Time versus Money

Which is more important - time or money? Let me rephrase it: Is it more important to save money or time?

This question is almost as old as "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" and everyone has as many opinions about it! 

I generally ask this question of myself when I am shopping ie. "I really need this pair of shoes, it's $X here. I could shop around and perhaps save $10 but that will possibly take hours, involve going to a different shopping centre etc. Is the $10 saving worth it when I am happy with what I have found?" 

You can probably guess my answer - Yep, I take what I have in my hand to the counter because the $10 saving is not worth hours of my time. Oh, and I hate shopping. Easy decision in this case.

Strangely enough I haven't generally taken that view when I spend not much money but lots of time getting somewhere. As a frequent user of public transport, it's not unusual for me to spend considerable time standing on train stations, particularly on the North Shore line after 7pm. In fact, some nights I've waited longer for a train than it would take me to walk the two or so stops I am travelling (not necessarily safer though). 

However, for longer journeys, a 30 minute train ride into the city for $6 or so is more palatable and attractive to the bank account than a $60 cab ride, which takes just as long so the scales tip in the balance of money over time. 

After last night though, I think I have come to a different conclusion because it took me almost 2 1/2 hours from Bondi Beach to Lindfield last night, door to door. It hadn't taken me nearly as long on the way in but it was still a 4 hour round trip. Just to go 21km that, according to Google maps, should only take 28 mins by car, or say an hour there and back. How is it in Australia's largest city, on a Saturday night (before midnight), it takes almost 4 times the recommended travel time using public transport? 

BUY: 

$14 - train and bus tickets (and $30 on dinner and drinks)

Given how tired I am right now, the $60 to get from Wynyard home would have been a great investment of money instead of sitting on the platform wearing my iPhone battery down for 30 mins waiting for the next connection.

WHY? 

I know you're wondering why I schlepped all the way over to Bondi? It was my gorgeous cousin's boyfriend's 25th birthday last night so I crossed the Bridge and headed to where all the beautiful people and backpackers live to help celebrate. 

And as most people probably find - on your death bed, you don't ask for more money but you definitely cry for more time. So, the time spent to be with friends and family is time definitely well spent and next time I will cough up for the cab fare so I have more time with them. 

Second Test

BUY:

$5.80 - train to the city 

$20 - round of drinks 

$50 - taxi home

WHY?

Last Saturday was a major test of my conviction to remain alcohol-free for 2012 because it was the first of three major events on my work calendar: our mid-year ball.  

That's my boss singing!

This is a huge night of awards, entertainment, music, dancing, food and drinking to celebrate successes at the half way point towards our financial year goals. Traditionally this night for me becomes the next morning, fuelled by more alcohol than someone of my size should be able to consume without liver failure, mixed with Red Bull to keep the energy levels up. 

I approached the night with some trepidation... Would I enjoy myself as much as I usually did without a bit of a buzz? Would I still enjoy the company of my inebriated friends as the evening progressed? Would I avoid the temptation?!!!

Answer: Hell yes! 

So, my purchases for the evening involved getting there, getting home at 5am in the morning and a round of drinks to keep said friends inebriated and entertaining me at 4am in the morning!

I didn't need to buy these friends a drink! They'd had plenty!!

Summer blues*

BUY: $5.80 - return ticket to Milsons Point

WHY? To meet Mel for a walk around Sydney's harbour foreshore on a stunning summer day.

BUY: $6.50 - fresh ham, brie and baguette and $3.50 - coffee

WHY? Breakfast (and later lunch) in the shade of the Harbour Bridge

BUY: $3.40 - Cornetto

WHY? Undoing the good work I had done walking between Milsons Point and Waverton Park while watching Mel swim laps of the North Sydney Pool!

*sky blue, aqua, dark blue, bright blue...!

New Year's Eve

2 bottles of champagne $26

Taxi from one amazing view to the next $20.20

Harbour views... priceless

The best laid plans...

BUY:

€35 taxi

€10 beer

€220 Eurostar ticket

€104 Deutsche Bahn ticket

WHY?



Having spent the better part of 2010 sending other people around the world on amazing holidays, 17 December marked the beginning of my own. After all the planning and saving during the preceding months, I don’t think I have been more excited for a holiday. In large part because I knew I would enjoy myself, catching up with friends dearly missed and meeting my niece (as well as three weeks out of the office) but, if I am honest, also as a result of my savings regime. The stash of cash readily available to me was incredibly liberating. I have never not left Australia on the back of my credit card!



