So Far So Good

So far so good with the food budget. I made a big pot of turkey soup, didn't use a recipe just used up leftovers that needed to be used along with what started as 1 cup of soup mix (various dried beans, split peas, lentils, rice, quinoa etc) and turned into 4-5 cups after absorbing lots of water while being soaked. I threw in some oldish carrots and some limp celery, half of a leftover sweet onion, about half a can of tomatoes that had lingered in the fridge long enough and a bunch of soft and squishy grape tomatoes, cut in half. I added some chopped up turkey, of course and some basil, thyme, and a healthy serving of crushed chilli peppers to spice it up a bit (a whole lot!)

                                                          I have to say it is delicious!
*I didn't take any photos so am using google photos that look similar to what I made.

While rummaging around in the fridge I realized I had four green peppers and Kazi's favourite meal is stuffed peppers. It is one of my favourites too because once again it allows me to hide things in the mixture :) Kazi saw the peas ( about half a cup leftover from Thanksgiving dinner) but she didn't identify the leftover stuffing!! Kind of apropos don't you think? Stuffing in stuffed peppers? I mixed it up with some of the soup mix, the leftover peas, some marinara sauce and lots of grated cheddar. You can hide a lot of stuff under cheddar! Oh, I almost forgot...I had half of a medium-sized zucchini which I chopped up and sauteed in a little olive oil and added to the peppers. Yum!

Today I did take myself off to the grocery store as planned as I needed to reload up on fruits and veg, along with a few staples like bread, soy milk and a large package of chicken breasts 30% off. I spent about $60 and hope to NOT shop again for at least a week, preferably 10 days but we'll see. After today there is only about $60 left in the food budget. I'll be making mostly meals that stretch to two nights instead of the usual one.

Future meals will include:
Chicken fajitas (always lasts two nights :)
Cheese and spinach ravioli
Spinach and mozzarella omlettes with mashed potato & onion patties
Shrimp & veggie linguine
Greek lentil soup (get 2-3 meals out of this)
Veggie chilli ( several meals)
Salmon steaks and sweet potato fries
Cheese and potato pierogies
Tuna Melts

We have tons of fresh veg and fruit on hand to augment meals, plus a lot of frozen fruit for smoothies. There is always a pot of soup for lunches and we both eat oatmeal in the morning. This should work. I don't usually make a meal plan beyond...well...today...but I can definitely see the purpose.

Do you plan your meals by the day, week, or month?

October Budget a Bit of a Challenge

Are you squeezing your budget extra tight this month in order to stay in the black? Me too! Just about everyone whose blog I read is trying to make the most of their food budget in order to stay on track.  I just went through Thanksgiving Day long weekend and spent twice as much on food/drinks as I usually spend in an ordinary month.  I have a fridge full of leftovers but we're a little tired of eating turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. It looks like I need to freeze the remaining food and haul it out again in a couple of weeks when I won't be faced with moans and groans...and that's just ME!

But here's the problem: there are three weeks left in October but there is not three weeks of grocery money left! So how to get to the end of October, providing a variety of healthy meals, while staying within the remaining budget. The age old problem. Doesn't seem possible does it?

And this is where you think I'm going to present an imaginative and tasty solution but I'm afraid I'm going to let you down. Because I don't know. If there were only two weeks left in this month I think it would be a snap...but three? Without hauling out the frozen leftovers? This is when having another freezer would come in handy. But I don't have one and never have so I have to work with what I've got.

Yes...I should have increased the food budget for October but the money still has to come from somewhere! So...I've decided to transfer the $80 I set aside for gas for the as yet unnamed car into the food budget line. Fortunately when I purchased the car they filled it up with gas. It still has over 3/4 of a tank so I won't need to put anymore in til next month, and maybe not then either. There, with a little bit of budget magic, I have my three weeks of groceries covered. That being said, I'm still going to try to get to Friday, my usual grocery day, without going to the grocery store.

Fingers crossed.

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!!)

Starting at the End...

...of June, that is...

June was a month of ups and downs - the prices of everything went UP and my bank accounts went DOWN.

I received my first Canada Pension Plan payment and used most of it to pay for my new phone. Boo.

My dentist looked at my teeth for 15 seconds and for that I gave him $189.00! The good news is my hygienist said my oral hygiene is better than hers!! Do I really want her scraping and cleaning my teeth?

Today I received my first GST/HST payment of $105.00!!! That's a little bit of our own tax money given back to us from our government based on our income. I haven't received this little tidbit for years as my income was too high. Welcome to retirement! Oh, and I get that little boost 4 x a year! YAY! Though I'm wondering if I'll get it next year now that I have to add the CPP payment as income on my tax return. It's a nice monthly stipend of $558 (actually over $600 but I'm having 10% tax taken off at the source). Next year's tax return should be interesting.

Also paid CAA in June (geez, what DIDN'T I pay???) which came to $224 for Kazi and me. That's part of her birthday gift each year. Yippee! I tell ya, my daughter sometimes wishes I wasn't such a practical gift giver but I just can't help myself. With her car being a 2006 model and mine being a 2000 I think it's a necessity to have this extra coverage.

