fbpx

Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • September 28, 2012

    Guest post: Living a rockstar lifestyle on a shoestring budget

    How to live a rockstar lifestyle on a shoestring budget

    I’m taking a brief blogging break at the moment. For your entertainment, a few awesome guest bloggers are stepping up to fill in the void. Today’s is David Bakke, who enjoys finding new ways to save money while expanding his lifestyle. He shares his insights and tips on Money Crashers Personal Finance.

    During my professional career, I’ve never earned a high salary, yet I’ve been able to travel internationally multiple times and have plenty saved for retirement. I bought a new car late last year and paid for it in cash. I even walked away from my day job a few months ago to make money from home full-time.

    How was I able to afford all of these things? It’s simple: by living on a shoestring budget. And my method is by no means difficult. While there’s nothing wrong with climbing up the corporate ladder to earn a larger salary, you can learn to live the life of a rock star on any paycheck. Here are some tips to get you started:

    Reduce the Cost of Needs
    Examine all of your regular expenses, and trim the costs wherever possible. Call your cell phone provider to see if there’s a cheaper minutes plan that still meets your needs. Slash your TV channel package and paid movie services to only those you actually watch. Adjust your thermostat to reduce home energy costs, and eliminate your home telephone service. It’s all these small expenses that add up over the course of the year.

    Some providers (especially cable TV and Internet) may even offer you a small monthly discount just by calling and inquiring. They’d much rather cut you a deal than risk losing you as a long-term customer.

    Eliminate Unnecessary Purchases
    If you could afford a trip to Paris by taking a brown bag lunch to work every day for a year, would you do it? You can save about $1,000 a year by taking your lunch to work rather than eating out.

    Learn to distinguish between “wants” and “needs.” Many purchases, such as lottery tickets, newspapers, excessive wardrobe items, and small electronics are all wants and should be reduced or eliminated from your spending. If an item from this list is something you’d like to include in your rock star lifestyle, just cut back on the other unnecessary purchases.

    Change Your Spending Mindset
    A major aspect of living a high-quality life comes not from earning a large salary, but rather from adjusting your spending habits. Whenever you go to spend money, ask yourself if you truly need the item. That usually eliminates about half of your potential purchases. Then, ask yourself if there is a way to get a better deal on it. Research the price online before making your decision.

    Never Stop Saving
    Saving money is a never-ending process. I had always thought I was doing quite well with my bare bones cell phone plan at $30 per month. However, after I did further research, I found that by switching to a pay-as-you-go plan, I could reduce my monthly expense for a cell phone to just under $20 per month. This saves me $120 over the course of the year. You should continually be on the lookout for new and different ways to save money.

    Sell Anything You Can
    I started an impromptu reselling business a few years back by selling my wife’s unneeded college textbooks. Once I searched my closets and drawers, I found a wealth of additional items to sell: an old digital camera ($25), a globe ($45), a large stuffed animal ($35), and a digital photo frame ($40).

    You’d be amazed at what people are willing to give you money for, so set up an account for free and start selling on eBay. In addition to creating income, this also helps you to declutter your home.

    Final Thoughts
    Living a rock star lifestyle by no means requires a rock star salary. If you can effectively manage your spending choices and reduce your monthly bills, you’ll have the money you need for more lavish expenditures.

    What other ways can you think of to save money so you can live like a rock star?

  • September 26, 2012

    Guest post: Ways to save your wedding dollar – whatever your budget!

    Blogging isn’t as big in New Zealand as it seems to be in the US, so I’m stoked to have a fellow Kiwi blogger on here today! Sweet Mama M lives in Auckland and blogs about her life as a newlywed and her love of books, food and travel at sweetmamam.wordpress.com. She’s also on Facebook and Twitter.How to save money on your wedding! - NZ Muse

    According to New Zealand Weddings magazine, the average cost of a NZ wedding is $30,000 and that’s a figure from 2008! Wedding funding can be a tricky minefield and it can often feel awkward as adults to negotiate whether your parents are contributing at all – or maybe that’s just me, fiercely independent since 2003. My first tip is to make sure you HAVE a budget. Big, small or somewhere in the middle, know how much you have to spend! With the first big step out of the way, here’s a few ways in which you can make your wedding dollars stretch further:

    Get married off-peak

    Papa M and I got engaged in May 2011 and decided to get married in a year, on the 1st of June, 2012. We didn’t want a long engagement but planning for a winter wedding gave us the entire year to save. In addition, many vendors are willing to consider a discount for using their services in the off-season – we managed to negotiate with our reception venue, our photographer and our videographer.

