Lies I told myself

As of today I am done teaching for the summer.

Don't get me wrong...the work is not done.

 I have about 20 hours left of an online course they mandated in the last week. The focus is blending the learning between in person and online. While they say we are all back in the classroom in the fall, I don't have great faith that it will stay that way.

I also need to go in and unpack my classroom as soon as they are done waxing the floors. Last year we had to move classrooms and with dad's passing I never did unpack properly. I do not want to experience that 'Hmmm I wonder where that is' again.


so back to the lies.

When we started this 'stay at home' crisis, part of me thought 'yes!!!!" Time to do all those things I wished I had the time to do at home AND still get paid.

Silly me, I had no clue how steep the learning curve was ahead of me with this online platform.

Lie #1
If I were at home I would be able to read so many books off my 'novels my kids read at school list' . honestly there are so many good  YA books out there, I could read one a day like a vitamin and never catch up. But I thought this was a chance to make a good dent. Didn't happen

Lie #2
If I were at home I would be able to get my hiney on the treadmill every day, multiple times. Boy the shape I would be in. I could do one in the morning before I go to 'work'. One to break things up in the afternoon. One in the evening. Truth - I was so scattered and hit and miss on this. I lost 3 months of time to get a new habit.

Lie #3
If I were at home I would unpack all the stuff I have brought from the other house and move more over. Untrue. Though I did work my way through some of it, I still have boxes and tubs that need a home

Lie #4
If I were at home I would be able to menu plan and have meals ready for supper each day. I did this a bit but certainly not on a regular basis. I found my appetite off (yet still gained weight) and had no desire to cook a good chunk of the time.

I feel like I wasted a 3 month opportunity to get these things going and of course, now, I am sad I did not do more

And Boom... it starts

There was more of a spring in my step heading to work today, than yesterday. Not sure why. Perhaps the nerf gun war
I finished doing some room tidying and filling in documents for the district.

At 9:20 there is a page for another staff meeting. This time we aren't all gathering in the library. Three groups of staff, three admin, three different rooms. Same message.

We are all instructed to download an app and test it. Then we are told to finalize our paperwork, get our stuff together, and go. Preferably within the hour.

Pause would begin early. No nerf gun war. No last visits. Just get whatever you think you are going to need for online learning. Get your laptop and cord. And get out.

We were forbidden from entering the school - until at least May 1.

I threw a few resources I thought I would need in a box, got my marks binder (yes I do it old fashioned first before putting in online), a few books and I left.

It was really bizarre driving away from the school. Disconnected. Unreal. Confusing.

I drove home and just sat. For over an hour. It was a real 'what the hell just happened?"

DS called about  PM. He and the other boy did their check outs and left by noon. It is starting to become real to him. All this time he was of the 'it's no big deal' mindset. Now, with borders closing it's becoming real. All Canadians lose their healthcare (if something happens to them while down there) if they are not back in the country by Friday Midnight. A caravan of boys started together and will split around Nashville, some heading towards NY, NJ and Ontario others heading up to the west to Michigan, Minnesota and Canada.

I let DS2 know he needed to clear out of the house tomorrow so it's safe for the 14 day self isolation required by law.

confessions

Since I started this blog in 2008, one of my most proud accomplishments was my organization of the household paperwork. I proudly set up my blue filing tub with labels and things were filed dutifully.

I was on top of it.

Need my last Credit rating? no problem

Need that MC statement for those tires I bought? here ya go

The last year everything in my world fell apart, including my filing.

Now bills still got paid, but there was more than one occasion where I was paying off my MC and I accidentally sent the money to my VISA, without realizing until it was too late.

Then I wasn't able to find papers - bills, the house transfer papers - the receipt for the new water heater to prove it was still under warrantee.

The more exhausted and stressful my world became, the worse the paper work organizing was. Things got shoved. On top of the fridge. In drawers.

And then moving when I was so sick did not help matters. Things were shoved in boxes and bags and laundry baskets.

Nor did having two power bills, two water bills, two phone bills for two different houses.

and yes I still get paper bills, and I will until I feel I have things under control.

All this online with different account numbers and different passwords because they have different requirements is overwhelming.

and I didn't have the brain energy to focus long enough to begin, without also feeling overwhelmed. I would say this is a product of the grief and depression.

Slowly, as I start to find me again, I am finding paperwork.

I started by emptying everything out of my filing tub and sorting into piles. Then I shredded the things I no longer need.  The night before last I made new labels for the tubs.

Power bills for each house, water bills, tax, etc

And then I began getting paper sorted and into the correct piles.

With each pile done, I felt more and more in control and could literally feel the stress leave my body bit by bit.

I called DH downstairs to the office to proudly show off the clean desk ( mom's desk) and went through where everything is kept so he knows too.

With each box I slowly unpack I find bits here and there and I stop and get those filed right away so I know where everything is.

