For Unto Us a Child is Born

Christmas time is here. This time last year I would be busy with church choir practices. I feel something's missing this year as I realised churches here mostly do not have choirs. I remember whenever we sing a new piece each month, I would always struggle with the notes as most of them are not familiar songs to me. And I was always amazed at how some of the choir members would recognize the song and I marvelled when Pak Lin (choir conductor) told the background behind song(the composer, why it was created, etc etc).

Yesterday, I was reading ODB and the bible phrase is taken from Isaiah 9:1-7 and the main bible verse is taken from Job 19:25" I know that my Redeemer lives". Well, I soon began singing a song "I know that my redeemer liveth" (Handel version) which was a song I would never have heard if I had not joined choir before. As I began reading the Isaiah chapter, I just realised I quoted one of the verses for my Christmas card this year:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace

And I remember us trying to sing the song "For Unto Us a Child is Born" but we didn't proceed with it as it is a difficult piece requiring a minimum number of SATB (Christmas is the time when the choir members go back to Indonesia for holiday so there were only a few of us left). Also, it requires a strong choir to sing the song and we were not one hehehe..

So this Christmas we went to the mall and were surprised to see Santa Clause taking picture with kids (for a fee) which I don't remember we have one back in Singapore (or I seldom go to the mall during that period coz of choir practices). My friends brought us to Sutherland to see nice houses decorated in Christmas lightings, and I thought it was all only in the Christmas movies I have seen on TV hahahaa...

My MIL watched the Christmas Carols in domain on TV and she said "So sad that your father would miss this". Oh well, there would be many Christmas-es ahead for him to enjoy here. I think this feels like Chinese New Year in Singapore, where people would go out and shop and shops/offices close down during the period and time would be spent with family.

As for us, it would be filled with gatherings with friends (YumCha, children's birthday party and Boxing day dinner with Singaporean friends). Looking forward to all of them...

Now, I just enjoy the Choral songs from youtube so I don't miss my choir and church so much :)

I'll walk with God

This morning I was glancing at my homepage of internet page, which is the Our Daily Bread page. So I read the article, skipping the bible reading (very bad of me) . Thee bible phrase was "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. —Genesis 5:24" and the story was about walking with God. I was reading it and humming a song I sang in choir "I'll walk with God". I miss choir!!

I look it up in the internet for the lyrics, and they are beautiful:

I'll walk with God

I'll walk with God from this day on.
His helping hand I'll lean upon.
This is my prayer, my humble plea,
May the Lord be ever with me.

There is no death, tho' eyes grow dim.
There is no fear when I'm near to Him.
I'll lean on Him forever
And He'll forsake me never.

He will not fail me
As long as my faith is strong,
Whatever road I may walk along.

I'll walk with God, I'll take His hand.
I'll talk with God, He'll understand.
I'll pray to Him, each day to Him
And He'll hear the words that I say.

His hand will guide my throne and rod
And I'll never walk alone
While I walk with God.

Not sure how to upload video from Youtube, if it's even possible but I found several videos by different singers for the song, the original one probably from Mario Lanza though I prefer Jon Christos' or Russell Watson only because it's less opera-like. I think I remember Pak Lin singing this song at one of our Eklesia gathering or when we were practising this song.

It's a good song to memorize (I have yet to), it will help me whenever I feel lost or down or sick. I think the song was sung at a funeral in the movie "Student Prince". Hubby, if you're reading this, I want to request this song at my funeral.

Again, I miss Eklesia :)

New contract role

Since my last entry, I was just into my 2 weeks of break and I got a call from my recruitment agent that the interview I had earlier was successful but pending approval from head office with regards to head count. I was asked if I could start the next day if all went well, so I said ok.

It's been 2 weeks now with my new role, another 6-month contract til May09. The role was a permanent role previously, but due to pending merger there is a headcount freeze. Talking about headcount freeze, my ex-employer (DBS) announced it's going to retrench 900 staff. One of church friends sms-ed me about it (I seldom read news nowadays) and she said I was lucky that I left DBS. Well, now i'm in another bank that is bought over by another bank so I'm not sure if there'll be any job cuts later.

I really enjoyed this role as I'm going back to the role I did in Singapore. The people are nice, friendly, and they joke a lot (though I understand only half of what they are saying most of the time). There are fruits in the kitchen 3 times a week and kitchen is well stocked with variety of tea (I usually have 3 different cup of tea every day). One minus point is that the building is about 10-minute walk from train station, but it is a good morning walk I guess.

For now, I need to learn how to drive and plan to sit for the written exam by end of the month. Hopefully by December, I could start learning how to drive a car. For the first half of next year, I would be busy with studying for an exam (in June, 3rd attempt) and I may start on IVF program. Hopefully IVF will affect my study plan coz I really need to pass this exam. Each year I fail, I would need to register for next year's exam and they'd send me another pack of 6 textbook for reading! I have 2 sets of books already (2008 and 2009).

Relaxing at home

It's been a week since I left my contract job and so far I've enjoyed every minute at home. Except for the last few days before an interview. As usual, I was very nervous and started reading my CFA textbook to prepare myself for the technical questions.

Also, I have started playing Wii Fit as an attempt in losing weight. I think I have ballooned in the past 2 years that even my cousins couldn't recognize me from Facebook photos. My PIL who has encouraged me to put on weight since my wedding day has admitted that my stomach is getting too big hehehe..

As I don't really enjoyed exercising, it's quite hard to be consistent in my morning jog. I was determined to watch "Lust, Caution" at 6am this morning and was still watching it when my FIL left for jogging. And, I was still watching it when he had come back from his run and when my MIL went for her power-walk.

The weather is getting warm lately and it is actually a good weather to swim. Our apartments' pool was directly behind my unit, but I made excuses that the pool looked dirty with leaves. Hubby and I promised that we would start cycling when he's back from work but so far we only managed to go for 2 evening walks and a walk to Woolies yesterday.

Also, I should actually start studying for my level 2 CFA exams (June-2009). Well, perhaps later..

Aud is going down and down... and I'm trying to recall if anybody owes me money in Singapore. And now the deposit rate is going down, I would start looking for other deposit account once Bankwest 8.10% stops in Jan-09. I was thinking of putting some money to new NAB U-Bank account but, alas, the rate has dropped from 8.5% to 8% for 3-mth term deposit.

We are thinking of buying a house of our own but not sure of what kind of house (house, townhouse, flat), the size (2-bed, 3-bed) and location. Personally I prefer buying a less-than-ideal house first, so we could upgrade to an 'ideal' one later. So we could settle for a cheap 2-bedroom apartment somwhere near train station 15-20 km away from city, and try to repay the loan as soon as we can (thus reducing the interest expense of the loan). But 2-bedroom means we would not have spare room for guests.....

The irony about not working is that .. now I have time to pursue my hobby (dancing-ballroom/latin) but I am reluctant to spend the money. But once I start working, I am more willing to spend, but no time to do it (most of the classes are on weekdays). Maybe I would keep this hobby with my knitting project for retirement.

Talking about retirement, I have been asking my girlfriends to start planning of what type of retirement village we should go to. I think it will be more fun to retire with 'old' friends. We don't have to waste time getting to know new people, we could play cards together and we could reminisce old times. One of my girlfiend suggested that instead of going to retirement village, we could buy a large land and build our houses next to each other. Sounds good.... only that it's hard to find big land in Sydney and to agree on good location for 2 families. Let's see how it goes...

So You Want Your Kids to Go to Harvard?

