Well That Never Happens...

Well that never happens...almost never that is...!

Guess what?!  I had a surplus in my budget at the end of December! In previous years I've usually been in the hole by a whole bunch! I'm not  exactly sure why or how it happened but I'm certainly not complaining!

Below is my budget for December - not pretty is it?! I am a very messy budgeter but it works for me.
I don't feel motivated to go through it now item by item to figure how I ended up with a substantial surplus but I can make a few guesses.

• I had an extra $150 in my December budget due to paying my property taxes over 10 months instead of 12 - I really appreciate that around Christmas. I end up with an extra $300 in total to put towards Christmas expenses. 
• Food expenses were lower mostly due to getting a half price turkey in November which I stored away along with some of the fixings. Usually I wait til the last minute to go food shopping for Christmas so getting some things in November really helped the December budget. As it was I still ended up over spending on food by $30 which was covered by my misc budget line
• As far as decorating goes I didn't buy anything new. My only purchase was a $6 poinsettia for my neighbour and one for myself. I use an artificial tree.
• I think the main reason for decreased spending in December was due to buying gifts while I was in Scotland: beautiful wool scarves were a big hit as were woollen toques and mittens and fingerless gloves, handmade soaps, books, bookmarks, jewellery, and of course - scotch! So in December I got Juno tickets for Kazi and I (Canadian Grammys), a few more books and that was about it. I also helped Kazi by paying off her phone bill and I created a 2019 calendar with some of my photos through a printing company called Vista. I also made a couple more charitable donations than I usually do. 

So to all of you smug folks out there who shop and plan for Christmas beginning in January I now understand why!!! and I plan to do this from now on! On January 1st I was able to put $1500 into savings instead of the usual $1000. Only $500 more to go and I will have recouped all the money I spent (from savings accounts) last year on paying off my car and travel. 

Oh the sun is shining so I'll soon be heading out to Kilally Meadows :) but one more thing...

FOOD!!

I recently tried a frittata recipe and we loved it. Besides being delicious I like that I can hide leftovers in it :) scraps of chicken or turkey, limp vegetables - pretty much anything goes. And it lasts us three meals so is very economical as well as yummy! Just top with shredded cheese and a dash or two of Frank's hot sauce (any dish that Kazi can top with Frank's is a good meal in her humble opinion 😋

By the Numbers

I have been bogged down lately due to my habit of taking literally thousands of photos when I travel. My recent trip to Scotland was no exception! I snapped crazily away at every waterfall, every mountain, every castle, every sheep, every island...well, you get the picture heeheehee. So far I have "sent to trash" around 1,000 photos due to being blurry, uninteresting, bad light etc. I hope to delete at least another 1,000 over the next few weeks, hopefully more.

So I thought I would do a "by the numbers" post as October has provided a number of numbers...groan...significant ones from my point of view. As the month is rapidly coming to a close this post could also serve as a budget update. Killing a few birds with a couple of big numbers, sort of....here goes.

• 290 + 145 = 435 pounds Sterling still in my money belt after the trip! That's never happened before, usually I spend all of my cash and then turn to credit cards. The 290 is what I had leftover, the 145 was what my brother had leftover and which he gifted to me towards my next trip. He's planning a trip for next year to Ireland where he'll be spending Euros instead. The 290 that I brought back is almost 1/3 of what I took with me (900 pounds) - my brother taught me a thing or two about how to be frugal while travelling :) 
• $411 Canadian dollars each - the total for 3 weeks of renting a car plus gas came to $411 each. I tried to put the 145 pounds he gave me towards the rental car but my brother wouldn't let me - he was quite adamant that it go towards my next trip. What a guy...but really, that was quite economical I thought thanks to my daughter who was working at Enterprise at the time and gave us a hefty discount. Thanks Kazi!!
• $1,000 - sent to savings this month.
• $55.97 - electricity which is quite high for this time of year but I was informed that the hot and humid weather lasted all through September requiring the continued use of A/C. Next bill should be lower. I've allotted $45 for November's budget.
• $45 - I've also allotted $45 for natural gas for November which is higher than October's bill as the furnace has started to kick in. My last bill was $33.08.
• $82.98 - my cell phone bill was a whopping $4.00 higher - I turned my phone on a couple times to use the GPS; my fingers are crossed that my next cell bill is back to its usual amount of $79.00. Yes, cell phones are expensive to operate in Canada.
• $280 - my food budget. I know I overspent on food as I stocked up my pantry for soup making, Scottish oat scone baking, crockpot recipes etc. I could find out how much I overspent but I don't really want to know...it was BAD!
• ZERO!! Gas for the car budget line. Yup. I had about a quarter tank when I returned and I had a $25.00 Esso card. Now at the end of October I have about half a tank still. I've been driving a little but still walking and biking a fair bit.
• $86.27 misc spending budget line was quite low this month though I did make a few small purchases: about $20 for a hockey stick, yes for me, I'm now playing ball hockey! Also bought new knee pads for volleyball for $25. I purchased 3 books from Amazon. While away we went to a number of bookstores, used and new, and I took photos of the covers of books I would like to buy as I can get them cheaper from Amazon. That amounted to $33.27. The other thing was $8.00 for a good pair of goggles hoping to stretch out the biking season a little. Cold air makes my eyes water, especially when biking so I'll see if the goggles cut the breeze a bit. Worth a shot. I had allotted $500 to my misc budget so the leftover amount went to paying down my mastercard. 
• $100 - The outstanding amount still on my credit card. $111.00 is what I have left in my chequing account. I am going to pay off my credit card and will have $11 left to spend until Oct. 31 when I get "paid".  That's a bit of a stretch but I've starting putting money in my snowflake tin once again. I was able to stash $200 this month. So if I have any sort of emergency like running out of Miss Vickie's salt and vinegar chips then I'll have to use a snowflake or two!
• 73,000-68,698 = 4,302!!!!!!!!! This is my most significant number as of yesterday. I saw my odometer turn over to 73,000kms. When I purchased my used Honda Civic it had 68,698kms on it. I purchased it in September 2017. So in 13 months I have driven only 4,302kms (which equals 2673.14 miles) The average is 20,000kms per year. I am thrilled with that number! You will remember I wanted to go car free but then decided it would be too difficult. I have achieved a compromise that I can live with....for now.
• 15 - doing all that walking and biking over the past year has helped me achieve one other goal - to lose 15 lbs! Yay me! Those extra lbs have been really hard to shift thanks to menopause, my age and my metabolism slowing way down. 