    There was an added bonus in this choice of date – people genuinely seemed really excited to have an event to go to in the middle of winter. If you are anything like us, your summer season is usually packed and everything goes into a little bit of hibernation in the cooler season. We selected indoor venues for both ceremony and reception so we were prepared for the worst weather eventualities – turns out that June 1st was one of the finest weather days New Zealand has had this year!

    If you have your heart set on marrying under cherry blossoms or on a particular holiday or anniversary then marrying off-peak may not work for you. It definitely is something to consider, however, especially if you can find the right venue – ours had an open fireplace! Don’t be afraid to ask if there’s leeway on prices, the worst they can say is no.

    Caring communities

    (Accent Photography.co.nz)

    Papa M and I are Christian and are lucky enough to attend services at a beautiful stone church. Once we’d ruled out having our ceremony at the reception site (the onsite chapel being too small) the most obvious choice was the church that we attend. Being members of the church community was a huge boon for us – we had free use of the church, a free celebrant, a free sound tech and use of the church portable PA system and no shortage of hands to help us to provide an informal afternoon tea while we took formal photos.

    Church might not be your particular cup of tea and that’s cool, each to their own. Think about other communities that you participate in that might be able to assist. I’ve been to a reception in a school hall that had a beautiful view of a lake. My cousin was married to an Air Force man and was subsequently able to have free hire of chairs for their outdoor ceremony. I’ve also known of members of classic car clubs being able to utilise other members’ vehicles as wedding transport. This is a case in which it is truly who you know rather than what you know.

    Decide what your priorities are and then be OK with “Good Enough”

    Our wedding budget wasn’t small but it definitely was finite! Funding about two-thirds of the wedding ourselves meant that we had to be judicious about where we spent our money. We bought Papa M a proper suit (although we hired the groomsmen’s suits) as he didn’t own one but is getting to the stage in his career where it made sense to invest in formal attire. On the other hand, I spent hours on a local auction site trying to find a second-hand dress as I didn’t want to spend huge amounts of money on something I would only wear once. Foiled in this plan only by the fact that I am giant and all these dresses had been altered to fit people 5’4″, I ended up going for a simplistic but beautiful dress from the basic line of a local bridal salon and plan to sell it on to recoup some of the cost.

    Decor wasn’t a huge priority and we had no additional decor in the church. Our afternoon tea was served on purple plastic plates purchased from the supermarket and you know what? I don’t think anyone noticed. They were far too excited about getting a cup of tea and a cookie. On the other hand, we spent about a quarter of our total budget on photography and videography – with a terminally ill parent, having a great visual record of our last big special occasion was really important.

    Looking back now, I don’t regret a single one of those “Good Enough” decisions that we made. Our guests had a great time and we have great photos and video memories of what was a day that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Remember that it is your wedding and your priorities – as long as you provide the basics (food of some kind, liquid of some kind, somewhere to sit), your guests will be happy!

    Think outside the box

    sweetmamam guest post wedding costs

    (Accent Photography.co.nz)

    Thinking about the cost of flowers in midwinter was giving me a little bit of a heart attack. So we did without! Don’t get me wrong, I love flowers! We have a bunch of them on our dining room table right now. With the cost of centrepieces, bouquets and corsages, however, the costs definitely start adding up. Thinking outside the box, we decided that the bridesmaids would carry lanterns and that the groom, groomsmen and father of the bride would adorn themselves with a simple pocket square. I carried a bible down the aisle, which was used by my mother for our bible reading in the ceremony, and this left my hands free during the ceremony to hold my darling husband’s hands. While brainstorming and throwing around ideas for centrepieces I came up with something that was peacock-coloured (colour theme), wintery and faux-floral – our yarn pom pom centrepieces were born! Our guests loved the scattered little poms as well – many a bracelet was made and many fun games played with them throughout the night. Don’t be afraid to go a little different, it can totally work!

