Leaking Money & New Budget

My CC debt went up from $387 to $620 in the last week. Yikes! We were short while paying for the groceries so I had to pay using the black CC. J sent me $50 by direct debit for his share but silly me, spent the money instead. Oh well, my savings are still intact and I'm putting more on my CC for this pay.

J also had an unexpected expense this week. He wears monthly contact lenses and on April this year, he got an ulcer in his eye from a cut possibly from his contacts. So he had to go to his optometrist then to the eye hospital to get eye drops. Last night, he came home and his right eye was really red and looked infected so he had to go through the same process again this time. The eye drops and the consultation are expensive but hopefully he can get some of it back on Medicare (public health system) and on NIB (our private health). Contact lenses are a bitch and he's planning on getting LASIK next year. I got my eyes done in 2005 and it was the best thing I've ever done! More on this later...

Payday tomorrow so here's the budget for the next two weeks. I thought I was going to be short of my goal to save $1000 this month as I had to send extra money overseas to family but it turns out that I got paid a bit more than anticipated.

Income (next two weeks): $1965

Rent: $400
Family: $359
Personal Training: $87.55
Uni Loan Payment: $146
Credit Card: $175
Home Deposit: $450
Week 1 Budget: $190
Week 2 Budget: $150

Week 1: Sept 17 to Sept 23
Week 2: Sept 24 to Sept 30

My week 1 budget is about $40 more because we're having a party at our place on Sunday. J & I are going halves so our budget is going to be around $60 for food & drinks but I budgeted extra anyway, just in case.

P.S. That black card is going to be locked away again! It's just too dangerous to be around.

Free books & magazines

A trip to the library got me these 12 books for free for three weeks! I should probably finish half of these by three weeks and the rest, I just renew which is another three weeks (also for free). I'm a really fast reader though so I don't have too many renewals.

Our check-out lady from the supermarket also gave me these for free - two cookbooks! The big one usually retails for around $12.95 so I'm really happy with that. Free stuff is awesome!

Yikes : Groceries!

J & I went to our local supermarket, Woolworths today to get some groceries for the week. The bill came to $95.57! Definitely more than what we've budgeted for, I thought it was going to be around $60. It's ok since we should have dinner until Thursday and this also include lunches and snacks. This will help me have a couple of NSD's next week, especially Monday and Tuesday!

We don't have a set budget yet for groceries but at our next pay which is this Thursday, we're going to start putting money in a kitty just for grocery shopping. We'll probably start with $50 each a week and see how we go.

Here's some of what we bought that made a big dent in the total price:

$10 - 10 tins of tuna (good for salad lunches, we bought some springwater and some flavoured ones)
$7 - 5 tubs of yoghurt (they're bigger than a normal pot-sized so this should be a good snack to bring to work)
$5.99 - extra virgin olive oil
$8.94 - 1 kilo chicken breast fillets (should be good for a few meals and left over lunches)

We're having a BBQ party at our place on Sunday with about 6-8 people coming over. They're bringing their own drinks and a plate to share but I still want to have everything pretty much covered. I'm going to come up with a summery menu later on this week.

Competitions

I've never had much luck with competitions unlike my friend who won two competitions on the same day to win 4 Harry Potter premiere tickets on the other and 2 of the same on the other competition she entered (both in magazines). Or colleague at work who regularly wins DVD's from entering competitions online. I haven't won anything!

So lately, I've been entering a few competitions. After all, I'm bound to win one someday right?

1. Helga's Bread A Taste of Europe competition - prizes are holidays at the Whitsundays, a road trip on the Great Ocean Road or a trip to the Hunter Valley by private jet. Not bad at all. But I didn't win. Maybe I should buy more bread.

2. Myer One's 5th year anniversary competition. The prize is a 5 day Fiji holiday!

3. Hoyts birthday free tickets. This is not really a competition, more like a free give away on your birthday. As I've posted before, movies here are so damn expensive at $16.50 and it increases by 50 cents every year. As my birthday is coming up next month, this is a good idea for a night out. We just have to buy a ticket for J. Score!

