A New Desk – Part 1

2 Comments

Posted on July 17, 2015

I have just checked the date and realised that it is 10 days since my last blog post. I have been busy – in that time my mother has come home from hospital after having undergone heart surgery, I have attended a gathering of my extended family which I organised to celebrate a milestone from my grandfather’s life and been away for a work conference for 2 days. That has all been in addition to running a household and holding down a full-time job.

There will be some blog posts about some of what I have been doing,but that is enough of my excuses for the moment.

GMan and I both had a day off today and we decided to make a round trip of over 200km to IKEA to buy a new desk for our home office. I had searched online for either a new or second-hand desk and the one we bought was definitely the best to suit our needs.

We arrived home this afternoon with 3 large packages.

GMan and I have spent several hours assembling the desk. We are very happy with how it has turned out so far. It is currently sitting in the middle of the office.

Tomorrow we will move all of the stuff of the existing desk and position the new one in its place. The next step will be to build the bookcase/hutch section which attached to the desk.

Watch out for tomorrow’s post in which I hope to show you the completed desk and revamped office/library area.

Sunday Shopping

Leave a comment

Posted on May 3, 2015

No sewing of the stash this week despite the best of intentions. Today was mostly about shopping which was a little different to our usual weekly shop which consists of going to a local fruit and vegetable stall and a few groceries from Aldi. We went a bit further afield – to Caloundra because I wanted to buy some more salmon. It is about 50km round trip so we generally try to make the most of it when we drive that far.

We collected our thoughts and made a list which looked like this:

Farmers’ Markets – fruit and vegetables
KMart – relacement gas canister for Soda Stream, coathangers and long-handled dustpan/brush
Fishmonger – salmon
Discount chemist – tablets and deodorant

After checking the pantry I decided that there was nothing we needed this week from Aldi so we set out on our expedition.

The fruit and vegetables were successfully bought then we headed to KMart. This was not quite as good. The gas canister was swapped with far less fuss than last time we wanted one. You can read about that event here. However, they did not have the type of coathangers that I wanted nor any long-handled dustpan and brush. In fact, the selection of household items was very ordinary and there were numerous empty shelves – I am not sure what the reason was.

Off to the fish shop for 4 pieces of salmon which makes 8 serves cost just under $40. While this is not spectacularly cheap it is a meal that we really enjoy and is better than paying $30 – $35 for a meal of salmon at a restaurant.

There is a Bunnings hardware across the road from the chemist so we tried for the dustpan and coathangers there. We struck gold with the dustpan but not the coathangers.

Here is the dustpan. It is the third one I have had in almost 35 years.

I bought it to replace this one which has now cracked near the base of the handle.

Finally, at the chemist I bought 2 bottles of calcium tablets because they were on special and I made sure they would be used by the expiry date. I won’t need to buy any more for about 20 months! GMan could not find the particular deodorant that he uses so we will look elsewhere.

I will keep looking for type of coathangers that I want as well as the deodorant. There is a Big W and Target in Brisbane near my office so I will try to check them out during the week.

Speaking of shopping and spending money, I have tallied up our spending for the first 4 months of the year. I will have all of the details for you tomorrow.

Tracking 2015 – March

Leave a comment

Posted on April 3, 2015

It is a few days into April and you could be forgiven for thinking that I had forgotten this series. But no, I am just running a little late.

Here are the monthly totals so far:

January – $2,628.73
February – $1,783.49
March – $4,320.56

Well March really blew the averages! What did we spend our money on?

The blowout in our March spending has highlighted the precise reason why I wanted to track our spending for a whole year. I knew that our variable spending was very patchy.

One example is the category “Pets/Vet/Registration”. Our combined total for January and February for this category was $43 yet in March it was $673. The dog had his annual check-up and annual heartworm medication, we bought 2 large bags of dog food, chicken feed and a fancy chicken feeder which will hopefully save us money in the long run by not allowing other wildlife to access the feed.

Food was also higher due due some bulk buying of nuts and dried fruit.

We both bought clothes this month – 2 dresses, a bag and shoes for me and Gman bought 2 new business shirts.

One of the cars was serviced and we continue to spend on things to do with house maintenance and developing the garden.

The spending was carefully considered but I certainly would not want to be spending like that every month.

The regular Friday Flashback post will be up this evening.

