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Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • July 5, 2009

    A little bit of a PF rant

    Not everyone is smart about money. I get that.

    BF comes from a financially illiterate family. Draw from that conclusions what you will. I find it frustrating to hear him say “Oh, ______ got a flash new TV!” But of course, that flash new TV is on hire purchase at an exorbitant rate. Saving up for things is unheard of, even scorned, for the most part.

    I’m trying to teach him differently. I doubt he’ll ever be able to handle credit responsibly, at least not for a long time. He’s a cash-only kind of person. I’ve also managed to scrape together a small EF for him, which I’m willing to bet is more than anyone in his family could say the same of.

    I would never, ever dream of deliberately having a child and going on welfare. If I was going to have a child, I would have a plan in place. And yes, I know accidents happen. If an accident happened when I was more established in life, I suppose that might be work-round-able. But right now? No way. No possible way. I would condemn anyone who brought a baby into the world, barely able to make ends meet themselves, with no established career or fallback, and I certainly wouldn’t do it myself.

    BF says things that I really don’t like sometimes. I know he doesn’t actually mean them, especially when we’re both on the downers, but still. For example, we were discussing the above situation; he said something along the lines of “oh, that would be okay, I’d just get a crap job, you’d get money for the kid, etc”.

    That’s just unfathomable to me. A life of always struggling, always worrying, never having enough, always being at the bottom of the ladder. I hate that he can even say something like that – I know he wants much, much better for us in our lives. So it frustrates me when he comes out with lines like that.

    The middle brother of his family has just moved out on his own, with the one car the family had. Originally he had a scooter, but he ended up taking the car and driving to and from work every day. Now the car is with him, the scooter left behind with the family, who now have to rely on others to help get them around.

    That totally bewilders me. I mean, I don’t have kids. I don’t know what it’s like. But to send off a kid, working full time with a pretty decent income, with the car, putting yourself in a really difficult situation? And the kid, to take it? It’s not like he can’t afford to buy his own.

    I said that to BF. I pointed out that obviously Brother is capable of saving; he went to Aussie for Christmas after a few months of socking money away. BF gently said that he knew him much better than me, and that he would have only saved exactly as much as his mum told him to, and not a cent more (and then blew a whole lot more $ while over there).

    Gah. People frustrate me. I hope I can impart better to my kids. I don’t know how yet, but at least I have plenty of time to figure that out.

  • July 4, 2009

    Wheel of fortune

    20/20 last night featured a segment on past Lotto winners (presumably in wake of the record $36m jackpot last week). Seriously, the first guy they interviewed must have been the biggest douche they could find. He was unemployed, and his brother bought the winning ticket  in lieu of paying him back the $10 he lent him for a pizza. He must have won more than a million, considering he bought a nice looking house in Auckland (probably around 500k), a handful of cars, motorbikes, and furnished his entire house with expensive stuff – including 6k on tropical fish. And a “meditation seat” from which to enjoy coffee and cigarettes. And he reckoned he was living a Buddhist lifestyle! He reckons he’s gifted about 100k to friends and family and dropped “100-200” many times on helping out people with “overdue bills”, because what’s the good of having money “if you can’t help people”? thing is, once you start handing out money to people, they’ll just keep asking, or expecting you to bail them out.

    The next piece gave me a huge shock, because I recognised the couple’s house instantly. It’s a house right around the corner from my parents, and also around the corner from one of my friends (whose place we happened to be at, at the time!). One of those beige/terracotta, cookie cutter post-2000 mcmansions. Every time we went past we’d take notice of the (somewhat ugly) yellow Porsche parked in their driveway. I mean, it’s a fairly nice suburb, and there are a lot of wealthy people living there, but none so ostentatious; think more middle to upper class, rather than Remuera rich. Anyway they seemed like a nice enough couple. Down to earth, sensible, pretty blonde kids – one of whom I’m sure I recognised from school. They sat on the money for a while, and didn’t even tell anyone for a few months.

