasn't a hugely integral part of the business anyway (that they could get by quite fine without me).

Not that I don't think my current place wouldn't survive without me - it's just that my boss flips out when anything happens regarding shortages of staff, such as someone being sick or two staff going on holidays at the same time. He freaks out and gets emotional, saying things like 'Oh my god, I don't know how we'll cope' etc etc. I can just imagine it will be like that - and I feel like that should NOT be my problem, and I shouldn't have to hear about it either. (*if* I was a mean person, I would probably say something like 'well, I guess now you'll have to hire a qualified person to do my job - looks like it's going to cost you about $5 extra an hour...' - but I'm not, and I won't. I don't need to say it for them to have to think it.)

Anyway. Sorry about my rambling! What are others experiences with leaving jobs/getting new jobs etc? How have things gone when you've told a long-term boss that you're leaving? What did you say? What did they say?

I did my first pamphlet drop this morning. I actually got up at 5.30 and DH wanted to help me. We drove to the area and started at 6.10am, finished by 7.20am (304 houses) I think we would have been done quicker if it had not been for a couple of double lapping of streets. Next time I will start earlier - it was overcast, but still hot, we were both dripping by the time we finished due to winter not quite starting. The folding took me about 45 minutes and I actually enjoy that part so I don't look at it as the work part. Everyone has been telling me it would take HOURS but really did not think it took as long as I thought. Anyway, only got $30 for it as there were only 3 types of pamphlets, you get more when there is more, obviously. The walk was GREAT though, up a lot of hills, we both got our heart rates up a bit. I am happy to do this purely for exercise with the added bonus of a few extra bucks (would not do it solely for the money, as I can get more elsewhere, for less effort). But for me sometimes with exercise that is a little strenuous I need to HAVE to do it, and this will help. I love yoga, pilates, spin, boxing could do that stuff for hours, but my motivation for more intense forms of exercise wanes after a half hour or so (or less).

Anyway, we cancelled out our good efforts and money earning by having breakfast out this morning

With my sister living with us, we have started to have breakfast out on the weekend when she is at mums. Paying for an extra person to have dinner out or takeaway really adds up, so we tend to have homecooked dinners completely during the week. She spends all of her weekly pay on McDonalds and junk food anyway (like an average teenager - even though I tell her every week not to) so I don't see why we should have to pay for her to have a takeaway meal as well!

It is nice to do stuff with DH on the weekends, we have started going to markets, galleries, community gatherings etc. I think DH appreciates the slow weekends now, because we normally have something on for three out of four.

Well, that's all my news for now. I submitted my first online test for my law subject. Time to get some studying out of the way this weekend. I feel like tidying our house up a bit, so I want to get the studying out of the way first!

I just got a call from the pamphlet delivery company, they have a fill in job for this weekend, and it is just down the road from me. She warned me that I won't get much from this job (probably about $30-$40)as there are only a few pamphlets per house to deliver, but I don't really mind. I don't expect much in the first few rounds because I know it's probably something you have to show that you're interested in it first before you get any good jobs. I also walk around the area anyway - it is like I am getting paid to do what I do anyway, except lug around a bag and maybe take an extra hour. *shrug* It's money that I wouldn't have earned anyway, so I'm happy!
I am debating whether to take Banjo or not. I would not take two dogs as it would be a hassle, and Banjo I can pick up if there is an aggresive dog nearby. I think maybe I might do this one drop by myself to check out the streets, and if I think it's safe I'll take him next time.

Anyway, kind of excited! The lady even drops the stuff off at my house for me, and the payment goes directly into our account. And the pamphlets get dropped off Thursdays, so I can get DH and my sister to help fold them I plan to try and do the drop at 5am, so it won't be full sun and there won't be many people out and about. A walk is always a good thing to start the morning with too.

DH and I were invited to a friends' going away party. She's really a friend of a friend as I don't know her well, but she's a lovely person. On her invitation, she wrote to bring a plate of food to share.

We took a plate of olives, artichoke hearts, cubed greek feta, some basil & cashew dip & a box of water crackers. (It was all I had in the fridge at the time, because we'd planned another outing for the next day and I didn't want to use up all the goodies for that day).

Another friend of a friend (who I've actually written about before, she's quite infuriating) contributed two packets of chocolate coated biscuits. She also bought along three kids. Wha...?

It just makes me annoyed on so many levels! You don't bring two packets of biscuits and FOUR people! Atleast this is pretty much all her kids ate, I guess that's something?

Which is another annoyance in itself, really. She then complains about how her two youngest don't sleep until 11pm-2am every night. Perhaps *gasp* you're feeding them a little too much sugar?

