Sense To Dollars

Fun Spending

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:54:00 +0000

I expect to spend the $2500 of my US travel, and $3000 for traveling around NZ this summer in the next 4 to 5 months. I'll be updating this list as I spend that money.

$2500 NZD travel to US in 2009 Fund; to be spent on other items--$2105 left:

$145 for new glasses
$68.50 for Sister's Christmas present
$181.04 on presents for myself (they are all career-related items, though...)

$3000 NZ travel; $2460 left:

$300 Dunedin trip at the end of Nov. Rental car already booked; $44 is my share. I'm also expecting to pay less than $60 total for accommodation, and the rest will be food and entry fees and souvenirs. Since I'm tacking this trip on the end of a conference, work paid for my flights (they were the same amount whether I left on Friday or Sunday).

$240 flight to/from Dunedin next February when my friend comes to visit. This trip will have a different itinerary than the first trip to Dunedin. You can never get sick of seeing penguins (at least, I can't!). Rental car should be less than $130 for my portion, and we'll be sleeping at hostels.

Trip to Vanuatu!!! next Feb. Flights + 4 nights accomodation are lookin to be around $900 NZD. We'll also need food and $$ for souvenirs and activities (snorkeling, volcano tour, partying).

traveling with my friend in Dec., if she comes? Budget unknown...

October Smash-Up

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:52:00 +0000

My October spending is a marvel--probably the lowest I've spent yet this year in a month, and with it being a 3 paycheck month to boot, it is also probably the highest save-to-spend ratio month yet!

Everything is under budget; everything looks great. No complaints here!

Rent: $840. This doesn't change much from month to month. In January, I will have to pay rent 3 times instead of 2 because of the way the fortnightly payments stack up, but I won't worry about that until Jan.

Groceries: $264.09. All because I was out of town for work for most of the month--and they paid for my food. This is still WAY HIGH to me, but it's under budget, so...can't complain!

Internet: $53.87. Love having a roommate! Internet bill went from $110 a month to $54. My roommate's friends stayed for a week and they were downloading youtube vids like crazy! We went over our allotted 11 GB by quite a few gigabytes, and each GB after that limit is $2.

Electricity: $86. Again, we had my roommate's friends come and stay with us for a week, driving this up.

Eating Out: $62. Being out of town for work kept this spending under budget.

Charity: $0. This is the only area where I'm actually ashamed of myself if I go underbudget. Need to step this up!! NZ charity suggestions welcome.

Cell phone: $30. My vodafone account needed a topup. This should be good to go until the end of the year, unless I need to use the phone to talk to anyone (I just text people in NZ, and call the US using a US phone card at this point.)

Medical: $0. I need a contacts prescription, a routine checkup, a check-in about my thyroid and iron levels, and I need a dentist appt. soon. This will go up very soon.

Misc.: $164.21. $1 fee for using a non-kiwibank ATM; $15 for a parking spot advertisement on trademe; $1 on busfare; $10 on a movie (500 Days of Summer); $4.50 on a card for a friend; $30 on an umbrella; $23 on stamps; and $80 on everyday tools for housework.

SAVINGS:

This month I saved (drum roll please): $3,167.05 of my $4,667.22 October income. Crazy--I saved more than I usually make in a month!

November holds a mish-mash, and I can't predict how much spending will be. I will be out of town for work for 9 days, and out of town for fun for 2. I'm using some of my saved money to buy items on my wish list. I am also gearing up for Christmas spending. I am only going to give the 3 members of my immediate family gifts, and I'm paying to have a large box of US items shipped to me as a present to myself for Xmas. The gifts and shipping should be much, much less than a $3000 NZD plane ticket. I hope it's worth it to miss Xmas with my fam!

Reversal?

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:52:00 +0000

I may have jumped the gun on the 'my friend is a total flake' thing. She's now saying she is still looking into coming, but has to have some downtime to work on some things. Well, OK, but I'm making alternate plans in case that doesn't happen. Once bitten and all that...

So...$$ gets moved back to its original positions in my goals list. I'm OK with that--I'd rather have travel plans than goals fulfilled, any day!

