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Browsing tag: money

  • May 18, 2013

    What’s killing our travel budget

    I’d hoped to be spending a lot less per day right now (like $50 or under a day). But a couple of things are making this difficult:

    The heat

    I’m loving the fact that I can breathe freely in the Asian heat. Clear airways are a wonderful thing. (My skin doesn’t like the temperatures quite as much, though.) On the other hand, the heat here is making my poor husband a bit of a sad sack. I’d be fine in a fan room (and we stayed in a fan room on our first night in Thailand) but for his sake we’re seeking out rooms with air conditioning – which basically doubles the price.

    The food

    Again, I’m in my element here. Him? Not so much. He’s not used to the food (we eat a lot of Asian at home, but not for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and is wary of street stalls (sigh). He misses steak and burgers and dairy products. And while at home he swings between eating hardly anything at all (most days) or eating everything in sight, while in Asia it’s been a case of the latter constantly. Nothing keeps him full. That said, I’m glad he’s getting into some sort of regular eating routine.

    Everything is still crazy cheap by Western standards, but we’re on a tight budget.

  • May 2, 2013

    Bullshit-free bride: Budget breakdown

    bullshit free bride nzmuse

    I’m not going to have a final total for a few more days (heck, probably not until the day itself), but now is probably as good a time as any to check in.

    Here’s what has been spent/is projected to be spent. As a refresher, this is for a casual 40-person BYO bash.

    • Dress – $300 (made by T’s mother)
    • Shoes – $30 (which I will probably get tomorrow)
    • Makeup – $0 (used a gift card to buy new eyeliner + lippy)
    • Flower girls’ dresses – $175 (this actually includes a few table covers, which were bought in the same transaction)
    • Suits for groom and his entourage – $725
    • Rings – $365 (though I didn’t actually end up liking mine, so will be just using my engagement ring)
    • Marriage licence – $123
    • Celebrant – $300
    • Venue -$322
    • Flowers – $135 (I’ve given in and ordered some bouquets online, so I have the option on the day. I think this is one of those battles where principle < hassle)
    • Photography – $1000
    • Catering (Malaysian food) – $775
    • Catering (Euro side, homemade) – estimating about $300
    • Cake (3x cheesecakes – sadly the Cheesecake Shop does not do giant cheesecakes) – $100
    • Miscellany such as napkins, disposable plates, cups, juice, etc – $100? Not sure… T’s mother is, thankfully, overseeing operations for us
    • Hotel – $185

    So with any luck, we’ll squeak in at just under $5000.

    Budget aside, I’m starting to freak out. While I really love all the choices made so far (except, maybe, the table covers we got, which are a bit rubbery and weird feeling – I wonder if I can find some nicer fabric coverings for cheap?) I’m starting to worry that I’m going to get judged for them.

    I didn’t want a tall, elaborate cake – I wanted the kind of cake that I would fight you to the death over for the last piece.

    I wanted to feel like myself on the day, so I’m literally doing my own makeup and not doing anything special with my hair.

    I wanted a mix of cuisines, from my favourite dishes from my birth country to T’s mother’s potato salad, even if the end result may be a little wacky and incoherent.

    I wanted a venue with character in spades, and I love the raw, grungy former wine cellar that’ll house our reception lunch (it even has GATES!) though I know most people probably won’t get it and may well think it’s less grotto, more grotty.

    If I really dig into all this, I think what it comes down to is the fact that this event is ALL ME. I’ve picked out things I like and eliminated things I don’t. In many ways, it’s going to be a a bit of an anti-wedding (a lazy girl wedding?) and I’m just not sure everyone is going to appreciate that. And if they don’t, well, then they’re basically passing judgement on me by default.

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  • April 29, 2013

    How we travelled the world without going into debt

    Funding our RTW trip - How we travelled the world (without going into debt)

    I know a lot of you have been waiting patiently for this long-expected post! Here it is – how we’re funding our RTW trip without going into debt.

    How to travel on a budget (long term)

    Travel on a budget often involves housesitting, a mainstay of RTW travellers. We won’t be staying in one place for very long, though, and we’d need to crack the market first – getting that first gig without experience is probably the toughest part.

    Saving money on accommodation

    Instead, we’ll be backpacking, hostelling, and looking for apartment/room rentals. In lots of cases, private rentals seem to be cheaper than hostels in big cities. There are sites like AirBNB and Roomorama, which have large databases but also high prices and hefty fees. There’s also plenty of others, like Wimdu, 9flats and Housetrip, which I prefer due to the no/low fees. These range from shared apartments to full private apartments, but at the very least you’ll generally at least get a futon to yourself. Some rentals may charge huge deposits/bonds/cleaning fees, or extra fees for extra guests. I would just browse listings on all the sites and see what catches your eye on a case by case basis. Most of them are easy to use – you can search by date, area, sort results in list format or view on a map, and some display reviews on the page and even an availability calendar.