The youngest also threw several tantrums in the space of three hours. I know kids do this when they're young, of course, but all that sugar can't have helped either.

*sigh*

I'm in my second week of Commercial Law - my god it is SO boring at the moment. I feel like I am falling asleep reading about 1780's English Law! However, I've flipped ahead and it does get more interesting. And luckily none of the boring stuff is actually tested in the exam - only the online exams which are 10 questions, multiple choice, so, easy for me to get through atleast.

Over the past three or so months my skin seemed to get really bad and hasn't cleared up lately. Annoying really because it's always been pretty good to me. After a few months of trying a host of things to help (different skincare products, cutting things out of my diet, exercising, etc etc) I decided a trip to the doctor might help and she prescribed me with a course of antibiotics (doxycicline). I've never taken antibiotics before IN MY LIFE, so decided this one time it should be fine. I would never take them otherwise - don't quite agree with the idea that you should take them for everything, all the time. Doctors in Australia dish them out like lollies.
They have to be taken with food - third day of taking them I mistakenly thought a grapefruit was food enough, began feeling nauseous and had to go home three hours early! Was nice to be home early on a Friday, but sucks about less pay!

Today DH and I went to a local market in the arts centre of the area, and went to a new local gallery as well. Always good to see new art - it gets you thinking creatively and inspires you! Right now I should be studying, but feel like painting or drawing, darn it.

Went to breakfast out, and am hoping DH will come with me to check out a Sunday afternoon local music gig that is organised in the park every second week. The weathers not too great and our friends have piked on us though, so it doesn't look good.

DH and I were going to hold a garage sale soon, to sell some things we don't need that someone else might have a use for. I can almost SMELL the decluttering! Hoping to make a few bucks too, that would be nice.

In other money-making ventures, I have listed interest in delivering pamphlets to letterboxes in my local area. I can get between $50-$150 a week depending on the amount & drops I do, and the best part is I will be getting fit too. For starters I will be doing fill-in work, for when other walkers go away. They say generally you do 300 houses in a drop. I don't expect it to be easy, and for a small amount of pay, but I don't mind it too much if it means we are earning a little extra and I can fit it around other commitments. $50 a week is $2600 a year - $150 a week is $7800 a year. Either way, it's a little extra that can go towards textbooks, a new tv series on dvd, a book Ive been eyeing off etc etc. (but most likely, will just go to the mortgage! haha).

Went to the bank yesterday to change my name, and transfer my super fund, so that we can get our life insurance deducted from it and save us $60 a month in outgoings. This apparently means that you are asking to be berated about your lack of several types of insurance. *sigh*

She was not going to take no for an answer, so I let her print out some quotes. Apparently, the things we are insured against, which are pretty standard, are no longer enough. Currently we have:

Home & Contents Insurance
Life & TPD Insurance
CTP & Comprehensive Car Insuarance.

This roughly costs us $2500 a year. We're considering health insurance (for the extras & dental benefits) which will require we fork out another $800-$1200 a year.

That's approximately $3700 a year that we are shelling out on the idea of something maybe happening, at some stage, in our life. (If we saved what we spent on insurance, and considering the price increases each year, we'd have close to $40k in ten years. Wouldn't that be enough to cover most emergencies, anyway? Our health system is quite good)

But you see, we're underinsured. According to this woman, anyway. We should have Mortgage Insurance. And also Accident Insurance. If we don't, we have rocks in our heads. Lets not get into how I feel about insurance. What I found most amusing about the hour I spent in the bank with this woman, was the conversation we had and her realisation that *gasp* I don't rely on Hubby to pay the bills. She was typing away, looking at the screen, calculating a quote for me.

Her: 'So we'll do $300 000'.

Me: 'But we only owe less than $290 000, and I'd be perfectly fine with half that anyway. In the event we take out this insurance, and in the event that something happened to either of us, we'd be perfectly capable of paying for half or more.'

Her: 'Yes, but this is for your mortgage'

Me, confused, obviously? 'Errm.... I know?'

She dismisses me: 'So anyway, we'll do $300 000'.

So she calculates the quote. It's the cheapest insurance, she tells me, and the most worthwhile. $84 a month, for the both of us. Well, actually, that's the most expensive insurance we would have, if we were to get it...

I try to explain: 'Well, you see, the reason we're changing our super funds to here, is so that we can get our life insurance taken out of it, thereby reducing our monthly outgoing expenses. Getting another insurance policy that costs more, is not what I had in mind today'.

'Ok, well we'll reduce the amount from $300 000 to $250 000. You really should have this insurance, what if something happened, heaven forbid, to your new Hubby, how would you pay the mortgage? Maybe you should just insure Hubby then?'

