Losing my Australian filter: hidden costs...

One of the great things about buying anything in Australia is that the ticket price is the price of the item - with a few exceptions that we can put down to human error, with the item being in the wrong spot the main culprit, although finding out that the item is "on sale" is always a nice surprise. Anyway... My point is that in Australia that $7 sandwich costs $7. Jeans for $50 cost $50.

Things are a little different in the good ol' US of A...

That $7 sandwich is taxed at 8% (roughly the tax charged on items in Kansas), and then there's the 15-20% tip if the sandwich is from a cafe or restaurant. Let's pretend we're feeling rich and generous and we'll tip the waitstaff 20%. So: $7 plus 8% tax AND 20% tip. And that's 20% of the bill which includes the tax.

That $7 sandwich now costs $7.56 after tax, and $9.07 after the generous 20% tip of $1.51.

We can round that all down and say that our $7 sandwich cost us $9, and the waitstaff still received a reasonable tip.

That shop assistant who we buy those $50 jeans from does not get a tip, but there is still 8% tax on the jeans. Once that is added those jeans that seemed like a reasonable purchase cost $54. It's not totally outrageous but it's still a hidden cost and it still frustrates me, because the bigger the ticket price, the bigger the price hike sales tax.

When we arrived I tried my old trick of adding up the prices of grocery items as we went along, just to get a sense of how much our shopping was going to cost. Well, let's just say that my efforts were in vain and that I gave up on the process pretty quickly because there was an 8% surprise at the checkout. It was annoying to say the least.

Why don't they just add the tax before putting prices on menus, stickers, and labels? I really don't know. Perhaps it's because there is taxation from three different levels of government on any item, and the levels of government want their cut of sales tax clearly marked, clearly theirs, and having the tax added at the checkout is the simplest way the Americans can do it.

(*sigh* I can't change the system...)

Before coming to the USA we were warned about the tipping and how it was the done thing, but no one talked about the tax that is added at the point of sale. I guess it's an easy thing to forget if you're just passing through, especially when everything seems so cheap. For me, I'm reminded of the addition of tax with every single transaction, no more so when buy things online and the tax does not help me get to the "free shipping" threshold (and I only aim to reach it, if the threshold is $50 or less, because it's a waste of money otherwise - but this is a tale for another time...).

Plus tip? Plus tax... I'm sort of used to both of these hidden or added costs, but clearly it still bothers me enough to write about it.

Losing my Australian filter: the cost of living...

When looking at the prices of anything in the USA, it's easy to think that things are cheaper than in Australia. And indeed they can be, especially blueberries and some fancy cheeses, but clothes and nonessential items can be a little harder to work out...

Last year I bought a pair of gumboots (rainboots over here), and I paid US$26 for them. Now, they're not plain gumboots, and I thought they might be solid enough to be Jimmy's winter boots, so long as he had woollen socks on, which sort of worked. Now, $26 is not cheap for children's shoes, not even in Australia, but I would buy them over there, without a second thought, because they would cost me about an hours work.

But what about in the USA? Well...

The median annual income for an individual in the USA is about US$30,000, this equates to roughly US$15/hour. That means Jimmy's gumboots cost nearly 2 hours work. But most of the population is not on US$30,000 and the minimum wage ranges from state to state. For arguments sake, let's call it US$7.25/hour (which is true of Kansas) and it's even less for workers who rely on tips.

Let that sink in...

Go on Australian readers. Take a minute. Think about it. Minimum wage is US$7.25/hour.

Cheaper gumboots, available online, might cost an hours work for most workers, or two hours for someone on minimum wage, plus tax. But sometimes there's no platform for product reviews, so there's no telling how good the gumboots are.

So, what does this translate for everything else? Well, regardless of how the Australian dollar compares to the US dollar, I find the best way to gauge how much something might cost in Australia is to double the figure. This mostly applies to clothes, sporting goods, some shoes, and beautiful things for the home - most of which we don't buy, because we're only here short term.

Coffee is an interesting item because depending on where you go (and how you take it), is very similar in price, if we're assuming $3.50 has the same value in Australia and the USA. But it doesn't. And most Americans like their coffee to be watery, often filter coffee that tends to sit around for hour or the made-to-order pour over - it's fancy little sister. Regular filter coffee can cost as little as $1 for a really big coffee. Fancy pour overs (and lattes) cost $3.50 or more, which is half an hours wage for most people. This can turn coffee into a luxury item - can you imagine paying AUS$7 for a latte?