I spent more than usual on food in June - likely because cherries were $6.99/lb and strawberries $4.25 a quart. We ate a LOT of them :) Eventually they both went down in price. I shopped at Farmboy (more expensive!) several times because I love their pre-made salads and they sell the best freshly made turkey burgers in the city. On the flip side of that I haven't purchased gas for the truck since the beginning of June! So in June I took what was left of the gas budget ($100) and added it to the food budget ending up even Steven.

My savings went down by $2,000 as I paid for the rest of my trip to Ireland though I have replaced $500 of that. Annie's already got an idea for next year - Scotland and the Isle of Skye!!!!! Hopefully I won't drop any more phones in my coffee which will allow me to save $900 - $1,000 per month for upcoming trips. I might start taking 2 per year! We'll see how the saving goes.

June was my month of cycling 400km to raise money for children's cancer research. I reached 106% of my cycling goal and 110% of my money goal!! I reached my goals by June 21st which allowed me to spend time with my friend Troy to celebrate her 50th birthday over the course of 10 days!!! We went to 3 different beaches (Lake Huron and Lake Erie), went to Pt. Pelee National Park which is the southern most bit of Canada (had never been), went to the Wine Bar :) and had a day of shopping/exploring in the Sparta area south of London. Great time! I'll get some pictures posted in my next post - I think Lily is eating a bee so I better go check! Ick, it was a large fly....gross!!

Mid Month Money

Sooooo,  yesterday I got the computer all set up and a title on my post and somehow I ended up in the workshop!  I'm one of those people who starts a lot of things all at the same time, instead of doing one thing at a time until completion. I might decide to vacuum but on my way to get the vacuum cleaner I see a lot of cat toys everywhere so I start picking them up and forget about the vacuum. Then I remember I need something from the truck so I head out to the truck and end up driving to Timmy's and buying a coffee.

Then, oh yeah, I need to vacuum; but I should pick up some milk since I'm out. Home again and guess what...it's time for lunch! I'll just take a minute to get the mail from my mailbox. Ooooooh! Flyers! I'll make lunch and look at the flyers while I eat - MULTI-TASKING!! Where did all of those dishes come from? I'll just do them first and then I'll vacuum! Oh wait, what are we going to have for dinner?  And so my day goes...

Obviously I'm much better at budgeting than I am at getting things done around the house! Which I guess is a good thing. March is one of those months that really seems to last a verrrrry loooooooong time! Perhaps because February is usually 3 days shorter.  Whatever the reason I would be happy if March was over, but alas, still two weeks plus a day left. Will I make it? Or more to the point will the money end before the end of the month? Possibly.

• my Misc budget stands at $230, it should be at $290. I accidentally downloaded a bunch of music from iTunes, about $33 worth.  But that's fun, right? It's the UN-fun uses of my Misc $$ that I resent. Like $27 for a prescription yesterday and the $7 I spent on the useless artsy craftsy get together but on the bright side it doesn't affect my bottom line by much. I visited a friend last Saturday and stopped to buy snacks on the way - I tried to be virtuous by going into the health food store instead of the grocery store and purchased some "nutritious" snacks HAH!! Two bags of handmade potato chips made with coconut oil instead of the usual - soooo good! And a container of those yummy stove-top chocolate/coconut cookies made with NATURAL RAW sugar! I felt so health conscious that we proceeded to eat all of it!!!!
• my GAS budget is doing well again this month - I have spent just $76/$160 (just filled up 2 days ago so might make it til the end of the month.)
• my FOOD budget is a bit low - I've spent $210/$280 with a big shop done Monday. I think I can make it on $70 for the rest of the month. 
• my small emergency SNOWFLAKE box is sitting at $49 which I can use if I need to. 
• That's it for my variables; everything else stays the same from month to month except, of course, utilities. So far I've underestimated my utility bills for Jan., Feb., and March by approx. $35 - $40. 

So there you have it. My budget lines are a bit low for this point of the month but the truck is full of gas and the fridge is overflowing so I'm not worried. I'm really hoping I can tsf another $50 to savings to make for some nice round numbers - I like my savings to end in nice round zeroes. We'll see. I know that I'm working with small numbers here which I am really happy about. I'm one of those people who plugs away very methodically with my budget (not like household chores!!) I can look down the road and see where I'm going to be financially. Saving $400 per month is pocket change to many people but over a year that's almost $5000 - more than enough for another fantastic trip and some household renovations!  I never go on shopping sprees except at my local thrift store :)

I finished that sculpture that was causing me grief - it's all sanded and polished and ready for the camera. It's not my best work but I like it. I'll take some photos and show you tomorrow.

In the meantime I hope your "Mid Month Money" situation is in good shape! 

Just Another Money Monday

Not too much to say about the budget thus far. I spent $8 more than I should have (OMG!!) - my misc budget is $145/week and I over spent a wee bit. I used my snowflake $$ to purchase another 100 euros - I didn't have quite enough so used misc funds to complete the purchase. I am down to only $6 in my snowflake box but I have enough cash now for my trip to cover entrance fees to Blarney Castle and other attractions/souvenirs etc.

