Thursday:
I'm feeling a bit cranky and discombobulated. Bloody tradesmen.
The oven repair guy who couldn't find anything wrong with my oven a couple of weeks ago came back today now that it is completely dead. He was supposed to come "morning" so we sat at home all day, at 2pm I called the company, he turned up at 3. He poked vaguely at the oven and told me it would be cheaper and easier to get a new oven. He barely looked at it. I couldn't stand his cigarette reek, I only got him back because with a new company I'd have to pay the exorbitant callout fee again. I know the oven is old - the whole kitchen is old - I was hoping to not need a new oven for a few years until we'd recovered from paying for the pool, and get the whole kitchen remodelled then. Replace the lino countertops as well as the ancient fixtures. But looks like we'll have to get a new oven now. It's a wall oven, too, so we have to get one that fits that space... very restrictive... Arg!
Oh and the pool - we finally got the side fences raised to the required height. But the site manager came by and looked at them and he's not sure they will pass council safety inspection! Double arg!
And I went to order a skip bin for the weekend only to find they are about twice as expensive here as I remember from Canberra only two years ago. I was so horrified at the price of the place that advertised "cheapest in Sutherland Shire" I said I'd get back to them, tried elsewhere but it was even more expensive. I suppose I'll have to call back. I feel like we're haemorrhaging money.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Monday weigh in
Monday:
Yesterday we saw Dr Strange which I thought was pretty good for a superhero movie - not usually my kind of thing. Rated M but ok for my kids.
Quite a few people in the extended family are sick at the moment - just with colds I think - but we didn't have a get-together yesterday and we haven't seen either of the two babies yet! Oh well, totally understandable with this bug going round. Aiden still has a runny nose but Tim and Jas seem ok now. Somehow I avoided getting it! I had a couple of days when I thought I was coming down with something - woke with a bit of a headache or aching back - but then felt fine later in the day. Maybe all this healthy eating?
This morning I weighed 80.2 kg, that is a loss of 1.0 kg this week and 3.6 kg over the three weeks I've been doing the BSD (blood sugar diet - it's based on actual studies done on diabetics). I've got through so many temptations already! I'm feeling quite strong. Next week will be a challenge, it's Aiden's 10th birthday on Thursday week. We'll have an extended family dinner before it, his favourite foods on his actual birthday, and a kids' party at Laser Underworld on the following weekend so it will be a whole week of temptations. I plan to have a small piece of birthday cake, and that is all. I'm a bit hesitant even about that. At least I'll be making it myself - he's asked for a lemon/lime cheesecake so I know it will be high fat and low sugar (which is good on this WOE [way of eating, for if you don't like the word diet]).
I had a bit of a sad afternoon. It's 18 months since my father's death and today I got the cheque for my share of the inheritance. He didn't have much, of course any money is welcome, but knowing that it is a result of his death makes it hard. I can't just think "woo hoo a bit of extra spending money!" It was worse last year when I got the money from mum (my parents died a few months apart, after being divorced 40 years, both from cancer) because it allowed us to afford moving to Sydney where real estate is much more expensive than where we were. The irony was that mum would have loved me to live closer when she was alive, but we couldn't afford it until she died. I still feel a bit guilty and conflicted about that.
I know it's Halloween today in the US, it's not really celebrated here in Australia despite the shops trying to push us to buy costumes and decorations and cheap lollies! I went for a walk this afternoon and saw one house with a plastic skull on a fencepost, so that was a token decoration. I'll have some fun-size chocolates near the front door just in case, I used to do that in Canberra too, I think one year a group of kids knocked. I'm not sure what lollies have to do with "real" Halloween anyway. Happy Halloween if you celebrate it.
Yesterday we saw Dr Strange which I thought was pretty good for a superhero movie - not usually my kind of thing. Rated M but ok for my kids.
Quite a few people in the extended family are sick at the moment - just with colds I think - but we didn't have a get-together yesterday and we haven't seen either of the two babies yet! Oh well, totally understandable with this bug going round. Aiden still has a runny nose but Tim and Jas seem ok now. Somehow I avoided getting it! I had a couple of days when I thought I was coming down with something - woke with a bit of a headache or aching back - but then felt fine later in the day. Maybe all this healthy eating?
This morning I weighed 80.2 kg, that is a loss of 1.0 kg this week and 3.6 kg over the three weeks I've been doing the BSD (blood sugar diet - it's based on actual studies done on diabetics). I've got through so many temptations already! I'm feeling quite strong. Next week will be a challenge, it's Aiden's 10th birthday on Thursday week. We'll have an extended family dinner before it, his favourite foods on his actual birthday, and a kids' party at Laser Underworld on the following weekend so it will be a whole week of temptations. I plan to have a small piece of birthday cake, and that is all. I'm a bit hesitant even about that. At least I'll be making it myself - he's asked for a lemon/lime cheesecake so I know it will be high fat and low sugar (which is good on this WOE [way of eating, for if you don't like the word diet]).
I had a bit of a sad afternoon. It's 18 months since my father's death and today I got the cheque for my share of the inheritance. He didn't have much, of course any money is welcome, but knowing that it is a result of his death makes it hard. I can't just think "woo hoo a bit of extra spending money!" It was worse last year when I got the money from mum (my parents died a few months apart, after being divorced 40 years, both from cancer) because it allowed us to afford moving to Sydney where real estate is much more expensive than where we were. The irony was that mum would have loved me to live closer when she was alive, but we couldn't afford it until she died. I still feel a bit guilty and conflicted about that.
