Employer Benefits...

How many of you actually take advantage of your employer benefits?

I use my medical coverage benefit for the odd presciption I might have and it pays for itself, as I get migraines, so my company plan covers 90%, which is great, since the migraine medication I take is around $125 I think for 6 tablets. I also use it for the vision and when I'm brave enough the dentist. We also have Long Term Disability Insurance (60% of salary) and $25,000 in life insurance as part of our benefit plan. I have to pay for Disability Insurance and Life Insurance premiums, and my boss splits 1/2 the cost of the medical, dental and vision premium.

Hubby has the same coverage except no Disability Coverage or Life Insurance, but he also doesn't have to pay any monthly premiums.

Both our employers match RSP (Retirement Saving Plan) contributions - for me up to $2,000 and for hubby up to $1,200 so we take advantage of that to the max.

I work downtown and I'm fortunate enough that my boss, covers my monthly parking in our work building.

Credit Card Cheques...

It seems almost every day I get our mail, there is an envelope from our credit card companies (2) that keep sending us cheques, trying to lure us into using them for the low interest rate of whatever. When you use them, the amount of the cheque is added to your credit card, as a purchase. It's the same companies sending them, we've never used them and now it's getting annoying. I remember maybe in the past 6 years, getting them in the mail, but not every 3 days more like once every 3 years. It really makes me mad that Credit Card companies are encouraging people to spend. I know they hope we will use them and rack up charges and not pay the balances off, but shoving it in someone's face is a little too much, in my opinion. The money they could also be saving on the paper, printing and postage alone should be enough to deter them. I'm sure there are people out there who use them responsibly, but I'm also sure that these "cheques" also enable people to further dig their debt grave. I'm just saying...

Produce Savings

Produce was on sale at the grocery store we frequent. We bought the same things we usually buy and I had budgeted $115 as per usual, it came to only $92. We usually buy a fair amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in my quest to eat healthier and lose weight, so the $23 in savings was great. Hubby and I were high-fiving it on the savings - yes, these little things really make our day. There was a time say - before 2008, that we would buy groceries and other things,without much thought to what we were buying, it's price, etc and not even pay attention the final bill total, we would just pay the bill and be on our merry way. Boy, how times have changed in the thinking in our household.

Do you ever feel like life is passing you by?

Do you ever feel like all you're doing is saving and paying bills and that while all this is happening, you wake up one day to realize a good chunk of life has passed you by? Hubby and I have our moments on this train of thought, but I try to be positive for the both of us and say we are very lucky. We have everything we need, just not everything we want.

I know there are people who are better off financially than us, but I also know there are many who are not as financially secure as us. I try to think of that and reassure hubby that even though we budget down to the penny and all expenditures are talked about together before any decisions are made, we are "rich" in peace of mind.

Do you ever feel this way?

Summer Vacation...

We've been saving and working on a budget for our Summer Vacation. I'm the type of person that is very goal orientated, so by deciding and planning our Summer Vacation, it will help me keep on track with our savings/budget and hopefully keep my weight loss goals on track. We will be able to save about $3,400, so hubby and I brainstormed and researched where we could go and stay within budget, yet still enjoy our selves and feel like we've had a great vacation. We decided on Osoyoos, BC. It's been hailed as the Arizona of Canada. There is a condo resort there that has some decent rates and it comes with a fully functional kitchen, which will help on keeping our food/eating out expenditures down. It's called Spirit Ridge Resort and there are supposed to be alot of wineries around it to go and visit.

We eventually want to retire in Osoyoos/Oliver region, so this will be a nice trial basis to see how we like it in the Summer. Even though retirement is many years away for us, it will at least give us an idea. My grandparents used to live in Oliver, and as a little girl my family would always visit them each Summer, so it will be nice to go now as an adult.

We usually spend much more on our vacations - it's the one area that we definitely splurge in, but we are planning on doing another big cruise in 2014, so we have already started saving for that trip, so the trips between now and 2014 will be scaled down for us.

According to Google Maps, Osoyoos is 13+ hours from our home. Should be fun.

Ugh...Leaking Roof...

