Extraordinarily Ordinary

Recapping January

2011-02-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

January was a pretty good month over all. I did not set goals for the month itself but did meet each of the goals I set out at the beginning of 2011, being:

Get to the end of the month before the end of the money - this was easily achieved

Pay extra toward car loan - I paid $600 on the LOC in January

Continue automatic transfers to long-term, emergency and vacation savings - check!

Buy an investment property. This is not a monthly goal but I did a lot of property searching in January and will be writing an offer on a property this week. This is scary and exciting all at the same time.

I did really well with eBay sales (was not a goal) and made $606.08 extra cash by selling things that were around the house taking up space.

I will be listing more items on eBay and Kijiji.

In the next day or so I hope to post February's goals.

My Retoroactive Raise and Other Mumblings

2011-01-29T15:24:00.002-07:00

I found out yesterday that my raise is retroactive to Dec. 2 not Dec. 12 as I originally thought. Great! Every little bit helps. I will see on the mid-February cheque what my normal take home pay will be with this raise in place.

I bought a pair of shoes from Winners a couple weeks ago that I was not so sure about. I kept them past the 10 day return period so could only get a GC and not my cash back but that is okay as I shop there quite a bit, though not usually for clothes. I exchanged them today for a pair of boots ($39.99), a blouse($19.99), a sweater ($29.99)and two pieces of wall art ($3.99 each on clearance). I still have a little over $100 left on the GC.

I went secondhand store shopping last weekend as I wrote about doing and it just reinforced for me that I do not enjoy it at all. I was looking for Barbie Doll clothes since they are so expensive brand new but neither Value Village nor Goodwill had any. Both stores had many naked Barbie Dolls, but no clothes. While there, I looked through the women's tops but found nothing but stained or very out dated clothing. I would much rather shop at new clothing stores that have sales.

Food Baskets

2011-01-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

Well I won't be trying out food baskets this month after all.

The baskets are supposed to be picked up on Thursdays and when they had not cashed my cheque by earlier this week, I called to ask what was happening and they had no record of me signing up and no record of my payment. After search for my cheque for some time, she called me back to say she found my envelope stuck inside her desk drawer.

I have not decided if I will get a food basket in February. I think I will most likely just continue to buy meat in bulk at Costco, where it is inexpensive, and buy produce at my really inexpensive neighbourhood produce market and the Asian grocery store. The price difference of bok choy at Safeway and at my Asian grocer is staggering!

A Raise is Always a Good Thing

2011-01-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Though it is not large and I likely won't see much of it after taxes, I got a raise yesterday, retroactive to Dec. 12. I am thankful for this increase and I really do not want to seem ungrateful. I still am making a lot less than what I made at my previous two positions (more than $10K less per annum - that is significant!).

I was told yesterday that I will get another increase at my year anniversary, which is in 1.5 months (middle of March). I don't know if that will be the same percentage increase or not.

My boss is very bad at procrastinating - hence why my raise is retroactive to Dec. 12 - and I really hope I do not have to remind him at the one year mark but knowing him the way I do, I most likely will and that makes me uncomfortable.

I think the best thing to do with this additional income will be to put it toward paying off my car.

Weekly eBay Sales - $148.98

2011-01-23T17:26:00.003-07:00

This week started off slow as far as eBay sales were concerned but finished at $148.98, which is not bad at all. I have one other item that I am expecting payment for but the buyer said she cannot pay for it until late this coming week so I cannot count that in this week's total.

This extra cash is coming in very handy.

Today wasn't exactly frugal...

2011-01-20T18:36:00.004-07:00

I spent a fair amount of money today.

Tuesday night I got home from work and my power had been out and that seemed to have zapped my digital cable box as it was dead and could not be resuscitated no matter how hard tech support tried. It must have been fried by a power surge as it was not plugged into a surge protector.

So, today I purchased a new HDPVR for $312.90 including tax. While this was totally unexpected, I can use my eBay sales to cover the cost. I don't go out much to the movies or other recreational things like that that cost money as I am happy to spend quiet evenings at home watching a very few select shows, which I am happy to watch over and over.

On occasion I would still record the odd thing on tape but I also just discovered this month that my VCR only went up to 2010 so it is not useful for timed recording any longer. So, all in all, I think having a PVR will be really useful for me and is a justifiable, if not necessary to get through life, expense.

I also spent $20.55 on mailing supplies for my eBay items, gum, a couple small items for a gift exchange and Static Guard at London Drugs.

Secondhand Shopping

2011-01-18T20:08:00.005-07:00

I've been reading so much on various blogs and on a forum I frequent about the great deals people find at Goodwill and other thrift or consignment stores.

My idea of enjoyable shopping is not having to dig though racks upon racks of clothing to see what might be worthwhile. I don't even like doing that at Winners (Canadian arm of TJMaxx) with new merchandise (I will look at Winners for shoes and bags). The few times I have looked at Goodwill or Value Village I just have not found anything I would wear and found it to be a total waste of time. Given the number of hours I put in between my two jobs (I'm at my part-time job right now) my free time is very precious to me.

I have found the odd thing at consignment stores but, again, it is the having to dig through everything that I really dislike.

I'd love to be able to find a great dress or skirt for $3, $5 or $8 but that just never happens. Maybe if I looked at least once per week I would find something but I just don't have that kind of time.

I have this weekend off from my part-time job and live 5 minutes from both Value Village and Goodwill. Since last weekend I cleaned out my drawers and have some items to donate, I am resolved to go and give it another chance in both stores to see if I can find anything worthwhile. It would be great to be pleasantly surprised.

Tomorrow's Dinner

2011-01-16T17:21:00.005-07:00

Ahhh, CrockPots make life so much easier. Tomorrow's dinner - lemon herb chicken - is in the fridge ready to cook on low all day tomorrow. I think I will have it with couscous and a salad.

Weekly eBay Sales - $286.95

2011-01-16T16:26:00.001-07:00

I am very pleased with my eBay sales this week. They are a whopping $286.95.

Listing on eBay can be time consuming and I have been out and about all day driving around in the snow - it has not stopped snowing in 9 days - and now that I am finally home and the day is practically over, I do not feel like listing items on eBay. So I may not get items listed this week. We'll have to see how I feel tomorrow night after work.

I love getting bonus money coming into the house. The items I've been selling have, for the most part, just been things around the house that I have not been using, many of which I received for free.

'Free' Money - the best kind

2011-01-16T16:21:00.003-07:00

Using some of the money from my recent eBay sales, I purchased a CrockPot, which I posted about earlier, and today I purchased a humidifier as my house is so very dry with the furnace running so often.

It's great to get some needed household items, not have them cost me anything and still have plenty of 'free' cash left over to put toward the car I recently bought.

I Love Getting a Deal

2011-01-14T21:21:00.003-07:00

The CrockPot I wrote about yesterday that was on LD's website for $49.99 was on sale in store for $29.99. That is an amazing deal for a 7qt, programmable CrockPot with auto warming mode with BONUS Little Dipper. I was thrilled as I was fully prepared to pay the $49.99. This was paid for by items I had around the house collecting dust that I sold on eBay.

My eBay sales for this week are doing very, very well as another item sold today and I look forward to posting my sales total on Sunday.

I am inspired

2011-01-13T22:44:00.006-07:00

I already know that I need easy dinner solutions due to my busy schedule and I have been using my slow cooker a bit but not nearly to its potential.

