Fun Spending

I expect to spend the $2500 of my US travel, and $3000 for traveling around NZ this summer in the next 4 to 5 months. I'll be updating this list as I spend that money.



$2500 NZD travel to US in 2009 Fund; to be spent on other items--$2105 left:

• $145 for new glasses
• $68.50 for Sister's Christmas present
• $181.04 on presents for myself (they are all career-related items, though...)

$3000 NZ travel; $2460 left:

• $300 Dunedin trip at the end of Nov. Rental car already booked; $44 is my share. I'm also expecting to pay less than $60 total for accommodation, and the rest will be food and entry fees and souvenirs. Since I'm tacking this trip on the end of a conference, work paid for my flights (they were the same amount whether I left on Friday or Sunday).

• $240 flight to/from Dunedin next February when my friend comes to visit. This trip will have a different itinerary than the first trip to Dunedin. You can never get sick of seeing penguins (at least, I can't!). Rental car should be less than $130 for my portion, and we'll be sleeping at hostels.
  

• Trip to Vanuatu!!! next Feb. Flights + 4 nights accomodation are lookin to be around $900 NZD. We'll also need food and $$ for souvenirs and activities (snorkeling, volcano tour, partying).
  

• traveling with my friend in Dec., if she comes? Budget unknown...
  

October Smash-Up

My October spending is a marvel--probably the lowest I've spent yet this year in a month, and with it being a 3 paycheck month to boot, it is also probably the highest save-to-spend ratio month yet!

Everything is under budget; everything looks great. No complaints here!

Rent: $840. This doesn't change much from month to month. In January, I will have to pay rent 3 times instead of 2 because of the way the fortnightly payments stack up, but I won't worry about that until Jan.

Groceries: $264.09. All because I was out of town for work for most of the month--and they paid for my food. This is still WAY HIGH to me, but it's under budget, so...can't complain!

Internet: $53.87. Love having a roommate! Internet bill went from $110 a month to $54. My roommate's friends stayed for a week and they were downloading youtube vids like crazy! We went over our allotted 11 GB by quite a few gigabytes, and each GB after that limit is $2.

Electricity: $86. Again, we had my roommate's friends come and stay with us for a week, driving this up.

Eating Out: $62. Being out of town for work kept this spending under budget.

Charity: $0. This is the only area where I'm actually ashamed of myself if I go underbudget. Need to step this up!! NZ charity suggestions welcome.

Cell phone: $30. My vodafone account needed a topup. This should be good to go until the end of the year, unless I need to use the phone to talk to anyone (I just text people in NZ, and call the US using a US phone card at this point.)

Medical: $0. I need a contacts prescription, a routine checkup, a check-in about my thyroid and iron levels, and I need a dentist appt. soon. This will go up very soon.

Misc.: $164.21. $1 fee for using a non-kiwibank ATM; $15 for a parking spot advertisement on trademe; $1 on busfare; $10 on a movie (500 Days of Summer); $4.50 on a card for a friend; $30 on an umbrella; $23 on stamps; and $80 on everyday tools for housework.

SAVINGS:

This month I saved (drum roll please): $3,167.05 of my $4,667.22 October income. Crazy--I saved more than I usually make in a month!

November holds a mish-mash, and I can't predict how much spending will be. I will be out of town for work for 9 days, and out of town for fun for 2. I'm using some of my saved money to buy items on my wish list. I am also gearing up for Christmas spending. I am only going to give the 3 members of my immediate family gifts, and I'm paying to have a large box of US items shipped to me as a present to myself for Xmas. The gifts and shipping should be much, much less than a $3000 NZD plane ticket. I hope it's worth it to miss Xmas with my fam!

Reversal?

I may have jumped the gun on the 'my friend is a total flake' thing. She's now saying she is still looking into coming, but has to have some downtime to work on some things. Well, OK, but I'm making alternate plans in case that doesn't happen. Once bitten and all that...

So...$$ gets moved back to its original positions in my goals list. I'm OK with that--I'd rather have travel plans than goals fulfilled, any day!

My Money is Unemployed

Now that my friend isn't coming in Dec., and I'm not going home for Christmas, I have both the $2500 I saved for my trip home for Christmas and the $3000 that I saved up to travel while my friend was in town, just sitting around doing nothing. In effect, that $5500 NZD just got laid off.

I waste money that doesn't have a job, so it's important that I figure something out pretty quickly. Currently, some of my money is in fire and rescue--its job is to wait around for rainy days and emergencies, and then swoop in and save the day. Some of it is in the entertainment business--its job is to fuel my dreams, give me hope, and give me the motivation to get through tough times with promises of the future. Other bits of my money works hard day to day--it feeds me, clothes me, puts a roof over my head, and lets me do things like go to the movies and play on the internet.