Taxes forms are coming in for all of us and for dad's estate and I don't want to misplace a thing.

I may be taking a long time to unpack but it's a fine line juggling what was left here from mom and dad and putting my stuff in where it feels right so that the blend they wanted, eventually happens.

It felt really good to see that sorted and organized bill tub.

First week back

Ok not a full week but three days,

and only staff

I have not been able to spend ANY time in my room this summer.

Not only do I have to unpack everything as half the school were moved to new classrooms, I need to set up AND I need to plan.

There is often time during those first staff only days to get a few things done but not this year. Out of three days, all but 2 hours were in meetings. Super frustrating as there is so much to do. Hard to focus on yet another new initiative when your mind is whirling with all you have to do.

My butt is sore from sitting and I am feeling overwhelmed with all I have to go back and do this long weekend.

Summer payday

Last September our pay period changed from monthly to twice a month. The 15th and the last day of the month.

A lot of people were excited about getting paid 'more often' but I was not thrilled about the switch, and 10 months later, I still don't love it.

For 25 years I had been getting paid on the 25th of each month.  Granted I didn't start to figure out the budget system until 1 years into it, but I still had that habit.

Once I got my jar system in place in 2008 things started to fall into place and it. felt. right.

I had divided it up into the payday and 3 'fake' paydays for my weekly jar money, so that I didn't overspend in the first couple weeks and then have to stretch it all out for the last 10 days.

It was a good rhythm.

With this change I had to sit down and figure out which bills came due when so I could create the bi weekly budget. Phone bill on check 1. LOC payment on check 2. That sort of thing. Some savings goals I had to split into two chunks just so that it would balance the budget.

I made a lot of errors at the start of which bills needed to go into which paydays, and had to keep switching things around.

I still do the fake payday every week so that I have a fresh reload on my jar money (groceries, gas, etc)

I know this is only short term. After all, I will be retired in the next 10 years and I will go back to once a month for my pension payment. Lord that feels weird saying. Pension payment.

Summer To Do List

Summer is definitely a time to rest and relax.

It's also a time to do all the things that have been pushed off all school year and need to get done.

Here's my list. Only a little has to do with money to be honest.

• Rest
• Read
• Walk
• Weight Watchers (hoping for 12 pounds over the summer)
• Spend  a LOT of time with dad
• $400 snowflakes
• Passport - my passport expires in Oct but who has time in October to do that? So I will do it over the summer. Which meant I needed to do my pics and documents at the end of June so that my witnesses/references were actually around
• Infusion x 3 (regularly scheduled)
• Specialist appointment in the city
• Get DS to the accountant to figure out what we will need to do for Tax season for 2018 year when he moves /is employed in Europe
• Get DS to bank to decide what to do with his account here and get advice for Credit Card and Banking in  Europe
• Book DS's flight
• Dentist - cleaning
• Mammogram - weird things happening and I want to find out if there is anything to worry about
• Mole excision - That's how mom's cancer started. I want my two guys gone (and checked)
• Garage Sale
• Meet at Bank to do this year's RRSP contribution
• Meet at Bank to add this year's TSFA contribution
• Call cemetery to be sure the spots we have for mom's ashes (and dad's when it's time) is still there
• Do mom's memorial for the newspaper since no one else stepped up
• Monitor the price of Euros (I think we're screwed)
• Come up with a new budget. Our district is moving to pay twice a month after 24 years of once a month. I am not thrilled. I have a great rhythm going with once a month
• Find a new binge on Netflix for my down moments
• Clean out mom's things when dad is ready
• At least 20 large garbage bags out of my house (donate/garage sale/recycle/toss)
• Head to toe house cleaning
• 'spring' clean mom's house. She would be twitching at the dust and windows
• Lunch with High School friends
• Bake, bake, bake. I seem to have taken over mom's role there for the family. I am nowhere near as good as she was
• Gather mom's recipes together in a word document to share with the family. 
• Decide on a tattoo. One of my friends at work had something in her grandmother's writing tattoed on her arm and I think that's what I am going for. Now to see what I have in mom's writing.
• Pedicure x 2 (I have 2 gift certificates so why not)
• Perm - yeah I'm one of those who needs that for her sad sad flat hair.
• Skin Care Routine - colleagues gave me a 3 month supply of a lovely smelling product line. Might as well use it.
• Memory book - I haven't ever done one of those online photo albums. I want to do one for DS for all his college hockey time as a gift for him. Not sure how to get newspaper articles in there. I don't have any fancy software programs
• Cancel DS1's vehicle package policy since the vehicle will be parked while he is gone.

I will undoubtedly add to this list as things come to me. Nothing thus far is school related. woo hoo.

A year of snowflakes

I love keeping track of the little ways money can add up. For me, there is no side hustle. During the school year there isn't enough energy to make it happen and during the summer I am recharging. I suppose I could find something in the summer if I REALLY wanted to.

