Apprentice Bliss Hunter's Personal Finance Blo

Currently renting a 2 bed apt for 500 a month. Living alone. The extra bedroom is for storage/guests etc.

Lease runs out in March 2010.

Landlord is willing to give me a new 12 month lease from January 2010 for 450 a month.

However, if I was to share a house with other people, I can rent a room in a house for 200 a month.... some are even advertised for 185 a month.

I'm still hoping, despite this month being a self-inflicted financial disaster, to be debt-free by next April.

My goal from next April will be to build a 10,000 euro Opportunity/Emergency Fund. Now if I was to share a house then I could contribute 250 to 300 euro MORE to this goal every month. Which is a lot of money.

Now sharing has it's own advantages/disadvantages. Advantages include it's probably more social etc. Disadvantage is you might not get on with every one in the house. I also might find it hard to get quiet time to work on the screenplays I want to work on... I am distracted easily..

So what do you think ?

Work-party last Friday ... got really drunk... You see I am untypically Irish in that I don't drink regularly... but that means I have no tolerance to Alcohol... so when I DO drink, it goes straight to my head and I get drunk really easily.

Last Saturday - hangover from hell. Didn't spend a lot Friday night though.

Last night was the Screening of the 3 min Short Film I helped make. Got pretty drunk by the end of the night - believe it or not ended up in a Lapdance bar.

Now I didn't actually get a Lapdance but I did chat to a georgeous Latvian woman... It's quite funny thinking about it now, but she (doing her job) was so entertaining, engaging, attentive and not at all bothered that I didn't want to see her naked, that I just found myself giving her money every 10 minutes... until my pocket was empty... and then I used my Debit Card to give her more !!

DISASTER !!

Now... she didn't actually ask for money.. but I was like a baby gazelle trapped in the gaze of this amazing actually nice person seductress !!

Ah well, I hope she puts it to good use...

Believe it or not, I don't feel sore about giving her the money.. because she did make me feel on top of the world with her great conversation and rapport... I've just realised that my feminine side is probably more developed than in most men... I mean, what MAN has a great time in a Lap Dance bar without seeing anyone naked !! lol

Ok sorry if the answer to this is obvious:

If you want to get a new TV and you don't have the cash upfront and you have 2 choices:

1. Save the money for a year and buy the TV with cash.

2. Get the TV now on 12 months interest-free credit.

Is Option 2 considered to be debt ? I mean yes it's a monthly payment for 12 months and yes you OWE that money to the store.

But from a strictly personal financial budgetary point of view isn't Option 1 exactly the same as Option 2.

Both ways involve setting aside 1/12th of the Cost of the TV for 12 months. Only Option 2 allows you to get the TV now.

Now I would consider an interest-free loan for a big ticket item like a car to be debt. But for a relatively small ticket item like a TV ?? I'm not sure... The monthly payment wouldn't be a budget-breaker.

Emmm....Any opinions ?

Received unexpected dividends today of 65 euro from the shares I own in my Employer company.

Went to Dentist for a check-up and needed two fillings - 80 euro.

Net loss of 15 euro - not bad I suppose.

Anyway Dentist said I need 4 crowns at 950 euro each (they were 750 each at my last check-up). So 4 * 950 = 3800 euro = 5700 US Dollars.

Now Ireland has a reputation for expensive Dentists. I've heard of people getting Dental work done a lot cheaper in Eastern Europe e.g. Bulgaria. I think Asia, e.g. Thailand, is even cheaper again.

I think Bulgaria would be as good quality Dentist-wise as Ireland. I don't know how good the standard of Dentist-training is in Thailand or how well regulated they are.

So I'm considering taking a weeks or 10 days holiday to somewhere exotic to get my Dental work done and make a holiday out of it too !! And all for less than what I would pay in Ireland.

Has anyone done this or can anyone recommend any particular countries ?

So here's to the birth of my latest Savings fund - Dental Vacation !

My current short-term target is to have 1000 euro in my checking account to act as a buffer.

I won't include it in my Net Worth calculations... it'll just be like an overdraft I have there for myself...

My bank pays 5% interest on money on checking accounts...

I'm planning to put 75/100 a month towards this goal and any extra money that comes my way...

