Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Saving for a Dream - May Goals Met!

** At the end of THIS POST the background colour of my post made some of my words disappear. Just wanting you to know I fixed this and didn't I just post a few months ago about always previewing my posts so that doesn't happen again?? Yes, I did, and ignored my own good advice. I guess I didn't learn my lesson after all!

Now back to regularly scheduled programming.....

In April I took the drastic step of emptying a number of savings accounts to pay off the remainder of my Line of Credit, a total of $27,000.00.  That left me with no savings other than my RRSPs. You would have thought that would have severely curtailed my spending in May but I guess I was feeling the euphoria of being almost debt-free (other than my small PEI mortgage) because I did buy a few things, not NEW CARS or anything like that but enough to make spending tight for the rest of this month. Silly me.

Today, however, being payday I am happy to report that I have fully REfunded two of my savings accounts. One is my Emergency Fund:
I now have $2000 back in my EF. Hurrah!  I feel pretty fortunate in that I don't have a lot of emergencies. About the only thing I use my EF for is car repairs and the odd household repair like when my basement flooded back in January. I maintain a separate account for my home in PEI (which is empty at the moment!) so I feel fairly comfortable with a small EF. By the end of this year when I have all of my savings accounts REfunded I'll start putting a monthly amount into my accounts once again and would like my EF to rise to about $5000 eventually.

The other savings account which is now fully REfunded for 2012 is my PEI Home Insurance and Property Tax account which now stands at $873.60 - the exact amount I need for the remaining two property tax payments....

 and the home insurance bill which is due in August.
I will sleep a little easier now that I know I have these important expenses covered.

June will be the month I REfund my PEI Maintenance account with a minimum of $2000 but likely around $3000. This is the summer we purchase a fridge and stove - so we'll be high class campers!! Last summer we managed with a beer fridge and a BBQ and the firepit.  I tell you when that PEI wind is blowing (which is ALL of the time) it can be one heck of a challenge keeping the BBQ lit.  When we build our deck eventually it will include a BBQ shelter!

It was exciting today to update my savings goals in my sidebar (way down on the sidebar!) That's how exciting my life is. Woo hoo.

31 comments:

  1. The really amazing thing to me is how fast you can refund your emergency funds and savings.  This is a positive sign of someone on the right track.  I will not have this, even though I have initiated a transfer of pretty much all our savings yesterday.  :(

    Money comes and money goes....I cannot wait until the ins are more often than the outs

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  2. how you are able to do what you do is mind boggling.

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  3. Hugely inspiring Jane! Now my mind is whirring with ways to pay down - if not off  - my debt before school in the fall. I added $140 to my oh-so-low VISA card yesterday, so apparently I just like to embrace my debt, rather than fight it. It's the non-confrontational me, I guess... :P

    PS: Congrats on taking that huge step and refusing to work! Definitely the right thing!

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  4. Wonderful news! It really gives you a good feeling to have an EF full, isn't it?

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  5. All these numbers make my head spin.  Let's talk about pretty things!
    m.

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  6. Mark wants to talk about himself again! :)  But great job on your goals, you must make a heck of a salary!  But then you deserve it! 

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  7.  You keep me inspired!!!

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  8. WOW, you so rock with your savings, I seem to get sloppy this time of year, we pour so much into the garden and yard it's crazy!!!!!

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  9. Nice job of restocking your emergency fund.
    The picture of the house burning gave me a bit of a shock, till I realized that it wasn't yours. Thank God!
    I think finally purchasing a fridge and stove will be great for those cold windy days. Don't forget to budget for the added electrical costs which will be going up next year thanks to the HST being implemented next year. I believe it is a 14% increase.

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  10. awesome! you're rolling in the dough! I wish I were going somewhre nice for the summer! oh well one of these days! I wish there were some nice inexpesive areas outside of hwere I live but heck people are living an hour outside of Houston just to live outside the city! I'd have to go 2-3 just to get away from it all and that's farther than I'd like to drive on my days off.

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  11. I happen to agree that that is exciting, you are doing a great job of ensuring your retirement is going to be an awesome event.
    The house insurance is a huge must, back in 1982 when my children were only 4 and 6 we lost our home in a really bad housefire, i was lucky to get them out alive I was told, I was out at a Christmas night out with my neighbours when it happened. So with 2 weeks to go until Christmas we were homeless. Fortunately we were fully covered and were back in our home again by April, so a huge yes to your Insurance....

