Laceshawl's Personal Finance Blog

My knee is improving so I limped down to the supermarket for bananas. The sky was blue, the sun shining and the temp up to 12 degrees C. There were birds singing and I saw little buds on my neighbors plum tree. Only August to go and then it will be spring! Happy happy.

Down the road I saw one of the young men renting had a for sale sign on his car. Only $nz5000. Just think, if I wanted to use up my EF or use the money I put aside for house painting, I could pay cash for that. Buying another car isn't high on my priority list at the moment, but it's nice to know I could afford one if I want to. As the poet said, how pleasant it is to have money, heigh ho, how pleasant it is to have money.

Today was a very frosty morning. My neighbor is away for the weekend, so I went over to feed her cat, and slipped on her path. So now I am hobbling around with a sore knee. All's well that ends well - I can't go out and spend money. Instead, I started on making Christmas presents. Everybody is getting hand knitted sox this year.

It's not just the financial kind that hit. On Tuesday there was a robbery at a nearby bank, on Wednesday there was an earthquake. and last nite it snowed again. Best to be prepared for a few days coping on my own, so I filled up some containers with water and am now slowly filling a box with canned food and a first aid kit, torch, radio etc. And a couple hundred dollars in cash just in case (gold bars are too heavy)

and now there's a new reason for saving. The rating agency Fitch is looking at downgrading New Zealand's credit rating because our national debt levels are so high. That means higher interest rates on money borrowed overseas. They say increasing household savings will help reduce the current account deficit.

I'll let the economists argue about it. I still reckon it's good for my personal economy.

According to the latest news, the governor of the NZ Reserve Bank is urging Kiwis to save and pay off debt in order to help the economy recover. He reckons the property market is recovering here, but if everyone rushes out to buy a house we will get back into a spend and borrow mode and the recession will last longer because the national debt is so high.

Quote:
Bollard said that increased household saving would have the added advantage of providing a more stable source of funds for business investment and expansion, reducing reliance on foreign funding. This would contribute to more stable and lower interest rates, thus promoting a more sustainable growth path

Full story here

I am forty eleven years old. I celebrated by going for a pancake brunch with friends.

Yesterday I watched the video The Secret with some friends. I was a bit sceptical about the law of attaction idea, but decided to do some experimenting to see if it works. So just before I went to sleep I spent a few minutes focusing very hard on drawing the sum of one dollar to myself.

This morning I was on my way to work and as I passed a phone booth I had a sudden impulse to check it for change. Inside I found two fifty cents!

I often find coins so that's not unusual in itself, but it's odd I found exactly that amount right at that moment. I shall carry on experimenting and see if it works with larger sums.

I noticed when I got my phone bill today that the usual free return enveolpe now requires a stamp. I wonder how long they've been doing that. Not that it matters to me - I pay by direct debit, but I bet it caught some folks out. Maybe they are trying to discourage customers from sending checks which are more time and trouble to process.

When they first introduced the dd option, they offered a 1% discount, which is why I signed up. After a while that was changed to an entry in a monthly prize draw for things like a years free phone use.Now I don't think there is anything. Wouldn't you think in these hard economic times they'd want to be nice to their customers. But no, I guess the next step will be to do away with the return envelope.

Actually there is an option to recieve your bill on line now, which I already do with my power bill. I think I will sign up for it and save a couple trees.

I did morning teas for church yesterday and bought some chocolate sandwich cookies. Today I am eating the remaining cookies. I used to be satisfied with one, now the manufacturers are making them much smaller, so I eat 2 or 3. Ruinous on both the pocket book and the waistline.

I have been asked if I will work 2 days at the shop, and I'm happy to do that, but the math really sux. Above the nz$80 a week limit, I pay secondary income tax of 22 cents in the dollar, then WINZ deducts 70 cents in the dollar from my benefit. I am left ONE single dolar better off for every extra hour I work - and that's before I've paid for busfare and pantyhose. I shall still do it, because of getting a reference, but I feel like writing a letter to the Prime Minister asking him if he thinks this situation encourages people to help support themselves by working.

Today I worked both jobs. Boy am I pooped. But it's nice to be asked to work extra hours. At the shop this morning I was asked to bank the last 2 days of sale takings - great thick envelopes stuffed with $20 bills. I was glancing over my shoulder the whole way in case someone was stalking me. I was also considering whether I could claim expenses for 10 cents worth of shoe leather, when lo and behold! outside the bank I picked up a 20 cent and 2 10 cents.

Today we were putting away all the sales stock. i was cheered to realise how much was left and that it will all go out at the next sale. I won't be in such a rush to buy at a sale again - there'll always be another one.

