Lolloping sloth

It may come as a surprise to those of you that don’t know me all that well, but I am a sloth. Perhaps not in the literal sense and not on the extreme end of the scale as some are, but I am still a sloth. I love to lollop, laze and feed.

I always enjoyed playing sport as a youngster because I got to hang around with my friends and try many different skills. As we grew up sport became less of a priority because some crazy adults thought that school work and qualifications were a better idea (nutters!) I started training at the gym around the age of 15 and was playing rugby at my local club outside of school. All of this was good fun because it involved other people, so I had a commitment to turn up and loved it when I did.

Several years later after school had finished and I had entered the “real world” I took to running to replace the rugby that I had left behind. I was crap at first, but after running with others on my personal trainer’s course I saw a rapid improvement and felt the satisfaction of a good run. Naturally I over trained at that point and ran so much that I developed compartment syndrome in my lower legs, forcing me to lay off for a few weeks. I have since broken most of the running rules, because that’s kind of a fun way to learn! Probably the worst thing I did at this early point in my running “career” (I am yet to actually earn money from it), is not joining a running club and running with others. I think at the time I enjoyed my own company and that time alone to daydream. Now as a 30 year old I still enjoy that time daydreaming on runs, but I am less motivated to get my arse moving in the morning for a run. More recently I have found the benefit of running with friends is to get me out of bed at 530am on a Sunday, run 30km and then enjoy the rest of the day.

However running is not quite the same as “playing”. I never consider a good run to be more fun than a good ride on a bike. Nor do I consider it more fun than throwing a frisbee about with friends at the beach. So why do I do it you may ask? Well the bit I “enjoy” is putting myself through the ringer, surviving the session and the satisfaction afterwards. Of course the release of endorphins is a legal form of drug taking, so that helps too! When it comes to marathons it is nice to know how far I can push myself and then extend those boundaries. I don’t think we always have that opportunity at work each day to see our development. But in training we can set a goal and progress gradually towards it, seeing the benefits and results we create along the way. That in itself is a good enough reason to do it. Nobody wants to feel like an underachiever and you can only improve with regular, organised training.

So tonight I am going for a run, partly because I posted in my other blog that I was going to have down two runs by tonight - guilt trip! The other part is because by writing about why I run I remind myself what good it does my body, my brain and my soul. Just not as much as riding mountain bikes with Carrot, playing frisbee at the beach with Dane or playing rugby with my old mates. Ah well!

T :)

Making money

I am almost at the end of a 13 day week and to cap it off I have my part to play in the iPhone 6 launch tomorrow, before what will most likely be an incredibly busy Saturday. Not to do things by half I am also doing another long run on Saturday of about 35km before I go into work. Yes I am mad and yes I love it!

The reason behind the recent long weeks has been down to increased hours at Apple and a busy time for Steve with the handyman work. Last week I officially became full time at Apple. As I revelled in the thought of having a normal work life I got a call from Steve asking me what my schedule was like over the next three weeks. Not wanting to miss out on some potential carpentry/extra moolah I told him that I was only free on certain days (my days off from Apple) and so I booked myself in for a lot of work.

This is all positive stuff though. I really enjoy working with Steve and I have learnt a huge amount from him across a variety of areas of construction. I find it interesting that when you have enjoyment in what you do you can do a ridiculous amount of hours. If I wasn’t enjoying work for Steve I just wouldn’t bother doing it, even if it would help me get out of debt quicker. The motivation of money is far lower down the scale than the motivation of enjoying what you do and getting satisfaction from it. Thus I can train for Melbourne marathon, work full time at Apple and do two extra days a week for Steve doing manual labour without dying of exhaustion. Coffee does help too mind ;)

On the money side I have been smashing along with my ridiculously small budget of $50 a week for a few weeks now. If you have read any of my previous posts about this you may remember that I am following a very simple system from The Money Makeover book. I am about to complete the first stage of this process, which is to save $1000 for an emergency fund. Unfortunately that emergency is about to come along in the shape of a tax bill, so after paying that I will have to start back at square one. But that doesn’t matter. The empowering thing of this process has been how I have taken control of my money and not let my money control me. Being strict with myself and practical by taking out my week budget in cash I have been able to save for the first time in years. Naturally it helps having a stable income at the same time because I know the minimum I can save each week and plan for the future. My aim after paying my tax bill is to have saved money to pay off a small amount of my debt in January when all four of my familial creditors will be here in Sydney. So I will keep you posted on how that is progressing.