So that's it for now. I will share more photos after another round of editing..but will leave you this one til then...

Traffic jam on the Isle of Skye!

Mid-March Madness

Money-wise this has been a March like no other. Thankfully in a good way (mostly....) Somewhere along the way I made a $300 mistake in my budget...in my favour!! How often does that happen? Usually never right? Occasionally I make an error in adding or subtracting on my budget sheet and of those errors about 98% of them are NOT in my favour! Most times the mistake is under $50, usually less than that. Am I looking to figure out how I made the $300 mistake? Ummmmm NO! - I'm crossing my fingers I can get to the end of March with that error intact! Counting the days....

Between that $300 and my misc budget line I have almost enough to pay for 3 weeks of airbnbs in Scotland! No money taken out of savings! My goal was to spend no more than $1,000 (Cdn) for the 21 nights with my brother contributing the same amount. The final tally came to $818 (Cdn) each - EXCELLENT! (Works out to just under $40/night/person!!) I'd call that "extra spending money" except that the British pound is going up up up while the Cdn dollar is going down down down. The savings on accommodations will hopefully cover the extra we'll have to pay to buy British pounds (or poonds as the Scottish say...)

So all is booked and confirmed. Though I had mega-problems with my President's Choice Mastercard. After booking several airbnbs my mastercard was frozen due to my making transactions out of my usual pattern. Okay then, I let them know I had a few more to book so this wouldn't happen again. Well, it did, after one more successful booking my account was frozen once again. Another lengthy ordeal on the phone..."there are 23 people on hold ahead of you....." all I can say is thank goodness for Paypal which I used instead! Sorted once again I assumed my problems were over. I filled in a "travel alert" so they would know when I was travelling and act accordingly.

On Thursday I met with my brother once again as we needed to book a night near Stirling and 3 nights in Glasgow. Guess what? You guessed it! Account froze again. Well when I finally got a REAL person I went up one side of them and down the other. I'm usually very mild-mannered but this was just TOO MUCH!! After getting sorted for the 3rd time they apologized and offered me 20 President's Choice points to make me feel better - I don't think he liked it when I laughed loudly and said "don't bother - you know that's only 20 cents right??"

So here's the thing - I think I need to switch to another credit card. I received NO notifications by phone, email or text about so-called suspicious activity. (You know the messages I mean - an unusual charge just happened with your credit card - if it was you please ignore this message, if it wasn't you please call immediately!) He couldn't believe that I hadn't received any such contact and did a search only to find I was right.  Stupid stupid man...

Have you ever encountered this problem? What am I doing wrong? Any recommended credit cards (remembering I live in Canad...) Grrrrrrrrr! The thought of having to switch cards irks me to no end!

Strange growths in Kilally Meadows!

After my daffodils popped up their heads we had a fair bit of snow and it got very cold again. I think they died as I don't see them now that the snow melted. Rats...

I've been checking almost daily but no activity in the nest yet. I thought I saw an osprey flying very high yesterday (I could see the wing shape) but it didn't go near the nest while I was looking. Soon!