    That’s the way to go IMO – in fact, if at all possible, I don’t think I’d even tell anyone! But I suppose something as huge as winning the lottery is impossible to keep to yourself forever. This family went travelling to heaps of different countries, doing some shopping, and obviously buying a nice house and cars, and by the sounds of it presumably still have a tidy sum left. Maybe they should hold classes for Lotto winners on how best to conduct themselves. The Lotteries Commission has a book they give to Lotto winners – tips, advice, etc – but I’m willing to bet no one never actually reads it.

  • July 4, 2009

    Confessions of a Shopaholic

    confessions

    I thought I would like this series- honestly! Normally these are just the kind of lighthearted books I like to skim through in my spare time…but they just didn’t do it for me. I’ve read three of the series now – Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic and Sister, and Shopaholic and Baby, and my final impression? Blah.

    In the first book, I found Becky really grating, shallow, unlikable, and silly. I preferred her in Shopaholic and Baby; she’s still fun, she’s still a bit ditzy, but she’s not so actively irritating. In the other two, her spending habits are INSANE and her shopping denial is at a high. In Shopaholic and Sister, the lengths she went to in order to try and build a relationship with Jess were admirable. If I found out at the age of 25 that I had a sister, I’d hope she would be as sweet as Becky was. But in all other aspects, she drove me crazy. Frankly, I would have been encouraging Luke to break up with her! Like Jess says, she lies, she overspends, she’s shallow, spoilt and irresponsible. The girl FRUSTRATED me, which is a pity because I don’t mind Sophie Kinsella’s (typically British) writing style.

    I know Becky always means well, and has a big heart, and that’s meant to overshadow everything else and redeem her for all her faults. And she’s just bloody lucky her fuck-ups always turn around and work in her favour. But I like a little bit of realism in my books, and these just don’t do it for me.

  • July 2, 2009

    Getting back up

    Like a lot of other bloggers, I’ve been feeling really discouraged lately. It seems like BF will never be debt free at this rate, not while he’s not working and can’t put anything towards paying down the car/Visa.

    There’s no wiggle room in the budget at all, which is so disheartening. I mean, we need to buy:

    BF a coat/jacket (he has one jumper. ONE).
    TV aerial (we’ve been using a coathanger)
    Steering wheel cover (ours is really slippery)

    These are all such small things, which makes it all the more frustrating when we can’t even afford them.

    Things like wanting to go out for a burger becomes a HUGE deal, with either me resenting him for asking, or him feeling bad for nagging.

    (And I paid almost $700 of bills this week (water and power) from savings, because neither of our flatmates came up with a cent on time.I can’t wait to be out of here. Almost anything has to be better than this. I actually really dislike being at home.)

    Fridays and Saturdays are sometimes the hardest – a lot of the time we just hang out at home, but every so often you need to get out. Finding something inexpensive to do at nights  can be really hard. If money was no object, I’d probably go out to eat at different places a lot, and I’d like to go to the theatre and musicals and gigs.

    I’m also finding it hard just to BE social and to want to go out. It’s been a tough year so far, and it’s not going to get easier anytime soon. I’ve always thought of myself as a strong person, but I don’t feel that way anymore. The first few months were okay…we just soldiered on as best as we could, but now it’s really getting on top of me. Most of the time I’m feeling pretty fragile, and on the edge. A couple of weeks ago I was at a friend’s house for drinks, and just didn’t have it in me to be bright and sparkly and sociable. And a well-meant comment sent me stumbling out to the deck in tears, while everyone kept drinking and being merry inside while I just cried for a while, feeling utterly alone. And I ditched end-of-exam drinks early today – just wasn’t in the mood

    Ugh. I’m not feeling it, and I can’t fake it.

  • July 1, 2009

    Thoughts about…Transformers 2

    I liked the movie, I did. The transformers were super freaking awesome (I think inside me lurks a seven year old boy trying to get out). And for the rest of the day, I looked askance at every car, van, truck and crane I passed, half expecting it to whizz and whirr and contort itself into a giant transformer. (I know, overactive imagination).

