Free Your Finance

Opps, rambled on for a bit there...

2011-05-19T21:23:00.000+10:00

What some of you may not have realised yesterday, was that the title of the blog post had no relevancy whatsoever as to what I was blogging about. That was because I got a little bit excited and went off on a pretty lengthy tangent. What I wanted to have meant with that title was that for probably a month now, my finances have been out of whack.

Like completely and inexcusably. Yes I can blame the CA exam (thank cuss its over), I can blame laziness, work, whatever - but what it really boils down to was that I dropped the ball. But that doesn't matter, because i'm picking myself up after the blow to the chin and dealing with it. Now excuse me whilst I try and recount all the expenses i've had in the past month.

Tick tock, tick tock.

And its done!

That took approximately a hour. A hour of my time I could've been doing other things, but had to because I procrastinated. A lesson learnt I suppose. I ended up not being able to allocate $34, which I just proportionately allocated across all my expense categories based on my annual budget (A nifty trick I learnt in my management accounting module). So whats my annual budget? After a bit of revision tonight and realising that I was definitely underbudgeting for some things, here it is!

Cash Drawings = $7,400, which is made up of

Travel = $1,400
Food at work = $500
Entertainment = $500
Alcohol = $500
Eating out = $2,500
Clothing = $500
Electronics = $0 (lets try and keep it this way)
Groceries = $500
Petrol = $200
Miscellaneous = $300

You can really see where my priorities lie don't you. EATING! I love being able to eat out, and I love taking my girl out to eat especially when shes had a week of home cooked pasta (although cost-effective, its definitely repetitive for her). A few of those budgets may seem a bit weird to you such as petrol, but that is because I only take the car out on weekends at most and don't really drive too often.

The kicker? I'm pretty much overbudget in all categories, with alcohol being all out of whack at the moment. Hopefully I can rein that spending in, but we shall see how I go with a great friend's 21st this weekend. Now that my finances are balanced again, I feel at peace. Its definitely a weird relaxing process that I take some joy in. Crazy huh? But then again, I am an accountant.

The elephant in the corner is farting in my face

2011-05-18T22:08:00.000+10:00

First of all, booyah! The competition was an awesome success with the blog receiving heaps of entries to sort through and me having a dilemma over which two awesome entries to pick out of the crop. You guys really have some great ideas and its a shame Soup couldn't have given out more prizes for me to share!

Onto the good stuff, congratulations to Jude and Stevie for the winning entries:-

"I have a little nifty app on my iPhone called ExpenseTracker that lets me update my spendings on the fly so I keep in rein in my spending when its tipping over. Best of all its free!"

That is an awesome tip Jude, and you know whats more awesome? The fact I have an iPhone too! I've downloaded this app and its definitely worth having. So if any of you have an iPhone out there, i'd recommend it if you're spending like crazy!

"My best tip would be to always keep my credit cards at home and save them for the big purchases, so that I don't impulse spend"

Stevie definitely knows what hes talking about. I carry my two credit cards very close to my right butt cheek and I can tell you i've whipped them out many more times than I can remember just because I tell myself 'getting the points would be worth it' and 'its only a small purchase, its fine'. I'll bet that if I just kept those suckers at home, my bank account would be definitely smiling more. You two gotta check your mailboxes because there are some fancy prizes coming your way all thanks to Commonwealth Bank and their PayPass project!

So whats been up in the life of Fyf (i've decided that its pronoucned FIF, like ffffffff and all the spit comes out)? Boy got paid, thats what! And what did I do before I spent my money? As many have recommended, I paid myself! Booya, as you can see i've updated my Emergency Fund to set a reasonable target of $5k, which I know won't be achieved any time soon. But haven't a goal is better than just sitting on my laurels, so up it goes!

What else did I do with my money? Sent another grand to my savings! I've updated the sidebar to note my new goal of travelling next year. I estimate my spending would be around the 5k mark, and theres definitely a long way to go!