On my way to the church cleaning job I stopped of at the little Asian grocers and bought 1.5 kg apples for nz$2. That is a very good price. Apples and all fruit have gotten real expensive.

I remeber when we first came to this country nearly forty years ago, there was no weekend shopping. There was an old joke about the American who arrived on Sunday and found New Zealand closed. Only the corner dairies were open for people to get milk, bread, icecream and cigarettes. No shops open on public hols, when it was a long weekend like Easter, the shops could be shut for several days. How things have changed. Now every day of the year you can see people stocking up for a siege.

I have fallen into the habit of dropping into the supermarket on my way home from church and picking up something from the deli. I also wander through the mall if I am in town to change my library books (tho I rarely buy anything there.) I have decided to make Sunday a day of rest and give up shopping. I am not going to die if I have to wait 24 hours for something.

ETA I found I had run out of laundry powder but rather than buy some I opted for a rest from laundry as well.

and I seem to be the one person in the country who hasn't bought a ticket. Everyone is talking about what they'll do if they win. The odds are 1 in 16 million - that's four times the country's population. I picked up 10 cents outside the Lotto shop - more than most people will win.

I was chatting with an artist at church today. He told me he had just bought 4 boxes of comics. I confessed I have 246 balls of wool.

He grinned. "Ah yes," he said. "We creative types need to keep a lot of raw material for inspiration."

So there. I am not a homely knitter. I am a fiber artist and I need plenty of supplies.

I worked extra hours this week because of the sale. I spent all the extra money earned in the sale. 65 balls of wool. Nearly nz$100 worth. 16 white, 20 black, 20 earth tones, 8 purple and one striped sock wool. All 100% wool and very good value - if I needed it all.

I tell myself it is for gifts to knit for other people and for charity. I tell myself I haven't got a white cardigan so I need to knit one. I tell myself I won't be spending money on other things if I am sitting peacefully at home knitting.

Who am I kidding? I have a massive stash already. It will take me at least 2 years knitting to get thru it. Why do I keep buying yarn and then not get round to using it. I am addicted to the thrill of fondling the lovely balls, the planning of a new project, the excitement of casting on a new garment. Once I get finished I lose interest. I have knitted literally hundreds of jerseys and kept very few of them.

I make resolutions to not buy any more yarn until I have used up my stash. This week my resolve crumpled again. My stash is bigger than ever. The pleasure I get from knitting is beginning to be spoiled from worry about the money I am wasting. My hobby has gone thru passion to become an addiction.

There are no twelve step groups for compulsive yarn buyers. All knitters are stash hoarders and enable each others habit. Working in a yarn store is the worst environment for an addict. Everyone there only works to support their habit and spends more than they earn on wool.

My last remaining excuse is that if I didn't keep my fingers busy knitting I would be a chain smoker. There, I'm feeling virtuous again. It's good for my health.

I said all the coins were covered up by the snow yesterday. Today it is all melted and I found 90 cents.

Winter arrived with a vengeance today. Minus 4 degrees C and snow down to sea level. This happens 1 or 2 days a year in our town and always causes chaos. The place was cut off from the rest of the country with motorways closed. The buses stopped running and all schools were closed. I was happy to stay indoors and watch the pretty flakes falling and the students enjoying a break from exams by sliding down the hills on baking trays.

The only problem I didn't know if I was needed at work or not. I rang several times but only got the usual answerphone message. In the end I walked there and found the place was shut. And if there was any money on the ground it was covered by the snow.

Never mind, I would sooner take the trouble than not turn up and be growled at for absenteeism. Now I am going to have a long soak in a hot bathtub then make myself a plate of chili beans.

According to the scale this morning I have lost 3 lb. I celebrated this evening after work by buying fries. Oops.

I'm not sure what to call this - maybe sweet and sour pilaf. It's what you cook when the pantry's almost empty. Fry sliced onions until golden, throw in some rice and cook till the grains turn white. Add your preferred amount of salt, vinegar and sugar. Toss in a handful of raisins and pour in boiling water. cover and simmer until the rice is cooked and the water absorbed.

Sorry for no precise measurements. I'm a pinch of this and dash of that cook - I don't even own a scale.

Yay! I now owe less than three thousand dollars to the Credit Union - this is my only debt. Since it is zero interest there is no rush to pay it off, but it's nice to see the amount going down

I thought I would wear a skirt this morning since I have completed my nice legwarmers. Woe is me! I tried on three skirts and couldn't do the zip up on any of them. I rushed to the bathroom scale which confirmed the bad news - I weigh 170 lb. Too much! I'm going to have to rescusitate the diet. No more raspberry buns and cheese scones and fried potatoes. Pancakes regarded with aversion. No more sugar in my tea. All the bad little habits which sneaked in have to go. Sigh. But better than having to spend money on fat clothes.

