RRSP update

This quarter's statement showed a drop of 2.16%. Despite that my balance is $19 197, which is up from the March statement. Down still a bit from December of 2019.

I definitely need to check that March statement to see if I was reading it correctly. The math doesn't make sense.

What does make sense is the drop,  unpleasant as it is. Watching the US market drop this morning, whose ripple effect will undoubtedly continue here in Canada.

Of course I like the income tax benefits I get from even my small RRSP contribution.

I wonder, however, if it is not better long term served to put whatever dibbles I have in TFSA.

Ahhh how I wish all those numbers were bigger.

Changing my money jar amount

Since the start of this journey, I used the money jar (Gail Vaz Oxlade) ,method to help me stay in control of how much I was spending on variable expenses.

At the start I had actual jars with the categories

• groceries (and household)
• gas
• spending money
• entertainment

I went to the bank and took out a week's worth (or two, depending on how often I wanted to go to the brick and mortar), came home and filled up my neatly labelled jars.

Once the money was gone, the spending for that category was gone. 

Some people use a spreadsheet. Some use envelopes. This worked for me. So well!

I went to the brick and mortar because my ATM only gave out $20s and I needed other denominations for the budgeted amount.

After awhile and a budget tweak, I would go weekly to the ATM to get my $, and come home to divide.

At the time I only got paid once a month, so I balanced the calendar to create 3 fake paydays to go along with my real one. I found that dividing my variable spending into four weeks allowed me to be much more successful than one large amount for the month. Hey whatever it takes to make it work.

I don't use the physical jars anymore for these categories.

The last time I see I did a $ amount was here in 2015.

Before that, it was here in 2014

I believe I have been using $280 a week since the 2015 date.

$180 groceries

$20 spending

$20 entertainment

$60 gas.

Some weeks I was hyper vigilant and keep 100% faithful to the amount.

Some weeks I was less so.

But I have kept to my weekly withdrawls for 'jar money'  for over a decade now. It has been one of  the critical pieces to whatever successes I have had.

It is time for a bit of a tweak.

Even though gas prices have gone up ( and down and up and down and up), I am not driving nearly as much. No kids to run around. Significantly less driving since Covid. That will change in the fall. I hope.

As for entertainment...we really don't do a whole lot. The past two years I did almost nothing, taking care of my parents. That amount usually just got funneled into groceries.

Groceries - well I am doing a lot more bulk shopping than I used to. Which really should be the way it is done anyways. Once  a month when I am in the city for my infusion, I hit Costso.  I had never really budgeted for that so it always threw things off and I was scrambling to cover.

So I have taken out the $20 each for spending and entertainment.

I have lowered my gas $ for each week

I have juggled things to make a Costco line that will balance out what I buy there in bulk with what I buy elsewhere.

I guess we shall see if it works.

What I am reading

I finished The Queen's Secret late last week. It was ok. Definitely not as good as her other books.

I also finished Who is the Dalai Lama and Who is George Lucas, both from the Who is /where is series.

Today I just started The Engineer's Wife, by Tracey Enerson Wood. It's based on a true story of the wife of the Engineer who designed the Brooklyn Bridge. I am hoping it's good.

I am also starting two more from the Who is Where is Series. This week..... Malala and Area 51.

T - 24 until no more landline

I know. I am probably light years behind the rest of you on this.

I will throw DH under the bus for this. He was the holdout. I have been wanting to do this for a few years.

Now the only people who call the landline are DH's sister (why she doesn't use his cell phone I have no idea), and spam callers.

I may have to consider getting voice mail on my cell phone as I do not have that currently. We shall see.

My net savings on the removal of the landline is about $24.00

The customer sales representative said cheekily "What will you do with your windfall?"

My also cheeky answer "Put it in my travel fund since everyone is travelling these days :-)

There is a bit of awwwww at cancelling a number I have had since 1991.

Not nearly so much as it hurt to cancel my mom and dad's landline last fall after 48 years of that number existing. I cried during that cancellation.

quite the phones we had over the years from a partyline at the farm to cells.

Summer Goals

With the first full week of summer, it seems appropriate that I get some summer goals down before I find myself with a summer over and nothing done.

I suspect it has been a couple years since I have set summer goals. The past two, I have just been …….surviving.

They are not lofty goals. They are not travelling goals. They are more 'making the best use of the time I have' goals.

• determine new budget with LOC paid off. a planned spending focus on slowly repairing and replacing things here at the new house that were mom and dad's
• get estimates on a new furnace (current one is 1982) and a first time AC for this house. It will require a new breaker box. It's going to be expensive. I will be using the last of the bit of $ I got from the estate for this so it's already saved. Make a decision and install or not.
• decide what to do with my vehicle. It was new 2009 and the past three years had required work to wearing parts. Getting more expensive to keep it than not. Not really looking for a new vehicle loan so a lot of thinking will go into this.
• put up garden shed we bought. Our old house had 2. Can't move them without tearing down a mostly new fence so we got a little one for here.
• bring over everything from old house garage. It's full of tools and camping gear etc. DH hasn't really wanted to move anything since our Dec move to this house. It's time.
• bring over everything from under the stairs at the old house. A big storage spot with things we need to make a decision on.
• Unpack and find a place for everything we moved over
• Get up to visit my niece. She is one of the few who keep in regular contact with me. Would be nice to see her and the kids
• Read 5 personal books
• Lose 10 lbs

Work

• Read 10 school novels
• Read 2 professional books
• Get the online Professional Development done (about 20 hours left)
• Unpack my classroom and have it ready to go before the end of July. That gives me August to figure out this back to school Covid crisis stuff.