$400 was automatically transferred to savings and I withdrew $5,000 from my RRSP and put the $4500 that remained after taxes into my Tax Free Savings Account. Some interest has been received with another major chunk coming on the 11th. No sign of my tax refund yet though it will probably show up this week. I am able to check its progress on the Canada Revenue site and it has been assessed and confirmed so any day now.....

I think I mentioned that I over estimated my Union Gas bill by $22. As that doesn't come off til near the end of March I haven't really had the benefit of that yet. Hopefully my estimate ($75) of my electricity bill will be over as well. All of those little bits of $$ help me get through the month and expand my misc budget a little.

The other purchase I made during the first week of March's budget was a white microwave (on sale for $50). I've been meaning to replace my old black one for quite some time. It works fine (so I'll take it to a thrift store) but it really stuck out in front of my white subway tiles and my other appliances are white so now it sort of "disappears" - it's also a bit smaller which helps with my somewhat limited counter space.

The final purchase for the first week of March was some lighter coloured wool for Kazi's infinity scarf. My shoulder is feeling quite a bit better today so I may get started on that tonight as I watch TV.

I have used $38/$160 of my gas budget and $88/$280 of my food budget. I'm going to pick up a few groceries today (only what we need - it's a short list) but I won't need gas for quite a while yet.

And so goes the budget - no surprises so far - just the way I like it!

Just another Money Monday

Don't you just love the end of a month?  I put my nice clean (for now) budget page for March on my clipboard, forever consigning February 2016 to my filing cabinet. I know March isn't until tomorrow but I actually closed February last Friday. I had $60 in my wallet plus $150 in my snowflake box just in case of emergency. And I still had $120 in my chequing account.

So I did what any sane person would do - I went shopping!! No, I didn't go wild. I bought some super bulky yarn at Michael's for my next project - an infinity scarf for Kazi. And I bought a cute little book with a nice variety of crochet projects including a SUPER darling pair of baby shoes :) Well, I can dream can't I? I wonder if they have a kitty-cat version??

Now THERE'S and idea....nope, just couldn't do it!

I used money from my wallet for the yarn and book which came to about $22. Then I danced a jig over to the Currency Exchange store at Masonville Mall and purchased 100 euros!! Woo hoo!! When all was said and done I withdrew the $120 left over in my chequing account and put it into my snowflake box towards my next purchase of euros! I should be able to buy another 100 euros by the end of this week or next! As long as Murphy doesn't rear his ugly head! Thankfully the euro is dropping too which makes it a bit cheaper than a few weeks ago.

My February budget goals were met: a Christmas present for my great-nephew was purchased and I donated $25 to United Way. What really helped me out in February was the weather and the price of gas. We had a bad storm that kept me home for a few days - with another one due tomorrow!! And with the price of gas being at its lowest in years I only spent $68 for gas for Dougie the Dodge. Unheard of!

The big grocery shop in the middle of the month ($102) is still feeding us! And my heating bill was at its lowest in years as well (for a January!) I'm curious to see what my heating bill will be for February - yes, it's a shorter month but I tried something a little different. I set the thermostat at 19c and didn't touch it once! If I got chilly I put on a sweater or put a quilt over my lap. When we watch TV we have an electric fire to keep us toasty. So, happily, I ended up with surpluses in both the gas and grocery budget lines :) Yippee!!

Savings increased by about $550 which was then used to pay for some Ireland-related expenses. Easy come, easy go! Still awaiting my whopping tax refund of just over $200 plus I have some good RSP interest due this month. That will all go towards the trip. So that was February! I think March is going to come in like a lion according to the latest forecast. That's ok, let's get it over with - only 3 weeks til SPRING!! 

Once again my snowdrops are blooming but if tomorrow's forecast is accurate they'll be covered up for the second time. (Just checked - we're in for anywhere between 15 and 30cms)  Crap.

Just Another Money Monday

Not a whole lot going on around here. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day with temps hovering at -24c when I got up.....BRRRRRRR!! I took the opportunity to clean another 8" of snow off of Dougie the Dodge and shuffled him around the parking lot once the snowplow finally showed up. Today, in Ontario, it's Family Day and unfortunately the sunshine was short lived and it is gently snowing once again.

So...what is my family doing today? Well...let's see...Luna is sleeping, Lily is sleeping, and Kazi is sleeping!! Hopefully things will get a little livelier a little later! For now I'll enjoy the peace of sleeping cats and daughter. I have my new to me $3 radio set to CBC so that is keeping me company.

We're already halfway through February!! How is the money/budget stacking up so far?

