Weird how the universe provides...

Hi everyone!

Well, since my last post nothing much has changed for me - still busy as ever - still packing, still working flat out, still trying to juggle every thing.

Having said that, one of my stresses has been trying to save up for this move. While the goal is more than do-able, I would be lying if I said it hasn't been stressful. When I'm stressed and busy like this, I'm afraid one of my failings is buying food instead of cooking it. And I have to say, with so many great restaurants within walking distance from me, its very tempting (and easy) to buy my dinner.

I am afraid to say, I bought dinner a few too many times and ended up being $200 short of my goal to save up $1,000 for this move.

...but I must be doing something right because a funny thing happened. I had emailed my real estate agent asking him to ask the new owners of my house if it was okay if I left some things behind for them - nothing big really - just some bits and pieces that are suitable only for the type of house I'm currently in.

I get a phone call the next day and my real estate agent tells me that the new owners would love the things I'm offering and they would like to pay me $200 for it! So there you go - I've achieved my goal of having an extra $1,000 for my move so I wouldn't need to touch my nest egg.

Weird how those things happen, huh. I'm so lucky. Have things like this happened to you? Would love to hear about it! (Besides I'd love a distraction from the packing and cleaning! hehe)

This is hard...(but let's not talk about that)

Hi everyone,

Well, I logged in here tonight with the full intention of having a bit of a whinge. Moving + trying to save + working flat out + sole parenting = bloody HARD.

Ah well. But you know, as I started to type out my whinge (yes, I would've written a hell of a lot more than the above), I realised that whingeing is not really going to get anything done (and I have so much to get done!). And to be honest, I'm the type who doesn't feel better when I whinge (I wish I did). Instead, I find that when I whinge, I just feel like whingeing even more.

So I thought I'd concentrate on a couple of little things that made me smile in the last week:

1. I've packed up my kitchen AND found a block of chocolate that I'd forgotten about at the back of my pantry (and not even past its "best before" date!).

2. I found $10 inside one of my winter jackets.

3. We've had GORGEOUS days and rainy nights. In fact, here at the ONC, its still green! I can't remember the last time its looked so green at this time of the year. The dams are currently at 98% capacity....and again, I can't remember the last time this has happened. I've lived with "drought" for so long that seeing so much green (that's natural) always lifts my spirits. (I really should take a pic).

4. I spent a fantastic day at the beach with my children. The coast carries some pretty conflicting memories for me. Spending the day there swimming and hanging out with good friends was not only a well-needed rest from the packing but also very healing. I will probably take the children back to the coast in a few weeks time when I finally do move.

My children at the south coast. Is it just me, or aren't Aussie beaches beautiful?

Anyway, just writing the above has put a smile on my face so I'm off to pack one more box before I head off to bed.

I wish you all a good week ahead.

Redefining the boundaries of my nest egg

Photo by Mpop

Hello everyone!

Well, here I am continuing my count down for my move. So far, I haven't had the need to withdraw the extra $500 I've put away in savings (on top of my normal nest egg savings) so I figure I'm doing okay. I've also got my menu plan which pretty much consisted of eating from my pantry (my groceries for this fortnight was only $56!) . So far so good but I reckon its going to get tough soon when I get down to those odd ingredients - no doubt I'll be asking for your cooking help soon.

Anyway, as I continue my packing and cleaning, I have been pondering on why I am so tempted lately to just buy, buy, buy. I mean its not the first time I've had to do this. Indeed, it was only early last year that I had to furnish my entire house from scratch (and I did it for under $1,000). And then I realised why. Back then, I was on a lower wage and not 100% confident of my capacity to save. While my frugal living meant that I was doing very well in comparison to those in similar situations, the reality was that many many things were out of my financial reach anyway.... And while I had always tried to save and live frugally, the reality was that I just come out of a marriage where there was always another income that *could* act as as a "safety net" if I blew my budget. So while I saved and lived frugally, there was always a little doubting voice inside me about my true abilities to commit to it. In some ways, this spurred me on to be even more careful about my spendings....

Now a year and a bit later, I am now on a higher wage....and where before I did have little doubts about my abilities on the financial front, I am now much more confident...and sometimes I think that I may be getting over-confident. I also now have a nice nest egg.

I see items (that I don't need but think I want) and I think "of course I'll be able to use some of my nest egg for that and I'll just save up for it later and build my nest egg back up."

Can anyone see the fallacy of my thinking???

Yep, I've started to think of my nest egg as CREDIT. That I can use it for any purchase because I have the (misplaced) confidence that I can build it back up.

If I take away the phrase "nest egg" and replace with the word "credit card" - you can perhaps relate to my misplaced thinking??

...and I had NEVER intended for my nest egg to be used as a credit card. (Actually, you can say that perhaps credit cards shouldn't be used in the way many people use credit cards either....)

Photo by vipez

When I started my nest egg I had publically defined it in this blog. However, here is my revised and updated version as of today. My nest egg should only be used for:
1. emergencies (50%);
2. to increase my net equity (eg buy investments) (30%)
2. to visit my extended family overseas every 2 years (10%); and
3. to pay for a more sustainable life (10%).

So things like removalists, a new laptop, a new couch or a digital camera should be saved for on top of my regular nest egg fortnightly savings.

....*sigh*.....

Ok, I think I've now forcibly reminded myself over what I should be using my nest egg for and I've finally stopped ignoring that little voice inside me that's been saying "now is NOT the time to be careless".

Ah well. I hope you are all having a good week.

Selling...

Hey everyone!

Thank you all for your great suggestions in my last post. So as per my goal, when I received my pay this fortnight, I immediately transferred $500 into savings. Which means...that eek! I don't have a lot of cash at the moment.