4. Optus. Optus is my mobile phone company and I buy a $30 re-charge card every month which gives me $150 worth of calls and text messages. Handy when calling my family overseas. Everytime I buy a recharge card, they send me a code to enter a competition and most of the time, I win prizes such as 25 free texts or $40 worth of calls. Today, I won 100 free texts!! I just have to use it within 14 days.

5. Madison Magazine are giving away 2 double passes for the Wedding Establishment event this coming Wednesday. The tickets are $95 for two people and it would be a great night out if I win.

From now on, I'm going to start entering more and more competitions. And as my birthday is coming up, I know there are companies there that offer a few birthday free goodies. Nothing wrong with a free goodies on your birthday!

The weekend ahead...

I went over $38.70 in my Week 1 budget (which was $145) which I've borrowed from my Week 2 budget which is $145. I could probably that on the phone recharge card I had to buy which was already $30.

Today I spent:

$20 - new shower curtain from Target. We have to replace our shower curtain every 6-7 months or so because it gets super mouldy.
$8 - chicken & pesto salad from Sumo salad for lunch. J bought us drinks & sushi.
$5 - groceries
$50 - Country Road top (from black CC - I have a $30 gift voucher but I couldn't find anything I liked within that price range so I finally picked an $80 top... oopsss)
$58 - Natio skincare & make-up from my previous post to get the GWP's. For Free as I used a gift voucher!

Total: $33

I have a total of $80 until Thursday! The weekend hasn't even begun yet!

Tomorrow, J & I are going to an open day for Macquarie University because I'm still deciding on whether to pursue a Masters degree in 2010. And we don't really have any plans for Sunday other than a dinner here at home with J's sister. I'm hoping to get all my groceries done for breakfast & lunches on Sunday afternoon and get a few more NSD next week!

On Wednesday, I have to attend a training day for work. The fare would probably cost me around $15 but I would be able to get that reimbursed from work but not until the week after so I have to leave around $25 on me for Wed. So that means $55 to spend between Saturday & Tuesday which will most definitely be spent on food. No more clothes shopping!

No Spend Day

Finally, I have finally have something to show for the NSD Challenge (or nothing to show?). Yesterday, I brought my breakfast to work (PB&H sandwich), had a cooked pasta for lunch and had 2-minute noodles for dinner! I did went grocery shopping today though and it was $41.30 with nary a sign of meat. Why are groceries in Sydney so expensive?

This what I have to show for $41.30:

1kg cous cous - $4.49
Marinade 160g - $3.19
Maltesers x 4 small packs - $3.96
Girly pads - $5.74
Grain waves chips - $2.99
Moroccan seasoning - $2.93
Greens Pancakes mix - $2.99
Pepsi Max 1L - $1.09
Schweppes Lemonade 1L - $1.09
3L milk - $3.66
1kg Jasmine rice - $2.49
1 loaf of bread - $3.99
12pk eggs - $2.69

These items are also mostly on sale except for the pads and the milk. Some of them are supplies that will last for a while like the cous cous, the seasoning and the rice and the bread should last until next week.

Tomorrow is going to be another NSD. I'm not even bringing cash to work so I don't get tempted. That brings my total to 2 days out of 10 and it's already the 10th tomorrow.

Spring Shopping

The black Visa card went in my greedy little hands this morning and this is all I came up with, my first purchase in more than a month! And it's only $35! I went into so many stores and before I would have just gone away with hundreds worth of clothes but my self control is getting stronger. This just means I have to forego a dinner out for this top but it's worth it cos it's so pretty.

I know I'm on a shopping ban at the moment but I really need skincare. Not want but NEED. I haven't been taking care of my skin for a while and I can tell, I'm getting breakouts every week. I hardly even moisturise which is a sin in winter. There are some sales going on at the moment with GWP's (Gifts with Purchase) and I'm thinking of getting these. If I spend $49 on Natio products, I get the following products for free! They include an SPF15 Daily Protection Face Moisturiser (badly needed and oh look, it has SPF 15 just in time for spring!), Illuminating Primer, Brightening Eye Cream (wouldn't hurt), Lip & Cheek Tint in Blossom, Spa with Organics Pep-up Body Cleanser, Spa with Organics Heavenly Hand Cream (always needed!), mirror, Tinted Moisturiser, Gentle Foaming Facial Cleanser and Ageless Hydrating Mask. I'm getting this on Saturday - I have a voucher to cover it so it will be free!

