February 10, 2013

Link love (Powered by hard talk and apple pie)

I have money on the brain. (Might that be because money was a source of stress this week? Quite likely.)

So, I present to you my favourite money quotes this week, all courtesy of Jen Dziura.

Money is not proportional to effort. It is related to where you put the effort. I cannot emphasize this point enough. Some people empty city trash cans all day long. I’m sure it is very hard work, and yet it pays very poorly. Working harder at emptying trash cans will not improve the situation.
You can dedicate all your efforts to making the most money with the least effort. Then, give a lot of effort. You will make a lot of money. This is what 80% of dudes are doing. And maybe 15% of women. I think a lot of women feel unnecessarily guilty for making (or trying to make) more money than they think they “deserve.” Money is a point system and a game that has a limited correlation to effort and value.
One good way to make the most money with the least effort is to go where very rich people are, and make their lives better or easier. You can be paid very handsomely for this.
Money solves 90% of problems and gives you time to think about the other 10% of existential quandaries.

On a happier note, it’s fun to look back on posts from years gone by!

Blast from the past

One year ago I fondly recounted my blogging history, used Tom and Lynette to discuss power plays in relationships and listed five of my food favourites in Auckland.

Two years ago I talked about dealing with a partner’s debt and waiting for your world to change.

2010 was a bit of a bust, but back in 2009 I did weigh up the benefits of living alone vs living with others. (We haven’t had flatmates now for nearly 3 years, so…)

And for the rest of the links…

WORK/CAREER

Here’s the Make a Living Writing guide to getting started as a freelance writer

Jess Lively recounts her business school experience, the good and the bad

For a laugh: the 7 worst jobs according to Yes I Am Cheap

Should you let your teenage daughter become a model? Isaac Likes has the answer

LIFE
Gen Y Girl reminds us that small changes can have big results

Makeup and Mirtazapine on dealing with friends going through tough times

I also loved Love Addict’s post on the things she isn’t afraid of

FOOD
Beef roast! Via Condiments on a City Life

A warming chorizo salad from Wandering Food Lover

My Pretty Pennies dishes up a quick cucumber salad

Still on a salad roll: Smitten Kitchen’s celery and dijon egg salad

A haul of 15 Chinese New Year recipes at Closet Cooking.

Also, a shout out to Savvy Scot, who’s hosting a whopping £300 giveaway! Though I’m mentioning it here on the blog, it’s because I want extra chances to win. So you should definitely NOT enter 😉

February 9, 2013

Same old same old money arguments

Ever feel like you’ve having the same arguments in your relationships? Over and over and over again?

While we can all learn better habits and sometimes refine certain characteristics, at the core I don’t think people really change. I know which of my quirks that get up T’s nose, and I (sort of) try to minimise them. I’ve resigned myself to his, though I still try to ‘improve’ him from time to time.

What is it they say – relationships usually split over religion, sex, or money? For us, it’s the latter that’s most contentious.

This week has not been a good one. It dragged up an old debate that underpins our biggest conflict. Namely, that T is a lot better with money than he used to be, but ultimately he’s a spender, and he’s not into delayed gratification.

Financially, I’m on the losing end of this relationship. I also accept that I always have to be the CFO, and yes, the mean one. It is a struggle, but I’m okay with being the one responsible for maintaining balance.

But every so often, when I put down the stern/depressing word after we/he are slipping, he goes into a funk of the ‘I’m not good enough/I hold you back and it never changes’ variety. Of course – if you keep doing things the same way, you’re going to get the same results.

I know what I’m working with here and I am willing to work around it. But from where I’m standing, I need him to help me out and do his part.

What’s your eternal relationship conflict, if you’re willing to share?

February 6, 2013

Does pay-what-you-want really work?

As a business model, it’s apparently a more successful technique than you might think.

When I switched to self-hosting recently, Akismet wasn’t automatically enabled on my new blog. I had to go register on its site to get a key, and decide how much, if anything, I wanted to pay for it. I think the wording on the page was ‘what is Akismet worth to you’? There was a bar on a sliding spectrum, which defaulted to somewhere in the middle (something like $36). As I dragged it down to $0, I felt a slight twinge of guilt. But the pang didn’t last long, given that I was used to having it for free already.

