Scrub a Dub Dub!

Good morning!  It's alternating between sunshine and dark clouds today, pretty breezy too. But all of that is AOK because the temperature must be around 10c!!!! Yeehaw!! Spring has sprung at last! Maybe.....

Ok, we won't dwell on the possibility that Mother Nature is rubbing her hands with glee at the thought of dumping a pile of snow on us again but I CAN DREAM CAN'T I???

Oh dear Lord, please let it be SPRING!

On to business.....

I just found $1,000.00!! Yes, it's true! No I'm not losing my marbles though I know some would argue with that. Here's how - because I'm nice that way - I want to share my wealth-building strategies with you because that's what it's all about right?

OK, here goes.
Step One:  Buy a truck for $5,000.00
Step Two: Take money out of your Line of Credit to pay for it.
Step Three: Think that you are taking out $5,000.00 but really only take out $4,000.00 and use savings to cover the other $1,000.00.
Step Four: Forget Steps 1 through 3.
Step Five: Make a payment of $1250.00 on your Line of Credit and check your balance remaining.
Step Six: Do a HAPPY DANCE when you realize you only have $2750.00 left to pay back instead of $3750.00!!

Easy peasy!  You're welcome!

In other financial news I have purchased the lovely pair of appliances shown below for our PEI home. I'm feeling pretty darn happy that I was able to cross off TWO MUST HAVE items for our retirement abode - Dougie the Dodge  and now a washer and dryer!!!!! They are scheduled to arrive on July 5th!  I am paying for them with my tax refund which should be rolling in by the end of this week.  Dougie the Dodge will be paid off by the end of April and all of my savings in May and June will go into my EMERGENCY FUND (which is currently empty!!) - around $5,000.00.  Then all that I can save between July and December of this year will go towards long term savings - my TFSA and RRSPs.

Aren't they pretty?  

This is how we did laundry for the last two summers. (And of course we will continue to use our clothesline as much as possible to keep our electricity bill down).

Unfortunately I only have pictures of Michael hanging the clean clothing on the line. I don't have pictures of how he cleaned our clothes. Can you guess? YES, IN THE BATHTUB!!! I don't know how I let that photo op go by uncaptured! A half naked Michael, very damp, muscles pumping as he scrubbed and scrubbed....leaning over the tub....

Do you think I can still cancel my appliance order??

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.

PAY DAY AT LONG LAST!!

Well I was down to my last couple of dollars but I made it through April intact and in the black. But my savings look like this:

Awwwww, poor piggy - he's running on EMPTY!!
However....my Line of Credit looks like this:

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I am now on a mission to do this:

One of these days I'm going to do a blog post using pictures only and see if you can figure out what I'm saying. I think you could have figured this post out quite easily!

April will see me putting $2,000 back into my Emergency Fund. And I will fully fund my PEI Property Tax and Home Insurance Fund to the tune of $1200 as a payment of $299 is due at the end of May. I should also be able to put $200-$300 into my PEI Home Maintenance Fund in May and fully fund it in June ($2000). That will cover the cost of purchasing a new fridge and stove this summer when I'm out in PEI.

From July to the end of this year I will fund my Christmas/gift Fund ($1500) and save around $20,000+ to put back into my TFSA. Then my piggy bank will look like this:

So now it's that magical moment that only comes twice a month - the moment when I get to start transferring my hard-earned $$$ into my various savings accounts. It will be nice to see my EF funded again - I'll breathe a bit easier now. My savings accounts have nowhere to go but UP!


See ya soon!!

January No Spend Challenge - I'm Doing it MY WAY!!

NOW is the time when most folks reflect upon the past year - what they did right and what they would like to change. I find, upon reflection, that I like to do things MY WAY (oh, so THAT's where my daughter gets it from) and even if MY WAY isn't the "RIGHT WAY" as seen by "normal" society I don't give a flying fig. I will boldly go ahead and make "mistakes" because, hey, they're MY mistakes and/or decisions and I don't like following the so-called norms of society.


So there!


Which brings me to Carla's January No Spend Challenge. If you would like to join or read more about it check out Carla's blog "My 1/2 Dozen Daily". 