    Then of course there’s Couchsurfing, though I’m aware that as a pair we may find it difficult. New Zealand is a land of houses, but I know tiny apartments are the norm in lots of cities around the world. In scouting out potential hosts overseas, it became obvious that many, many hosts can only accommodate one guest. That said, we’re also open to staying further out in the suburbs – that’s just an opportunity for another experience entirely. (You can read about my experiences as a Couchsurfing host here.)

    Finally, there’s volunteering. Hosts shelter and sometimes feed you in accommodation for your labour, which could range from helping out on a farm to cleaning or even more creative pursuits like graphic design or photography. Look on sites like HelpX, Workaway, WWOOF, GlobalHelpSwap and Staydu. To sign up as a member, you’ll usually be charged a fee that gives you access for a year, and freedom to contact as many hosts as you want.

    There’s also always the option of teaching English overseas; travel blogger Nomadic Matt has a whole guide on teaching English abroad!

    Budgeting for a RTW trip

    I read a lot of RTW blogs and have looked at a lot of travel budgets (Legal Nomads has a large list of links to various bloggers’ travel budgets here).

    I’ve also combed through Budget Your Trip, a super handy website that aggregates costs from real travellers. Obviously, any crowdsourced data is only as good as those who partake, so costs are likely to be more accurate in cities that are well trafficked. On Budget Your Trip, you can see budget, mid range and luxury budgets based on real data, in local or other currencies.

    Costs are going to vary a lot by region. Asia will be the cheapest and Europe probably the most expensive. I’m hoping we can average out to $100 a day over the whole trip, though I’m also accepting of the fact we’re very probably going to blow through that at times.

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    Funding a RTW trip

    There are two parts to this equation. (Depending where you live, there may be a third option – see Nomadic Matt’s e-book on travel hacking.)

    Savings is pretty self-explanatory. You’re all grownups; you know how to save money (at least in theory, even if you’re not quite as good at it as you might like to think). Savings = income – expenses. To break that further down, you can cut costs, increase income (which I tend to be better at), or both, in order to maximise that gap.

    Expenses so far have been about $10k. Thankfully, we got a killer discount on our backpacks and some other gear (nearly 50%) this month due to T’s staff discount at Fishing Camping Outdoors. There are probably more I haven’t included below (eg travel adapters and other bits and bobs).

    expenses pre RTW trip

    That should, more or less, be it for the initial outlay, though.




    At this stage, there should be enough in the kitty to cover a $100/day budget, once I get my leave paid out, given that we’re spending a month volunteering. Odds are we’ll spend more than that in some places, so…

    Income is the other half.  I’m aiming to keep some money flowing in while we’re on the road, which hopefully will have the added bonus of keeping my skills sharp. How?

    Blogging

    Where print ads typically cost more than a month of my salary, online advertising is absolutely buggered. For all that digital offers (interactivity! measurement! mobile! targeting!) I don’t know if it will ever catch up. Ideally, ads would flow in and help fund this blog, with me only needing to worry about editorial and keeping you guys interested. Unfortunately, traditional advertising just isn’t working anymore. Advertisers want more integrated and sophisticated solutions. THEY WANT EDITORIAL. That means rather than being relegated to banners and sidebars, they want in content links, for example. Sometimes this is more lucrative than a plain ad but it’s a lot more work for us. At a company, you can generally leave that to the ad sales guys; as a blogger you have to be much more involved.

    Er, my point? Online advertising is tough. That said, where possible, I will continue to try to monetise the blog – without selling out, that is.

    I never wanted to make blogging a business. I have no desire to get to the point of bringing on staff writers – this is and always will be my personal blog – paid speaking gigs (shudder – I can’t think of anything worse than public speaking), or coaching (again, no desire to be a life coach). But I am grateful for the opportunities that it has brought. Which leads me to…

    Freelancing

    Yes, there really are jobs where you can travel the world and work from anywhere – the kinds of jobs where you can earn an income as long as you have a computer and internet connection. Technically, I can work remotely, but the reality of my particular workflow and daily local deadlines means keeping up my workload while constantly on the move would be, er, challenging. And I’m more than happy to take a bit of a break.

    So I suppose I’ll be joining the hordes of out there … to an extent. The plan is to do *some* work while on the road. Exactly how much I am not sure, but less than full time.

    Want a piece of me? I’m available for select content-centric work, so if you’re in need of a kick-ass freelance blogger, freelance ghostwriter, or freelance editor, drop me a line.

    One last note

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of things that make this possible:

    • No commitments. That means no mortgage, no kids – living in a crappy house with hand-me-down furniture (not that I care about that, but I’m MAKING A POINT here!)
    • No/minimal debt. That means no student loan, no car loan, etc.

    I’m a big believer in keeping your fixed costs low and committing to as little as possible. That’s allowed us the flexibility to do this relatively painlessly. Figure out the puzzle pieces and set yourself up for success.

    Whatever your goal – travel, buying a house, having kids, moving to another country – it’s doable if you truly want it and commit to making it happen.

