I got a prescription filled nz7.82. Apart from that I stayed home and knitted. so long as I'm doing that I'm not out spending money.

I went out briefly to the shop to buy some milk, nz3.20. I put on a jacket I hadn't worn for some time and was pleasantly surprised to find 1.20 in the pocket. Aside from that I was lazing around eating bananas on toast and surfing the net. I found this free pattern

http://cdevine.typepad.com/photos/lace_work/rosetrellisl.html
so dug out some vintage pink laceweight I found at the opportunity shop for nz6.00 and bravely cast on. So far so good. I hope to have a beautiful shawl in time to wear to England.

Some of my friends have been complaining about not being able to contact me on the phone, so I decided it was time I finally sidled reluctantly into the 21st Century, like a little crab coming out of its shell, and got myself voice mail. i signed up for the standard Telecom package of call minder, call waiting and caller ID for nz$10 a month. Unfortunately my old phone is a very basic one I bought at The Warehouse 6 years ago and doesn't support caller ID, so I bought a new cordless Uniden for nz$89. Ouch! But I've been having fun programming it - now my best friend is trying to talk me into a cell phone. Sure I'd like to have all these wonderful things like digital cameras, but I noticed my new phone is only guaranteed for 2 years - the same length of time as the rechargeable battery!! It will take me that long to figure out how all the functions work. I guess by the time the warranty runs out there will be some new technological marvel I need to update to. What concerns me is what happens to all the now useless gadgets. I guess they get shipped off to China and some poor person gets exposed to toxicity while disassembling it. I try to reduce the amount of stuff I buy because of concern for the environment, but if I'm to stay in contact, especially now most of my family lives overseas, I have to have some of the new bells and whistles. So we are all dragged along by the pace of change willy nilly.

The mad whirl of Christmas parties has begun. Today my Bible Study group had an end of year function, also to say farewell to a couple who are moving. We went for morning tea at a cafe nz$7.00. I had some scrummy ginger crunch. I stopped at the supermarket on the way back to buy some eggs, nz$1.80, and on the back of my reciept was a coupon for a free coffee at the very cafe we'd been at. Hearty use of words that are in the King James.

Then I got home and in the mail was an invitation to a free lunch with a presentation on making money on the Internet. I suspect some scheme to seperate me from my money, but a free lunch sounded good. Then I looked at the available dates: 3rd, 4th and 5th of December. Hullo, it's the 5th already? What marketing genius in Auckland didn't realize it can take mail 5 days to get here? More use of Authorized language.

looks spectacular. I was very careful to spend only on needs, not wants, as I'm saving for Christmas.

Total Income nz$733.26
Expenses $491.24
Savings 242.02

Groceries 100.76
Donations 37.70
Clothes 3.90
Meeting friends for coffee 25.70
Medical 23.00
Local body taxes 90.67
Phone & ISP 67.74
Insurance 49.45
Power 75.00
Misc 17.32

When I go to the shop I feel like the Greek philosopher who went to the market and commented "who would have thought there could be so many things I have no need of." I have basically lost interest in spending money apart from meeting friends for coffee - and I'm reconsidering that expense. I'd rather save up and have a big decent trip than fritter it all away on little bits and pieces that give no lasting satisfaction.

Today was a glorious day - the sort where you smile at total strangers and say lovely day, and they smile back and say isn't it. I spent the day idling round. In the morning I seamed the cardigan I knitted. Of course I ran into the Murphy's Law of the button jar, one button short of the 10 I required. I went to the thrift store on the corner and found a dress for $1 which I snipped the buttons off. In the afternoon I went out to the beach with a friend and we sat and watched the surfies doing their thing. My sandal broke as I was walking back, but I was able to fix it with superglue. Had a yummy chocolate icecream for nz$1.50.

This is a very nice town to be in if you are broke. There are free museums, parks and art galleries, and open lectures down at the University. I live a very simple life and am totally satisfied. I keep thinking about when I was in India. If I converted my assets to rupees, I would be a millionaire, and I certainly was compared to the people around me. Even though I was staying on an ashram, living out of one suitcase and eating simple meals of lentils and rice, I felt I had so much to be grateful for. When I got back I was so annoyed with people complaining about how hard life was. I have my little house and I can afford food, clothing and power, and I still have eyes that can see and legs that can walk. There are millions in the world who would love to change places with me. I think even if I won the lottery I would not change much. I could be very happy being financially independent on an income of say, $1000 a month. The one thing I would like to do more of is travel. Not only does it broaden the mind, you feel like there's no place like home when you get back.