• after a week of NO Spend days (the one advantage of having 2 feet of snow drop over the past few days!!) my misc budget stands unchanged at $177. It should be about $290 but I used a chunk to pay for flight/medical insurance for my trip to Ireland. I did it as a challenge to myself to spend as little as possible this month - gee, thanks Mother Nature - it's hard to spend when you can't get out your front door! I have a few upcoming plans for spending in the next week or two (going out for dinner next Saturday, plus $10/weekly for yoga and $2/weekly for volleyball) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that $177 will be enough to get me to March! That's a bit of a stretch but I'm going to try! (I'll have to stay out of Michael's!! and stop buying yarn!!)
• I did buy some Valentine's goodies for Kazi but used cash - I think I still have about $30 in my wallet. (I'll try to save that for dining out)
• My mini-money fund (a container I throw my loonies and toonies in) stands at $130. Once I reach $150 I'm going to go exchange for some euros.
• I saved a bit on my utilities this month; set aside $75 for Union Gas and it was only $53, set aside $75 for London Hydro and it was $69. That helped pay for Turbo Tax and my wee Goodwill spree. 
• My misc $$ has been spent on: new album by Lucinda Williams on iTunes, $25 spent at Michaels on yarn & a Christmas gift, $11 at Walmart (batteries & light bulbs), $5 to go see "Brooklyn", $21 at Goodwill, and flight/medical insurance.
• Gas budget stands at $120 remaining out of a budget of $160, and the food budget stands at $156 remaining out a budget of $280. I have about a half a tank of gas and will go grocery shopping tomorrow. I will probably end up with a bit left in both of those budget lines and if so that will go to savings.
• I used money saved since Christmas to pay for my flight($709) and one of our BandB's($342 for 3 nights in Galway) so have no debt so far for my trip. 
• Thankfully this is the time of year when interest earned on RRSPs starts to appear so that will help out with upcoming trip expenses. AND it's the 15th so I can Netfile my tax return today - the $200 refund will go toward purchasing more euros. 
• I have purchased February's Christmas present - a crystal making kit from Michaels for my great-nephew but I have NOT made my charitable donation of $25 yet. I really am squeezing my misc budget this month!! I can do it, I know I can!
• Oh, I just remembered I'm going to see my favourite band next Sunday - Blue Rodeo - but I paid for the ticket in November so there will be no expense for that, except maybe parking.
• My other bills remain pretty much the same: Bell Mobility is $79 monthly, internet is $84 monthly, my insurance has renewed and is the same amount - $270 monthly and Kazi pays $175 of that for her car, hot water tank rental is $34, property taxes went up $6 monthly but the city budget isn't finalized yet so that may change, my condo fees went up by $7 and Netflix remains the same at $8 monthly. The two small increases were covered by my pension raise of $30. 
• I increased my monthly savings automatic transfer from $350 to $400. That will increase again once I start receiving CPP (Canada Pension Plan) hopefully to $900 a month. That'll pay for a few trips!! 
• RSPPs: I have two coming due this month and they are going into my RSP Savings Account. From there I can withdraw $5000 to go into my TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account). Of course the gov't takes 10% right off the top so I'll only receive $4500.  The RRSP interest I receive more than makes up for that otherwise it wouldn't be much of a tax shelter would it? Way back when I was contributing to my RRSPs the adage was "pay now or pay later" so I always contributed the maximum. Now I'm in the "pay later" phase though I am very thankful for all those wonderful refunds (of my own money!!) I received over the years. 

Well, wasn't that an exciting post! I wish you sunshine wherever you are and hope your Monday is a happy one. 

Bye Bye January!!

It looked like I was going to end up with money left over at the end of January's budget but, alas, I had to replace my laptop charger after a kitten who will rename nameless decided to give it a good chew! Woe is me.

Hard to believe that these precious munchkins love
to eat my cords!! Such dumplings!

 And, prior to that happening I had a little thrift shop splurge at Talize so I actually ended up spending about $5.00 more than I should have. Woe is me again.

Meh, no biggie. I'll just take that off my misc budget for the first week of February. Actually, I'll be ahead of the game as Kazi is paying me back today some money I loaned her for a car repair - that will go directly into savings.

Happily I also got a $30.00 monthly pension raise :) which along with a $5.00 weekly decrease in misc spending allows me to put $400.00 into savings monthly instead of the current $350.00. That puts a smile on my face!! When I look at my budget it seems like I spent a lot of money this month AND I managed to tuck a little extra into savings over and above the usual automatic transfer of $350.00.

Misc Spending:

• $120 for an eye exam
• $50 for charitable donation
• $38.19 Walmart (?) no memory of what I bought! Must have been really important!
• $14 - movie
• $11 Value Village ( a brand new area rug and a shelf for my treasures)
• $17 - Shoppers Drugmart (chapstick and lipstick)
• $8 to play volleyball
• $40 - wine and food show
• $8 - music from iTunes
• $58 - Michaels (yarn, 2 frames, rub-ons)
• $9 - pint at book club meeting
• $45 - new charger (that hurts!)
• $55 - thrifty splurge at Talize - a lovely black and white quilt (for $10!), brand new set of flannel sheets!, a gorgeous green/gold paisley throw that is backed with sheep skin!, 3 new tops (2@ 50% off) (will post photos once I take some!)

They look so innocent, don't they?

As I allow myself $150.00 weekly for misc spending these expenditures represent $473/$600 misc spending for January. The discrepancy is cash withdrawals (and a couple little transfers to savings) throughout the month which paid for a breakfast out with a friend, a lunch out with a friend, 2 movies that I saw last week, yoga fees, coffees, newspapers and so on. 

I came in under budget for gas (spent $67/$160) and food (spent $242/280) so that helped with extra amounts I put into savings. Also received some interest from an RSP that bumped savings up a bit.