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  • April 26, 2013

    Guest post: Bullshit free ways to save money on your wedding

    Easy ways to save money on your wedding

    Seeing as I’m currently in that last stretch before the wedding and struggling to hold onto the “no bullshit” mantra, today’s guest post is a timely breath of fresh air. I especially love the bit about sticking the finger to the Pinterest curse (if like me, you couldn’t care less about the ‘pinnable factor’, you might find it hard to survive the pervasive WIC out there). Take it away, Steff Green, Auckland-based writer, blogger and alternative wedding celebrant. She writes about wedding planning on the WeddingWise blog – part of the WeddingWise directory where couples can find, review and rate their wedding vendors.

    Having been through the wedding planning process myself, and then on the other side as a wedding celebrant for others, I wanted to add some of my own tips for bullshit-free wedding planning.

    I believe the modern wedding has gone totally out of control. The average cost of a New Zealand wedding is about $30,000 – and that would make a sizeable deposit on a first home. And what are we spending that whopping sum on exactly? Chair runners and centrepieces and wedding favours and designer stationery and an “it” band for the reception-

    And yes, these things are all gorgeous and will make our wedding look like a spread from a bridal magazine – but when was that more important than starting our life with our new husband/wife in a financially secure and abundant place?

    For me – and the couples I’ve officiated for – the solution has been to abandon any pretext of creating a “pinnable” wedding – that is, a wedding that looks like an editorial shoot that would be pinned 1000 times on Pinterest. My own wedding in 2008 was at Spookers at Kingseat hospital, we had swords and heavy metal music and a Lego cake topper, and it came in well under the expected “average” cost of a 100 person wedding.

    How do you adopt this attitude? Well, you start by abandoning the wedding magazines and Pinterest “wedding porn”.

    Focus on what’s important

    When we started planning our wedding, I asked my husband to list three things he wanted for the day. He said, “I want to wear something comfortable, I want to carry my sword, and I want everyone to have fun and not say it was boring.”

    I then had to come up with a list of my own. It ended up being: “I want a red dress with an EPIC train, I want the ceremony wording and vows to be really personal, and I want everyone to have fun and not say it was boring.”

    We made those 5 points (since two were the same) the focus of our wedding planning, and anything that didn’t factor in to those points we ignored. We didn’t pay for any decorations, wedding favours, or flowers. I found my dream red dress online for 1/5th of what it would’ve cost me to buy it in a store, and my husband wrote the ceremony and chose his outfit of black jeans, black boots, a white tunic, and a cloak he made himself.

    Here are some ways you can save money and hassle on your wedding day:

    Repurpose and Use What You’ve Already Got

    Have you been given a bunch of your grandmother’s jewellery that you’ll never wear? You can have the metal and stones remade into your wedding rings, often for a fraction of the cost of a new design. Talk to a jeweller (I can highly recommend Guthries Jewellers on Queen Street in Auckland) about what they can do for you. (Ed: And if you happen to need an antique ring shrunk to about half the size, I recommend Carats – the only place I could find that would tackle mine.)

    Many other items you already own can be used for your wedding. My centrepieces and “unity candle” were candles and holders I already had around the home. You can use clothing, jewellery, shoes or other accessories you already own to complete your wedding outfit.

    Costumes

    I recently went to a Elvan Lord of the Rings themed wedding, where the whole bridal party wore costumes they rented from a local store. Rental for costumes is significantly cheaper than buying or renting a suit or dress, and omigod did this wedding party look awesome. Theme and costume weddings are not for everyone, but I’ve been to a few in my time and I tell you they are definitely the most fun.

    You don’t need it

    Nothing about the wedding industry makes me angrier than wedding favours and Save-the-Date cards. Both are – in my eyes – pointless expenses designed to do nothing more than part couples with more of their money. Save-the-Date cards might be useful if you’re having a destination wedding, but a simple and personalised email to all the invitees would be equally effective.

    Do you need wedding favours to thank your guests for coming to your wedding? Surely that’s what your personalised thank-you card is for? Your guests aren’t attendees at some corporate conference – they’re your family and friends. They WANT to come to your wedding. They don’t need chocolate treasure chests and little sand pails emblazoned with your monogram as an incentive. (Ed: THIS! Although … if I’m taking off overseas straightaway for awhile, I can put off the note writing, right?)

    Think carefully about each decision before you spend any of your hard-earned money on wedding accessories – think how many hours you’ve worked for that money and if you really need this item, or if you could put the money to better use elsewhere.

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    Order a Gown Online

    I’ll tell you a secret that many wedding dress retailers don’t want you to know. Most wedding dresses – even the ones reportedly made by big-name designers – are made in workshops in China. Unless you’re ordering a truly designer gown, or having one custom-made by a local seamstress, the chances are high that it’s coming from somewhere in Asia.

    The only real difference is the mark-up. Bridal salons need to pay to rent shop space, employ staff, buy advertising, etc. All these costs are built in to their mark-up on your gown. I’ve heard tales that some bridal salons have a mark up of more than 700%.

