Foto Friday

A year ago today... Kazi was suffering with a broken heart. She would be upset to know I'm sharing this photo with you (don't tell her!) but I wanted to show how sweet Luna and Lily are. They both snuggled up to her that night, sensing her distress and giving her lots of love :) 

 They still like to give each other baths too, usually it's Luna who gives Lily a good cleaning.

 Luna seems to be the more "mature" one of the two though will have one or two "spaz" attacks every day where she chases her tail and practically runs up the walls for a few minutes.

Also a year ago...an excellent concert by Canadian Bryan Adams!

I'm not sure which song it was but in lieu of holding lighters aloft everyone help their phones up instead.

He sure can belt out the tunes - he had some great hits over the years and still looks very handsome! We got tickets late and were up in the nosebleed section so I couldn't get good photos.

 Here ya go...you're welcome!

Budget Boogaloo

February is quickly coming to a close - now if it would only take the brutally cold air with it!! One of the thousands of things I like better about spring are the reduced utility bills. With this February shaping up to be THE COLDEST ON RECORD then my heating bill is likely to be THE HIGHEST ON RECORD!!

The Lowlights and Highlights of February's Budget:

• Lowlights - I underestimated my heating bill and electricity bill by $24; considering how cold it's been that's hardly surprising. I took the extra out of my misc budget and sucked it up!
• a few things have gotten more expensive: my monthly internet bill increased by $3, the hot water tank rental increased by $1, property taxes are increasing by approx. 2.5% but I don't have the new amount yet. That's it for lowlights - nothing broke down, nothing had to be fixed, we stayed warm, ate well and indulged in lots of wine and chocolate!!
• Highlights - I stayed on budget!! AND I had leftover money in all three variable budgets (gas, food and misc)
• a decrease in car/home insurance means that the little increases in other bills were mostly covered
• I have $24 left in the food budget :) ... $85 left in the gas budget :)...and $53 left in the misc budget!! so.....I made an extra payment on my mastercard towards my trip in Sept. and put a little extra into savings to round up the numbers. I'm leaving the $53 in my account to cover gong out to breakfast, going out for coffee, a purchase at Home Depot etc.
• Savings increased by $664 this month!! $350 of that is from my pension and the rest is from interest payments from accounts and RRSPs. 
• Misc purchases this month included: 2 little trips to the thrift shop, some new music for my iPod, a guidebook for a possible trip in 2016, a yoga app, new camera batteries, a new toaster, a special Valentine's party for me and 2 girlfriends, a book for my iPad (or two), a new charge cord for my laptop; ...I went to a movie or two, went out for lunch, breakfast and multiple coffees and I went to the Bryan Adams concert!! Which was fabulous!! (and actually paid out of January's misc budget). 

February's budget was a great success! But then it was only a 28 day month! March will be slightly more challenging I'm sure. Having a trip to work towards does help me squeeze my pennies though - it really helps to have a goal. 

Re Gofundme - I think it only makes sense that you really check out what you're contributing towards. Since Nate was Kazi's friend I had no qualms about donating money towards bringing him back to Canada. I would never donate to someone's "sad story" unless I checked into it and made sure it was REAL. 

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.....

Budget Update

I have TOO MUCH money. Yes, you heard me right. And somewhere, somehow it'll be taken from me, I just know it. It's not a large amount but I've gone wrong in my budget calculations somewhere even though I use a calculator!! I would be more worried if I had TOO LITTLE money which is what usually happens. I'm just going to sit on it til the end of the months and all the bills are paid. If that little extra bit is still there then off to savings it goes.

Today's budget adjustments were small as predicted. It only cost $20 to fill up the truck!!! That's how much gas I used since last Monday. I've been more strategic in my driving - car (truck) pooling to hiking spots with a friend :), doing all of my errands on one day and so on. It helps - and so does paying only 84.7 cents per litre of gas!! I only have one more gas fill up til February (fill up every Monday) so I will have gas money left to move to savings as there is still $108 left in the gas budget. Woo hoo!

After shelling out $115 last Monday on food & household items today's total was only $30 plus $4.25 spent at Dollarama. I only needed to add to my produce as I still have about 2/3rd's of the food from last week's shop left in the fridge/freezer/pantry!! There is one "shop" left in January and $107 left in the food budget so no worries there. I foresee sending about half of that to savings at the end of the month!
My misc items for this week - I love the little dustpan/sweepers, they are so handy for little cleanups - one for the upstairs bathroom and one for the workshop.

The rest of the money I spent was for luscious produce. Stuffed peppers are on the menu this week, and obviously lots more guacamole :)

My misc budget is getting low however. I decided to bite the bullet and buy an air purifier for the workshop. I can wear a mask while I'm working but my lovely Luna can't and if I'm in the workshop then she's in the workshop.  And then my friend invited me to go with her to see Canadian rocker  BRYAN ADAMS who's coming to London in February so I said YES!! Plus I overspent on art supplies, got the oil changed and new windshield wipers on the truck, bought a couple of books, indulged at the Wine and Food show, went to see "The Imitiation Game" and went out to dinner with my nephews!! I HAVE been busy and spendy haven't I? So I have $120 left in my misc budget which I need to stretch over 12 days - I can do it!! Plus I have some $$ in my wallet. As long as nothing unexpected comes up I should be ok plus there's the cushion in the gas and food budgets if I need it.

February's budget will see a few little adjustments with the drop in car/home insurance covering the increase in condo fees and taxes. AND joy oh joy I get a cost of living increase on my pension amount starting January 31st. A whopping $20 extra per month - woot woot!! It doesn't sound like much (it ain't much at all) but it would pay for FOUR $5.00 movie nights at Rainbow Cinema!! That's something!

Today's cuteness:

Staying cozy