Make me money confident!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of #febusave, ANZ’s campaign to help chicks be better savers and be more confident with the moola.

And I have to confess, when I heard about it all from Leigh, I felt like that the whole campaign was being put on especially to help ME out.

It’s true!

While I am SO. MUCH. BETTER. with money now than I was ten years ago, I’m still pretty shithouse.

In my first proper job after finishing school (as in, the one where I couldn’t wear jeans to the office), I was getting paid monthly and ended up opening a second transaction account to separate my pay into two halves. That’s how bad I was. And that’s when I was living at home and would scab money from the mothership.

So it goes without saying that I’ve joined the #febusave movement and proudly hung up the little button over there on my side bar. Being a “blog ambassador” sounds so official, I might get it on a business card.

Here’s some official tidbits provided by ANZ and their Women & Money Confidence Report; I can relate to each and every dot point, some from my past, some from RIGHT NOW ZOMG I HAVE NO MONEY SKILLZ:

• 52% of women claimed they know they should have a financial plan or budget in place but keep putting it off.
• Less than one third of women surveyed said they were very confident about managing everyday finances.
• Only one in ten women are very confident in managing their investments, financial planning and superannuation.
• 45% said they had saved less than they planned to over the previous 12 months.
• 2.76 million women (41%) are saving no regular amount monthly
• Top reasons were too many bills, not disciplined to follow a budget, too busy, so put it off
• More than half (58%) of adult women in Australia have less than $5,000 in savings with 33% having less than a $1,000
• 1 in 3 women believe they wouldn’t last longer than a month if they lost their job tomorrow
• 1 in 4 women are not at all confident about their future financial security, claiming they live pay to pay with little savings

Scary shite, huh? o.O

One of the kick-starts to #febusave was to pledge to give up driving to work/buying treats/buying coffee and well, I’m not exactly willing to give up my car/coke/v for an entire month. Reduction I could do, but going cold turkey? Nuh-uh.

BUT! For the last 4 months or so I’ve fallen right off my budget wagon, with no regular saving or anything like that.

So I’ve re-jigged my colour-coded budget spreadsheet in GoogleDocs for 2010 and re-started auto-transfers of funds to my various debts and savings accounts.

Let’s see where Feburary and #febusave takes us, shall we?

On 2009 (the top-five version)

Last year I ripped off a post from Fifikins (aka the woman who keeps kicking my arse in Words With Friends), reflecting on my 2008.

It’s actually one of the better meme/survey thingos out there for that sort of thing, so I’ll use it again later this month.

But it goes without saying that 2009 has been my year. Sure, some of it has been shithouse, but it pales into comparison to the rest of my year.

And on that note, I present my 2009 top five:

1. Started by own business (now known as Rah!Creative)
   Things have been slow, but that’s kinda how I need it. I can’t handle having a full-time job as well as a needy home business. I’m learning heaps, I passed the Tax Man’s rules and regulations and I even made a profit in my first financial year. WOO!
2. Got my first blog gig (at That’s Noice!)
   I helped Leigh with setting up That’s Noice! at the end of 2008, but we launched in Feb this year. Fark knows why Leigh trusted me enough with one of her projects, but I’ve LOVED it. It’s not always easy coming up with content and I’ve had to get my head around all the technicalities of having a ‘real’ blog, but it’s been a great experience and hopefully 2010 will be an even bigger year for the blog
3. FINALLY had our water feature repaired
   After 709 days, our leaking loungeroom wall was repaired. We were also told our building should be condemned in the next 5-10 years, so we at least have a goal for moving out (?)
4. zOMG Dan proposed!1!!!!!!
   Easily the most amazing event to happen to me. There’s someone in my life who’s willing to tell the world he wants to make it permanent? Crazy. Just don’t ask when/where/how the wedding will happen, cause we still can’t decide!
5. Ben Folds at the Opera House, thrice
   Ahh, the week that Dan and I played excited fangirls, seeing Ben Folds at the Opera House. Each of the gigs was unreal, but the hands-down favourite was the ‘by request’ gig where we had perfect seats, Ben played my favourite song and played Dan’s actual song request. Blew my mind and we still talk about it to anyone who’ll listen

Have you got a top 5 of 2009? Join in and do yours too!

The Woman Who Found Her Love Just In Time

I heard a story recently, of a woman who hadn’t had much luck with finding a man.

Even though she had been successful in her career, she felt there was an empty space without someone to share her life with.

She reached her late 40s and had virtually given up hope.

And then she met him. Her love. Her life. And he loved her, too.

Life was perfect.

And then he was diagnosed with cancer. The type that was inoperable and left him with only a few months to live.

Life was falling apart. Her life that was perfect for a few, short months.

They decided to get married before the cancer advanced too much further. An intimate ceremony with only immediate family, followed by dinner at the restaurant where they had their first date, just months before. He needed an oxygen mask to help him breathe.

But they were in love, and they both described it as the happiest day of their life.

After the marriage, his health seemed to improve. Everyone was hoping that the worst was behind them and maybe things were looking up.

But then he got pneumonia.

His doctors and specialists told them the worst: that there wasn’t much time left for him. But he was allowed to stay at home, away from the sterility of the hospital and the hospice. A nurse visited twice a day to assist.

And the family came together. To say their goodbyes to him. To laugh and reminice about the old days. Everyone who played a key role in his life were there.

And she sat on their bed, next to him.

And then he was gone. One month to the day since they got married.

She managed to arrange the funeral and the wake. She received flowers, fruit baskets and sympathetic arms and ears.

She’s still grieving the loss of her love, but I’m told she keeps reminding everyone how lucky she was to find him just in time.

This story still breaks my heart – and how, even with all the turmoil she’s gone through, she’s talking about how lucky she was. It’s definitely given me some perspective on what’s happening in my life at the moment.

Obama porn + where’s K-Rudd?

Thanks to the girls who left me some loving on my previous, PMS-infused post.

Nice comments cheer me up :)

There’s nothing like a bit of Obama porn to help the process. Just found this video and love watching how Obama’s smile doesn’t change. But where’s K-Rudd? Isn’t he hanging out with Obama atm?

Barack Obama’s amazingly consistent smile from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

Mesmerising time-lapse video

The clouds in these are just amazing.

Another Cloud Reel… from Delrious on Vimeo.

via Laughing Squid