Leap year Friday's tracking!

• $100.00 donation to Mira Foundation (guide and assistance dogs) - This is in part of February and part of March's budget. I felt I wasn't giving enough.

• $2.26 from the misc. account today (newspaper and juice)

• $8.75 insurance -- this is accident insurance which I am seriously thinking of dropping. I already have coverage at 2 different places, don't need this (especially when I calculate the yearly total)

Slowly but surely I'm still finding places to cut back. I still haven't canceled the 2nd landline, but this is on my list of things to do.

No other plans for tonight, so I'm posting early.

February's Goals, revisited

Here is how I did in February... I don't think it was too bad :-)

• Make 2007's retirement contribution. - Done!
  
• File taxes for 2007 (with the retirement contribution, it'll give me a small refund) - Still waiting on the statement of interest earned from ICICI.ca bank. All of the other info is in the software.
  
• Go 15 days without spending - I got 17 no-spend days!
  
• Go 10 days without driving - I managed to get 12 of these :-)
  
• Try 1 new recipe (for a main dish) every week - Ummm, not quite 1/week... I think it was 3 new ones this month.
  
• Read 4 books, 1 of them on personal finance - Done!
  
• Declutter at least 1 big bag per week - I did great until this week... I didn't do my full bag.

More spending today...

I'll update all my numbers tonight and go over February's goals and how I did. I'll set more for March........... it's easier to do them in small increments, I love this method.

Thursday's spending report

It's almost at the end of the month and I still have some $$ left to spend... I am hoping tomorrow will be a no spend (so far I don't anticipate spending) so I can work on my February review tonight.

I bought groceries today, grapes and oranges were on sale (I buy my produce by what is on sale... I don't eat peaches and plums during the winter when prices are sky-high, for example) and a bunch of goodies were buy one get one free. I have enough olive oil for a long time! I'm going to make sure I store it in a dark place so it keeps longer. I bought pretty healthy and unprocessed except for some Fiber One bars that were on sale (new item) and some frozen yogurt. I'd written Chapman's, the company whose frozen yogurt I prefer, and complimented them on their products and asked if they had coupons since I was a frequent buyer (I'd seen this suggestion online for this specific company). They sent a big $5 off coupon!

I also had a bunch of other coupons to combine with the BOGO sale, so I ended up saving $43.76 which is excellent in Canada! My total purchase came to $91.74. A bit over my grocery budget, but I'm going to use some of my misc. money since I have some of that left.

Edited to add: Some might say I'm crazy, but I double checked my receipt and one item that was supposed to be free rang in at $3.92. I'm going to ask for my money back when I go there again. I figure $3.92 is better in my pocket than in that chain's.

I'll post this month's results when I get a chance to check everything. I love month-ends and the beginning of new months!!

Here is where I stand so far in Feb:

no spend: 17/15
no drive: 12/10
no mags/books: 59/366

If you're in the market for...

clothing & accessories, our fellow blogger Fabulously Broke In the City is cleaning out her closet and selling some things!! She once posted about having enough clothes to go 6 months without having to wash anything ('cept for underwear), so I imagine the list will be long!

She started selling some stuff on her site FB's closet . I think this is a neat idea and I wish her luck!

Also, 15% of the sales will go to the Canadian Cancer Society (great cause!!!) and 85% to repay debt.

Check it out to see if there's something you'd like :-)

Wednesday's tracking

Today was a normal day, other than a bit of cr@ppy weather this morning. I worked the split shifts and had a good afternoon. I found Premonition with Sandra Bullock (on the On Demand network, for free), and thought it was pretty good. I made up my shopping list for tomorrow, unless anything comes up I'll get going in the afternoon for groceries.

I thought I had about $15 worth of store "money" to redeem, but for the life of me, I can't remember where I put it all. My usual hiding spot only yielded $4 worth. And I can't remember using the rest. Weird.

I have about $80 left to spend this month, but I think with the list I made (some buy one get one stuff and a lot of healthy unprocessed things), I can easily go over that amount. Would it be cheating to use up the $80 then dip into March's budget for the balance???

Unless I get to the store and the fruit and veggies aren't fresh and the meat has a greenish tinge. That's happened before and I walk out with only 1 or 2 bags instead of a cart-full.

Anyway, today was a no spend day, but I drove. Starting tomorrow, I'll get very few no-drive days from now until the fall probably... I'll have to take that into consideration when setting up my goals.

no spend: 17/15
no drive: 12/10
no books/mags: 58/366 (my book is still in the box!)

Another fun meme

I've been tagged by Lilo for another meme... this one is all about what's in our wallet.

Here's what's in mine:

• receipts from past purchases (usually last 2 weeks' worth)
• $265 in cash <- I used $202 to buy $200 in $US for my sister as I was going by the bank. She'll pay me back by the weekend. Funny how as soon as I have cash it has to leave my hot little hands!
  
• a few coupons
• a few postage stamps (about $2 worth)
• BMO Mosaik Mastercard (my main one)
• Airmiles gold card
• Defective BMO bank card
• Credit union ATM card
• CAA membership card
• Six Continents Priority Club rewards card
• Shoppers Optimum card
• Esso Extra points card
• Eddie Bauer rewards card
• expired CAA membership card
• M&M meats MAX rewards card
• expired mall gift card (had a few cents left on it)
• Starbucks gift card (about $9 left on it)
• Driver's License
• 2 pictures of my Lab
  
• Health card
• very old college student card (from 1991!!!)
• $3.89 in coins

I am going to tag Sharon and CT mom

6:30 am phone call

And that was just the first one! My sister's work called to see if she was available (she works on a very short-staffed hospital dept). Her schedule is 4 days working, 5 days off but they call in between stretches about 90% of the time. Always at 6:30 am.

Once I shouted out for her to take the phone, I cuddled back into bed with a sleepy kitty cat thinking I had a good hour and a half before my internal alarm clock got me out of bed... Wrong! 10 minutes later I was called in to go to work, there was too much snow on my co-worker's car (!!!) and she didn't want to venture out. Yes she has to pack up her 20 month old and drive 10 minutes to the babysitter then to work, but still. Not getting out in that was a joke (it's not even snowing now, just a bit of rain). It's the split shift so I go back at lunch.

I guess working on a casual basis is like that. You never know when you're going to be called in. I'm glad I can be up and ready to walk out the door in about 10 minutes... and I'm thankful for all the hours I get and I'm confident I'll get a position of my very own soon *crosses fingers*

Tax-Free Savings Account ?

Our Federal budget was announced today, no tax cuts, no elections this fall... I think the only thing that will affect me directly is this Tax-Free Savings Account... still don't know all the details, but I think we can save up to $5,000 per year and the interest we earn isn't taxable.

I'm curious to see the logistics of how all this will work...

Tuesday's tracking

I was already spending at 9 am this morning... you know it's not a good day when you're in the stores that early! I spent $13.88 for milk, a mango, some bananas and garbage bags (we need to buy green and blue ones to divide our wet and dry stuff). I usually buy the big boxes at a time (100 each) but I didn't see them in the store today. That's separate from the food budget usually but since I only bought the small sized packages, I'll include in this month's grocery total.

I also spent $25 to pay for my parents' cell phones (I explained in an old post that my sister and I pay for these because we want my parents to have them, but they wouldn't have gone out to get them on their own). I absolutely don't mind paying for this.

The 12 containers of Cool Whip (see previous post) were free, my mom didn't want any money for them.

I did get a $15 check from Opinion Outpost for surveys. This will probably be a few cents more since it's in US funds. I just deposited it at my bank's ATM with a post-it note saying US funds on it and they do the adjustment. [It actually worked out to $14.60.. I guess our Canadian dollar made the above-par leap yesterday.]