My Money is Unemployed

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:23:00 +0000

Now that my friend isn't coming in Dec., and I'm not going home for Christmas, I have both the $2500 I saved for my trip home for Christmas and the $3000 that I saved up to travel while my friend was in town, just sitting around doing nothing. In effect, that $5500 NZD just got laid off.

I waste money that doesn't have a job, so it's important that I figure something out pretty quickly. Currently, some of my money is in fire and rescue--its job is to wait around for rainy days and emergencies, and then swoop in and save the day. Some of it is in the entertainment business--its job is to fuel my dreams, give me hope, and give me the motivation to get through tough times with promises of the future. Other bits of my money works hard day to day--it feeds me, clothes me, puts a roof over my head, and lets me do things like go to the movies and play on the internet.

For now, that $5500 is getting split up in the following way, as its temp job:

$550 Long Term Goals (10%)
$550 Fun (10%)--$300 will go to my Dunedin trip later this month
$2519 to 2010 US travel, making it 100% complete
$1881 to Oz Travel, making it 47% complete

I can't help it; I'm just so addicted to seeing those savings bars get filled!

HSBC's Final Act

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:53:00 +0000

See here for background information.

When I went to look up the number to call HSBC about their bank error, I noticed that I had received the following email in return (NO mention of notaries, proving the charge, none of the paperwork listed in Single Ma's description of her experience...):

"Dear Sense,

Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A., the world's
local bank.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Your
request to reimburse the $10.00 fee on your Online Savings Account has been
processed. Please allow 2 business days for the credit to appear within
your available balance."

Hmmmm...fine--I'm getting my money back, but I'm still angry. A) I caught this error, through Single Ma, B) they never notified me of the error. What if I hadn't caught it and followed up? How many other people has this happened to, that just think it's their fault? How can they preferentially treat some customers to 'good' service, and not others? Especially since it would be so easy to include us on that email.

Here is the email I sent back:

Thank you for scheduling the reimbursement of $10 for the
overdraft fee I incurred on 10/30/09 for your error of processing a transfer
twice. I would also like to be reimbursed any interest that would have
accumulated during this time.

While I appreciate the swift resolution of the matter once it was brought
to HSBC's attention, why was I never initially notified of the error that took place on
October 30? I did not receive the email that went out about this error; I
happened to stumble across the news of the mass double transfer and that is
the only way I knew to follow up on this matter.

I should have been notified, along with all of your other customers that this happened to. If I was left off the notification email by accident, making this the second accident by HSBC in a week, that is, quite simply, too many accidents in too short of a time span. If I was purposely left off of this email, I find that to be an even more egregious error. Either way, I will be moving my money to another bank shortly, and will be calling HSBC
to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the way that this was handled.

I will definitely not be choosing HSBC nor its subsidiaries to handle my business in New Zealand, nor when I return to the US in the future.
Again, I am overseas in New Zealand currently. I can be reached at +64
21 XXX XXX during normal New Zealand hours (9 am to 7 pm) if you wish to
talk about this matter."

What do you think?

I think that something is fishy. Once that money is in my account, I am giving them a call and they will still get an earful. And I'm asking to be transferred to the manager straight up. And then I'm moving my money to ING.

I Really Hate Flakes

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:31:00 +0000

Well, it turns out that my friend that was supposed to come in December isn't coming anymore. She tells me this less than a month before she's supposed to come out! Grrr...this epic road trip around NZ and possibly Oz has been in the works since last June, and I've been planning and saving up for it like mad. I'm terribly disappointed.

I have $2.7K that I was going to use for this Epic Road Trip ($300 will be used for a weekend on the S. Island at the end of November). I'm not a fan of traveling by myself (plus, that's A LOT of driving to do all by my lonesome!), so I guess I'm not going to be going anywhere in December. I was so excited, I have been saving up all of my time off in lieu from doing all my fieldwork, for just this trip. Bummer.

I could scramble around and try to make other plans, but honestly...I don't feel like it, and everyone I know has to work or is going overseas or already has their (full) trips planned in December. I turned everyone down that invited me anywhere due to this initial plan. I'm now completely priced out of any trips home for Christmas (all of the cheap flights seem to be booked), so I'm missing Christmas with my family for nothing now! This all is making me sad. I know, I know, it could be much worse. :) It's new news, I'll cheer up in a bit.

