I'm Back...

I've been missing in action - alot has happened.

To start off, we were having a really hard time trying to rent out our condo (investment property) and between the months we had to pay for it sitting empty - the mortgage, the condo fees, advertising - we've had to really dip into our Line of Credit and isn't pretty. Right before our scheduled vacation, we finally had a renter - but only for 3 months and a reduced rate, but hey, at this point who cares. We still have to subsidize the monthly payments as the rent we are currently getting, will only pay for approx 1/3 of the costs, but that is okay. It's way better than NOTHING!!!. We just hope that our renter's work contract extends past October, otherwise, come November, he will head back to Ontario we will be looking for a new renter.

Vacation Time - we had a wonderful time and came in under budget by about about $1,000. We always save up for our vacation ahead of time, so the extra $1,000 will be/was distributed as follows - $751.25 went to finishing off our fence work, $190 is set aside to pay for the "annual fees" for our reward points credit cards that will be due this Fall and the remainder went to cover our little fur baby's vet bill - annual check up and shots.

Hubby's Job - 3 days after returning from vacation, his boss announced that the company had been sold to a competitor company, from another province (area of the country). This came as a shock to everyone, as this has been a family owned business for the past 38 years. Hubby has worked for them for 15 years. So of course, everyone's main question is - Does everybody have a job going forward? - not sure - so far, 4 people of been laid off. No one "higher up" is committing that jobs will remain the same. The "rumor" is the new company will be relocating, one of their warehouses to our city, but if they do, it will not be at the current location. The only thing that is for sure - so it is said, is that the matching RSPs will stop, effective Jan 1st. The new owners are saying that Jan 2nd is when people will know if they have a job and if so, at what pay. Now, hubby has been making a pretty good wage - but $8,000 net of that is through bonuses and overtime - if the new company does not "do overtime" then we are Royally Messed Up! So it's been quite stressful in our household. This has been a company where 98% of the employees have been there 10+ years. To say that it was a shock, is an understatement.

- We are fortunate, that as part of our financial planning, we have always updated, what our "Emergency Budget" Vs our "Normal Every Month Budget" would be, and we have always kept it current. We also have money that has been set aside for Emergencies - though I hope, we will not have to tap into it - it has taken a lot of work to build it up and over time it has become approx $20,000 of liquid monies that we could access immediately if need be. We also have our Retirement Savings that we could access if worst comes to worst. We currently also pay extra on our mortgage each month, to try to pay it off faster, so we could always stop the "extra" we are putting towards the mortgage, if we had to.

- At the abosolute extreme, we would sell our house and move into the condo that is our investment property.

- I am so glad that we don't have any credit card debt and that Hubby and I are on the same page. I'm hoping that by being prepared, that everything will work out, come Jan2nd. If it doesn't at least we have a plan.

- Right now, our plan is to try live below our "Normal Monthly Budget" and save as much as we can. Hubby is picking up as much overtime as he can get between now and the end of the year. Hubby will continue to participate in the work's matching RSP to the max, up until the end of December - when it's finished. We have decided to continue paying the extra each month on the mortgage until we know for sure what his paycheques will be in the New Year - assuming he will have a job.
The areas we are cutting back on are - groceries - I've had to become even more creative with what is currently in our pantry and freezer, no eating out at all and extending the times between our personal grooming - hair cuts and our dog's grooming. We didn't buy any firewood yet, we have been picking up stray pieces from business that use wood crates, pallets, etc. so right now, in 2 weeks, we already have( 2) 4 ft boxes filled. Hubby is having to take out all the nails and cut the wood down, but I'm impressed and appreciative of his efforts.

So there is our story for now...