I also cashed 1,000 points out at Global Test Market, this'll be around $50 (again, it depends on the exchange rate... the last time it was $47 and change). There was also an invitation to do an online survey about stuff I eat (dinner I think) for 7 days. In exchange, they'll send me a $25 check. Sounds good to me :-)

We're expecting snow and wind tomorrow... I have no scheduled hours and I'm glad I won't have to get out in it! On Thursday I start a very long stretch of short shifts until April 11th! I hope to pick up more hours, but I get those at least. Every weekday until then and 1 Saturday thrown in (Easter weekend). If I want to go on a 2 night trip to Maine, I better book that in late April or I'll miss my chance until October (because I have an on-call job between May to August, I don't want to go far from Monday-Friday).

My numbers so far:

no spend: 16/15
no drive: 12/10
no books/mags: 57/366

And the book I'd pre-ordered is on the kitchen table, but I'm happy to report it's not opened and it'll be returned Thursday.

I found out something I didn't know...

our library system does accept used books (a lot of mine are very gently used, like new) and they do offer a tax receipt. I went through their website the other day and it is in the terms and policies section.

I had no idea. I always thought the only thing we could get a donation receipt for in Canada was for cash.

I never bothered to ask though... I just assumed.

I am going to town on Thursday and will be speaking to the librarian. I am sure there are some that they don't have that they would be happy to put on the shelves. I'd be happy too, seeing them go to a good home.

I've donated books to the oncology center before and that was for a great cause too. I think what I'll do now is donate my magazines to the hospital and my books to the library.

Yay for decluttering!! [and getting a tax receipt in the process ;-)]

Everything in moderation, right?

So my mom was in the city today and just dropped off one of her big finds: chocolate Cool Whip for 49 cents a container. And she gave us 12 containers. [Remember when I said that when she finds a sale she can't leave it there??]

Yikes.

The ingredient list is a bit scary.

But I admit the stuff is GOOD.

I hope my arteries don't clog up if I eat a bit!

I've been tagged... interesting meme

I was tagged by Nancy Zimmerman, a Canadian Money Coach, for a new meme. This one has us get more personal... I think it's interesting because a lot of us just talk about money and finances, yet I'm sure there are lots of other interesting things we can't even begin to imagine about our fellow bloggers.

The rules of the game are simple

1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Pick your month of birth.
3. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (see below).
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you and if you would like write some wit or not.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!

Here are some of September's attributes and thoughts on some of them (my birth month is September). Go down through the list at the end of this post to see what's associated with your birth month.

These are all the ones listed for September:

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

Careful, cautious and organized:

I am scared to make mistakes, so I am overly careful and cautious in a lot of aspects of my life. I am also highly organized in some areas, such as my finances. My spreadsheets speak for themselves.

Likes to point out people’s mistakes:
I am especially hard on my family.

Likes to criticize:
Again, I realize I do this to my family and also I'll criticize others at work, but to myself, never out loud.

Stubborn:
Very! I get this from my dad's side of the family :-)

Quiet but able to talk well:
I prefer when the phone doesn't ring for hours and I can just be by myself. I'm usually not very outspoken when I go out with a gang of people. When it's intimate friends, it's different though.

Does work well:
I am proud of the work I do, I feel I do it very well yes. Sure I make mistakes, but we all do, right?

Very confident:
This depends. If I know I'm right about something, I'll stick to my point for hours and even days. But as for confident in some of the things I do, I will often have doubts.

Good memory:
I have a very good memory. I'll remember things from when I was 2 or 3 years old, details about a lot of things growing up that others have long forgotten.

Clever and knowledgeable:
I have lots of common sense, which I believe will take you far in the world, and I would say I am very knowledgeable in the subjects that interest me a lot (agriculture, personal finance, harness racing)

Loves to look for information:
Love to do this indeed!! When I was younger (ages 9-13), my favorite "toy" was an encyclopedia set!! Thank goodness for the internet now!

Secretive:
While it may not seem this way with this blog that I've set up, I was very secretive when I was in debt. My family had (and to this day doesn't know) no idea that I was even in CC debt. I have since shared my story with others who are into personal finance.

Loves leisure and traveling:
Absolutely! I love days when not a lot is going on... I also enjoy planning trips almost as much as going on them!!

I am tagging:

• Sharon
  
• Always The Planner
  
• Fabulously Broke
• Lilo
• Saving Diva

(I was supposed to tag 12 people... but I honestly don't know that many with blogs... plus I have to leave some for the others to tag too!)

OK, so here are the summaries for each month:

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas.Difficult to fathom.Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Monday's tracking (Feb 25)

So the day didn't start out too great, re: coffee incident, but it turned out not so bad after all. I stayed at home as I didn't need to go out really, but my list of things to do/buy is piling up. I'll be busy the rest of the week. I still managed to spend money ($26 for ink, bought online) and $10 for some fundraiser tickets. I don't remember ever having to raise so much money as a kid! There are nice prizes to be won and I can't say that I never win, cuz last year I won a handmade quilt!!

I didn't drive though..

I was looking online earlier for a composting bin, I tried unsuccessfully to build one from scratch several years ago. I think I'm ready for my 2nd attempt, but this time I'd go with a purchased bin. I found this one online, for $60 or so:

The reviews are excellent. I have enough money in my household fund to get it on my next trip to the city. Or the next time my dad goes with his truck, I dunno how big that thing is.

Next on the list: compact fluorescent light bulbs. I'll confess here that I don't have any at all, yet.

I figure if I can do these things, it'll be better off environmentally, and the composting will mean less garbage bags, healthier garden fertilizer (we use composted horse manure too, try to stay away from chemical fertilizer) and the lightbulbs should bring a noticeable reduction in the power bill (especially in a large house like ours).

To date, my numbers are:

no spend: 16/15
no drive: 12/10
no mags/book purchases: 56/366

Menu planning motivation

I had seen this great organization site a few weeks ago but never joined in to their weekly menu planning thread. I feel it's a great way to make sure I do it on a weekly basis. And get great ideas in the process. I realize I posted about this yesterday, but from now on it'll be 1 weekly post only.

For me, the more I plan, the more I can stretch my food budget, so it is a win-win situation.

Here is my menu this week:

• Perfect Winter Beef Stew (made with tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots and Italian dressing!)

• Bubble pizza (using some refrigerated biscuits and adding our favorite pizza toppings.. chicken, pineapple, bbq sauce, lots of peppers, black olives and cheese, of course)

• Steak stir fry (using a bag of frozen stir fry veggies that needs to be used up)

• Baked chicken (recipe to be determined... I cook chicken dozens of ways so I'll make what I feel like on that particular day)

• Sesame Chicken Salad

• Black bean soup (I'll probably make this to go with the salad and freeze the rest for lunches)

If you go to the I'm an Organizing Junkie site, you can check out more than 100 other menu plans for this week!! It's a great way to motivate ourselves to plan. Definitely check it out :-)

Yikes, Monday morning!

I posted pics about my Tassimo beverage machine in the past, bragged about what great coffee I can drink from it, and how it always makes the perfect cup? Well I learned this morning that it works best when you put a coffee mug under it. Always does.

Sunday's tracking & Weekly menu

Again, another no spend & no drive day. I was going to go to town with a friend to get groceries and coffee but they have some kind of bug in the household (sick all night) so I stayed away. Since I didn't absolutely need stuff today, I decided to put it off until I'm driving in that direction. I thought I might be OK for groceries until the end of the month, but my grocery store flyer shows they have a BOGO (buy one get one) sale and there are some items I need. I'll stock up for sure on the chicken if it is on for a good price (they show the BOGO logo but not the price on the circular...weird!)

