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Goals Update – July

Every month, I like to check in with the ‘New years goals‘ I set.

Financial

$20k $26k target by 22 Dec: ah, maybe this will need to be adjusted again with the move.  I’ll leave it for now, and see how things settke
June: $17,938.69
July: $18,035.56 (+$96.87 thanks to moving costs :()

12 in 2 Adventures: failed: not done any adventures, working on the two long term ones, and no adding to savings
June: $898.81
July: $749.93 (how’d that go down?)

Grocery spend

I thought I’d add a quick update, seeing my July challenge was no eating out, I figured my grocery spend would go up.  It hasn’t, it’s about the same.  Although, I probably ate at the bf’s more this month, so that might be why?

Volunteering hours
Tue 2nd: 4.25hrs at the co-op
Sun 7: 1hr at church
Sun 14: 2hrs at church

Health

Cook at home twice a week: definitely achieved with my ‘no eating out’ month, but records are patchy!

week 1 –
Leek tart(Mon)
Coop food provided (Tue)
Wedding meal (Sat)
no more records?

week 2 –
no record for the rest of this week, except:
Multi course birthday dinner (Sat)
Chinese roast beef with vegies (Sun)

week 3 –
Another forgetful week!
Dinner @ parents (Sat)
Pizzas (ready made from grocery store) (Sun)

week 4 –
Gnocchi with tomatoes (Mon)
Sweet potato chips (Tue)
Fried Rice (Wed)
Sushi (Thu) <- yes bought out
snacks/leftovers (Fri)
Macaroni & cheese (Sat)
Spaghetti bolognese (Sun)

Week 5
Quesadillas (Mon)
Leftovers from Mon (Tue)
Beef with rice noodles (Wed)

Sugar – so so, not commited like I have been, but not entirely a free for all
It started well, but ended poorly, with lots of cakes at work, including me trying a gluten free sponge recipe, making a GF chocolate cake, using a packet mix for brownies (just to use it up). I also made a vegan cheesecake with dates and a touch of sugar. Then I also ate dessert at the fancy friend’s b’day dinner, and we bought ice creams in the past week. Sigh!

Train for polo – Training to run a half marathon: just platueaing! Something I want to achievely work on once I’m settle in my new home
2nd – couldn’t run 3kms to Co-op, so mainly walked with some jogging stints
9th – home to co-op, 2.93kms with some running
12th – 1.23km walk to the bf’s work
13th – 2.83km jog with hills around the bfs, with running
15th – 4.8km run back from dancing, some walking
22nd – 4.4km est, home to pole dancing, more walking than running
23rd – 4.3km mostly walking to/from hair dresser
29th – 1.53km jog/walk to appt

Cultural

2 films a month: failed (though did see two DVDs)
I can hardly believe I’ve not seen a movie in a cinema in a month – that is SO unlike me. I did mention to the BF that perhaps we could see something last night. I did watch two DVDs recently, one based on the IRA (slow burner, not really recommended). The other one was called The Factory and was better than I expected – it stars John Cusack and Jennifer Carpenter (from Dexter), and follows serial abductions of prostitutes, until John Cusack’s daughter also get abducted. There’s an awesome twist too!

2 books a month: achieved
I read Bottlemania, which you can read the review of here. Other than that, I finished The Heart Broke In by James Meek, and here’s my review (gosh that seems like a long time ago I read that!). Lastly, I’ve started on a book about called Nice Girl by R.j. Chin about Keli Lane. Keli Lane has been convicted of murder of her second child, who disappeared after an informal adoption. This is one of three children she had in secret, the other two being formally adopted. Her fourth child lives with her. This story is compelling to me, because… Keli was my boss at the school she was employed at during the years much of this drama happened! She was an Olympic water polo hopeful, and recruited me as a casual coach at her school. She left suddenly during my time working at the school. Based on the half of the book I’ve read, most people who knew her, myself included, do not believe she killed her baby. I think it’s rotten you can be convicted of murder when there’s no proof of murder. I’m sure there’s crimes committed, but murder is certainly not one of them! Here’s some more background in wikipedia

Social

Call/connect with an out of town friend: achieved
YES! A friend I made in Paris, who at the time lived in Wollongong, has been in Sydney since Feb. So I finally had her around for a cuppa, before moving out of my place. I also spoke to a number of school friends with the bad news of a friend’s death. Lastly, I semi spammed my nearest and dearest (but not local) with the link to my new house, so they could ooo and ahhh… So all round, a great month on social connections.

Career

Certification: minimal progress

Seriously, other than three hours spent at talks for continuing professional development (I need 150 hours).  I booked into a pricey course to get another 16 hours.  I’ve also been meeting with both my mentors, I’ve really not moved forward with this one as much as I could have. I need to set some time to get onto this and get it DONE!

Looking for next role: achieved, will remove from goals list

I’m in the new role, and I’m swamped. Let’s say I was under utilised in the last role, and now I hardly can think straight! But I love being busy, just perhaps not at the same time as moving house!!

