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Month: December 2010

  • December 20, 2010

    In the week before Christmas…

    A Danish Christmas tree illuminated with burni...

    Image via Wikipedia

    One. I happened to be watching the TV news the other night. One of the stories focused one of the newly redundant Pike River miners. He’ll be lucky to get a week’s holiday pay (the rescue operation is costing something like millions a day and the company can’t sustain that kind of drain) and he was auctioning off a rock from the mine. He called it a “charity rock” and hoped to make maybe $30-40 to help pay the utility bills. Bidders had already pushed the price up to $1000 though, and I hope it goes even higher.

    Two. T works with a bunch of people who mostly hail from a relatively low socio-economic area. Some of them have been there for years upon years, and are known to often take their big holiday paycheck, spend it all on gifts and food for Christmas day, and be left with nothing. Apparently they’ve even been known to complain abut not having enough gas money to get back to work. They’re damn lucky to have such a good boss, who is arranging for some of them to get food vouchers instead – and if he could organise for MTA vouchers to take to the petrol station too, he would.

    In the week before Christmas, I am thankful that T is getting a back paid raise, that I am getting a full 8 days’ leave (nothing planned except reading, baking, blogging, running, and other leisurely activities as I see fit; he unfortunately won’t get any time off), that we have never EVER been down to the bone and actually worried about putting food on the table or keeping the lights on.

  • December 19, 2010

    Link love: Powered by olive oil and unshaped plans

    I learn a lot at pub quizzes. There’s nothing quite like it to expose your total and utter ignorance. I now know what condors and chrysanthemums look like. I’ve seen countless flags from obscure countries, and been introduced to titles and theme songs of TV shows like Falcon Crest, Men Behaving Badly, Wonder Years, and more. We’re a pretty successful team, aside from the sports round. All but one of the regular members are older than me and infinitely more knowledgeable. At first I felt ridiculously self conscious being able to contribute to little, but I’m finally learning to sit back and relax, and reassure myself that the pleasure of my company is enough (HA!)

    Anyway, thanks to the holidays, we’re taking a break for a month. What probably won’t be taking a break are my link roundups, however.

    LIFE

    Kara asks: What do you do when someone unexpectedly gives you a Christmas present?

    Amber of Girl with the Red Hair explains how she overcame a running injury.

    Speaking of which, Stephany is wondering if she’s cut out for running, or whether to press on.

    One more exercise post…Well Heeled wants to know if you ever actually come to enjoy working out.

    Backpacking Journalist on the pros of using tour groups (if I was travelling alone, I would definitely sign up for one!)

    Girl and City loves – and hates – Singapore. Here’s why.

    Everytime I read a dating post, like Tall Brunette’s, I am so thankful to not be single. And props for getting back up every time.

    A couple of days after I wrote this post on minimalism, Heather Rae also blogged about the same thing and struggling to find a balance.

    There seems to be an emerging trend against having children, especially in the PF/minimalist area. But even if you think you and your partner are on the same page, things can change, as Shiftless and Lazy shows.

    Following on from that, Geek in Heels posted some charts on happiness and how it changes over a lifetime (HUGE dip once you have young children!)

    A hilarious guest blog on Punch Debt about Apple fankids (amen!)

    Ginger recently hosted an alcoholic guest and wonders whether she dealt with it in the best manner.

    I recently purged my book collection (all gifts and other freebies, so it didn’t really reflect my reading habits). I figure it must be much harder to do the same for a collection with real meaning to you, but Lesley explains how she did it and broke free of books.

    A wicked mashup of 2010’s films, via Static Image.

    WORK

    J Money just got fired (incidentally I think that term is tossed around far too loosely…isn’t “fired” only when you’re terminated for performance issues? Isn’t this a layoff?) and explains the whole story, including how he may be going back as a freelancer.

    Working Girl blogs about the pros and cons of offices vs telecommuting.

    FruGal on how to use the party season to help your career.

    Carlee Mallard comes to some conclusions about her job and what she wants from a career.

    This post from Cordelia Calls It Quits says it all: The Way Things Are Isn’t The Way They Have To Be.

    But as inspiring as posts about lifestyle design, location independence and making your own job are, Financial Samurai reminds us  it’s okay to just follow the traditional path too.

    A guest post by Alexandra Franzen on Yes and Yes asks how you want your future resume to read.

