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Archive for February, 2015

Pride before the fall

February 23rd, 2015 at 03:19 am

Not much going on.
I took a beating like a rented mule on my trading.
I was up $300.00 dollars trading amazon shares on Friday. My wife was down trading google and AIG.
I was pretty smug in our little monthly competition.
I even recall offering her some advice, being the obvious pro that I was. I told her to stay away from Facebook and short some oil.
I'm still not entirely clear on how it went down but I'm now -$400 in the hole with Facebook and my wife is up $200.00 with oil. The explanation is simple, Magic.

Went to a home show as an invitation from some friends. We weren't really interested but accepted out of politeness.
Snake oil salesmen convincing me I never really cleaned anything properly before without 'stupendo-sponge'. It was relentless. And the most cunning ones give free stuff to your kids while they badger you for a sale.
Never again.

I massively under budgeted last month so I have had to spend $877.92 to zero out the month. Ouch my biggest shortfall in . . Since I started.
The corrupt accountant in me will have to bury that figure somewhere deep in the 88888 account.
Too big to fail is my motto.
As household Banker it's my job to forecast the next month's expenses. However I have a cheap acrylic ball instead of crystal so it can be a bit blurry at the best of times.

We have had to terminate our longest family relationship this month. It was on rocky ground since we moved away about a year ago when we started our fund but it all came to head this month when I refused to pay for a joint expense that had been incurred solely because of them.
They retorted that I should pay because I could 'afford' it.
Anyone who presumes to spend money on my behalf because they assume I can afford it is in for a short sharp rude shock.
So now they are left holding an expense that, had they known they would have to pay for, would not have run it up. Irony.
It's been very ugly but I realise it's better to see what people are really like now than later when they can cost you some serious money.

Invoices for 28th March = $11 000.00 Approx.
Invoices for 28th April = $ 41 000.00 Approx.

Currently working on May's workload now, shaping up to be a decent month.
Can't wait to get paid on the 28th so I can finalise March's budget.

Bye

Pre-Payday = Budget day

February 14th, 2015 at 05:49 am

Payday. . . . . . Nearly. Family Banker hat on.
We get paid on the 28th-31st of each month.
However income invoices are confirmed on the 13th-15th of each month. So we know 2 weeks before hand what we going to be paid at the end. This is when I do my initial budgeting.
As I mentioned earlier my costs for March are going to be around double what they normally should be($2500.00 normally). Which is of course disappointing, but it is a onetime cost, so I will suck it up and pay.

Income can vary up to a couple hundred dollars each way from the quote to payday because of currency exchange fluctuations over the two weeks. At the moment with strong US dollar we make out like bandits on the exchange.
And March for me is a 5 week month. Not on the calendar but just the way we get paid internationally it's a 5 week month for expenses and what not, starting 2.25.15 - 3.31.15
February 28th Net income $30 100.00.

Monthly Expenses as follows:
Rent $ 835.00
Food $ 1000.00
Gas $ 250.00
Gym $ 81.80
Clothes $ 173.81
Shipping $ 2350.00
Wife Bday $ 180.00
Valentines meal $ 116.92
February Savings $ 25 192.47

Total savings for February 28th = $ 116 128.62

Would have been nice to put the extra $2500.00 into savings but my wife constantly reminds me not to be cheap and should live a little. And she is right. She after all makes the money.

We went out for our family valentine's restaurant meal today and it was great. Kids had a huge meal and were so stuffed they just came home and watched harry potter.
My wife Bday is the 13th and she insists she only wants to buy a slew of her favourite books so she can see the Savings grow.
I had a nice watch picked out, she admires my own 1963 bulova space view watch, and I had found a great one for $2200.00 but she wants to hold off and get it for xmas if we hit our savings goal for the year.

Have begun to teach my wife day trading. We shorted a couple small trades and in the half hour we set aside to teach her we made $60.47 on Facebook's fluctuations with a $9900.00 position for 10 minutes.
She gets the Idea behind it.


-Bye

Spend day after NDE

February 10th, 2015 at 07:33 am

The saddest fact about no spend days is usually, straight after, I have a big spend day to catch up whatever I missed by having a no spend day.

I survived my harrowing brush with the Nile River virus, due entirely to my own efforts as residential healthcare is not what it's cracked up to be in premarital propaganda.
My welfare seemed of little concern, because as soon as I presented for roll call I was immediately put to work. No light duties, no return to work program, just my wallet, my keys and a list.

So 2 days before I am even supposed to spend any money on food Bam! $123.30 gone.
As well as the expenses for next month just keeps growing and growing.

I will concede however that $20.00 of the money spent was to celebrate my DW hitting a huge milestone in her business. So at 1 am my Advil soaked brain got behind the wheel and through codeine enhanced instincts made it to MacDonald's drive through and we celebrated with a meal each.
Yep.
Huge spenders. It's almost paradoxical, celebrating a huge income milestone by buying a burger combo each.
When you're young you think about your future as living in big mansions and driving the very best luxury cars, what you don't dream about is rolling your car down the road in neutral before starting it so you can enjoy a guilt free, stealthily unwrapped meal without waking kids.

Hitting $91 016.15 savings was such a huge goal for us; I refuse to drop below 91k. So when I checked the bank today our gym memberships had been withdrawn for the month.
But so pure is my denial I simply won't record the expense until after the 28th when we get paid.
By lying to myself through creative accounting I am preserving the 91k. It's perfect.
My wife assures me I'm the only person sad enough to deceive himself on his own domestic accounting.

I will point out that she is not a qualified accountant either.
If it was good enough for ENRON, its good enough for me.

-bye

No spend day

February 7th, 2015 at 10:23 am

No spend Day.
However I cannot claim all the credit. I have been so sick, had I attempted to get in the car and go purchase goods I would have invariably passed out at the wheel and peacefully taken my family and whoever I collided with to the never never.

The last two weeks everyone has been sick. I put my immunity down to my obviously superior genetics and gym hardened immune system.
But just as everyone else gets better I am struck down with a worse, much fiercer strain of the sickness.
I know this by the fact nobody complained as much as I am driven to in the interest of community awareness.
Despite my protests to the contrary my unsympathetic wife maintains I have what everyone else did and I'm relocated to the children's bedroom so my updates ('complaining' is her word) don’t disturb the whole domicile.
I will take this moment to point out that she is not a doctor, nor a nurse, therefor unqualified to diagnose my condition with such broad and minimalizing statements as "you do not have Nile river virus".

Monthly food budget was
$624.20
- $ 156.05 week 1
-$ 167.05 this week
= $301.10 left till the 24.2.15

We had the last of yesterday's lamb leg roast today with sandwiches. The kids appetites are finally back and they ate most of the meat themselves.
I however courageously showed restraint and subsidised my meal with Lindt chocolate.
I usually get a small bag for the week for $5.48. However some friends of the family are going on a diet so they gave me the remainder of this huge Lindt bag they got for xmas. Must have been close to $20.00 of chocolate. Free chocolate, any galaxy = WIN!

February payday is on the 28.2.15
Expecting a great pay but we have some big expenses this month.
A once off shipping cost has come in at approx. $2500.
Wife birthday - ??????
DS birthday = day out. Mini golf, go karts, arcade games and junk food.
So these expenses will reduce what we are planning to tuck away but they are unavoidable and necessary.
DD has not taken yet to toilet training. Much smarter than DS. Is aware of idle threats and blackmailing. Will need to back pressure off and formulate new incentive.

- bye