Vital stats:
- Australian
- Female
- 40s
- Coffee & wine drinker
- Reader
- Black-thumb gardener
- Not as financially organised/knowledgeable as I should be
Right. So I’m an early 40s, single woman residing in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I have no children, no pets and I rent. Now that I am in my 40s, I’ve suddenly realised what my subconscious and quite a few of the people around me have been screaming for all these years: pay attention to your finances!
I have just under 30 years to retirement (based on current retirement age, willing to bet that changes). Thirty years to do all the things I apparently need to do: buy (and completely pay off) a house/unit/shack, max out my super, save money. So this blog? This is me working all of that out because I think better when there’s a keyboard involved.
The journey starts here.
Why Growing Pineapples? Well, one, they taste like summer sunshine and I’d really like to have nice things in my life because while the house and the super sound grand to future me, current me is damn well going to figure out a way to still have books, coffee, wine and friends. Not sure how but there has to be a balance. I don’t want a cosy abode when I’m 87 but no memories on the wall of how I got there apart from “declined 300 concert invitations” or “refused 50 weekend adventures” in some sort of badly executed craft. (It would be bad. I can sew a button but apart from that, I should not be trusted with any craft items. Fingers crossed that my financial growing up doesn’t include making my own clothes.)
And in Australian slang, a $50 note is called a pineapple. More of those in my bank/super/wallet would be great.
I want the financially secure retirement, I want my own home (not a mansion, just a home, with a library/office and a little yard for some flowers and herbs and vegies), I want to be able to travel, I want to be able to have my daily coffee, the drinks with friends and all the books I can fit on my shelves and my Kindle.
I’d also like to be kinder, to myself and to the planet.
So this is me, figuring out how I make that work.
Cover image for this blog: a photo by Alicia Youngken on unsplash.
© 2018 Growing Pineapples
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