No need to be jealous, when you earn as little as I do those percentages don't add up to much

You scared me a little when you said your boss handed you a letter! I thought you were going to say that you were going to be beginning a job search.

Congrats on the raise and bonus!

Thanks fiddlefaddle.

Turns out they took Super out of our bonus, and then taxed it at a higher rate (to compensate for the possibility it might have bumped us up into the next tax bracket, thus ensuring we wouldn't have to pay more tax at the end of the financial year), so in pocket funds for bonus is significantly down on where it could have been.

So bills can be paid and funds can be refilled, and if I'm lucky I might be able to chuck $50 at the CC.

Big and expensive month.

It was a three house payment month, so that made it tight. Doable, but tight.

Car service at the start of the pay month ended up costing $940. There was also a shudder in the front end that I had hope was tires feathering on their outer edges, but it turns out it’s worse than that. It was a stripped spindle on the front axle. Including the towing costs, that was $300 to fix. It had to happen less than a week after I’d had the brakes done (in the $940 service) and the wheels rotated and aligned (free as a mate works in that industry). So the car has had $1240 spent on it in the last month, all from the car maintenance fund and its annual registration is due in Aprils pay. Hope there’s enough cash in the kitty to cover that when it falls due.

Nicole’s Super annuation has finally all been rolled into the one account. The combined balance of it is yet to be determined.

We’ve booked our Anniversary trip. Due to changes in circumstances we’re only able to take a long weekend, but we’ve booked into a hotel up the coast and are looking forward to four days of kicking back and enjoying ourselves. Only a couple of days until we go, can’t wait.

We had a medical emergency that involved surgery (on a weekend), and the associated costs well and truly hit the EF this month. It also swallowed my annual bonus whole, even after private health insurance coverage. There goes the big payment off the Gold CC we were planning on. Two months in a row of out of pocket medical bills reiterates again for me the need for cash to be put aside to cover for health needs.

And to top it off, late last week our washing machine spilled its load all across the laundry floor and out the door, leaving a trail of big rust flakes. A broken part (read rusted out) lead to a leak, which in turn lead to its permanent retirement at the local metal recyclers. A replacement part was contemplated, but due to the age of the machine, the rust flakes, and the fact it was its second attempt to leave this mortal coil (it tried to do this 5 years ago, but a replacement pump brought it back to life) the decision to purchase a new machine was made. Due to the timing, right at the end of the pay month and heading into a weekend, it had to be purchased on Nicole’s work credit card as there was no room on our Gold card or time to transfer it from our ING house maintenance fund.

Current debts:

House Loan: $514,081.22
Gold Credit Card: $4985.85
CUA Personal Loan: $26,570.56

That’s a decrease in debt of $3203.66

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $4850
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $2315.54

That’s a decrease of $488.43 (mostly from the EF fund).

The aim for the upcoming month is to get the EF fund back to where it was, start putting money away for quarterly bills like rates and water and also cash for medical emergencies. If there’s any cash left after that, it’s going off the Gold CC. I also need to transfer the cash out of the ING house maintenance fund to pay off the work CC, just need a confirmed number from Nicole, as I don’t have the receipt.

So our targets for the year look like this three full pay months in:

Not a lot going on in the past month.

Apart from one extra bill from our hospital trip from the anesthetist, which was covered by the EF.

Sold a few more hobby things, slowly whittling that down and adding to the cash pile.

We went away for a short period for our 10yr anniversary, didn’t spend anywhere near what we thought we would which was good. Caught up with some family while we were away, including our godson, which was awesome.

Current debts:

House Loan: $512,923.59
Gold Credit Card: $4919.95
CUA Personal Loan: $26,350.60

That’s a decrease in debt of $1444.29

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $4662
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $2048.35

That’s a decrease of $405.19 (from the EF fund).

No real plans for the next month. Just trying to stay on budget.

So our targets for the year look like this four full pay months in:

Simple month again.

Current debts:

House Loan: $511,763.74
Gold Credit Card: $5067.63
CUA Personal Loan: $26,137.23

That’s a decrease in debt of $1224.54

Had an unknown transaction come through overnight on the Gold CC that bumped it up over its limit. Turns out it’s a regular quarterly purchase for one of my hobbies, just which I had have remembered to put it into the budget so it wouldn’t overdraw. No drama though, no fees from the bank and the Gold CC is back in bounds as of today.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $4614
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $2493.15

That’s an increase of $368.80.

No real plans for the next month. Just trying to stay on budget. Trying to avoid dipping into the EF fund, and trying to not put stuff on the Gold CC. Next months pay should see a bonus come through from my wife, not sure how much it will be at this time, but I’m hoping it’ll all go towards servicing out debts.

So our targets for the year look like this five full pay months in:

Busted our budget this month .