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Smile for you close up!

Wow… This was meant to publish last week (Thu 25 July), but it seems all the other changes, I failed to get it to publish! Thanks to everything else going on in my life, I’ve not been meticulously planning content, and preparing photos.  That’s not to say photos haven’t been taken of my new place though 😀

Moving plans

Here’s how things are tracking

  • My place has had it’s professional photos taken (so it’s even more perfect that how you usually see it… No tea towels!  No hand towels! No soap by the sink!)
Kitchen
Kitchen
Living room
Living room
  • The ad will go up today last Thursday (so excited to see it!)
  • My open time is booked in (10am last Saturday)
Bathroom (evidently not cleaned :s)
Bathroom (evidently not cleaned :s)
  • I’ll pick up the spare keys from my parents Wednesday afternoon (as I’m out that way for a meeting today) & drop them to the agent
  • My friends are hiring a van (in the GoGet car share system here in Sydney) and will help the BF and I move his few possessions (this past Saturday!)
Dining area
Dining area
  • My strata manager has approved us to store the BF’s stuff in the ‘games’ room in my building (essentially a storage place/meeting room) for the week between him moving in, and us getting keys for our new place
  • I’ve done my change of address almost everywhere I can think of, the majority were online, so super quick and easy
Bedroom, missing on bedside box from Ikea
Bedroom, missing on bedside box from Ikea

I was getting all frazzled about the ‘hurry hurry wait’ situation, but I’ve now resolved I will commence next Saturday – in the afternoon, after the showing.  With that decision, I’m much calmer.  I think I can realistically get everything packed in 1.5 days, with moving on Monday. Of course, if my place hasn’t yet got a lease, I’ll move ‘half’ my stuff – the stuff I can take away from my apartment, but still give people an idea of space and furniture options.  Mostly everything in the cupboard and occasional storage like side tables and ottomans. Naturally, I have a prioritised list of what to move: from move now, to move last.

Career

In non moving news, I’ve also been told I start my new role on Monday today.  Just what a girl needs :p I’ll be working under (another) new boss.  Everything’s in flux in my office’s management, and I’ve liked my temporary new boss.  The new new boss, well, I’m not sure we gel just yet.  But it’s a learning experience.  I’ll certainly have a much larger amount of work to output (many more smaller jobs, whereas now I have a few large jobs… When I say ‘few’ I mean about 25, of which 5-10 are active at any one time ;))

Along with a new type of work, and output, I will also oversee the work of one person in my office, and a collection of people in another office.  The other office people won’t be working on my portfolio full time, but will help out to raise output.

Needless to say, I’ll have a few plates in the air in the next this week, between starting a new role, having my house open for inspection, and hopefully getting it leased, and packing and moving from my place to our new place.

I’ve always said I’d rather be busy than bored though!

View from the entryway
View from the entryway

Oh I am SO excited to have had my place photographed by a pro, if you couldn’t tell! And here I was thinking (and hoping) I was modest… I’m not, I love my baby(house).

Maybe tomorrow I can share the ‘disaster’ photos of how it looks after absorbing some of the BF’s stuff.  It really isn’t that much of a disaster!

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July Challenge: No eating out

Although it’s not the true end of the month, I thought I would check in with my experience of my self imposed challenge not to eat out for a month!

1. I was innovative, with packing everything for a two day road trip. So I know I can be ‘frugal’ and skip eating out. (I will summarise grocery costs at the true end of the month, and see if there’s been a noticeable increase, and probably update this post with more info).

2. I did cheat. There were a handful of take away coffees (some even in single use take away cups!). There was one breach in the first weekend, and then two breaches the following two weekends. I also went out with my next door neighbour for Vietnamese. I didn’t want to reject her suggestion (it’s our first ‘date’), and cooking at home wasn’t practical with going to open houses on the same night.  Last night I got sushi from the sushi place outside the grocery store – so it’s sort of out, and sort of not?!

source: www.mslimalicious.com
source: www.mslimalicious.com

3. My boyfriend was on board (but bored!). He encouraged me to stick at it (like last night! He cooked nachos, but I didn’t want nachos). Though it’s become a common placeto say ‘we’ll do that/go there in August’.  Bring on August and some dates!

4. I did buy some ready made meals from the grocery store, such as garlic bread, soups and (freezer) pizzas. I’d like to move away from processed foods, as I’ve mentioned before, but it’s just too hard sometimes to balance all the things you want to do, with LIFE! So I gave myself leave passes.

5. I’ve certainly spent less money, with every week having some of my weekly allowance still in my wallet. That being said, I’ve spent way more than a usual month as I outlined here, and more recently with the rental bond and that sort of thing.