by Suze Orman
Saving for your children's college education is the last thing you should do.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain.
One of the biggest mistakes I see parents make is to put saving for college ahead of all their other financial goals. Granted, it is a loving and well-intentioned mistake. But it is still a mistake.
You need to listen up here: You must take care of your other financial needs before you save one penny for your kids' college educations. That means getting rid of your high-rate credit card debt, contributing enough to your 401(k) to get the maximum company match, saving up for a home if you don't yet own one, funding a Roth every year if you meet the income eligibility requirement (under $95,000 for a single tax filer, $150,000 for married couples filing a joint return), and saving up an eight-month emergency cash fund. And when all of that is done, go back and max out on your 401(k) contribution and save a bit more for retirement in a regular taxable account.
All of that comes before you are to even think about a college fund.
Now, I know this runs against the conventional wisdom these days. But the harsh reality, my friends, is that no one is going to help you out with paying for your retirement -- while you and your kids can get plenty of financial help for their college costs. Just look around you. There are tons of student loans available for both kids and their parents. But I do not know of a single loan available to help you afford your retirement.
So that's why you need to focus on taking care of yourself first. You need to build your financial security before building a college fund.Get Over the Guilt Trip
I know that's not an easy thing for a lot of you to hear. Your kids mean everything to you, and so you want to give them everything. Including money for college. In a perfect world I would agree with you. But life ain't perfect, right? So you need to step back for a second and be a rational, rather than an emotional, parent. If you ignore all your financial needs for the sake of building up a college fund, you will screw yourself over, and possibly your kids as well.
This becomes clear if you think things through for a minute. Say that instead of building up your retirement assets, or paying down your mortgage, you focus on the college fund. So the kid goes off to school on your dime. Great, you think. But now let's jump forward another 10 or 20 years. You've reached retirement age -- or worse, have been pushed out of your job earlier than expected. The problem is, you discover you can't quite afford to retire. You simply haven't been able to save up enough. Why? Because 10 or 20 years ago, instead of funding a Roth IRA, contributing enough to your 401(k) to get the max company match, and also saving on your own in regular taxable accounts, you poured all your money into the kid's college fund.
And that has put you in a financial pickle. Your kid got a "free ride" through college on your financial back, but now you're straining to support yourself. So what do you do? You start living off of credit cards and running up dangerous debt; or you take out a home equity line that you can't afford to pay back. You're too proud to tell your kids what's going on, but trust me, they will eventually figure it out. I constantly hear from young adults who are torn up about their parents' financial problems. And they all tell me the same thing: "Suze, I feel so guilty that they spent all that money on my college education, when they should have been saving up for themselves. And now I am worried about how I can help them. If only they had been straight with me back then, I could have gotten student loans and worked my way through school."
If only.
Please don't allow yourself, and your kid, to fall into that trap. Focus on getting your debt under control, saving for retirement, and creating an emergency cash fund. Knock those big-ticket items off of your To Do list and you'll be sitting pretty when it's time to retire. That'bs by far the best thing you can do for your children.And I just want to take a sec right here to make sure you don't make the biggest of parental blunders: you are to never ever take out a home equity line of credit or a home equity loan to pay for college! Consider this scenario: You tap the equity in your home and five years later you are laid off. You are struggling to keep up with the payments and thus at risk of losing your home. Meanwhile, your kid is just out of college and lucky to be making $30,000. So all she feels is guilt over the situation. I have seen this happen over and over. And again, what I hear from the kids is that they wish their parents had just been straight with them; they realize it would have been so much easier for everyone if they'd taken out student loans to finance school.
When There's Money to Spare
Now I know that many of you have a solid grip on your financial life and are in a position to save up some money for your kid's college education. Great. But please check out my advice in the next section of this article: Tough Love: Letting Your Child Pay Their Own Way on why and how your children should participate in financing their college education anyway. Because unless you are 100 percent sure you can finance 100 percent of the cost without breaking a sweat, you really do need to involve your kids in preparing for the cost of college.
The first rule of saving for college is to size up your time frame. If your child is just a few years away from starting school, you simply don't have time to invest in stocks or stock funds. You are going to need to use that money in a few years, so you need to be positive the money will be there for you then. Over short periods of time -- say, under five years -- stocks are far too risky. Just look at the past five years. If you invested in 2000 and pulled your money out today, chances are pretty good you'd be under water.
Stocks and stock funds are only for long-term investments; if you have a kid under the age of 10 or so, then you can go this route. But if you have a 15-year old, my advice is to stick with very low-risk savings vehicles such as short-term bonds, CDs, or money market accounts. I know you aren't going to make much -- but you will be sure that the money is there when you need to write the first tuition check. By the way, check out the excellent American Dream Savings Account offered by EmigrantDirect; right now, you are guaranteed a 3.25 percent yield, which is a terrific rate for a guaranteed investment.
When it comes to saving up for college you have a variety of options. And you need to choose wisely, because some types of college savings accounts will have a bigger impact than others on how much financial aid you and your kid qualify for. You want to avoid the investments that can count against you big-time when financial aid is figured out. Also, I need to point out that some of the key tax breaks tied to some college accounts are scheduled to expire after 2010, unless Congress extends the current law. There's really no way to guess what might happen with this. One would hope Congress can act to help Americans save for college, but when we're staring at such big federal deficits, any tax break is going to face a lot of scrutiny.
So with that in mind I want to begin by suggesting a great college savings tool you might not have thought of: a Roth IRA.
If you are married and file a joint tax return with income under $150,000 (or are a single filer with income below $95,000), you can invest a full $4,000 a year in a Roth. True, you get no tax break on your initial investment, but your money grows tax-deferred. Here's the kicker, though: not a penny of your Roth assets are considered by the financial aid wonks in figuring out your kid's eligibility for loans.
As you have heard me say before, the neat thing about a Roth is that your contributions -- not the earnings, but the money you yourself invest in the Roth -- are always under your control 24/7. You can take the money out at any time and not owe a penny in penalty or tax. So let's say you invest $4,000 a year for the next 15 years. That's $60,000 you'll have saved up. And if you want to raid the earnings too, the IRS gives you a break if you are under 59 1/2 years old. Remember, typically when you try and take earnings out of an IRA before you are 59 1/2, you get hit with a 10 percent penalty. If the withdrawal is to pay for school costs, however, the penalty is waived. The only catch to keep in mind is that you will indeed have to pay income tax on any earnings that are withdrawn before you are 59 1/2.
Another advantage to the Roth is that if your child manages to qualify for a ton of scholarships -- or decides to skip college -- you can just leave all that money in your Roth and be that much better off when it's time to retire.
You can also check out opening a Coverdell Education Savings Account (these used to be called Education IRAs). With a Coverdell you can invest $2,000 a year for each child. Like a Roth IRA, you will not get any initial tax deduction on your contribution; but your money grows tax-free, and if you use the money for school costs it won't be hit with Federal tax. And I mean any school cost, not just college. Coverdells can be used to pay for any schooling prior to college, too. Individuals with income below $95,000, and married couples who file a joint tax return with adjusted gross income below $190,000, are eligible to contribute the full $2,000 a year to a Coverdell. A maximum of 5.6 percent of Coverdell assets are factored into financial aid eligibility formulas, so that's not too big a hit.
What's known as a 529 College Savings Plan is also a good way to save and not throw off your financial aid chances. Like a Coverdell, just 5.6 of your assets in a 529 Savings Plan count against you in financial aid calculations. There are no income eligibility limits with a 529, and you can invest much more than is allowed with a Coverdell. Your money grows tax-deferred and will not be hit with federal tax when it is used for college expenses. But unless Congress acts to extend this tax break, it will expire after 2010. And do not confuse a 529 Savings Plan with a 529 Pre-Paid Plan. The problem with pre-paid plans is that every dollar you have saved in a pre-paid will reduce your financial aid by a dollar. So if you think you will be applying for school loans, you probably want to steer clear of pre-paids. You can learn more about 529s at Yahoo's College Savings Center, and you can also check out a new breed of 529s where your savings can be applied to future tuition costs at 240 private schools, at http://www.independent529.org/.
Tough Love - Letting Your Children Pay Their Own Way
Talk about a rock and a hard place. The cost of college keeps increasing well above the inflation rate, and yet at the same time you know you need to be socking away more money for your retirement: not only are we living longer, but it's also a slam dunk that if you are in your 30s or 40s today your future Social Security benefits will be reduced by the time you get around to retiring.
So please don't feel any shame if figuring out how to send your kids to college keeps you up and sweating bullets at night.
You need to rethink your approach. College is not your sole responsibility. You need to make this a true family project and have your child contribute to their own education.
This is not a sign of parental failure. Stop thinking that way! It's actually a sign of parental wisdom. You are not going to screw up your financial future by paying the entire college bill. That is a great example to set for your kids.
Now let's talk about how to talk to your kids about this.
The effectiveness of your chat depends on timing and tone as much as anything else. There are two key "don'ts" here. Don't wait until they are 17. And don't start out with "I wish I could do more for you, but..."
You need to let your kids in on the game plan when they are young teenagers so they have the time to prepare -- and to really help their cause. Tell a 13-year-old that they will be responsible for a portion of their college costs and you have the ability to motivate the child to a) do really well in high school -- both in and out of the classroom -- to boost their chances for scholarships and grants; b) get a part-time job to save up for some school costs; and c) mentally prepare for being asked to take on student loans.
You need to deliver this message with strength, not weakness. The correct tone is: "We are going to save as much as possible for your college education, but we're also going to need you to pitch in too. Here's what we are saving for you, so let's talk about what you can do to help." Notice that nowhere did you say, "Gee, we're really sorry about this..."
I realize your child may not be jumping for joy at the news, but let's get real here. You are not punishing your child. And you are insuring that down the line you are not going to be a financial burden to them. I don't expect a 13-year-old to fully comprehend that right now -- and wouldn't recommend even bringing it up -- but, trust me, when your kid becomes an adult they are going to appreciate completely what you have done for them. In addition to a college degree with no strings attached, you'll have given them an empowering example of financial responsibility: yours and theirs both.

Parents-in-laws are here, finally.

Last Saturday we fetched my PILs at the airport early in the morning. They were taking the A380 SQ flight from Singapore. My FIL complained about the narrow leg room, and my hubby actually complained about the same thing the last time we took the flight. I was surprised that hubby didn't warned FIL in advance on what to expect from A380.

They love the weather that morning, it was a cool morning. But somehow towards the afternoon, the weather got warmer and warmer (almost up to 30 degrees). We had to tell them that they happened to arrive on a peculiarly hot day. We even accused them of bringing Singapore weather to Sydney.

Over the next few days, we took them to Shopping Mall (Rhodes, Bankstown) for them to buy their necessities and for mum to buy grocery shopping. I brought her home-cooked food for lunch since we stopped our 'rantangan'/tiffin.

They had to learn how to switch on/off the alarm of our apartment, learn to use the phone to let guest in, learn to separate garbage to recyclable and non-recyclable and learn to use dryer. I hope they could cope with the information-overload at such a short time.

But they are very happy, especially my FIL. He had dreamed of living in a foreign country since young so he said his dream came true now he's here. He started buying some potted plants that he could tend during the day. We subscribed to all Foxtel channels for them, my MIL would watch the food channels while FIL will watch the rest. We played badminton yesterday, just like what we used to do back in Singapore :)

Monthly update?

I just realised that I have not updated my blog since last month. Well, I am quite good at starting something and not finishing it :)

Too many things to update but the big news is hubby has found a job at a brick company. He finally took the offer that he initially rejected, after considering it thoroughly. Today will be his first week there! It was a big adjustment for him as he likes to sleep late and this job requires him to be at the office/plant at 5.45am. I still couldn't wake up at 4.30 am even though I initially planned to wake at the same time as him and do more things in the morning (quiet time/bible reading, play Wii, have breakfast, check internet).

It was a big adjustment for me too. I now have to go to work by bus, before catching train. My boss suggested that I start early so I could leave early . I thought of the same arrangement but I wasn't sure that he would approve it. The new arrangement is a bit confusing as I need to leave early so I could go home , have dinner and sleep by 9+pm.

Talking about work, I finally told my boss that my last day would be 30 Sep, after having 4 coffee sessions with him to talk and negotiate it. It's not the final decision yet, I think. After having a talk with the recruiter yesterday, she suggested that I take another role my boss offered but negotiate for a one-week notice. The current role is not giving me the same flexibility of notice period as I need to give 1 month's notice due to the workload size and the fact that nobody in the team could cover the work.

This morning bible reading from Our Daily Bread is taken from Psalm 8 and after reading it, I remember that there is a song from my choir that is based on this Psalm. So instead of reading, I was singing the Psalm. Oh, I miss choir session back in Singapore. I just saw their video on singing a Batak song (Arbab) in Batak and Sundanese for the Independence Day 17th Aug. I miss them, the songs, the practises, the dinner after that and the friendship develops.