Today I went opp shopping with a friend. I decided I didn't need any new clothes, and there wasn't anything I really liked anyway. The nicknacks all need dusting so i passed on buying ornaments, but I did come across a big bag of new wool for nz25. A lovely chocolate brown. I was tempted to buy it and knit a cardigan, but decided I don't usually wear brown so dont' have much it will go with, and anyway it was too much money to spend. Then we went and had a cup of coffee nz3. Hmm, I'll never get anywhere if I keep celebrating saving money by spending money. I think I will keep out of the thrift store until my EF is up to nz5000. It's far too easy to impulse spend a couple bucks here and there - and find at the end of the month I've spent megabucks. I need to get real disciplined and shop with a list of what I need rather than popping in just to see what there is.

I think the supermarket bakery is getting a wee bit greedy with their prices in the day old bread bin. A bag of scones used to cost nz1.50, now it has gone up to 2.99. Too much - I'll go back to baking my own.

I got my insurance bill. Because I have made no claims on house and contents my payment has gone down. nz506.16

So I get to work and there is a cunningly placed box of patterns. Of course I can't resist going to have a look and finding one for .80 cents. The good thing about patterns is you can use them any number of times.

which is something I don't do very often. Movie going has just never appealed to me, but since today is discount day I thought I'd go and see Untouchable girls. It's a doco about the Topp twins, the world famous in New Zealand yodelling lesbian twins. I had a good laugh, but some of the political footage made me feel really old. I need to start my own campaign about price gouging on icecream and popcorn.

I nearly came out even today. I went to post my tax return and then I remembered; for most govt departments sending in forms is freepost. The IRD asks you to pay for the stamp yourself (maybe they are trying to boost Post Office revenue?). So I went to buy a stamp for nz.50 and on the way back I rescued a 10 cent and a 20 cent from being buried alive. There were roadworks going on and they were lying not far from the hole. Glad the workman didn't poke his head out as I was picking them up or I'd have been embarrassed. Now I wonder, do I have to declare .30 cents as income from the Ministry of Transport?

It is still drizzling outside so I decided to stay home and do my tax return. I wound up doing a major search of all my papers becuase I couldn't find the reciepts for my charity donations. In the process of going thru my filing cabinaet, and turfing a lot of old stuff in the process, I wound up with properly sorted and labelled categories. Now I have to stop myself from just shoving stuff in the miscellaneous folder.
BTW, I did find my reciepts.

I decided with all the nasty weather we are having lately I need a pair of legwarmers. Not enough suitable wool in my stash, so I decided to buy some at work today. I knew the cheapest all wool I could get would cost me nz2.80 a ball and I'd probably need at least 4. On my way to the shop I thought I'd look in the Hospice shop as they often have balls of yarn. While I was there a hand knitted sweater caught my eye. I didn't like the design much, but I recognised the wool as retailing at nz11.80 a ball. So I bought it for $4. Once I've unravelled it I think I will have enough for a vest as well as legwarmer, or maybe a scarf and beanie.

I found two coins on the way back from church, a ten cent and a twenty cent. I now have a total of nz26.40 in my change jar, so will buy a $25 Bonus Bond tomorrow.

I actually don't collect all that much change. I think if I had lots of it, I would be looking at reducing my spending on sundries, then reducing the amount I got out of the bank. I never have masses of it in the jar - I hate the thought of missing out on even miniscule amounts of interest, so when it gets to about 10.00 I usually stick it into a savings account.

It's that blessed debit card that does it. When I have only a little cash to spend i am careful because i don't want to get any more out, but since my pay went it the debit card keeps telling me - go on - only $6.00 for lunch; you've got $300 in your checking account, you can afford it. I guess I can because the bills come out of another account, but there are things I am planning to buy, like a new coat, and frittering my money away stops me reaching my goals. I only spent nz3.20 in cash today, on a needle guage which I'd planned to buy, but nz20.00 went on junk food and other junk. I'll have to stop carrying the plastic fantastic.

At work we were tearing the covers off the old knitting magazines to claim credit, and the manager told me I could take them home if I liked, so long as I didn't sell them to anyone. So now I have a fresh load of patterns - the trouble is I want to buy a fresh load of wool to knit them all. Hmm, I can see I am going to be spending a lot of my wages in the shop.