The past week at first felt like a write off. I had my car break down and many other things and it just felt like a big fat mess. It is amazing how things can seem like huge problems at first, but then end up being blessings in disguise.
To start with the drive shaft dropped out of my Land Rover. A new one would cost $850 plus the labour is $110 an hour. Yep, not cheap. Thankfully we have a friend who works on Land Rovers, has the necessary tools and is doing it for nothing. We sourced the part for $300 + shipping costs (only $35) which should hopefully be here next week.
Now at first having no car sucks, but we were able to borrow my parents second car until ours is fixed and there is no rush to give it back. This little baby got us to Sydney for less than $25 in fuel. It is so cheap to run and the amount we are saving in petrol just in these few weeks (between the car breaking down and when it will be fixed) is equivalent to the part, so fixing our car is no longer as expensive as first thought.
Another bonus of the car dropping its guts is my husband is now on board to getting a cheaper car. As in one that is cheaper to run petrol wise, to fix, service, everything. I really began to think that he would never agree.
Our only problem is he wants a BRAND new car. I want a Camry that is a couple of years old. The price difference of what he wants in comparison to what I want is at least $10,000, mine is cheaper. I am still working on him. No matter which car we get, it will still be cheaper than keeping the 4WD.
Where will we get the money for it though? Well, there are a few ways. We have the cash now to buy the car I want (yet another reason to buy the car I want!) To buy the car he wants we need a loan. We can get one easily, that’s not a problem. I do not want to be in debt for a car though. Whilst we were trying to work out how to do it, it dawned on me we could redraw from our mortgage. This is not something I would like to do, but we were looking at our all options. In the end we did not go with this.
Brilliant thing about just thinking about redrawing and talking to the bank was I realised we need to refinance now. I had been planning on doing it next year when our fixed term is up, but since we are moving soon, neither of us will have been working long enough to qualify for remortgaging a loan. We would be stuck on a high interest rate with no options.
So, since our car broke down and forced us to look at all options, we are able to switch our loan now and will be saving ourselves a considerable amount of money. It would not have occurred to me until too late if our car had not died this week. I have about 2 weeks to get our mortgage happening elsewhere before it could be considered too late. I had stopped thinking about the mortgage as it is fixed until next year, so had no plans to do anything. Luckily things changed this week.
Another fortunate thing about refinancing the loan is there is a possible investment opportunity for me I would not have been able to take advantage of in the current situation, but by breaking the fixed mortgage I can. There’s a few other things to work out on it, but I am hopeful. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Also due to the car breaking down and us facing the expense of fixing it (before our friend offered to do it, and we were not to insult him by saying no) I jumped on eBay to list some things. I had been planning on doing it in November, but I figured I needed money NOW. I only got to list a bit of what I wanted and still have lots to go, but I am already up by $200. Another bonus of my car breaking down.
So all up, what looked like a disaster to begin with has ended up being a HUGE blessing.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Determining your blogs success
I am curious to know how you are determining the success of your blog or how you will, if you don’t feel it’s there yet.
I know there are many ways to get a feel for how you are going but do you have an actual goal/figure/something in mind?
I originally was going by my alexa ranking. Don’t know what I am talking about? Alexa basically determines where you are in world rankings. Google is number 1 as it gets the most hits. If you click here it’ll take you to where you can down load it so you can see where you are ranked.
It has one minor problem, it only counts visits from computers who have the alexa toolbar installed, so it is not completely accurate, but it’s as close as we can get right now.
When I changed my name from 1 Million Dollar Challenge and bought the domain name Aspiring Millionaire I went from being ranked in the 400,000’s to 22 million. So I have had to build up my ranking again. It has made me realise that the alexa ranking whilst important, is not the most important thing to me anymore. I would like to get under 200,000 so I will still be working on it, but there are other things that will determine my success (in my mind).
Feedburner is a great way to know how many people are signed up to your feeds. I recently changed mine. I should have done it as soon as I changed my domain name, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to switch. I’ve done it now and to me, having over 1000 followers would mean I am getting there in the success stakes.
Analytics helps you to view what’s happening on your site, such as how many visits you are getting, which pages are most popular, where people are coming from, how long they are staying on your site etc... It is really useful to determine what works and what doesn’t on your site.
Also, seeing the traffic is a great indicator of how successful your site is. When I am reaching thousands of people a week, I will view that as successful.
Another way to determine success would be how much you are making from your blog. This should not be your main motivation behind blogging, as most people do not make a lot of money from their blogs. It is a lot of work and a blog needs constant attention for it to be successful. Even if you have thousands of readers, or have a great alexa ranking you might not be making much money.
Why? Well, making money from a blog is reliant on visitors liking your site enough to donate, or be interested in the ads in your side bar or you need to sell something on it. Either way, blogs are not an instant money maker and if the only reason you are blogging is for money you might end up disappointed and if you are using money as an indication of your success, it may take quite some time.