At the end of 2015 I decided that I want to give a monthly charitable donation of at least $25.00. I exceeded that in January by donating $50.00. The other thing I want to do is buy one Christmas gift per month to lessen the sting in December. I accomplished that by purchasing a large piece of material for my friend Julie who creates banners for activism purposes. 

This fiscal year is off to a great start. My taxes are finished and ready to netfile on Feb. 15th. Due to decreased income and income tax paid thanks to now living on a pension I will only receive a refund of $200 (last year's was $1236) but I am thankful I don't owe any money to the tax dep't!!

Did you end up with money at the end of January or did you break even? 

By the Numbers

I'm pretty satisfied with the numbers this month. August ended (can you believe it???!) with a surplus of $284 (in addition to putting $350 into savings). YEAH BABY!! Riding my bike everywhere is really saving me money. Other savings included utilities: natural gas was a low $32 and electricity was $42!! We've run the A/C a little bit but mostly our house stays pretty cool as it is protected by two huge maple trees and a locust tree. The patio only gets about an hour of direct sun per day and a couple hours of filtered sunlight. I can't complain. It was sweltering and humid today but the A/C only kicked in a couple of times.  I keep it set at 25c.

I went over a little bit in the food budget because it was cherry season and I gorged myself. Not even kidding! Cherries are my favourite fruit and no time to be frugal!! I bought quite a few bags at an average cost of about $13+/bag. But I more than made up that overage by NOT having to put much gas in the truck. And recently our gas prices have dropped making the gas budget even smaller.

So what did I waste spend my money on this month?

• went to the movies twice (The Minions and Shaun the Sheep Movie :)
• two albums downloaded from iTunes
• bought several books; a couple new but the rest were second hand
• beer
• yoga x 4
• Yogathon - $25 donation
• played progressive euchre twice plus dinner
• $20 UPS delivery fee for the maps/guide for upcoming trip
• renewed my hiking membership $25.00
• paid for travel insurance
• paid for train x 2 while away
• extra google storage - $2.71
• Hallmark membership
• hiking: food/entrance fee into provincial park
• dinner/beer at the Jazz Fest yesterday
• food/icecream at Rib Fest
• Dairy Queen x 2, 3, 4 times?? But who's counting right?

Some freebies: 

• loaned my truck to my brother and he treated me to dinner at The Waltzing Weasel
• Kazi worked the Beer Festival downtown and treated me to several samples and gave me a T-shirt from her workplace - Toboggan; (there was a long line up to get into the Beer Fest so she threw me a T-shirt over the fence and I put it on and walked right in as if I was working there lol!) Then I benefited from her "beer" expertise (beertise?) and tried a number of yummy samples (I wasn't driving!!)

This was my favourite! Scotch Ale.....

• also free - weekly meditation, weekly visits with my brother, pot luck dinner & MORE!!

All in all a pretty awesome month!! And not just the numbers...!

Bye Bye July Budget!

New month = new budget.

Surprisingly I came in under budget for July. I'm sure you're just as stunned as I am with that news!! (Stunned in the nicest of ways of course!) I reined in my expenses big time because I knew it was going to be a "spendy" kind of month. With a long weekend devoted to partying with my old and I mean OLD, high school friends (40th anniversary of our high school graduation - EEK!!); and constantly stuffing my face at expensive restaurants I tried to keep other expenses at a minimum.

And I did!! I am excited to report that the month ended before the money ran out! My frugality resulted in having $135.00 left to add to August's budget! And yet, I feel like I really "lived it up" in July! I ate out multiple times, bought 2 yoga tops, went to the beach 4 or 5 times and had Kazi's boyfriend stay with us for several days.

So where did I save money?? Low utility bills (thank you summer!) - my natural gas bill was only $32 and my electric bill was only $44. (My next electric bill will be higher due to putting on the A/C during a hot and humid spell of weather) Also I came in under budget somehow in the gas and food lines. I guess all of the eating out saved money on my grocery bill! Who knew?? And I've been doing almost all of my errands either by walking or riding my bike. Friends who went to the beach with me chipped in for gas and I cut back on yoga classes going only once weekly (for now).

Another $40 was saved by changing my internet plan with Rogers though that's only for 3 months - but it helps. I used my Misc budget line to cover my eating out and entertainment for the month (beer and wine :) and other than the 2 clearance priced yoga tops I bought ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!

IT CAN BE DONE!

But not forever...I have a list of things I need to purchase though none is urgent. Yesterday I transferred money from savings to pay for the rest of my September trip to England and I also used savings to purchase some new patio furniture. My old furniture was just that - OLD! (and ratty and uncomfortable and ugly!!) Since I love to be outside I decided sprucing up my patio was a necessary expenditure. And I'm really pleased with how it has come together - I found a "conversation" set of furniture on sale at the local Jysk store and it was delivered for free! 

One end of the patio is for "conversation" (reading, drinking...) and the other end...

is for lounging (reading, drinking...).  BBQ is to the right behind the geraniums.

How did your budget do in July? Is summer more expensive than other times of the year?

It's a Brand New....