What I love about this challenge is that everyone is free to make up their own rules...see?....I like it already.  I can do it MY WAY!  (Don't tell anyone but I'd be doing it my way anyways but now I can be both a JOINER and still maintain my own sense of independent weirdness!) How perfect!! 


Since I maintain a zero-based budget there isn't a lot of room to squeeze out much extra in the way of savings. But I am going to try. My variable expenses for the month include: gas ($200); food ($400) and Misc spending ($331). My monthly savings amount ($1550) and debt repayment amount ($2000) are technically variable but I would rather cut off my right arm than change them. Well, not really but I am pretty rigid on those amounts as they are tied into my goal of early retirement.


So how will I challenge myself? Right now my EF sits at $1700 and I add $100 each month. BUT in January I am going to try to squeeze out an additional $200 from my variable spending so that by January 31st my EF will stand at a nice round $2,000. That's it! That's my challenge. 


To help me reach my goal I will only buy a coffee and newspaper once a week. I will enter NO stores other than the No Frills grocery store. We will use up what we have in the freezer and pantry to stretch our grocery budget and we will have a low-key month to reduce entertainment expenses - I have a new iPad to play with and a LOT of new books to read - so that part should be easy.


And most importantly - I'm Doing it MY WAY!!...just like Johnny Rotten! 


Now honestly, doesn't this version put a smile on your face??

This is what my...

brain looks like:

Sorta pretty isn't it? A pretty little muddle of random thoughts, random and disorganized thoughts...random, disorganized and overflowing thoughts...you get the picture. Those of you who also have an ADD brain will understand.


It's as if Christmas were only 11 (almost 10) days away and I still had a million things to do and no time to do them in. Oh, wait a minute...that's real...rats.


Ok, focus Jane...


I thought I would do a financial update since almost 2 weeks of December has gone by in the blink of an eye but to do that I'd have to be organized and to be organized I'd have to feign an illness and stay home from work for the next 8 days and THAT ain't gonna happen so neither is the financial update!


Basically it all boils down to one very significant number this month - I call it the BUFFER amount. (I kinda like this strategy - I might use it every month!) I like having just ONE number to think about - sure makes budgeting a much more streamlined process. 


My BUFFER amount is the amount of $$ I have left after everything else is paid (I used estimates for all the gifts I needed to buy, the cost of the Xmas tree, dinner out, wine, groceries, savings, debt repayment, baking supplies and a million other expenses particular to this month).  On Dec. 1st my buffer amount was $245. Over the past 13 days I have added and subtracted from that amount about 100 times. If my hydro bill was less than my estimate I added the overage to the BUFFER. If a gift cost more than my estimate I subtracted from the BUFFER.  


This is the ONLY number that matters this month - and right now it stands at.....$220!! Not bad eh? BUT, still 2.5 weeks left to the month! I am highly motivated because whatever is left in the BUFFER zone goes into my iPad envelope which right now only contains $15 (I found $5 in a coat pocket and saved $10 in change). Once I have $600 saved I will buy my iPad!! It's going to take a few months to come up with $600 as I do zero-based budgeting and my pay goes way down Jan. 1st due to certain payroll deductions starting up again. But that's ok, it's worth waiting and saving for. 


Hey - see how well I can focus when it's something I'm interested in? Typical ADD!

Weekly Wrap & Other Crap

So October is officially half over. Which means in only 2 more weeks it'll be November...quick aren't I? I have a gift for stating the obvious. Bet you're jealous! 


I was happy to be paid on Friday...very happy. How happy was I? I was so happy that I went out and bought MORE FOOD! And you know what? I think we could have managed very adequately with what we already had! But old habits die hard and like a little robot I trotted off to the farmer's market and the grocery store, not to mention the gas station. 


When I came home I squished all of that food into an already full fridge. Then I made soup, ladled it into plastic containers and squished that into an already full freezer.  Then I thought to myself..."self? who's in charge here, who exactly is sitting in the budget director's chair?"  "Me", I answered, "oh please, let it be me!" So, acknowledging to myself that I am indeed in charge of my budget, I am going to challenge myself, no direct myself, to purchase no NEW food until November except for the following items: 

• milk
• bread
• salad fixings

Perhaps I won't even buy any more salad fixings as we have so many veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten up. So that will be my personal challenge for the remainder of October. 

