Keeping Up With My Joneses Part 2 – The Investors

The investors are both very smart with their money. He lived at home until he got married (she moved back home after they got engaged), she is still driving her first car, a 1992 Ford Laser! He swapped his beloved ute for his brothers 4WD when their baby came along.

They were one of the first people in my circle of friends to buy a house. I remember thinking when they bought it that $250,000 was an unbelievably high number, especially when I saw the house! It’s was awful, but they saw the potential and the ‘bones’ of the place.

He’s a mechanic by trade and has lots of other tradie mates, so getting their kitchen, deck, garage and bathroom sorted at cost saved them a lot of money. He did most of the renovations work himself and their place is just lovely now, and worth more than 3 times what they paid for it!

They’re also very good savers/investors. I don’t know the finer details of their investments, but I know that when he got laid off over a year ago, they have been living off their investments ever since. She’d on extended maternity leave, so there’s been no wage related income coming in for over a year and they’re doing fine. They also don’t carry any credit card debt.

They love to travel. They recently got back from an extended trip to Europe (we’re talking months not weeks) with their baby, who started walking in Italy! They rented out their house to friends while they were away to keep funds coming in.

They also have a share in a large boat that he and his partners built themselves, so they spend a lot of time out on that in warmer months. Yay for the invites to join them!

How have I incorporated their way of life into my own?

• Appreciating my car for the reliable mode of transport that it is, and delaying upgrading any time soon.
• Really thinking about long term investing and wanting to get into a position to do so as soon as possible.
• Spending money on something that increases in value is OK.
• Travel more, but never use credit to do so. (I now have a goal to go to more countries than their 18mth old has been to!)
• Having friends who have known you forever and want only the best for you is an asset I already have in my portfolio.

This is part 2 of my series Is Keeping Up With ‘The Joneses’ A Bad Thing? In order to protect the privacy of my ‘Joneses’ I've tried to be as generic as possible about their particulars.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 95

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $23123
• Credit Card 1 - $4950
• Credit Card2 - $7499
• Credit Card 3 - $6398
• Credit Card 4 - $7429 (work expenses to be reimbursed off this one this week)
• Credit Card 5 - (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6 - $3925
• Credit Card 7 - $2993
• Emergency Fund - $450
• Savings - $0

Total = $55,867
Debt reduced from last month = $1090
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = $905

November undid the mess of October, but finding out I have to move before the end of January 2008 meant less to snowball onto debts as I’ll need it for moving costs. I’m still in front though at the moment, which is great news.

I switch to monthly pay from December 1, so this will be a true test of my budgeting powers, especially with double rent to be paid for at least some time when I find a new place.

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December Challenges

Well here I am at month 4 of my debt diet. It’s also Christmas, New Years and I have to find a new apartment and move in before the end of January!

Nothing like a bit of pressure on the finances to make you realise how much better off you’d be without the weight of over $55,000 in consumer debt eh?

Not putting too much extra pressure on myself this month, but I still want to move forward if only 1 step; so here are my simple goals for December:

• Cash only for Christmas gifts
• Cash only for Birthday presents/cards (I have a stack of December birthdays to contend with every year)
• Snowball something this month (if not the full ball, as many flakes as possible!)
• Live to new budget for the full first monthly pay cycle (this one actually takes me through to 15 January 2008)
• Use my starter emergency funds towards moving costs, use card only as a last resort. (I'm being realistic here, if it's using it for this or not getting moved, I'm using it)
• Consolidate all my superannuation into my current account now I've located it all

Ugly Truth for November to come…

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Free Ikea! – Well For Me Anyway

Had a great score at work this morning.

The group that sits next to mine had a delivery of about 40 of these Benjamin stools from Ikea. Turns out they thought the PR company they use had hired them for a recent event, but in fact they’d bought them, then sent them to the office after the event.

So they decided to offer them to anyone who wanted to take them. I’d actually been eyeing these off in the catalogue for ages but had never got around to buying them, They would make great casual side tables, plus extra seating for visitors if you’re having a party or BBQ.

So I snaffled 4 of them. Then, one of the girls in my team who took 2 for herself decided she didn't want them after all, so I now have 6, in exactly the colour I would have bought anyway, and saved myself $174!

Bargain.

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Be Smart This Christmas And "Yule'' Have Reason To Celebrate

Sorry, couldn't resist! It’s officially the festive season for me as I've received the annual ‘keep yourself nice and don’t grope people at work functions' email from the HR department. It was sent to the whole company by the way, not just me!

I use it as my e-Christmas card to all my ex-company colleagues who are now working elsewhere. Saves money on cards and postage!

My tips for spending less at Christmas:

• Unless you’re a card person and have been doing them for years and love them, I'd skip the whole process. I read and hear so many people feeling guilty about not getting their cards out.
• Do you need to buy presents for that many people? Cull your list of non-essential gifts. Do you really have to get something for your dry cleaner and dentist?
• Buy one decent present instead of lots of gifts for people that you do want to buy for. Even go so far as to ask them what they might like if it’s appropriate.
• Alternatively, can you give the gift of your time and/or expertise?

I've really culled my Christmas spending over the last few years. My sister and I pushed for the extended family to adopt the ‘Secret Santa’ concept for the adults a couple of years ago and it’s working well. Before that, as the only single I was buying twice as many presents as everyone else!

Now my nephew pulls the names out of a hat in November each year and my sister emails everyone (or calls Nan/Great Aunt) with their person. There’s a $50 limit, so everyone gets something nice, but it’s no strain to anyone (I've put it out on the family grapevine that I’d love a SodaStream).

My nephew, being the only kid in the family at the moment (before he came along the youngest person at the ‘kids table’ was 26!) is excluded from this of course, so everyone buys for him. My sister has got him into the family tradition of the ‘Christmas list’, and he's still young enough to think 'How did we know?' when he gets something from the list that wasn't from his Mum or Dad.

Apparently he’s been cutting out pictures from catalogues for a while now, and if he sees something he particularly likes he’s turned to my sister and said “we’ll have to tell Aunty Debtdieter about this one”. I know I shouldn't laugh, but I think it’s hilarious.

My sister and I used to joke that when he was a baby we should take a photo of him every year on my knee holding one of my credit cards instead of one with Santa.

That doesn't seem quite so amusing these days…

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