    We also felt that we couldn’t justify the additional cost of getting our rental cars to come and fetch us at the end of the reception but we both wanted to be relaxed about how much we had to drink. After hearing horror stories of taxi pricing in our area, we contacted a companion driving service to see if it would be something that they would possibly be able to do. BEST DECISION! They made the end of our night so special because they were so excited to be involved. Our sweet getaway driver arrived with tin cans attached to the back of his little Mazda, an ice bucket with bubbles in the back seat for us and we drove up the drive and away from our reception with Bruno Mars’ Marry You on the stereo. The night could not have ended more perfectly and I’m so glad that we thought outside the regular options.

    When you are coming up against costs that seem way too high (or that you are just not willing to pay), think outside the box for creative solutions. Both of the above saved us a significant amount of cash and ended up being a couple of the entertaining highlights of the evening. Don’t be afraid to take your time and come up with a solution that works for you – and employ your family as slave labour to get those pom-poms done!

    What wedding planning tips have you got to share? Any novel ways you’ve seen people personalise their weddings?

  • September 24, 2012

    Guest post: Reflections on a summer of couchsurfing

    Reflections on a summer of couchsurfing

    Today’s post is from cantaloupe, a 25-year-old American living in Abu Dhabi. I stumbled across her I-don’t-know-how-long-ago via one of her previous blogs (two blogs ago?) and followed her adventures in teaching abroad with interest. Some couchsurfing may be in my near future, so I was more than casually curious about her recent experience. Take it away!

    This past summer I was lucky enough to travel in America. I’m from America, but I’ve been living abroad for a job and thus don’t have a place to stay in the States anymore. But I do have a lot of friends. And these friends were gracious enough to offer me their couches and futons, more couches and futons that I even needed. Free place to lay my head at night? I’m in.

    But my summer of couch surfing offered far more than just a free place to stay.

    One of the most unexpected perks of crashing with people was the ability to peer into their private lives. Which sounds really creepy, but was actually really awesome. No matter how brief my stay, I learned a lot about each one because I was intimately in their space. I saw where they took their showers and what foods they think are worth stocking. I learned their daily routines and secret habits. One friend that I stayed with is loud and outgoing when we’re out, but has some surprisingly hermit habits. She turned down multiple invitations just to stay in and watch TV. Another friend is a total minimalist, with cupboards so bare that even I, a minimalist myself, was shocked.

    And seeing all of their private lives made me realize some things I wanted to change in my own private life. I saw the clever way a friend had arranged her bags and jewelry and made plans to copy the model into my own bedroom. I realized what clean really means, by seeing dirt in odd places that I rarely check for in my own home, but easily noticed in a new one. I saw an inexpensive TV dinner tray used as a side table and imagined it perfectly into that empty corner of one of my rooms. And I realized how nice it might be to turn down invitations to stay in and watch TV.

    Plus I experienced new brands and media. I have a routine of my own, after all. I watch the same shows, read the same genres of books and have certain brands that I prefer. But as a guest, you don’t necessarily get to pick the channel or the label of shampoo. I found a great new shampoo in one bathroom. I played against a friend in a computer game that I found insanely addictive. I played it on a MacBook Pro too, despite the fact that I refuse to buy Apple for myself. I watched sports that I had forgotten that I enjoy. I’m still not going to go buy an Apple product, but I totally downloaded the addictive computer game I played on it.

    After four weeks in five different borrowed spaces, I got to see new sides of the world. Sure it’s great to travel to foreign lands, but I spent my summer in cities I’ve lived in and it was just as eye opening. Just in a more private, self-revelatory way.