'Well, actually, he's not working a lot right now. Actually he hasn't really worked for the past... hmmm... six months? So that would be a bit redundant, seeing as I am the main income earner at this stage.'

Shocked, she looks rather taken aback: 'Why not?!'

'He's a tradesman, it's typically slow this time of year, even more slower due to the economic climate. And in the event that we're both working, each of us earns enough, or can earn enough - in the event I can't work, DH has several opportunities to work outside his specialised trade, that can cover the mortgage and bills if need be. That's why I'm not really sure we need this at all, really.'

Now it's her turn to look confused. I am sure she is thinking How Odd! She pauses for a moment before looking slightly smug with herself: 'But what about when you have a family? Hubby will definately be the main income worker then.'

'Well, no, not neccesarily.'

'What?' Again, utterly shocked. I beging to tire of the conversation. I'm not getting anywhere, I've been here for an hour, all I want is to change my name!

'Nevermind. Sure, just give me the quotes and we'll think about it.'

Dear god, does this woman not realise it's no longer 1952? There was even a segment on television the other day about the increasing amount of SAHD's. It is NOT a foreign concept here, believe me!

Anyway, I was thinking about MonkeyMama for the whole last half of my visit to the bank.

DF and I got married on Tuesday!

We decided to tell most of our friends and close family before the day rolled around, and ended up having a great day. In the end, no one muscled their way into the ceremony part and it was still our two friends as witnesses and no more, just like we wanted.

After the ceremony, we got anchor tattoos. It is something that we said we would do when we got married, several years ago. Just didn't think we would do it on the actual day. DF and I were talking yesterday and we both said we were glad to have done what we wanted to, and not what other people wanted us to do.

We have sent off for an official certificate and once that's back I'll be able to change my name and do all that exciting stuff (including ringing banks and all that... sigh).

No honeymoon for us, though we did have Wednesday off and went out for lunch, and went op-shopping.

Our tattooist bought us a huge bunch of white roses and told us not to worry, he and his wife went on their honeymoon two years ago and they've been married for 20! Makes me feel a little better!

While procrastinating from my studies, I found this news article when browsing, about recalled meat with a possibility of E Coli poisoning. I immediately thought of my fellow SA'ers because, being frugal, a lot of you buy bulk and freeze meat products. Hopefully it has recieved wide media exposure, but if not, here is the article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/05/california.beef.recall/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29#

I only post it because, well, Food Inc is still fresh in my memory and it IS centred on the American meat industry. It had so many heart wrenching stories on that documentary, it is difficult to forget - one being about a young girl who died from E. Coli poisoning. What they do to the meat before sale is disturbing, to say the least...

Anyway, consider this my community service announcement for the day!

Now I'm off to study again. This time tomorrow my exams will be officially OVER for the semester - yay!

Ratios, communication, power, conflict models, ratios, balance sheets, CVP analysis, ratios, ethics, trend analysis, income statements, oh... did I mention RATIOS?! *sigh*

There's probably not many of you who are interested, but my most favourite band in the ENTIRE WORLD announced their split yesterday. I was devastated, but count myself lucky that I was able to see them live in 2005 (even if I can't remember much of it...)

On a positive note, I just transferred $388.05 into my car loan account, which is the total amount owing! Very exciting. I have been meaning to do that for months but kept putting it off. Slowly it worked itself down to a chunk that I don't mind parting with in one go, so I did it. Took the money out of our bills account, which had a bit of a surplus, so we won't even miss it.

That's $37 a week we won't have to spend now. (Rather, it's $37 we'll be saving for a new car in a few years...)

I got marks back for my first assignment ever. I got 62%. Not particularly happy, but there's nothing I can really do about it. The marker was not really helpful either, only writing two or three notes that had minor suggestions, so I guess this is a wakeup call that things will be tough for the next couple of years. Would be nice to have a few more suggestions on what to do better though.... I need to get 19% on my test to pass this subject (the exam and assignment are equally weighted at 50%). This subject is not an accounting subject, but it IS a core subject (management - organisational behaviour) so I have to pass it, or do it again.

Have not gotten marks back for my accounting subject assignment. It was a group assignment, but I think we did REALLY well. I am afraid I am getting my hopes up - but I think we did well enough to get 90% on the assignment. It accounts for 25% of marks, the exam is 50% and I have done three online tests, one was worth 5% (I got 81% for this), and two were 10% of total marks (I got 80% for one and 20% for another - I was not prepared for the last as they changed the test date). I think I have a high chance of passing, but am really going to spend the weekend studying like a fiend so that I have the best chance possible. I do not want to spend money doing a subject again.