(On the plus side, my friend coming in February has already booked his tickets. He unfortunately has to work for 5 of the 10 days he is here, but we'll try to make the most of the time off that he has. At least I know he won't flake, he's already invested $1K euros into it!)

Lots of time off and cash saved up, nothing to do with it. I'm really afraid that the time off will wither into the ether if I don't use it up soon, and the same with the cash. On the other hand, maybe I should just take this as a sign to save that $2.7K and 10 days off in lieu, in case something good comes along in January. Or maybe I should tell my supervisors that I plan to just tack on that time off to my NZ winter vacation next (Northern Hemisphere) summer, and do an epic round the world trip, visiting friends all over. You never know what could happen!

Drama Is Spelled With an H-S-B-C

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:23:00 +0000

Usually, the drama in my life centers around everything but my financial life. Usually, my money is my safe place--ordered in neat little packages of goals and funds and expenses vs. saving. Not so this week.

I recently completed my $5K goal, albeit with some (still on-going) drama. HSBC transferred the money from my US checking account TWICE on October 30, causing my heart to give out when I spied a ZERO and a -$4.11 overdraft in ugly red letters in my checking and savings accounts, respectively, two nights ago.

Luckily! I hadn't gotten around to transferring the $25 from my savings account to my checking account this month (I get free checking if I do this transfer, but the savings account interest is so minuscule that I always transfer it back into checking). So, the $4.11 overage was safely pulled from my linked savings (something that my NZ bank is apparently incapable of doing). HOWEVER, they charged me $10 for the privilege.

I thought that I had accidentally hit the 'transfer' button twice after I saw this. I am usually terribly careful not to do that, but hey, I'm human. So when I saw Single Ma's post about the same thing happening to her on the same day that my money was transferred, the light bulb went off--it was bank error, and definitely NOT in my favor!!

But that email that she received, politely informing her of the error and how they were going to fix it? I never got one. I only have $5K at HSBC, and she has $46K. Apparently somewhere in there is the line between getting an email notification and immediate action, and not saying a word and letting your customers think they are big dumb arses for incorrectly executing a transfer. Grrr. This makes me angry.

I sent an email to them already, but will follow it up with them as soon as I get a second off from work. They are going to get an earful.

I'm Back...and Swamped

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:24:00 +0000

Work is swamping me with lovely opportunities, but I still have my more annoying, day to day duties to do as well, so...I'm busy.

I've worked the past 25 days, with basically no breaks. My supposed 'days off' were spent catching up on work or preparing talks and organizing meetings. I just got back from a stint in the field, and have another big meeting this Friday.

On top of that, I have a few conferences coming up. One of my bosses just asked me to present something at a meeting in a week. I also have to put together and print out a poster for a conference the week after that. The last weekend in November, I'm traveling for fun on the S. Island--that will cost ~$300 and will come out of the $3000 I have saved for NZ travel over the 2009 summer. (If we ever have one...I heard today that this past October was the coldest it's been in NZ since 1945!! We also were sleeted on in the field this past week, and the higher elevations were getting snow!!!)

So, I'm sad to say, this blog is gonna get ignored a little more. My supply of scheduled posts is drying up. However--work will pay for my food for another 8 days in November! That phenomenon made October a really cheap and easy month. Monthly update coming this weekend.

My one financial goal for November is to decide and commit to a Kiwisaver scheme. I've gotten most of the legwork and research done already, I mainly just need to decide for sure on a provider and work out which funds diversify me the most.

I will also decide soon how to break up the $2500 that was allocated for US travel this Christmas. Another new development has changed some of my plans for that $: one of my best friends is coming to visit me in Feb. We're definitely planning on visiting some tropical islands: Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu...one or two of those. A return flight + 4/5 nights accomodation in one of those islands is going for about $900 NZD right now. I'd also need money for food and souvenirs and things. We are also planning on spending 3 days on the S. Island, and doing day trips around the N. Island (glow worm caves, Rotorua). All that will cost some money!

