One of the things they say you can't avoid in life ... taxes

 (image sourced from ptglobal.net)

It's 10:35pm and instead of being in bed asleep I'm up rummaging through our boxes and files preparing for our appointment with our accountant.

So here I am, at that time of the year again ... scheduled to see my accountant to hopefully get back some of the cut (tax) the government made on my hard earned money. Ironically they will also take a cut of the amount too. It's odd the world of taxes but as the saying goes there are two things you can't avoid in life ... death and taxes and its a pretty true statement.

I use to get so annoyed at how much the tax man took out of my pay or why they would bother squeezing every cent they could off me, a white collar business (wo)man when there are people out there who blatantly cheat the system. Or how, when I really the needed financial assistance during a period of time I was not working (not because I wasn't trying to find job either) I was ineligible to any government assistance.

I got over my frustration by learning ways to minimise how much the tax man took from my pay cheque. The most sensible or logical way this would occur is if you kept your income or earns relatively low. Obviously the less you earn, the less you get taxed. However most people would rather earn more money then less, so the alternative is to identify ways you can claim expenses against your income. By claiming expenses against your income you are showing cause as to why the government shouldn't tax you as much.

It's not about cheating the system its about claiming what you're entitled to. 

Here are a few items you are eligible to claim a deduction against your tax:

• You can claim the cost of items purchased for work purposes or associated to your employment such as books (or ebooks), stationery, hardware devices. 
• Claim expenses related to your job such as courses you've paid for or subscriptions - anything that is associated to maintain or increase your knowledge, skills or ability.  
• If you perform some of your work at your home office you can claim a portion of the cost associated with running your home office such as electricity, gas, internet etc. Speak to your accountant to get them to explain the boundaries of this deduction in full.
• You can claim bank charges if the account earns interest. For example some managed funds that may charge fees you can claim the fees associated to that account.  
• You can claim the tax rebate of 20% for medical expenses (including dental and optical) you incur in excess of $1,500. 
• You can claim costs and fees associate with your investments such as bank fees, real estate agent fees, repairs, maintenance etc.

You can find more info on what you can and can't claim on the ato's web site here. Many people pay for professional tax advice as they are lazy, or it simply baffles them. But forking out for it can save you far more than it actually costs, when you take into account the whole array of tips they could explain to you, plus the fees are tax deductible. 

Proud Mummy Rant

During my lunch time run today I was thinking about my son. I think I was thinking about him cause I'm so jealous my husband is spending the next 5 weeks paid to hang out with him. I thought about how much he’s changed in the past few months between now and his first birthday. He’ll be 17 months of age by the end of the year and I wanted to take the time to write down those changes now so the “future Cam” can reread this post, smile and reflect on this season of his life.

You are becoming more coherent and picking up things so quickly. Like when you sit on the couch and find the remote controller, raise and point it toward the tv because you see us do that. Or how you pick up our iphone, put it against your ear and say “ahh-nee!!” (that must mean hello in your language) then put the phone against our ear and say “ahh-nee” again.

You’re persistent especially when you’ve set your mind on something. If you want to grab that item you can see on top of a table you’ll stand on your cute tiny tippy toes and reach out for the object with your tiny arms. If that fails you will find whatever resources you can, like pushing a chair towards the table or pretend you want to be picked up, only to use us so you can get closer to what you want. May you continue to have this attitude in life, never giving up on something you’ve put your mind to even when you face road blocks.

You love music. You love to sing, your favorite songs right now is the alphabet song, bah bah black sheep and twinkle twinkle little star. I love how I'll sing a-z and you chime in at “Now I know my abc …” and sing the rest of the song on your own. Then clap your hands and say “yeeeaahhhaa!!” cheering for yourself afterwards.

You know where your head, shoulders, ears, mouth, eyes and nose are and where those parts are located on me.

You don’t know how to just walk at a normal pace. As soon as your feet touches the ground you’re off in a sprint walking like motion. You’re getting better at not falling over yourself but really you need to slow down. You gravity to any open space. If there is light coming from the smallest crack you will dash over to that light as if you’re making a jail break escape. It’s so cute but annoying as I don’t trust you to stay still in public areas.

You love cuddles and kisses and I love giving them to you. You want to be physically close to people. You love to position yourself snugly under my arms or on top of my chest when we sleep.

When you do something cheeky or naughty you say “oooh no!” like you weren't the culprit yet avoid eye contact when you know I’m telling you off.

You’re such a boy where play time involves wrestling, flipping upside down and climbing. You smell like one too when you sweat. You smell like a sweeter version of daddy ... I'm not looking forward to your smelly teen years.

