Party Time..

So its only 4 days till I head off down South so today (Sunday) I organised a party for lunch time - my birthday is next week so its sort of for that too.

Usually it seems only a third of people turn up from the invite list but so far I have almost 30 people coming!!  So just having a "Barbie" and easy food to heat up.

I'm quite looking forward to it and decided to invite so many people coz I'm sick of only catching up with people at funerals as seems to be the case this year.

Owl @ Wildlife Park 2012

More on Dentist Run to Bali

I noticed a lot of people interested in the Bali Dentist trip so thought I would add some more detail.

As I mentioned in my previous post a week or so ago we had been told about

Bali 911 Dental Clinic

They take a couple of weeks to reply to email queries but heard you could just turn up and pretty much could get in straight away.  As our trip was spur of the moment we just took a punt and showed up at the Kuta branch of 911Dentist.  They were booked out so we took the taxi straight to Denpasar.  The street outside might look grubby in comparison to Western standards but the front is swept a few times a day and the inside is clean although a bit worn.

For a crown and I believe veneers too - you need to allow at least a 10 day trip - the crown takes 5 days to make after the initial consultation.  The day we went back for the fitting was a very long day.  Our appointment was for 1pm.  After having our new crown fitted to size it then went next door for glazing which took an hour or more.  The clinic does have water, tea, coffee making facilities, and these little sachets of like a rice porridge stuff that you add hot water to. I would recommend maybe just carrying some food with you if you use the Denpasar branch, as there doesn't seem to be much close around (although I didn't think to research that before we went) .  There is a toilet there too. The Kuta one is located in a shopping centre so that is no problem for food, toilet or entertainment while waiting.  There is also a laptop in Denpasar for free wifi access while you wait.  The waiting room is quite small and sometimes full and a few people hang out the front - smokers mainly of course.  There aren't any seats out the front and the parking area is usually filled with cars and drivers waiting for their customers inside the clinic.  I'm sure the clinic would call a taxi for you after your consultation so that shouldn't be a problem.

Like I said previously, there is a 5 year guarantee on crowns and 1 year on veneers. All in all I am happy with the experience and would definitely go again.

See my other Bali Dentist Run post - for other details.

2011

Stunned as a Mullet!!

So I just got the estimate of my refund from the accountant.  I was hoping for 10k.  i got 1k!!! Less $200 I owe the tax Office from 2011 year - less nearly $700 for accountant bill. So bugga all in the end and that unfortunately was my big grand plan of survival for the month ahead plus a chunk towards planned 2013 trip. To say I am feeling numb is an understatement!!  And I don't think it has truly sunk in yet.

As luck would have it  my BF -  as a birthday present and contribution towards my farewell / birthday party expenses, popped $1000 in my bank account for me without me knowing for a few days.  So that was completely awesome of him - I haven't used any yet but had planned to so will just have to budget a bit wiser for the party and when I am away.

Wow.....what to do....

A Few Dollars

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks - my depression got the better of me.  It was 1 year since dad died in May, but then in the last 2 weeks - Dads birthday, Fathers Day, World Suicide Prevention Day and the 1 year anniversary since my cousin hung himself.  Suppose its normal to feel depressed.

Today I have about 4 hours work with one of the clients left over since I closed my business down, and I have advised him that today will be the last visit.  So I should have enough money to scrape by on bills for another week hopefully when he pays me.

Somehow I am just managing to scrape through financially - I withdrew some money from a little investment account I have -only $500 and then my brother and I have money in a joint account for the house down south so we both took some from there. And this week - the work. 

And then I am off next week for about 4-6 weeks to finally pack up dads house down south.  I should find out in the next few days the refund amount (hopefully) from the Tax Office as my accountant is close to finalising 2 years income tax.  Thank goodness.  At least I will know where I stand financially - hoping for $10k but not sure if that is a bit optimistic.