How will I be determining if I am successful or not? My key factors are
- Over 1000 Google friend followers
- Over 2000 feedburner readers
- Over 5000 visitors a week
- An alexa ranking of under 200,000
I am not there yet, but I will keep working on it.
What are your indicators for a successful blog?
I know there are many ways to get a feel for how you are going but do you have an actual goal/figure/something in mind?
I originally was going by my alexa ranking. Don’t know what I am talking about? Alexa basically determines where you are in world rankings. Google is number 1 as it gets the most hits. If you click here it’ll take you to where you can down load it so you can see where you are ranked.
It has one minor problem, it only counts visits from computers who have the alexa toolbar installed, so it is not completely accurate, but it’s as close as we can get right now.
When I changed my name from 1 Million Dollar Challenge and bought the domain name Aspiring Millionaire I went from being ranked in the 400,000’s to 22 million. So I have had to build up my ranking again. It has made me realise that the alexa ranking whilst important, is not the most important thing to me anymore. I would like to get under 200,000 so I will still be working on it, but there are other things that will determine my success (in my mind).
Feedburner is a great way to know how many people are signed up to your feeds. I recently changed mine. I should have done it as soon as I changed my domain name, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to switch. I’ve done it now and to me, having over 1000 followers would mean I am getting there in the success stakes.
Analytics helps you to view what’s happening on your site, such as how many visits you are getting, which pages are most popular, where people are coming from, how long they are staying on your site etc... It is really useful to determine what works and what doesn’t on your site.
Also, seeing the traffic is a great indicator of how successful your site is. When I am reaching thousands of people a week, I will view that as successful.
Another way to determine success would be how much you are making from your blog. This should not be your main motivation behind blogging, as most people do not make a lot of money from their blogs. It is a lot of work and a blog needs constant attention for it to be successful. Even if you have thousands of readers, or have a great alexa ranking you might not be making much money.
Why? Well, making money from a blog is reliant on visitors liking your site enough to donate, or be interested in the ads in your side bar or you need to sell something on it. Either way, blogs are not an instant money maker and if the only reason you are blogging is for money you might end up disappointed and if you are using money as an indication of your success, it may take quite some time.
How will I be determining if I am successful or not? My key factors are
- Over 1000 Google friend followers
- Over 2000 feedburner readers
- Over 5000 visitors a week
- An alexa ranking of under 200,000
I am not there yet, but I will keep working on it.
What are your indicators for a successful blog?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Things I learnt being a land lord
I gave my tenants the letter today. I feels so bad doing it to them, but it is the right things for us and it is my house. What letter? The notice to move out. They now have 60 days. Which means I will be moving in 60 days. Scary, there’s a set date for it. It got me thinking though, about everything I have learnt about being a land lord.
My house has been a rental for almost 3 years. The last 18 months of that has been the best of it, we finally got awesome tenants. They were easy going, always paid their rent on time and kept the house well. It has not always been that way.
But first, I will tell you what I have learnt.
1.) Know the law. Whether you have a property manager or not know your stuff. I had a property manager for a while and I had to correct them as they were breaking the law. Not something I want to be associated with.
2.) Be specific in the lease agreements. If you allow pets it needs to be written into the lease. By law in NSW you have to allow smokers, but you can specify they can only smoke outside. Know what is and isn’t allowed in the lease.
3.) Do a thorough prelease inspection. A camcorder is great to note everything. Make 2 copies, one for you and one for the tenant. This will help prove things if it gets nasty when they move out.
4.) If you choose to self manage your property set rules. When they can call, on what number, who are your repair men in case of emergency etc... We forgot to set rules with the first self managed tenants and they would call All. The. Time.
5.) Treat the rental as a business transaction. Do not get too emotionally involved or it will be hard to enforce things on the lease.
6.) Most property managers are useless. If you find a good one, you are lucky!
7.) People think you can claim everything on tax, you can’t. You can claim a percentage of most things, either of the whole cost or on a depreciation basis.
8.) Keep good records. There are so many things you can claim you need to keep really good records of everything you do in relation to the property.
9.) Have regular inspections. If you are using a property manager insist they do them quarterly like they should. I know many don’t and this is where you end up with severe damage.
10.) Don’t rent to friends. It almost always ends badly.
The first 2 sets of tenants were not so great. The first tenants we had were found through a real estate agency. We checked all the real estates in our area and found someone we felt really good about to manage our property. We signed the paper work, moved and they left the agency. Instead of someone handling our property who was professional and had years of experience, we ended up with a girl younger than me who knew less than me and was useless.
The tenants they put in were terrible and broke many conditions that were supposed to be in the lease which the real estate forgot. The real estate did not do anything we asked and in the end we got rid of them and the tenants. Lucky for us they left without a fuss.
Next we had some “friends” of mine move in which was all good, or so we thought. They wanted to paint, which was fine with us and do a few other things, which we agreed to because they had a friend who was a builder and was going to be doing it for mates rates. She also had a job which required her to organise the repairs on homes so she had a lot of connections.
