March Change

There wasn't a ton of change for March.  I guess it's like that some months.  I rolled up the bit I had  today and took it to the bank along with my snowflaked cash. I decided that my change this year would go towards my TFSA savings. I was curious to see how much I could get this way, and the change jar has been kind to me in the past.

This month was $25 in change:

• 2 rolls of quarters
• 1 roll of dimes.

I also took the $100 cash I saved.

My TFSA snowflake account currently stands at $506

Easter Weekend

I wouldn't say that it was a traditional Easter weekend for most, but it seems about right for our family.

Firstly it was a hockey weekend. Our home team played our arch rivals and won, moving on to the next round of playoffs. This was DS1's former team.  DS1, on the other hand, was one of the teams that made it to the top 16 in the US. His team flew out to the East Coast for a regional final. It's a 'lose one and you're done' kind of playoffs.  They won their first game and made it to top 8 in the country, but lost their second game by a hair. So they are done now. If they had won they would have gone on to the Frozen Four Finals, which, ironically, are in Florida this year.

DS2 came home Friday evening, gathered up some things and headed off with his friends to a cabin about an hour north of here. They had a great time together in the snowed in cabin and got home Saturday evening.  It was so good to have him home for Easter.

Sunday was Easter dinner at my mom and dad's. There were only 7 missing, which is pretty good for a family our size. My one nephew, his wife and three kids, DS1 and DS1's gf. The house was jammed with bodies, along with my parents' long time neighbours beside them and across the street.

It was a lovely smorg of turkey, ham, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, veggies, cabbage rolls (all  the usual things around here). My mom made home made buns for all and pies - pumpkin, Saskatoon berry and lemon meringue.

One of my nieces is expecting so it was good to visit with her. Another of my nieces was there with her twins, who are 14 months. They were premies so they have, and are still, overcoming a lot of health issues. 

It was noisy and chaotic but a great time. The granddaughters started the dishes and the grandsons finished them. We left last, making sure that everything was all cleaned up and put away. 

I facetimed with DS1, but they were having a gathering so between the noise of his house and the noise of ours, it was tough to hear.

Our next big gathering will be August long, where we will celebrate my dad's 80th.

What  a family.

DS2 headed back to school after lunch.

Here is a pic of the jello eggs my mom makes.

Gail's last week

For all of  you who follow Gail Vaz-Oxlade's blog, this is her last week of blogging.

I started off with her TV shows, and then morphed to her books and her blog.

Her message was absolutely pivotal  in my money awareness AH HA moment.

I still use the jars, after all these years.

Thank you Gail, for all the wisdom and entertainment that came from your blog.

Early but productive morning

My maine coone kitty gave me an early start to the morning. Apparently she thought it was a work day and woke me up by 6:30. So much for Sunday sleep in.

So here it is, 7:30. I have a load of laundry in the washer and another in the dryer. There is a banana bread in the oven. I have a hot cup of coffee beside me while I catch up on blog reading.

And the cat is snoring :-)

Tax Time

I have had my papers ready for awhile but today was the first day DH and I both had time to take them in and get them all done.

I THOUHT I was ahead of the game. I gave DS1 his fancy papers at Christmas, to take into his college admin and get them to fill in and scan and send back to me. That was back to me by the end of the second week of Jan.  Ditto with DS2.  The forms fill in their college $ amounts, give me authorization to file on their behalf, as well as transfer some of their tuition back to me for credit on my taxes.

When we got there, it turns out there is yet another form Revenue Canada needs they boys to sign. Since DS2 was home, it was easy to get his signature. Less so with DS1.

DS2 gets almost nothing back, but he had little taken off his paycheques last spring, so that makes sense. DS1 gets about $1000 back, which I will just store away until he is ready to go back to college in the fall. 

My refund isn't bad. $1500 of it was thanks to the boys' tuition transfer. It will go straight into the college fund. In reality, that $1500 won't even pay for DS1's spring classes in US $, but I can't think of that.

My refund was enhanced with my medical expenses.  I got to claim some of my trips to the city for infusions as well as my prescriptions. I will make sure I keep careful track again this year of all those expenses.  I get $1400 back.    I would love to preplan where I'd like it to go, but everytime I do that, Murphy visits.