You are strong and have no fear, always climbing up or down the highest part of the couch, chair or table.

You love to read and be read books. I love how you would grab a book from your shelf and bring it to me saying “boo k!”. You love to control who turns the pages so you will always position yourself between the reader and the book.

I think you understand things or repetitive processes you’re exposes to, like how you know to squat and make room for my hand when you’re standing and I’m putting your onesie together. Giving me space and an oppoutunity to fix you up.

You love balloons and balls. You find them and gravitate to them in every situation, like when we're at the shops and you saw a balloon sticking out from a pram located at the other side of the center. You ran and tried to grab that balloon, unfortunately it wasn’t mine to give to you.

You’re coordinated (like mum ha!). You know how to kick a ball and when you’re concentrating can catch one too. You know how to stack your blocks in order to make a tower and then collapse them in the opposite order to store each block within the bigger block.

You smile all the time and bring a smile to everyone. You’re so adorable and very cute, if I do say so myself.

As much as I want to keep you a baby forever I want you to keep growing and developing I’m excited to see more of who you will become. You make us very proud already.   

Beautiful Florence

Florence was one of my favorite cities. It was a favorite because the place was beautiful, the food everywhere is delicious (and not overly priced like it was in Rome) and the city had a more relaxed feel to it. This place is definitely one for the art lovers but those who aren't familiar with art (like me) would still appreciate how beautiful this little city is.

We stayed in another apartment in Florence. We booked through Oh Florence web site. The positive points from the apartment include:

• The location was ... amazing. When I booked this place on the map I knew it was close to a lot of the key sites I wanted to see but I didn't realised our door step was the Piazza della Signora. This piazza was not only beautiful, lined with so many restaurants, markets, retail stores but within walking distance was the Uffizi Gallery, Duomo and the Trattoria Ponte Vecchio.   
• The apartment was self contained therefore there was a dishwasher, mini fridge, electric stove, mini oven, microwave, fully stocked kitchen and a Nespresso coffee machine ... of course you are in Italy.
• The apartment was very modern with modern fixtures and appliances, such as the massive flat screen tv.
• Room had air conditioning which was a great relief from the humidity.     
• Room also blocked out all street noise. We could not hear a peep from outside which was great, as it was a relief from our previous accommodation experience in Paris. 
• The host, Luca was lovely and explained all aspects of the apartment and building upon arrival. He was also very accommodating as we were running 2 hours late from agreed check in time.

Negatives:

• The whole apartment was very small. We had to stack our luggages on top of each other as there was hardly any space to walk around the room.
• Room was really dark.
• Our apartment window opened to a tiny communal court yard so we hardly opened the window as we did not want people to see us inside. What this meant is we could not let fresh air and sun light into the room.  
• The air conditioner was really loud when on.
• Although there was cable television there were no english channels.

Our own little Nespression Machine 

 Signing the apartment guest book

 

How to stick to a Christmas shopping budget

Can you believe it, its almost Christmas! It's around the corner, as in a few days away. So if you haven’t already you should really start your Christmas gift shopping.

Christmas can be a time were people can be very generous but then end up blowing their budget and being in financial stress in the new year.

I’ve put together my tips for sticking to a Christmas shopping budget.

Plan Ahead

Thorough out the year you should be planning or budgeting for the increase in spend in December. Maybe put away $20-50 a month so it doesn’t hit the pocket in one go. I suggest putting this money away from your regular savings, so either physically withdraw the money and have it locked away or transfer into another account you won’t touch (an interest bearing account would be an even better option – more on that on a future post).

Write a List

Write down the names of the family and friends you want/need to buy presents for. Then write down a gift budget against each name totaling the amount you have saved through out the year. If you haven’t started a Christmas gift budget during the year, determine how much you can afford to spend on gifts this year and then divide amount between names.

Think of Gift Ideas

Before you hit the shops or the internet review each name and think about what that person would like or need. The people on your list are most likely special people in your life. You would know a thing or two about their interests, hobbies, what they are into. Put some thought into what gift they would appreciate that is within your budget. Put a few suggestions down next to their name.

Research Where Gifts Can be Purchased

Once you’ve identified what gifts you plan to get your family and friends its time to start researching where you can get these items at the best price. Most items can be searched online with several hits where item can be purchased from. If you’re planning to hit the retail stores think about which shopping center complex will stock most of the items you have on your list to minimize running around various centers.

Gift Tips and Ideas:

• For larger families and extended families suggest doing a secret santa arrangement and set a maximum budget on gifts.

