Some of you may remember I had a regular weekly babysitting gig back in 2008, looking after a three year old every Sunday. These two particular entries may jog your memory. The owners of the GASP chain were the parents of that child. They were the nouveau riche – spent their time out gambling at Crown Casino rather than with their children, and were dismissive of everyone and everything. On the rare occasions that I met the people who worked at GASP, I wanted to punch them all in the face – they were hired on how ‘hot’ they were, rather than on their actual character.

If you weren’t already turned off by GASP’s attitude as shown in the email correspondence, I would like to encourage you to boycott the store. Not only do the staff have disgusting attitudes, but the whole philosophy of the store and its owners is one of nouveau riche flamboyance and moral decrepitude.

We are playing a game. It was proposed that us girls do something special in Facebook to help gain awareness of Breast Cancer. It’s so easy that I’d like you to join us to make it spread! Last year it was about writing the color of the bra you were wearing in your FB status…and it left men wondering for days why did the girls have colors (apparently random) in our status. This year it has to do with our love relationships, in …other words, for the status of your current relationship put the following drink:

• Tequila: I’m a single woman
• Rum: I’m a touch and go woman
• Champagne: I’m an engaged woman
• Redbull: I’m a woman in a relationship
• Beer: I’m a married woman
• Vodka: I’m the “other one”
• Sprite: I’m a woman that can’t find the right man
• Whiskey: I’m a single woman but with friends that won’t stop partying
• Liquor: I’m a woman that wishes she was single sometimes.
• Gin: I’m a woman that wants to get married

Now all you need to do is write down the answer for your situation in your FB status (don’t put this email, just put the drink in your status-go to your FB Wall and post it). Also, cut and paste this message and send it to all your girl-friends as a message. The Bra game reached the news. Lets make this one make it too and see how powerful women are :) . .

First of all, I’m not going to do this because it’s a perfect example of slacktivism which I find irritating. One in nine women are diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 80. Chances are, you know someone who has, or has had breast cancer, ergo, you are aware of breast cancer.

My main question though, is around the vodka and the liquor women. Who is going to openly admit on Facebook that they are the ‘other woman’ and playing a part in the wrecking of another couple’s relationship? Similarly, who is going to admit on Facebook to family, friends and partner that even though they’re in a relationship, they wish they were single? Why rub it in your partner’s face? I have instances of wanting to be liquor. Would I put it as my Facebook status? Absolutely not. Those thoughts and desires are best kept my own.

Question of the Week: What type of drink are you?

Note: all the suggestions made in this entry are based on what I did for my own account, for my own financial situation. Your situation will be unique, and will require different treatment. Take the following suggestions, but don’t treat them as gospel.

Setting Up Your Accounts

At first glance, you would assume that “accounts” would simply refer to ones held at traditional banking institutions. However, in order to provide myself with a fuller picture, I’ve also included other accounts. As such, my accounts are set up with:

1. 3x traditional banking accounts – two standard, one high-interest
2. Paypal account
3. Cash/Gift Cards
4. Credit Card account

Paypal is fairly obvious – it’s really just like a bank account, only online. I always have about $50-$100 in there, so it makes sense to have that listed as an account, as that’s money I have after all! Cash/Gift Cards refers to the small amount of cash I keep in my wallet (generally around $50-$100 as well), and also includes the value of any gift cards I may also have in my wallet. At the moment, that includes a Coles Myer gift card, a cinema gift card, and a $10 scratch and win card my friend gave me.

My basic theory behind accounts is that they should be set up for forms of money where you have regular transactions. So I have regular transactions in/out of my bank accounts, and the same with my Paypal and the amount of cash I have in my wallet. Each transaction, no matter how petty, should be reflected in your net worth statement so that it’s as accurate as possible. So if I spend a dollar of that cash in my wallet in order to buy a snack? I put that in as a transaction so that amount is taken out of my cash account balance in Budget Pulse.

Figuring Out Your Assets and Liabilities

Liabilities are fairly straightforward – they are debts that you owe to another party. Whether they be home loans, car loans, student loans, $1000 you owe to your parents, anything that you have in your possession that isn’t fully paid for with your own money can be counted as a liability.