I could put it down on one of my planned savings goals. I could put it down on my College LOC.  I could save it towards flight costs for our visit to DS1 in the fall.  Heck for all I know my 21 year old washer and drier could give up the ghost.

It will be 3 or 4 weeks before the refund arrives, so all kinds of things could happen :-)

Package Policy

I honestly think I keep forgetting that it is March.  I have been surprised on more than one occasion in the past week that it is March.  Example: I had in my day plan that we had a presentation on March 9. So the morning of March 9 when one of my coworkers mentions it, in my head I am thinking "nooo that's not til the 9th of ...........oh dear lord it IS the 9th of March.

Same thing applies to my yearly package policy for two of our vehicles. I know it's due in March. I save for it for March. and each year I am surprised when it comes... in March.

For those unfamiliar with SK vehicle insurance, there are two levels. The first level is for our 'plates'...our yearly vehicle insurance renewal. For DS1 and myself, our vehicles are valued at about $1100 each for this insurance. It covers a bunch of basic coverage, with mid level deductibles.

Most people (ok well most people "I" know), also get an extended policy. It covers a bit more deeply, with lower deductibles.

When I opened mine last week I knew it was for two vehicles and would be high, but I still blinked.

It came to $636

$284 was for mine and $352 was for DS1's, which is technically my vehicle too.

DS1's is higher as he is in the US and needs higher coverage and liability. We have a 5 million third party and a 2 million family security.  In comparison, mine up here is a 2 and a 2 million.

I paid it all at once. Plopped it on my visa to get the few reward points and came home and immediately transferred money from my account to pay it off.

I could have paid it monthly - $109.18  down payment plus $54.59 monthly (Total of $764.26)
or 3 times a year - $254.40 + 200.80 + 200.80 plus 2 $10 installment fees (Total of  $676)

Definitely makes financial sense to pay it all at once IF you can save ahead properly.

The lady handling this said that I could have also did it all online through my online banking.    I really don't mind stopping in to pay this. It's not out of my way and has good hours of being open. Even Saturdays. This way too, they know my face when I have issues I need to deal with. I have found this helpful on multiple occasions.

 I pointed out to the lady that the more people who do this online, the fewer people the business will need to employ. The way her eyes opened, it showed that this had never occurred to her before.

It's good to have that off my to do list for another year.

A day in the life

Typical Sunday? Not sure but it certainly had a lot of flavor.

I started the morning off fairly early and curled up with my computer, my remote and my mug of Timmy's, which was a gift from a student three years ago. It was nice to have time to curl up and sip and read blogs and teach. You will note from the mug I am a messy drinker.

 

 

I spent a good part of the morning trying to be calming and encouraging to the cat, who has some sore of crystals in his bladder. It means he is going everywhere but in his litter box and this is not fun. Love him dearly but he has to get better.

If you are not a cat lover, you won't understand :-)

Then I watched a bit of Sask curling at the Briar. We did not win this game.

 

 

This afternoon I was asked to judge our local 4H oratory competition. I was there with 3 other judges and heard 16 speakers from 6 to 15.  I have organized oratory competitions and school a lot but haven't actually judged for years. It was a lot of pressure. They all did great.  The top winner from each age category goes on to regionals. I was surprised with a $25 gift card and a Timmy's mug as a thank you.

I came home to find out that my suspicions from the morning were correct. Our water heater is broke. My shower was iffy this morning. I thought the relay switch just needed to be flipped  but such is not the case. DH and my dad worked on it for an hour and no dice. Phone call will need to be made in the morning. I believe it's still under warrantee.

Tonight is a quiet supper; roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and some more curling. And missing my boys.

The weekend went far too fast.

Where the money stands

as of March 2nd

Debt
Mortgage - $17 891.34
College LOC - $13 294.91

Total Debt - $31 186.25



Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $7100
RESP - $10 100
RRSP - $10 946
Summer 2016 - $1000
Back to School - $500
RRSP 2016 - $500
XMAS 2016 - $60


Goal of Back to School was met via snowflaked money. That was exciting. New goal is $1500 for RRSP