Hello fellow SA'ers,

I haven't blogged in a while because unfortunately our beautiful dog started to get sick with a paw infection around August-Sept, and we got her to the vet a couple of days after the last blog entry.  The vet gave her lots of meds for the paw infection however gave a disclaimer that it was possibly a tumour but only time and a proper diagnosis would tell.  After a month of giving her the meds, going backwards and forwards to the vet we got the cat scan done and a needle inserted to withdraw cells from the infected area and the diagnosis came back with a malignant melanoma... as she was just under 18 we opted to forgo surgery and instead had a vet come to our home a couple of weeks later to put our beautiful baby to sleep.  While we miss her so much we are so blessed that I could work from home in order to care for her.

The September-October period was swallowed up with caring for her and of course emotions involved so financially we were on autopilot for a while; actually until the end of November.  Luckily though in that period we only spent the usual weekly allowance and there were no major bills, so around December when I went back and looked at everything we were still pretty much on track.

Also, in September-October I completed my bookkeeping course, which is super exciting and was something nice amongst a very hard time.  My boss asked me to work five days a week and I agreed to work it for 6 months as long as he signs off on all bookkeeping time done for the company which will go towards my experience required to become a Registered BAS Agent (the final requirement I have to complete is 1000 hours of time spent providing BAS services).

So, I guess to go over 2020, while the main part of it was that it was the year of goodbyes of both of our pets and the rainbow bridge, these were the main points:

- we had to say goodbye to both of our pets (emotionally hard but also financially hard - pet expenses for 2020 were $5400)

- I got the car I had been wanting for a long time (paid 1/3rd cash upfront with a five year loan for the remaining balance)

- DH got retrenched from his job, received a good redundancy package and another job quickly after.  We still have some of the money left, which we have agreed he can spend on a project bike, as this is one of his interests.

- I passed my bookkeeping course which will greatly help in my aim to be a Registered BAS Agent and have my own business

- we were supposed to go to the UK in July however due to the pandemic our tickets were cancelled and 3 months later we received a full refund which got applied straight to my credit card (which is how payment was made).  We still have the remainder of the holiday savings in the holiday account however due to uncertainty with when we can travel, saving for this is not a priority right now.

- my credit card debt has gone down dramatically due to the refund being applied against it.  I have become better with using the card and pretty much only have everyday expenses going on there which get repaid in 1-3 months, business expenses and interest expenses.  Progress is better but still needs to be made in this area

- our mortgage continues to drop rapidly now which is exciting, it is just over $90k with 11 years left so we will be working to speed this up

- cash is higher now as I am saving away the fifth day I work currently in preparation for taking the next step in my business etc, and we have not spent the redundancy package remainder nor the holiday money

So it was definitely a year of extremes!  We are still getting used to not having any pets anymore and plan on giving ourselves a rest as caring duties over the last four years increased and we want a bit more freedom to go away here and there without having lots to organise.  We're thinking of possibly having a 4-5 year break so if we actually do get to go away to the UK we are not leaving a cat or dog behind for a few weeks.  We will see how that goes though because we definitely miss the adorable quirks and love pets give.

I have updated my sidebar (however the EF breakdown is not accurate right now), and for once have used the financial tracking software throughout the whole year without fail, so will go over the expenses (have exported the spreadsheet) and will possibly blog about that too.  Definitely have to work out 2021 goals, there will definitely be a blog post about that as it is a big focus on my mind right now.

I have been lurking on the site but I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas break, New Year's and looks forward to planning their 2021!