So my computer went on Work-to-Rule again !

Another 50 euro to the Repair Shop - a different Repair Shop.

They exchanged the Vista Operating System for the XP one.

Also broke the screen on my cell-phone last Friday - It took 4 days for my old network to transfer my number to my new network...

Got a Samsung Tocco Lite.. nice phone... and free on my price-plan... which is 20 euro a month for 200 minutes and 200 text messages a month.

So will be debt-free in 4 months time..

Have been thinking about my relationship with money..

It won't be my master in 4 months times, but it will still be a Limiter. As I won't have an Emergency/Opportunity Fund, I won't be able to do as I please. I'll still need a job, any job.

So when I'm debt-free next April, I'm gonna have 3 long-term areas of saving:

Emergency/Opportunity Fund (200 per month)
Retirement (15% of Net Income)
Accomodation (35% of Net Income less rent)

After that and all the other expense categories (car, food, electricity etc)... the rest of my income will be for enjoyment...

As a non-money-lusting Batchelor, I don't need a large income... My medium term financial goal - in say 5 yrs - is to be able to leave my "job" and take up a more precarious lower paid position simply because I love doing it and not having to sweat about debt or if something bad happens...

Is this possible ? Sure is.. To paraphrase the big man in the big house "Yes I can !"

In a weird way, I feel I have let you all down by my first decision:

Postponement of becoming debt-free from before End of 2009 to before April 2010... well, not so much a choice... I won't have the money to pay off loan before Xmas... so have decided on April.

I like April - In my attempts at setting financial goals for myself in the past, I have chosen April as the review month. It means I can have all my financial plans up-to-date and executed before my birthday in early May. And it means I can keep the Xmas Period and New Years Eve for general family good times and "where am I going with my life" self-reflection instead of messing around with budgets...

So yeah... will be debt-free next April..

Other financial news:

I've decided to give 10% of my monthly salary away each month. The plan is to give:

25 euro to sponsoring a child in Africa.
75 euro to an Irish charity which helps sick children have fun - it's a Hole in the Wall Gang thing - Paul Newman used to be heavily involved.
Finally I'm gonna save 113 into a savings account each month for helping out people I know in need in my local community.

I heard Suze Orman say that in order to receive goodness your hand has to be open.

I'm hoping I'll get a sense of well-being and even wealth from being fortunate enough to give money to others.

From next April, I'm gonna put 15% of Net Income towards Retirement and 35% towards Accommodation savings (this 35% will include Rent I pay now... the difference between my Rent and the 35% will be put into a savings account to pay for future accommodation either as a deposit or as rent to be paid in the future).

Over the last few months, I've been thinking of having a goal of increasing my Net Worth by 10,000 every year. But then I said to myself "why put a limit on it ?". So I'm not gonna to aim for a specific net worth increase every year.

Ala The Secret I've asked the Universe for 100 million euro.... don't know when I'll get it... I realise that if I read this in someone else's blog, I might say "he/she is crazy !"

Well... maybe I am crazy ! AND maybe there's nothing wrong with that ! lol :-)

My computer has been returned to me after about 5 weeks...

After:

...300 euro approx
...being taken to TWO repair shops
...getting a new Graphics card when there was nothing wrong with the old one...
...after getting a new Motherboard which is slower than the old one...
...after getting a new Operating System..
etc etc etc

Ah well... at least it's over now... although its performance is noticeably slower than before it was "fixed"...

I toyed with the idea of purchasing a new PC altogether for 500 to 600 euro...

BUT my plan is to plan a powerful MAC in approx 2 years time so I can use Final Cut Pro to edit short films....

Obviously I want to buy it with cash, I'll start saving for it when I'm debt free in January 2010.... so I just wanted my old computer patched up until I have enough cash saved to buy my Mighty Mac..

Oh.. and I finished my 7 weekend Introduction to Film-making course today... we finished editing today and have a short film !!

It's called Ada and Bob... It's about an old couple where the lady is unappreciated and she leaves in the end.... it wasn't my script idea.. personally I think it's a cliche BUT I learned an AWFUL lot making it...

I was in charge of Lighting... We will be getting DVD copies sent out to us in the near future... If someone could tell me how I could share it with people here who would like to see it, I would appreciate that...