And you guys are right, selling off stuff has a twofold effect - 1) it will bump up my cash situation and 2) it will mean less stuff to move and therefore smaller length of time removalists have to be here moving my stuff. As the removalists that I've hired (from what I gather its a good quote) work on an hourly rate (with a minimum of 2 hours), less stuff will also mean cheaper removalists.

So for now, here are the items that I'm selling (all prices are negotiable)- preferences will go towards those living in the ONC*:

VINTAGE ENAMEL POTS (THE REAL DEAL) AND TIN FLOUR SIFTER - $20 for the lot

OVEN PROOF, MICROWAVE PROOF CERAMIC CASSEROLE DISHES - $5 (FOR BOTH)

MY CRAFT TABLE (sob - but I really don't have room for it in my new place) 180cm x 90 cm - $10

Wooden Towel Rack - $5 - taken pending pickup

2 x Size 5 fully lined Winter jackets (note they're large size 5s) - $5 (for both) - sold

You can always contact me via my email address: consumption dot rebellion at gmail dot com if you want to look at the items close up!

I probably will have more for sale as I go through the packing process (almost finished the kitchen!) so feel free to contact me and ask me for stuff!

I hope you are all having a good weekend.

*ONC = Our Nation's Capital

Saving....

Hi all!

Thank you all so much for welcoming me back to blogland. Its been wonderful to read your comments in the last post. For me, the exercise was very much re-discovering a past pleasure.

Anyway, Tara is my inspiration for this blog post. She is about to embark on a No-Spend-Week on 23 to 30 November and asked me to join her (feel free to join her though by going to her blog and commenting!). Unfortunately, that week for me includes two major family events so I won't be joining her. However, her sharing of her plans has made me focus on my current financial situation.

Old readers here know that building a nest egg is very important to me. Having achieved my goal of going overseas to visit my family, close to 30% of my nest egg is gone. I don't mind that all - its what I was using my nest egg for. I am grateful for being able to go overseas without having to go into debt.

However, with my moving happening in just under a month, I am now faced with several decisions on how to make that move happen. I was very tempted to try and do it myself. And while I know I can do it, the stress of doing that (as well as trying to solve the problem of how to move large furniture by myself) was just too much. Due to many reasons (tied with banks and settlement dates), I would also have to move mid-week. This means that requesting friends' assistance would be a bit onerous, as most of my friends work.

So I've decided to hire a moving company. Now this is an expensive exercise in itself and I was originally thinking of using my nest egg for it....BUT...well, my life is pretty boring at the moment (:P). So rather than using my nest egg, I thought I'd try and ramp up my savings for this move.

So my savings goal is to save $1,000. I know I won't use it all for the moving company, BUT no doubt there will be little things along the way that will crop up associated with the move.

At this stage, I don't actually have any concrete plans to achieve these savings but as I've said before, 90% of budgeting is coming up with AND committing to a goal. So in the spirit of holding myself accountable, I've announced it publicly - I *will* save $1,000 in 4 weeks.

......

......

....so.... anyone have any ideas on how to make it happen for me? :P

For now, I'm off to re-read my previous posts:

Do no-spend weeks really save money? and Falling of the mindful consumption wagon to remind myself of what I have to do.

I hope you are all having a good week.

The line....(and an update)

Hello all!

My, it has been a loooong time! Thank you to all the people who have not forgotten me and took the time to email or contact me to ask how I am.

Well, its been a very very busy few months here. Since I last posted, I settled property matters as part of my divorce (the final and last part of that process - yay!). I went overseas to New Zealand (for quality family time with my 2 children) and also to the USA (to spend time with my extended family). I have also sold my house here and bought a new one! And in between all that, I worked and continued my journey in learning how to be a sole income earner and parent. Looking back, its amazing how much has actually happened!

So here I am now planning and preparing my move to a smaller house and starting a new chapter in my life. I am really excited by it all.

However, in planning and preparing for my move, I am suddenly being confronted (once again) by temptations to take the easy way out.

I am finding myself walking that very fine line between compromise and carelessness. With each compromise, I seem to come closer to crossing the line I had previously drawn in order to live according to my values.

With my move, I have had to cut back on some of the sustainable things I am doing. I have stopped composting because I want to take my compost bin with me and so I need what's in there to completely break down in the next few weeks so I can spread it in the garden and lift the bin out to my new place. That means I can not add any more things in there. This has, in effect, doubled my waste.

In going to a smaller house, I also find myself needing to get rid of some things that I have no space for. ....and with all the things happening in my life at the moment, I am often tempted to just throw things out rather than make the effort to sell or giveaway.

And in starting a new life, I am also wanting to redefine me (yet again). And suddenly I am seeing catalogues of new things being sold very cheaply....and I am finding myself wanting to not think too deeply about why they are sold so cheaply.

So far, I haven't yet crossed the line (I hope so anyway). At the moment, I am still mostly sourcing second-hand or fairtrade. But yes, the temptations are there and I'm finding that what was once a clear line is becoming blurred for me.

A drawing I made of me and my kids, using a single continuous line.
(I've packed up my sewing and craft gear in readiness for my move but have taken up drawing as my creative outlet for now....and yes, I did end up buying new pencils and a sketch pad)

So in an effort to keep myself accountable and to redefine the lines I have drawn previously to rein in my consumption, I have decided to start blogging about my journey again. I hope over the coming weeks, I can fill this blog with posts that are more useful than angst. :P

In the meantime, what have you been doing since you last visited my blog? Please share and post links!

I hope you are all well.