    FOOD

    Farmers’ markets are about fresh local produce, right? Apparently not all of them are, as Emily found out.

    Apparently festive fare is costing less this year. And for some reason, turkey is included in there. WTF? Who eats turkey at Christmas? (Americans excluded). Funny About Money shares her holiday feast (it’s easy, tasty, detailed and not turkey.)

    I love mushrooms. Do you love mushrooms? And cheese? Then this recipe from Wandering Food Lover is for you, too.

    I have 8 days off from the 26th (the longest break I’ve had in…years, it must be!). One of the first things I’ll be baking are these orange chocolate cookies.

    Stef at A Touch of the Crazy had me drooling over this Boston Cream Pie.

    And this is a gratuitous post with no real purpose, IMO, than to make you ravenously hungry. NOMMMMM.

    MONEY

    A fun quiz from First Gen American- how frugal are you?

    Serendipity asks, what do you do when your partner racks up debt without you knowing? To his credit, he came clean not long after.

    I’m quite partial to posts about living on one income, since I’ve done it for quite a while and imagine we’d do it again at some point when we start a family.

    Blonde and Balanced admits she’s scared to combine finances.

    Finally, to be honest, I’m quite over posts about Christmas presents. I’m over Christmas, full stop. Especially when BF asked what I wanted. I was all, I don’t want anything, aside from headphones and a trip overseas. (He was meant to get me headphones but he seems to like gift buying, so I’m buying them myself while he comes up with something else on his own.) Or a food processor, but we don’t have room for it. He on the other hand is always seeing stuff he wants. ANYWAY, I decided to pick out one, and that’s Bridget at Hithat’smybike’s post on how she set up a minimalist Christmas.

  • December 18, 2010

    Reverb 10: Lessons learned

    What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

    I’ve come to accept a few things. That I am a control freak. That sometimes I overthink things too much. That I really do have a terrible memory, for faces, for movies, for dates. That I am an introvert to the core, and that I’ve almost totally forgotten how to act at social gatherings, aside from the company of a select few friends.

    But mostly, that I’m awkward. In almost every sense of the word. I’m awkward physically, I bump into things, I trip over things and if you’re walking next to me on the footpath, don’t be surprised if I push you practically onto the road. Walking in a straight line is apparently just one of those things that eludes me.

    And of course I’m awkward socially. I know I’m not alone in saying that, especially in the blog world. I know, theoretically that while I’m shifting from foot to foot, nodding, and trying to maintain solid eye contact, that sometimes the other person is feeling equally as uncomfortable (although they’re usually better at hiding it.)

    But by now, it’s pretty obvious that this is not just a phase. I’m not going to grow out of it. Sometimes I can fake it. But I’m going to have to live with it and learn to deal with it. I’m going to accept social invitations, even when I’m 99% positive it’s not going to be a pleasant experience and I won’t know many people there. I’ll make better watercooler talk with people in my department, even if I can’t quite manage it with those from other teams. Staying in with a movie or book may be the more appealing option most of the time, but often it’s also the cowardly one.

  • December 17, 2010

    20 financial milestones for your 20s – how I stack up

    # 1 – Finance a dream vacation…in cash
    Working towards it, as you all know!

    # 2 – Pay off your student loans
    N/A

    # 3 – Automate paying your credit card bill in full
    I’m a big believer in automation, but my version of automation involves a lot of manual transactions. What can I say? I’m a control freak, and I like flexibility. I pay mine every week, by the by, except expenses incurred by mystery shopping, and extra large purchases (usually wait til the end of the month and keep the money in savings)

    # 4 – Get rid of all bad debt
    I’m debt free. BF has some debt but it’s non-interest accruing (some of it’s to me!).

    # 5 – Build an adequate emergency fund
    Done, although I wonder if $10k is enough sometimes. To some it may seem excessive, to others, puny. /shrug

    # 6 – Make your first, and last, investment mistake
    I’ve joined Kiwisaver, and have a couple grand in term deposits, but that’s the extent of my investing so far.

    # 7 – Develop a statement of cash flows
    Y’all have probably seen my monthly spending posts, yeah?

    # 8 & 9 Max out a Roth & Contribute to your 401(k)
    Bloody Americans. I contribute 4% to Kiwisaver, with a 2% match.

    # 10 – Get a degree or certification that increases your earning power
    Just graduated. More training is not out of the question later on, although it would probably be pretty practical, say, learning more about the Adobe suite.