    Have you ever couchsurfed (formally or informally?)

  • September 20, 2012

    Guest post: Do what you say, say what you mean

    I proofread menus, public signs and cereal boxes, so today’s guest post is right up my alley! And hopefully you’ll get a laugh or three out of it.

    Mrs. PoP is one half of the newlywed personal finance blog, Planting Our Pennies. She loves kittens, sharing good ideas, long runs on the beach, and of course talking money and numbers – especially tracking those belonging to the PoPs! Check out their money progress at plantingourpennies.com.

    I was driving behind a construction van for a few miles the other day and something just didn’t seem right. But I was zoned out listening to the radio and wasn’t too bothered by it when it hit me. The tag line on the back of the truck – “Roofing Professionals”. Just like that. In quotes.

    As I passed the van and continued on my way, I started cracking up. This had to be one of the more unfortunate uses of air quotes (but in print!) that I have ever seen. “Roofing Professionals”? Why would I want to hire “Roofing Professionals” when I can find honest-to-god roofing professionals. Do you want a “doctor” performing an emergency appendectomy on your sister? No! You want a friggin’ doctor! (Well, unless you’re not really getting along with your sister…)

    Crapé Diem!

    Another unfortunate misuse is courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers. She runs a travel/sailing/lifestyle blog and on more than one occasion has reminded her readers not to waste their lives and to “cease the day!” Um … I don’t really want to cease my day. At least not for quite a few years yet. I’d much rather “seize the day” by living life to its fullest, rather than stopping my days dead in their tracks.

    ‘Tis the Season

    And since you can’t go five minutes in the US without being reminded that it’s the presidential election season, here’s one of my favorites from the party nominating conventions. Even the liberal bastion of the Huffington Post had to point out that Joe Biden literally misused the word “literally” multiple times in his speech. Luckily the Obama campaign has enough of a sense of humor to go with it and purchased the promoted hashtag #literally on Twitter. Way to have some spirit, Obama campaign. I respect that. (Ed: I also seriously dig the Obama Tumblr.  I mean, look at this. Also, Darren Criss?!)

    Like the Obama camp, I like to laugh at stuff like this. I know I’m not perfect as a writer. Heck, perfect is so far from where I am it’s not even on the radar. But can’t we still enjoy each other’s foibles and imperfections?

    And since they’ve clearly still got it almost 30 years later, I’ll close with The Fixx singing One Thing Leads To Another on Jimmy Kimmel Live a few weeks ago. Let’s all join in singing the chorus with them. “Do what they say, say what they mean…”

    Anyone else have any good “aww, they didn’t mean to say that!” moments they’d like to share?

  • September 18, 2012

    Guest post: The perils and pitfalls of online shopping

    Multiply the sentiment in this post by about 1000 and you get an idea of what it’s like in NZ. Vanessa writes about (mainly) money and personal finance over at Vanessa’s Money.

    As a lover of bargains and fashion, I just have one thing to say – living in Canada sucks.

    {via}

    It wasn’t bad enough that, as a kid, I was never able to enter contests that ran on TV or in Archie comics (because I was not an American resident) but now, as an adult with disposable income, I can’t even spend my money on all the cute dresses and shoes that I see online!

    I know, I know. The logical solution would be to just buy stuff online and return it if it doesn’t fit. Simple n’est ce pas? Wrong. Have you any idea how much it costs to ship to Canada? A quick example that I just pulled up… A pair of $348 shoes from Nordstrom will cost me $23 to ship and $110 in taxes and duty. And if they don’t fit? It will cost me another $23 to return and I will have to fill out a ton of paperwork to get my $110 refunded. Basically, I’d better be 100% sure of my shoe size or else I’m out $46.

    Alternatively, I can have my shoes shipped to a P.O. Box near the border and drive down right? Um, no because most stores have caught onto that little gambit by now and don’t deliver to P.O. Boxes. Also, it would probably cost me $46 in gas anyways and if the shoes didn’t fit, I’d still have to return them on my dime.

    Trip to the States? Sure, I’d love that but again, the money.

