Current Situation

I got a bonus pay this week at work.

When I saw the amount of money in my account I instantly thought "Great I can finally buy a DSLR" after half a second though I realised I can actually put everything straight onto my credit card and pay a whole hunk of it off!

So without further ado I present to you all....

My Current Situation

Credit Card Debt $992.85

Centrelink Debt $517

Travel Savings $1004.97

Do you see that! My credit card debt is in the 3 digits! Now I can focus on paying a smaller steady amount off my credit card without being stung to hard by interest rates, everything seems a bit more do-able right now.

Since I made the lump sum payment onto my credit card I've been looking back on my purchases and what I've used this credit for and I've been unable to account for anything substantial to show for it. My brother who's horribly in debt has things like a big TV, laptop and a new couch, instead my purchases have been trivial entertainment based things like Going to the movies 1 day before pay day and paying it on credit and then saying "I'll pay it tomorrow when I get paid" except I never did.

I'm not saying my brothers debt is somehow better then my debt I just wish I had something to show for it all instead of a statement showing "$4.80 to Starbucks".

I'm still here

So I haven't forgotten about the blog (or my financial goals) I've just had a lot of things going on in the past few weeks.

To cut a long story short I've handed my notice at my work, combining my current savings and my holiday pay payout I figured that I have enough to survive for 3 months while looking for work.

I have 2week left of my notice period and until I figure out a few more things this blog is going to take a back burner.

Thanks guys.

See you soon.

What I'm doing good

So I would just like to draw your attention to the sidebar on the right, the one labeled "current situation".

You see it? Well next to Travel Savings it has $801.97!

You don't know what this means?

Well, what it means is for 2 months or 8 weeks or 4 pay periods I have saved $200 each pay time AND I haven't touched it.

I've had this particular savings account for 7 months, for the first 5months of its life I was always dipping into it.

Go Me.

That $800 equals 1 visa application and 2 weeks accommodation in a hostel.

Sweeet!

Pay Day and What I've been doing wrong

It was pay day today, the last fortnight I haven't had any unpaid sick days or leave so I received my full amount of pay this fortnight. Yay! Unfortunately like before most of it is going towards bills.

What I've spent today

$100 centrelink

$172.56 Mobile Phone

$565 rent

$200 into savings

$29.40 Train fare

This weekend I was at a party and I was talking to a friend about saving, spending and budgeting (yeah I know real livewire I am, don't worry she's into Personal Finance anyway). revealed how much difficulty I'm having sticking to my budget and the smaller issue Im facing with receiving bills from my "before budget time" that I hadn't accounted for in my new budget. Anyway as I was talking about everything I realised I've been putting to much pressure on myself to be "perfect", I expected I'd be able to instantly manage my finances without any issue anymore because now I'm paying attention to them.

It sounds really juvenile now that I think about it but I can see there's a lot more to managing your personal finances then keeping a budget and reading a few blogs and online articles. Which is why I've decided this month I need to alleviate the pressure off my budget and simply track my spending to get a deeper understanding of where my money is going, yes I'm still going to work around a framework of a budget, I just wont freak out when I'm over an allotted category and decide to blow it all because I wasn't perfect.

Stats so Far

Travel Savings $801.97

Credit Card Debt $2155.10

Centrelink Debt $617

September Goals

Just a quick post for tonight, I'm watching the footy as I type this and it's a really good game (Go the Pies!). Anyway.....

My Goals for September

- Earn $300 extra snowflake income

- Pay $400 off my credit card this month

- Save $500 for London this month

- Read 2 books

- Go to the gym twice a week

- All Bills paid up to date

Have a good weekend everyone

My Finances are a mess

Ok so my finances are a complete mess. Yes, I know we already knew this, I mean thats why this blog is here so I can track my progress and savings, but I don't know It's hard to explain it's like I always knew my finances were bad but I just choose to ignore it and now it's in writing and I'm looking into everything, its just so real.

Today I got my Mobile bill for the month $266.51!!!!! I'm on a contract which is only supposed to be $79 a month including $400 worth of calls and txts, 1gb of internet and insurance. I'm stuck on this contract until May this year. I opened up the bill completely shocked, but really the bill has been looking like this for a while so I don't know why it took me until today to be shocked but I digress. After looking over the bill I found $13.59 a month going to "Vodafone Live".

Vodafone Live is my mobile providers entertainment service, they have things like TV Shows, Movies and games, I have an iPhone and and the iPhone can not access Vodafone Live. I have absolutely no idea why I am being charged for this service I don't use.

I looked at the rest of the bill and everything extra is excess usage charges for the internet I had absolutely no idea I was using that much internet or COULD use that much internet on my phone. However the more I look back and think the more I see how those "just a quick check of facebook during break", google maps, looking up a recipe when Im downstairs cooking, showing a friend funny picture when out can really add up.

I called my provide today to discuss the Vodafone Live charge and they're systems are down and I was told to call back in 24hrs.

To top everything off I've had a terrible few weeks at work and exceeded my "entertainment" budget but ALOT with alcohol purchases to handle my terrible week at work, and when I was looking at my credit card balance to figure out how much I owed I was looking at the Available Funds Column not the Account Balance Column, so my actual credit card debt is $2155.10.

I feel like crawling into a ball and crying, or getting drunk.