    # 11 – Take a career risk
    Hmm. I don’t really think I’ve done that. But plenty of time still!

    # 12 – Negotiate something
    Oh god. Haggling is up there with public speaking for me. Even when JB Hi-fi had a sign saying “Ask for a deal!” I made T talk to the salesman. One day…

    # 13 – Earn your first side grand
    Done!

    # 14 – Start a sub-savings account for an upcoming financial goal
    Also done! Travel fund now over a grand.

    # 15 – Set a target retirement date
    Meh. I’m not really too fussed. I’ll just go with the default, 65, shall I?

    # 16 – Monitor your credit
    NZ only introduced proper credit scoring this year. But yes, I have looked at both of our reports. They’re okay. Time and longevity are the only way to improve them.

    # 17 – Say no to a financial salesman
    Aside from fundraisers? Oh, what about pushy bank staff trying to sell additional products?? Hellz yeah.

    # 18 – Give just enough to make it hurt
    I give, but not enough to make it hurt. Unless you count presents I’ve given T, which sometimes do hurt a little (the girl who never got presents growing up is apparently willing to spend a couple hundred on her SO’s birthday)

    2 Milestones for the Over Achiever

    # 19 – Invest $1 for every $1 you spend
    Wow. We’re sometimes able to save nearly half of what we make, but that’s not the norm. Yeowch.

    # 20 – Start a 529 College Savings Plan
    Again, these damn Americanisms. Nope. Have no equivalent and no reason to (tuition here is not as astronomically expensive and loans are all given by the government to absolutely anyone).

    * And thanks to Mighty Bargain Hunter for hosting this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance! Apparently I’m in there talking about lifestyle creep. *

  • December 16, 2010

    Money lessons learned from my friends

    An antique Indian purse used to hold coins. Th...

    Image via Wikipedia

    They say there’s nothing like living vicariously. Well, there’s nothing like learning vicariously, either!

    I’m kind of the go-to person in my circle for info when it comes to, you know, navigating the real world. Things like bonds and tenancies and job rights and whatnot. I gotta admit, sometimes I just have to gape at how out-of-touch people are. People who think I’m well on the way to buying a house (hello, I have been supporting myself for five years! You have had a car bought for you and are having your wedding paid for. I have to foot the bill for all those things, plus I want to do some serious travel before even thinking about settling down and saving another $60k or so.) Who have no idea what it takes to get a mortgage and embark on a rambling discussion about buying for $400k, then upgrading in a few years when it’s appreciated to $550k and so on. ARGH!

    But the learning isn’t all one way. Nope, I’ve learned three valuable lessons from my friends.

    1. Be frugal, not cheap. It’s not too much to spend $20 on a dinner out every few months. It’s not like we go to expensive places – we’re talking restaurants where mains are as low as $15 a head. We’d rather all pitch in to cover your meal than miss out on the chance to catch up.

    2. Whoever holds the purse strings has you by the balls. It’s lovely that your parents are paying for your wedding, but if they pay, they get a say. Headaches ensue.

    3. Never, I repeat, NEVER, go into debt to appease your gold-digging partner. Your psychotic, selfish ex will drive you away, eventually, leaving you with nothing but a bulging overdraft.

    Yep, there’s nothing like learning from others’ mistakes.

  • December 14, 2010

    November challenge and budget breakdown

    Remember how, in theory, we should be able to get by on $2500 a month?

    Well, we did! $2582 was the final number…okay, so a tiny bit over, but granted, we did buy a couple of Christmas presents early, which I decided to include here, and ate out a little more than usual. (What’s not included is our contents insurance, which was due this month, and the cost of our “new” car and associated expenses. They’re not in here because while one is budgeted for regularly and one was not so much so, neither are things we pay for in the course of a usual month.)

    But it proves my maths skills are not totally hopeless and that yes, this is a realistic number for a four-week month without major special occasions, ie, birthdays, etc.

    NOVEMBER SPENDING

    Also, I made an extra $630 this month aside from my regular job – that’s from regular freelancing, a focus group and editing some rather dry economics essays. All of that went to my travel fund, which is currently sitting at just about enough to take us both to a tropical island for my birthday next year, or one flight to either California or London. Ahem.

