Browsing tag: blogging

I could get used to cruising around on a motorbike. It’s still terrifying cornering sometimes (even as a passenger), tackling steep hills (either ascending or descending), and it’s a pain carrying round helmets with you afterward.

But there’s nothing like easy parking, or the sheer feeling of being alive that comes with roaring down the motorway and feeling the full force of speed and wind against your body.

While initially I was sceptical – call me a granny, but I am inherently opposed to anything with only two wheels; while a scooter might be an efficient way to get around, you’ll never find me on one – I might just get used to riding around on the back of the boy’s.

So that’s been my weekend so far. How about you?

Meanwhile, here are a few links from this week:

Why some of us don’t have one true calling, courtesy of Illuminated Mind.

Maggie asks: How do I measure success as an entrepreneur?

Great resources for freelance writers, via Urban Muse.

Passive Panda offers up a guest post complete with handy tips for making a freelance hustle work.

Amazing. How to procrastinate and still get things done, at The Chronicle.

And finally, struggling to find time to read? Here’s how to fit it in, according to Zen Habits.

• Eggplant is officially back in season. WOOT.
• Why does dealing with the IRD have to be such a convoluted process? Their new online system helps…but not much.
• Cars are expensive. Damn moneypits. At least this one – being by far the newest we’ve ever owned – is yet to leave us stranded anywhere (barring the time I ran the battery flat) and things like doors, windows, seatbelts etc all work properly, but maintenance is not saving us any money.
• What role do decency and morals have in the business world? Ponder and discuss.

WORK

Is following your passion a luxury? Via Consumerism Commentary.

Wise words from Candace Nelson at I Want Her Job – test your interest to make sure you want to pursue it as more than a hobby.

Pretty Young Professional reminds us to network with colleagues, and not just people outside your office.

Want to make more money? Better brush up those skills, then, says Serendipity.

Susannah Breslin on learning to be a hustler.

MONEY

Hilarious! So Over Debt on why PF bloggers shouldn’t date each other.

Thousandaire argues a bad economy is good for paying down debt – and that wealth is not ungodly.

Also, check out this (rather poorly-written) story about a survey on Kiwi household finances that I took part in a little while ago.

LIFE

Financial Samurai explains how to get a rental property in a hot market and fighting burnout.

Cate Linden on cultivating a childhood love of reading.

Miss Prairie Eco-Thifter’s tips for living in a way that benefits the greater good.

20 and Engaged wonders if being married puts pressure on other couples around you.

On APW: Do I have to use the word husband? (Personally, I hate the word wife – I think it’s hideous. I’m okay with husband.)

I really need to stop saying we’re househunting, and say we’re flathunting instead – if you’re my age and not actively planning your OE, it seems everybody thinks you must be on the path to that other classic Kiwi dream: home ownership.  I had to clarify this twice on Friday night – a night of good conversation, mental stimulation and a jolt to the system, really. By that, I mean I got a fresh kick up the butt and renewed inspiration for making my big goals happen. More on that in a future post.

The other highlight of my week was this lexicon in Nancy Ancowitz’s Self Promotion for Introverts (a short review will be coming up soon). SO. MUCH. TRUTH. Witness:

Term	Extrovert’s definition	Introvert’s definition
Alone	Lonely	Peace and quiet
Book	Doorstop	Source of comfort
Bored	Not frantically busy	Stuck making small talk
Free time	Time for group activities	Time to read until in danger of going blind
Home	A place to invite everyone you know	A place to hide from everyone you know

Can I get an Amen?

Anyway. To the links – a personal finance bonanza this week!

Krystal wonders when the time is right to take the leap into self employment.

Love this: You’re not debt free if you have debt (so simple, so obvious…at least you’d think so). Ninja demolishes the notion of good debt (car loan, mortgage) vs bad debt. Debt is debt, although personally I see it as a continuum, with student loans and mortgages towards the “better” end of the scale and consumer/car debt at the other.

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget has spending envy.

TeacHer Finance on the evergreen topic of getting parental support in your 20s.

Paula of Afford Anything talks the “scuzz factor” and using it to hack financial and health habits.

It amazes me how universal something like a sport can be. New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup, and while I couldn’t care less about rugby nor do I understand how the game works (league, despite the off-field reputation of its players, seems much more civilised and logical to me, because it’s pretty similar to the touch rugby we played growing up), it was something special to witness the crowds who trekked up Mt Eden to watch the opening ceremony fireworks, and to be seated in a comfortably full pub watching the game.

It was total carnage up there. We made the wise decision to bike up (yep, my first ride on a motorcycle involved ascending a volcanic cone), as the peak was already well filled up with cars. Families with children and strollers walked all the way up, while others clambered up the trails through the grass and mud in the dark. Madness.