Most of the money came from Tax returns. I was able to claim both boys this past year. For 2017 tax year I will just have the one, as DS2's tuition was all paid before the turn of the year.

The rest of the money came from my change jar, and the bits of money I was able to tuck away from jar money to repurpose for savings or debt goals.


In the past, this is how the snowflakes built up:

In 2016 the snowflakes were $5872
In 2015 the snowflakes were $8064
In 2014 the snowflakes were $3112
In 2013 the snowflakes were $3671
In 2012 the snowflakes were $3136
In 2011 the snowflakes were $4350
In 2010 the snowflakes were $5070
In 2009 the snowflakes were $4295

For 2017, my total was not the largest ever, nor was it the smallest. It floated in the middle.  $4770

a big Day, but a good one.

Today was the big day. The big shopping day before Xmas.

DS1 comes home later this week. It's time to get everything ready so I can enjoy his short visit home.

I have my Xmas money saved thanks to those planned savings goals. I also have been tucking $5 here and $10 there into a jar for the big grocery shop.

I made DH come with me. Someone to lift the heavy stuff, and since he isn't contributing, he can experience first hand how much it costs.

We headed to Walmart and got the cleaning supplies, a few last minute treats and all the food. Me and my list had a heck of a good time.

At one point DH says 'so where is all this money coming from?'  I respond and say "when you tuck $5 here and $10 there into a jar  all year long, the money is  here. Starting tomorrow I begin again for next year'. He gives me this look that is half skepticism and half processing the concept of planned savings.

We did a quick stop at Shoppers (again planned ) and got the 18 500 optimum points for the spend. Another quick stop at the LB (liquor board store) for a little wine and baileys, and then home to unpack it all.

I hadn't fully organized my cupboards before I left (I had done the fridge), so there was a lot of that while putting things away.

Sister 2 came for a visit and said that she had been over to mom and dad's and mom had started to share who gets what when she is gone. Those sorts of things are very important to her and that is one of the few things she can control, so that's the talk they had. I got a notebook out and showed Sister what it looked like and where I was going to put it at mom's so that we can start writing it down (we are their executors).

We have not told any of the kids yet. A couple still are in exam mode and there is no point disrupting that for them. Sister agreed that we would tell the kids before xmas regardless of whether we got the CT or not so they could make sure they took advantage of Christmas.

DH and I went over to their house and brought in Chinese at their request. Dad ate so much I am wondering how much he has been eating lately. I feel bad that I haven't been more on top of things.

We managed to get an HDMI cord hooked up to their TV which is bolted into their entertainment unit (it was made for a box tv and he got a flat screen but wouldn't get rid of the unit.) I managed to get the hockey feed  to load in their iffy wifi house and they got to see DS's game. It meant a lot to them.

The radio guy interviewed DS earlier in the week and played it after the first so they got to hear him being interviewed. My mom cried.  Then not long into the game DS scored (he is definitely not the highest scorer on the team).

It was a really good night.  I am going over tomorrow to take her for a bit of shopping if she is up to it and wrap up gifts for her. She only buys for the great grandkids now. There's just too many in the family otherwise.

When you get paid once a month

I am always fascinated by how people with different pay cycles arrange their budget and paying bills.  Even within a household with 2 people, there may be different cycles.

Ex - DS2 works for the provincial government. He gets paid every other Friday

Ex - 2 DS1  works for a municipal government. He gets paid a small amount in the middle of the month (about $300), and gets the balance of his money at the end of the month. No clue on the logic of this one.

Ex - DH works for a municipal government and his pay period mirrors DS2's

As for me, I work for a provincial government and get paid once a month. Technically, I am only paid for 10 months of work. That would give me bigger paychecks during the school year, but leave me two months where there are NO paychecks. That scares the crap out of me.

As a full time employee, I can request they pay once a month x 12 months. This gives me smaller monthly cheques during the school year, but I still get 2 full pay cheques  in the summer ( I just noticed I have used both pay check and pay cheque in the same blog entry)

This works for me and gives me psychological peace of mind for the routine.

Getting paid once a month takes a bit of organizing to make sure you don't run out of money before you run out of month.

Somewhere back in the first year of my blogging, I decided to create 'mini paydays' within the month for my variable expenses (jar money). This would refresh my grocery, spending, gas and entertainment money each week.

The trouble is, that months are not 4 perfectly even 7 day groupings.

Below are pics of two pay cycles and how I create 'mini paydays' to mimic a weeky reset of my variable expenses.


So you can see that my actual monthly payday is the 25th of each month. In June, that fell on a weekend, so the money entered my account on the 23rd. I literally moved it temporarily into my savings until the 25th.

On my actual payday I withdraw my $280 from my checking account and that is my variable spending for the week.

(This will NOT let me left justify my text between pictures for love or money. Super annoying)

So you can see that I have created three additional 'paydays' to simulate a weekly payday. If I had simply gone one week to one week to one week my jar refill would have been sunday to sunday to sunday which would have left my month 'done' on the 23rd of July. That leaves unaccounted days. Survivable, but it did not feel comfortable to me. I tried.