I haven't posted my weekly menu in a while, I've kind of not been planing as I should have. I do however have these on for this week (not assigned to any day really, just whenever I feel like it):

• Perfect Winter Beef Stew (made with tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots and Italian dressing!)
• Bubble pizza (using some refrigerated biscuits and adding our favorite pizza toppings.. chicken, pineapple, bbq sauce, lots of peppers, black olives and cheese, of course)
• Steak stir fry (using a bag of frozen stir fry veggies that needs to be used up)
• Baked chicken (recipe to be determined... I cook chicken dozens of ways so I'll make what I feel like on that particular day)
• Sesame Chicken Salad
• Black bean soup
  

I have everything on hand, but as I said, I can't leave a good sale "unshopped" so I'll be going to stock up and probably use the remaining $90 or so I have left in February's budget.

And to catch up on more American classic movies, I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's this afternoon... I thought it was great too :-)

Here are my numbers so far:

no spend: 16/15
no drive: 11/10
no books/mags: 55/366

Book #12 this year: At Home in France

I've had this book, At Home in France, Tales of an American and Her House Abroad by Ann Barry, since 2005. I used to buy a lot of used books from Powells.com then, they still offered free shipping with $50 purchase for international orders (they still have that promo for US orders). Most of the books I got were listed as used, but some (most) were like new. I was a very satisfied customer and was quite saddened when they discontinued the free shipping. My wallet thanks them though!!

This is a book topic I am very into these days. Not that I'm planning on moving to France any time soon, I'm always intrigued by how foreigners do it. And I don't read just about France, one of my very favorites is Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes.

And before anyone thinks I'm not very smart about realizing I could get recent releases from the library (see comments in yesterday's post), it's just that I didn't realize our little library system had started purchasing new stuff. I was there a lot when I was a kid, we also often went to the bookmobile when that was in town, but they always had older books only. I checked titles a few years ago and many of the authors I read weren't listed at all. That's why I was so pleasantly surprised last night when I checked the website and saw that they have many, many new books. I'll surely start visiting soon.

Edited to add: I had to edit the title... this is #12 this year. Reading 2 at once last week got me mixed up!!

It was about time

I've posted before that I am Francophone... I was schooled in French from kindergarten to grade 12 then I decided to go to an English-language college for my degree. Took lots and lots of French classes, but only 1 per semester in English. The only book I remember reading for an English class was Of Mice and Men and we also read Death of a Salesman. So I've never read many of the real classics.

Because it's Oscar time, there are many older movies available on demand on the Movie Pix network. Last night I chose Gone With The Wind...... wow! I loved it :-) There are quite a few more available for the week, so I'm going to take advantage of them being available anytime and for free, can't beat that :-)

Daily Tracking - February 23rd

I feel like a serial poster today... guess I have a lot to say (the real reason: I'm avoiding housework!).

I didn't spend or drive my car today. In the process, I've achieved both goals I set out for February, with 6 days left in the month. Not bad at all :-)

Here are my numbers:

no spend: 15/15
no drive: 10/10
no books/mags purchases: 54/366

Book Review: All Your Worth

It took me a while to get started on this book... but once I got into it, it was a pretty fast read. They give out a different type of formula that I hadn't seen before: 50/30/20. The 50% is Must-Haves, the 30% is Wants and 20% is Savings. It is a nice concept, and it would be a great plan for someone just starting out. I have been watching my finances for the last 5.5 years though, so I don't feel there was much of anything new in this book.

And I didn't see as many real-life cases as I would have liked... you can really learn a lot when they use examples of folks we can relate to.

This was by no means a bad book, the formula does make a lot of sense, but I feel it is more for a beginner than for someone who knows how to tell her dollars where to go already. Check it out from the library first, don't spend $15 on it before reading through it to see if it's something that would work for you.

Hmmm.. this is hard

So I made the resolution of not buying any new books or magazines off the shelf in 2008.... but what did I receive in my email? Confirmation from Chapters that a book I'd pre-ordered in December was shipped.

I love Joanne Fluke's book, this one is called Carrot Cake Murder... yes I love the culinary mystery genre. I've read all of the ones in the series and eagerly wait for her new ones to come out.

The right thing would be to send it back, huh?

Intravenous caffeine

That's what I need right now and a lot of it.... dunno why it was so hard to get out of bed this morning.... but I stayed under the covers til 10:15!!! Now I feel bad ;-)

Home early... and working on my to-do list

I got home around 9 pm... so much for a late Friday out on the town huh? Actually my friend had a hard week at work and has an appointment early in the morning, so I knew she'd appreciate if we parted early. So I'm settling in for Get-away Friday on HGTV.ca , how exciting! [I do actually enjoy their Friday night programming: New Life In France, Unchartered Territory, House Hunters International and World's Most Extreme Homes]. If you've never watched the Extreme Homes show, you have to! There are some super cool houses...

I have to be productive tomorrow... February's just going by so fast. I went over my February goals and I still have stuff to do to achieve them. I'm also thinking I may be over categorizing my savings and have too many accounts at too many places. I either have to revamp my spreadsheets or consolidate what I have in online banking (I have multiple accounts at ING, ICICI, PC Financial, HSBC, BMO and my credit union). That's a lot of accounts for someone who doesn't have that much money!!!

I'll post about my conclusions tomorrow...

Daily Tracking - February 22nd

I went to work for a short shift and only went directly there with no stops in between. I often am tempted to spend on Fridays, to stop and buy things we may need on the weekends, but I get most of our snacks and treats when I get groceries, so I resisted temptation. I'm going to a friend's house tonight, her husband works every 2nd Friday night, so we just spend the night in for dinner & a movie, at home. Gone are the days when I had a super busy social life... now a lot (most!) of my friends are married with kids, so it's not easy tagging along as a single.

I have no other plans for the weekend, will play it by ear. I know I have to exercise tomorrow, there is a trail behind the house I can go in, there are lots of rabbits and squirrels so it is never boring. Since I made the decision not to buy the $1,000 + treadmill, I have to use what I have (exercise tapes, stationary bike and walking trail).

Here are my numbers so far:

no spend: 14/15
no drive: 9/10
no mags/books: 53/366

Tracking on Thursday

I spent today, got my dad a little birthday gift (one day late) and made an online donation to Wooly Woman's Share The Love February PF Challenge. I also paid my phone bill, I do that every month on the 20th, after my CC statement is processed. This way I always have more than 1 month to pay it, even if I never carry a balance on this card.

I didn't work today (it's been a slower week actually) but I was called for lots of hours for March, some in April and it looks like it's going to be a very busy summer.

I didn't drive, my sister was going to the dentist so I tagged along to run my errands... no use in starting my car when it's very cold out and she's driving anyway.

Here are the numbers for today:

$20 gift for my dad (lobster!!)
$25 donation
$75 phone bill (landline, internet and cell phone)
oh and $40 for a ticket for a dinner fundraiser thingy next week. I'm giving this to my mom so she can go with her friends

I am going to list some books on Amazon.ca (pretty much my only option in Canada) even if I haven't been lucky at all the last couple times I tried. I guess it's all about content and timing. Fitness and health books will sell very well in January, as will personal finance stuff. I've not had any luck with paperbacks, but I could try hardcovers. Shipping is so expensive in Canada though, even with the $6 or $7 shipping credit Amazon.ca gives us, we still have to pay out of pocket if the book is over 500 g and thicker than 2 cm.

I also canceled another magazine subscription. This one was prepaid until 2010, so I should be getting $30 or $40 back.

So far this year:

no spend: 13/15
no drive: 9/10
no books/mags: 52/366

Wednesday's report

Today I spent lots. As I posted in my previous post, I put some gas in my car since the price is going up tomorrow. I also stopped to get milk and eggs and saw that there were some chicken wings on sale, so I bought a couple packages. I love making those at home, they are much yummier and cheaper than the restaurant.

