HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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)

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?

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

“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

 

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.