There are some things that are cheaper here, or very similar in price. Some things can end up heavily discounted, such as clothes. Some places are amazing when it comes to sales. The other week I bought some new clothes for Jimmy, from the discounted section at one of these places. All the items were subject to a further 50% off the marked price, so I paid US$1 for socks that cost US$4 full price. A friend paid US$0.66 for socks for her son. Again, they were on sale, which is often the case with a lot of places - almost everything can be bought on sale if you know how to play the game.

Sometimes I wonder if this approach - doubling the price to get a feel for how much it might cost in Australia - might all be a waste of time because of the huge difference in wage conditions and workers rights, and so much more manufacturing occurs on US soil than in Australia, plus there is market size to consider too. And transportation costs... Have I left anything out? Basically, there are a lot of factors involved before a price is placed on an item, and the buying power of the average worker may not be a consideration.

What I am certain about is Jimmy's need for new gumboot. His new ones have arrived and his old ones have been given to a friend who will get some use out of them. Did I pay US$26 for the new little gumboots? Yes. Do I scold Jimmy when he doesn't look after them? Yes I do, because I understand the true local value of those boots.

Over the weekend we...

I'm starting our weekend on Friday afternoon, because it just feels right. It was a relaxing afternoon, full of promise, and no rain. Last week was rather wet and rainy, which was lovely, because everything is green, but it wasn't conducive to spending time outside or even heading to playgroup - turns out it was actually closed most of the week due to minor flooding. But on Friday afternoon I took Jimmy to Cico park.

Jimmy went down the slides, tried out the merry-go-round, tried to catch a robin or two, insisted that I climb into the fake wagon, and join him going through the tunnel. He loves going through tunnels... there's a blog post to write... We had a nice time, even if we had less than an hour there, because we didn't leave in time to catch the earlier bus and because we had a date with Daddy planned (and the bus only comes hourly). So, we had to leave before Jimmy was really done going down the slides, but the promise of Daddy and a snack kept the grumbles away.

We were still enjoying cloud cover, but that does present its own problems, especially when it comes to taking photos. Light balance was my main issue for the weekend. Michaels' was a lense that is not working as it should.

Now, get a cup of tea, get comfy, as the following is photo heavy, because it's spring!

Revisiting the budget...

This post is actually long overdue because I haven't really looked at the budget or my spreadsheet or meal planned for months. In fact the last time I looked at any of that was shortly after our road trip with my parents.

And yet somehow we've managed to save some money. There are a few factors involved and they all contributed to the little surplus sitting in our bank account. This surplus is enough to cover an unexpected medical expense, it is enough to make us feel secure, but not enough to cover the costs involved in our move to the USA. We are still adding to it, little by little. Here's how we have managed (and are managing) to create a little, teeny, tiny nest egg:

1. We started only doing one food shop a week. This mostly came about over the summer because it was just too hot to take Jimmy out most days, so on weekends we just did a big shop with Michael carrying the heavy items. By shopping this way, our impulse food purchases could only happen once a week. (Some weeks still require two trips to the shops, but I have become pretty good at buying what is on the shopping list, with the addition of a banana for Jimmy, and not much else.);
2. There were a few months where Michael received three pay cheques instead of two. We had no control over this, but it helped. The extra money mostly stayed in the account - some of it was probably spent on coffee;
3. I stopped meal planning. I know, I know, most people on a budget say that meal planning is a great way to save money, but it just wasn't working for us. Meal planning went out the window after a particularly hot weekend in late June when we bought what we wanted and just went with it. And to be honest, this sort of reverse meal planning (buying and then cooking accordingly) works better for us because it means we can buy what looks good on the day, or what we feel like eating that week;
4. We have kept clothing purchases to a minimum, making use of the second hand shops and online sales where possible. Michael and I might only have three or so pairs of really thick socks, but with a mess-making toddler I do several loads of washing a week, so we always manage to have clean, dry, warm socks;
5. Michael stopped putting credit on his phone. Annoying yes, but for the last 6 months we have managed to work with it. It was only a small saving, and it was probably all spent on coffee, so it evened out. Maybe...

Yes, not having a lovely coffee shop or two to go to may have resulted in a little more money saved, but life just would not be the same without Arrow Coffee Co or Sparrow Specialty Coffee. 