I honestly do think we had the best vantage point – up close, apparently the fireworks were extremely smoky, and you wouldn’t have been able to see the full effect of the laser lights bouncing from roof to roof if you were in the midst of it. I had plans to go into town following the game and meet up with friends who had been at the waterfront since 3pm, up close for the entire launch ceremony – but twitpics of the masses on the sidewalks and in the middle of the street, tweets from friends and otherwise about the chaos, the public transport breakdowns and most importantly, a message from the police urging people not to go downtown unless necessary convinced me otherwise. I honestly doubt I would have been able to find them at all, let alone for us to go out clubbing after. I’m amazed my friends even managed to get on a bus home.

Aside from that, my weekend consisted of sleep, T and I cooking dinner for my parents, and experiencing authentic Mexican food at Ashi Itzcalli – where we were the first customers in while everyone else headed either to town or Eden Park for the RWC launch – and got complimentary beers shot through with lime and Tabasco, and had my first taste of chili paired with cocoa.

How were your weekends?

LIFE

Fantastic stuff. Fearful Adventurer on what to do when people don’t support your dreams, plus some awesome graphics.

Not all couples are in a rush to move in together, writes Frugirl.

10 steps to getting your wardrobe to where you want it to be, via Everyday Minimalist.

Eat Move Write muses on the messages society sends to men about dating and relationships.

Super Frugalette on the realities of having a disabled child in the family.

Sound Bites on letting go of the nostalgia of youth.

20 and Engaged blogs about keeping the flame alive.

WORK

Some great advice from Hithat’smybike on job hunting in today’s economy.

Diary of Why on teaching in New York City and knowing when to quit.

Sometimes Working Girl just wants to be a housewife.

MONEY

“The less you make at your day job, the easier that income is to replace” – Alexis Grant on one overlooked benefit of a low salary.

Thousandaire shares his awesome definition of “rich”.

FOOD

Perfect timing! Roasted eggplant with mint and tomatoes, thanks to Smitten Kitchen.

Also soon to be in season: corn. As in Closet Cooking’s corn and tomato pie.

Another winner from my fave minimalist cooking blog Stone Soup: lemon cake.

Jess B gives three bean, couscous and steak salad a whirl.

Plus summer spring rolls, at Not Eating Out in New York.

And finally, three posts on the 10th anniversary of September 11:

“I’ve been out of the news business for five years. In that time, my human side has been reborn. Now, I watch footage from 9/11 and I have to fight back tears.” Shiftless and Lazy.

“If you want to see anxiety, pen a few hundred journalists up in an airport, unable to go anywhere, as one of the biggest stories of their lives is unfolding an ocean away.” Strange Attractor.

“The legacy of the World Trade Center is the stories of people who survived. And in those stories, I hear a symphony of assurances that it’s okay to get off the fast track. Because you can still feel fulfilled. It’s okay to earn half of what you’re earning now. It’s okay to put your kids in a bad school. It’s okay to have a mediocre career or a mediocre house. It’s okay even if you just rent forever.” Penelope Trunk.

Today is one of those days where curses are being slung around the house and love is on the backburner. Tired, cranky and hungry = cocktail for conflict.

But I can think of three good things to write about, so let’s focus on those instead:

– My decision to take a full scholarship and graduate as a journalist is validated every time I hear stories of non-journalism majors not even being able to get an editorial assistant position. Even fellow Communications degree-holders who didn’t do journalism have barely a hope in hell – and it’s just as tough for BA grads, even if they took media studies.

– We went over budget this week by $10 for the first time in more than a month, and I couldn’t be happier. I happened to be lunching at a cafe in Ponsonby, and popped into the nearby Nosh on a whim. Talk about a pleasant surprise! Quality was, of course, far superior to other supermarkets – but thanks to a host of amazing specials, it wasn’t too bad on price either. We did most of our shopping there – $3 for eggplant, $2 a kg for potatoes, $1 a kg for kiwifruit, $6.50 for four litres of milk, and more, made the decision easy. We also picked up some pancetta, four kinds of cheese (more than $20 worth) and some amazing cuts of organic meat. Seriously, I’m thrilled, and resolve to visit the branch near our house more often (we’ve only been there once, though the sales then weren’t as impressive).

– Plans are afoot! New Year’s is booked (we’ll be staying at a house in the Coromandel which some of T’s friends are renting) and going to Coro Gold, and I want to fiiiiinally visit Hot Water Beach and Miranda Hot Springs on the way there. I’m not crazy enthused about either the concert or the company, but I am keen to get out of Auckland and actually do something special to celebrate for the first time in years. I also want to find time to visit my friend up north and the Kai Iwi Lakes.

WORK

How to grow some balls at your next networking event, on Brazen Careerist.

Jen at Bullish on the things she wishes she’d known at 18. Amazing.