So instead I 'added' a day to each weekly pay. June 25 to midnight of July 2 is 8 days. Then I added a day to the next weekly pay. June 3 to midnight of July 10. Another 8 days. I am now in line to have Tuesday pretend paydays on the 11th and 18th until my next real payday on the Tuesday the 25th.

This only added a day to each of 2 weeks. Not even noticeable.

Real payday on July 25th and everything resets.

Pretend weekly payday is August 2 (so another 8 day week). etc

As I said before I tried the Friday to Friday to Friday to Friday and just had to live with the extra days at the end of the month. I tried this for about 6 months. I always felt stressed about those extra days.

Then I came up with this plan and now, 7 + years later, I still use it.

I get my calendar at Christmas and spend a half hour  over coffee putting little stars on my actual payday and the following three pretend paydays, for the whole year.  Now my whole year is mapped out and ready to go.

I do actually think of those pretend paydays as paydays for my variable expenses. While my husband isn't on board, he does accept that when I say I have no grocery money left this week, he knows there is more money in the account for the next week, but that I am not willing to part with it until I hit my star day. He sees that it is working.

I no longer dread the last week of a pay month where most people have spend everything and have next to nothing in their account. I know that I have the same amount of money for groceries, or gas each week and I don't have to panic.

It may sound complicated but it is ridiculously easy to set up and was super easy to get used to. It is predictable and I know that I have $ coming to me every 7 or 8 days to refill the money jars.


I credit this system as one of the reasons I have remained mostly successful on this budget for 7 plus years.

Did that make sense? any questions??

5 a day

fruits and veggies?  no
minutes of meditation? no
glasses of water? nope


I started this mid May. At the end of the day I plop a little check mark on the calendar and seeing them all on there makes me smile.

It's making DH twitch. This sort of things bugs him in some deep rooted - must have come from his childhood-blame his mother or father - kinda way.

It's not onerous. Not threatening. Doesn't even feel like a commitment.

One day alone doesn't make a visible difference.  Or even a week.

But I know.

and it makes me smile.


Every day I go to wherever is my target and eliminate 5 things from my home.  Maybe a drawer. Maybe a closet.

Could be as small as a pen in the 'drawer of doom' that no longer works or bigger, like three winter jackets that no longer fit the boys.


I have a bag ready to go if it is a clothing donation.

The bin is in the garage for recycling.

Or trash.

The other day DS2 let me throw out 15 pairs of socks that have stretched beyond belief or have more holes than space. He hates getting rid of things. I felt like I had won the lottery.  Earned my little check mark in less than 2 minutes.

Would anyone look around my home and notice a change. Nope

But I do.

Week 2 of holidays - appointments and paperwork oh my

In a sharp contrast to week 1 of holidays, week 2 was much busier, with more appointments and a ton of money put out.

Last Friday I finally upgraded my old IPhone4. It had been failing for over a year. The little round home button only worked sometimes. Texts were getting lost. The battery was draining at ridiculous rates.I had upgraded my IOS as much as it would let me but most of my apps needed a higher IOS to work (banking, fitbit, WW, news etc) It served me well though. Not one crack or scratch on it.

They finally reduced the 'cost' of a 2 year plan to $0 for a 5S so off I went. They tried to talk me into a 6S but that was $268 and I was not willing to pay that. I ended up paying just under $100 in total. $25 for the activation fee and the rest for a vehicle charger and an otter box. I used $50 from my VISA reward points to pay off half of the fees, and the other $50 I had saved up so the device didn't cost me anything. We shall see how much it changes my bill. My old plan was grandfathered in as long as I had the old device. They transferred all my contacts and pictures for me so that was a bonus.

DS1 came home from camping Sunday with tooth  news. He had a massive toothache which turned out to be  infected wisdom teeth on the top and bottom of his left jaw. It had been a long time since I had  him at the dentist. Bad me. Our actual dentist wasn't at the clinic anymore. He had retired. I know getting through on the phone is tough so I went in person at 8 AM Monday morning and got DS an apt for Tuesday to get things checked out...and booked myself in for a long overdue checkup and cleaning as well. DS needs three additional appointments to take care of the mess in his mouth. Good times.

Better still was the fact that he was no longer covered under DH's health care plan. Once you are 21 you age out unless you send in documentation that the kid is in college. I did it for my plan but DH did not for his. So I sent DH off to his HR rep on Tuesday to get DS added back in. The HR was new and didn't know............. much. I had to go in to explain what needed to be done and gave him the paperwork he needed to send off for proof.  Even though DS was covered under my plan, he has to go through DH's first, as DH's birthday comes first in the calendar year. My plan will refuse to cover until DS is re-added to DH's plan.

