ROADTRIPPIN'

Best roadtrip everrrrr! My first.. but that's beside the point.
Spent a little dosh which is bad, but not as much as I easily could have!



So I put this as the 24th January when actually it was the 26th. I am so embarrassed by that.



And that says the 25th. When actually it was the 27th. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.
Also, my watermelon looks very peculiar. Ho hum.



Oh well done, finally got the date right! And my tea and muffin talk! Glorious!

So anyway I'm in the midst of a dilemma. I've fallen in love. With a camera.
An $895 camera.
Because it's the cheapest DSLR I've come across that I actually like and also this includes both the body and a lense and also it's not massive or too expensive so I wouldn't be freaked out by having it.... If that makes sense.
So that's my ramble.

It's a Canon EOS 1000D.
For my birthday? PLEASE.

J'AI VOUDRAIS ALLER A PARIS

I think that's correct French...



I was bored at work today.
So why not draw one of the buildings I'll be seeing in June.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THEM DOLLAR DOLLAR BILLS, YO

It's been a great past few days! I love life.


On Monday I went to the doc's and got my prescription refilled. Also worked 2.25 hours, oh yes.


On Tuesday I saw AVATARRRRRRRRRRR.
It was aaaaaaaamaaaazing! Absolutely loved it! Can I please have an Avatarrrrr? PLZ.
Also it was 3D. Also went with people from work. Also they paid for my ticket but even though I am saving I insist on repaying. It's $20 more I have to save... $20 harder I have to work!
Wednesday = work for a few hours & work dinner which work paid for YAY it was delicious. And free.


And today I had to put petrol in the car. Because apparently when I use up the petrol, I have to pay for it. Wtf is up with that! Ahaha...
But this should most definitely get me through this weekend at least!

Going away on Tuesdayyyy yaaaaay roadtrip!
Boooo spending moneyyyyy.

BY MY STANDARDS, THIS IS INCREDIBLE

I was thinking about that today. That by this time of month (this long after payday) I would have probably half what I currently have in my bank account.
I consider this a major success!
Next up: actually bothering to list things on TradeMe so I can make more money. Because I have to save just under $300 a week to have enough by the time I leave? Ahahahhahahah. Sweet.





Yeah, I know, I shouldn't have bought that Milkybar.... But I needed an afternoon pick-me-up.
And I feel okay about it seeing as I worked 62 hours last week. 62!!

And BDO was AWESOME.
I took photos on my disposable so can't wait for those to be developed! Except yeah that costs money... And I still have a B&W film to get developed. Hopefully it works as the last one didn't...

This week's plans:
- going to see Avatar in 3D on Tuesday night (I have a discount voucher and hopefully it'll be cheaper because it's Tuesday anyway?)
- going out for dinner on Weds - work is paying yaaaayyyyy
- working 2hours on Monday, approx 5 on Weds, 9 on Friday, and 8 on both Sat&Sun.

Hopefully spending will be verrrrrry limited. I also have to get stuff up on TradeMe! It's critical!

I LOVE MONEY YOU DON'T WORK FOR

I think most people would agree.
I'm a lucky kid, what can I say?



Scored some more work hours for Jan and Feb! Stoked. Can't wait for next payday!
I'm going to list stuff on TradeMe!

TWENTY WAYS I WILL SAVE MONEY

I compiled a list of tips and ideas found from various sites and some from my lil head on a large piece of blue lined paper. Hopefully if I follow these (and create more ways) I'll save some mooolaaa...

1. only drink at home - no buying alcoholic beverages while out on the town (or get others to buy for me. heh)
2. brew coffee (or make instant) at home and take out in thermos
3. make a packed lunch every single day. no buying overpriced and unhealthy food!
4. no impulse buying! think about everything for a loooong time before purchasing
5. get mum to buy any groceries I need.
6. don't worry about brands - this goes for clothes, food, appliances, presents etc etc. cheaper will always be better in the long run!
7. buy everything I can secondhand! opshops, ahoy!
8. no buying bottled water. even signature range water is another $1something that's not going towards the trip!
9. carpool to uni with dad if poss - even getting there early is good (study time!)
10. only go to the movies or rent dvds on tuesdays.
11. list stuff on TradeMe. duh.
12. no online shopping - remember you have to pay for shipping on top of the actual item
13. no buying magazines - maaaassive waste of money. anything need-to-know is online anyway
14. try and do extra chores for mum and dad... pocket money please
15. absolutely zero fastfood. gross, yuck, expensive.
16. sell last year's textbooks.
17. put pictures of the places I'm going in my wallet! - did this today yayyyy. also covered my thermos with them! woohoo visual motivation
18. make a savings box for cash... all that cash I'm going to get...
19. eat leftovers. mm deeelish. (this kind of goes with number 3)
20. most importantly: don't buy stuff I don't need and don't buy things I won't use.

I know it's pretty straightforward, but it's good writing them down. Like, now it's in both ink and pixels it's pretty much law.
11 hours of work and no spending today = wonderful stuff.

MY DEAR THRIFTY MOLESKINE

I had a long day at work to fill... So I filled in empty pages of my saving moleskine...


first pages - map of the contiki I'm doing, and I drew some coins... There's also a nice blank space at the bottom I wasn't sure what to do with haha


second pages and first purchase - yeah those are the countries I'm visiting! Although I didn't include England..


third pages and second day of purchases - that's the itinerary from inside the Contiki booklet thing. I drew a cool border on it...


Anddddd that's Friday's purchase. Helena's b'day present we gave to her yesterday (: (we all put some in and got her a cute charm for her Pandora bracelet!)

So yeahhhhhhh. 3 days of work down and 4 to go!
Then Big Day Out. And the weekend. And a week without work. And another weekend... Etc etc etc

PAYDAYYYY

I love payday! It's the best day of the month.
I'm sad I bought the camera filter.. Kind of. Only because it cost money. I'm pretty excited to get it!
And printing the pictures... I didn't actually get the pics because the printer wasn't working when I went to pick them up. Not happy. I'll have to get them tomorrow. But! The machine told me they would cost $29.58 (29c a pic) but I went to the counter to pay and the total was $15.30 (15c a pic)! Stoked.

In the next seven days I'm working a total of 61 hours... So that's $854 before tax. Sweeeet!

My plan for tomorrow is to spend NO money and take pictures of stuff to list on TradeMe during the weekend. Fantasssssssstic.

DAY ONE OF SAVING

Well, kind of. I got back from Melbourne at around 5pm and stopped off at Duty Free on the way through... Of course! And seeing as I spent money from my NZ bank account I thought it counts as a purchase out of my Europe holiday fund.
So I just drew it in my Moleskine!


I'm awful at drawing, I know. I plan to improve...

I get paid tomorrow and I'm working Friday until Thursday, 8 or 9 hours each day! Yay!
I shall also list things on TradeMe as soon as I can because I want to start this saving thing off on a high. Come June I shall have $8000!

Hopefully.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Currently in Melbourne and spending my dollars away...

I bought a Moleskine. Exciting, I know. Even more so is the idea Natasha and I had to draw everything I buy then photograph or scan into this blog.

I think it's great! I'm excited to start. Because I'm going to officially start this whole thing when I get home.

Because obviously when you have 5 days left in a country and just over $100 to your name, there will be saving difficulties.

I also got a sweet leather diary/organiser/planer for Christmas which will help in my saving-planning I think. I especially enjoy the to-do section. There's also a shopping list part... let's hope this will rarely be used?

I think it's reasonably clear what my New Year's resolutions are:

1. Save

2. Save

3. Save

Excellent.