Marching on...

March 8 is International Women's Day!

I am celebrating by going to a women's march on March 3rd. My main interest is
"equal pay for equal work"! 

Sometimes it feels like no progress is being made when you consider how long women have been marching for something that should be a given. When I worked for the Royal Bank of Canada for 14 years I wasn't paid equally to the men working there in the same positions - the saddest part was I accepted that - that's the way it was!! My eyes are OPEN now and I realize how heavy the foot was that held me, and millions of women around the world DOWN!

And so I march on and on...

In other news...I have closed off February's budget and have set up my budget for March. I hope March isn't as spendy as January and February!!! I hope the money I put into savings this month stays there!
OH MY!! 
But the good news is my brother and I have purchased our flight tickets for September's trip. Money well spent as was all the money I have spent recently. Two new pairs of glasses, a very healthy Lily, memberships to ancestry.ca & amazon renewed, invalid food, many household purchases made, car had it's semi-annual inspection & oil change etc etc etc! And let's not forget my big tax bill grrrrrrrrr!!

I've decided to pay my taxes with investment interest as those two items are linked together so it seems fitting: I benefited greatly with big, and I mean BIG tax refunds when Kazi was a dependent and I maxed out my RRSP account yearly. NOW I get to pay back those benefits - aren't I lucky?! Me and millions like me. I used to let that interest compound but now I am going to put that money to use.

 Any RRSP money not withdrawn by age 71 becomes a RIF and I'll be forced to withdraw a certain percentage annually. So from now on any tax payments I need to make will be covered by interest. It feels less painful when I look at it that way :)

That about wraps up the past week. Kazi is over the flu but has a couple of other health issues - she has a weird bump on one elbow and a similar one on a toe. A biopsy has been down and we're awaiting the results. Then yesterday she whacked her foot on a piece of furniture and is going for an x-ray and ultrasound - they're concerned about a blood clot as her calf was tingly all day yesterday. So I've checked my phone about a million times so far this morning hoping for some good news! Nothing...

The weather has been amazing - warm and sunny - helping the ground dry up. My daffodils and snow drops are emerging once again though I hear more snow is in our future.

THIS IS NOT SPRING!! 

Oh darn...

February Budget

Yup, I'm pretty much done with January.

I'm sporting quite the bruise after walking in Kilally Meadows - the trails are covered in ice about 2" thick - so yes, I slipped while taking a photo. The camera is ok. Yesterday when I was walking through I left my camera at home and walked more carefully. With a walking stick. Lesson learned.

January was an expensive healthcare type of month: renewed a prescription $28, had an eye exam $120 (all is well, in fact my eyes have improved so will be shopping for glasses soon) and dentist $230. You'd think for $230 I'd get more than x-rays, cleaning and polishing...like maybe a gold tooth or two? But I'm set for awhile. Eye exam is every two years, dentist is now once a year from previously going every 6 months, then every 9 months. Yes, I have excellent oral hygiene :) 

I paid for my healthcare expenses from my weekly misc discretionary spending budget line. So I had to be more frugal than usual with my spending. Luckily I underspent in a couple of categories, not by a lot but it helped. $60 was allotted for gas and I only spent $30. $280 was allotted for groceries and only spent $229. $70 was allotted for electricity - the bill was $$56. All the little extras were re-directed to my misc budget and even after buying wine (a necessity) I had a budget surplus of $116. So I had me a little splurge at the thrift shop purchasing 3 items for a total of $12. I'd been denying myself for quite some time - haven't been to a store other than the grocery store since Christmas shopping.

Nothing too fancy - I like trouser style track pants and was looking for grey - voila!

My eye was attracted to the material in this top - it will go nicely over a pair of black tights.

This v-neck boho top makes me think of summer and screamed "Sunfest"! Both tops are very light gauzy material which also packs well :) and can be layered with a tank top or long sleeved top for warmth. Just another wild spending spree a la Jane!

Oh yes, and my Amazon Prime membership was renewed in January for $90. I am very happy with this service. I order a lot from Amazon and while I didn't keep track I'm sure I saved way more than $90 on shipping fees. (my daughter also purchased a number of things under my name in order to get the free delivery.) Also included in the membership is a streaming service while not quite as good as Netflix, it's pretty close. And no overlap of programming.

I also managed to go to a movie ("The Post" with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks - I highly recommend it! Very timely considering the attack on news reporting in the States), went out for lunch and out to Roxbury's a couple times after volleyball for a pint (and free pizza!). I've also set up a monthly withdrawal to go to Red Cross and January was the first month for that.

So I am really pleased with January's budget results. I still stuck a $1,000 into savings as I try to do every month but did not increase my snowflakes. I'll return to building that in February. I've made up a new budget to begin in February. I've received notice of my pension increases - I wish I could say that the increase more than covers the increase in my bills but my property taxes really went up a lot and there's nothing I can do about that other than grin and bear it. I think overall I came out about even. And that will have to do.