    Now, to the next order of business. While I love my monthly spending recaps, they don’t provide a full picture of what’s happening. They don’t include my regular savings. They don’t include T’s own fun money. It is simply a picture of (almost all) of our spending, and the percentages are relative. Er, by that I mean the percentages are the percentage only of our expenditure, not our total budget/income.

    So, after much work, this is a more accurate snapshot. I don’t feel the need to start doing this regularly, but I did want to do it at least once.

    TOTAL

    As you can see, this incorporates savings, debt repayments (which is just T paying me back for some costs I covered for him once upon a time, that pesky insurance, and his spending money. My only real concern is that his allowance is larger than our eating out costs!

    Anyway, the main reason I wanted to do this was to see if we were totally out of whack with our proportions. Here are some relevant links. The one I went with about as simple as you can get – the 50/30/20 budget.

    • Basically, it posits that you should be spending:
      • 50% on needs
      • 30% on wants
      • 20% on savings

      In comparison, here’s ours:

      • 44% on needs
      • 11% on wants
      • 45% on savings (granted, this got a hefty bump from my side incomes this month)

    As T says, we spend more on, well, living, than the few of our friends who support themselves. We also have regular internet (which more than pays for itself through the side work it affords me) and eat real food (ie, not just beans, mince, noodles and pies). I would argue, though, that our lack of drinking more than makes up for it. But let’s not get me started on that…Proportionally, I think we’re doing all right.

    And just for fun – here’s the breakdown of where his money went this month.

    Which actually seems quite reasonable in perspective…although I wonder if we can negotiate for his spending to come down a little bit more.

  • December 13, 2010

    Finding a balance between hoarding and minimalism

    Hoarding vs minimalism - finding a balance

    As a ridiculously sentimental person, letting go of stuff is tough for me. From text messages to jewellery to recipes I’ve never made, I’ve always been a hoarder. I once moved three times in less than a year, and all T could say as he did the grunt work was: “YOU HAVE SO MUCH CRAP!”

    Yeah, for one person, I did have a lot of crap. Old photography projects. Random books. Shedloads of paper, namely, lyrics to songs I penned back in the day, and drafts of my “great teen novel” that I can’t bring myself to even look at now.

    But I’ve actually pared down a lot recently. Perhaps most remarkable was culling my book collection. It wasn’t large by anyone’s standards, but there were very few in there that I liked. I don’t buy books. All of these were gifted, donated, free or basically free to me. So you can imagine…

    Until recently, I would have laughed at the thought of ever considering minimalism as something to aspire to. But it’s a topic many of the blogs I read regularly have touched on recently, and like anything else, you take from it what you want.

    Living in a small, confined studio leads you to reconsider what you actually need to own. In the future, we’ll have a proper kitchen and utensils. A living room and a dining table, even. A garage and a workshop for T. But for now, this is all we need.

    I’m starting to compost, to grow things in our garden – we had our very first baby carrots this month, and I think onions are on the way! – and cut down on the amount of rubbish we put out. I’m not going to make my own detergent or ditch plastic bags in favour of rinsing the bin every other day; I’d rather pay $2 for a box of laundry powder that lasts months, and reuse the free bags we get at the greengrocer. (Real greenies, don’t jump down my throat: we use reusable grocery bags at the supermarket.)

    Ultimately it comes down to three things:

    Saving money. Don’t buy what you don’t need. Capisce?

    Eco-awareness/health. For example, I may not make my own washing powder but I do use homemade, more natural cleaners from baking soda/vinegar. That also crosses over with saving dosh.

    Sheer laziness. I mean really, why use more ingredients when you can use fewer? (That’s why I love stonesoup – Jules introduced me to the world of minimalist cooking, plus she’s an Aussie so uses metric mesasurements.)

    I don’t know if I can or want to call myself a bona fide minimalist. I’ve never been a shopaholic by any stretch of the imagination, but I still have a lot of trinkets – my clay bears I’ve had forever, a few stuffed toys, and other things (to name a few) which serve no practical purpose but hold some kind of meaning or memory for me. Maybe over time I’ll slowly let go of those too. In the meantime, minimalism to me serves as an extension of personal finance and my own beliefs – prioritising what’s important to me, as an individual, and valuing experience, in most cases, over physical stuff.