So I paid $176 outright and we have to wait til the plan is fixed and then we can start the paperwork. First to DH's plan and when that cheque comes back with whatever % of coverage, then I submit the rest to my plan. It is time consuming.

On Tuesday, DS and I headed to the dentist and then off to the city to get his passport renewed. I prefer going in person in case there are any problems on the form. We can fix them immediately. They do dozens a day there so they are well versed in what is needed. That cost $160 plus $22 for passport pics. I paid half and DS paid half.  Assuming he doesn't lose it or have it stolen, his next renewal is when he is 31 so I think he can handle that on his own then :-)

Wednesday was a double dentist day. Our cat is very sick and needed two teeth extracted. For those who aren't pet parents or who don't like cats, this will not be an expense that makes sense to you. For us, she has been part of our family for 10 years this fall and while I didn't like paying the cost, I did. We go on frugal for gas and groceries and any and all extra money went to this cost. Just under $700.  The next morning she was already her old self, happy and purring and rolling on our laps.  My dentist appointment and cleaning was $159. Not great news - 2 cavities, so back I go on the 26th to get those taken care of. I paid up front for it and the dentist office sent it straight off to my insurance, which will cover all of it. Hopefully that cheque arrives soon.

Last Sunday I had all the children home. It was great. I cooked DS's favourite meal and baked muffins and cookies for them both to take back with them for work. DS1's 'mother in law' won't take any $ for keeping him there, so I send things like laundry soap, TP, cookies and muffins and meals ready to go in the crock pot.

There was little reading this week. Lots more 'running around' and taking care of forms. I spent little time on my patio but we did have a fire one night and I got to relax there, watching it.  I walked though colitis was not very cooperative.  I watched what I ate. I lost weight. It was a very different week than week 1, but it was a good week.

Helping DS2 save for college

Our traditional summer student jobs go from May 1 to end of August here in our neck of the woods. That's when the Uni kids are done and home and ready to work. The gov't jobs and municipal jobs gets snatched up then.

DS1 didn't get home until the end of the first week of June. Tougher to find jobs at this point that are above minimum wage.  Min wage is currently $10.20 here in SK. For those interested, here is a link of Min wage across Canada (as of June 1/15)

The night he came home, a buddy of his popped over to welcome him home.  Somewhere during their catch up time, DS asked him if he could think of anyone hiring at this point for a job. The buddy said there might be one at his work, and to get his resume there the next day. Grunt work, sweeping and loading/unloading grain cars, but good money, relatively speaking...$17 an hour

DS got the job. Thank you buddy!

He gets paid every two weeks. He was pretty frugal ( I think) with his money while he was down in the States, but he was spending a lot since he got home. Mama decided he needed help tucking money away.

We ( the royal we) decided that he wanted to have $1000 in his account when he left. We did this last year and that gave him money when he came home at Christmas, and some to survive  when he gets home in June, before a theoretical paycheck.  Then he needed to save $ for college.

So we are leaving enough in his account to pay for two weeks of expenses....Gas...gym fees...his ball hockey group he is in...hockey in the city once a week etc. He has to stay in shape or they will send him home in Sept. The rest I am transferring into my savings account and holding for him.

He didn't put up a fuss about it, so that means he trusts me to see the bigger picture. woo hoo!

Just in: picked up the mail and found that DS1 is now receiving the GST rebate check. I haven't had one of these in forever. Kinda forget they exist. He gets $128 x 4 over the next year.  That will help him add to his savings.

The list

While it may seem rather morbid for our Family Day stat holiday, I seem to be gathering document numbers today for the 'If I die" envelope.

It all started out from cleaning 'the bill corner'. I know, I know..nothing good comes from cleaning :-)

DH never files his stuff. He has paid utility bills sitting there since last summer. I gave him a spot to put the paid things we need to hang onto but he never seems to put them there.

Having separate finances, there are quite  a few things we each should have the document numbers for. We never seem to do this as DH gets quite testy when we speak of such things.

Anyways, as I was sorting today I just started jotting the numbers down, for..... in case. RRSP account numbers, TFSA numbers...things like that.  I put the list of his info in an envelope I have in case something happens to him. I also made a list for him of mine. I told him where I put his list of my numbers and got a "yeah whatever", so I also emailed both lists to my sister as a back up source.

I know, most couples have done this ages ago. Or they share finances already. Or they have money conversations. We aren't that couple. It didn't bother me (IE - seemed like the best choice) for years but now, with me paying all of DS's college costs, money things are.....bugging me.

If nothing else I can be your 'don't girl' role model.

Changing my jar amounts

Yes after 6 years I still use my jars, inspired by Gail Vaz Oxlade.  Not 100% all the time, but they help guide and keep me focused each week. I would not, I repeat, I WOULD NOT, have had any of the successes I have had in debt repayment or planned spending or savings, if I had not started using them.

At any rate, I have changed my jar amounts a few times over the years. I tried to find some specific numbers on my 'money jar' tags, but there were 44 entries. Not enough time this morning to go through them all.