Ms Career Girl reminds us to trust our instincts and shares a startup horror story.

I relate so much to every post at Her Every Cent Counts, including this one on not meshing well with other people.

Blonde on a Budget ponders the logistics of job hunting while in debt – something I’d never considered.

Totally Money on what to do when your dream job isn’t.

LIFE

“We can only ever realise a finite amount of possibilities in our lifetime” – Stacking Pennies on choices, experiences and the passage of time.

Love this. Lindy at Minting Nickels on “being a B”, or as the saying goes, doing your best and leaving the rest.

Baking n Books reminds us that blogs are not accurate reflections– and everybody has their own troubles.

Information. There’s just so much in the shower of data, via Seth Godin.

FOOD

Wandering Food Lover fires up her Chinese kitchen.

OMG. Salted caramel slice, via Hungry and Frozen.

Two from the $120 Food Challenge: Bacon and avocado salad, and apple/cheese crumble. Mmm.

Ever have one of those days that’s just…productive? I can’t remember the last time I ended the week feeling so good. No kidding, I literally left the office on Friday beaming and generally feeling in my prime, ready to tackle the week ahead head-on.

It’s also been a good week diet-wise, money-wise and exercise-wise. Not so much socially or in terms of paying any attention to my other pastimes, but you can’t have it all now can you? As Nicole (whose tagline is ‘a life less bullshit’) put it, “You can’t have all the shit you want at the same time. You can have all the shit you want over the course of a lifetime, but you can’t have it all at once.”

To the links!

WORK

Krystal shares how her freelance business has grown this year.

The worst mistakes the self-employed can make, via FruGal.

MONEY

Well Heeled asks: Would you reschedule your honeymoon to save $2000?

LIFE

Suburban Sweetheart lays out the differences between writing and blogging.

Geek in Heels wonders what the best course of action is when bigots link to your content.

Get Rich Slowly explains how to learn a new language – for free.

Title says it all: My hobbies are not statements about your values, by Nicole and Maggie.

“Am I the only woman around that needs my ego inflated on a regular basis?” No, Heather, you’re not.

FOOD

Umm. Pesto and goat cheese on pizza? Yes please! Via Iowa Girl Eats.

Closet Cooking’s blue cheese guacamole.

Sarah at Yes and Yes goes on a cheesemaking adventure.

Living Well on Less tries menu unplanning, in order to eat healthier. (That’s pretty much my laissez-fare MO.)

Finally, here are seven words: Blackberry Coconut Custard Chocolate Chunk Cookie Pie!

Week two of the lean grocery budget is going well! We spent $80 this week, and managed to get in and out of the supermarket pretty fast. I’m liking this stockpiling thing! It happened by accident, so if we can serendipitously repeat it, I could definitely live with that.

We also visited the La Cigale market for the first time – can’t believe we haven’t done that before! And what a great place for photography – so many DSLRs. I might just have to bring mine along next time.

Here’s a few links I enjoyed this week:

Fabulously Broke on the aspirations and dreams parents have for their offspring – rightly or wrongly.

Why real food is awesome, via Makeunder My Life.

Serendipity reminds us that more money = more choice, at Stacking Pennies.

Study Hacks argues for transforming – not quitting – your day job, and coins a great phrase, the ‘career craftsman’.

 

 

instead, I’m over at Jessie’s Money with, I think, my first guest post. Check it out: http://jessiesmoney.blogspot.com/2011/08/marriage-what-does-it-mean-to-you.html

I kind of feel like I’m in limbo again. Waiting for various things to come together. In the meantime, life trucks along and I slowly get better at time management and juggling priorities.

How was your week?

WORK

Some ideas on streamlining your Twitter feed and cutting down on the noise.

Amber’s five tips to get moving for office workers.

Melissa faces the fear of taking the leap into full time freelancing.

Alex Varley-Winter explains how she got the job she wanted.

Kyla tells us how to balance a creative life with a day job.

Clare counts the pros and cons of government employment.

Been there, done that! Modern love: when he can’t get a job.

MONEY

How to clean your washing machine on the cheap, via Totally Money.

Serendipity’s guide to looking good on a budget.

Krystal ponders the meaning of financial independence.

TeacHer shares her bargain queening tips.

LIFE

Sarah Wilson on balancing different – often contradictory – parts of your life.

My Money, My Life shares her Sunday routine and talks about the importance of downtime.

Jess mulls over opening up the dating pool and minimum standards.

First Gen American on living in the moment and not letting life rush by in pursuit of bigger milestones.

A guest post by Annabelle on Serendipity’s Guide to Saving on balancing hobbies and passions.

An ode to female friendship, at Sound Bites

FOOD

Iowa Girl’s cheesecake stuffed strawberries. How delicious do they look?

Chocolate and peanut butter balls. No baking. I’m sold, thanks Kyla!