One's Valentine's Day Plans

When one is single, like this one is, one must makes one's own Valentine's Day Plans...for one....

...unless one has awesome friends who are also single and looking for something to do on that one anti-singletons day of the year - VD DAY!!

Happily one has such awesome single friends who one just happen to also LOVE so all is not lost!! One plus one plus one will be gathering at one's place for some mouthwatering chinese food from one's favourite place to eat - Hong Pings!! One's girls are spending the night so that one plus one plus one can indulge oneselves in a couple bottles of wine plus lots and lots of chocolate!!

One plus one plus one will put one's new TV room into use and watch some movies - one is renting "The Judge" and "Boyhood" ironically:)

So much feasting and indulging will be had by one plus one plus one until we crash! I think one plus one plus one will have a tonne of fun!

Guess which one I am?

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

March Break Begins...

in two more days!!  And I am preparing a list of things I want to get accomplished. For example, I plan to strip the old caulking from around the bathtub and re-caulk it. I'm going to clean the grout between the tiles in the bathroom with bleach. My daughter got a printer with her mactop and has never been able to hook it up to work wirelessly so yes, I'm going to solve that problem (maybe). I MUST get rolling on listing items for sale on Kijiji - that's only been on my TO DO List for a few months... ETC. ETC. I won't be twiddling my thumbs! If I get bored I have these to keep me occupied:

 Right now I'm reading a book on my Kindle AND I'm almost finished "The Introvert Advantage" (you can see my bookmark sticking out.  And Michael wants me to get started on "The Soul of Money" which a friend sent to him on his birthday - he's finished it and is raving about it. I'm really looking forward to being able to sit for a couple of hours and just read :)

Happily I am back on my bike and pedaling like MAD!! Only 120km from Philly (and no, I haven't forgotten about you Sluggy! I have a stubborn 3 pounds to lose to get to my 10 Pound Challenge goal and have (once again) renewed my efforts....sigh... Speaking of losing weight (not) I have my daughter's fave recipe baking away in the oven - it's called No Peeking Chicken (kind of a play on words of Peking Chicken just in case you didn't catch the reference!) It's the easiest recipe in the world!! You put a bunch of skinless chicken in the bottom of a roasting pan - I'm using thighs this time but any parts will do, and cover it with a mixture of a can of cream of celery soup, a can of mushroom soup, a can of water, some sour cream if you have it but that's optional (well, not optional for ME) and a cup full of either wild rice or brown rice. I had some celery stalks that were getting a little floppy so I cut them up and tossed them in too. Mushrooms are nice in this recipe too. Then sprinkle some onion soup mix on top. Put a lid on it and bake 2 hours in a 350 oven - and NO PEEKING because the steam needs to stay in the pot! Yum yum yum!! Course I'm having some chicken but only a teeny weeny bit of rice. Yeah, right!

Last night I worked on income tax as Kazi printed off the tuition forms from her university. I juggled numbers and got us both a very juicy refund. Hers will pay almost half of next year's tuition!! Plus she's mailed forms away for a tuition rebate from last year's tuition that our very in-debt gov't is offering (though probably not for long!) Mine will be put towards my line of credit though I might allow myself a new spring top as it was a robust 15c today with lots of sunshine. One of those days that are such a gift in early spring. So, tonight I file my taxes online and should see the $$ next week! Yippee!!

And finally - Today's Inspirational Moment:

Michael bought these flowers on Valentine's day and has gradually been removing the dead ones as they wilted, dried out and fell onto the table. Yesterday I took this other picture:

this is all that remains after 3 weeks. Michael's been going through a bit of a yucky time and we were inspired by how beautiful these perky little remnants looked floating around in a dish or water. They have no stems anymore and the petals are curling up but there is still a bit of life and loveliness left. Here is what we came up with after having a good long heart to heart talk:

"Even in the midst of our mess we can salvage something good." 


