Living Paycheck to Paycheck

I was reading an article today that said something like 65% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. I imagine that number would be similar in Australia.

This scared me!

I was once paying for something on a card, but I wasn't actually sure if there was money on the card, I just couldn't remember. That was a horrible feeling. I actually felt sick to my stomach and held my breath as the transaction processed. Luckily, there was money on it and everything was fine.

I could not imagine living this way day in and day out. Do any readers out there live like this? I'd love to hear your story.

It makes me even more determined to ensure my financial future so that, even if I can't enjoy life's luxuries, I can get by without this sinking feeling.

Mystery Solved

I finally discovered where the money came from! It was a travel allowance from my business trip back in July. It often takes a while for those sorts of things to come through to us and, as they're not paid in the regular pay cycle, it can often lead to some initial confusion followed by excitement.

Mine is going straight into savings!

Did you give me money?

On Friday night, I checked my main bank account, something I do at least once every two days. I was suprised to see an extra $240 in there. I had no idea where it had come from.

As it was quite late at night, I wasn't surprised to see that my statement had not updated itself yet and thus, while I could see I had the extra money in there and could access it, I could not see where it had come from.

This was the same all weekend and again, I wasn't surprised because my bank doesn't operate on weekends. Then today, I kept checking it and it still hasn't appeared.

This is driving me crazy as I desperately want to know where the money came from. I have asked all family members if they gave me any money and they all deny doing so.

Hopefully by tomorrow it will have appeared and I'll know if I am in fact a little richer than I thought or if there has been some sort of error.

Oops

Today I had to drive out to an out of the way store to buy my brother's birthday present. I arrived there only to find it closed. I could have returned home until it was time for soccer, but as my game was just down the road from where I was, I didn't see the point.

So I had an hour and a half to kill. What do most twenty one year old girls do to kill time? Shop!

It wasn't too bad. I spent $55 on a bra that I would probably have bought in the next couple of weeks anyway. I bought some socks and a magazine as well, both of which I probably didn't really need.

But this is just a small setback I think. I didn't put any of it on credit, I could afford it all and they were things that I would get a lot of use from.

But back onto the right track, back into saving!

My Share Portfolio

When the global financial crisis hit last year, everyone I knew was complaining about the severe drop in the share markets, worldwide. I got the bright idea that, while the market was low, buying shares would be a fantastic idea.

So, at the beginning of this year, I began to do some research. I learnt enough. By enough, I mean that I didn’t want to become a trader or anything; I just wanted to invest a little bit of money and then forget about it. So I learnt what was needed in order to invest and was done with it.

Then came my next little problem. I had just returned from a three week trip in Europe. While I had paid all cash for my trip, it had depleted my savings quite significantly. My dad suggested that I speak to my older brother. He was apparently interested in share investing as well but as he was on deployment with the Navy in the Gulf, wasn’t able to do too much.

I emailed him, explaining my investment idea. I suggested we each put in $5000 and invest in a few different companies. He liked my idea. I then asked him if I could borrow my share from him as I didn’t have the cash at the moment. He was more than willing.

I invested our money over about a month. We bought into eight different companies, all of which came highly recommended and all of which were companies I knew well. I was seriously planning on never checking on my shares, or at least not too often.

However, I used the online trading account of my regular bank. They recently changed their set up and now, every time I log into my regular bank account, it shows my share holdings and what they’re worth as well. So I see it almost daily.

At the moment, we’re about $1600 up. Doesn’t sound like much, I know. I still think it was a good investment for both of us and we picked the right time to buy. Now it is merely a waiting game.

I have paid my brother back in full, something I’m very pleased about!

Goals Have Changed

I am constantly altering my saving goals. You'll remember, when I first started this blog, I was saving up for a home deposit. Then my circumstances changed so I decided to pay off my car. Well I have one again changed my mind and will be channeling all my money into a home deposit.

Right now, this is $240 a fortnight. I will get a very significant pay rise in either December or January. Except for the first one or two pays, all that extra money will once again be channelled into a home deposit. I don't foresee my living expenses changing too significantly, so I should be able to put all that extra income into my deposit account.

This is both exciting and daunting. I am of the "now" generation. While I don't use credit cards to get everything now, I do get frustrated when my accounts only grow slowly. I wish I could have that deposit NOW, it would just make life so much easier.

But as in every aspect of life, the things you have to work for are the things that end up meaning the most to you!

I'm Back!

I apologise for being gone for the past few weeks. I lost heart unfortunately because no one was reading my blog. However, I discovered in my absence that it's something I really do enjoy, and therefore I'm going to keep doing it whether I have readers or not!