    Buy Canadian? No. I want my LK Bennett pumps and my cheap ASOS clothing. Canadian clothing… pfft.

    I’m sure that people from other countries can relate but seriously, I can see America from my backyard (not really, but I couldn’t resist a reference to Sarah Palin…) and yet I can’t find a cost effective way to just give my money to their economy. And this is why living in Canada, is like being the younger sibling that is never quite old enough to do anything fun.

    Is online shopping a thorn in your side or do you enjoy all the perks involved?

  • September 16, 2012

    Link love (Powered by mascarpone and early nights)

    So I have this Facebook friend. She has, shall we say, modelling aspirations, and frequently posts photos from her shoots.

    There are a few classy ones – think long flowy dresses on the beach – but by and large they’re more of the bikinis, cars and leery guy mag ilk. Topless, even with strategic coverups.

    It’s equal parts mesmerising and gross, but aside from the pictures, I really enjoy the rest of her status updates. Ever had a similar situation on Facebook? Maybe it’s time I hide her posts.

    Links I liked this week:

    Cents and Nonsense shares a few stories of financial fails from younger, foolhardier days

    Even if you are not a writer, read Obsessions of a Workaholic’s piece imagining a life without writing, and substitute another passion of yours

    Warren at Married with Luggage struggles to reconcile his real self and ideal self

    Loved this post on Dinner: A Love Story by Dan Coyle on nurturing your kids’ talent without being a psycho parent

    I’m in love with lentils, and want to try this red lentil and coconut soup via the $120 Food Challenge

    It’s okay to want something different than you did before; it’s okay to change your mind and leave a passion or job you always wanted behind. From revolution.is

    Dollars and Deadlines reminds us of the importance of saying no, especially for freelancers

    I haven’t linked to Bullish for awhile but I’m rectifying that with Jen’s latest on how to recover from a stalled career

    Blast from the past:

    A year ago I asked for your take on the pros and cons of living with friends, and touched on how my dreams have changed over time.

    The year before that I indulged in a very decadent day by my standards and talked about my family history and its effect on my money personality. Apparently I was feeling pretty introspective, also writing that post on having immigrated at a young age and tattoos and heritage (and, er, I’d forgotten all about the resolution at the end of that post).

    And in 2009 I asked what you’d do if money was no object, contemplated the life of an army wife and counted my relationship blessings.

    Hope your weekends are going well!

  • September 14, 2012

    Adventures in the kitchen: soy lemon chicken

    Sometimes bad things happen when you take liberties with a recipe. Occasionally, however, they turn out brilliantly.

    soy lemon chicken

    Starting from a base point of this soy lime cornmeal chicken, I promptly proceeded to substitute almost everything in sight and haphazardly make up ratios.

    I crushed up some soggy cornflakes that needed to be used, and coated a chicken breast in the crumbs.

    I fried them in a dash of oil until cooked through, then removed to a plate.

    I dumped about half a cup of chicken stock into a mug, added a splash of soy sauce, some garlic salt and the juice of half a lemon, and poured the mixture into the still hot pan. I let that deglaze for about a minute, then poured the slightly thickened sauce over the chicken and topped it off with some chopped up spring onion.

    Voila! Must remember this for the future.

    Frugal factor: high. Just a handful of ingredients, most of which are inexpensive household staples.

     

  • September 12, 2012

    In the NZONE: skydiving and surviving in Queenstown

    nzone skydiving in queenstownSo, that time I jumped out of a plane? Yeah, that one.

    Some writer I am. You would think playing the virgin skydiver would provide plenty of creative fodder. But I think I could trawl the thesaurus for hours and still fail to come up with the right mix of synonyms to describe the strange cocktail of elation and exhaustion it engenders.

    Sandwiched between Matt, my assigned photographer, and my tandem diver Milan, I still couldn’t believe what I was about to do. Milan – a jovial Croatian who’s been in New Zealand for eight months and reckons he’ll stay until the powers that be boot him out – assured me with nonchalance that he’d already done about eight jumps that day.

