dog, job, and travel

Our dog is (again) with his new owner who has 30 acres (I know!) of land with horses. We are quite happy about this especially after being informed that he ran around a lot the moment he got there. It's really awesome, but it made me remember the guilt of keeping him for awhile when we knew we were no longer giving him the life that he deserved. This is another lesson learned.

J went to his interview and didn't come out of it happily. He still doesn't know if he'll get the offer or not, but the interview gave him more information about the role--and he's not as keen about it prior to the interview. The role seems to require marketing/sales and he isn't really a sales kind of person. It's like if he took this job he could move on from his current job, but not necessarily move on to a role that he'd LOVE. That's the biggest issue. Why spend your time and effort on a job that you don't love? If he gets offered, he's not sure whether he'd take it or not. Obviously he'll cross that bridge this week.

A cousin of mine, and her husband, recently moved to Fiji. A visit there is in the cards, but it's not going to be cheaper given that our kid will be paying 75% soon. The good part is not having to pay for accommodation because they'll be moving into their house this month. Maybe we'll spend a week there in the winter next year. We'll see. I was planning not to spend on unnecessary travel next year! They plan to live there for 3 years.

J's up for a work interview

J has an interview this week for a job that is aligned with his career goals. I'm excited for him. If he gets offered (and he accepts, which I'm sure he would), our plan to move overseas would wait awhile. Maybe another couple of years in NZ so that we can finally tour South Island! We already have our IRRV so anytime we'd want to move back it can be done. :) I just made that sound so easy, didn't I?

My dear husband is hoping to negotiate the salary - anything more than I make even if it's just $1. I currently make $7k more than him. He is funny. He is also hoping to negotiate for parking. We don't pay for parking at his workplace at the mo.

I wish him luck! I know he'll do well, but nonetheless! He is one of the 2 shortlisted applicants for interview. They have reserved 2 more for interview in case neither J or the other one makes it through.

what to title my blog?

What? 2 months left til 2010? Where did time go? Really.

2009 has been fun. Nothing serious, nothing major that I can remember ever happening that's not good. All the serious and major were more about goodness and funness. :)

The end of the year also marks the end of my bet. I'm hoping that by New Year's Eve I'll have met at least one of the bets. By the 1st of Jan, the blog's title will be reinstated: Tasha Gets Money Smart.

Well, I keep wondering if that title is still appropriate. I feel that I've smarten up on the finances side of my life. I guess while I cook up a new title I'd just keep it blank or use something silly.

october end

I've been quiet in my blog cos work has been noisily busy. I'm constantly finding ways to effectively manage my time. So far I have been good about reducing reactive work, but time seems to be never enough to get some breathing space just to think. I have never liked being too engaged, especially having too many meetings, cos that usually results to non-productivity.

Anyway, the last 3 or so weeks were quite eventful dollar-wise. Here's why.

Sold items on Trademe
I sold the baby gate ($40), changing table ($60), scooter helmet ($20), jet printer ($50), and shaggy rug ($36). That's a total of $206 extra cash that went to debt payments. We are close to paying off one card. Woot!

Low power bill
Surprisingly we only paid $88 this month! I was happy! Last month's bill was an estimate, but we also have heavily reduced our use of the dryer. We are still using the heater every night. I can't believe it. It's nearly summer.

Discounted petrol
Last weekend's grocery shopping scored us a 25c/liter discount. We saved $16. Thanks to PNS's petrol voucher.

Dog
We didn't sell our dog but a family took him in and returned him after 5 days. He was not a terrible dog while he was with them. After the first night he was "fretting", they said. Due to the guy's working hours, which starts before dawn, he needed sleep. With their baby and the dog going in and out of their bedroom apparently was a hassle. Oh well. I spent 3 nights in a row crying, missing our dog. We'll see if we can get him another family who are more suited and more willing to make the effort before we jet off.

That is pretty much the status of things at the mo. We are going to be busy cleaning up our yard. It almost looked like a forest back there. :-P

giving away the pet?

Nothing new is happening. Life is a little boring right now. I guess except for the fact that there's 8 Mondays left until our holiday! :)

That said, the idea of selling/giving away our dog. Then today I saw on Oprah about Puppies Behind Bars. How do I connect that awesome program to giving our dog away? It's a sad idea to ponder upon, to give away our lovely dog.

Out of 10, J's at 8 and I'm still stuck at 5 about giving away our mutt. If I have to be practical, it makes sense especially now that we're considering moving overseas. Going on a month's holiday is also another thing to consider. If we choose to keep him then we'll have to put him in the kennel for the whole time. That's $15/day, for a total of $450 for 30 days. Not too sure about getting a house sitter this time.

What to do?