However, that leaves my current bank account with around 2k cash just laying around soaking up the suns and not working its butt off for some nice interest. Thats my dilemma, where do I send this money to? The way I see it, I have 3 options:-

1. Send it to HECS - Its time I got rid of this sucker. The fact that I get an extra 10% applied sounds like a super sweet deal to me.
2. Send it to my parents - If you've checked out my net worth, I have 5k still outstanding on a loan to my parents. In their mind, its a gift. To me? No sir, ffffff gets no handouts from anyone. However i'm thinking about saving the whole 5k and plonking it into their bank account instead of laddering it. That would show them HA.
3. Use it as savings for something else. But what? I've already decided to buy a DSLR camera later this year (not sure when, still gotta look out for some deals) but that would cost less than a grand. Is it time I save up for my own haus? A car? A burberry trench coat? Maybe a bit of solitary zen would figure it out.

So there are my three options. Hopefully by my next paycheck I will figure it out. If not, no biggy. I mean, i'm not spending it so who really cares? Its the lesser of three AWESOMES. Laters!

p.s. I just hit 5 digits in my super. Booya! All that personal contributions are paying off, time to go for 6 (jokes, thats gonna take forever =(!)

Weekly money catch up

2011-04-26T20:27:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post before I get on to the reconciling!

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries to cook for my parents, a solid salmon and spinach salad followed by a chicken and parsley pilaf.
2. Today I am thankful the long weekend thats past. But now i'm ready to start work again!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was waking up to my girlfriend's beautiful sleepy eyes.
4. I will consider this week a success if I study my CA materials everyday for a solid 2 hours.
5. My favorite TV show growing up was Pokemon, without a doubt. How a TV show promoting collecting an assortment of 'things' turned me into a minimalist, I don't know how.

Broken habits and SUPER EXCITING FREEBIES UPDATE.

2011-04-26T20:11:00.000+10:00

First of all, let me just get it out there. I hate it when I skip over something I do regularly. I get into this funk of ignoring it, creating a snowball that just gets bigger and bigger. And when I try and tackle it, I am just not motivated because I know I have to put in more effort to get everything straightened out.

Cue, my finances. Usually I am spot on with the details, always entering what I spend every other day. Not these past weeks, i've ignored it and voila! Its been two weeks since I last entered anything. This means I have probably about $400 of expenses I need to reconcile back to my spreadsheet, which is definitely not going to be fun. I have receipts here and there, and with credit card transactions it will be easy to track, but its definitely the little petty cash expenses that will be the hardest to remember. Damn the lovely tool of procrastination. Definitely a lesson to learnt from this.

Secondly, I have great news to share! I am involved with Soup, a very grassroots website that aims to get everyday consumers much like myself to try and share products that have been newly launched. This time, Soup has been partnered with the Commonwealth Bank as it seeks to create awareness for its new Paypass feature!

What does this mean for my lucky audience? FREEBIES!

But first, learn more about Paypass at http://www.commbank.com.au/paypass/smb07/ so you know what i'm talking about. Its an amazing feature which i've already used numerous times (didn't realise I had it until I checked!) and is incredibly easy to use.

You've checked, and you're back? Excellent. Soup have been legends and given me 4x $50 MasterCard debit cards as well as 2 double La Premiere movie passes to give away to you all! Since everyone knows my readership is so small, this is an excellent chance to earn some awesome cash / prizes!

So what do you have to do to win? Just email me at freeyourfinance@gmail.com with your best response to the following question:-

"What is the best tip in getting your finances together?"

The two best and most creative response will receive the whole package, and spread their lovely nugget of information to all. This competition will close in 2 weeks, so theres plenty of time to get your tips in. Remember, you're looking at your slice of $350 worth in prizes! Please also note that terms and conditions will be provided upon request.

Weekly money catch up - Getting PAID!

2011-04-11T21:06:00.001+10:00

Never been so excited, actually I probably have been before but daddy's getting straight up PAID.

This week should see my sweet monthly paycheck deposit into my bank account and I already know what i'm gonna do with it!

$500 to my emergency fund (its going to feel so good when it hits the $1k mark!)
$500 to my ING savings (I have a good idea of what i'm saving for now, but i'm going to have to
$1000 to my HECs (yup, its time to start paying down that massive $33k looming in the background!)