    We’d only just met, but the usual personal barriers didn’t apply. There I was squeezed in between his legs, sitting on the floor of the plane – upright spooning, if you like – and Matt in turn slotted in between mine. We formed a strange kind of human jigsaw puzzle: tourist between the seasoned pros, a pattern continued all the way to the front of the aircraft.

    Relax, he urged me. I let my hands rest on his jumpsuited thighs. Tried to breathe. Matt snapped a photo. I wasn’t ready. For the photo. Or the jump. Or anything.

    Milan pointed out our rising height on his altitude watch – 5,000, 10,000, 12,000 feet. He hooked my harness onto his, tightening straps, pulling my goggles over my face. The clouds thickened; the plane banked sharply. I inferred that we’d reached the top of our ascent: 15,000 feet, more than double the height of the mountains we’d long since overtaken.

    The next 10 seconds or so are a bit of a blur. There was NO time to think. The door opened and the first pair disappeared into the ether. Suddenly I was aware I was being pushed from behind, and found myself scooting merrily toward the exit.

    My legs were out. I tucked them underneath the helicopter, like we were told to. Facing directly into the expanse of the open sky, I naturally recoiled and threw my head back, just like we were told to. And I forgot all about taking a deep breath, like we were told to.

    It wasn’t cold, but before I knew it I was in the air, and gasping for breath as the plunge sucked all the wind from my lungs. Photographer Matt materialised to the left, and right then I knew how celebs feel when accosted by the paps, being snapped when you least expect – or want – it.

    nzone skydiving in queenstown

    I’m not photogenic at the best of times, and plummeting freefall at 200k was definitely not among my finer moments. In all of the photos that show my face, I look like I’m crying in terror. Or constipated. The wind’s rippling my face, and my mouth hangs gormlessly open. I  was desperately sucking air like nobody’s business (I have enough trouble breathing at ground level, let alone when the air is that thin … plus I may or may not have been hyperventilating a little). As for the DVD, I haven’t even dared to touch it. NZONE won’t be using my shots in any promotional footage, that’s for sure.

    One of the others on my jump hated the initial freefall, but the worst part in my books was the spinning. Slowing down was a BITCH. I’d kept my eyes open the whole time up till then, but being whirled mercilessly around like a rag doll (I think that’s what it feel like to be a tiny molecule of water sucked down a freshly unplugged drain) was like nothing I’ve ever done. It’s beyond dizzying and makes you feel utterly, utterly out of control. Milan was having a blast; I was practically wetting myself. So like a child, I whimpered quietly, clamped my eyes shut and clutched my harness for dear life (I would’ve hugged myself and curled up into a ball if I could’ve).

    The gentle, swaying descent – now that was a blast. I caught a glimpse of the parachute edges a couple of times, which brought on a wave of panic, so I quickly learned to train my eyes firmly below. Milan pointed out landmarks in every direction – Mt Cook, Coronet Peak, the Remarkables. It was a perfectly clear day with amazing visibility – the river, the mountains, the greenery. And quite honestly, that part felt far too short. I could have marvelled at the surroundings from the air for twice as long. But other jumpers started swooping in from other directions, and before long, we were approaching solid ground once more.

    nzone skydiving in queenstown

    When it all comes down to it, I was nervous for three reasons:

    Heights. My fear of heights is debilitating.

    Pressure. Not only do I not have a head for heights, I am terrible at depressurising, but my ears popped reasonably quickly on the way down.

    Motion sickness. I can’t read in moving vehicles without paying for it dearly afterwards.

    The height thing didn’t turn out to be such a problem. Waiting for my ears to pop was more painful. But worst of all was the fact that I was nauseous for about an hour afterward – a case of extreme motion sickness, I guess.

    All up, skydiving in Queenstown made for an amazing, unforgettable afternoon. Every night for the week that followed, I found myself running through the whole thing in my head and marvelling, Did that really happen? They say some people immediately rush to sign up to become jump instructors after their first skydive. But I think it’s safe to say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me – an adrenaline junkie I am not.