Brussels

 But clearly the universe wanted me to work hard for my long-earned break! In the industry we always joke that it’s your own bookings you stuff up - like when my colleague booked himself on a different flight to his family - and while almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong for me, luckily none of it was my fault.

I checked in for my flight to London, regaling the lady at the desk with insider travel tales in the hope of charming my way towards the pointy end of the plane (which failed), with no idea that I was flying towards a snowstorm, the likes of which the UK had not seen in about 100 years.


View from train between Frankfurt
and Brussels

 Happily watching the in-flight entertainment and sipping on my vodka sodas, for 23 hours I remained blissfully unaware of the road closures, train delays and general carnage being reaped by three inches of snow at my destination. At about the time I was anticipating being told to prepare for landing, the captain came over the intercom to advise that Heathrow was closed and we were being diverted to Frankfurt. This initial briefing suggested it was only for a few hours but 5 hours on the tarmac suggested otherwise and it really was no surprise when it was finally confirmed that we would be overnighting in Germany. While disappointed, I figured the dinner party I was to attend would go on, even without the guest of honour. And really, diversions like this actually add to the sense of adventure, particularly when I’m not footing the bill! Well, the exhausted mother of three sitting opposite me probably disagreed though. Not one of her brood had slept during the trip and a confirmed delay of at least 12 hours before she could pass the brats off to their father brought tears to her already red and tired eyes.

After a short yet comfortable sleep I was woken by an uncomfortably early morning call to prepare for the hour bus trip back to the airport. Unnecessarily as it turned out. Heathrow was to be closed for another 3 days. Despite promises of free food and a warm bed I had no intention of remaining in Frankfurt, even if their Christmas market is one of the best in Europe. Somewhat wiser about the German rail system but €350 poorer, the next stage of my adventure began.



With train tickets to London, via Brussels, firmly in hand I naively thought I was sorted. Sharing a beer with fellow divertees at Frankfurt Central and a few more en route, we had no idea what waited for us at the Eurostar terminal. I mean only I was clever enough to sort out an alternate route to London, wasn’t I? It never crossed my mind that other stranded passengers, far from home, would be as determined as me in reaching their goal or that the weather would again wreak havoc on my travel plans.



My €220 Eurostar seat

However, after 50 hours of travel by plane, train and automobile, through two countries and with only a 50.5km tunnel between me and London, I was not waiting another day to meet my niece and nothing was going to stop me getting to English soil that night. Not the thousand or so passengers on the cancelled train before mine who were given the thousand or so seats on my train. Not even the officious-looking ticket collector nor the lack of a seat. Well, maybe the ticket collector. Luckily he was an officious-looking but understanding ticket collector and as I folded down my seat amongst the baggage racks between the carriages I sent him, his family and any future offspring very heartfelt thanks and blessings for the season. In spite of myself, I then fell into an exhausted but comforted sleep, relieved I’d be in England when I awoke but relatively unworried that it had taken me a total 60 hours and an extra, unanticipated €350 or so!

Pay an honest tithing...

BUY:

$48 - monthly sponsorship to Sabita from Bangladesh

$36 - payment towards her Christmas card and a bit extra to support World Vision

WHY?

As mentioned, my take on the whole tithing business is donating to charity.

I know I am said it before but based on my earnings, I am in the richest <1% of the world's population and my income is more than 41 times that of the typical person. Embarrassingly enough, I don’t give anywhere near 10% of my earnings to charity (which even non-religious people seem to suggest is the charitable thing to do!) which would still leave me with an income 37 times that of the typical person. But, I give where I can because somewhere out there is someone scrounging for food and basics I take for granted and I guess I sleep a little better at night knowing that despite my hedonism and selfishness one person might be able to benefit through education and in turn help others. 

BUY:

$62.75 - Ticket to JK's Safari Soiree

WHY?

To support her Climb for a Cure and fundraising for Cure Cancer Australia.

Cure Cancer is a charity which provides seed funding to young researchers seeking treatments/cures for cancer. Once such researcher was in attendance, Hilda, who gave us a rundown of her work paid for by Cure Cancer. I don't know how to describe what keeps her busy but hope is successful! I doubt that there are many people who haven't been affected by cancer in some way - either personally as the statistics of the chances of developing some form of cancer are chilling, through the loss of a loved one or supporting someone else living through treatment - and for this reason this is most definitely a charity worth getting behind.  