The rest i'm not sure what i'll do with. I know that I won't need that much to survive the month and I don't see any big forseeable expenses, but it will be good to know theres a solid buffer in the bank account (apart from the emergency fund). Dave Ramsey would be super proud!

Now I usually look at pfblogs.org for any cool articles, and it used to be full of great stuff. But lately, its been kind of shit. I'll touch on that in a future post. But one of the oustanding favourites has been www.myprettypennies.com where she posts up a 'Weekly money catch up'. So whats it been like for me?

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on alcohol. It was graduate training and we went out on most nights to various bars in the city.
2. Today I am thankful English Breakfast Tea.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was make the most of my graduate training. My firm spends a lot of resources to provide this opportunity for graduates and I wasn't going to let it go to waste!
4. I will consider this week a success if I don't spend anymore money.
5. My signature accessory is my killer good looks. Jokes, its probably a watch now.

Monthly Update - Booya on the right track!

2011-04-01T22:12:00.000+11:00

So, another month another net worth update. How did I go this month?

Well check the sidebar, see that line thats going up - thats me!!!

I went pretty awesome this month, increasing my net worth by around $2k which is on target for a positive net worth by the end of this year (my super incredible ultimate goal!)

This month saw me get my first monthly paycheck, which felt extremely weird because i've never had that much cash just chilling in my bank account before. I realised that after awhile the novelty of it wore off so I sent that money everywhere before I spent it all! I threw $1k into my super account, guaranteeing me for a solid co-cont from the lovely government (hopefully the full $1k) and then boosted my emergency fund as well as my savings. They currently sit at around $500 each. So what will the motto of this month be?

Cutting back.

I have been spending quite a bit on the petty cash side, with many of the items being in the red. The fact that I will be going to training for work next week won't help either. Hopefully I can rein in my spending so the damage isn't that significant, but i'm expecting it to hinder my goals somewhat. My plan is to hopefully get all my expenses nearly under my budget again. I've been starting a habit of purchasing things in advance, and then forgetting about them until payments are required. This included tickets to a concert I bought 4 months ago and dinner with friends. Thankfully, I haven't been using my credit card all that much which is always a good sign.

Things are looking rosy, but things can always be improved on. This is a journey thats not going to happen overnight, but the step I took in March is building a solid foundation for the future. BRING IT ON APRIL!

Settling in to an awesome habit

2011-03-28T20:48:00.000+11:00

4 weeks into my work, and I am loving every moment of it.

The work is great, the people even better but the satisfaction I get from being able to learn new things and demonstrate my ability is what drives me out of bed every morning. The fact that I get paid monthly doesn't even bother me anymore!

I got paid my monthly salary on the 11th and apart from paying off my credit card and depositing a bit into my emergency fund, theres not much i've done since. I am at a crossroads as to where I should allocate money. Currently I have 3 options:-

1. Put $350 into my Superannuation, $1000 towards my HECs and the rest into my Emergency Fund/Savings.
2. Put $1350 into my Super, the rest into savings.
3. Put $1000 into my HECs, the rest into savings.

Right now I would like to throw in the $1350, for peace of mind knowing that i've gotten the super co-cont for 10/11. But that would strip me of necessary funds which could be used as an emergency buffer or used as savings. But right now, all 3 choices would be better than nothing. After all, the iPad 2 was just released last Friday and a friend brought his over and showed how awesome it is. Am I willing to drop $900 on a piece of gadgetry thats going to depreciate super fast? I'd like to think i'm stronger than that, but I have been known to make some whimsical purchases in the past.

As long as I keep my money away from my grubby little hands, I should be fine. Hopefully.

On the cash expenses front, i've been reliable in spending my budgeted amount each week, but its been going towards things that i've underbudgeted for. Alcohol and eating out are in the red, which is something I have to stop. However, its not unreasonable to see it there because I gave myself very ambitious goals of only spending $30 each week on food and even less on alcohol. That amount of money wouldn't even last a night out, maybe I can cut out alcohol which would be tied to my fitness goals. That being said, i've dropped off the bandwagon a lot in terms of fitness. And I mean a lot! But hopefully I will be able to pick it up again with my gym access.