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  12. OMG Maureen, what a horrible traumatic event for you and your family!  Everyday I read about some family who has lost everything because they weren't insured. Home insurance really isn't that expensive compared to auto insurance - it's sure something you don't want to scrimp on!

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  13. Houston is really spread out! You DO need a getaway place. Where did you go when you visited your friend - was that outside of Houston?

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  14. Holy moly - 14%?? Sheesh!! Ours is going up too so nothing new really. We're on smart meters now too and I'm happy to say my bill went down from $55 per month to $45 so I'm doing something right. Hey - I'm fully prepared to use a Tilley lamp if I have to lol! Maybe we'll have to go back to the days when people went to bed when it got dark out and rose with the light!

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  15. Summer is my season for looser spending too. It's my holiday time so not a lot gets saved. I'm going to TRY to keep better track this summer but no promises :)

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  16. Thanks, that's good to know. It was pretty weird being at home today. I feel like I've gone on strike - it's amazing what you have to do to get the mucky muck's attention these days.

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  17. Oh, you must like sparkly shiny things like Michael! Sometimes i swear he's got a gay gene in there somewhere lol!

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  18. Oh that Mark - it's all about him, so typical!  My salary is good, but then I'm used to living on very little :)

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  19. Yes, I was a little nervous with no EF, breathing easier now!

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  20. I'm non-confrontational too so doing the work refusal is really out of character for me. I thought about it long and hard and it felt like the right thing to do. And now that I've done it I KNOW it was the right thing. OOPS to your Visa lol! I'm glad you've got some leeway built into your budget with that extra $3000 available. One year when I was a full-time student I ran out of $$ before the school year was over and had to use my visa to buy groceries! That was my worst moment!! (Over 20 years ago but still a vivid memory!)

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  21. When I'm "in it" it just seems normal but when I step away as I have now I don't know how I've made it through this year without having a nervous breakdown. It is mind boggling.

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  22. Yes, that's the day we all work towards, when the "goings in" are more than the "goings out"! It's only taken me 55 years to get to this point...sigh...you WILL get there too.

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  23. she's 3 hours away - closer to San Antonio - place called Canyon Lake - it's gotten pricey and not sure I'd want to have property out there - I just go visit her but after this baby her toddler will be 5 and it wont' be very restful LOL! but hey it's free except for food and whatever I can't resist for the little dude! plus I can bring my dogs. when they're gone maybe I'll try to do some traveling though I know I'll probably be wanting another dog or 2 and they're not easy to do stuff with.

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  24. A beer fridge and a fire pit...so when should I arrive

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  25. Anytime, Judy, anytime :)

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  26. I can understand the desire to have another dog...or two. Would you get the same breed? When I'm in PEI permanently I'll want to get a dog eventually - perhaps a border collie - they're so intelligent. I had a dog growing up from age 4 to 18 and she truly was my best friend. I still miss her all these years later. But they do tie you down unless you have someone you can always count on to look after them.

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  27. Very nice on your progress. Congrats!

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  28. Thanks Tanner!

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  29. Good job, Jane!!! :) I'd be quite happy with our EF up to $5K as well! Maybe not a lot for a family of 6, but you do what you with what you have, right?! :)

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  30. I would love the same breeds - love labs but mine is pretty laid back I've been told - don't think I'd like a super-hyper one. german shepherd honestly deserved a better home as far as room to run and owner with a higher activity level. she loves me and vice versa but I think I may look at a large dog either one of these breeds or a mix that's at least 4 yrs old or possibly a little older for lower energy level.

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  31. I'm with you on that; a little lap dog would never suit me. I think I tend more towards medium sized dogs however, the one I had when I was a kid was a cross between some sort of terrier and a german shepherd, she had such a lovely friendly face but not too huge. As Goldilocks would say, she was "just right"!





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    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 7:41:29 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!: Saving for a Dream - May Goals Met!

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    susanna (unregistered) wrote, in response to Jharrison56: I would love the same breeds - love labs but mine is pretty laid back I've been told - don't think I'd like a super-hyper one. german shepherd honestly deserved a better home as far as room to run and owner with a higher activity level. she loves me and vice versa but I think I may look at a large dog either one of these breeds or a mix that's at least 4 yrs old or possibly a little older for lower energy level. Link to comment
    IP address: 50.15.3.228

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