Weekly Wrap & Other Crap

Now here's a Weekly Wrap I can really sink my teeth into har har! 


The past week has really been a No Spend week! I cut way back at the farmer's market buying only green beans and sweet new little potatoes. Total cost - $5.00. At the grocery store I bought: salad greens, tomatoes, baby cucumbers, bagels, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries and skim milk. I am proud to say I made a list and stuck to it - nothing extra found its way into my cart. In fact I didn't even USE a cart, just put things into my cloth bags as I shopped! Total cost $27.00 so amount spent on groceries this week - $32.00 instead of the usual $100.00 or more. Money saved will be applied to credit card.


This week I plan to skip the market altogether.  We have all kinds of frozen veggies that Michael blanched from fresh and we need to use them up. We still have chicken, fish and steak in the freezer. I will need to buy more salad greens, bread and milk. That might be enough to get to next Friday's paycheque when a new grocery budget cycles in. 


Personally I bought myself a coffee today at Timmy's as I was facing a long tedious day of professional development. It's tedious because usually the PD doesn't apply to me in my capacity of a teacher of students with developmental disabilities. However, it was a day of catching up with other teachers that I don't see very often and that was fun.  Unless some emergency happens I should make it to payday with between $100 - $200 to apply to my credit card. 


I have been on my fiscal fast for one week now and I can call it a rousing success, albeit a boring one (see yesterday's boring post called "Life is Dull as Dishwater":)  Even Michael is holding my feet to the fire - today I texted him that there were some good movies on at the Rainbow Theatre (only $6.00!!!) and he reminded me I was on a "spending diet" as he so descriptively called it!! Why did I ever give him my blog URL I ask you!?! 


Oh well, no one said living on loose change while saving every dollar to put towards debt and retirement savings would be a barrel of laughs! But if I don't have some FUN soon someone is going to feel my wrath! AND the rainy weather isn't helping any. AND it's the weekend........mumble.......grumble......mumble...


I saved today's FREE newspaper to read tomorrow so I won't be tempted to buy one for $3.00. AND I am about halfway through a REALLY GREAT book called "Waiting to Exhale" by Terry McMillan so I have THAT to finish.  AND I have about TEN FREE movies from the library still to watch....AND it's supposed to be in the low 20's this weekend with partial sunshine so hiking will be a GO on Sunday...HEY...things are looking up!! 


Here's hoping YOU have a fantastic non-boring weekend!! 

Fiscal Fast Update

I was asked on the weekend what creative ways I was going to come up with to solve my overspending problems this month so I tried really hard to think of something really new and amazing that you would oooooh and ahhhhhh over and then you would say - gee that Jane is really smart...why didn't I think of that?


Well, I failed to come up with any new ways to save some extra $$ so that I could pay off the $443 that is sitting very uncomfortably on my President's Choice Mastercard right now. 


My navel gazing has only resulted in the usual and the mundane. Here is my list of things I am currently doing so that I can a) not go any further into debt and b) perhaps end the month with a few dollars leftover which will be immediately put against my outstanding debt.

• make the groceries in the fridge last until next week and skip grocery shopping this week ...as much as possible (with $200 left in the food budget I've spent just over $30...I hope to have maybe $100 left if I pull in my belt another notch or two...this could really benefit my weight loss program!...love those hidden benefits:)
• go eat at my friends' homes - can you guys give me your addresses? 
• drive as little as possible; siphon gas out of other cars at work (ha!)
• take my own snacks/drinks absolutely everywhere; I already take my lunch everyday to work (I suppose I could steal food from other peoples' lunches?)
• stay out of stores and coffee shops! (especially Starbucks because I now have only 34 cents left on my card
• go directly to work and then go directly home after, no pit stops! no passing Go or collecting $200!
• grab a free newspaper daily from the main office or read news online (for reals as my daughter would say!)

I am open for suggestions. Any other creative ways of saving a few dollars come to mind??

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.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!

That's me, putting the brakes on spending!! After last night's scrumptious meal for Kazi's birthday at Under the Volcano, complete with deep-fried icecream and Irish coffee my spending and self-indulgence is coming to a screeching halt!


I see a fairly clear road ahead without any major spending bumps or eating potholes to contend with. Famous last words right? Oh Murphy, where are you...I know you're out there somewhere...!


That being said it's time for me to bring back my Weekly Wrap. Each Friday I will sum up my financial week and keep myself accountable. I spent some time yesterday going over September's budget and yes, I have overspent. So in the second half of the month I am going to have to make up for it, therefore, my fiscal fast will be starting TOMORROW, Sept. 17th. This is not a fast in order to save up a bunch of money, no, for me it's a fast in order to bring my spending back in line with my budget. 


More details coming tonight.