I've also been contact recently to promote a new product thats seeking to increase its awareness in the market. This would obviously be tied with an awesome giveaway which is ridiculous giving the lack of visitors this site has. Perhaps it will bring more traffic? Can't say no to that can I?

Super Changes in my life!

2011-03-05T12:13:00.000+11:00

Last update was on the 17/02/2010, which was my last week at my old job. After that I took a one week sabbatical where I spent as much time as I could doing things I love before starting my new grad job. This consisted of bowling, tennis, fishing and going out to see friends. It was a blast and even though I blew my budget out of the water I don't regret a single thing. But i'm glad that I had saved enough of a buffer to afford to go over budget.

Why is that? Its because I used to scrutinise my excel worksheet as much as possible, trying to squeeze out every last dollar so that my checking account would only hover around the $200 mark. As I realised, sometimes things can happen which force me to withdraw more money than needed. This led me to budget for more money, as I couldn't withdraw from my Emergency Fund when they were clearly not emergencies. So i've become a bit more relaxed in this aspect, and hope i'll further loosen the reigns. Studying for my Management Accounting module for the CA right now, I realise that this is similar to what businesses term "Working Capital Management". You want to utilise every dollar you have and make sure its not sitting idle (in this case a low rate checking account), but you don't want to pare down so much that if something happens you're in the red (in this case, an overdraft).

Could this mean that if one were able to be in control of their personal finances, they would be able to make adequate business owners? Maybe. Maybe not.

Since my last blog post, i've started at my new graduate job. I applied for this in March last year after my big holiday and after a 2 month long process was offered a position which I immediately accepted. Except it started a year later so I had to wait. And my gosh its been a long time, and its definitely been worth the wait. This firm is an easy top 10 global accounting firm but more specifically, with a great bunch of new graduates and a new team to look forward to working with. This also means a 50% salary increase (I really didn't make much at my last job) so my personal finances in the next few months will hopefully skyrocket!

You can see my progress here!

Lets see if I can maintain a solid budget. After all, friday work drinks can be a little bit pricy.

Why I spend on my Valentines, and don't give a crap.

2011-02-17T22:08:00.000+11:00

I love my girlfriend, I really do. But thats not to say that everyday is all rainbows and butterflies in our relationship. So it is imperative that I take an opportunity to really make a huge effort in making her realise that I love her to bits, and letting her know how much she means to me in my life.

Gasp, the PF world would say. Valentine's Day is a Hallmark Sham! Well yes, I know that much. But I don't give a crap. However, that is not to say I just get my credit card and go nuts.

This year I managed to do something special, something extraordinary for my Valentine. Forgoing spending it on a Monday night after work with the regular fancy restaurant, we opted to switch it to the Saturday before. Total cost? $192.17. And it was totally worth it.

I cooked breakfast in bed for her (getting up at 6am just to buy groceries and drive over), spent the day together lazying around, cooked dinner with her (which had its ups and downs, I don't usually cook) and then finished it off with an amazing massage (I'm good, real good) and then a candlelight bath.

I know that many would scoff at the idea of spluring so much on Valentine's Day, and how it could be better spent without the outrageous cost and the prerequisite dozen roses (At a slightly stinging $45) - but I disagree. The mere definition of personal finance lends to itself - its supposed to be personal. So I choose to scrimp on other things, in order to spend on others. There is no set rule, which is why when I go to www.pfblogs.org I am amazed at how many others preach about being frugal and cheap is the way to go. Its not if you choose to. In the end, I saved enough for this day and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Thats what personal finance should bring - enjoyment.

p.s. Remember those exciting things that I said I would do in regards to this blog? Well heres phase 1, follow me on twitter to keep updated with every single transaction I make! It'll definitely be transparent, no holds barred. So if you think i'm buying stupid things - tell me! I need all the support I can in turning my finances around!

Visualing goals are the key to success

2011-02-10T21:06:00.000+11:00

First of all, big thanks to Chitown from Windy City Blues for hooking me up with the html code - its nice to know that the PF world out there is a friendly place where everyone helps one and another.