Overall, it was an interesting challenge.  I proved to myself that I can cook at home, and eat at home, and it’s not all that taxing, though I do occasionally take short cuts with ready made meals.  It is a little more socially challenging to not eat out, and my relationship with my colleague seems less strong after missing our weekly lunch date.  Actually, in light of my role change, a few one on one lunches might have been better to keep the relationship strong, even though I’m ‘jumping ship’.

On the whole, I don’t think I’ll re-do this challenge for the sake of it.  It’s good to know I can tighten the belt, but it’s all been a bit too much of a challenge in these later weeks of the month, with all the moving plans.

 

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A new home!

Today’s going to be a bit scattered – which is a bit how I feel!

Firstly, we’ve been accepted to rent “home 2” listed as the evening showing in my recent post! This was the BF’s preferred place. When I initially sent the ad to him he said was too pricey, so I worked on not getting my hopes up.  But it is spacious enough, that I can see us being happy there for a long time.  And it’s a great area, in a small building close to shops.  I’ll just need to enjoy the extra blocks to the train station – but seeing I won’t be catching the train to see the BF, it shouldn’t affect me much! 😀 We looked it again on Saturday, and arranged all our paperwork ready to ‘apply’ on Saturday after the showing.  By about 10am on Monday we were told we’d been successful!!! (who wouldn’t want us, really?)

Wooden floors in living room
Wooden floors, and a balcony that might get enough sun I can grow herbs!

I am excited, but a little annoyed, as we can’t move in this Saturday.  This Saturday is the day the BF is moving his minimal furniture out (a sofa, a bed and mattress, a desk and a coffee table) of his rental.  I have measured up my place, and we’ll just store everything temporarily for a week, until we get the keys.

I’m also itching to pack up my house, but first I need to get it rented out! I have engaged an agent.  Did you know, they ask you on the rental agreement to disclose if there’s been a violent crime on the premises in the last five years.  I never saw that clause anywhere when I bought – so you renters, you get all the dirt!  In order to make this work, I’m getting my place photographed tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon.  Then the first showing should be this Saturday (hopefully early, so we won’t be waiting around to move the BF’s furniture in), and fingers crossed someone loves it! But I think it’s likely to be on the market/vacant for about three weeks.

I’ll be sure to share my own photos of the new place once we have moved in.  I’m a little conscious of over-sharing on the internet, so I won’t link to the listing, just to stay safe.  But you can have some of the sales photos:

New white kitchen open shleving
Fully stocked kitchen (during the sale campaign, we saw it empty)

Now to the scattery parts…

I found out a school friend had a heart attack and died.  Such sad news at 28.  She was married, and had twin sisters two years below her at school (which might seem like it might identify her, but my year in boarding school had MULTIPLE sisters in my year, with twins two years below – freaky huh?).  She was married, and I feel so deeply for her husband, but so pleased she’d found someone to share her (much too short) life with.  I spoke to a few girls from school last night, and then received a text from the boarding mistress (the Head of Boarding in modern terminology) this morning, so it’s nice to feel this community rally, even if it was 11 years ago since we all lived cheek and jowl.  I’m yet to know what the arrangements are, and how they might fit with everything else at the moment.

And back to the house… I need to do a budget!  Budgets aren’t something I don’t live by, instead I have a loose system that works, as I’ve explained here.  I budget my savings, and my ‘weekly allowance’ and everything else is fluid – I can steal to get a greater weekly allowance, or I can bump up a savings account as it suits.  But at the moment I’m having that moment of ‘ekk what have I done’ (not assisted by seeing the balance of my $26k by 22 Dec dip, as I track every week).

Lastly, I thought, me, the master list maker, would be immune to the stress of moving. Nope.  I’m busy thinking ‘can’t I just pack up and move, and everything nicely sync up to one day’. Sadly, not to be! So I’m going to sit back and pack once my place is leased.  At least until we get keys for the new house, and then boxed stuff can go straight there…

And at some stage, I’ve got to measure up for a fridge at the new place, as my existing one fits so snugly, I expect most renters will like my offer to leave it there.

Any tips to make this moving house business easier?  Less stressful?

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Friday – fun or not?

This is another ‘memory’ post, in line with my board school food memories. Now days, Friday seems to be almost the best day of the week – it’s the last day before two days of weekend.  Days of freedom for most, to spend doing what they please.  Only in the last few years have I come to see Friday as the fun day others have always been thanking goodness for!

When I was at boarding school, there were two types of Fridays.  Those preceding an ‘in’ weekend, and those preceding an ‘out’ weekend.  When I started at StM in 1995, the in and out weekends were dictated on a calendar.  This made staff management easier – the school knew when it would be empty, and when it would be full.  I gather the older students hated it!  They had to find somewhere on random weekends, but on other weekends, when they might want to be ‘out’ (to attend a party or similar) they may not be allowed to go.

In 1997 (I think) they moved to a more flexible system, where each student was permitted 4 weekends out a term.  How it worked was that you could take both Friday and Saturday night.  Or just one of those nights.  But you were only allowed four instances, up until Year 11, where you got some additional privileges, such as party leave – which was essentially ‘day’ leave so long as you were back by curfew.

