Ups and Downs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember this one? Same store. 

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

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

Speaking of the cold... 

I managed to finish a crocheted headband for Kazi.

It looks amazing on her, me not so much.

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

sizing and sewing on the buttons.

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

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

No Spends and Foto Friday (Hey, I remembered!)

It's a banner day when I can remember to do something on the proper day! Sooooooo, before I forget here is what was going on one year ago.

Lily doesn't drool when she naps but
she does let her tongue hand out!

Looks like a beach day at Pt. Stanley although the sky
looks a little threatening.

Cloud porn

Big waves!

I got new patio furniture!

Lily says - "I smell ice cream!"

Getting a few licks in :)  This summer she
isn't interested. All the more for me!

No Spend Week: success!! I spent zero dollars all week except Monday when I spent $21 at the grocery store. That was the day before I decided to have a No Spend week. It was more like 3 no spend days. But what the heck! My account looks healthy again and I'm headed off to buy some euros!

I might just need to pick up some Heavenly Hash ice cream too! :)

No Spend!

Yes, that's right...I'm putting a lock on my wallet!! Just until Friday!

This month I received an extra $310 from the gov't, thank you very much! I still have that amount left in my account and ALL of my bills have been paid. The fridge is well-stocked and Kazi is on a road trip so I don't see any reason why I can't have a No Spend week!

That doesn't mean the $310 will not be spent...it just won't be spent in Canada! On Friday, when the school board and the gov't make lovely deposits into my account I'll be headed off to the currency exchange outlet to buy more euros :) and I'll be using the bonus money to help pay for it.

As far as my  trip with Annie goes I don't think I have to buy too many more things...I wouldn't mind a new pair of walking shoes as we'll be doing a lot of "city walking" before and after the hike as well as cycling. However, I do have shoes I could take. Not an absolute necessity....

.....or is it? I'm off to get my knee x-rayed momentarily. Perhaps the technician or my doctor will recommend a supportive pair of walking shoes :) And a bottle of scotch! Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch!

What would you spend an extra $310 on?

Short and Sweet

That's me, short and sweet! Well, short anyways...

Jan. 2, 2014 - how time flies! Lots of challenges going on...I stayed inside today so had a 2nd No Spend day. Too damn cold for anything else. Sure hope Dougie the Dodge starts tomorrow - not that I HAVE to go anywhere but one can only stay cooped up for so long.

Completed Day 2 of my 5 day juice fast. So far so good. I did wake up with a headache in the night - no doubt withdrawal from caffeine - so I took a tylenol and had a few sips of leftover coffee and that did the trick. Today - no headache and feeling more energy so I pedalled 15km on my stationary bike. I'm keeping tabs on my total km cycled in my sidebar. Spent some quality mother/daughter time with Kazi watching Freaks and Geeks on Netflix. I'd never heard of it before but it starred James Franco, Jason Segel and Seth Rogen before they were rich and famous. Unfortunately it was cancelled after one season even though Kazi and I think it's hilarious! What do we know...?

So today was supposed to be the BIG DAY when I begin my application to retire but when I went onto the website I could only pick a retirement date up until May 2014 so boo, hiss, I'll have to wait another month or two. I guess there must be so many of us oldies but goodies retiring that they can only handle so many at a time. So that was rather anticlimactic! To make up for that letdown I got busy and sorted through a huge pile of personal papers that has been gathering for the last couple of months AND put Christmas gifts away. The fun never ends...

Weekly Wrap & Other Crap

Took a sick day today. No, I'm not dying or anything but I've had a scratchy sore throat for three days and had a pulsing pain above my left eye last night, thankfully gone now. So thought I'd spend a day laying on the couch and dosing myself with oil of oregano. Man that stuff stinks...and it tastes even worse than it smells. But it seems to work...I think my body is so repulsed by the stuff that it heals itself so I won't subject it to any more torture.


Speaking of torture, September's budget has come to an end...


Now...on to October!  I will start using Spendingdiary again this month which will help me to keep better tabs on my spending, at least that's the theory. I used it last year from about October to June and it did help me stay on track.


So once again I have no fancy pie charts to show you where all of my money went. But go it did. There was Kazi's birthday, back to school expenses, new tires for the car and plenty of dining and drinking. Did I tell you yet about the new pub we've found - "The Waltzing Weasel?" The best chicken wings ever!


But I digress - yes the stack of receipts from this month alone is a good half inch thick. Money came in and quickly departed. I just couldn't hang on to it. But, although I spent freely I also saved over $1,000 and paid down my line of credit by $1300.  And thanks to receiving a cheque from Michael today which will now be a monthly event to very much look forward to I was able to cover our overdraft and pay off the Mastercard.


