The Financial Adventures of VelvetFreak

Cherryfudge

Shame about the pay, though I guess it makes sense.

You seem to be in the right line of business to do well on this site! Anything with numbers (except suduko) rather baffles me. Just the wrong sort of brain, I suppose.

Night!

VelvetFreak

It's amusing to me that I chose to pursue a career in such an industry when maths is definitely not my strongsuit. I suppose I just really like money :rotfl:

Speaking of money, I blew the clothing budget by about $100. So the old emergency contribution is looking a bit slim this fortnight. :eek:

Orrrrr I might just have to get my shiz together and sell some of my crap out of the garage.

In sad news, I made the decision to shut down my fish tank. It's pretty big and I have only got two fish left (and one looks like it might be on it's way out..poor fishy). They have now been moved into a makeshift pond situation and I think my friend who has lots of fish wants to take them. Now just gotta get organised and sell the tank. It's a bit of a shame because I really enjoy the hobby, but at the same time it's also quite expensive to maintain and the filter, lights and heater add quite a bit to the power bill. Also you can be guaranteed that if you pick a favourite fish, it will be the first one to get sick and die. Now that I'm working a full time job, I just don't have the time to even look at it, nevermind maintaining it.

Work is going well and it's all starting to really sink in. I was a bit scared at the beginning that I wouldn't get it, but it's definitely all coming together now, so I am very happy about that.

Tomorrow is payday at new job!!! :T

VelvetFreak

Happy Friday night!

My third week of work is done and dusted and I am really starting to feel settled in, which I am very grateful for.

Overspent by $110 this week :eek: so only managed to put $190 towards the Emergency Fund. Better than nothing I suppose

New total = $3749.35

In other news, my employee shares from my old job are finally available to cash out but I am nervous to pull the trigger as the share price is a little on the low end at the moment. It's just me being greedy more than anything, because I know that as soon as I cash them out, the value will go back up again I'm really not sure what to do at this point. Help.

As always, I am exhausted. I think my friend wants to do something tomorrow and I am really not feeling it.

Need to reign my spending and return to normal, Also need to get more organised with bringing lunches to work as I have been driving home for lunch which is probably a waste of petrol :undecided

armchairexpert

We gave up on our fish tank for similar reasons. It was great when we had more disposable income, but they're surprisingly expensive!

I assume you can hold onto the shares indefinitely? As long as the company's strong and established (and maybe not in coal), I'd just hang onto them. They'll probably get you a better rate of return than the mortgage interest.

VelvetFreak

Agreed ACE, sooo expensive. I have sunk so much money into it over the years, it makes me want to cry just thinking about it. But it was fun while I was doing it. Must find a cheaper hobby.

Today's MSE effort was that I took lunch to work so didn't waste petrol driving home. Went to the shops and bought enough food for the next 3ish days which is practically unheard of for me as I'm usually at the shops at least every second day

I'm trying to get back into reading more often but I find it really hard to actually make myself sit down and start. Damn phone and computer. I have deleted some of the more addictive apps off my phone so hopefully that will help.

Anyways, I should go off and read now. Any good book recommendations? I do like self help and financial books, but perhaps not to read before bed. Not much into paranormal/sc-fi type things although I am a big Harry Potter fan.

VelvetFreak

Well I finally pressed the button to cash my shares out. Figured they are better off sitting against my mortgage and saving me 4.29% interest per year than me worrying about the price going down. $3123 should be hitting my account here in the next few days.

I took lunch to work again today. Yay me. :T

Anyways, I suppose I should be off to wash dishes and clean my house which currently looks like a rubbish dump

Cherryfudge

VelvetFreak wrote: »

Today's MSE effort was that I took lunch to work so didn't waste petrol driving home. Went to the shops and bought enough food for the next 3ish days which is practically unheard of for me as I'm usually at the shops at least every second day

It's surprising how much cash I save when I haven't got time to go to the shops. (Mind you, my meals can get a bit weird and unbalanced in consequence so I still need to go occasionally).

VelvetFreak wrote: »

Anyways, I should go off and read now. Any good book recommendations? I do like self help and financial books, but perhaps not to read before bed. Not much into paranormal/sc-fi type things although I am a big Harry Potter fan.

I know this is a children's book in theory, but have you read 'Goodnight Mr Tom' by Michelle Magorian? Or 'A Street Cat Named Bob' by James Bowen? Or if you like an element of detection, the 'Number One Ladies' Detective Agency books (Alexander McCall Smith) are super. Looking through my Kindle, I'd also recommend 'Popular' by Maya van Wagenen which is amazing, or Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson, which has that magical element.

VelvetFreak

Hi Cherry! Thank you so much for the recommendations. I really do need to get to the library at some point.

Cherryfudge

If you have an e-reader, many libraries (over here - hopefully in Australia too) do electronic loans. There's a Kindle app you can download even if you don't have an actual Kindle, too. This latter will, in my experience, save you no real money at all because temptation is always there!

armchairexpert

My Kindle is the worst money pit I own. You can borrow ebooks from local libraries, but only on a non-Kindle e-reader, and the temptation to buy a new book in the evening after the kids have gone to bed is SO HUGE. I never have time to get to the library and when I do I end up paying overdue fines, which is just not on really.

I re-read Gone With The Wind this past fortnight, which is excellent value for money given its length. Velvet, if you tell me five books you have liked in the past I will have lots of recommendations for you.