    I bought my dress from an online store based in Australia. It was exactly the same dress as one I saw in various bridal salons in New Zealand, for 1/5 the price. The quality was exactly what I would expect from a salon, and it only needed minor adjustments.

    Not all brides have the same stories – there are definitely a fair amount of horror stories about ordering dresses online. The trick is to use a site other brides have recommended, and make sure you are explicit about the detailing you require on your dress (the bridal salons have built up a relationship with their suppliers, so they can give strict specifications about the quality and detailing on their dresses). Order in plenty of time to enable you to have alterations done if the dress doesn’t fit right.

    Don’t be afraid of ordering your wedding dress online – for every horror story there are a hundred satisfied brides who got a bargain.

    Cut down on food costs

    Filling the bellies and quenching the thirst of your guests will probably be your biggest wedding expense – usually around half of your budget. You can cut down on food costs by catering your own wedding. That sounds like a huge amount of work (and it kinda is) but if you’ve cut back on all that other wedding guff, you will have more time to organise it.

    Ask a few close friends who are excellent chefs to supply a signature dish for the night – offering funds for ingredients, of course. After you’ve got a few main dishes sussed, decide on an assortment of menu items you can make in advance. Organise a team to heat things up on the day and keep the table well stocked, and you’ll be surprised how many guests will ask you for the details of your catering company.

    If your wedding is in the summer months, you could even have a good old-fashioned kiwi BBQ in the Mint Springs Farm. Think sizzling sausages, BBQed mushrooms, and a huge array of delicious salads and breads. Cheap, simple and always a winner.

    You could even have a potluck wedding (where guests bring a plate to share in lieu of gifts), but this won’t go down well in many social circles, so tread with caution.

    Friendly Helpers

    Ask friends to help with different aspects of your wedding – anything from providing photography services to altering your dress. Friends are usually only too happy to help out, and they can offer their services instead of a gift. I perform celebrant duties for all my friends – it is an honour to be able to marry two people you love and admire, and it helps them save money on their budget and get a truly personalised service – so everybody wins.

    These are only a few of literally hundreds of ways you can save money on your wedding by adopting a “no bullshit” attitude. Cut out the details that don’t matter and focus on the one thing that is truly important – celebrating your union with your beloved with an awesome party, surrounded by the support and love of your family and friends.

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  • April 21, 2013

    Link love (Powered by rainstorms and money talks)

    link love nzmuse

     

    I’ve had money on the brain even more often than normal lately (not helped by Women’s Money Week!) thanks to some financial setbacks.

    • As you might remember, T had a SUPER AWESOME brush with death recently on his motorbike thanks to some idiot boy racer. After a few weeks of being off work/on half days/off again due to medical certificate snafus, he was finally sent back to work on full hours, thank the heavens – because as an HOURLY worker with no built up leave right now, him being off work was hurting. (As we’ve learned, ACC has a minimum 7 day stand down policy. Not that is matters, since they refused to cover this incident. A complaint is being filed about the handling of the case, which T’s company is going to handle going forward since we’re leaving the country.)
    • His bike, which had just been rebuilt with new fairings in anticipation of selling it, also had about $1k knocked off its (cosmetic) value in a second due to that accident.
    • Since then, he’s been avoiding even looking at the bike, which still needs a couple of things done to it to get it running smoothly. That would have been fine, until his friend, who was keen to buy it as is, went and bought a car instead. With just a couple of weeks left, I do not see it a) getting fixed up or b) sold. [insert rant about useless males]
    • A couple of long-shot travel blogging pitches/sponsorship proposals went nowhere. Ah well.

    Still in the works: my post about financing our trip. I want to be able to present the most accurate numbers, so I’m putting it off until as close to our departure as possible.

    On the plus side, I don’t need to pay my wedding venue or wedding celebrant until the week before the big day, which is nice for cashflow.

    Got any financial wins or losses of your own to share?

    This week’s links:

    In the wake of Dove’s new campaign (which I adore), Emily Jane pens a beautiful post on self-image and self-acceptance.

    The Asian Pear makes a reasoned case for not driving. (Being shacked up with T, I have a car and driver, but personally would probably drive once a week to the supermarket, if that.)

    Kelly Abroad recounts her New York love story from the very beginning.

    Some snippets of sage career advice via Publishing Trendsetter, most of which are relevant to all workers, regardless of industry.

    Make a Living Writing was on fire this week, collecting true tales of woe from a bunch of content mill writers and reminding us that we all have our own crosses to bear, even when we don’t publicly broadcast them.

    When did I last link to A Practical Wedding? I can’t even remember. Let me rectify that. This week’s post on how to be in love is simply sublime – and timely for me, as it’s been a rough week on that front.

    Lastly…

    Americans, it’s been a hard week. My heart goes out to you. I saw the infamous uncensored Jeff Bauman photo earlier this week, and while I can’t unsee it, there have also been many photos and stories chronicling the depths and breadths of human generosity. And one of the few (only?) Boston bloggers I follow, Sweet Caroline, published a photo montage from Boston that’s really quite lovely.