NO MORE UNNECESSARY FOOD PURCHASES!!!

Because you know what happens when you purchase more food than you can possibly eat - WASTE AND SPOILAGE!! And that makes me sad. AND MAD!! If successful,no, when successful, I'll have $100 extra that I will put into my Emergency Fund as I really really want to get it back up to $2000 again.

I am also going to challenge my wee family to keep the furnace TURNED OFF for two more weeks. That won't save me any money this month as I've already paid my Union Gas bill but it will help with November's bill. Oh, by the way, I decided to NOT go with Superior Energy for my natural gas for the coming year. Their fixed rate was way higher than the market price that Union Gas is offering. I'm taking a wee risk in that Union Gas adjusts their rate every 3 months based on the market but right now the spread between Union Gas and Superior is wide enough to make me  think that it'll be cheaper in the long run. Time will tell.

Since I just posted financial charts on the 12th I'll spare you that today. I am still out of rhythm on my blog topics so will try to get back to doing my Friday Weekly Wrap on Fridays!

GOALS 2011-2012

One thing I noticed about my 2010-2011 goals review was that I had too many of them - some of them I had forgotten about so I'm going for simplicity this year. I do better when I keep things streamlined, when they get too complex I totally tune out. So here goes.


Financial Goals:

• Increase total savings from $56,398 to $67,000 over the next 12 months (this is long-term savings only: RSPs (interest only) and TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account)
• Save $600 towards the purchase of a new camera
• Save $1200 towards condo redecorating
• Save $1200 to add to my Emergency Fund currently sitting at $1527
• Save $960 to pay for Crofters Lane house insurance and property tax currently sitting at $160
• Save $1500 for Christmas and Birthdays for 2012
• Save $2880 for Crofters Lane maintenance and travel expenses next summer currently sitting at $480
• AND decrease my Line of Credit from $34,300 to $9,700 over the next 12 months
• continue to follow my current zero-based budgeting style (it works for me...most of the time:)

All of these accounts are already set up with automatic deposits/payments. All I have to do (HAH!) is not overspend because if I do then it reduces either savings or debt payments and I don't want that to happen because I am working towards:

Yes, ladies and gents, I am talking about being debt-free in 16 months at which time that $2,000 per month currently going towards debt repayment will then be channeled into my long-term savings. Hopefully by then Stephen Harper will have increased the limit on our Tax Free Savings Accounts to $10,000 per year from its current limit of $5,000 but I won't hold my breath, damn politicians!!

My personal goals are also going to be plain and simple - not simple in that they are easy to achieve, but simple in that they are clear and straight forward.

Personal Goals:

• Get my weight back under 130 lbs. Folks, I'm barely 5'3" and I'll be damned if I'm going out and buying all new pants to replace the ones that fit just fine up until a year and a half ago! Yes, menopause does wreak havoc on the waistline but I'm not giving up yet. What I won't do is put a deadline on it - that's just a recipe for failure. And I'm NOT buying pants with a stretchy waistband - that's just a cop out! 
• Exercise everyday. Lunchtime - 30 minute power walk 5 days a week, work out in my school's cardio/weight room 2 times a week (Tues. and Thurs.), ride my stationary bike at home 3 times a week (Mon. Wed. and Sat.) and go hiking every Sunday. I know this looks complex but I'm already doing it so it's easy peasy. Do the scissors exercise once a day - see Sarah's instructions HERE!
• Find reasons to be happy every day!!  
• Tell my wee family I love them every day!!
• Find a reason to laugh every day!!
• Be grateful every morning that I woke up!!

In my next post I'll expand on my personal goals to show you the thinking behind them. How are YOUR goals coming along??

GOAL SETTING: PART ONE - YEAR IN REVIEW

You’ll never reach a financial goal you never set.


How profound! Wish I'd said it. But no, I snagged it from "We the Savers - The Official Blog of Savers".


Here are the goals I set last October...I wonder how I did!