Goods news is I got my scarf back. And I have another interview tomorrow.

Sad news is an old school friend's brother has died. I went to look for a nice card - I cannot believe the prices. Just a blank with a nice picture so I could write inside cost up to nz$5. Well, how to do the decent thing as a human being without drinking milkless tea for the rest of the week? I have got Publisher so could make my own card, but
i) I don't like the cheap look of paper compared to heavy card
ii) I guess so many people have switched to making their own or sending ecards, that's why they're getting more expensive.
Then I thought of making some stationery with a pretty border and writing a sympathy letter instead. I turned up a webpage of quotes and found a Chinese proverb that says:
You can only go halfway into the darkest forest, then you are coming out the other side. I added some lines of my own about my memories of him, and went to print it -
oops, run out of ink. When I went to the computer store, the guy said for some reason the cartridges were hard to get lately. Bye bye nz$18.
Compared to losing a dear brother, it's nothing to complain about.

One of the great things about living in a college town is there are regular open lectures by all sorts of visiting professors, to which members of the public can go - for free.
This afternoon I went to a talk on Shakespearean acting by a performer from the London Globe. It was fantastic. Not only was he a mine of information on the history and language of the times, he was also wonderfully entertaining. We were in fits of laughter - the Globe is now definitely on my list of places to visit when I take a trip to England.
I came out and had a dry throat, so thought I'd go to the Student Union for a cup of tea. Only a couple of years ago you could get a decent cup of coffee or tea for a dollar. Now - they've all gone upmarket and the barrista charges you nz2.80. I could live with that, but they also have these huge tempting slice of chocolate fudge, ginger crunch, and all manner of luscious muffins. So I wound up spending nz5.20. Agghh - that could have gone to my trip to England!
The groundlings in Shakespeare's day would never have stood for it - they'd be rioting and hurling nuts. Now all these wellmannered intellectual students study Shakespeare from texts and they don't realise how revolutionary he actually was! I was fascinated to hear the speaker from the Globe saying the hiphop artists are the true modern Shakespeares.

There are two schools of thought about this. One says; stay out of shops as much as possible to avoid temptation. The other says; keep going back to get the best bargains. I shilly shally - actually I do like browsing to see what's on sale, but I impulse splurge far less than I used to. (I used to be one of those ooh-a-bag-sale-at-the-thrift-store-I'll-get-five-bags-of-stuff-I-don't-need shoppers)

But today I got lucky - thrift store was selling herb plants. I got some basil and lemon balm at a dollar each. I also saw two new stores had opened. One was a consignment store. Wow, did they have some lovely stuff! Many garments with the original price tags still on them - up to 80% off. Of course they were horrendously overpriced in the first place, which is why the store of origin probably went bust - but still good quality. Will definitely go back there when I am earning again.

The other place was a new Asian food store. Lots of very cheap convenience foods - catering to local Asian students. I prefer the one in town where I can buy mung beans, big bags of rice, vegetables and other real food. I ocassionaly get some soy or other sauce, but all that MSG does me no good. The only thing I bought today was some soy milk for nz$1.70

Going past McD's drive in I remembered I had some packets of their ketchup still sitting in the pantry - it was from when a friend came round with burgers as a treat, but he doesn't eat ketchup - So when I got home I made a risotto with the last red pepper and squeezed in McD's blood for some flavor. Well, let's just say I'm glad I've got some herb plants now.

My friend H, who had a breakdown earlier, is doing well now, and I spent the day in town with her. We both have to be very careful with our money, so we went to the thrift stores, where she was quite excited to find such good clothes so cheap (having always bought from high price stores) I got 2 very nice tops for $2 each.

This month is NZ Music Month and a lot of the churches are having free lunchtime concerts. We went to First Church and listened to a violin sonata played by senior music students. It is really neat being a college town - we can get to hear talented young musicians before they become famous and cost a fortune.

