The best news? I FINALLY signed the paperwork on a new role. Which not only means a payrise, but means a massive career jump and a huge improvement in my day-to-day live.
New Goals
The Year of Investing was great idea, my finances really spiked and it was great to see my investments running up and up. |
| The Year of Investing showed a very sharp spike in my funds invested |
Not only that, but I have lived in my house for 4 years now. When I moved in I noticed that the toilet seat was damaged, and the toilet itself had a very slight leak that splashes two or three drops of clean water when you flush. That was four years ago. I still have a very damaged toilet. I haven't fixed it.
The main reason that I haven't fixed this is because I struggle with big expenses. I don't like spending huge amounts, even when it makes sense to do so. In the next six months I will be saving to spend i.e. putting bits of money aside to pay for the jobs that need doing. And to buy a Playstation 4 so I can play Kingdom Hearts 3 - it's six months of mostly adulting.
And finally, taking inspiration from The Three Year Experiment, I want to fix up some habits. I'm 27 and I'm tired of struggling to cook because my eggflip is dirty again. Or spending 10 minutes digging through my cupboards to find the right pair of pants. So each month I'll be tackling one habit, which will include thrilling things like 'stop leaving clothes lying around the house' and 'wash the dirty dishes while you cook, instead of scrolling Facebook'. It's some pretty monumentally exciting stuff happening here.
Throughout this all I'll continue adding to my Raiz, RateSetter and Vanguard investment accounts as in the Year of Investing, but I won't actively report on these. Each month $2,200 will be added to these accounts. I mention this so that it makes sense why my savings targets seem so low - it's because I'm still investing in the background.
Each month I will aim to add $1,000 to my emergency/opportunity fund and record $250 of planned spending. I'm also going to target these 'adult' behaviours:July: Stop pressing snooze
I've been working on this for a couple of weeks and it's amazing. I have so much more energy in the morning.
August: Have a clean kitchen 3 nights a week.
I don't have a dishwasher, and having the dishes pile up is a pain.
September: Get rid of the floor-drobe!
There will always be clothes that have been worn once and aren't ready for the wash yet, but a knee deep pile is ridiculous.
October: Make the bed every day.
I've heard good things about this. Apparently it makes you feel accomplished and starts the day right.
November: Alphabetise Everything!
I need more storage. Mr. FIRE and I moved in with 3 mismatching bookshelves that aren't big enough for all our books, DVDs and board games. Time to get something properly organised.
December: Pre-Bed Yoga (or other body maintenance)
In December roller derby takes a break. Which means it's time to get into the habit of taking care of my body.
Life Update
For the last nine months I've had a new boss - I guess that means he's not new anymore. In this time I've learned how very important it is to have mutual respect with your boss, and the have similar ideas about how the team should achieve their goals. Unfortunately I haven't learned this because we've been working in a wonderful utopia - I've learned this because I've been without this respect and shared goals.
As of a couple of days ago I've signed the paperwork for a new role. I have a start date, a new title and all the agreements in place. I feel like the weight of a planet has been taken off my shoulders. I'm not going to rant about my current situation anymore, because I have a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm excited to start.
Another weight off my shoulders has happened in Roller Derby. Every year new people join the team, and there is a teething phase of working out how we fit together. It's my sixth year and it's the first time I've solidly butted heads with someone. It was draining on me to have my hobby become a place I didn't enjoy going.
Thankfully, the person in question decided that derby wasn't for them and hung up their skates. It's not an ideal outcome, but it's meant a huge reduction in my stress levels. While I know it's unfair, I made the choice to lay all of my derby-related stress at their feet and told myself it was all over when they left. I may not be perfect, but doing this has meant I have the patience for all the other niggles now, and I can work through them as they deserve.
And lastly, I've mentioned a few times that my long-term life goal is to have a homestead. Mr. FIRE and I are looking into new houses with a bit more space so we can have a doggo, and a workshop but we keep finding that nothing meets our wants right now. Either the price isn't right, or the location is no good, or property has too much house and not enough backyard. Plus with all the uncertainty around the Royal Commission into Banking in Australia, there is far too much speculation about price drops for me to be comfortable buying.
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| Cute little birds, with cute TINY eggs |
I need to write a detailed post about the entire experience, but it has been interesting. I reached out to a local cafe and arranged to take away a bag full of food scraps each day so that I can offset the feed costs. I've found a regular buyer for chicken eggs. I thought I bought 4 female quail, but have ended up with three stinky squabbling boys, and one lovely egg laying lady. I initially bought a small $30 cage and have since spent $150 to build a large split level enclosure. And, because this is a finance blog, I've crunched the numbers and determined that (if I can find a market) I should be able to bring in $40-$50 a month selling eggs and birds, as well as offsetting my own grocery costs. All of which requires much more space to talk about than one paragraph!
So that's a quick wrap up of where I've been, and my next six months financial goals. There's been some good, and a fair bit of bad. It very much looks like there is plenty of good things on the horizon. And hopefully I'll have the time to write about all of it.