Financial Goals 2010:

I'll start with the goals that are easy to measure (with a calculator in hand).

• Save another $5000 for my TFSA (at $650 savings/month this should by attained by August, 2010) - Will be achieved TOMORROW!! Late but I will still count as a success:)
• Save $2400 for RRSP contribution (at $200/month beginning March 1st this goal will be reached in time for next year's taxes (Feb.29/12)- Changed this goal completely! I am no longer contributing to an RRSP - see this post for the reasons why!
• Save $2250 to add to my Emergency fund bringing it to a total of $3000 by year's end - well...yes and no...I have added more than $2250 but had to use some for car repairs and new tires!  Partial success!
• save $1500 for Christmas by Dec. 2011 - YES!! Success!
• Pay a total of $17,400 towards debt by Dec. 31/2011 (this includes $1200/month on Line of Credit and $250/month on PEI mortgage -major success - will have paid $26,550 ON LINE OF CREDIT by Dec. 31st!! That's where my RRSP money went to!   AND INCREASED MY PEI MORTGAGE PAYMENT TO $300 PER MONTH REDUCING THE AMORTIZATION FROM 25 TO 16 YEARS!! 
• maintain $100/month to World Food Program (now on automatic withdrawal so I won't miss a month due to forgetfullness!), and make six NEW Kiva loans this year ($150) in addition to reloaning the $$ that is repaid to me from previous loans (Sadly no, this will be a post in itself!)
• TRY to spend a maximum of $225 twice a month on groceries Success - actually spending $200 twice a month woo hoo!
• TRY to spend a maximum of $100 twice a month on gas (this will work out til the end of June and then will have to adjust due to doing a ton more driving in the summer - like to PEI!!! My Crofters Lane jar will help to cover summer driving. SUCCESS!! sticking to this amount even though gas prices continue to rise!!
• Through a variety of methods (snowflakes, budget leftovers etc) increase amount in Crofters Lane jar from $360 to a minimum of $650 by June 30 -actually had about $1500 so major success!!

Personal Goals 2010:

• ride stationary bike 3-4 times per week and record mileage in sidebar YES!!
• lose 10lbs by 2nd anniversary (April 18) NO!! a little late on this one!! I have lost those 10lbs now and am looking to reduce another 10lbs. but not setting a date!
• list books I read in my sidebar; read one non-fiction book for every five non-fiction books I read (increase learning) YES, but I forgot to add them to my sidebar...removed sidebar after awhile :(
• plant 50 trees at Crofters Lane this summer NO - more like 20
• declutter the basement by June - MAJOR FAIL!! DUE TO SELLING THE TRAILER MY BASEMENT IS MORE CLUTTERED THAN EVER!!
• organize my cajillions of digital photos by the end of January - SUCCESS!! HOWEVER I HAVE A CAJILLION MORE TO ORGANIZE!!
• make at least one person laugh each and every day - PROBABLY NOT EVERYDAY BUT PRETTY DARN CLOSE!!
• use http://www.spendingdiary.com/ daily to track my spending - FELL OFF THE WAGON OVER THE SUMMER BUT BACK ON NOW! 
• get out into nature a minimum of once per week - yes!! SUCCESS!!

I feel pretty darn good about how I did over the past year, especially with paying down debt. My line of credit was at an all-time high of $56,250 after purchasing my house in PEI in August 2010. I exceeded my debt reduction goal by almost $10,000 - that ain't chickenfeed my friends!!

That was the first time I ever put my financial and personal goals down on virtual paper. I'm happy with the choices I made but after living with them for a year I can see where I went wrong, where my priorities were a bit confused and now know I can zero in on more precise & more relevant goals for the upcoming year. 

After I sleep on it I'll get busy.

Part Two Tomorrow!  SETTING GOALS FOR 2011-2012!!