Monday are my exams, Tuesday I am catching up with a friend in the afternoon. Wednesday I am going to the BEACH! because it is disgustingly hot and I haven't been to the beach in about a year, even though I work five minutes away from it and live 20 minutes away. I have a lot planned for the couple of weeks break between semesters, but am looking forward to it nonetheless.

We have a friends birthday next weekend, then giving blood monday, getting married tuesday, seeing a friend before she moves the following saturday, staying at DF's sisters Saturday night to spend time with our new niece.

I also want to:
- organise my desk for Semester 1
- do some gardening
- sort out our life insurance, organise car insurance
- spring clean the house
- mail out post-wedding party invitations

Also, I have to do up a business plan, and research what DF and I have to do. We are starting a floor sanding business this year. We already have business assets available to apply for a loan for cash flow, advertising, apprentice wages for startup costs etc.
Anyone have any tips on starting a business? I have been through all of this before with my family (the startup of a business), but now it's just us, any additional information is always welcome and appreciated.

Life just seems busy at the moment.
My exams are less than a week away. I am hoping I get my results back for my assignments before I head into the tests, knowing where I stand will give me more focus. I think I have done reasonably well on both of them - but then again, this is my first time at uni so I am not sure of the standard. What I think to be good, could be just passable to them. But I am hoping that the assignment marks contribute a lot to my overall marks. It will take the pressure off the exam, anyways.

Getting married in less than two weeks. We have booked the hall for the post-celebration party (on May 2st) and will be sending out invitations in the next week or two. We have had offers from friends to contribute food-wise, which is great. I would not ask for contributions, but if they offer, we will accept .

I have decided to take only one subject for the next semester. The wedding/marriage celebration party/whatever you want to call it will take up some time, but also DF and I are meant to be organising a plan to start our own business through February. It is mainly all on DF, workwise - there is not a great deal I can do other than bookwork or customer service, but the financial side of things will take some preparation and planning, and I am sure it will take up a lot of time in the next few months.

We finally traded in our rewards points for our credit card and got 2 x $200 GC's. DF is saving his for a PS3. I will be buying neccesity clothes for the year, in the hope that I don't have to buy anything else until the next GC roll around.

DF hasn't had a lot of work lately, so our bank balance buffer is getting low. It's worrying, but there's not a lot we can do. Because he works for his dad, any spare days he *could* be working somewhere else, he is doing quotes, servicing machinery etc, stuff that he doesn't get paid for.

On the positive note, Aldi is definately saving a lot on our grocery bills which is nice. In a weeks time I will be making a time to see my bank about switching our life insurance to a different policy, which will save us money but not impact our cover.

I'm also going to make an appointment to give blood in the next two weeks, which is something I've never done before. Kind of exciting!

Everyone has gone crazy panic buying. There is no fuel at any service stations, except reserves for emergency vehicles. There was word that trucks might have been delayed with the flood (they either were for a few hours, or had half-stock deliveries which wasn't too bad), so it seems like everyone has decided they need to go and fill their houses with food for some irrational reason. I have enough petrol to last me til Sunday or Monday, I filled up my tank yesterday but unfortunately with three trips to work and back, it will use all that up pretty swiftly (My tank is small, obviously).
(Note: I would have a different opinion had I been living in some of the worser off parts of Queensland, but I live in a part that was only very minimally hit, therefore there is NO reason for people to be behaving like this!).
My best friend said she saw a lady buying 20 loaves of bread at the supermarket yesterday. TWENTY. I must be strange, because if it so happened that the truck didn't make it and I couldn't get bread for a few days, I'd just sort something else out. I'd eat a wrap, use rice-cakes. Goodness, if it were carbs I was seriously after, I'd boil some pasta if I was desperate!

There were people stocking up on tinned food at Aldi, trolleys full. Seriously! Again, I'd understand if we were in a part that had been hit bad by flooding, but we're not! These people are going to open their pantries next week, look in and go 'Why the HELL did I buy fifteen tins of fruit salad and pumpkin soup?'.

I just don't get it. People make the situation worse when they do this, it makes possible shortages a reality, not because the food can't make it here, but because people don't think rationally.

The only thing I can hope for is that SOME of that food was indeed being bought for donations to be sent to the parts that actually need food - now THAT would make me happier!

I am hoping that the farmers market will be up and running on Saturday but I have my doubts. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

On a completely different note, DF and I finally bought a 2011 wall-calender. I think it's pretty funky. It's a DIY decoration one. It's black card, which means you have to write on it with those metallic gel pens (which we already had) and each month has a space where you can put photos or drawings.