SEASON!!!...I think I'll call it "Sprinter" and Spring better just sprint right back here before I have a tantrum!

Poor Dougie the Dodge getting attacked by snow pellets...he did nothing to deserve this...

Aren't I glad I got those free rolls of paper towels when I bought Windex at Giant Tiger...looks like I'll be using them again...sometime...

Sprinter: spring chairs, winter weather.

Today it was even worse as it snowed more during the night. But I was off for a hike this morning and didn't get any photos.  Some has melted away but a lot remains. It's pretty chilly out there.

Today brings one week left in April's budget. I'm very happy with how and where the money went this month.  The heating bill was down!! The electricity bill...stayed the same (boo, hiss)...well, the bill would have been lower but rates are being raised AGAIN!! As Carla pointed out this week if you live in Ontario your hydro bill is obscene.

However, in spite of that I'm ahead of the game right now by $400.00. Even after tucking $350.00 into savings earlier in the month. April was the month of chairs - 3 zero gravity chairs - 2 have gone to the trailer; and today Canadian Tire had their andirondack chairs on for $16.99 (regular $23.99) so I bought 4 - they're in the back of Dougie waiting for the next trip to the trailer. Other than chairs, tealights for all of my lanterns and a new album on iTunes I kept my spending to a minimum. Oh, and I bought a book.... Oh, and a bottle of wine....oh, and another bottle of wine :)

What really helped is I only went out to dinner once and breakfast once. You can save a LOT of money by eating at home. AND I still have $109 left in my grocery budget of $276. And $87 left in my gas budget. AWESOME!! Obviously I won't have $400 left by next Thursday when April's budget is complete but I bet I have $300. Even $250 would be good. Or $200. See, I'm not picky, as long as I'm in the black I'm ecstatic!!

How's your budget going? Black or red?

A Girl's gotta Eat

Today I spent more at the grocery store than I have since Christmas! Reason being I needed to buy a whole whack of stuff for the trailer: TP, paper towels, kleenex, cleaning supplies etc etc ... So to reduce the blow to the food budget I used $50.00 of my PC points to bring the overall total down to about $70.00.  That wasn't so bad...I still have $109 left in the food budget and should only need to pick up fresh produce between now and the end of the month.

Today's produce includes: apples, bananas, grapefruit, lemons, pears, cauliflower, avocados, green peppers, green beans, green onions, jalapeno peppers and some luscious tomatoes...

Frozen food includes two pizzas on sale, frozen corn and a package of "french" fish that was 50% off. This is our junk food!

Other treats included Triscuits made from brown rice, chicken bacon, eggs and whole wheat English muffins. On a whim I bought English muffins for an Easter breakfast (toasted muffin, slice of cheese, fried egg, chicken bacon and a slice of tomato). We're hooked!!

The dairy section includes mozzarella cheese strings which I take hiking for a quick burst of protein (reduced 60%), ginormous cheese blocks (800g compared to the usual 500g) at a reduced price so I grabbed two - won't need cheese for about 3-4 months! First pound of butter I've bought since Christmas baking and some half and half for my coffee. Just can't drink it black.

*see the pink heart-shaped thingies attached to my kitchen tile? They're sticky notes with generic reminders - I just put the applicable one on the counter to remind Kazi to do something..."clean the kitty litter", "tsf $$", etc, plus a few love notes for good measure!

Supplies for the trailer include: kleenex, paper towels, TP, garbage bags, Lysol wipes, dish soap, Windex spray, swiffer dusters but the no name version and shampoo, deoderant plus an extra shampoo for the trailer. And...two boxes of Kashi granola bars....

 ...in two yummy flavours...

And there you have it - $120 worth of groceries for $70.00.  After grocery shopping I spent the rest of the afternoon scouring the house for trailer stuff: sheets, blankets, throws, pillows, towels, tea towels and cleaning cloths, rake, broom, dishes, coffee maker, electric kettle, frying pans, lawn chairs and so on. I had a lot of stuff that I brought home from out east (and there is another truck load I need to pick up from one of my sister's barns in PEI). I will clean and arrange stuff tomorrow and make a list of what I'll still need. It shouldn't be too long of a list hopefully.

My daughter is going to be REALLY happy to find out I'm not bothering with a TV or cable. Or internet for that matter. She'll still have her phone:) She needs to rediscover books. She was raised as a reader and read the 7 Harry Potter books at least 10 times each but that has spoiled her for all other literature - she just can't find anything else to compare. Perhaps she can read them this summer for the 11th time! I have a library card for the local library and we can borrow movies. For me the trailer is just a place to sleep - the real action is on the beach and around the fire pit.

S'mores anyone?

BUDGET Bonanza!

There is no bonanza, nor any lesbians either so move along to the next blog if you want...

Just another dull look at the budget...but, it keeps my spending in check (sorta)  to look at the numbers weekly. I am thankful that so far April is going better than expected. Now there's something to celebrate right? (completely disregarding that it's only the 9th of April?)

So what's so darn great about April's money so far??? Well....the acupuncturist said I might only have to get one treatment (she says while burning her butt on a heating pad...)

HEY, I JUST SAID BUTT!!(that should increase my readership!!)

