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Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • November 7, 2010

    Guest post: From student to 9-5 worker

    My Cubicle @ Work

    Image by Vincent Ma via Flickr

    When I graduated last fall I was one of the very few from my class to get a job straight out of college. And while I was thankful — the money in my pockets made me grin — I wasn’t truly “happy.” I was tired all the time. I missed my friends and family that I was forced to leave behind. And that 9 to 5 schedule? Yeah— it got real monotonous real quick.

    Let me be the first to say that the transition from college student to the working life can be difficult. But it’s different for everyone. While some can adapt more quickly, others linger in that weird limbo stage of being a half-grown up, half-student. But there are some ways to make the transition a little easier. Below are some points recent grads need to watch out for and some ways to deal if you’re caught between both the student and professional world.

    Rigid Schedule
    In college most students tailor their class schedules to meet their own personal needs. (Ed – I missed out on this, and resent it! Damn you AUT and your inflexible Communications courses.) You’re not a morning person? No problem. You can simply take a class in the afternoon. You like to have lots of breaks to take naps? No problem. You can spread your classes sporadically throughout the day. The point is, students are used to doing things on their own time and to their own liking. Once you enter the professional world however, this changes. You will have a strict schedule of how long your lunch break is and when you need to arrive to work. And don’t think that if you arrive to work just a few minutes late that your boss will let it slide like your professor—you could be “written up” for your infraction. Too many and you can get fired.

    Get Some Sleep
    So why were you late in the first place? Did you stay up till 4am drinking beers with your buddies or lose track of time tuning-in on the Family Guy marathon? In college you may have been able to stay awake till all odd hours of the night and stagger into class in your pajamas the next morning, but you can’t do this in the professional world. You need to be able to present yourself in a professional manner everyday and must come to work energised and clear-headed so that you can focus and do what your bosses are paying you to do—your job.

    How are you going to successfully accomplish your tasks at hand if you’re falling asleep at your desk? Do your best to get the standard 6 to 8 hours of sleep. It might be difficult at first but try to make set a sleep schedule. For example, you go to bed at midnight and wake up at 7am everyday. If you are a heavy sleeper, by all means set more than one alarm to get yourself going in the morning. But chances are if you stick with your schedule your body will build an eternal alarm clock and you will start waking up on time on your own.

    Eat Right
    Even if you do get an adequate amount of sleep, sometimes your body can get tired because you are dehydrated or you are not nourishing your body with the proper nutrients and vitamins. With that said, you collegiate diet of Ramen Noodles and boxed macaroni and cheese needs to go. If you don’t have time to cook, try to make smart food choices when going out to eat, loading up on energising fruits and veggies such as apples, pears and dark leafy greens such as broccoli and spinach. Avoid dehydrating drinks such as soda and alcohol and consume more water.

    Make New Friends
    Part of the reason the transition is so hard is because you miss your college friends. While this can make things difficult you can always make new friends. A good place to start is at the workplace. Your coworkers are the ones who will not only make coming to work every day more pleasant but will give you praise for your achievements and promotions and will encourage you to stay strong if times get rough.

    Have Fun
    Remember that just because you may feel like you’re a 40-year-old because your new schedule forces you to go to bed by midnight that doesn’t mean that you are. You’re young and it’s important that you still find time to have fun. There is no rule that says you can’t continue to do the things you found enjoyable in college such as dancing, drinking or playing video games till 5 a.m. Just try to save these activities for the weekend so that it does not interfere with work.

    This guest post is contributed by Kate Willson, who writes about top online colleges.

  • November 6, 2010

    Link love (Powered by barbecues, fireworks and surprisingly sweet treats)

    Snapshots of the past two weeks:

    Day trip up to Mangawhai beach...

    Getting busy in the kitchen...Eggplant pizza with leftover roast stuffing, plus the usual toppings

    Blueberry and cream cheese muffins

    and to the links…

    WORK

    Carol Tice offers advice on how to snag lucrative writing clients.

    Shopaholly blogs on dealing with rejection (the girl has only ever missed on two job interviews! Cripes).

    Girl Normal offers a peek into her office’s take on workplace safety.

    MONEY

    Punch Debt eats some humble pie after getting a little perspective on how good he has it compared to others, something I definitely feel from time to time.

    Well-Heeled asks how much you spend on dating. (The list is exhausting, but as many singles pointed out, a lot of those expenses, like clothes, are thing you’d buy nonetheless.)

    Small Steps for Big Change learns some lessons from watching Say Yes to the Dress.