Well, they lied to us, did a dodgy job themselves and we were not happy at all. Add to that when we went up to do an inspection we discovered they had animals which they did not tell us about. That means they breached the lease. We gave them the appropriate notice and no longer speak. They weren’t real friends and it was no real loss.
I would not recommend leasing a property to good friends.
Now we had a bathroom half finished, a garage full of crap and a few other things that had to be fixed. We lived interstate and needed someone in our property asap. We were lucky and my mother in law was able to find us some awesome people who have been fantastic.
It has been a good experience and one I am glad I did. If I was to rent a house out again I know much more know and it would be a better experience than it was this time round.
My house has been a rental for almost 3 years. The last 18 months of that has been the best of it, we finally got awesome tenants. They were easy going, always paid their rent on time and kept the house well. It has not always been that way.
But first, I will tell you what I have learnt.
1.) Know the law. Whether you have a property manager or not know your stuff. I had a property manager for a while and I had to correct them as they were breaking the law. Not something I want to be associated with.
2.) Be specific in the lease agreements. If you allow pets it needs to be written into the lease. By law in NSW you have to allow smokers, but you can specify they can only smoke outside. Know what is and isn’t allowed in the lease.
3.) Do a thorough prelease inspection. A camcorder is great to note everything. Make 2 copies, one for you and one for the tenant. This will help prove things if it gets nasty when they move out.
4.) If you choose to self manage your property set rules. When they can call, on what number, who are your repair men in case of emergency etc... We forgot to set rules with the first self managed tenants and they would call All. The. Time.
5.) Treat the rental as a business transaction. Do not get too emotionally involved or it will be hard to enforce things on the lease.
6.) Most property managers are useless. If you find a good one, you are lucky!
7.) People think you can claim everything on tax, you can’t. You can claim a percentage of most things, either of the whole cost or on a depreciation basis.
8.) Keep good records. There are so many things you can claim you need to keep really good records of everything you do in relation to the property.
9.) Have regular inspections. If you are using a property manager insist they do them quarterly like they should. I know many don’t and this is where you end up with severe damage.
10.) Don’t rent to friends. It almost always ends badly.
The first 2 sets of tenants were not so great. The first tenants we had were found through a real estate agency. We checked all the real estates in our area and found someone we felt really good about to manage our property. We signed the paper work, moved and they left the agency. Instead of someone handling our property who was professional and had years of experience, we ended up with a girl younger than me who knew less than me and was useless.
The tenants they put in were terrible and broke many conditions that were supposed to be in the lease which the real estate forgot. The real estate did not do anything we asked and in the end we got rid of them and the tenants. Lucky for us they left without a fuss.
Next we had some “friends” of mine move in which was all good, or so we thought. They wanted to paint, which was fine with us and do a few other things, which we agreed to because they had a friend who was a builder and was going to be doing it for mates rates. She also had a job which required her to organise the repairs on homes so she had a lot of connections.
Well, they lied to us, did a dodgy job themselves and we were not happy at all. Add to that when we went up to do an inspection we discovered they had animals which they did not tell us about. That means they breached the lease. We gave them the appropriate notice and no longer speak. They weren’t real friends and it was no real loss.
I would not recommend leasing a property to good friends.
Now we had a bathroom half finished, a garage full of crap and a few other things that had to be fixed. We lived interstate and needed someone in our property asap. We were lucky and my mother in law was able to find us some awesome people who have been fantastic.
It has been a good experience and one I am glad I did. If I was to rent a house out again I know much more know and it would be a better experience than it was this time round.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Differences between the USA and Australia (financial of course)
I’m no expert on tax matters or anything, so this is just how I view it. Since I have never lived in nor had much to do with the American tax system or financial system, I am only going by what I have read around the place, so take everything here with a grain of salt. I have been asked a few times about the differences. I think in Australia we get a bit of an idea of how things are done in the USA courtesy of shows like Oprah and books written by Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman etc... Most financial advice books are American, so we get a little bit of information that way. So I will try my best to explain what I think simply, so others can get a bit of an idea.
Property taxes/loans/payments etc... everything to do with real estate are dealt with very differently in both countries. In Australia if the property you own is the one you live in you are not entitled to tax exemptions. If it is an investment you can claim pretty much anything under the sun (that is an exaggeration, but interest, land tax/rates, repairs/improvements, travel to inspect the property etc... can all be claimed in various ways).
That is one of the reasons people in Australia like to pay down our home so fast. It is just costing you money, you get no tax benefits. In USA, correct me if I am wrong, you do get tax benefits/tax breaks with your own home?
With superannuation/IRA’s/retirement fund whatever you want to call it things are set up different, but there are similarities. In Aus there are tax advantages to depositing into your retirement. It does reduce your taxable income. You can choose any super fund you like and that is the one your employer will pay into. All employers have to pay 9% minimum of what you are worth into your retirement fund. So if you get $50,000 a year, the employer has to pay $4,500 a year into that account on top of your wage.
