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. 

This is Getting Old

It is still snowing. Since my last post it hasn't stopped. I know I said I wanted a blizzard but I meant the one day type not the week long epic event!!

First day - about one foot.

Second day - about a foot and a half.

Today! For some reason the snow pile on top of the storage
box is getting wider instead of taller. Perhaps
because of the wind?

Just got a text from Kazi - she and a friend went to have breakfast at McDonalds and they got stuck in the parking lot. Oh, did I mention it's -22c? That doesn't have the wind chill added in either!

Last night I happened to glance out a window to see if it was still snowing. It was. But a beautiful scene evoked memories of one of my favourite books: do you know which one? Some of you who have seen this on facebook will know the answer. Hint: it's very magical!

Weather blah blah snow blah blah cold blah blah blah.

BEFORE all of this weather happened I made a little Goodwill thrift shop visit. I always keep a list going of things I want to purchase and I found two of them at the 2nd thrift shop I visited. I was looking for a radio - I know, who listens to the radio anymore? Well, I do, or rather, I want to. There are so many really really good programs on Canada's CBC radio station.  Yes, I could stream it through my laptop but that uses up a lot of gigs. Radios are hard to find these days, especially ones that you can move around from room to room as needed. AND I found a dandy one  - it's just a clock radio but it has really good speakers so the sound quality is excellent. $3.00.  It looks sort of like the one below except it has a speaker at each end.

Another item I've been wanting to get is another iPod dock. I like to have one in the kitchen so I can sing and dance while I cook (don't drop in around 5:30pm unless you want to join in!) and one in my workshop so I can listen to my favourite tunes while I carve. I checked at Walmart first and all they had was:

I didn't want to pay full price (listed on Amazon for between $47 & $59) so decided to keep looking. And found the exact same device at the Goodwill store...for $4.00! It has the option to change colours as it plays so I'm ready for next New Year's Eve!!

The final amazing find I like to call the FIND OF THE DAY was a pair of  women's Merrill Vibram Gore-tex (waterproof) hiking shoes in my size and in pristine condition. I guess the previous owner didn't really like hiking after all! These go for $100+ U.S. dollars. I wore them around the store and then around the house for a couple of days - they are extremely comfortable. Oh, I paid $6.75!!

Those are my treasures for this week!!

Upcoming post - mid month budget update!

Me and My BIG MOUTH!!

But how was I to know that we were going to get all of our snow in just a couple of days this winter? It has been snowing - lightly and heavily - for what...48 hours?? More or less?

Hey - where's the bird seed??

My daughter calls it a "blizzard" but there doesn't seem to be any wind, at least not in the city. The bird seed is quickly being buried and the cats are bored! Jeez - I shoulda joined in the February "No Spend" - the only money I've spent this week was Sunday morning on groceries (THANKFULLY!!) before all this mayhem began.

What's Dougie got to smile about?

My neighbour has cleaned his car off twice so far today.

This is a good thing as I used my misc budget to pay my travel insurance so I only have $177 left in that account. That's what I use for entertainment, going out for meals, needed household items like furnace filters (I just replaced the last one so need to buy some within the next month). I noticed them on sale at Home Hardware but I won't be travelling anywhere today. If this keeps up I won't be going to yoga or group meditation tonight either!

Some snow

More snow....I'm dreaming of a white Valentine's Day!

Even more snow!! Yikes!

Phew - just went out to dig Dougie out - I needed a broom to do the roof! As snow events go it's not really too bad - it just seems bad because it's our only major snow storm so far this winter. And we do so love to talk about the weather around here!

Hydro One - Ontario

I don't know if I make a good activist. I always look like I'm having a great time! Shouldn't I look more serious? I don't know. I think it's just the automatic reaction when someone points a camera towards me - CHEESE!! 

You should see an interview CTV did with a couple of the leaders of the "HYDRO ONE NOT FOR SALE!" group. I'm in the background chanting with some of my fellow protesters - honestly we look like a sorority group dancing and singing away! (In Canada Hydro = electricity)

Protesting outside of our local Member of Parliament's office.
We stage a sit-in every Friday for a half hour and generally
pester Ms. Matthews by filling out appointment slips
every week. So far one person has had one meeting
with her.

Here's the scoop: our provincial leader, Premier Wynn, is selling off our huge Ontario Company called Hydro One. With the payout, around $9 billion, some debts will be settled and the rest (not much) will go into repairs and infrastructure. A one time deal.

The $750 million annual profit will belong to whoever buys the company instead of going into the provincial budget. You can just imagine all the social programs that will have to be cut to make up for that huge loss.

Rates WILL go up and up and up. Brown outs will occur more frequently. Aging infrastructure will continue to age causing our rates to skyrocket! Our rates just went up again as of Jan. 1st - the 4th time in less than 3 years! (most recent increase before this one was November 2015!! - our rates have increased 46.6% over past 10 years!!) Another increase is planned for spring 2016. Oh my...