One of my choir friends is here in Sydney now. She's a vet and she's attending a workshop at Taronga Zoo. Currently staying at her cousin's place and she's stay with us on Sunday to Tuesday. I'm taking leave on Mon -Tue to bring her around. Oooh, so exciting! It's really good timing as I need an excuse for holiday and I miss Eklesia (name of the choir) so it will be good to catch up.

Oops, I need to get ready for work now. Coming up tomorrow.... news about our baby project and ...my PIL are coming soon (finally)!

IVF Talk

Today we went for a talk wiht IVF Australia. I think i'm preparing myself for the worst-case scenario that we may need to resort to IVF.

I went to GP last Saturday to ask for referral to Gynae/Obs near Bankstown (friend's recommendation) so we'll prob need to do consulation and run some tests before determining if we need to go IVF.

Despite my temptation to start early with baby-project due to my 'older' age, I'm thinking what the best arrangement is with regards to work and private healh insurance. Should I start looking for a permanent job to take advantage of the maternity leave? Should I just finish my contract in January and not work to concentrate on IVF? I would need to time the IVF too so that the day surgery would fall after December so I could claim the cost from private health insurance.

Back to the donation topic, I found another sponsorship organisation (ChildFund) that help Indonesian kids and also help the commnity around the child. If all goes well, I might just visit her if I happen to go back Indonesia (oh, I forgot Indonesia is big, I hope she's not far from Jakarta). I discussed about charity organisation with my 'antepe' friends and one of them suggested MIKA in Indonesia. Guiltily, I admitted that I want this part of donation to be tax-deductible.

Tax

I decided to do my tax returns in the hope that I'd get some tax returns. Now, I just have to wait for the credit to my bank account..

When claiming tax-deduction donation, I remembered Will's blog entry regarding church donation. Suddenly I had a 'creative' idea of giving some of the 10% tithing to tax-deductible organisation. So I went on to get the list of organisation and narrowed the list down to:
- Radio Heart FM
- Presbyterian Aged Care
- Anglican Board of Mission
- Uniting Church in Australia -Frontier Services

It is really hard to know if I have chosen correctly. Ideally, it would be good to visit the place or even get involved (volunteer) with the organisation before making the decision. Of coz, giving money out is much easier than really getting involved with the activities. Oh, my friend suggested World Visiton too, so I would look at it again. The first time round, I didn't 'adopt' any child in World Vision coz I wanted to choose an Indonesian girl and they don't have Indonesians in their list.

I am very interested to know more about Presbyterian Aged Care, though. I think it'd be fun to stay at retirement house with fellow old friends, playing card games, exercising together. Wouldn't it be nice if all my good friends go to the same retirement village? It would be like reunion or like church camp all over again. Hmm, maybe I should drop by the place to look at it. It seems they accept CDs for donations and I got heaps of them, though I'm not sure if the songs are from their era hehehe....

On a good note, my hubby got a job! Yippee.. Now I can quit my job!

An early day at last

After working for almost 2 months, today was the first day I managed to finish my work and leave early. All the month-end tasks and reports are done. Tomorrow my boss would review my work and he'd go on leave for a week. I think I would go home early next week too.

I have been buying one-way tickets to work and take taxi home. But just now, I bought myeself a weekly ticket. Having been taking taxi for the last 2 months, I find tkaing train back a little uncomfortable. So many people waiting for the train today, not helped with the extra pilgrims from World Youth Day. I managed to sneak into my train, but I know many peopel couldn't get into their trains earlier. I'm not sure if I want to leave earlier now...

This Saturday, hubby and I are thinking of visiting a GP for consultation before we decide on what to do next (IVF or other treatments). Hubby wants to start later but I fear my 'egg' will deteriorate if we don't start early. Furthermore, treatments may take long to see the results.

Good news to my neighbourhood, Ari, my Indonesian friend (Antepe group) moved to the estate. He rents out his apartment in Eastern Suburb and rent a house from his child's day-carer (who owns 3 houses in the same 'hood!). So that'll make 3 of 5 of Antepe live here and 4 of 5 live around Sydney West, with Hartono living in same estate and Wendy living in a nearby suburb. Only Agung lives in Sydney South.

He moved house last Sat and a few of his church's friends came to help. Hubby and I couldn't help as we had visitors (2) from Singapore and Adelaide. Hartono's baby's sick so he couldn't be there too, but his wife coooks for Ari dinner for Sat night. I picked up Siomay Bandung from Meryl (7-mth pregnant lady I mentioned on previous entry) and it was a lot, so I shared it with Ari and Hartono. It's so happened that Hartono's wife made Bahkut Teh (M'sian style) so she passed some to me too. Now that we live closer to each other, hopefully it'll be easier to meet over the weekend for gatherings. Hope Ari will throw housewarming party soon...

Although Agung lives quite far away, he works in the city and he and Hartono meet almost everyday for lunch and I join occassionally. Agung's bank has regular offer to buy Woolies or Coles gift card at 5% discount and Hartono and I ordered $300-$400 Woolies gift card from him for 1 month's expenses ( supermarket and petrol). Now we need to ask Ari if he wants to buy some too.

Free SMS, Antepe party and baby shower

I have a new habit now to check ozbargain.com.au and came upon this promotion of free 225 free local/international sms. Nothing to lose, right? I gave it a try and it worked. It's good timing too as I need to inform all my friends of my new home mobile numbers (my prepaid is expiring soon).

It's quite convenient too as I could sms my hubby using office internet, making it fast and less obvious. My mum must have thought I miss her so much hahaha.. I sent her her so many sms, begging her to come and visit me here .. and help sew the hem of my jeams hehee....

Last weekend was long weekend for us in Sydney. My friends has a gathering at my place. They are my friends back in Singapore and part of a group we called "Antepe" which stands for 'ane cinte KaPe' which means (in Betawi) ' i love Komisi Pemuda', as we used to be part of Young Adult Fellowship. Now, the group scattered all over the world, 1 in Cananda, 5 in Sydney, 1 in Perth, 6 in Singapore, 3 in Indonesia. The 4 couples who were here on Sat are couples with kids (1 kid each couple).We ordered KFC and I'm not sure why they don't have 'crispy' chicken though, so we ordered Original. My neighbours (we lived in the same 'estate) brought some bak-changs, egg tarts and coffee machine; the most wonderful neighbours! The wife made coffee for us all and she could play with all the kids, she's a wonder woman! She cooks for the family, continue with her work at home and could still teach her daughter. My friend is a lucky husband... and i pity my husband (i'm sure he's nodding his head reading this article).

On Sunday, we went to a friend's baby shower. She's another wonder woman. She's 5-6mths pregnant but for the baby shower, she baked a 'baby shower' cake and muffins, cooked steak sandwich and salad...... and she made games for us. One of the games are guessing the length of her stomach. We cut a length of thread that would be close to the lengh of her waistline/stomach. Another one is transfering cotton balls from a plate to another plate with eyes closed (the other spouse give verbal instruction). The last game was playing crosswords (yes, she created the crosswords herself) relating to baby and pregnancy.. in bahasa Indonesia. It was fun! She is going to bake a birthday cake for our friend's birthday tomorrow.

Now, what shall i get for my friend's (husband) birthday..... It's really hard to buy presents for a guy...

Contract Job, Nokia, Wii Fit, Botoli

After one and a half months of going for interviews and rejections, I finally got a job (thank you, God). It's a contract job, a slightly different role involving more accounting work. This would be a good chance for me to learn about accounting. Thanks to Mandy who put some good words (again) for me, it really helped.

So off I went shopping a day before I was supposed to start work, we went to DFO. After my 1st day at work, I realised that the clothes that I bought might be too 'colourful' for the office. People there generally wear darker clothes (maybe because it's winter?) and I have 2 red blouses and 1 black blouse with some shiny diamond-like around the waist. I guess I need to shop some more today.

On the same day, we went to Centro Bankstown to walk around and I got a post-paid phone contract at $29cap and chose N73 as the free phone. Finally I could return the borrowed phone back to my friend's brother, he must have wondered if he'd ever get his phone back hehehe...
But as I still have $62 credit in my pre-paid phone, I am still using the old phone to utilize all the credits before moving to the new number. What was shocking was that apparently I had a bad credit history with 3 as they claimed I didn't pay my last bill. I was trying hard to remember whom I give my 2 sim cards to (Vodafone and 3) before I left Sydney 5 years ago. I would probably need to pay the amount to clear my name but they didn't give any supporting for the amount they quoted me. I'd need to call 3 again one of these days.

On Thursday, I insisted to buy Wii, much to my hubby's frustration, at KMart. My hubby tried to convince me that there's a cheaper one at Toys 'r Us so we went to Paramatta to check it out. And yes, it was cheaper (thanks, hubby) and now we're having fun with Wii console + sports + fit. The only problem is that hubby doesn't get the chance to watch TV much that he's thinking of getting another TV in the living room just for Wii. Surely that is not necessary? But I could see a problem once my PIL are here coz they watch a lot of TV. Oh well, we'll see....

One of my friends who lived within the area invited us for dinner. His wife is from Malaysia and so is my hubby, and I think we're the only 2 in the group who married Malaysians. Anyway, we jokingly noted how the Malaysians are hardworking, both of them (hubby and my friend's wife) cook, clean and manage the house very well. Now, how about their Indonesian spouses? My friend claimed that it's OK with him as he's the husband... hmm, I have nothing to say.

The following day, they brought us to their favourite restaurant in Burwood. The name of the place is Botoli and we have to remember the place as the food was nice (steamed fish, long bean with minced meat sauce, grilled chicken with lime, toufu with tang-fun). Too bad we didn't take any pictures at all. They also recommended an Indonesian food in Maroubra "Mie Kocok" and to order 'Panorama' noodles. Ok, another place to try.

On that night, hubby and I were supposed to join Martha and friends to have dinner at Ratu Sari in Kingsford as I have 25% discount from Entertainment Book. Too bad it was cancelled as Martha and David had a church gathering.

