pay day

I have been waiting for this pay day for a long time. Two years actually :-)  We were without a contract for a year and a bit so waiting and wondering if I got a raise and what that would look like....was difficult. Our contract was settled in the fall, but those months are not normal paycheques.  Normal paycheques for me are January through June. Barring unforseen events, the cheques are exactly the same gross, exactly the same net with the same deductions. In July and August some of the deductions do not come off. They operate under the 10 month contract that we actually have.

If we are full time, permanent, we have the option to request to be paid over a 12 month period. They just rejig the numbers so that you have 12 semi even cheques. I spent too many years in part time or temp contracts and it was a LONG time from end of June pay to end of Sept pay. I vowed I would never force myself to experience that feeling again as long as it was in my power.

In August, or sometimes September, I max out on CPP and EI deductions so when that happens, the cheques are more, for the balance of the year. In October and November, association dues come off, so those are different too.

I really do love the extra money in the last months of the year, but there is something infinitely comforting about the known of those first six months of the year.

Our raise was just over 2% gross for each of those two years. I was hoping for a net of about $50 a month (x 2 years of contracts) so about $100  a month. It was tricky to calculate on my own because deductions were going up too and I didn't have access to those charts. A couple times I tried and found myself netting less than I was two years ago. Scary. Possible. Uncertain.

confusing stuff hey? lol

Yesterday was payday and it was with baited breath that I checked my balance online to see how much was direct deposited. I went and found my January pay stub from 2010 and 2011 to compare. Happily, I found that my net was $150 a month more than it was 2 years ago before my last increase. So approximately $75 a month net more than before.

I have been running imaginary raises in my head off and on for months wondering what I could do with it. Where should it go? what  effects would I have if I put it on x budget line.....or y budget line.

In the end, I am pretty boring. Very predictable. you all know where it is going :-)

I am anxious beyond all to get my vehicle loan paid off. The $ will go towards extra payments on my loan to accelerate that as fast as possible.

I'm so glad things worked out with this. Perhaps the power of positive thinking is helping.