I have been reading A Year of Slow Cooking and am so inspired. I have printed out a several recipes and have a chicken thawing in the fridge to turn into lemon herb chicken this weekend.

London Drugs has a programmable 7 quart CrockPot with a bonus Little Dipper on sale right now for $49.99 so I am going to take some of my ebay sales money and pick one up as I don't have anything small enough to make dips and the CrockPot I do have is not programmable and does not have a "warm" setting.

This and That

2011-01-12T21:41:00.003-07:00

When I post my ebay sales, I only include items that have been paid for. My mid-week ebay sales from items I listed on Sunday are at $216.96 so this is already a great ebay week. I hope to hit the $250 mark by week's end.

I have been really busy this week as I covered an extra part time shift on Monday, worked my own part time shift on Tuesday and had a board meeting tonight. Due to being so busy all three nights so far, I did not have a chance to cook dinners so ended up buying lunch both yesterday and today and probably will again tomorrow unless I find something in the cupboard to take for lunch as everything else is frozen. Actually, I think I have one of those microwaveable rice packages at work so could have that with some fruit or yogurt for lunch tomorrow and save some cash. I may even have one of those small tins of flavoured tuna, which would go great with crackers.

Weekly Ebay Sales - $170.15

2011-01-09T12:04:00.002-07:00

I think I mentioned some time back that I was planning to clean out my clutter and sell as much as possible on ebay.

I have been doing that fairly regularly for years but am now again really concentrating on decluttering and bringing extra cash in to the bank account.

It is amazing how much "stuff" one person can accumulate. I listed a number of things on ebay this past week and my sales for the week are $170.15.

I will be listing more items today.

Clearly, frugality is going to take some time...

2011-01-09T10:48:00.004-07:00

I did not do nearly as well this week with my spending as I would have liked. Some spending was necessary but most was not.

$82.85 on toner for my printer (necessary)
$40.07 gas (necessary)
$37.00 cheque for grocery basket that I will receive at the end of Jan. (necessary)
$40.42 (groceries at 3 different stores - unnecessary for the most part)
$$17.07 M&M Meat Shop (totally unnecessary spending on snack food)

My weakness has always been food; just ask my waistline. I did quite well with eating at home but I did pick up more groceries than I really needed to get. I could have gotten by for the week without picking up all those extras. And the M&M trip was completely on impulse.

Here's to a better week this week.

Shoppers Drug Mart Bonus Points Event

2011-01-09T09:36:00.003-07:00

A very easy way to get 5,000 bonus points - that's more than half way to a $10 GC.

SDM is having a great bonus points event, which has not been held since August 2009.

If you would like to receive 5,000 bonus points for shopping at SDM, I would be happy to send you an invitation for this event. In order to receive the 5,000 bonus points you must:

- be set up to see your SDM Optimum Points account online
- register for the event through the email I will send you
- shop on January 11, 12, or 13
- spend a minimum of $20 (excludes GCs, tobacco, lottery tickets, bus tickets - the standard exclusions)

That's it.

If you are in Canada and would like to participate, please email me (sydney01 at shaw dot ca) and I will send you an invitation. My email to you will be an affiliate link and I receive points for those I refer.

Hmmm... Food Baskets

2011-01-02T21:25:00.007-07:00

I was perusing the web looking for ways to sponsor hampers for less fortunate families throughout the year (not just at Christmas) when I came across a website for a Food Basket Society that is open to everyone and anyone who wishes to partake.

The way it works is there is a $5 annual membership fee and once per month you can pre-order a fresh meat order for $12, an example of which would be 1 kg beef or pork roast, 1/2 kg chicken thighs, and 1/2 kg lean ground beef; a fresh produce order for $8, which consists of 3 kg of seasonal fruits (3 different kinds), two seasonal veggies and potatoes; or both. You can also purchase more than one meat or produce order.

For $20 this sounds pretty good to me. Now, I normally would buy boneless, skinless chicken thighs and I'm sure these would not be and I normally would buy extra lean ground beef for tacos, chili, spaghetti, etc., but for this price I think I am going to give this a try this month and see how it is.

I need to start pinching pennies and cooking at home.

This organization is not a food bank and one does not have to qualify to use it - it is open to anyone who wants to save approx. 25% off grocery store prices. The food is purchased in mass quantity from wholesalers.

Some of the money this will help me save (if I find this is a good system for me) can go toward what I was originally searching for, which was The Food Bank. Now, of course since I need to pinch pennies I need to use the majority of my scrimped and saved dollars to pay off my car loan but I still need to be able to give to those who need a hand up.

Do any of you use a program like this? What are your thoughts?

Pantry Inventory

2011-01-02T12:09:00.004-07:00

In order to meet my objective of eating homemade meals the vast majority of the time, I took inventory of my pantry this morning to determine what I need to pick up at the store for meals for the week. Luckily, I am not adverse to leftovers and do not mind eating the same thing for a few meals in a row (e.g. chili or spaghetti).

I am going to pick up the ingredients I am missing for:

egg and salsa tortilla wraps
Mama Cheddar Salad
chili

I am going to take advantage of the PG Brand Saver mail-in rebate and stock up on some items I am either out of or am very low on like toilet tissue, facial tissue, Tide, etc. The timing of this rebate is perfect though my shopping bill will be quite a bit higher this week because of it.

2011 Financial Goals

2011-01-01T19:40:00.003-07:00

I will borrow GVO's phrase for my first goal for 2011:

1. Get to the end of the month before the end of the money (I am still not making as much at my current company as at my previous 2 positions by a significant margin)

2. Buy an investment property

3. Pay off $7,500 of my new car

4. Continue with retirement, short-term and emergency savings. Amount for retirement savings in addition to TFSA yet to be determined.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-01T19:21:00.002-07:00

I am quite happy to ring in 2011 and I am really looking forward to getting back into the blogging world (I know, I have said this before).

Life truly was chaotic the past 2 years and my finances really went out the window given a number of unexpected expenses, some of which went on for over a year (supporting a second house on my single income), and coming up with the funds to cover my dad's funeral, to name just two.

Things have settled down now and I am dedicated to getting back on track financially for 2011 as well as with eating better - which means eating at home as often as possible and, therefore, ties into cost savings. I work about 60 hours per week so do find it hard to always fit in time to make meals but I am certainly going to try.

I have updated my sidebars, which are all looking quite pitiful except for the car loan (LOC). I bought a car in July and have paid a fair amount of it back so that at least feels good.

I took a vacation to Mexico just a couple weeks ago so my vacation fund has been drained and needs to be rebuilt for 2011. It was my best hot weather trip to-date and I definitely plan to go back.

Aside from my TFSA, I do not yet know what my retirement savings goal is yet for 2011. I just plugged in a figure for now to make sure my sidebar is working.

Beacon Score

2010-07-30T13:19:00.002-06:00

I checked my Beacon Score and it's up to 811. I'm happy with that!

Financial Goals for August

2010-07-30T12:55:00.002-06:00

After just buying a new 2010 Honda CR-V in July and having car payments for the first time in at least 6 or 7 years, my finances now need even a bit more tightening up.

I have taken on additional shifts at my part-time job - shifts I used to work but stopped a little over a year ago - and the intention is for that money to go straight to paying for the vehicle.

I've increased my grocery budget a bit from what I nornally allow each month, being $300 up from $250 and have cut back a lot on what I normally let myself spend on eating out. I need to prepare food at home and stick to it!! It's not always easy to do that when working more than 60 hours each week but I really need to try.