Increased Net Worth

My Net Worth has increased by $860 in two weeks. Yippee! At this rate, I would be closer to my goal of 8K by the end of this year. I still don't think I'm going to make it since I have to dip into my savings for travel (more on this later) but I'm also not taking any ridiculous loans soon.

Out of my $150 budget for the week, I have $45.80 left. Friday was a very bad day food-wise. I don't even want to think about it. On Saturday, J's sister and I had a day out at the markets & the city. Tally below.

Friday

$10 - breakfast at work. Yeh I know. B&E roll & a large coffee makes everything better
$30 - recharge card for my mobile - this would be good for a month
$3.70 - chicken wrap for lunch
$4 - large V Berry drink

Saturday

$10 - Fare
$9 - chicken roll for lunch
$3.50 - a giant Belgian chocolate cupcake!
$5 - iced mocha. We were so tired from all the walking. And yeh, the eating.
$12 - 3 movies from Blockbuster

Total for 2 days: $87.20

I also got a new MAC Studio Fix using a $50 voucher. If I didn't have a voucher, that would set me back $48 but they're the best and they last more than 6 months on a daily use so they're worth it.

Tonight, J & I are having dinner at a Chinese restaurant with J's family for Father's Day. And tomorrow, I'm having a cheapie dinner out with the girls after work. So much for my NSD Challenge! I'm still on a 0 out of 10 days.

So far today, I've spent nada since I've been home all day. J's brother moved out yesterday so I've been hauling furniture around and tidying up our place since 6 in the morning. I am going to do some grocery shopping to last us until Wednesday though and I have to cook some lunches before we head out for dinner at 7pm!

Epic Fail

Misses today:

$5 - breakfast
$7 - lunch

J gave me $5 before I left for work this morning and I just managed to scrape enough coins for lunch. That means my weekly budget is still intact!

Hits today:

$556 - savings which brings the total to $3600!

After a very long and tiring day from work staring at the computer for hours, crunching up stats and hours of reading, I really needed a break and a dinner out so we're heading out to our favorite cheapie Thai restaurant tonight, Wock Bar! Because the last thing I want to do tonight is cook. I just want a big curry with rice. I still have a long day of work tomorrow with a 20-page report that I have to finish by the end of the day (I'm probably halfway).

Tomorrow night J is going to cook dinner! Off to Thai!

Free Money

While transferring contents from one bag to another this morning, I found $15 in one of my bag's pockets! And yes, I've spent all of it. Good thing it's pay day tomorrow! I don't have lunch for work tomorrow either. The dinner that I cooked tonight was loved and finished by all. Not a great start to September. My No Spend Day September challenge is still at a lovely 0! But with enough preparation, hopefully I would have 3 NSD next week!

Budget : Period from Sept 3 - Sept 16

Income: $1965

Rent: $400
Family: $259
Private Health Cover: $127
Personal Training: $87.55
Uni Loan Payment: $146
Credit Card: $100
Savings: $550
Week 1 expenses: $150
Week 2 expenses: $145

Week 1 - Sept 3 to Sept 9
Week 2 - Sept 10 to Sept 16

Alas! My new budget for the next two weeks. I think this will work better than separating my expenses into categories. Now, if I buy a $100 dress, then I have to make do with $50 for the rest of the week.

Budget Recap

Period From: August 20 to September 2

Rent: $200 ($200)
Family: $259 ($259)
Personal Training: $86 ($87.55)
Uni Loan Payment: $146 ($146)
Credit Card Payment: $100 ($100)
Savings: $800 ($800)
Gifts: $30 ($40)
Groceries: $85 ($111.40)
Entertainment: $100 ($120.60)
Personal Items: $20 ($0)
Shopping: $50 ($0)
Misc: 34 ($35.95)

Too much red! As I said before, category budgeting is not working for me at the moment. I just end up using money from the other categories. My next budget will be a set amount weekly. I'll withdraw the money allocated at the start of the week and see how I go from day to day.

New budget coming soon!