    Ashley reminds us that no matter how you got into debt (she accumulated it through education), it doesn’t matter – the key is getting out and staying out.

    Meg at World of Wealth muses on the amount of cash involved in the charity industry, and asks if your spending is in line with your values – since I’ve started earning a fulltime wage and tracking everything closely, I’m happy to say mine, more or less, reflects what’s important to me. Er, namely food. And concerts. And holidays/travel.

    FOOD

    I’ve never made doughnuts, but Rina’s recipe is now next on my list (which is growing faster than I can ever hope to cross things off.)

    Followed by these buckeyes, via Smitten Kitchen.

    Closet Cooking whips up a pepper, feta and quinoa salad just BURSTING with colour.

    This Delish Living chicken almondine bake sounds suitably scrumptious.

    Knife skills are pretty important basic skill to get right. I don’t think I can unlearn the bad habits I’ve made up, but this Stoneoup post and video helped…

    LIFE

    Kiwi transplants Franci and family, the Aliens in the Apple, reflect on the time they’ve spent in NYC so far and adjusting to their new life.

    Random, but I just had to share: Little House on the Southern Prairie has super useful advice on using cloth nappies!

    The maternal thread continues…Geek in Heels shares her thoughts on parenthood, now that she’s been a mother for just over a month.

    Amanda asks if you tend to vote for a candidate or a party. Or do you not vote at all?

    At Stratejoy, selfconfessed perfectionist Alisha explains how she combats her worst habit.

    Carrie Actually explains how to get the most out of Goodreads. Which reminds me, I’ve been slack…

  • November 4, 2010

    October roundup

    These roundups include mine/joint expenses, but not any of T’s blow money, which also includes any work lunches and the odd work expense.

    Clothes and grooming – Mostly my new Trilogy Everything Balm – a godsend and my new holy grail of skincare. Packed with natural oils (including rosehip), it’s totally transformed my parched skin. It’s also good for the rest of the body – dry spots, eczema etc. I’ve heard people compare it to Elizabeth Arden eight-hour cream, even.

    Debt repayments – T trucking along with repaying me, albeit slowly as his hours fluctuated this month.

    Dining and bars – A little higher than usual; we had some wicked Indian food at Diwali, dumplings and soup at hidden gem/diamond in the rough New Flavour restaurant; wonton soup when I was sick; and other miscellany.

    Entertainment – Two ridiculously overpriced drinks at Vector Arena on Metallica night, our Fatso subscription, and a rogue $20 withdrawal I can’t quite place.

    Groceries – We shop on weekends. It was a five weekend month. Amazingly, we’re right on target taking that into consideration.

    Holidays – T’s charter fishing trip I booked for his birthday.

    Home expenses – Replacing our TV/laptop.

    Mystery shopping – This month included purchases of a meal and drinks out and a long necklace from Max (reimbursed, obviously).

    Savings – as usual, only counts T’s and “extra” savings on my part, not regular savings (44% of my net, woot!)

    T fun – Xbox subscription, which had to be paid by credit card.

    Utilities – ever so slightly lower than usual thanks to our AECT dividend which was credited to our power account, but almost made up for by higher cellphone/Sky TV bills.

    Vehicle and transport – $100 new car battery, $101.40 bus, leaving less than $200 on gas which is nothing short of primo.

    So far, frugal November isn’t off to the best start. We’re talking $50 on clothes – I found the perfect pair of summer sandals, and T has to buy some shirts for work. Also, our quarterly contents insurance payment is due. It also looks like some car expenses will be rearing their ugly head – necessary but painful.

    Still, who can dwell on the negative when the weather is this glorious???

  • November 3, 2010

    November challenge…

    is pretty simple.

    1. Track everything. Again. For some perverse reason, I’m dying to see how we stack up against the 60 per cent solution budget.

    2. Keep it minimal. We should be able to get by on around $2500 in a month. We haven’t been, for many reasons. Three-fortnight months (rent and groceries, yowch). Birthdays and special occasions. Car repairs. Concert tickets.Work expenses/clothing. Replacing stolen goods.

    BUT, I’m pretty sure November is not a long month. We have no birthdays or anniversaries. So hopefully rent, groceries, gas and a bit of fun and we can keep it frugal.

    In other news…thanks to Consumerism Commentary for including me in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance 🙂

  • November 2, 2010

    October goal checkin

    So my brilliant idea to get up an hour early 3 days a week to get more stuff done? Huh. A 50 per cent pass rate is a pass, right? It was good when I managed it. Not so good otherwise, like post-Metallica, in the throes of a sudden and random spring bug, or just general fatigue that kept me in bed.