    But it really was super mysogynistic. Megan Fox. Every single scene. And she wore more clothing in the desert than she did in her greasy car workshop. What was up with that? And the robot bitch trying to seduce Sam, and the skanky ho in Astronomy class who, uh, picked up the sleazy professor’s strategically dropped, half eaten apple.

    I feel the urge to devolve into some sort of feministing rant. But I’ll restrain myself. I’ll just say that Megan Fox seems like an intelligent person. She was happy, according to interviews, to be shot in tiny shorts and play the sex symbol. It lowers expectations of her. And most of all, it makes her insane amounts of $$$.

    Fair enough. At some point it became cool to admit to wanting to make lots of money, no matter what. But how are women ever going to get decent roles in movies, to not be thrown off the heap at the age of thirty, to play leads instead of just support, to stop being the “hot” one and get to perform, legitimately, on their own merit at this rate?

  • June 30, 2009

    Well, well, it’s been an interesting week.

    We have a new TV. A flashy, flatscreen Samsung.

    When BF told me his sister wanted to buy our TV, I asked what we were going to do without one. I could probably live without TV, but he watches a fair bit (he’s also the kind to keep it on just in the background) and finds it hard to fall asleep without it on (thank god for timers!).

    He assured me that I should leave it to him and I was more than happy to…and the next day a massive flatscreen appeared in our room.

    Apparently someone he knew had had it for quite a while because it wasn’t working – the screen wouldn’t turn on.

    BF realised it had a blown fuse, and offered them cash on the spot. He brought it home, fixed it, and now we have a pretty mint TV.

    Now we just have to sort out a new cabinet because it’s way, way too big to fit in our old one – it had a space perfectly designed for the old set. Pity, because I really like the cabinet (lots of compartments and storage space). And get rid of this one.

    BF also produced an iPod for me as an early birthday gift. Again I don’t know where that came from (probably another friend or maybe family) and I figure I’ll let him keep his little secret. He’s always been like that – when we first got together he’d bring me random little gifts, like a great old necklace handed down from his grandmother.

  • June 29, 2009

    Making small change, with online survey sites

    Here in NZ we don’t have half as many online moneymaking sites as they do in the States, by the looks of it. There just aren’t as many people to sustain online survey sites and focus groups.

    There are three main sites I use. I visit Smilecity everyday – there are “daily web clicks” (you just click through to a link, wait ten secs and get your 2 points) and “quick survey” poll questions. At least once a week you also get “reward mails” – click through the link to get points. And every so often, you’ll get sent survey opportunities which can give you anywhere from 20 points through to the hundreds! Smilecity also partners up with a bunch of retailers, so if you buy anything from one of their partners you’ll also get Smilecity points. It’s a pretty comprehensive scheme now that I think about it…

    You can use points to buy things in auctions, or just cash out. I simply take the cheque option. Once you reach 3300 points you can get a personal cheque for $30 sent to you (used to be 3200 points). Make your balance grow faster by putting them in the “ebank”, where they’ll compound with interest. I’ve been using the site for a few years now and usually cash out once or twice a year, depending on how it goes. It only takes a few seconds every day, plus the odd survey, which adds up over time!

    I’m also signed up to Valued Opinions and Your Voice. They’re both really similar. Even the sites look like! I have trouble telling them apart to be honest, especially since I realised their rewards are almost identical. Every so often you’ll be emailed links for surveys and if you qualify for it you’ll earn reward dollars for every one you complete. It’s worth the time – sign up on a rainy afternoon, fill out your basic profile and wait for the survey invites to roll in! You can donate to charity or get vouchers from the movies, Farmers, Rebel Sports and similar stores.