Assets are a bit harder to determine, and depending on the nature and amount of the item, could be considered an account. Using cash as an example: if the amount of cash you have in your possession changes regularly, it would make sense to list your cash as an account, as you can add transactions and account for any fluctuations in account balance. However, if you have a stash of $5000 under your mattress for a rainy day, and that amount never changes, that amount of money is better treated as an asset. This is the type of distinction that is best left to one’s own personal decision – only you know what your situation is like.

I have the following in my Budget Pulse account:

• Assets: Apartment, car, superannuation account, shares, electricals.
• Liabilities: mortgage, student debts, parental loan

Note that electricals is the only assets I have listed that aren’t considered to be a “large ticket” item. That’s because the electrical equipment in my apartment (TV, washing machine, fridge, kitchen appliances) have a combined value of over $3000, and do keep their resale value relatively well. Other possessions are a different matter – the resale value of clothing is negligible at best, so I’ve not listed the contents of my wardrobe as an asset.

I’m also lucky in that I’m not in irresponsible debt. My only real debt is related to my apartment – the bank mortgage, and an amount loaned to me by my parents. The student debt is only from my Masters degree – I paid for my undergraduate degree as I was studying. I made a conscious decision to let the course fees for my postgraduate degree go to student debt to the government. I figured there were more important things I could spend the money on immediately (i.e. I bought a car last year, and an apartment this year!), and that small regular repayments via tax would be a relatively responsible way to handle the costs of further education.

Inputting Your Monthly Budget

This is the part of setting up an account that requires a bit of work prior to inputting data. You need to work out a (realistic!) monthly budget – preferably one that is within your income! This is my budget, which I drew up in Excel months ago.

There’s a few points I should probably make about this:

1. The figures in red are what I have based the calculations on. e.g. Rather than trying to figure out how much my annual car insurance costs me per week, I worked off the red annual figure (e.g. divided by twelve for the monthly amount, and by 52 for the weekly amount). This is because for some things, you simply can’t work out a weekly budget – some bills come monthly, fortnightly, annually, etc. You just need to take the original amount, and aggregate that over weekly, monthly, and annual installments.
2. I have over budgeted in some areas. For instance, I don’t pay a full $400AUD a week on my mortgage – it’s more like $375AUD. I budget $400AUD just in case – e.g. if the Reserve Bank keeps raising interest rates, I need some room to move in my budget to accommodate these charges. This is the same for my mobile phone and utility bills.
3. “Private Health Insurance” has been highlighted in yellow as I haven’t yet actually spent anything against this. I need to buy private health insurance…I just need to figure out how much exactly for someone of my age and general health – whether I settle for ambulance cover, or get extras (free dental and optical), or get the full package.
4. This budget allows me an extra $1000AUD spare each year after taking into account my income. Including Dylan’s fortnightly contributions, I have $10,000AUD spare each year…which will probably be split up equally between domestic holidays and extra mortgage repayments.
5. This is a comfortable budget. The figures in this budget still allow me to dine out once a week, go out with friends, eat well, drive around shopping on weekends, etc. Could I tighten the belt further and save a bit more each week and pay my mortgage off faster? Absolutely. But just as I recognise the importance of having work-life balance, I also recognise the importance of allowing yourself little treats. I don’t spend the full shopping or entertainment budget each week…but it’s there if I want it.

Now the figures you need to input into your BudgetPulse account are the monthly budget figures. That’s one downside to the system – they operate on a monthly system, so you can’t specify a particular line item as an annual payment, or a weekly amount. It all has to be input as a monthly figure – hence having to spreadsheet your budget first.

Summary

Now that you’ve got your Budget Pulse account set up so that it’s specific to you and your financial situation, it’s time to start inputting your transactions as they occur! You should figure out the best way for you to do it – whether it be at the end of each day, at the end of each week, or when you receive your credit card statement.

Have fun managing your finances – I certainly do!