I am not a fan of super. I prefer to keep my money and invest it myself rather than having it locked away until I am 65. That’s right, any money put in there is not accessible until retirement age. Under very extenuating circumstances it can be received, but it’s rare and hard. Then there’s the fees paid to have the fund etc... I don’t like them, but they are great for anyone who has no other plan.
As for pensions and things, in Australia we supposedly have one of the best welfare systems in the world. That said, it can still be very hard to live on. It’s pretty lenient and we get more than most countries for all different situations. If you want more info this link will take you to our welfare site and you can see what you can get for various situations. It is a great safety net for those who need it, but there are many who take advantage of this system. Bear in mind, if you do happen to play around with figures, many parts of Aus are very expensive to live in.
Of course there are cheaper areas and I am not saying USA is cheap. Just every American I have ever personally known has said how much more expensive Australia is. And yes, I have known and do know a lot of Americans and they all tell me I should move to the USA.
FICO scores, we don’t have them. We do have credit ratings/history which can determine whether you can get a loan/how much you can borrow etc... The first thing looked at is your income and how long you have been with your employer. I don’t know much about FICO scores, so I am not going to comment much on that.
I have read a lot about people walking away from their mortgages in the USA. You can’t do that here. You will get a big black mark against your name, the loan for the house will follow you until it is repaid either by the bank repossessing the house and selling it or by you declaring bankruptcy. This is not advisable. Bankruptcy will leave you unable to get any sort of credit for 7 years. Some banks will deal with you, but going bankrupt is a black hole you want to avoid if at all possible.
I know I haven’t explained everything technically or anything. I am not experienced in this area, merely trying to bumble my way through to sort of answer some reader questions. If you’d like more info on the Australian tax department you can go to their site here.
Hope I have helped a little. Remember it is not hard and fast financial advice, just my take on things.
Oh, and to my American friends, it's not me who needs convincing to move to the USA, it's my husband!
Property taxes/loans/payments etc... everything to do with real estate are dealt with very differently in both countries. In Australia if the property you own is the one you live in you are not entitled to tax exemptions. If it is an investment you can claim pretty much anything under the sun (that is an exaggeration, but interest, land tax/rates, repairs/improvements, travel to inspect the property etc... can all be claimed in various ways).
That is one of the reasons people in Australia like to pay down our home so fast. It is just costing you money, you get no tax benefits. In USA, correct me if I am wrong, you do get tax benefits/tax breaks with your own home?
With superannuation/IRA’s/retirement fund whatever you want to call it things are set up different, but there are similarities. In Aus there are tax advantages to depositing into your retirement. It does reduce your taxable income. You can choose any super fund you like and that is the one your employer will pay into. All employers have to pay 9% minimum of what you are worth into your retirement fund. So if you get $50,000 a year, the employer has to pay $4,500 a year into that account on top of your wage.
I am not a fan of super. I prefer to keep my money and invest it myself rather than having it locked away until I am 65. That’s right, any money put in there is not accessible until retirement age. Under very extenuating circumstances it can be received, but it’s rare and hard. Then there’s the fees paid to have the fund etc... I don’t like them, but they are great for anyone who has no other plan.
As for pensions and things, in Australia we supposedly have one of the best welfare systems in the world. That said, it can still be very hard to live on. It’s pretty lenient and we get more than most countries for all different situations. If you want more info this link will take you to our welfare site and you can see what you can get for various situations. It is a great safety net for those who need it, but there are many who take advantage of this system. Bear in mind, if you do happen to play around with figures, many parts of Aus are very expensive to live in.
Of course there are cheaper areas and I am not saying USA is cheap. Just every American I have ever personally known has said how much more expensive Australia is. And yes, I have known and do know a lot of Americans and they all tell me I should move to the USA.
FICO scores, we don’t have them. We do have credit ratings/history which can determine whether you can get a loan/how much you can borrow etc... The first thing looked at is your income and how long you have been with your employer. I don’t know much about FICO scores, so I am not going to comment much on that.
I have read a lot about people walking away from their mortgages in the USA. You can’t do that here. You will get a big black mark against your name, the loan for the house will follow you until it is repaid either by the bank repossessing the house and selling it or by you declaring bankruptcy. This is not advisable. Bankruptcy will leave you unable to get any sort of credit for 7 years. Some banks will deal with you, but going bankrupt is a black hole you want to avoid if at all possible.
I know I haven’t explained everything technically or anything. I am not experienced in this area, merely trying to bumble my way through to sort of answer some reader questions. If you’d like more info on the Australian tax department you can go to their site here.
Hope I have helped a little. Remember it is not hard and fast financial advice, just my take on things.
