Upcoming New Budget

With the loan almost paid off and some extra cash about to be floating around, I need to do some tinkering with the budget. If I don't, that money will pull an awesome magic trick and disappear. I haven't really tinkered with the budget since I bought the here were lots of possibilities, but the result was rather a simple one.

warning: if you were expecting something really exciting, this is not the post for you :P

Combining my vehicle payment with the money I previously had going towards savings goals and paying down my LOC, I now have $1350 /month to redistribute. While I would have loved to add money to the clothing budget or given myself a little shopping cash, the voice of reason came through. I have savings goals that need to be met and a line of credit that needs to be paid off. DS2 will be driving soon so we need to think about transportation. He also will get a school trip to Europe but not for 2 years. I will need time to save.

My first plan is to go meet with the bank and up the boys' RESP (education) savings amount. I currently am putting $100 for each of them in the plan, each month. I want to up this to $250 each. I don't really have a lot of time to save for either of them, but every little bit helps.

That leaves me with $1050 to put towards debt repayment and savings goals. Since I sacrificed putting money towards my savings to speed up the finale of the loan, I need to refocus on the savings for a few months to balance things all out.

The distribution
$1350

• $300 more to RESP
• $50 to LOC
• $1000 to Savings goals.

I plan to tackle the following savings goals in the following order:

• $800 for plates (insurance) for DS1's car. He saved $300
• $1500 Back to School
• $1400 for Xmas

After these I will still have the RRSP and TFSA goals to meet. I guess we shall see how fast I can meet the first three goals above.

This budget will take effect at the end of June with that cheque.

Where the money stands

as of May 6th

Debts
Mortgage - $31 089.92
Vehicle Loan - $491.43
Line of Credit - $3550.00
Total Debt - $35 131.35

Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $2000
RESP - $10 100.00
RRSP - $4000
Summer 2012 - $1000

First off, I am excited to see that the boys' RESP is now just over $10 000. I realize that won't go far in the big picture for their post secondary education, but it is 10 grand more than I had for them just a couple years ago. I have never saved $10 000 for anything before so this is pretty exciting for me.

The second big news is the vehicle loan. I know, I know, I talk about it more than anything. But it's at $491 now. A hundred dollars less than a regular payment. I am very pleased I was able to find the money over the years to bring the time of this loan down down down.  I will enjoy seeing this teeny amount for the next 30 days and then, it will be gone.

Sunday Catch up

It's been an eventful week. Not a lot of huge things, but many many little things.

First off, this colitis is kicking my ass. My health sucks. The colitis itself is still not regulated. The side effects of the meds are strong - joint pain like nobody's business. I can barely walk or bend my knees sometimes. The final side effect is the absolute exhaustion. I talked to the specialist this week and she said this is mostly due to my body working so hard to try to fight this for the last 6 months. Between the physical problems and the changing of the meds and the dehydration, I'm just tired. I am a very very lucky girl. My admin is giving me a couple days each week to stay at home and rest. I still have to prepare for the sub teacher, but the days off will hopefully give me time to get my health balance back. I truly do realize how fortunate I am to be given this time. I didn't want to take full leave and abandon my babies for two months.

I have now completed my second week of WW. I am doing it at home, with my old materials. My first goal is to lose the 20 lbs I gained on the steroids. Then I can continue on the 'normal' weight loss journey. I thought long and hard about signing up again, either for meetings or for WW online. Both of course, cost $ and I would be forced to work with the new Points Plus program, which I haven't really had any success with. I figured there was no point wasting money right now on a program that I didn't have success with, when I have all the tools needed for the old program at home, for free. The catch is, will I stick with it. So far so good. I have lost 10 of the 20 steroid pounds in my 2 weeks and I really really want to have success with this. My mantra, this time, is quite blunt. Lose weight or die. Yup, that's where it is for me right now.

DS2 got his learner's licence this week so mother is back in the passenger seat teaching another child to drive. I don't know if my nerves can handle it. I thought DS1 was bad when we first started but oh lordy, DS2 needs a LOT of work. Good thing we have the summer coming soon so we can practice. His learner's cost me $25 for the year. He won't be eligible to take his driver's until April of next year when he turns 16.

My brother in law's brother passed away this week. A very quick heart attack. I didn't know him terribly well but seeing the sadness in my brother in law's soul, is hard. It was a reminder that life is very very fragile, and quite finite.

Our local MS walk was today. There were 20 of my family there walking for the cause. My parents didn't walk, nor did my sister. I wasn't able to and I hated that I was too weak and sore to walk. I have simply GOT to get better.

April Summary

While April wasn't the best health month for me, it had some greate things happen financially.

DS did a great job of not overspending on his Europe trip. As promised, I let him keep half of what he came home with. He now has his $300 for his vehicle plates (insurance) which is due Mid July. Now mom needs to get her part done.

I didn't add anything to savings, but I did kick debt's butt quite well, IMHO. My loan was at $2842 at start of April and I brought it down to $1372. It was great to see it fall so wonderfully and know that the end of that was near.

I read a bit but not tons. I need to curl up and figure out my new plan of action and my budget for when the loan is paid off on June 5th. Kind of exciting to be able to :-)

change for the month

Earlier this month I rolled the change I had accumulated in my special piggy. He's the one who holds the loonies and toonies. I hadn't checked for awhile and was pleased to find there was enough for one roll each. A happy $75 to take to the bank.I took it in as part of a lump sum I was putting down on my loan. I love the dents change can make :-)