The Money Blog Revisited

Getting In Gear For The Oscars: The Last 3 Movies I’ve Watched

2011-02-01T23:47:00.001+01:00

So the Oscars are coming up and I’m in the midst of watching all of the Oscar nominees before the event. Hehe, hence the 2 last movies. The movie “127 Hours” is nominated in 6 categories including Actor In A Leading Role and Best Picture. While “The King’s Speech” is nominated in 12 categories including Directing and Best Picture.

As for the actual Oscars evening I’m still not completely sure where I’ll be watching it, but both my colleagues at work (we’re in the film industry, remember ;) and a few of my nearest friends (also in the film industry ;) are both planning to arrange something where we can watch the event together. So it’ll either be at my work or at my friend’s place that I’ll be watching the Oscars this year. I’m excited! ;)

THE LAST 3 MOVIES I’VE WATCHED

1. DAS WEISSE BAND (Dir.: Michael Haneke)

2. 127 HOURS (Dir.: Danny Boyle)

3. THE KING’S SPEECH (Dir.: Tom Hooper)

I’d write a review of each film but I really don’t have the time right now, hence the short “quick-and-dirty” post. But I’ll definitely keep you all updated on my Oscars movie progress. And if I were to quickly say which ones I think were best then I’d definitely give 127 HOURS the top spot, followed by DAS WEISSE BAND and lastly THE KING’S SPEECH. Bye again, I’m heading off. :)

Earning Money on Fiverr

2011-01-27T01:10:00.001+01:00

Fiverr is a website where people can buy and sell tasks (‘gigs’) for $5. To learn more about Fiverr, I recommend reading this entertaining review by The Wall Street Journal since it gives a pretty good description of the site.

I recently signed up for Fiverr in my humble attempts to earn some extra money, and I absolutely love the site and the site’s concept. I’m offering 2 gigs there - and just recently I got my first buyer. Being a total newbie however I totally overshot on my gig, meaning that I offered to do something for $5 ($4 actually, because the site takes a percentage) that took me 7 (yes, you heard me, 7!#"?!) days to do. Well, in all fairness it was 7 evenings and not full-days, but still, that must’ve been the worst paying job I’ve ever done, lol :)

So I think I’m going to have to edit my gigs and offer a bit less for my $4. Because the amount of time it took me to complete that one gig was ridiculous. I’ve learnt my lesson. There’s an amount of work I’m willing to do for peanuts, and this went well beyond that. I felt like I could’ve spent that time waaaay better. But just to clarify things, it really isn’t the website’s fault at all, it’s completely my own fault because I was the one who made the offer and set the rules. I’ve become wiser since then and will change my gigs so that it reflects more realistically what I’m willing to do for $4.

But still, I’m happy for the money earned. :)

My Ex-Boyfriend’s Toothbrush Laying Around – Throw It Away Or Re-Use It? (Hahaha, yes, I’m that frugal)

2011-01-24T19:12:00.001+01:00

So yesterday I found my ex-boyfriend’s toothbrush laying around in the cabinet in my bathroom. My first inclination was naturally to throw it away, since I didn’t want it lying around my apartment reminding me of him. However, then I realized that, hey, maybe I could keep this as a spare and use it myself when I need a new toothbrush. Then I would save money. Because I know that it was brand-new when he brought it over. So it’s still got some mileage in it. Hahaha :)

What do you think? :) Am I being too frugal on this one? :)

It’s Time To Read My Electric Meter Again

2011-01-17T20:01:00.001+01:00

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The time to read my electric meter and send in the results to the electricity company.

I always feel like I’ve used too much. But in actuality, I use well below the average amount of electricity that a household my size (1 person, 50m²) uses during one year. (If you’re wondering how I know this, then it’s because my electric company has charts and graphs on their webpage that the costumer can compare one’s electricity usage with. I’m a blend between a geek and a frugalista in that I actually spend a good amount of time comparing myself to those charts and graphs of average electricity usage. Geez, I should really get off the internet more :p )

I also think I used a bit less electricity this last year (2010) compared to the year before (2009) because this past year I’ve had a 9-5 job, so I’m only home in the evenings, whilst in 2009 I was home ALL THE TIME - 24 HOURS A DAY because I was writing my university thesis. So obviously, I would have had to have used less electricity this last year (2010) because I’m simply out of the apartment 8 HOURS A DAY. There’s got to be a cut in the electricity bill there.

But you never know, the price of electricity has increased during this past year (it does so every year at the moment!), so what I’ve saved in actual electricity usage, will probably be eaten up by the price increase. We’ll see. You’ll probably hear all about it because I’ll most likely be publishing a post about my electricity bill, when it arrives.

But here’s hoping that it’s a little less than last year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. :)

LOVE WHAT YOU DO

2011-01-16T22:09:00.001+01:00

I saw this over at at Money Management Made Easy and since it totally encompasses my view on work and loving one’s work I decided to share it here. Enjoy!

When your vocation becomes your vacation,
you'll never work another day in your life.

No one can succeed in any endeavor that they don't like.
If you don't love what you're doing, then don't do it.

Your chances of success are directly proportional
to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do.

Do something that you have a deep personal interest in.
Do something you'd enjoy spending twelve to fifteen hours a day
working at, and the rest of the time thinking about.

Don't set compensation as your goal.
Find work you like and the compensation will follow.

Work is not your punishment.
It's your reward, your strength and your pleasure.

Real success is achieved when you like what you do.
Work is love made visible.

I love this saying! :) However, I don’t quite agree with the line “If you don't love what you're doing, then don't do it” because obviously, most of us need to eat. ;) And sometimes we don’t have a choice as to as whether we get to do our dream job or not (right away), but we should at least strive for it. Apart from that line, I absolutely love this mantra! It embodies my whole view of work.

While others are talking about the “4-Hour Work Week” and the whole “Work Smarter Not Harder” thing, then here I am a little workaholic advocating the “Do What You Love, And Love What You Do, And You’ll Never Work A Day In Your Life” point of view. Heck, if I didn’t believe this view of work, then I would’ve chosen a different professional industry to work in. ;)

Blog Reboot: The Money Blog Revisited – A New Direction

2011-01-16T17:06:00.001+01:00

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post named RE-BRANDING: Transitioning Your Blog When You’ve Come To A Different Place In Your Life, my blog is going through a period of change – mainly, because I myself am going through a period of change. SO the previous post addressed the whole issue of the blog going through a transitioning. Now is the time for the actual blog REBOOT.

Photo credit: changing lanes

THE CHANGE OF DIRECTION FROM SAVING TO EARNING

This is going to be the biggest change to the blog, as I have now shifted my focus in my real life from saving money to earning money. As you can see from the URL of this blog, my focus was savings. I began this blog in college/university and so the main focus back then was to save, save, save so that I could have as little a loan (student loan and family loan) as possible. But now that I’m out and in the work force, this is the time to start earning and to start paying back my loans.

So EARNING more has become extremely important to me in my real life, and you’ll therefore see me blogging about job applications and the like, because I’m dead set on finding a higher-paying job at the moment, and hence EARNING more. My mental focus shift from saving to earning will reflect now in this blog also. I will naturally still focus on saving, but you will definitely see a shift in weight towards blog posts about earning. That’s going to be the new order of business around here.

10 Tips On How To Organize Your Job Hunting

2011-01-16T01:39:00.001+01:00

When sending out job applications a systematic approach to job search helps. These are tips that I personally use to optimize and organize the process.

Here are 10 tips on how to organize your job hunting:

1. Set a goal for a specific number of job applications each week (i.e. 2 job applications per week).

2. Schedule a specific time (i.e. Sunday evening at 6 p.m.) for writing and sending out job applications.

3. Have stamps and envelopes in a drawer ready to use.

4. Use a binder to organize your job applications.

5. Print out a copy of the job application (and put in binder – Section A).

6. Print out a copy of the job listing (and put in binder – Section B).

7. Print out a copy of the reply (and put in binder – Section C).

8. Use a calendar to keep track of job interviews.

9. Keep track of sent job applications in an Excel-file (and use it as a “Table Of Contents” for your binder, if you wish).

10. Review your progress weekly and monthly.

Extra tips:

1. Use an online calendar (i.e. Google Calendar) or you the mobile phone’s calendar to keep track of job interviews.

2. Use a secure autofill form to quickly and easily fill out electronic recruitment forms.

3. Use a free PDF-writer (i.e. CutePDF or DoPDF) to professionally convert your job applications, resumes, etc. to PDF files in order to easily attach to e-mails or electronic recruitment forms - for free.

4. Organize your job applications by having a specific folder on your computer named “Job Applications” with subfolders, and do the same in your e-mail.

Silk Spectre II v.s. Tomb Raider

2011-01-12T20:48:00.001+01:00

Ok, if these 2 hardcore action ladies where to meet in a dark alley somewhere and thug it out, it would be interesting to see who’d win. I definitely know who I think would win the fight, how about you? ;)

V.S.

But in actuality this post is about something rather different, because I’m actually debating with myself which one of these 2 gorgeous kick-ass heroines to dress up as for a friend’s costume party on January 29.

I’ve searched high and low for all sorts of Silk Spectre II and Tomb Raider costumes on the internetz, and I’ve also looked through a couple of do-it-yourself videos. The thing is – as it always is – is money and the price of said costumes.

I want to dress up for the costume party – but I don’t want to spend a sick amount of money on a costume that I might not use a second time. We don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Europe to the same degree as in the U.S., so chances are that that costume probably won’t get used again. So I’m still trying to figure out “money-wise” which costume to go with, and if it should be a rental or a home-made version of the same.

But there’s still some time before Jan. 29, so there’s a lot of time to think about this matter - and plan it (money)wisely. I’ll definitely let you guys know, which one of the 2 cool hardboiled ladies I end up going as!!! :)

Movie Trailer And Poster: Sucker Punch

2011-01-12T20:24:00.001+01:00

I’ve been a huge fan of Zack Snyder’s ever since “300” and I’m really looking forward to his next movie “Sucker Punch” coming out in movie theaters in 2011. You can watch the trailer here:

And for those of you who can’t wait for the movie, the posters are out already, so you can buy one (through Amazon) here: Sucker Punch Movie Group Emily Browning Poster Print - 22x34

I’ll see you guys at the theaters! :)

Buying A New Microwave

2011-01-10T20:26:00.001+01:00

So my old microwave is breaking down *sniff* :( I’ve owned it for nearly 8 years, and it’s the first microwave I got when I moved out of my parents home and into my own place, which was a dorm room at the time. I’m a bit nostalgic about the old thing, and I know that I should let it go. It’s paid it’s service for 8 long, faithful years. Plus the protective sheathing on the front glass is starting to peel, so that can’t be too healthy...

So I’ve been looking on the internet on this online store of this shop that I know of, nearby where I live, and I found these 2 good candidates:

Logik Microwave UPO Microwave

They’re both exactly $100, so it’s just about choosing the right one for me with most of the features that I need. They were unfortunately the cheapest ones. Had there been any ones that were cheaper, then I‘d have definitely have taken those. Ah, but I guess that’s the way things are.

But I’m going to have to go to the store to check these ones out in person. Then I can decide from there, and take the best one (for me, at least) home with me the same day.

Back to work tomorrow

2011-01-02T23:00:00.001+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-12-31T01:33:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I wish all my readers an awesome New Year’s Eve – and a great new year ahead!

Thanks for reading my blog, and I look forward to seeing you next year! :)

Good Quality But Expensive Or Poor Quality But Dirt-Cheap? A Story About How You Get What You Pay For

2010-12-27T00:10:00.001+01:00

This last summer I had just bought a pair of gorgeous new high-heeled boots. They cost $73 brand-new. While that definitely is pricy by all means, I still thought of that as a bargain buy, since these kinds of boots often range in the $110-180 price spectrum. So happily, I bought these boots and took them home.

A week or so later I was going out to a party. I put on my brand new sexy boots, walked out the door and down the street to catch the bus.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes of walking when suddenly one of the heels of my gorgeous new boots had fallen off(!) I was mortified. With broken heel in one hand and bruised pride in the other I had to wobble all the way back home to my apartment again to change my boots. I entered my apartment door, quickly changed my boots, swore a little (maybe, a lot), and made a mental note of taking the boots to the repair on Monday. I couldn’t return them because I bought them at a market, so the vendors where long gone by now. Maybe that should have been a warning sign to me to begin with, not to buy boots at a market. But I’m frugal, so I’ll do anything to save a buck or two. So off I went to get my boots repaired on Monday after work. The cost of this, you ask? It totalled at $27.

Ok, so there I was, newly repaired shoes and all. Happy as pie. So I had plans to go out again the next weekend…

So the next weekend I got ready to go out. I put on my new boots and walked out the door. And sure enough a few minutes down the road – my other heel broke. Yet again I had to wobble home down the busy street, cursing and swearing, back to my apartment. The following Monday (you know the drill…) I went to get my boots repaired again. This time I had a lengthy argument with the shoe repair man, because he wanted to charge me $27 for the other heel. I thought that he was ripping me off, so I argued tooth and nail to get a discount. But no go, unfortunately. His prices (meaning price pr. heel) were fixed.

So there I was forking out another $27 on top of the original $27 for the first heel and on top of the original $73 dollars that the boots cost originally.

So all in all I ended up paying $127 for my pair of boots.

Yes, you heard me, $127, I could have bought myself a good pair of quality boots to begin with and spared myself all of the hassle. In this case, I really did get what I paid for. Poor quality boots. At a cheap price, sure, but what good are they if they have no heels. So in order to get “fully functional” boots, I had to fork out the extra $54. So sometimes it really does pay to buy good quality. I know the 3 dvd-players (the latest one is on the fritz by the way, so it’ll probably be 4 very soon) that I’ve owned during the last 8 years are a solid testament to that. Making electronics that don’t last more than 2 years is very normal nowadays, as long as it’s priced at a bargain, then we accept it. But I guess, if I had bought good quality from the get-go (both in terms of the dvd-players and the boots) then they would probably last me longer.

What’s your take on all of this? Better to buy good quality products but that are more expensive or buy poor quality products at a cheaper rate? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, so do leave a comment in the comments section. I’m interested in hearing other people’s experience with this.

By the way, if you knew me in real life, you’d know that I’m a very frugal person and that these boots were in fact the only pair of shoes I’ve bought in the past 2 years. So maybe that’s why it angered me so much, when they broke (twice!) So normally I would say that buying cheap and compromising on quality is okay with me. But after that experience, it made me wonder. In fact I was so pissed of that I talked to my dad on the phone complaining to him about boots, hahaha, can you imagine. :) What dad’s have to go through with their daughters.

Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

These Are The Christmas Gifts I Got For My Family This Year

2010-12-23T23:16:00.001+01:00

I just finished my Christmas shopping today and I wanted to share with you the Christmas gifts that I bought for my family. So if you’re a last-minute shopper (like I am, this year : ) and still haven’t gotten any presents for your friends and loved ones, then this list might help you get some last-minute gift ideas:

FOR MY BROTHER

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2011 COMPUTER GAME (FOR PC)

For my older brother, who is 31 years old, by the way, I got this PC version (because his X-Box is broken) of the computer game FOOTBALL MANAGER 2011. He has been an avid fan of these football/soccer-managing games since we were both teenagers and used to play them on our Dad’s Windows 95 computer. He also owns both FOOTBALL MANAGER 2008 and FOOTBALL MANAGER 2010, so when I saw that the 2011 Edition had come out, I just knew I had to buy it for him.

FOR MY FATHER

KINGSTON USB STICK 8GB and SANDISK EXTREME III 2GB SD CARD

+

For my father, well, as you can see, I had a really difficult time figuring out what to get him this year. So I opted for practical. Something that he needed. I remember him recently telling me that he didn’t have a back-up for his computer (documents, emails and music) and while 8GB is not really that much storage space – believe me I’ve seen my Dad’s computer, 8GB is more than plenty. The SD Card I got him because his old SD card is filling up to the brim, and he needs a new one. And as you can see from his computer, he doesn’t store his pics on the computer, he keeps them in the card. He uses his card as storage :) And I know my father well enough to know that instead of trying to change his ways and convince him to store his photos on the computer, giving him the brand-new SD Card instead will make him happy. So storage, storage, storage is my dad’s gift.

FOR MY FATHER’S WIFE (STEP-MOM :)

REMINGTON HAIR STRAIGHTENER (TRIBAL EDITION)

For my father’s wife I bought her a hair straightener from Remington. She’s over 50, but she’s young at heart, so I have a feeling that she actually will like the tribal edition and think it’s fun and playful. I bought this hair straightener for her because she sometimes goes to get her hair straightened professionally at the beauty salon, but when I asked my dad if she had a hair straightener at home, he told me that she didn’t. So I think she’ll be really happy for this gift. I think she would really like a hair straightener at home, but she’s always been too frugal to buy one for herself. So now she gets one from me. :)

FOR OUR LITTLE COUSIN

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG DVD

For our little cousin me and my brother got her a DVD with Disney’s “The Princess And The Frog”. Because she’s a little girl. That’s all the reason needed. :) Me and my brother, however, never buy our cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. any presents usually. However, because we’re spending Christmas with our extended family this year, my brother thought that it would be a good idea to get our little cousin something. And so we did. :)

What Christmas presents did you get for your friends, family and loved one this year? And why?

So my boyfriend and me broke up this weekend

2010-12-22T21:50:00.001+01:00

So my boyfriend and me broke up this weekend. I feel very sad right now, but I know that in the end it was for the best. And what a time for it to happen, just before Christmas. :( :( :( We’d only been seeing each other for 5 months, so we fortunately don’t have any shared finances, children, shared housing, etc. We don’t even have that much of a shared history, lol. (Let me laugh about this, I’m trying really hard to find something to laugh about). But somehow we still had something together, and it always hurts to see that end. 5 months seems like a long time for me right now (even though I’ve had longer relationships) because I’ve only been working at my new job for 7 months. Meaning that throughout most of the time I’ve worked at my new job, I had him as a boyfriend… and now I don’t anymore.

We broke up because lately he began treating me like sh**, like standing me up, not returning my phone calls, etc. So there’s only so much a person can take of this madness, so I broke up. Yes, you heard me, so I was the one who broke up. But I’m still feeling sad. Because I really did like him, but I just wouldn’t put up with his sh** anymore. So I left. As I said, I know it’s for the best, and I do see better guys for me in the future. So I’m single again, but hopefully that just means that there’s a new love (a new guy ;) in store for me in the New Year. But hey, if there ever was a time for change and new beginnings, I guess this time of the year would be it ;)

Thanks for reading this. I just needed to vent a little. And if some of you out there are thinking, “5 months, that isn’t a long time…”, I’m thinking, “Wow, 5 months, was waaaaay toooo looong a time.” ;) I’m glad I got out, with my dignity and self-esteem intact. All it cost me was my time, a bruised ego and a broken heart. The last 2 of which will heal in time…

RE-BRANDING: Transitioning Your Blog When You’ve Come To A Different Place In Your Life

2010-12-16T22:15:00.001+01:00

When I started this money blog I was a college student. I had 2 years left of college (grad school), I had a part-time job, I was accumulating student loans, I was saving, saving, saving – oh yeah, and the times were good. I started this blog during the summer of 2008. It wasn’t until autumn that year that the global financial meltdown began, and the times-they-were-a-changing.

Now, a number of things have changed. I’ve since graduated (written my thesis and gotten my Masters degree), I’m working full-time, I’m in the process of paying back my student loans – and the current times are, well, not too good, to say the least.

I “branded” my blog back then both in blog directories, comments, meta tags, etc. as a “student-money-blog”. As you can see from the sidebar of this blog, I still have remnants from that time. For example the entire link list titled: “Links To Money Saving Tips For College Students”. There was a reason why that was placed there. But now it just seems a bit out of place.

BLOGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE (OR HAVE DIFFICULTY MAKING) THE TRANSITION

Broke Grad Student was a blog that I loved to read and followed vigorously back then. But as you can see from his header - he crossed out the word “student” a while back – that he had difficulty transitioning from a student-money-blogger (which was a good, profitable and exciting niche) to a working-man-money-blogger. You could tell from his last dozen posts that he was struggling – to find ideas & the motivation to write about something that he wasn’t a part of anymore, namely, college life, and that he was more interested on occasion in writing about this new and exciting time in his life, namely, as a young, ambitious man beginning in the work force and his experiences and observations here within.

Ultimately, he abandoned the blog completely. And the last post was made on September 1, 2009.

There are 2 other noteworthy student-money-blogs that I followed back then were Broke-Ass Student and The Frugal Law Student. The Frugal Law Student is still posting, but, the posts are far and wide apart. While Broke-Ass Student (Jennifer) has in the meantime become entirely debt-free and so decided to abandon her blog. Her last post was on September 10, 2009.

TOPICAL (THE NICHE) TRANSITIONING

When you transition from one time in your life to another, your blog naturally transitions with you, however, the topics of your posts change and so do your keywords. This can be a bit difficult, because you are suddenly veering away from your old niche and into a new, different, perhaps more competitive niche. As you are able to see from the sidebar of this blog, I still have artifacts from that old time, and that my blog is very much still in a phase of transition.

RE-BRANDING AND KEYWORD BACKLINK-BUILDING (AGAIN)

I’ve submitted this blog back then to multiple blog directories, however the prominent keywords back then for this blog were student, college, money, blog, savings, etc. To re-brand this blog today I would probably go with keywords like work, employment, money, debt, … You get my drift? All of a sudden my blog topic has changed, my blog direction has changed, and I still get some visitors who “mistakenly” visit my site through my old keywords like “college/student/thesis/university- savings”. Poor them. ;) I would need to build backlinks with my new relevant keywords again, again. :)

PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSITIONING

Most importantly, I think, is the psychological aspect of one’s blog transitioning. Had I started this blog as a clear-cut debt-reducing blog with well-defined goals back in the day, I think my debt reduction would go faster. However, I’m still in the student-loans-savings mindset on this blog, but I’m working really hard to try and transition it to the aforementioned type-of-blog. But old habits die hard. And as you can see, if I’m nostalgic enough to keep (now) non-relevant links in my sidebar from my old niche just for sentimental reasons, then you know that I’m the kind of person that has trouble with quick transitionings ;) But slowly, but surely this blog will change into a “working girl’s” blog from being a “student blog” – in natural synchronization with my own inner psychological transitioning in real life.

LAST THOUGHTS

There are, however, plenty of blogs out there who have made successful transitions like Dooce or Blogging Away Debt. As well as there have been many blogs that have struggled and failed. My blog, however, is still within the Personal Finance blogging niche, so my transition is of course far smaller, and the effects above are undoubtedly exaggerated when it comes to my blog, but I felt the need to blog about this issue, because I feel a concrete shift in my mindset (in real life) and in my goals for this blog.

Thanks for reading! And if you have any thoughts, you’d like to share, then do feel free to do so in the comments section. I love receiving comments, so by all means, shoot one my way! :)

Company Christmas Party

2010-12-14T01:45:00.001+01:00

So last Friday was my company’s annual Christmas party. Great food, drinks, good company and loads of dancing.

All in all a good evening, that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. :) I didn’t get home to bed until around 8:30 in the morning. So it was a fun night, definitely. :)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 29–December 5, 2010)

2010-12-08T22:47:00.001+01:00

This is a weekly review of my spending habits for the week of Nov.29 - Dec. 5, 2010.

Date	Amount
Monday Nov. 29	330.30 kr. ($60)
Tuesday Nov. 30	233.95 + 193.20 + 44 = 471,15 kr. ($42.50 + $35.20 + $8 = $85.70)
Wednesday Dec. 1	342.45 kr. ($62.30)
Thursday Dec. 2	160.90 + 200 = 360.90 kr. ($29.25 + $36.40 = $65.60)
Friday Dec. 3	280.95 + 625 = 905.95 kr. ($51.10 + $113.70 = $164.80)
Saturday Dec. 4	0 kr. ($0)
Sunday Dec. 5	0 kr. ($0)

TOTAL: 2410.75 kr. ($438.40)

So there you have it. A tally of what I’ve spent during the course of the week. I’ve split things up with plus’es (+) because I wanted to differentiate between my actual spending habits and bills. So the first amount is my actual “spending habits” (this is mostly food and some toiletries) while everything after the first amount are bills.

So there you go. An overview of my spending habits for said week.

If you’re interested in reading my posts for the previous weeks, you can take a look at them here:

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 15-21, 2010)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 22-28, 2010)

This is week 4 of my expense tracking:

On Week 1 I spent $80.

On Week 2 I spent $189.

On Week 3 I spent $143.50.

On Week 4 I spent $438.40. (Because it’s the 1st of the month, and all my bills come in at this time.)

To Do List: Dec. 5

2010-12-05T18:37:00.001+01:00

I have some things that need to be done today, so I thought I’d post them on here on this blog. I was inspired by Beachgirl’s Budget Blog, who has often had to-do-list posts on her blog. So to help inspire me and to track my progress on my efforts, I’m giving you a to-do-list post as well.

Photo: lifehack.org

TO DO LIST:

~~Write and send a job application~~ (completed!)
~~Write and send another job application~~ (completed!)
~~Note your sent applications in your progress tracker~~ (completed!)
~~Fill out the important questionnaire~~ (completed!)

So this is my to do list for today. As you can see I’ve already gotten ahead of myself and completed some the tasks today already. Perhaps that’s why I needed to write this blog post. Since I didn’t really feel motivated to write and send the 2nd job application. But I have to. I just got to get myself together. And just get it done. I’ll be reporting back later on. When the task is completed. And then cross it off my list! : )

UPDATE: All done! Phew, it took a while. But I managed to even send an extra job application! So I’ve sent 3 all in all today! I ‘m really happy. There’s no better feeling than a job well done! So, now it’s 9:30 p.m. local time, and now I can relax the rest of this Sunday evening! : )

Architectural Digital Rendering

2010-12-04T14:47:00.001+01:00

While I was browsing around DeviantArt I found this great artist who does architectural-digital rendering. He’s a young architectural designer & 3D digital artist from Malaysia that goes by the name Artzen03, and you can visit his profile here.

In the meantime enjoy a few examples of his works.

Pay Day

2010-12-03T00:39:00.001+01:00

So it was pay day on Tuesday. Hence I’m writing this post today to give myself a better overview of my money situation.

Income after taxes: 10,768.46 kr. ($1,957.90)

Amount left after the fixed bills are paid (not including electricity, phone bill, public transportation, et.al.): 4,229.56 kr. ($769)

Snowflaking toward debt: 500 kr. ($90)

Snowflaking toward savings: 500 kr. ($90)

Budgeting for presents this Christmas: 850 kr. ($154.50)

Buffer: 300 kr. ($54.50)

Week 1: 400 kr. ($72)

Week 2: 400 kr. ($72)

Week 3: 400 kr. ($72)

Week 4: 400 kr. ($72)

Week 5: 400 kr. ($72)

This post probably makes more sense to me than to any of my readers. But I really needed to break it down in the above manner. For my own sake. This probably isn’t the most exciting post, so feel free to browse around my sidebar and my archives for more informative posts. This post was, admittedly, solely for me and my overview. And for my peace of mind.

30 Easy Ways To Save Money - Day 3: Brown-Bagging Lunch

2010-12-01T12:20:00.000+01:00

So over a year ago I started this blogging series called 30 Easy Ways To Save Money – Am I Doing All Of Them???, that tackled Dumb Little Man’s blog post 30 Easy Ways to Save Money (and No, you are not doing them all!) and the 30 different savings tips that were presented there. I’m a huge fan of serial posts, so I wanted to dedicate a blog post for each individual entry on the list. The time has come for no. 3 – or Day 3, as I happened to call it back then. I had it in my head that I wanted to do this over a 30 day period. Obviously, *ahem* it’s been a little longer than that ;) But anyways, I’ll go ahead and continue this blogging series, as I think they are immensely fun.

A few notes before we begin:

The original and first post 30 Easy Ways To Save Money – Am I Doing All Of Them??? was written on April 21, 2009.
The second post entitled 30 Easy Ways To Save Money - Day 2: Coffee was written, as far as I can see on my blogger dashboard, on April 22, 2009.

So the logic behind the Day 1 and Day 2 was pretty much there at the beginning :)

I’m however going to disappoint you people who are expecting a daily posting on this series, as I am not of yet, a daily blogger. Due to time constraints I currently only blog 1-2 times a week. This blog is, of yet, just for pleasure, not for pay, so I’m taking my time and taking it easy with all my postings. I’m thoroughly stressed out enough in my real life as it is, I don’t want my blog to contribute in any way to that as well. So don’t expect Speedy Gonzales when it comes to this blogging series. It’ll probably take a while :) But anyways, I’m happy. And I’m enjoying it. So that’s the most important part.

On we go.

This is Day 3 on my series “30 Easy Ways To Save Money – Am I Doing All Of Them??? based on Dumb Littles Man’s list of 30 different ways to save money.

3. “Brown bag lunch at least a few days a week: Lunch times are great opportunities to network and make connections that could improve your career growth. So unless there is a common eating area for brown baggers, you may choose to limit brown bagging lunch to three days each week. Find a balance between saving some money and making the connection. In my case, I take my lunch with me 2-3 times a week and eat out the rest of the time.”

Quoted from original post at: Dumb Little Man, Photo: brown bagging.