I took $500.00 out of savings to cover said treatments @ $50.00 a SHOT that would amount to 10 treatments. So...I could possibly save $450.00!! (some of which I spent already - EEK!!) Money is getting muddled - OH NO!! I hate that! I took $200.00 of the $500.00 designated for acupuncture and put it in my wallet. I paid for one treatment and still have $80.00 left so that means that there is $70.00 unaccounted for!! I bought a book today ($30.00) and lunch ($5.00) so that leaves $35.00. I did spend some money to make a nice Easter - a bit on candy and wine...see how it dribbles away!?! I cannot be trusted with cash in my wallet - it DISAPPEARS!! And if I don't keep my receipts I can't track where it goes!!

Anyhoo I still have $380.00 left for the acupuncturist if I need it.  If I don't then either it goes back into savings or I use it to purchase some things for the trailer.

Speaking of the trailer...I used my misc money this week to buy two zero-gravity lounging chairs!!

I thought they would be nice for my back/butt area and they ARE!! At only $38.00 a piece I consider them a bargain! And that's all I spent (other than what was mentioned above), so my misc budget is in very good shape - see, it all works out in the end.

Gas budget stands at $145 left out of $170 (this budget will have to be increased once I start going to the trailer) and there is $180 left out of $276 in the food budget. Foodwise we are in great shape - there will be no food shopping until there is actually room in the fridge to put more food!!

And that sums up this week's edition of Budget Bonanza!! How's your budget looking?

Food Budget Update

I've been meaning to do this for awhile but keep forgetting. So today's the day! A couple of suggestions were made by fellow readers/bloggers related to my food purchasing habits and I never let you know that I have put your suggestions into practice!!

First of all a reader, Joann, suggested I buy "fresh" jalapenos instead of canned or bottled. That was a great idea - fresh ones are much cheaper and a package lasts much longer then a bottle. My daughter and I both like our food HOT!! so add jalapenos to so many things - like last week we made spaghetti sauce and added in three fresh chopped jalapenos. (Two would have been plenty!!) I ended up putting in more tomato sauce to tone it down a little.

The other suggestion I have put into practice is buying some of our produce at Giant Tiger. This suggestion was made by fellow blogger Sam @ It's Me, Sam.  You were right - they have great deals on quite a variety of produce. As I have a Giant Tiger and a No Frills store both within a 5 minute walk from my house it's been a snap to include a couple of trips into Giant Tiger each week. We go through avocados PDQ!!

So many thanks Joann and Sam!! I love practical suggestions that I can easily put into effect and that save me $$$!!

Now...how can I save money on gas.....??

Boring Budget Basics otherwise known as the BBB

Every Monday I head out to fill Dougie the Dodge with gas and to buy groceries. I allot so much per week for these expenses. Now...wouldn't it be so nice if each month had exactly 4 weeks? Unfortunately the calendar doesn't work that way. Next week will be part March and part April. Should I allot the gas & groceries to March next week?  or April? Go halfsies? I spent a few moments thinking about that conundrum when I thought of a brilliant solution!! Yes, sometimes there is brilliance!!

I'm going to change gas & grocery day!! Instead of Mondays starting April 1st (no joke!!) gas & grocery day will be on WEDNESDAYS!! Woot woot!! No doubt at the end of April I'll have to make another little adjustment as we all know there are 4 weeks AND A COUPLE OF DAYS in every month, except February...why can't every month be nice and tidy like February?? The challenge will be to make the gas & groceries last 2-3 days longer at the end of each month. That's a challenge I can handle.

I guess I could stop being a zero budgeter but it's all I know!! There's usually some money left at the end of each month but I do what my gramma used to do - move the leftovers into a different "purse" and start fresh with next month's money. (Yes, I only get paid once a month!)

My gramma had two purses hidden behind a cushion in her bedroom. Her monthly money would go in one purse and she would pay all of her bills from it. Then whatever was left at the end of the month went into the "savings" purse. No carry over into the next month. And that's the way I do things too except I use bank accounts not purses. Maybe I should switch? No...it'd be too tempting to spend.

After spending on gas & groceries today I have $61 left in the gas budget and $81 left in the groceries budget. If I can make that last til April 1st then I can tuck$142 into savings. If I can't it's no big deal as the money is there if I need it.

Are you going to make it to the end of the month before the end of your money?

Blogger Blues

My new header photo isn't working out but at the moment blogger won't let me remove it so we're stuck for now with a monster-sized photo that floats around. Isn't life fun?

So, I'm going to update my budget quickly then get out for a walk as it's supposed to get up to +12c today!! Woot woot - and the sun is trying to peak through!

Tomorrow it might snow.

Shopping was easy peasy cheapy today. I like that! I could only squeeze $19 worth of gas into Dougie the Dodge. Still have $86 left in the gas budget. Food costs were pretty low today too - $38 spent at No Frills and $6.54 spent at Giant Tiger. That includes 2 packages of chicken (on sale) and lots of fruit and veg (2 pkg of blueberries, a pineapple, bananas, 2 cans of mandarin oranges, 6 avocados, a pepper squash, 2 bunches or green onions, 4 x-large tomatoes, 2 jars of jalapeno peppers, Greek yogurt on sale, 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 2 cans of kidney beans, 2 cans brown beans (making veggie chilli soon!) and a box of Triscuits.