And today I must remember to post away and ask for pretty much the last of the money from my investment account - $500 so that I have some money for on the road for the 5 days before I get to dads house. And after that, not sure - it'll be 3 weeks to a month I'd think before I see my tax refund.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Jan 2012

Organisation

When I first quit my last job (end of June 2012) - the one I had for  few months - after closing my business in February 2012, I spent many an hour reading from Down To Earth blog.  A great site on living frugally and simply, saving money and enjoying the simple things in life.  I originally started reading this site as I found myself with a lot more time on my hands from when I was self-employed and also I was learning to live on income at least a third or half of my previous income.  Of course a lot of those expenses actually came from having my own business -subscriptions to industry organisations, Professional Indemnity insurance, seminars to keep up to date with industry changes and so on.  By cancelling all these expenses I was able to reduce my bills quite substantially - saving about $250 a week. The job I had (learning to make picture frames and such) and earning $500 a week, just covered my mortgage payments and and bills, after I canclled all my industry related expenses.  Any extra I made on the side by working for a couple of old clients I used for entertainment or extras I wanted.

It was while reading the afore-mentioned blog that I was first switched onto the idea of setting up a household folder and I had also read about this in a great book on being organised (the name of which has eluded me at the moment) but the author was one of the founding members of Messies Anonymous.  As per the book, I listed Daily tasks to do, Tasks by the day and seasonal checklists.  So even I missed one days checklist, it would be done the following week as per the schedule.  This system worked for probably a couple of weeks or so and then it lapsed as I became distracted / absorbed by other things.  So the last few days I have been working on a bigger and better version of the folder after reading some more tips on the website Organized Home.  They have printable forms online but as I don't have a printer right now I am just using handwritten notes for now and probably that is the way to go until the folder is set up properly and I tweak my checklists and schedules.  And I am using a bigger folder!!  So it is not as easy for me to ignore. 

And I have been working off my Dailies checklist and my Monday checklist this morning in between coffees and blogging.  This way it is not so daunting for me either -looking at a whole house to be cleaned and tidied can seem quite overwhelming, so by breaking it down room by room, or chore by chore it doesn't seem so impossible.  And technically each week will get easier as the standard of tidyness increases day by day according to my weekly checklist.

These following tips are helpful

Finish The Job!!  My biggest problem.  Half finished projects laying around when I get distracted by something new or even tidying up after I make coffee (I'm a messy blighter).  My brother is a nightmare when it comes to this.  He seriously cannot/does not even put lids back on jars or milk back in the fridge after making a coffee!!  Dude...

If a chore will take less time than 30 seconds do it straight away - I am perfectly capable of walking over and around, say a piece of thread or similar on a floor.  Instead I should just pick the sucker up!!  For me one of my main 'problems' is the bedroom - if I get changed a few times a day - each old set of clothes ends up flung on the bed or on the floor and every few days I have to sort the piles into dirty laundry, clothes that have another wear in them and so on.  If I could just deal with it straight away it will save a bigger job later down the track.

Speaking of which - I had better finish off my 'Dailies Checklist' and Monday chores - I have almost finished so I can start the day feeling virtuous and under whelmed - is that a word?

 

Great Ocean Road - Jan 2012 - "Stowaway"

Have a great day!!

Another Market Day

Another day another dollar....

Reasonably successful day (measured by the fact I can pay the mortgage tomorrow - yay).  And apparently other stall holders said that it was a quiet day.  Will have to get some stuff together for next week which should be better I'd think being Government payday. 

Will be sitting eagerly by the phone tomorrow morning waiting for a temp call. Hows that for positve thinking?  Will it to happen.

Oregon 2010

More online revenue ideas..

Okay so I have spent a bit of time today online registering with a couple of websites that I hope will bring me some location independent income.

Elance

Rent-A-Friend

With Rent A Friend I am the only female for my area (I am only accepting female only contact) so hoping that I have some luck here.

Dentist Run to Bali - August 2012

While I wasn't working is seemed like the perfect time to do a Dentist Run To Bali.  We'd been talking about it for ages and after receiving quotes from our local dentistsin Australia (my required treatment worth almost $2000 and BF about $6000AUD)

Anyhoo - we found flights for $500 return each on Jetstar which is actually a very expensive fare - you can get them as low as $140 return when they are on sale.  But we we booking pretty much last minute - only a few weeks in advance.  Using Lateroom we booked the first few nights for $54 a night - reduced (apparently) from $165 a night. And the other 6 nights we were 'booked' to stay at a mates villa for only $50 a night for the two of us. 