Credit Check-Up

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:04:00 +0000

I took advantage of my free credit report recently, after over a year of not checking (BAD PF blogger!). Although, I had to go through some crazy back way to do it--for some reason the US credit companies totally block everyone from other countries. Dude! I'm not a terrorist. I. Just. Want. My. Credit. Report.

Anyway, two of the sites blocked me, and the third allowed me to get my report after using HotSpotShield.

All is well, everything is lookin good. No terrorist (ahem!) stole my identity and credit.

The good thing is that I'm still using my US cc sporadically to buy my plane tickets home, and I use it while I'm in the US to buy everything. And then I pay it all off before I can be charged interest. So--my credit is still being built and should be intact when I move back to the US. Happy, happy!

New Savings Strategy Is Working!!

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Every Sunday, I list out my spending for the week. Every month, I list my spending for that month. I always spend less than my income, and I usually save a lot, too--about 1/3 of my income. I have listed out my goals for the short and long-term, and have been able to accomplish or make satisfactory progress on many of these goals.

This all makes me happy, day-to-day, month-to-month, and looks great on paper, but where is it getting me?

This is where Net Worth comes into play, and we see if my strategy is actually working.

A while back, I had a cow because I realized that I was simply saving to spend instead of saving for the long-term. So while it looked like I was saving a lot and living within my means, etc., I was actually just delaying purchases and spending my entire income, instead of building wealth. I was on Step 1 of Financial Freedom, not some advanced step like I thought I was. Oh, what a hard revelation that was to accept. I've spent days mulling over this idea.

To track your progress, whether it be training for a marathon or eliminating debt, you have to know where you started. So, as of 2009, here is my Net Worth:

US Funds: $11,750
$2800 is in short-term funds, the rest is invested in long-term index funds.

This includes my Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, and HSBC savings account. This will only be growing as the stock market takes off (or doesn't), with monthly interest payments, and when I top up my HSBC savings account to $5K to serve as my US EF.

NZ Funds: $20,220
$680 of it this earmarked for my long-term goals, $10K serves as my EF, and the rest is savings for travel and replacing valuable items (car, laptop).

This includes all of my savings accounts, but not my checking account. This number should be actively growing every month with my contributions and interest payments.

Yup, I just broke the $20K mark, again. Although this time it's in NZD. I am still planning on opening that Kiwisaver account...I just need to devote a few more minutes to researching the various funds and companies, and figure out how to diversify. With work being so crazy, the earliest I can hope to do this is late November.

My Money is Traveling Without Me!

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:11:00 +0000

If you've noticed some funky stuff is going on over there on my goals section, it's because I have a currency trade limit. I've saved enough NZD to fill my US EF to $5K, but I can only transfer a certain amount at one time. So, I've just initiated a transfer of $2577 NZD to my US bank account using XETrade. $1911.10 USD is being deposited into my US EF, which means I still need ~$287 USD to fill it up.

I still have $526 NZD in my NZD bank account, earmarked for my US EF. Once all the transactions go through smoothly and I have that $5K in my US HSBC account, I can call the goals done. Due to the silly time periods it takes to transfer money, that could take a few weeks.

Here's my money's itinerary:

NZ savings account ---> NZ checking account ---> XETrade (here my $$ will have some plastic surgery and change from NZD to USD) ----> US Checking account ---> US HSBC account

Whew! I wish I could travel through ACH and wire!

$2500 Dilemma

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:01:00 +0000

I have $2,500 left in my 'Travel to US' account that I was going to use to go home for Christmas. However, I'm not going home this December. What should I use that for now?

a) add it to my 2009 NZ Summer Travel fund. I have met the goal for this fund at $3K, but I may need more; two friends are visiting me this summer.

b) add it to my 2010 Travel to US fund. This fund currently stands at $1581, and my goal is $5K, so $2500 could do some major damage to it! I'd love to have this fund done before 2010 even starts!

c) use it on Christmas presents for my family, and get everything on my Wish List; have a big box of US goodies sent to me.

d) some combo of the above. Split it equally?

e) something else...add it to my Oz fund? send mom and sis to NZ fund? long-term funds? a major shopping spree? YOU fill in the blank here. :)

Weekly Spending

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Yo yo! It's Sunday, which means it's time for another weekly spending report. I like this a lot better than my daily updates, because it's less time-consuming. It's also often enough so that the amount of spending doesn't get to be too much to report. I like checking in every week to see if my spending is on track, too.

