Oh Money - Where Did You Go??

Last Friday I once again took $40 out of my misc. account leaving me with a mere $22 to see me through until payday next Friday.  No problem, I thought, I won't spend it all. 

Hah!

It slipped through my fingers faster than water.  I had loaned myself $10 out of our Crofters Lane Jar because I was going out to breakfast with some girlfriends and didn't have time to go to the bank. So the first thing I did was repay to jar. OK, down to $30.

Later in the day when we arrived at the trailer we found that the hydro was off. It seems that someone who had perhaps closed their trailer for the season had flipped off the wrong switch. Easy problem to solve but everything in the fridge was spoiled. It wasn't much - nothing in the freezer and mainly condiments and drinks in the fridge. We needed cream for coffee in the morning so off I went to the variety store as the grocery store had just closed. So a measly little pint of cream and a newspaper was about $6.00.

Then I spent close to $20 on a nice bottle of wine to drink around the campfire. See how quickly my $40 disappears?? Nothing but loose change left.

This morning I decided to treat everyone to a coffee from Tim Horton's as we lazed around the house.  Loose change?  Gone!

So now I face the remainder of the week (4 days til Friday) with only $22 left in misc. spending. $10 of that is earmarked for my volleyball game Wed. night. So looks like I'll have to have a couple of "no spend" days between now and Friday.  Can I do it??

I sure hope so!

Weekly Wrap

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All in all not too bad of a week, though I have a confession to make...

When I was summing up my spends the other day I forgot to take into account something I bought on the internet.  I joined a website called TeamBuy.ca which is a "groupon" type site where something is offered for sale at a reduced price and if enough people commit to buy it then a coupon is provided for up to 50% off.

First of all the offer of a free cupcake at the best bakery in town suckered me into signing up to receive emails about the offers in my city. (God I'm easy aren't I??)  Then if that wasn't bad enough there was an offer from my absolute favourite restaurant owned by friends of mine and where my partner actually works a few shifts each week. It seemed meant to be. $50 worth of scrumptious food and drinks for $25.  Yes, I thought - this will save me money! I haven't eaten there for so long because I am saving my money for Crofters Lane. (Of course I now realize that if you have to SPEND money in order to SAVE money then you haven't really SAVED anything)!!

So I am going to bite the bullet right now and make a payment on my credit card instead of waiting for the bill. So knock off another $25 from the misc. spending total. I did take out $20 on Wed. so I could buy a beer after volleyball and with the $12 I had left I bought a glass of wine at the event I went to last night (Ecolivinglondon), put $2.25 in the Crofters Lane jar and have $5 left in my wallet.

I got a few freebies this past week that somewhat helps to compensate for my indulgence. Actually a lot of freebies now that I think about it. Said restaurant gave us a huge and I mean huge bag of frozen carrots, broccoli and cauliflower as well as a big pile of Jamaican patties they had leftover from selling out front of their restaurant downtown on car-free Sunday. Then Michael (my partner) happened to be at a Starbucks on Tuesday night when they were closing and he knew one of the people working there and they gave him all their leftover food - sandwiches, wraps and a couple of oatfudge bars. Yummy! And today I brought home some leftover food from a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch my staff and I made for our students: huge dish of mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and a GIGANTIC pumpkin pie from Costco. There - I feel better now.

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I love FREEBIES!!

So to tally up - I spent $12.63 at the grocery store today (yogurt, juice, more salad, bread) and have $50.74 left til Oct. 15th - that's enough I think. And after deducting $25 for my "dinner out" coupon I have $62 left in misc. spending. The gas account is at $107.00 because Michael put gas in the car and so did my daughter so I didn't need to fill it up til today's $43.00. So far so good (she said crossing her fingers...)

So what do you think - should I cancel my membership to Teambuy.ca?? Also - lesson learned on the lure of credit card buying - it seems like you're not really spending anything until you get the bill in the MAIL!!

Time to Make a Withdrawal

Since my $40.00 blowout last Friday night I haven't spent ANY money. On Monday I spent $6.37 from my food budget at the grocery store and still have $70.00 left for groceries until October 15th (have already bought a turkey for Thanksgiving this weekend) so feel confident that I won't overspend on groceries.

(I HAD to buy Liquid Plumber as my upstairs bathroom sink was clogged!)

Well the clog is fixed and I've had 4 No Spend days. Today I'll have to take $20 out of the bank as I play volleyball tonight and we always go out for a drink afterwards - my pint of Stella costs $8.00 including tip. That will leave $87 in my misc. spending jar which should (along with the $12.00 in my wallet) last until I get paid on Oct. 15th.

You know, I'm getting to like this challenge!!

One Woman's Junk is Another Woman's Contribution to the CL Jar!!

I have seen the term "snowflaking" referred to on other blogs but wasn't entirely sure what it meant. I thought perhaps it was a different spin on "snowballing" a strategy Gail Vaz-Oxlade uses in paying down debt. Pick the debt with the highest interest to pay down first while maintaining minimum payments on the other debts. When the highest interest debt is paid off combine, or "snowball", that payment into the next highest interest debt and get it paid off, then add that payment...well you get the picture.