And I bought a new diary for 2011. I like to be organised, but it took me a couple of weeks to find one that I liked. This one has on the cover 'Keep Calm & Stop Carrying On' in bold letters. It's very 'me'.

And, finally, our wedding rings are ready to pick up. I told them I would pick them up tomorrow, but I might leave them until next week. So odd: I was waiting for their call, as they told me they would call when they arrived. They also told me they would take 10-14 days. Well, a month later I decided to call, just to check what was going on. At first they couldn't find any record of my name or my order, but then they obviously found it and told me the rings had been at the shop for a couple of weeks. Nice of them to call and let me know!!!

Now off to do some studying. What a change!

A couple of pictures of what it is like in my town at the moment. This was after some of the water had subsided. We were hit no-where near as bad as what other towns were, so my pictures don't really do the flood justice. Basically, just imagine an extra 6 feet of water on top of what is in this picture, at least! and that is what most of the state is like at the moment.


This path leads to a walkway underneath the bridge that is in the background, it is where I walk my dogs sometimes. Normally the river is about 15 feet below the level it is at now.


This is at the bottom of our street. To the right of this frame, there is a convenience store with an attached house where the owners live. Their hills-hoist clothesline in their backyard was submerged save for the very top of it poking out of the water. Murky brown water crept up to the verandah of their house, which is two storeys tall!


Local supermarket (carpark underneath)


View from inside the supermarket - stairwell that used to lead to the carpark!

Hi everyone. It's about time for my weekly update I don't get much time these days.

Only 3 weeks until my exams! Scary stuff! I feel like I'm not 100% on all of my learning objectives, but I guess I have a few weeks to really revise everything so that's good at least. I guess it's just scary because it's the first time at doing this, so I don't know what to expect.

Next semester I am doing Data Analysis and Business Law.

But! I am thinking maybe I should downgrade to just one subject for the next semester. I have a lot going on in the next few months, is all. But then again, I don't want to appear to be 'precious'. I am, after all, only doing this part-time. People study full time AND work full time (some even have kids to look after too!).

I just don't want to look back and go 'I could have done an extra subject, now look, you've got another five months of studying to do that you could have already done!'

But, I don't know... We are getting married in a little over a month, then having a party to celebrate it three months later which, while no-where near what a wedding would take, requires some planning and preparation.

On the other hand, the next semester has more weeks in it than the one I am currently completing (yet still have to do the same amount of work) so therefore I might actually have some more free time.

*sigh* just one of those things I guess I have to decide on, and soon.

Normally I am fine, but this week I have just been thinking about some things I would like to be doing with my time. Then I think 'oh, but I should be doing uni work'. (like painting, drawing, gardening, exercising etc) Not that I'd probably do a LOT of it, but it'd be nice to have the time to choose to if I wanted! Lately my time seems to be spent working, studying, sleeping and an hour sitting with DF and my little sister watching tv and eating dinner! And any time left over is trying to get more sleep (I actually have a nap nearly every day now - not sure why, I am just so tired) and the tiny bit of left over time I try to spend with my best friend.

My little sis seems to be doing alright. I am letting her get away with some things because she is on holidays until the end of January. She paid off all her debts She also picked up extra shifts at work over the holidays which was good. WHile I am making it a point to mention that she will have to save once she goes back to school, and reminding her that there are things that I will not buy for her (conditioner, razors, deodorant, makeup etc... my reason is: I had to buy these things for myself when I was her age, so she should too) I am also allowing her to make her own choices. She has bought herself a few pairs of new shoes and a lot of clothes. Probably things she won't be able to buy once she goes back to school and stops getting extra shifts, so I am letting it slide.

I have worked out (after much frustration) that she is one of 'those' people that needs prompting to do chores. She is willing to do them - she just needs to be told. I am ok with it now - it was just frustrating to come home to my place being a mess when she could have clearly helped out instead of sitting on the computer on facebook all day. :S As I said, it's holidays, so I am letting it slide. She doesn't get angry or annoyed when we ask her to do things, so atleast we are lucky in that perspective.

She also has a boyfriend It's kind of cute - even though she has had a couple, it is the first she has asked us to meet. We let her invite him over to watch movies and play xbox. DF and I (and actually, my parents and his parents too) are fairly liberal in that area. I know some people have problems with their children dating etc but have never really had that problem with my parents. Sometimes, having a problem with that sort of thing can *create* problems. But each to their own. Personally respect and honesty have always been key with my parents, and is something I will teach my kids (and currently, my sister).