I would like to earn at least $150 in August from ebay or kijiji sales from things I have around the house, to put toward a car starter as I must get one put in before winter.

I STILL need to update my sidebars but with working 60+ hours each week, taking care of my own house, taking care of my dad's house out of town (since it still has not sold), finding time to fiddle with HTML code never seems to happen. *sigh* one day I will get to it.

I'd also like to lose at least 6 pounds in August as, ideally, I'd like to lose 20 and I think 6 lbs in one month should be obtainable.

August Goals:

- stick to $300 grocery budget and make 95% of meals at home
- earn minimum $150 from ebay/kijiji sales from things around the house
- lose 6 lbs

Time to get finances back in check!

2010-07-04T22:24:00.002-06:00

Okay, I keep saying I am going to get back to blogging and then life throws a wrench into things and it doesn't happen. Well, I am now going to make it happen.

This is just going to be a short post as it's late and tomorrow is a work day but my intention is to get back to focusing more on my finances for a number of reasons, including:

- full time position pays less than previous position
- I work a tremendous amount of OT but don't get paid for it
- 11 year old car needs replacing
- dad's house has not yet sold so am supporting 2 households with taxes, insurance and utilities (while making considerably less money)

For these reasons I really need to focus on having dedicated no-spend days, reducing unnecessary spending (biggest problem there is dining out/take out), and earning more income. To that end, I am increasing my hours at my p-time job starting this week. This will be difficult given the amount of OT my full time job requires but since they don't pay me for it I have to do something. If it becomes a problem, then I will have to have a frank discussion with my boss.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T19:54:00.005-06:00

I bake maybe once every year or so and only when I have to bring something to a gathering or am hosting something at my home but today I was bit by the baking bug and decided to make some cupcakes.

Easter "Robin's Egg Nest" Cupcakes:

I will be taking these (there are more of them) to the office.

Spendy, spendy, spendy!

2010-03-28T21:07:00.005-06:00

I've had a spendy couple of weeks. I came home from a vacation in Jamaica to yet more family crisis that has really been weighing heavily on my mind these past two and a half weeks and I think that is a big contributing factor to how much I've been spending these past couple weeks.

I've been buying clothes (needed for work), make-up, earrings, a Keurig, perfume and shoes (all not needed (well, the Keurig is debatable)), and skin care (needed but did not need to buy Lancome). I think that is everything.

I bought the earrings as I was invited to a Stella & Dot show and wanted to support both the hostess and her daughter, the consultant. They are nice earrings, sterling silver and turquoise, and I know I will get a lot of wear out of them.

The clothes were definitely needed as I lost over 65lbs last year and nothing in my closet from last spring/summer fits and I can't go around in this world naked.

I have no excuse for the perfume, shoes or make-up.

The shoes have not arrived yet and if they don't fit perfectly or I don't care for them as much in person as online, I will return them and they can be returned to a store so I won't have to pay to send them back.

I am taking one item back to MAC as I don't care for the colour so may as well get my money back rather than keeping it.

I know I'm shopping out of stress due to the family situation and since I recognize it, I hope I can curb it.

A new year, a new look!

2010-03-20T21:10:00.005-06:00

Okay, not exactly "new" since we're three months into the year, I know.

I've changed the look of my blog and have somewhat changed the way I am thinking about my finances going forward. I recently took a fairly significant pay cut to get away from a very toxic environment, which meant I needed to re-think my spending and saving plans for this year (and beyond). I haven't fully thought it through and will be meeting with my financial advisor in early April to figure it all out but at this point my intention is to put enough away to be comfortable in retirement but not at the expense of enjoying life now.

I want to do considerably more travel than I have been in the past couple years. Deaths in the family and other family and work commitments have not allowed me to travel as much as I would have liked to lately and that is something I really want to focus on again.

Once I sit down and have some concrete figures in mind, I will change my sidebars.

I need to get back to posting

2009-11-27T21:11:00.003-07:00

Life has been so very crazy and stressful and messed up this year.

My dad passed away at the very end of May and I spent until the end of July packing up his life from his house and then renovating it to sell it. It's been a very expensive year with funeral costs and renovation costs and all the other costs associated with the house as it has not sold yet.

It has been an extremely emotional year (couple years actually as my sister passed away unexpectedly two years ago) and I really am completely emotionally drained. I've lost a lot of weight over these past 6 months and am down 3, almost 4, dress sizes.

I want to start posting again as I've noticed the amount I've been spending on food (groceries and eating out) this month has been way too high and I need to get that back in check. I really have not done much other unnecessary spending over this past year as I have simply been too busy.

I've been at this job now for 9 months and I have had three different bosses (I report directly to the President) and that has brought a lot of challenges and stress on top of everything else I have been dealing with in my personal life during this same time.

I made some updates to my sidebars and added one as my planned retirement savings for 2009 have been exceeded by 73%. What I owe on my HELOC has increased due to funeral costs and the above house expenses. As soon as the house sells, my financial picture will be much different, so while I do have the LOC debt, I am in the process of selling an asset that far exceeds it so I'm not bothering with that bar right now.

I don't know if anyone has kept me on their blog roll since it has been so long since I've posted, but I appreciate anyone who is still reading.

I am such a dunce!

2009-04-26T21:15:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago I could not sleep (which is the case most nights) so was up shredding a bunch of old bank statements and other papers. I came across an unopened envelope from the bank and inside was an RSP receipt from 2006 for close to $6,000. How on earth did I miss submitting that with my taxes??? I called CRA the next day and then immediately re-submitted my 2006 taxes online. I checked today and they have been re-assessed and $1,987 will be deposited in my account on Apr. 30th.

No time to be spending money

2009-04-25T15:05:00.002-06:00

Life has been so busy lately with putting in 11 - 16 hour days most days at my new job and then spending 2 - 3 hours each night at the hospital with my dad (now that he has been moved to a hospital here in the city) that I really have had no time to spend any money on "stuff". I've also had absolutely no time at all for myself or to get anything done around my house.

I have spent a lot on gas over the past 5 weeks when my dad was in the other hospital as it was 3 hours round trip and I was driving out there regularly, so my gas budget is completely overspent.

I am getting his house ready to sell and the first painting quote has come in at $2,600 - OUCH!! I also ordered new appliances at $1,776. I will use either my EF or my LOC for these expenses until the house sells. There will be other costs associated with getting the house ready to sell like purchasing new light fixtures, etc.

It's all so exhausting.

Been away awhile

2009-03-29T20:43:00.003-06:00

I have been away for a bit dealing with some very serious family matters.

My dad has had cancer for some time and two weeks ago last Friday he lost the use of his legs as the cancer has caused so much damage to his spine. These past two weeks have been an incredibly stressful time. The day before my dad lost the use of his legs, I accepted a new job and I started that job the following week (a week ago Thursday). It has been a crazy time and a very bad time to be starting a new position. This new job is so busy that I put in somewhere between 15 and 20 hours of overtime this past week and I've only been with this company a week so far. While, I'm happy to be at this new place and I think it will be a good position, it is not a good time in my life to be putting in 20 hours of overtime per week when my dad only has a short time left with us and the time he has left will be spent in a hospital bed.

I've slept very little in the past three weeks as I was stressed out about accepting the new job and resigning from the other one and then this happened with my dad and I've not really slept since. I've also been fighting a bad cold, which finally now seems to be close to gone.