In June, we're joining Jason to go for Good Food and Wine exhibition in Darling Harbour. Not sure what it is all about but as long as it is about Food, we're sold. There is an extra charge if we want to watch Gordon Ramsay but I can't even cook so not interested. But, I think Mom (I call my MIL "Mom" and my mother "Mama") might be interested if she is here around the period. Maybe I should tell her about it to entice her to come here sooner, though I don't think she needs anymore encouragement actually.

Saving money on your shopping

Taken from TodayTonight website and I'm putting it in my blog for future references. Right now, I can't cook but usually I make suggestions of 'healthy' food that we need to buy for our kitchens. So far, we've bought frozen stir-fry vegetables, canned vegetable soups, Original orange juice. Hubby would choose fresh fruits, meat pies, bread, cornflakes and pasta. We've given up on frozen pizza, prefering to order Domino's. We have tried Aldi, although we ended up buying cheap and good junk food :P But looking at the list below, prob we could try spray-on olive oil...

From time to time, we've all been shocked by what we pay at the grocery checkout. Figures suggest 20 per cent of all household expenditure goes on putting food on the table and fill the pantry.

So how can you reduce that amount?

One magazine claims it can do it by $50 a time.
They have come up with 33 money saving tips which are listed below, this information comes from the May 2008 edition of the 'Healthy Food Guide'.

1. PLAN A WEEKLY MENU

2. SHOP WITH A LIST

3. USE SUPERMARKET FLYERS - Grab the discounts and save

4. SHOP AT ALDI - save 10%

5. STOCK YOUR PANTRY - keep a list of essential items (buy these on special)

6. CHOOSE AFFORDABLE RECIPES

7. SNACK SMART - buy treats in packets and create portions for school or work.

8. USE SPRAY ON OIL instead of bottle

9. DRINK HEALTHILY - alternate juice or soft drink with water.

10. GO ALCOHOL FREE - if you skip 2 glasses of wine each week you could save.

11. THINK BULK ON REGULAR PURCHASES - it's cheaper in bulk!

12. KEEP YOUR FRIDGE WORKING FOR YOU - store fruit and veges in bags in crisper and use old first!

13. USE YOUR FREEZER - put extra wine, lemon juice, stock, tomato pastes, in unused icecube containers or packs

14. MAKE THE MOST OF LEFTOVERS - use in stirfries the next night eg

15. FREEZE FRESH HERBS - tear off and freeze in icecubes with water. Not good for salads but great for cooking.

16. IMPROVE STORAGE TECHNIQUES - choose right size, too big lets in air, separate into plastic bags, upturn jars.

17. DATE IT - keep on top what's best, and mark date of produce to save throwing out good or missing food before use-by

18. REVIEW YOUR MENU - replace a meat meal per weak with an egg-based or pulse-based meal - frittatas, salads etc

19. INEXPENSIVE INGREDIENTS - use rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, noodles, seasonal produce and less protein(meat)

20. REVIEW YOUR RECIPES - use cheaper cuts of meat and use seasonal veges in each meal. eg diff chicken cuts

21. ADD LEGUMES - make soups or casseroles go further by adding a tin of chickpeas, kidney beans etc.

22. EXTEND MINCE - add cooked red lentils to meat dishes eg Bolognese = healthier and cheaper!

23. STAY IN SEASON - eg. out of season beans $7 compared to in-season beans $3

24. LEFTOVERS SOUP - at the end of each shopping week, chop up leftover veges and make soup, puree and freeze

25. EXTEND YOURSELF - add extras to leftovers and change the meal - potatoes, mixed veges or tin of beans

26. PASTRY PARCELS - you can make food into pies, or as a topping to food or dessert: tinned apples and cinnamon

27. SAVOURY PANCAKES - turn leftovers into savoury pancake filling! chicken casserole, pasta sauces, veges!

28. CRUMBLE IT - too much fruit? cut up, drizzle with honey and bake in a dish, cover oats/nuts - instant crumble YUM!

29. SHOP ONCE - stops you from impulse buying and saves extra cost later at the corner shop

30. SHOP ONLINE - again it takes away the impulse buying - once you reach your budget you can add or delete. Simple!

31. HAND-PICK YOUR PRODUCE - pick individual items as made-up trays can have nasty surprises. select ripeness too

32. BUY FRESH FOODS WEEKLY AND AVOID WASTE - you'll soon work out how much you eat per week. No waste.

33. USE DISCOUNT CARDS - sign up to store loyalty programs - eg Franklins and Bakers Delight.

BUDGET SAVERS WE LOVE (ACCORDING TO HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE)

Frozen Veges - as good for you as fresh and last longer

Tinned Apples - make a cheap desert with filo pastry

Green vege bags - keep veges fresher longer

Minced Garlic - cheap and simple way to have this healthy ingredient

Red Lentils - Add to soups and casseroles to stretch food longer

Multi Pack Plastic Containers - cook in bulk and save time and money

Grated Parmesan - you can freeze this and pull out when you need it - never goes mouldy

Freezer Bags - buy meat on special and freeze to use when you're ready

Cans of Beans - and fibre, stretch a meal

Bag of Rice - buy in bulk and save. Cook and freeze portions

Filo Pastry - turn leftovers into another meal by wrapping them

Olive Oil Spray - versatile and inexpensive and you'll use less oil

Tinned Tomatoes - bulk up a casserole or soup AND get another serve of veges

Pasta - cheap to buy, goes with almost any leftover and is filling.

Putting on weight, Internet

As feared, I put on 1 kg since I arrived in Sydney a month ago. Not surprised considering we keep eating out, ordering too much, cooking too much and experimenting with all the new foods we find in supermarkets.

This morning, I managed to start walking and jogging with hubby in the park nearby and hopefully we could keep it up. I realised that the sun is out earlier here so by 7am, it's quite bright. So I think we could change our sleeping time, sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

On the employment part, I didn't get the role I was hoping for. A bit disappointed but now I'm really hoping my husband will get a job first. I'm beginning to enjoy this 'housewife' role and don't mind doing it full-time :) I've been hoping to get pregnant soon so i'd have a strong reason, or excuse, to stay at home. Having said that, the prospect of earning more money is too tempting, especially if we want to buy a house in the future.

On the positive side, we'd finally get our own internet connection, using TPG. According to my husband, it's still the cheapest so far and some of our friends are already using it. We couldn't get ADSL2+ for our place so settle for ADSL1, but it's definitely better that the mobile internet from 3 that we borrowed from Martha (thanks, Martha). I guess it's about time we returned it to her, in case she needs it.

Hubby's birthday

I don't really like birthdays in general, especially when it comes to birthdays of pp close to me. Somehow I feel the pressure to 'perform', eg, have to think what gifts to buy (it's a test of how well you know a person), where to celebrate it (got to be some place special), where to get the cake, etc etc.

The good thing is, my hubby is as bad as me when it comes to birthday. I mean, we both just take birthday as another day. We didn't bother to think of what gifts to give, but... we do like to eat so we'll put a slight effort to think of where to eat.

So yesterday, as expected, no birthday gifts. I even forgot to wish him 'Happy birthday' when it's past midnight and we were just about to sleep, he just blurted out "Hey, it's my birthday now". So I snapped out of my semi-conscious state of near-sleep to give him a peck and wishes.

I planned to take him out to have dinner at Hurricane's (ribs) but the place is usually noisy so I was contemplating whether to have it in an Indonesian restaurant that I have 25% off. So I didn't make any reservations at all.

In the afternoon, we went out to meet new friends at a lunch gatherings of Singaporeans in Sydney at a Singapore cafe called "Kopitiam on 228". We had 'kway chaps' but hubby ate their Nonya Laksa (he can't eat pork intestines). It's nice meeting new people, suddenly I was back to Singlish and Mandarin.

After lunch, we walked around at Rhodes mall and I got my hubby to buy 2 winter tops (not too sure what's the right name for it). I thought that he'll need a long sleeve top to cover his hands when he's driving during the day. The sun ray is too painful for the skin, I think. He looked so handsome in the top!!

After that, we went to Hurricane to try our luck. The queue was long but we joined the q after finding a parking spot. We ordered a Full Rack (pork) with mashed potato to share. According to my hubby (who understands Cantonese), the couple (Hongkongers) next table commented that we ordered too little since hubby is big size hehehee... Oh well, I thought the same thing too, but lucky hubby felt he's satisfied. Oh, we met 2 old friends while waiting there too (Vivi and Edward).

When we finished our dinner, we took a walk around Bondi (brrr...it was cold!). When we got back to our car, we got a nasty birthday surprise.... a fine of $79 for not paying for parking. Oh well, we didn't read the sign correctly so we thought it was free parking hehehe...

Foxtel, interview and cooking

We finally got a Foxtel on Thursday. It's mainly for my hubby as he wants to watch his Liverpool games. I find the local TV programmes are sufficient for me, I can't even remember when my favourite shows (Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives) are playing.

But after an interview on Friday morning and while my husband is using the laptop to check internet, I found myself channel-surfing through all the shows in Foxtel, I watched 2 episodes (each) of Will & Grace and SITC. And I kept watching until it is past midnight!

Not sure what happened to me, maybe I need to unwind from the stress of interview (2nd interview, you see), to distract myself from regretting things I said during the interview (I was nervous and talked too much but not really answering the questins) and regretting things that I should've mentioned in the interview. Oh well, all's done and now we can only wait.

I have to thank Amanda (ex-colleague) for putting good words to the interviewer and for all the encouragement and that she and her brother, Jason, have given me so far. As much as I want to get the job, part of me wants to enjoy the 'holiday' mood we are in.. waking up late, going for morning walk, buy paper, read it in the park, watch TV, check internet, shopping, experiment with cooking.

Talking about cooking, I miss my parent-in-law. Yesterday my hubby cooked pasta for us (I can't cook, you see) and it was too much and we ended up eating 2 servings of pasta each. I tried but couldn't finish the 2nd serving and when washing the plates (the only thing I could do in the kitchen), I had the 'jelat' (Singlish) feeling and I waould not eat pasta or any gooey microwave food anytime soon!

