Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Hello Hooray!
A few deposit refund, half of vacation, tax refund and paycheque cheques later, and I am on my way towards my summer savings goal. yay!
Monday, April 13, 2009
no news- good news
Nothing much to report. I've added about $300 to 'the Lump' over the last two weeks, which feels great, and I'm starting up my full time job again tomorrow. I will miss my winter laziness schedule, but at three months until our big move, the cash crunch is definitely on. I'm eager to make a dent in my summer savings goals. Still waiting on the deposit return from my vacation and my tax refund- my friends in the US report that getting mail from there to here takes forever... and I'm sure the Canadian government will take its sweet ass time sending me my cash. Still, $150 put away per week is pretty grand for a gal with no real jobbers.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Back to reality
My husband and I had a blast on our trip to the sunny south.
an expensive blast!
We had budgeted and saved for our trip, so it is a no-debt deal: the hotels etc we put on credit cards are being paid off in full. It does put a dent in my lovely, hard-won savings tickers, though.
I have brushed up my goals for this summer before we move:
I want to save
$1,200 for my US medical insurance next year
$2,500 for a trip home at Christmas
$1,200 for my bank of mom loan payments for next year
$300 for my folks' old folks fund.
that is a whopping total of
$5,200 to save over the next four months. Yikes!
I don't have a separate account for each of these categories, so I'm going to create a lovely lump-sum ticker and maybe dick around with those.
Yeeee haaaa
I am starting out with a grand total of $205 to put towards my goal this week, but the numbers will go up as soon as I get a return on my vacation rental deposit, and some cheques coming my way later in the week.
Great news for this week is that I am expecting both a paycheque from my p/t job, and an EI payment, and my husband and I will be getting combined tax returns of about $1,700, so our goals are within reach, as long as we stick to our budget and be as responsible (and lucky, haha) as possible.
an expensive blast!
We had budgeted and saved for our trip, so it is a no-debt deal: the hotels etc we put on credit cards are being paid off in full. It does put a dent in my lovely, hard-won savings tickers, though.
I have brushed up my goals for this summer before we move:
I want to save
$1,200 for my US medical insurance next year
$2,500 for a trip home at Christmas
$1,200 for my bank of mom loan payments for next year
$300 for my folks' old folks fund.
that is a whopping total of
$5,200 to save over the next four months. Yikes!
I don't have a separate account for each of these categories, so I'm going to create a lovely lump-sum ticker and maybe dick around with those.
Yeeee haaaa
I am starting out with a grand total of $205 to put towards my goal this week, but the numbers will go up as soon as I get a return on my vacation rental deposit, and some cheques coming my way later in the week.
Great news for this week is that I am expecting both a paycheque from my p/t job, and an EI payment, and my husband and I will be getting combined tax returns of about $1,700, so our goals are within reach, as long as we stick to our budget and be as responsible (and lucky, haha) as possible.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
No news is good news
Pretty ho hum week.
Not too fun, but easy on the bank account- a few little updates on the sidebars.
Spending:
75.00 groceries so far
102.00 doorknob and hooks at Rona- kitchen looks pretty spiff, front door now opens and closes. :P
To do:
pay momma her $75 for this month
get me some clothes. I know a lot of finance blogs focus on no clothes shopping, but things are getting pretty ridiculous-- I am down to one nice wearable pair of pants and zero nice shoes for spring.
Not too fun, but easy on the bank account- a few little updates on the sidebars.
Spending:
75.00 groceries so far
102.00 doorknob and hooks at Rona- kitchen looks pretty spiff, front door now opens and closes. :P
To do:
pay momma her $75 for this month
get me some clothes. I know a lot of finance blogs focus on no clothes shopping, but things are getting pretty ridiculous-- I am down to one nice wearable pair of pants and zero nice shoes for spring.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Car repairs:2 Me:0
Well, my truck died yet another tragic death last night... this time I became the proud owner of a new starter motor. At least the mechanics could get it running and drive it to the shop under its own power- no towing fee for me! I didn't call CAA this time because you only have 4 'turns' a year, and I've used up two in our first couple months of membership. Need to save a couple of those get out of jail free cards.
So sadly, the majority of this week's little p/t paycheque went to the mechanics, but I'm relatively on track for budget anyway:
$272 mechanic! boooo
went over grocery budget by $10 with more milk and fruit, but it's almost the weekend again-- not too shabby.
I did manage to save a bit:
$20 to short term wants
$10 to emergency fund-- still unscathed by auto repairs! :)
This leaves about $250 to get me through the weekend and into next week. Easy peasy. I think. Although I do need to buy a doorknob...
To do/financial goals for the next week and change:
Squirrel it away as much as possible- at least $100 out of the next paycheque, divided and put towards short and long term savings goals.
$75 loan payment to Momma
Turn my pile of Canadian gold into a pile of US peanuts :P aka hit up the Foreign exchange before our trip.
So sadly, the majority of this week's little p/t paycheque went to the mechanics, but I'm relatively on track for budget anyway:
$272 mechanic! boooo
went over grocery budget by $10 with more milk and fruit, but it's almost the weekend again-- not too shabby.