Anyhow.. it's great to be back.. I hope you are keeping well !! :-)

In an Internet cafe, just dropping in to say hi... hate these places ! 1 euro for 15 mins ! Aaaarggh !

Anyways my computer hasn't been working for 3 weeks... and its annoying now.... it needs a new Graphics cards apparently ... 160 euro to buy a new one and have it fitted !

Ah well.... see you all soon

So my 7 weekend film-making course starts next weekend ! Yay !

Financially - I have the fee for the course all saved up... so I'm good to go...

Over the 7 weeks, we will learn the basics of making a film, we will then make our own 3 minute film and it will be publicly screened (nerve-wracking !) in a city in Ireland.

During the first weekend, we will learn about script-writing. All the participants will write a 3 minute script. The second weekend, we will get feedback on the scripts and suggestions for improvements.... then we'll all (the participants) get together and pick one script.

I really really really want my script to be chosen !! As will all the participants. I have four ideas written down roughly. I have never written a script before.

I rang the film centre and they recommended a book (which my library is considering buying - it doesn't have it in stock - how frugal of me !)... and some scriptwriting software....

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the physical task of writing the four scripts as I don't know what I doing from a technical viewpoint. I mean I have good ideas but very little knowledge about HOW to write a script...

I'm kinda perfectionist that way and would rather, self-defeatingly, not do it than make a half-assed attempt at one...

but I'm gonna barrel through that inertia over the next 5 days (until next Friday) and bring 4 scripts with me to the course...

coz... I wanna feel like I'm giving it my best shot...

Wish me luck !

Goal of 10,000 by end of 2009.

At 8,999 at moment. Although when computing that my retirement fund was higher than expected... maybe it was a computer glitch - it being late over here....

Anyways... am confident of breaking the 10,000 mark this year... maybe even end of October/early November...

So will be debt-free by the end of this year..

And I've already started playing around with a draft debt-free budget... and have one that I am happy with...

But then I thought... well if I leave my current job that budget will be redundant...if I move to a foreign country I'll have to make a new budget etc etc..

Basically I spend quite a lot of time, e.g. while out running, computing different budgets in my head... etc... and I'm getting a bit tired of it..

I would like to work out a budget based on percentages... A budget that I can take anywhere and will fit all scenarios...

3 long-term areas I want to cover.

1. Retirement.

Note - Irish Government gives tax relief for retirement contributions up to 20% of Net Salary for 30 to 39 yr olds. (I'm 30).

So the obvious target is 20% - maximise tax relief.

2. Future Accommodation Savings.

I have no plans to become a home-owner at the moment. I'm not bothered by the prospect of renting all my life - unlikely as that may be. But I've decided to put money away every month to pay for my future accommoation either as:

A. A deposit for a home.

B. I never buy and the monthly payments just build up into a big fund that I can use to pay rent when I retire.

I'll be investing this money in high-interest savings accounts as opposed to the stock market as I don't know when/if I'll need to access it...

How much to save for Accommodation Savings, I was thinking IDEALLY the same as retirement - 20%. So when I retire, I will have money there to pay for my accommodation and a pension to pay for my lifestyle.

3. Invest long-term in the Stock Market via ETFs...

My employer has a scheme where one can get 8% of their annual salary in company shares tax-free. I'm thinking about having a goal of investing 10% of my income in the Stock Market for long-term savings..

So that's it... 50% of salary gone to long-term savings... the other 50% has to cover everything else - rent now, food, all expenses, car expenses, short and medium term saving, vacations...everything...

Then I thought 50% is a bit restrictive/miserly.. and then thought about 40%:

Retirement: 15
Accommodation : 15
Stock Market: 10

The only aspect of the 40% option I don't like is that I wouldn't be maximising my retirement contribution tax relief... but on the other hand, I don't want to live 35 yrs of unnecessary deprivation until I retire !!

Ooomphh... I know this is not terribly exciting but I would really like to settle on a percentage-based plan and then just forget about it and get on with other aspects of my life...

Any ideas/suggestions ?

Thanks in advance !