There’ll always be customers who abuse privileges. But apparently at restaurants that offer pay-what-you-want, a lot of people willingly pay more than the recommended price. (That makes up for the other who don’t fork out for the full amount.) After all, nobody wants to look like a cheapskate.

I can’t say I’ve ever visited one of these restaurants – if anyone knows of one in Auckland, holler! – but I definitely would be too embarrassed to pay much less than I thought it was worth. (That said, I do think restaurant food is often heinously overpriced and that our portion sizes are way too stingy.)

I did, however, head along to one of the night shows at the recent International Buskers Festival, which I think ran for about 2.5 hours, though we only caught the last hour. They put on quite a strong sales pitch right at the end, reminding us that our tips would be split between all the acts ($20 per person would be a good contribution, I believe they suggested) and that an equivalent ticketed show would cost about $100; after all, some of the things we saw were really amazing – tricks with bikes, pogo sticks, incredible balancing stunts, fire whips, sword swallowing, and more. Predictably, most of the crowd gapped it pretty quickly straight after the last performer. It was a strong reminder of how we value – or don’t value – what we don’t pay for. Thing is, I doubt many of us would have paid to go see these street acts otherwise. I know I wouldn’t have, and I’m thankful to Auckland City for organising the public show for the 13th year. FYI, all I had was a few dollars in change, so I certainly didn’t stump up $20 myself.

Ever been to a place that offers pay-what-you-will? How would you handle it?

February 2, 2013

Guest post: How lump sum payments can get you out of debt fast

This is a post by Katie, who writes for numerous daily news websites and blogs about personal finance and saving money. For more information on dealing with debt and advice on saving money, Katie recommends visiting the Fox Symes blog.

Debt is one of those things in life that you know you’d simply be better off without, so if it’s already looming over your head you’re probably wishing there was a faster and more effective way to get rid of it. Lump sum payments are a beneficial approach to clearing debt faster – here’s how it works.

Reducing the Term

By paying lump sum payments you’ll be reducing the time it takes you to pay off your debt. The larger the lump sum amount, the smaller the remaining debt, so each time you make a lump sum repayment you’re taking time off your loan, not just money.

Reducing Interest

The interest on a loan is calculated based on the remaining amount. Each time you make a lump sum payment you’re reducing the remaining amount and, therefore, reducing the calculated interest. This means you’re actually reducing the amount of interest you’ll be paying overall, and consequently shrinking the end amount you’ll have paid.

Earning Interest vs Paying Interest

Saving all of your money rather than using at least a portion of it to make lump sum payments on your debts is usually the less favourable option in terms of interest. In most cases, the interest you’ll be earning by keeping the money in a savings account will be much less than the interest you’re being charged on your debts. It may be tempting to hold on to the money in savings, but it’s costing you much more to keep it.

Removing the Temptation to Spend

By paying lump sum amounts on your loan you’re removing the temptation to spend that money on other things. Once it’s been paid back to your debtor you can’t spend it, so it’s getting you out of debt rather than helping keep you there.

Beating the Interest Free Periods

It’s particularly beneficial to pay in lump sum amounts if your debt relates to a credit card, loan or purchase boasting an interest free period. Generally this is a tactic to draw in customers who are often unprepared for the high interest once this interest free period expires. By paying off your debt in lump sum before the interest free period is up, you could be saving yourself a huge amount in interest and fees, and paying much less overall for your purchases.

Debt Consolidation

Taking out a loan for debt is another way of paying off owed amounts in lump sum. Through debt consolidation all of your smaller personal debts are paid off by a new loan. If your loan for debt is through a reputable provider like Fox Symes, for example, ideally you will be able to benefit from a lower interest rate and perhaps more favourable terms.

Voluntary Repayment Bonus

If your debt is a student loan, the Australian government offers a voluntary repayment bonus for students and/or graduates making lump sum payments on their HECS-HELP loans. This means a bonus of 5% is offered for repayments of $500 or more, credit 5% of the payment back to the student’s account. This is a great way to clear your student debt much faster and reduce the end amount paid. (Ed: The IRD offers a 10% bonus on extra voluntary repayments you make on your NZ student loan.)

It’s pretty simple really; the more you pay, the less you owe. Lump sum payments are the best way to manage debt, and while you may feel the sting of larger payments now they’ll save you much more money in the long run.

