Things that I've done today and things that still need to do:

1. 2 load of washing (DONE)
2. Vacuuming (DONE)
3. Swiping the garage floor (DONE)
4. Empty out the dishwasher (DONE)
5. Ironing
6. Cooking (DONE)
7. Scrub the shower (DONE)

Didn't quite finish my to do list yesterday, we got distracted. It was such a beautiful day yesterday, that we decided to go out instead. We went for a walk around a park near the city and also drove to the beach for more walk. All up I think we did about 5km walk.





The tallest building in the background is called the Eureka Tower and it is the tallest building in Australia.

Today we've painted the waterproofing stuff (2 coats)on the floor, it will need 48hrs before we can do anything else to it.

Today I've also done the following:
- Shopping
- Cleaned up the dining table
- Cleaned the kitchen
- Cleaned the lounge room
- Cleaned the family room

Yet to do today:
1. Cooking (DONE)
2. Ironing (half done)

I couldn't log on here for the last couple of days. It wouldn't sign me in at all. Anyway, the last two days I just been working a lot, I haven't done anything around the house (I can't remember what I've done now, I just did whatever needed to be done around - nothing much). So, today (Sat, 24 Oct)I intend to do a lot of work around the house.

1. A load of washing (DONE)
2. Dusting (DONE)
3. Moping
4. Waterproofing a floor
5. Water the plants (DONE - DH did it)

I got one main thing to do tonight and that is to finish my painting job. Also

1. Need to cook dinner (DONE)
2. Clean up the kitchen (DONE)

That's it.

Today is a NSD...yipee.(hmmm...I prematurely celebrated)

Painting (DONE)

NSD was actually spoilt by DH. He came home early today with vanilla essence. He decided to make a carrot cake. The last time he made a cake he finished the vanilla essence, so he had to get one today. But for some reason it was only worth 80cents. It is normally around $3.80 and according to DH that was the price that it actually showed on the shelf. DH thought he misheard the lady and actually gave her $4, but he was given $3.20 change. So, I guess I'm not really that upset about him spoiling the NSD coz it was a steal.

Probably should also mention that it was really DH that did most of the cleaning in the kitchen after he made the cake.

Right now DH is picking up the car from the shop. We got it serviced today, the main thing they did to it was changed the front brake. All up it should cost around $500. DH told me they apparently found 3 holes in the radiator and this will cost around $1,000 to replace but it can't be done today. We will need to bring it in again some other time. This will all come out of the car fund.

Tonight I will try to get the following done:

1. Wash bath mats and other rugs (DONE)
2. Cook dinner (DONE)
3. Do some more painting (DONE)
4. Tidy up one of spare room (DONE)


Good news, the car repair wasn't as much as they first quoted. It was only $360.80 in the end.

We actually end up getting the milk yesterday, while we were out getting some stuff at the hardware store.

Today I intend to do the following:

1. A load of washing (bed sheets) - already on (DONE)
2. Painting a final coat onto the door frames (DONE)
3. I've also decided to paint other stuff - a window frame and some other timber boards that I been meaning to paint (half-way)
4. Ironing (DONE)
5. Vacuuming - if I have enough energy to do this (DONE)
6. Cooking Dinner (DONE)

Damn, I should just go to work today then I won't have to work so hard!

It's Sunday here, and it has been a lazy Sunday so far. Got up late and just been chatting online all morning. Still recovering from yesterday, we went for a drive to nice winery yesterday afternoon. This winery is surrounded with reserve wildlifes and wetlands. We had lunch at the cafe and then took a 2 hour walk around the property. It was very nice.
I will put photos later.

Things to do today:
1. Change beddings (DONE)
2. Finish painting door frame (Done but I think it needs a 3rd coat, I will reasses when it is dry)

Some photos from our day trip yesterday:



Bridge


Wild Ducks


Grape Vines

I didn't get anything done at all yesterday, not even the dishes! We went out for dinner after work yesterday and didn't get home until 9:30pm. I watch a bit of tv and actually felt asleep on the couch. When I woke up it was already after mid-night, too late to do the dishes.

I just got up, today I got a bit of cleaning up to do:

1. Wash dishes and clean the kitchen sink (DONE)
2. Do a load of washing (DONE)
3. Change beddings (DONE)
4. Update my financial spreadsheets Oops this is DONE)
5. Might also do some shopping - not crucial but we are running out of milk (not this one - DH will get this after work tomorrow). Decided to get this while we were out at the hardware store.

Didn't finish everything I set out to do yesterday.

Today I've done some online banking, so it was a spendy day. Just realised we had 4 NSDs in a row before today.