From the little that I’ve used of Budget Pulse, it seems to have everything that I could need. So far I have:

1. Input all my bank account details (not numbers, just a name and dollar amount)
2. Input the value of all my assets (apartment, car, superannuation, shares) and liabilities (mortgage)
3. Transported my spreadsheeted budget to my account, so I can track my spending against each budget line item.
4. Input a small number of transactions (as it was my birthday last week, I’ve actually spent more than I’ve earnt…a bit of birthday splurging never hurt anyone though!)

With all these details, the program informs me that my current net worth is $75,044.35AUD – not bad at all!

The program also offers pie charts and bar graphs to track your spending against your budget line. Would this be something that people would be interested in seeing – e.g. if at the end of each month I give a graphic summary of my income/expenditure? Are there enough personal finance-related bloggers reading this to make such a regular entry worthwhile?

The amazing bargain I got on my contact lenses make me wonder…what else could I buy from America online? I don’t need DVDs off Amazon or anything like that as I pretty stream/download my entertainment these days. I’m not a techy person, and don’t require any technology upgrades – I’m content with my laptop and phone. I borrow books and other reading materials from my local library. Any home-related items I would want to buy would result in hefty shipping fees that would negate any savings.

Then I realised…clothing. I haven’t posted much about clothing or style on this blog in about a year. It’s largely as I haven’t purchased any new and exciting items – I’ve been replacing items (e.g. replacing a faded black t-shirt with a new black t-shirt) but haven’t been purchasing new items. Despite the mundanity of my wardrobe, I still do maintain some slight interest in fashion and style. So, why not update my look with a few key items?

Question of the Week: Can anyone recommend American online stores (that ship to Australia) that stock corporate and work-appropriate clothing, and pretty dresses?

To give an idea of my budget, I don’t tend to pay more than $20 for a top, $40 for a pair of pants, and $40 for a cocktail dress.

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.

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.

There are a number of reasons for this:

1. I have no internet access at home. I’ve obviously recently moved out of home and considering that I’m rarely at home as I’m either at work or out and about, I don’t see the point of paying $100AUD a month for a USB wireless modem for my laptop, as it wouldn’t be worthwhile to get a landline.
2. I need to limit my internet usage at work. I am currently snowed under at work with a million tasks and responsibilities to prioritise. This situation isn’t going to change for the next six months. Having superfluous social networking accounts is only a distraction above and beyond what’s reasonable. Checking personal email throughout the day is reasonable. Spending half the day on Twitter and a forum isn’t.
3. My mobile phone bill was going through the roof. It became a habit for me to catch up on people’s Tweets and forum updates on my phone when I was commuting to and from work. That’s two hours worth of mobile browsing each day – my bank account can’t keep up with the charges I sustained. The less accounts I have, the less I browse, the less my bill.
4. I have other time-consuming offline commitments. Long story short, I am likely to be purchasing a property in the next couple of months. As such my weekends are taken up with inspecting properties for sale, and my weekdays are taken up with talking finances over the phone.

I am of course, still contactable via email, but because of demands on my time, replies may be late coming. I may in time sign up again for social networking sites, but it’s not something I can envision for the next six months. I am still keeping up with blog entries (however little I comment) and will continue to blog, however sporadically. I just need to learn to prioritise my commitments (e.g. concentrate on work) and to cut down on unnecessary expenditure (e.g. outrageous mobile browsing bills) in order to achieve my goals.

I can see how that works. Seemingly traditional, but with an underlying layer of unexpected swirls and curls. Something frivolous under a respectable exterior. Which font are you? (P.S. Password is Character)

The fanlistings are:

1. People Miscellany: Language: Chinese
2. Musicians (Male): Jay Chou (Zhou Jie Lun)
3. Musicians (Male): Wang Leehom
4. Musicians (Bands/Groups): Spice Girls

If you would like to adopt any of the above, please either leave a comment here, or email me at acchamanda at gmail dot com. It would be beneficial to include: a) Links to either fanlistings you currently own, or sites you run; and b) An explanation of why you actually want the fanlisting. There is no closing date on applications, though it also isn’t a case of first come first served. I’ll know when the right person applies, and will offer them the fanlisting and remove it from this post when it happens.

In other site-related news, I’ve just renewed this domain for another three years, so you’re all stuck with me until at least 2013. Huzzah!