Bargain Buys

Leave a comment

Posted on March 23, 2015

Following on from my post on Saturday, I have bought this bag.

When I went to buy it, the sales assistant pointed out that if I bought 2 items they would both be 25% off. I did not need another bag but then she added that it included any merchandise including wallets, hats and scarves. I was not necessarily looking for anything else but I decided to take a look. I found this gorgeous red scarf for $20 so added that to my purchases. I can’t wait for some cooler weather.

Thanks to discounts and a $50 gift card I ended up getting the bag and scarf for $114.

I also ordered this dress from Rivette & Blair in Melbourne.

Instead of ordering online which is a relatively new innovation for this brand, I rang the store to check that the dress was an identical style to the 2 I already have. I placed my order over the phone and was advised that there was 20% off the price and I also ended up ordering another in the same style which was on special for $59 which is less than half price. The description is red and blue floral so it will be a bit of a surprise packet!

That is certainly enough buying for me at the moment.

What about you? Have you bought anything lately or scored a bargain?

Project 333 – Wardrobe Additions

6 Comments

Posted on March 21, 2015

Adding to my wardrobe may seem to be contrary to the essence of Project 333 but it is not about denial but having a small collection of clothes that you love and wear. The more I work with what I have the more clarity I have about the direction I want to take.

Last week I bought a new pair of shoes but they do not really count as they as for walking (exercise).

I did consider actually selecting 33 items to participate in Project 333 this autumn (fall) as I am in the southern hemisphere. However, I am constantly drawn to the idea of a modest selection of clothes which can be worn year-round (with modifications) as we live in a warm temperate climate. I work in an air-conditioned office during the week and live on a small, semi-rural acreage.

I tend to wear separates – skirts/trousers and shirts to the office and a few years ago I only owned one dress. I have since realised that it was not really my choice – I love dresses – but dresses that I found suitable and flattering were difficult to find. I now have 5 dresses plus a dress suitable for wedding/special occasions. Additionally, I have fabric to make another dress and am seriously contemplating buying this one.

It is identical to these two dresses I already have in my wardrobe.

Along with a plain black and two black/white dresses these could form the basis of a year-round office wardrobe. I have a red jacket that can be worn with the two existing dresses and I would make or buy a navy jacket which could go with the new dress as well as the pink/red one.

My other proposed purchase is this bag.

I found it on Friday and plan to go back and buy it on Monday. I have been looking for a bigger bag for some months as I want to be able to put my laptop in it and still have space for a few personal items – purse, sunglasses, phone, car keys. My plan is to make this the one bag that I take to work so that I am not carrying a laptop case as well as a handbag. My small black handbag will still be used on all other occasions.

By judiciously choosing the additions to my wardrobe and removing those items that do not make the grade, I am gradually creating a collection of clothes that I love and which work together in a variety of ways.

Unlike the earrings, my clothes are definitely a work in progress and that will continue to be the case. What was perfect 3 years ago is now worn out, looking a bit jaded, no longer a perfect fit or just not a favourite. I can see my wardrobe evolving to match my changing style.

New For Old

2 Comments

Posted on March 2, 2015

Apart from consumables such as food and to a lesser degree clothing, I do not have a need to buy a great deal of stuff. Household items sometimes need to be replaced and I think this purchase falls into that category.

I bought a set of two china mixing bowls from Aldi for the princely sum of $10. It bothers me a bit because how something can be produced, transported across the globe and sold at a profit defies logic. Someone is losing out and I suspect it is the worker. This is a good reason to minimise your purchases, particularly of cheap, imported products.

They are to replace these two bowls which have seen better days.

The white bowl is a Tupperware one which came to me from my grandmother about 37 years ago. The surface is crazed and discoloured. The yellow bowl (36 years old) is more of a salad bowl and not ideal for mixing and it has a crack in the surface which makes it impossible to clean properly. It is time for them both to go and make way for my shiny new bowls. I hope they stand the test of time as the others did.

Tracking 2015 – February

Leave a comment

Posted on February 28, 2015

At the end of January I wrote a post about tracking our spending for the year.

It is now the end of February and we have continued our diligence in order to create an accurate picture of our variable spending.

There was no more holiday spending and our grand total for February was $1,620.92 which is almost exactly $1,000 less than the total for January (excluding bookings for our holiday). Many, but not all categories were substantially less. This was not because of any concerted effort, but rather, is an indication of how our costs fluctuate on a month by month basis.