No one knows this, but I actually brown-bagged my lunch for a while at first when I began my new job. I eventually reverted, because of the very reason that was stated in the above. Lunch for us at my job was centered around the in-house cafeteria. A lot of socializing and networking and old-fashioned cameraderie would take place revolving around the in-house cafeteria, and for a young just-out-of-university newly hired employee who was ambitious and driven, this was unfortunately too good of an opportunity to pass up. BUT!!! I consiously have made this decision, so I am well aware of the fact, that I have to make up for it in another area of my life – so I only eat bread for dinner. My daily hot meal is eaten at lunch at the cafeteria, and when I get home in the evenings I eat bread with some meat slice or spread. That’s my dinner. So I’m completely aware of the fact that, if you have to choose one thing and make that a priority (for your career), then something else must go. Which I’m fine with.

So there you have it my thoughts in this particular saving tip. This wasn’t actually how I wanted this blog post to go, as I would rather have taken the specific saving tip to heart, and tried it out in my real life, so that I could save. However, on this particular post, I ‘ve had to put my foot down, and state that I’ve already done this, but that it however was not the right way for me to go in this particular stage in my life. I however have made compensations in another area of my life - to even out the fact.

So there you go, my Day 3 on this blogging series of mine. I look forward to the next time :) See you there.

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 22-28, 2010)

2010-11-27T22:43:00.001+01:00

This is a weekly review of my spending habits for the week of Nov.22-28, 2010.

Date	Amount
Monday Nov. 22	$24.50
Tuesday Nov. 23	$24
Wednesday Nov. 24	$15
Thursday Nov. 25	$43
Friday Nov. 26	$37
Saturday Nov. 27	$0
Sunday Nov. 28	$0

TOTAL: $143.50

The last 2 weeks I’ve made similar posts:

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 15-21, 2010)

This is week 3 of my expense tracking:

On Week 1 I spent $80.

On Week 2 I spent $189.

On Week 3 I spent $143.50.

Final Thoughts

I started this rigorous expense tracking 3 weeks ago to take a closer, introspective look at how I was spending my money. Very honestly and very openly. I’ve already had a couple of those “aha” or “Eureka” moments during these weeks. I normally pay attention to what I spend, but when you’re living on around $537 a month after all fixed expenses are paid (not including phone bills, electricity, or food) , you not only have to pay attention…you really have to control every single coin and bill that goes out of your wallet. Keeping a close eye on every cent you spend. So this expense tracking has really helped me get a clear and concrete overview (one that I realize I needed) of how much money I spend daily and weekly.

I realize that I spend on average $75 a week. However, this average is misleading as I was sick on the first week. So the average should be based more on the last 2 weeks, which should be $166.25.

So I realize I spend on average around $166.25 a week.

I realize that I should budget for $181 on average a week - to give myself a realistic buffer.

However, $181 a week would be $724 a month, and as mentioned above, I only have around $537 a month to spend. So no wonder I’m in the hole right now and having difficulty beginning my paybacks to my Dad. I really needed to see this black-on-white. I’ll have to take a good look at my paycheck next month, take a look at the bills I need to pay (because I know that there’s a $124 annual bill that’s coming up very soon), and then budget weekly. What I mean by that is make a budget for each week. And take an overview every fortnight, as well as weekly & monthly. Just to really keep a close eye -and close hold- on my spendings.

Well, that’s all for now. Bye, again.

25 FREE Things To Do When It’s Snowing

2010-11-24T19:29:00.001+01:00

Photo credit: Alexey

So it’s been snowing heavily these past few days, and I must admit, I thoroughly enjoy the snow! :) It’s cold, yeah, but its’ cozy (indoors) and lots of fun (outdoors)! :)

Here are 25 activities that you can do for FREE in this wonderful snowy winter season:

OUTDOORS

Casual

1. Snowball fight.

2. Build a snowman.

3. Make snow angels.

4. Go sleighing down a hill.

5. Go for a walk in nature and enjoy the pristine, newly fallen snow in the fields or in the forest.

Hobby

6. Ice fishing.

7. Ice sculpting

Sports

8. Ice hockey.

9. Ice skating.

10. Go skiing.

11. Go snowboarding.

12. Go bobsledding.

INDOORS

Art, literature, music & film

13. Read a good book

14. Paint a picture

15. Curl up in front of the television and watch your favorite movie or tv-series.

16. Listen to some good music as you look out the window at the beautiful snowfall.

Drink

17. Drink hot cocoa – preferably with whipped cream.

18. Make a good cup of coffee to warm yourself up.

19. Make tea and make it a little extra special by adding honey, a lemon slice or other fruit like berries.

Food

20. Bake (and eat!) wonderfully warm bread, cakes, cookies, muffins or pies.

21. Eat delicious hot soup to get yourself warmed up again.

Love

22. (If there’s a fire place somewhere in sight) curl up with your loved one in front of the fire.

23. Sit down to a romantic candlelight dinner just the two of you.

24. Curl up under the warm sheets and watch a good movie together.

25. Drink a glass of wine each and sit by the window to enjoy the beautiful white cityscape, landscape or just the snowfall.

Disclaimer: For some of the activities on the list to be free would require that you actually have the necessary things at home already lying around, like say, for example reading a good book wouldn’t actually be a free activity, if you went out and had to buy the book first, nor would the skiing be free if you had to go out and buy a pair of skis first. So you get what I mean ;)

There you have it 25 free, fun and romantic ideas for activities to do when it’s snowing outside. I’ll be heading off again – to embark on a combination of activities #17 & #18 – I’m off to make myself a good cup of coffee with hot cocoa to warm myself up. And afterwards I think I’ll grab a chair by the window to enjoy the wonderful winter wonderland outside. Have a good, cozy evening everyone!

Photo credit: coffee

What do you think? Do you have any good ideas for FREE fun things to do when it’s snowing outside? I’d love to hear some of your suggestions. Do feel free to leave a comment below.

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 15-21, 2010)

2010-11-21T19:46:00.001+01:00

This is a weekly review of my spending habits for the week of Nov.15-21, 2010.

Date	Amount
Monday Nov. 15	$43.50
Tuesday Nov. 16	$0
Wednesday Nov. 17	$33
Thursday Nov. 18	$33.50
Friday Nov. 19	$39
Saturday Nov. 20	$40
Sunday Nov. 21	$0

TOTAL: $189

Last weekend I made a similar post named Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010).

I began only just last week to rigorously track my expenses everyday. This is week 2 of my expense tracking.

What type of gift giver are you?

2010-11-21T18:00:00.001+01:00

As the Christmas season draws nearer and the stores have already pulled out all of their Holiday decorations out of storage. I find my thoughts beginning to center around buying Christmas presents, and that age-old question “What should I give this Christmas?”

While wandering around the internet today I found these 2 informative and entertaining blog posts that each have their unique take on gift giving and gift givers. I’ll expand on them below.

In Elizabeth Barbour’s blog post 5 Types Of Gift Givers she demonstrates these different types of gift givers:

1. Creative Gift Giver - Gives the gift of art. Store bought or hand made.

2. Intellectual Gift Giver - Gives books. Gives educational games and toys that open the mind.

3.Wise Investor Gift Giver - Gives U.S. Savings Bonds and other gifts relating to learning the value of the dollar.

4. Experiential Gift Giver - Gives an experience. Gives tickets to a sporting event, the theatre, a concert - or a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant or local spa.

5. Green Gift Giver - Gives green gifts. Supports organizations and companies that protect the environment.

In Tony Connor’s post Gift Givers: How They Vary In Intent And Execution he outlines the differences between these 7 types of gift givers:

1. THE STOCKPILER: has been known to hoard gifts for several years.

2. THE ORGANIZER: tends to know by heart the birthdays, anniversaries and other significant dates of their relatives and friends.

3. THE OVERTHINKER: agonizes over every gift they give.

4. THE LAST-MINUTER: leaves gift shopping until the day before (or even on the way!) and refuse to think about the gift until then. They can be seen at the mall or large stores on Christmas Eve with numerous bags of stuff.

5. THE FORGETFUL ONE: forgets peoples birthdays and other occasions. If they do actually get a gift well in advance they will probably forget to bring it on the day. They are gleefully welcomed by the proprietors of mini-marts and gas stations, being their main revenue source for greetings cards, gift cards, boxes of chocolates and those dusty DVDs.

6. THE CRAFTER: doesn't believe that it's a true gift unless at least part of it has had work put into it.

7. THE DELEGATOR: knows when birthdays etc. are but has no interest in what they actually give. They pass on the choice of gift to their significant other, siblings, secretary etc.

So the first post focuses on the values behind gift giving, while the second post concentrates on the organizational skills behind the gift giving – or as he himself puts it, the intent and execution. So 2 different takes (or perspectives) on gift giving.

WHICH TYPE OF GIFT GIVER AM I ?

VALUES

Well, values-wise I am probably mostly a creative gift giver (especially, if gadgets count as “art” too ;), an intellectual gift giver and an experiential gift giver.

I’ve given posters, art, decorations, etc. as presents, as well as electronics and gadgets (creative giver).
But I have also given books as presents (intellecual giver).
And on a few occasions I have given trips to the movies, and one time on a special occasion, also a trip to the spa (experiential giver).

If I was to categorize my own gift-giving values I guess I would say that I am an “enjoyment gift giver” rather than a “practical gift giver”. Meaning that I want to give people things that will give them enjoyment, experiences, or happiness in some form. I like to give people things that I know they want, but that they would not usually buy. In other words, I wouldn’t buy you a pair of socks for Christmas (even though I know it’s practical), but I would give you a trip for 2 to the movies instead. That’s just my philosophy on this. You’re welcome to disagree. Feel free to drop a line or two in the comments about it.

ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS

As for my organizational skills, well, let’s just say they leave something to be desired, lol.

I am definitely not a stockpiler, however, I know someone in my family who is. It’s funny, but I can see some of my friends and family members in these different types :)

No, I’m unfortunately an overthinker (hence this blog post!), however I’ve also been known to be the last-minuter and the forgetful one. I laughed when I first read the line about the last-minuter: “They can be seen at the mall or large stores on Christmas Eve with numerous bags of stuff.” That was definitely me, some Christmas’es ago. I once did my Christmas shopping the day before Christmas, and the following year I did my Christmas shopping on the day. Needless to say both times were stressful and expensive, so after that I started planning ahead.

But on the bright side, I did all my Christmas shopping online last year (the organizer), so I’m getting better! And I’m thinking of doing the same again this year. That’s why I’m already juggling different gift ideas in my head.

So here was a little inside look (for me, as well as for you) at the different types of gift givers that are all around us.

So…

Which type of gift giver are you? Do you recognize any of these gift-giving types in people you know, like your significant other, friends or family members?

Annual Overview Of Incoming Bills

2010-11-18T03:01:00.001+01:00

I decided to do a post on here with an annual overview of the bills that I receive during the year listed by month. This is to give myself a greater and clearer perspective. So they no longer come “unexpectedly”. Because some of my bills are paid quarterly and annually as opposed to monthly. This list will be a work in progress because I will continue to add to the list as the months progress, adding the “unexpected” items as they arise. But right now these are the “known” items.

October:

Public Service TV License: 1140 kr. ($207.50) (quarterly)

Unemployment Insurance: 1173 kr. ($213.50) (quarterly)

November:

Electric Bill: 1051 kr. ($191) (quarterly)

Industry Publishing Listing: 625 kr. ($124) (annually)

December:

Real Estate Waiting List: 305 kr. ($55.50) (annually)

January:

Public Service TV License: 1140 kr. ($207.50) (quarterly)

Unemployment Insurance: 1218 kr. ($221.50) (quarterly)

DN: 247.50 kr. ($45) (annually)

Real Estate Internal Waiting List For My Apartment Complex: 200 kr. ($36.40) (annually)

April:

Public Service TV License: 1140 kr. ($207.50) (quarterly)

Unemployment Insurance: 1173 kr. ($213.50) (quarterly)

July:

Public Service TV License: 1140 kr. ($207.50) (quarterly)

Unemployment Insurance: 1173 kr. ($213.50) (quarterly)

Off-Topic Link Love

2010-11-16T22:47:00.001+01:00

I just wanted to give a little link love to these two.

BLOG POST

ShoutMeLoud: “101 Ways To Get Quality Backlinks To Your Blog”

– he writes an extensive and well-researched post about getting quality backlinks to your blog (well, he is getting one from me now :)

BLOG

Melissa’s Flight Attendant Blog

– the everyday life of a stewardess. The blog’s been around since 2006. A good read when you want a window into someone’s life that’s completely unlike your own.

So that’s about it from me today. Bye again.

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010)

2010-11-14T19:00:00.001+01:00

This is a weekly review of my spending habits for the week of Nov.8-14, 2010.

Date	Amount
Tuesday Nov. 10	$21
Wednesday Nov. 11	$15.50
Thursday Nov. 12	$8.5
Friday Nov. 13	$35
Saturday Nov. 14	$0
Sunday Nov. 15	$0

TOTAL: $80

As you can see in the post (right below) called Spending Habits: How much money I have spent today, Thursday 11/11/10 I began to keep track of my daily expenses here on the blog to keep myself accountable for my spending. However, I also kept a written record outside the blog, so I found that I was doing “double the work” because I was typing every single item AGAIN. So I decided to keep my daily expense trackings off the blog and just post weekly expense trackings instead.

Another reason for not posting daily expense trackings is because I want to keep the blog posts varied and fun to read – I realized that a daily expense tracking post like the one below would – in large numbers – begin to clutter up the blog with monotonous posts of just spreadsheets and dry numbers. But these are just my feelings right now. They may change someday. Maybe it’s just the way I present them. Perhaps with some cool graphics or design they’d be more fun to look at. Hmmm…I’ll have to give this more thought and keep this one open. But for now, weekly is the way to go.

A few notes about the past week in retrospect: I‘ve been sick since Friday and that explains why I haven’t spent any money this weekend. What a rotten time to get sick, but I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. I spent a large amount on Friday for grocery shopping for the weekend.

That’s all.

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent today, Thursday 11/11/10

2010-11-12T00:54:00.001+01:00

My spending habits today on Thursday November 11, 2010

Amount	What	Where
$3	croissant, chocolate drink	bakery
$5.50	lunch	cafeteria

Total: $8.50

Dogs Using The ATM

2010-11-09T01:37:00.001+01:00

I thought that I’d share this picture with all of you that I found today while browsing the internetz. Here are some cute doggies that are capable of using the ATM-machines.

They’re specially trained guide dogs for the disabled, and they’re trained in other tasks as well, such as loading the washing & picking up items from store shelves. Go check out the original story at Train Your Pooch To Withdraw Money. I must say, I think they’re very impressive.