My last change was August-ish when I cut money out of the grocery budget to repurpose towards DS1's college groceries. That shift brought my budget down to $300 a week.

Now I decided to cut out $20/ week from my $40 / week entertainment budget. This gives me a net save of $80 a month.

My entertainment money went into it's little jar. I never had a real purpose or savings goal for it.  I don't go to concerts. We don't really go on holidays. We don't go to fancy restaurants. So really the money just sat there and I would end up pulling it out for pizza or something like that. Not a really special use of the money.

Funny how I can not touch other pots of money, but that money trickles away.

Anyways, I needed to 'find' another $59 per month to make up for the net income reduction that occurred this year due to higher deductions.

I waffled on the 'where' and this is where I decided. If I change my mind, then I will retweak it and make it work.

The additional $21 not needed to make up the reduction went to my savings goals.

Financial Goals for 2015

These aren't all the much different than last year to be honest. The needs haven't changed a whole lot, nor the amounts. Some amounts are chosen by the 'This is how much I need" for the goal, and some are "this is probably all I can do" for others.

 

1) TFSA - $2000

I managed to get this amount last year. I divided the goal into two $1000 chunks to make it feel more manageable.  My TFSA is currently sitting at $5000 in contributions plus $120 ish in interest. I have tons of contribution room, but not tons to add.

 

2) RRSP - $1500

I am moving my goal BACK to $1500 as it was 2  years ago. I tried last year for $2000, but between DS2's car accident, DS1's colleege, and our trips down there, I failed to meet this goal.  I fell short of having $10 000 in contributions.  That would last about four months in my retirement, if I pulled it all out and paid the fees and taxes involved with it. Four months! ouch

 

3) RESP - is no longer a goal since DS2 has finished his contribution + grant contribution years. I will reallocate this money towards saving for college for two children.

 

4) Summer 2014 - $1000

I have no specific plans for this money. I am sure a chunk of it will go to our yearly August long camping trip. Beyond that, I am not sure.

 

5) Back to School - $500

I have cut this goal down by half. It's just for me now. My fees that are due right at the start of the year, plus coffee fund etc. There will be a little left for clothes. The boys' expenses will fall under 'college savings'

 

 6)Christmas 2014 - $1400

No change

 

7) Vehicle Plates - $1200

No change

 

8) Graduation Costs - $500

This amount is less than his brother. DS2 has no desire to go to prom. I may get him there for the Grand March, and he would leave after that. Dances and parties are just not his comfort zone. He may change his mind, but I don't think so. I will have a few prom tickets that have to be bought in order to attend the grand march.

This brings me to a grand total of $8100. This is $2000 less than what I set aside last year...however, I still have college to save towards.

Back to the $8100. Divided by 12 months shows me I need to have $675/month to put towards these savings goals. I have $700. Seems like it should be easy peasy right?

But we all know things happen and money has to get redirected elsewhere. I certainly had to do so last year.

Not counted in this planned spending and savings goal are the college costs. Those are too predictable, especially as DS2 is not gone yet.

And that's my money plan for 2015.

 

Equalized, part deux

I wanted to thank everyone for their input on my last post regarding equalized payments. It is so important to hear from voices who have gone through this before and love it or do not, and why.

I debated long and hard about what path to take. If it were me personally paying this bill I would go with setting a monthly budget for the bill, calling in the actual readings, and setting aside any credits, to dip into during the heavier months. I know I could 'not touch' that set aside money to keep for later.

DH, however, would not do that. Any extra money would disappear and then the heavier months would be a surprise and he'd be short cash.

With his blessing and surprising approval, I have put both natural gas and electricity on equalized payments with July being our annual balancing month. To further this, my plan is to attempt to call in actual readings to both on the 15th of each month. The electricity one should be interesting in the deep of winter when I can barely get into our back yard, but I shall try. This will give us truly accurate month to month bills and we will know if we are ahead or behind the game.

As DH said, "I often hold my breath when I open that bill, scared of what the amount is going to be inside." That's a whole lotta stress.

So those are now set up. I am still amused/offended each time I call there and I have to practically give my DNA to get access to the account. Both our names are on it but originally, when we bought the house, DH was the one who went in to set up the account and is listed as the primary. He can phone in and doesn't have to answer any skill testing questions about who he is, but I have to answer about 5, every single time.

A male friend of mine said they had the same problem. The companies suggested that she (the wife) set up a verbal password when she called in. Her husband needed no password, but she did. He grabbed the phone from her and said her password would be 'bullshit'.  The startled agent asked why they would choose that. He  replied that it was bullshit that he didn't have to give ID and a password and she did when it was set up in both their names.  The agent laughed, apologized for the rules she has to follow and to this day, their password is bullshit.

Next, I am off to explore whether the town has equalized payments for the water/sewer bill.

