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Home > Archive: July, 2006

Archive for July, 2006

Feeling rich

August 1st, 2006 at 03:50 am

Today I paid $85 into my Emergency savings and am slowly rebuilding it. I actually spent less money this month than last tho I wasn't particularly trying to save. $nz584.26, total savings this month $nz187.72.

Back in May my ISP was down for a couple days in some parts of the country. It didn't affect me, but I have just received a $3.72 rebate. Today I met with an old college friend who is going thru a difficult time and took her to the movies to get her mind off her troubles. The quickest way to feel rich is to be generous to someone worse off than you are. I was rewarded at the box office because it turned out to be a discount day.

We are nearing the end of winter Down Under and today is a lovely day with birds singing and crocuses blooming. I have not had the heater on all day and got the laundry dry on the line.

My cent's worth

July 31st, 2006 at 01:07 am

Just a few odds and ends to keep you inthe picture. Sis is going to be spending the next semester studying in our town and will be staying with me. I won't charge her rent, as she has a car and we will split costs. She is planning to get a parttimejob to cover her expenses. However she is also making alarming noises about all the renovations she thinks i should do round my place. I will have to be quite firm and tell her i only intend to do what I can pay cash for. Having a high earning husband herself, she doesn't realise I have to be responsible for my own future.

I rang ds for his birthday in England. He sounds very happy and was in the kitchen making pancakes for his girl cousins and a lot of their girlfriends. That's my boy!

This morning the dayold bread bin was very well stocked. I got a bag of savory scones and a fruit loaf for 50 cents each.

Today they are phasing out 5 cents and bringing in the new lighter coins. I read an article that it will be good for the economy as they cost less to make. The article said that money nowadays isn't actually worth anything; the reason people accept it is they know they can pass it on to the next person. I was more interested in the bank teller's comment there will be more people dropping the new coins. I will keep a sharp lookout! i found one of the old 10 cent coins today, and I have a jar of coins that I must bank.

Frozen goodies

July 25th, 2006 at 09:39 pm

One of our supermarkets packages up its near-their-use-by-date frozen goods and sells them in $NZ5 mystery packs on Tuesdays. After a friend told me about it I thought I would check it out. I got a huge bag of peas, loads of beef patties, and a box of raspberries. I was quite plaesed. but I'm going to have to get a hustle on to eat in all in time and i think I may get a little sick of peas and patties. it would be a good buy if you had a family, but for a single person it is rather a lot.

My weakness

July 24th, 2006 at 10:05 pm

I admit it, I'm a yarnaholic. I have an entire hope chest stashed with yarn - which is why I signed up with Stashbusters till the end of the year.

But yesterday I caved, looking thru my patterns and thinking about what I could knit for friend's baby. I found the sweetest bootee patterns and - well, gulp, yes, I wound up buying a ball of baby yarn.

But only one ball! and this despite the fact they had a sale on! I bravely walked past all the boxes of novelty yarn and luscious mohair, found exactly what I wanted, paid for it plus a yard of ribbon, and walked out. No stopping to drool. HA! Will power!

Or maybe it's the fact I have a trip coming up next month and i know I have to save for it.

I also used some scrap yarn to knit an ipod cozy for another friend. Oh - wait I don't have any suitable buttons. What to do? Fear not, the local thrift store sells them. And walking into the thrift store what do I see? A whole BAG of baby yarn going for $2. Rats, could have saved $1.50 on my purchase. Never mind, just remeber to check it out first next time.

Size of income

July 23rd, 2006 at 07:39 am

I read somewhere that the size of your income is related to that of your friends. Your income will be the average of the five people closest to you. So I totted up my closest friends income, divided by 5 and guess what? That's about how much I recieved last year.

It makes sense i guess. When I was working most of my friends worked and our income was about the same. Now I have mostly friends who are also on disability and our incomes are lower. I guess the way to increase my income is to get me some rich friends!

One of my friends just announced she's having a baby. I have a ton of yarn in my stash but no baby wool. So I will have to buy some to knit her a pair of bootees. I had hoped not to buy any until I'd used up all I had. On second thoughts, maybe I will use my scraps to knit a blanket.

Eating out

July 17th, 2006 at 10:39 pm

I very rarely eat at fast food joints, but Burger King has been running a win-a-prize promo. A friend got a ticket for free fries which she gave to me as she was on a diet (I didn't ask her how she came to win the prize lol!). So I went to the mall for my fries. I haven't been to the food court in some time, and I was pleased to see a new Indian restaurant had opened up. I like Indian when i eat out. A curry fills me up nicely and is very cheap. I never want dessert after. So there is where I will go when I have my once a month splurge.

Getting computer savvy

July 16th, 2006 at 04:48 am

I admit I am not very techie. Until now I've relied on ds to do things like download freebies and generally fix things up when they go wrong. But with him in England, I'm having to figure out more for myself. A friend recently upgraded his computer, and he gave me a copy of Works Office Suite 2000, and - ta da! - I installed it all by myself. It has a copy of Microsft Money on it, and I've been busy entering all my info. Up to now I've had all these funny little spreadsheets I created myself. (OK I'm anal, I track to the penny)

Lucky me

July 15th, 2006 at 10:03 pm

I won $NZ20 this month. No I did not buy a lottery ticket. Let me explain.

When I was young mum bought me some Bonus Bonds. These are a type of Govt bond, but they don't pay interest. Instead, every month there is a draw, and the lucky winners get up to $NZ300,000 prize money. I have won a few small prizes in the past, nothing spectacular, and was thinking of cashing them in. But after all, mum gave them to me...

They are quite good for those with a gambling streak as you get to keep your wagered money. And....the prize money is not taxed. For people like me, who are on a benefit, they save endless hassles with Dept Social Welfare.

Weekend at camp

July 9th, 2006 at 10:21 pm

This weekend I attended a health camp arranged by my support group. It cost $NZ40 and I was involved in the organizing. $14 per person per night for accommodation, which left us $120 to buy groceries and cleaning supplies for 10 people for the weekend.

Breakfast: oatmeal, cornflakes, toast and jam, tinned fruit.
Lunch: eggs,cheese, tinned salmon, bread, baked scones.
Dinner: chicken, potatoes, pumpkin, coleslaw. Fruit pudding with icecream.
Snacks: bananas, kiwis, apples and everyone brought some cookies
Drinks: Coffee, tea, milk and powdered juice.

Everyone enjoyed it very much and there were no complaints. We even had leftovers for people to take home ( I got some margarine, kiwis and a pack of frozen mixed veg.) But it is becoming more and more difficult to find nice camps at a reasonable price. There are so many health and safety regulations passed by the govt, that it costs the owners a fortune to do the alterations. So increasingly, people are selling the traditional campground that families have stayed at for generations. There are a few left, mostly run by church groups for needy groups in the community, but I don;t know how much longer they'll be around.

Plenty for money

July 5th, 2006 at 07:23 am

I shopped for groceries today, mostly fruit and veg,potatoes, pasta, dates,flour and milk powder. It came to $18.25. as I will be at a community health camp this weekend, I didn't need so much. The checkout girl commented on how much I had for my money. The woman ahead of me had some diet coke and precooked chicken, then she wanted a carton of cigarettes, which took her bill to over $NZ50.