• Don’t leave shopping for gifts until the last minute. It’s so tempting especially since most retailers extending their trading hours during the season but the longer you leave it the more pressed you will feel to purchase something which may push your budget. There’s no point in putting away money for a Christmas budget throughout the year and not stick to it. Also researching early may allow you to find the item at the best possible price.
• If you’re crafty and can make things don’t dismiss your talent for sewing or knitted iphone covers or growing plans as awesome unique Christmas presents. However, again start early to avoid being overwhelmed by the effort to make everyone’s presents. 
• Do you have unused items sitting around at home somewhere? My mother in law hoards so much … stuff. If it’s on special she’s buying a box worth. But every Christmas she gives away these awesome Christmas hampers as gifts. There’s usually a theme: kitchen hamper, cooking hamper, beauty hamper, pre-teen girl hamper. She stocks the box or basket with items belonging to the theme. So for the kitchen theme hamper there would be detergent, scented candle, sponges, paper wipes, salt and pepper .. items you would need for the kitchen. Who doesn’t need more of those everyday stuff?
• Stick to your budget. If you’ve allocated $30 on a present for brother Billy, stick to it. Sure go over if it’s a few dollars but if gift is are averaging $45 look into an alternative gift, hence why writing a list of gift ideas will come in handy.
• Pitch in with one or more other family or friends to increase budget pot. If the little nephew has been hinting he wants the new Nentendo DS ask other family members if they want to purchase the gift together and split the cost between everyone.

Have you stuck to your Christmas shopping budget this year?

Macaron Cooking Class

Australia (and I’m sure other countries too) is seriously obsessed with French macarons at the moment. It’s a sweet meringue based confectionery that has been around since the early 20^th century but recently made popular again by tv cooking shows like Master Chef. Since it exploded on our tv sets restaurants, cafes, bakeries have been offering the delicious desert on their menu and charging a fortune for these little bite size goodness.

So while in Paris, the home of the French macaron, I knew we had to attend a cooking class!!

I found La Cuisine Cooking Class online and I chose them because other cooking schools/classes were booked out for the period of time we would be in Paris. The plus side however was their office was a close walk from Notre Dame Church so we were able to walk from our apartment straight to their offices.

La Cuisine – French MacaronCooking Class

Duration: 2 hours

Cost: 85E per person

Feedback of the overall experience:

·      There were serious cooks who attend these classes to learn valuable information and techniques. I should have been prepared for this as there were students who dominated the teacher’s time and attention without caring about everyone else.

·      The allocated time frame, 2hrs was not enough time to really absorb and learn the whole process. I learning complicated processes as part of my job and usually process is verbally explained to me yet I felt this practical class didn’t provide me with the confidence I needed to go away and make my own macarons. I suggest they either allocate longer cooking class time or make classes even smaller maximum of 5 people, we had 9 people in our class.

·      Teacher / chef was lovely and very polite. She provided lots of information, was very helpful, engaging and provided lots of interesting facts about the history and process of making macarons. Teacher encouraged everyone to get involved int the cooking process by allocating tasks to specific people.

·      Staff were also very polite and welcoming

·      At the end of the class macarons are distributed evenly so everyone got to take home an equal amount of macarons in colours and flavours from everyone’s tray. So it doesn’t matter if your one looks the worst you’re off loading some of them to other people and getting some prettier ones in return.

Would I do a class again? Yes. Would I do it with this company? Probably not. I would actually recommend being taught one on one or one on three with a pastry chef. You’d get more valuable lessons learnt from a more intimate class. 

The final product

More Paris Tips

Going through my travel journal I kept whist I was on holidays and I found more tips / observations when travelling to Paris. This post is in addition to some Paris tips I gave earlier.

Are the French really rude? ... Not generally. If you want to ask a question best to ask someone working in a retail store or restaurant. They're already in that "customer service" mind frame and are more accommodating to take the time to answer questions. Also if you had just eaten or purchased something from the store they're more inclined to assist as you had just paid for their services. Public servant workers such as train station attendants, post office workers we noticed were less helpful. I guess they're use to tourist asking questions and they know who are tourists so can be selective when they want to be helpful. 

One things that annoyed me, cause Aussie's don't do this and admittedly its not just the French. Some locals will walk up to the front of the queue and just start asking their question to the person serving customers. No excuse me, just flat out start a conversation with the person at the front and they  would entertain this person. .

At smaller establishments owners may dictate the level of service they want to provide. You could be standing in front of them, they have looked at you so they know you're there but they may want to finish their conversation with each other before they attend to you.