Bargain

I found this website while searching for Wii console, it shows bargains from coffee to electronic stuff.

Entertainemnt Book

I finally got the Entertainment Book 2008/2009 today.

I read about the book from some forum and decided to see what it's like. Apparently, I could only get it from Charities or fund-raising events, so I searched for the charities on the internet. It took me an hour to decide which charities to buy it from, and I almost couldn't decide. Each charity has a noble cause so I decide on Guide Dogs only because the website to purchase the book looked more reliable and easy to use.

I even had used the voucher today, buying milkshakes at Donut King and bought quarter-chicken from Nandos (both on a 1-get-1 deal). I am looking forward to use voucher for Ratu Sari and my friends may plan to try this Indonesian Restaurant in Kingsford. Most probably, I would used up the coffee vouchers by end of the month hehehee.... and I find the vouchers for Nandos, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, etc, within my budget limit. As for the restaurants, I would need to get a job first before splurging on meals at restaurants.

Another good offer is the $5 off from $100 gift card from Coles. That's is a 5% savings immediately and I would shop at Coles one of these days anyway.

Mouth Ulcers

Ever since I was young, I seemed to be prone to have mouth ulcers. My mum used to give me this bottle of green powder. I find them irritating but didn't really give much thought about it.

I could have as many as 5 ulcers at one time, they could be on my toungue, gum or lips. My ex-colleagues could always guess whenever I have ulcers coz it affected my speech.

I have asked doctors about it but none give me a real cure. I read about it and of all the reasons that could've caused ulcers, I narrowed it down to 3 possible reasons : stress, deficiency of vitamins (iron, B12), food allergies.

It could be due to stress as I remembered that I didn't have any ulcers on the months I was not working (in between jobs). But I didn't feel stressed, I don't think my job was stresfull, unless one could feel stressed without realising it. Having said that, ever since I arrived in Sydney, I got another 3 ulcers.

It could be due to lack of iron. I read somewhere that drinking tea will wash away iron in our body and I drink a lot of tea in a day. My husband thinks I drink too much tea too and asked me to reduce my tea intake. Perhaps I would give it a try to see if the ulcers would go away if I don't drink tea at all. It's also good as my dentist and a few people noted that my teeth is yellowish due to coffee and tea stains.

As for food allergies, I would need to ask for an allergy test with a doctor and I'm too lazy to visit doctors.

My dear friend, Martha, is going to give me Chinese medicine to try and it had cured her hubby's ulcer problem too. It hope it would be a one-time cure without having to continue taking it for too long.

We're in Sydney :)

We're finally here! We still have not got an internet connection but a friend lend us this Mobile Internet to use (Thanks, Martha)

It's been a few weeks since we got here and so far we managed to get a fully-furnished apartment to live in and a used car to roam about. Now we only need to look for a job.

Looking for a job is not as easy as we thought it would be. I have been to a few interviews but mostly rejected. My husband has not got an interview yet. But we're not worried too much about it and enjoying every single day which we spend mostly by going shopping hehehe...

As for me, I am considering studying for my CFA exams. I am a bit sceptical whether I would pass this one as 1 month is not enough time to study the material and to practise on the exams questions. Since I have already paid for it, I might as well sit for the exams right? (shouldn't I be studying right now, rather than typing this blog? hehe..)

I am still getting used to the fact the sun comes up very early in the morning. It's so bright that I wake up naturally at 7.30. My husband doesn't seem to be affected and sleep peacefully. Most of my friends sleep at 10pm, even my 'old' Singaporean friends too. So I guess we should sleep earlier and wake up early too.

I am beginning to hate the sun too. I find it hot and burning my face. I need to bring a towel in the car and cover my face when the sun shines on me. I remember that I got my first freckles and moles right after I came back from Sydney the 1st time round, so I suspect I'd get a few more freckles now.... aaargh..... SPF30 would help but the ray is a bit painful on the skin.

Oh well, I should be hitting the books soon. Keep falling asleep when studying though. I'm planning to get a radio and a mirror in the study room, hopefully it would help to reduce the sleepiness. (Mirror helps as I tend to be less sleepy when scrutinising my freckles, dark circle, etc)

Personally I enjoy this period of not working and being domesticated (cleaning, washing, attempt to cook). I pray that my husband would get a job which pays enough that I could stay at home. Oh, we will try to 'seriously' make babies now hehe... that includes consultation with doctors. I suspect it won't be an easy ride to having babies, so need to prepare myself for the worst (IVF, cos I hate needles).

Last one week to go in the office

After giving the letter of resignation at the end of Feb, my lunch appointments were quickly filled up. For those who were late, I made 'coffee break' appointments with them.

But in the office, my mind was constantly distracted with the preparation to migrate. We managed to find a tenant to rent our place, did a 'power of attorney' to appoint our uncle to be in charge of the property while we are away.

The week before Good Friday and Easter was filled with extra choir practices until the actual day. It would be my last choir practise and I'd miss it. I don't think I would quickly join another choir in Sydney so it would be a long break until then.

My husband just threw a farewell party at home, inviting 40-odd friends and colleagues to see our place (he said his friends wanted to see his house before he leaves). I was too lazy to do the same and I don't like to have different groups of friends gather at one event. So, I met each group separately but would be happy if there is no farewell gathering. Farewell meetings sound quite sad....

My husband managed to sell his some of this marine fish stuff today. So our aquarium looks very bare now. The fish has no rocks to hide or sleep in. Oh well, I hope they found a better 'home' with the new owners. We don't plan to start a new aquarium in Sydney too as we would probably be too busy exploring the country for the next 1-2 years.

I am going to buy some boxes from SingPost to pack all my books and other stuff. I got a quote from SingPost that it cost about $90 per 20kg package, but I will try to get the details tomorrow.

I'd need to sell my Bank's shares by Thursday! The stock price has plummeted since last June when I bought it using the Bank's staff purchase. I don't think I'd make money at all! Oh well, who can predict the market, right?

Oh, I'd need to pay income tax too! Hope i could remember that, but even if i forget, it could still be done once in Sydney.

Something that is more urgent is trying to get a dress for my BIL's wedding on Friday. I don't think I have anything that could fit me anymore and I don't want to wear a dress that I have worn for 2 weddings this year! I am going back Jakarta for my friend's wedding (oh, so i could wear the same dress for this wedding too) and I have a few list of things that my friends asked me to buy.

I hate shopping actually. I won't go window-shopping and I only shop if I need to buy something. So I don't mind shopping if I have a list of things to buy. The only problem is, because I seldom shop, I don't know where to get them.

Today, I went to Takashimaya to look for this 'fridgeplay' stationary for my friend, and couldn't find it. Instead, I bought my husband a new wallet to replace his old one (I promised him I'd get him one since last year). But I just realised that it would look awkward to buy him a gift when tonight we're celebrating my MIL's birthday with a dinner hehehee... So I was hoping I could find a gift for her. It was hard to find a wonderful present for my wonderful MIL. I was late for dinner so I just got a bag (I wanted to buy a wallet initially) instead. I knew she'd appreciate the bag, but I felt a bit guilty about not giving myself an ample time to look for the gift.

Both my MIL and FIL told me that I'm such a good DIL and told that to everybody! It made me a bit 'paiseh' as I know I'm not. I often told my friends, my own parents and my choir members of how I let my MIL clean my room & toilet and didn't insist in helping MIL with washing the dishes. Even my own parents were shocked when I told them about it and told me to behave like a proper DIL or they'd lose face (hehe...)

So I have a little vested interest in making sure my PIL come with us to Sydney but it's a win-win situation as my PIL want to stay with us too :) I guess I'm blessed to be given 2 wonderful persons as my PIL. I love my parents but my PIL are closer to what I want to be when I become a parent myself. Modern, open, selfless (at least towards own family), have a good sense of humour, romantic (even at their age) and young at heart (they jog daily).

Bank West

There are a few products that I'm thinking of getting once I am there.

1) Hero A/c
This transaction a/c has no maintenance fees, higher interest rates (5%) and unlimited free electronic transactions.
The not-so-good part is that the interest is only up to balance of $5K, so I should not put too much money there. Also, there has to be a $2K deposit every month, which should not be a problem.

2) Regular Saver a/c
High interest (9%) but only limited to $500/mth regular savings with no withdrawals.


3) Telenet Saver
Savings accounts at high interest rate at 7.25% (promotional rate at 7.75%), with no minimum deposits and no fees :) Yippeeee... It's much better than ING a/c I'm having right now

4) tddirect
Fixed deposit a/c. I think it's a bit higher than ING too.

5) Zero Master card
I'm so used to not paying annual fees for credit cards so I may just get this one.

Final leg of migration

The day I had been waiting for finally came. On 29th Feb morning, I checked my bonus using internet banking from home and decided to move the money to my husband's account. I know it sounds silly as the bank couldn't un-credit the amount credited into my account, but I decided to be 'kiasi' about it :)

After finishing with the bank transfer, I got my hubby to check if he received it and ask him for his resignation letter. I changed it slightly and printed it out. Then, I i-chat my team leader to inform him of my intention and for us to discuss about it privately. After which, I informed my close colleagues about the resignation personally as I think it's only fair they know about it earlier than the rest.

I think they are sad. It's always sad to know another of your colleagues is leaving, I understand. On the other hand, I think I would be sad to leave Singapore, my comfort zone. But at the moment, I am caught up with the preparation to migrate.

So far, we managed to get tenants to rent our flat, pending approval from HDB. I contacted a recruitment agent to help me look out for contract roles. I would need to change address for all my correspondence, cancel most of my credit cards, start sorting things out to pack and ship over to Sydney. We would throw a farewell party for our close friends at the end of March (my husband's idea). Pretty exciting :)

We have not decided which day we are going to fly but it would be either 2nd or 3rd week of April.

Australia here we come, we are going to contribute to your 40% tax :)

Article: So long, mortgage stress

I am still wondering whether it's a good idea to rent and invest the rest of savings, rather than committing to a mortgage. Anyway, I would still need to rent for a couple of years to save for the deposit, before deciding whether to buy a house or continue renting.