My cell phone bill in August was 50 euro - about 30 euro higher than normal and I don't really know why... so I'm gonna investigate some options and see if I can get a better price plan - I should be able to get a plan to cover my needs for about 20 a month.... up until now I've just been topping up as required but I think I need to get a fixed price plan in place and then incorporate that into my budget.

TV... I seldom watch TV... maybe 1 or 2 hours a week.... if there is something worth watching on... I work evenings so don't get to see primetime TV...
I currently pay 16 a month for TV... maybe I can lose this ? And then I won't have to pay the annual 160 euro TV License fee either...

Want to have a fair-size vent here....

So my apartment was broken into today...

I left to play soccer at 11:55 am...

Arrived back at 13:15 pm...

Noticed nothing different initially... just noticed my pillows were at the foot of my bed instead of the usual head of the bed... I thought "Emmm... that's weird... maybe the wind blew them or something..."

Forgot about that.... went into Kitchen had lunch, logged on here [ :-) ] , surfed net and then came the time to go to work...

Went into spare bedroom where I keep my money, keys etc.... Noticed that 250 euro was missing, that the drawers and wardrobes had been gone through and that some boxes had been moved around... then I thought about the pillows in my own room... and thought "Oh, I've been burgled"...

So was really pissed off at the invasion of privacy, the cheekiness of the burglars and the fact that 250 euro of my money was stolen...

Now I know that I shouldn't have had that much money in the apartment but I had paid for my mother's and brother's holiday using my debit card. The total was 520. My mother gave me her half. I was waiting for my brother to give me his half so I could lodge all the money together - save queueing twice... and I thought... "ah sure, it will be grand there for a day or two..."

The door wasn't damaged so the intruder may have had a key... A window in the kitchen was open but I live on the 3rd floor... you'd need a big conspicuous ladder to get in... so could have been another resident in my block...

The landlord changed the locks this evening. The police are coming tomorrow to check for finger prints - they said there was a second burglary in my vicinity....

Nothing else was touched - computer etc... just the cash...

so inititially my reaction was I'm gonna move from this place at the end of the month. I could rent a room in a shared house for half the money I pay here... I'd be saving 250 a month in rent...

Then I thought... but that's letting them win.... I remember reading a book about a buddhist female monk and in it was a paragraph about people taking material things from you.... so if people take material things from you... that is one thing.... but if you let them take your peace of mind away AS WELL as a result of the material thing robbery... then they have robbed you twice... and your peace of mind is so much more important than material possessions....

So I won't let them take my peace of mind. The locks are changed, the police were informed and I've learned my lesson about leaving cash around... c'est fini...

I had been thinking about paying extra towards my debt (from overtime) over the next few months (I will be debt-free by New Year's Eve regardles of whether I do this) and today I thought is this burglary the Universe telling me to stop pre-allocating every penny... loosen up a bit financially... go with the flow more... like punishing Scrooge by taking some money from him ?

I've decided:

1. To stay where I am - but I will be asking for a 20% reduction in my rent effective 1st January 2010. If I don't get this, then I will leave at the end of my lease.

2. To start enjoying this beautiful apartment to the max... maybe buy a few bits of small furniture I've wanted (second-hand), maybe personalise with pictures/accessories, maybe get a proper-size TV, make it feel more homely, get some plants for the balcony, maybe a beer-fridge !, and maybe start inviting more people around... maybe even throw a party !!

Emmm... I know the most frugal thing would be to leave and rent a room in a shared house... but I love having my own space.... and I am confident I will get a 20% rent reduction at the end of the year... I won't be here forever... it just suits me at the moment... so I better get on with enjoying it ! get bang for my buck I guess !

Oh... and I was in the Bank last week and the Bank Official suggested Renter's Insurance to me... (I don't have insurance) and I said no... I actually said I live in a safe block and I have no valuables apart from my computer .... Anyways the Renters insurance is 10 euro a month.... over 2 years that is 240 euro.... so as long as I'm not robbed in the next 2 years, then I won't have lost anything- if you know what I mean -give 240 to an insurance company or 250 to a burglar...

Then you go Dear Burglar... I hope you put it to good use... I really do !

So I work for an American multinational that has a presence in Ireland.

I'll be there 2 years next month. I work a "junior" job and get paid the average industrial wage.