Misc: $137.94
Groceries: $120.77
Electricity: $86 (my share)
Internet: $53.87 (my share)
Eating Out: $22.70

Total this week: $421.28
Total spending for the month: $1500.17 (including $840 rent and all utilities)

Groceries--I had to return the rental car from work last Monday, and had a few hours before it was due back to the company, so I panicked and decided to go grocery shopping for the week. Big Mistake. I didn't have my shopping list with me, so I ended up getting repeats of stuff I already had in my cabinet. I did get dinner for 4 nights out of the $72 I spent last Monday, though. the $50 more I spent on food was on snacks for the field and evenings (I'm a late night muncher!).

Electricity was due, $172 or so, total. I'm looking to switch if anyone has any suggestions.

Internet was due also. $108 total ($45 of it is for the phone hookup, which we don't use but is necessary for internet access. IT IS MY MOST HATED BILL.)

Eating out: got some horrid pasta last Friday. I could have made this sh*& at home, and I'm a horrible cook! $18 for awfulness. I also bought some lunch while out shopping today ($4.70).

Misc.: All of this was spent today, in fact! It was really looking like I wasn't going to spend much more money this month, what with being in the field for the next week, so I decided to do some damage to my Wish List (see sidebar). I went to the Warehouse (crappier version of Wal-mart), Whitcoull's (a fancy Waldenbooks), and a few more places to spend some moolah!

I bought: a friend's card (she just had a baby) for $4.50; a new umbrella for $30; stamps for $23; a hammer, ratchet screwdriver, needle nose pliers, adjustable wrench, set of hex keys, a level, tape measure, joint pliers, 3 storage boxes that snap together (fun!), toothpaste, and a strand of Christmas lights for my balcony, all for $80. I almost bought a new duvet cover and matching sheets for $50 total because they were 50% off, but I decided against that for now because I wasn't absolutely loving any of the Warehouse's designs. Something else for my Wish List!!

My Life Is Work

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:11:00 +0000

OMG, finally. I finally have a day off. Two, actually--a whole weekend! It seems like such a long time. :)

I've worked at least 10 hours every day for several weeks now. Very late last night (1:40 am) I got my talk done. I woke up early to practice it, and presented it this morning, and got home at 7 pm tonight. I know lots of people (lawyers, doctors, business executives) work longer hours or these hours permanently, but I don't!

It's so odd--I wasn't nervous about my talk (a little anxious about getting it done to my standards in time, yes, and not super-excited about talking, but not totally freaking out) until I was a few minutes into the talk. That seems backwards, right? It doesn't make sense--I was happy with what I'd pulled together, esp. in light of the time crunch, and I started off very well. Why get nervous after I get into my groove and while I'm confident about my work?

Ah well. Perhaps this means that I need more practice. I can't explain it. It's funny--some experts in the subject of the talk walked in while I was mid-way through (they were early for the next meeting), and it didn't bug me one bit. My boss said that she became nervous for me at that point, but she was happy that it didn't faze me.

Anyway, I don't know if it was because I seemed really nervous or because I did a good job (or both), but several people congratulated me on the talk, and my boss said it was fantastic. Later, an expert gave a talk on the exact subject of my talk (the two talks were presented to slightly different groups of scientists--mine was the 'for dummies' version because of my audience and my lack of expertise on the subject) and he basically repeated what I'd said, with a few more details and one or two additions. So...I guess it was a success. Maybe my standards for myself are too high? Or perhaps I'm still suffering from 'I let him make me majorly insecure about myself'-itis.

Monday I leave to do some more fieldwork. Monday is supposed to be a holiday, but I'm working. I am getting fatigued from work, but I just keep thinking about how I'm banking all of these days off! Hopefully my friend comes to visit in December as planned and I can actually use all of these days. :) If she doesn't show, I'm gonna wonder why I worked myself so hard the past few months! (Grrr...she better show!!)