So I stand before you today with my only debt being my Line of Credit ($35,000) and the roughly $45,000 mortgage on my PEI home. I have upped the bi-monthly mortgage payment which has brought the amortization down from 25 yrs. to 16 yrs. and I plan, yes PLAN, not HOPE, PLAN to have the Line of Credit paid in full within 18 months! So by the end of March 2013!!


Other goals for this year:

• get the Emergency Fund back up to $2000 (currently @ $1450)
• increase the Christmas fund to $1131 and stay within my budget this year 
• (currently @ $531)
• transfer $5000 into my TFSA by year end (currently @ $4300 & the transfer will increase my TFSA to $15, 186)
• get my line of credit down to $29,000 by year end!! This one is the most exciting goal!

Is your October budget ready to go?

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!! 

LIFE IS DULL AS DISHWATER

Hi there: yes, life is currently dull. I've got to think up some creative and frugal things to do other than get up, go to work, come home, use  computer, eat dinner, exercise, read/watch a movie, go to bed. Repeat. Repeat...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


You would have laughed at me today and, thanks to blogging, you still can! After work I picked up a free newspaper from the office, drove to Starbucks and sat outside on their patio in the sunshine reading my paper and drinking a tea that I had made at WORK!! Tee hee...or should I say tea hee...how's that for CHEAP!!


I'm going through a bit of shopping withdrawal. It's insidious pull on me is still there.  I thought I had buried that along with my previous smoking habit. (It's been EIGHT YEARS since my last ciggy!) But after a summer of buying this and that for our PEI house, then coming back and shopping everyday for school (at no cost to me, totally reimbursed) and buying some second-hand clothes at Talize (for me) and then buying some new clothes from Winner's it started to be fun again and I wanted to keep on shopping and shopping! 


It wasn't til I examined the budget numbers a week ago that I realized I quickly needed to apply a tourniquet! But part of me is still hankering to spend. But I won't. I have become a fairly proficient freeloader instead. I had a free dinner last Saturday night at Jambalaya...again.  Then Michael took me dancing so that didn't cost me anything. Sunday we went hiking and to the beach. Michael bought some fries and shared them with me and put gas in the car. I think I missed my calling.  Perhaps when I heard God say "go forth and teach" He was really saying "go forth and mooch"?!?


Just call me Minnie.

Minnie the Moocher

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.

Weekly Wrap - First Week of No Spend February

 In honour of No Spend February I have wrapped up this week with old newspaper:)

 Due to events out of my control: snow day, sore throat, I am happy to report that I have spent NO MONEY besides the following expenses - debt, groceries, gas, condo fee and chequing account service charge.

When I wanted to get a Timmy's and a newspaper I made a pot of tea and went of the National Post website instead.

I was going to go to the movies yesterday but wasn't feeling well - now I wouldn't advise that one too often but I stayed home and save a few $$.

It was also the first two days of the second semester on Thursday and Friday so I was ultra busy and didn't even THINK about anything other than school.

So what have I learned?
a) keep really really busy and there's no time for needless spending
b) make do with what you have instead of wanting something else (tea, online newspaper)
c) being sick has a silver lining:)

I had a toonie ($2.00) in my wallet at the beginning of the week and it's still there. I am drinking lots of tea and honey to keep my throat lubricated and my DD and I are spending quality time together.

Hope your weekend is going well (it's snowing like the dickens out there) and if you are doing the February NoSpend Challenge I hope all your expenses are small change!

January Month End - Money, Money, Money

 I was going to wait until Monday to wrap up January but I went online to look at my bank account today and lo and behold my Jan. 31st paycheque was already deposited so thankyou schoolboard. I also was happy that I was within a few cents of correctly guessing how much it would be. I hope that I've also guessed Feb. 15th's pay correctly too.  We'll see....

I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay



Ain’t it sad


And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me


That’s too bad


In my dreams I have a plan


If I got me a wealthy man


I wouldn’t have to work at all, I’d fool around and have a _________
 
Title, Artist and fill in the blank!??!  Ahhhhh, it's too EASY!!
 
I'm tired of January but here's one last look at the numbers.  I love that debt and savings are the two biggest parts of my budget by FAR! I was fortunate to be able to pay an extra $148.30 out of misc. spending on my line of credit this month for a total of $1348.30! I am going to beat that LOC into submission!!
 
The other bonus was upping my EF to $1300. I'm going to set a new goal for that one I think. $3,000 instead of $2,000. We'll see, first things first, I need to do my taxes, think about topping up my TFSA instead of my RSP this year, as I'm not looking forward to paying the whopping withdrawal taxes on my RSP $$ once I retire. TFSA makes more sense. I was at my max but took out $5000 last year when I made my PEI house purchase. What I didn't know until recently is that I can put  that $5000 back into my TFSA in the following tax year:) Yippee!!
 