• PpppppppppppppSave another $5000 for my TFSA (at $650 savings/month this should by attained by August, 2010)
• Save $2400 for RRSP contribution (at $200/month beginning March 1st this goal will be reached in time for next year's taxes (Feb.29/12)
• Save $2250 to add to my Emergency fund bringing it to a total of $3000 by year's end
• save $1500 for Christmas by Dec. 2011
• Pay a total of $17,400 towards debt by Dec. 31/2011 (this includes $1200/month on Line of Credit and $250/month on PEI mortgage
• maintain $100/month to World Food Program (now on automatic withdrawal so I won't miss a month due to forgetfullness!), and make six NEW Kiva loans this year ($150) in addition to reloaning the $$ that is repaid to me from previous loans
• TRY to spend a maximum of $225 twice a month on groceries
• TRY to spend a maximum of $100 twice a month on gas (this will work out til the end of June and then will have to adjust due to doing a ton more driving in the summer - like to PEI!!! My Crofters Lane jar will help to cover summer driving.
• Through a variety of methods (snowflakes, budget leftovers etc) increase amount in Crofters Lane jar from $360 to a minimum of $650 by June 30

• ride stationary bike 3-4 times per week and record mileage in sidebar
• lose 10lbget out into nature a minimum of once per week

Saturday's Child Works Hard for Her Money

Sometimes I don't understand myself and I get confused. Today was one of those days. Have you ever had your colours done - I don't mean for makeup but for your personality? I'm blue and green. Which means I'm not gold (or orange). People who are gold are well organized, therefore I'm not. Organized that is. I know that - yet I still get upset with myself. 


Today was marketing day. My fiscal fast is over so I made the rounds to my favourite places this being Saturday morning. I dropped Michael off downtown and headed to the farmer's market. I loaded up on produce and paid with cash.

My next stop was a variety store to get my Saturday newspaper - $3.00 - I paid with cash.

Then off to the Bulk Barn where I bought quinoa and decaf coffee. AND I used a coupon, aren't you proud?? I paid with debit. 

Next stop - Pioneer Gas Station for gas (duh) and I used my "Bonus Bucks" card - I now have $1.00 in free gas!! My pioneer station has a drive through Tim Horton's and since my fiscal fast is over I bought a gigantic coffee! To pay for the gas I used my President's Choice Mastercard because I collect points (just cashed in $80.00 worth of points last week for groceries) and for the coffee I used cash.

At Talize I dropped a bag of clothes and received a $5.00 coupon to use on my next shopping trip - LOVE this thrift store! But no shopping today!

Nope, I was off to Shoppers instead to pick up some body wash that I noticed on special when I was in there picking up a prescription a few days ago. Yup, still on sale!  Used cash.

My last stop was at the NoFrills near where I live. I loaded up on tilapia which was on sale and a few other grocery items. I stuck to my list!! I paid for my order with my President's Choice Mastercard.


Next stop:

Home sweet home

Have you picked up on my helter skelter payment methods? Of course you have, and so did I when I sat down with my budget to record my purchases. It took me a looooooooooooooooong time to record my purchases and balance my books to my online bank balance. Eventually I did manage to balance the books but I was pissed off at myself for such chaotic practices. The problem is that unless I want to give up collecting points with my Mastercard (I don't) then I can't really make much of a change and will have to accept being "all over the place". 


One thing I should have done was NOT used my debit at the Bulk Barn - I should have used my credit card. Then I would only be using two payment methods instead of three. I don't know, I just don't think and whip out the first card that comes to hand. 


Please don't tell me to use cash only - I can't keep track of it - I need the paper trail. Cash just disappears in my sweaty hands. I do keep a bit of cash in my wallet for my misc spending, such as my newspaper and coffee. 


That's my sad tale of woe for today (other than complaining about how COLD it is!) I've read my newspaper and drank my coffee. The laundry is done...I think...I better go check. Plus I'm going to ride my bike for awhile because later I'm going to:

The Waltzing Weasel for wings and a pint!


Hope your weekend is less confusing than mine!

Weekly Wrap & Other Crap

Took a sick day today. No, I'm not dying or anything but I've had a scratchy sore throat for three days and had a pulsing pain above my left eye last night, thankfully gone now. So thought I'd spend a day laying on the couch and dosing myself with oil of oregano. Man that stuff stinks...and it tastes even worse than it smells. But it seems to work...I think my body is so repulsed by the stuff that it heals itself so I won't subject it to any more torture.