  • April 19, 2013

    Guest post: Credit cards – Is the financial force with or against you?

    Y’all know I’m a big fan of credit cards (when used sensibly). Today’s post weighs up both sides of the coin – the dark and light, if you will.

    It’s not only superheroes who need to be cautioned that with great power comes great responsibility; those looking to wield the power of the plastic would be well advised to take this maxim to heart too. Credit cards have the capacity to provide the wellspring for the ultimate in spending convenience and they can just as easily coax you into a crippling state of debt. How you choose to use them is of course entirely up to you, but before you begin to wield the financial equivalent of The Force, perhaps it’s a good idea to get to grips with both the light and the dark side of these controversy courting little cards.

    Welcome to the Dark Side – The disadvantages of credit cards

    “The Dark Side of the Force is the pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” – Star Wars

    By allowing you to spend more money than you actually have, credit cards can fast fuel your descent into the dark side of debt. Letting your self-control slip when it comes to spending is what credit card firms capitalize on because this is where they make their money. The more you spend and the longer you go without repaying what you owe the more interest they will charge. It’s not uncommon for credit card firms to charge up to 20% interest on unpaid balances, which is why those careless with their credit cards can very easily find themselves on a very slippery slope that leads to ever deepening debt and if ridden long enough, even bankruptcy.

    If you do find yourself falling behind on your payments, it’s not only your bank account that will take a beating but your credit rating as well. This will make it increasingly more difficult to apply for loans, rentals or even find a good a job. It’s the kind of damage that once done is very difficult to undo.

    Budgeting can become a bit of a nightmare because the temptation to buy now and pay later can give you a false and misleading sense of security. Regardless of the balance in your current account, credit cards allow you to charge up to the maximum limit allowed – which for the undisciplined is a perfect recipe for sliding into the red.

    Over 5.5 billion dollars was fraudulently stolen from credit cards worldwide in 2012, making credit card theft and credit card fraud a very real danger. What’s more, as technology increases to grow in sophistication the problem looks set only to get worse. In many cases victims of credit card fraud don’t even realize that they’ve been stolen from until they receive their monthly statement, which makes it essential to check your monthly statement scrupulously for any additional and suspicious charges.

    Welcome to the light side – The advantages of credit cards

    Use the force, responsibly you must.

    It’s not all doom and gloom, however. If the force is strong with you and you use credit cards responsibly – by keeping track of all your purchases, sticking to your budget, paying off your end of month balance on time and in full and being vigilant over who you give your credit card information to – they offer a wealth of advantages.

    Provided you commit to paying your balance on time, credit cards make paying for purchases easy and relatively effortless. It’s also a great comfort not having to walk around like a cartel kingpin with rolls of cash stuffed down your socks every time you need to make a big purchase. Furthermore, things like booking into a hotel, reserving flights and renting cars whilst on vacation are so much easier if you have a credit card.

    Used responsibly, credit cards will help you to establish a good credit history. This will you put you in good stead when you need to achieve favorable terms on taking out a home loan, for example. If banks can see that you manage your money well and you’re dependable with your repayments they will be much more eager to extend their borrowing services to you.

    Most credit card companies offer a host of rewards in the form of points that you can redeem down the line in return for goods and services, such as airline miles or discounts at hotels. Whilst credit card point systems shouldn’t be your primary focus when opting to get a credit card, it never hurts to look into what kind of rewards they offer.

    One of the most worthwhile benefits of a credit card has to be its ability to come through in an emergency. Nothing can rival the power of the plastic in a situation where you need to make payment fast but have no cash on hand.

    Just as with any young apprentice learning the way of the force, a money master would not fail to point out that it’s never really about the card. After all, a credit card is just a tool. It is the qualities inherent in the wielder of the tool that determine whether it will be used sensibly for good, or conversely, send you off on a debt ridden path towards the dark side.

    Toby Adams is a professional copywriter based in Auckland, New Zealand, who enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics including travel, finance, health, education and much more.

  • April 18, 2013

    Credit card perks – when are they worth it?

    It’s easy to get disheartened about your finances when you’re an avid reader of personal finance blogs. Like some people might read fashion magazines and quietly compare themselves to the models they see on the pages, I read money blogs and compare myself to people who are either way behind me – the debt bloggers – or, in most cases, way ahead.

    But you know what always cheers me up? A chat with my bank.

    I remember paying a visit to my local branch years ago toward the end of high school. I probably only had about $4k in my accounts (I never cracked $10k until after graduating university), yet the teller was apparently amazed that I’d saved that much, and asked me what I was saving for.

    “Ummm, uni?” I offered, stumped.

    You work at a bank, for goodness sake. Is saving for the sake of saving really such a foreign concept?

