As a girl from Saskatchewan...I just gotta post this

Awwww the youtube video was removed. ah well. c'est la vie.

Spreading the link love

Time to spread the luv around a wee bit.

1) I will try not to hold it against Maureen that she is experiencing summer while I scrape my windows off each morning. On my bucket list is experiencing a warm Christmas so perhaps Maureen's Australia is a place to go? Towards Retirement With Debt

2) Like myself, Jane is a teacher, with some very special students. I doubt any one of her days is even close to being the same. Whenever I hear folks disparage the teaching profession in general, I think, come spend a week in our shoes (or those of Social workers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, police etc etc etc).  Life Begins at Retirement

3) I have found a kindrid spirit at Cash Only Living . I am a list maker by heart. Lists can be daunting and overwhelming, but they can also be organizationally beneficial and reassuring.

4) Debt Free by 30 is a new blog I found. I wish I had had smarts to make those choices before I hit 30.

for my US readers...

..wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving today. I hope the day finds you full of food, family, friends and fun.

Be safe in your travels. Cherish the little moments and the whirly chaos and have a great long weekend.

I will try not to blame you for the lack of original programming on TV last night :P~~~~~

I was actually home for a change and looking forward to Survivor, ANTM and Criminal Minds and was crushed to find recaps or reruns.

I guess TV was thinking of you and your travelling time.

So not only did I not get to watch TV...I had time on my hands to do.........HOUSEWORK lol .

Have a great day.

With privilege comes responsibility

Last week I commented on how nice it is that DS1 is driving as I can use him for a runner now and again.

I've been trying to impart driving wisdom/experience in timely chunks and it's good to see that he is learning.

He knows now what I meant when I would say 'no really......seriously slow down!!!! it's slippery'. I can say it all day but until he experiences it, it has no deep meaning for him.

He understands that there is far more car responsibility in winter. He needs to plug it in at night, and remember to unplug it in the morning. C'mon all you winter drivers...tell me you haven't forgotten once and dangled the cord for awhile LOL. He learned that it needs to warm up before he drives it.......and that..........burns...................gas!! "Man I seem to be filling up all the time now". It validates for him why he needs to referee and earn $$ to fill that hungry little tank of his.

He's learning why I said to keep boots and big gloves in the trunk, and the traction benefits of kitty litter.

He's learning that driving in the winter (other seasons too) isn't just about  what he's doing...but defensively watching what others are doing.

I have to say as I left the house behind him this morning and went by the gas station and watched he and his brother there....filling up............... no mama with them, it really hit me hard psychologically,  how they are growing up.  It's a very weird feeling.

I sure hope I did a few things right along their journey.

Stocking Stuffers

I'm just curious about what my readers happen to find when Santa stuffs the stockings on that magical night.

Some items that have been found in our home or those of my sisters are:
(keep in mind my children are not little anymore)

• personal care items (toothbrush, paste etc)
• mixed nuts
• chocolates
• fishhooks
• candles
• lottery tickets
• books
• magazines
• hand warmer hot packs
• golf balls and tees

What do you find?

Started the shopping

So this past week I took some time to start writing out what I'd like to give for gifts this year. I write out the possibilities for the boys, then do the math to see how much things cost and then begin the fine tuning process.

This year I also included the stocking and S gifts. I don't always include the stocking stuff when I am figuring things out and boy things really can add up. It was a good lesson for my husband, who just buys willynilly til he's out of money, and doesn't really think about WHAT he is buying. I don't know if he learned anything, but I did try.

We had parent teacher interviews last week and I had a bit of downtime on the second night between visitors. I started buying things at Amazon.ca last year and I have to say I love it. I am speaking primarily of electronic items. Our only option here in town for such things is Walmart. It's always such a zoo when I go there and there is no guarantee they will have the game/games I am looking for. Then comes the joy of waiting my turn for the blue vested key holder to have time to come to me and pull said items out of the locked case. Then the line to pay. I don't mind Walmart for the regular items but there is something about that electronic department that sends me a quiver.

Enter Amazon.ca. I go there via my airmiles account and pay with my BMO airmile card so win win there. I can see immediately what they have, or do not have. I choose the ones so I get the 'super saver free shipping'. clickity click and it's all done.

I even have it delivered to my school so I don't have to worry about getting to the post office before it closes.

It's only a small % of the shopping I do, and I think our local walmart will do just fine without my small purchases like that, so I don't feel guilty.

As soon as the amount shows on my CC, I will pay it off via online banking from the Christmas account.