Also, in the later years, maybe 1997 too, they added a Friday afternoon activity of shopping at the local mall.  This required a hired coach to take all those that were interested.  It was a boon to have this easy access to grocery stores, clothing stores, hairdressers etc.  As I was only 11/12, I didn’t have such a long list of needs and wants, but I can imagine for 16 and 17 years olds, the addition of this weekly pilgrimage was warmly welcomed.

So, Friday – fun or not?  Well, it was ALWAYS fun to go to Toomba’s (Toombul, in Aussie school girl slang, is a suburb in which the shopping mall was).  We slouched our way around in our full uniform, complete with panama hat, slurping soft drinks, and scoffing McDonald’s fries, or Wizz Fizz sherbet, or even sucking on baby bottles.  We had all sorts of ‘trends’.  Sometimes we bought pet fish.  Or CDs.

We were spirited back to school in time for dinner (5/5.30pm).  It was usually deep fried fish and chips.  Or a BBQ, during summer.  The return to dinner and the thoughts of the predictable meals, particularly weekend meals, to this day make my stomach and heart sink.  Imagining this Friday dinner, and it’s start of a long and boring weekend, usually gave me a dull ache for a more interesting life.  Something more ‘fun’.

What’s even more interesting about these memories of 7 years of my life, was that after a few years ‘out of the system’ I put myself back IN the system, by being a boarding house supervisor.  For almost two years, I worked weekends at boarding schools.  I rejoined the predictable, bland Friday meal, with nothing exciting on the horizon, til everyone’s return on Sunday night.  And like my school, other schools feed you with a routine menu.  Different to the last place, but the same every week!

Nowadays, I think about Friday as a night I can stay up.  I don’t play sport on a Saturday morning, as I did all through school.  I don’t even work on a Saturday now I’m in my career job, and if I do, it’s on overtime rates.  Fridays mean I can drink some wine, maybe even outside the house! I can go out for a meal! I can sleep over with friends (if we have too much wine!).  I can go wherever and do whatever.  I’m not ‘locked’ in.  At any time, I can make or change plans, without a form, without a leave balance to consider, without needing my host to ring in by Thursday 9pm to verify they are in fact an adult and will care for me for the times I indicated on the said form.

When I look back on boarding school, I was incredibly fond on it on the whole.  I loved the order.  I loved the noise and bustle.  I loved the convenience (which I have largely emulated in my own home by living on top of shops!).  But I did not relish weekends. I did not look forward to Friday dinner, which marked the start of a barren expanse of time and loneliness.

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Rental wish list

quirky apartment features

Remember, I share a post about things I’d like in my future home?  Well, now that I’m looking for a rental, some of these might be ‘for real’ soon enough.  Though I think the fireplace is highly unlikely in inner city Sydney apartments…

quirky apartment features
From top right: out of our price range, quirky and a building I almost bought in, sunshine, and a potential cross breeze

Here’s the list I drafted with the BF

  • sunshine: my dark loft is just too dark.  Sunshine makes me happy
  • train station proximity: we both prefer trains to buses, and my work is on a train line
  • 2 bed or 1 bed + study: the premise for moving from my place to our place is to gain some space (or a location I can escape the snoring!)
  • crazy: the bf’s way of saying x-factor or character.  Something that makes the place better than ordinary
  • car space: the bf’s car is lovely, and street side parking has already resulted in some damage
  • grocery adjacent: given how good I’ve got it now, I know I’m unlikely to enjoy such an easy walk to all the shops!
  • secure: my current neighbourhood isn’t known for it’s safety!  The bf wants to be sure we feel safe
  • storage: I’m used to a full height pantry AND a linen closet, and then a storage niche.  I’d like to be sure I can relocate all these items easily into a new place
  • big kitchen: we currently trip over one another when cooking in his U shaped kitchen, so it’d be great to have something more open
  • cross breeze: the bf’s rental had a great summer cross breeze, that beats any fan.  I don’t like the chances of finding the same again, but it’s something to be mindful of.  And I would love a bathroom with a window, but realise they are uncommon in inner city apartments
  • air conditioning: I think that snuck onto the list when I wasn’t looking. Tut tut.  And we’d talked about double fans (when we combine ‘stuff’)
  • easy to move in/out: yeah, no body loves moving, but this isn’t our ‘forever’ home.  If it’s easy to move into, it’s easy to bring groceries home…

The bold options are the non negotiables and a starting point.  The rest will act as a guide.  But, guiding as they may be, places go FAST in Sydney, so we might need to up our ante. I started looking on Monday morning, and when I called Tuesday morning, the place had two offers and they wouldn’t consider more applications, or show it again.  Talk about fast! They didn’t even list an inspection time online (which is usual).  Anyhow, I did ring her, offer to drink with her (it was in context) and otherwise befriend her – cause there’s no harm in building rapport!

