First week back

was EXHAUSTING

It's always tough going back to work after the break. Tougher when you are trying to get kids back into a routine after so long without. Tougher yet when you have kids you know have dicey home lives and it takes a few days to get them to trust again.

Along with work mom had four trips into the city that included one radiation mask prep, three sessions of radiation, one liver biopsy and two meetings with oncologists.

Keeping those trips and their drivers organized as well as taking care of dad and making sure he eats and is taking care of his health issues...well that wears a girl out.

Along with that I did some baking, a run to the recycling depot, a trip to the bank and watched some world junior hockey.

I made my first snowflake originated bonus payment on the LOC this week. $100 of my $1500 goal of bonus payments. The snowflakes came from lotto scratchers $10, recycled bottles $15, and $75 hoarded from my first week of jar money. It felt good to get that started.

The weekend seems full of a basket full of to dos but honestly I spent most of today in bed. I  ran out earlier to get the things mom needed at the drug store. I took my vehicle in for an oil change, and then I took dad as he wanted to go grocery shopping. But the rest....in bed either dozing or watching Netflix. I feel.. 'off'. Maybe the flu coming. Maybe just exhaustion and my brain needed to pause.

Hopefully I am more productive tomorrow with the to dos and getting some marking done at school.

5 day week ahead along with 2 nights of extra curricular with school teams.  Mom has two more radiation trips to the city as well as some sort of endoscopy that they are going to try to do here.

2017 - A Quick Glance

Peeking purely at the numbers, it would show that 2017 was not  a year of progress for my bottom line.  The mortgage has gone  down, predictably.




December 2009 - $70 771.99
December 2010 - $52 410.25 (down $18 361.74)
December 2011 - $40 055.29 (down $12 354.96)
December 2012 - $35 921.04 (down $4 134.25)
December 2013 - $25 925.49 (down $9 995.55)
December 2014 - $22 494.06 (down $3431.43)
December 2015 - $18 837.12 (down $3656.94)
December 2016 - $15 009.96 (down $3827.16)
December 2017 - $11 055.48 (down $3954.48)

That of course started as all debt and now just reflects mortgage.

However anyone following my blog knows I have a LOC serving as funding for DS1's college fees. I purposely did not choose to include that when it first was activated as that number has moved up and down within each year.



Debt 2016
Mortgage - $15 009.96
College LOC - $13 245.16

Total Debt - $28 255.12



Debt 2017
Mortgage - $11 055.48
College LOC - $21 343.00

Total Debt - $32 398.48

I added to the LOC a couple times during the year and I am slowly working on paying that down.  Side by side comparisons, however, show that the overall debt is up.

This is DS1's last year of college so barring anything unforeseen, this should slowly whittle down.

College, LOC and TFSA, oh my!

So most of my money goals for the year have been met. Plates (insurance), RRSP, Christmas is almost done, Summer etc.

The only goal I haven't started yet is my TFSA savings of $1000. Interest on this is paltry. Super paltry.

Interest on my college LOC however, is not paltry.

I was putting $500 a month down on the LOC, and saving a comparable amount for College. My LOC is close to being maxed out. Yes they would give me more, but I really don't want it to come to that.

This is DS1's last year of college. It will cost. Money will be needed. Usually I am putting  a chunk on my LOC and a chunk into college savings, along with a chunk that goes to my rotating money goals (see First paragraph).

I really really really want to avoid putting more money on the LOC. I would rather jiggle the amounts around to put a base amount on the LOC and a larger amount into College (and the dreaded Canadian to US dollar conversion).

The dollar is at about 77 cents right now which is not great but better than the 71 cents it was earlier this year.

I think I will drop the worry about the $1000 TFSA goal and focus instead on the college/LOC for the rest of 2017.

My change jar $ was going towards my Back to School fund and that is now met. Thank goodness. I start in 2 weeks.

