2010 has arrived in full force, work is starting to fly through the windows, publicity is on the up and there’s just a general busy buzz going around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I hate being bored! If you missed my article in the Argus newspaper, be sure to have a read :)

On a more personal note, at the end of the month I’ll be packing my bags and leaving the original Cape Town Flat by Chris M in Cape Town CBD and moving to a quieter Cape Town Flat in the Southern Suburbs. The choice wasn’t easy at first, I’ve enjoyed living in a trendy upmarket studio apartment with views of Table Mountain that tourists would pay thousands of pounds for, but at the end of the day, my roots are in the Southern Suburbs, it’s closer to my family, closer to my fiance, closer to my friends and closer to work; not to forget a whole lot quieter and I’ll have the whole place to myself.

Let me tell you a little about the flat – It’s near Rondebosch Boys’ Junior School, just off Camp Ground Road, it’s a two bedroom (bedroom and office) apartment with a lovely kitchen, bathroom with bath and shower, and a big patio and an even bigger lounge. It’s got secure parking, it’s not on the bottom floor, but the bonus is that I don’t have anyone above me, which I’m happy about, I’m tired of the chick above me here arriving home at 3am in hooker heels! There’s also a tennis court and pool in the complex, so I’m definitely going to make an effort to use those – cool thing is that the apartment is close to the court and pool, so it’s not a hassle getting there :)

The apartment needs a decent amount of work, so Fe and I made a tackle list and we’re slowing going through it. Here’s the list for interest sakes:

• New handles on cupboards in all rooms
• New light switches in all rooms
• New blinds in bedroom and office
• New lights and bulbs in all rooms
• New paint job – Busy arranging
• Rip up carpets and put in laminated flooring – Busy arranging
• New security gate – Bust arranging
• ADSL – Must arrange
• Stuttafords Movers – Waiting response from them

As you can imagine, the flat’s going to look completely new once I’m done with it, I’m starting to get incredibly excited!

In other news, I’ve just enjoyed a wonderful weekend with my fiance at Welbedacht Farm, PayPal might be coming to South Africa and I’m trying to win the 2010 Nerdies awards.

I think that’s all from my side for the time being, busy week ahead, I need to get some good rest.

For those of you who are interested in some good reads, have a look:

• How to choose an SEO consultant
• Google-inspired designer collections
• The art of shameless self-promotion
• Google speech-to-speech phone translator
• Beautiful motion graphics created with programming

The other day I asked you to all vote for me in the Semi Finals of the Nerdies Awards and you all totally rocked the voting, thank you thank you.

Good news – I made it to the finals and now it’s time to represent and take the win, but I can’t do it without all of you, of course.

Oh, and for the ladies, pop cow_grrl a vote, would be awesome if she could win along side me, she’s my boss :D

Thanks for your time peeps, things like this make all the blogging worth while, and I shouldn’t have to bug you again any time soon ;)

Don’t quite know what to make of this! The intro was freaking deep, the beat’s decent and the freestyling isn’t bad at all, not too keen on the accents; the ladies voice is an interesting break.

Must admit, quite interesting to see this after the hype around Make The Circle Bigger!

Guess I don’t mind the song, it’s quite catchy, but the video is perhaps not the best direction to take, rather disturbing (I know that creates hype, but still).

Here’s their website – www.dieantwoord.com (once again, not for sensitive readers)

[Thanks Rou]

aiaiai I am your butterfly
I need your proteckshin
be my samurai
aiaiai? I am your butterfly
I need your proteckshin
need your proteckshin

Update, I’m told that it’s the guys (guy and girl) from Max Normal minus three members..

[Thanks Lulie]

Anyway, tonight people started talking about it on Twitter, saying that PayPal in coming to South Africa in April 2010, this seems to come from First National Bank (FNB) insiders.

@caryljr retweeted a tweet made by @mattduplessis, where he said “PayPal is launching in SA in April through FNB”, this tweet was actually via @ratmo, @Mpieters and @MarcForrest.

Interestingly, when you visit @MattDuplessis website, you get a “This blog has been archived or suspended”, not a good start. I did some more snooping and it seems that this all started via @ratmo, who tweeted “@Mpieters @MarcForrest paypal is launching in SA in April through FNB”.

@mozami, who I know, tweeted about receiving information from an “insider” about PayPal being here in Q1 via FNB.

