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?

For the Birds...

It's beach day once again.  My friend Julie is busy making egg salad sandwiches

because as a kid that is what her mother made every time they went

to the beach. Aren't I lucky?? I lurve egg salad!

I'll be bringing drinkies of various kinds, fruit and

White Cheddar popcorn because we are both addicted to it!

If after all of that we're are still hungry we can always go to the

Sandcastle - the awesome drive-in restaurant across

from the beach for some hand-cut french fries

drenched in malt vinegar and salt! Mmmmmm

I am also going to Ribfest this weekend - there seems to be a major festival every weekend in

London during the summer. I've been to Canada Day celebrations, Sunfest, Home County

Folk Festival and the PRIDE parade and festival which was last weekend. Not 

that I'm complaining. I haven't spent a summer in London for quite a few

years - I was always in PEI. But I'm re-discovering London and what seems to be

a summer long party! 

During Ribfest a number of restaurants compete to make the best tasting ribs as voted on

by thousands of little piggies :) There's a midway, a beer garden and live music

for four and a half days. Monday is Canada's "civic holiday" so we're enjoying

another long weekend. Well, "workers" are, to me every day seems like

SATURDAY!!

Well I better finish getting ready. There are a lot of hungry sea gulls waiting for our

crumbs! So far the sun is shining and it's another gorgeous day in

London, Ontario.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend! But don't get sunburned!!

To Do or Not to Do

My To Do list.

What I'm doing instead!!

Easy Come Easy Go

I used to talk/post about money quite a bit but since I've retired and living on a set amount each month there's not as much to talk about. I have a monthly budget and usually I can stick to it. I've made adjustments from time to time when utilities decrease (summer months) or the price of gas goes up etc.

But I caused myself great anxiety back in March when I purchased a trailer. Even as I completed the transaction my inner voice was telling me it wasn't the right time. I should have listened to that little voice. I started losing sleep worrying about looking after two places - the trailer and my condo - afraid of large repair bills and finding out there were more expenses related to the trailer than I had realized. Things have changed a bit since I last owned a trailer.  For example I had to fork out a large amount of money in sales tax which I didn't have to do with my first trailer. The lot fees were HUGE compared to my previous location.

So I put up with the anxiety for awhile but then woke up one morning KNOWING I needed to sell it. Just making that decision helped to put my mind at rest. Within a few weeks of listing it the trailer IS SOLD  to a very nice family who were very grateful of the clean up job I had done and of the improvements I had made. Even though it was my loss I was happy that they were happy.

I knew I would have two lean years of retirement before I start receiving my Canada Pension Plan at age 60 (next May) and I should have waited - the costs involved just felt too onerous at this point in time. Especially with taking a trip abroad last year and this. I think I'd rather use the money saved from selling the trailer towards travel rather than sitting in one place. Perhaps I will change my mind sometime in the future but for now I am no longer TRAILER TRASH!!

Big Sigh of Relief

Life has been pretty hectic lately and I don't do "hectic" very well.  However, I've made it through intact and life is looking up.

Before I get into details I want to post a pic:

Val asked a while ago if I was being affected at all by the raging forest fires in Canada and I can reassure you all at this point that NO I am nowhere near the problem areas. This year there have been upwards of 800+ separate fires happening at once. Firefighters have come from as far as Australia and soldiers are also being trained to help in the fight.

I live in the small blue triangle that is surrounded by the Great Lakes though I see on this recent map that there are moderate to high risks to the north of us. Drought conditions in British Columbia have made the situation very difficult this summer with cities in B.C., the western provinces and some northern states being subjected to heavy smoke. Around 13,000 people have been evacuated from their homes so far just in northern Saskatchewan alone.

Fortunately I read today that storms are predicted which will help put out some fires but the lightning may cause more fires to occur. I read one report that suggested some fires could be burning until it SNOWS!! 

Following are some pics from my Class of '75 high school reunion which occurred over the past weekend here in London:


Some of us met for dinner Friday night at a pub called The Morrissey House where we reminisced about all of our old high school teachers and every party we ever attended during our high school years (too many to count!)

Then the next day more classmates & spouses met up in Victoria Park to enjoy Sunfest - a 4 day event with musicians from around the world and lots of ethnic foods to enjoy. In the first photo I'm standing between my cousin Murray and his wife Debra who drove up from North Carolina! Here we got caught up on each other's kids and what they were up to (or NOT up to as the case may be!)