For now, that $5500 is getting split up in the following way, as its temp job:

$550 Long Term Goals (10%)
$550 Fun (10%)--$300 will go to my Dunedin trip later this month
$2519 to 2010 US travel, making it 100% complete
$1881 to Oz Travel, making it 47% complete

I can't help it; I'm just so addicted to seeing those savings bars get filled!

HSBC's Final Act

See here for background information.

When I went to look up the number to call HSBC about their bank error, I noticed that I had received the following email in return (NO mention of notaries, proving the charge, none of the paperwork listed in Single Ma's description of her experience...):

"Dear Sense,

Thank you for contacting HSBC Bank USA, N.A., the world's
local bank.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused. Your
request to reimburse the $10.00 fee on your Online Savings Account has been
processed. Please allow 2 business days for the credit to appear within
your available balance."

Hmmmm...fine--I'm getting my money back, but I'm still angry. A) I caught this error, through Single Ma, B) they never notified me of the error. What if I hadn't caught it and followed up? How many other people has this happened to, that just think it's their fault? How can they preferentially treat some customers to 'good' service, and not others? Especially since it would be so easy to include us on that email.

Here is the email I sent back:

Thank you for scheduling the reimbursement of $10 for the
overdraft fee I incurred on 10/30/09 for your error of processing a transfer
twice. I would also like to be reimbursed any interest that would have
accumulated during this time.

While I appreciate the swift resolution of the matter once it was brought
to HSBC's attention, why was I never initially notified of the error that took place on
October 30? I did not receive the email that went out about this error; I
happened to stumble across the news of the mass double transfer and that is
the only way I knew to follow up on this matter.

I should have been notified, along with all of your other customers that this happened to. If I was left off the notification email by accident, making this the second accident by HSBC in a week, that is, quite simply, too many accidents in too short of a time span. If I was purposely left off of this email, I find that to be an even more egregious error. Either way, I will be moving my money to another bank shortly, and will be calling HSBC
to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the way that this was handled.

I will definitely not be choosing HSBC nor its subsidiaries to handle my business in New Zealand, nor when I return to the US in the future.

Again, I am overseas in New Zealand currently. I can be reached at +64
21 XXX XXX during normal New Zealand hours (9 am to 7 pm) if you wish to
talk about this matter."

What do you think?

I think that something is fishy. Once that money is in my account, I am giving them a call and they will still get an earful. And I'm asking to be transferred to the manager straight up. And then I'm moving my money to ING.

I Really Hate Flakes

Well, it turns out that my friend that was supposed to come in December isn't coming anymore. She tells me this less than a month before she's supposed to come out! Grrr...this epic road trip around NZ and possibly Oz has been in the works since last June, and I've been planning and saving up for it like mad. I'm terribly disappointed.

I have $2.7K that I was going to use for this Epic Road Trip ($300 will be used for a weekend on the S. Island at the end of November). I'm not a fan of traveling by myself (plus, that's A LOT of driving to do all by my lonesome!), so I guess I'm not going to be going anywhere in December. I was so excited, I have been saving up all of my time off in lieu from doing all my fieldwork, for just this trip. Bummer.

I could scramble around and try to make other plans, but honestly...I don't feel like it, and everyone I know has to work or is going overseas or already has their (full) trips planned in December. I turned everyone down that invited me anywhere due to this initial plan. I'm now completely priced out of any trips home for Christmas (all of the cheap flights seem to be booked), so I'm missing Christmas with my family for nothing now! This all is making me sad. I know, I know, it could be much worse. :) It's new news, I'll cheer up in a bit.

(On the plus side, my friend coming in February has already booked his tickets. He unfortunately has to work for 5 of the 10 days he is here, but we'll try to make the most of the time off that he has. At least I know he won't flake, he's already invested $1K euros into it!)

Lots of time off and cash saved up, nothing to do with it. I'm really afraid that the time off will wither into the ether if I don't use it up soon, and the same with the cash. On the other hand, maybe I should just take this as a sign to save that $2.7K and 10 days off in lieu, in case something good comes along in January. Or maybe I should tell my supervisors that I plan to just tack on that time off to my NZ winter vacation next (Northern Hemisphere) summer, and do an epic round the world trip, visiting friends all over. You never know what could happen!

Drama Is Spelled With an H-S-B-C

Usually, the drama in my life centers around everything but my financial life. Usually, my money is my safe place--ordered in neat little packages of goals and funds and expenses vs. saving. Not so this week.

I recently completed my $5K goal, albeit with some (still on-going) drama. HSBC transferred the money from my US checking account TWICE on October 30, causing my heart to give out when I spied a ZERO and a -$4.11 overdraft in ugly red letters in my checking and savings accounts, respectively, two nights ago.

Luckily! I hadn't gotten around to transferring the $25 from my savings account to my checking account this month (I get free checking if I do this transfer, but the savings account interest is so minuscule that I always transfer it back into checking). So, the $4.11 overage was safely pulled from my linked savings (something that my NZ bank is apparently incapable of doing). HOWEVER, they charged me $10 for the privilege.

