1. Leave the house for work when it’s still dark, and return when it’s still dark
2. Spend nights and weekends studying for my Masters
3. Spend any spare time I have exercising in a vain attempt to lose some weight gained through indolence
4. Spend recent days in the family home helping out after my father had an operation

As a result, not only do I not do anything interesting, I don’t have anything interesting to say, or any interesting opinions (or, any opinions) on current issues. I don’t read newspapers, or even catch up with world events through online sources. I simply don’t have time – I could technically read the paper on the commute to work, but that’s when I do my studying. When I do have something to say, it’s about mortgages, bank loans, tips on frugality, careers, freelancing opportunities, new jobs I’ve seen advertised. I no longer talk about holiday destinations – how do you afford non-work-related travel when you’re frantically saving to pay off a house before you’re old and grey?

In short, my current lifestyle, goals, and ambitions are so far away from who I was a year ago, and who I was when I started blogging, that I feel light years apart from you, the readers who have been following me since 2005. Most of you are still in high school or university. We no longer have anything in common. Some of you have started careers, become mothers, settled down. We perhaps have more in common, but I still feel as though I’m separate to you – largely because no one ever seems to be as obsessed with career and asset growth as myself.

The number of comments I receive per post has been steadily dropping. It might be because I’m no longer commenting on your posts (see: feeling disconnected), it might be because I’m no longer involved in social activity online, it might be because I don’t post as often anymore. But I think really, it’s because I’m now in a separate sphere to the personal bloggers I’ve spent my entire online life with.

I’ll see you all on the other side – when you’ve all become as mid-twenties and boringly settled as me.

As any good Australian will know, Arnotts Family Assorted is the biscuit pack of choice when it comes to large gatherings. Arnotts have been around for over a century, and they show no sign of losing popularity any time soon. As with all variety packs however, there’s a crowd favourite, and a runt of the litter. You get the following biscuits in the pack:

1. Milk Arrowroot
2. Butternut Snap
3. Chocolate Ripple
4. Milk Coffee
5. Teddy Bear
6. Scotch Finger

Based on months of observation at various workplaces, I can now tell you what works, and what doesn’t. I run workshops and meetings regularly, and always have a pack of Family Assorted for snacks. The same biscuits always go first, and the same ones are always left behind.

Chocolate Ripple always goes first, followed by Butternut Snap and Scotch Finger. The Milk Arrowroot, Milk Coffee and Teddy Bears are left to linger in the pack, untouched. The problem is of course, that the Milk Arrowroot, Milk Coffee and Teddy Bears are all essentially the same biscuit – simply created in different shapes. They’re great to dunk in a mug of hot chocolate, but otherwise taste bland and boring. Chocolate Ripple, Butternut Snap and Scotch Finger however, work well either by themselves, OR dunked in a hot beverage. How can you expect the boring three varieties to compare?

Question of the Week: If you’re an Arnotts connoisseur, which of the Family Assorted is your favourite? If you’ve not been lucky enough to have Arnotts, what’s your favourite biscuit?

The question came based on the depiction of Bella Swann’s father – Charlie Swann, chief of police in the small hick town of Forks. He’s been chief of police for years. He lives in the same small house that he’s been in for decades. He has the same routine – goes to work, doesn’t know what or how to cook for dinner, and watches football on television every weekend with a beer in his hand. That’s the extent of his life, and if his wife hadn’t left him, he’d be extremely content with it.

So the question – could I be content with that kind of life? Could I be content working the same job for years without any significant pay rises or career progression? Could I be content living in the same house with no visible improvements to lifestyle? Could I do the same thing day after day with no change in routine? Could I be happy having a weekend game of football on television being the high point of my week?

My housemate doesn’t think he could – he’s a few years older than me, but remarkably well travelled (he spent two years travelling the world), and has just bought a share of a business, so he’ll be going into business for himself. He’s a university graduate (or will be, after this semester), and plans to go on and study for Honours in history.

I don’t think I could be content with that kind of life. I’m not as motivated and driven as many people seem to believe I am, but I: 1) consistently look for opportunities to progress my career and earn more money; 2) count graduating from university to have been important for me; 3) consider continuing further postgraduate study as crucial to my personal growth; 4) am a home owner at the (relatively) tender age of twenty-three; 5) travel as widely as I can considering my other monetary commitments; 6) have definite plans for future children and family.

Yet, millions of people around the world are content with a life with no change, and don’t mind working that same job, and living in the same house, and knowing the same people, and doing the same thing for years upon years. It makes you question what’s worth more – the sense of accomplishment that people like myself and my housemate get when we achieve yet another goal, or the easy sense of mindless satisfaction from having an worry-free consistent life that others get. Is the stress and pressure that I feel worth the sense of achievement?