Zenni Optical

2009-03-07T11:08:00.003-07:00

I am really hard on my contact (wear only one) and often get tiny little tears in it that really irritate my eye and need to take it out at the most inopportune times leaving me not being able to see very well. I do carry a spare contact but some days my eye is so irritated by the time I take the bothersome contact out a fresh new contact still does not feel great and my eye just needs time to rest.

I have one pair of glasses that I keep at home and I think I am going to order a couple cheap pairs from Zenni Optical that I can keep at work and in the car so I always have a spare pair with me should I need to take my contact out.

If anyone has ordered from Zenni, I'd be interested in hearing your feedback on them. They have great reviews on the internet.

Taxes, job hunting and this and that...

2009-03-07T10:36:00.003-07:00

I haven't posted in a couple weeks as I've not had much to post about.

I e-filed my taxes a few days ago and will be getting back over $1200 but that is only because I over paid EI and CPP premiums and not because I over paid income tax. Otherwise, I would owe just under $400 this year.

I'm concerned that I am going to be laid off from my job in the not too far off future as I still have absolutely no work and the other day my boss told one of the directors that if they couldn't find work for me soon he was "going to have to do something about it". Not good.

I am still looking for other work but it is very quiet out there. I had a job interview yesterday and it went really well and based on their advertisement I thought their starting salary was what I would need but it turns out it isn't and the role, now that I know about it in much more detail, is not really what I want anyway.

I was hoping to take a spring vacation to somewhere tropical but now that I am very likely facing being laid off I am not going to be spending money on non-essentials.

No Spend Day

2009-02-17T19:00:00.004-07:00

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

2009-02-16T18:05:00.004-07:00

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

2009-02-12T18:05:00.002-07:00

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.

2009-02-09T18:14:00.003-07:00

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

What is your credit age?

2009-02-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

I am 52
in credit years!

Credit Age Quiz by SpendOnLife.com

Credit Connoisseur: You are the master of your finances.
You know how to pay off your debts and save for the future.

IA Clarington Target Click Funds & other stuff

2009-02-06T19:54:00.004-07:00

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

2009-02-02T20:19:00.002-07:00

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

2009-02-01T19:14:00.003-07:00

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.

No Spend Day

2009-01-25T20:24:00.003-07:00

Today is NSD #6. In fact, I actually made a little pocket money today as I delivered some Avon.

I've stocked up on groceries so do not anticipate having to spend for lunches or anything for the next several days so should be able to squeeze in a couple more NSDs before the month is out and before I have to get gas.

Total NSDs: 6

Financial Advice

2009-01-24T09:52:00.007-07:00

I met last night with a financial advisor who was recommended to me by someone I work with. I was interested in speaking with him about my declining Mutual Fund portfolio.

Did you know that Stats Canada says that 95% of all Canadians fail to properly plan for their retirement needs? Have you heard a more frightening statistic lately???

It was a very informative session and I learned quite a bit about investment vehicles I knew nothing about (he said most people are not aware that these vehicles are out there). He talked about traditional mortgages vs. HELOCs (I already have a HELOC) and how to make your HELOC work smarter for you (I still need to learn more about this and this will be part of our next session) and he showed me the Rule of 72, which no one had ever shown me before. It is Einstein's Rule of 72, regarding how long it takes your money to double and what that means if you are earning 4, 6, 8%, etc., on your investments, vs. the bank who is lending out your money (that they are paying you the measly 4% on) at 18% to someone else in the form of a credit card loan. The results are staggering.

We also talked about "Open" investments vs. RSPs and the tax advantages on both and I am going to be learning much more about these "open" investments as well as these appear very attractive over RSPs given the tax advantages of open investments. On an RSP you are taxed at 100% when you make a withdrawal but only at 50% with an open investment and you still get the tax break when you put money into an open investment just like you do with an RSP.

All in all it was an educational first session that got me thinking about things I was not previously aware of and I think the next session will make me more intelligent when it comes to managing my investments.

Oh, another thing I liked about this company and their approach is that he is not paid by me. He is paid by whichever company's product I may decide to go with and he is paid the same amount by all the various companies he works with, of which there are many, so there is absolutely no need to try to steer me to any one product over another as he doesn't make more off of one product than he does another. I got a really good vibe from this place.

Download Free Suze Orman Book

2009-01-13T20:45:00.006-07:00

Until midnight January 15, 2008 you can download Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe and Sound.

While much of the content will be geared toward Americans, there should be some useful information for us Canucks as well.

I'm too lazy to post a fancy link so here is the url.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081119_tows_bookdownload

Still just trying to figure things out...

2009-01-13T19:18:00.003-07:00

I've been looking into going back to school and into whether or not I have the pre-requisites needed for the programs I am considering. After all these years - and they have been many - I may have to do some high school upgrading. Unbelievable. Before I make any decisions about going back to school and incurring student loan debt, I want to be sure I am taking a program that will allow me to be employed at a salary of at least the level I currently am at as taking a cut defeats the purpose.

I look every day for other job opportunities but there is very little out there right now, although I am going tomorrow after work to find out more about a part time position that pays considerably more than my current part time position and has better hours. Hopefully something good can come of that.

One good thing is that I have really been good on the spending front so far this month and yesterday and today have been successful NSDs.

Total NSDs: 5

So undecided about life in general

2009-01-06T19:16:00.002-07:00

I think I'm having a mid-life crisis. Well, not really but I am really antsy and undecided about what to do right now and am seriously considering going back to school full time in September.

I am hoping the program I am considering will accept my previous diploma program as partial credit and that I will be able to start directly in year two rather than starting all over again. I am going to call them tomorrow.

Student finance gives a single person very little to live on and that is a huge consideration as I have to be sure I can make ends meet and still be able to put money toward my LOC. Now, of course, if I am in school full time my LOC payments are not going to be able to be the $850 I am currently paying. Perhaps I should just suck it up and keep working for the next two years until the LOC is paid off and then go back to school. Although, another option may be to do some of it by distance learning (at home study) while I am still working, which would allow me to still concentrate on debt repayment while getting some of the schooling done. Once the LOC was paid off it wouldn't be so bad to then go to school full time for maybe 1 year or so to complete the program.

I have a lot to think about and consider.

I don't think I'm going to make goals for January...

2009-01-05T19:28:00.002-07:00

I'm feeling better now after being sick much of the past 7 days but still have no desire to sit down and plan out some goals for January.

I have my standard budgeted amounts for all my spending categories like I do every month but I think that's as far as it is going to get this month. I will track my No Spend Days just to see how many I can get but I won't have a target amount in mind.

I do need to sit down and figure out how much I can put toward my various savings accounts each month (EF, vacation fund, and RRSPs) based on my new, considerably lower, salary. I want to be able to put as much as I can toward each of these accounts while still maximizing my debt repayment and I don't want to forgo my vacation fund altogether as other than short trips to Vegas and California I have not had an actual vacation since I went to Cuba in May of 2006.

Total NSD: 3

Did a little damage at Costco today...

2009-01-04T13:50:00.002-07:00

I went to Costco at the stroke of opening today and picked up a few things. Most were on my list but a couple were impulse purchases:

yogurt $6.99 (reg $8.99)
Greek salad $10.99
salsa $6.59
cheese strings $12.79
half & half $1.79
contact lens solution 2 pack $12.44 (reg $15.69)
Liz Claiborne Sweater x2 @ $15.99 ea
3 pack fitness DVDs $29.99

Okay, so the sweaters and DVDs were not on my list but c'mon you know how Costco is. It is so dreadfully cold here this winter (today is first day above -25 in the past month) and I have no sweaters to wear so to get Liz Claiborne 100% cotton sweaters for $15.99 how could I pass that up??

