If Paypal was an Australian company, I’m sure it would be called Paymate. Or I-owe-ya-one or something. But it would have the connotation of mateship and friendship and going the extra mile for your friends. But Paypal isn’t really like that.

Over 12 years ago, the first only community I became involved with was for mums experiencing pregnancy after infertility. I was brand new on the intertubes and googled altavista-ed forums or mailing lists or something and came across Panfert.

Our babies were born. There was a group of us all due around similar times. Most of these women were in the US and knew each other from infertility support groups. And Panfert grew. Soon we decided we needed our own little community to talk about parenting issues. So IFBabies was born.

Another Aussie gal had found Panfert by this stage along with some Brits. Over the years we ended up growing as a group and formed a great support network for each other. Some people had older children, some went on to have more. There were adoptions. There were deaths. Some weeks the group would be wildly active. Some weeks there would be very few messages.

Along the line some people lost contact. One of the founders of IFBabies went through a really rough trot and I am sad I have lost contact with her.

At one stage we organised monthly ’swaps.’ We would have a theme and send a package to someone. About 5-6 years ago this then evolved into the Holiday Swap. One person volunteered to coordinate the project and you could sign up. Then however many people signed up you would send that many gifts to the coordinator who would then bundle up parcels to send to everyone.

I didn’t participate in the first couple, but loved reading how creative people are. It was always getting into the holiday spirit and making mums feel pampered. The first year I participated I beaded keyrings with people’s names on them. I think other years I sent eucalyptus scented draw sachets and pot holders and things. This year I forgot about weight and sent heavy things! Oops!

The deal was once the goods were bundled up to be sent out, postage would be calculated and then divided amongst how ever many people were participating, so everyone paid equal postage.

Here’s where paypal comes in. It is a fantastic way to transfer funds overseas. ThePcoordinator would send an invoice and you could just pay.

That is until this year! I just happened to be in South Africa when the invoice came through. Not a problem I thought, I’ll wire the money, no issues. But there were.

Paypal recognised I was not in my home country. The first I knew of it was a generic email I received that said my account had been suspended because of suspect activity. I actually mistook it for a dodgy email and forwarded it to Paypal thinking someone was trying to steal my identity.

When I tried to pay for an eBay purchase I was told that my Paypal account was being investigated. So I logged onto Paypal and lo and behold they thought my account had been accessed illegally and I needed to confirm who I was.

As with all things, there are shades of grey. Paypal would be the only place now I have not changed my surname post divorce. I went through the steps of unlocking my account- changing my password and setting up more security questions and answers. Then they said they had to debit AU$2 from my credit card and it would appear on my statement with a 4 digit code.

Even in this digital age, credit card statements are still not instantaneous. It took 8 days for the exact description to appear with the code. Then once I had entered the code I was told I had to wait to see if they would unlock my account- another 24 hours to wait.

I am glad Paypal recognised abnormal activity on my account, however I also believe there were better ways it could have been handled. Here I was trying to wire US$25 to someone I had wired money to in the past. It was from an invoice.

I had supplied security questions in the past and I could have easily answered those. I had a password that was not a dictionary word with a mix of upper and lowercase letters and numbers. It would have been much easier to be able to reset my password, answer my security questions and even provide bank account numbers or credit card numbers instead of the run around I had to go through.

Others have told me they have had similar experiences with Paypal when travelling. Perhaps Paypal needs to have a notification system where you can inform them of travel plans? Whatever it is, they need something else that will save the run around I have been through over the last 10 days or so.

OK! Been a while since I have posted a clip… But this is rather cool!

I think I can say I have had accounts with all major banks in this country. 2 years ago when my life situation was changing I switched my banking to Citibank. My main reasons for this was they offered fee free accounts (I was paying $5/month plus various transaction fees) and also a Visa Debit Card meaning I could have the convenience of a Visa Card, but no debt.

Although my closest branch is over 1600km away, I figured that I had only been into my other bank’s branch once in the previous few years and I could always use the Post Office to deposit cheques or anything.

Over the last 2 years their internet banking site has improved too. You used to wait until the (online) statement was produced at the end of the month for transaction specifics (instead of ‘ATM withdrawal’ or ‘EFTPOS transaction’) but now that information is pretty instant.

The site  also acts as a branch- you can change your passwords, pins, addresses etc. I have changed my address to indicate my postal address, and changed my password from time to time, but never been near the bit that changes your pin.

So at Woolies last Saturday I go to enter my PIN for an EFTPOS transaction and it comes back as incorrect PIN. So I enter it again. Then I tell myself I must be confused and enter the PIN to an old account. Of course 3 incorrect attempts and the account is frozen. Well almost. Remember that trusty VISA debit… I get them to try the credit account button and behold it asks for a signature.