For the rest of 2017 I will put my change jar $ towards TFSA 2018. This is a pretty low stress way of slowly building it.

I know...It's a lot of thinking out loud. But that's my plan for now. for now. Til Murphy or someone finds me and whaps me upside the head.

Where the money stands

as of Feb 7th

yes this one hurts a bit quite a bit with the added money on the LOC. I will whittle it away as I have done before while I make plans for the Summer School tuition and living expenses, the fall one and January of 2018.

Debt
Mortgage - $14 361.28
College LOC - $18 093

Total Debt - $32 454.28



Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $8200
RRSP -$13 473
Back to School 2017 - $150
XMAS 2017 - $500
Plates 2017 - $1300

I also put away money every month towards flights, college, my annual fees (insurance, tax filing etc) my next trip to see DS...things like that

College Tuition

There is no real pretty way to put it. The college LOC took another hit. The bill came and I didn't have quite enough saved for that so back to the LOC I went.  Borrowing money is bad enough but when you have that darn conversion between Canadian and US money, it hurts even more.

$4500 US cost me $5380 Canadian. 

Then I had the fees of doing the conversion, the fees of sending a wire to my son's account, the fee has to pay on his end and the fee to mail the tuition part to the US. Love fees, said no one ever.

My total amount owing will go up again. A step forward and four back. He has only a year and a half of college left so at least I have the comfort of knowing I am more than halfway there.

2016 - A quick glance

As you can see on the top right of my blog, my debt is currently sitting at $28 255.12

Part of that is mortgage and the rest is the college LOC.

The LOC has gone up and down this year. I keep whittling away at it each month, but a couple times a year I have to add more to make tuition payments or cost of living payments.   DS1 still isn't eligible for Canada Student Loans so for now, this will  have to do. His scholarship covers some, but all the other pieces, certainly do add up. It definitely doesn't help that this is in US dollars and our Canadian dollar is taking a kicking when we need to convert.

DS2 isn't eligible either. He has received a few scholarships in smaller amounts, and the money he made last summer goes a lot farther when it stays in Canadian funds.

The final number below is indicative of only the  mortgage. Adding in the current college LOC (and not counting January Semester 2 payments),  if I added it all together it would put me back at somewhere between 2012 and 2013.



December 2009 - $70 771.99
December 2010 - $52 410.25 (down $18 361.74)
December 2011 - $40 055.29 (down $12 354.96)
December 2012 - $35 921.04 (down $4 134.25)
December 2013 - $25 925.49 (down $9 995.55)
December 2014 - $22 494.06 (down $3431.43)
December 2015 - $18 837.12 (down $3656.94)
December 2016 - $15 009.96 (down $3827.16)

DS2 has 6 months left of his program but whether there are any jobs in his field has yet to be determined. There was a massive freeze last year and that is still in place. A lot of the Sask jobs were taken by Alberta folk out of work and 'coming home'.

DS1 has 18 months left of a four  year degree.

I feel like I made some progress but I definitely could have done more.

My change jar for 2016

One thing about blogging year after year is that while the entries may be boring, I can peek back in the archive for details from past years.

I honestly thought that like the rest of 2016, my change I rolled was 'meh'.  I was a little surprised when I counted up this year and checked previous years.

So here is the data I have:
2012 -$549.50
2013 - $980
2014 - $512
2015 - $642
2016 ------

So I had a few months of not enough change of any category to roll. The rest of the months had a bit of a predictability to them.

January - $0
February  - $100
March - $25
April - $0
May - $100
June - $100
July - $50
August - $100
September - $100
October - $100
November - $100
December - $50

For a grand total of $825

If I recall correctly I used the first $500 as  a non stress way of saving for Back to School costs for me. The rest went as payments on the College LOC.

I would have to say that of those two options, I got more of a rush out of the saving for Back to School. Took one thing off the budget line.

September change

Ok I am definitely not going to be successful at meeting my < $10 000 on the College LOC by the end of 2016.