January 30, 2013

My fear of commitment

Confession: I have a fear of commitment.

I refuse to commit to consumer contracts. I chose Orcon as our ISP partly for the prices and partly because they had no 12-month fixed term minimum contracts. Until I got a work phone, I was always on prepay, partly for the prices, and partly because there were no contracts involved.

I reluctantly committed to a contract with Sky TV at the boy’s request, and to a fixed lease on this house because it’s getting increasingly hard to rent anywhere on an open-ended basis.

My fear of commitment extends to, well, almost everything. I was a somewhat lax attender of quiz night with colleagues at my old job. At work, several sports teams have been formed, but even if any were sports I enjoy (which are few and far between) I balk at the thought of committing one evening a week to organised ongoing activity.

I haven’t committed to any regular organised extracurriculars since high school.

It’s also a factor in the rest of my life. This house is temporary. I don’t care about decor. I like white walls. I don’t give two figs about having Young House Love-esque surroundings. I genuinely don’t understand why people paint accent walls – or why anyone would want a purple, green, or yellow room.

But you know one thing I would like? Decent appliances – a fridge, a washing machine – and cookware.

I don’t want to commit to nice things until we buy a house of our own. Moving is a pain, and flatmates have wrecked too many of my belongings in the past (we live alone now but who knows what the future will bring).

But it would be amazing to have a decent frypan, a fridge that doesn’t freeze all vegetables within it, a freezer that’s not 40% icicles, and a washing machine that doesn’t sound like it’s about to explode on the spin cycle and works in cold water mode.

January 28, 2013

Three reasons why I want to buy a house (and reasons why I won’t)

Settling down/making it your own

I don’t give two hoots about decorating, but I would dearly love to settle in with permanent furniture, appliances, and most of all, insulation. Sadly, this is the exception rather than the norm in NZ houses. I’d be happy to pay to insulate my own home, but not while renting. In the meantime, we suffer on…

T also wants a dog something chronic. I’m not an animal person AT ALL, so renting has been a good way to shut that down. But I’m willing to compromise when we have a place on our own, particularly if there’s any security benefit to be had (we’ve been burgled too many times).

Putting money into your own pocket

I don’t see property as an investment, nor do I believe rent is dead money. But given housing is our biggest expense, it sure would be nice to be funneling that into an asset of our own – and mortgage rates right now are reasonably low, with home loans in the 5% bracket.

I don’t want to be renting when we have a family

Kids are in the 5-10 year plan. Still a while away, but wouldn’t you want to enjoy your first house for a while before they arrive? And with us getting married this year, this is only intensified. I always thought I’d get married closer to 30 and we’d be in a position to buy a house straight after, but things won’t be happening that way.

Alas, buying a house is not on the cards right now. Why not? Let me count the ways…

The moolah factor

Houses in Auckland are pricey. (For New Zealand as a whole, the median household income is just shy of $80,000 and the median house price is $389,000 – in Auckland, that would be barely entry level. Affordability as judged by the house-price-to-income ratio is nearly 5x, more so for Auckland average house prices – over $600,000 for the city area and $450,000 for the western suburbs, where we’d probably be forced out to.) We definitely don’t have anywhere near enough for a down payment yet. And let’s not get started on property rates, or the fact that we would have to buy a house further out, forcing us to get a second car. $$$$$$ all over the show. It’s a huge financial undertaking we’re just not equipped to make right now.

Flexibility is key right now

We might want to move away for a while or go travelling. T is still figuring out a career. Basically, it’s still too early to settle down and commit to a mortgage.

How stable are our jobs anyway?

T is an hourly worker and his income often varies. And working in publishing, I can’t say I’ll ever really feel secure in my job.

What, if anything, is holding you back from buying a place? Or if you own your own house, how did you know it was time?

January 19, 2013

Link love (Powered by the Chilis and real chili)

My concert-going life is now complete – I’ve ticked off every single band I wanted to see live, and more.