I thought that I had accidentally hit the 'transfer' button twice after I saw this. I am usually terribly careful not to do that, but hey, I'm human. So when I saw Single Ma's post about the same thing happening to her on the same day that my money was transferred, the light bulb went off--it was bank error, and definitely NOT in my favor!!

But that email that she received, politely informing her of the error and how they were going to fix it? I never got one. I only have $5K at HSBC, and she has $46K. Apparently somewhere in there is the line between getting an email notification and immediate action, and not saying a word and letting your customers think they are big dumb arses for incorrectly executing a transfer. Grrr. This makes me angry.

I sent an email to them already, but will follow it up with them as soon as I get a second off from work. They are going to get an earful.

I'm Back...and Swamped

Work is swamping me with lovely opportunities, but I still have my more annoying, day to day duties to do as well, so...I'm busy.

I've worked the past 25 days, with basically no breaks. My supposed 'days off' were spent catching up on work or preparing talks and organizing meetings. I just got back from a stint in the field, and have another big meeting this Friday.

On top of that, I have a few conferences coming up. One of my bosses just asked me to present something at a meeting in a week. I also have to put together and print out a poster for a conference the week after that. The last weekend in November, I'm traveling for fun on the S. Island--that will cost ~$300 and will come out of the $3000 I have saved for NZ travel over the 2009 summer. (If we ever have one...I heard today that this past October was the coldest it's been in NZ since 1945!! We also were sleeted on in the field this past week, and the higher elevations were getting snow!!!)

So, I'm sad to say, this blog is gonna get ignored a little more. My supply of scheduled posts is drying up. However--work will pay for my food for another 8 days in November! That phenomenon made October a really cheap and easy month. Monthly update coming this weekend.

My one financial goal for November is to decide and commit to a Kiwisaver scheme. I've gotten most of the legwork and research done already, I mainly just need to decide for sure on a provider and work out which funds diversify me the most.

I will also decide soon how to break up the $2500 that was allocated for US travel this Christmas. Another new development has changed some of my plans for that $: one of my best friends is coming to visit me in Feb. We're definitely planning on visiting some tropical islands: Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu...one or two of those. A return flight + 4/5 nights accomodation in one of those islands is going for about $900 NZD right now. I'd also need money for food and souvenirs and things. We are also planning on spending 3 days on the S. Island, and doing day trips around the N. Island (glow worm caves, Rotorua). All that will cost some money!

Credit Check-Up

I took advantage of my free credit report recently, after over a year of not checking (BAD PF blogger!). Although, I had to go through some crazy back way to do it--for some reason the US credit companies totally block everyone from other countries. Dude! I'm not a terrorist. I. Just. Want. My. Credit. Report.

Anyway, two of the sites blocked me, and the third allowed me to get my report after using HotSpotShield.

All is well, everything is lookin good. No terrorist (ahem!) stole my identity and credit.

The good thing is that I'm still using my US cc sporadically to buy my plane tickets home, and I use it while I'm in the US to buy everything. And then I pay it all off before I can be charged interest. So--my credit is still being built and should be intact when I move back to the US. Happy, happy!

New Savings Strategy Is Working!!

Every Sunday, I list out my spending for the week. Every month, I list my spending for that month. I always spend less than my income, and I usually save a lot, too--about 1/3 of my income. I have listed out my goals for the short and long-term, and have been able to accomplish or make satisfactory progress on many of these goals.

This all makes me happy, day-to-day, month-to-month, and looks great on paper, but where is it getting me?

This is where Net Worth comes into play, and we see if my strategy is actually working.

A while back, I had a cow because I realized that I was simply saving to spend instead of saving for the long-term. So while it looked like I was saving a lot and living within my means, etc., I was actually just delaying purchases and spending my entire income, instead of building wealth. I was on Step 1 of Financial Freedom, not some advanced step like I thought I was. Oh, what a hard revelation that was to accept. I've spent days mulling over this idea.

To track your progress, whether it be training for a marathon or eliminating debt, you have to know where you started. So, as of 2009, here is my Net Worth:

US Funds: $11,750
$2800 is in short-term funds, the rest is invested in long-term index funds.

This includes my Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, and HSBC savings account. This will only be growing as the stock market takes off (or doesn't), with monthly interest payments, and when I top up my HSBC savings account to $5K to serve as my US EF.

NZ Funds: $20,220
$680 of it this earmarked for my long-term goals, $10K serves as my EF, and the rest is savings for travel and replacing valuable items (car, laptop).

This includes all of my savings accounts, but not my checking account. This number should be actively growing every month with my contributions and interest payments.

Yup, I just broke the $20K mark, again. Although this time it's in NZD. I am still planning on opening that Kiwisaver account...I just need to devote a few more minutes to researching the various funds and companies, and figure out how to diversify. With work being so crazy, the earliest I can hope to do this is late November.