Food made up a much smaller proportion with a spend of $233 in February compared to $633 in January.

Most importantly, if the food and transport costs for the first 2 months of 2015 were averaged out over a 12 month period they work out to slightly less than the figure I put in our budget estimation late last year for the financial planner. This makes me feel as though I have a pretty good idea of where our money goes and how much it costs us to live. The proof will come later in the year if the figures continue to stack up.

Tracking 2015

4 Comments

Posted on January 31, 2015

Today is Saturday. Where did the week go? I am very busy at work so although I have been thinking about my blog that is as far as it went.

Not only is it Saturday, it is Saturday 31st January. The final day of the first month of 2015. 1/12th of the year gone. Have you already forgotten what you resolved to do better/differently/more consistently in 2015 already?

One of my goals was to actually track how much we spend. We have never worked to a real budget – actually allocating a certain $ value to each item/category but we keep careful track of the regular bills – rates/insurances/phone/internet but is the variable spending that is more difficult to calculate. I do not have a specific amount of money for groceries each week as I tend to bulk shop for dry goods and meat and buy perishable items on a weekly basis. I need to average my grocery spending over at least 6 months to get a fair and accurate idea of how much we spend.

As I said it is the last day of the month and we have been shopping so there will be no more spending today. The grand total of our variable spending in January was $5,134.53 – yes, over $5K! Almost exactly half of that was airfares and accommodation for our Singapore holiday later in the year. So, $2,618.73 looks somewhat better. This figure includes food, clothes, gifts, hobbies, eating out, entertainment, alcohol, car fuel and maintenance, haircuts, public transport, pets, medical/dental and incidentals.

Apart from the holiday spending which is really a one-off, the categories with the highest spend were food $623 closely followed by public transport $620. This is really interesting because what finally prompted me to track our spending very carefully was that I wanted to know how much we would need to live a comfortable lifestyle on our terms in our retirement. Giving up paid work is a few years away yet but it is important to budget for life without regular employment. We will still need to eat when we are retired but public transport will cease to be an issue as all of that expenditure is related to our lengthy commute to the office.

Do you know how much you spend? Working or retired? I would love to hear your comments.

New & Shiny Stuff

4 Comments

Posted on December 30, 2014

Regular readers would know that I am not an advocate of shopping. Of course, I buy food to feed us and things that we use in our day-to-day lives but I am definitely not into shopping for recreation.

Every now and then I have a day like today when all I seem to do is buy. I had to go to Brisbane this morning with The Duke as we were to pick up our latest purchase this afternoon, but more about that later. It meant that I had the whole day to fill in so my first stop was Spotlight. I bought 5 white buttons for a blouse I am making and I also took some time to look at the fabrics which were all 40% off the marked price. I do not buy things just because they are discounted but I found some fabric that I am planning to use.

The white piece is linen/cotton blend and I am planning to make a summer dress for myself. I also bought some white lawn (not shown) for the lining. I am going to use this dress as the pattern.

The red is a stretch cotton (t-shirt) fabric which I plan to make a copy of a top I bought earlier in the year.

The other piece is white with black silhouettes of kitchen utensils and I am going to make some more potholders and a cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer which lives on the corner of the bench in the kitchen.

After my Spotlight expedition I went to visit my mother and we went to a large shopping centre near where she lives. Apart from having lunch there we wandered around and I checked out several boutiques and I ended up buying a pair of white, slim-fitting trousers and a blue, patterned cardigan/bolero. I did try on numerous other pieces but I am very selective in the clothes I buy and wanted to be sure that were exactly what I wanted but more on those another day.

The final hurrah was to pick up our new car after our previous one was deemed to be a total write-off after the damage sustained during the recent ferocious hailstorm.

I am planning a much less adventurous day tomorrow. I will be staying at home and hope to get some sewing done. It will not be any of the new material just yet as I have a couple of other projects that I need to complete before I start any new ones.

What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Partying or a quiet night at home?

The More You Spend…………

Leave a comment

Posted on October 17, 2014

……..the more you save!

It is not a new line but I have been appalled to hear this numerous times on the radio over the past few days. It is the latest advertising campaign for Harvey Norman. I cannot remember the exact details but is based on the premise that you get a larger discount if you spend more money. The examples in the advertisement are over $1000, over $2000 or over $3000 so we are not talking small amounts here.