Things to do tonight:
1. Cook (DONE)
2. Clean the microwave (DONE)
3. Clean the Stovetop spotless (DONE)

I actually managed to finish all my to do list yesterday.

I got up this morning thinking about Christmas. I am pretty much done with my christmas shopping, except with a couple of things. I know what to get, I just can't get them yet because they will have a used by date. I don't want to get them too early. So today I want to:

1. Gift wrap at least half of the christmas gifts (DONE)
2. Dusting (DONE)
3. Polishing the furnitures (DONE)
4. Maybe spend 1/2 hour in the garden, if the weather gets better (Weather was horrible but I did water some plants that don't get rain on)
5. Sand and Paint 2 door frames (Need second coat)
6. Check online banking (DONE)

After cleaning the bathrooms the other day my back got really sore. I didn't get much done after that. And I pretty much just rested my back yesterday.

So far today, I've done some tidy up in the garage. Today I still need to:

1. finish the ironing (DONE)
2. patching up a small wall, above the sink. It will need light sanding and painting (DONE)
3. really need to do the vacuuming today (DONE)
4. shampoo one of the rug (DONE)
5. update my personal finance spreadsheets (DONE)

Friday I did absolutely nothing but went to work. I went to bed really early, I've been really tired lately.

Yesterday we did the grocery shopping and we also went to check out some new fridges, we are looking at getting a new one soonish. We were just trying to get an idea on what is out there, we probably won't get one for another year but it's good to start looking into it.

These are the things I've done so far this weekend apart from shopping:

1. 2 loads of laundry.
2. A lot of cooking - I think half of my cooking for the coming week is already done.
3. Cleaned the kitchen benches.
4. Watered the garden.

I'm aiming to still do the following today:
1. Ironing (Half-way through)
2. Clean the bathrooms (DONE)
3. Do some cleaning in the garage.
4. Vaccuming
5. Mopping the kitchen floor (DONE)

--------------------------------

Stock Talk:

It's company reporting season at the moment here, which means dividends are being paid. I think all up I got about $300 worth of dividends, and DH got more than $500. A lot of it has been reinvested via DRP or will soon be used to buy more shares.

Our stock market is still going up. Our economy have now recovered, they even increased our interest rate by 25 basis points few days ago, which means our mortgage payments will start to go up again (I've always known that the low rate will not last that long, it was nice though but I've always made sure that we didn't get used to it). The recent employment numbers were a lot better than expected too. People here are seeing a lot of positives in our economy which is being reflected in the stock market. DH and I already got our plans set up for when this opportunity were to come up.

I haven't done anything but work, it has been really busy. Been coming home late and just dog tired. I can't wait for the weekend to come. I've got a lot of things to do. Financial wise, I need:

1. to get my tax organise (DOne some)
2. do some research on my current stocks (read all the company reports that have accumulated on my desk)- (So boring)
3. to pay bills (DONE)
4. to check Bank accounts (DONE)

I got the day off today, so I'm planning to do a lot around the hourse today.

1. Do a load of washing (DONE)
2. Cook stew for dinner and some for the freezer (DONE)
3. Vaccuming (DONE)
4. Clean Dining table (DONE)
5. Filing (DONE)
6. Organise DH's suits and winter coats so it can be taken to the dry cleaners sometime this week. (DONE)
7. Dusting (DONE)

I was also going to water the garden but it rained this morning so that's one thing I don't have to do today.

Was out all day on the 4th of Oct but I did cleaned out the fridge and all the rubbish bin for collection.

Today was spent all day at work. But tonight I will:
1. Pay couple of bills (DONE)
2. Clean the kitchen sink spotless (DONE)

I actually managed to finish all my to do list yesterday. The ironing got done late last night.

Today I want to do:
1. Clean the freezer (DONE)
2. Do about an hour gardening (DONE)
3. Grocery Shopping (DONE)
4. Go to the bank to deposit a dividend cheque (DONE)
5. Do some cooking for sunday night because we will be away all day tomorrow. (Didn't need to do it coz mum gave us some leftovers when we went to her place for lunch so - kind of DONE)
6. Make coriander pesto - to use up all the remaining coriander herbs. (DONE - turned out really good, I freeze some of it and will use it in a week or two).


Got to run to the bank now, it's going to be a busy Saturday.

I got more than 5 things to do today.