Then we took in a doll exhibition at the museum - for free. They were just so beautifully dressed, and they sell for around $800 each. H said, "you know, you can look at things and you don't have to buy them." I am so pleased she's getting it.

We finished up going to the supermarket and buying some surimi, pineapple and a couple individual quiches which are sold at half price at the end of the day. Then went back to my place, made a salad and sat and listened to Van Morrison. Paris Hilton, eat your heart out - we couldn't have been any happier if we were millionaires.

Having said which, I now realise I left the bag with my new tops in her car, but I'll pick them up later.

Total spent today nz$10.70

Now that my old clothes are too big for me, I thought I would try selling some of the better quality ones thru a consignment store. Today a check arrived for one of my suits - $30. I was very pleased as winter is setting in here and I needed a new coat. Set off to the thrift store and found a very nice one for $20. The remaining $10 will be set aside for new underwear.

Back in my university days I was a size 14, just an normal sized woman for my height. It was no problem going to a store and getting clothes, and if I wanted something a bit different I sewed it myself from a standard dressmaking pattern. The only problem was the average woman was supposed to be 5' 5" and as I am taller, the arms and legs tended to be a bit too short. I learned to live with that.
Over the years an interesting thing happened. I gradually put on a couple inches all round, top, middle and bottom - BUT, according to the labels I was still a size 14! it wasn't till my waist got to 33" that I went up to a 16. I suspected the manufacturers of becoming more generous in their cut as the Western world's waistlines expanded.
Having now dropped some weight I was looking forward to getting back into smaller clothes. I did a quick googol to see what I should be now. Oh me! I couldn't decide if I was an old size 14, a size 10, or, if I wanted to go to Europe; a British size 16, a Spanish 38 or an Italian 42. The entire system, it seems, has gone nuts, with each company deciding for themselves what they will label their clothes - except they are all trying to one up each other by flattering the consumer they fit the smallest size. There is even a size 0!! Round here the only people with a chance of squeezing into that are tiny Asian students.
Being accustomed to thrift store shopping and being a bit conservative in my taste, I hadn't quite caught up with this. But one I started looking I realized the labels were actually no help at all. One labels Petite fitted me quite well; another's Large was far too tight. I even found a skirt boldly labelled 28" waist that fitted my 31" waist very nicely thank you. I now realize why I'd so often grabbed a bag full of size 16s, only to find they didn't fit me at home - previously I thought they'd shrunk in the wash. Grr, the money I've wasted. I'll never buy without trying again.
In the end I got a size 6 jacket, a size 14 pair of pants, and several blouses in 8-10 sizes. All for $2. Iterestingly, they all looked as if they'd never been worn. Maybe somebody else has the same sizing problem?

Last month saw the start of the academic year, with thousands of students pouring into town, and much beer pouring in the hotels. It does get pretty rowdy during Orientation Week, so I steered clear of the University last week. But I did get to sell some old textbooks - $26.25 in. Good.

Then I attended the market with oh so many stalls selling all manner of interesting bric-a-brac. I bought some magazines, jewellry, and some pain au chocolat and a cheese filled croissant from the Alliance Francaise. $13.50 out. Bad.

I have quickly transferred the other $13 to my online account. From now on, I am only allowed to spend the interest I earn from it on goodies.

Today New World had 2-minute noodles on sale at nz.20 per packet, normally nz.35. There is not much nutrition in them, so I tend to avoid them, but they are handy to have in the cupboard when you need a quick meal. I sprout my own mung beans and add an egg for a cheapie stir fry. So I bought 10 packs.

Broccoli was on special and I got some reduced price carrots, so will make a noodle-vege-cheese casserole tonite. I don't buy canned soup, but will use the flavor sachet with the noodles to make a sauce.

After THREE no spend days on the trot, today I visited my fave thrift store. Just to see what there was.... bad idea. I'm always sure to see something I want. Today I got a big bag of yarn for $5. Now I didn't strictly speaking need it, as I already have 22 potential projects sitting in my glory box. As it is mostly acrylic I will probably use it for charity knitting. And if it gets really cold, I will sleep in the glory box, with all my yarn snuggled round me.