My dad is 67 today so I got him a card and we decided to go out to eat in the city. We had coupons for pizza that we got when we bought gift certificates for our mailman, newspaper carrier and hairdresser for Christmas and they expired at the end of the month. My mom's not a big pizza fan, so ordered lasagna... well it turns out Wednesday is pasta night, buy one get one free, so I got that too :-) So we had a good time (we never eat out as a family) and it was one night without cooking!

Here is the "damage":

$ 1.13 card
$16.42 groceries
$30.95 (I got the bill for all of us cuz my sister left early, but I'm sure she'll pay me back half)
$26.00 gas

I still haven't spent for mags/books, so that number goes up to 51. The rest sts (stay the same)

no spend: 13/15
no drive: 8/10

Gas price "fixing"

In my province, the government stepped in about 2 years ago and instated what they call "gas price fixing". It used to be every 2 weeks they'd decide on a maximum price gas could be sold, per liter. The stations could add a 2cent/liter transportation fee, if they wanted, but most don't.

Since the beginning, I've loved this. Now, it's every Thursday that the price is set and they tell us beforehand what to expect... they are predicting that tomorrow's price will increase by 3 cents/L. Frugal people will gas up today if we need gas in the next few days.

(And just so you know, there are 3.79 L in 1 US gallon... our prices are around $1.10/L so that is about $4.17/gallon).

Just thought I'd share this, I think it's a big time saver since you don't need to drive around town to see who has the lowest price. [The govt doesn't just come up with a price out of nowhere, it is based on the worldwide prices]

Daily Tracking - Feb 19th

I had a great day of lounging around, I honestly didn't do much but I don't feel too bad since I worked Sunday... this'll count as my day off ;-) I was productive in other ways...

I didn't spend or drive, and I'm glad to see that the extremely slippery layer of ice covering the whole driveway surface has melted. It was well above freezing today and we saw a lot of the snow melt... We shouldn't be having any droughts any time soon.

Tonight there is a new episode of Maxed Out on WNetwork (in Canada), for some reason I missed it last week. I don't have Tivo or anything fancy like that for when I do forget... Big Brother is on after that and I also have been watching some of Tori and Dean: Inn Love. Yes, I admit I was a fan of 90210 back in the day... It comes on at 11 my time, that's when I usually go to bed but can't fall asleep so the tv is always on..

My numbers so far:

no spend: 13/15
no drive: 8/10
no mags/books: 51/366 <- I need to double check where I messed up... we are only 50 days into the year!

And from my super long list of magazines I posted about last week, I canceled yet another one today! I'm on a roll :-)

New meme - Viral Linking

Sharon from Paid It Down And Moving Forward has tagged me on this new meme. I hope I do this right!

I admit I'm a clicker... I love to just click through comments and blogrolls I see on other blogs and sites... I can easily do it a few dozen times in a row, really getting far, far from the original blog I started from. I'm sure I'll find some other interesting blogs through these links!

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)

It’s real easy!

Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially! The benefits of Viral Linking: One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode Attract large volume of new traffic to your site Build your community Make new friends

The Strategist Notebook ~ Link Addiction ~ Ardour of the Heart ~ When Life Becomes a Book ~ The Malaysian Life ~ Yogatta.com ~ What goes under the sun ~ Roshidan’s Cyber Station ~ Sasha says ~ Arts of Physics ~ And the legend lives ~ My View, My Life ~ A Simple Life ~ Juliana RW ~ Mom Knows Everything ~ Beth & Cory's Mom ~ A Mind Forever Voyaging~ enjoying the ride ~ Jennifer's thoughts ~ Mom of 3 Girls ~ Amanda ~ Don't Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys ~ ExPat Mom ~ Just Jessie ~ Wilson Six ~Krisitn ~ Nuttier Than You ~ Shonnte ~ Summer's Nook ~ Laura Williams Musings ~ Melissa's Idea Garden ~ Confessions of an Everyday Housewife ~ Blah Blah Blog ~ Stop the Ride! ~Soap, Blings & Girly Things ~ It's All for the Best ~ Keeping Feet ~ Junky Love in Freehand ~ Getting Out of Debt ~ Free From Broke ~ Money Matters ~ Arohan's Investing Life ~ My Investing Blog ~ Finance and Fat ~ Iowahippiechick ~ ~ Cathlawson.com ~ Making Cents Of Debt ~ DebtDiet ~ MakingMoneyJournal ~ Life Liberty & The Pursuit Of Money
Mrs Micah Brightside of Debt Fiscal Musings Paid it Down and Moving Forward Phoenix from the Ashes ~ Canadian Saver~ The Good Life on a Budget~ Last One In Line~ Finding Financial Peace ~ CT Mom ~ Saving Diva ~ Wooly Woman~ Give Me Back My Five Bucks ~ Fabulously Broke In the City~Save LeighAnn


My Five Tags

Saving Diva
Wooly Woman
Give Me Back My Five Bucks
Fabulously Broke In the City
Save LeighAnn

Still incredibly jealous

My cousin keeps sending me these emails about sipping espresso and eating yummy chocolate cake while sitting at Les Champs-Élysées. I'm really glad she's there, but I really wish I was there too :-) I'm using those emails as motivation to save some more for my upcoming trip... I've started a small notebook where I keep nice pictures, trip itineraries, quotes, prices, timelines, castle pictures, etc etc. I have always heard that unless it's written down it's not a goal, just a dream.. Very true.

I am also seeing about $500 extra in my checkbook that I might sweep to savings/debt. I keep a cushion in there usually but how much do I really need stuck at 0% interest? I think I'll investigate that further.

Hope everyone has a great day :-)

Mid-month standings

I got my paycheck details for February's last pay, so I know that I'm bringing in $79 extra this month, over what I'd predicted. Not bad.

I am under all of my spending plan categories, still have $54.54 in groceries, $26 in gas (will need my full budgeted amount this month as I've done more split shifts), mad money and a couple others. I just have to stay on track and not go crazy and I'll be OK.

This morning 2 CDs that I had for my goddaughter came due and were transfered to my account. I'm sending $1,000 for longer term savings for her and then keeping $543.09 close by so I can give her some cash for her upcoming trip to the national ringuette championship. We're still not 100% she's graduating in June, but she is 100% sure she won't be going to college in September either way.

Here are my numbers so far (didn't spend anything today but I drove to work... was quite short notice!)

no spend: 12/15
no drive: 7/10
no mags/books: 50/366

I feel better today, I took some Tylenol for cold (both daytime and night time) and some Cepacol for my throat... I'd say I'm at 95% right now.

Spending my Sunday away!

I got up with a sore throat this morning and a somewhat stuffy nose... I used to never get sick, like maybe once every 4-5 years, but the last year and a half that I've handled money and dealt with customers on a daily basis, I've gotten colds. I try to wash my hands often, but I don't exaggerate either... Oh well, I hope it won't be too bad, I've popped some pills and will go to bed early tonight.

I did go to my bookkeeping job, everything went well and I got a lot done! I love going when there's no one else there in the big warehouse :-) I need peace and quiet when I crunch numbers... didn't even have the radio on. After, I went to town (me and probably 10,000 other folks had the same idea) to get a few groceries and some stuff at the pharmacy to get my bonus points. The forecast is calling for a wintry mix (lots and lots of rain after a little bit of snow) so everyone is panicking. It wasn't as bad as I thought, only waited in line about 10 minutes.

Last week I posted that I only had healthy things in my cart... well today I had 98% healthy stuff but I had 2 cartons of this yummmmy stuff:It tastes exactly like the soft serve they have at Dairy Queen!! It was on sale too, so I got 2 of the vanilla flavor ;-) Hey anything to soothe my sore throat!!!

