April change

I really haven't had much 'change' to report in 2015.  Between illness and how I spent my money, it just never quite seemed to accumulate.

This month I actually got to go to the bank.

1 roll of toonies - $50
1 roll of loonies -  $25
2 rolls of quarters -  $20
1 roll of dimes -  $5

Grand total - $100

I am excited for this and I took it to the bank  yesterday and put it straight down on the college LOC. Every little bit counts.

Funny story from the bank.... So I go in with my rolls of change and end up at a younger ish teller. Here is how the conversation went.

J - Yes I'd like to put this money down on my LOC please
Teller - Ok (glances at the rolls) so $105
J - $100
T - (with a sigh of exasperation and tone she looks at the5 rolls) $105
J - (with a smile and a quiet voice) There's $100 there
T - (takes her pen and emphatically taps each roll and snarks as she tallies for the obviously stupid client) $50, $75, $85, $95, $105
J - (with a small smile taps the dime roll with her finger) A roll of dimes is $5, so $100
T - Pfffft  whatever


I said nothing but I'm thinking 'ok I am ok with an extra $5 but your count will be out at the end of the day'

I am going with 'She was embarrassed she was wrong and doesn't have the skills to handle it'. 

The car heard me talking

I really should know better than to talk about windfall money coming in. Appliances, vehicles and such hear you when you do.  Murphy hears.

Last week DS2 took his car in AGAIN to a mechanic to have it checked for the same things we went  in for in Feb/March. Estimate from them for a transmission and everything else $6600.

That's more than we paid for a car we were told was in pristine condition.

So back we went to where we bought it (and where we have this warranty through), info in hand. The ladies in the parts department were pissed.  I was really calm and really well prepared with my info and didn't swear or anything. DS said I had a bit of 'that tone you get when you are trying to be nice  and sound nice but you're angry". Not sure if other people heard that too.

So back this car goes tomorrow to where we bought it so THEY can inspect it and see what is wrong and then they have to submit that info to the policy people to see what they cover.

I just want it to , be fixed, properly, and not have to go back. I am sure they want to see me, as much as I want to be there.

Between the policy and myself, we have spent $3000 on this car in less than a year.

le sigh

The backpay has arrived

As I had mentioned here, all the final pieces have fallen into place with the prolonged contract negotiations at work.  April's paycheque included the back pay from the almost two years of limbo.

Everyone at work has been curious how much it would be, and what would be left after deductions.

What I liked about our pay stub was that most of the deductions were listed twice...one for the regular deduction and one reflecting  the backpay piece. Then you could see the actual monetary amount that came off from the backpay piece. The only ones that did not show twice were the federal and provincial taxes, but I could look at March and Feb (which were the same) and just subtract the difference. I don't believe that the last time we were in this situation, things were listed separately.

Deductions came off for the two taxes, EI (Employment Insurance), CPP (Canada Pension Plan), my Pension and a dibble for professional dues.

The verdict....48.9% of the backpay never made it to my account.

I net $1200. I am grateful for the money. It would have been great to have all 100% of it, but that would never happen :-)

 I see it as a bonus or a gift. I have added it to my snowflake jar and placed it in my BMO savings while I think about it. 

RRSP Update

Last Friday my statement came for my RRSP portfolio, so it's time for my first update of 2015.

When last I wrote in November 2014, my RRSP was sitting at $8650. Right at the end of November, I added $1200 for the 2014 year, which was $800 short of my hoped for goal.

This put my portfolio balance just shy of $10 000 at $9850. I remember being annoyed at not being able to get to $10 000, even though it's really just a number.

My portfolio had increased $236 between the summer 2014 and November 2014 statements.

My statement currently is sitting at $10 196. Woo hoo!!! I am over the $10 000 mark and only tens of thousands below my contribution limit lol

 This gives me  a net growth of $346 between this statement and the last.  I had honestly expected it to be less given how badly the Canadian dollar tanked and my portfolio consists of Canadian Bonds (35%) and Canadian Equity (65%).  Anyone more familiar with how the dollar may or may not have affected this number is welcome to share with me. I freely admit to really not knowing squat about investments.

My RRSP goal for 2015 is  $1500. I hope college and Murphy doesn't crap on me enough to prevent this from happening.

Ok I take it back

I had to run to Walmart this morning and was feeling colitis strong so I thought I would do a quick price comparison of a few of the items I bought at Shoppers yesterday to their cost at Walmart.

Scanning my Shoppers bill, I saw that pretty much everything I bought WAS on sale. I don't have the original prices on my receipt so I can't do an authentic reg cost to reg cost comparison.

I didn't do the Kleenex or the Shoppers brand cleaner or my book and one other thing that escapes me at the moment.

Here is the breakdown below. The first price is Shoppers and the second is Walmart.

Fiber 1 cereal  - $3.99  vs $4.97
Swiffer dust cleaners -  $4.99 vs $4.99
L'Oreal Shampoo -  $3.99 vs $3.92
Covergirl -    $12.99 vs $16.46
Folgers K cups $6.99 vs $11.99
Huggies  - $34.99 vs $33.99
Huggies Wipes - $4.99 vs $3.99

Total for these items at Shoppers - $72.93
Total for these items at Walmart - $80.31

Holy wow. I found this interesting.  Since my bill yesterday said I saved $25, the regular priced costs is approximately $97. Definitely not cheaper if the items were not on sale.

I bought Gel at Walmart. $3.99 instead of Shoppers' price of $4.99

I thought my foundation yesterday was $19.97 but the bill said $12.99. Must be a change in the line coming that it was on sale. I should go back and get another one. $7 savings per item is a good deal to me.

Anyways, for those who care, that is my learning experience this morning.