Oh, and to my American friends, it's not me who needs convincing to move to the USA, it's my husband!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Why I am moving house
You may or may not know my house has been on the market. I am renting where I live but have an investment property elsewhere. We pulled it yesterday and will be moving into it. It’s the right decision for us at this time. Whilst I like where I currently live and would like to stay close to my family, it is better for us to go back to Sydney.
Renting our house out has been a great experience, but without selling it, I can’t buy here, but here is so over priced it’s ridiculous. I’d be in a whole lot of debt to be able to afford it and rent here is unbelievably expensive.
Why not just keep renting where we are? We could, but there’s many reasons I don’t want to. One of the big ones is we live on a busy street which makes life hard. My eldest can undo all the locks on the front door now and get out or let her sister out which is scary. I also can’t hang out the washing because we have to go upstairs and with the 2 kids it is quite hard to keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t fall down or go down the stairs, touch anything they shouldn’t, run onto the road etc... It is a nightmare trying to hang the washing.
By moving back I will be able to save so much money and even make more money. Why?
• I can have chickens which would mean free range eggs, fertiliser etc...
• I can have a vegetable garden and fruit trees. Something I have wanted for a long time. I have some herbs in pots here, but it’s not the same.
• I can install water tanks if I want.
• I can have a solar cooker and dehydrator saving on electricity
• I can hang my washing outside
• My kids can play in the backyard instead of having to go to a park
• We can be outside more = more vitamin D (which I am deficient in and have to take supplements) I could drop the supplements (I was not deficient when I lived there before)
• LOTS of work for both my husband and I close to our house
• Everything is walking distance or not far
• More free events/shows/things to do
• Repairs to the house can be done over time by us (HUGE savings can be made there)
• Food/petrol/everything is cheaper there than here. Petrol by as much as 15c a Litre!
Those are just some of the reasons. Yes, I know my vegetable garden won’t happen instantly, but my mother in laws is over flowing there and she’s love to share more of it with me if I lived closer.
Oh, yeah and I always find great furniture/clothes/everything I want/need in the second hand shops there, plus there is more on freecycle/ebay etc... that is close to that house.
Yes, there are many reason to move back. We left for really good reasons too and thankfully much of that seems to have solved itself. I did vow never to move back there, but I guess I have to eat my words.
I knew a while ago I should move back, but desperately did not want to, mostly out of pride. Pride can cost you though and I would rather my family be happy and saving money rather than be living somewhere because I want to be there and won’t swallow my pride and move to somewhere I know would suit us better.
I won’t be moving until November and I have lots happening in my life before then, but I’ll keep you updated.
Renting our house out has been a great experience, but without selling it, I can’t buy here, but here is so over priced it’s ridiculous. I’d be in a whole lot of debt to be able to afford it and rent here is unbelievably expensive.
Why not just keep renting where we are? We could, but there’s many reasons I don’t want to. One of the big ones is we live on a busy street which makes life hard. My eldest can undo all the locks on the front door now and get out or let her sister out which is scary. I also can’t hang out the washing because we have to go upstairs and with the 2 kids it is quite hard to keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t fall down or go down the stairs, touch anything they shouldn’t, run onto the road etc... It is a nightmare trying to hang the washing.
By moving back I will be able to save so much money and even make more money. Why?
• I can have chickens which would mean free range eggs, fertiliser etc...
• I can have a vegetable garden and fruit trees. Something I have wanted for a long time. I have some herbs in pots here, but it’s not the same.
• I can install water tanks if I want.
• I can have a solar cooker and dehydrator saving on electricity
• I can hang my washing outside
• My kids can play in the backyard instead of having to go to a park
• We can be outside more = more vitamin D (which I am deficient in and have to take supplements) I could drop the supplements (I was not deficient when I lived there before)
• LOTS of work for both my husband and I close to our house
• Everything is walking distance or not far
• More free events/shows/things to do
• Repairs to the house can be done over time by us (HUGE savings can be made there)
• Food/petrol/everything is cheaper there than here. Petrol by as much as 15c a Litre!
Those are just some of the reasons. Yes, I know my vegetable garden won’t happen instantly, but my mother in laws is over flowing there and she’s love to share more of it with me if I lived closer.
Oh, yeah and I always find great furniture/clothes/everything I want/need in the second hand shops there, plus there is more on freecycle/ebay etc... that is close to that house.
Yes, there are many reason to move back. We left for really good reasons too and thankfully much of that seems to have solved itself. I did vow never to move back there, but I guess I have to eat my words.
I knew a while ago I should move back, but desperately did not want to, mostly out of pride. Pride can cost you though and I would rather my family be happy and saving money rather than be living somewhere because I want to be there and won’t swallow my pride and move to somewhere I know would suit us better.
I won’t be moving until November and I have lots happening in my life before then, but I’ll keep you updated.
Friday, August 13, 2010
50 Challenges Update
Back on the 30th of June I posted 50 Challenges I set for myself. Some of them are really big and won’t be done for quite some time, but I have done a few.
