Things Have Changed

Having the luxury of a whole month off I’m doing a lot of long awaited maintenance on my website. I checked the original “about me” page and didn’t realise how much has changed. Take a look (changes in red)

I am Broke – Still don’t have a lot of spare cash, but I have enough money to make choices with what I do with it, ie my pay is not all going on bills and necessities.

I am single. – Engaged to be married, we had a modest backyard party to celebrate that I’m told was enjoyed by all. Wedding can wait until we can afford to pay cash for it.

I am male. - no change to report
I am a Leo (not that I actually believe in that stuff, but if my weekly horoscope is good it gives me something to actually look forward to) - No Change

I live alone. – I live with my Fiance and two cats.

I am straight (but occasionaly use hair product) - no change to report

I drive a 29 year old car that has been in my family for 27 years through three generations. - Sadly this car become uneconomical to repair, I now have a reliable fuel efficient 18yo diesel dual cab. If it had aircon it would be perfect.

I have a tempory contract with a never to be named government agency. - I now have the luxury of a permanent position and regular reliable income.

I like living alone (most of the time) - I am very happy living with Fiance, though still enjoy time to myself

I am a little over 6 feet tall. – no change, however my feet are bigger….. go figure.

I sail (on someone elses boat) once to twice a week over summer, much less in winter. – Haven’t sailed for a while. miss it a little bit.

I pay rent (who would give me a mortgage, and how would I service that and the credit cards) - Got a mortgage through a less than ethical mortgage broker, this is what caused the global financial crisis…… but my credit is good.

I have an Xbox but i just sold most of my games on ebay, I use it mainly to watch DVD’s. - Don’t use the Xbox much, never got the Xbox 360, though did score a Wii from my Fiance’s parents a couple of Christmas’s ago.

I have an Ipod which I bought as a reward for myself for walking to work, I figure I have already paid for it with the money I have saved in parking fees. - Upgraded to Iphone – awesome.

more to come when I feel the urge to share intimate personal details, or something - I’m a very private person………………. still.

Just bought an Engagement Ring on My Credit Card

I just bought a very nice engagement ring, fortunately my fiance loves. I was putting off asking her to Marry me as I wanted to get her a good quality ring, but I didn’t want to increase my credit card debt. So here is what I did…..

I paid for it on my credit card.

Crazy but I had a plan

1. Saved two thirds of the price before hand.

2. Waited till my credit card interest period ticked over so I got the full 55 days interest free period.

3. Didn’t buy it until I knew I had the cash flow to pay it off the interest free period expired.

Win Win for everybody.

I bought a house

With a few pay rises and a few thousand dollars in the bank I’ve been able to buy myself a modest little house. I’ve still got some credit card debt to pay off, but unless a disaster happens I have the income to cover the bills and live modestly, until the credit cards are paid off, and then I can be as imodest as I like.

At the moment I am balancing my desire to get rid of all my personal debt with doing some much needed renovations on the house.

I’ve restructured my debt into three parts.

I have a credit card with a balance transfer offer at 3% until may next year, the balance is $8000.

I have a personal loan with the balance of $7000, Interest rate is 11.24%.

I have borrowed $11,000 from a friend, who borrowed it from a bank,  I’m paying back $250 a month, interest rate is 12.54%

My current goal is to pay off the $7000 as soon as possible to remove the compulsory repayments I have and reduce my fortnightly repayment burden.

I’ll post more about my plans when I get the chance, but it’s all looking good.