It's a Brand New....

SEASON!!!...I think I'll call it "Sprinter" and Spring better just sprint right back here before I have a tantrum!

Poor Dougie the Dodge getting attacked by snow pellets...he did nothing to deserve this...

Aren't I glad I got those free rolls of paper towels when I bought Windex at Giant Tiger...looks like I'll be using them again...sometime...

Sprinter: spring chairs, winter weather.

Today it was even worse as it snowed more during the night. But I was off for a hike this morning and didn't get any photos.  Some has melted away but a lot remains. It's pretty chilly out there.

Today brings one week left in April's budget. I'm very happy with how and where the money went this month.  The heating bill was down!! The electricity bill...stayed the same (boo, hiss)...well, the bill would have been lower but rates are being raised AGAIN!! As Carla pointed out this week if you live in Ontario your hydro bill is obscene.

However, in spite of that I'm ahead of the game right now by $400.00. Even after tucking $350.00 into savings earlier in the month. April was the month of chairs - 3 zero gravity chairs - 2 have gone to the trailer; and today Canadian Tire had their andirondack chairs on for $16.99 (regular $23.99) so I bought 4 - they're in the back of Dougie waiting for the next trip to the trailer. Other than chairs, tealights for all of my lanterns and a new album on iTunes I kept my spending to a minimum. Oh, and I bought a book.... Oh, and a bottle of wine....oh, and another bottle of wine :)

What really helped is I only went out to dinner once and breakfast once. You can save a LOT of money by eating at home. AND I still have $109 left in my grocery budget of $276. And $87 left in my gas budget. AWESOME!! Obviously I won't have $400 left by next Thursday when April's budget is complete but I bet I have $300. Even $250 would be good. Or $200. See, I'm not picky, as long as I'm in the black I'm ecstatic!!

How's your budget going? Black or red?

Frozen Assets

When I got up this morning it was -29c so is it any wonder my ass(ets) is/are frozen??? I've managed to have quite a few NO spend days this month because who wants to go outside?? That being said I did do some shopping on Friday in preparation for my Valentine's Day guests. But I'm still on track for February and may have some $$ left at the end of the month if I can stay the course!

Gas Budget - I have almost a full tank of gas and $120 left in the gas budget. If you don't drive anywhere gas stays IN the tank!! Also, I lumped ALL my errands together last Friday to use as little gas as possible. I've been averaging $30/week for gas so far which means I might have $60-$80 left in this budget line at the end of the month!

Food Budget - I spent more on food for the first half of this month than I did during the same time period in January. Some of that went for snacks for my party plus I bought extra food that I cooked for breakfast Sunday morning. There is still $116 left in the food budget and I won't be shopping for a a few days as I couldn't fit another thing in my fridge if I tried! I'm sure there will be a few dollars left in the food budget at the end of the month.

Misc Budget - Out of the $313 in the misc budget for the 2nd half of the month I have $230 left. Money has been spent on wine, chocolate treats from the Bulk Barn, movie rentals for the party, music downloaded from iTunes and a book from Amazon for my Kindle app. Upcoming expenditures include going to lunch with a friend tomorrow and the Bryan Adams concert on the 24th (though I've already paid for the ticket!) I hope I don't spend all of the rest of this budget by Feb. 28.

For the next few months any budget remnants will go to paying for my trip to England in Sept. So far I need to pay off my plane tickets and the deposit for my hiking trip with Annie. I therefore challenge myself to direct at least $150 (gas - $80; food - $30; misc - $40) towards my Mastercard at the end of Feb. Whatever is outstanding on my Mastercard will be paid off using my tax refund sometime in March.

Increased savings so far this month includes $350 from my pension and $200 in interest for a total of $550!! I have two more interest deposits from RRSPs to come yet this month. I'm surviving on my pension so far - I'm doing it, I'm doing it!!

Famous last words.....