We’ve invested in some artwork, and needed to do it prior to the end of our financial year (June 30th) so we could grab a decent discount. As we didn’t have all the cash required for the purchase, we’ve put it on layby and will be making regular payments on it until our tax returns come in and it can be purchased outright.

While it’s obviously not one of the smartest things we’ve done financially in regards to paying down our debts, it is something we’d looked at in the past and this opportunity made it financially viable for us.

I’ll be adding the artwork in as an asset once it resides in our house.

Current debts:

House Loan: $510,418.70
Gold Credit Card: $4958.99
CUA Personal Loan: $25,911.75

That’s a decrease in debt of $1679.36

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $4290.80
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $1898.40

That’s a decrease of $684.68.

That is due to selling some more hobby stuff and dipping into our cash reserves to put a deposit down on some artwork.

Good news though.

Nicole has received confirmation from the government that her PELS (Postgraduate Education Learning Scheme) loan for her MBA has been repayed as of August last year. Wish they could have told us earlier!!! The system works on garnishing your pre taxed earnings based on your total salary amount. Repayments start at ~4% and work up to 9% of your wage scaling up as you earn more. You find out what you have paid off over the year and what’s still owing at the end of each financial year when the Tax Office sends you out the notification. Turns out, because we hadn’t done our taxes for three years, she’d earned enough and paid enough back in those three years to wipe out her debt.

This means that we had to submit a new tax file declaration form, ticking the no box for the “Do you have a HECS/PELS debt?” question. This will come into effect for our August pay, and should mean an extra $1200 or so a month can be added to our budget. Not making any concrete plans for that money just yet, as we want to see how much it actually is when it hits our account.

The double bonus is that her wage has been garnished since August of last year, which means her tax return this year should be quite nice. Putting a big dint in our debts, fingers crossed.

So our targets for the year look like this six full pay months in:

Thank you GRS for putting me in a position where a flat tire, that was shredded internally down to the wire beading by a 4" nail and needed replacing, on my car doesn't put me into financial conniptions.

Geoff, great story. It's nice to follow another Aussie working on smashing their debt!!

Pretty good month.

Current debts:

House Loan: $509,112.72
Gold Credit Card: $4917.75
CUA Personal Loan: $25,287.10

That’s a decrease in debt of $1971.87.

It’s a little bit more than usual, there’s been an extra half payment made to the CUA Personal Loan due to the automatic payment not dropping on the correct day because of a weekend, so I’d manually transferred some cash to cover it, and then the automatic payment went through anyway.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $3977.30
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $2919.94

That’s an increase of $1524.27.

Sold some more hobby stuff and replenished some of the funds we had drawn cash from for the painting deposit. Also paid for a new tire to replace the one that scored a 4 inch nail in it.

We have done our annual tax returns for the year and will be getting a decent chunk of cash back, mainly due to the overpayment of PELS for Nicole and the extra medical payments we’ve had to pay out of pocket. This will be going towards knocking off the Gold CC debt and the painting layby. Also there’s cash to refund our EF from last month and set up our godsons trust fund. Then we start nailing the CUA Personal Loan.

We’re over half way on our targets for the house loan and the CUA Personal Loan for the year. And this month will see our Christmas Fund meeting its target for the year.

So our targets for the year look like this seven full pay months in:

Lots of money changed hands this month.

Current debts:

House Loan: $505,796.46
Gold Credit Card: $0
CUA Personal Loan: $25,063.07

That’s a decrease in debt of $8457.04.

The House Loan had 3 fortnightly payments made this month, one of those twice a year occasions that gives a good sense of paying off debts. The Gold Card has been completely paid off way back at the start of the pay period, and it’s still at $0 balance, so that’s a win.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $3977.30
Super: $94,823.26
Cash: $5953.53

That’s an increase of $3037.53.

Didn’t manage to sell any hobby stuff this month, but have some irons in the fire. We have started putting some money away for a holiday and our nephew/godson so our Cash amount has increased accordingly.

Two other things happened this month. We picked up our artwork that we’d put on layby back in June to take advantage of a discount. It’s been hung up on the wall and looks the goods. We’re not including it as an asset, as artwork appreciation in value is a weird thing and the artist is still alive, so gains there will be minimal. We’ve also put a deposit down on a new car to replace our aging Subaru Liberty B4, which just had its 175,000km service. This will help reduce the income tax Nicole is paying.

The Christmas fund has met its target for the year, so anything added to it from now on will be extras, but more than likely used up this year as it’s the travelling year, where we traipse across the country and visit relatives.

So our targets for the year look like this eight full pay months in:

A positive upside to this month.

Current debts:

House Loan: $504,386.67
CUA Personal Loan: $24,827.20

That’s a decrease in debt of $1646.66.

Pretty standard month.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $3967.30
Super: $136,076.97
Cash: $6723.84

That’s an increase of $36,566.24

Big jump this month.

