January Recap

Due to the terrible events of the past week or two I haven't posted much. So...I'll get back into the swing of things by recapping January's budget.

What went well: (almost everything)

• the cost-of-living increase in my teacher's pension was TO THE DOLLAR exactly equal to the increases in my bills: property tax, condo fee and insurance! Sometimes the system works. That allowed the increase in my Canada Pension Plan ($8.00 whoopdedoo!) to be added to my savings.
• Saving $1,000 per month is very doable. Tsf'd $1100 in January to savings. (Travel fund:)
• Overestimates in utilities put $46 back into my misc budget line. It's just not been that cold so far this winter.
• Didn't have to pay property taxes this month as I am on a 10 month schedule. Went to savings instead.
• Overpaid insurance so received a credit in January and NO payment til Feb. Extra went to savings.
• Received investment income. Rolled it over.
• Due to various bits and bobs my misc spending budget was $675 in January!! Out of that I saved enough to buy 250 pounds sterling! 
• Received GST refund ($105 4 x a year) put it into savings
• Came in under budget for gas $75/$100 & groceries $255/$280. Extra went to misc.
• Even with that I finished January with $31 in my chequing account. Added that to February's budget.

What didn't go quite as well but wasn't too bad considering!

• $60 for eye doctor because of Posterior Vitreous Detachment issue - have a checkup in a week which is also covered by the $60 payment already made. Don't feel too upset about that bill!
• $37 for a prescription

January was a great month!!

Misc spending covered:

• two meals out (Hong Ping with a friend & Swiss Chalet with my neighbour - an annual Christmas treat)
• Wine and Food Show
• Purchased Amazon Prime for a year which also includes Amazon Prime Video streaming. Comes to less than $7.00/month
• Art supplies ordered through Amazon (free shipping :) 
• added $ to my Tim's card and my Starbucks card
• Home Depot materials to fix electrical outlet
• Walmart - craft supplies (political sign-making)
• Google storage
• 250 pounds sterling

Stay tuned for February's budget recap when I proceed to spend twice what I saved in January!!

(Scotland trip is shaping up!!)

Ups and Downs

I should have mentioned when I posted on January 5th that so far in 2017 I hadn't spent any money! Five No Spend days in a row! I wondered how long I could go this month without spending anything at all and well it was Jan. 5th :)
My friend Julie was back from LA and had an empty fridge so I picked up food from Hong Ping and we had a feast! Definitely a money-worthy event.

And it was all downhill from there...as I checked in my local thrift shop for a warm brown hat. There were tons of hats but nothing that suited me or went with its intended brown coat. Oh well, might as well have a wander...

I love metal decor of all sorts and I like watching pieces get weathered.

This will go out on my patio to keep DREAM company.

Now I won't just be dreaming I'll be hoping and dreaming:)

I seem to be lucky lately finding silver filagree work. These 3 flowers are displayed in a shadow box.

Remember this one? Same store. 

And also for my patio - 2 cast iron birds/candle holders - extremely heavy. 

Okay, I'm ready for summer! Too bad it's about a hundred below zero today!

Speaking of the cold... 

I managed to finish a crocheted headband for Kazi.

It looks amazing on her, me not so much.

I'm making one for Hannah too; it's almost done except for 

sizing and sewing on the buttons.

I'm also back in the workshop and have 4 carvings under way - they still look like blobs at the moment so I'll wait til I get to the polishing stage before taking any photos.

Over all I'm happy with how the week went - played volleyball 3 days and rode my stationary bike a couple of times while watching "Trapped" on Netflix. I really love Scandinavian crime shows! This one takes place in Iceland.  And I did my stretches every day (for my sad knee) and my sun salutations as soon as I get up, even though it's still dark out! The result - less pain. Who knew? Well, I guess my physiotherapist...

IT'S NOT FUNGUS HURRAH HURRAH!!

It was as I thought - a blister under the toenail. I might lose the nail but then again I might not. However, toenails grow so slowly it'll be awhile before I know either way. As long as it's NOT FUNGUS I am a happy camper!

Well, happy until I look at my budget this month. I've been pointedly ignoring it the past couple of weeks and it hasn't been doing too well on its own. Don't ever leave your budget to look after itself...just sayin'...