Speaking of torture, September's budget has come to an end...


Now...on to October!  I will start using Spendingdiary again this month which will help me to keep better tabs on my spending, at least that's the theory. I used it last year from about October to June and it did help me stay on track.


So once again I have no fancy pie charts to show you where all of my money went. But go it did. There was Kazi's birthday, back to school expenses, new tires for the car and plenty of dining and drinking. Did I tell you yet about the new pub we've found - "The Waltzing Weasel?" The best chicken wings ever!


But I digress - yes the stack of receipts from this month alone is a good half inch thick. Money came in and quickly departed. I just couldn't hang on to it. But, although I spent freely I also saved over $1,000 and paid down my line of credit by $1300.  And thanks to receiving a cheque from Michael today which will now be a monthly event to very much look forward to I was able to cover our overdraft and pay off the Mastercard.


So I stand before you today with my only debt being my Line of Credit ($35,000) and the roughly $45,000 mortgage on my PEI home. I have upped the bi-monthly mortgage payment which has brought the amortization down from 25 yrs. to 16 yrs. and I plan, yes PLAN, not HOPE, PLAN to have the Line of Credit paid in full within 18 months! So by the end of March 2013!!


Other goals for this year:

• get the Emergency Fund back up to $2000 (currently @ $1450)
• increase the Christmas fund to $1131 and stay within my budget this year 
• (currently @ $531)
• transfer $5000 into my TFSA by year end (currently @ $4300 & the transfer will increase my TFSA to $15, 186)
• get my line of credit down to $29,000 by year end!! This one is the most exciting goal!

Is your October budget ready to go?

Weekly Wrap: THE TRUE CONFESSIONS EPISODE

Head Wrap - ewww...what happened to her should blades??

I am trying to get my head wrapped around my numbers this month...(get it? head wrapped hee hee...sigh) so that I can produce a "Weekly Wrap." Its' just so sad and I'd rather try to distract you with "happy stuff"...like this:

Kazi and best friend Courtney on Kazi's 21st birthday:)

See? Eye candy! Aren't they pretty?  All dolled with someplace to go! Don't they just put a smile on your face and a dance in your heart? Ok, let's just forget about the numbers and go out and partay!!  


Or this:

The new beaded bracelet my friend Jules gave me - I LOVE it!! Look at all of the pretty colours...distracting right?

 And by popular request - my new $15 silver and turquoise ring! Sparkly huh?

And speaking of sparkly - here's Kazi's birthday sparkler from last night's dinner at Under the Volcano - boy, I tell ya that REALLY takes my mind off numbers...

 So does my favorite dessert - mmmmm deep-fried icecream...I sure could go for some right about now...the numbers can wait til later, right?

Or...how about an Irish coffee?  No? OK, how about a French coffee?? It's really yummy - it'll blow your mind!!


No? You still want the numbers?  oh poo...


Ok well you'll just have to trust me on this as I haven't put my numbers into Spend Diary since June so have no fancy shmancy charts to dazzle you with their pies and colours and bars. Nope, just dull old black and white.


The Good News: (this will be a short list)

• I over-estimated my Union Gas and London Hydro by a total of $59 which just became more $$ to spend (oops...good news turned into bad news!)
• Increased my Line of Credit payment from $1200 monthly to $1300
• Started saving for: new camera, condo redecoration, PEI home insurance and property taxes & PEI home maintenance & next year's trip to PEI - that's a whole lot more pots to divide my savings amongst!
• came just slightly under my grocery budget and my gasoline budget :)

The Bad News: (hold onto your hats folks!)