Here is the damage for today:

$29.73 groceries
$34.55 pharmacy (some of this is contact lens solution, feminine products... I stock up when there are good sales and then I don't have to buy any for 3-4 months... there is also about $10 in chocolate, candy and bottled water in that total)

I drove, obviously.

no spend: 11/15
no drive: 7/10
no mags/books: 49/366

I also canceled another magazine subscription, I'm getting back about $15 or so sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. I'll glady take it :-)

Daily Tracking - Saturday February 16th

I didn't spend or drive today! We had my little cousin over, he's almost 5 so that kept us quite busy (he's the one whose parents are gone to Paris). My sister goes to his house tomorrow for 3 days with him, it's 2 hours away, so it'll be a little break for me!! I love being alone, but I also like when she comes back...

My numbers are growing which is a good thing since I need to save money for my new goals! I'll more than likely spend tomorrow though since there is a bonus points event at one of my stores and I need stuff anyway.

No spend: 11/15
No drive: 7/10
No books/mags: 48/366

I'm thinking of ways to make more $$ too... Previous tries on amazon.ca to sell my used books hasn't been all that successful (it was great 3-4 years ago, then it went downhill), and we can't post on half.com here. I have never tried ebay and am not sure I want to start... too bad I don't know someone with a seller's account, I'd pay them a fee for the listings...

Planning a trip for 2009

My cousin and her DH are gone to Paris for 5 days. He was going on business and she tagged along (for just the price of her plane ticket, everything else covered). I am extremely jealous!! Wish I had a DH who traveled for business and I could tag along :-) Seeing them leave has given me the "bug" again!! I posted already that I'd been twice, but never on my own. Well I have decided to seriously start saving and planning for the fall of 2009.... I figure it's not that far away but still long enough to plan and save enough.

I'm not too worried about my employment status, if by then I've secured something permanent I'll always have vacation time and if I'm still on a term/casual basis, well I can easily take off for 2 weeks.

More than likely my sister will come with me, she goes on many trips (Denver in a few weeks) but I rarely go far away except provinces close by (NS, Quebec, PEI and recently, Maine). We usually have a great time together, she's got a great sense of direction and I do very well at planning.

So far the plan is:

• rent an apartment in Paris for a week (I want to be able to go to the farmer's market and cook!!)
  
• go to Disneyland Paris for 1-2 days
• tour the Loire Valley (magnificent castles!! I've been twice and have only seen a few of them) (3-4 days, we'd need a car for this)
  
• spend 2 days at the Futuroscope, a wonderful theme park with a lot of Imax stuff, visual effects, some rides, etc.

I love the challenge of saving for something exciting like this! I already have about $1,200 saved, which will just about cover the flight and the insurance... I think all my "extra" funds (surveys, change, gifts) is going to go towards this. My goal is probably $5,000 - $7,000 total. Expensive, I know, but I want to do a bit of everything since you never know when you're going to go back...

Has anyone else reading this blog gone? I spent some time this morning reading sites like Frommers and I figure the more research I do, the better time we'll have :-)

Forgot to add... I won something!

Remember my resolution of not buying books or magazines all year long? What happens if I don't use my own money? I won a gift certificate from one of my survey sites (TNS Interactive Canada... which I believe is the My Survey equivalent here) for $10. I usually get one of those every 2-3 months. If I accumulate enough for a $40 order (free shipping after $39) , will that be breaking my resolution???

I love winning things, and right below that email was a 50 point survey from Global Test Marketing, bringing my points up to 976... just 24 more and I'll get to cash out another $50 :-)

My new addiction...

... it's gonna show on the hips soon! I have such a hard time resisting Caramilk chocolate bars... I spent $2 for that again, and it was so good I could have eaten a whole other bar.... I'm a chocoholic I admit!

I had a short shift at my main job then went to do bookkeeping all afternoon, got out at 5:30... and I think I'll go back tomorrow or Sunday. I got a bit behind so now I have to do double the work. I'm not complaining though since I need the hours.

I also spent $45.19 for QuickTax software. Someone had left a comment about Studio Tax, which I thought was great and worked well when I input all my numbers. I passed the address on to a friend and she said when she went to print it off, it asked for a payment, so it isn't free after all. I went back to QuickTax and got the Standard version for $39 + taxes of course. If you netfile, there is a $10 rebate, so I'll send in for that. I do the taxes for my sister and my parents, and my cousin this year too (hers will be under the $25,000 limit so it'll be free) so we all split the cost.

So total for the day:
$2 chocolate
$45.19 tax software (after the rebate and dividing it up by 4, my out-of-pocket cost is only $8.80)

Numbers to date:

no spend: 10/15
no drive: 6/10
no books/mags: 47/366

Thursday's Tracking

There's really nothing interesting to report today. As a single person, I don't like Valentine's Day. I didn't go out to dinner and I didn't receive candy or flowers. It's just been a regular day. I stayed home, didn't have any hours scheduled. I do for tomorrow, so it was nice to stay put for one day. It was incredibly icy outside, schools were canceled because of it... I didn't feel like going out and breaking a leg!! My dad fell, it's his second fall this year, I'm scared that one time he'll fall at the barn and we won't find him for a while!!

Survivor is on tonight, that's about the highlight of my day :-)

My numbers are going up though:

no spend: 10/15
no drive: 6/10
no books/mags: 46/366

I hope Sharon at Paid It Down is feeling better after her root canal... ouch!!

Sidetracked a bit

I posted on Sunday that I'd started Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi's All Your Worth. For some reason, I never really read past the first chapter. Not that it isn't good, I just wasn't in the mood for that genre. It may be the crappy weather we've been having that put me in a traveling mood instead...

I have a very long love affair with France, the country. I went twice (once in 1987 as an exchange student and once in 1999 as a chaperone!!). I dream of going again, but this time either on my own or with a friend, but without a bunch of kids in tow!!

I often pick up books written by foreigners who move to various regions of France. I had this one in my stash since last year called La Belle Saison: Living off the Land in Rural France by Patricia Atkinson. So far, it is very good :-)

I'll post more on my dream trip to France later. I don't even have a time frame yet, I would like to go before my 40th birthday so I have started to save already :-)

I'll go back to All Your Worth eventually and review it here.

Today's tracking... and a freebie!

It was a great afternoon to stay inside... total white outs for a while and now it's turned to freezing rain. They announced on the news that this was our 16th storm so far this winter!! We all wanted more snow... careful what you wish for huh?!

I don't usually watch Oprah but when I saw that Suze Orman was on (I caught the last 5 minutes of the episode that was at 2 pm eastern and knew it'd be on later because of the time shifting thing on cable), I tuned in. Suze was on to help a woman whose husband committed suicide and left her with 4 kids still at home, but not before he canceled his insurance policy and stopped paying bills (including the mortgage) for 3 months prior to his death. I think Suze gave great advice!

As a gift to the viewers at home, they are making Suze's book, Women & Money available for download on Oprah's site. For free!! It comes as a .pdf document, in English or Spanish. The actual link for downloading the English version:

http://flv.oprah.com/suze_orman_eng.pdf

The offer expires tomorrow at 5 pm pacific time (February 14th). [You'll more than likely find this link all over the internet, everyone's talking about it :-)]

I didn't spend anything today, but I drove. Here are my numbers so far this month:

no spend: 9/15
no drive: 5/10
no mags/books: 45/366

Quickly...

Just an update from last night's posts:

Big Brother: I'll more than likely watch a few more shows, the first one wasn't too bad, but there are a few people who grate on my last nerve!!

Weather: No storm yet, but the schools are all closed in anticipation of the storm. We'll more than likely get hit very hard this afternoon. I only work til 1pm so I should be OK.

Any Big Brother fans?

I confess that I've watched this show from the very beginning... season 1 with Eddie, Brittany, George, Cheryl, Josh and the others. It is pretty much the only tv I watch in the summer. And now, we're getting a "bonus" winter edition... while I would usually be overly excited, I am somewhat weary of the new theme... something about soulmates???

I'm tuning in tonight, I won't judge it until I've watched it, but if it's lame-o I will find another way to spend my Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday nights...