I am one of the lucky ones. I got my e-bill yesterday and was feeling a bit worried. I've heard of some people's bill going up more than 50%!! Those in rural areas and/or living on native lands were getting hit worse than us city dwellers.  Some people still heat with electricity - and have gone from paying $300+ a month to over $500! My bill only increased by $7.00 over last month which increased by $8.00 last November, 2015, which increased..........and so on. And then they're going to ding me again come spring! I guess my new habit of going to bed when it gets dark has paid big dividends - HAH!

Maybe I should stop cooking - now there's a thought! And I'll just store my food outside! Stop washing our clothes, get dressed in the dark!

How else can we save some of our electrical dollars??

Look out Ireland!!

In case you haven't heard, or read, Annie and I are off to Ireland this year!!! Right now it doesn't seem real (other than the charges already appearing on my Mastercard!!) Last week Annie and I spent the better part of 3 or 4 days checking out places to stay, trains, flights, spots we didn't want to miss (the Blarney Stone!) etc.

There is so much to see and do in Dublin!

Skeletal remains anyone?  

Guess what I'll be bringing home?

As it stands now we will have a few days in Dublin, then we travel by train to Galway where we catch a bus to the ferry which will take us to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands where we stay for a couple of nights. We will cycle our way around the island visiting Dun Aonghusa, a circular fort perched on top of a cliff among other medieval sites!

Annie - we have to eat in Druid Lane (Galway)! 

The cliffs are magnificent!

Galway is the 4th largest city in Ireland.

This shows the trip from Galway to Inverin where we take
the ferry to Inis Mor

Dun Aonghusa - a circular stone fort

From there we will be taken by taxi to where our walk begins - Oughterard, on the mainland. Over the next 7 days we will walk 122km of The Western Way ending up in Westport. We spend the night in Westport and then take a train back to beautiful Galway where we spend a few nights and explore the city and western Ireland.

After Galway we head to Cork which is on the east coast. Staying in Cork for a couple of days gives us time to visit nearby Blarney Castle home of the infamous Blarney Stone! From Cork it's about 3.5 hours back to Dublin.

This map shows our trek beginning in Oughterard (bottom right)
to Westport in the middle. You can see the trail continues on.

I'd better keep doing my yoga!!

Cork looks AMAZING! 

and VERY colourful!

So far I've paid for my flight - I got a great price - $709.00(Cdn) with one brief stopover on my way over at Heathrow and then non-stop on the way home. I paid for very comprehensive insurance this time around - it costs more but puts my mind at ease. I know of two hikers who had to cancel their trips last fall due to injuries. And I've paid for our Galway B&B which was $102 (plus fees) for a total of $342 Cdn. Of course that's split between the two of us so it's not so bad. We were firm in wanting 2 beds to rest our weary bones on :) And we get breakfast included :) :)

Two beds! 

Quaint!

Pretty post!

We are busily saving our pennies and are travelling the last week of August and first 2 weeks (approx) of September. Why is it though that the euro is rising?!? Grrrrr! Despite that I'm very excited in our upcoming adventure! We wanted more of a balance this time around between hiking and having the time to explore more. I think it's going to be fantastic!!

Waiting on the Birds...

After a busy week I was looking forward to a restful weekend. I'd been out 4 nights in a row and my body was aching after 3 days of walking, a very challenging 90 minutes yoga class and 2 hours of volleyball. Therefore I stayed in my pjs all day yesterday (YES I DID!) and caught up on some things around the house, spent some time reading and then crocheted a few more inches of my first scarf while watching a couple episodes of "Z Nation" because I do love me some zombies! It's not as good as "The Walking Dead" but as I only have Netflix and Shomi I am waiting on some new episodes of "TWD". 

The kitties are teaching me how to relax. While I was reading the paper Saturday morning Lily and Luna were waiting for the juncos to make their appearance. Lily is using the POWER of ATTRACTION but to no avail. 

She tries to wait patiently...

...but started to act silly...while performing a few acrobatic tricks...

...I wish I was half this flexible...

"here birdie birdie birdie!"

When it was Luna's turn in the castle she tried to STARE the birds into existence, but alas, her attempts did not produce any birds.

"wake us up when the birds arrive!"zzzzzzz      Birdwatching is exhausting!!

And, finally, in the weird world of weather...snowdrops are putting in an appearance!

No, I'm not going to watch the Panthers and the Broncos - I prefer to watch the kittens and the juncos!

Foto Friday

A few snowflakes floated down today but they melted as soon as they hit the ground. It was pretty and slightly more seasonal.

What was happening a year ago today I wonder? Let's look and see.

There was a LOT more snow!  We have none at the moment except for the melting piles in mall parking lots.

We averaged about -20c for 3 weeks so the kittens cuddled together to stay warm.

"Excuse me Luna but you can you snuggle a little closer?"

I was out on the trail so this is before I hurt my back.

I was having fun playing with filters!

The bridge in Kilally Meadows was above water.

 This is the same bridge! I took this photo on Wednesday when it was +14c!! The previous record high was around 7c!  No, I didn't bother crossing to the other side!

 Very wintery!

It won't be long after this hike that I'm laying on my back all day from an injury...but at least I'm still smiling at the point! I am so thankful that I've recovered from that injury and the accompanying anxiety and depression.

Appreciate your health!!