So I googled "snowflaking" and came across a post by Matt at One Million and Beyond that explained the concept.

"The idea of snowflaking is pretty straightforward in that any extra money that you save or make is applied to a financial goal right away regardless of the amount."

Well I am proud to say that today we "snowflaked" (can I use it as a verb??) A few days ago my partner brought home 2 boxes of old LPs that a friend of his was going to give to Goodwill and today he exchanged them for $70.00!!!  We immediately socked the money away in the Crofter's Lane Jar. We hope to...or should I say we PLAN to have enough money for gas and motel to and from PEI next summer for which we would need approximately $500-$600.

Stay tuned....

Have: $209.20              Need: $600.00

So over 1/3 of the way there!!
P.S. can anyone tell me the secret to making those financial goal bar graphy things in their sidebars??

Financial Goals for 2010-2011

Having joined a challenge to "Spend Consciously" for an entire year (yikes) I thought I should set out some goals so I could remind myself what I am doing this for.  It's fairly obvious that I need to maintain a balanced budget which is stretched to the max due to purchasing a retirement property while still living in my condo which I won't be selling until I retire and also while maintaining my trailer in Bayfield. Whew! What am I, nuts? Hopefully not. (rebuttals anyone??)

So getting down to specifics here goes:

• save $1000 a month, $5000 of which will go into my slightly depleted TFSA and the rest to use next summer to: replace old septic system at my new old home in PEI and purchase appliances for it
• save $90 a month for my RRSP (max allowable due to my teacher's defined pension plan)
• save $100 a month for the Emergency Account
• pay down my line of credit $1000 monthly plus interest
• pay off Visa (balance is only around $70)
• save enough for Christmas - guessing around $750
• contribute "creatively" to Crofter's Lane savings jar every month (this month I have 2 HUGE boxes of LPs that a friend was going to THROW out which we will take to a dealer who exchanges them for cash; also partner is going to put his tips into the jar)
• donate $100 to charity monthly
• cut down on gas and mileage of shared vehicle: use bikes more, daughter to contribute to HER share of the gas; co-ordinate rides to use the least amount of gas possible
• cut down on electric and natural gas bill (switched my natural gas to a different and much cheaper provider - second year I've done this and it made quite a difference), power down computers
• cut down on entertainment expenses by borrowing movies and books from the library instead of renting movies and buying books; eat out less
• buy coffee at Tim Hortons (or make at home) instead of expensive Starbucks Lattes)
• cut down on grocery bill by eating less meat (Meatless Monday every week) and using up leftovers in soups and stews; planning a list by using store flyers
• write all purchases down on my newly minted monthly budget form; stick to alloted amounts for groceries and gas

And finally, feel good about making an effort to live and spend consciously with the support of fellow bloggers Sam, Sharon and Maureen.  (I'm sure there are others I'm not aware of - if so, please let me know!)

October Budget: Pad Thai Fiasco Saved by Natural Gas

It could have been a disaster story along the lines of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" or at the very least a tragedy reminiscent of Octomom's recent yard sale.

October - a fresh new month with new paydays. A sudden influx of money into the empty bank account. A sigh of relief that we got through September with $80 leftover and immediately socked away in a spanking brand new Gifts account at ING Direct. The euphoria derived from a 4 digit bank balance and a clean and tidy budget spreadsheet.

I'm rich!! ...or so I thought... even after I filled in my budget sheet and found myself with $176 for miscellaneous spending until October 15th I felt confident in my ability to make it last. After all, I had just spent over a week successfully stretching out a measly $40! But over the course of a few hours I watched in horror as my $176 dwindled away:

• my service charges were $2 higher due to using a non-TDCanada Trust ATM - down to $174
• oops - my Line of Credit interest was higher than my projections - now down to $146
• paid $27 off on my $97 Visa balance - yikes, now down to $119
• withdrew $40 cash as my wallet was totally empty (spent my last $10 on supporting the Run for the Cure) - now down to a precariously low $79 but sure that the $40 would last me for at least a week so still feeling smug
• paid $8 to see a movie with a friend; afterall I should get a little pleasure from my freshly deposited paycheque (oh yes, and $6 for popcorn but $0 for a drink as I brought my own water) - feeling like I've handled things well so far
• went to Jambalaya after the movie to pick up partner who was working there over the dinner hour & succumbed to a huge helping of the best pad thai in town washed down with a Sleeman's Cream Ale
• CRAP - my share of the bill came to $26 - exactly what I had left in my wallet - there goes my $40
• now I have $0 in my wallet again and only $79 for the next two weeks.....oh dear.
• got my natural gas bill today and it was $28 less than what I had budgeted for it (thank God I haven't turned on the furnace yet!) so now my misc. money is up to a more respectable $107...sigh

Today I have spent $0 so far. I have relied on my partner to buy me coffee at Starbucks and a newspaper, not to mention a chocolate and caramel covered pretzyl:) Had the leftover pad thai for supper (so very thrifty of me). Going out dancing tonight but hoping that since my wallet is empty and will remain so for as long as possible that my partner will cover the cover charge ($5) and buy me a drink.  If not I'll be drinking water!

PEIMoments

Posted by Kim at Top of the Meadow - takes me right back home!