• had to buy all new tires which reduced my EF from $2000 to $1350
• both pays were less than I hoped they'd be (but only by $20)
• allowed myself $0.00 for entertainment this month as I knew it would be a tight month - HAH!! who was I kidding (do not have and do not want to know how much I actually spent on movies, coffees, newspapers, restaurants, clothing as it would make me cry)
• cell phone bill higher than budgeted by $10
• made a last minute impulse gift buy for Kazi in the form of a $50.00 Shopper's Drugmart gift card (horrible feeling of old bad habit creeping back in thinking I hadn't SPENT enough on her gifts (fall jacket, Keith Urban concert, dinner out, cupcakes...sigh)
• spent too much on clothing for myself thinking I would enjoy getting up and going to school more if I had some new clothes to wear!  WRONG!! I AM ENJOYING going to school VERY MUCH so didn't need to spend that money!! What a maroon!
• I now owe $443 on my President's Choice Mastercard - I haven't had any credit card debt in YEARS!! I'm mortified.
• I also bought just over $100 worth of jewelry to match my back to school clothes at Claire and Aldo's - another unnecessary purchase!
• I need to pay $50 into the Social Fund at school AND I need to contribute $30 for gifts for two staff who left and one who broke his leg just before school started (stupid boys!)
• I have $66 left in discretionary spending and $11.97 left in my wallet (I do have $$ set aside for groceries and gasoline

So there it is. Told ya it wasn't pretty. I guess I'll have to put off the social fund payment til next month but I'll have to fork over the $30 soon. That'll leave me with a grand total of $48 til my next pay on Sept. 30th (without dipping into savings which I absolute abhor!! or going into more debt...so NOT an option!)

Hence my fiscal fast for the next week.  I said I was going to start tomorrow but guess what?? 

I HAVE JUST NEGATIVELY MOTIVATED MYSELF TO START RIGHT NOW!!

For the next two weeks, yes you heard me, for the next 14 days I will only enter the grocery store or the farmer's market (I have $200 for food) or go to the gas station (I put $40 in today leaving me with $60 for gas) and will NOT spend beyond the $48 I have left.  I will try to UNDERSPEND on groceries so that I will have a positive balance in my chequing account at the end of the month, even if it's only a couple of dollars.

Think I can do it?  Or will I fall flat on my empty wallet?? It'll be quite a challenge that much is sure.

Emergency Fund Woes

There I was, all proud of myself for topping up my EF again. It had sunk to a low of $800 over the summer and at the end of August when I received the rest of the money from my trailer sale I boosted it back up to $2000.  But as we all know..."pride goeth before a fall!"


Then this happened.

Murphy's Law right? Oh hell. Well, maybe it's fixable. (Though probably not as my daughter drove I don't know how far with it like this...YES!! She said it was driving fine, she couldn't tell any difference??!!)  Sigh...Michael took it to our usual guy, Harry, I think I've written about him before.  Worse news, Harry's is now closed - we had no idea!  Digging through my memory for another reliable repair place I remembered Kraft which is about 2km in the other direction from our house.  Yes, still open...good start!

They recommended these:

Yup, all four of them.  Seems our tires were plum worn out. They also installed a right front linkage system - if you owned a Cobalt you would know this is a problem with these cars - one good pot hole = one broken link. All in all it came to $635, 4 new tires and a linkage kit and 13% sales tax.  I thought that was pretty reasonable.

But that means my $2000 EF is now down to $1365. And just after I updated all of my sidebar financial goals. (Way down the side!) I was feeling smug at having met one goal before the end of the year - no such luck! Stink! I think I'd better start practising more humility! 

So the savings (and spending) continues. I feel like I've spent a fortune the last couple of weeks but the majority of it will be reimbursed as they were expenditures for the classroom. I am all set up and ready to go though there are going to be a few glitches on the first day of school. 

I'll write about them tomorrow:)

Money? What money?

 Some folks have been blogging about how they spent their money this summer, as if summer were coming to an end or something. (Insert sound of sobbing here)  I thought this would be a good first step for me to start disclosing to you and admitting to myself that I went through a truckload of money this summer - luckily it was only a Toyota truck.


So first off we bought a BBQ. We scored big time on the BBQ - $78 at Walmart AND it has a side burner. This is how we cooked all summer, not yet having a stove. 