At home I try and log onto internet banking and am told I am locked out. So I ring the call centre. It is somewhere offshore, but they speak very cultured English and are very polite. Yes, because I entered my PIN incorrectly it freezes all account options. I ask them if my PIN has changed and they say it is the same as the one they sent me 2 years ago unless I have changed it. They suggest I wait and try again at an ATM to access money.

So Monday, I trot along to an ATM (the other great thing about Citibank is you can use any ATM with no charges!) and enter my PIN- incorrect. So I cancel and figure I have $30 in my wallet and I can use VISA debit.

I get home and ring again. They tell me they will have to issue a new PIN if I have forgotten mine. I have not forgotten it. I have the muscle memory of entering it so often! So I agree for them to issue a new one. They tell me it should take about 3 working days.

Today is pay day. I figured I would log onto internet banking to shuffle money around- pay bills, put some in my savings account and double check my budget. Enter my username and password- ‘You must verify yourself, enter your card number, account number and PIN.’ I don’t have a PIN! So I try again. Same thing, so I figure that as I changed my password on the weekend, perhaps it didn’t take so I enter my old PIN. There are no flashing lights, but the effect is the same- ‘Loser! You stuffed uo and have to ring us again’ or words to that effect!

Yet another call. By now I have worked out that if you press any old button you don’t have to go through 27 menus and you get straight to an operator. I am told that I will have no access to my account until I get my PIN and ring them if it hasn’t arrived by next Wednesday. So I did my emotional girly thing and burst into tears. I tell them I was told I would have the PIN in 3 days and I was not told that I would not have access to my account. She is very apologetic. So she bloody well should be! And she seemed astonished when I told her that my closest branch was so far away. I almost demanded an airfare to fly me there. Grrrrrrrr…

They say we live in a cashless society these days. The last few days have made me rethink that. Or perhaps it is just making me realise how those few coffees etc add up.

My saving grace has been that I have the VISA debit facility and can use that to buy groceries, but the inconvenience of it all is so annoying.

And no one can give me an answer as to why my PIN would suddenly not work.

This is a post for me to remind myself in a few years how tough things are. I don’t ever want to become a middle income earner who looks at the tough times with rose coloured glasses.

On Thursday I will receive my $2k Economic Security Strategy Payment. It is the same week as my pay and for a few more days than usual my bank balance will be in 4 figures. Unfortunately this won’t be for long. I would love to spend my ESSP on a new TV (seriously though CRT TVs will one day be retro, won’t they?) or a new computer, or a motorbike, or a trip to Disneyland with the kids, but the reality is if I wasn’t getting this payment we probably wouldn’t have any Christmas presents, or electricity connected to have fairy lights on our Christmas Tree, or 2 nights at the Cairns Coconut Resort next week.

So now the kids will have some presents. I will get my hair cut (if I remember to make a booking) and a few more bills will be paid, some even on time.

Next February I lose my pension. Mr 7 becomes Mr 8 and apparently then I am magically able to find a better paying job. Sometime next year I will finish my studies and will try and get teacher registration. Then I will try for supply work- almost $60/hour, but there is only 40 weeks of work available per year, and in reality 25 hours teaching per week. It is more than three times what I am earning now. Heck, if that isn’t reason enough for me to finish this bloody thesis, then I don’t know what is.

You know that ironing basket, the one that you keep adding to and putting off doing because it is going to take you all weekend? And when you get into it in front of the telly on Monday night it only takes an hour? Well I am not going to write a thesis in an hour, but I am going to plod away paragraph by paragraph and it will be finished.

I spoke to my counsellor this week at length about my thesis. I talked about what is holding me back and what can help move forward. Last week was a good start and the property settlement will be over with in the new year. Now I can say, so will my thesis. I won’t graduate until 2010- 10 years after I started the degree. I started it as a way of moving forward. I had a baby at home and a marriage that had severe cracks in it. It has taken a lot to get there and my life has changed dramatically, but it is also the start of new things.

Oh and back to the original premise of this post- I can well imagine people on 6 figure salaries struggling to make ends meet and yes, I spend my money in weird ways at times, but it is a choice I make and a choice everyone makes. No doubt in a few years I will complain at how little money I have, yet I will be earning much more. Hopefully I will have cleared my debts and I will be saving to get that TV and take the kids to Disneyland, or at least MIML™ and I on a cruise!

I am grateful that I receive more in Centrelink payments each fortnight than I pay in tax. I too look forward to the day where I don’t and someone else in my current position does, although in reality it is not a situation I wish on anyone.