And then, another call to Workman's Comp. It is now day 51 of them saying that  we are just caught up in a computer glitch from them switching computer systems.

Again, thank you everyone for your comments. They all really helped and made me think.

Review of 2013 Goals

I love the end of a year and the promise of a new one. It does for my goals and my budget thoughts as spring does for my emotions and my connection with nature.

As I look back on my goals this year (and the ones from years before) I can see that I have made some good changes. I think about money differently. I plan ahead for events. I recognize more how finite the money source is and I recognize that I have to make compromises or sacrifices.

So how did I do??

Goal 1 - Pay off Line of Credit - PASS
I got this paid off by the end of May thanks to paying down extra every month, using my true income tax return and using the money they gave me and then wanted back in December. I made mini goals so that I could feel the momentum as I paid it down.   So good to have this LOC gone.

Goal 2 - Celebrations Goal - PASS
I got this off my to do list right at the start of 2013. I was so glad I had this money ready for the weddings and for DS1's prom and grad. It made those events far less stressful knowing I didn't have to fret over $

Goal 3 - Summer 2013 - PASS
I had this goal met just in the nick of time, at the end of June. It was great to have that money for our camping time and to give the boys $ for different summer activities.

Goal 4 - Vehicle Plates - PASS
With a total of 4 vehicles in the family now, planning to pay for the insurance is KEY.

Goal 5 - Back to School - PASS
This was a smaller goal this year since DS1 was graduated. It gave me more money for DS2 for clothes, and I bought some things for my class since I was teaching a brand new grade.

Goal 6 - Save for DS2's trip - Half and half
DS decided he would not go on the trip in spring of Grade 11 (this coming spring) and would wait for spring of Grade 12. He hopes that trip will be Europe based, preferably Italy or Greece. I saved $1140 thus far for his trip. He has his spending money ready to go.

Goal 7 - Christmas 2013 - PASS
It made for a stress free Christmas. I did not get a fresh tree this year, so I saved $ there. With 5 great nieces/nephews now I had to cut the amount I gave for them. Added up very fast.

Goal 8 - TFSA - PASS
It felt so good to finally add to this after 2 years hiatus. I can't let that happen again.

Goal 9 - RRSP - PASS
My little portfolio is slowly growing. I try not to think about how little it actually would help for monthly expenses once I am retired and will just focus on continuing to add to this.

Goal 10 - Lose 20 lbs - Fail
I started off great. Then quit and gained. Then kept going strong over summer and early fall. Then quit and gained. Overall I lost (as of this morning) 11 pounds this year.

Goal 11 - Reading - Fail

But I am ok with this. I read in the summer and it was great, but with 35ish kids in my class this year, I don't have a lot of brain cells left to read while school is on.

My final sentence on my 2013 goal page is worth mentioning. It said "I hope 2013 is a year of DOING, rather than a year of just wishing I were doing something...anything"

Looking back, and reading what others have done, I realize that I have not DONE enough. I have thought, and wished, and dreamed and planned, but the actualization of it was insufficient. I need to get moving and get living and get ENJOYING life more.

Jammie Day and Calendars

Today is a quiet day...time to relax, sip coffee, read or watch TV and just .............appreciate.

We are not part of the Boxing Day madness sales out there. a) no money left. b) nothing we truly need.  It saves me gas, money and stress. All good things. AND they frown on you shopping in your jammies :-)

DH left by 8 AM to go ice fishing. The boys are still sleeping. The kitty is curled up beside me and all is well in the world.

The first thing I am doing is filling in my mom's calendar for the year: birthdates, anniversaries, the remainder of the DS1's hockey schedule, DS2's curling schedule and my weekly 'paydays'.  I have been using this calendar brand for a few years now and quite like it. Every year they tweak the calendar a bit and some parts I love, and some a bit less. I think they one they made last year was the best version.

(image courtesy of http://www.moretimemoms.ca/ )

 

I bought the one for this year a few months ago and it has been waiting, still in it's plastic wrap, in my closet. I opened it the other day and was a little disappointed. It is physically smaller than previous ones and the space for writing is a big part of why I love it. There are a few versions so I suspected I had bought the wrong version.  I really debated over whether I should use it or go back and get one that was like last year's. Ohhh the internal debate. Waste the money you spent on the first one just to go back and get a new one with bigger spaces??  or the other side - It's only about $11, so just go get it if it will make you happy. But it's still $11? think of how happy you are when you snowflake $11 in coins?

 

The internal debate reached the point where I gave myself permission to go get a different version of it just to shut my mind up :-) I had gone online to see which one I was looking for and off to the store I went. I was surprised to find that the version I had bought last year did not exist. There was an erasable one, a fridge magnet one with unconnected sheets (but the size of squares I love) or the coil bound version I already had.

 

End result - I went home and told myself to be satisfied with the one I had. Based on the kinds of stickers at the back, I really am not a 'new mom' and almost out of the mom calendar phase. How sad is that?