Are you closing off your January budget yet? How did you do this month?

A New Year!

It remains to be seen whether it will be a HAPPY year or not!

Though being the eternal optimist that I am it can't be anything BUT!

I don't usually make resolutions as studies show most resolutions fall by the wayside after 2-3 weeks.

So...I'll just say this:

• I hope to be somewhat more productive next year but if I'm not that's ok too.
• I will take a couple of trips but details are not clear yet - Scotland for sure, possibly B.C. again though different spots, & PEI would be nice so I'll be squeezing those pennies again.
• SAVESAVESAVESAVESAVE!!
• I ended December with $500 in my snowflake box. I call that AWESOME!
• it sucks that I won't know my net income until the end of January. Increased bills will kick-in throughout the month of January so I feel like my pay is always a month behind. Fingers are crossed that the pension increase will cover my increased bills. 
• My condo fee is going up by $9 a month; that's the only increase I know of for now but have heard rumblings that City Council will be increasing our property taxes this year for sure. 
• January is an expensive month: dentist, eye app't (want new glasses), newspaper renewal so I'm glad I don't have to pay property taxes this month being on a 10 month payment plan. New glasses will be costly so my snowflake box may take a hit. Better the box than my savings account!
• I ended up the year with $95 left in my chequing account so that will go in the box and help defray January expenses. 
• Thrilled that I had money left over after Christmas and New Year celebrations. Usually I go over budget. I've thought of a couple more ways to save $$ at Christmas and will share those on another post.

And now I must adjourn to the sofa as two kitties and a big fat book and a cup of chocolate chia tea await! 

Where's the Money at??

It's been a long time since I did a budget recap. As August rolls to an end it's time to close out this month's budget and look ahead to the fall.

The Good:

• My upcoming trip to Scotland (leaving Sunday!!) is fully paid for after I pay off my President's Choice Mastercard this week. 
• September 1st I'll be able to put $1,000 into savings once again - I haven't transferred a full $1,000 to savings since May as I was paying off my trip; booking trains, airport shuttle from London to Toronto, Airbnbs and so on. So it's nice to get back into my savings routine. I also paid $800 off of my Mastercard this month in addition to the $400 that will pay off the card in full over the next couple of days as my pensions get deposited. No consumer debt owing after that.
• I added nothing more to the Transportation budget line since my previous post! Next month there will be no deductions for car insurance or gas. There will be NO transportation costs for September as they are all paid for as part of my trip.
• Property taxes went DOWN from $158 to $139. I don't know why but I'm not going to complain!
• Utilities are at their annual lowest point - $34 for natural gas (heat, dryer, hot water tank); and $43 for electricity (central air, stove etc). It hasn't exactly been a HOT summer so the A/C didn't get used much. Again, not complaining!
• Used over $100 of my President's Choice points to purchase things needed for my trip (bandaids, lotion, toiletries etc) as well as groceries.

My favourite recent photo of Luna and Lily. Luna has one paw over her eye, in apparent disgust, as Lily sprawls below to lick her belly and nether regions!!

The Bad:

• Still had to pay car insurance for August but that's it for now! That money will now make its way into savings.
• The cost of internet went up by $5.00 monthly. I may shop around when I return.
• I've been buying a lot of odds and ends for my trip: I've ordered a special spray to renew the Gore-Tex waterproofing of my super duper rain coat. Should arrive on Wed., snacks, new water bottle, thrift shop clothing, bug repellent, midge-proof clothing and so on. Necessary expenses.
• Two of my siblings had landmark birthdays in August so there were gifts and cards to purchase.
• Reloaded my coffee cards - I have two. 

The Ugly:

• costs involved in trip to Bracebridge to see sister for her 70th birthday: $200 - my portion of Airbnb and gas. Another $200 put towards eating out and groceries. A wee bit of shopping. That's the only semi-UGLY cost for August and really it wasn't very costly and all planned in advance so it wasn't a surprise expense at all. 

Looking ahead to Fall:

I look forward to getting back into my fall/winter routine of volleyball, carving and genealogy research after September's trip is over. Kilally Meadows is really nice in the fall and I much prefer cool weather hiking to HOT so I hope to get out for a lot of hiking!! In November I will start receiving annual interest payments for several investments. Free money :) Anything extra like that goes right into savings. I'm considering less travel/more redecorating in 2018 but who knows, I may change my mind. It would make sense to travel while still relatively young and do renos and redecoration (hire someone) when I'm too old to hike around the world and spend more time at home. So I'm going back and forth with that idea. 