Not sure if news travels very far over in the US, but my state is experiencing extreme flooding at the moment. Thankfully not hugely around my immediate area, but I do know people who have been evacuated because their homes are literally under water - up to their roof, or over.
I haven't experienced any major problems, apart from that I had to drive home from work today a different way (added 30 minutes onto my 25 minute trip) because one of the main roads was covered in 4 feet of water (and I had driven that road 8 hours previous where it was only covered with 1 foot of water and I was able to get through!).

Our doggies are well, getting a little fat from not being walked with all this rain. They snuggle in one kennel together most of the time because the wind and rain scares them a bit I think. Pretty cute - but I can never get a photo of it.

I stopped drinking coffee and now only drink it on the weekends, or socially with friends. (Technically, that's not stopping, but it's an improvement). It's a money saver, better for my health, and saves time in the morning too! I can now get up and get ready for work in 10 minutes. Heh heh.

DF suggested we make this our 'get fit & healthy' year. DF wants to start surfing (I wouldn't mind learning either) and running more often. And going to the beach more often. We have not been for over a year and only live 20 minutes away.
Foodwise we are probably better off than some families, but one of my main aims is to reduce our consumption of processed food. Seeing as it's probably lower than average anyway, it's going to take some work. But overall, can only be good for our health and the environment.

DF and I finally decided, after much umming and aahing, to go to the Soundwave concert I mentioned in other entries. Tickets are $160 each. So, I go to the website to buy them, and find that they have finally sold out, only three days prior! Argh! And a look on eBay shows that we can buy tickets for $255 each at the cheapest. SIGH.

We are getting them from the same jeweller who made my engagement ring. I've decided to keep a tally of our marriage/wedding party costs. I doubt they will be useful for anyone, because we're not doing things traditionally - but maybe some aspects of it might be interesting to SOMEONE out there

So far we have spent:
$265 - Marriage Registration
$100 - Wedding Ring Deposit (To Pay: $887.00)

The rings will probably be ready in two weeks. The reason we ordered them so early is because my engagement ring took months to make - and even though the jeweller is ordering our rings from another company and not making it himself, we just were not sure how long that would take.

This party planning business, that is. I started to research the cost that we're going to be looking at, and although I was initially thrilled at hall rental prices (around $20-$80 a day, depending on which one), I then started to research the price of catered finger-food. Basically, I think we're looking at roughly $500-$1000 for food, and I'm not even sure if that includes waitstaff.
I don't have any problems asking the guests to bring their own alcohol, but I do think we should supply the food. Simply because some of these people will be travelling hours to get here, and also it's not feasible to ask them to bring a plate because of that reason as well - and we have already ruled out having this thing at a restaurant (too many people to organise having it at a 'nice' restaurant, and restaurants seem to jack up the price at the mere SMELL of the word 'wedding' etc).
I imagine that there are a million other things that will incur 'hidden costs' that I haven't even begun to think of. I am not particularly skilled in visualising a 'theme' or the 'decor' for an event, those types of things - I just don't see the point, so when someone asks me something along those lines, my mind goes blank. Do people really notice ribbons, chair coverings, sashes, balloons, candles, flowers, table cloths? I don't - but that doesn't mean other people don't. (Though, I wish they wouldn't...)
I *realise* that wedding gifts will probably cover the cost of this thing, but that's not really important. I just hate organising stuff like this, and I don't see the point in a lot of it.

And I feel like I should be organising something fancy because people will get disappointed when they arrive, expecting something that it is most definately NOT. And then I get angry! Because I think, why should I be stressing out over someone elses expectations? Why are people placing these expectations on us in the first place? What's so wrong with the world where something intimate is turned into a public show to be judged and compared?

I understand it's a big dream for a lot of girls, but I can take it or leave it.

A friend suggested a wedding planner - yeah, I think not. I can just imagine them trying to cram a whole heap of junk down my throat and charging me an exhorbitant amount for the service. Or taking one look at my 'plan' and running for the door.

Anyway. Long story short, this is me venting. :/

Wow, November already. Seems like only last week that it was January. How time flies.

November is already a spendy month, and it's only the first day! We have atleast $500 in out-of-the-ordinary expenses to go out, plus DF's 30th Birthday party food expenses (hoping for it to be under $60 including the cake materials).

Work is heating up for DF in the run up to Christmas (and then will die in January-February again). I think DF will be expecting us to be able to do some more house renovations in the slow months - but I am going to have to remind him that funds aren't what they were this time last year, not to mention an uncertain work schedule - which will mean that hopefully he will focus solely on PAINTING and landscaping, two things that are relatively cheap and take up heaps of time (and is something I'm not really that excited to do, personally. This is where I pipe up and whine about how I do the 'inside' chores and he does the 'outside' chores) We already have the paint, too. And there are other things that need fixing that he can do without having to spend money. I might write him a To-Do list

I start uni in two weeks from today! How scary! And to further freak myself out, I discovered you can view past tests online, so I checked out the one for my first subject. Kind of wishing I didn't, as it looks like complete gobbledeegook. Here's hoping by the end of it I know what it means...