I know it's Halloween today in the US, it's not really celebrated here in Australia despite the shops trying to push us to buy costumes and decorations and cheap lollies! I went for a walk this afternoon and saw one house with a plastic skull on a fencepost, so that was a token decoration. I'll have some fun-size chocolates near the front door just in case, I used to do that in Canberra too, I think one year a group of kids knocked. I'm not sure what lollies have to do with "real" Halloween anyway. Happy Halloween if you celebrate it.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Content vs striving
Tuesday:
I got hooked in to a documentary last night, when I should have been in bed, about how people in the UK allocate their spending money. Like whether private school was worth the money, or clothes with designer labels. They interviewed people from all different backgrounds and income levels and it was fascinating. But the two people at opposite ends of the scale were the most interesting (and a little sad) to me. One man, a Romney gypsy who grew up poor in a caravan, was very rich with over 100 million UK pounds worth in assets. He had several enormous houses, very expensive vintage cars, artwork. But when the interviewer asked him if he liked the artwork he said no, he had no attachment to any of it. He bought things for investments, then sold them when they had increased in value. He bought houses fully furnished without regard to his own taste. He was only interested in making more money. But what for? He didn't spend it on his son, who he wanted to grow up with a good work ethic like he had. Not even private school (he himself left school at 12). His wife cleaned the enormous mansions herself - no household staff! He gave no explanation of what he wanted all this money for, he didn't use it for anything except to make more money. Maybe the process itself made him happy, who am I to say?
At the other end of the scale was a family of six struggling to make ends meet. The wife seemed content to buy her clothes at op shops, getting food on sale and bulking meals out with cheap beans because meat is so expensive. Until the show sent her to visit a wealthier family for a few days. Not rich, but comfortable. She saw the children with the latest electronic devices, photos of holidays overseas, food with price labels that shocked her. And you could see her getting more and more dissatisfied with her own life. She surely knew that there were other people who lived like that, but I guess it's different having it laid out right in front of you. She got very sad as she talked about her endless financial struggles with no expectation of it ever getting any better. I think the documentary did her a real disservice. Her circumstances didn't change at all over the course of the filming. Only her attitude to it did.
It's so easy, isn't it, to look at what other people have and be envious. Whether that is material possessions, relationships, weight loss, other achievements. Facebook posts of their exciting holiday or the cool jazz cellar they went to or the amount of times they went to the gym this week. Maybe you feel like you're doing well, then you see someone doing so much better and your life suddenly seems worthless in comparison. And you think if you had what they had, life would be better.
Yet on that show, the poor wife wanted what the wealthy family had - but the wealthy family weren't content, they wanted more money so they could afford to send their children to private school (without sacrificing other things in their lifestyle). And the guy who had millions and millions, seemingly enough to buy anything in the world he wanted? He was forever making more, not content with what he had either!
But should we just sit where we are, being happy with what we have? Does being content mean stagnation? I think that as humans we need to find a balance between appreciating what we already have - and who we already are - and striving for more and better. You can be grateful for what you have while still working to get more... and then appreciate the new all the more because you had to earn it. You can love yourself and still want to improve. Indeed, "they" say you have to love yourself first, before you can progress.
I got hooked in to a documentary last night, when I should have been in bed, about how people in the UK allocate their spending money. Like whether private school was worth the money, or clothes with designer labels. They interviewed people from all different backgrounds and income levels and it was fascinating. But the two people at opposite ends of the scale were the most interesting (and a little sad) to me. One man, a Romney gypsy who grew up poor in a caravan, was very rich with over 100 million UK pounds worth in assets. He had several enormous houses, very expensive vintage cars, artwork. But when the interviewer asked him if he liked the artwork he said no, he had no attachment to any of it. He bought things for investments, then sold them when they had increased in value. He bought houses fully furnished without regard to his own taste. He was only interested in making more money. But what for? He didn't spend it on his son, who he wanted to grow up with a good work ethic like he had. Not even private school (he himself left school at 12). His wife cleaned the enormous mansions herself - no household staff! He gave no explanation of what he wanted all this money for, he didn't use it for anything except to make more money. Maybe the process itself made him happy, who am I to say?
At the other end of the scale was a family of six struggling to make ends meet. The wife seemed content to buy her clothes at op shops, getting food on sale and bulking meals out with cheap beans because meat is so expensive. Until the show sent her to visit a wealthier family for a few days. Not rich, but comfortable. She saw the children with the latest electronic devices, photos of holidays overseas, food with price labels that shocked her. And you could see her getting more and more dissatisfied with her own life. She surely knew that there were other people who lived like that, but I guess it's different having it laid out right in front of you. She got very sad as she talked about her endless financial struggles with no expectation of it ever getting any better. I think the documentary did her a real disservice. Her circumstances didn't change at all over the course of the filming. Only her attitude to it did.
It's so easy, isn't it, to look at what other people have and be envious. Whether that is material possessions, relationships, weight loss, other achievements. Facebook posts of their exciting holiday or the cool jazz cellar they went to or the amount of times they went to the gym this week. Maybe you feel like you're doing well, then you see someone doing so much better and your life suddenly seems worthless in comparison. And you think if you had what they had, life would be better.
Yet on that show, the poor wife wanted what the wealthy family had - but the wealthy family weren't content, they wanted more money so they could afford to send their children to private school (without sacrificing other things in their lifestyle). And the guy who had millions and millions, seemingly enough to buy anything in the world he wanted? He was forever making more, not content with what he had either!
But should we just sit where we are, being happy with what we have? Does being content mean stagnation? I think that as humans we need to find a balance between appreciating what we already have - and who we already are - and striving for more and better. You can be grateful for what you have while still working to get more... and then appreciate the new all the more because you had to earn it. You can love yourself and still want to improve. Indeed, "they" say you have to love yourself first, before you can progress.
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