KFC Made Me Crash My Car

I worked back really late last night to get through some work I'd been pushing aside for too long, and then downloaded some Uni work.

I was really tired and decided to splurge on some KFC on my way home for dinner. So I popped home and got in the car and headed off to KFC. After picking up my food, I hopped back into the car to back out of the spot and head home.

I was absolutely convinced I was in reverse, I distinctly remember looking at the gear changer and everything, but my brain saw D and thought R. I was of course n drive and ran into a wooden retaining wall and rose bush.

I’m fine and the car itself is fine, but I’ll need to spend money getting the front bumper bar fixed, as it’s currently hanging off the front. Classy.

Serves me right buying take away food after a long day at work, I should have gone straight home and made something out of the pantry like a good debt dieter.

Home cooked meals would not have let this happen!

Car Guy is coming over this week to survey the damage, so I’ll know what to do next, but I’m not keen to drive it anywhere until it’s fixed.

I wonder how much that’s going to set me back, at least I have the cash available to pay for it, but man, just once I’d like to be able to leave it in the account for more than a month at a time!

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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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New Budget Mid Month Update

I've just started my second fortnight of the new budget I started in November. It’s worked a treat! I’m so proud of myself for sticking with it and being realistic enough with the numbers when I worked it all out in the first place.

There was a minor tweak to make ongoing though, not in the amounts but in the timings of regular automatic bill payments. As I’m moving to monthly pay in December, I really noticed the bills that are currently falling due before the 15th of the month and have arranged to have them all moved to the 16th or later to ensure I’ll always be paying them on time, and from my savings account.

As for my envelopes, they are fantastic. I have them to cover the irregular expenses that need cash over an automatic payment: Petrol, Public Transport, Food, Eating Out, and Personal. I ‘restocked’ them on Friday, and found that:

• Petrol - was untouched (but the car does need filling now)
• Public Transport, - all used and within budget
• Food – had $50 left over as have been away for work and have been very frugal the last 2 weeks). Also no big ticket grocery items, like shampoo etc.
• Eating Out – all used and Personal dipped into to supplement - need to watch this one more closely
• Personal – all used up

I loved that I could buy a few bottles of wine from the winery we visited on Friday (as part of my business trip last week - stunning place McLaren Vale) with no guilt as it was from my personal money to spend as I please.

I've transferred the 'leftover' money into my emergency fund instead of snowballing it off a credit card in light of the upcoming move.

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Should I Try And Move My Personal Loan?

I was looking at my HR site for more work benefits to take advantage of, and I've found one that I really think I should investigate further.

We have offers from Citibank called 'Citibank At Work' where we get discounted rates over and above those available to the general public. This one caught my attention:

Citibank Personal Credit

Consolidate your debts with a low 5.9% for life on balances you transfer and a great 12.99% p.a. ongoing interest on purchases and cash advances.

• $0 Transaction fees and ongoing fees
• 5.9% for life on balance transfers
• Low 12.99% p.a. ongoing
• Annual fee of $69

If I compare this to my current personal loan it seems like a really good deal, one that could save me over $3000 interest over the course of paying it off.

Current Loan

• $9 monthly ongoing fee = $108 per year
• 13.45% p.a. (variable)

I would of course actually have to get approved for the full remaining amount of my personal loan, and I have no idea how tough Citibank are, but I think it’s definitely something to look at.

It’s my largest single balance and will be the last debt I pay off, so if I can save interest accumulating along the way then that’s a good thing right?

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Do You Get What You Pay For?

I've been fascinated by generic or home brand items for some time now, but haven’t been buying them nearly enough. Coffee with my work colleagues last week sparked a lively discussion about buying generic items. Interestingly enough we all do, and are all quite proud of ourselves for doing it!

As the conversation went through what we would or wouldn't buy, we were debating whether or not the fact we’re in marketing means we’re able to see through the hoopla & branding and able to just buy what suits our needs. I think this is true, but I also feel that frugal is the new ‘black’, to borrow from the fashion vernacular.

Rising interest rates, high petrol prices, and ever increasing consumer debt means more and more people are looking for ways to cut back on expenses. Throw in climate change and living ‘green’ into the mainstream consciousness and we’re about to hit critical mass. Look at the proliferation of PF blogs out there for example (this one included!).

If the 80’s were all about ‘Greed Is Good’ then I think the second half of the ‘Noughties’ is shaping up to be all about ‘Frugal is Fab’ ;-)

As for my own story, before I started on my ‘debt diet’ I was aware of and used certain generic items, but I certainly didn't use them to stick to a budget or for anything remotely resembling frugality. I've always thought it was silly to buy name brand soda water for some reason; it’s just fizzy water after all.

To this day I think of chocolate biscuits as being a status symbol of sorts, as we never had them growing up, while my friends in the next street always did (my first ‘Jones’ perhaps?). I have a friend who feels the same way about frozen meat pies!

I still have a barrier with certain things at this point, such as shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, make up and deodorant, but I’m at least cutting back to cheaper brands or keeping my eye out for specials.

The top 10 things I now almost always buy generic (unless the name brands are cheaper) are:

• Milk
• Sugar
• Water Crackers
• Paracetamol/Ibuprofen
• Laundry Soaker
• Washing Powder
• Fabric Softener
• Scourer Sponges
• Plain/Chocolate Biscuits – strangely enough I don’t buy chocolate ones that often!
• Soda/Mineral/Tonic Waters

I’ve tried all of these over the last few months and I genuinely don’t notice any difference, and in some cases they’re actually better than the brand name ones!