Today on the radio I heard some very exciting news. From January 1, 2011, working parents will be able to get government funded paid parental leave. It consists of eighteen weeks of $570 weekly payments, which is the minimum wage here.

For couples like DF and I, who both work and don't get holiday, sick or maternity pay, this is wonderful news. It makes starting a family seem like it is actually in reach for once, financially at least (and for us, money is one of the last obstacles to overcome, besides actually falling pregnant.)

I have two teenagers (my brother and sister) staying with us for an indefinate amount of time. My mum is giving us $100 a week. $40 of it is for my brothers bus fare, and the rest is for food. My sister can walk to school from my house.

I am lucky enough to get bread for free, so for breakfast they eat toast.

For lunch they take a salad roll, an apple, a frozen 100% juice pack, a muesli bar and a snack packet of vege chips.

They seem happy enough to eat a never ending amount of bread with peanut butter & honey, or anzac biscuits with tea, as a snack.

Dinners are usually spaghetti bolognaise, roast vegetables & salad, minestroni soup, homemade pizza, stirfries or curries with rice.

I know lots of you have growing children in your households, what do you feed them?!

And what do you get them to do?! I am at a loss. They are bored. I know teenagers are meant to be bored, like 90% of the time anyway, because it's some sort of annoying genetic mutation but really! I am not the type of person to let them sit on a computer all day, or go out whenever they want. So most of the time they are at home, but apparently there is nothing to do. *sigh*

I haven't been blogging much lately. Things are rather hectic.
We have been doing some minor house repairs and renovations, as well as trying to clean up in the process for DF's 30th Birthday Party (in two and a half weeks time).
We have had my younger brother and sister (16 yo & 15 yo) staying with us for two weeks, and probably will for another week. My mum is giving me $100 a week for their bus and food money. They sure do eat a lot.
Our hot water system seems to be leaking. DF has the replacement valve to fix it, but just hasn't had the time to do it, so we have had to turn it on and off when we need it. I have realised how much we DON'T use hot water. Other than showers, it has not really impacted our lives to use a kettle for a sink full of dishes, and that's about it. It has only been a week though, and I would much prefer it fixed!

I start uni studies in less than a month now. I am trying to organise one text book from a cousin of DF's, I need edition 6 and she has edition 5, but I was going to see if I could get by with hers instead of shelling out extra. A friend of mine said normally they just bring out a new edition every year but hardly change anything. I have not looked at what I need for the other subject yet though. And I haven't even recieved anything from the uni yet. Not really sure what's going on with that! Hopefully they just wait until a week before. I don't think I need to do anything else...

A few months ago we (and by we, I mean DF) bought $50 worth of organic meat from a share in a slaughtered cow from DF's BIL's parents farm. (Similar to Baselle - except we only were offered the meat as it was being divied up). It worked out to be around $7.50/kg, and included rib eye, sausages, eye fillet and mince. Well, most of that is gone, I think we have about 500g of mince left which I'll use this week. For the past few years we have just bought meat from the supermarket because it was convenient and cheap, but for the first few years of living together, DF and I used to buy meat from an organic butcher. Where we used to live, it was about a 45 minute trip just to get there. Now it is only about a 10 minute drive, if that. DF and I have been talking a lot lately about the food we eat etc, and have agreed that for us, we think it is worth the cost. In the end, I do not eat meat, and DF does not eat a lot (maybe 3 meals a week with meat), so the extra cost would work out to be around $5 a week.

I have been listing a few items here and there on eBay, and they seem to be selling. I am going to try and list atleast 1-2 items a week, just of things we would probably give away. Tidying up for DF's party has definately made us realise how much stuff we have. DF's mostly, though. He is a hoarder!

I have internet surveys coming out of my ears! Hopefully soon I can cash some in.

I don't think our paycuts have sunk into DF as he still seems to be spending money a lot, and wanting to spend money on things, and talking about all the things we need to buy. It is starting to stress me out a bit. So I think we will sit down and I will explain what we earn each week, how much comes out, and what is left, so that maybe he has a better picture of what we have. Because at the rate of all these things we 'need' to buy soon, I think DF thinks we are millionaires or something.

well, that's about it for now. How has everyone else been???

When I finished work today, I called my mechanic. 'I think I've fixed it' he says to me on the phone. Uh-oh, I think. This does not inspire confidence.