Question of the Week: What kind of person are you – are you a constant achiever with a number of goals, or are you happy to let life take you wherever it may?

1. Bought an apartment
2. Went to Canberra
3. Started a new job (two days a week, event management)
4. Celebrated a one year anniversary.

Things Amanda is doing at the moment:

1. Working two jobs – new job and old job.
2. Applying for a third job – weekend only positions.
3. Studying for her Masters in the mornings before work, and in the evenings after work.
4. Freaking out about the amount of debt she’s in.

Things Amanda will do soon:

1. Explain how the fuck she managed to get into the property market.
2. Write her first essay of the year.
3. Find some time for herself. Maybe.

I have become exceedingly middle-aged and boring.

For most of us, it’s just habit – we got used to writing for an audience when we started blogging in our teens and now that we’re approaching the ‘career’ part of our lives, it’s become a habit we can’t shake, despite whatever repercussions it may have for our professional careers. We like the attention. We like the feedback. We like the idea that despite how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things, however small we really are in this huge diverse world of ours, someone out there values our opinions. For that one random person out there who follows our blog religiously – we are someone who matters.

It gives you an enormous sense of self-validation. So what if you fight with your family, if you’re insecure about your relationship, if you feel like you don’t have any real friends, if you feel like there’s a million things wrong with your life? PEOPLE on the INTERNET care about you! There is PURPOSE to your LIFE! Your VOICE is being HEARD!

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why however absent I may be from this blog from time to time, I would never ever find it in my heart to abandon blogging altogether. There will be times in my life when nothing will go right. When that happens, I know I can always come back and open up on this blog, and find people who care about me. These people will be inspiration enough to get over whatever hurdle I’m facing, and work towards something better.

Of course, this resolution does pose a problem when I’m Facebook-invited to a gig that someone‘s band is playing – something that really, I have no interest in whatsoever because it’s entirely not my scene. Seeing a bunch of boring and mundane people from high school that I have nothing in common with isn’t high on my to-do list. Yet, I can’t exactly say no because of this stupid resolution and I have no other real excuse to give.

So, my solution is to hold my own event so I have an excuse to say thanks, but no thanks. I’ve decided – zombie movie marathon on Friday night anyone? Anyone?

See more of Australia

I took a short four day trip to Adelaide earlier this year, so I did manage to make it to see another part of Australia. The trouble is of course, that everything in Australia is so spread out. Going to another city isn’t simply a matter of driving an hour or two as it may be in Europe or America – I can drive for an hour, and still be in Melbourne!

On a more local note, this year I’ve become well-acquainted with the Melbourne peninsula region and the spectacular beaches it has to offer, rather than limiting myself to suburban beaches. I can only see more exploration up the coast next year, as I get more into water sports!

Get my savings account balance up to $20,000AUD, Get my eBay net earnings up to $6000AUDa year AND Get a job

It didn’t go as smoothly as I would have expected considering I was unemployed for a month in February, and had some unexpected large expenses during the year, but I’m currently sitting comfortably with $22,000AUD+ in my bank account. It probably helped that Dylan is, if not equally as frugal as me, is a man of simple tastes who prefers curling up in bed together with a DVD over paying $50AUD for two people to go to the movies. It makes a nice change from the extravagant and/or deadbeat people I’ve been with in the past.

The boost to my bank account is surprising actually, because eBaying and my online trading (buying cheap in second hand stores and re-selling online) fell. eBaying was a large source of my savings for the last three months of last year, with about $1500AUD profit in online trading. This year, I managed to pull in just about $1760AUD – though the majority of that was concentrated in the early months of the year when I wasn’t as run off my feet at work. By the time May rolled around, I was working close to six days a week (if not seven days), and had no opportunity to casually drop into a second-hand store to check out merchandise. It’s been like this since May – between work and other commitments, I simply have no time to shop for cheap stock – and probably won’t, for months ahead. In any case, $1760AUD p.a. isn’t bad for a secondary source of income that I treat as a hobby.

In terms of jobs though, I did alright. True, I lost my retail job when I came back from my three week trip to the UK, and went through nearly a month and a bit of unemployment (and subsequent depression, because I’d never been unemployed before in my adult life), but since then, I’ve held a number of jobs! From the administrative position at a medical training organisation, to the casual retail role in a baby store, and the first real job with career potential and real responsibility that I’m now in (as well as a few other small jobs along the way!), I’ve gained a full year’s of worthy and useful work experience.