That's about it for now. Yesterday I cleaned and water-proofed my hiking boots and did a trial packing of my suitcase. All trip clothing has been laundered and rolled - I feel I have improved suitcase organizational skills and am trying to not make it too heavy. I won't be taking my laptop with me, just my iPad, phone and camera. I likely won't post on my blog but will try to post a daily pic to facebook - if you are not a Facebook friend of mine and would like to be send me a friend request. 

Jane Harrison - and the profile pic is a shadow picture of me. 

Okay, must continue to get organized...!

I've Gone and Done it!

I had a lot of  possible titles for this post: like "Bye-bye Dougie Goodbye", "Going Car Free", or "Car Sharing- is it for me?" and so on.  Yes, Dougie is gone, sold and hopefully loved by his new owner. Unfortunately Dougie is just not the vehicle for me anymore. Sentiment is not a good reason to keep a car...or truck. 

I've debated for awhile now whether to try living car-free as Dougie can sit there in his space for a week or more before I drive him anywhere. The last time was a week ago when my friend Julie and I went to the beach. The steering seemed a bit stiffer than usual - I knew something was up.

So on Monday I took Dougie to my local mechanic. It was bad news - the steering column was seized up and would need an expensive repair. I had to decide whether to get it fixed or if this was the time to let Dougie go. One consideration I had was to donate it for a charitable receipt. But my mechanic knew someone looking for a small truck, took a couple of photos of Dougie and contacted him. We were able to work out a deal then and there - I pocketed a goodly sum of cash - more than I expected and walked home. 

It does hurt a little to give up Dougie but he was meant to live in PEI (along with me:) where having a pickup truck is standard. I kept driving Dougie for three more years after selling my house in PEI but knew I'd have to make a change at some point. So I finally did. And now on to the next adventure - seeing if I can manage with my feet, my bike, a car-share vehicle located a few blocks from me (a Prius), taxi, Uber, bus, train and car rentals (Kazi can give me really good deals!!)  She's already quoted me a price between $20-$30 for a day at the beach (24 hours) which includes insurance and gas!! Yes, I don't even have to pay for the gas! Dougie takes at least that much just in gas to get to the beach; so I've got that covered :) 

Bye bye Dougie!

I know I can manage without owning a vehicle for most of the year but then of course there's winter to consider! I'll have to be creative.  I am motivated by the fact that I will have two less budget lines in my monthly budget - car insurance (around $110/monthly) and gas, currently budgeted at

$80 per month. Yes, only $80 a month for a V8 truck! When I first retired I allotted $200 a month for gas and sometimes used more than that. I have gradually reduced that amount over the past three years by walking and biking more. Fortunately I have most of what I need in the immediate neighbourhood. I'm debating whether to add a "Transportation" line to my budget or whether to include it (Uber, car share etc) in my Misc budget. I'm leaning towards having a transportation line so that I can easily see how much I'm spending. 

I can say that I am feeling lighter. Being an environmentalist and owner of a V8 truck just don't go together well in my mind. Going car-free reduces my carbon footprint quite a bit. There was an article in the paper recently that listed BIG ways to help the environment: having one less child,  reducing travel by one international flight per year, don't eat meat and/or go car free. 

I'm working on the meat.

Let's see how I do without a car.

Dougie taking a beating from a hailstorm.

Topics

I seem to be a one-topic gal these days. It's all about wildflowers, trails, hiking, animals and birds. Life seems to be going pretty well and I have no complaints....not any major ones anyway. You could say I'm in a "good place." And isn't that what the previous 40 years were all about? Getting to a "good place?"  I think so.

First I worked on farms, then at a couple of restaurants (4), then I worked at The Royal Bank for 9 years full-time and 5 years part-time while I went full-time to university. I put in my time doing work I didn't enjoy, as do we all. From university I went to Teacher's College, often with my one-year old on my hip. I only had one professor ever complain about bringing Kazi to class and his problem was that she got more attention than he did!

At the ripe old age of 36 I got my first teaching position (l992) and worked at an adult education centre for the next 7 years. Just an hourly wage, no benefits, though it was more money than I'd ever made before.  The hourly wage and top-up benefits we received, which included a daycare subsidy, were enough for me to qualify for a small mortgage and in l994 I bought this condo. I withdrew from my RSPs, cashed in two small life insurance policies, and borrowed from my dad to come up with a down payment of a whopping $7,000.00 and money to cover moving expenses.

Eventually, permanent jobs started to reappear in l999 and I was finally hired on full-time with benefits! Woo hoo, that was a happy day! For 3 years I worked between 2 schools, one of which was in another city so daily driving involved.  My boss asked me to commit to 2 years of driving between schools and I gave him 3. As a result I was rewarded with a full-time job at a nearby high school in a special education classroom and where I was, finally, my own boss.