This was going to be the end of the post, but then we looked at two properties (one is pictured above). Both are in warehouse conversions, but in neighbouring suburbs.  Both happened to be on the building’s top floor (3rd or 4th story, not super high) For my thought process, I’ll share these with you:

Daytime property viewing

Positives

  • lots of light, especially downstairs
  • good kitchen storage & gas cooktop!
  • a linen closet!
  • a block to the train (and opposite my close friend’s house)
  • 2 bathrooms
  • both bathrooms have windows (light + ventilation)
  • exposed wooden beams upstairs in the bedrooms and bathroom
  • beautiful wooden stairs and entry
  • vacant – could move in anytime
  • air conditioner in the bedroom
  • cross breeze possible downstairs
  • within our discussed budget

Negative

  • midget sized wardrobes – due to
  • sloping rooflines
  • small bedrooms
  • a bit of a walk to grocery store
  • no window coverings
  • no power, so couldn’t check light fittings (known to be bad in this building)

Evening property viewing

Positives

  • HUGE generally
  • new kitchen with drawers
  • new bathroom
  • more wardrobes than I could imagine ever needing
  • new wooden floors in living areas
  • warehouse conversion
  • close walk to a shopping centre
  • lovely leafy neighbourhood (I’ve always said ‘I want to live here’)

Negatives

  • just ‘a bit too far’ to the train station
  • may be dark (we’ll go back for a daytime viewing)
  • priced a little higher than we budgeted (but not above what we could afford)
  • small bathroom
  • no dryer provided (yet)
  • difficult to access washing machine taps (just a one time bother)
  • carspace less safe
  • small bedroom windows

So which way will we go? Or will we abandon both and look at some more?  Either way, I’m sure to share photos of my new home in due course!  Oh, and pick which one you think I prefer…

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I interrupt regular broadcasting…

… to bring you breaking news!

I’ll soon have one more person living in my place 😀

The BF’s lease is up in two short weeks (sort of caught him by surprise), so he plans to move to my place to buy us some time while we hunt for the ideal rental.  We both think it’d be best to have ‘our’ place, rather than ‘my’ place, cause let’s face it, I know I can be a little particular!  There’s so much to organise, in the next two weeks, and then looking forward from there, I thought I’d share my list with y’all

The next two weeks

  1. Get spare cardboard boxes from work/fruit & vege shop for the BF to pack
  2. Make space in my wardrobe for his clothing
  3. List all BF’s bigger ‘stuff’ (furniture etc) with measurements
  4. Make space in my house for his furniture (and a plan for what’ll be at mine in the short-term)
  5. Speak to my parents about temporarily storing some of the BF’s furniture
  6. Go to open for inspections – see the places, but review the leasing agents…
  7. Make inquiries with agents about renting my place, and the likely rent
  8. Make a budget – rent I’ll receive, bills for my house, bills for a new place, rent I can pay out, savings goals
  9. Work out suitable rent/cost sharing between me and BF in the interim period Half of what my neighbours pay
  10. Speak to my cousin about borrowing his trailer for move day 1 Find a car with a toe bar first!
  11. Collect details on utilities etc for BF to cancel/change his address
  12. Book cleaner to do ‘final clean’ at BF’s place (then I’ll likely want to stay there!) Saturday/move out day
  13. Book in accountant (for tax) and discuss best $ options with house/loan etc
  14. Bore readers with inventory posts 🙂
  15. Share my new rental ‘wish list’ with readers, and my ‘what I (inadvertently) love about my current place’

After finding a new place

  1. Procure even more boxes
  2. Start packing up my house
  3. Patch holes and paint (ie Lack hanging shelves, maybe hanging birdcages?)
  4. Switch-a-roo washing machines (? Leave bf’s at my place, and take mine to new place, perhaps)
  5. Set up new utilities
  6. Advise all of change of address (yikes, but I’m good at it now!)

I’m sure there’s more for this list – so suggest away! And ask questions too, cause that’ll prompt my brain!

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Random Round Up

TGIF! Wow, for someone who only works every second Friday, my body was shocked and dismayed to have to work this Friday! And usually, on a super tired morning, I’d stop for a mocha on the way to work.  But a mocha has both sugar in it (which I’m trying to trim down on til the end of July) and it’s ‘buying takeway’ which I’m also not doing in July.  Thankfully, there’s a coffee machine at work, and I got a hit the minute I got in!

In today’s random Friday wrap up, I’ll just collect my thoughts, and receipts, and look at how the week, and the month so far have been, in Carla’s of Daily Half Dozen’s relaxed style (I know we share some readers, sadly I won’t be as concise as she is!).