Oops, noticed a mistake in my chart. I meant to divide my insurance payment between Housing and Transportation but I forgot. I pay $205 a month for home and car insurance - isn't that a horrible amount?? Most of it is for the car - having my daughter on as an occasional driver raised it by $50 per month! (And yes, I pay for it:)
 
I'm looking forward to February's challenge - a NO Spend month. I am so ready for this! I've allotted $400 for groceries, $150 for gas and have $185 for misc spending which totals $735. My goal is to squeeze at least $100 from that little budget and throw at my LOC again. I see a month of self-denial ahead (although I have a Starbucks card, a movie card, and a restaurant card, so I won't be too terribly deprived:)
 
Oh BTW - we did catch two movies yesterday - "The Rite" with Anthony Hopkins and "The King's Speech" and LOVED both of them! Colin Firth really should win an oscar for his role as King George VI - but being British I'm a little biased.
 
Happy Weekend everyone - look forward to seeing all of your month end summaries and a No Spend month!

Weekly Wrap - Feeling Grateful

I'm so pretty...oh so pretty....I'm so pretty, and witty and wise.....in my wrap:)

Newsbeat: I used to work with a woman at the Royal Bank about a hundred years ago who used to sing the "I'm so pretty" song every morning before the doors were unlocked. I always wished I had her confidence.

Today was a wild and woolly day. My "broken angel" had a tough day - trying to bite staff (not succeeding thankfully), but biting holes in both of his slippers, biting a pilates ball and breaking it, biting a box and ripping it, ripping his one holey sock into pieces, biting the bottom of his backpack ripping a big hole in it. Oh yes, it was one of those days. All I did was record, record, record. But now the day is done and Michael and I are relaxing, with our feet up, at Starbucks both enjoying a free drink. Me because of a slow order last week so they gave me a gift coupon for a free drink and Michael because he gets a free birthday drink.

It's so nice to unwind:)The week has been full of ups and downs - birthday, sick child, $500 cheque coming from my car insurance, my broken angel. Up down up down. Yet I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for a week spent well: celebrating, reflecting, writing, mothering, reading, exercising, discussing and laughing.

Here is my three week chart. One more week (and a bit) and I'll be able to see the whole month:) The big news of course is the $500 I'm getting from the insurance company (not reflected here of course as I haven't received it yet)but I'm putting some on my Line of Credit and the rest into emergency savings. This will REALLY REALLY help because in February my pay will be approximately $340 less than January. So it's a darn good thing I've joined Sharon's NO Spend February which I may just have to continue til July when my pay will slightly increase due to not having to pay union dues and also my Canada Pension plan will be paid in full. I have six poor months and six good months financially over the year. Could be worse, could be way worse.

My misc. spending will have to be held in check. This month is higher than usual due to $152 being spent on my prescription sunglasses. I am very happy with my food, entertainment, gift and transportation totals and I don't foresee adding very much to those. My food buget still has most of its money due to Angela's "pantry challenge" and Michael has helped with the gas money:)


Heartbeat: While we were driving to Starbucks Michael told me about an acquaintance of his who he just found out had died in November. We had just seen him a few weeks before. At this point we don't know how he died. We find that as we get older we think about our mortality more and more and that we need to stop wasting today by only "living in the future". I used to think I wouldn't be happy until I retired. I found out that my thinking was very flawed. Today is all we really have. Michael finds himself guilty of thinking that he hasn't accomplished enough yet instead of feeling thankful for what he has today. But - we also can't stop dreaming and planning for the future so we have to find the balance. Here's what we came up with.


Live for Today so that We Can Plan for Tomorrow.


Are you living for today?

Birthday Summary

Taking a picture of our reflection in a pond.

So I listened to your advice re Michael's birthday present, but there was a slight problem. Some said let Michael buy the tickets and take him out to dinner before the concert (seems reasonable) while others said buy the tickets myself.

Sooooooooo, I bought the tickets AND I bought him a movie card (we go to a lot of movies as you might have noticed) and a book. At Christmas I bought him at book called "A Secret Kept" by Tatiana de Rosnay and he LOVED it, so I bought another one of her bestsellers called "Sarah's Key". I haven't read them yet but will give you my opinion once I do. So I overdid it a bit on the gifties but couldn't help myself. It means I'll be cutting it very close to the budget bone for the next two weeks but I think I can make it. Just in time for Sharon's No Spend February challenge. And boy will I ever NEED THAT!!

I felt kinda bad as Michael is working at Jambalaya tonight so we didn't go out for dinner or anything but I have an icecream cake in the freezer for when he gets home and we'll probably open a bottle of wine.  Cheers!