@clivesimpkins seems to be talking about this topic too, his latest tweet “probably a smart viral campaign by FNB. CEO, wicked man, sent back only a smile in response to my question”

Now, I’ve heard these “rumours” for some time now, before anyone said anyone said any of these words “paypal”, “south africa”, “FNB”, “April”, and to be honest, I’m still not sure it’s going to happen – Yes, PayPal are aware that we’re all eager, but they’ve known that for years, what changed? I could like a whole bunch of sarcastic comments, but I think it’s safer if I don’t.

Please leave a comment if you know anything..

Click here to follow me on Twitter and I’ll keep you posted on this topic.

Looks like we’re going to have some cloud cover for a few days, but the temperatures are still right up!

.. you’ll know that most places quote a fortune to get them fixed. Long story short, there’s a place called iFix, which will repair your iPhone screen for R1600.00 in Cape Town. They also have shops in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Hope this helps!

We had a set back on Friday evening and only left Cape Town around midnight, but managed to get their quite easily, the aid of a GPS got us to Tulbach and memory took us from there to the farm. I managed to snap some photos whilst there:

Was a fantastic weekend away, I caught 3 bass this time, although they were really small (released them and will go back in a few months and catch them again!), I was still pleased to have caught..

ya ya, lol :P

If you like the look of this peaceful place, you can book here.

1. Bank charges.

These are often the bane of your existence, and you feel you just have to accept them. While they’re not going away anytime soon, there are a number of ways to bring down your charges. Do an audit of your statements, and see where the bulk of your charges are coming from – is it cash withdrawals; cheque fees; over-the-counter transactions? Cut down where you’re wasting unnecessarily – draw cash once a week instead of every two days; use EFT’s instead of cheques; avoid doing in-bank transactions as far as possible. If you’re doing a consistently high volume of transactions, ask at your branch about an all-inclusive package. It may seem like a high fee to pay, but could work out to being a substantial savings instead of being charged for every transaction.

2. Overdraft charges.

Again, check your bank statements. Recently, banks added a monthly charge (often around R20) if you have an overdraft facility, even if you’ve never used it. If you plan on using it, it’s something you’re going to have to live with; but if you’re never planning on going into overdraft, get it cancelled immediately.

3. Insurance premiums.

Phone your insurance company, or check your policy document – are you insured for market value or replacement value? How long ago was that value set? Often, you can be insured for market value, but the deemed market value in your policy has been unchanged for a few years, and doesn’t reflect the true current market value (which will have dropped substantially over a few years). It’s pointless being over-insured, as most insurance companies will only pay out to a maximum of current market value anyway, regardless of what your premium was tied to. Make sure you question every assumption they put forward to you.

4. Cellphone usage.

We all have one, and it gobbles up a fair portion of our wallet every month. But ask yourself: Do you really need to phone home three times a day? Could that brief conversation wait until you next see the person? I’m definitely not saying that you should stop all communication altogether, but surely a quick SMS would suffice in many instances? Also, be aware of the difference between on-peak and off-peak rates – it can be as much as 300-400%, so only call during peak times when you absolutely have to!

Another way to get your finances on track is to increase your income. This doesn’t have to mean getting a second job (or third in many cases!), but think of a few things you could do in some spare time to generate an extra income stream – no matter how small it may be. Do have any skills that you could use as a freelancer (writing, bookkeeping, design, etc.)? How about a hobby that you could turn into a profitable mini-business? If you come up dry in terms of ideas, you could always fall back on the old favourites of house-sitting, baby-sitting, dog-walking, etc. I guarantee you, somebody in your neighbourhood (most likely even your street) could use your services, and would be willing to pay for it…

A huge thank you to Gareth Cotten from Good Advice;

Gareth offers a fantastic financial service, so if you’re interested in saving some money or knowing how to work your money better, then I’d highly recommend his services – he really is brilliant. Oh, and it’s not just financial, he can also help you with life or health coaching :) Gareth also writes for Money Web, you can read some of his articles there too:

• How to save on your electricity bill
• The price of pride..
• How to set goals..

Gareth’s details:

• Website – http://www.goodadvice.co.za/
• Telephone – 084 444 5466
• vCard – click to download

Here are the other 2 parts:

1. Finance Coach, Introduction
2. 10 Steps to drawing up a budget and sticking to it

And this is what started:

Can we do it?