I'm eager to hear if any one else out there watches and what you thought...

Busy Tuesday!

I feel like I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off today! I went to work for 1 hour (yep, split shift again) then to the funeral home for a viewing, then off to another work location for 1 hour (filling in for the famous lunch hour) and then back to the original location for a 4 hour shift. I ate a quick dinner at work before heading to get groceries in a nearby town. We're getting another storm tomorrow!!!!! This has been everybody's topic of discussion today, as it often is in Canada :-)

I did spend lots today:

$20 donation (oncology center)
$2 chocolate bar (the fundraising ones)
$90.98 groceries
$5.65 misc (gum and conditioner)

I am proud of my grocery shopping trip... I got healthy stuff (not one piece of junk in the cart) and I got a lot of stuff for that amount of money! The receipt says I saved $30.24. I'm doing really well with the budget this month (the $90.98 is the total, but I split this with my housemate)

Speaking of my housemate (my sis), she went out and bought a 42" flat screen tv and a HD digital cable box thingy. I am not helping with this purchase at all, since it was her decision to buy it. I could watch tv on a 13" screen and I'd be OK with it. $1,922 later, she is happy though... [good thing she makes a good salary (and has the same low living expenses as me) or she'd be miserable! she's very materialistic]

Here are my numbers so far:

no spend: 8/15
no drive: 5/10
no books/mags: 44/366

Tonight's treat

I was cold and tired all day today... nothing better to soothe my aching body than a luscious bath bomb from Lush :-) and after that, I'm going to slip into my warm sheets and watch some back-to-back episodes of Jon & Kate plus 8... love that show!

Daily Tracking - Monday

Another stormy day here, it actually took some shoveling and plowing this morning. Luckily my dad is willing to do that! The kids in the area were on their 10th snow day of the year!! I think last year they only had 1 or 2, if that. I can see why so many people are booking trips to warmer, sunnier destinations!! (and getting great deals too!)

I had a dinner with some ladies I work with scheduled for tonight, there was no way I was driving 20 minutes on those roads no matter how good the food would have been :-( I didn't spend anything since I had planned on going to get groceries while I was out. I still need onions and carrots and the store is having a buy one get one sale, so I don't want to pay regular price at our small store!

We planned to chip in at work to buy a floral arrangement for my supervisor's dad, I was all set to pay my share this morning but our local supervisor said to send him the bill... yay! Not that I would have minded, but this way I can make a bigger donation to the cancer society tomorrow.

So my numbers so far this month:

no spend: 8/15
no drive: 5/10
no mags/books: 42/366

Another stormy Sunday

While we didn't get the 40 inches they had forecast, we still had snow off and on all day, enough to make the roads quite bad. I don't have studded tires, just winter (studless) ones, so I hesitate even more to venture out.

I only work 2 minutes from home tomorrow, so there shouldn't be any problems getting there.

I didn't spend or drive, so my numbers are going up:

no spend: 7/15
no drive: 5/10
no mags/books: 41/366

I found this show on HGTV Canada called No Waste Like Home, set in the UK. It is about the most environmentally unfriendly and wasteful households. There are differences between the countries, but I do enjoy seeing how wasteful some families can be and how they remedy the situation and save money in the process. It's on Sundays, 7 pm Eastern. The Grammys are also on, should be a good show!

PF book selection: All Your Worth

I've heard great reviews about the book All Your Worth and I loved what Elizabeth Warren was saying in the Maxed Out documentary. She is co-author with her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi.

Like I said before, I am somewhat limited with the personal finance selections I have at home and I may have to go to the library soon, but this one should be good.

It's a snowy day, perfect to curl up with a good book!

Rethinking the emergency fund

I had time yesterday at work to crunch some numbers. I know that some people want $10,000 in their emergency fund without fail. Some are happy with $5,000... others just do the $1,000 and pay off all their debt, then fund the rest of their EF after...

I have such low monthly expenses (and income too I guess!) that I figure what I have now in the emergency fund should be enough ($8,635) plus it's going to keep earning interest, so I should be ok for most emergencies. I also keep a healthy balance in my Freedom Account (for irregular expenses), between $8,000 and $10,000 usually.

March's spending plan won't have the usual $250 to the emergency fund, I feel this money will be better used paying my debt off and repaying myself the $5,500 I took from savings.

The good thing about spending plans is they are always revisable. If I find after a couple months I want to have the $10K absolutely, I can always rework a monthly contribution in there.

"Exposing" yourself on tv

Not by taking off your clothes, but by talking about your finances! I know Beachgirl talks about the Big Spender show (with Larry Winget) on her blog. He has a show on A&E on Saturday mornings and even has a book out. I've watched it on occasion and enjoy.

There are 2 others that I get here in Canada (pretty sure you can too in the US if you have cable or dish):

Maxed Out with Alison Griffiths on the W network
Til Debt Do Us Part with Gail Vaz-Oxlade, on Slice network

Maxed Out deals solely with women. In this week's episode, there were 2 friends who shared a condo together, barely able to make ends meet on pretty good salaries ($60K +). It turns out when they tabulated their expenses, they were spending $1,900+ on eating out, each, per month!

Til Debt Do Us Part deals with couples. Many of them are in mega debt and she starts off by cutting up all their cards. I find each case really interesting.

I'm glad they're making shows like this now. While most of the stuff I know already, it shows me that if I steered off course, I could easily get back into mega debt too...

Look for all 3 of these shows if you get a chance :-)

Daily Tracking - Saturday February 9th

I am not a morning person, but usually I do ok when I get 8 hours sleep the night before. This morning I didn't do so well and it dragged for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon. I know the best thing would have been to go outside for a brisk walk, but I chose to nap instead! It felt absolutely great....... now I wonder if I'll be able to sleep at all tonight?!

I didn't spend anything, I was going to stop for a few things at the store but it can wait until Monday.

no spend: 6/15
no drive: 4/10
no mags/books: 40/366

Not bad, I still have a lot of my grocery, gas and mad money left...

Friday's report

I had a busy day at work, and my immediate supervisor's dad passed away so I'll be working more hours next week. And I got called about half an hour ago to go in for a 3 hour shift tomorrow morning, you gotta love that short notice thing!! The lady I'm replacing has to drive to Boston to pick up her husband (10 hr drive) so I guess she has a good excuse!

I spent today, paid the remaining balance for my blog redesign :-) I hope everyone noticed it was different. Lindsay at Splat Designs was awesome to work with! I used some funds I had set aside from doing surveys so I'm not using my mad money for this. It was money very well spent, imo :-)

I drove too, so my no spend/no drive days are stalling a bit.

No big weekend plans, we're bracing for another storm sometime tomorrow night/Sunday... Originally they had said maybe 100 cm (40 inches) but I hope it doesn't get that bad!!!

Here's an up-to-date total for the month:

no spend: 5/15
no drive: 4/10
no mags/books: 39

So far so good.

So I have decided not to buy new magazines this year and to cancel a few that I don't want to get til the end of my subscriptions. I just got a credit to my CC for $17.28...

I realized that the magazines were piling up and I wasn't even reading them thoroughly. And most of them I can get online now anyway, or at the library.

This isn't as hard as I'd imagined...

To give everyone an idea of how many I was getting, here is the long list:

• Canadian Living
• Chatelaine (english)
• Chatelaine (french)
• Coup de Pouce
• Family Circle
• Money Sense
• Light & Tasty
• Taste of Home
• Cooking Light
• Simple & Delicious
• Martha Stewart Living
• Everyday Food
  
• Everyday with Rachael Ray
  
• Ricardo
  

Yikes!! At $25/year per subscription, it's no wonder it was getting too expensive!!

Thursday report

I was on the go this morning bright and early, but it was nice to put in a full day. Tomorrow I work a split shift but it's closer, so not as bad. I found out one lady is going to be out sick until sometime in March, so it'll mean extra hours still. It's all good!