I grew up in the stone fruit growing district, and much of my high school vacations were spent picking apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, and nectarines. As a result I am spoilt for life. When you have tasted ripe, sweet, juicy fruit straight from the tree, warmed by the sun, you lose all interest in the underipe, chilly, bland things you get in supermarkets. And they are expensive. Cherries cost $13nz for a kilo. So usually I only eat them when I visit my hometown.

But today I had to provide something for a potluck. I noticed that some entrepreneurial types had brought down a lot of freshly picked cherries, and were selling them on a street stall. I tried one and they were delicious. So I bought a bag for $5nz. My friends were delighted.

I did well today:
2 pairs knitting needles, one 2mm, the other 2.25mm. Now I can knit up the lace weight in my stash.
Knitting pattern book. Now I can knit up etc etc.
Book of crossstitch sampler patterns.

all these cost 50 cents each. Hours and hours of entertainment, plus pretty clothing and decorations for my home, for only $2nz. Beats going to the movies any day.

Today I was on my way to work. First I noticed the Sally Army was having a bag sale, so stopped to take a look. I didn't buy any clothes, but I got a book on traditional quilt making for a $1.

Carrying on, I saw the local radio station was having a promo and giving away freebies. I got a couple of sachets hair dye, which I gave to a blonde friend: some Nicorette gum, to give to a friend who's trying to give up smoking; and some Hilary Duff scent. Smells quite nice.

Then today was my last day at this job, so thought I would buy myself a little celebration lunch in town. I asked for a pizza slice, and the counter asstant said as they were rather old, she would give me two for the price of one. So I had 2 slices of pizza and a cup of tea for $3nz.

My friends often comment that I am a lucky person. Seems that way.

I had $30 from my change jar as my start to the $20 Challenge. I was taking it to deposit it and I saw the Women's refuge was having a street appeal. So what did I do? I promptly gave them all my money, and I don't regret it. I am grateful for all the blessings I have, but for some poor women life is hardly worth living. I hope it will be used to improve things for some poor soul.

Now I know i promised this would be a no spend year, but today a relative from Ireland came to visit, and who can resist someone who's kissed the Blarney Stone. So we went out to a beachfront cafe and a leprechaun took $12.95 from my wallet for some mushrooms that were nearly as good as those in the Old Country. (Well, mebbe there was a drop of the good stuff too. I'm not saying) Then we decided to browse the 2nd hand shops, and while I was admiring some jewellry, another leprechaun pushed a ring onto my finger. It was obviously an enchanted ring, because it wouldn't come off. Then the store owner pulled a gun on me and demanded $10. Anyway that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'd better start saving for St Pat's day. Who knows what the little people will want to do with my money then.

Sigh. If only that were the end of expenses once the mortgage is paid off. But Nooo. there's money that has to be spent to keep the place in good order. Today I hired a dumpster - we call it a skip - and a work party of friends came round, and we filled it to the brim with garden waste. It looks so much better now. Unfortunately, while clearing the section we came across a wasp's nest, so there was the added expense of calling someone to dispose of it.

I'm afraid my garden has been getting the better of me while my health has been poor. I can't keep relying on friends and neighbours to take care of it for me, so I will eventually have to look at selling this place and moving into an apartment. But before that I will have to spend more money to get it into reasonable selling condition. I wonder if I can get on one of those do-it-up TV shows?

Happy to say my arm is improving and I have no problems using it, tho it is still rather painful. Medical costs nz25.

Because of my having a day off last week when I have not yet accumulated any sick leave, my paypacket is lower this week, only $142, plus 33 disability. Still, that is enough to put aside for bills, nz20 into retirement, 30 for home repairs and 10 into my Travel-the-trans-Siberian a/c. I had 17.10 in my change jar, which helped with buying groceries, and we had the library booksale this week. I restrained myself and only bought nz5 worth.

Actually, I would be alright even if for some reason i didn't get paid at all. The nice thing about having savings is you're no longer continually counting on the next pay. I still had nz85 in my check a/c from last time, so decided to go the end of year dinner with my Toastmasters Club. Very nice Thai restaurant, nz8 - I passed on the green tea icecream.

I have been learning about this group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact/

They have decided not to buy anything new except essentials like underwear for the next 12 months. A very good idea for saving the environment, and also for saving $$$. I support it in principle, but I think I've borrowed my neighbor's pruning saw often enough, so I bought one for $nz19.99 at a closing down sale. Also I did buy a very nice navy 2 piece at the Presbyterian Social Support shop for only $1.