Twelve years later I was able to retire early - I really needed to as it was such a high stress position. I achieved my Five Year Plan, thoroughly documented in this blog, of paying off all debt, saving a good chunk of cash and retiring at age 58 instead of 65. (Now it's 67!!)

You really can live on less if you keep your eye on your longterm goals. I became a master budgeter and through online friendships with fellow bloggers learned a hundred and one ways of squeezing more value out of my money.  I am so very grateful to you, to my parents, family and friends who have all helped in various ways.

So, here I am, smelling the roses :) at long last!

March Money

So many of you, my fellow blogging friends, live quite happily on a strict budget and make "living on less" a game or a challenge. It's comforting to know that there are so many people, besides me, who are whackos live this challenge daily in order to reach important goals. For many of us that goal is TRAVEL. 

Sometimes I am questioned by people for walking to places that they drive to. I explain that I have a budget line for gas and to make it work then I have to walk to a lot of places. "But you have the money" is a response I sometimes get and yes, I do have the money but I'd rather walk and put more of my money into my travel account. This isn't about being "poor" and making do. It's about making choices and prioritizing those choices. The day will come when my priorities will change (hopefully not soon) and I will save for something else.

I have learned many "savings hacks" from all of you, along with some great recipes, and I appreciate that we freely share our frugal ways.
U da bess!

My monthly budget has a "misc." budget line which is quite generous and covers lots of things: clothing, books, music on iTunes, going out for dinner, playing volleyball ($2.00 a week!), going to movies, things for the home, art supplies, gifts, charitable givings, general mad money and so on. Some months there are more of those things than my misc budget can handle so I'll move something to the next month, (like renewing my passport). This month I had to pay out $220 for truck maintenance and instead of moving money from savings I decided to try covering it from my misc. budget.

So things are a wee bit tight right now as I'm trying to leave my savings alone. Thankfully both pension amounts will be in my account by Friday - I just need to make it to Friday on the $165 I have left in my chequing account. Shouldn't be too difficult. I only need to buy a few groceries. All the bills are paid. I should even have money left to purchase a few more British pounds :)

Fresh New Budget!

This was a month of spending......for my trip to Scotland! Everything is paid for by my Travel Savings Account. Otherwise everything else is about the same.

The Good:

• overestimated utilities by $30.00 - the weather has been much warmer than usual for this time of year!
• I underspent for gasoline and food! I went to the grocery store only 4 times over the month spending $197 of my $280 budget. Kazi ate out a lot with friends - that's the only reason I can come up with why my food spending was so low. Not complaining :) Also had $20 left in the gas account. I've been walking a LOT! as it's been so mild.
• Interest from investments comes due in Feb. and March which replaces a lot of what I spent on travel. 
• went to the 27th annual Firehall reunion! I used to go to the Firehall before they started having reunions ( a loooong time ago!!) - my initiation into the blues! It was an awesome night made even awesomer by the fact that Kazi tended bar that night so my friend and I got in free ("we're on the list") and got free beer - love you Kazi!
• Transferred $1,000 to savings - my usual monthly amount. 
• Have enough misc fund money left to purchase more British Pounds Sterling :) 

The Bad:

• my original iPad has been gradually falling apart and not functioning well. I used it mainly for reading: both downloading books from the library and purchasing books via my Amazon Kindle app. To me this is a NEED not a WANT (or maybe it's both!) so I forked over $372 for a new basic mini-iPad. Used savings to cover the cost. I love the smaller size for reading in bed. I can't tell you how many times I have fallen asleep while holding my big old iPad and the pain when it hit the bridge of my nose was awful! The mini doesn't hurt nearly so much 😂 !!
• Ummmmm, need to rein in the Amazon spending spree! And iTunes! It's just way too easy to purchase music and books etc especially now that I have free delivery on many items from Amazon. I purchased several guide books for upcoming travel, a few other books which support my future plans, and a COMPASS! I just need to learn how to use it! 
• Had to pay, yes PAY for a haircut for the first time in 15 years. It was less than $20 but still...
• Renewed my Ancestry.ca membership ($299) paid by savings

Misc Spending:

• In addition to the above I had a nice dinner out
•  went to see "Lion" - the movie about a lost boy in India who gets adopted by a couple from Australia and how he finds his home village using Google Earth. Excellent movie - needed multiple kleenexes however! 
• Paid for Turbo Tax and completed my taxes - yippee! 
• two trips to LCBO (one was for a birthday party of a friend - honest!!)
• have developed an addiction to pistachios!! $10.00 a bag!! Oh well, could be worse...right?
• okay - here's a good one. Apparently I bought a top and can't even remember what it looks like! I guess I didn't really need it, did I?

So a very spendy (in a good way)(mostly) kind of month! 

Bring on March!! 

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!!)

Budget Template

January, 2017

December 2016!!