Yesterday I got my pension statement. This tells me how much a pension I will get when I retire at age 65.

The sobering reality is that I work there for another 35 years until I'm 65 I will receive one of the following 2 options :

1. A pension of 5,600 per annum.

or

2. A lump sum of 15,000 and a pension of 3,900 per annum.

Wow.... that really is a pittance ! I mean after (at age 65) 37 years of service, I would receive a pension of 5,600 per annum.... um... I really feel appreciated - not !!

Now there is the possibility of increasing the pension through paying into an additional policy... which I am doing for the associated tax relief... However under legislation the maximum pension I can receive is based on 40 years service....(I basically "buy" 3 extra years from 37 yrs to 40 yrs)

So if my additional policy is really well funded the company will reduce their pension payment to me to keep the overall pension based on 40 years...

What a disincentive to save for retirement using pensions !!

So... this has reinforced my determination to be gone from this job by the time I'm 35. There are also other aspects to the job that don't sit well with me : the rigidity, the politics, the fact that brown-nosing is almost a requirement, the lack of freedom, the monotony, the lack of appreciation/respect sometimes...

Self-employment really is so much more lucrative financially - with no limit on the amount of pension you can provide for yourself...

Just want to say thanks to all who advised me on my predicament...

I'm gonna put it on ice for the short-term... and I've decided I'm gonna taste what it's like to be debt-free before I rush into anything.... I might even get addicted to been free as a bird financially !!!

Current goals:

1. Debt-free by end of 2010. Current debt = 8300 approx.

2. Opportunity Fund to 10,000 by end of 2010. Current OF is 3800.

I'm working on these goals simultaneously.

I'm been feeling a bit unmotivated financially recently and I think it may be because my goals are far away (end of 2010)..

Proposed goals:

1. Debt-free by end of 2009. I'll basically put my OF and savings to pay off the loan in December 2009. Also the interest rate on the loan is higher than any savings rate I could get.

2. 200 a month to Opportunity Fund indefinitely starting in Jan 2010. Considering I earn gross about 32-35k a year, I think having an OF of 10,000 by end of 2010, though possible, would limit my enjoyment of my life in 2010 unnecessarily... besides being debt-free would automatically set my free to an extent...even if I lost my job, being debt free would mean living on social welfare would be bearable...

Next year I plan to:

1. Develop the film-making side of my life from scratch...

2. Help my father out of his financial issues...

3. move into a local government house (I'll be renting it from the local government so will have good tenant rights and I can stay as long as I want - for life even ! - almost as good as owning)

These 3 activities will require cash-flow...so that's why maybe I shouldn't have every penny going to an OF...

What do you think ?

So July is one of the 2 months this year when I get paid three times instead of twice.... yippee !

So what have I done with the 3rd paycheck ?

500 to my current account to act as a "buffer" or "overdraft".
200 towards my film-making course in September.
160 towards Julys budget (I went over 160).
90 to Christmas/Gift Fund
90 to Travel Fund
90 to New Runners Fund (havn't bought them yet).

The 500 obviously hurts the most. I would love to just add it to my Opportunity Fund so that it would jump to 43 %. But I know having a buffer is the sensible thing to do. 500 is plenty so I won't add anything to it..

Ah well, its done now....

I know what I've done is right but it doesn't FEEL good.... uuummmpphh !! :-)

So last month was pretty good budget-wise...

This month I've being recording my expenditure as per usual but I didn't add it all up until yesterday and guess what:

I'm already over-budget in the 3 discretionary categories I have and it's only July 21st ! 10 days to go.... ooompph..

My food budget is 150 and I'm at 170 already... and last month I had a bit of money to spare !

My Entertainment budget is about 45 overbudget already but I know why - kayaking and horse-riding which I have recently taken up - I'll have to increase the Ents budget to allow for them...

My General spending budget is maxed out (well 15 cent over but we won't worry about that :-) )due to just stuff that came up - having to get my bike fixed when a car knocked me off it (I'm not injured thank God).. and havn't to go to Dublin unexpectedly with my father...

I'm getting paid 3 times this month (as opposed to the usual 2 times) so I'm not too worried but I don't want to put too much of that 3rd paycheck to non-medium term stuff...