I rented for 10 over years in Singapore before buying a flat a couple of years ago. I hate the thought having to move every 1-2 years.

So long, mortgage stress
Author: Paul Edwards Date: February 12, 2008Publication: The Age (subscribe)


The dream of home ownership is becoming less and less attractive, writes Paul Edwards.
Don't despair if you can't raise the deposit for the house you want - with a slight change of mindset you could be living in style while benefiting from whatever rich pickings there might be in investment markets.
Conventional wisdom says a home of your own is a holy grail. But that so-called wisdom might sometimes be wrong - is our national obsession with climbing the home-owning ladder right for everyone?
In Australia just over 70% of households own their home either with or without debt. That's about double the rate for Switzerland, even though the Swiss have just about the world's highest incomes.
The usual alternative to ownership is renting, and for many people this is not only the best way of getting the home of their dreams - they can often do it with the blessing of their financial advisers.
More and more people are questioning the sense of locking away savings in a 25-year mortgage and losing the potential of flexible alternative investments that might be less stressful and equally profitable.
So long as the money you would spend on buying is invested elsewhere at a similar or higher potential return, you could rent a much better home than you could afford to buy while still increasing your wealth.
Finance planner Hans Luiten - while declaring that he invests in both property and the share market - says it is generally agreed that shares outperform property in the long run.
"However, unlike property, not long ago you'd have found it difficult to borrow the full amount of a share portfolio. Now you can, so people are seeing the benefits of investing in something which can be sold in a matter of seconds, rather than go through the trauma of an auction or even private sale.
"The price of well-located Melbourne homes is beyond the reach of many people, but not if they choose to rent. They can live in property way above the standard they could afford to buy and, in the meantime, can be investing elsewhere."
Even the real estate industry agrees that buying a home is not always the best course. Neil Laws, president of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, says there are times when renting is better than owning.
"If accumulating wealth while having somewhere to live is your primary aim it is worth considering the financial benefits of renting and investing.
"It may be that, depending on your housing requirements, it is more financially beneficial to rent and invest than to pay off a mortgage and maintain a home."

So why do we often feel we have failed in life if we don't own our own home?
Psychologist John Bacash says people become seduced by messages to buy a home even though it may not be appropriate.
"They see ownership as a symbol of security and status, when in fact it may be neither. This struggle to manage a mortgage regularly breaks up marriages and families.
"People should let go of their initial concepts about buying a home, do some solid research about whether renting might not be better for them, then trust their inner feelings to make the right decision.
"I think we're too often convinced by arguments such those put up by real estate marketers, and can feel inferior if we don't buy a home. Instead of succumbing to this pressure, people should decide what's best in their own case."
Darren McMullin, rental manager with real estate agents Kay & Burton, says he knows a number of extremely wealthy people who prefer renting to buying.
"There's a client on my books who is about to sell his Toorak home and will rent for at least 18-24 months while he sees what is happening in the property market. Currently, he feels he can do much better in alternative investment fields."
It's a matter of mindset and maths. Once you accept that renting might not be a bad proposition, a simple calculation could blow apart the notion that money paid to a landlord is wasted money.
Take the case of a couple with no savings, but annual earnings of $150,000. They can rent something really good for $40,000, allow $85,000 for living expenses and tax, and save $25,000 a year towards a deposit for their own place.
Alternatively, they can dismiss the idea of buying their own home and use that $25,000 to increase their wealth through alternative investments, which can still include listed or direct property.
Or consider superannuants who sell the family home for $750,000 and add the proceeds to their pension fund. At 10% that $750,000 would earn roughly $1500 a week, with which they could rent a penthouse in St Kilda Road or a really luxurious home in an inner suburb.
Properties such as these often sell for about $1.75 million, so our superannuants would be living in considerable style and, best of all, the $750,000 is still preserved in their pension fund.
Darren McMullin agrees, and cites an Elsternwick property worth about $1.2 million which rents for $1200 a week and a $4 million Toorak mansion which rents for $2600 a week.

Indulge your fantasies and consider what would happen if you sold that Toorak mansion, invested the money wisely, and joined the rental market.
Your $4 million invested at 10% would return about $8000 a week - before tax - which would let you rent another mansion for $2600 a week, have $5400 a week to invest - and keep the $4 million in one piece.
Interesting? The concept gets even better when you consider that, as a tenant, you don't have to worry about rates, maintenance, body corporate fees and all the other nasties that beset the property owner.
If you see a crack in the wall all you have to do is point it out to the owner and let him or her worry about it.
A major consideration in the rent or buy debate is the behaviour of the housing market. Conventional wisdom says you will always make money from well-located real estate, and while that may be true in the long term, it might not be true at the precise moment you want to sell.
Property can most certainly drop in value. It happened during the 1991 recession in Australia and it is happening now in America and possibly Britain. While there are few indicators to say it will happen here, history shows when America sneezes Australia often catches a cold.
This is something tenants don't have to worry about. Just like that crack in the wall, it can be filed away under NMP - Not My Problem.

Renting is viable now
One man who knows a lot about renting is Mark O'Brien, head of the Tenants Union of Victoria. He says the private rental market can work well for tenants who have financial capacity and can successfully deal with landlords and estate agents.
"Often these tenants can make the choice to live in the area they want but without the cost of home ownership," Mr O'Brien says.
"My family, for example, rents a new unit in a middle ring suburb. To buy with a standard deposit would mean mortgage repayments almost double what we pay in rent."
He says the transition to home ownership is now occurring later in life for most people and if they take out a 25-year mortgage in their late 30s, they may be unlikely to have the house paid off until close to retirement.
"Previous generations had the benefit of entering into home purchase earlier in their lives and at comparatively lower prices. The average house price has grown from about two or three times annual average weekly earnings to about five or six times annual average weekly earnings."

Gold Coast Marathon

I'm toying with the idea of going for Gold Coast Marathon in July (06-07-08). The entries will only open in April but I am thinking of booking tickets to Gold Coast in advance. If I book the tickets now from Virgin Blue, it would cost $ 180/person.

I am thinking that my PIL would be interested to go too, but my husband told me that there is a possibility that they would not be ready to move to Sydney by then. Still, I persuaded my husband to book the flights to Gold Coast for 2 of us first :P and buy for them later.

As for hotel, I read from SG Runners forum that July is low season for Gold Coast so I hope we can book for the hotel later.

Hmm... still thinking if we should book the air tickets now :)

Private Health Insurance

I decided to buy PHI in early Jan as advised by my friends in Australia. Since we have been trying for a baby for quite some time already, it would be good to have some coverage to reduce our hospital bill in case I'm pregnant later. Also, it would help if we decide to go for IVF.

There's a waiting period of 1-year so that is the reason why I bought the plan now. Also, since I just turned 31 I would need to pay extra levy/charge if I don't get PHI by next June after turning 31.

I was quite in a hurry to buy the plan so I asked among my friends for recommendation and decided to go with Medibank.

Transaction Account

I have been doing some research here and there to decide which bank and account type we want to open in Australia. Currently I have one with INGDirect and Citibank but would probably need to open one for joint account with my husband.

So far, I think BankWest looks good, but I thinkn we'll decide there and then. I just realise that we can even open a bank account from Singapore, using Westpac. The bad thing is, the account has monthly fee attached.

That brings me to another issue, it seems most of the transaction accounts have monthly fees attached. In Singapore, it's zero if minimum balance is >$500. I would need to find a bank that has a good transaction account (low fee with free atm transaction, etc), a high-interest saving account and free-fee credit card.

A great website to do the comparison is http://www.infochoice.com.au/

So the search continues...

Getting rich: the basics

Step 1 - Borrow to invest

BORROWING to invest is the key to serious wealth accumulation, whether it be through investment property or geared shares.
That’s simply because it increases your exposure to investment markets (bringing market risk) but also more rewards (sharemarkets have always gone up in the long term). How much risk you take should be in proportion to how secure your income flow is and economic conditions.

Step 2 - Choose shares wisely

The best companies listed on the sharemarket are currently growing and paying dividends at around 17 per cent a year.
It makes sense to borrow when interest rates are 7 per cent to invest in, say, the banks. While some choices like BHP are obvious for the long term, most investors are not good at picking stocks and do well to take advice of stockbrokers or professionals, such as by investing in listed investment companies such as Argo, Australian Foundation Investment, Milton Corp or unlisted managed investment funds (which carry higher fees and have tax traps).

Step 3 - Think quality and long term

Successful long-term investing is about buying quality assets that pay income, which is the key to its value as a stock and wealth creation.
Share prices might go up or down and even occasionally ‘crash’, but the best companies still make profits and pay dividends.
With investments, look forward to prospects, not to past performance, consider the merits of the investment not the tax breaks. diversify your holdings and keep an eye on the economy at home and abroad (China is currently a major factor in investment horizons now)

Step 4 - Time your run

It makes sense to buy blue chip shares when the market dips, when shares are going cheap. Investors soon get the hang of the market's boom and bust cycles - but are often slow to take advantage of opportunities because they focus on the falling share price and don’t take a long term view of the value of a company.
Investors are more inclined to buy shares in a bull market when prices are high, as they don't want to miss out, but this is often the worst time to buy.

Step 5 - Tax deductible borrowing

Tax deductible borrowing against your home, shares or other investment allows you to build wealth while reducing your overall tax bill.
Australian share investments often pay imputation credits for tax already paid at the company level; 12 months’ interest can be paid in advance. This is a good way to offset one-off income that could push your overall tax rate up; and borrowing against an existing portfolio unlocks cash without creating a capital gains tax (CGT) liability.

Where do I start? Working your way up the property ladder

I think i'm putting any interesting article that may be useful for reference in the future in this blog :)

The question that I am frequently asked at seminars when it comes to investing in property is...exactly where do I start? Do I buy my home first or should I start with an investment property?

Well, let me try to answer this simply yet provide you with some easy tools to begin your property investment career and create a successful portfolio.

First things first – buy your own home

Owning your own home is the first step most Australians should take on the property ladder.

I know that with the market the way it is today some readers will be concerned as to whether they can even afford this baby step.

