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Introducing Magpie

Cheep Geek and I have just adopted Magpie from the RSPCA. He’s a domestic short-haired cat who’s curious and very cheeky. Like all pets, he is also costly. Initial outlays include a scratching post, food and water bowls, some catnip and cat grass, two kitty litter trays, a poop scooper, a collar, some pet training sprays, and toys. Ongoing costs will include food, kitty litter, council registration, as well as veterinary costs (i.e. vaccinations, worming treatments, and checkups).

We’ve never had cats before so it’s a bit of a mind-warp, trying to figure out what’s going on Continue reading

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To market, to market

A bargain hunter with a competitive streak, my friend Sarah refuses to let her mortgage get the better of her. BM (Before Mortgage), she used to dine out at Comme and shop on Collins Street, but AM (After Mortgage), she’s traded dining out for dining in and makes do without furniture.

Despite her conversion to Thriftianity, there is one habit that she won’t renounce: supermarket shopping. Continue reading

Dress to Impress (for Less), Going Green, Uncategorized

Swish-swap shop

Swishing refers to swapping an item or items of clothing or shoes or an accessory with friends or acquaintances. Parties must willingly give an item to participate in the transaction, once they have given an item they are free to choose something of interest from what others have offered. (via Wikipedia)

Until recently, I was a swishing virgin. I had been saving myself for something special, namely the annual L’Oreal Fashion Festival Clothing Swap, but after missing one too many events, I got sick of waiting and hooked up with the local uni’s clothing swap instead. Continue reading

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The old woman who lived in her shoes

‘I’ve spent $40, 000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!’ (Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City‘s ‘Ring A Ding Ding’)

Sex and the City is full of memorable lines, but this particular witticism has stuck with me like an Aeroplane Jelly jingle. It isn’t hard to see why. $40, 000 is a lot of dosh. It’s a car or a sizeable chunk of one’s mortgage. To have thrown it away on Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos? Unbelievable. Continue reading

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Reality check

I earn $775 per week, after tax.

My minimum mortgage repayment is $472 per week, which will probably increase thanks to the mining boom.

So now I have $302 to play with…

…sans fixed expenses: landline, mobile, internet, home insurance, car insurance, work indemnity insurance, council rates, car registration, gas, water, electricity, and petrol…

Crap.

In order to minimise my mortgage and avoid living off credit, I’ll have to channel Margy Osmond’s ‘historically cautious shopper’ who knows that ‘frugal is the new black, saving is the fashionable thing…and being a bargain hunter is…a badge of honour’ (via The Age).

In other words, it’s must be thrifty time.