Also, I’m getting too old for that shit. Big gigs are patience-testing and sanity-trying. The sheer number of absolute knobs who attend, and the extent of their douchebaggery, is astounding. It’s like the capacity for human jerkiness is never-ending, yet never fails to amaze me. I realise that by going general admission, you’re opening yourself up to potential injury on the floor, and I accept my personal space is going to be invaded and I’ll have my feet stood on/my face elbowed/my every side bumped from overzealous hop-n-jumpers. That tubby little teenage girls are going to inexplicably park their barely covered asses in front of me. That there’s always a circle of young idiot guys (the kind who scrawl the band name across their back with marker pen and then take their shirts off once in the crowd) who think it’s their God-given duty to expand their circle and smash into everyone around them. As a slight person, I’m not in much of a position to do anything about it, except wield my insanely bony elbows where I can. With T, I have, quite literally, an immovable rock behind me, luckily. And beware anyone who irritates him (his tolerance is non-existent, when he’s not the one moshing with friends, which led to a couple of tense moments).

We spent the first half of the show in the middle, about a third of the way back. Eventually, we moved further back and out to the side, where not only were we away from all the jerks, and I had room to actually move, dance, and jump, BUT I HAD A BETTER FREAKING VIEW. As I say, my concert-going life is now complete, but if I go to a show again, I’m more than happy to chill out on the outskirts.

I went to my first big live gig in 2010 (not counting the Big Day Out I worked at in, oh, 2008?). Between then and now, I’ve now been to three music festivals – another BDO, Homegrown and Coro Gold – and I think another six concerts, Paramore, Metallica, the Foos, Incubus, Coldplay and of course now the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I paid for all of those but one, and as concert tickets average around $150, if not more, that’s nearly $1500 (and you can basically double that as T came to almost all of those). I also have to spew vitriol at the fact parking last night was jacked up to $15, nearly double the usual rate. Sigh.

In other, more financial news:

T is STILL waiting for his tax refund from the IRD. Apparently it was paid to his bank account, as it was last year, but hasn’t gone through for some reason. So…it’s stuck in some banking no-man’s-land, and who knows who, when, or how we can put an end to the stalemate.

Also, he’s in charge of a stag do (bachelor party) for a friend in the next few weeks. Ouch. I said even though he’s organising this one, he can’t spend as much as he spent on attending the last one (for a different person) – an entire weekend of poorly organised activities that ran each person into the hundreds of dollars.

ALSO, we may have to pay for suits for his groomsmen for our wedding. Apparently, not all of them will necessarily have suits they can wear. It will probably work out cheaper to hire them, but we’ll see.

To the links…

I was in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance!

And Lifestyle Carnival!

Here’s Budget and the Beach on changing your outlook and choosing happiness

Anyone who reads Study Hacks’ Cal Newport will know the concept of passion following competency. Similarly, Afford Anything argues that passion rarely precedes action – do the work and the muse will follow

Straight talk on dream jobs over at Ask A Manager

Young Adult Money shares five lessons learned from freelancing

What it’s really like to organise a conference, by Kommein

Budgets are Sexy reminds us that we’re ALL good at something

A bit of a job searching guide from Grace Boyle

Money After Graduation’s most expensive hobby is FOMO (hell yes)

Mmm. The best foods from around the world, via Untemplater

Finally, Financial Samurai reminds us all of the importance of dreams

January 10, 2013

Why your website should have a price list

In researching stuff for wedding planning/articles I’m writing, I’ve been stymied, more often than not, by businesses that offer no indication of pricing on their websites. It’s been frustrating, to put it mildly.

The case for putting a pricing page on your website

It minimises the risk of wasting time, be it yours or a client’s.

When you don’t post a price list, punters don’t know what field you’re playing on. Are you budget? Are you mid-range? Or are you premium?

All we then have to go on is the coherence of your writing, the design aesthetic of your website, and other indicators (that a non-specialist may or may not judge correctly). And as we all know, a slick website is not an indicator of quality in the 21st century.

But every project is different!

I get that in many cases it’s very much an individual thing and it’s hard to quote on something sight unseen (although with some things, like venue hire, surely there is a more or less fixed price that is the default minimum and won’t change all that much, except perhaps for time slots when demand is higher. If you provide photography or videography, there is surely an hourly rate you won’t go below, or a package that is the absolute floor in terms of price point).

But if it’s at all possible to even indicate a wide price range, that would be helpful for so many people. There’s nothing more frustrating than emailing for more information when you have no idea what ballpark companies are playing in, only to receive an ulcer-inducing quote back.