My first leisure traveling trip takes place the last weekend of November, after a conference. I'm very excited to enjoy the warmer weather that is coming!

$1200 Plan

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:28:00 +0000

Yup, I just met another goal--Fill US EF to $5K. I just patted myself on the back. It's all in the master plan.

I technically need to transfer the NZD to USD and deposit it in my HSBC account, but the NZD's are all there for the transferrin. I'd better get to that before the value starts dipping again.

I'm also doing the happy dance because I just realized that October is a 3 paycheck month! Wow. It looks like some major damage is gonna be done to my savings goals in Rock-tober. Yeah! I am killing them lately.

So, that $1200 I transferred to savings will be allotted in the following way:

$163 to the remainder of the Fill US EF to $5K goal, making it 100% complete!
$1037 to 2010 Travel Fund, making it 32% complete

Sunday Spending($)

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:40:00 +0000

I have two Sunday spendings to catch up on now: 10/11 and 10/18

10/11:

$25.27 on Misc (movie, busfare, parking advertising on TradeMe)
$57.30 on Groceries (mostly snacks for the movie and for the fieldwork)
$29.80 on Eating Out (pizza hut one late night at the office; subway for lunch while doing fieldwork)
$30 on Cell Phone (topped up my vodaphone account)

Total: $142.37

10/18:

Total: $0

That's right, ZERO! I was away for a work trip and spent absolutely none of my own money. Feels great!

I'm back from the field this week, and then leave again for the last week of the month. With all these work trips and being so busy with work, I've had very little time to spend. Good for the wallet, for sure. Total spending for the month: $1,142.89 (including rent payment of $840).

Too Busy

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:38:00 +0000

Back from another week of fieldwork.

Now that my boss has my report, she asked me to present it this Friday. At the same meeting that I'm arranging all the catering, A/V, etc for! So I'm organizing and presenting at this meeting, with a few days notice on the presenting front...sigh. When am I supposed to put together a fifteen minute talk in all that? Oy vey.

I mentioned that I didn't have time to put together my talk this week (Tues, Wed, and Thurs are chock-full of other activities and meetings at work), and she said not to worry about the powerpoint portion of the talk. Right...talk without slides? without an aid?

I'm not that good! I need slides and a laser pointer and pictures that illustrate my point! Not to mention that I haven't given an official talk in 6 years, not since I defended my master's.

I flat out do not want to do this. My boss said she'd be disappointed if I didn't, though. I'm hoping that I'll be so bad at it that she'll never ask me to present ever again. :)

Also, my other boss wants me to put together a talk for a big conference on Nov. 16. Right...I have this big talk this Friday, then 7 days in the field, then I have to present and organize another big meeting and talk for Boss #1 for Nov. 6 again, and then I have a week and then there's the conference. WHY don't these people give me more notice? I cannot put a talk together in a day. I said, absolutely not, I can't do that; I'm WAY too busy to put together a nice, polished talk for a conference THE WEEK BEFORE. Honestly.

So yeah. Venting. I do love my job, but hate talking and presenting. If only I could stay behind the scenes and do the fieldwork, written research, etc., I'd be a happy girl. Unfortunately, presenting is a part of this dealio. One that I will try my hardest to avoid and get out of, but one that I'll probably have to do from time to time.

Anyway, the fieldwork part of the past week was fun. Again, my field partner was still annoying. I have 9 more field days with her and she is driving me absolutely insane! I have to share an office with her while our other offices are being renovated, too. There's no escaaaaape! If I die in the next few weeks, it will be because of my head's exploded in an effort to just not hear her voice anymore, y'all. :)