When asking "parlez vous anglais" (do you speak english?) they always say "only little". They don't want to give you the impression they will understand everything you will say especially with the various accents they come across.

Use the public bikes (Velib) available all over town. They're parked all over the city and very easy to use. How it work is you go online and register an account which issues you with an account number and password that you will need to unlock a bike from one of the various bike stations in the city. The bikes cost 1E a day to use however you can only use a bike for 1 hour intervals. So you can borrow a bike but must return it to any station within an hour and potentially borrow another bike straight away too. If you go past the 1 hour your credit card (which you entered at time of registration) will get deducted a lee fee amount.

In Paris dress nicely cause the locals do. What I mean is make an effort to put something nice together, you are in Paris and you want your photos of yourself to look as pretty as the city. Parisians must be born with a great fashion instincts cause the people in Paris dress so well, effortless, stylish and fashion forward.  

Do you have any Paris tips?

Why Am I Here

I’ve started to share this blog with some people. I originally started this blog with the intention of keeping it a secret but recently I changed my mind. Main reasons I decided to share my blog was so I could share my recent holiday experience with people. So many times people have asked me ‘tell me about your holiday’ or ‘what do you recommend to do at ...’ that I decided its time I write it all down somewhere and I can just refer people to that once place. No more thinking back to what I did, no more trying to remember that restaurant’s name or web site, no more trying to find that email – it’s all in one place there for people to read, forward to other friends or come back to.

I’ve come to realise recently the main reason why I think I started this blog was to share and educate. I’m not a teacher, I don’t claim to be an expert in anything but I am an example. For years I’ve been an example to many but my shyness (yes I’m shy!) and inability to accept accomplishments have stopped me from accepting that role and wearing it loud so everyone can know.

But that’s changed. What brought me out of my shell was reading a blog post by Paul Angone. (I won’t ramble on how insightful his blog and upcoming book is just check it out yourself). My fear of being embarrassed was probably holding me back from doing a lot of things like sharing my experience and knowledge of being an example.

So what am I an example of? What knowledge do I hold that I feel I can educate others with? The knowledge of being better with money.

I don’t claim to have a lot of it or know everything there is to know but I am an example. An example of how you can purchase your first home at the age of 24, an example of how you can pay off $35,000 of debt in 18 months, example of how someone with no experience can renovate a whole home on a budget, example of an everyday person be able to understand the differences between products financial institutions offer. Basically I want to share my story on how I was able to achieve these things so others can be an example too.

Some disclaimer and background stuff so I won’t get in trouble:

• I am not financial planner or advisor, I’m not trying to sell you anything. My posts are purely from what I’ve experienced, know and or research on a particular topic. So you’re probably thinking ‘why should I take any advice from you, you’re not even qualified’ Well that’s one of the main purposes of this blog, what differentiates it from finance blogs – I’m a living testimony that you don’t need to know everything about every topic that relates to finance but learn a few areas to help you make some good long term decisions.
• I’m not a millionaire nor do I claim following my tips and knowledge will make you one either. I work a 9am-5pm job Monday to Thursday (I have Friday’s off cause I’m a mum and I get to enjoy a weekday with my son). I’m not (good) debt free but I live a comfortable life, have savings and didn’t have to be completely frugal to achieve it.
• I share because I’ve been there. I've been blessed to have been guided and educated in the right money path quiet early, (knowledge I plan to share with you) but I’ve made bad calls and felt financial burden. As they say you don't appreciate the joy of success without knowing the pain of failure. 
• Presently, I’m not being paid for my posts. I’m not gaining any financial benefits for sharing or mentioning any particular company or product. However if that does change, I'll let you know.

My commitment:

• Break it down in lay man’s terms. The number one issue with money (and I think the big corporations do it on purpose) is the information is not easily understood by everyday people. If you walk away reading one of my post feeling equipped with new skills to improve how you manage your money now then I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve.
• For each topic I post I will do my research and ensure information is relevant and correct. I will provide reference to where I sourced my material and where you can get more information.
• To get you better at money!

So watch this space, send me questions or topics relating to money that you want someone to explain to you and I will endeavour to dedicate a post on your topic.

Don’t worry, I am still planning to finish posts about my recent/last holiday and of course I still want to capture my experiences and emotions of a mum so there will still be a lot of that.

So that's why I'm here. I'm excited and have sooo much stuff coming out of my head I don't know where to start ... I can't wait to share my experiences and knowledge with you. I hope you're ready to get real with yourself and get ready to be better with money.