    This month I applied for a second credit card, thinking it would be good to have a backup while we travel that can be carried separately just in case I get mugged or my wallet gets lost. The online process took just a couple of minutes, and was followed up by a call the next day with a few more questions – so you don’t have a student loan? car loan? hire purchase? store cards anywhere? – along with acknowledgement of my strong savings history. Way to boost the ego. (I’ve been with my bank for over a decade, so they’re all up in the intimate details of my financial history – which is pretty vanilla.)

    The bank rep also tried to upsell me to a Gold or Platinum Visa. Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear in my life. Say what?

    If I booked my flights with one of these premium cards, I’d get free travel insurance. Righty-o. Pity I’ve already booked both – and don’t really want to pay hefty annual fees for the privilege of a shinier credit card.

    This got me thinking, though. Putting aside the fact that I just don’t see myself as the kind of person to own a gold or platinum credit card, would it ever make sense from a financial standpoint?

    Well, at $80 to $130 a year in annual fees, I think not. In comparison, my humble standard Visa only costs $24 (bank credit cards without annual fees don’t really exist here). According to interest.co.nz, I have one of the best credit cards in regard to annual fees. Given my lifestyle and spending habits, the credit card perks of free travel insurance and the ability to earn reward points marginally faster don’t really appeal.

    My needs in a credit card are simple, really: enable me to buy stuff online, rent vehicles, provide an imprint at the odd hotel, and be widely accepted, so I can use it to pay for as many things as possible in order to rack up points. As well as the $24 a year I pay for the privilege of my bank credit card, I also pay $20 to partake in the rewards programme, which earns me more than enough to cover all the fees, as well as pay for a few trips to the movies or a few meals out.

    What, if any, perks do you get through your credit cards? And what do they cost you?

  • March 22, 2013

    Paycheque frequency: what’s your preference?

    Ever known anyone who, upon getting a new job, freaked out after finding out the company works on a monthly pay cycle?

    I get that budgeting is a deeply personal thing and managing your finances when money is coming in on a relatively infrequent basis can be tough. It seems that as a rule, most of us would prefer to be paid more frequently (in smaller amounts, obviously) whenever possible.

    At a previous job, one colleague learned that most of us were getting paid on a fortnightly basis, and after finding out, tried to negotiate with HR to get on the same cycle. Given that this was months and months after said colleague had joined the company, the answer was unsurprisingly no (if you’ve coped that long, you can keep coping!). I’m not sure how this works as a general rule – most companies, especially smaller ones, operate on one single pay frequency, but this particular organisation had a lot of unionised employees and as a result, pay cycles for different staff ranged from weekly to fortnightly to monthly.

    I’ve been paid on pretty much every kind of cycle there is over the years (including monthly in arrears for mystery shopping assignments – always fun) and I’m pretty confident I could cope with any pay frequency today.

    Here’s a little rundown of my pay vs rent (my biggest expense) history

    • Weekly pay / weekly rent
    • Fortnightly pay / weekly rent
    • Fortnightly pay / fortnightly rent (on opposite weeks!)
    • Monthly pay / fortnightly rent
    • Monthly pay/ weekly rent

    Every new adjustment took a little bit of work. But eventually, I got used to it and made it work, largely because I like to operate on a weekly cycle. Even when rent wasn’t weekly, groceries, petrol, etc still were. Every pay day I transfer my money into my savings account, then transfer out money in weekly increments to cover that week’s outgoings. (And because rent is pretty much never paid monthly by anyone in New Zealand, I don’t get these ‘bonus’ paycheques in the two five-week months of the year that you Americans always go on about. Sadface.)

    If I had the choice, I honestly don’t know what my preference would be today. Ideally, I guess it would be one that matched up with my rent payments – aligning your income with your biggest expense is always handy.

    How often do you get paid?

  • March 13, 2013

    Food delivered to your door – what’s not to like?

    While I groan every week when grocery shopping time rolls around, I actually kind of enjoy taking my time to browse through the pickings and selecting stuff myself, especially fresh produce. And although it’s a pain, making an extra stop to take advantage of the crazy cheap Asian markets is always worth it (of which there are many in my neighbourhood). That’s why I’ve always shunned online grocery shopping and home food delivery services.

    But after the launch of My Food Bag, fronted by MasterChef’s Nadia Lim , I’ve been rethinking that stance.

    Background: My Food Bag provides delivery of ingredients and recipes for 5 dinners to your door. I don’t think My Food Bag is for me at this stage; it only has two options: a gourmet option for couples at $139 a week (which is just over our entire weekly grocery budget) and a ‘classic’ option for families of four at $179. Side note: I’m pretty sure we will never be able to afford to procreate. I have also now had the chance to try My Food Bag for a week, and while it’s delicious and awesome, it’s far too expensive for us. Definitely a premium service.

    But what about veggie and fruit delivery boxes? Would that make life easier and help during those food ruts we all fall into?