#17 – Write a letter to myself to open in 5 years. I wrote it at the start of July. It got a little decorated by my daughters because I didn’t put it in an envelope straight away and they are great at getting their hands on everything!
#27 – Do a proper 10 day detox. It was an interesting experience. Immediately after doing it I did not see the benefits, but I do now. It really helped curb my tastes in food, which in turn helped prepare me for news I received a bit later, I am gluten intolerant. I feel so much healthier now.
#44 – Donate blood. I have always wanted to do this, but for various reasons hadn’t e.g. low iron, no available appointments when I was free etc... 4 years ago my sister in law had a baby and lost a lot of blood. It was quite traumatic and she needed blood. It saved her life. I wanted to donate then, but couldn’t as I was trying to have a baby and you can’t donate if you are pregnant. You also can’t donate for 9 months after you give birth or if you are breastfeeding. Well, 9 months after my first daughter, I was pregnant again, so yet again, unable to donate for another 18 months.
After that I had some medical issues and low iron again, but thankfully at the start of August 2010 my iron was high and I was able to donate. I’m a good bleeder, with awesome veins! But I couldn’t donate fully, as I got really sick and dizzy. I will do it again though.
#45 – Be the host of a meme or blog hop. I have done this, but I’m not sure if it is something I will continue.
#50 – Switch to my own domain. I had to change my blog name to do it, but I like it so much better.
How are you going with you personal goals?
#17 – Write a letter to myself to open in 5 years. I wrote it at the start of July. It got a little decorated by my daughters because I didn’t put it in an envelope straight away and they are great at getting their hands on everything!
#27 – Do a proper 10 day detox. It was an interesting experience. Immediately after doing it I did not see the benefits, but I do now. It really helped curb my tastes in food, which in turn helped prepare me for news I received a bit later, I am gluten intolerant. I feel so much healthier now.
#44 – Donate blood. I have always wanted to do this, but for various reasons hadn’t e.g. low iron, no available appointments when I was free etc... 4 years ago my sister in law had a baby and lost a lot of blood. It was quite traumatic and she needed blood. It saved her life. I wanted to donate then, but couldn’t as I was trying to have a baby and you can’t donate if you are pregnant. You also can’t donate for 9 months after you give birth or if you are breastfeeding. Well, 9 months after my first daughter, I was pregnant again, so yet again, unable to donate for another 18 months.
After that I had some medical issues and low iron again, but thankfully at the start of August 2010 my iron was high and I was able to donate. I’m a good bleeder, with awesome veins! But I couldn’t donate fully, as I got really sick and dizzy. I will do it again though.
#45 – Be the host of a meme or blog hop. I have done this, but I’m not sure if it is something I will continue.
#50 – Switch to my own domain. I had to change my blog name to do it, but I like it so much better.
How are you going with you personal goals?
Give Away WINNERS!!
As per my goal of 1000 followers by 30th November I had a give away at 250 followers. I will be having more at 500, 750 and 1000 followers. The 1000 follower give away is going to be HUGE. So tell everyone.
To celebrate the 250 milestone I was giving away the top 2 spots on my side bar for FREE! I used a random number generator and got
Stylish Saving
AND
The Life and Times of an Ordinary Girl
So if you guys want to email me what button you’d like me to put up I’ll get it up and it will be up for 1 month!
Thanks everyone who entered. Don’t forget, there’ll be more giveaways soon!
To celebrate the 250 milestone I was giving away the top 2 spots on my side bar for FREE! I used a random number generator and got
Stylish Saving
AND
The Life and Times of an Ordinary Girl
So if you guys want to email me what button you’d like me to put up I’ll get it up and it will be up for 1 month!
Thanks everyone who entered. Don’t forget, there’ll be more giveaways soon!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Do you Dave Ramsey? I do it differently.
You may or may not have heard of Dave Ramsey. He’s a financial guru person. He’s written a few books, gives lots of advice etc... He is most famous for his “Baby Steps”. In case you haven’t heard of them, here they are.
1.) $1,000 to start and emergency fund
2.) Pay off debt using the debt snowball
3.) 3 – 6 months of expenses in savings
4.) Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRA’s and pre-tax retirement (superannuation)
5.) College funding for children
6.) Pay off your home early
7.) Build wealth and give
I think these are great steps, but I would change them a bit. He has said that everyone’s situation is different and this is just a general guide, so I am not saying these steps are wrong. I think they are a great way for people to have a think about what they should do and give some guidance to their lives.
Why do baby steps? It is easier to tackle one financial change at a time. Trying to do everything at once will lead to failure. Doing baby steps helps to teach you good financial habits and will not leave you feeling overwhelmed.
How would I change these steps?
1.) Start a $1000 emergency fund. Every single time something has happened where I instantly needed a sum of cash (e.g. roof leak, car blew up etc...) it has cost me close to $3,000 to fix. As such my starting emergency fund is $3,000. I think $1,000 for most people is an achievable goal and doesn’t seem so big, whereas $3,000 many people would look at and go, “It’s too much!” For me my starting fund is $3,000, but if you have nothing, aim for $1,000 first.