Also, I truly do want to get these extra pounds off this year and quit procrastinating about it and I've used Leslie Sansone's DVDs in the past and quite liked them so I think this three pack is a good investment and if I find I don't get around to using the darn things, Costco has a very good return policy so back they will go.

All in all I spent $117.99

Last few days' spending

2009-01-03T19:22:00.005-07:00

I've had a few NSDs these past few days, with NYE being one of them. It only brought my Dec total up to 7 though so I did not make my 10.

I also did not spend on NY day. I was sick in bed but nothing here is open that day anyway except for convenience stores. I did venture out yesterday and picked up a few groceries and then went in to work at my part time job today and again did not spend.

I haven't planned out my January goals yet but it feels good to be on the third day of the month with 2 NSDs already (I don't consider transferring funds from my chequing account to my LOC spending).

Total NSDs: 2

Hit a Milestone in My Debt Repayment Today

2009-01-03T10:00:00.003-07:00

I made half of my monthly LOC payment today and have hit the 20% repayment mark (sidebar updated). Although I still have 80% to go, hitting this milestone feels good. I will make the other half of the payment later this month.

I've been in bed since Wednesday with the flu and have not given much thought to my January goals at all yet.

A major life change

2009-01-01T21:22:00.003-07:00

For quite some time I have been thinking of becoming a vegetarian. I eat very little meat as it is and often opt for meatless options already so I have decided that the new year is a perfect time to make this lifestyle change and become a lacto-vegetarian.

At home in bed with the flu

2009-01-01T21:16:00.002-07:00

Ugh. I really dislike being sick and am thankful that I do not get sick very often. I woke up Tuesday feeling like I was coming down with something so went out at lunch and bought some Cold FX and have been taking it for the past 3 days. I think it is helping somewhat but today I have a horrific tension headache and nothing I am trying is making even the smallest dent in it. I have spent most of the last day and a half in bed and will be going back there shortly.

I decided to take tomorrow as a vacation day so don't have to go in to work, which is a blessing as another day of rest will I'm sure be good for me.

Tomorrow I will likely post my goals for January.

Back to the full time job today

2008-12-29T07:20:00.005-07:00

I'm back to my full time job today for 2.5 days then off for New Year's Day and then back to work on the 2nd.

This new job has turned out to be horribly boring where I truly have absolutely no work and I don't really think it has to do with it being the time of year that it currently is. I know that things usually slow down around Xmas but I work for the CFO and our year-end is right around the corner so it is the busiest time of year for the finance department with the budget, business plan and impending audit yet I have absolutely no work. I sit there for eight hours and do nothing. It's horrible and I am regretting accepting this job. I can't even read blogs or do anything on the internet to pass a little time as our office is a cube farm and everyone can see my computer screen.

The NHL team told me before Xmas that they would be making their decision and contacting candidates after the Xmas break. I really don't feel that that is going to be good news. Who knows what is going on with them internally right now but I really think they would have offered it to me by now if they were going to.

With regard to my Tim Horton's RAOK from Saturday morning, the car behind me in the drive-thru had an order of just over $5 so I paid for their order and I hope they Paid it Forward but have no way to know. My boss at my part time job gave me a $15 Tim's GC for Xmas so this really didn't cost me anything and I hope it brightened someone's day.

RAOK/Pay it Forward

2008-12-27T07:41:00.003-07:00

Today I plan to a Random Act of Kindness (RAOK). It is very rare that I go through a Timmie's Drive-thru as I really do not like their coffee at all but today on my way to work I think I will go though and get a tea and pay for the person behind me. I love the idea of doing this and adding a little bright spot to someone else's day. Now, if they've ordered much more than a few dollars worth of stuff I don't think I'll be picking up their tab (I know of someone who did this and the car behind them ordered $17 worth of stuff) but a few dollars worth and I'll get it for them.

Who knows, maybe I'll start a chain and they'll Pay it Forward.

Boxing Day Shopping

2008-12-26T12:19:00.002-07:00

I wasn't about to venture into an actual mall today but there is a little strip mall with a Reitman's, Payless, etc, in it right by my house so I did a little bit of Boxing Day shopping today and came home with:

- pair of jeans regular $69.99 30% off @ $48.99 (only had one wearable pair before)
- twin set shell regular $29.99 50% off @ $14.99
- twin set cardigan regular $44.99 50% off @ $22.99
- sweater $19.97

Oy Am I Stuffed!

2008-12-25T21:37:00.002-07:00

Christmas Eve was lovely. I hosted and had some family over last night for finger food and presents and it was great. I ended up with a migraine though, which I still had this morning when I woke up so that was not so good.

Today was spent out of town at my cousin's and that was really nice as well. She had a house full and it was very enjoyable. Why I ate dinner tonight at 6:30 I have no idea as I was still full from lunch at 1:30. I guess it was just too good to resist and the saskatoon pie simply was calling my name.

Today was also a successful NSD bringing my total so far to 6 so I'm not sure that I am going to make my goal of 10 but I am going to try.

I think now that I'm back home I am going to change into some comfy clothes, plug in the tree, pop in a DVD and snuggle up on the couch with the cats.

Total NSD: 6

'Tis the Season!

2008-12-24T17:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Extra Pay Periods

2008-12-20T11:13:00.004-07:00

Given the way the pay periods fall this month and next, there is an extra pay period. So, today it felt really good to put an extra $1,200 onto the LOC.

I used the debt calculator on GVO's website and depending on how prime fluctuates (I am locked in at prime), I will be able to have that LOC paid off in 24 months by making monthly payments of $850. Actually, it could probably be paid off a bit sooner as 2009 is a year with 27 pay periods. This is an anomaly that happens every 11 years and there will be three months (rather than two) this coming year where I will get three pay cheques, January being the first. That is, if I remain at this job where I am on this pay schedule (*still* waiting to hear from the NHL team).

I was making payments of $1,200 but feel good with the $850 figure as it won't leave me strapped for cash due to the pay cut I have now taken and the debt will still be gone in no more than 24 months.

A Significant Pay Cut

2008-12-18T18:58:00.002-07:00

So I now have received my second pay cheque for the month from my new job and have a good idea of how much I will be bringing home each month and it is almost $1,000 less than the job I just left. That is pretty significant and I am really going to feel it.

I am going to sit down at Christmas and figure out how much I can realistically put towards my travel fund, emergency fund and retirement savings while still maximizing my debt repayment. I had been putting $1,200 toward my LOC (consumer debt) every month and I am afraid now that that may no longer be possible.

Still have a migraine

2008-12-17T20:07:00.002-07:00

Ugh. I still have this darn migraine. I've been getting them a lot again lately - usually have one again now 2 - 3 days each week. It's horrible.

So today I went to the doctor after work and he changed the preventative medication I was on to a new one that has shown great success for migraine sufferers.

Today I spent:

$61.04 on Rx (my 20%)

$28.93 Boston Pizza
This definitely was not essential but because of feeling awful from this migraine and not having slept much all week due to it and also because I got home after 7pm tonight and did not feel like cooking, I got take out. It's enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

Successful NSD

2008-12-16T19:10:00.002-07:00

This will be a very short post as I have a migraine and do not feel well at all.

I just wanted to report that today has been a successful NSD.

Total NSDs: 5/10

I Love Free Stuff - printable coupons for free food!!