The key to making this happen is to keep it realistic! Okay, perhaps you can’t afford the new, luxury house you had in mind, but we all need to start somewhere. And you may be able to get there a bit sooner than you think by taking advantage of the first home owners grant.

Keeping your first home goal realistic and within budget is possible – you may just have to lower your expectations a little. Perhaps you could consider a property that needs a bit of work done to it or buying in a suburb adjoining the suburb you first thought of buying in if your ideal location is a little too pricey.

Often by buying a property to which you can add value or by buying in an upcoming area, you can get your foot in the door at a good price. You may then find that within a year or two, you’re sitting on a property that has earned you equity. Equity is the amount of home you own outright less the mortgage.

So if your home increases in value because you’ve made some improvements or the area it’s in has experienced good growth and at the same time you’ve been making repayments to your mortgage, your home will be worth more and therefore you will have extra equity to fund your first investment property!

Stepping out as a first timer

Not many of us are easily able to save the deposit for that first investment property, so chances are you will have to re-mortgage, in other words borrow against the increasing equity in your own home.

You should not do what the majority of us were taught by our parents and just keep paying off our home.

The reason many people never get started with property investment is because they are too scared to take on more debt and borrow against their home. They often think - “I’ll pay off my mortgage before I take on more debt.”

This is a thought process that will sabotage you if you let it!

Again, the key is to be realistic about what you can afford and when you can afford it. I would never suggest that first time investors get in over their heads, but you have to make a start and leap frog off this new equity you have built up.

Servicing the debt on your first investment will be easier than paying off your home loan because if you structure it right both the tenant and the tax man will help you make your mortgage payments. The tenant does it by paying rent and the tax man hlps through depreciation tax benefits.

The criteria you use to buy an investment property are different to those used when buying your home. You choose your home with your “heart” and its natural to make some emotional decisions. But you should choose your investment with your “calculator” based on sound financial considerations. And if you if you feel stuck seek professional advice. Consider using a buyer’s agent who is specializes in property investment.

Consider buying your first investment in an area that has good capital growth and perhaps something that needs minor cosmetic improvements that will be attractive to tenants, near all the right amenities and will therefore always rent and re-sell well. It doesn’t have to be a house. You could consider buying an apartment in a great location that tenants will be scrambling to rent from you.

With these key ingredients you can’t go wrong. Again, just make sure the numbers stack up, you can afford the commitment and you’ve done the necessary research to pick a winner!

Just remember the ingredients to success – good location, scarcity value of the property itself and popularity of the property and the area to both tenants and owner occupiers.

Of course, once you’ve spruced up your renovation project and added substantially to its value, it’s time to step onto the next rung of the property ladder and re-finance this investment. This may be easier than you think as you will now have increasing equity on two properties – your own home and your first investment.

Don’t stop there – keep moving on up!

Now that you have a mini portfolio, your options suddenly increase. With a few properties working for you and producing equity the key is to keep the momentum going and take more steps up the property ladder.

The big problem for many of us is servicing the loans on these investment properties. If you buy well located properties in areas of sound capital growth, even in today’s markets where rentals are rising, the mortgage payments and outgoings will add up to more then your rental income.

This is where some smart financing helps. Many smart investors access the equity in their home or investment properties to help pay for the deposit for the next property as well as to service the debts on their loans.

There are many loan products on the market investors often choose a ‘line of credit’, which is a bit like having a big credit card. They have the capacity to borrow up to its limit and just like a credit card; they would only pay interest on any money they have borrowed on their line of credit, but not on the unborrowed limit.

But unlike a credit card, they don’t have to find money for interest payments. Any interest due each month can come out of their unused credit limit. So at the end of the month they pay their interest bill by increasing their loan amount to pay off the interest and the next month they pay interest on the new larger loan amount. This means they don’t need to find any spare cash to pay the interest until they reach their credit limit.

Effectively they are borrowing 100 per cent of the purchase price of their first investment property.

The sky’s the limit – building your portfolio

By now you have nothing to fear. You know the rules of the game, you’ve successfully bought a handful of properties that are all gaining value for you year in, year out and there’s no stopping you!

Just remember to always work within the realms of financial reality, do your research, focus on the rules of investment and you should be the proud owner of a successful property portfolio before you know it.

It’s also important to get your tax structure right. Make sure you know exactly how you will hold the properties (eg. as an individual investor, in a trust, etc), how you will organise finance, legal aspects, taxation and the like.
Remember – take it step by step up the property ladder and you‘ll make it to the top…without falling off!

http://www.realestate.com.au/review/nov07/where-to-start.html

Rents likely to increase in 2008

oh no...... please quickly build more new houses... I'm eyeing a 3-bedroom townhouse near my friend's place (20km away from city) at $420/week. I'm torn between renting an apartment nearer to the city or renting a townhouse (with garden for my FIL and pool for me) further away from city.

INCREASING demand and lower vacancy rates will cause rents to increase during 2008, the Real Estate Institute of Australia predicts.

High demand for rental properties - caused by population growth and declining investor interest - suggests vacancy rates, running at an average 1.7 per cent, are unlikely to improve, it says. Increases in median rents can be expected in all states, the institute says in its 2008 real estate market outlook released today.

The likely increases follow across-the-country increases last year with rents for three-bedroom houses increasing by an average of 12.6 per cent to September 2007.

The institute says rental affordability is already a significant issue in several cities, notably in Darwin where the median rent for houses is $440 per week and for other dwellings $340 per week.

Darwin is now the most expensive rental location in Australia, although Sydney and Canberra renters also pay $340 median weekly rent for two-bedroom other dwellings.

The cheapest rental location is Adelaide at $255 per week for a three-bedroom house and $205 per week for a two-bedroom dwelling. But even there rents rose more than eight per cent in the year to September 2007.

The institute says investors have shied away from the housing market as interest rates have risen and to take advantage of other investment opportunities which have more favourable taxation treatment.

The slower transition from renting to buying, caused by the lowest first-home affordability rate in 22 years, was also impacting on the number of properties available for rental

A simple salary sacrifice

We may need to explore this when we got our job there. Do we have to decide what we want to 'salary sacrifice' before we sign our employment contract? hmm... not sure yet... gotta do more reading...


Discussions about the salary-sacrifice of non-cash employment benefits typically revolve around such big-ticket items as superannuation and cars. But wait a minute.

One of the fastest-growing benefits is the packaging of lunches and accompanying drinks – the tax benefits of packaging do not extent to salary-sacrificed alcohol.

In short, employers can enter arrangements that allow so-called in-house catering to be provided as an FBT-exempt benefit in their employees’ packages. This means that you pay for your lunch on pre-tax terms.

Under the tax rules, the food must be provided by your employer, and eaten on its premises. In practice, employers are increasingly entering arrangements for local shops to deliver the lunches of their employees’ choice from the shops of their choice. And the cost is charged against the employees’ salary packages.
Astute large employers are sending the daily orders through to selected shops electronically, and then the costs are electronically charged against the employees’ packages.

Just think that if your tax-rate is 31.5% a year, including Medicare, you would save almost a third of your lunch costs. This means a typical savings of hundreds of dollars a year for those who buy their lunches each day.
In a tight labour market – unemployment is at a 33-year low – employers have a big incentive to make such benefits readily available to their staff. And from an employee’s perspective, this is smart personal budgeting at one of its most simple levels.

Personal budgeting can begin in saving money in small ways. And slicing the cost of your lunch by almost a third – or more if you pay tax at a higher marginal tax rate – makes much sense.
Here’s to a cheap lunch.

(taken from: http://blogs.news.com.au/news/smartinvesting/index.php/news/comments/a_simple_salary_sacrifice/)

Don't think 'first home', think 'first investment'

I read this article in Domain and been discussing it with my hubby as another possible route to getting our 'dream' house. Of course, it won't happen overnight as we need to build 'credit history' to even borrow from bank.


If you believed everything you read about the housing affordability crunch, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's only one choice: struggle like mad to buy a house to live in, or rent for the rest of your life.

If you're continually missing out at auctions or private sales because other buyers have more money to spend, there is an alternative. You can't stop the market, so instead of running after your dream home and watching it get further out of your reach, it may be better to face reality and direct your energies into something more productive. All it requires is a change in your thinking.

Instead of thinking "first home", think "first investment". Keep renting a place to live - and buy an investment property instead.

If you focus on buying purely for investment, you don't have to factor in your lifestyle wish list during the search process. If the property has fewer bedrooms or a smaller backyard than one that you'd want to live in, it won't matter. It may be less expensive than a larger property, making it easier for you to break the cycle of disappointment and get a foothold in the market.

In other words, the savviest way to approach the property market may be to purchase something that you wouldn't live in yourself, knowing that other people will. When it comes to investing, time should work for you, not against you. It's far better to be in the market and allow capital growth to do the work than stuck outside the market and unable to save as quickly as the market is moving.

If this sounds like a viable option to you, it's essential to choose a property that meets the criteria for a high-quality investment. First and foremost, this means buying an asset with strong capital growth potential. Look for locations where demand from buyers has consistently outstripped supply for a long period.

You can research this by looking at median house price movements, which are usually published by organisations such as Australian Property Monitors and the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. If the median price for a particular suburb has increased at a faster rate than the rest of the Melbourne market over at least five years, it could be an indication of strong capital growth potential.

Auctions are also a good indicator of capital growth potential. Have a look in this newspaper to track the location of auctions each week. Auctions work best in areas where demand from buyers outstrips the number of properties available for sale. If there are consistently more auctions than private sales, it's a sign that capital growth is likely to be strong.

You should also attend as many auctions as possible before buying to get a feel for the market in your chosen location. If there are several bidders competing strongly and driving up the purchase price, it's another indicator that demand is outpacing supply and capital growth should be strong.

Capital growth compounds - the longer you hold the investment asset, the greater the rate of growth. Once you've bought an investment property, it's wise to hold it for at least seven to 10 years to let compounding work its magic.
I
f you can afford it, it's also a good idea to make extra repayments to reduce the loan balance. This will increase your equity (the amount you own, as distinct from the amount you owe the lender) more quickly than capital growth alone.

As an investor, you have access to a tax benefit that homeowners don't. You can claim holding costs like interest on the loan, repairs, council rates, insurance and property management fees against the rental income.