2.) Pay off debt using the debt snowball. What is a debt snowball? It is a big ball of snow you throw at your debt to make it disappear. I wish! A debt snowball is where you focus on one debt, whilst still maintaining the minimum payments on others. Once that debt is paid off, you focus on the next using the payments you were making from the first debt PLUS the payments you were making on this debt to pay the 2nd debt off. Once that debt is paid of you use the payments from the first and second debts plus the current payments to pay this debt of and so forth until you are debt free. Instead of “freeing up” your money once you have paid the first debt, you continue on as if you didn’t have that money in the first place and you will be debt free much sooner.
3.) Have 3 – 6 months of expenses in savings. There is lots of talk about whether this is excessive in Australia. The welfare system here pretty good (in some people’s eyes, I am not judging either way), leaving many to think they don’t really need this amount of savings. Also the job situation here is not as dire as the USA, meaning it is easier to get other work in many parts of Australia to be able to support yourself. I know for a fact if I needed to, IO could walk out of my house today, find a job and start tomorrow. It won’t be a job I love, but being a hairdresser, it is that easy for me to get a job.
It might not be a job loss that causes financial hardship. It may be injury, death, tenants not paying rent etc... There are lots of things that can happen and change your situation. Are you prepared for that? Also, even with welfare, it can take up to 3 months to get that worked out and you will need money before then. I am aiming to have 3 months worth of expenses. I have it already, sitting in my mortgage, which I can redraw at any time. Only problem with this is at any time, the bank can choose to keep this money as part of my mortgage and I will have no access to it. I will have a lower mortgage, but no cash.
4.) Invest in pre-tax super. I do not believe in super, it’s long post as to why, so I will write that for you later. I believe in sorting out my own finances so I am able to support myself through my investments. Not everyone does this, and if you are not interested in investing, you should put extra into super.
5.) College fund for children. Here, we have HECS. You get an interest free loan to pay for you tuition, and until you earn over a certain amount you need not pay it off completely. You do have to make payments, but it is a flexible thing. Personally, I would be paying off my mortgage first. I also think kids should pay for college. You can assist them, or maybe have money saved to clear the debt when they complete it, but do not tell them you will. Why? I know quite a few people who have gone to uni/college. Those whose parents paid for it stuffed around. They did not take it as seriously and many spent a few extra years their trying to work out what they want to do/find themselves costing tens of thousands extra.
Those who paid for themselves did much better. They achieved higher scores, completed on time and appreciated their degree. They are also doing much better in the work force than those whose parents paid for it. By the time they go to uni/college they are adults and quite capable of taking care of themselves.
6.) Pay off your mortgage early. This is a huge one. Once it is gone, you won’t be paying interest and you will have freed up so much money to invest in other things.
7.) Build wealth and give.
That’s my opinion on his steps. Everyone’s situation is different, but in a nutshell here, are my steps.
1.) Have a $1,000 emergency fund
2.) Pay off debt
3.) Get a 3 month emergency fund of living expenses
4.) Pay off your mortgage early
5.) Invest in shares, property, whatever.
6.) Save for children’s college/university if you want to do this.
I think Dave’s steps are good if you yourself have no other plan or idea, but I will be doing things slightly differently.
Do you Dave Ramsey? How have his steps helped you? Or is this the first time you’ve heard of him?
1.) $1,000 to start and emergency fund
2.) Pay off debt using the debt snowball
3.) 3 – 6 months of expenses in savings
4.) Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRA’s and pre-tax retirement (superannuation)
5.) College funding for children
6.) Pay off your home early
7.) Build wealth and give
I think these are great steps, but I would change them a bit. He has said that everyone’s situation is different and this is just a general guide, so I am not saying these steps are wrong. I think they are a great way for people to have a think about what they should do and give some guidance to their lives.
Why do baby steps? It is easier to tackle one financial change at a time. Trying to do everything at once will lead to failure. Doing baby steps helps to teach you good financial habits and will not leave you feeling overwhelmed.
How would I change these steps?
1.) Start a $1000 emergency fund. Every single time something has happened where I instantly needed a sum of cash (e.g. roof leak, car blew up etc...) it has cost me close to $3,000 to fix. As such my starting emergency fund is $3,000. I think $1,000 for most people is an achievable goal and doesn’t seem so big, whereas $3,000 many people would look at and go, “It’s too much!” For me my starting fund is $3,000, but if you have nothing, aim for $1,000 first.