2008-12-15T18:02:00.005-07:00

Some of you may be staying away from Maple Leaf products but I don't feel that there is any real reason to do so. Food is made with batch numbers and different types of food made by one company are not all made at the same place. As such, I have been eating Maple Leaf products for the past few weeks and I'm still kickin'!

Maple Leaf emailed out printable coupons for free food so on the way home from work tonight I stopped and got the following for free:

- Olivieri pasta (spinach and cheese)
- Olivieri sauce (Rose)
- Fresh Entree - Mediterranean chicken somethingorother
- Fresh Entree - chicken & mushroom somethingorother

I think I am going to print more of these coupons and stock up on some more Olivieri pasta and sauce since they freeze well.

They also had coupons for weiners and bread but I don't eat either one (well, bread on the rare occassion but I rarely buy it).

I love free stuff.

Today's spending

2008-12-13T13:17:00.005-07:00

It's a mighty cold day and I did not want to venture too far from home. I was hoping today would be a NSD but I decided to put gas in my car as it was getting low and the temps are at -25 and I did not want my gas to freeze. I also had to get my Eagles ticket today so decided to pick up the other things I need, allowing me to do all my spending today and have a NSD tomorrow.

Today I spent:

$233.50 Eagles ticket
$21 gas (67.4!!)
$31.50 booster thingy for my car (better to be safe than sorry)
$3.15 dollar store on gift bags
$17 small gifts
$13 t-shirt
-$15 returned a t-shirt

ETA - additional spending today:

$42 bus tickets for my sister as she is not working and money is tight
$20 - 2 $10 Tim's GCs

$233 for Eagles Tickets - Ouch!

2008-12-13T10:02:00.004-07:00

Tickets went on sale 2 minutes ago and I got row 16 on the floor. Cost is $233.50 (ouch) but it will be SOOOO worth it. The Eagles are amazing. This may seem like a lot to pay for a concert ticket but I am used to paying this and more for Bon Jovi so this doesn't really seem like a lot to me.

I normally would not have gotten that far back on the floor as I am really short and it is not that easy to see but I had row 11 on the floor for a Bon Jovi show last year and I could see quite well so I am hoping that a few more rows back will still allow me to see fairly well.

I need to tweak the budget now to cover this unexpected expense.

Never spent so much on groceries in all my life!

2008-12-12T18:15:00.002-07:00

Never do I spend anywhere near $100 on my weekly grocery shopping but I had a coupon for 100 Airmiles with a purchase of $100 at Safeway so I stocked up on food for the next 3 weeks (will need to buy more perishables) and on things like bathroom tissue and paper towels.

Today I spent:

$133.30 groceries at SW ($18.74 in club card savings)
$8.38 windshield washer fluid
$3.15 dollar store

I intend to hole up for the next two days and keep warm and entertained by watching DVDs, so it should be easy for the weekend to be NSDs.

-27 for a daytime high??

2008-12-12T12:58:00.002-07:00

Yikes, we were doing so well with warm temps and no snow up until a week ago. Since then it has been snowing a bit - still don't have a lot of snow - but this weekend daytime highs are supposed to be -27.

I don't have to work this weekend so am planning to just hibernate with the exception of going out for groceries tomorrow, though I may go for them tonight.

2 NSDs in a row and a little extra cash

2008-12-11T18:47:00.003-07:00

It feels great to be able to say that today has been another NSD. I was tempted to stop at Subway on the way to my part time job but didn't and was pleased to see that they had a potluck lunch here today and there was lots left over for us part-time staff to have for dinner.

I also made a little bit of money today as I delivered some Avon orders and made $45. I had a $45 unexepected expense last week so that extra money will go directly to covering that expense.

I am anxious to get my next pay cheque so I will know how much I will bring in every month as I want to sit down and plan out my goals (EF savings, retirement savings, vacation savings, etc.) for 2009 but until Iknow what I'm bringing in each month I can't do that.

Total NSDs: 4/10

A Successful NSD

2008-12-10T17:36:00.001-07:00

Today I did not venture anywhere but to work and back home. I was supposed to have a massage tonight (cost would be reimbursed by my health plan) but my therapist called and is really sick so she had to cancel. So, today has been a successful NSD.

Total NSDs: 3/10

The Eagles Are Coming!!

2008-12-08T17:54:00.004-07:00

I was so excited to hear the concert announcement today saying that The Eagles are coming. I love The Eagles and there is no way I am not going to this show. Last time the tix were well over $200 each and I presume they will be again but it is not until March and I can tweak the budget between now and then to accommodate this expense.

I love brunch

2008-12-07T14:36:00.001-07:00

My birthday was last weekend and my mom took me out today for Bday brunch and it was very nice. Just about broke my neck walking to and from the car though as we had a bit of snow and then freezing rain all day yesterday so it is super icy outside.

I am now off to treat myself to a pedicure.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

2008-12-06T15:25:00.003-07:00

I put the tree up today. Note the cat sitting under it - LOL! After seeing the pic I did a bit of ornament re-arranging but this is the general idea.

Nickelback is coming!

2008-12-05T17:37:00.001-07:00

I got Nickelback tickets today and got really great seats. The tix were approx. $95 each. I'm sure it will be a great concert.

Where did all the money go?

2008-12-04T22:25:00.003-07:00

I just got paid, received my pension funds from my last company (only 3 months worth of contributions) and my EI payment. This is how I allocated the money:

$816.96 to LOC ($400 mortgage principle, $211.96 consumer debt principle, $205 interest accrued in November)
$2, 880.16 to rebuild EF

December's living expenses have all been allocated for and I have enough funds put away for January's living expenses so therefore will be splitting my Dec. 19th pay cheque and putting 50% toward my LOC and 50% toward the EF.

I also will still have two pay cheques from my part time job that can be allocated as necessary.

An awesome deal

2008-12-04T19:11:00.003-07:00

I went to Mark's Work Wearhouse last night with my $10 off coupon to see if there was anything I could find around $10 for maybe a stocking stuffer or something but there really wasn't anything small that caught my eye. I started browsing the ladies wear and found a fully lined, grey blazer on sale for $39.99 down from $49.99 so, as I need more blazers and such for the office, I decided to get it since with the coupon it would be $29.99. It ended up ringing up at $24.95 so I got it for $14.95 + tax.

I love getting a good deal.

Today has been a successful NSD.

Total NSD: 2/10

The gov't gets you every time

2008-12-04T18:17:00.002-07:00

So because I've never been on EI before and therefore knew very little about how it works, due to their waiting period and how they accounted for my part time income, I only received about half of what I had anticipated.

I received my first pay stub yesterday from my new job and the money will be in my account tomorrow. For the past several years I have worked where the employer paid 100% of the benefit premiums so I am not used to having these deductions. They only come to about $50 so it's not that big of a deal and they only come off once per month not every pay.

I also received the cheque for my pension contributions yesterday and promptly deposited it into the bank.

I now need to sit down tomorrow night and go over my budget and determine how much needs to go toward the EF and how much I can put on my LOC.

EI Claim Approved!

2008-12-02T18:51:00.005-07:00

My claim was approved and I am quite happy about that. I will only get 6 weeks worth of benefits and some weeks I will not receive the full benefit as the income from my part time job decreases the amount EI will pay (there are weekly allowed earnings but I surpassed the limit 2 or 3 of the weeks). Since I was employed full time again as of last week, my benefits only cover 6 weeks.

