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Archive for February, 2008

Problem Solved

February 21st, 2008 at 01:10 am

In my last post, I blogged about our problem with our home phone and internet bill, well after two phone calls in two days, we are getting our money back. They have overcharged our internet bill so they will be crediting $10 off to our next bill, there was a miscalculation. The $22+ they were going to charge us for some sort of fee for our home phone has now been taken off (to be fair they offer to take it off before we could asked for it). So that’s over $30 we don’t have to spend. I know it not much but it means a lot to our $20K challenge, to achieve our goal we really have watch every dollar we spend. I would really rather spend that $30 on something that I care about. I could buy 10 cups of coffee with that Smile .

I don’t know what is going on with these companies; two months ago our gas company was trying to charge us extra $24 (which was about 30% of the total bill). The overcharge according to them was for “gas market congestion charge”, that is because for 1 day during winter it was so cold that they run out of gas and had to get more from some supplier for a premium. It was really stupid, things like this should only be part of running a business. Thankfully, they come to their senses and withdrew the charges few days later. Probably after everyone calling them up, complaining about it. I’m sure that was not legal thing to do and they probably got in trouble for it.

All these incidents prove that we should really be aware of our Credit card charges and bills. I’m sure these companies make a lot of money from people who don’t check their bills. A simple phone call could solve most of the problem. Although ringing them can take a lot of time, as DH found out, even though our home phone and internet is in a bundle package he still had to make two phone calls.

$20 extra

February 14th, 2008 at 03:58 am

Yesterday we got our home phone bill, they charge us an extra $20 for what we think is for a late fee. DH will ring them and try to dispute it. We don't know what really happened maybe it's our fault, if it is then we will pay it.

Also, our intenet bill is really confusing, and we think they have over charged us by about $15. By the way both our home phone and internet is own by the same company. Recently the look of their statement has change and it's really confusing how they calculate it now.

Hopefully, we won't have to pay the extra $20.

40 days in & Bills

February 9th, 2008 at 10:13 am

Just realise that this month there are no utility bill due. However the quarterly property rate is due this month.

Nothing is really happening this month, bought some new pjs for both DH and myself. Pretty much spent the monthly amount allocated for clothing.

Valentine's day on Thursday and we don't really have any plans. We don't like going to restaurants on that night, just too many people. I will probably just cook something special and have a candlelit dinner. We haven't done that for a while, it could be nice.

We are now 40 days into our challenge and so far we've spent a just a little over than we're we should be at.



I like looking at things this way, it just let me know where we should be at. We basically just need to peg the spending down a bit. But in saying that we haven't gone over the budget yet. I just like us the be as tight at the start and then be able to relax towards the end rather than playing catch up. Just like having a breathing room.

Managed Funds

February 9th, 2008 at 01:09 am

Finally opened 2 managed funds (1 domestic and the other international). I used the $2,000 that we got from selling some of DH's company shares. I've opted to put in $200 per month, so $100 for each fund.

Hope to keep these funds for many years to come.

It's official... Another $40 p/m extra

February 7th, 2008 at 12:33 am

So, the reserve bank did increase our official rate to another 1/4%. So for us it means another $35-$40 per month in interest extra to pay.

Not only is our inflation is getting out of control, which making everything else very expensive to buy but housing is really expensive right now.

I guess this is good for our retirement investments, but retirement is 30+ years away!

Although, DH and I are pretty lucky to have bought a house when the prices weren't as crazy as it is now. Right a lot of people can't afford to buy there own house. And with this new interest increases a lot of people will be force to foreclose thier homes. They predict that thousands of people could loss their homes this year (keep in mind Aust only has a population of just over 20million).

So, eventhough I am complaining about it, overall we are very lucky. We have some savings and our only small amount CC debt is very low rate for the life of it.

Not Again!

February 5th, 2008 at 12:49 am

Just seating here watching the news and waiting to see whether the reserve bank will increase the rate again. Some are saying that they might increase it another 1/2 percent. it was only last month the the bank (without the reserve bank increasing it) increase their rates. So it could mean another $50 increase per month.

The reserve bank is force to increase it because of inflation rate is getting out of control.

Luckily, we should be getting at least 20K+ next month, which we will put in the mortgage.

Car Washing

February 3rd, 2008 at 06:44 am

Saved money today by washing the car by hand. You might think what's the big deal, people wash their own car everyday. Well, here in Victoria, Australia due to the drought we have water restrictions right now and part of it is we are only allowed to wash our car using a bucket (we cannot use the hose). Or you can go to a carwash that use recycle water, which cost quite a bit. It took forever to wash the darn thing (it was filthy, haven't been wash for months), and was really hot too.

It saved me around $15-$20 dollars.

$20K Challenge - January 2008

February 1st, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Haven't been here for awhile, but have been keeping up with our challenge. I'm still deligently keeping note of our spending everyday (to the cent).

One month into our challenge, I think we did alright. We paid off the car insurance for the year and was the biggest expense we had. Also spent a bit on the Med/Per items. Got a bit sick and also bought some beauty items that should last for months.

Here are the numbers: