New Year's Eve! :)

Financial Year Eve that is.

Tomorrow is the 1st of July, start of the 09-10 financial year. Just writing that seems weird - 2010 always seemed like such a long way off (I know there are still six months to go).

I'm going back home in 2 and a half weeks and I'll have to make sure I get all the paperwork I need to do my tax.

I should be due a large refund this year - I co-own a rental property which means deductions (although when you take into account the rental income we get it's actually not much - it's in a popular area so we get good rental returns). However, I also have a lot of educational expenses. I was in a job for half the year where I was on a higher income and they were taking out tax on the basis that I would be on that income for the entire year, then switched to a lower-paying job; and had 6 weeks without work.

So overall I'm hoping to be able to pay a large chunck of debt off once I get a refund.

Doing more overtime this week, so will be looking forward to my next couple of pay cheques.

Dinner last night

My friend paid for dinner last night which was nice of him. He insisted of getting a bottle of wine - (I'm not a big drinker and would have been happy with water). $60 - sorry, tasted no better than a $10/$20 bottle.

I did pay to get a taxi home when I could have gotten a train and a bus, but it was getting late and I was tired. There are times when I am willing to pay for convenience.

Weekend of work ahead

I've finished my exams for my Masters this semester, which means I don't have to study this weekend.

However, I think I will be pretty much working all weekend, marking exams for other courses. It's all extra income, which is great, but I'm looking forward to having a weekend off at some point!

I'm seeing a friend for dinner tonight - and it sounds like it is an expensive restaurant. However, he doesn't live in Sydney, he lives a couple of hours drive away, and is just here for the night before going overseas. I haven't seen him for over a year so it will be good to catch up.

Pay from extra jobs

I mentioned a week or so ago that I had lodged my timesheets for all the extra work I had done. (And this weekend I will be doing some more.)

They have been approved but at least in one case, I think the payment will come through after the end of financial year (Australia has a 1 July - 30 June financial year). Not so concerned about having to wait for the extra salary, but what is annoying is that I know a ton of tax will be taken out, which I will then have to wait another year to get back!

I'm popping back home mid-July - it's my Mum's birthday, my Autn's birthday (they are twins), and my best friend's birthday, all within a couple of days. It will be a quick trip, but I got cheap flights and apart from the various birthdays, I will be able to collect various bits and pieces I need to do my tax. (I still have a lot of stuff stored at my Mum's place).

Weekend spending

I had thought to myself Friday night that I wouldn't need to spend any money over the weekend.

What did I actually end up spending?
Saturday: $96.10 at the chemist.
$66.35 on prescriptions
$12.95 on a pair of gloves
$11.50 on over the counter medicine
$5.30 on a hot water bottle

Sunday: $12.50 at the gas station on groceries.
NEVER BUY GROCERIES AT THE GAS STATION!! My own stupid fault because I couldn't be bothered going to the grocery store.
$5.00 Loaf of bread
$5.00 1.25 Ltr Btle of Diet Coke
$2.50 Chocolate Bar.

If I had been to the grocery store, it probably would have been around $6.00.

On the one hand basically everything I bought I needed:
The prescriptions and chemist medicine - definitely
The gloves and hot water bottle - could have put off but had been thinking of buying for a while.
Groceries - well I should have gone to the grocery shop, but then with the cost of bus fares the savings wouldn't have amounted to much.

But on the other hand - spending close to $110 when I thought I wouldn't be spending anything isn't exactly great!

Feeling sick

It's 5am and I'm awake with a sore throat.

I used to get up at 5am before moving and changing jobs, but not anymore! I love the fact I live so close to work. I actually got up at 8:40am yesterday and was in at work by 9:05 (5 minutes late but no one else was there anyway!)

Oh, and it's Saturday.

Think I'll be making a trip to the chemist later today. I have an exam next week (my last one for the semester), and the last thing I need is to be sick.

Food - best before dates

I've previously posted about wasting food.

One thing I tend to waste a lot of is Yoghurt and similar - buy it and then never eat it before the best before date. Anyway, yesterday I ate a Fruche which had a best before date of 2 weeks ago. It was fine - still tasted as good as ever. I've always been one of those people that as soon as something is at the best before date I throw it out - without even looking to see if it is still good.