No Spend Day

Today has been a successful no spend day bringing my whopping total for the month-to-date to 2. Pitiful.

In fact, I made about $100 extra yesterday/today as I delivered some Avon orders.

I am seeing my financial advisor again on Friday and I think at that meeting we will be setting up the automatic transfers for my new mutual funds, etc. I will update my sidebars accordingly at that time as my financial goals have changed.

Total NSDs: 2

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I've read all the books and was really looking forward to the movie and am now discouraged as it is getting so many luke warm reviews. Movies are rarely as good as the book to begin with and though I was sure this would be no exception, I was disappointed to keep hearing people say how little the movie actually even resembled the book.

I mean, Becky isn't even British?!? What's up with that??

I'll be saving my pennies and possibly seeing it when it hits the cheap theatre.

I am so looking forward to this long weekend

Monday is Family Day and I have all three days off from both jobs and am really looking forward to it. It was my weekend to work Sat. at the part time job but the woman who works opposite shifts of me wanted last weekend off and I told her the deal was that I would take her shift this past weekend, working two Saturdays in a row, if she would work my shift this weekend. She didn't want to but I told her that was the deal - take it or leave it. She agreed.

I have a pedicure and some waxing booked for Saturday and am meeting a friend/former boss for coffee or something on Sunday afternoon. Other than that I have no plans.

Finally! My first NSD of the month.

Well, it only took 9 days but I finally got a NSD today. I almost went to the vending machine at work today for Cheezies but talked myself out of it.

I'm still looking every day for a different job but there really is very little out there right now. I sent off a resume this morning and they called me just an hour or so later and wanted me to come in tomorrow for an inteview but we're not in the same ball park when it comes to salary. So, though I am bored to tears all day almost every day, I cannot leave this job until I find another one that pays at least what I currently make as I am not taking another pay cut.

This time last year jobs were plentiful and I had three generous offers all at once. Unfortunately, the one I accepted turned out to be really awful and I left after 8 months. Well, who knew? Really, they don't tell you all the horrible things about them in an interview so you don't know until you get there. It didn't help that they fired the Executive Director, my boss, exactly one week after I started and did not fill that position for the next 6 months.

Yesterday I went to see He's Just Not That Into You. It was okay. Rather predictable but good for mindless chick flick entertainment.

Total NSDs: 1

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I am 52
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IA Clarington Target Click Funds & other stuff

If for no other reason than to further educate yourself about mutual fund options out there, I highly recommend Canadians look into IA Clarington Target Click Funds . The concept of these mutual funds is like no other on the market and I found them incredibly intriguing.

I met with my new financial advisor for a third meeting tonight and we've decided what to do with my existing mutual funds that have been performing so poorly this past year and what to do going forward with RSP contributions. We also decided the best plan of action for my TFSA.

He has recommended Critical Illness insurance to me and I am not sure this is something I am iterested in as we have not had an indepth discussion about it yet. If any of you have any experience with this type of insurance I would love to hear some feedback.

2nd Meeting with My New Financial Advisor

Wow! We had a great meeting but I am just astonished by some of his recommendations as they are so completely outside the box. Maybe it's because I have never sat down with an actual FA before and only worked with Mutual Fund people at my bank and this guy is so much more well versed in financial products. Maybe that's what it is. I'm not sure. I was quite taken aback when he suggested I stop paying anything more than the interest on my HELOC. When he showed me what I would be doing with all that money each month instead and I asked him oh so innocently "But when will I pay off my condo?" he replied with "Well, maybe you don't need to pay off your condo." I was quite confused until he explained it all to me and it all made perfect sense. I'm afraid I don't understand all of it well enough right now to explain it to all of you but it did indeed make perfect sense. I'll be learning more the next time he and I meet.

He was able to take my current take home pay and make that money work much more efficiently for me, while adequately planning for my retirement, still allowing for an emergency fund and allowing savings for yearly vacations.

I am now trying to sweet talk my bank into letting me early redeem a substantial amount in RSPs that are sitting in GICs earning pitiful amounts of interest. Hey, I didn't really know any better but now I do, so now I will do better. I don't know if they'll go for it but it doesn't hurt to ask. If they say no, then as soon as those GICs mature I am pulling them out of the bank and giving them over to this advisor to add to my other RSPs.

January's Review & February's Goals

Though I did not set any real goals other than sticking to my budget, I did not do all that great in January.

- I only had 6 no spend days
- I overspent my grocery budget by about $48. This is mainly due to buying many new vegetarian, meatless options I had not tried in the past. These options are quite pricey.
- I dined out too often (Subway, Pita Pit, etc., for lunches)
- I was successful in not spending money on "crap" (tm GVO) I do not need

For February I would like to:

- stay within $250 grocery budget
- aim for 10 no spend days
- take lunch to work at least 4 days each week and dinner on the nights I work at the p/t job
- read at a least one book (just took She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb out of the library)
- continue to not spend unnecessarily on stuff I do not need

I am meeting with my new financial advisor again tomorrow and am really looking forward to seeing what plan he has devised for my money.