    Sadly, I lost my other October financial info, so my plan to track both mine and T’s accounts like a bounty hunter was derailed. But! I did keep careful track of my savings – I loftily aimed for 50 per cent and managed a respectable 44 per cent.

    Also, I hit my big goal of $10k in the bank. Woooo!

    I really need to keep better track of my cooking. I can’t even remember what we ate three days ago, but I do recall whipping up (throwing together) a rather tasty baked potato/eggplant bake. So that was at least one new dish.

    I’m feeling on track to regaining my teenage fitness levels. Not only did I run every week, some weeks I went twice! (Perhaps even three times this week? I’m not sure; they all blur together).

    Finally, I donated to charity. Not just the $10, mind you! I also donated some old clothing – handily enough, there’s a clothing bin for cancer fundraising outside the primary school around the corner from my house.

    How are your goals coming along?

  • November 1, 2010

    Planning for a new car

    Gear shift stick of my Mazda Protege SE 1999.

    Image via Wikipedia

    As we’ve established, living without a car in Auckland kind of sucks. Luckily, I think I’ve got the best of both worlds – bus to work, joint car and built in chauffeur for everything else.

    Funnily for someone who doesn’t even drive, though, financially speaking, our car history is our biggest shame.

    First car: Bought on a whim shortly after T and I moved in together and he got a job. Early 90s red Mazda MS6 sedan. 180,000k on the clock. Lasted…six months before the gearbox crapped out? (No doubt you’d like to know what we did with it. While I’m all for learning from – and sharing – mistakes, that crosses the line into sheer sadism.)

    Second car: Late 80s/early 90s Corolla two-door hatch. Don’t remember anything else about it except the manual transmission. Given to T in exchange for paying off someone else’s debt. Again – don’t even ask. I don’t remember dates, but it was before the Mazda died; they overlapped and for a brief period we had two cars. Imagine! Again, only lasted a few months before the engine (big end bearing, or something like that?) died. All because we didn’t know anything about maintenance. A little oil and regular fluid checks would have prevented it.

    Third car: T’s infamous 1989 Levin coupe. 200,000k. Paid too much for it. Again, kept paying for it AFTER it died. Don’t recall too many issues with it except for the driver’s window not working; but T was hit in an accident (hence why I’ll never buy a house on a main road) which cost a bit to fix. Not to mention a stressful court case. Eventually this died too; the transmission failed, as far as I recall, but I could be wrong.

    Fourth car: Our little Mazda Familia hatch. 112,000k, manual. Paid $1600 for it early last year; it’s still going, but bodywork – rust – is an ongoing issue. Unlike the previous three, it appears the mechanicals are going to outlive the body. The driver’s seat is worn to the metal on one side and needs replacing, the front bumper is a mess (it’ll happen when it gets kicked; I’d rather he have kicked the kerb instead. Wouldn’t have damaged the car, and might have taught him a painful lesson.) The driver’s window is touchy, but that’s not a biggie for us.

    So that’s four cars in three years. I think our Familia has actually lasted us the longest so far.

    Each time, we always were caught offguard by the cars dying, and thus were forced to shop quickly for a replacement. Recipe for disaster, right?

    Well, this time we’re going to have money beforehand, and probably starting in the new year, will be poised to pick up a bargain should we come across one.

    The plan of action is simple:

    1. Make shortlist of potential cars – makes and models –  against the Dog and Lemon guide – essential for anyone looking to purchase a car. It’s comprehensive and accurate; we might not have bought that first car if we’d known about the issues mentioned in the book. It covers all variations of makes, all years (depending on the edition) and you should be able to pick up a second hand copy for less than a movie ticket.

    2. Cruise TradeMe listings in spare time / Talk to T’s friend who is the unofficial car-finder of the group.

    3. Schedule viewings in spare time.

    4. Arrange mechanical check – we’ve never done one on any of our cars and were fairly lucky – but this would be our biggest car buy ever. Also purchase Carjam report to make sure there’s no money owing on it.

    When it comes to cars (and houses) you need cash. Lots of it. Don’t wait for your one car to die before looking for a new one. We didn’t have a choice before – but now hopefully we will.

  • October 31, 2010

    The beginning of our travel plans

    Totaranui is a 1km long beach and the site of ...

    Image via Wikipedia

    On my bucket list is a road trip of the South Island. After all, one should see their own country before venturing further afield, right?