They sure don't pay very much. Worked out to an hourly wage, it is less than I make at my part time job. The money will be deposited into my bank account Thursday of this week and I am expecting somewhere around $1,800 if I calculated correctly.

I will need to update my sidebars as I have not kept them up-to-date as my EF decreased. I'm also making a LOC payment shortly so will need to update that as well.

It is 10% Tuesday at Safeway today so I will be stopping to pick up some groceries tonight after work so this will not be an NSD. I plan to pick up some of the things I can buy ahead of time for my Xmas Eve gathering.

EI Claim

2008-12-01T18:06:00.003-07:00

I spoke to a lady from EI today and she needed clarity from me on some of the things my last employer told her as to why I quit. I am so ticked off as they blatantly lied.

Oh well, she said she'd make a decision on my claim this afternoon and would call me if the decision was negative. Well, she did not call me back so I am hopeful that means she approved my claim. It would be great to get some backdated income for Oct and Nov to help replenish my EF.

I should be able to log on tomorrow and see if a decision has been made. *fingers crossed*

The month is off to a proper start...

2008-12-01T17:52:00.002-07:00

....being that today has successfully been a NSD. I am going to have to figure out what to take for lunch tomorrow as well as dinner as I have to work at my part time job tomorrow night and I would really like for tomorrow to be a NSD day as well.

I looked at my mutual funds online yesterday and they've actually gone up quite a bit since I looked at them last (about 10 days ago). I hope that continues but know it likely won't.

I still have not received my cheque for my contributions into the pension at my last company and wish it would get here. I was expecting it last week.

Total NSDs: 1/10

November's Update and December's Goals

2008-11-28T18:03:00.004-07:00

My main goal this month was to not spend money on "crap" (TM GVO) and I am very happy to say that I had no trouble meeting this goal at all. I really had no desire to buy anything I truly did not need and I really was not tempted by anything. I did not venture out to the stores much and out of sight must have been out of mind.

I am going to challenge myself to not spend unnecessarily in December as well. I really do need a pair of flat black dress shoes as I do not have any and cannot wear heels every single day so I am going to allow myself $40 to find a pair in December.

I overspent my November grocery budget by $22.83. December's goal will be to stick to, and hopefully come in under, a grocery budget of $250.

Thankfully today was another NSD bringing the total to 7 NSDs out of my budgeted 10. I will not make my goal as there are only two more days in the month but I may just eek out and 8th NSD.

December's Goals:

to not spend unnecessarily on "stuff" I do not need
$250 for groceries (not including Xmas Eve food)
$75 food for Xmas Eve Party
10 NSDs
start building the emergency fund back up now that I am working

Have gas prices ever fallen

2008-11-28T17:58:00.002-07:00

Much to my delight, gas prices have fallen by about 60 cents per litre. That equates to significant savings. When gas was around $1.30/litre I was paying approx. $48 to fill my tank. Yesterday gas was at $0.79/litre and I filled my tank for $26.00. Huge savings.

Groceries

2008-11-27T18:34:00.002-07:00

Since the weekend I had intended on making a chicken dish Wednesday night (last night) but forgot to take the chicken out to thaw so being that I really did not want to spend money on take out, I stopped at Safeway on the way home yesterday to pick up chicken. I also picked up breakfast foods and a couple other items I needed. This is going to cause me to be over my Nov. grocery budget.

I'm failing at meeting my NSD Nov. goal of 10 days. I only have 6 so far and I *think* I can probably get away without spending anything tomorrow and Sunday but Saturday is my birthday and I am going out so that will definitely mean spending. If I am successful in not spending tomorrow and Sun., that will be 8 total NSDs.

This weekend I am going to set up my Dec. budget and make up my Dec. goals.

I got the call!!

2008-11-27T18:32:00.001-07:00

Today I got the call from the NHL team and I have an interview with the CFO on Wednesday of this coming week. I hope it goes well and I hope I still want the job after the interview. YAY!!

3 pay days in December - YAY!

2008-11-26T18:56:00.004-07:00

I was glad to discover yesterday, my first day at my new job, that we get paid three times this December. I was hoping they were on the schedule that would allow that in December and they are. This "extra" pay will go into my "buffer account" to help replenish my 3 month stash of funds for essential expenses.

I also found out that on Dec. 5 I will be paid right from yesterday through to Dec. 5 so there is no cut off date before pay day. It will be one day short of a full two week pay period. This should give me a good idea of what my take home pay will be every two weeks.

Made it through the first day

2008-11-25T18:41:00.002-07:00

My first day at the new job was fine. I met a lot of people and had a site tour which took most of the morning and then I had a 2.5 hr. dept meeting this afternoon then an hour later it was time to leave for my part time job. I made it here (pt job) in time for 5pm but just barely and I doubt I'll be able to when the snow hits. I am going to start looking for another part time job that is closer to that end of the city.

Today was NSD #6.

I start my new job tomorrow

2008-11-24T17:45:00.004-07:00

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day - first day at new job. I still am not very excited about this job but I am going stir crazy sitting at home and the emergency fund is not going to last forever so back to work it is.

I will now work 10 minutes from home so could even come home for lunch if I wanted to.

I'm quite concerned that I am not going to be able to get to my part time job Tues and Thurs nights in time as my new full time job is further from them than my last one was. Tomorrow I will find out. However, we still do not have snow and when we do, it will make travelling across the city take that much longer.

Today makes only 5 NSDs for the month thus far. Pitiful. I am aiming to not spend again tomorrow.

Last grocery shop of the month

2008-11-24T09:58:00.003-07:00

I picked up the items I needed to make chili yesterday as I did not have quite everything on hand and I also picked up a few other items to go with the items I recently discovered in my freezer and pantry. Also, I am a HUGE cheese lover (very bad for the waistline, I know) and Armstrong Old Cheddar was on sale for $6.99 down from $13.98 and there were coupons right there for an additional $0.75 cents off per block.

Safeway:

canned mushrooms
tomato sauce
black beans
olive oil
Stove Top (for a chicken bake thing I am making later this week)
ranch dressing
tahini (for the hummus I made last night)
cheddar cheese (2 large blocks)

Total: $31.36

Club Card Savings $10.38

Coupon Savings $1.50

I may have to pick up a few dollars worth of produce later this week but that should be it. I expect to come in right under budget on groceries this month. Next month I am going to shop in my pantry and freezer BEFORE heading out for groceries so I expect to do much better with my grocery budget next month and will likely even scale it back and budget a bit less than I did this month.

Cheap Entertainment

2008-11-23T17:04:00.002-07:00

I have spent quite a lot on DVD box sets over the years and some may think that was money ill spent and I disagree. I currently have the following full series on DVD:

Sex and the City
Felicity
Queer as Folk
Beverly Hills 90210
The L Word (one last season yet to air on TV)
Party of Five
Six Feet Under

I get hundreds upon hundreds of hours of entertainment out of these DVDs and because I love each show so much, I will (and have) watch them several times over.

I did have the Grey's Anatomy and Prison Break DVDs that have been released so far but stopped watching both shows so sold the DVDs on ebay.

Cleaning out my pantry

2008-11-23T10:35:00.003-07:00

Man, I really need to go through my pantry more often. I knew I had food in there that I had totally forgotten about. I ended up throwing out of few canned items that expired 3 years ago as well as peanut butter, syrup, honey, brown sugar and power bars and I found that I had 3 open boxes of lasagna noodles, which have now been combined into one box. I also found two unopened boxes of baking soda that I had no idea I had.

