Hope everyone's starting to feel the Holiday spirit--14 days or so until Christmas Eve! Hard to believe that I've been in NZ for nearly 3 months. I kind of feel like I've been here forever, but at the same time,like I've only just arrived & time is running out!
The Holiday season is so tightly knit with shopping that I can't help but blog about my struggles with financial independence in NZ. Now that I have more jobs than is fair (two part time jobs and two temp jobs), I finally have a steady paycheck. Those who know me well know that I have been responsible for buying clothes and other frivolities for years. Those same few also know that I have a tough time budgeting :) I am always trying to find a way to afford to buy my dream piece of the moment, i.e. a wool coat from J.Crew, ahem, knee high leather boots, uh, multiple party dresses, the list continues.
Now that I am in charge of all of my expenses (weekly rent, energy bill, food, & fun) I haven't had much spare change for my two great loves, clothes and shoes. Actually, I haven't even been letting myself enjoy fantastic NZ made coffees, because they start to add up. The good news is, my shoe size isn't very common around here. Bad news, clothes are equally more exciting and expensive than home. All of NZ has this funky, "you are never too old" style mentality. It's like every store is an Urban Outfitters with great patterns, skirts, exposed zippers, cropped faux leather jackets, tailored blazers, basically the things I was looking for in Raleigh LAST YEAR.
I can't even allow myself to walk into a store because I know I will be tempted to buy a cotton tank top dress that costs as much as my weekly rent ($140), easily. The worst bit, which I have learned the hard way, is that you cannot return clothes for a refund basically in any store. They will only give store credit, so woe to those with buyer's remorse. Anyway, I miss finding little gems at T.J Maxx and Marshall's. There is this fun chain all through NZ called Recycle Boutique; you basically drop off gently used clothes, which they sell in the shop, and pay you if/when they sell your items. The one in Dunnas has a good stock of what I suspect are "change of mind" cast-offs that were denied refunds from stores...ie basically new clothes for way less.
Ah, back to the point! I've realized that the whole "just barely making it" routine works in college but not in real life. Yea, you can survive for three days with 50 cents in the bank until your paycheck is electronically deposited but I'm not getting the same adrenaline rush from living on the edge of overdraft like I did last year (that example was simply for illustrative purposes, not my real life -- calm down Mom & Dad). My New Year (and Life) resolution is to be more fiscally aware. Though I haven't really gotten the hang of the NZ employment tax, I have been able to relatively estimate my upcoming paychecks and anticipate upcoming expenses like a real adult, so that I don't have to sit up all night using my Mac Dashboard calculator to figure out if I will just squeeze by before rent is due. Lucky for me I work at two pretty fantastic shops with wicked discounts so why should I want to shop anywhere else?
Oh, right, I do need (and also want, but mainly NEED) a warm-ish coat before "Summer" turns to Autumn...guess I should start saving now ;)
Below are a few NZ designed things I am currently drooling over from a distance.
Meadowlark Jewellery
Boh Runga Jewellery
Kate Sylvester
Witchery
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