    According to Let’s Go New Zealand (aka the budget traveller’s bible) we should budget $75 per person for a somewhat “comfortable” trip. I am not sure their numbers are right. Staying in hostels ($30), one restaurant meal ($25), going out at night ($20?) and you’re not even counting the other two meals or any activities you might want to do. Or gas. I think they just mean one meal “out” a day as opposed to a restaurant meal. Considering that a cheap meal would be at least $10 per person (burgers,  Chinese, cafe food, kebabs etc).

    But holy hell, there is SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!

    Tough decisions – which season do we go in? Do we campervan or stay in hostels? (which would run at least $60 a night!!). Campervanning sounds awesome…but I’d be so paranoid about having an accident. Emptying our wastewater. We’d still need to stay at sites occasionally which would be $20-40 a pop. On the nights that we parked up at random spots, we’d have to hope nobody comes to move us along.

    Also, neither of us is too keen on doing much in the North Island. Nor do we want to pay for vehicle across the Strait. So do we fly down to the South Island and rent from there?

    When to book? Everyone says book early. Yet, looking around in the last month or so, there were so many deals for Sep-Nov travel 2010. Perhaps last minute deals are better?

    And should we decide to go in spring to catch the last of the snow, timing makes a huge difference. Prices are so much higher in September than October.

    For now, I’m going to keep an eye out for one-way hires around Christmas – it would be awesome if we could have a practice run so to speak, and get some of the sights out of the way. Serious planning can commence next year closer to the time.

  • October 30, 2010

    Link love (powered by sand, sundresses and the first burn of summer)

    Oh GST, how I hate you so.

    Since the increase (12.5 to 15 per cent) I have most definitely noticed prices creeping up. 1kg cheese – $11 on special (instead of $10). A can of tomatoes – $1.49 on special (instead of $1.29 or even 99c). Cornflakes are now $2.99 instead of $2.79. 2 litres of milk – $3.53 instead of $3.45.  They really are taking every opportunity to milk us, figuratively!

    And even though it’s practically November and hence, officially summer, capsicums are still $2.50 EACH. Cucumbers $2.99 EACH. Tomatoes, $6.99/kg. Ridiculous; we really must buy a plant of our own asap.

    So that’s my bitch and moan out of the way. If we have to increase our budget to maintain our eating decently, so be it.

    WORK/CAREER

    Here’s a survival guide for freelance journos. A realistic take – I love that it’s not all sunshine and roses about crazy earning potential and no more working for the man. Really, whether you work for a media corp or yourself, you won’t get rich either way.

    Do librarians have a future, and what will it look like? Thoughts from an insider.

    A great guest post at Design Sponge on how to brand your business on a budget.

    J Money interviews Clare of Never Niche on her side hustle, waitressing.

    Red writes about the perks of her job (many and varied) and her reluctance to give it up.

    Is your weight affecting how much you make? Fabulously Broke looks at the research and shares a rundown of businesses she’s run in the past.

    Paying Myself blogs about the fallacy that all lawyers are loaded.

    Neurotic Workaholic offers some advice on surviving grad school (lord knows I wouldn’t; I was itching to finish my three-year degree like you wouldn’t believe).

    MONEY
    At You Have More Than You Think, a discussion on whether poor people should have emergency funds.

    Small Steps for Big Change is in a new relationship, but can’t help thinking she wants him for his paycheck (not as gold-digging as that might sound, promise).

    First Gen American explains why gorillas don’t have retirement funds.

    At Bundle, Kate Ashford asks if you can afford a second child – and whether it actually matters.

    Stacking Pennies on carelessness, procrastination and how it can cost you.

    FOOD

    I made my first carrot cake not too long ago, and while it was awesome it was also a tad wet. I might try Jules’ recipe next.

    At Dinner, A Love Story, a simple baked sausage recipe for those days you want to keep the stovetop clean.

    Being Ruth shares her Indian chicken and potato recipe.

    Poor Girl makes a quinoa, apple and cranberry cake. Maybe I’ll hunt down quinoa at a bulk foods store, or try adapting it to a wholly flour version. (Don’t suppose couscous is an acceptable substitute?)

    Kevin of Closet Cooking whips up a luxurious grilled mushroom in porcini sauce.

    I was also intrigued by this salmon and cauliflower casserole, via Not Eating Out in NY.

    And Asian Pear pens a lament on foods she craves that ain’t no good for her.

    Finally, Iowa Girl Eats shares the kitchen tools she can’t live without

    LIFE

    Geek in Heels has a guest blog on TV boyfriends. Gotta say Booth is my number one, no contest!