1. Menu Planning for Oct (have started)(DONE)
2. Grocery List for Oct (DONE)
3. Ironing (DONE)
4. Sewing- fixing a dress (DONE)
5. Clean closet (DONE)
6. Clean study desk (DONE)
7. Mop kitchen floor (DONE)

Things that I've done so far today:
- Check online bank account (DONE)
A load of washing (DONE - it's now drying outside)
- Finalise Sept numbers (DONE)
- Blog about Sept numbers and update sidebar(DONE)

DH a I spent pretty much the whole day shopping. We end up getting:

3 pairs of shoes (2 for me and 1 for DH). They were around 60-70% off, and they are really good quality shoes and very comfy.

Got a gift for a friend, for next weekend.

Then we went grocery shopping, mainly got vegies and 1 whole chicken. I will make chicken stock tomorrow for soup.

And we also got some multi-vitamins.

We also had to go to the post office to send my application for CC. And had lunch out. I'm not sure how much we spent all up yet, it will be a bit. I planned for his month to be extra frugal - that kind of went out the window.

We were out for about 5 hours, and DH had to have a nap when we got home (soft!).

Had problem logging on here yesterday.
Anyway, I got really lazy yesterday and didn't do much at all. I did managed to do some ironing (which I hate so much!). DH spent some money on gas and I also got him to get us some toilet paper.

------------------------------

We have decided to go to the Whitsundays for our holiday this year. We are going in 3 months time. We currently have just less than 2 grand (saved last year) in the Holiday Fund. I will most likely start putting more money in it again in 2 months time. My budget for this trip will be around $2-$2.2K. The flight are reasonably cheap but the accommodations are not.

1. I managed to fixed the holes and cracks, I'm just waiting for it to dry and it will need sanding down. Got rid of all the wallpaper and have done some sanding on some areas.

Got some very interest mails yesterday:
2. One was from my stockbroker who wants me to sell my shares of this particular stock...hmmm I don't think so.

3. Another one was from our water company, they are giving us $25 credit because 2 months ago our street got flooded because of burst pipe down the road and they couldn't fix it within 4hours. We didn't even know that they have such rule. It was a nice suprise.

4. The last mail was for DH's credit card bill, with it was an application form for an additional card holder. They will give you $20 if you sign up (no annual fee for this card). I've been thinking about getting one. I've never had a credit card in my name (it's all in DH's name), nor do I really want one. But there has been times when I wish I had one in my name. Last month for example when our hot water broke, paying for the repair was a pain. I had to ring DH at work, who had to ring their office to pay for it and then had to ring me back to comfirm the payment to the repair guy. But other than that I really don't want one. DH thinks that we should sign up just to get the $20 and then close it off. Would you do it?

Today:
- I need to do a load of washing.
- Do more sanding and make sure everything is smooth for painting.
- Vaccuming

Again we got up relatively late yesterday. We did more cleaning in the garden, it is all done now. The rest of the day was spent:
- mopping the floors
- ironing while watching an Australian Football League (AFL) game
- and cooking.

It was a very relaxing day and we didn't spent a cent.

Today I am looking at getting one of the spare bedroom ready for painting. I need
- to fill up couple of holes
- fix the cracks
- stip off the wall paper
- washing and sanding the walls

hmmm... I got a lot to do, I better go get started.

Wow...I haven't been here for a while. i tried to read up other people's blog but I've missed a lot of entries. Been really busy lately, trying to make the most of the end of summer also been doing a lot of cleaning. I need to start planting for winter crop again, hopefully I will have some time this weekend. DH has planted some snow peas last week but not enough. Hopefully the winter crop will be better than the summer ones, this year's summer vegies didn't do so well with the extreme heat.

I need to update my side bar, desperately. Well before I move on to March goals - lol - I'm a bit late. Okay I think I will just concentrate on April. Basically I achieved all Feb goals except for items 2 &3, they are still continuing.

FEB Goals:
* Declutter Spare Bedroom (Started)
* Put junk into boxes in garage
* Do some painting
* $1K into Saving/Invest
* $900 into H/hold fund
* Grocery budget under $240 ($119.56 left)
* 10 NSD for the month (2)

I'm hoping to achieve the following in April:
* Gardening - plant winter vegies.
* Continue with the saving plan
* Have 7 NSD

Well I better go and update my sidebar.

We had our 2nd NSD for the month.

Just updating my sidebar. Not much else is happening around here. Mortgage interest payment was a lot lower than I expected. Nice!

Have a great day everyone





6 Feb - 9:30am

Well DH ended up getting some gas for the car, so it was not a NSD yesterday.

Mortgage payment should come out today, it would be around $950. Hopefully this will get down to around $850 next month (might even be lower b/c of the shorter month - Feb). I can't wait!