A Fast And Easy Way To Save Money And Lose Weight: Cut Butter Out Of Your Diet

2010-11-07T17:29:00.001+01:00

Here’s a fast and easy way that anyone can save money and lose weight at the same time without any effort at all - you just simply cut butter out of your diet entirely. It’s a fast, simple and surefire way. I myself have done this for years and I thought today that I would share this litte tip with you.

You don’t need it in your diet

Butter is a saturated animal fat containing cholesterol, and it even contains more so than other fats. Butter is very calorie dense, to say the least, and so cutting it out of your diet completely will not only make you lose weight, it’ll also be healthier for you in the long run. Not to mention “healthier” for your wallet too!

On average you can expect to lose 4,5 pounds – just by cutting out butter! This is absolutely an easy, simple way of losing weight. And you don’t feel deprived because you feel like you’re still eating, like you always have been eating. So you won’t even notice that it’s gone from your diet.

Save money by cutting out butter

Simply deciding to eliminate butter from your diet will save you plenty of money in the long run. You’ll never have to pick it up in the grocery store anymore, meaning you save tens of dollars - and eventually in the long run hundreds of dollars. This is again a very fast and simple way to save money – and also in this instance, without at all feeling deprived.

For cooking

In the above sections, I primarily speak about not using butter on bread and sandwiches. But this tip can also be applied to cooking. I myself, have cut butter out of my diet completely, including using it for cooking, as it was the easiest thing to do. Then I wouldn’t have to buy butter at all, and it wouldn’t sit in the fridge and give me a guilty conscience: “If I’ve spent money on it, I better eat it.” Then it also doesn’t serve as a temptation in any way. So instead I don’t buy it at all. For cooking purposes you can easily add olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, palm oil or other types of vegetable oil instead.

Final Thoughts

As a final note, I can add that this tip can easily be applied to any small, singular thing in your diet that you want to eliminate entirely, take for example mayonnaise, which just as readily can be swiped off you diet. The applications to this is tip are endless. And the reason why it works is because it’s such a small change that you hardly notice it.

However, I can guarantee you that your wallet as well as your body will be all the better for it.

December 2010 Goals

2010-11-06T21:56:00.001+01:00

“It’s good to have your [financial] goals written down so you see them everyday and don’t lose focus on your ultimate objectives.”

I read this in a comments section, and my, doesn’t it ring true.

Keeping in that spirit, I’m listing my financial goals for December 2010 right here. I’m going to keep them small, so that I know that I can easily accomplish them. Because there’s nothing worse than setting unrealistic goals for yourself and then failing at them. There’s nothing more demotivating than that. I know, because being the overly ambitious soul that I sometimes can be I often have a tendency to fall into this trap of setting too high goals (that were unrealistic to begin with) and failing -and then blaming myself afterwards for it. Not a very good, motivating factor. So I’ll start small now and then build this one up.

December 2010 Financial Goals

Pay $100 towards reducing my debt
Put away $100 towards savings

That should do it for now. These amounts, by the way, have already taken into account the the Christmas-presents-factor in my budget for December ;) So no worries :)

Back Into The Blogosphere

2010-11-06T20:11:00.001+01:00

So I’m back from a long break from the blogosphere. Not from reading blogs – but from actually writing. There were a few reasons for my sudden disappearance from the online world. The reasons I’ll state below – in good ol’ fashioned lovable bullet points – ah, the wonderful world of blogging!

The Thesis.
The first and most important reason for my disappearing act was my thesis. I had 6 months to write this thesis. But, somehow, I would always find myself on this blog instead. It was way more fun and fulfilling to write on this blog than on my thesis paper. This obviously wasn’t a good thing, since I found myself procrastinating on my thesis. So in the end I had to completely shut down the blog. I simply had to go “cold turkey” and not look at it at all for the next 6 months. In the beginning this was to avoid temptation, but as the months progressed I honestly didn’t have any time at all to write on my blog even if had it been open, since I was writing on my thesis for 12-14 hours a day everyday during this time period. The rest of the day/night I’d eat and sleep. Needless to say, I didn’t have much of a social life during those months. Had the blog been open, I seriously doubt that it would have made for a very exciting read anyhows, LOL. :)

The Aftermath.
But then the thesis was finished, handed in, graded and DH @ The Money Blog Revisited graduated and got her degree. Now came 2 new obstacles to be overcome before she would decide to return to the blogosphere.

Sick & Tired Of Writing.
The first one, was returning to writing – yes, rediscovering the fun and enjoyment of writing again. Needless to say, after having handed in my thesis I was sick & tired of writing and swore it off for a very long time afterwards. It took me a while to get back on that wagon.

Being Unemployed.
The second reason was the fact that immediately after having graduated I bumped into another obstacle – yes, unemployment. Being an optimistic, driven, ambitious, young person, I had a hard time dealing with this and was a bit down about it. So therefore the few posts that I did make to this blog during that time period were far and wide between. And, I have actually deleted them again, because reading them now, they seemed a bit depressing, LOL. But understandably so. But now I have a job, it’s not a very well-paying job (they’re taking advantage of the bad economy to use dirt-cheap labor and pay minimum wages, even if I have a university degree, and a masters, at that) but somehow I’m very happy. I’ve got a job after all, and I’m very fortunate to have a job in my respective field – as opposed to working in something completely different. As energetic, new, young graduates we do after all want to work in the specific field that we’ve spent years studying. And I’ve been very lucky to have been given the chance. So now that my life is somewhat stable again the creativity and the love of writing is coming back.

Time Management.
However, I have to say, that now that I’m a full-time worker, there doesn’t seem to be the same amount of time and flexibility (meaning, freedom!) that there used to be when I was a student. (Man, there’s always something, isn’t there, DH.) But I’m getting used to it that’s for sure. And all I have to do now is just manage my time more reasonably. But on occasion I will disappear on and off of the blogosphere (hahaha, a disclaimer :), so please bear with me. Don’t remove me from your blogrolls, just yet. I’ll soon be back with lots of new fun, exciting and creative new ideas & posts to share.

So that’s it.

A lengthy story of the ups and downs of my life during the past year and a half, and how these events caused me to go AWOL and completely disappear from the blogosphere.

Hopefully, this will be the end of my writer’s block, and that the new year(s) ahead will have plenty of writing inspiration in store for me.

Thanks for stopping by for this quick read. I hope to see you again very soon.

Would you ever let your boyfriend cut your hair?

2009-04-24T20:33:00.001+02:00

Now those of you who read my blog know that I’m very frugal and saving-minded. But under no circumstances would I ever let a boyfriend cut my hair to save money.

Yes, those extra monitos spent at a professional hair salon are well spent in my opinion. In fact the hair salon doesn’t even have to be a very “high-end” one for me, as long as they know what they’re doing and do it for a living ;)

Even discount hair salons I’ve been to. But even then I trust them imminently more than I’d ever trust a boyfriend with a pair of shears.

I came to think of this because I was searching for something quite different in Google and found this headline that read:

HOW NOT TO CUT YOUR WIFE’S HAIR - Since my wife's hair is about 3" long, I thought that it'd be nice to hold .... “Vicki, that haircut looks like hell,” and it would start all over again. ...

LOL ;) How could you not be curious after that, lol :) So I had to click on the link and read the story. And I can warmly recommend it. You got to read it.

(You can click on the blue link in the block quote above :)

So those were just my two-cents about this whole hair-cut thing :)

Would you ever let your boyfriend touch a hair on your head with a pair of scissors?

Would you ever let your boyfriend cut your hair?

You brave soul, you.

To Do List and A Story

2009-04-24T18:48:00.001+02:00

I was reading through Beachgirl’s Budget Blog and I got the idea to post my own to-do-lists up here on my blog. This is a great thing for me because it combines productivity and blogging.

So I’ll give it a go.

Read chapter about DB

Read chapter about BS

Read chapter about RB

Every Friday I have to e-mail my thesis supervisor to tell him what I’ve done during the week. I only had to e-mail him what I’d done since Wednesday since I just had a meeting with him Tues. this week.

However, the last 2½ days I’ve been: Wed.: Meeting up with my Dad. Thurs. & Fri. morning: Taking care of some arrangements to view an apartment. This took 1½ day because of the annoying mess up of who actually has the keys: the apartment company, the maintenance guy or the tenant. So several phone correspondences and 2 visists to the actual apartment, but not being able to get inside – took all in all 1 and ½ day.

Still haven’t seen the apartment, lol :)

But so when I e-mailed my supervisor today, you can imagine, I had the worst guilty conscience. So I promised him all that I’d get done this weekend. So I better do it ;)

Hence the to-do-list :) And the “stay-at-home to study” weekend.

Here’s to having a guilt-free conscience when I e-mail my supervisor next Friday with a LONG list of things I’ve written and read! :)

(And to seeing that apartment finally next week, lol :)

30 Easy Ways To Save Money - Day 2: Coffee

2009-04-22T21:01:00.001+02:00

This is Day 2 on my series “30 Easy Ways To Save Money” – Am I Doing All Of Them???”, where I decide to put my spending habits under a magnifying glass and tackle every point on the list.

2. “Make your own coffee: Everyone seems to have heard of the latte factor. Even though the author may have overestimated the savings from skipping a latte at Starbucks, don’t underestimate the ding it puts in your pocket in the long run. You don’t have to entirely ban drinking coffee, but skip it as often as possible unless you make it at home.”

Quoted from original post at: Dumb Little Man, Photo: Coffee-Exchange.

Now this is actually one I’m quite good at doing. Drinking coffee at home. I know that in an earlier post I mention that coffee-on-the-go is one of my spending vices. However, the ratio is probably 1:3. For every one cup of coffee I drink out, I drink 3 at home. Sometimes more. (I drink a lot of coffee, lol :)

And in this 1:3 ratio I also count the cups of coffee that I take at the university as “drinking out”. Which is dirt cheap ($0.80).

Often times I’ve caught myself wanting to grab a cup of coffee on the go, but then decided to wait either ‘til I got home or got to the university.

As these would be by far cheaper than spending anywhere between $5 to $9 on a cup of coffee. (Prices: $5 at the train station, $9 at a regular coffee place).

So despite that I do on occassion catch the expensive coffee on my way, I by far drink the majority of my cups fairly cheaply.

But I think this was a conscious decision made some years back when I more or less grabbed a cup of coffee and a small breakfast sandwich at the train station everyday. This was my trusty morning routine. But in the long run after having done this for one and a half years I realized that I was spending (wasting) too much money on this. And so changed this habit.

And so today it’s only on occassion that I grab a cup of coffee at the train station or at my favourite coffee place on my ‘travels’.

I still do it though, so I’m not guilt-free, lol :) But I’m very conscious about this, so I often choose to wait ‘til later and grab the coffee at cheaper prices either at home or at the university.

Today’s link love

2009-04-22T20:03:00.001+02:00

I just came across a couple of sites that I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy!

PF POSTS (& PF BLOG)

Free Money Finance: “Ten Steps To Becoming A Millionaire”
Free Money Finance: “Millionaires Tell How To Become A Millionaire”

PF BLOGS

PF Blog: One Man’s Mission To Have A Net Worth of 1 Million Dollars
One Year Rent-Free: One Girl’s Adventures Of Living 1 Whole Year Entirely Rent-Free

THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF

High Heels and High Chairs: One Woman’s Journey From Career Woman To Stay At Home Mom
Confessions Of A Twenty Something Year Old: One Young Twenty-Something’s Ramblings About Life…And Coffee :)

30 Easy Ways To Save Money – Am I Doing All Of Them???

2009-04-22T05:05:00.001+02:00

I was reading an article called 30 Easy Ways to Save Money (and No, you are not doing them all!). That’s when I realized that I wanted to do a series where I tackle each and every one of the saving tips listed to take a deep and thourough look at which ones I do and which one’s I don’t.

This way I can maybe get new ideas on where I can save more money. I’ll give it a shot.

But as I love doing series I’m going to take my time with this and do it over 30 days (well, probably not 30 consecutive days, as my thesis writing doesn’t really permit this, I have a difficult time fighting my *ahem* (guilty conscience surfacing) internet procrastination as it is :) but as much as I possibly can on a regular basis.

I’ll probably be doing regular posts in between as well.

But as for now I’ll be enjoying my new series. The first series I did was a 10-day saving challenge (that lasted 36 days, lol :) But in the end who really cares how long it takes :) As long as I get out of it what is really important – and that is essentially the constant consciousness of saving on an everyday basis.

I’ll go ahead and start with the first one.

“Cook at home often. If both the husband and wife work, this is likely to be very difficult. Start out with the habit of cooking at home once a week and slowly increase the frequency until you find a balance between saving money and getting stressed out.”

Quote: Dumb Little Man, Photos: Epicurious & Villa Milagro Vineyards.

Ok, let me take a look at this:

How many times have I eaten in and eaten out for this past week.

Wednesday: lunch: OUT, dinner: IN
Thursday: lunch: OUT, dinner: IN
Friday: lunch: IN, dinner: IN
Saturday: lunch: IN, dinner: OUT
Sunday: lunch: OUT, dinner: IN
Monday: lunch; IN, dinner: IN
Tuesday: lunch: OUT, dinner: IN

Points: IN: 9 points OUT: –5 points

Hmm… I seem to eat out a lot. Mostly for lunch, it looks like. But this is actually a good excercise. I’ll track my eating/cooking habits in a similar way during the course of this following week. To get conscious about eating IN more.

Wednesday: lunch: IN, dinner: IN
Thursday: lunch: IN, dinner: OUT
Friday: lunch: IN, dinner: IN
Saturday: lunch IN
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:

Hey, this constant consciousness of saving mentioned earlier is already kicking in. This is going to be fun.

Calvin & Hobbes and The Economy

2009-04-21T23:28:00.001+02:00

A cute comic strip with our beloved Calvin & Hobbes originally printed 15 years ago.

(Click image to enlarge)

Original post found at Greg Mankiw's Blog: Random Observations for Students of Economics.

Accidentally deleting your recycle bin in Vista

2009-04-21T23:03:00.001+02:00

Man, I just experienced something really stupid today.

I deleted my recycle bin in Vista! How in the #!!}! does that happen. What a stupid function.

Yes, I’m blowing off a little steam here ;)

WE HEART ASK-LEO.COM

But luckily after googling this incident I found out that I wasn’t the only poor sucker who’d run into this problem.

He he, look at this

And that’s not me posting the question ;)

THE SOLUTION

Either click on the image directly above or go to this post titled “I accidentally deleted my Recycle Bin in Vista - how do I get it back?” at ask-leo.com.

