Aspirational Overload

I was watching the Lifestyle Channel's "Inside Tatler" last night when I realised that although there is something to be said for aspirational media, it often just makes my heart sink with the realisation that some things are not within my reach.

What I mean is, although I do enjoy a good mag about lovely homes, and often indulge in a short daydream about having All White Everything, I usually have the good sense to realise that it is probably something that I will never achieve personally.

Barring winning the lotto, or suddenly becoming a voracious and ambitious wildly successful entrepreneur, I am never going to have the money required to make some of my lifestyle dreams come true in my lifetime. A reality check brings one up short before you can get too carried away with fantasies about shopping sprees in New York, private jets and live-in domestics.

Pinterest is another great source of life inspiration and while I do find it fun, I usually reach my perfect loungeroom/impeccable street style saturation point within half an hour.

Harsh reality crashes back in as soon as you close the browser window, or shut the magazine. A life where there are always dirty dishes in the sink, somebody has to take out the rubbish and tomorrow you have to go to work but you haven't done the washing so you have to put a load on at 10pm.

I have also learnt to look economically downwards not up all the time. To practise some gratitude for the lovely things I do have that some people don't. A good husband. A house. A job. A car. 

So, thank you, Tatler/Home Beautiful/Marie Claire/Country Style/Rich Kids of Instagram. I'll use your beautiful things as inspiration, with a pinch of aspiration; but I do need to keep my feet on the ground and head out of the clouds.

But it won't stop me keeping a mental file of lovely things I desire - for that day that I do inherit a fortune from a long-lost relative.

Do you love or hate aspirational media? Is it a motivator or a source of frustration for you?

Getting Serious about Money

Yesterday afternoon, C and I had a conversation about money, jobs and life, not unusual when we are on a long car trip. This one was different though.

This one was less "I wish" and more "we should". It was about how other people seem to be getting ahead in this crap economy and we aren't. About how different decisions made earlier in our lives could have made a big difference to our current finances. And about how big decisions now could help change things for the better.

Basically, we both decided that it's time to pull our finger out and stop settling. Stop settling for our white- and blue-collar wages. Start focusing on how we can earn more, and sow the seeds of some future passive income.

"But it all sounds so greedy!" I said at one point, stricken with conscience because striving for more money seemed a little Wall Street when people less fortunate than us are struggling to keep the power and water on.

But hubby pointed out that there is no shame in wanting something better for ourselves, and our future family. Plus we're both totally sick of being poor. Poverty being relative of course - I am not living on the breadline, or below it. But the constant worry about money is just exhausting. And I don't want to be a billionaire. I just want to be able to buy a magazine when I fancy it and not feel guilty.

So now remains to be seen whether we will actually take action, or keep talking about taking action. I'm a very hard girl to get out of my comfortable rut, so stay tuned. Will we look at the mining sector? Will we consider 2nd jobs? Will we start up a side hustle? Who knows.

Do you want more income? Have you done any of the above and how has it turned out?

No money, Mo' Problems

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Today I have a day off from work - it's a day in lieu as I worked the local show holiday last month. It comes at a timely moment following a few things that are pissing me off at work lately coming to a head yesterday. I tweeted about it but won't bore you with the details here. Let's just say that if I continue to be "spoken to" about bathroom breaks I'm looking for a new job!

I had nothing planned for today so decided to do one of the two things that have been on my mind lately: sort out our finances.

I've never done a household budget before. Some of you may be amazed to hear this, but I've never really seen the need. Oh, I've watched money experts on the TV talking about how important it is, and read countless blogs about how essential it is to know where your money is going, but let's face it - I'm a fundamentally lazy person, and have never been that great with money.

Despite this, I am in charge of household finances. We have numerous discussions about how I hate this role but have agreed that I'm the best of two bad choices - unfortunately the other half is worse than me with dollars and cents. When I was single, it was so much easier - I had few expenses and used a shoebox method of bill payment. When I got a bill, it went in the shoebox. When I remember to pay it, I wrote "paid" on it and back into the shoebox it went. It wasn't sophisticated, but it worked.

This simple method combined with no mortgage or rates and a smaller grocery bill meant that I could save quite a bit of money. I also lived at home for a while, and with no rent expenses (thanks mum & dad!) I was able to save over $10,000 in a year. And then I blew it all on international travel - I know, what an idiot (I REGRET NOTHING!!!).

Flash forward six years and I'm engaged, got a mortgage I get stressed thinking about and all those lovely household bills that come in ominous window envelopes. I'm pleased to say I just finished doing a budget using a combination of my bank's online budget calculator and Open Office suite (a pox on you and your registration key Microsoft!)

So now I'm going to have a little relax on the couch in front of Dr Phil. And after lunch I might consider tackling some spring cleaning.

On dentists

My tooth hurts. It has for three days now. It's not terrible, just a faint dull ache but I'm coming to terms with the fact a dentist will need to be consulted. This has made me realise, I literally cannot remember the last time I went to the dentist. I can recall going as a child, and doing all those fun things like get fillings and get your tongue stuck on the spit-sucker, however I do not recall ever going since I left high school. And that's 11 years ago!

And it's not even that I'm afraid. I actually used to quite like getting a tooth pulled, or a filling put in. It was interesting. And for some insane reason, I had faith that it wouldn't hurt. Whether it was the power of the mind or not, it never did. Even when one time the dentist offered to do a filling without any anaesthetic, which I enthusiasically accepted. Looking back, that seems bizarre. I guess I was just a strange kid.

I am afraid of one thing now though - not the pain. It's the cost. What does it cost to go to the dentist these days? I was kind of hoping it was one of those things you can bulk bill like the doctor, but I am informed no such luck. It's money I can ill-afford but I guess it's got to be done. Or I can put up with this tooth. Hmmm.