Is March like the longest month of the year? It's only the 13th today for Pete's sake! Already I've transferred small amounts of money from savings into chequing to cover things...possibly but highly unlikely I might have $$ at the end of the month to put back into my savings but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

So what has the misc budget been spent on so far this month??

• my lovely new Merrell hiking sandals shown above around half-price $66.00 (includes taxes) I'm somewhat optimistic that spring, summer and fall WILL OCCUR at some point this year and when they do I'll be ready!! These give me an alternative to my hiking boots - I might even be able to wear them occasionally when hiking Hadrian's Wall when/if the weather is nice. At the very least I can wear them each day after hiking to give my feet a break! I just started wearing them around the house and I feel as though I have nothing on my feet. 
• expensive eye drops and omega 3 vitamins to combat "dry eye" syndrome (I'm so tired of winter and it's effects on my body!!)  $32.00
• some household things from Dollarama (oh...and candy!) $17.00
• load my Timmy's card - $15.00
• income tax software - $21.00
• donation to help bring Nate home  $20.00
• truck repair $11.00
• movie $10.00
• utilities (I underestimated both my electricity and natural gas - damn winter!!) $15.00
• Ancestry.ca membership $192.00 (I swear this gets more expensive every year!)
• Take-out food from Hong Pings $43.00
• Wine - $20.00
• Giant Tiger (jacket & chocolate bar) $32.00

That comes to a total of.....$494.00. I have $306 left in misc for a total of $800. Since my misc budget is set at $600 that means I've pulled $200 out of savings. I still have over 18 days left in March!! Yikes! I am REALLY going to try to make many of those NO SPEND DAYS!! 

The good news is I received over $800 in interest payments this month and am anxiously awaiting my tax refund to be deposited (over $1200). These monies will all go towards travelling this year. I have possibly 4 trips in the offing from a 4 day weekend to 2 weeks in England.  AND I'm hoping to buy a trailer soon. 

Bye bye money!!

Anyone else having an expensive month?

Early Sunday Morning

I was up at 5:30am today! I fell asleep reading on the couch last night, woke up at 11pm and then headed to bed! Didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep but apparently I did! Here it is, not even lunch time yet and I have all of my Sunday work done. Laundry is all caught up, fresh sheets on my bed, cleaned out the vanity drawers in the upstairs bathroom as well as the big cupboard under the sink. I was able to eliminate the shelving unit that was over the toilet in the upstairs bathroom so that it looks more spacious. That'll last til Kazi gets home this Thursday (YAY!) and then the bathroom will once again be overloaded with cosmetics, lotions, hair accessories and the like. Why is it I can manage with 1 shampoo, 1 body wash and 1 lotion and Kazi has about 10 of each?? Ahhhh youth!

An update on Kazi - she texted me that Jones Packaging has called her back to a 3rd interview!! That sounds promising! Not sure if she has arranged a time for that yet. Keep your fingers crossed! She'll be one step closer to flying the coop if she gets a full-time job with benefits. Not that I want to get rid of her yes I do or anything but she is 23, has finished her education and is poised to take the next step in her life. Me too.

So I have lots of time on my hands today - I can watch lots of Olympic coverage :) !! I don't even need to cook - I made a huge pot of cabbage soup and cooked rice and quinoa plus I have leftovers from eating out Friday night at Hong Ping in London with my brother, sister-in-law and a couple of friends. They give ginormous sized portions and I got some of the leftovers. For the 5 of us the bill only came to $63.00! Plus 2 of us had a glass of wine and my brother had a beer! Fabulous! I am looking forward to dinner! Or maybe lunch :) !!

I just had to include a photo of Canadian sisters, Chloe and Justine Dufour-Lapointe, women's freestyle mogul winners - they came in first and second - what a thrilling moment!! And they are so beautiful too! The highlight of yesterday's Olympics for me!

I am doing ok my friends. Semester 2 is off to a good start and spring is only about 6 weeks away...I hope! Spring, seeing little green things poke their heads out of the earth always gives me a lift. It's difficult to imagine that right now with everything deeply buried under the white stuff but I know it'll happen...eventually. That's something to look forward to!

How's your Sunday shaping up?