I bought a few clothes, mostly second hand or marked down by 50% (do you know they have end of season clothing on sale in mid-August? I love it!) However, I paid full price for this little number that I told myself I needed for a tiki-themed party I attended. Cute n'est pas? ($30)

 I thought we did pretty good on our furniture shopping - I bought this adorable rocking chair for $25...  (oh and those sneakers for $80, on sale from $149)

 and this table for our upstairs bathroom - fit perfectly! ($60)

 Not really having any furniture got to be a bore by the second week. We either had to stand up or go lay on the air mattress. So we bought some outdoor furniture from the Super Store that was on sale. Once we build our deck we'll be all set for furniture.

The faux wicker set (2 chairs, loveseat, cushions, table and umbrella) $199

 The dining room furniture - table, 4 chairs and umbrella - $99.

We bought the futon at Walmart for $128; it'll be fine for one of the spare bedrooms once we purchase REAL bedroom furniture. The side tables came from used furniture stores. $15

 Food, food and more food. You're just lucky I don't have any photos of me eating one of about 50 icecream cones!! We ate out a lot...too much, in fact. Due to the...ahem...rainy weather we found ourselves heading to the pub on a frequent basis - the food (and beer) was just so good!  $???

We became regulars on wing night Thursdays, and open mike Mondays, and Tammy & Jay Roy Wednesday nights and...you get the drift!

 We did get some exercise - dancing to the tunes played by Joey Doucette:), of course that would just make us thirsty again!

 Woops, didn't realize I was hanging out in the background of this shot - this is Steve, Kelly and Ellen - Steve is the owner of the Albert and Crown, our local. And we all became very good friends.

 Another major expense, one I haven't added up yet, of course was gas. We travelled all over the island and I don't regret one cent of that money. $??

 Here we are at a picnic in Canoe Cove - what a great spot! But we did bring our own lunch so brought down the expense somewhat. Just had to pay for gas.

 We attended just about every live music event at the Albert and Crown (paying a cover charge each time) and especially enjoyed the folk music of Laura Smith. $?

 We spent some money on gardening tools, an axe, a machete and lots more. I'm really not missing a tooth in this photo. Really. $??

 Here I am dealing with the wood from the maple tree I cut down - do you like my new wheel barrow? About $60.

 We each bought a bike. I bought mine at Walmart - just under $100. Michael bought his from a fellow who fixes up used bikes and sells them - he paid $50.

 $7 to pay for four magazines that had stories in them written by my mother - priceless!! Found them in a second-hand furniture store!

 $10 for our Welcome sign. Not a good deal - it's like a piece of wallpaper stuck to a piece of tin and within a couple of days the paper was coming loose. A job for my Gorilla glue!

 $5 for my cut glass hummingbird feeder - it works!! Hours of enjoyment, money well spent!

 Alcohol. Way too much $$. This is something called Sourpuss (sour raspberry I think) mixed with 7UP - oh my it's so good but it goes down like koolaid - too fast!

 Gahan's beer! A microbrewery on the island - good stuff!

Had a really yummy dinner here. $40

Our light cover for our outdoor light - so happy to find one - $6.

 Here it is in place, all painted up.

 This band was terrific - called Ol' Savannah - they were playing on the street in Charlottetown one night. $2

 Just in case you needed to see the light from the other side....

 Oh here I am getting icecream...they have a flavour called Toffee Almond Chill that we don't have here in Ontario. LOVE IT!!

 Yes, I bought a bat house, should have bought two! Lots of mosquitoes this summer! $15

Our clothesline:)

And of course we had to pay $43.25 to leave the island. I don't much care for that cost but have you seen the Confederation Bridge?? Holy cow - we'll be paying for it forever!


There were many more costs I haven't tallied (and probably won't - I'm thinking I'll just start fresh in September!) Groceries, dishes, gas for the lawnmower (lawnmower was free from a friend), oh yes and we paid $625 to have electric baseboard heaters put in and $120 for new kitchen faucets. 


I used $1000 from the sale of my trailer towards the summer's costs, we had some money saved up ($380) and we made $180 at a yardsale before we left. The rest came from NOT saving as much as I usually do. I sort of suspended my automatic savings deposits for two months to give us more cash flow. Oh yeah, and we had to have a repair done to the car, around $220.


So I feel like I've been bleeding money all summer long but have September's frugal budget in place. More on that in another post, this one is already way too long. 


There's just so much to tell y'all!!