Pay Day is Hooray Day!!

To celebrate Kazi's homecoming I took a sick day today. Either that or its because I want to watch Olympic hockey. No, it must be Kazi hee hee!

Seriously though, it was just me being practical. Driving to Toronto and back last night plus building in time for flight delays meant I'd be bone tired today and I am. Happily her flight was only delayed for an hour while she was in L.A. On her flight TO Australia a month ago it was delayed 6 hours! I had visions of sitting in Pearson airport until the wee hours of the morning and then having to drive from Toronto to London - so just to be safe I took a sick day. It's only my 3rd sick day since September so I only felt a wee bit guilty. I have to keep telling myself that THEY CAN get along without me once in a while!

Flights to New York were cancelled but fortunately the current major storm bypassed SW Ontario. Thank goodness for small mercies!

So - today's hot topic! PAYDAY!! There's such a long build up to payday and then minutes after it's posted to my account it's all dispersed! Very anti-climatic! Here's how this pay has been dispersed:

$2327
-$1200 to savings; $79 for internet; $32 to Reliance (rental for my super duper hot water heater!); $73 for Union Gas (heat, hot water tank and I have a gas dryer); $72 for electricity (usually it's around $50-$60 but we've been running a space heater in the basement when we're down there watching TV/riding stationary bike); $175 PEI mortgage, $8 to Netflix (we don't have cable TV); and $155 for condo property taxes. 

If you're following along with a calculator that should leave me with $533 for groceries, gas and misc until Feb. 28 but I also paid off my PCMC (President's Choice Mastercard) as I do every payday. I use this card to buy groceries and gas as I get points I can use for groceries. Using my mastercard this way means $200-$300 free money annually for groceries which really helps at Christmas and when I go east for the summer. I've never paid a cent in interest as it's paid in full twice a month.


So what I have left is $273 as well as $90 cash in my wallet some of which I'll use tonight when I go out to dinner with 3 girlfriends. (I'm also waiting for a reimbursement from school for about $40). We're also going to see "Monuments Men" tonight but that's being taken care of with gift cards. I've done a Costco run, a produce run at United (my favorite Asian grocery store that has the largest selection of produce of any store and at the lowest prices) and a No-Frills run. I don't foresee spending any $$ for food for at least two weeks. I may be able to tuck some of that $274 into savings if I'm careful! 

Woo hoo Canada just scored - they are up 1-0 against Austria!!

But Dougie the Dodge needs gas so I'll be filling him up today. Over the past month I've been driving Kazi's car, Cora Cobalt (Kazi calls her Stella) and that has really saved me $$ in gas. Also, I don't think I spent more than about $75 on groceries over the month she was away. I had a very frugal month indeed!

The first thing I do when I get paid is to transfer at least half into savings. So once I retire I will have had lots of practice living on half a paycheque! And once I dispose of the condo I'll have much lower expenses and will be able to continue saving, just not as much obviously.

So that's my current episode of "HAVE FUN WITH PAY DAY"!! 

Hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me. I feel like I should call this post "Don't Read This - Its Boring" a la Sluggy!!

Oh well, I can't be at the top of my game for every post ha ha! If only! Anyhoo I hope your Valentine's day is a happy one if you go in for that sort of thing.

Canada just scored again! Now THAT'S exciting!!
<3

I'm Here

The last few days have been hellish. Thank goodness for family and friends - my 4 siblings, my daughter Kazi, you, my blog friends, my friends here in London and my friends from the east coast. All of you have helped me out over the past few days.

Moving on is not an easy thing to do but it is the only thing I can do. If you were disturbed, as one reader was, by my not telling both sides of the story, I'm sorry. That post came from a very raw and hurting place - and I can only speak for myself. I don't know the other side of the story or what my part in it was - I was gobsmacked, so to speak, by what occurred.  Previous to that terrible disclosure I was told "it's not you, it's me, you've done nothing wrong."

I was asked to remove the post. So I did. And I apologize if my bitterness put you off. That wasn't my intent. For me my blog is my on-line journal and I feel close enough to you all to share my joys and my despair. It's therapeutic to write about what happens - to "spout off"! Because I know you'll be there for me as I will be for you.

So, moving on...

Once again I found a message on Cora the Colbalt today:

I know, this is getting weirder and weirder! I've decided to just enjoy them - I can pretend I have a secret admirer (even though that is quite a stretch right now).  Or I can apply it to my life somehow - like I need to keep LOVE in my heart - for myself and for others.

It's hard for me to make contact with others when I feel so low - I tend to stay home and feel sorry for myself. So I'll try to keep my heart open and think about what others need, as well as myself.

My accomplishments for this weekend include cooking up some stuffed peppers, making veggie fried rice, quinoa etc. As well yesterday I scraped the caulking from around the bathtub. I tried to reapply new caulking only to find that the caulking I had on hand expired back in '08! So this morning I was off to Home Depot (after scraping a thick layer of snow topped off with ice from the freezing rain yesterday) and bought some new caulking. I haven't taken a picture yet but I will.

However, my main goal this weekend is preparing for Semester 2! Woohoo! Five months left of school :) I don't know yet what I'll do when I retire but I have lots of options. Finishing the condo and selling it is a priority as I can't maintain two houses. I could afford my PEI home and a trailer here somewhere - I did so enjoy the trailer I had in Bayfield. We'll see how it all goes.

And now back to the school books!

Yowzers! June is Half Gone! (kinda like me!)

The end is near, it is in sight, there is a light at the end of the school hallway! Oh, that's the fire alarm flashing....(those graduating students get up to the craziest antics, I tell you!)...and it is beckoning me, closer and closer to FREEDOM, one long day at a time. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to have a stable job in these days of high unemployment, but the last couple of months I have been more stressed out than a one-armed wallpaper hanger with a bad rash! 