I did not have to spend gas to get there. I did not have to brave the cold. I did not have to fight to find a place to park, wrestle through the aisles and wait at the register.

Well, for those purchases, that is. for the rest....see above chaos and plant me in it front and center.

What % of the shopping you do, is online?

A quiet weekend for a change

Usually our world is busy with DS1s hockey and DS2s scouts or band or curling but comparatively, it was a quiet weekend.

DS1 did some reffing for hockey so that earned him a bit of gas money for the upcoming month. I have him well trained. We have an envelope  where he puts his ref money and writes down the date and amount. Then if he takes some out for gas, he write that down as well. He has a habit of spending whatever is in his wallet so it's a start to teaching him how to save for upcoming expenses.

DS2 had a quick band workshop in the city. We got him to the bus by 7:30 AM yest and he was home by 2 PM.

With the day off on Friday, lots of the running around was already done before the weekend started. What a treat. I got some cooking and baking done. Today was couch day. I watched Elisabeth and then Elisabeth: the Golden Age on the History Channel. I have been wanting to watch those forever and this was the perfect day for it.

A bit of cleaning is next on the list to be followed by watching the Riders in hopes they win and earn their spot in the Grey Cup!

supper is at mom's. Delicious.

happy weekend y'all

A busy morning at the bank

I was fortunate enough to have the day off....and SMART enough (two weeks ago) to book time with two folks at the bank for appointments.  It's rare that both those things occur LOL

I accomplished four things today:

1) I took the $1500 I had saved over the past year and applied that to my RRSPs. That gives me a teeny lil amount of $2500 in there, but it's better than the $0 I had in there this time last year.

2) I filled in the paperwork to start a TFSA with our local credit union. The interest rate is 1.25%. That is not the 2% I know some online banks offer but I am just not familiar enough with things and confident enought o venture to a bank I cannot actually go to and see. I popped the $2000 I had in my savings for EF into this. One of the downsides of this is that if I need the money for a true Emergency, I have to go to the bank to fill in a paper to get it.

3) I finally changed over my basic savings to a High Interest Savings. I use the word "high" loosely as it is only at 1%.  But it is infinitely better than the 0.150% that the 'regular' savings was getting. I closed out the 'old' savings account


4) The bad news is that there is only the $1000 of my Christmas savings and the $275 of my summer 2011 savings in that account now after everything else was moved out.

Not bad for 37 minutes of actual 'in bank' time. LOL

now onward to my day off. wheeeee

I have to admit...........it's nice

It's cold out. not winter cold but 'I'm not ready for winter' cold. it's a long week ahead. DS2 and his father are gone to Scouts. DS1 is here and like the 16 year old walking stomach he is..............he guzzles the last of the milk.

I check the downstairs fridge and grrrr softly to see that there is zero milk left.

but I'm in my jammies as I bustle about doing laundry and dishes.

I don't WANT to get dressed and go to the store so there is milk for morning.

WAIT a minute!!! DS1 has a license!!!!!!

big smiles for mama

Off DS goes to the store to get milk for morning.

There are definitely perks to him having a license.

Planning for Christmas

There isn't snow on the ground..........yet...........but it's a coming. With report cards handed out and parent teacher interviews next week, it's clear that my Christmas clock is ticking.

I was over budget last year and I don't really want to do that again so planning is essential.

Now I know some of you bought your presents in March, but I have not yet started. I've been thinking about it, but not yet started. Right now I am just mulling over the list of things I will need to purchase over the coming month so I can proportion the money correctly. Here is what I have so far...

• Christmas tree
• Christmas offering at church
• Postage for Christmas cards
• Christmas cards (I have)
• Wrapping paper and tags (I have)
• Ingredients for Christmas baking
• Staff Christmas party

Gifts for:

• Husband
• DS1
• DS2
• My parents
• My new great nephew
• stocking stuffers for the cats
• Secret Santa at work
• something for my student 'teacher in training'

Anything I might be missing???

donator or purchaser

I don't get out a lot. I mean literally. Aside from hockey/scouts/band or school I really don't go out in the evenings. There are no fancy dinners. There is no night at a club. No trips here and there.

Last night there was a big fundraising event in town. I've heard a lot about it but honestly had no real clue how 'big' it was. My sister's business always buys a table of seats and this year she asked me to go.

The 'seat' was $40, which she picked up the tab for. The wine was $25 a bottle for the same bottle I'd buy at the LBS (Liquor Board Store) for $10. There were more expensive wines there but my palate and budget are limited. Sister also bought the wine.