There are many ways to save money, but this is currently working for us. I'm sure there are other things contributing to the (very slow) growth of our savings, things like not owning a car, buying secondhand clothes where possible, and using free entertainment where possible. Our strategies for saving money will change as our situation changes, but that will happen when it happens.

Avoiding the silliness of the season...

Christmas 2012

The silly season is upon us, here in the USA*, and it starts with Thanksgiving and the Black Friday sales.

The Black Friday sales are akin to Australia's Boxing Day sales. On steroids. According to locals (and by locals, I mean people who were either born in the USA or have lived in Manhattan for more than 2 years), Black Friday sales used to start at silly o'clock in the morning, with people camping out aiming to be the first in the doors to gain maximum savings. These days? Well... the sales have already started online and will start in store Thursday afternoon.

Yes, Thursday afternoon. That's before the turkey is even out of the oven for Thanksgiving dinner. Heavily discounted goods before dinner? Yes, please!

Well, that is, unless you're us, and more than halfway through a one year stay, and only need very specific stuff, like wool thermals, or size 2 childrens clothes, or woollen socks for little feet (toddlers size 6). Did I just write a wish list? Hmmmm...

I will admit to taking advantage of the online sales, but I tried to keep it to the things we actually need. More base layers? Yes. Undies for Jimmy? They weren't on sale. That gray jumper with insects embroidered on it? Hmmm, well... If you're me, then yes. It has insects on it - nufsaid.

I'll be keeping an eye on the prices for some woollen socks for me, but other than that (and the above wishlist), there's really not much that we need. Most of what we actually need won't be on sale, or if it is, it'll be sold out in our size or not to our liking (we're pretty picky about what we buy for Jimmy).

But, guess what? We're still going to the sales! That's right. One of Michael's co-workers is taking us along to some of the bigger shops in Manhattan, before we all go to a Thanksgiving dinner at their boss' house. It should be interesting.

Well...

We don't need much, as I mentioned. If we were buying gifts for family and friends, the Black Friday sales would be the time to do it, if we had a gift list already or at least some idea of what to get, but we're not, so we won't.

It's not just about our tight budget, it's about mindful choices and not being overwhelmed by stuff. We packed up a lot of stuff when we moved here, and I'm enjoying the current minimalism. Sure, I miss some things, but this state is temporary. And we don't need to add to the list of things we'll have to part with or ship (and add to our stuff).

So, when we head out to the sales tomorrow, we'll be keeping an eye out for bargains, while remembering that we don't need, don't need, don't need a lot of stuff.

And then we'll be enjoying Thanksgiving.

And if you think I'm overthinking things... well... here's some food for thought:
The guys over at The Minimalists put it well
Here's a semi-local take, and discount guide
On keeping the sales to Friday
The official Black Friday site - because a sense of scale is important.

*It's here for those of us not in Ferguson, St Louis, and those of us who aren't affected by the ruling yesterday. I'm going to put something up about it tomorrow, because it's part of our experience here, even if we are living a few states to the west.

Kamala vs Mastitis: Round 3

Here's Round 3... there is probably less TMI, but it's still there. There is the addition of our first experience with the US healthcare system - are you comfortable?

If you've spoken with me in the last few weeks, then you'll know that I'm pretty pissed off about the Abbott Governments' first budget. Changing the way our healthcare system works is probably my main problem with the budget, along with cuts to education, changes to the HECS-HELP system, science and research in general... (Breathe...) The US is in the very early stages of implementing a healthcare system similar to that in Australia. The Australian healthcare system, as it stands, works. It could be better, but it works. There are bulk billing GP's, good public hospitals, and it is possible to call up a doctors surgery and get an appointment that day or the next (unless you're trying to see a bulk billing GP on a uni campus, then you might have to wait a week or try to pick up a cancelled slot). Keep reading and if you're an Australian, and you get angry, please find a way to let your Local, State, and Federal Members know, because that proposed $7 co-payment is just the start...

The cost of living...

Metric measuring cups, $2.99 from Goodwill (imperial ones cost $0.49)

When was the last time you took a good long look at your finances? No, not just scanning your bank statement, but actually writing down what you spend on day-to-day living - when was the last time you did this?