Comment on a blog a day that lies outside of my usual blog circle

Um…no. I didn’t account for the severe lack of time I would find myself plagued with for the majority of the year (work, etc.). So no. I could barely even manage a comment a week, let alone a comment a day.

So For 2010…

…what kind of resolutions should I make, considering that chances are, I’ll completely forget about them by the time the 2nd of January rolls around? I’m going to keep it simple:

1. Continue to average Distinctions and/or High Distinctions in my Masters studies next year
2. Accumulate $30,000AUD in my account.
3. Visit a country I’ve never been to before. I want to go to America, but timing is going to be hard because of work commitments – I may have to settle for a week or two in a south-east Asian island nation instead.
4. Have more fun. It’s very easy for someone of my workaholic nature to get sucked into the cycle of working seven days a week without any thought as to maintaining a good work/life balance. I need to learn to say no to shifts, and yes to meeting up with friends.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Eve

I actually worked for most of Christmas Eve, packing up boxes for an impending office move (as previously mentioned). This was about half of the total amount of boxes – it was a long, sweaty and dusty day. I did manage to get home by 5pm to clean myself up before heading over to my aunt’s for an Asian-style Christmas Eve dinner though. This essentially means that all the ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ bring a dish (Asian cuisine of course!), and we all stuff our faces with food. Chicken wings, lamb chops, potato salad, curry and vermicelli noodles with pickled veggies? That’s our version of Christmas fare.

Then of course, the adults start playing endless rounds of mahjong and drinking endless cups of tea as soon as dinner is over, while the children are relegated to a back bedroom to entertain ourselves the best we can. We might be in our twenties and late teens, but my cousins and I (and the children of other family friends) are still considered to be the ‘children’. Admittedly we fit into our designated roles remarkably well – we played Taboo and Pictionary with a few glasses of wine each, well into the early hours of the morning.

As a side note, I am vaguely communicating with my parents again, in that we can be in the same room without screaming at each other. Polite conversation with my mother is a good start though, as well as the fact that my father deigned to speak a sentence to me: “Refill my cup of tea”.

Christmas

I woke up on Christmas Day at Dylan’s house with presents to open! As a joke gift, he bought me a Hello Kitty candy set – as an Asian female, I’m obviously supposed to love Hello Kitty. (Which I do, secretly, but don’t tell him that because it’ll only reinforce the stereotype.) My real gift though, was a body board – and to celebrate Christmas, we drove two hours down the coast and spent the day at Cape Paterson together so that I could have my first ever body-boarding experience. We could have gone to a more local beach, but as Melbourne is situated within a bay, he decided it would be more exciting to drive further out past the peninsula so that we could surf in the actual ocean with real waves, rather than within a calmer bay.

I had a blast – absolutely an overall awesome day. We’re now contemplating getting into snorkeling as a hobby, as the coastline around Cape Paterson is absolutely littered with rock pools and marine life. I’m considering buying snorkeling sets for his birthday in February, though I guess ideally we should have the equipment by mid-January when the weather will be calmer and it’ll be easier to snorkel in the open ocean.

Oh, and I made him a type of mini-hamper gift with things he likes – a selection of different nuts from the market (walnuts, almonds, macadamias), a bottle of our favourite wine (Brown Brothers Moscato), a new coffee percolator and some organic coffee beans (he’s sick of drinking instant coffee at my place, so now he can have actual coffee), and some home-made dark chocolate with ginger. Nothing remarkable, just a few things I threw together into a basket, but he seemed to like it, so all is good.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a big day for my cousin and I. It’s traditionally one of the biggest retail days of the year with enormous post-Christmas discounts, and we have gotten into the habit of taking full advantage of the sales. We ended up shopping from eight in the morning to eight at night, across two different shopping centres. I ended up buying:

1. A woollen underlay for my mattress – $89.95 from $299
2. Leopard print micro shorts – $9.95 from $69.95
3. A print top – $14.95 from $79.95
4. Earrings – $5 from $14.95
5. A headband – $5 from $29.95

I was remarkably controlled this year in my spending – the woollen underlay was my biggest purchase by far, but as I had been needing one since I moved out, and managed to pick up a trans-seasonal one (works in both winter and summer) for a third of the original price, I think it was a justified purchase. The top and shorts were a bit of a splurge as they’re really too casual and ‘fun’ for work, but I really think it’s about time I start dressing my age. The accessories were just cute cute cute, and cheap enough for me.

Overall, it was a fairly chilled couple of days. There was no blatant displays of consumerism (sure I went sale shopping, but didn’t go overboard!), and I only stuffed myself with food for one meal, so it was probably a million times more controlled and less indulgent than most people’s Christmases!