2.) Pay off debt using the debt snowball. What is a debt snowball? It is a big ball of snow you throw at your debt to make it disappear. I wish! A debt snowball is where you focus on one debt, whilst still maintaining the minimum payments on others. Once that debt is paid off, you focus on the next using the payments you were making from the first debt PLUS the payments you were making on this debt to pay the 2nd debt off. Once that debt is paid of you use the payments from the first and second debts plus the current payments to pay this debt of and so forth until you are debt free. Instead of “freeing up” your money once you have paid the first debt, you continue on as if you didn’t have that money in the first place and you will be debt free much sooner.
3.) Have 3 – 6 months of expenses in savings. There is lots of talk about whether this is excessive in Australia. The welfare system here pretty good (in some people’s eyes, I am not judging either way), leaving many to think they don’t really need this amount of savings. Also the job situation here is not as dire as the USA, meaning it is easier to get other work in many parts of Australia to be able to support yourself. I know for a fact if I needed to, IO could walk out of my house today, find a job and start tomorrow. It won’t be a job I love, but being a hairdresser, it is that easy for me to get a job.
It might not be a job loss that causes financial hardship. It may be injury, death, tenants not paying rent etc... There are lots of things that can happen and change your situation. Are you prepared for that? Also, even with welfare, it can take up to 3 months to get that worked out and you will need money before then. I am aiming to have 3 months worth of expenses. I have it already, sitting in my mortgage, which I can redraw at any time. Only problem with this is at any time, the bank can choose to keep this money as part of my mortgage and I will have no access to it. I will have a lower mortgage, but no cash.
4.) Invest in pre-tax super. I do not believe in super, it’s long post as to why, so I will write that for you later. I believe in sorting out my own finances so I am able to support myself through my investments. Not everyone does this, and if you are not interested in investing, you should put extra into super.
5.) College fund for children. Here, we have HECS. You get an interest free loan to pay for you tuition, and until you earn over a certain amount you need not pay it off completely. You do have to make payments, but it is a flexible thing. Personally, I would be paying off my mortgage first. I also think kids should pay for college. You can assist them, or maybe have money saved to clear the debt when they complete it, but do not tell them you will. Why? I know quite a few people who have gone to uni/college. Those whose parents paid for it stuffed around. They did not take it as seriously and many spent a few extra years their trying to work out what they want to do/find themselves costing tens of thousands extra.
Those who paid for themselves did much better. They achieved higher scores, completed on time and appreciated their degree. They are also doing much better in the work force than those whose parents paid for it. By the time they go to uni/college they are adults and quite capable of taking care of themselves.
6.) Pay off your mortgage early. This is a huge one. Once it is gone, you won’t be paying interest and you will have freed up so much money to invest in other things.
7.) Build wealth and give.
That’s my opinion on his steps. Everyone’s situation is different, but in a nutshell here, are my steps.
1.) Have a $1,000 emergency fund
2.) Pay off debt
3.) Get a 3 month emergency fund of living expenses
4.) Pay off your mortgage early
5.) Invest in shares, property, whatever.
6.) Save for children’s college/university if you want to do this.
I think Dave’s steps are good if you yourself have no other plan or idea, but I will be doing things slightly differently.
Do you Dave Ramsey? How have his steps helped you? Or is this the first time you’ve heard of him?
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
250 followers give away
As promised, I am having a give away! That’s right, as part of my goal to reach 1000 followers by 30th November 2010 I am doing give aways when I reach 250, 500, 750 and 1000.
I reached 250 last night which is quite exciting. The give away is FREE ADVERTISING. That’s right. 2 people will get to have their button at the top of both my side bar columns for a whole month for FREE. All you have to do is enter, then if you will send me your button. I will also be doing a post about your blog, with some of my favourite links of your blog in it. Or if you have a business you want to get extra exposure, you can design an ad to go in the sidebar and I will review your business.
How do you enter? You can get a point for each of the things below. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each one you do.
1.) Become or already be a follower
2.) Put this give away on facebook/twitter/myspace/other social networking sites. You can get a point for each one!
And leave a link in your comments to your blog/business to make it easier for others to check you out!
So what are you waiting for? Leave some comments. It’s easy as that.
The winner will be drawn on Wed 11th August at 5pm, Australian EST.
Remember, when I reach 1000 followers I am having a HUGE giveaway!
I reached 250 last night which is quite exciting. The give away is FREE ADVERTISING. That’s right. 2 people will get to have their button at the top of both my side bar columns for a whole month for FREE. All you have to do is enter, then if you will send me your button. I will also be doing a post about your blog, with some of my favourite links of your blog in it. Or if you have a business you want to get extra exposure, you can design an ad to go in the sidebar and I will review your business.
How do you enter? You can get a point for each of the things below. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each one you do.
1.) Become or already be a follower
2.) Put this give away on facebook/twitter/myspace/other social networking sites. You can get a point for each one!
And leave a link in your comments to your blog/business to make it easier for others to check you out!
So what are you waiting for? Leave some comments. It’s easy as that.
The winner will be drawn on Wed 11th August at 5pm, Australian EST.
Remember, when I reach 1000 followers I am having a HUGE giveaway!
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