  • December 12, 2010

    Link love (Powered by a dash of cinnamon and loaves of meat)

    the wedding party's banquet table

    Dinner at their table would never look like this. Image by svacher via Flickr

    I’m trying to be less judgemental. I honestly am. But as I watched Britain’s Biggest Brood, I couldn’t help thinking “this is one rather selfish woman”. She wanted kids because she had a terribly lonely childhood, with an alcoholic mother. And she didn’t want her kids to suffer the same fate.

    Fair enough. But why not 3, 4 or 5 kids? Is 15 not going a bit far?

    I think it’s safe to say they’ll never lack for company, but who’s to say they want to be one of 15? To be forced to sleep 5 to a room? Would you even have time to spend with each of your children and give them the attention they deserve, when all of your day is taken up with housework? Self sufficiency is a good thing, I agree…but not if you’re forced into it prematurely. She had no choice but to learn to amuse herself and care for herself, thanks to an absent parent. But I’d argue that her kids will fall into the same pattern, not due to her negligence, but because caring for the younger ones would take up most of her time and energy.

    Interestingly, somehow they got by on $30k a year (although we noticed that 2L of milk was only 70c, as opposed to, uh, $3.53, when they went supermarket shopping, so maybe it’s not that surprising).

    But you know what cemented my pity for her offspring? That they eat nuggets and chips (or similar variations) every night. I can understand why – it’s easy, conveyor belt style fare, but not only do kids need variety, they deserve variety. Just my humble opinion.

    WORK / CAREER
    I totally want a workplace spouse. But are Penelope Trunk’s tips the way to get one?

    I couldn’t agree more. Kristen Lamb’s down-to-earth take on the glamorised profession of writing and what you should know before leaping in…

    Eventual Millionaire explains how to increase your business confidence.

    Ask A Manager on how to throw a good office Christmas party (we were given the choice between one at the office, or paying to have one off-site. We all thought that was tacky and so does she!)

    Who has tips for setting up a home office? Working Girl needs expertise.

    10 tips for avoiding office politics, via Ms Career Girl.

    Dana at Pushing Thirtyy wonders why anyone would turn down work that’s part of their job.

    What’s more important to you: morals or money? Gem refuses to compromise her ideals.

    MONEY

    Financial Samurai offers a guide to clubbing without blowing the budget, while Moneyapolis wonders how to deal with friends who don’t pay their way.

    Cate at Liberal Simplicity reflects on days past of skint pockets and simple luxuries.

    Is it bad of me to admit I feel a slight sense of glee when others realise how expensive it is to eat both healthy and yummy? Well, I do. I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

    JD Roth asks: Is it cool to buy second-hand items for gifts? and explains why income is the most important part of the financial equation.

    RainyDaySaver blogs about cars and America’s throwaway society.

    Meg at World of Wealth is coming into a windfall and wants to know what you’d do in her case.

    Jessie explains how to go about choosing your winter tyres.

    Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably knows I have a bad case of real estate envy; I spend downtime browsing through listings of homes (not even dream homes, necessarily) and wondering when I’ll ever be able to afford to buy. Like me, Little House favours older architecture – there’s a certain charm about older houses, not to mention solid construction.

    LIFE

    I loved Amy’s #Reverb10 post on the best decision she made this year: STOP.

    New year, new start. Caroline reflects beautifully on years gone by (I don’t really have anything to add, just read it.)

    Not That Kind Of Girl pens a love letter to reading.

    Is chasing birds innocent fun or animal cruelty? Sandy needs to know.

    Teri at Your Life Sentence reviews the year in Facebook status updates.

    Geek in Heels ponders the meaning of Christmas, and those billboards that atheists are pushing around this time of year.

    FOOD

    Guys, I’m dying here drooling over these cinnamon buns. Won’t anyone share a good recipe with me? Pioneer Woman’s is no use. 2 packages of Active Dry Yeast? I’m in NZ. Please just tell me how many tablespoons of the stuff I need.

    While it’s hotting up here, the northern hemisphere is hunkering down for winter and whipping up all kinds of comfort food. Like Cathy’s tomato soup to write home about.

    Or Jenny’s beef and beer stew.

    I, on the other hand, will soon be making ice cream from scratch, thank you very much!

  • December 11, 2010

    Reverb 10: Wisdom

    What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

    So, this is going to sound really lame. But here goes.

    I’ve always been a bit of a cynic. A skeptic. A realist. A pessimist. Hard, if you like. The kind of person who sees a glass as half-empty (and I still do, because half-full sounds ridiculous and the two f-sounds in a row are icky to articulate).