First party of the month, a pot luck. I took along the crackers and dip, but there was so much food I wound up bringing it home again. As I am going to be on my own this Christmas, I have decided to invite all my single friends to my place and bring a dish.

Today is damp and misty. I slipped on the path outside and now am nursing a very sore elbow. I'm thankful it wasn't any worse- can still use arm to do knitting and use computer.

The problem was my sneakers, they are very old and worn. So I decided I had better get some new ones and found a pair in Dowsons for $19.95. Grey and yellow. I found 10 cents outside the store.

When I got home my latest power bill had arrived. Because I am now out of the house during the day, it was only $59. I am very pleased as the last few have been quite high.

because a dollar saved now will bring me 5 cents a year forever. I now have $1360 in Bonds. Walking to work I found 50 cents, and on the way back, one of the opportunity shops had a "six items of clothing for a $1" deal. So I got a wool jersey, 2 skivvies, 2 summer tops and a skirt. i also got a big bag of milk powder for $nz7.10, so shouldn't need to spend any more on groceries. I have $9.70 left in my wallet - i wonder if i can gothe rest of the week without spending it?

My old Epson has given up the ghost and the man at the shop informed me that kind is no longer being produced. I thought i would have to spend at least $100 for a new one, but a friend of mine had just updated his Canon because he wanted all sorts of fancy features, and offered me his old one for $30. I have just installed it and feel like a computer genius.

only purchases today
ink cartridge nz8.00
bananas for lunch nz0.50

I did a little paint scraping and now have nearly cleaned one window. I spent most of the afternoon knitting. I am giving homemade gifts this year - hats and scarves. I have a TON of yarn in my stash and am not allowing myself to buy any more for 12 months. It's silly to keep on buying new stuff when I'm not using what I've got.

A coupla pizza buns for $nz1.60. Ham and pineapple, mmm...

That is the only money I have spent today. Got inspired by the exercising on some other blogs and decided to walk to work, got a lift back from a coworker.

Oh, and I found 10 cents but gave it to a street collector.

to hear whether i get more weeks in this job. The office supervisor keeps saying she wants me to continue, but the boss is away this week so haven't been asked yet.

Doling out the money s-l-o-w-l-y and carefully in the meantime. Today's spending:

prescription 17.00
busfare 2.60

made do with banana and oatmeal for breakfast, cheese sandwich for lunch, and zuccinni fritters for dinner. The same as I had yesterday.

I am having to go to dad's house this weekend. The financial matters are now in the hands of the Public Trust, and they say it is to be sold, so I need to go and make an inventory of the goods in the house and decide what is to be done with them. None of us really want the furniture, but the pictures and books have sentimental value for all of us.

Woe is me. Announcing that I intend to save money is like announcing I'm going on a diet. When I try to cut food intake I start eating everything in sight. When i decide not to spend everyman and his dog is ringing me inviting me to all sorts of delightful places - at a price. I managed to blow $14.95 of my remaining cash at lunch with a friend and now have only $3.80 left. It's that blasted ATM card, i just keep thinking, I can get some more cash out.
I could go into all sorts of psychological reasons why I do this (I'm reacting to my dad who was always nagging me about wasting my money)but never mind Freud. I've just got to stop. Otherwise I'll be having to go without food for a week in order to save money.
I can do this. I know I can. Heck I've faced big challenges in my time. And if I'm smart enough to go back to college and get my BA at the age of 40, I'm not too old to learn new tricks.
Encourage me wouldya?

Well, I have had a lovely time with sis going round the 2nd hand shops looking for furniture. I bought
a lounge suite for $NZ249
a dining suite for $nz180
and a filing cabinet $70.
Some plastic boxes to store all ds comic and DVD colection in.
A couple rubbish bins.
A new single mattress
I also had to get some tools and some paint stripper so I could get started on redecorating. i am still waiting on the quote for new spouting.

I also had to pay Toastmasters subs, and buy a choir uniform and music folder. Plus a trip to see dad.

All this is necessary expense, but last month I spent over $nz1800, while my income was only $800. Time for another austerity month.

I have signed on with one of the agencies to see if I can get some temp work.