If the holding expenses are greater than the interest payments, you can use the difference to reduce your tax liability. This keeps more money in your pocket and makes it easier to hold on to the property.

Dos and don'ts
- If you can't buy a house to live in, an investment property may be a better bet.
- Forget your lifestyle wish list; focus on capital growth potential.
- Buy where demand consistently outpaces supply.
- Hold long-term to maximise the effects of compounding.
- Use tax breaks to minimise holding costs.

TOP 20 TIPS TO CUT REGULAR EXPENSES

1. Top up the car on Tuesdays, or Monday nights at a pinch - the cheapest time to buy petrol.

2. Join a car pool for work or use public transport.

3. Swap, don't buy - exchange books, DVDs and the like with friends.

4. Hunt for presents all year - so you can buy when they're on sale.

5. Put new soles on shoes - they'll last a lot longer.

6. Shop on the net - it's an easy way to compare prices and is often cheaper.

7. Drink tapwater - filtered if need be, instead of buying bottles or, worse, softdrinks.

8. Buy in bulk - especially fruit and vegies, even take it in turns with friends.

9. Scratch the Scratchie or Lotto ticket - unless you're super lucky you'll pay more than you win. Ditto for the pokies.

10. Cut back on takeaways.

11. Check the auctions in your newspaper - there could be a bargain couch lurking. Pay for the newspaper with a cheap subscription offer.

12. Hire a DVD instead of going out to the movies - or if you do want to see a new flick, take your own snacks with you.

13. Shop in one go - so you're not dashing off to a shop when you run out of something.

14. Cut out a packet of cigarettes or a drink a week.

15. Take your lunch to work more often.

16. Cook more than you need - and freeze the rest for future meals.

17. Don't take the kids with you to the supermarket - then they can't nag you for goodies.

18. Get the pets to tighten their collars - give them scraps and offcuts from the butcher rather than cans.

19. Pay cash only at the supermarket - then you're forced to stick to your budget
20 If you've got this far, well done - give yourself a treat.

How to save $10,000 on your current income

I might need to refer to this reading later there, so I'm saving it as an article first. It's taken from Essential Baby website.

SO it's not in the true spirit of the season but I'm going to tell you how to save $10,000. Besides nobody says you have to start right now. Although just between us, I would if I were you - after all Christmas is perfect for getting your priorities in order. But don't let me stop you writing out your gift list, since it'll be handy practice for what comes next. Oh dear, you're flagging already. Remember $10,000 is at stake here. There, that's better.

Christmas is one of the biggest expenses of the year but you can still enjoy it without going over the top. Ask people to bring a plate, says Lisa Montgomery, head of consumer advocacy at Resi Mortgage Corporation. "And consider introducing a Kris Kringle-style Christmas," she says. That's where everybody in the family buys one present. Um, yes, you only get one too. "The emphasis is then on spending time together, rather than simply spending money." Let's be conservative - and I take it as read you're normally very generous - and say this will cut your Christmas costs by $100. You can save this for next year, or how about donating it to charity?

EVERYDAY SAVERS ($1000)

Back to the list. You should draw one up for the supermarket as well if you don't already. The easiest way to stick to it is to leave the kids and the credit card at home. One's inconvenient in wanting stuff you don't need and the other's too convenient for the same reason.

Paying cash, after all, restricts you somewhat to your budget.
Once inside the supermarket, watch out for booby traps all over the place. Never go there on an empty stomach (for obvious reasons) and wear something warm (supermarkets are cooled slightly below comfort level because apparently this makes you hungry). Have you noticed the milk is always at the back? So are other essentials so you have to pass through aisles of temptation to get there.
"The end-of-aisle racks in supermarkets often given the impression of offering bargains. This is not always the case. The cheapest goods are often found on the top or bottom shelves," says Citibank in its http://www.usecreditwisely.com.au/ website of handy hints, though you might care to scan Investor's 20 tips (opposite) as well.

For basics such as sugar and flour Citibank says you can safely use cheaper house brands as well. Along with our 20 tips that's, say, a saving of $300 a year at least. Cut out the daily cappuccino on the way to work and don't hide the snack to go with it, so that's another $700. There, you've saved your first $1000 without having to do a thing. Well, going without having a thing or two perhaps but nothing you can't manage. And so to the heavy hitters.

MORTGAGE MAKEOVER (UP TO $10,000)
Giving the mortgage a makeover will do wonders for your finances and it doesn't necessarily mean paying it off faster though that is a help. Check what your interest rate is. My bet is you can do better and your lender knows it. The banks, for example, will knock up to 0.5 per cent off the standard variable rate for customers who threaten to take their debts elsewhere. On a $250,000 mortgage, that'll save you $84 a month, or a bit more than $1000 a year - $10,000 in about nine years. Wow, we're there already. Even if, like most borrowers, you're not paying the bank standard rate, there are still possible savings. For example, you might fix some or even all of your loan for five years at the best going rate which is a smidgin less than 8 per cent. Even after allowing for exit or switching costs, that's still potentially thousands over five years.

Making fortnightly instead of monthly repayments is another great way to save interest. But since that really means you're making one extra repayment a year (26 fortnights works out at 13 monthlies) that doesn't count on a technicality since the idea is to cut spending, not add to it no matter how great the reward.

CREDIT WHERE IT ISN'T DUE ($300)

The next target is the credit card. Forget the reward points if you don't pay off the card each month. You're better off ditching the fee and making sure you pay it off each month. The interest you save can then go toward a discount airfare. Check the zero or low-interest honeymoons as well. "Swapping a $2000 balance on a card with a rate of 18 per cent to a new card with a 12-month introductory rate of, say, 6 per cent could see you save $240 in interest for the first year," Citibank says.

A zero fee with zero interest - at least for a while - would have to be the credit card jackpot. The Coles Myer Source MasterCard has no annual fee and no interest for six months on transfers from other credit cards. That brings credit card savings to about $300 a year. Oh, one other thing. You can slash the interest on your credit card by re-financing it with a home equity line of credit. But there's a trap.

Pay it off with the same amount as you were before, otherwise you're switching from high-cost short-term to low-cost long-term debt - and could eventually finish up worse off.

BANK ON IT ($1500)

Don't mess with the bank. There's a fee lurking around every corner, from dishonoured cheques to penalty interest for going over your limit.
But the most common and easiest to avoid fee would have to be using another bank's ATM which will cost up to $2 a pop.

If there's one of those a week, just walking down the street would save you about $100 a year.

Often accounts have a withdrawal limit which if you exceed it racks up more fees. The best way to cut the number of withdrawals is to take more out each time, especially at a check-out because the extra cash out doesn't count as another withdrawal. That should be worth another $100 a year, shouldn't it? Alternatively, choose an account with a flat monthly fee of $5 such as Citibank's which has no limits, plus the bonus of no ATM fees if you use another bank's.

There are also big savings to be made if you make the mortgage your banking hub. Pay your salary into the mortgage and draw it down as you need it, or link a fee-free credit card to it which you pay off once a month. "We found consumers can save over $1300 a year by using a package of mortgage, transaction account and credit card, compared with stand-alone products within the same institution," says financial analyst Harry Senlitonga of Cannex.
POWER IT UP ($250)

Merging electricity and gas with one supplier, or signing a contract for a fixed period, will save about $100 a year.
Unfortunately this won't bring lower gas or electricity prices, but it will take most of the sting out of future increases.

That's the easy part. There are ways of saving as much if not more but they require some, er, energy. You'll have to switch off all the stand-by modes on the DVD-VCR player, TV, stereo, CD player and computer. This might mean waiting an extra, oh let's say three seconds for the thing to warm up when you switch it on, or in the case of my computer a good 10 minutes, but you'll save $150 a year on average, a survey by the Greenhouse Office found.

TALK ISN'T CHEAP (UP TO $500)
The key to working out the best phone deal is to look at the rate charged per call, rather than how many free ones you get or the rental. Also check out the flagfall - this can be the cost of a couple of calls before you even get a line.
Fortunately it's not too hard comparing packages as http://www.phonechoice.com.au/ has done it all for you. The website also has some useful tips about mobiles. Such as: the phone companies are phasing out free handsets from their plans.

And choose the same provider as your friends - calls to the same network are a lot cheaper. Unless you're in the bush, that is, where you'll just have to choose whatever works.
For capped plans, the traps are whether SMS and voicemail count in the cap, the high call rate if you exceed the limit and the 30-second timed calling blocks which can result in a 31-second call being charged at one minute.
Speaking of timed calls, remember the most expensive calls you can make are from the home phone to a mobile.

If you make a lot of interstate or overseas calls on your home phone, look out for specials and find out the so-called override four digit code of other phone providers. That way you can get onto another network's special rates without losing your normal discounts.

Even without teenagers in the house, you should save at least $100 a year with the right phone plan. With teenagers make that at least $500.
Using the internet for phone calls, known as VOIP, will save even more but you need a broadband connection. Then again sending emails would be cheaper. Which reminds me, if you link your internet service with the home phone and mobile, you'll get discounts for all three.

DRIVE AWAY (UP TO $5000)

You don't need me to tell you one of your biggest expenses is the car and that's not counting the price you paid for it.
Motoring groups estimate the average weekly running cost of a car when you take registration fees, fuel, insurance, interest and repairs into account is $200.
That's more than $10,000 a year and shows what a drain having a second car must be.
Even if you add in the cost of using public transport, getting rid of a car would be a net gain of about $5000 a year. Or form a car pool with friends and workmates.

THE TALLY

So fat that's more than $10,000 saved and I'll even throw in washing your clothes in cold water which will apparently save about $400 a year though the price of a cold shower is, I'm sure you'll agree, not worth it. And don't get me started on private health or home insurance, broadband, vet fees, holidays, the grog fridge in the garage or air-conditioning.

One last thing. Don't forget if you, um, save the savings, compound interest will kick in.
Saving $10 a week and investing it in a balanced fund earning 9 per cent a year would grow to $7289 after 10 years, MLC calculates.
If you cut spending by $30 a week and re-invest it, you'll have $21,866 in 10 years.