When my friend drops me off, he tells me he has taken the master cylinder apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. The brake doesn't feel like it is having trouble depressing now, and it seems to run fine on the test run.

He tells me to see how it goes, he is not sure if it has fixed the problem, but he priced a new master cylinder for me ($220 plus labour) and decided to see if this would work first.

I was in shock when he tells me the cost for the work he has done: $60.00!

I think that is the smallest amount I have spent on car repairs in a very long time. My friend choked when I told her, and now has his number too!

- I started my first 'new rostered hours' week today. I work Mon, Tues, Thurs, Friday at the bakery and Wed at my book keeping job.

- Our phone rep finally called me (I assume he must have been on holidays) and set up my new phone plan contract for me. It is on a business plan (yey! free voicemail! not that I ever use it...), still the same amount every month as before, but I also get 1gb per month of data, and a free iPhone, which arrives on Thursday. Finally!

-The rep also helped me with some info on mobile broadband. The one he is recomending will cost $38 a month - $30 for 4gb data and $8 per month for rental of a router. SO MUCH CHEAPER than what we are currently paying ($44.95 per month for 5gb and $30 for phone line rental.) I am just a little concerned about it dropping out, because I don't want to get stuck if I do an online exam. But he said if our 3g coverage on our phone is higher than 3 bars, we will be fine, and I checked my phone and in our area it is at the max, which is 7 bars. So, might be worth looking into, and there are no set-up fees either.

- Today I dropped my car off at the mechanic. Last night I googled the brake problem, and a few forums said something about the master cyclinder. And then, when talking to the mechanic, he said he thought it might be that, because it wasn't the pistons. I think I just nodded at him. My car stays there overnight, and he will call me tomorrow to tell me what's what. I'm thinking $200-$300 in repairs, which is budgeted into the bills anyway.

- I must buy my friend some flowers, or something, as she picked me up from work today, drove me home, then followed me to the mechanic so I could drop off my car, and then drove me home again. And then, tomorrow she is picking me up from work and driving me to either pick up my car, or drive me home if it's not ready. Isn't she lovely? I would buy her chocolates or something yummy that a normal person would enjoy, but she has OCD and would most likely throw them in the bin. So... any ideas?

My car played up yesterday and today. Yesterday when I was driving home from work it was really hard to drive, brakes were extremely touchy, not accelerating, burning brake smell etc. After waiting an hour for roadside assistance I was told it was the brakes sticking on (which I had figured out already! - though to be fair, the guy was really quite nice), it would be ok to drive but to get it fixed asap. So instead, I drove it to the mechanic. He was not super busy, so hoisted it up, took the tyres off and did all that manly mechanical stuff () Couldn't find anything, took it for a drive, and wouldn't you know it, it drove like normal!

I guess the only good thing about that day was that the roadside assistance didn't cost a thing, seeing as I pay a $60 annual fee for it. And when I asked my mechanic how much I owed him (for an hours work) he said nothing.

So I drive home, all fine. This morning I drive to the markets, again, everything is fine. Then DF and I decide to go into town and it does it again. So now kind of unsure what to do really. I guess I will just drive to work on Monday and then book it in for whatever needs to be done on Tuesday or Wednesday. If I had a normal job with normal hours, I would book it in for Monday. However, I start at 6am. The mechanic starts at 8am. And I would have no way to drive it there and then get back to work, if I so wanted to do that. I hate car trouble.

Coupled with the fact that it rather looks like a piece of crap at the moment (it has been scratched, run into & dented by strangers) and things are going to start costing large chunks of money soon to keep it going and safe, I think DF and I have to have a good talk/think about getting a new-to-us car in the near future. Our ultimate goal is of course to pay in cash - but if you had asked me a month ago when we would be thinking of buying a new car, I would have said in a few years. Now it is more like, in a few months. I don't want to loan money for a car, but I do not want to buy another car that is going to have the same problems as my last two cars have had (the major problem being: they are OLD!), which is probably what we can afford at the moment.

I am thinking, if things begin to go sour for my car soon, that we will get a loan for a new car, sell my car (could still get approx $3000 for it) and then just pay down the loan straight away with the cash we get from the sale of the old car. We would be looking at buying a new-to-us car around the $10k mark. (i think at this stage we have settled on a subaru liberty stationwagon).

Anywho. Thanks for letting me vent my frustration and ramble a bit.

Today I get to work and find that my new roster is up 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 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. 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...)

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 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! 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

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.

Maybe I should just shutup and not talk about my dramas. 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

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.

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.

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...

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 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.

Last night I recieved in email form, an offer for a place in the course I applied for. 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.