Really though, the days are flying by, almost too quickly! It's getting difficult to enjoy each day as so much time is spent thinking about and making preparations for PEI travel day only 2 1/2 weeks away! Not to mention report cards, classroom cleanup, prep for next year...

How are the finances doing? So glad you asked!  Let's have a look see at the first two weeks of June, shall we?  Today is payday, and I've made lots of payments...easy come, easy go! Now you see it, now you don't!

Already I realize I forgot to post a bill to my spendingdiary.com.  We just got the car checked over from stem to stern and shelled out $167 and change for an oil change and a link assembly kit (?)...darn potholes!! I was quietly relieved....             

....because I thought for sure we'd need brake work and perhaps some new tires. But we've been given the green light to drive Cora Cobalt out east adding at least another 5,000km to her odometer. 

What else...oh I paid an extra $100 on my line of credit bringing it to an even $41,000. When I get the rest of the $$ owed on the trailer I'll knock off a few more grand. For now that's $15,000 paid off since last September!! I'm hoping to reach $20,000 paid off by September. Interest rates will soon be going up so it's becoming increasingly important to get debt PAID DOWN!!

Food is on track for the month though I'll be buying a No Frills grocery card for Kazi so she can buy what she needs while we're away (and hopefully remember to feed the cat too!)  Housing is much higher than usual as I paid over $500 on my PEI property taxes (with another payment due the end of August and November (though not for that much).  

Misc is higher than usual as I splurged at a thrift store for some summer duds to take east - I now have EVERYTHING I need clothing-wise except for a hat to keep my nose from looking like a boiled lobster!  Oops, too late....

Savings are up-to-date and I've transferred what remained in my trailer fee account to the PEI property tax account as I won't have to pay that HUGE fee anymore!!  I am going to rename the Trailer Fee account the Maintenance account and start saving the recommended 3% annually for PEI house repairs. I was just about to say I have "everything covered" but that would just be tempting Murphy and Lord knows I don't want to do THAT!!

I'm happy to report that since NAGGING my family about electricity useage our bill dropped by almost $20 from last month; HOWEVER, our minimal but necessary use of central air isn't reflected on THIS bill, that will show up on July's bill, with no doubt lots more added to it! 

We've also tried to be more "thoughtful" when using Cora for driving to work and to do errands by combining several trips into one to reduce the cost of gas and we're doing really well on that, so thanks Michael and Kazi!! I think we're doing awesomely well sharing one car between three adults with their 5, yes FIVE, jobs!! Oh, and Cora thanks you too!

Well, that about wraps it up for today. Oh yeah, I printed off the forms I need to have my payroll deposit switched to ING where I opened up a fee-free chequing account. They are going to give me $100 for the switch.  Then I'll have to gradually switch all of my automatic bill payments over, some other day though, not today...I've done enough for one day...so ....see ya...

TGIF (in 6.5 hours to be exact:)

http://www.webdonuts.com/2009/11/tgif/

I'm not sure why, but I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday...moreso than usual. It's been one of those weeks. It started off well and then it was all downhill from there.

The bad news:

• even though my daughter promised she'd text me if she was going to stay at her friend's last night I again woke to find her bed empty and NO message. She and I will be having another heart to heart talk when she finally makes an appearance. (I called her and called her at 6am this morning, and then texted her. Eventually she texted to let me know she was sleeping at her friend's house. So not impressed!
• had Cora in twice this week for what thankfully turned out to be minor repairs (so I guess that's both BAD and GOOD news
• after my emotional upset this morning I proceeded to eat candy (winegums) which strangely enough doesn't register too well in the ol' food diary
• am on my second glass of red wine (at this point that could be considered good news)
• the extra $$ I didn't spend from gas and groceries and misc that was going to go for extra debt repayment is going to Cora repairs instead (again I guess that could be considered good news that I had the $$ available)
• 2 of my educational assistants let it be known that they want an easier schedule for next semester - to that I say - BITE ME! We have no "easy" students. They are who they are - I think if you work in the area of special education you would understand that and not be looking to sit around all day working on a crossword puzzle!

"OK" she says taking a sip of wine and a deep breath..."time for the good news"...

• the two repairs to Cora cost $46 and $56 respectively, not too bad eh?; the first was to replace the thingamajiggy that the washer fluid comes out of to clean your windshield - it snapped in half in the -24c freeze-up we had over the last week; the second was to the rear brake drums to fix a little squealing sound. Can I just give a shout-out to Harry's Automotive Centre on Adelaide at Huron St. in London, ON for honest and reasonable repairs? I appreciate how  you never do unauthorized work and you tell me what really needs to be done and the least expensive way to do it.
• Raised my EF from $830 to $1300 :)
• Spent only $300 on groceries this month; usually spend $450 - $500 - love it!! (the extra helped pay for the car repairs - yippee!
• so far during exam week (started yesterday) I have completed my report cards, updated my students' IEP's and completed the schedules for my 6 educational assistants for the coming semester (and no one has an "easy" schedule!)
• had 2 lovely bottles of red wine leftover from Christmas :)
• have a partner who is a life coach who helped me through my crisis this morning with DD and gave me suggestions on how to best deal with the situation - gotta love that man!

The final financials for January will be coming Monday so will NOT do my usual Weekly Wrap tomorrow. I might just do a review on the two movies we plan to see tomorrow: "The Rite" with Anthony Hopkins and "The King's Speech" with Colin Firth. Yes, I do love those British actors! I am leaving work around 12 noon tomorrow because I CAN!! and we are going to two matinees at our local Rainbow Theatre which will only cost us about $12. I might even spring for POPCORN! Hey  - it's got fibre:)

Thanks for listening...