Our roof is leaking and not in just one spot but in at least 2 different spots and in our bedroom we could hear a constant drip behind the wall - enough to drive me batty!!! So hubby spent 2+ hours on the roof last night in the dark, shovelling once again, all the snow off our roof and chipping away at the ice up there. We have had record snow falls here in Edmonton. Why oh why is it always something! There is some minor (at least I think it's minor) damage to the wall, that I'm sure hubby can fix. There are companies here in Edmonton that will clean off your roof for you. who Knew. There was an article in our daily newspaper saying that with these record snow falls, roof snow removal companies are backlogged and have long waiting lists. They said residential homes start at $350 (Yikes!) and $750 for businesses. So on the plus side for a little inconvenience on hubby's part, we were able to save
$350. Hubby can hardly move his arms today though, poor guy.

I am happy to report thought that I could actually get to sleep last night as the "dripping" behind our wall has subsided.

Mortgage Refinancing...

We refinanced our mortgage just before Christmas, so it is supposed to take affect with today's payment. We were paying semi-monthly $775.14, as of today the actual required payment should be $716.33. We were able to do this over the phone with our TD Bank. After this payment goes through - we are going to call and have them start taking the old amount out of $775.14 as of our next payment schedule, that way for each payment approx $58 or approx $116 a month extra will be going towards the principal on our mortgage each month. The bank said that we had to wait for the 1st revised lower payment to go through, before we could up our payment. This was relatively painless to do, there were no fees that we had to pay, and without adjusting our budget, we are now able to pay down our mortgage a little bit faster.

We also refinanced our investment property at the same time, which brings that payment down also.

Started Weight Watchers Online...

So I bit the bullet and started Weight Watchers Online, as of Tuesday, Jan 4th. The online version is cheaper than attending actual meetings here in the city so I've paid for the 3 month trial, which came to just under $85 (this includes the registration fee). After the 3 months is up, my credit card will be charged just under $25 a month. I definitely want to lose 20 lbs and my lofty goal for the year is 50 lbs. I think because I'm paying out money for this program, I'll stick with it or at least I have high hopes to. I've worked this expense into the budget, by cutting back on how much I spend in other areas. My Weigh In days will be Saturday mornings on my home scale. As of the January 8th, I had lost 3.2 lbs. I'm hoping I can be as diligent with this as I've become at saving, time will tell...

Starting Pantry Clean Out...

I've started the pantry clean out and trying to use up all the groceries and "stuff" that we have stockpiled for the coming next couple of months, as Hubby's pay cheque is usually the lowest for Jan and Feb.

Now if only the price of fresh vegetables and fruit would go down - I'd be in heaven - last week alone we spent almost $65 on a head of lettuce, 2 bundles of read leaf lettuce, bananas, grapes and oranges. I'm not sure what the price situation is like for these things in the United States, but here in Edmonton, Canada they are very expensive. This really irks me, as everywhere you read how childhood obesity is on the rise, a part of it, I believe is that many families can not afford to buy the "healthier stuff". Some families only have $50 or $65 to spend on groceries for a week, and that has to encompass a lot more than fruits and vegetables and my heart goes out to them.

House Valuation/Property Tax Assessment

We received our annual Property Tax Assessment on Friday. Over the last couple of years the assessment has shown our house value consistently going down, but I was so happy to see that for 2011 it's starting to work its way back up. It is now sitting at an assessed value of $326,500. We have no plans on moving in the near future, but I definitely like to see that number go up rather than down, even if it is on paper. It also made our net worth jump nicely. I hope this is a sign that the economy everywhere is picking up.

Paying it Forward Recap...

In answer to a reader's comment, they wanted to know what I had done with the $100 my company had given us to "Pay It Forward", so I'm happy to say that I was able to do something for 4 different people.

There was a lady behind me in the grocery line with a bunch of baking goods, I paid for her stuff. She was thankful and said that she was having her 2 little grand children over for the day and they were going to make gingerbread men.

In the dollar store there was a lady in front of me with her teenage son, buying stuff for Christmas for their place, so I paid for her stuff. She was also very appreciative.

I Paid for some one's gas at the gas station.

I Paid for an elderly person's groceries at the grocery store.

All 4 recipients were very shocked and appreciative, when they all asked why, all I said was that, I was just sharing some Christmas spirit.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to one and all! This is the year I am going to be extra mindful of where we spend our money. It feels so good to arrive into January without any bills to pay from Christmas - we are starting the year with a clean slate. My simple goal is to really evaluate how we can save spending in January and February - the worst pay cheques for us, in the year. We have food and supplies in the pantry stockpiled and I'm going to try to go to a different hairdresser to cut down on my hair costs. It's a start. Here's hoping everyone has a positive and meaningful 2011.