But if I put prices on my website, people will be scared off!

Yes, being upfront about your price bands will scare some off – but odds are they were not going to be able to afford you anyway. A price list simply saves everyone some time.

But updating the website to reflect price changes is a pain!

If you’re having to adjust your prices more than, say, once or twice a year tops, that’s probably a warning sign. And if even doing that is technically difficult for you, consider taking a closer look at how your website is run.

Put a price tag on it!

Do you feel the same way? Freelancers/business owners, what’s your philosophy on revealing pricing?

January 7, 2013

The elements of a perfect bank

I’ve been with my bank for about 10 years, ever since I paid a visit to the branch down the road from my house and opened up my first account on my own. Most of my friends were also with ASB, and are to this day.

Inertia is what keeps most people where they are. It’s a pain to make changes in your financials, and changing banks is a pretty major undertaking. It seems too hard, too complicated, too time-consuming.

But for me, it’s more than that. I can’t say my bank has ever really rewarded me for loyalty (after all, I’m small fry) but I genuinely think ASB is truly innovative and hands down has the best internet banking facility out there. Given how I like to manage my finances, this is top of the list for me. I’ve seen National, ANZ, Kiwibank and BNZ internet banking in action (albeit, some of them not for a couple of years now) and ASB has always been way ahead of the curves feature-wise.

I’ve had the opportunity to give direct feedback in the past through a one-on-one market research session, and the one feature that I really wanted turned out to be something lots of others had requested, and was implemented by popular demand. A company that listens to customers is a rarer beast than it really should be. And a preview of new features in the mobile app (now out) definitely cemented that – the integration with TradeMe is a stroke of genius. Anyone who’s ever used TradeMe to buy anything (which is most of the adult New Zealand population…) knows what a pain organising payment can be (unless it’s a bigger seller that accepts Visa). Linking in with TradeMe’s API to facilitate easy transactions eliminates most of that hassle.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my setup – no monthly fees, a high interest online savings account, a Visa with low fees and a rewards programme. Even better would be a no-fee card, but I’ve yet to find one of those in New Zealand. The only reason I might anticipate changing in the future is at the home-buying stage if another bank has a better deal on a mortgage.

What is it that keeps you loyal to your bank? Would you change banks for a better offer?

January 4, 2013

Summer, how I adore thee (though not the associated costs)

PSA: I did a spot of blog housekeeping yesterday, which may have caused a bunch of old posts to resurface in your RSS feed. Thanks for your patience!

As a Southern Hemisphere blogger, it’s hard watching basically everyone else bask in the sun through June, July and August and posting up delicious seasonal recipes.

NOW MY TIME HAS COME.

Mwahah.

Yes. Polished toes and regularly shaved pits are back in my life. So are other things … I’ve never done an explicit analysis, but I suspect summer is more expensive than winter. In winter, we hole up at home, put Sky Movies back on our package, cook plenty of root veges and beans and mince, and rarely go out to eat.

Summer means:

Fruit. Scrumptious, juicy melons and berries and grapes. Fruit that is almost all water, and therefore not filling or cost-effective at all, but so good on the palate.

Sunblock. ‘Nuff said. I’ve just discovered that the massive bottle we keep in the glovebox has expired and the one other tube we have (which I’m positive we bought on our trip to Waiheke back in 2010) has no best before date, which is probably a sign I should assume it’s no longer good.

Bug repellent. The critters flock to me like sand to the crevasses between your toes. Also, bug spray for inside the house. Oh, and anti-itch, anti-histamine type creams to dull the fiery itch post-bite.

Burning up the petrol. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s filling up the car. But it’s worth it for a good day trip.

Contacts. I haven’t worn ’em in a year, but if we’re going to have a proper summer, it’s time they returned. Also, I need a pair for the wedding.

Higher power bills. Weirdly, T used the fan so much last summer that our electricity use actually fell once winter came around. At least we’ll save on oven usage – who wants to slave over a hot oven when it’s 20 degrees or more? Plus, I’ve been in a serious baking rut anyway. Those ingredients add up – chocolate, coconut, flavoured essences etc. I haven’t bought flour or sugar in months. You’ll probably spend more on gas for the BBQ, but if you have a gas heater for winter, it probably evens out.