Money

Yikes, what a week! Last week, I got a double pay, thanks to back pay, overtime and on call pay.  So I quickly siphoned that off to my savings goal of $26k by 22 Dec for my mortgage.  I even paid two weeks of my mortgage last week.  It was all going so well…

This week I got paid my new normal weekly pay.  And then I proceeded to spend $1400 on a two day course!  To regular readers, this is part of getting my chartered professional engineer status – I need 150 hours of continuing professional development.  75 of these hours can be ‘anything’ – which cover all the internal courses we do more or less annually.  But the remaining 75 hours are divided into specific ‘skill sets’ and I was woefully under subscribed in ‘area of practice’ courses.  So I found a course in August, but with two days until the ‘early bird’ rate of 10% off ended, I signed up straight away.  In the past, these courses have been paid for by my employer.  Sadly, with the current climate, I am not at all confident I’ll be reimbursed this time.  Nonetheless, I’ve found some paperwork, and commenced my case with my (new) boss.  He’s on board, and willing to watch me fight 🙂

After paying for the course, other enjoyable hits to the budget included

  •  finally fixing the ikea kitchen lights (that’s a post in itself!) for $160.  This will be reimbursed by Ikea
  • I helped crowd fund a great book from a blog I love 52Suburbs – you won’t be disappointed if you like photography and diptychs
  • I got all my nails done in preparation for the wedding, which set me back $85.  You know how I feel about the cost of being vain, so this was a hit!
Right after getting them done
Right after getting them done
  • accommodation for the wedding was $180. Most places in Orange are minimum two night stay, so it severely limits the competition if you’re looking to stay one night.  It was well worth it though!
  • thanks to An Exacting Life, I went and found concert tickets! I’m due to see Rudimental in September (which I initially thought had sold out), and then also bought two tickets at the same venue for theatresports next weekend.  I’m sure I’ll enjoy both, but that was another $140
  • for the first time in months, I had acupuncture AND physio (which I was having weekly for a long while).  Combined, my out of pocket was $90, better than the $120 it could have been
  • I’ve signed up for a 9km bridge run ($57)! I can reimburse myself from the 12 in 2 adventure fund though.  Sadly the 5km color run I was going to do with my family sold out quick sticks, so we’ll volunteer instead, to still be involved.  Whilst on 12 in 2 goals, I’ve also found an accountability partner for running (Pauline for Make Money Your Way) and for the bible reading I have Brian from Done by Forty who I met through comments at Jen’s blog The Happy Homeowner – yay to have encouragement!

That’s about all, til I spoke to the physio about my running and shin pain.  She suggested I needed new running shoes – I’d like to get some for the ~$100 mark, but in Australia, it’s more likely to be ~$200.  I’m almost tempted to take that US trip I’m dreaming of, to save me the $100 dollars.

And I’ve decided I’d like to try skinny jeans after a great wardrobe post by Into Mind, though I did wander around, and now I’ve decided I need to at least TRY skinny jeans whilst I’m this side of retirement… I mean seriously, why have I never owned a pair?  I just think they might be the silhouette update I’ve been looking for. (yes I think of what I’m wearing in terms of the shape, and I’ve been a little less than impressed with a lot of my winter wardrobe of late).  So that’ll likely be another $100.

I’m not game to add this all up – but let’s just saw, I’m sad to see a lot of last week’s gains be lost this week or so.  Hopefully some reimbursements will settle it out, otherwise I’ll just have to be ok with achieving my savings target slower.

Stuff

I’m getting so hung up on ‘stuff’.  The price of stuff vs the quality.  Thinking about the conditions of who made it.  The wage they were paid.  Should everyone earn what an Australian ‘minimum’ wage is?  It’s all getting to me – and came up last night with my parents who’ve just enjoyed 2.5 weeks in Asia, where a watch was $2.90.  How do you work out a fair price?

This thought process was probably kickstarted by a radio segment where I heard the found of Slavery Footprint speak about the way they are trying to change industries (rather than companies) to address slavery.  You can input your ‘stuff’ to work out how many slaves you had.  Best part of the interview was when he mentioned that his people emailed Steve Jobs – to which he off handedly suggested ’email the Queen too’.  His staff explained that Jobs always replied to emails.  And he did! He said ‘thanks for bringing this to my attention, I’ll look into it’.  And since then, Apple’s gone form being a secret company, to disclosing their suppliers and the conditions and what Apple is doing to improve things.  Certainly heartening.

Screen capture from http://slaveryfootprint.org/
Screen capture from http://slaveryfootprint.org/

The radio presenter had 34 slaves.  I got 44.  You should try it – it’s a cute interface if you have 5-10 mins to spare!  You can fine tune every step by pressing the cog on the left (shown above), which I did for food, technology & clothing (using my wizz bang inventory, and it was still hard!) <- actually I went back and tried to fine tuned them all, til they cleared my old clothing tally!

I think that’s all that’s on my mind.  I have the fancy birthday dinner this Saturday (my one eating out exception that I planned at the start of my ‘no eating out’ July Challenge).  It’ll be great – I believe it’s 5 courses of south american food, with the option to match wines (sorry Lucinda, it’s not a dry July for me!).  It’s also another cost, but hey, I knew this one was coming.