Ever since I was little I would always be more successful when I visualised my goals either by writing them down or drawing them. I would always draw things I wanted, or write about things that interested me. This tapered off a bit as I progressed through school where I stifled my creativity in pursuit of higher grades. However during Uni where I rebooted my motivation to achieve academic success I began to write lists down of what I had to prepare for right before exams. This made me see how far along I was with my study and whether or not I was holding up to my expectations.

What does this do with personal finance? Pretty much everything. People use budgets as an indicator of wealth. I plan out the rest of my years finances to achieve my goals. Whether or not I follow through is then up to me. However if I didn't have a visual goal for doing so, I definitely would not be as attuned to my finances as I am nowadays.

The addition of these bars on the side of my blog will allow myself and others to see how far long I am with my progress, and with every little increment to the bar it will further fuel my ambition to achieve the ultimate financial goal - freedom.

Money comes in, and straight back out

2011-02-09T21:18:00.000+11:00

At my current job, I get paid fortnightly which means this is how I revolve my finances. At the present, I pay myself $100 a week for 'living' (transport, anything others) and spend much of the rest on debt I incur.

So what was I paying off this fortnight? My third Chartered Accountants Module Fee.

As my current work has no study support, I had to pay it out of pocket. This came out to be $1,106. When I am earning 30k a year, it hits my wallet hard. And the fact that registration happened right when I returned from my overseas trip made it worse. So what did I do? I charged it to my card.

I tried to cut back on spending (unsuccessfully), delayed paying other debt back (I currently don't have any consumer debt, only a personal loan from my parents and my student loans) so I made it a priority. I marked the 11th of February with a big circle making sure I didn't pay my debt after that and incurring any interest or late payment charges. It was so stressful watching the days go by, hoping my pay would not be late (sometimes it is) and making sure I still had enough money left over to survive the next fortnight. And guess what?

I made it, with 2 days to spare.

It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, and made me realise how important it was to establish a truly comfortable emergency fund so that I wouldn't need to ever pull out my credit card for these purchases ever again. I just don't feel right swiping things and not paying it off straight away. But now that i've toppled this obstacle, bring on my next challenge!

To pay back my personal loan from my parents. Its a (relative) whopper and without their generosity I would be so screwed by now. Stay tuned!

How I track my Personal Finances

2011-02-07T22:30:00.000+11:00

Because I work full-time (basically), study (my CA), have a great relationship and try and exercise - the thought of posting is very very far back in my mind. However, thats not to say i'm ignoring my finances. So how do I control my money and make sure that everything is in order?

1. Excel - My finances spreadsheet file tracks every cent I spend/earn and I updated it very very frequently (almost daily). The fact that I update it so frequently is quite daunting as it makes the days go by much more slowly. I wish the pay days would come faster!

2. iPhone App - Luckily, my bank provides an iPhone app which I can log into and access my accounts on the go. This is very handy as I don't have access to the internet at my current workplace (which is ridiculous as I work in the finance industry) but the convenience of the wireless network which I have gained access to has made it much more bearable.

So these are the two methods I use to track my spendings and earnings. It may not seem like much but its because Australia doesn't have access to the wonderful website that is mint.com. Even so, I would be a bit hesitant to give a company so much access to my financial information - no matter how secure the website is. I prefer my minimalistic way of doing things and hope to keep at this method for the future, unless something blows me away that takes me away from the power-couple that is Excel and the iPhone. We shall see!

So it begins!

2011-02-01T23:05:00.000+11:00

After much deliberation, a failed blog launch and then rejuventation from who-knows-what I have decided to start a blog again!

What would you expect from this blog? Well there a few things I want to incorporate in the pipeline, but for now it will be predominantly me writing about the ups and downs of getting out of debt. How much you ask? Well that figure doesn't matter, but if its really necessary - $35k or so. But adjusting for my assets, my networth is currently hovering around $28k (off the top of my head).

Having said all of that, welcome and I hope you enjoy reading about how i'm on my way to FREEING MY FINANCES.