The Right Idea

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:09:00 +0000

I complain about NZ sometimes (ok, a lot of times), but they are doing some things very well, and how it should be everywhere, in my opinion. Like what, you may ask? Well:

they have switches next to each electrical outlet; this saves me a ton on the electric bill.
no paper checks: most payments (even rent) are made directly into the other person's or business's account. It's much less muss and fuss.
instead of paper towels, we use washable, reusable cloths (this may not be the case for most NZ households, but this practice didn't start for me until I moved here)
kids live at home for a long, long time. If this time is used properly, it saves kids thousands and thousands of dollars in rent. For example, several of my Kiwi coworkers lived at their parents' house until they were ~28-35 years of age, living at home through college, through their first job, through getting their PhD. They moved directly out of their parent's home into their first house, never renting, and having a huge emergency fund/house downpayment saved up in the process. Of course, this won't work for everyone, but from what I've seen, a majority of Kiwi families do this. If they don't live at their parent's house, they move in with an aunt, cousin, etc. I love this idea in terms of familial closeness, but know that it can definitely work against you if your kid isn't motivated to move out.
Kiwis work hard, but have a hugely playful, humorous attitude towards life. Talk of extracurricular activities at work is encouraged and very common. Work-life balance is a priority.
Most Kiwis are just plain grounded, down-to-earth, and practical. Why would you buy a fancy car when a plain one will suffice? A Kiwi coworker recently told me that I seem completely unAmerican in her opinion. I didn't know whether to be offended or happy, honestly! But this wasn't a slight--to her, Americans are pushy, bossy, materialistic, greedy, entitled, closed-minded, and selfish. *grin* It's nice to challenge stereotypes. I told her that back in the US, many many people told me that I am the 'all-American girl.' In the US, that means wholesome, happy, healthy, well-rounded, giving, non-judgmental, optimistic, and that I have a good work ethic and great ties with my family and friends. Oh, and that I love cheeseburgers and the Fourth of July. ;)

That's all I can think of at the moment, I'm sure there are a lot more energy-conscious, work-life balanced, interesting Kiwi traits that I could mention.

Breaking Hiatus

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:47:00 +0000

Got paid today; saved $1200. On a roll!

On hotel internet; can't write much! However, will cover my plan for that $1200 when I get back into Auckland next Tuesday. Wish me happy weather!

GREAT Customer Service!

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:27:00 +0000

One of the tools of my trade is a waterproof notebook for note taking in the field. In them, I write down pertinent observations and sketches. The data collected in the field goes into databases and reports. If it rains or the notebook falls into a stream, the notebooks HAVE to hold together and my writing still be legible.

Thank God for Rite In The Rain notebooks--they are waterproof and come in all different sizes and adapted for all sorts of professions. If it is important to my profession and can be written down on paper, my notebook has it in the handy reference section in the back.

This company is known as the top of the line of fieldgear for my occupation, and for many other professions in which some work takes place outside. They are...the Prada of fieldwork. In all honesty, I'd rather have REI hiking boots than Prada high heels, anyway.

Recently I went out in the field with my 2 year old field notebook. It rained for three days straight, and I was filthy, muddy, and waterlogged. I dropped my field notebook in the mud, and it held up just fine. After one day, though, water started to seep into the edges of the pages in my Rite in the Rain notebook. I decided to complain about this, since that is NOT supposed to happen. I simply went to their website, clicked on the email link to complain, and sent my letter.

The next day, I got a very courteous reply asking for the batch number. I sent that in, and the same guy that answered my original complaint letter decided to send me a free notebook to replace my half-used, waterlogged one! (Yay!)

Anyway, this all happened in less than a week. Personal, immediate replies and a happy resolution to a complaint. Kudos to Rite in the Rain!

Helpful Tip

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:16:00 +0000

My coworker showed me a file organization tip the other day, and I have no idea why I didn't think of this before--it is so simple and logical! (Please don't tell me I'm the only one who hasn't figured this out yet...)

If you label files the following way:

YYMMDD Filename

Windows will automatically sort the files by year, month, then day, and all of your files will be in chronological order!

I will have to start using this method and see if it fits into my current file organization scheme. Anything to be more organized and efficient.

Hiatus

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:32:00 +0000

On hiatus...once again while I go out in the field. This time until next Monday (Oct. 19).

p.s. I was up until 5 am finishing that paper I last posted about...it is a rough draft and I have more to do on it, but at least it's done for now. I emailed it to my boss at 7 am, before the long drive to my field site. How I'm still up at 11 pm right now, I don't know. G'night all!

NZ Financial Downfalls

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Ugh...even after being here a year, I am surprised when NZ doesn't have something that is standard in the rest of the modern world.