But I will keep swinging.

Change this month was what seems to be a standard:

• 1 roll of toonies - $50
• 1 roll of loonies - $25
• 2 rolls of quarters - $20
• 1 roll of dimes - $5

For a total of $100. It went straight to a little lump sum on the LOC.

Some snowflakes/August Change

I went to the bank today after work and made an extra payment on my LOC.

My change for the month was hefty. I purposely didn't spend any that I got buy when buying things, because I  needed this little psychological boost.

1 roll of Toonies - $50
1 rolls of loonies - $50
3 rolls of quarters - $30

for a total of $130

Added to that was some leftover gas money and grocery money which added up to $100.

Together that was $230 down on my LOC.

I need to keep up the focus and get this debt DOWN.

US money decision

Our dollar is dropping and is rumoured to not improve in health until at least after xmas.

I needed money for tuition and money for living expenses so I had to bite the bullet and borrow money on my LOC and take the hit converting Canadian dollars to US.

I went in a couple weeks ago and went through the paperwork of getting the limit of my LOC raised to $25 000. The good news is my credit score is still very high. She was surprised and impressed.

I then borrowed tappd into that LOC from $8000 to $20 000.

I then converted that $12 000 Canadian to US and took an evil hit on the exchange

Why oh why did I not convert last Aug when the dollar was at 91 cents?

I now have, counting the bit I had before, just over $10 000 US.

DS1's tuition was posted yesterday. $9400 US. We have to wait until Sept to find out how much of that will get covered by the scholarship. I am guessing I will be paying around $4500 of that.


DS went with me to the bank yesterday to convert his summer earnings to US dollars. It made the dollar exchange much more real for him, thinking of how much money, how many hours of work, disappeard to make that conversion.

Now to work on paying down that LOC

Finding $180

I went to the bank this past weekend and put down the monthly amount I have budgeted towards the College LOC.  When I got home I dutifully opened up my spreadsheet and wrote that amount in.

Some quick math told me that at the end of May when I apply the monthly amount again, I am $180 away from bringing the total down under the next 'thousand'.  Now we all know there is not much of a difference between buying something at $9.99 or at $10.00, but psychologically, that $9.99 just feels so much better :-)   I find it's the same thing with my mortgage or my LOC.

So the quest for the rest of this month is to 'find' $180 so that I can make that possible.

Now I could take $180 out of my backpay and make it happen. Or I could take it out of my tax return when it comes. Or I could reduce the amount I tuck away each month for the boys for College, or my next savings goal....well you get the idea.

I don't want to do that.

Rather, I want to challenge myself to find that money to make it happen. I need that mental mind game to be a catalyst to getting that balance down, like I did with my vehicle loan or previous LOC amounts.

If  I don't touch those amounts, then the only spot I can really make this happen is in my variable spending aka The Jars, and any change I may acquire.

Gas. Groceries. Entertainment. Spending.

I have 3 weeks to do it before next pay period.

The whole thing may go out the window with a murphy visit. DS1 is also taking spring session at College while he is down there for spring training and I have no idea what that is going to cost. Money may end up GOING  on the loc.  He also has to move out of his dorm and into the house he and his fellow freshman are renting. That is all new territory for me and I have no clue about potential costs.

So all of these well laid plans could change and be moot.

But for right now I am living in the spirit of optimism and will hope for the best.

To start this off, I had $30 left from groceries last week and $10 left from spending money, so I have $40 in the kitty.

 $140 to go

One third of the way through 2015

Hard to believe it's already May. It never ceases to amaze me how fast the months (or years) seem to fly by as one gets older.

The first third of the year has gone by and I would have to say that it has had a lot of rough patches. I thought I would do a quick glance at how things have gone.