I couldn't do all of these changes, margin notes, additions, deletions, scribbles blah blah blah on my computer. Well, maybe I could...but I don't want to!! Paper will always be a major part of my life!

Another Year Another Budget

Living on pensions, as I do now means my budget is pretty much set for the year. Same amount of money in, same amount of money out. The rest goes to savings and Misc. However, a new year brings cost-of-living increases and of course the inevitable increases in monthly bills.

What goes up:

Income

• Teacher's Pension
• Canada Pension Plan
• Savings - comes out of my pensions but worth a mention. My monthly savings amount has increased due to now receiving the CPP. All of it goes into savings so what with investment interest etc I am saving roughly $1000/month. And we know what that goes to - TRAVEL (and large items like a new appliance or furniture) but mainly TRAVEL!!

What goes down:

• GST Rebate - Prior to receiving the Canada Pension Plan I was eligible for a tax rebate which was $105 every 4 months. Now that I am receiving the CPP my income is higher therefore I may no longer be eligible for the rebate. I will receive it in January and April however. As for what I'll receive based on 2016 taxes shall remain a mystery until July 1st.

Hah, short list! 

What goes up:

Monthly bills

• Property taxes - well, I'm assuming they'll go up, I've never known them to go down! But it usually takes a few months for City Council to figure out by what percentage they'll increase. I wait with bated breath! 
• Condo Fees - guaranteed to go up every January. I'm sure I received notice of how much but I don't feel like going up to my office to rummage around (my filing is a trifle behind) so we'll just have to wait and see. I budgeted $290. 
• Cell phone - will remain the same (I hope)
• Internet - will remain the same (same hope)
• Insurance - things are in flux with insurance - I think I have a credit coming to me in January (about $20) and then my regular payment beginning in February is $134/monthly. Kazi has her own policy now so I'm paying for Dougie the Dodge and condo insurance. That is up a little but not much. I had an at fault fender bender in 2014 so that will continue to affect my insurance for a couple more years. 
• Union gas (heat, hot water tank & dryer) will increase a bit due to carbon taxes. I still pay the least of anyone I know averaging $30 in the summer to $80 in the winter. Yes, Kazi is always cold; you think she'd be used to it by now :)
• London Hydro - electricity for my American friends. Continues to go up and up and up! Still reasonable though I think. I budgeted $80 as we are using an electric fire in the TV room as it is in the basement. 
• Netflix - $9.99 no change.
• Reliance - I rent my hot water heater. I remember when that was about $8 a month - now it is $35.00 and will likely increase at some point. The cost usually goes up once a year. 
• Misc - covers my allowance :) and I rejig it to reflect the amount of $$ I have left after paying the above. It's usually around $150+/week. That covers meals out, clothing, wine, wine, wine...etc. household items...wine...wine....scotch...
• Variables: gasoline & food - I have been over funding my gas budget for quite some time so have cut it back a bit ($100 monthly); food continues to be a little overfunded as well so have cut it back a trifle. ($280 monthly). Any extra left in either budget line gets carried forward to the next month.

Remains the same:

• Debt - ZERO! I continue to have no mortgage, no loan, and no credit card debt. 

So there you have it. I'm hoping that by February changing amounts will be set for the rest of the year. There is a lot of hope in my budget! All I can say for sure is money will show up in my account once a month and I'll do my best to get rid of it. 

P.S. I had money leftover at the end of December. Since I practise zero budgeting I'm wondering if I forgot someone's Christmas present? 

P.P.S. I kill myself! 

June Bug...err...Budget!

Probably June bugs are a more interesting topic than my budget! Or the weather, or the democratic nominee! Well, maybe not that hee hee! Oh Bernie, I was rooting for you!

So...the budget...

Hey, speaking of budgets, I thought Trump was made of money?! Why did he only have around $7 million to spend compared to Hillary's $700 million?? Or thereabouts. Yes, I know my figures are wrong but not far off. He hasn't paid for a TV ad in a month and a half while Hillary has spent millions! You know, I thought our federal election was a tough choice - I'm sure glad I don't have to vote in the U.S. election! Wow.

Oh yes, my budget...it's been raining here off an on for about 3 minutes. The rain drops didn't even get a chance to join together and create a wet spot before they evaporated in the sunlight. To say it's dry as a popcorn fart around here would be no small exaggeration! WE NEED RAIN!

I've got the figures right here...so we just found out our Ontario "leader" is coming to London today so we've put a flash mob together and we're going to ambush her!! Apparently there was a flash mob outside her office in Toronto earlier and several people were arrested! That would be fun, right?! No, I'll be a good girl...maybe...

Oh! Here comes 27 more raindrops! Should I get excited yet?

I spent a lot of money this month...and I'm so glad I didn't go to the beach today!! I was going to go with a friend but she ended up having too much work to do (she's a supply teacher but has been working a long term temporary position and has to do report cards etc etc) but that turned out to be a good decision as clouds are looming heavily and occasionally dispersing a few drops of rain.