I haven't heard back from the folks at payroll. The lady I talked to yesterday seemed surprised I was calling about my rate being too high... I'll call back tomorrow or Monday at the latest to see what they figured out. It'll be the same rate that I worked today for 6 hours, so they have to know the answer soon.

I didn't spend anything, but I drove obviously. We did a Survivor pool (a new season starts tonight), but we only pay into it on finale night, so I'll count it then. 5 of us went in, so I got 4 players... with a chance to win $100 in May sometime.....

The lady at the bank called, she said my transfer went through so she processed the retirement stuff today instead of yesterday, but she made a mistake with the amount... she counted $1,700 that needed to be rolled over twice, so the actual amount we had to "play with" was closer to $10,500 and not $12,000. Oh well...

Thanks again for the advice about my professional dues, I'd honestly never thought of the time and money to invest in just keeping my status, so I'll probably not pay again... I'll have to decide what to do with the $200 I had saved... probably use it to pay down my debt :-)

Here are my numbers so far this month:

no spend: 5/15
no drive: 4/10
no mags/books: 38/366 (more than 10% down!)

Not sure what to do...

Would you keep on paying yearly dues for a profession you absolutely have no intention of going back to? I found out last week that my professional association (for agrologists) requires that we submit yearly records of all our training, workshops, meetings etc. as proof that we are keeping up-to-date in the industry. I made the decision 2 years ago not to pursue employment in that area again, after working in it for 11 years. I was miserable at my last job and when my 2 year contract ended, it was the best day of my life! I have been employed as a term (casual) at my current employer (federal) for 1.5 years and I know a permanent position is not far away, with all the pending retirements (almost everyone working there is 50-59!)

I got my application thingy for 2008 (the dues are $200 and I do have the money set aside), but I don't have that much I can put down for the professional development since I wasn't working in the field in 2007 (except for 1 contract).

I've had the letter on my desk for the last week, not knowing what to do. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?? [I have until March 1st to send it in]

Daily Tracking - Wednesday Feb 6th

I went for a shorter shift at work, then to my meeting at the bank and finally picked up some milk and bananas. I didn't have a list and knew there was something else (carrots and onions) so I may pick those up tomorrow. Roads were good, but we're supposed to get more snow tonight and all through until Sunday.

Sharon asked in a comment how long our winters last... In my part of Canada (eastern), it really varies from year to year. The last 2 winters combined, I don't think we got more than 2 feet of snow total. This year, for November to January, we got more than 8 feet already! I fully expect there will be wintery conditions until late March this year. Oh joy.

I called payroll to get my pay rate thingie fixed but the lady on the other end of the line had to check with her supervisor and will let me know tomorrow. I worked 120 hours at a rate last year I am also questioning, I feel it should have been a bit higher (by about 50 cents), so will ask about that too.

I posted Sunday about not having any scheduled hours this week, but it turns out I had to turn some down for tomorrow as I already have a full day! I picked up half a day for Friday too :-)

Here are my numbers for today:

$8.28 groceries
$125.17 debt repayment (I like to have it work out to nice, even numbers)
$5,500 retirement contribution (I had a lot of stuff coming due so I had over $13,500 to decide what to do with)... everything will be official by February 18th.

To date:

no spend: 4/15
no drive: 4/10
no mags/books: 37/366

Annoyed at myself

I've posted about my retirement contribution meeting today. I am going there without the $5,500 I want to invest though :-( For some reason, the money that should have been in my account last night never got transfered from ICICI Canada . I had set it up Monday and got a confirmation # and everything, and without fail, the money is always there by 8 pm the next day (which should have been last night).

I checked this morning and the $5,500 is still at ICICI... the transfer somehow failed, but I only noticed today. So the earliest the money will appear is tomorrow 8 pm.

I'm going anyway, I think we can go through the exercise and once the money is in the account, I can stop by to sign papers if needed.

I feel dumb though! I should have kept on top of things.

The Book Meme

I've been tagged by Sharon to pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages..

The rules are:

Open the book to page 123, find the 5th sentence and post the next 3 sentences...

I had the book An Innocent, a broad on my immediate left. Here is the excerpt from page 123:

VERY EARLY ONE morning, when Jack was just a couple of weeks old, I arrived in the unit to find that Stephen had gone home and a new baby, Alexander, had moved in next to Jack.

I always have a book nearby, so that was fun :-)

I am tagging:

Saving Diva
Lilo
Nine Circles
Fabulously Broke
Lauren

More fun reading: Carbs & Cadavers (#9)

I can thank the writers' strike for keeping my shows off the air and giving me so much reading time. What better way to spend a stormy Canadian evening?

This is a fun one called Carbs & Cadavers, a Supper Club Mystery by J. B. Stanley. It's the first one in a series of 3 (so far) and the reviews on Amazon are pretty good. The author calls it a book for those who love food and hate to diet... that's me :-)

Some will say I should read serious, thought-provoking books and/or classics. I think I read so much in college that I prefer to read lighter stuff now. And I stay far, far away from scientific textbooks, those gave me nightmares for years!!

My next pick will be a personal finance one, I try to read 1 per month, but I don't know how many I have at home... I think I'm all set for the next 2 months, but I may have to go to the library after that to see what they have on personal finance........

4 in a row... a record?

I was all set to spend today, we need milk and onions... my friend suggested we go to a nearby town to do a bit of shopping and then visit Dairy Queen since we had coupons. And it is Mardi Gras. I was game cuz I don't even remember the last time I had a blizzard... I'm sitting here salivating just thinking about it.

Then a few snowflakes started to fall and my friend panicked.

She's staying in the city after work, overnight (not coming back here) :-(

I could drive to meet her, but it's not an emergency to go to DQ and the roads aren't too great, so I decided to stay home. For the 4th day in a row. My car is parked in the same spot, even if it's covered by about an inch of snow right now.

I don't remember going 4 days without driving since I got my drivers' license back in the late 1980s!! I will be going out to work tomorrow and to my meeting at the bank, but I scheduled the meeting right after my shift and I can pick up the groceries and get cash out all at once, so I'm doing well with combining everything.

My numbers are growing fast:

no spend: 4/15
no drive: 4/10
no mags/books: 36/366

But I really wanted my blizzard ;-)

Meeting set for tomorrow

I have a bit of research to do since my meeting to decide what to do with my retirement contributions in 2007 is set for tomorrow. I got the RRSP issue of Money Sense in the mail the other day and I'm going to read to see what my options are.

I have $3,400 (plus interest) coming due this month and then my $5,500 contribution (new money) so I'm hoping I can split it into 2-3 different funds. And with the market still down somewhat, I should be able to get more shares per dollar.

I also got called to work Wednesday, Thursday and possibly Friday, so all is good :-)

I'm always quick to complain...

... when they goof up on my paycheck. I got my statement via epost and noticed that they had made a mistake in my favor. For the first time ever. It's such a tiny amount though, $1.20/hr more than I should have made, for 3 hrs.

Would you bring it to their attention or not say anything??

Another no spend/no drive day!

The title says it all, I managed to not spend anything again today. I needed to get out for exercise so I walked... I love that my car's been parked for 3 whole days!! Speaking of the car, a 2001 Pontiac, I looked at the Canadian Black Book web tool and they say the maximum it is worth is $2,100......... I know my dealership will give me more if I trade it in, but I'm hoping it lasts another couple years. Then it'll really be worth nothing. I bought it brand new, in September 2000, drove a whole lot of kilometers the first 4-5 years, but the last couple years I've only driven about 8,000 km (5,000 miles) per year.