Have also been giving some thought to my accommodation situation... am currently renting a 2 bed apartment for myself... am thinking about how much money I would save if I just rented a room in a house... but I do LUV having my own little oasis at this point... I'll probably post about that soon...

Anyways going to work soon... (am really appreaciative that I have a job in these times....)

Took up two hobbies recently - kayaking and horse-riding... will have to make room for them in my budget..

The film course that I want to do is starting in September !! (I thought the next one was Spring 2010) .I've already paid the deposit and will have to get 525 more before then... It's over 7 weekends in a city on the West Coast - I'm thinking about camping down there for the 7 weekends - will be cheaper than hotels and I get to keep the tent/mattress/sleeping bag etc... I will have to buy the tent/mattress/sleeping bag first though... not sure how much it will come to in total.... but it could open a whole new camping way of seeeing the world for me...

There may be some major financial news coming down the track - in relation to helping my father out of his own finanicial issues.... its very complicated but it may involve my taking on some debt... we'll see...

Check-in over for now... :-)

Well first of all... night out last night... two pints and a bag of fries/chips.. 11.90... :-) possibly a new record ...

Hobbies front... heard about a kayaking club in my county that is running weekend courses in July and August that end with a cert that enables you to join kayaking clubs - one of which is not far from me... sounds great... only thing is that it costs 200 euro for the weekend - quite pricey..

Horses... I have a passion for horses... I have yet to get back into riding regularly... want to lose a tad bit of weight before I do so that I feel fitter and less of a burden on the poor animal :-) There is a local riding school that gives lessons for 20 euro an hour - I don't think many proper places would do it cheaper than that... will have to factor that into my monthly budgets... maybe 2 lessons a month...

And the best for last... A foundation in film-making course that is perfect for me and that I am really keen on is run by a not-for-profit organisation in the West of Ireland.... I thought the next one didn't start until next Spring... but checked their web-site during the week and there's one starting in September !
It will cost me approx 650 euro which is great value for a 7 weekend course - 14 days...

Anyways so I need to come up with that money before September - will divert all overtime to that and squeeze whatever I can from my budget....

I also want to do the kayaking course and get back into horse-riding... I am passionate about learning to make films but I want to maintain/get balance in my life (Life Coach sessions)... I don't want film-making to be my sole obsession and then get peed off at it after a while... I want to have a rounded life so that my film-making endeavours will be all the more fruitful !!

Emmm...so that's 650 for the film-making course and 200 for the kayaking and maybe 80-100 for horse-riding lessons this summer.... I think I can do it if I am very frugal in other areas of my life - which I generally am...bring lunch to work etc..

Also I usually take a weeks vacation in September every year and go abroad. I am not this year - due to my commitments above. Instead this year, I am taking a week off in August and I will have my first staycation !! I will enjoy just not having to work for the week... can concentrate on scripts and get some good running practice in for the half-marathon I'll be doing at the end of August... and many other little enjoyable things... I may visit a city in Ireland for a night or so...

Oh yeah I have to pay for that half-marathon in August and full marathon in October before August 1st - cheaper entry....

Thank God (or the Universe) that I have a job !

Just checked my Internet Banking and I've received a 711 euro tax refund relating to last year's retirement contributions...

I immediately sent it to my Opportunity Fund account so that Fund is now at 37%...

so time for a reward ! (passed 33%)

New Running Shoes...

I debated about taking the money from the 711 but no I've decided to pay for the runners from my general budget (including overtime)

I'm actualy so far into the savings mentality that I don't like spending large sums (or even less-than-large) on anything at all... even when I've planned it and it's a treat...

Anyways I'm gonna get the runners in a store that examines your style of running and your feet to find the perfect match...

Some wine at home that a friend gave to me as a gift...

3 pints of beer in a bar and a bag of chips/fries....

14.30

That may be a new record for me ! :-)

Yep... that's right... all you gold-diggers keep away !! hehe

This is a positive event... Last December, my Net Worth was minus 200...so the last 6 months have been productive financially...

Oommph.... rant warning...

Just back from a night out where I met a lot of work colleagues...

let me preface this rant by adding this info..... I work in a factory in my hometown.. the majority of employees in this factory are from outside the town... a minority are locais...