I received notification of my mid year account value from my Superannuation company, and it’s been a good growth year. I’m now able to get regular updates form them online, so rather than wait until the new year and adjust the amount (like I did at the start of this year) I can now do it monthly. Also Nicole’s Super is still being screwed around. One of the vendors has failed after numerous attempts (phone calls, emails, online forms) to change her name from when we were married over 10 years ago. There’s ~$12k sitting in that account, so we don’t want to just let it fritter away with management fees. I went hard this month and filled in all the appropriate paperwork and snail mailed it in with a certified copy of our marriage certificate so hopefully it will be sorted.

Only sold one hobby item this month, picking up $10 from the sale.

So our targets for the year look like this nine full pay months in:

Slow month.

Current debts:

House Loan: $502,983.91
CUA Personal Loan: $24,597.20

That’s a decrease in debt of $1632.76.

Looks like this is the new standard average.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $12,800
Other: $3967.30
Super: $136,005.78
Cash: $8283.73

That’s an increase of $918.98

Looking at offloading our car in the near future and rolling that cash into our holiday fund. Its replacement is currently going through quarantine (built in South Africa, arrived via ship last Saturday, clears customs quarantine and then has extras added like tinting and tow bar added before delivery.) Should have it before the end of the month.

So our targets for the year look like this ten full pay months in:

It’s a long time between drinks as the saying goes.

Just after my last entry in November our world changed. On the day we picked up the new car, which was Nicole’s birthday, we found out we were pregnant. For a couple who had accepted that being childless was their lot in life and had made lifestyle changes and decisions based on that, we now find that our world has been turned upside down, in a good way.

So no more European Holiday for us mid year, all available funds are being squirreled away to allow Nicole to take a good chunk of time off work and stay home with the baby.

She gets 2 months paid maternity leave from her company, which can be taken at half pay for 4 months. This gives us the advantage of her PAYG tax being reduced, which should see a little bit of a bump in take home cash compared to getting 2 months paid in a lump sum at the start. I get 2 weeks paid paternity leave from my company, and a possible extra 2 weeks paid Dad’s leave from the government at minimum wage. There is also the governments baby bonus ~$3000, which is to be scrapped in 2 weeks and 9 months according to last nights Federal Budget.

Nicole is looking at taking time off work from her 34th week, and has already booked the annual leave to do so and is counting down the days. Her maternity leave kicks in after the baby is born and she’s planning on taking 6 months off post partum. At the end of that 6 month period I’ll be taking a couple of months off work on annual leave and take over primary care giver duties, while she returns to work, be it full or part time, that decision is yet to be made.

We already have the baby furniture requirements covered (delivery is this month) and the curtains are already hung in the nursery. The first of the baby showers (her work) has been held with the other for family and friends in the middle of June. Some great gifts have been given to us already that will save us a good bit of cash.

I will be going through the journals of the ladies on here that had children last year and brushing up on my “needs to haves”.

Current debts:

House Loan: $491,299.18
CUA Personal Loan: $22,857.72

That’s a decrease in debt of $15056.97 in 6 months.

In the positive column we have:

House: $575,000
Car: $10,000
Other: $3967.30
Super: $145,956.58
Cash: $9134.90

That’s an increase of $8920.95 in 6 months.

Still trying to offload the car, it’s on the local online car selling website. I have had one interested buyer, but they need to sell their car first, so I consider that to be no sale. We have the newer one, but as it’s a lease for Nicole’s work, it’s not an asset. We need the cash from our old car to help cover us for future time off for the new baby due at the end of July. We don’t have to have it sold right now, but will need the cash from it sometime around Oct/Nov.

Good chance the house value has also gone up. But there’s no point getting in a valuer as we’re not interested in selling. The CUA loan is slowly being whittled down.

So our targets which have changed from last year, look like this halfway through May:

(Will update to an actual image, when i can remember the login details for my online file storage )
Start of 2013 This Month Target %
House Loan $499,452.97 $491,299.18 $480,000.00 41.92%
CUA Personal Loan $ 23,851.82 $ 22,857.72 $ 21,000.00 34.86%
Gold CC $ - $ - $ - 100.00%
EF $ 1,291.40 $ 156.31 $ 2,000.00 7.82%
Car Maintenance $ 501.99 $ 639.84 $ 2,000.00 31.99%
House Maintenance $ 250.17 $ 1,434.75 $ 5,000.00 28.70%
Christmas Savings $ 250.28 $ 1,263.41 $ 2,000.00 63.17%
Godson Fund $ 1,313.08 $ 1,834.32 $ 2,550.00 71.93%
Baby Fund $ 2,699.31 $ 5,058.42 $ 20,000.00 25.29%

Congratulations!!
I am so happy for you and your wife...see, you never know what blessings you will come across when you get your life in order. This really made me smile this morning.
Have a great day!