Then no sweat, problem solved. It’s a super easy solution. BUT ALSO A SUPER STUPID FUNCTION. Why do I hate Vista? Longing for the days back when XP Service Pack 2 was the hottest thing around ;) LOL ;)

Not much happening these days

2009-04-15T18:55:00.001+02:00

There’s nothing much happening these days, sorry, blog readers. I’m buried in my thesis writing. I’m just here at home working, I’ve got all my groceries, I’ve got no new financial situation or news.

Just all a bit boring right now ;)

But hopefully I’ll get back to you again soon with some exciting stories to tell. LOL, notice I say , I hope ;)

Will be talking to you all later!

Photo by: printmojo

Why did you name your blog what you did?

2009-04-12T17:11:00.001+02:00

This post is inspired by Fabulously Broke In The City’s explanation of why her blog is called what it’s called under a post titled “About FB: My Blog Name And How I Got It”.

So I decided I would do a similar blog entry and explain to you all how I ended up calling my blog what I did.

THE TITLE

“The Money Blog” came from the fact that the very first personal finance blog that I read and followed was Jonathan’s My Money Blog. And I’m a film student so I wanted my blog name to sound like a movie title. So the word “Revisited” was added. This comes from a mix of “Apocalypse Now Redux” and “Brave New World Revisited”.

I have to mention the movie title “Apocalypse Now Redux” as an early inspiration because my blog was actually for a short while named “The Money Blog Redux”. But I quickly changed this as this seemed a bit grim and gloomy for a blog title (mostly because it constantly was giving me associations to Marlon Brando, Vietnam and Napalm strikes) so I decided to change this.

“Brave New World Revisited” is the title of a book by Aldous Huxley that I remember seeing some eight years ago that is a non-fiction work discussing his fiction work “Brave New World”.

Both “Apocalypse Now Redux” and “Brave New World Revisited”, however, are retrospective attempts to look at something in the past with newer eyes.

I liked this whole idea of “returning” to the money blog with a new perspective – my own.

So that’s it, I guess. That’s how I came up with the name for this blog in front of you :)

THE QUOTE

Oh, and as a little extra, I can tell you that the quote on top “It’s all about bucks, kid. The rest is conversation” is from the 1987 movie Wall Street (I’m a film student, remember :) that I grew up with and loved. My brother’s a businessman today and this movie and our generation’s fascination with 80’s yuppies back then when we were kids definitely played no small role in that, on the contrary ;)

So what about your blog? Why did you name your blog what you did?

5 Things That I Waste Money On

2009-04-11T05:09:00.001+02:00

Inspired by Broke Grad Student’s post 5 Stupid Ways We Waste Money I decided to write a post of my own tackling the ways in which I waste money. Hence the astoundingly original title. Because knowing your weaknesses is, as they say, half the battle ;)

1. Misplacing stuff and then buying them again

This first bullet point on the list is taken straight off the BGS’s list and I think was probably the one that inspired me to make this post.

Because this really struck a cord with me. I lose stuff all the time. I buy new stuff to replace the stuff I’ve lost. Then I find the first stuff again between 3 mths. to 6 years (and counting…) later.

This is really a big one for me. I’ve got so much stuff and “extra” stuff. I didn’t realize this ‘till I recently started making calculations regarding how much to pay movers, how much to put stuff in storage, etc… if I was to move out.

A lot of money…

…out the window.

Photos by: Silvia Jansen & Josh Blake.

2. Going to the convenience store in the evenings instead of buying things at the supermarket during the day

Yes, another weakness.

I have a convenience store just literally 30 seconds outside my door. They’re open until 8:00 p.m.

But they’re prices are twice as expensive as in a normal supermarket. So you can really feel the difference in your wallet. But they’re just so darn handy, dammit.

The closest supermarket is situated 12 minutes away. And they close at 5 p.m.

And well, I guess those are my only 2 arguments against…it.

Photos by: Belgrade Cooperative Association.

3. Eating out and Coffee-On-The-Go

More vices.

Eating out to dinner, grabbing food on the run, and getting coffee-to-go are more ways I spend unnecessary money.

Photos by: pidjoe & Starbucks.

4. Not remembering to close the lights, unplug my charger, and other energy wasting activities

I’ve been considering setting up a timer that beeps every 3-4 hours just to get me to check around the apartment for lights that’ve forgotten to shut.

Because this is a recurring thing, that you do one day then perhaps forget the next. That you do in the mornings, then maybe forget in the evenings.

So a reminder is always nice.

Photos by: Trendir & Global B2B Network.

5. Buying stuff I don’t need

Yes, the sin of all sins.

Buying things we don’t need is the single most important weakness that we all have and need to be aware of.

If I had in my entire life never bought a single thing that I didn’t need.

Then I wouldn’t need to worry about personal finance for the rest of my life.

Photos by: Ryan Stephens, Maria Ink, Crystal Visions & Red Stapler Chronicles.

So here are the 5 things that I waste most of my money on. It’s good to take a long, hard look at the bad spending habits one has.

The better the chance of changing them.

___________________________________________________

"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something." - Jackie Mason

___________________________________________________

Take care of your kitchen appliances

2009-04-09T20:24:00.001+02:00

I have a water heater for when I drink tea or instant coffee. And also a coffee maker for when I want real coffee. But this post is however about the water heater.

I was making a cup of coffee the other evening when the water heater began to choke and sputter.

I remembered that I hadn’t cleaned my water heater for a while.

I also have very calcareous (chalky) water, so leaving a glass of water on the table overnight leaves a white chalky lining, that you can’t brush off by normal dishwashing, you have to use some decalcifier, or alternatively, normal household vinegar.

So I do this every so often with my dishes, cutlery, sink, etc.

But back to the water heater. I noticed it was coughing a bit so I realized that it was time to give it a once over.

Three easy steps to do so:

Pour in 3 cups of vinegar
Run the water heater once (with the vinegar)
Rinse the water heater afterwards by running it 2-3 times through with just plain water

If the chalky-ness is still there then repeat the process.

And if the chalky-ness is stubborn… then let the vinegar sit in the water heater for an hour or two before (just the actual contact with vinegar, not necessarily boiled vinegar, will begin to dissolve the chalk) and then run the water heater once (step 2) and rinse (step 3).

Here’s my saving tip for the day, lol, albeit done in a sort of Martha Stewart kind of way :)

Taking care of the appliances you have will save you money in the long run. You won’t have to shop for new ones on a regular basis just because they’ve conked out (or coughed, ahem, then conked out).

And another saving tip that was well-hidden but still present in this post is the using of vinegar to clean out your water heater instead of a liquid decalcifier. You can buy expensive brands of different liquid decalcifiers (which I often used before I found out this tip with the vinegar) but experience has shown me that not only is normal household vinegar cheaper, it’s also more effective.

Last however not least, it should also be said that this cleaning tip can be used for good old coffee machines as well as water heaters.

Take good care of them. They’re often times (especially for a thesis writer like me) you’re best buddies :)

My Net Worth: April 2009

2009-04-09T20:20:00.001+02:00

You see, there’s a reason I don’t talk too much about my net worth on a day to day basis or have a graph of my financial situation on the sidebar. I want to. And I did for a while. But it was too depressing, I had to take it down again.

Because as you’ll see below my net worth is in the red. And my debt (my student loans) is just increasing and increasing and increasing every month. Until I’m finished in 6 months.

So nothing too impressive to write about there.

In 6 months though when I’m finished studying and I get out and get a job, then there’ll be more exciting things to write about concerning my financial situation. Then I’ll have a more exciting goal: getting out of debt. (LOL, only we PF-bloggers would consider something like that exciting :)

But while right now it’s more in the lines of: save a lot to minimize debt, so I don’t have that much when I finally finish grad school.

However exciting or un-exciting this might be ;)

Well, there’s an update on my situation and net worth (negative net worth;)

Will be posting about something else in the weeks to come.

Well, at least until May :)

Update: Internet Service Provider

2009-04-06T16:58:00.007+02:00

I called my internet service provider today to lower my broadband speed. (To see why I had to do this you can read the original post here.)

I changed my speed from 12Mbit/1Mbit to the cheapest speed they had (which was 4Mbit/512kbit). And by doing this I save $6 every month. Which isn’t so much, yes granted. But it’s a “sacrifice” that I don’t notice. Because I honestly don’t notice the difference whether I’m using a 12Mbit or a 2Mbit speed. My needs are always the same, and these don’t seem to exceed the 2Mbit range :)

So I’m happy. I’m saving $6 every month by doing nothing really :) And those $6 will accumulate and save me a whole lot more in the long run! :)

Photos from: Ikobo Money Transfer and Tommy Hill.

How much do you spend on your internet bill?

Can you save money on it?

Taxes: Student Loan Interest Deduction

2009-04-06T16:58:00.001+02:00

I came across a comment in one of the blogs I read about being able to deduct the interest of one’s student loans in tax.

I had too google this to make sure that it also applied to me (I live in Europe so the specificities are always a bit different). And it looks like that this is the case, that I can do this.

I’m not due to be begin paying back my student loans until Jan. 2011. So the specificities regarding how and how much I’ll take a more thorough look at then.

But now I know that this is a possibility. This is great learning new (financial) things around the blogosphere.

Got a letter from my Internet Service Provider

2009-04-04T20:57:00.001+02:00

I got a letter from my internet service provider today.

And the title of the letter read: “Your broadband will be faster and a little more expensive”. Yes, it does actually say that. I couldn’t help laughing a bit and thinking ‘of course, not surprising one bit’. :)

The rest of the letter goes on to tell me that they will be increasing my broadband speed from 10 MB/1 Mbit to 12 MB/1 Mbit. And charging me of course for it. I can however still manage to revert to my old speed - and if I do it before June 30, 2009, it’s absolutely free. You can sense the irony I have in my voice here don’t you ;)

What a band of sneaky, low-life people behind such an endeavor.

They do this a couple of times a year. Switch my broadband speed to a something higher. It’s always free to begin with, so you won’t complain. Then they begin to charge you. However this time there’s no “free trial period”. It’s just up’ing it right away.

I’ve had this internet service provider for 2½ years and I ordered 2 MB/512 kbit back then. And I still want 2 MB/512 kbit now. But in the meantime they’ve managed to change my broadband speed probably 8-9 times. I’ve called them and changed it back 4-5 times. Whenever that I could see that I had to dish out more cash. And I’ll definitely be calling them about it this time (so I guess that’s 6 times then).

I just want an internet service provider that could give me 2 MB/512 kbit back then and keep giving the 2 MB/512 kbit until now. Steadily and stabile. Not all this up and down switching of prices and speeds. I pay my bills to them stable and steadily every month and have done so always throughout these past 2½ years with no exception. I’d at least think I deserve the the common decency to get this sort of stability in return. Man, if I paid my bills the way they switched their prices I’d definitely be going to court by now.

Well, I guess that’s just the way of the free market, and something we’ll have to live with. They have a right to change their prices as much as they want (and thank goodness for that:) as long as they give the consumers a choice - as to whether or not they want to buy the product.

They do make it difficult though ;) As difficult as possible. And sometimes as confusing and non-transparent as possible. But with a little critical judgement and old fashion common sense, you can very often quite quickly see and spot through all the bullsh*t and see what they’re really saying. And what it is they want. From you.

** Here’s a reminder to self to call them on Monday.

10 Ways To Save Money During The Spring

2009-04-03T07:44:00.001+02:00

It’s finally here. Springtime.

photos by: justinKnol & Mark Bolton

Yesiree, wonderful springtime.

Here’s 10 quick ways to save money in this wonderful season:

Let the light in. Pull back the curtains or pull up the shades. By letting the sunlight into your home you’re not only getting lots of important Vitamin D but also saving money on your electricity bill.
Use your green areas. By going outside and sitting either in your garden or perhaps in your local park to study, read or write you are not only saving money by not using your lights at home – you are undoubtedly also saving money by not being at home to watch television or surf the internet. (This requires naturally that you refrain from bringing your laptop :)
Eat outside. Everything tastes better outside. Somehow this seems to be the case. So take advantage of this by going on picnics, eating your dinner outside in the garden, and yes, even brown bagging your lunch at work and eating it outside. Eat outside a couple of times a week instead of going out to dinner at restaurants.
Go to the beach. If the weather permits it, hit the beach. Fun, energizing, and free!
Save on heating. Turn off the heating, that’s it. You’re done for this year.
Save on laundry. You don’t have to do anything for this. This comes naturally. Because as the spring arrives we automatically begin to use smaller, thinner garments. We can have more clothes per load in the washer and dryer at any given time during the spring compared to in the winter, saving us money on both electricity and water.
Dry your laundry outside. There’s even more to be saved if you refrain from using your dryer altogether and just simply hang your clothes to dry outside.
Take cold showers. Get refreshed and save money.
Spring Sales. Take advantage of the bargains at these spring sales. If you’re lucky then there’s a lot to be saved.
Garage sales. Have them or frequent them - either way your taking care of your money! :)

These are just 10 ways on how to save money during the spring right off the top of my head. Do you have any ideas?

iStockphoto, by shaunl

I’m back

2009-04-03T05:33:00.001+02:00

I’m back :) I’ve been gone for a little while, sorry ‘bout that. I’ve had to work on my thesis intensively these last few weeks.

But I have some time to say hi again now.

A couple of things have happened while I’ve been gone (that I wasn’t at all aware of until today):

First and foremost, both Tricia over at Blogging Away Debt, Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks and Fabulously Broke over at Fabulously Broke In The City have all added me to their blogrolls as finance blogging buddies. Wow! These are the very first blogrolls I’ve ever been added to :) ! So I am naturally very happy and excited about this! :)
Secondly, my incoming links have increased since last. I even did a post on this where I was so happy and gleeful about having 11 backlinks and 5 (on average) vistors a day. But now, as I did a check tonight, I could suddenly see that my backlinks had increased to 448(!). My jaw dropped!
And I have a new personal best - 7 on average vistors per day! This is quite cool! :) Glass half-full kind’a gal, lol :)

I’m still very much in absolute astonishment about these things. Wow! And thanks.

Will do my best to keep this trusty little blog up to date - despite my hardy writings elsewhere :)

(the elsewhere being Microsoft Word ;)

Renting A Small Room

2009-03-11T22:36:00.001+01:00

I’ve been thinking for a long time now to find a small room for rent and move (out of my apartment). I’d be doing this to save money on my rent as I finish grad school. Because since I’ve begun getting myself into debt (with student loans) last October then it’s beginning to look more and more like a good idea. And then I can stay there as I get my first job and then I can more easily (read as: more quickly) pay off my debt and start saving to buy an apartment. This is a really good idea.

However, it’s really difficult to find a cheap room these days as I’ve experienced first hand this week and the last (when I began to call and mail around). You’ve really got to be cutthroat fast and call as soon as you see a good, cheap place.

So I’m going to have to tighten my calling and searching skills these next few weeks as my search continues.

Got to be lightning fast.

