Second Christmas

Every year we go and stand in one of the two little churches for the exact length of time my father believes sufficient. We kiss the icon and put the cash in the slot, light some candles for the sand pit of the dead and return the rude stares of our fellow churchgoers. Sometimes people from the old days will come up to talk to my father or uncle, we kiss them or shake their hands, and I stare politely into the middle distance while they talk in the old language I do not understand.

Then we are allowed to go home, to the spread of roast meats that my aunt has prepared, and the stories of the old days (if we are lucky) or the conspiracy theories (much more likely.)

Hristos se rodi.

Picnic in the Botanic gardens

I used to do this all the time when I was a teenager but it’s been years. . .

So lovely and relaxing to sit out on the grass in the shade and just relax for a few hours. . .

Bye Karlee!

This lucky lady is off to Paris for three weeks. I drove her car back from the airport, which was a lot more pleasant than staying cooped up in this steaming apartment.

Here comes another year.

It is stupidly hot and I am nursing my hangover in front of the fan. This time last year I was cold and sick in Paris, wishing for home. This year, I am still wishing, but for different things. I suppose that’s life.

I have high hopes for 2012. If I can achieve even half of them, it will be a great year. This is the last year of my 20s.

Financial update

The $100 a week challenge was a smashing failure in the end. I spent that first full week practically killing myself in order to save cash, refusing invites, scavenging food from housemates and obsessively worrying about the cost of everything, and still I went over the limit by about $2.
So I cracked it, and packed the whole project in in the style of a true quitter. But all is not lost, a light has appeared in the distance and I may yet pay off my debts before uni starts next year.
How?
By ditching my car.
It’s not the ideal solution, as I haven’t sold the damn thing yet (which would have not only paid off my debts but afforded me a tiny amount of savings too) but it’s a compromise, Mum needs the car now that Nan is alone and in a nursing home, and so she is making my weekly repayments for me in return. Which means I can still take my car back for when I need it (like when I get to teaching rounds) but the expense of keeping it no longer cripples me financially.
So. Now I just need to work out a way to fix my terminal laptop and it will be smooth sailing from here.

Day Four of the $100 a week challenge

Four days in and I’ve spent $44.83, which is not a bad effort.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that living cheaply means eating grains again, meal options like 2 for $3 packets of pasta cannot be ignored!

Urgh, I’m boring myself.

At least I have a shiny Fuji apple to enliven my afternoon!

And an evening of sorting DVDs alphabetically ahead.

Just shoot me. Please.

The ‘Game’

Rules of the $100 per week spendings challenge!

(Exclamation marks fool you into thinking this is an exciting game! With prizes!)

(there are no prizes.)

(except for the sweet taste of success maybe.)

1. Does not include rent.
2. Does not include bills.
3. Does not include phone credit/car payments/petrol etc.
4. Does not include health insurance.
5. Does include all food, drinks, entertainment and other shopping.
6. Any amount under $100 at the end of the week will go into CC as an extra payment.
7. Any amount spent OVER $100 will come off the next week’s budget (this one’s gonna hurt!)
8. Anything left over from Salary will go into CC at the end of the month tacked onto regular payment.

Easy!

This is either going to kill me or make me stronger.

Adventures in Poverty.

I’ve been home for more than four months now. Things have been moving along at a reasonable speed, I suppose. It took me a month to find a job, another month to find a temporary room (in a pre-fab bungalow in Fitzroy North, FREEZING but cheap and worth the freedom!) and another to get a proper place in the most amazing house and location I have ever lived in.

I’m in a small block of flats with a stunning internal courtyard garden, just a block away from the Vic Market. It takes me about 20 minutes to stroll to work, and is ridiculously convenient to everywhere and everything. It makes Brunswick seem like a tiresome hike from town. Bliss.

Plus, my housemates rule. A I knew from high school, but P (her boyfriend) is a delightful new kindred spirit and C is just the right amount of different from the people I’m used to, to keep me curious. A bakes all the time, C washes the dishes and goes on ice cream runs, and P is great for fixing things and sharing cheese. They rock.

However, it’s not all glitter and marvels and walks through the CBD, it’s a (comparitively) expensive way to live, and I have yet to get my head out of the ‘I’m on holiday/in a foreign country/away from reality’ headspace and fully grasp the concept that my credit card debt is not going to melt away on the first warm day, and in about five months (if all goes according to plan, anyway) I will be back at school and even more poor than I currently am.

AARGH! Please excuse me a moment, I’ll just be over here in this corner, rocking and muttering gibberish.

But, baby steps. In the interests of feeling less powerless and overwhelmed by debt I have set myself a challenge.

CAN I LIVE A WHOLE WEEK ON $100 OR LESS?

That’s right, no more fancy lunches and cafe bought coffees for me, I’m going ghetto.

Sun 9 October to Saturday 15th October.

It’s Day 2 and I’ve spent $26, but as that was on food that can last (theoretically) all week, I think that’s pretty good. I’m going to update this every day to track my progress. The idea is that this ‘one week’ challenge will actually become an ‘every week’ challenge until my debt is smashed, but I’m trying not to frighten myself off with the enormity of it, so let’s just keep that between us (you and the other less impulsive and highly strung me) for now? Ta.

Stay tuned for more adventures in poverty!

 

Idiots.

Idiots., originally uploaded by simonevukotic.

And they rode it all the way up Bourke St.

Sunday morning

Sunday morning, originally uploaded by simonevukotic.

Moving day!