Anyways..there's this girl I think is really cute... and tonight I told her so... I asked her how her how the local men are treating her and she says "Well, I'm kisssing A and you know, its ok"

Now A is a local (I don't even wanna call him mister A). He is approx 35, a heavy drinker, pot-bellied and very very fond of smoking marijuana...

He is nothing deserving of particular praise in my mind but he has that self-confident aura about him that would make people think he has higher social status than, in reality, he possesses.

The girl in question is approx 24, cute as hell and really nice.

I am 30, a light drinker and I don't touch drugs. I am probably too much of a "nice" guy for her. In fact, she told me she always liked "bad" guys...

Female bloggers... PLEASE help me understand - what does she see in him ???

Its not his looks
Its not his wealth
Its not his open-mindedness...

Should I just become an ignoramus and to hell with it?

Is being a "nice" guy arsenic to a young woman ??

Oommph.... sorry... rant over...

apologies for the non-financial post :-)

Won't bore you with the details... but going through a situation at work where there ia a concerted attempt to blame me for something that happened during a process. I see the "blame" as clearly lying elsewhere and have pointed this out in as calm, clear and reasonable manner as I can. However due to politics and the power structure at work, it is FAR easier just to blame the lowly operators as opposed to the true reasons for the occurrence...

Anyways... It is so annoying and I've decided to put it into a box in the corner of my mind labelled "Things I hate about work", close the box and try to forget about it/not focus on it too much.

A result of this situation is that I've decided to increase my Opportunity Fund target to 10,000 euro so as to provide a better cushion should this job oome to an end somehow (not saying that it will... just you know..in case).

Anyways, I plan to be a film-maker by the time I'm 35 and that is a VERY precarious existence so the bigger the fund is by that point the better - right ?

So...after only my second Life Coaching session, I've uncovered my values:

Bliss
Gratitude
Optimism/Positive Attitude

And I've discovered what I would love to do if finances and failure were not an issue:

Be a film-maker/documentary-maker making films at home about societal issues and making films around the world which aim to increase understanding between Western culture and other cultures...and vice versa.

I'm leaning more towards films, as I would like to make them interesting/entertaining but with a positive message/feel-good factor with a bit of education thrown in... I think they would reach more people and have the desired effect of opening people's minds a bit and making them feel at one with the world if even for a short while...

So, why blog on a financial site about this ?

Becaus I've decided to go for it !!

Basically I'm holding down a wage in my current job, it does very little for me values-wise - I'm just glad to have a job in the current climate.

But I plan to be a film-maker full-time by my 35th birthday - so 5 years to make the transition.... so definitely not an overnight change.

You see, the way I look at it my current job allows me to save money for retirement, for future accomodation, for opportunities and for day-to-day expenses.

I'm only earning the average industrial wage so I'm not giving up a high-flying career ! It will not take a lot of money to maintain my current savings commitments...

so what if I find a way to meet my financial goals AND do something that makes me blissful ?

No brainer right ?

I hope so....

I'm only at the very beginning of scoping this out.... I'm planning to begin taking courses in film-making next Spring and in the meantime I plan to work on scriptwriting....

Despite 3 short vacations in May, I've managed to end the month with 158 left in the Budget !!

Good going.... but back to reality now...

May's budget was huge and June's is back to normal... :-)

I'm gonna split May's excess between Christmas and Travel savings....

There's a band I really like playing in a neighbouring town tonight. I debated about whether or not to go but I've decided not to for the following reasons:

May's Entertainment budget was huge and I've already maxed it out - due to my 30th B-day celebrations..

Now I'm still going to have about 120 surplus this month - due mainly to overtime. If I went to this gig tonight, I would probably spend 40 euro which is not an awful lot. It's just that I feel I've spent a huge amount on Entertainment already this month and that spending is unsustainable. For example, I spent enough on alcohol last Saturday nite to buy maybe 4 tickets to this gig... I feel like I have to put a stop to it somewhere.... live low until June - Monday - and then start spending, guilt-free, June's Entertainment budget...

How awfully sensible of me !!

I'm planning to split May's excess equally between Christmas savings and Travel savings...