Health

Well it could be worse, but it definitely hasn't been great. I finished off 2014 recovering from a big cold and flu and went pretty much straight into my neck being out and locked, which threw off about 2 weeks of my January.  Chiro visit and two ER visits.  I had about a month of decent health before my colitis symptoms started coming back until it hit full flare. This past week marked 2 months of my flare in all it's glory. I was off work for almost a month (including one week of non school over Easter). The steroids are reversing/keeping the symptoms at bay, but the side effects of the steroids are not fun: dry mouth, numb lips, chest pains, increasing bruising, tight joints and muscles, esp the knees, swollen /puffy face and feet and super dry skin. Oh and increased appetite. Good times :-)

I am hoping for a much better spring. It's finally nice outside and I want to be out walking and doing things.

Murphy and money

Murphy  has been a royal pain the ass this year, especially around vehicles. Oh the things I could have done with the cash I have had to put out for vehicles and mechanic inspections. At least I can say I am getting the value back on the warranty I was kicking myself for buying.

College costs continue to stress me out. Aside from going back in time and putting more money away, there isn't much that can be done but keep on keepin' on. I really wish DS1 had been eligible for Canada student loans, even to help out a bit. I have three years left with DS1 and 2-4 with DS2 so I need to find my stride and figure things out and keep myself as stress free as I can to avoid bringing Mr. Colitis back.

The backpay and income tax refund will definitely help. I appreciate those two amounts so much.

It could be worse. I could have never saw the light with budgeting and money and been up to my tonsils in stress and debt.

Family
Being sick has kept me from a few family functions. I don't like that, especially on missed moments with my great nieces and nephews. They are super fun and I would like to be doing things with them.

I am glad I gave DS2 that trip. I just see so much more maturity and confidence in him and that makes me smile to my soul. I miss DS1 so darn much. By the time he gets home in June, it will be 6 months since I've seen him. That is far far too long. I need to plan a trip down to him next Feb or March to break that up a bit. He needs it and so do I. He is really homesick at this point, especially with hockey done.

Goals

I have a couple of my 2015 goals in progress. My TFSA goal of $2000 is getting closer. I have the grad money saved and have started doling it out for a few things.  My summer planned spending money is close as well.  Still, a lot of goals not started.

It will be interesting to see what my second part of the year shows at the end of August.

April change

I really haven't had much 'change' to report in 2015.  Between illness and how I spent my money, it just never quite seemed to accumulate.

This month I actually got to go to the bank.

1 roll of toonies - $50
1 roll of loonies -  $25
2 rolls of quarters -  $20
1 roll of dimes -  $5

Grand total - $100

I am excited for this and I took it to the bank  yesterday and put it straight down on the college LOC. Every little bit counts.

Funny story from the bank.... So I go in with my rolls of change and end up at a younger ish teller. Here is how the conversation went.

J - Yes I'd like to put this money down on my LOC please
Teller - Ok (glances at the rolls) so $105
J - $100
T - (with a sigh of exasperation and tone she looks at the5 rolls) $105
J - (with a smile and a quiet voice) There's $100 there
T - (takes her pen and emphatically taps each roll and snarks as she tallies for the obviously stupid client) $50, $75, $85, $95, $105
J - (with a small smile taps the dime roll with her finger) A roll of dimes is $5, so $100
T - Pfffft  whatever


I said nothing but I'm thinking 'ok I am ok with an extra $5 but your count will be out at the end of the day'

I am going with 'She was embarrassed she was wrong and doesn't have the skills to handle it'. 

Finally got the chiro rebate

Way back at the start of January my neck went out. Then locked. I went to the chiro twice and ended up in ER twice when the  inflammation  pain just about did me in.

It took me til the end of February to submit the bills to my insurance, and 7 weeks later, the cheque has arrived. I get $80 of the $100 back, which is great. I am really appreciative of that.

The time delays mean though, that a girl has to have a spot in the budget to pay that bill when service is rendered, and not rely on that reimbursement coming before the next Credit card cycle.

I am popping that $80 onto my College LOC today. Every little bit helps.