I have cash in my car repair fund so I may get it inspected this spring, to make sure there is nothing terribly wrong with it. I love not having any payments. I don't need a shiny new car. But I have to admit I'm tempted by the 5-year 0% financing offers out there........... (low payments, brand new car). Yeah, I know I'm crazy!

I really need to get out tomorrow, to the ATM at least... I don't have any cash in my wallet at all and I need to see the lady at the bank for my RRSP contributions. I am putting that off cuz I don't want to part with my money. As for the HSBC rate, I haven't decided yet what I'll transfer, I guess I'll see what's left when the dust settles (after the retirement stuff).

To date:

no spend: 3/15
no drive: 3/10
no mags/books: 35/366

Currently Reading: An Innocent, a Broad (#8)

While I do prefer the mystery genre when I read for pleasure, I often order books from any other genre with great ratings on Amazon, when I can get them for a deep discount on Bookcloseouts. This one, An Innocent, a Broad, by Ann Leary (Denis Leary's wife), I pulled from my stash last night and didn't put it down til I'd read 100 pages! It is a great, fast read about her experience with giving birth to a premie while on vacation in London.

This is #7 #8, I figure I can get it finished tonight if I can put in another couple of hours...

HSBC's "teaser" rate

HSBC Canada had sent out emails last week saying to check this morning about a promo they were offering until May 2nd. I was curious, so first thing when I opened up my computer I checked: it's 4.75%. It is a lot better than the 3.65% I get at ING, and better than the 4.1% at ICICI....

I still have to investigate to make 100% sure it is for all new money added to any existing account, not just new customers. And I have to see what I have that I could transfer, since a lot of my $$ is in CDs and I need the $5,500 for my retirement contribution. I'll post tonight about what I ended up doing...

A new House!

The series on Fox, not to live in ;-)

I figured with the writers strike still on, we wouldn't see any new episodes til next fall, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they kept one for us after the SuperBowl :-) I watched the first 2 seasons through Zip rentals (our Canadian version of Netflix) and it is now one of my favorite shows. So I'm excited for tonight.

I also finished my book, and will post tomorrow the new one I pick out. I'm doing pretty good on my goal to get to 50 this year!

Super Bowl Sunday

It is the big day, but I'm not excited! In fact, not many football fans up here in my area, I guess we are more hockey people. So today's a regular day.......

I had lots of leftover beef from last night (we had a great dinner, btw) and I didn't want to freeze it, so I made a Minute Rice recipe (yes on occasion I eat that stuff) using other stuff I had in my pantry. I think there'll be enough for a main meal and 3 days' worth of lunches.

I didn't go out (yet) and I didn't spend, I know the day's not over yet but I don't have plans. I got a call from a college friend (who sadly went for 3 whole years, student loans and all, but never came back to finish her degree senior year... I think she is still paying for those loans and has nothing to show for it!) She gave me contact information for a friend of ours who moved to England shortly after graduation, so I'm going to try to contact her tonight... errr maybe not tonight because of the time difference?!

I'm still finalizing my meal plan this week, it can always change since I get called on such short notice to work... so far I have no hours booked for this week but I know that can change. I do have enough food on hand to last through mid-February, I just have to be smart with my planning.

Here are my numbers so far:

no spend: 2/15
no drive: 2/10
no mag/book purchases: 35/366

Saturday's tracking

I'm posting a little earlier today but I already know it's going to be a no spend and no drive day. I got all my shopping done yesterday, thankfully. Roads were absolutely awful this morning (they have been most of the week!!) so I didn't have to get out in it.

Everything's set for our dinner party, we have beef, chicken and scallops for the fondue, as well as veggies. I'm making baked potatoes (splurged and got the fancy ones already wrapped in foil) and I made a salad with my famous poppy seed dressing. It's for special occasions only as it is far from being fat free/sugar free! The dessert will be something I saw on The Food Network, a simple brownie piece with some freshly brewed espresso (I have special discs for my Tassimo machine) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh I was a bit lazy with the bread, instead of making it myself I bought the frozen baguettes, on sale.

I had a similar meal in Montreal a year ago, at this great restaurant called Alpenhaus... total cost just for myself was $65! All the ingredients for 6 people probably didn't cost more than $25!! That's why I prefer to cook at home rather than go out to crowded restaurants... it's crazy in our city on the weekends!

So my numbers for February 2nd:

no spend: 1/15
no drive: 1/10
no mag/book purchases: 33/366

February's Goals

Really nothing earth-shattering for February:

• Make 2007's retirement contribution.
• File taxes for 2007 (with the retirement contribution, it'll give me a small refund)
• Go 15 days without spending
• Go 10 days without driving
• Try 1 new recipe (for a main dish) every week
  
• Read 4 books, 1 of them on personal finance
• Declutter at least 1 big bag per week

The retirement contribution and the taxes are the big thing for this month. I'll be so relieved when all that is over with. I'm going to be borrowing from my savings to send to retirement, and will be paying myself back ASAP.

Friday's spending

I went grocery shopping today, they run their sales from Saturdays to Fridays now and there was a good BOGO (buy one, get one) sale. I also needed fresh veggies for tomorrow's dinner so wanted to wait til today to go. I ended up spending $111.92 total, but since I share groceries with my housemate (my sister!), this is $55.96 out of my spending plan. I got a lot of stuff for this total though and the receipt says $35.26 of free stuff just with the BOGO promotion.

Also put gas in while I was there, they give play money back that you can use at the gas bar or at the grocery store. I usually use the cash at Christmas for lobster or prime rib. I have about $10 saved up right now that I could use if my budget is really tight one month... anyway the gas was $34 and hopefully it'll last all month.

I paid my parents' cell phone bill, we pay it because they wouldn't carry them otherwise. My dad had to call 911 once in the woods with his, so this is not something we mind paying (they are of the generation who doesn't appreciate all the new technology though!) and it works out to a bit more than $20/month usually. I paid $50 total today/2 = $25 for my share.

Finally, I made the payment to my credit card, this is the one I pay off every month... it was $563 and change (all expenses were from late December/January, so already tracked in my spending plan).

I've been very long winded today (ms. serial poster) so I'll just post my February goals tomorrow...

February's Spending plan

I start February 1st with:

• $319.94 in my checking account
• $8,512.73 in my Freedom Account (for irregular expenses)
• $8,385.10 in my Contingency Fund (for emergencies)
• $512.34 in my vacation fund
• $101.03 US dollars (in cash)
• $2.98 in coins
• $149.12 in a couple of misc. accounts

I also have in my retirement funds:

• $16,714.84 at my credit union
• $ 8,255.66 at AGF (separately from my other RRSPs)
  

And finally, for my goddaughter:

• $2,002.69

This totals $44,956.43 !

My retirement loan to boost my retirement savings (from Feb 2007). The current balance is $3,700. I have it at PC Financial @ 1.97% interest.

My net worth, cash only, is $41,256.43

This is $92.86 more than January 1st. A bit discouraging, when I was able to save so much from my spending plan, but I did have big expenses that were deducted from my Freedom Account (disability insurance 6 month premium and 4 brand new tires for my car). Also, my retirement account just at AGF went down more than $200.....

Love new months...

... especially when interest is added to my accounts :-)

I checked at ING, ICICI and PC Financial.... and my total interest is $48.61. It would be probably double that if I didn't have money in 1 year CDs, that only pays at maturity.

Also, when I signed on to check my HSBC.ca account (they only pay interest on the 8th!!), I saw that they have a new promotion starting February 4th where they give an interest bonus for all new funds until the end of May. I consider myself a rate chaser, so I'll definitely keep my eyes open for that. If it beats 4.1% at ICICI, I'll surely move funds over.

I'm off to spend, I hate when I start the month off like this, but I put off getting groceries until today. So far it looks like I won't be getting any hours today, but I'm glad with how the week turned out (no hours planned on Sunday, but I worked 3 days anyway!).

I'll report my spending and my goals for February tonight.