    Ever been skydiving? Or want to?

    The form you have selected does not exist.

  • September 11, 2012

    On sunk costs and cutting your losses – a beginner poker player reflects

    By and large, I’m a risk averse kind of person. I drive cautiously. Analyse choices to death. That kind of thing.

    In going along to my first poker night, though, I learned a thing or two about myself.

    I’m terrible at cutting my losses.

    The boys play Texas Hold’em, so every round two people put in blinds to start off with. There’s a sunk cost to begin with, and my general philosophy is something along the lines of ‘I’ve already put in this much; what’s a little bit more?’ And as the round progresses, I’m loath to cut my losses. After all, that last card just MIGHT be my saviour. I’m already down by this many chips. Just see it through to the end…

    I’m apparently also really, really bad at gauging the quality of my hand. When do you decide to play? When do you fold before even betting? I underbet when I had a killer hand, and overbet with a good (but not amazing) hand a few times, resulting in once scaring everyone else off, and once bringing it down to the wire and losing by the tiniest sliver of a margin. I actually played kind of riskily – something I didn’t expect of myself – much like I didn’t expect myself to really push it at all when I got to drive a new BMW on snow last month, yet I did (guess there’s something about a vehicle that a) can take it b) isn’t yours and c) is there for that exact purpose).

    In real life, I am much better at writing off sunk costs. Have done it many times.

    What about you? What’s your poker style?

  • September 10, 2012

    A fashion devotee I shall never be

    Folks, I have witnessed first hand the depths of hell, and it is Fashion Week at the height of dubstep popularity.

    I haven’t listened to mainstream music in years. I gave up on music television aeons ago and some time after that, did the same with radio. To be honest, for all my love of music, I haven’t really listened to much of it recently. That relationship has stagnated. I love the songs I’ve always loved, and a few hits from recent times, but if music was a physical muscle of mine, it would be well and truly atrophied today.

    On my trip to Sydney in July I listened to the Grammy Award nominees’ album on the plane. I gathered that country pop is the new thing. That’s cool. I can handle that. What I can’t handle is dubstep, which is what all the really cool kids are listening to. Particularly at high volumes. There is talent in (some) rap. There is talent in screamo (I certainly can’t make my vocal cords contort like that). I don’t believe there is any talent in dubstep.

    To the point: I suffered through a group collection show at Fashion Week, and three of the four designers had throbbing dubstep as their background tracks. I had to try very, very hard to block it out and distract myself by staring at the impossibly polished blondes in the very front row beside the walkway, and alternately, at the super cool alt types with green, pink and purple hair alongside them.

    The soundtrack was terrible (I wonder if it’s difficult to walk at an entirely different speed compared to the music’s pace/tempo?) and to be honest, so were a couple of the models. I get that they are merely glorified, easy-on-the-eye coathangers. But one in particular stuck out in such a dreadful way with her awkward, swaying, pelvis-first walk (and another to a lesser degree with her gigantic nose, which gives the rest of us all hope. Modelling is about so much more than the face). And why are the shoes always so damn ugly?

    Fashion Week, in the past, always meant a hellish five days for me at work – dozens of galleries, hundreds of photos, staying all day and once missing afternoon classes to keep up with the deluge. The extra money was nice, though.

    Now as a guest I get to see the other side, and it’s painful in another way. Namely, it’s boring as hell. 90 percent is standing around (or sitting around) waiting. The shows are over in a snap, and I’ve never had an interest in clothes anyway. I suppose like most things, the glamour is all illusory.

    You also need bloody good self esteem if you’re going to make it through. I’m not fashionable in the least – I know it, and I don’t care. (BTW, I don’t care how stylish you are: leggings as pants are still not acceptable. SO. MUCH. ABUSE.) At least as a skinny boobless Asian, I fit in with the dominant body type. However, even if you’ve gone through your whole life being envied by the typical chesty, pear-shaped Pakeha, you will feel positively gigantic in comparison to the Fashion Week belles.

    • Previous
    Next