    Some fruit delivery box services in Auckland include:

    Ooooby: Has about eight different kinds of fruit/veggie boxes. The one we’d probably use would be the $28 original box with five veggies and three fruits

    Produce Delivered: Has about four types of packs. We’d probably use the couples pack, which is $30

    Foodbox: Does about five varieties. We’d probably use the Appetiser, which is $33




    My thoughts in response:

    • I am incredibly, INCREDIBLY picky about fruit. I eat citrus, apples, bananas, berries, kiwifruit, and melons. That’s about it. Most places allow you to veto certain items, though, which probably eliminates that problem.
    • They all sound slightly on the pricey side. I would say we generally spend less than that (the bulk of our grocery budget consists of non-produce, like bread, eggs, cereal, dairy, meat, snacks). But maybe these actually offer quite a lot of vegetables (we definitely don’t buy/eat as many as we could).

    Conclusion: Still undecided. Maybe it’s worth a shot – try everything once, right?

    Do you use food delivery services? What have your experiences with fruit boxes been like?

  • March 11, 2013

    Carnival of Personal Finance #401: March madness

    Why hello there!

    It’s fitting that I’m hosting the carnival of personal finance today, given we’ve just come off a week of thinking and talking about nothing else except money (Women’s Money Week, holler!)

    Before we get stuck in, I’m going to have a little rant.

    There’s a finance company that’s just started advertising here on TV. Every ad follows the same scenario: person calls up company in a tizzy because s/he has just blown tons of $$$ on gifts for a spouse / desperately needs to install a swimming pool / some other inane and irresponsible excuse for needing cash. Company rep on the other end delivers the good news: person is approved for finance and cash is coming right their way. Huzzah!

    Madness. That’s all I have to say about that.

    While we’re on the subject, I got pitched a a business-related infographic last month at work, one that wasn’t amazing, but was mildly interesting. I checked out the source, and did a double take when I saw it had come from one of a new crop of local payday loan sites. Cue instant dismissal and deletion.

    I get it. It’s a hard sell to market these kinds of loans, and content creation is where it’s at these days. But credibility matters, and some things you just can’t overcome. (I can add payday loan providers/other financial predators to the list of places I would never consider working, not just because it would be so freaking hard, but from a moral POV.) Many people are just not going to even consider endorsing you in any way whatsoever. For bloggers who do, though, there must be plenty of money in it. I personally find it amusing to see how those kinds of sponsored posts have evolved – they’ve moved into more sophisticated placements, woven almost naturally into posts about other topics, and in one case I saw, even snarking on them editorially.

    Meanwhile, the PF madness/excitement continues elsewhere, with the US sequester, the continuing fallout from some blogging plagiarism, and a Twitter stoush or two this week.

    Editor’s picks

    This is a carnival all about money talk, after all so MD from Start Freelancing Now’s Freaking Crucial Tools That Every Freelancer Needs to Make Money & Stay Focused gets my first nod.

    Investor Junkie from Investor Junkie asks Will You Still Need an Emergency Fund When You Retire? Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it, but the obvious answer seems to be ‘yes’ – being retired doesn’t exclude you from potential emergencies…

    Jon from Novel Investor lists the Best Investment Books Every Investor Must Read. Go forth, expand your mind.

    Revanche from A Gai Shan Life reckons Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and that it’s about making the best of our individual situations. We can only play the hand of cards we’ve each been dealt in life.

    Ray from Squirrelers says Check for Money Leaks, as money leaks can drain us before we know it. Don’t I know it! Plug ’em up good.

    Mrs PoP from Planting Our Pennies asks What’s An Appropriate Level of Stockpiling? Indeed, it’s a fine line between hoarding and stockpiling. We don’t have the room to stockpile, but my hoarding tendencies mean I have a lot of useless crap lying around that’s accumulated over the years.

    Budgeting

    Madness: the cost of the average wedding. Don’t want to spend a couple of months’ salary on a wedding venue? Me neither. Here’s Lance from Money Life and More on Finding a Frugal Venue for Wedding Ceremonies and Receptions

    Madness: those who don’t get that pets, like kids, are a responsibility. Wish more people would take heed of this. TTMK from Tie the Money Knot presents Don’t Buy a Pet if You Can’t Afford One

    Madness: sacrificing health for money. Does being on a budget mean eating crap? Didn’t think so. Amy from Money Mishaps suggests Economical Foods You Can Eat to Stay Healthy While on a Budget

    Madness: the cost of sporting activities. Kiddie extracurriculars don’t come cheap. Jason Price from Family Living Finance presents How Can You Afford the High Cost of Youth Sports?

    Madness: the cost of house renos. Considering buying a new house vs renovating? Sean from One Smart Dollar weighs up Affording a Major Home Makeover

    Madness: compulsive clothes shopping. What’s up with that? Nicole from Nicole and Maggie: Grumpy Rumblings  doesn’t get regular clothes shopping

    Credit

    Madness: blind hatred of credit cards. It’s all about how you use them. Jules Wilson from Faithful With a Few confesses I Hate To Say This, But I Was Saved By A CREDIT CARD

    Madness: the importance of three measly digits. Everything you ever wanted to know about that all important number. Gary from Gajizmo.com presents What Is Considered A Good Credit Score?