I also have to talk to the company that administers my apartment. Because they state that they have a 3-month notice normally when terminating your lease, so I’m going to have to ask, what my options are.

I’ll get back to you and let you know how all this progresses at a later time.

How about all of you? How are you sitting with your rent and mortgages?

New Transparency In Retirement Fund Overview

2009-03-11T20:01:00.001+01:00

I got a letter today from my Retirement Fund. The letter stated of course how much money I had in there, but it also stated some new changes that they were beginning, but changes for the good. They are from now on going to make the overviews more detailed and more reader-friendly so to create a greater transparency for us (the individual customer) to be able to follow how much money there is in your retirment fund and what the individual fees are, and where they go to. When I read their new overview it was definitely a new and big improvement.

How To Cut Your Phone Bill In Half

2009-03-09T04:02:00.001+01:00

Why do so many of us rely on our mobile phones or landlines to make our calls when there is a far more economic solution available?

Today anyone can make phone calls over the internet using Skype. And it’s 100% free.

Skype can be used anywhere as long as you have access to the internet

AN OVERVIEW:

How does it work?
Why is the service free?
How is the sound quality?
Why are you recommending it?
What do I need?
How do I get started?

How does it work?

Skype is a peer-to-peer program that uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to allow you to talk to other Skype users using only your computer (naturally, with internet access).

Why is the service free?

Basically, there are 2 types of Skype calls. Skype-to-Skype (also sometimes known as SkypeIn) and SkypeOut.

The first type of call, Skype-to-Skype, is free because it just uses your internet access (think of it as “computer-to-computer”) to transmit the audio.

The second type of call however, SkypeOut, costs money because it provides you the opportunity to use your computer’s internet access to connect to landlines or mobile phones.

The service I’m recommending here is the free option, Skype-to-Skype.

How is the sound quality?

The sound quality is excellent.

Why are you recommending it?

I’ve been using Skype (Skype-to-Skype) for 2 years now and I wanted to share this money saving tip with everyone. I can truly and warmly recommend it. My Dad has it installed on his computer as well so every time we want to talk (we talk a lot, a couple of times a week and very often longer than 1 hour), one of us would just send a text message to the other saying something like “skype tonight at 8:30”. Then at 8:30 we are able to talk to each other for as long as we want - absolutely free. This has really saved both me and my Dad probably hundreds of dollars on our phone bills.

What do I need?

The only thing you need is a pair of earphones and a microphone. Or alternatively you can use a headset, a VoIP-phone or Wi-Fi phone, or you could even replace your earphones and use your good old fashion speakers. I would highly discourage this last suggestion though unless you want your neighbors to hear your entire phone conversation. But you can try it out for fun. I sure did.

How do I get started?

Visit Skype and sign up. Absolutely free. They have a simple installation setup that will take 3 minutes. And then you’re done. Go ahead and begin skyping.

Just don’t forget to tell your family and friends to get it too, or else it doesn’t do you much good.

Enjoy many years of happy skyping!

Want to know more about Skype visit VoIP Reviews Online where they give Skype a once over with a fine-tooth comb. And 4 out of 5 stars on top of that.

A New Personal Best

2009-03-09T03:59:00.001+01:00

Wohoo!!! I have 11 backlinks and 5 (on average) visitors a day. Yesireee, this blog is growing. Wow, the simple joys we have in life ;) Like obsessively checking one’s backlinks and StatCounter 7 times a day ;)

The Global Rich List

2009-03-08T10:58:00.001+01:00

Check out a site that I came across!

It’s called the Global Rich List. And what it does is, it compares what your earnings are with others people’s earnings. And tells you how rich you are, globally speaking.

Just type in your annual income in your currency and watch the results as the tool calculates in what percentage of the world’s population of wealthy people you’re in.

4 Very Simple Ways That Taking Care Of My Plants Has Saved Me Money

2009-03-07T20:37:00.001+01:00

Who would’ve known that taking care of one’s plants actually saves you money. And keeps you happy.

Photo from: www.inhabitat.com .

Taking care of my little green plants has saved me lots of $$

1. Your costs for continually buying new plants goes down. Being a single girl with lots of other commitments in my life, watering my plants wasn’t always one of them. I’d continually forget to do this, meaning I’d continually need to restock on plants. Taking care of these little green things has now saved me tons in expenses. I don’t use fancy fertilizers or the sort, just good old fashioned water.

2. Plants are cheaper than pets. I’d like to have a dog one day probably when I get a husband and kids, but having one now, would be downright harsh for the poor thing, I’m hardly ever home, I don’t have enough money to pay for its vet bills, I wouldn’t have the money to pay for its food or grooming let alone other extra expenses. Having plants in this point in my life is what I need. I can be away for days at a time, and all they need is some water and some sunshine. Then they’re happy. And in turn make me happy by brightening up my apartment and a little part of my life.

3. You can give plants as presents. If your out of ideas and money – then you can always cut a little sprout off your plant (or alternatively a flower or two) and give these as a present. And if you have a cute little container (and I’m sure you do) that you have stashed away in your basement or in the back of your closet, then this will make a charming and creative little pot or vase.

4. You can use little sprouts to make new plants. When you feel the urge to have more plants in your home, then instead of buying them at the store you can just use the little sprouts from the plants that you already have. That is, if you’ve taken care of the one’s you already have ;)

So here are the 4 ways that taking care of my plants has ended up saving me money.

Maybe you have more and other experiences with this…? Please feel free to share them with me!

Over the past 2 years…

2009-03-07T17:18:00.001+01:00

Over the past 2 years I’ve noticed a considerable amount of motivation loss when it came to studying – simply because I’ve been studying for quite some time now.

So time and again whilst writing my exam papers I would search for motivational resources on the web and get tips and pointers on how to boost motivation and get things done.

So as a thank you and as my own contribution to the big, bustling online world of motivational tips. I’ve structured these 2 posts on my other blog The Everyday Life Of A College Student And Her Thesis that you’re more than welcome to read.

The list will no doubt get longer these months as I continually will have to battle the ups and downs of writing a thesis – and I’ll no doubt share with you the motivational and productivity tips and tricks that I learn along the way.

‘Till next time.

-DH

Thesis Update

2009-03-07T01:20:00.001+01:00

I’m going to be focusing a lot on my thesis here on the blog during the next months.

Just to warn you ;)

But I’ve also set up 2 other blogs, one is called Thesis Update where I’ll be tracking my progress, and the other one is called The Everyday Life Of A College Student And Her Thesis where I’ll be mostly writing about motivation, getting things done and the whole writing process. I’ll never be mentioning or discussing my subject at any point whatsoever. I will only be documenting the journey. You’re more than welcome to join me on it.

-DH

The one thing that stands between me and money

2009-03-07T00:49:00.001+01:00

The one thing that stands between me and money right now is my thesis.

I’ve got to get it written and handed in. The estimated time for this is 6 months.

6 months of racking up debt.

6 months of not having a full-time job.

This thesis is the killer of my finances right now ;)

So the best way to remedy my finances right now is just to get it written and handed in so that I can go out and get a job, start earning some money, and begin paying back my debt.

IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THIS. JUST GET IT DONE.

‘Saving Challenge’ Review And Recap

2009-03-06T19:05:00.001+01:00

Today is the last day of my own personal Saving Challenge. I started this challenge on Jan. 30, 2009 as a way of paying attention to my saving and spending habits. This post will be documenting the journey:

Saving Challenge Day # 1: Turning down the heat. I turned down the heat half a notch in all my rooms.

CURRENT STATUS: This challenge has been “on-and-off”, literally, because some days I’ve had to turn the heat up again and on others I’ve turned them down again. But right now 2 out of my 3 heaters are turned down half a notch.

Saving Challenge Day # 2: Staying At Home. I needed to get some work done so on that Saturday I stayed home all day and all night working, which in turn, saved me money.

CURRENT STATUS: I’ve actually taken this tip to heart a couple of times since then. And this weekend I’ll be using it, as I need to get a lot of work done on my Master’s thesis.

Saving Challenge Day # 3: Switching off appliances on standby. I switched off all my appliances on standby.

CURRENT STATUS: Appliances still off standby!

Saving Challenge Day # 4: Talk a little less, text a little more. I implemented texting instead of talking.

CURRENT STATUS: This has also been an “on-and-off” gig. Somedays I’ve texted a lot (instead of talking) and somedays I couldn’t be bothered and resorted to talking (making phone calls) instead. But all in all I still talk for very little a month less than 100 (less than $20) so I am constantly trying to keep my phone expenses down to that.

Saving Challenge Day # 5: Savings container for your spare change. I implemented the use of a container to put away one’s spare change.

CURRENT STATUS: Ok, this is one challenge that I definitely fell off. Being a debit card person (and the keyword here is card) I don’t ever have any cash on me, let alone spare change. So the little jar I found and appointed as my new little piggy bank is in the same corner as it was put that day with not a coin in it.

Saving Challenge Day # 6: Comparing prices. I needed to by some materials for my university so on that day I compared many different prices to get the best deal.

CURRENT STATUS: This is again an “on/off” thing. This varies depending on how big a purchase I’m making and also on how much time I have.

Saving Challenge Day # 7: Saving On Paper & Ink. A couple of tips on how to save money on paper & ink. Like not using double-spacing, printing on both sides (for drafts), reusing your already-printed-on paper as small square pieces of scrap paper, and finally, jot down instead of print out. As for ink, print in “draft mode”.

CURRENT STATUS: I haven’t printed anything out since I handed in that last exam paper last Monday. Which, I guess, is a good thing is terms of saving paper and ink ;)

Saving Challenge Day # 8: Where were you when the lights went out? A light bulb in my kitchen went out and I decided that in the spirit of saving money I would leave it be since I had another lamp in the kitchen that I could use.

CURRENT STATUS: I put a new bulb in the following day because my heating guy was coming to check the heaters including the one in the kitchen. So I replaced the bulb so that he could have some light in the room to read my heating meters.

Saving Challenge Day # 9: Turn Off The Lights, Dammit! I noticed that ALL my lights were on in my entire apartment. And so during the course of the blog post, I shut them all down.

CURRENT STATUS: I’m taking this tip to heart and the lights in the kitchen and bathroom are at present time all shut off.

Saving Challenge Day # 10: If you ride it, then get a discount. I talk about the advantages of buying weekly or monthly bus passes/train passes instead of buying individual tickets.

CURRENT STATUS: I have a monthly bus/train pass that I have just used today.

So all in all this ‘saving challenge’ journey has lasted 36 days. It’s been the first of its kind that I’ve tried out, and I must honestly say that the value of it has been priceless.

It’s made me see saving in a fun light, has continually sparked my creativity when it came to saving both as I sat here by the computer but very much as well as I went grocery shopping or book hunting or when I made phone calls.

The awareness of money and saving during these weeks have truly been valuable and have helped me in more ways than one.

So this ‘saving challenge’ was a great and fun experience that I’ll no doubt pick up again and start a new series on at a later time.

For now, thanks for reading.

‘Till next time.

Saving Challenge Day # 10

2009-03-06T17:36:00.001+01:00

Saving Tip # 10: If you ride it, then get a discount

This last post on my ‘Saving Challenge’ series is going to be about transportation.

I myself ride the bus and take the train everyday – yes, I don’t have a car - and if you take the bus or train often then there are always discounts you can take advantage of. To buy 1 ticket is naturally always more expensive than if you buy a bus pass for an entire week, month or whole year.

I usually buy bus passes for one month at a time. That way I can easily choose to skip those months that I don’t get outdoors very much – for example during exam periods. Then it’s cheaper for me to just buy individual tickets on the few occasions that I do get out. Rule of thumb is if I use busses/trains more than 15 days a month, then there’s money to be saved by buying a monthly pass.

Try it out, yourself, if you use public transportation. Calculate how much you can save by using weekly or monthly bus passes.

So this is the saving tip that I’ve used today (and will be using everyday this month).

Bus Photo by: Aaron Naparstek / Train Photo from website: www.cs.kuleuven.be

Declutter - And Earn Money

2009-03-05T21:51:00.001+01:00

In an article on Money Watch called How Much Money Is Lying Around Your House? the author talks about how you can declutter your house one room at a time – and then sell the things you find you no longer need on Ebay to generate some extra cash.

Now we all know this, however, I’ve never sold anything on Ebay myself (I’ve bought a few things though :) This article struck a cord with me, however, because I liked the thought of cleaning out all my old stuff AND earning money.

Especially since recently I’ve been thinking a lot about all the stuff I have in my basement, and how I have a feeling that a lot of it is rather useless for me and really just kept for sentimental reasons.

This Ebay tip sure sounds pretty useful. I’ll have to look into this some more.

Saving Challenge Day # 9

2009-03-05T20:23:00.001+01:00

Saving Tip # 9: Turn Off The Lights, Dammit!

Yes, turning off the lights to save on your electricity bill – an oldie but goodie.

I’m adding this as a saving tip because I noticed just now that ALL the lights in my entire apartment are ON.

And I live in a studio apartment(!) So it ain’t that big.

But somehow I managed to turn on (and keep on) all the lights. Both the one in the bathroom, the 2 in the kitchen and the 1 over by my tv.

That’s 4 lamps – and I only have 5.

They’re all shut down now.

There’s a reason why people keep mentioning this as a saving tip and that’s because people continually forget to do this.

I’m no better…

So this is what I’m doing/have done today.

The heating guy

2009-03-05T15:34:00.001+01:00

The heating guy from my building came by today to do the annual check of our building’s heating consumption. He checked my heaters and whether or not I’ve used more or less than the estimated amount for the year then I’ll either get an extra heating bill or get some money back. I’ll know next week.

Luxury Cars Can’t Sell

2009-03-04T17:48:00.001+01:00

I read an article on the Wall Street Journal today that luxury car manufacturers are having problems selling their cars. This doesn’t seem surprising when you think about how the state of things are in the world economically right now. But according to the article, historically, luxury car makers have been less affected by economic downturns. It’s only because the global economic crisis that we’re experiencing is so massive that also they too are now affected.

But the most striking thing about all this is that earlier today while I was surfing around the internet I came across an article on Technabob about an amphibious Lamborghini Countach (wow!) built by Mike Ryan of SeaRoader.

So being curious and wanting to know more about this super cool car I looked up SeaRoader.

And here’s the webpage I was met with

Due to other business commitments the Worldwide manufacturing & design rights to SeaRoader are now for sale at a lower price!

Click on the business opportunities link.

The Worlds #1 Production Amphibious Car

SeaRoader

What the ##??! They’re selling their manufacturing and design rights?!! Meaning their selling their entire business. That spelled from the get-go that they were in a rough spot, but then again how big is the market for amphibious cars normally, and then how big is it during a global financial meltdown. I guess they were bound to be one of the first luxury car manufacturers to go.