With all the effort JK had gone to with organising amazing African food, drinks, Three Minute Angels, awesome drummers (and dance teachers), a not-so-silent auction thanks to the emcee who managed to convince everyone to part out with more money even if they still held the winning bid for some awesome prizes, it was a fantastic night! Especially as I got to catch up with friends I hadn't seen for ages!

But it's wrong that I spent more on my hair cut and outfit in anticipation of the night isn't it?

BUY:

$29.95 - African animal print dress for the Soiree

$185 - hair cut and colour by the very talented Jade who makes me feel like a million dollars when I walk out of her salon.
$15 - taxi - to get from the train station to the venue

Hard at work...

Way back when, in my former life as a lawyer, I had to take work trips. Regularly enough that I was temporarily upgraded to silver frequent flyer status. Aside from a free pass into the Qantas lounge, I wasn't there long enough to work out the difference from bronze! But I digress...work trips...

For the case I was working on at the time, they generally involved domestic flights between Canberra and Brisbane, sometimes Sydney, and on the one occasion a flight to Dubbo to collect a car and drive as far as Warren. For those unfamiliar with Australian geography or who are familiar with Australian geography but wonder what and where the f*ck Warren is, it's a small country town in western New South Wales whose population increased 25% the night my colleague and I stayed there!

The accommodation budget during said work trips depended on your position so you could well end up in a different hotel to a more senior colleague or even the client and you were awarded an allowance for out of pocket expenses, measured on how many hours/days/meals you were away for. To avoid unnecessary cost and time out of the office some work trips meant getting the first flight out of a morning and returning on the last. And your time out of the office was spent working. Every 6 minutes had to be justified and of course, billed back to the client. Some of the more exciting moments I recall on work trips were driving through a locust storm (on the way to Warren!), playing a game of Scrabble with the mother of the barrister we had engaged on a particular matter when we were on a trip near his home town and a highlight was probably the night I snuck my then-girlfriend into my hotel room in Melbourne on the final night of a law conference! Exciting stuff!

As a travel agent, I've already had a couple of 'edjos' as they're known in the biz (short for educationals) - Uluru in May and Rotorua last year, but my recent trip to Fiji was like no work trip I have ever taken.

A reward for making my targets back when I was a newie, I joined 10 colleagues and one of the state managers (for want of a better description) for a 3 day all expenses paid trip to Fiji. And when I say all expenses paid, I mean it! I didn't even change any money into Fijian dollars but somehow managed to enjoy cocktails by in the pool, the most 'heavenly' bed ever*, lovely meals, a beginner scuba dive and enough alcohol to fuel NASA's next rocket launch (apparently I accounted for 19 or the 23 or so vodkas ordered during the final night's festivities... In my defence, others were drinking different spirits in similar numbers...).

I can only but thank Sal (representative of the powers that be) profusely for her generosity over the course of the trip. There was no expense spared and certainly no separation based on rank. In fact, I think Sal got the worst room of the bunch, with little water pressure and she had to make do with a garden view rather than this....

Again, you're probably just think 'fine, Steff's just rubbing it in. Why is this here if she didn't spend any money?' so here are the purchases made in anticipation of the trip (and the couple made while in Fiji!):

BUY:

$9.08 - Travacalm tablets (cos I get seasick!)

$18.17 - Nasal spray (cos flying really dries you out)

$23.22 - book called "Don't look back" by Karin Fossum (for the flight of course)

$149.93 - a pair of cotton slacks to wear on the plane (cos when you're travelling on agent tickets you're not allowed to wear jeans and that's pretty much all I own). Well, it was 2 pairs cos I got the second pair at 50% off and I know they will get worn regularly...

$10 - train ticket from airport to home

$30.39 - bottle of 42 below Vodka duty-free (cos I didn't have enough while I was away!)

FJD$19.95 - pair of thongs (as mentioned in earlier post)

FJD$38.67 - little shell bracelets and pencils as Fijian souvenirs for my work mates

*We stayed at the Westin in Denarau.  The 'Heavenly' bed is a signature feature of Westin resorts around the world and is so popular you can purchase the bed, linen or pillows to take home! Rumour was the bed is made with 14 sheets over the mattress which is why it is so comfy but I'm not sure if this is fact or fiction. What I can say as a fact is that I have never slept in a better bed.