Whenever we go through a tough time we can ALWAYS take away something good. Whether is be a lesson learned, an inner discovery of our own strength or simply the satisfaction of knowing we did our best in a difficult situation there is always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

Here endeth the lesson.

Challenging Challenges

Besides Carla's double challenge of No/Low Spending and Decluttering my little piece of the universe I am taking part in two other challenges - The 10 Pound Challenge with Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget and The Sealed Pot Challenge with Sft at Travel, Mortgage Freedom, 101 and Life Goals. Also, once Little Lamb at Little Lam Wants to be Debt Free  becomes debt-free (very very soon!!) I will be joining her celebration by dedicating a 25km bike ride to her amazing accomplishment!

You could say that I'm challenged.

Here is a look at my Sealed Pot:

Now, I don't weigh mine like some people I know (Carla), but then $5.00 bills don't weigh very much! I'm keeping it well fed. I have a feeling I might need to make another pot or find something a little larger. But I'll wait and see. I've been thinking a lot about what I'll do with the money and I think I've finally decided. I'm going to put the money into something I really need for my home in PEI. I don't know what that'll be yet, but by December I will have made up my mind. Some possibilities are: a tankless hot water heater, new deck, new fence, leveling the driveway, commissioning a headboard from Jeffery Kerras at Back Road Folk Art, or another piece of furniture for the house.

I'm glad I didn't make a firm decision right off the bat about how I wanted to use the money once opened. It's nice to have something to dream about and I can keep changing my mind right up until December.

The 10 Pound Challenge is a different story:

I haven't been as successful with this challenge as I would like. There have been a lot of ups and downs, lots of temptations - invitations to dinner, eating out, Valentine's Day dinner and so on. I would say that 5/7 days per week I'm sticking to my "eating plan" (stole that from Gill - it's so NOT a diet!!)  Hence the ups and downs.

Now, if it were a TRUE eating plan I'd be able to stick to it even when I eat out, but I haven't been. I've been indulging myself. My only saving grace is I still have until April  16 to lose the ten pounds. I have lost a solid seven pounds and do notice the difference in the waist band of my clothes. I would like to lose at least another seven pounds for a total of fourteen pounds. Sooooooooooooooo I will keep trying. And trying. And trying. I won't give up. I'm pretty confident I can get to ten pounds by April 16. Then I'll try for another four to five pounds more by summer. I have hung onto a big pile of summer clothes from skinnier days - if I can't wear them THIS summer then out they go. I really don't to do that, hence the CHALLENGE!

Sigh......OK, time to get my but in gear...I think I need to go have some lunch...I'm suddenly feeling very hungry!

Change of Plan!!

As Michael left for work tonight he said "be sure and check your email!" Well, being the  curious creature that I am I immediately whipped out my laptop and signed on. Here is what I found:

"Dear Jane,

I was thinking, since I am off on Tuesday (Valentines Day) I could make us a lovely meal/dinner instead of going out to Waltzing Weasel.

If you were to have dinner made for you on Valentines Day, what would you like to have?

Email me a wish list (no later than 7am Tuesday February 14, 2012) for what you would like for dinner.

 Plan to dine at the Wild Mountain Honey Cafe at 5pm. on Huron St. Bring your appetite and love in your heart."

Oh my! What do you think I should order??

There are a LOT of Valentine's Day Cynics Out There!!!!!!!!!!!

Hoo boy I think I struck a nerve out there with a certain segment

of the population with my Valentine's Day - Cynic or True Believer post

last Saturday. There must have been a ton of people on Saturday night

with nothing better to do than google "Valentine's Day" and "cynic" which

in itself is kind of sad, or maybe not sad but ironic depending on

your point of view.

The post received 15 comments which is neither here nor there.

However, it has been viewed 2,175 times!! OMG!!

My next highest post has been viewed 401 times and

was written last November.

Just in the past hour since I started writing this post 8

more people have viewed my "cynical post".  What does this say

about the state of love in the world?

Are many of us turning into cynics? Is it because half of 

today's marriages end in divorce thus causing people to have

lots of free time on their hands to trawl the internet

in search of validation for their cynicism??