    I’ve also recently joined Buzz The People – I’m currently just shy of the 2000 points needed to redeem a reward, so can’t really gauge how good it is. But I must say, I only joined earlier this year and have hardly noticed the time it took to earn these points. I thought I’d surely still only be in the few hundred points range! So it’s been relatively quick and painless – most of the surveys are fairly short, interesting and straightforward. A lot of them give you entries into prize draws (I can’t remember if that’s in ADDITION to, or INSTEAD of, points). I might donate my points to charity, or get out a supermarket of petrol voucher. Still undecided!

    Don’t get me wrong. None of these are big moneymakers by any stroke of the pen. But they’re relatively painless ways to make a little extra or to earn free vouchers. And, if you care about that sort of thing, you’ll often get to give your opinion on products/services/advertisements while you’re at it.

  • June 28, 2009

    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (some spoilers)

    Finally rented the movie on DVD.untitled

    Loved it. 4.5/5.

    Cate Blanchett was absolutely sumptuous. Her glowing skin, her gleaming red hair…what a siren! And the makeup was amazing. They got that papery, powdery, thin texture just right – her ageing face was done so well. I wasn’t a fan of her mannerisms though, in particular her voice, and her way of speaking. Her accent drove me nuts!

    I have a newfound respect for Brad Pitt. I think he’s gotten better with age. It broke my heart when he said “I feel like there’s this whole life I can’t remember”. Other memorable lines: “Will you still love me when I have acne?”

    Didn’t like: the hummingbird. The Katrina tie-in (or really, the whole retelling from the hospital bed, but it was needed because Benjamin couldn’t have retold his own demise now, could he?). And that irritating narrative sequence in Paris. And overall it was a tad long – scenes like the “pygmy” excursion could have been cut.

    I wasn’t surprised to find the Forrest Gump writer also wrote this script. There were so many parallels.

    Thoughts?

  • June 28, 2009

    Lunches at work – to bring, or to buy?

    Always the Planner and Broke Grad Student recently posted about bringing your own lunch vs buying it.

    I bring my lunch every single day. Occasionally I allocate myself $10 for one lunch out (while I worked fulltime over the summer I did that once every couple of weeks, and I usually went to Revive and used one of their vouchers which they send out in their weekly e-newsletter). I usually have something like pasta, sandwiches, salad, leftovers, fried rice or soup, along with fruit, a muesli bar and crackers/cookies/my own baking. Yeah, it gets repetitive, but for as long as I can remember I’ve never really had exciting lunches. For most of primary school I had tuna sandwiches (I don’t know how I did it) and after I first moved out and was living on a shoestring, I ate jam sandwiches for months on end (can’t stand the stuff now!) So as long as I rotate the main component every so often, it works for me.

    It doesn’t take me that long to make my lunch – just a few minutes the previous night most of the time. Eating out takes time. You have to leave the building, decide what you want, walk there, order and wait for your food. THEN you get to eat it. Places like Subway and restaurants with ready made food, that’s not an issue, but if you go to a food court or something you could be waiting for a good 15 minutes. That’s a pretty hefty chunk of time! I only have a half hour for lunch, although nobody is too strict about that. By the time I get my food and walk back to the office, my lunch break’s pretty much over. And sometimes work is just too busy to take any time to go out. What then?

    Luckily, most of my coworkers bring their lunch. A few gather everyday at noon in the lunchroom, without fail. Others eat at their desks. (I’m a desk eater!) Like ATP, most people at work  socialise in passing – in the hallways, in the lift, while making tea or by the water cooler. So I don’t feel ostracised for bringing in food.

    I’m also a person who gets kind of paralysed by choice. I’ve gotten even worse of late, because eating out used to be a big treat when I was little. We rarely ever ate Wendys, Subway, BK, KFC, or imitation butter chicken/chow mein, etc. It’s not that I’ve overloaded on any of those things – they’re still expensive, after all! – but now I’ve eaten all of them enough to no longer be impressed. Very little appeals to me anymore; in fact when BF and I are looking for a quick dinner, it inevitably turns into a marathon quest because nothing looks or sounds especially good to us. It’s the same with lunches in town – they’re incredibly overpriced, and too often don’t even taste good.

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