So when I read that article in the Wall Street Journal my heart sort of bled for poor SeaRoader and the rest of the brands that we know and love and hope to one day buy.

I hope good old BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. (yes, you know the names ;) make it through this.

I still have my eyes set on one of them. Maybe I’ll even go with the amphibious version ;)

A look at my financial situation

2009-03-04T16:38:00.001+01:00

Ok, it’s been a while since I took a look at my financial situation here on the blog.

The last time I did this was when I was just starting this blog back in July 2008 (last summer). But a lot has changed since then.

So here’s a recap/summary:

I owe 33,000 ($6,600) to my dad. He helped me pay my rent for 3 months.
I owe 20,520 ($4,104) in student loans. I just took out my first loans in January 2009.
So my debt total (so far) is 53,520 ($10,704).

And I say so far…

Because I had to quit my job back in the fall to study full-time. So until I finish my Master’s thesis at the university (estimated 6 months from now) I won’t have any earnings or income whatsoever. I’ll be living on and racking up some killer debt.

So that’s also the main reason why I haven’t really talked about my finances these past months on the blog. I’ve just been talking about saving, saving, saving (as opposed to in july when I was talking a lot about earning and job hunting and working - you can notice a striking difference in the posts). It’s because I myself (and of course my family) knew how bad it looked, but I didn’t want everyone else in cyberspace knowing how bad it looked.

But I guess blogging is about honesty, and sharing your life and struggles and putting it out there. Even when it goes bad. I think I’m still learning this hard circumstance about blogging.

But ultimately, I might sound a little down and out today, but the fact of the matter remains that I know (and remind myself) that this financial hole is merely temporary. And that when I’m finished with college I’ll be earning some money. I have to keep my sights on that. And normally I do. You just caught me on a bad day :)

So that’s how the money situation looks like today.

But just for the fun and humor in it, here’s a graph to show the inevitable downfall of my finances the next months.

Hopefully, I can look back on all this in half a year and smile and laugh a bit. You’ve got to “always look on the bright side of life”, as Monty Python would sing.

And heck, people all around the world have it much worse than me. I should be thankful I’ve got a roof over my head, food, heating(!), clean water and a great supportive family.

So I’m hopeful, confident and will be working damn hard to make it through the next 6 months.

Got money back

2009-03-04T15:54:00.001+01:00

On a brighter note, I got some money back. I got 3,778.26 (roughly $755.50) back, so that’s quite a nice sum. It’s actually a system where they take a small amount of your paycheck every month and put it aside for “vacation money”, and in March every year you get a check saying that you can cash it out now. So you always feel very happy when this arrives. ‘Cause you’ve pretty much forgotten about it the entire year, and suddenly you always get “extra” money every March/April. Which is actually yours to begin with, don’t ask me, why they hold it back, but nonetheless, it’s always very cheery and feel-goody when it comes through the door.

So great news today.

And if I get slammed/pulverized by that extra heating bill next week. Then at least I have some “extra” money now to pay it off.

Heating

2009-03-04T15:30:00.001+01:00

The heating guy’s going to come tomorrow to check my radiators and note whether I’ve used more or less than the expected amount for the entire year. He does this once a year in my entire apartment building. If I’ve used less than the estimated amount, I get money back, but if I’ve used more, I have to pay extra to make up for the difference. I sure hope that I’m within the estimated amount. It’s been a damn cold winter though. Hmmm… I’ll know the final results next week. I’ll post the results here, and let you know how it went. I don’t think I did too well this year, though.

Saving Challenge Day # 8

2009-03-04T10:16:00.001+01:00

Saving Tip # 8: Where were you when the lights went out?

A bulb in my kitchen met it’s end last night. And after it fizzed out and I was tempted to change it, having a spare in my cabinet, I realized that I didn’t really need 2 lamps in my kitchen right now.

It’s really handy when I have guests over and I want to brighten the place up.

But right now, in the spirit of saving money and living frugally, I’ll manage with the one tiny lamp.

Ha ha, what we college students won’t do to save a buck here and there :)

So that’s what I’ve been up to today.

Saving Challenge Day # 7

2009-03-02T08:03:00.001+01:00

Saving Tip # 7: Save On Paper & Ink

Today as I was printing my exam paper out it struck me how much paper goes into such a thing. Sheet after sheet after sheet after sheet…

And with the university rules stating that there must me 1½ line spacing throughout the entire paper I was thinking that I could’ve printed the same paper out in 28 pages rather than 42.

So in saving paper there are 4 things (off the top of my head) that you definitely can do:

Unless university or other rules state so then no need to use 1½ or double line spacing
If your printing out unimportant stuff like bus schedules, first drafts, quick recipes, etc. you can print on both sides of the paper – cutting your paper costs in half
Cut out the paper you’ve already printed on (both sides) into small square cards with a scissors. Then when you need a small scrap paper to write down a phone number or the like, then you always have some handy.
Printer paper is always more expensive than normal lined paper. If you don’t need the entire map of your friend’s street but just the address instead of printing it out consider jotting it down on a small piece of scrap paper instead.

Another thing you can save on is ink.

A quick tip here is naturally to print your documents out in “draft mode”. This mode again uses half the normal dosage, meaning you save half your ink cartridge expenses.

I used this tip today when printing out my exam papers. I did it today mostly because I was running short on ink, hadn’t had the time to buy a new ink cartridge, and was simply afraid that I didn’t have enough for the whole exam paper. Fortunately I did.

But actually I have (almost) always printed out in draft mode everytime I’ve handed in an exam paper. Both to save money (those ink cartridges are quite expensive) and also just because I happen to like the more subdued “look” of the draft mode prints. To each his own, I guess.

And, most importantly, because it’s faster to print out in draft mode. I forgot that important fact. Never underestimate this. This is truly a great thing!

So that’s what I’ve been doing today to save money in my personal finances.

“Global Recession - where did all the money go?”

2009-03-01T14:23:00.001+01:00

On The Guardian’s website under the title “Global Recession - where did all the money go?” you can take a look at this flash presentation named “The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme Explained”. It’s is a very good and interesting explanation on the global economic meltdown.

BlackBerry Bullet Shows Apple Who’s Boss!

2009-02-28T14:03:00.001+01:00

This is a cool video I found today when surfing the web. I myself have neither a BlackBerry or a Mac (I’m a frugal college student :) but I think this video is hilarious and very cool.

Why Commenting On Other People’s Blogs Won’t Improve Your Google Page Rank

2009-02-28T01:18:00.001+01:00

There’s a common misconception out there that commenting on other people’s blogs will get you incoming links (backlinks) that will improve your Page Rank within Google.

This isn’t true. I learnt this the hard way.

Let me say from the get go that there are two types of blogs. Those that are self-hosted (they own their own domain) and those that are hosted for free (i.e. Blogspot, Wordpress).

Commenting on self-hosted blogs – No Problem

Commenting on blogs that are hosted for free (i.e. Blogspot, Wordpress) – Big Problem!!!

At least when it comes to gaining a bit of Google Page Rank in the process.

As I said earlier I learnt this the hard way.

THE ROOKIE MISTAKE

I’m still a rookie when it comes to blogging only having started my own blog 7 months ago. So my best bet to get site traffic was through commenting on other people’s blogs. A common and well-meaning piece of advice that is floundering around the blogosphere.

So there I was… happy as a clam… commenting away…

Not spamming, mind you, but actual commenting, in my delightful, intelligent and witty way. Being supportive and encouraging.

I did a site search on my own blog in Yahoo recently (this was the first time I tried this - only having done site searches on Google before) when to my dismay –and horror– realized that my site only had 2(!!) incoming links. Those that I posted on a self-hosting blog. The rest, as they say, were…well, gone with the wind.

This shocked me a bit so naturally I googled around for a while and sure enough I found the information I was looking for.

“DO FOLLOW” BLOGS AND “NO FOLLOW” BLOGS

You see evidently there’s a system (which I didn’t know of) that Google (meaning Blogspot) and Wordpress implement.

They attach a “No Follow” tag for URLs (that is, your http://www.yoursitename.com/) in blog comments as a standard. This means that all the URLs in their blog comments are ignored, overlooked and just simply not paid any darn attention to at all.

This was of course implemented back then to stop or at least minimize spamming.

However, spamming hasn’t stopped and it sort of discourages simple folk like me to comment on Blogspot and Wordpress blogs now that I know about it. I don’t think they meant for that. I hope not.

The answer to this problem however is simple. “Do Follow” our blogs!

This means that we enable URLs in our comments to be picked up by Google spiders thereby giving others a chance to increase their incoming links and thereby their Google Page Rank. And in the end through both the links and the better Page Rank ultimately we help others generate traffic to their site.

BLOGSPOT

Here’s a very simple step by step guide by The Blog Doctor named Remove No Follow Attribute On Comments that will help you to easily change your Blogspot blog from a “No Follow” to a “Do Follow”.

Afterwards to avoid spam change the settings in your blog so that you will now moderate your comments. Here’s a step by step guide on how to do this called How do I moderate comments on my blog? from the Blogspot Help pages.

WORDPRESS

For Wordpress Users there’s a “Do Follow” plug-in. You just install it.

And as for spam you will need to use a spam filter called Akismet. Or alternatively also moderate your comments. A quick guide on how to do so can be found in this eHow article called How To Moderate Comments On A Wordpress Blog.

___________________________________________________

And if you want to know more about “Do Follow” blogs and the whole “Do Follow” blog “movement” (not my words:) in general then read the post Why “Do Follow”? on dofollowblogs.com.

So what do you think? Show me the comments!

6 Fun Facts About Me

2009-02-25T04:01:00.001+01:00

I'm going to be going off-topic here and let you know a little more about me.

The last song I listened to was Phil Ochs' "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore"

The last movie I saw was "The Constant Gardener" (dir.:Fernando Meirelles) last night

I am a Film Studies major
I began blogging 7 months ago. You're looking at it. This is my very first blog.
I got a website recently because I finally dared to jump into the html and css domain. The site's still under construction, but I'll let you know when it's up and running. It's of course about film.
I love movies, music and technology.

That was it. A quick post here from me.

Books, books, books

2009-02-19T20:18:00.001+01:00

Being a student you can’t come around it – you’ll need books. And loads of them.

But college books are expensive. I mean really expensive. And being on a tight budget already, it’s really difficult.

So a few money saving tips in regards to books.

There are basically 4 options you have in regards to saving money on books:

Buy new at student discount prices
Buy used
Borrow at library
Borrow from a friend

Buy new at student discount prices I present this as the first option, but really, you should consider it as your last. Buying new books will always be the most expensive option. Below I present some alternatives. However on occasion you will probably for whatever reason need to buy your books brand new. In these cases always ask if there’s a student discount. Always. I mean it. Make this your mantra when buying new books.

Buy used If you really need to buy the book then consider buying it second hand. There are great options for doing so. You can buy it used at the bookstore, from a friend or (here’s my personal favorite) on the internet. Websites like Amazon or eBay are great for buying cheap second hand books.

Borrow at the library This is a classic. If you’re only going to use the book once (say for example on a specific term paper) then this is really a good idea. Just be careful about return fees! Keep a close watch on when your books are supposed to be returned. Because return fees are really just an unnecessary expense out of your pocket. Because they can always be avoided, you just gotta hand your books in on time. Then the service is free.

Borrow from a friend If your friend’s got a book you need and he’s not reading it at the time. Ask him, nicely. If it’s ok you borrow it. There can be variations on this as well, like book-swapping - he buys one book for the course, you buy another, and you swap regularly. Another alternative is that you split the expense of the book 50%-50%. That way you still save money by buying the book at half-price. There is only one warning that needs to be heeded here! That is, you have to make sure that the friend you’re swapping/sharing with doesn’t have the same day rhythm or study habits as you. In other words, if you’re a night person then find a day person to swap with. If you’re a day person find a night person to share books with. I’ll bet you, that chances are a 100%, that the two of you will never need the books at the same time.

Dubai’s financial crisis: the fall of the economic giant

2009-02-13T05:19:00.001+01:00

I have been fascinated with Dubai for quite a few years now and have always dreamt of going there and experiencing first hand their excessively expensive lifestyle, luxurious hotels and lush attractions. However a recent article in The New York Times shows me that I’ll never get to experience that because those times are now over in Dubai and a new desperate reality has set in:

“With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.

The government says the real number is much lower. But the stories contain at least a grain of truth: jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month.

That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai — once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East — looking like a ghost town.”

These times are really crushing everyone, everywhere.

Saving Challenge Day # 6

2009-02-13T04:25:00.000+01:00

Saving Tip # 6: Comparing prices
To compare prices thoroughly both in the stores and online is a must. Why pay more for the same item if you can get it for half the price someplace else?

It takes a little more time. And a little more “legwork” (physically or digitally). But the monetary benefits are definitely worth it.

I had to use this tip today as I had to buy some materials related to my university. And it’s actually sometimes quite surprising how huge the difference in pricing sometimes can be. I experienced that first hand today.

And naturally, I can honestly say now at the end of the day, that I most certainly got a bargain for my purchases.

So this is what I’ve been doing today.

Saving Challenge Day # 5

2009-02-09T03:11:00.001+01:00

Saving Tip # 5: Savings container for your spare change
Many of us grew up with piggy banks but later on abandoned the concept again. I know I did because I somehow stopped believing that those small amounts of coins could really buy me my heart's expensive desires. However on Thriftyfun.com people who are using this technique can be the first ones to tell both you and me the large items they've bought (a vacation or a new sofa) or the surprising amounts they've saved (anywhere between $150-$950) just using this simple tip.

So anything goes. A new piggy bank or an old jar. Just do it.

Save your spare change in a container and empty it out into a savings account every year. You'll soon see how a lot of small amounts accumulate into larger ones.

So this is my savings tip for the day. I've got to go find myself an old and sturdy jar now. See you tomorrow.

Thesis

2009-02-09T03:06:00.000+01:00

I'm beginning my thesis now. I probably won't have that much time for writing on this blog but I'll do my best. Alternatively, I've created another blog called Thesis Update that will be my thesis blog. I've found that in earlier blogs that I've created to help me with my focus and progress on different university papers that they have truly helped my productivity. So that is why I've decided to create one for my thesis as well. It's a great way to hold yourself accountable. So if you're curious where I'm spending most of my time these days asides from Microsoft Word then take a look here.

Weekly Update

2009-02-09T02:39:00.000+01:00

It's been over a week now since I've started this Saving Day Challenge and so taking a brief look at how I've been doing is naturally an important part of the process.

This is my first weekly update.

Saving Challenge Day # 1: Turning down the heat
The heat is still turned down half a notch in all the rooms.

Saving Challenge Day # 2: Staying at home
Naturally this tip can't be done everyday. But once in a while in the spirit of saving money I'll remember this tip and take it to heart.