Quest Central Park Kuta - $54 a night per room

We initially rocked up at the Kuta 911 Dental Clinic but as they were booked out for a few days we decided to jump in a taxi (we only ever use Bluebird taxi's as they use their meter every time!) and head straight to the Denpasar Clinic.  Taxi cost would have only been about $8 AUD from memory.  We were ushered pretty much straight in and after explaining what we wanted - I needed a crown and clean and BF 2 crowns and root canal - they got down to business - ground my tooth back, made a temp and mould for new tooth - charged me $410 and booked me in to finalise the treatment for a few days later.

3 days later we headed back to the dentist - by now we had moved to the villa in Jimbaran Bay area so we organised a driver for $5 an hour who took us for our appointments,  waited for us and took us via the local supermarket on the way back. And we lashed out and bought Thai fusion take-away since we had to wait about 5 or 6 hours for both of our treatments.  My treatment was to remove temp crown - grind tooth a bit more - fit new crown -send it off for an hour (luckily just next door) to glaze it and then wack it in.  BF's 2nd one got buggered up by an overzealous dentist on his grinding foot-pedal so he was booked in to return 2 days later to finish his treatment. All in all I was very happy with my dental treatment - they offer a 5 year guarantee on the crowns. And even if we had to go back twice for repairs we would still be in front financially even after paying for a holiday at the same time.

Friends Villa in Jimbaran Bay area - quiet and tucked away - $50 a night or 2 of us

In between the dentist trips - we did only the minimum of exploring around Kuta (involved stepping out the doorway of the hotel and walking in any ol' direction) and even less in Jimbaran Bay until our friend joined us for the last 2 nights.

The Homefront Update & Getting Organised

Well after all my raving on about how much I love to travel, I also love the fact that I have a 'base' to come back to.  But more than just a base I guess - an actual home.  My parents house (that I have recently inherited a 50% of) was my base for a while but never really felt like home after I'd been gone so long and mum went sick redecorating and reclaiming our bedrooms.

 

 

Now I am lucky enough to have a 'home'. And I have lived here with BF for 8 years I guess. After all my years of travelling solo I also now have a wonderful travelling companion. I may not be such a wonderful travelling companion for him of course - I snore, always worry about what I can shove in my belly next and am quick to emotions - just to name a few of my 'issues'...ha ha...

Organisation skills (on the homefront at least) - are completely lacking in me for some reason.  Housework is not a priority on my list - apart from the fact I do like a clean bathroom and we are tidy in the kitchen (more BF than me I must admit).  I have trouble with 'Finishing The Job'.  Today being a classic example - I am surrounded by fabric and half finished projects from the last 3 days, that need to be mostly finished by tomorrow morning to have a stall at the markets.

Over the last 2 years I have been reading and researching organisation skills - yes- it is possible to learn this and it is possible to be lacking in this too.  Because I am prone to distraction easily I can quite easily 'forget' about sweeping the floor or hanging out laundry.  Or at least not prioritise it as I should.

Last night after much 'research' on the net, I started to put together a 'Household Folder'. This is to include such things as Cleaning Schedules, maintenance schedules, Daily clean list, weekly clean list, recipes, budgets, bills, instruction manuals etc etc.  Most of this I already have half organised due to my attempts previously and so once I finish this rambling I will work on that for another half hour before tackling my daily chores.

De-cluttering is the other most important duty as well as being organised.  Usually if there is crap laying around everywhere, it is one of two things - the item doesn't have a proper home or there is simply too much crap.  I am going to have another purge today (which will also give me more to sell at my markets tomorrow).

So my plan is that by de-cluttering the physical space around me, it may also help to de-clutter and calm my mind into actually being able to get my act together.  And if not, at least I will have a super clean house and would have got some exercise.

Online revenue...is it possible??