Something to watch out for though are ‘fancy’ store brands, they’re not always the cheapest option (yes, I’m looking at you Woolworths Select, taunting me with your delicious white chocolate and macadamia biscuits).

Louise at My Journey To Eliminate Debt has a great post about milk that relates to this, (I personally can’t stand powdered milk and refuse to drink it under any circumstances), but if it works for you and your family you can save a fortune!

Are you a ‘generic’ shopper? Are you like me where there’s a limit and certain things you would never buy generic? Or can you just not bring yourself to buy the stuff at all?

Getting Rid Of Over Limit/Late Fees For Good

One of the ways I’m still throwing good money after bad is through bank account and credit card fees. Especially those mind-blowingly expensive late and over limit charges.

For October 2007 alone I paid out $55 in over limit fees, plus $12 in transaction fees.

This is all on top of the $400+ in interest payments of course, and those charges will incur even more interest until I can get these cards paid off for good. This is a ridiculous and completely preventable situation for me to still be dealing with.

I’m making sure this ends now by getting all my cards back under their limits with my first pay yesterday, having all minimum payments, plus the $10 extra per month I pay on each, paid into them on or before November 16. Then the last pay on November 30 will work as a buffer going into December.

Blueprint For Financial Prosperity says I shouldn't be paying any fees on transaction accounts at all, so I’m also going to consider shopping around for a new everyday account. I need something with unlimited free online transactions though, as that’s how my payments and budget distributions are set up.

No Credit Needed has an excellent series on 33 Days and 33 Ways to Save Money and Reduce Debt, which got me thinking about how I too could work Eliminating Fees, which is day 1 of 33.

Taking Advantage Of Work Benefits - Mobile Phone

I'm really lucky that as part of my job I get my mobile phone charges paid for. This saves me a fortune as you would expect. I haven't even seen a bill in years.

I work for a telecommunications company so have a good understanding of how people in Australia use their phones and the benefits available if you know what to look for.

When you sign up to a mobile phone provider (or signing up to a new one if you’re changing companies), it's really important that you read and understand what you're signing up for, before signing anything! It's a contract the same as any other contract, so please read the details.

Make sure you understand what you get for your commitment, flag falls, rates, cancellation fees, the total cost of the contact etc. If you don't understand or are unsure about something, don't sign anything until you've had your question answered to your satisfaction.

Before you use your phone to enter competitions, download ring tones, send photos or SMS people, make sure you understand what you'll be paying. Premium services attract premium charges. This particularly applies to using your mobile to access data service or send emails (if you have a newer handset with these capabilities).

There are also a number of ways you can save money on your mobile bills. Find out who you call that are with the same phone company. Most companies offer same network discount rates or even free calls on the same network at certain times of the day. An important thing to note is some of the smaller providers actually lease their network from the big companies (Telstra and Optus) so the benefits may even extend past your specific company.

If your bills are still too high, it might be that you're on the wrong plan. Call the customer service department and get them to check if you might be better off on another plan. Plans change all the time and if your current plan no longer suits, see what’s available to meet your new needs. A word of warning on this one though, make you’re your usage patterns has changed for a good 3 months, if it's just a one month blip, you may want to stay where you are as often if you switch to a new plan you may not be able to go back to the old plan if your usage pattern changes back.

Remember, if you do happen to receive an unexpectedly high mobile bill, you should always contact your service provider in the first instance. They really want to keep your business if at all possible, so why not take advantage of it!

To recap:

• Read everything and understand it before signing anything
• Ensure you know what you paying before you use your phone
• Take full advantage of same network call rates and free call times
• Make sure your phone plan still meets your ongoing usage patterns by reviewing every 3 months
• Always call your current providers customer service call centre before cancelling
• If you have a very high bill you can't pay, call them straight away to make payment arrangements
  

Gift Cards To The Rescue!

I was in Coles yesterday doing my weekly shop, standing in the checkout queue and a thought stuck me 'I wonder if I can pay for my shopping with gift vouchers?'

So I whipped out all the gift cards I had in my wallet. I seem to accumulate a lot of these somehow, mainly through work rewards and incentives, but I've also got in the habit of claiming them back from my credit card reward schemes whenever I've got enough points.

Sure enough, my shopping came to just under $50 and 3 x $20 Coles Myer vouchers later, I walked out with cash in my wallet and my credit cards untouched. Sweet!

My mission this week is to locate all the gift cards I can find around my work desk, at home and in my handbag and see what I've actually got to play with.

I think I'd always 'saved' them to buy 'nice things' or 'treat myself' but didn't get around to actually using them, so now I can use them to buy things I actually need, and save my hard earned cash for paying off extra debt!

I really don't need any more stuff, so I think this is a far more effective use for them. What do you think?

When you're on a diet you join a gym right?

Wrong!

I've just cancelled my Fitness First membership, as I realised I hadn't set foot in the door of my gym once this year (that's a whole 'nother show Oprah), but had been paying $75 a month to them for the privilege!

So the only thing losing any weight was my bank account.

$75 x 12 = $900 debt no longer being accrued annually as it was direct debiting from one of my cards.

It was a great gym, nothing wrong with the facilities or anything, I just didn't use it.

I'll walk instead.