we moved house (106 days to go)

It seems like we’ve been worried about money for a while now: I was made redundant late last year and was out of work for two months. We survived the Christmas period on one wage and credit cards but fortunately I landed a new job in January. Unfortunately, that was the same week Zanne took a paycut. The paycut situation has been a massive drama for Zanne involving negotiations and verbal agreements and phone calls and tears. Sucks! In any case, everything should be resolved next week as it has been promised her wage will then be returned to normal. Honestly, if it weren’t for our plans to relocate to Vancouver, I don’t think the redundancy or paycut would have been such a stress. We have still been paying rent and otherwise getting by, however we haven’t been saving anywhere near enough money for Vancouver. Thus, two weeks ago, we made the decision to move to my parents’ house and save our pennies good and proper – Vancouver here we come!

We packed and moved and cleaned all last weekend. We said goodbye to our wonderful apartment and I cried. We filled my parents’ garage with boxes, Zanne’s parents’ basement with whitegoods and here we are living in the ‘burbs. Previously we walked, skated or rode to work, now we drive an hour in traffic. But it’s all good, we are together, and my parents spoil us with dinner and attention. Even though we’re exhausted and definitely sad to leave our apartment (and the Valley), we’re also excited because we now know for sure that we are on our way to Vancouver. Saving the money we were spending on rent each week means that we will arrive in Vancouver with enough in the bank to (hopefully!) make the whole process of relocation (setting ourselves up, getting jobs, etc) relatively painless.

Now that the moving is done and our savings are sorted, we plan to make the most of our remaining 106 days(!) in Brisbane by spending maximum time with family and friends and visiting our favourite spots in and around our “big country town”. Exciting, exciting! See, totally rainbows and lollipops ;-)

Shan