Saving for Renos

 It feels like the bulk of my money focus has been on saving for the necessary upgrades that are needed at our new house and the old one. 

At the old house it is desperately in need of shingles. We installed the old ones in the fall of 2004 so they have made it not quite 20 years. The south side are a mess on both the house and the garage. I have the money saved for it. Now, the trick is just to find a weekend we can get enough people together to work fast and efficiently and get it done.

At the new house we had an electrician come to do an estimate on work in the downstairs garage. We have had to gut the ceiling due to water damage and squirrel damage. Once we get the electrical done again, then we can install the lights and the ceiling gyprock and get moving on getting it organized. A LOT Of memories in that space. My cousin was here last week and was quite overwhelmed with them all.

 At the new house we also to replace windows. They are the originals from when dad built the house in 1972. They are ridiculously NON energy efficient. We had a quote on that as well. To do the whole house (main level) will cost just under $14 000. I definitely cannot afford all of that so we shall do the picture window and the windows of the front two bedrooms this year. I will have to save up to do the rest. The install won't happen until November according to their schedule.

Ah the joys of home ownership.

New Little pots of planned expenses

 I have been following the 'jar philosophy' of weekly expense budgeting for ....(doing the math) holy, 13 years. Wow, that 's crazy when you think about it. 

It has, without a doubt, been my saviour. 

I have one real payday a month and I create three fake others to give myself that guidepost for weekly expenses: Gas, 'mad money' spending, groceries/household. It has evolved over the years but the basic idea remains the same.

I still do  cash withdrawls. I know many of you who do this are very successful with debit/credit card versions of this. I have found that I am my most successful when I stick to cash. That became a bit more challenging when many places were not taking cash during the height of Covid times.

When, if I have any leftover money, it often goes into a holding jar. (yes there are real little jars). I use it for one thing or another as new planned expenses evolve.

Right now I have a few little side missions I am planning for.

 Any money leftover from the gas budget goes away and is used for the more costly gas expenses when I have to go to the city for my infusions. I am also tucking that away to use for my oil changes

I have two other little jars I started now. Both are for things that aren't concrete plans, but fingers crossed, will be. DS1's wedding. No, he hasn't proposed yet. They have been together for 7 years and frankly I am tired of waiting, but apparently that's not my decision :-)

The first jar is for the mother of the groom attire. Not sure what kind of wedding it will be but it will be nice to have $ set aside for when the time comes. I don't own many fancy clothes and I will want something special for that day.

The second little jar is for her veil. I don't have daughters and won't get to do the shopping for the bridal gown etc. I wanted to put some money aside for her for a veil, or her shoes, or jewelry....whatever she ends up deciding on. Just a small gift from me to her.

The amounts are huge and the additions to the jar don't go in regularly, but a little bit here and a little bit here will be a nice way to start things off when it's time.

Hopefully sooner rather than later.

What are your go to air fryer recipes?

 My kids got DH and I a fancy air fryer for our 30th anniversary. 

Everyone at work raves about them.

So I am wondering, for the air fryer aficionados out there....what are your go to recipes for your fryer? 

Added to the TFSA

 The more I about how my parents' RRSP and RIFs went down after their passing, the more I am in favour of TFSAs.

 

Mom and dad invested well and invested a lot. When they passed far far too much money went to the Government for tax purposes. They worked so hard for that money and they would have been sick at how much went away. 

I do place blame on their investment manager. He should have been advising them to withdraw the maximum, without penalty, each year in their last 5-7 years. This would have reduced the tax bracket they were in and greatly reduced how much they paid for taxes. They could have spent it on themselves, put it in a TFSA, or heck, put in under their darn mattress. The amount they 'gained' having it in investments was completely obliterated by the tax penalty.

I added a tiny bit to my TFSA at the end of last week. $1000. Not anything life changing, but a little bit to add to what I have tucked away. This money was mostly through loose change over the past 8 or so months. Amazing how it can add up if you buy something with a $5 or a $10 and put the change in a jar.

I will try to do another $1000 before year end.

Do you lean towards TFSA or RRSPS (or your country's equivalent?)

A wonderful Monday

 So many wonderful non exciting things happened today.

It started off with  early morning coffee outside in my back yard beside the pond. The sound of the birds and the water moving was such a positive therapeutic launch of the day.

I had enough energy to go do a bit of grocery shopping and get the mail. There was enough mental focus to go through my finances and update my monthly spreadsheet and double check the planned savings accounts. 

I settled down to start my first book of the summer The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser. I am having trouble settling in to read for longer chunks of time, but I am hoping that will come.

After supper was grass cutting and taking care of my flowers, and just enjoying being outside.

The day ended with a glass of wine on the deck as sunset. 

Starting to be me again

 Well I can't say my first few days of summer were productive but I think I am starting to be me again.

First, it was brutally hot. SK isn't meant to get to 100F/38C. I am beyond grateful for the AC we put in last year. I cringe at the near future power bill, and I definitely feel for my son and his GF who are at our old house which would be stifling hot. But there is something weirdly isolating about blinds down and being inside.

Second, I slept. and slept. I would go from one spot to another for a quick lay down which turned into nap after nap. Hopefully it is just 'end of school' exhaustion, and not something more. I so desperately want to feel better and DO things.

Third, no brain energy. Not even enough to just enjoy a nice reading session outside in the early morning or late at night. No energy to think about finances. No brain energy to plan. I did not even have enough to make my usual summer lists.

Towards the end of this afternoon, I felt a flicker of me. A desire to do things, to think of things, to go places.

I hope, with the morning, it is still there. It would sure be nice to welcome 'me' back to life.

Finally Summer

I am sure that every year it feels like 'thank goodness summer is here', but I am certainly feeling it this year.

We finished school yesterday, June 30th.

Don't get me wrong....this was  a great group of students to work with during this Pandemic teaching year. They were cooperative for protocols, they adapted to the multiple switches we had to make during the year, and they were fun to work with.

It was just  an incredibly draining year. Not one big thing (covid aside) but just that ongoing grind of restrictions and constantly trying to find new ways to make learning successful for the students. 

Staff were grumpy amongst themselves and policy changes were misplaced during such a tough year.

We were fortunate in my class to have in person learning all but two weeks for the year. It's a big building and there were many classes (and staff) who had to do multiple self isolations due to close contacts.

It was a year of creativity and relying on each other more than usual to find ways to make things work.

It was a way of steep technological learning.

I worked with students whose parents had never stepped foot in the building, or met me in person. It took a lot of trust for them to do that, so I worked hard at staying more connected that ever.

I am grateful for time to stop and rest and breathe. I am not looking for any WOW travel experiences this summer. Just incredibly grateful for a chance to recharge and destress.