As we progress towards October I am reminded that it won’t be long until the most amazing event of 2015. That’s right the Rugby World Cup is not far away! Ha ha only kidding. It is actually still a long way away. Just messing! The main event is our wedding in January and it is fast approaching. We still have a bit to do (I underestimate this slightly) and it has been a little trying at times because we both want it to be well organised and fun for everyone as they have come such a long way to celebrate. Naturally we will enjoy it the most on the day as we will have nothing left to organise at that point! I am excited and can’t wait to see my better half in her dress, I’ve no doubt she is going to look amaze-balls. We are both really looking forward to welcoming all our family and friends to our home here and showing them why we love it so much. I just hope that you all bring plenty of sunscreen because it is going to be scorchio!

Right I best be off I have some chores to do before the busiest day of the year at the Apple store tomorrow!

Ciao!

Tom :)

Money, money, money!

Don't worry I haven't won the lottery and gone nuts. Nothing quite as exciting as that. No this post is about tax and budgets, yawn...

Last week I knuckled down to finish off my taxes for the year, which had two outcomes. The first was the realisation that I did jack last year and cannot have done too many five day weeks. The second epiphany was that I have to do more this year if I'm ever going to pay off the debt mountain that I created in my twenties. Fortunately I have taken some steps to ensure success there.

In the last year I have worked for four different tradies and two retailers. Despite this I have had a fairly erratic income and not saved any money or paid any debts off. This year I decided to change myself and take positive action to correct my roller coaster income. I got life coaching, applied for new jobs and for the past month I have been on a strict budget. I think I had become sick of myself procrastinating over work and money, thinking too much and not "doing" enough. Sadly at the age of 30 years I had little to show for ten plus years of working and I was ashamed of that. I've never been good with money, but I turned a corner by challenging that mindset and proving to myself that I can be.

So the deal breaker with my new budgeting has been to withdraw cash for the week every Sunday. I now leave my card at home and just carry that cash for spending on anything outside of my regular bills. This means that I have cut back on my coffee intake, I no longer buy snacks or food out and I think about how I am going to spend my money. The budget I have set has been brutal, I won't lie. It is a mere $50 a week and is this low for a few reasons:

• Firstly I am trying to live within my means. This is something I never did in my twenties because I had credit cards and spent as though I was entitled to experience as much in life as possible. 
• Secondly it allows me to save. If I ever want to get rid of my debt and have savings I have to be brutal for a few years. So I won't do as many things now, but by restricting myself it means I can create an emergency fund, pay debts off and then save some money. In the future I will be able to live a better life.
•  Thirdly I am changing habits. My previous attempts at budgeting failed because I told myself that it was OK to have that coffee, to buy that lunch or to purchase that album. I kidded myself. When you do all those small things regularly it makes for a big hole in your wallet at the week's end!

I think the big thing that has had me thinking (oh no, not thinking!) is that my parents, brother and Catherine have helped me exist financially for the last 7-10 years. Well actually my parents have helped me all my life (bless em), but I mean more in terms of bailing me out of financial woes than raising me. As I was thinking this over I went back in my mind to the day that I wrote my folks a letter. In that letter I spilt my guts and told them how bad my credit card debt had become. I explained how it had made me worry so much that aside from anxiety I had become depressed and had contemplated doing myself in on a number of occasions, purely from the shame I had created! By thinking about those dark days I reminded myself what I owe my Mum, Dad, Catherine and Rich. It's not money, it's more than that. It's my sanity, my happiness and ultimately my life. Between them they have lifted the biggest weight in the World from my shoulders and for too long I have rested on my laurels and not pulled my finger out to repay them the love they gave me in doing that.

So to finish on a positive (because I know my writing can get a bit deep and depressive) I have found an enjoyment in my budget. I have already saved a few hundred dollars towards my Emergency fund of a $1000. Once I have that in place I will move onto paying off my debts. I know I sound like a sad old man, but there is immense satisfaction from taking baby steps, getting some wins and realising that money is there to work for us, not for us to be it's slave.

Tom :)