Well, I'd better get ready to go flash the mob hee hee! I think I've pretty much covered everything I wanted to cover...umm...yeah...

Life's a beach! Hopefully tomorrow!

Oops, Ouch and Eek!

Monday Money Madness!

I thought this picture was very apropos because I have NOT been keeping track of my money. And that's not like me. But I know why...........................................................................................................!

It's because my bank accounts look like a bathtub with the plug pulled! All swirling away down the drain..glug glug glug. That little metaphor reminds me of a time when Kazi was about 2 and she was in the bathtub watching the water go down the drain. She peered into the drain and said "is anybody in there?" No answer.

Well I DO have answers...I just don't want to face them! I'm in "money denial!" So much so that my dentist's office just called wondering why I hadn't shown up for my appointment this morning! Ooops.

CAA comes off this month too.  Ouch!  Plus I'm going to pay the remainder of my Ireland trip to the company who organizes the B&Bs/Inns and transfers out suitcases from place to place. Eek!

Some of my bills this month have been reduced so the news isn't ALL bad. The city has finally figured out how much property tax I have to pay this year and I'm going to save $3.00 a month!! Big whoop! My Union Gas bill was only $33.00 this month as I turned the furnace off (mostly). The electricity bill was down by $10.00 no doubt due to the extra daylight hours and not needing to turn on the electric heater in the basement TV room. AND because I'm cycling for cancer research this month I still have 3/4 of a tank of gas left in the truck! I won't be putting in any more gas til July and maybe not even then :)

Food costs are UP UP UP!! Cherries are $6.99/lb and I have indulged. Strawberries are $4.75/qt and I have over indulged! Kazi's boyfriend has been visiting so that means buying more meat etc. Oh, and wine and beer. And snacks.

I think I've done a pretty good job so far with my Misc budget line. I'm trying to rein in misc spending so that I can cover CAA and dentist without touching my savings. Fingers crossed. I guess I should check but I haven't because I'm in.......MONEY DENIAL!! 

Okay, I promise myself I'll update my budget as soon as I'm done this post unless I can think of some way to distract myself!

Hmmmmm, I wonder what I should have for lunch...

Oh look, this is how Lily lies in her bed when it's 32c + high humidity!!

 Airing out my tummy.

Money Madness

May is always a tough month on the budget.  It's my birthday month and the government (in its finite wisdom) thought it would be a nice time to stick car owners with an additional annual bill in the form of a car license plate sticker.

not mine

That little sticker with the month and year on it now costs $108.00. (Up from $75.00 two years ago!!) I need to come up with my own money scam!! Canada averages 662 cars per 1000 people for a total of over 23 million cars. Multiply that by $108.00 per sticker and you've got a number too big for my calculator! WOW!

Okay, back to MY budget. There were a few other expenses that I don't usually have. I've spent a fair bit on plants which makes me HAPPY. I had to buy another computer charging cord which makes me UNHAPPY. I bought a fair bit of wine which makes me HAPPY followed the next morning by UNHAPPY. I've exceeded my charitable donation goal for this month which makes me HAPPY. I booked an Airbnb for my trip to Ireland which makes me HAPPY. I made two thrifting trips which made me HAPPY.

So....overall my expenditures made me HAPPY!!

I think I've created a new way to budget!!

And they say money can't buy happiness!! HAH!!

Money Madness

My budget would be in great shape IF it were the middle, or even better the last week of May! There is blame to be shared and the #1 culprit is SPRING!! 
I have a fever.....spring fever!!
Over the past week I have made several trips to Home Depot for these...

3 geraniums for the patio

My sister found this stand while thrifting and I have filled it with flowers!

I have always had a thing for yellow begonias!

I needed to replace a spruce tree that died over the winter. This
one looks good and healthy!

I didn't have to buy these - but they are in bloom so
just had to share.

Just love pansies so got a planter full for my
iron "garden chair".

There were other things I needed - instead of buying a new crappy hose every year I invested in a good one.  And I thought a couple of outside pillows would spruce up my love seat. And they were on sale :) at Jysk.

So I have somewhat overspent (let's not forget all the wine and extra wine and food we needed as Kazi's boyfriend was visiting from Detroit)!!
Mother's Day was lovely - I got to relax and enjoy the...

Thanks Kazi and John!

while the kids cooked me up some...

...pancakes with dark chocolate bits and blueberries and strawberries...and MIMOSAS!!

It was a really nice, sunny day so I had a nice wander in the woods and then I LAID on the couch and read my book before having a nice dinner of greek salad and chicken and pumpernickel bread and spinach dip!!

Then we all needed to...

zzzzzzzzzzzz!!