I did manage to save a bit:
$20 to short term wants
$10 to emergency fund-- still unscathed by auto repairs! :)
This leaves about $250 to get me through the weekend and into next week. Easy peasy. I think. Although I do need to buy a doorknob...
To do/financial goals for the next week and change:
Squirrel it away as much as possible- at least $100 out of the next paycheque, divided and put towards short and long term savings goals.
$75 loan payment to Momma
Turn my pile of Canadian gold into a pile of US peanuts :P aka hit up the Foreign exchange before our trip.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Lazy Sunday- the weekend report
Today we went to the relatively-pricey Loblaws, instead of our usual, realtively-cheaper Food Basics, but we prefer the fresh fish selection at Loblaws and tilapia was on the menu!
(My husband and I have become semi reliable at meal planning for the week and shopping according to the plan. The major downfall tends to be me and my unreasonable sweet tooth-- every time.)
We spent $84.00, and I want to stick to a weekly grocery budget of $80, so I will be trying to make it through the week without additional food spending.
In fun and exciting car repair news, only days after repairing my truck, we realised that someone had ripped the plate and plate holder right off the front of my husband's car. Sigh.
Just when you thought it was safe to put away the wallet... at least as far as car repairs go. The husband will be going by a parking lot where we parked this weekend to search for the plate, and (fortunately?) we've got to head over to the MTO to renew the plate stickers this month anyway- might as well get some shiny new plates while we're there.
Hopefully this won't run us more than $50 or so... but I guess that's what emergency funds are for.
I managed to throw another few dollars at my travel and TFSA/emergency fund savings accounts, and I've still got a nice $300 cushion in the chequing account heading to Tuesday's payday, so the finances are generally in good shape for March.
Knock on wood. :)
(My husband and I have become semi reliable at meal planning for the week and shopping according to the plan. The major downfall tends to be me and my unreasonable sweet tooth-- every time.)
We spent $84.00, and I want to stick to a weekly grocery budget of $80, so I will be trying to make it through the week without additional food spending.
In fun and exciting car repair news, only days after repairing my truck, we realised that someone had ripped the plate and plate holder right off the front of my husband's car. Sigh.
Just when you thought it was safe to put away the wallet... at least as far as car repairs go. The husband will be going by a parking lot where we parked this weekend to search for the plate, and (fortunately?) we've got to head over to the MTO to renew the plate stickers this month anyway- might as well get some shiny new plates while we're there.
Hopefully this won't run us more than $50 or so... but I guess that's what emergency funds are for.
I managed to throw another few dollars at my travel and TFSA/emergency fund savings accounts, and I've still got a nice $300 cushion in the chequing account heading to Tuesday's payday, so the finances are generally in good shape for March.
Knock on wood. :)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Emergency fund....safe!
Dear trusty, old, rusty, beat up '92 Chevy pickup,
thank you for not being fatally injured when you would not start the other day.
Thank you for only needing $60 worth of labour to remove the corrosive buildup from your positive battery terminal, instead of needing $300 of new alternator, or what-have-you.
Sincerely,
me and the emergency fund.
I am trying to be more mindful of my spending and saving, so I can be more accountable. Accountable just to me right now, because I'm typing to myself, but I also like to think one day someone else may stumble upon this and go "Damn. That girl should get a real job...but hey, she is mighty accountable." :)
This week, I spent money on:
Groceries! $37 at the food basics, and then $27 at the IGA. We're trying to budget $80 a week for the two of us.
Truck- $67 after tax, I believe.
Brunch! $28 we splurged on big brekkies and mimosas with some friends we haven't seen in a while.
Drinks and misc!- oops, we did it again. I don't have the numbers since my spousal picked up the tab. two drinks... maybe $12.00?
Play! the husband was in a play, which was the cause of above-mentioned drinks. So I blew $3.00 on a latte while I waited to go buy my $5 ticket.
Save?
I did actually manage to put $90 in short-term and $20 in long-term savings this week.
yee haaaa.
thank you for not being fatally injured when you would not start the other day.
Thank you for only needing $60 worth of labour to remove the corrosive buildup from your positive battery terminal, instead of needing $300 of new alternator, or what-have-you.
Sincerely,
me and the emergency fund.
I am trying to be more mindful of my spending and saving, so I can be more accountable. Accountable just to me right now, because I'm typing to myself, but I also like to think one day someone else may stumble upon this and go "Damn. That girl should get a real job...but hey, she is mighty accountable." :)
This week, I spent money on:
Groceries! $37 at the food basics, and then $27 at the IGA. We're trying to budget $80 a week for the two of us.
Truck- $67 after tax, I believe.
Brunch! $28 we splurged on big brekkies and mimosas with some friends we haven't seen in a while.
Drinks and misc!- oops, we did it again. I don't have the numbers since my spousal picked up the tab. two drinks... maybe $12.00?
Play! the husband was in a play, which was the cause of above-mentioned drinks. So I blew $3.00 on a latte while I waited to go buy my $5 ticket.
Save?
I did actually manage to put $90 in short-term and $20 in long-term savings this week.
yee haaaa.
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