Me? I've never really done it, until now. A few years ago Michael spent about 6 months entering every dollar he spent and where it went and came up with a very pretty and interesting Excel spreadsheet, with pretty graphs showing his savings going up. I might have the patience for knitting, but I wasn't really interested in doing something so... tedious?

As the "home maker" Michael has charged me with such a task, because we have been living off our savings for the past 4-5 months, and really don't want to dip into our savings now that Michael is being paid (yay!!). We're actually hoping to save money. Strangely enough, doing it fairly simply, it is actually interesting and reassuring to see where our money is going.

Now, I'm only using broad terms like: food; eating out; rent; utilities; hygiene (although this sort of comes under household items); alcohol; clothes/home (which includes crockery etc, linen, shoes, books, computer and camera bits, wool...); and touristy activities. Initially there was also a column for establishment costs, just to keep a record of how much it has cost to set up our apartment, even in the little we have done, because it'll give us some idea of how much we'll be spending on that sort of thing when we come back to Australia*. There are no columns for: living on a very low income and savings for 4-5 months; US Visa processes. Needless to say these two columns would be scary.

So, after about 1.5 months living in Manhattan, KS, I think we'll be ok... but we've been a little overwhelmed by the whole process and may not have always been thrifty as possible, i.e. we were buying 1/2 gallons (1.89 litres) of organic whole milk for $3.50, when 1 gallon (3.78 litres) of the home brand whole milk costs $3. That's all part of the learning curve, just like finding bread without sugar and learning that Acetaminophen is Paracetamol.

Once we've been here for a few more months I think we'll have a better idea of where we can save money on food and minimise food waste, buy in bulk for stockpiling, and minimise water and electricity usage. For now we're focusing on eating as simply and cheaply as possible without compromising our health, making do with what we have, buying second hand where possible and lower-mid range where it's not (in the hope that these items will last the year), cheap thrills, and, as Michael would say, not dying.

And if we can afford to pay $2.99 for measuring cups, when we already have imperial measuring cups ($0.49 from the Salvation Army shop), for my sanity (not just because they're pretty), I think we might even be able to travel a little outside Manhattan, KS. But we still have to watch the money.

*We have some homely things in storage, so the cost of re-establishment should be less, but there will still be costs involved.

Cheap thrills...

In a bid to save money and to stave off boredom, Michael suggested that each weekend we cook something we haven't cooked before from one of the cook books I brought with us. Genius! We both like cooking and all three of us enjoy eating, and with two adults around for the whole weekend it's easier to take the time to cook something unfamiliar. As an added bonus we might even get some leftovers for lunches or the freezer for emergencies...

So we started last Saturday night, looking at recipes in River Cottage Everyday Cook Book. With our selection made and shopping list written, we made an evening run to our local supermarket. Yes. You read that correctly. And it's open 24/7, probably with a few exceptions, but still. Saturday night food shopping, with a baby! I digress...

It was a good thing we went when we did because we wouldn't have been able to walk to the shops until Sunday afternoon because it rained, and rained, and rained. There was thunder and lightning too and a National Weather Service warning for flash flooding in the area. So, it was good weather for soup...

A thrifty fish soup! Follow the link - it's worth it!

Now, I had to change it a little... We don't live near a proper fish monger, so instead of whole fish, I used about 1.5 kg catfish fillets, with one fillet going into the stock along with two chicken drumstick bones. Dry thyme was used instead of fresh thyme (about 3 pinches). There was also no wine in the stock. I also retained the carrot from the stock and put it in the soup, along with the well cooked fillet of fish. The leeks were kinda huge, so I needed to add water to cover everything. Instead of cleaned squid I used 200 g of frozen mixed seafood. And because I'm a mum, I added a bit of chilli and garlic to store bought whole egg mayonnaise.

The apartment smelled delicious, making stock was fun and a little therapeutic, having lunch simmering away during the rain was a little romantic, and Jimmy's enthusiasm for it was just wonderful. Ok, so I drained his so that he could eat it with his hands, that way it was a baby friendly meal too! And the store bought mayo? With the chilli and garlic, it made the meal, although home-made mayo might be better.

I'm looking forward to eating the last of the thrifty fish soup that's in the freezer and when I remember to take photos, I'll share the results of my variation on oxtail stew (also from River Cottage Everyday Cookbook). In the meantime, here's our resident food critics' response to the thrifty fish soup:

(The bowl of drained soup was eaten by the handful and there was hardly any mess.)