Today's Goals:

do small grocery shopping
make pot of chili
make turkey burgers on the George Foreman Grill (love that thing!!)
make hummus with chickpeas I just found in the pantry
clean out fridge (if not today, then this needs to be done tomorrow for sure)

I've been tagged for the first time ever!!

2008-11-22T19:28:00.001-07:00

I got tagged today by Frugal Dreamer to post 6 interesting things about myself and to tag 6 others. I am so new to blogging I don't know if I know of 6 other bloggers to tag.

1. I have four tattoos and a nose ring

2. I live in the northern most city in North America with a population of over 1MM

3. I became a great aunt at the ripe old age of 29

4. I like making jewellery and soap

5. I have watched the entire Sex and the City series at least 7 times

6. My dream vacation is South Africa. It WILL happen!

I am tagging:

Dolly Iris

Frugal Trenches

Canadian Saver

Saver Queen

Frugal Girl

Holly Is Stopping Shopping

I really need to get more organized in the kitchen

2008-11-22T19:15:00.004-07:00

Rarely do I ever look to see what is in the freezer or cupboard to eat. More often I just pick up more food from the grocery store. Tonight I looked in my freezer and I have 2 packages of ground round, chicken thighs, chicken breasts, chicken burgers, turkey burgers and veggie ground round. In addition to that I have fresh ground turkey in the fridge that I just bought the other day. With that much on hand I should not have to buy meat for several weeks.

A goal for the month of December and onward is to not eat out so much. I really waste a lot of money on dining out and it is also very bad for the waistline.

Tonight I made chicken burgers and baked perogies for dinner, with fresh raspberries for desert.

Tomorrow I will be using my fresh ground turkey to make burgers on the George Foreman and I will take a package of ground round out of the freezer to make a batch of chili tomorrow as well.

I am tired of eating out so much and wasting food in my fridge to spoilage or freezer to freezer burn.

IA Clarington Target Click Funds

2008-11-22T10:09:00.005-07:00

I am seriously considering moving my mutual funds to IA Clarington Target Click Funds. I have a call in to them and will be meeting with them this coming week to discuss these funds.

I feel just sick about losing over $23,000 of my portfolio this past year and need to look at other options.

I knew I should not have looked!!

2008-11-21T17:46:00.002-07:00

My mutual funds are down 28.9% year-to-date. They've lost 12% this month alone.

Ugh. This really hurts.

Hosting Christmas Eve Dinner

2008-11-20T14:33:00.004-07:00

I was thinking of having Xmas dinner at my house on the 25th but am now thinking of having it on the 24th instead as my cousin wants to have a big family gathering at her house on the 25th. I need to find out what hours my new employer is open on the 24th before I commit to anything. If I do host a Christmas Eve dinner I don't think I will do the traditional feast as we'll all be having that the following day. I am thinking of doing lasagna with salad, garlic toast, etc.

I'd love to hear suggestions for non-traditional fare that would make a good Xmas Eve dinner.

ETA - Now I am considering doing appetizers rather than a full meal. Hmm...

I love saving money on groceries

2008-11-20T13:24:00.003-07:00

I buy the majority of my groceries from Safeway, which some people find expensive. I guess compared to Superstore and the like it is expensive but I like it there. However, I no longer buy much produce from Safeway as I can get it much cheaper at my local produce market. As an example, lemons have been $0.99 each at SW for the past several weeks. Today I purchased 5 lemons for $0.99 at the produce market. That is a HUGE difference and only one example.

Produce market:

bananas (4)
lemons (5)
persimmons (6)
pink lady apples (3)
mangoes (2)

Total spent $7.94

Safeway:

2L Tetley Iced Tea (free with coupon)
tin foil
garbage bags
half and half
chicken burgers ($4 off with club card)
ground turkey
chicken thighs
raspberries ($1.98 off with club card)
prepared salad (buy one get one free with coupon PLUS $1 off with club card)

Coupon savings: $8.98

Club Card savings $6.89

Total Spent $42.27

Another NSD

2008-11-19T16:35:00.004-07:00

Finally, another NSD for me this month - I am only up to 4 and it is the 19th. Terrible, I know. My goal is to have 10 and I have 6 more to go to achieve that and I'm not sure I can pull it off.

Tonight I've been invited to a wine and cheese party at the spa where I get my monthly facials (my facials and my gel nails are the two things I will not give up) and I don't expect to be spending any money there so should be good.

I dropped my signed letter of offer and other paperwork off with the new company and it feels official now.

Total NSDs: 4

I forgot to mention...

2008-11-18T20:29:00.003-07:00

...that I received my vacation pay from my part-time job on the Nov. 15 paycheque. We get 4% here and it was just over $313. Not all that much I know but I usually only work 24 hours/two weeks. It went straight into the ING savings account earmarked for my next trip.

I am also expecting several hundred dollars ($550 or so) after taxes from what I paid into my pension at the place I just left. I was only paying into my pension for three months and since it was not a large amount I elected to take it as a payout (tax will be withheld) rather than flippnig it into an RSP. The main reason I chose to do this was because I thought I may need the cash on hand while I was job hunting. Now that I have a job, I am torn between putting that money directly into the savings account or putting it toward my debt (LOC).

I wonder how bad it really is....

2008-11-17T16:02:00.003-07:00

I am afraid to look at my mutual funds and find out how much I have lost over the last while. Part of me does not feel the need to look as, even if they are down (and I'm sure they are), I don't know that I would rearrange my portfolio. I am in this for the long haul and have many years yet until retirement and have lots of time for them to gain what they've lost and continue to grow. However, the other part of me feels I should look at them and consider moving them into a less risky portfolio.

If any other Canadians are reading this blog and have thoughts on this matter, I'd love to hear them.

Why can't life ever be easy???

2008-11-17T15:47:00.004-07:00

I picked up my letter of offer and though they don't have the Cadillac of benefits I am used to, their package is pretty standard.

I am going to accept as I need a job but I am stressed as I would really like the job with the NHL team to come through and I will hate having to resign from this one if it does. Maybe I won't even get called for an interview and it will all be moot.

Today's spending:

$21 - orange juice, Advil and frozen pizza
$17 - underwear
$3.86 - breakfast at McD's

Total NSDs: 3

My letter of offer

2008-11-17T08:08:00.002-07:00

I am off shortly to meet with my new employer and pick up my letter of offer. We haven't talked about vacation time or benefits at all so I have no idea what they offer and I am hoping they have good benefits. I have been fortunate in the past to have worked for companies who offer the Cadillac of benefits so it will be a bit disappointing to take less but it is what it is.

I'll post more once I am back home and have reviewed the offer.

Mid-month Update

2008-11-16T16:35:00.002-07:00

Today has successfully been another NSD bringing to total this month to 3, which is pathetic being that it is already the 16th. I am really going to have to strive harder to have more NSDs.

I have been successful in not spending unnecessarily, however, I am still spending a lot on food and I would like to cut that back.

Total NSDs: 3

Holiday Party Season Has Arrived

2008-11-14T20:54:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow night is the Xmas party for my part time job and I have nothing to wear. I have been digging through my closet trying to find something and am not having a lot of luck. Due to my gaining weight (which I am in the process of trying to lose) none of my dressy clothes fit. Even if I was allowed to spend money this month, I would not want to buy something in this size anyway as I hope to not be this size for much longer.

Thankfully this company does not throw a really fancy party so I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever I end up digging out.