There were a variety of ways a regular girl like me could donate to the organization. There were silent auctions of some very generous items. There was a live auction of some trips, some furniture and some sports packages. There were tickets you could purchase for different draws like golf packs, IPADs, the costly Arbonnne skin care products I love etc.

Each of those draws were separate unless you bought what was called the passport. It gave you entry into everything except for the silent auction or the live auction. The individual draws were quite costly but if you bought the passport, it gave you a lot of chances to win. It cost $50.

I mean the whole point of the evening is to socialize and enter draws. If one didn't want to give, there was little point in going. I had some money building up in my charity pot so a passport I bought.

It took forever for that portion of the evening to start but it was fun. Didn't win a darn thing though LOL

But I was drawn to the silent auction and the live auction items. Some were donated to the cause by business, but not all of them. Many were donated by individuals or families who truly believe in this organization and wanted to add something to help.

They went for fairly large amounts. Not Sotheby auction prices mind you :-) but more than I could certainly pay.

Which brings me to my question.....

Assuming you were not on a budget and so wonderfully money minded....and you had...say..... a $1000................
would you get more intrinsic joy out of DONATING a prize worth $1000 to be auctioned off..........................or would  you get more joy out of bidding on, and purchasing $1000 for an item?????

Where the money stands

as of November 8th

Debts

Mortgage - $35 700
Vehicle Loan - $18 046.68

Total Debt - $53 746.68

Savings
EF - $2000
RRSP - $1500

Total Savings - $3500

Planned Savings
RRSP Portfolio - $1000
RESP - $ 5335

I have removed XMAS 2010 from the savings list as I am plotting and planning it's use.

My debt is down by about $1900 this month. whee

Gorgeous Sunday

For November in Saskatchewan, it's a glorious day. The sun is shining. It's a gorgeous prospective 10 C today.

Sadly I don't think I am going to get outside much.

DS1 is down in the south of the province playing hockey. His father went down too and they won't be home until late tonight.

DS2 and I have schoolwork. He has a project to work on and I have report cards. Hours and hours of report card work to do. It used to take much longer when it was all done by hand so I am glad that there are computer programs to ease things. Still there are a lot of details to take care of.  I am sure as I head to school there will be several teachers there working away.

I have to fit in a run to the grocery store to stock up for the week and squeeze in some household chores.

Ahhhh no rest for the wicked, and this weekend, I must be particulary wicked :P

What I got for (almost) free

Last weekend was the point redeeming bonus weekend at Shoppers. Spent $75 worth of points and get $25 worth of product free.

The last one of these I did was at the beginning of July and that was the first time I had ever redeemed points.

I shop there carefully. Only on bonus points weekends like 20x points and usually only the items that are on sale. Otherwise it's not worth shopping there as the products are more expensive there than say, at Walmart.

I feel like I got more last time but perhaps that is just because there were more items on my table.

I am just finishing off with the hair care products and mascara that I bought in that July run.

So what did I buy this time?
Needs: girl stuff, mascara, foundation and deoderant for the boys.
Kinda needs: Halloween candy for the trick or treaters. Notice NO chocolate. If I bought it, I'd eat it. willpower is weak around it.

Wants: the cotton pads, the facial toner and the mark antony curl and shine.

yeah not nearly as fun as last time. I must make sure that I have more fun with it the next time I redeem.

$10 bills. I miss you.

I've probably said this before, but I MISS not getting $10 bills out of debit machines. A long time ago, perhaps too long, one of the banks I go to offered $10 and $20. As far as I know, that is a thing of the past. $20 is the standard.

It's not that I have anything against $20. They are lovely and green and if someone wanted to give me one, I sure would take it. But I miss the lovely royal purple of our Canadian $10 bill.

I use it for the different denominations in our jars.  I use it for the boys' allowance. I need it for different things at work when there is something we need to chip in for.

When I fill my jars I would really prefer to just go to the ATM and take out the money, but I am a girl who likes variety in her ....errr.....currency lol

I know....get off your lazy butt Jolie and head to the brick and mortar and take it out.  Trouble is that it's only open until 4 Mon through Thurs. Friday it's open until 5. I just can't get there after school most days. Which means running out at noon. I know..quit complaining and just do it LOL

I am just an equal opportunity currency kinda girl  :P

PS- I am officially an old woman today. DS1 turns 16 today. lordy!!

IRONIC ADDITION - I gave DS1 $20 to treat he and a friend for lunch today at school since I can't get away. He said "oh boy I can go grab a chocolate milk before school.Oh wait!! the lady in there will get mad at me cuz I have a $20 and that will use up her float." I traded him for a precious $10 and 2 $5 LOL