Let me know how your slavery footprint goes when you get a chance – I’d love to talk about that more!

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Weekend away without eating out

I did have a super exciting post on retirement savings written. (Australian retirement savings are called ‘super’, so that’s a play on words). So not really ‘super exciting’.  But then, I just spent the weekend in Orange, NSW about 3.5 hours from Sydney.  Given that I challenged myself to no eating ‘out’ for the month, I had to be super organised!!

Firstly, the no eating out challenge is largely a financial exercise, so I didn’t reject the dinner at the wedding reception.  And I gave a gift, just in case anyone thought I might be cheeky enough to truly have a ‘free meal’!

Here's everything I packed for a 'no eating out' weekend road trip
Here’s everything I packed for a ‘no eating out’ weekend road trip

We left Sydney at about 8am Saturday morning.  Knowing the bf, I didn’t make breakfasts for him, but I did expect the need to stop off for coffee, repeatedly!  So, within walking distance from my house, we stopped for his first cappuccino (in a keep cup!).  He’s not really his charming self without a coffee, and he’s not in on the ‘no eating out’ challenge.  Whilst he procured coffee, I munched on my granola parfait.  That’s the fancy name for my layers of muesli (granola), yoghurt, grated carrot and frozen berries.  It was a little dry, but certainly edible.  I may have also sipped from the poisoned chalice of bought coffee too… I am weak.  And coffee is strong!

self catered road trip
Bottom left is a breakfast parfait

For morning tea, I enjoyed a mandarin as I waited at the rest stop.  For those non Australians, this rest stop involved a sturdy, new hut, with two ‘long drop’ toilets (google it for you’re game!). They kindly have picnic tables nearby but I settled for the car due to the biting wind and the smells it carried!  For the bf, there was oven dried salami.  It excreted so much greasy/oily muck, ewww…  But it did crisp up nicely.  I though the bf would enjoy it alone, but mentioned it’d be nice with cheese and crackers, so I happened so have some, and whipped them out!

Somewhere between the middle of the drive, and more open countryside, we stopped for the n’th time at a McDonalds.  Mainly for the bathrooms.  But also for the coffee.  The bf might have broken my ‘no eating out’ rule when I succumbed to a coffee.  I just didn’t want to be a sleepy/crabby lady any longer! But I didn’t pay, so maybe I’m safe on a technicality.  (I did buy the bf a coffee on Friday morning, so maybe that voids the claimed technicality?)

The swanky bedroom in de Russie
The swanky bedroom in de Russie

Lunch happily coincided with our arrival at the hotel.  It was lovely – if anyone wants somewhere swanky but relatively affordable (because it allows you to stay one night, rather than most places with a minimum stay of 2 nights) I’d highly recommend de Russie Suites in Orange (they are also in Mudgee).  We had delicious turkey, cranberry, baby spinach and cream cheese croissants/gluten free wraps.

Turkey croissants for the bf
Turkey croissants for the bf

After the ceremony, there were some delicious hot finger food – like pork belly and gallettes (savoury crepes, which are the specialty of the region the bride is from in France).  Not to be deterred though, on returning to our hotel, we had wine and cheese on crackers. Yes, I’d even made gluten free biscuits for myself!  When that was all munched up, I moved onto some gluten free pear and walnut bread.  And maybe some spiced nuts.  Oh and some cut up carrots and capsicum.

Dried salami, candied nuts and pear and walnut bread to the left
Dried salami, candied nuts and pear and walnut bread to the left

The wedding dinner was lovely, in line with the delicious hors d’oeuvres after the service.  The mains were lamb or pork, which is unusual.  It always seems to be chicken and beef.  In any case, it was tasty! And dessert was also yum – the bf and I diligently split it all down the middle – between a gingery/creamy/jelly topped something, and a caramel and chocolate tart (yes, I also ate sugar… sigh).  We were surprised the wedding didn’t have a menu, so every dish was a surprise.

Sunday saw a repeat of my breakfast parfait, but the hotel provided a little breakfast pack.  So from the pack, I made the bf some coffee and toast.  The coffee was a start, but there were two further McDonald’s coffees on our journey – though none for me!

Sunday snack included walnuts spiced with egg whites and cinnamon, and sliced strawberries which I froze, and then thawed making them a nice soft stewed mess.  There was also an apple too.  Lunch was samosas, which sadly contain ‘the gluten devil’ as the bf calls it.  I’m just not sure making gluten free puff pastry is worth the time!  And that more of less ended the epic menu of DIY road trip food.