 

I am glad I went to look though. It quieted the voice in my head that was coveting a different kind :-)

 

I still like having a paper based calendar up where everyone can write their information and see what is coming up in the week/month.

 

Do you still even use a paper calendar anymore? or have you gone completely digital?

 



 

 

Rejigging the main budget

In the waning days of summer I have been going over my budget to see if any adjustments need to be made before school starts up and I don't have time to think rationally.

My satellite bill has gone up another $3 (Shaw) and I needed to add to that budget line. It is now $91 a month for a Gold package. Gold is a couple up from the basic and a few down from the ultimate package.  We really do not have a stable wireless line to benefit from streaming online. It just cuts in and out far too much. It's a bill I swallow as we don't go out a lot for entertainment, go to concerts etc. I have been tracking it since 2008 and it was $72.08 then.  So $20 increase in 5 years.

I got DS1 Netflix Canada after he graduated.  I figure the $8 a month is better than us running to the video store and risking late returns. I do have to say that Netflix Canada is ridiculously limited when compared to the US version. What's up with that Netflix????

I would really like to get rid of our landline and its $90 monthly bill. DH is dead against it. Vehemently. The only calls we really get on there are from my mom, telemarketers and some scouting phone calls.

I have noticed that my budget falls into two main categories: things for basic living now, and planning for future expenses.   I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am probably never going to get out of this too small of a house. Do we really want to take on a whopping mortgage at this stage of our lives to get me a kitchen/dining area where people actually can eat?    sigh. probably not.   But there are a lot of things in this house that need updating, or retouching. I don't even want to bring up the living room walls that have been totally bare now for the FIVE years since I painted it all. DH flips out everytime I suggest hanging things up to make the room feel complete.  Our basement windows are 50 years old I think, and hardly energy efficient and the casings are warping.  Just a lot of things to do.

So.....I have taken $200 out of the 'plan for the distant future' budget and moved it to what I call home improvement. I can either use that $200 a month to work at slowly replacing things or save it towards a bigger priced item ( like the windows).  Maybe the knowledge that there is money monthly will put some sparkle in what has become 'same old same old/nothing changes'.

It's worth a try. If it falls apart I will morph it back into the main budget line.

Other than that, right now, there isn't much in the main budget that needs to be changed for the foreseeable future.

Now to come up with a list of  quick fix items and bigger cost items for the home improvements so I can start to envision what this can /can't do.

Do you have a spot in your budget for things like repairing windows/floors, replacing pieces of furniture, etc?

****************************************************************
Update:  My vehicle basic insurance (Plates) statement came in today. While it went UP $10 last year to just under $97, it looks like it went down $3 this year to just under $94. That should balance out the increase to Shaw LOL

Rethinking the jars

I have been using weekly money jars ( A la Gail Vaz Oxlade) for years now. Out of all the organizational things I have done to become money aware, proactive and in control, it is probably in my top 3 for most effective.

I get paid only once a month. Before jars I would be out of money long before I was out of days in the month. That is where the credit card debt began, I suspect. It would be a frantic period where (usually) the bills were paid but we were scrambling for gas, groceries etc to get to the end of the month.

After watching Til Debt Do Us Part, I decided to create a weekly pay day for myself and that would be the day I would take my jar money out of the bank. Now not all months are that perfect 28 days so I would add a day to each payday 'week' to make the weeks as balanced as possible. I preamp it out on my Moms Calendar and put stars on each payday. I am not one for really being able to stick to things and I am so proud that I have I stuck with this imaginary pay day for 5 years!

The categories I made for my jars have tweaked a bit over the years in terms of titles and amounts. Right now I have Groceries and home, entertainment, gas and spending. The gas money really goes in a wallet in my car and the spending money really goes in my wallet, but entertainment and Groceries go in physical jars I keep in my room.

While I am faithful to the amount of cash I pull out each week for my payday, I am not always faithful to the purpose of each jar. I have noticed it getting more and more blurred as time has gone on. Most of it gets spent on groceries and very little goes into .... say... entertainment. And while I understanding the jars are arbitrary and I am the one who decided on them...and there is no jar police coming after me if I use the entertainment money for gas, I do feel like I need to either just use one jar, or go back to the pure intention of the jars.

Reasons for using One jar: simplicity; some weeks flux and you might need more or less in a category.

Reasons for using the four jars: getting a more accurate read on what I am spending  for groceries, gas etc; actually HAVING money in the entertainment jar should something actually happen in my life where I am going to be entertained; feeling like I have more control again.

So after much deliberation, I have decided that I am going to be true to the jars again until Dec 31st. After that I will be able to know which works best for me, helps me to spend my money more responsibly, feels more natural, and makes me feel more in control while it not becoming a chore to organize.

I know there are lots of you out there who use jars or envelopes or highly developed discipline to keep it all organized using your debit or credit card.

For variable spending, do you have one category....or a few?