    These days, I like to think of myself as a dreamer/realist. If pushed, I’d describe it as hoping for the best, but planning – always – for the worst.

    Last year presented me with a lot of challenges. It was by far the hardest single year of my life. I lived in a bad neighbourhood, in a damp, mouldy house, was the victim of crime, lived with lame flatmates including a filthy, lazy pig who still owes me nearly $1000, was completing my final year as a journalism major with a full courseload and juggling my part-time job with other side hustles, and dealing with an unemployed partner. A frigging AWESOME combination. Thanks, life.

    I was frequently in tears. I was perpetually sleep deprived, stressed out to the point of snapping and had several mini breakdowns and nearly ended my relationship. In short, I was a mess, really, and I felt very, very sorry for myself.

    The dark passed, eventually. Today we live alone in a dry and warm, if small, apartment. I have my piece of paper and we’re both gainfully employed. I am blessed. And I know it.

    The best decision I made this year was to be grateful. To count my blessings. To look on the bright side a little more often, to open my eyes to the silver lining. To stop leaving that responsibility to T all the time. To be a more generally positive, cheerful person, one who’s pleasant to be around more often than not.

    You know what sparked this? (This is where the embarrassing bit comes in.) I read The Secret at the start of the year. Whether or not you believe in it – and I don’t really – the most valuable lesson I learned was to simply cultivate gratitude. Starting off the day in the right frame of mind can really make a difference. I appreciate my health, my job, my partner and everything else in my life.

    Shit happens. It’s true.

    But a little perspective here: I may be hungry sometimes, but I know where my next meal is coming from. I may be cold, a lot, but I have a heater, blankets, warm clothes and a boyfriend with excellent circulation.

    I rarely feel sorry for myself these days. I often whine that I need more hours in the day, but that’s because I’m blessed with opportunities to make more money (hello travel fund!), with hobbies and interests, with friends.

    I am content for the most part on a day-to-day basis.

    I knew it was the best decision ever when I came home one day and T asked: “What’s wrong? You’re not your cheerful self today.”

    Nobody had ever said that to me before.

  • December 10, 2010

    On (possibly) succumbing to lifestyle creep

    MySky HDI

    Screengrab from the MySky site

    Among the cardinal sins of personal finance: Buying too much car. Too much house. Spending more than you earn. And that other disingenuous trap, lifestyle creep.

    It began when I picked up the phone (in itself, that is quite something – our landline doesn’t work half the time; I think it’s to do with the battery not charging properly, or something.) On the other end was a woman from SKY TV offering us free MySky for six months. Because I pretty much never sign up to anything on the spot, I asked her to call back.

    But really, it was a done deal. The boy has been angling for MySky for a while; we just didn’t want to pay for it. Not for the installation, not for the ongoing costs. This way, we got it totally free, and after six months, we’d just pay the monthly fee ($15, if I recall correctly).

    Then the other night, he came out with this gem: “You know, I think we’re spending more on pay-per-view movies than we would on Sky Movies.”

    ???!!!!!!!!!!

    What’s this WE stuff? Excuse me? You’re the one who books all the damn things; I have better things to do. Like bake. And read. And play guitar. And freelance. And run.

    Except for those, er, once-in-a-blue-moon occasions when I DO sit down and watch one with him. Hmph.

    While our early bills started out with maybe one movie a month, now it’s crept up to three or even four. Plus we already pay $10 a month for two movies from Fatso (love the no late fees) and sometimes rent even more from the video store up the road.

    So yes, at $20 a month for a bunch of movie channels – which we can record and keep indefinitely with MySky – it probably was a better deal.

    I hemmed and hawed, but the thing about technology these days is that it’s just getting harder to put off decision-making! There was the Upgrade Channel, on the telly screen, staring us in the face. I couldn’t use the excuse “oh, I’ll ring them tomorrow and set it up” – nope, all we had to do was push a button to confirm the subscription.

    Realistically, this is more of a tactical move to save money (the movies subscription that is; can’t really argue the same for MySky) but I can’t help thinking now we have MySky and video recording, it’ll be hard to go back. Never will I miss an episode of Glee again!

    Ever fallen into the lifestyle creep trap? Where do you draw the boundaries? Do you have MySky, TiVo etc?

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