At Giant Tiger I purchased clementines, lettuce and diced tomatoes (No Frills was out of them). I went in to get toilet paper on sale but they were sold out. I have plenty for another week.

So I didn't purchase any NON FOOD items this week. That makes me happy. I have $124 left in the food budget. So far so good.

I took $40 cash out of my misc budget on Saturday which I used yesterday to see "The Second Best Marigold Hotel" (EXCELLENT) and then had Indian food for dinner :) a theme night! I have $266 left in misc and a VERY empty wallet. I can make it, the ever-elusive tax refund will show up sooner or later (definitely later!) and I don't have any expensive plans in the offing. Well...maybe one...

Budget Boogaloo

February is quickly coming to a close - now if it would only take the brutally cold air with it!! One of the thousands of things I like better about spring are the reduced utility bills. With this February shaping up to be THE COLDEST ON RECORD then my heating bill is likely to be THE HIGHEST ON RECORD!!

The Lowlights and Highlights of February's Budget:

• Lowlights - I underestimated my heating bill and electricity bill by $24; considering how cold it's been that's hardly surprising. I took the extra out of my misc budget and sucked it up!
• a few things have gotten more expensive: my monthly internet bill increased by $3, the hot water tank rental increased by $1, property taxes are increasing by approx. 2.5% but I don't have the new amount yet. That's it for lowlights - nothing broke down, nothing had to be fixed, we stayed warm, ate well and indulged in lots of wine and chocolate!!
• Highlights - I stayed on budget!! AND I had leftover money in all three variable budgets (gas, food and misc)
• a decrease in car/home insurance means that the little increases in other bills were mostly covered
• I have $24 left in the food budget :) ... $85 left in the gas budget :)...and $53 left in the misc budget!! so.....I made an extra payment on my mastercard towards my trip in Sept. and put a little extra into savings to round up the numbers. I'm leaving the $53 in my account to cover gong out to breakfast, going out for coffee, a purchase at Home Depot etc.
• Savings increased by $664 this month!! $350 of that is from my pension and the rest is from interest payments from accounts and RRSPs. 
• Misc purchases this month included: 2 little trips to the thrift shop, some new music for my iPod, a guidebook for a possible trip in 2016, a yoga app, new camera batteries, a new toaster, a special Valentine's party for me and 2 girlfriends, a book for my iPad (or two), a new charge cord for my laptop; ...I went to a movie or two, went out for lunch, breakfast and multiple coffees and I went to the Bryan Adams concert!! Which was fabulous!! (and actually paid out of January's misc budget). 

February's budget was a great success! But then it was only a 28 day month! March will be slightly more challenging I'm sure. Having a trip to work towards does help me squeeze my pennies though - it really helps to have a goal. 

Re Gofundme - I think it only makes sense that you really check out what you're contributing towards. Since Nate was Kazi's friend I had no qualms about donating money towards bringing him back to Canada. I would never donate to someone's "sad story" unless I checked into it and made sure it was REAL. 

Frozen Assets

When I got up this morning it was -29c so is it any wonder my ass(ets) is/are frozen??? I've managed to have quite a few NO spend days this month because who wants to go outside?? That being said I did do some shopping on Friday in preparation for my Valentine's Day guests. But I'm still on track for February and may have some $$ left at the end of the month if I can stay the course!

Gas Budget - I have almost a full tank of gas and $120 left in the gas budget. If you don't drive anywhere gas stays IN the tank!! Also, I lumped ALL my errands together last Friday to use as little gas as possible. I've been averaging $30/week for gas so far which means I might have $60-$80 left in this budget line at the end of the month!

Food Budget - I spent more on food for the first half of this month than I did during the same time period in January. Some of that went for snacks for my party plus I bought extra food that I cooked for breakfast Sunday morning. There is still $116 left in the food budget and I won't be shopping for a a few days as I couldn't fit another thing in my fridge if I tried! I'm sure there will be a few dollars left in the food budget at the end of the month.

Misc Budget - Out of the $313 in the misc budget for the 2nd half of the month I have $230 left. Money has been spent on wine, chocolate treats from the Bulk Barn, movie rentals for the party, music downloaded from iTunes and a book from Amazon for my Kindle app. Upcoming expenditures include going to lunch with a friend tomorrow and the Bryan Adams concert on the 24th (though I've already paid for the ticket!) I hope I don't spend all of the rest of this budget by Feb. 28.

For the next few months any budget remnants will go to paying for my trip to England in Sept. So far I need to pay off my plane tickets and the deposit for my hiking trip with Annie. I therefore challenge myself to direct at least $150 (gas - $80; food - $30; misc - $40) towards my Mastercard at the end of Feb. Whatever is outstanding on my Mastercard will be paid off using my tax refund sometime in March.

Increased savings so far this month includes $350 from my pension and $200 in interest for a total of $550!! I have two more interest deposits from RRSPs to come yet this month. I'm surviving on my pension so far - I'm doing it, I'm doing it!!

Famous last words.....