    Suburban Sweetheart on hilarious misheard song lyrics.

    StacFace blogs about marriage, respect and boundaries.

    The Backpacking Journalist on the five unusual essential items for travellers.

    At Yes and Yes, Sarah writes about the mundane and miserable side of travel.

    Karen of Living Well on Less on the things you should never say to pregnant women.

    Ashley at Writing to Reach You ponders why and how her blog has changed over the years.

    Revanche wonders what kind of policy to adopt on drop-in visitors – who don’t always arrive at convenient times.

  • October 29, 2010

    It’s all about timing.

    John Harrison's famous chronometer

    Image via Wikipedia

    Office discussions recently revealed that while the majority of us are paid fortnightly, there were an unlucky few who had to live on monthly. That minority, of course, felt shortchanged. In one case, they were urged to talk to HR and ask to be moved to a fortnightly cycle.

    Sounds reasonable enough. Right?

    But it’s never that simple. I could’ve told you that. The time for negotiations is BEFORE you start the job. Before you sign on the dotted line. Once the contract is done and dusted, they are not going to be very receptive to making changes.

    The company policy is for monthly pay (I guess it’s much easier for payroll to only have to deal with paychecks 12 times a year). All new staffers have this in their contracts, and it’s up to them to speak up if they want that condition changed.

    So this coworker tried. She asked HR to switch her over. They were not very receptive. They wanted a reason. “Changes in personal circumstances” wasn’t deemed good enough – they didn’t see how being paid more frequently would help her out.

    This is not a judgement on HR in any way. I can totally see their viewpoint – you’ve managed this long on monthly and it’s going to be a headache to alter that.

    What I’m actually trying to get at is that it’s up to YOU to negotiate at the appropriate stage. It may seem HR is being unnecessarily difficult or stubborn, but you signed over your power a long time ago.

  • October 28, 2010

    Yeah, it sucks, but life goes on

    Thank you so much for all of your kind comments. Seriously, it means the world to me!

    We’ve been robbed before – in our old ghetto neighbourhood, where we were basically terrorised by the little shitheads who lived around the corner. I’d been putting off getting contents insurance, but you can bet after they burgled us that first time I got straight onto it. Contents insurance is a MUST! It’s relatively cheap for the peace of mind it provides.

    So yes, police report filed, insurance claim underway. I wasn’t even sure they would accept it under the circumstances, to be honest. But I recall once overhearing a conversation at uni – a girl had literally run over a laptop with her car, but “it’s okay, insurance will pay for it”. That stupidity kind of overshadows mine, I’d like to think.

    The police, at least, were good about getting our details and coming out to dust for prints (albeit two days later). Somehow they managed to not only get our address but phone number wrong, which led to confusion aplenty. But we won’t go there…

    My laptop was password protected – granted not a very strong one, but I will guarantee that whoever took my laptop is much more concerned with pawning off stolen goods than trying to get into my stuff. Financially, all it really had was an ongoing spreadsheet detailing my extra income and what it went towards, and my October financial info for tracking. Of interest to me, but certainly not to anyone else. I’d just recently signed up to Dropbox, though, and am kicking myself for not backing up the file through it!

    I don’t have passwords or very much sensitive info stored on there at all, although if they happen to get in and log onto Contact Energy’s site they’ll be able to get into my account and view my power bills.

    And as I said, our place was basically already a tip; hadn’t been cleaned in a week and there was stuff everywhere, so trashing it really wouldn’t have made a difference. Heh.

    So we’ve replaced both TV and lappy for about $1800 – I needed a new computer right away as I had freelance deadlines looming. I scored a slight discount as my company has a deal with PB Tech, apparently; pays to wear your staff ID swipe card round your neck in public. (I may look like a dork for doing it, but forgetting it and getting locked out after simply going to the bathroom gets pretty old fast.)

    I feel I must reiterate just how unimpressed with the current choices in stores were. Everything was hideous and the <$1000 choices were not very appealing. For some reason, there seems to be a trend towards extra-huge keyboard keys, and all kinds of other weird design features. I don’t really care if my computer is pretty, but I do need one that won’t drive me crazy to use. Hence why I decided against a really good deal on a Sony Vaio. I’m happy with my Compaq 620, though.

    So this makes a slight dent in my progress toward a new car fund, but after my $350 excess, we’ll be getting just over $1000 back from insurance. (Amazingly, even though I only have “market value” coverage, after depreciation each item was still valued at about $700 after 1.5 years. Awesome).

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