A few months ago I signed up to ews (sort of like an online shop linked to Amazon) - originally my wesite was aimed at the cruise industry.  Today I have updated it to be called Travel Gear Pro and linked it to the products I have been researching myself lately and that I hope to own one day. (Update 26th Jan '13 - I have since discontinued using this site mainly due to the cost - $30 a month for no sales and am focusing on updating a website I already have prepaid for - more on that later too once up and running) Therefore I can also provide accurate reviews of the products from personal use.  And this still would apply to the cruise industry.

Imagine if someone were to sponsor me to use and review their products.  Sort of like the No Bag Challenge offered by Scottevest.  I already have a travel vest from Scottevest though my item is now not in stock any more - mine being a lighter version of the this featured vest.  Actually the No Bag Challenge has been on my mind the last couple of days as I have reading blogs from people who have completed the challenge already.  So a thought to tuck away for future use.

Me 'travelling lite' with a day pack and large messenger bag - 2011

 

I guess now that I have my 'shop' set up, I need to promote it somehow.  While popping it on my blog seems the obvious choice, I doubt very much to be able to survive on any income I may derive from my current traffic of 2 readers (hello). 

So on with learning about HTML and widgets and stuff.

Passion...

Travel Gear Pro - my site I set up the day after this post.

You know- after I finished my post yesterday - I realised what my funk is all or at least partly about. 

I just don't want to work for anybody else!!  I've been self-employed for 8 years and believe me, I just cannot feel passionate about going to work for someone else!!

Just by analyzing the passed weeks worth of web surfing and activities - I can tell you that my passions are

TRAVEL

TRAVEL

TRAVEL

CRAFT

And yesterday after this revelation, I decided to spend all day (see when you are passionate about something it is not a chore) sewing and making travel accessories to sell at the markets!! 

You may remember me mentioning in a previous post (if there is anyone reading my blog - hello hello?) that I have trouble actually finishing...  well... anything.  By late afternoon yesterday I had a pile of unfinished products.  My main reasoning at the time was that I needed to purchase extra materials. So I made myself think outside the square slightly and just made do with what I had! I ended up with 4 finished products - a mini travel pillowcase (stuff with clothes at night for cushioning and doubles as a stuff bag for dirty laundry or whatever),a smaller bag with zip, mobile phone cover and another wee storage bag. 

etsy.com was a great source of inspiration and I will endeavour to set myself up on etsy.com too.

With all my "research" on the web during the week it was no surprise I ended up actually purchasing something - a new High Sierra AT605 backpack.  BF is working away for a week so I am hoping it turns up while he is away - not sure how to break it to him I 'needed' a new bag.  Oh - and I also found on ebay some convertible quick dry pants that zip off to 3 different lengths!!

The reason for all my "research" lately is the forthcoming trip for 4 months overseas next year.  My best friend will be joining me for part of it and I am hoping with all my nagging that my BF will come and join me at the end too. 

While its still fresh in my memory I will start a new page on my blog about the proposed trip.

New Orleans - 2010

Feeling funky...and not in the good way

Aaaaaagh....

I cannot seem to climb out of this deep unmotivated rut I am in.  (Not sure if there is such a thing as an unmotivated rut but there you have it)

I literally have only enough money to pay the mortgage this week and then I'm out of cash.  But the thing is - I cannot seem to get motivated enough to actually want to work - well not for someone else anyway.  Although I did do over 5 hours on the gate of the local rodeo and earnt myself $100 on the weekend. Previously being broke has been the biggest motivator I need to get my act together but not this time.

The employment agency has now registered me (I know this because I missed a call from them Monday morning about work - rats!!) so I shower and get dressed early and sit by the phone by 9am the last few days.  And then if there is no phonecall I sit at my notebook all day just researching...well...stuff!  Mainly researching travel to be honest. BF often comments that if I put that much commitment into looking for work I'd be earning by now.  Can't deny that.

So a couple of the sites that I have found and have been "researching" are

Wise Bread

The Professional Hobo

Excellent resources on frugal living, travel, independent living and everything in between.