February Change

I had two 'almost' rolls last month, so this month they get to be real rolls of coins.

I have 1 roll of toonies - $50
1 roll of loonies - $25
1 roll of dimes - $5

for a grand total of $80. This money will be going towards my TFSA goal.

A little adds up.  I do a good job of this. I need to watch the dollars more now.

Getting DS2 ready for college

It hardly seems real that in a little over four months, DS2 will be gone too. I find myself overwhelmed with memories lately and the mourning of missed moments.

But push forward we must, because there are so many things to do and they almost all come with deadlines.

DS decided to go a tech college. Right now his plan is to take an Environmental Law 2 year program. I honestly don't think that is where he is going to want to end up, but for now, it is the only path he sees. Most of the courses lend itself to other programs and he can also take this 2 year program and jump into University for 2 more years to get his four year degree, if he chooses.

Registration for his course was $75. Sending off his current transcripts was another $25. He had to get a criminal record check done, so that was another $25. $100 invested thus far.

He will live 2 hours from home, so we will have to figure out where he is going to live and start looking for base furnishings for it.

It's also scholarship time. Many of the more important ones had to be sent off before Christmas. Most of those were tied to going to a University, not a college so they were not a factor. We have his reference letters done. We have our list of ones he is applying for and we have to write the essays that go with them.  We never did this with DS1 so the process is new for me. DS2's marks are high, so he may end up winning some from his school. May. I never count on anything anymore. Every little bit won helps though.

Learning more about income tax - the college edition

A couple weeks ago I had a text from DS's roomie's mom saying that they had received their tax form from College. They wondered what I did for taxes, given that DS is in another country. Darn good question.

I waited these past two weeks to see if our form was coming, allowing time for international mail. Nada.

So today I called down there to find out the details. Apparently I do not get a form mailed to me. We have to send down a form to them to complete. DS fills in the pieces he needs to, to transfer any tax credits he can't use, over to me. Good thing I called.

Tomorrow I will call either Revenue Canada or an account to find out additional details, just in case there are more forms. Then I have to only send one set of forms down to his college to fill in.

I still have  a lot of questions about how we will do taxes....how does his scholarship affect his taxes?
It says he can transfer up to $5000 to me after his taxes are done. Does that mean $5000 Canadian or $5000 USD?  things like that.

I am glad we have this week off school so I can take care of as many questions as possible.

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.

Where the money stands

as of February 8th, 2015

Debts
Mortgage - $21 911.81

**Total Debt - $21 911.81


Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $5100
TFSA in waiting to be added - $765
RESP - $15 900
RRSP - $9 957 
Grad 2015 - $500

** does not include College Debt LOC which is currently under $6000

Quick trip to the specialist

Last Wednesday I headed into the city for my twice yearly appointment with my specialist to check up on Mr. Colitis. Things have been pretty darn stable for a couple years now (knock on wood).

Their concern is that my normal isn't necessarily 'normal' normal. So another colonoscopy is needed to see if there is any low grade inflammation that is just not showing up in my day to day.  I would need to take two days off work for it, as would whoever is going to drive me into the city. DH would lose 2 days of pay and I would  give up 2 sick days.

 They are very accommodating and agreed to let me wait until summer. Then I don't have to spend hours getting ready for a sub teacher for while I am gone, and if any medical adjustments have to be made, I have the summer time to do it without worrying how it will make me feel - and how that affects work.

The visit wasn't long, with a few vials of blood off for testing and then I had some me time.

I headed off to a clothing store - mom had given me a gift card for Christmas and I found a great new top AND it was marked down. Score!

Then, I headed to Indigo books and Starbucks. I had gift cards for both given to me by a student last June. I had a wonderful time wandering through the aisles, looking at the thousands of books on display. Of course my first stop was the discount section. Hardcovers? for $5? A girl has to look.  There are always more books than dollars in my wallet, so for the ones that I was r-*eally drawn to (but too cheap to buy) I snapped a pic of the cover, and then, this summer, I can search for them at my library and read for free.  On my way out, I grabbed a mocha and a slice of lemon loaf with my gift card, and enjoyed them on the ride home.

The cards had been sitting in my drawer for 7 months now, but they gave a lot of indulgent joy to me.

Cost for the day - fuel to get to the city and parking. Both receipts which I kept and tucked into an envelope to claim for 2015 income tax. I am really bad at remembering to do this.

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.

January Change

It was a quiet month for change, to be honest.  There is almost a roll of toonies and almost a roll of loonies so next month those will make the lists.

As for this month there is:
2 rolls of quarters - $20
1 roll of dimes - $5

for a total of $25.  A tiny but purposeful snowflake to head towards my line of credit payment.

Scraped from groceries this week was another $25 so it can join it's metal friends when I manage to get to the bank this week.

It was a big sports weekend for my family. Both DS1 and my nephew were on TSN for the first time ever. One for hockey and one for curling Nationals. very cool to see them both on there.