I really truly hope not.

Because really, love is all there is.

The Twelve Days of February

This is the first day of the final 12 days of February. Are you going to make it to the end of the month before the end of your money?? That seems to be the big question right now. Sharon, the creator of the No Spend February challenge is down to $271.00 for the rest of February (but she heard about a way to find some unclaimed money - to find out how she did this click HERE!)

Yesterday I unexpectedly had to spend $30 at the drugstore. Rats! Fortunately I am doing well in the categories of food and gas due to a little help from other family members. (Sidenote: I just found out I LOVE LENTILS!!! They are delicious AND inexpensive!!)  As it stands right now I have $102.00 left for groceries, $75.00 left for gas and $68.00 left in misc spending for a grand total of...wait for it...$245.00. Normally I would say that's enough but this Friday Michael and I are celebrating an anniversary as well as Valentine's as we didn't get to spend Valentine's Day together.

To save $$ Michael is cooking dinner at home, then we plan to go to a couple of movies and maybe out for a drink after the movies. We'll save more $$ by going to see the movies at the Rainbow.  Do you suppose the jazz club will let us BYOB??

Well, we're over the hump - tomorrow's Friday and this has been a pretty good week overall. Our broken angel is doing quiet well with our new strategies provided by a behavioral consultant from CPRI. The staff is working together well and the week has been much less stressful. Tomorrow our Best Buddies are coming to visit and we're having a pizza lunch:)

THEN - a THREE DAY WEEKEND!! This coming Monday is "Family Day" in Canada, a fairly new holiday (I think this is the 3rd year since it was implemented). I am really looking forward to spending a day with my wee family and to working a 4 day week next week.

Do you (my fellow Canuks) have Family Day plans??

Have a Sweet Valentine's Day!

If you read my Valentine's diatribe you'll have noted that the cynics were very much outnumbered by the believers. I think that says something nice about the world. (or at least about my READERS!!)

Today I received some cozy red "reading socks" (I can just envision being curled up by my woodstove in PEI with my red socks on:) AND a beautifully written original poem by Michael along with a special picture of the two of us.

Romantic stuff huh?  Sheesh he can be a mushy guy!

In return I had the photo of our foot impressions on the Northport Beach in PEI enlarged and framed in a beautiful frame made of juniper wood. That is especially poignant because the lovingly restored floors in our old farmhouse are juniper. For his sweet tooth a box of his favourite Dad's oatmeal cookies.

And a really mushy card.

For my darling daughter - an album of photos of the two of us from her 20th birthday party:

For her sweet tooth - a bag of caramel-filled chocolate hearts.  And because I am forever practical and she's been complaining of not having enough hangers I gave her a $5 pack of 30 plastic hangers.

So today was a bit of a spending day though spending on my loved ones was such a treat. The photos came to about $10, the frame and photo albums, cookies, candy, hangers and cards about another $45. I don't mind - I still have enough misc $$ to see me through until the end of the month plus money for gas and groceries.

I feel very blessed and forever grateful to have love in my life - the love of my amazing daughter and the love of a very good man. 

Here's my two week summary for No Spend February:

Right on Track!

Valentine's Day - Cynic or True Believer?

Some people, I won't mention who, are very cynical about Valentine's Day. Other people, like Michael, see Valentine's Day as a day to celebrate love.

Some people, see Valentine's Day as a huge money grab by retailers whose bottom line has sunk heavily down into the red zone since the long-past days of the heady Christmas bonanza. Other people, like Michael, see Valentine's Day as a time to focus on precious memories of special times spent with loved ones over the past year.

Some people, see Valentine's Day as a day that makes unattached men and women feel like losers. Other people, like Michael, feel that Valentine's Day is a wonderful opportunity to spend time together whispering sweet, mushy things into each other's ear. 

Some people, believe that we should celebrate our love everyday, not just on Valentine's Day.  Other people, like Michael agree. Ummm....what?

Where do you stand??