Saving Challenge Day # 3: Switching off appliances on standby
Appliances still off standby.

Saving Challenge Day # 4: Talk a little less, text a little more
Using the phone less. See the reason why on the original post at Saving Challenge Day # 4: Talk a little less, text a little more.

So all in all it's been a very good week.

Saving Challenge Day # 4

2009-02-07T01:19:00.000+01:00

Saving Tip # 4: Talk a little less, text a little more

I know, I know, believe me, I know. Making a quick phone call is often more tempting than writing a text message. For me, that's very often the case.

Making a phone call is more personable, it's faster and I can even walk on busy streets and climb stairs while I do it (which is not the case for texting, I often lose my balance, especially, if they're a particularly long case of stairs).

Yes, making a phone call and say, for instance, doing the dishes at the same time is absolutely heaven for the multi-tasker.

But hell for the bill payer.

I think that we all know that 1 minute of talking is more expensive than 1 minute of texting (4 times more in my case, with my specific phone company). So there's a lot to be saved here.

It's just always been convenience (or rather, inconvenience) that has nudged me in one particular direction.

So this is what I've been doing all day today.

And I'll tell you something that I've learnt... what I've noticed is that there's a real bonus in this tip, for all of us who dislike texting. I've realized that I'm using my phone less because I really do dislike text messaging and I'm beginning to think long and hard before I start a text-conversation with anyone whether the conversation is really important or just a way to pass the time.

So let's take a look at this for a second. You're saving money per minute and using your phone less. It's a win-win situation.

Saving Challenge Day # 3

2009-02-02T17:30:00.000+01:00

Saving Tip # 3: Switching off appliances on standby
According to Big Green Switch 8 - 10% of a normal household's energy consumption is due solely to appliances that are on standby. While a study made by The University Of California estimates that the figure is anywhere between 6% - 26%.

By unplugging these appliances you can obviously save a noticable sum on your electricity bill every year. And without actually having to do much except plug them out once.

You can also use something like a timer or standby buster or the sort. This will help you out even further.

Another plus side is naturally that you are saving money while at the same time helping the environment.

So this is what I'm doing today.

Saving Challenge Day # 2

2009-02-01T06:52:00.000+01:00

Saving Tip # 2: Staying at home
Now naturally don't stay at home if you have to go to work or attend a close friend's birthday party. But once in a while, if you're trying to save money, it's a good idea to stay within your own four walls. To resist the temptations of window shopping, coffee-on-the-go, and many other various pitfalls that you might be prone to once you step outside and into the city streets.

At home you don't spend any money and here you can get a lot of the things done you need to.

I needed to get some work done so I decided to stay at home today and tonight (on this Saturday evening) so that I could finish the work and on top of that save money too in the process.

This little tip turned out to be handy for me as it saved me money and increased my productivity.

So this is how I saved money today.

Saving Challenge Day # 1

2009-01-31T08:43:00.000+01:00

Saving Tip # 1: Turning down the heat

I love the warmth and to be nice and snug during the winter. However, I realized that if I turned all my heating down just half-a-notch in every room, and instead wore two pairs of socks and warmer clothes, I could be saving a noticable amount a year on heating alone.

So this is what I'm doing today.

Saving and Spending

2009-01-31T08:13:00.000+01:00

Ok, so one thing I'm going to be focusing on in the next few weeks is saving. In the purest, quintessential sense: not spending.

Spending is something I, unfortunately, like many other people enjoy doing. Not to the extreme, mind you. But still, spending will be always more fun to me than not spending.

So for the next weeks I've given myself a challenge. Because spending/saving is something that can be dealt with right now and on a day to day basis, I've decided to lay my focus there.

The challenge is a simple one, but hopefully it will be highly effective.

Everyday I will be thinking of a new way to save money. And most importantly I will be implementing it.

Each day I'll be posting the saving tip here on the blog.

My tips won't be new or groundbreaking eye-openers. You will probably have heard them all before. But the most important thing is in the doing. And sometimes, even if I know all these things, I forget to do them. And that's my weakness. And that's what this personal blog challenge is all about. To remind myself and to spark my creativity when it comes to thinking up ways to try and save money. To be aware of my spending/saving habits and last but not least to do something to save money.

If you've got any good saving tips of your own that you'd like to share then you're more than welcome to let me know. Thanks!

2009-01-29T03:03:00.000+01:00

So here I am back at the keyboard again typing away. I've got another site to show everyone that I happened to stumble upon today. I was reading other people's personal finance blogs when I realized that there's an entire blog hosting site dedicated to just that, it's called Personal Finance Blogs - Real People, Real Finances and their mission statement is as follows:

"Welcome to Real People, Real Finances, a place where you can blog about your personal finances among the supportive help of others. Writing about your money and money management is an effective way to help keep your personal finances in order and attain your money goals. Join our network of personal finace bloggers and share your thoughts, issues, goals and daily musings about your personal finances and money today."

There one can blog with other like-minded people about money, life and the sort. It's a pretty smart idea. I might myself at a later time create another My Money blog there, and maybe transform this one into a more personal blog, who knows. But right now I can't manage a multitude of blogs and do all the other things I have to do. So I'm quite content with this little blog I have going here.

It gives me the space I need to say what I want to say.

2009-01-28T08:27:00.000+01:00

I've found this great website that I want to share with everyone, it's called The Frugal Law Student. The name should say it all. And actually another blogger down here on Blogspot has done a short, clever & excellent review on it. Check out the review here at Law Career Blog. Whether your a law student or not The Frugal Law Student site is an insightful, entertaining and humourous site that I think a lot of us can relate to. Go check it out.

2009-01-28T07:07:00.000+01:00

I've been gone for a long time and I'm finally back. Been gone for some months. It's all due to the killer exams I've had to take this semester. I've had to write two 25-page exam papers, hand in a big project and last but not least take an oral exam. All this in 4 months. Needless to say, I've had a couple of pretty tough months. But all this is over and finished. I managed it. Now the only thing that's left is my thesis. I'll be starting work on that when the University re-opens on February 1.

2008-07-22T17:59:00.000+02:00

I've started on my new job. And it's going really well. Not much time to blog these days, since I'm working 2 jobs and trying to get some school work done in the evenings. But it's only now during the summer vacation that I can work this much. If ever there was a time to work and save up some money it's now. I won't have half as much time when we reach the fall.

2008-07-18T00:36:00.001+02:00

New Job

2008-07-17T23:45:00.000+02:00

I've got good news. I got a new job today! More hours, more pay and just an all-round better job. This blog has really helped me out so far. Staying focused about job hunting, writing about it everyday, thinking about it everyday, motivating myself everyday and just really taking action everyday were in the end the things that landed me this job. I'm really happy right now. I will be working 2 jobs at the moment - one during the week and the older one can be limited to the weekends. After the summer I'll be quitting the older one. Then it's back to college - 5th and final year - and the new job at the same time. That's going to be...hmm...let me say very exciting time management-wise... :)

Money and the Issue

2008-07-17T04:07:00.000+02:00

During the next few days I'll be setting my sights on the money issue again. These past days have mostly been focused upon my working days (earning money) and job hunting (earning more money). So a lot of blogging about these things. But before long I'll have to face the facts and write down black-on-white an updated, realistic (gulp...) budget. And see where I can earn and save especially. Not looking forward to that, at all. I know the looks of that budget aren't going to be too pretty with the current job I'm in right now. But I guess someone's got to take a look at it. And no one else to do it but me.

Pics of my work place

2008-07-17T03:27:00.000+02:00

I took some pictures today of my work place during my break. It looks kind of like a ghost town I must admit on the picture below but I guess cause that's because everyone is up inside. Well except for me at this time. I guess I better explain that we have different/flexible break times.

Looking now at the picture of the front door of our office...hmm...that just takes the inspiration right out of your day doesn't it. Pretty dreary looking... Oh well, at least I'm looking for a new job now.

By the way, I got good news today. I got a call this morning from one of the jobs I applied for. They wanted to see me for a job interview. Yippeee! I'm happy you can tell.

2008-07-16T05:40:00.000+02:00

So another day at work. Money earned. It was a bit of a boring day at work, but oh well, there'll always be days like these. Another day at work tomorrow. Hopefully better and more inspiring.

And I've sent another job app again tonight. I got an answer on the last one I sent, and unfortunately it was a "no-go". Oh well, another one's been sent. This job's also better than the previous, so I'm hoping...

All in all, not my day today, I guess. But tomorrow will hopefully bring better new things.

See you :) 'Til then, bye.

Savings tips specifically for students

2008-07-16T04:54:00.001+02:00

I've added some new links on the sidebar. They're specifically targeted at students and comprise a long list of different types of savings tips. Check them out. I haven't finished reading them all myself. But they looked pretty cool, so I thought I'd share them with you all. Enjoy!

Another one sent!

2008-07-14T07:04:00.000+02:00

Another resume/job app has been sent!
Cross your fingers x x for me...

2008-07-13T22:35:00.000+02:00

Wow! So this is one of the things that I am saving up for. A professional Canon digital camera. I've been thinking of buying it used. I've looked around a bit and have seen that I can get a pretty good camera w/ everything incl. for about 3300-4000 ($660-800). So I'm putting a picture of it here to help motivate me. To earn and to save.

My savings goal is 100.000 ($20,000) to begin with. Hopefully within a year I'd get that. That's the goal alright. But it's going to be difficult of course with both college and a job.

I also have a deal with myself that I won't buy that camera unless I've got 26.000 ($5,200) saved up in the bank... so incentive, incentive...

Links to other 'my money blogs'

2008-07-13T00:40:00.000+02:00

Here are the promised links to other "my money blogs".

This first one was the one that inspired me to start my own money blog. Here you go! Enjoy!

My Money Blog

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/

Money Musings

http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/weblog/

Let me know if there are other good "my money blogs" out there that I have overlooked. I could always use a bit of good old inspiration.

So here's the situation

2008-07-12T22:41:00.000+02:00

Right now as I write I am officially in the hole. My net worth is 0 in my local currency, $0 in the US ...or even ¥0 in Japan. Yes, I think that that illustrates or sums up the situation more or less in its entirety :)

My bank account has just only reached this zero at the beginning of this month. When the rent, the electricity and the internet bills had to be paid. Since I had been buried in exams since the middle of march, the hours I worked at my job were the absolute minimum. And in the end that wasn't enough to even pay the bills.

I had to borrow a little money from my dad to make ends meet this month. And now I'm just working away to try to get through to the next.

Money has got to go into the bank.

So I'm working, and working, and working.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
However I am currently also looking for a new job that gives more hours and more money per hour. So I'm using my spare time on some job hunting right now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Working, working, working. It's all well and good during the summer vacation. But the real challenge will come in the fall, when I go back to my final year in college.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So, here you have a few thoughts, an outline of the situation, and also a few cliff-hangers on changes that'll be coming up.

I also don't want this blog to be just about me. I will therefore also be putting up links to other cool "my-money-blogs" - one of which actually gave me the idea and inspiration to start my own. Tips on starting savings accounts and budgeting links and fun saving tips will also be coming up. I'll be keeping this blog very casual and very light. Not filled to the brim with a lot of financial data and facts. There are enough of those kinds of pages on the web...and honestly, they do a much better job at it than I ever could. So a personal little blog about money. And how to make a difficult and often dreary task like saving inspiring, fun and not entirely unlikable :)

I will be using this place to unwind. I will be using this blog to relax when I get home from work...and see things in new perspectives. And also I will be using this blog to see saving as something positive. Hopefully, this will all give me the inspiration to get ahead of the bills.

'Til next time :)

bye

The Money Blog Revisited

Getting In Gear For The Oscars: The Last 3 Movies I’ve Watched

Earning Money on Fiverr

My Ex-Boyfriend’s Toothbrush Laying Around – Throw It Away Or Re-Use It? (Hahaha, yes, I’m that frugal)

It’s Time To Read My Electric Meter Again

LOVE WHAT YOU DO

Blog Reboot: The Money Blog Revisited – A New Direction

10 Tips On How To Organize Your Job Hunting

Silk Spectre II v.s. Tomb Raider

Movie Trailer And Poster: Sucker Punch

Buying A New Microwave

Back to work tomorrow

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Good Quality But Expensive Or Poor Quality But Dirt-Cheap? A Story About How You Get What You Pay For

These Are The Christmas Gifts I Got For My Family This Year

FOR MY BROTHER

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2011 COMPUTER GAME (FOR PC)

FOR MY FATHER

KINGSTON USB STICK 8GB and SANDISK EXTREME III 2GB SD CARD

+

FOR MY FATHER’S WIFE (STEP-MOM :)

REMINGTON HAIR STRAIGHTENER (TRIBAL EDITION)

FOR OUR LITTLE COUSIN

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG DVD

So my boyfriend and me broke up this weekend

RE-BRANDING: Transitioning Your Blog When You’ve Come To A Different Place In Your Life

BLOGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE (OR HAVE DIFFICULTY MAKING) THE TRANSITION

TOPICAL (THE NICHE) TRANSITIONING

RE-BRANDING AND KEYWORD BACKLINK-BUILDING (AGAIN)

PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSITIONING

LAST THOUGHTS

Company Christmas Party

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 29–December 5, 2010)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 22-28, 2010)

To Do List: Dec. 5

Architectural Digital Rendering

Pay Day

30 Easy Ways To Save Money - Day 3: Brown-Bagging Lunch

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 22-28, 2010)

25 FREE Things To Do When It’s Snowing

OUTDOORS

INDOORS

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 15-21, 2010)

What type of gift giver are you?

WHICH TYPE OF GIFT GIVER AM I ?

So…

Which type of gift giver are you? Do you recognize any of these gift-giving types in people you know, like your significant other, friends or family members?

Annual Overview Of Incoming Bills

October:

November:

January:

April:

July:

Off-Topic Link Love

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010)

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent today, Thursday 11/11/10

Dogs Using The ATM

A Fast And Easy Way To Save Money And Lose Weight: Cut Butter Out Of Your Diet

You don’t need it in your diet

Save money by cutting out butter

For cooking

Final Thoughts

December 2010 Goals

December 2010 Financial Goals

Back Into The Blogosphere

The Thesis.

The Aftermath.

Sick & Tired Of Writing.

Being Unemployed.

Time Management.

Would you ever let your boyfriend cut your hair?

Would you ever let your boyfriend cut your hair?

To Do List and A Story

Here’s to having a guilt-free conscience when I e-mail my supervisor next Friday with a LONG list of things I’ve written and read! :)

30 Easy Ways To Save Money - Day 2: Coffee

Today’s link love

PF POSTS (& PF BLOG)

PF BLOGS

THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF

30 Easy Ways To Save Money – Am I Doing All Of Them???