We are just waiting to see if the stimulus package will come through. The most I'm excited about it the proposed free insulation, I just hope we can get it since we are planning to get this done this year anyway. Less money for us to spend. I really think these type of scheme is better than just giving people cash. It provides jobs and it's good for the environment. I really think the best solution is to create more jobs, if people have job security then consumer confidence should go up. This should be the best time to up grade our really old infrastructure. Can you believe that there were over 1000 train cancelled during last week's heatwave b/c the tracks and the trains couldn't cope. What about solving our water problem? And other problems that should been solved 10 years ago.

Anyway that's enough about that for now. Have a nice day everyone.





4 Feb - 12:45pm

We had our first NSD for the month yesterday. I'm hoping for another NSD today but I think DH might get some fuel today. We probably only used half of the tank but he reckons the price will be going up soon so he wants to fill up before then. Good idea I say.

Mortgage and some bills will be due tomorrow. We should be getting another interest cut on our mortgage later today. The Reserve Bank of Australia will most likely cut another 1%. For us that would be another ~$100 p/m saving (depending on how much our bank will actually cut) on our mortgage interest rate. It should take affect next month.

I just got notice for my licence renewal, due late this month. This is one of those bill that I haven't thought about so it is not budgeted for. I can either get a 3yr licence for $34 or 10yr licence for $115.50. This is actually been discounted by 25% because my driving record is clean - cool! I think I will get the 10yr, I won't need to deal with it for another 10 years.

BTW the weather today is so much nicer.




3 Feb - 11:30am

Yesterday was almost a NSD but DH had to fill up the car. All up this month we've only spent less than $89 on fuel, that hasn't happened for awhile.

Can you believe that yesterday it got to 44.3 deg celcius at 4:43pm? ha! We got so hot that we finally put on the air conditioner at home for the first time this summer. We are trying so hard to conserve electricity but we just couldn't take it anymore yesterday. But we are the lucky ones actually, unfortunately there were households that didn't have power. There were people on the news that had to throw away everything in the fridge. What a waste of money. Some of the electric company just don't have enough juice to cope with the extra usage. That's why we are trying to conserve our electricity. I woke up this morning and felt like I haven't slept for a week. I can't wait for the change to come.

BTW the vegie garden is pretty much dead, I feel like crying about it. We can't water it much because there's water restriction in our area .

We will probably get takeaway food again tonight. Something light, it shouldn't cost too much. Just don't have the appetite at the moment.

It's really funny that I'm omplaining about the heat and most of you are saying that it's too cold.




30 Jan - 1:15pm

We are in the middle of those 1 in a century heatwave at the moment. 5 days in a row of ~40deg celcius temp, I am melting people! For those of you who follows the Australian Open tennis (held at my home town) would know what I'm talking about.

Last night we succumbed to the heat and got takeaway food, it was just so hot to do any cooking. So our no takeout run has come to an end. I decided today to cook dinner early this morning when it was a bit cooler, so we will atleast have food tonight.




29 Jan - 2:15pm

It's been pretty quiet here at my end lately. DH filled up the car few days ago eventhough it was only half empty because it was really cheap. He only spend just over $12 on it. We then had 2 more NSDs, we are up to 15 for the month now. I decided not to get milk until today. I just used some of our long-life milk (we stock up on these for emergency and DH uses it for making bread).

So today we went out to get some groceries. We got some milk, bread, meat, cheese and fruits. All up we spent $19.05, which left us with $4.76 for the month. I think we should be okay, we should be able met the $100 grocery budget for the month. I might need some eggs in few days time.

Well I better update my sidebar. Have a great day everyone.



24 Jan - 2:30pm

Almost bought some takeaway food yesterday but hold off and made it 3 NSD in a row. I met my goal of at least 12 NSD for this month. I think we will have to get some fresh milk today and I'm not sure when DH will need to fill up the car again.

Yesterday was very hot and that's why we contemplated getting takeaway for dinner but luckily the weather changed in the afternoon. So I made sang choi bow for dinner instead. Monday's dinner was bangers and mash and Sunday was butter chicken and chickpeas.

I'm happy that we stayed strong yesterday and that we haven't gotten takeaway at all this year so far. Also I haven't bought coffee for almost 3 weeks!




21 Jan - 2pm

The last few days have been very spendy, but I am hoping to get back to having NSD's again, starting today.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went out for lunch and also rented some DVD's. Overall it was pretty cheap entertainment. Rented 4 movies for $10 sure beats going to the movies where it is around $14 per adult ticket. So far we've watched Batman the Dark Knight and Taken.

Picked from the garden.





18 Jan - 2pm