RRSP Update

At my  last update at the end of July, I had $8414 with an increase of $208 over the quarter.

With my current  statement, it shows a balance of $8650. This gives me an increase of $236 over the past three months. It looks like that bonds and dividends are holding steady then. I am glad for the $236 though I know when it comes time to pull those funds, there will be fees/ income tax involved. I hope it all balances out in the end.

I am concerned that I will not have an RRSP contribution this year.  I mean, should I really be contributing when I have $ on the LOC for College??

I really would miss the deductions come income tax time if I didn't.

I am starting to feel a bit like a financial loser as I can't keep on top of things. and I have 3.5 years left of college for ds1 and another round with ds2

Where the money stands

as of November 6th

Debts
Mortgage - $22 786.17

**Total Debt - $22 786.17


Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $5000
RESP - $20 100
RRSP - $8000 
DS2's trip -$2200
Plates 2014 - $0 - insurance was due on the 26th of October
XMAS - $1400

**added to that debt is Semester 1 of college tuition, the killer fees for international students and the living expenses.  This is on the LOC.DS has been pretty good about his spending, considering he is away from home and rations what I give him with what he saved the previous year. I don't expect his saved $ to last a whole lot longer. He could only save so much while playing hockey and on the road.

Will have to call MC but...

their hold times are killing me.

I noticed 2 different occasions where using my MasterCard online would not work.

The first was in August when DS and I were heading down to the States. There was a document he needed to cross as a student that we had forgotten about. We used DS's phone and the border's wifi to access the webpage, but no  matter how many times we tried, it kept saying there was an error with my card. It wasn't specific so we didn't know what detail was off.  I thought it was the number itself...do you leave the spaces between the sets of four numbers or not. We tried both, multiple times. The agent who was helping us was saying perhaps the billing address was wrong, but we redid that as well.  Thank goodness I had a VISA as well. We popped that info in and bam! card accepted.

I meant to phone, but when I got back, school started right away and it got busy.

The second was on our trip to the US. Everything was fine paying for the trip via expedia, with my MC. When it came time to 'check in' online, we hit a glitch. Those lovely $25 fees you have to pay to check luggage. Same thing happened. No matter what I did, it said there was an error.  I used my VISA and it worked immediately.

Anyone have any experience with this??

October Change

Every little bit helps when you are saving, but I seem to struggle in doing the inverse...every little bit counts when you are spending.

Nevertheless, here is my coinage tally for the month of October.

1 roll of toonies - $50
1 roll of dimes - $5
1 roll of nickles - $2

for a total of $57

This will go towards the bills coming in from my trip to the US

A visit to the US

We took two extra days last weekend and went down to visit DS at college.

The flight was ridiculously early so we had to leave our home at 2AM to drive to the city to catch the plane by 5:30. It was that or pay to stay a half night at a hotel in the city We weren't willing to give up that money. Some tired folks when we got to DS's city though.

It was lovely to be back there and to see him. We spent time at the rink with him, at his dorm room and at a park in the city.  We even had the chance to cook him a meal in his tiny kitchen. They don't do a lot of true cooking there.

It was homecoming weekend so there were parents and families everywhere around the city for the football team, the soccer games, volleyball, and of course, hockey. An incredible lot of college,  spirit around the community, which was nice to see. There is  a steakhouse that gives the hockey team free lunch on game days at home. I am told other restaurants do the same for the other teams.

It was not a cheap weekend. 3 flights, 3 nights hotel, rental car, $25 to check a piece of baggage every single time!!!!

It did both DS and us good to see each other. Much valued family time.

I need to put the pieces together and see how much it all cost and then cut the corners to pay this trip off fully.

Here are a couple shots from our time in a park in the city, that has it's own waterfall. The  first one has DS2 in it. I particularly loved the beautiful maple leaf I found.