    Economy

    Madness: the wealth equality gap. I’ve never earned the minimum wage (my first job paid nearly $1 over) but plenty of people have to get by on it. Michael from Financial Ramblings presents Who Works for Minimum Wage?

    Frugality

    Madness: taxes, fees and all the other costs travel providers like to slap you with. Hidden fees can be a real budget buster. Kristen from My Dollar Plan outlines 11 Hidden Hotel Fees and How to Avoid Them,

    Madness: growing up without any concept of the value of money. Start ’em young! Bryan from BryanMaltier.com explains How To Teach Kids About Money

    Madness: ruining bread. It’s summer here, so unfortunately this just doesn’t work for me right now: Money Beagle from Money Beagle says Get That Bread Out Of Your Refrigerator

    Real Estate

    Madness: mortgage rates. I DREAM of a 30 year fixed mortgage option. You guys don’t know how lucky you are. PK from Don’t Quit Your Day Job… on The Curious Case of The 30-Year Mortgage Rate

    Madness: excessive procrastination. The key to getting started is … getting started. Michal from Dough Roller presents How to Start Your Real Estate Investing Journey: A 5 Step Plan

    Money Management

    Madness: there’s an app for everything. The internet is a wonderful thing, no? Peter from Bible Money Matters suggests the Top Online Personal Finance Management Software to Get Your Budget Back on Track

    Madness: it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. How do you turn a struggling business into a cash cow? Bob from Dwindling Debt presents Turning Distressed Credit Into Financial Gain

    Investing

    Madness: you need money to make money. Buffett: killing it in the market since … how old is he, anyway? Dividend Growth Investor from Dividend Growth Investor presents Warren Buffett on Dividends: Ideas from his 2013 Letter to Shareholders

    Madness: financial jargon. Eric from Narrow Bridge Finance explains What is a Stock Split?

    Madness: we’re drowning in data. Financial information – it’s everywhere you look. But what does it all mean? D4L from Dividend Growth Stocks lists 6 High-Dividend, Low P/E Value Stocks

    Madness: the stock market. Are we finally on the road to recovery? Darwin from Darwin’s Money on Why Stocks Are Breaking Records and it’s Not a Bubble

    Madness: betting on beating the market every single time. Nonetheless, let’s all gaze into our crystal balls, preferably channelling Nate Silver rather than Sybil Trelawney. Div Guy from The Dividend Guy Blog reveals The Sector that Will Beat the Market in 2013

    Madness: getting too complacent. Are your yields safe right now? Do you even have any? Pete from Intelligent Speculator presents What Makes A Dividend Yield Safe?

    Madness: more jingoistic jargon. Almost read this as Aristocats, which would have been way cooler. Glen Craig from Free From Broke presents What Are Dividend Aristocrats and What You Need to Know About Them

    Madness: how far a giant can fall. My first ever cellphone was a Nokia. Ah, nostalgia. But is the Finnish company on the way back? Sean Smarty from Grow Money presents 5 Reasons to Invest in Nokia

    Career

    Madness: the dearth of worthwhile opportunities on the internet. That said, there are more ways to make a buck beyond answering poxy online surveys. Shaun from Money Cactus shares 6 Ways to Earn Money Online Starting Right Now

    Madness: but if the government was to shut down … Pat S outlines How Military Members Can Survive a Government Shutdown

    Madness: the amount of unpaid work we do every day. Is there money to be made in catering? Mike from The Financial Blogger ponders How You Can Make Money From What You Do Every day For Free

    Madness: the majority of new ventures that fail. Don’t rush in blindly. Sam from The New Business Blog suggests Tips to Improve Your Odds of Small Business Success

    Debt

    Madness: taking one step back for every two forward. Trying to get ahead, but feel like you’re always falling behind? Matt Bell from Sound Mind Investing presents Swimming Upstream in Our Consumer Culture,

    Madness: education inflation. Are student loans the next subprime mortgages? John from Card Hub Blog presents Ask the Experts: How to Fix the Private Student Loan Market

    Saving

    Madness: ignoring the humble emergency fund. Where do you keep yours? My Journey to Financial Independence presents All About the Emergency Fund

    Taxes

    Madness: missing important dates, be it your anniversary or your next medical appointment. Know your deadlines! Philip from PT Money presents Last Day to File Taxes in 2013

    Madness: taxes, the pillar of capitalism. Tax cuts produce economic success. Right? Well, maybe not. Michael from Financial Ramblings presents The Economic Impact of Income Taxes

    Madness: thinking ignorance is bliss. Finally, we can’t forget about the kidlets. Big Cajun Man from THE Canadian Finance Blog explains When to File a Tax Return for Your Kids

    One last word: I hate to be the carni-Nazi, but folks. This is the ORIGINAL personal finance blog carnival. Read the guidelines and respect ’em, please. Don’t spam it with stuff you’ve already sent to every other carnival out there. This is for exclusive and recent posts. While I’ve done my best to filter out posts I saw in other blog carnivals published earlier today, I may not have caught them all.

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