Once everyone had arrived we moved the party over the the beer garden! Here we shared information on classmates who didn't/couldn't attend the reunion; a sort of "where are they now?

In between good friends Martha and Josie.

We paused for a bit to shower and change and then gathered once again to have a fabulous dinner at The Keg. More rehashing of past adventures and funny moments at school, various camping trips etc.
My cousin Murray and I.

Here we are deciding what to eat and drink-such a nice happy bunch!

This weekend was all about eating, drinking and catching up. These are the people in my life that years can pass in between meeting up but we just pick up where we left off. We're looking ahead at possibly having a HUGE 60th birthday next year!

These last two pictures were taken at the Delta Arms Hotel where we had an amazing brunch...

...complete with a chocolate fountain....

which went REALLY well with my DEEP FRIED CHEESECAKE!! Oh my!!

It was a great weekend, very busy. The weather cooperated, thankfully, as I didn't have a Plan B if we got rained out. But all went very well and I can't wait to do it again but with SOMEONE ELSE planning the next one!

When the health care system works...

...it works really well.

I just read in the paper today about cuts to RNs (registered nurses) BUT I do have some good news about our health care system as well.

It helps to live in a city (London, ON) where several top-notch hospitals with world-wide reputations are located but I digress.

My doctor told me I'd be lucky to get an MRI done before my trip in September. But earlier this week (Tuesday) I received a call about a cancellation the next day - did I want it? Of course!

The MRI itself was quite an experience - I wondered if I would be able to go in feet first instead of head first and was elated to discover that yes I could. The technician was wonderful and very reassuring. She gave me a squeeze ball that sounds an alarm when squeezed so if I was feeling claustrophobic I could be let out of there PDQ!  She also place a cloth over my eyes which was very calming and ear plugs for the noise.

Holding still for 20 minutes seemed like a very long time but I just focussed on my breathing. Whenever I felt like twitching or I would get a "bad thought" like - "what if everyone goes home and forgets I'm in here??" I would concentrate on breathing slowly and deeply. (The technician said afterwards that they almost never forget that someone's in the machine!!) What a card!!

She said it would take 4-5 days for the results to reach my doctor but lo and behold I had a call not 24 hours later from my doctor's office that they had the results and could I come in the next day (today) to go over the results! So I've been and come home again.

There's a lot going on with my spine and lumbar region. I have mild to moderate disc compression, disc bulging and disc uncovering (?) and mild stenosis (abnormal narrowing) in the lumbar region and lower spine.

At today's appointment I was told that I can request a referral to a spine doctor to confer about surgery and it's a one year wait! Because the problems I have are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things (for a 59 year old woman with a previous history of back pain since I fell off a trampoline when I was 14) a spine surgeon wouldn't likely operate and having my back operated on really doesn't appeal to me right now.  The other option is to continue what I'm doing - meds and lots of exercise.

The meds are helping with the pain as well as anxiety/depression and I'm becoming more active again - 90 minutes of yoga last night, riding my bike again, hiking and walking again so I feel pretty darn grateful for the relief I am getting.  And grateful for our health care system that doesn't charge me for the MRI and got it done in record time.

There are two sides to every coin.

MRI

Great news! Someone cancelled their MRI appointment so I guess I was next on the list - I go today at 5:15pm.

The bad news is that sparkly nail polish I used yesterday on my toes? It's gotta go.

In other news.....when Kazi was at a music festival in Michigan 2 weeks ago "she met a boy". He's from New Jersey and just happens to be visiting in London and Toronto starting tomorrow. So of course they've made plans to spend time together.

The timing isn't the best as my 40th, yes you read that right, 40th high school class reunion is this weekend, of which I'm the hostess! That involved making restaurant reservations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and organizing the event around a popular festival - SUN FEST - which is taking place in London this weekend.  So I won't see much of THE BOY as they are heading to Toronto on Friday, which is sort of a relief as my time will be mostly spent with my fellow 1975 grads.

So the next few days will be very busy and full of distractions, which is good and bad for the anxiety levels, but I'm feeling pretty positive about the whole thing.  The weather looks good and one of my fellow grads is my cousin (and his wife) who are coming up from North Carolina. Hotel rooms have been booked and the food will be divine though I'll likely put on 5lbs over the 3 days!

That's it for now - I've got to UNpolish my toes!