Take, for example, banks:

1) You don't get checkbooks; you are expected to do EVERYTHING online. And even then, there are fees for things like setting up automatic payments.

2) You cannot deposit money into an ATM. EVER. This amazing banking feature has not come to NZ yet. You have to go into the bank during their bank hours (9 - 5, M-F) to deposit checks. Yes, this means you have to take time off of work to deposit a check. Which, of course, is the standard way my company reimburses me; they refuse to just electronically deposit it, like my paycheck is.

3) And the latest in the series: I cannot link my 'everyday spending' account (I was admonished for calling it a 'checking account') CANNOT be linked to my savings account. Even though it was set up at the same exact time at the same bank, and even though when I log into my account, they show up right next to one another.

RiDONKulous. The whole point is that I keep money in my savings account, where it bears interest, and where it can be used in case I accidentally go over in my 'everyday spending' account!

So...back to keeping that $500 to $1000 buffer in my 'everyday spending'/checking account.

Work

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:09:00 +0000

I can't wait until my life is free of this GD*&^)'d literature review I was supposed to turn in back in June but then my supervisor said to not worry about it while I was on vacation in July and then I got back in August and was slammed with other, catch-up work, and now she's asking for it tomorrow and I also have to pack and get all my errands done and prepare to go out in the field on Monday which is a day and a half away!

Deep breath.

Right now, I have this assignment that was due last June, and it's completely not in my nature to blow deadlines off, but somehow this literature review, which is now 50 pages long and cites 65 papers, has just been blown out of proportion and has taken over my life. My boss wants it Monday. It's still not done, and it's Saturday afternoon. I leave for the field on Monday, so it has to be turned in tomorrow. Argh.

I have a problem with concentrating on writing at work: I just can't do it. There are phone calls, my officemate constantly asking questions, people 'just stopping by' my office, and the din that comes from the lunch room across the hall. Plus, for the past two weeks, we've been gearing up to move offices. So, for the past 6 months, I've been shuttling 65 journal articles home every night to try to work on it in a quiet environment. Only, what happens is that I get home, make dinner, eat, maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll run or work out a little, shower, and then all I can do is collapse into bed and download GLEE before falling asleep. (Fatigue gets me every time. I'm now sleeping like 12 hours a night and doctors still won't believe me when I say this isn't normal and that something HAS to be wrong with me.)

Anyway, I just need to GET THIS DONE. Need to pull out pages from my college and thesis days to get in the groove.

On the upside, as I twittered, I will have 9 days of time off in lieu after I finish all my fieldwork. Those nine days plus the Christmas holidays mean that I can not work December 17 through January 4 without even officially taking a day off or using up any of my vacation. Hurrah! Also, if I take the remaining three days from the first week off, I'll get Dec 12 through Jan 4 with no work!

Three days for 3 weeks. Awesome.

My friend is thinking of visiting for most of December, so I'm pretty psyched about that. She's a great travel companion and wants to go everywhere! so, that $3k I set aside for this summer will DEFINITELY be used. Is $1K/week a doable budget? We shall see...

As I definitely do not want to be working on that stupid report over that time period, I better get a move on. Traveling here I come!!

3 days for 3 weeks. aaahhhhh.

Slow Down, Please!

sensetodollars@yahoo.com (Sense) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:47:00 +0000

Time is going by very fast lately. It feels like I just started reporting my spending every Sunday, but it's been many moons already. I need some time to catch my breath and make each day count. Far too often, I wake, go to work, come home, eat, shower, and then go to bed. I want more time to get my non-financial goals done!

So...this week was the first back from my field work. I go back out in another week.

Misc, $11.50; I spent 50 cents on busfare and $10 to see a movie (Funny People...I love Adam Sandler, but this movie was WAY too long and the plot was all over the place...Skip it!). I also was charge $1 for using a non-Kiwibank ATM earlier this month while in the field.

Eating Out, $18; I spent $8.50 for a pizza before Funny People, and $9.50 on thai this past Friday.

Groceries, $88.77

Total: $117.27

I also paid my internet bill; $56 was my share.