Now in list form

Overall, I think we succeeded.  The bf remarked how ‘cheap’ the weekend had been when we were sorting out dinner on Sunday night (with a $2 DVD from the store, yes, they still exist!).  He reckons he spent a grand sum of $15 on coffees, and that was it!  I covered the accommodation and fuel, seeing the wedding was for my friend.  I’m so thankful to the bf and his lovely car, which he did all the driving in – all the way there, between all the wedding components (including in -3.5 C with black ice!), and back to Sydney.  He was also a pretty good sport about eating all my inventions!  I’ll leave you with a less than ideal photo of the married couple:

Alice and Alex
Alice and Alex

So there you have it, a self catered road trip! What’s your go to snack or rest stop meal when you’re on a long car trip (or even flying)?

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Goals Update – June

Financial

$20k $26k target by 22 Dec: On target to reach it by 21/11!
May: $16,413.13
Jun: $17,938.69 (+$1525.56)

12 in 2 adventures fund

May: $574.32
June: $898.81

Generosity target
Slower month this month, but annualised, I think I’m still doing fine.  Maybe I’ll report on my hours volunteering?

Health

Cook at home twice a week: Easily met, especially with the BF’s cooking mixed in

week 1 –
Dad’s graduation dinner (Sat)
Ceasear salad at BF’s (Sun)
Red Rooster (Mon)
Spag Bol with zuchini (Tue)
Garlic cheese pizza (Wed)
Chicken Ceaser Salad (Thu)
Satay pork pies, Zucchini slice & Pumpkin Pie (Fri)
Malaysian at Mamak and N2 gelato (Sat) <- my go to for out of town visitors!
Curry and Rice at parents (Sun)

week 2 –
nothing… Ice cream at vivid festival (Mon)
Oven roasted cheery tomato gnocchi (Tue) <- can I just say, I didn’t think something so easy could be so tasty! I even skip on the basil and it’s awesome
Chicken with Bombay potatos (Wed)
Zuchini slice? (Thu)
Pepperoni pizza (Fri)
Mamak again, different location and different people (Sat)
Nachoes by BF at my place (Sun)

week 3 –
Ceaser salad at BF’s (Mon)
Gnochhi with slow roasted tomatos(Tue)
McDonalds (I had a freebie) (Wed)
Gnocchi (from ricotta) (Thu)
Salt and pepper squid at the pub (Fri)
Onion tart (Sat)
Pad Se Ew (sp?) at BF’s (Sun)

week 4 –
Onion tart (Mon)
Onion tart (Tue)
Food at Coop Fundraiser (Wed)
Dominos pizza (Thu)
Nothing (some cake?) (Fri)
Gnocchi with oven dried tomatoes at BF’s (Sat) yes again!
Stew at a friends (Sun)

Sugar: Back on a good thing, but only 1 week this month

After a shock on Monday week ago (seeing my whole reflection in the mirror!), I have decided to cut sugar at least til the end of July.  My loop holes are that if I bake it at home, it’s ok (like a great gluten free pear and walnut bread mmmm).  Natural sugars are ok (milk, fruit).  And I won’t be a Nazi – I did nibble a tiny bit of a snack Mars Bar and the BF ate the rest.  Or the super good organic chocolate at the coop that someone kept offering me – with coconut sugar I think.

Train for polo:

Taking the season off.  I am pleased I got a continuous 4km run in on Wednesday and it felt a-ok.  It was relatively flat, and I only walked about 30m at a time before I started running again, so law of averages says I ran!

Cultural

2 films a month: Happily yes!

Definitely! There was the silly This is the end (which we saw with free tickets… which is the only way I’d ever suggest anyone sees this – unless you are a man who likes toilet humour); we also went and saw The Great Gatsby and The Internship which I enjoyed more than I might have expected.  Technically, World War Z also came in during this month too!

2 books a month: Also a yes!

I read The World Without Us and Perfume, click the links if you missed my reviews

Social

Call/connect with an out of town friend : Achieved, gold star here

A friend from Victoria visited, so she made all the effort 😉 And is now a reader – yay!  And at the beginning of June I went to the Gold Coast and caught up with a school friend.  So two good activities with two out of town friends! Win!

Career

Certification: Bah, not so much progress :s

I’ve got my mentor to read three of the woeful 16, and updated two of them.  The third one, all about ‘evaluation’ – he said what I wrote doesn’t really prove that I have this skill.  He is, of course, right, but I just don’t know how to fix it!  Maybe start again :s

Looking for next role: Moving along nicely

Interestingly, one has found me.  I spoke to my boss a week or two ago, looking for some growth/learning areas he thought might be useful.  At the same time, i told him about my career goal.  A week later he called me into his office and suggested a lateral move, with the view that it will enhance my skills, and may give me some management ‘practice’.  So, I think it’s a no brainer that i take it!

So the month that was June.  All round, pretty good.  On track with savings (and a HUGE backpay/OT/on call pay supplement this week too!).  Killing it on my cultural goals, and ok on the career and social fronts.  Maybe I should add ‘running’ into the health part – and keep myself a little more accountable, as I had a huge hiatus after this post.