Update on life around here

Christmas is just around the corner and I'm all set. We've scaled back a bit this Christmas because of Hubby's work situation, but all is good for now (Dec) and I'm hoping we are will have a wonderful, relaxing Christmas. We both have next week off, so I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with hubby.

Hubby's work situation - every day there seems to be different developments. Last night the NEW OWNER finally showed up in our City and had a dinner meet and greet with all the remaining staff at a local downtown restaurant. Hubby was offered a titled position and the pay - good and not so good - a raise of $2.50 an hour - however, his work schedule is only "x" amount of hours, which will be less than what he is currently working now and the new company has stated that they do not approve and pay for overtime or bonuses, so in the end, even with the $2.50 an hour raise - he'll be making less. Yes, we are thankful he has a job and I'm glad we've been living a mindfully frugal lifestyle for the past few years, so I think we are better prepared than some of is fellow workers, but it's still going to hurt.

I will be receiving a Christmas Bonus from my job this Christmas, so I will put that amount into Savings once it's received, which I believe will be this coming pay day on the 14th. It is $1,000, but once taxes are taken off, I figured the actual amount I'll be receiving will be about $620.

My parents came to visit last week for 3 days, so we had a good time and they and my in laws get along really well, so we all spent some quality time together visiting and laughing - it was a good time and felt almost like a mini Christmas. We also did a nice "free" thing - we went to one of the local Garden/Nursery Centers that decorate about 25 Christmas trees, all in different styles.

My work Christmas party is this Friday evening, so we'll be going to that and then on Sunday we have another event to go to. Next Monday, we have an appointment scheduled for my SUV to go in, as one of the volume controls is not working properly and since we only have 3 more months of warranty left on it, we want to get it fixed (hopefully it's covered by warranty).

With all the over time hubby worked in Nov, we've been able to put aside a good chunk of change aside, to cover the shortfalls that his new pay cheques starting in Jan will have. We should be good for at least 3 months and then after 3 months, my SUV vehicle payments will be done. So all in all, we will be fine, it will be tight still, but we'll just have to do what we have to do, to make it work.

When to dip into the Emergecy Fund?

When is an emergency, really an emergency? I'm talking about when is it justifiable to use money inside of an Emergency Fund. I feel so darn guilty even thinking of having to use it in the New Year that I guess that's a good thing, at least I don't dip into it mindlessly - but still, when is it okay to do so? I know this will vary from person to person based on different situations, but what have been your experiences? I'm afraid that once we touch ours, we will never be able to rebuild it. I think this is why I really want to get our Line of Credit paid down as much as possible. It's not been a priority for us, because we keep current with our payments on it, the interest rate is really low and it's life and disability insured. By paying down the Line of Credit faster than we had previously expected, we will then free up extra money through the monthly budget. We still have a ways to go in paying it off, but the balance owing is decreasing, and that is always a good thing, because come the New Year and depending on hubby's work situation, we might not be able to throw extra onto it, so it's best to do whatever we can now.

Hubby has been able to get some overtime hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and hoping for some more tonight, as the merge between the 2 warehouses are now taking place. The new company is allowing over time for the next 2 weeks only. We are taking advantage of this, to make as much money as possible, so that we can bank the money.

Financially Poor?

Do you consider yourself financially poor? I do not perceive myself as "financially poor" though I'm sure everyone has their own definition. Each year our income has been dropping for the past 3 years, since hubby's pay has been decreasing with cuts in pay and hours from his job. I'm sure some of our acquaintances might think we are "financially poor", as hubby and I turn down all invitations to go out to the movies, concerts, dinner, lunch, etc with the excuse that it's just not something that we can afford right now. In actuality - can we afford it? - short answer is Yes - do we chose to make the choice of saving our money instead - Yes. Priority for us, is making sure all our bills are paid in full each month, whether it be the mortgage, insurance, electric or credit card.

We have monthly contributions to our Retirement Plans and Emergency Funds automatically deposited. We treat these as bills. Then whatever is left over, can be for the expenses of life. We contribute to the local SPCA/Animal Shelter each month and when we are flush with cash in a month, we try to make an additional contribution to the SPCA/Animal Shelter, above and beyond what we already do.

Do we have lavish amounts of extra cash left over each month - No. But we are secure in knowing our bills are paid and we have savings building up. In fact, most months, we don't have any extra cash for even an extra loaf of bread at the grocery store, but that's okay, our priorities are taken care of. We are definitely not contributing to Consumerism. There are many things we would like to buy, but they are merely wants. So we will not be buying them.

Hubby and I sat down the other day and talked (fantasized) what we would do if we had extra money each month going forward and we were both on the same page, our frugal ways have now become habit and we would just put more into savings for retirement. We wouldn't be out buying the latest fancy gadgets or vehicles. Our minds have made the switch of successfully determining "Needs" vs "Wants".

We have a very simple, yet balanced life, and we are happy together. We have everything we "need". We have made great memories together and will continue to do so in the future.

We probably don't make as much as our peers on an annual basis, but we do have our priorities taken care off and in the end, and that is what matters.

As some financial experts like to say "It's not how much you make, it's what you do with it"

Week In Review

Another week has gone by and 2 more people have been laid off at Hubby's work. We are still watching our pennies closely and trying to stock pile groceries and house hold essentials, like Toilet Paper, Laundry Detergent, in the event of a lay off. We are continuing to save as much as we can.

This weekend, we went out of our "regular routine/comfort zone" and began "really" reading ALL the flyer's, not just the ones where we regularly shop. We took advantage of different sales at 5 different places, a little more work and perhaps a little more driving around, but I feel we were able to save a reasonable amount, to justify the time and driving to different stores.

We also stocked up on some block cheese (mozza lite and Cheddar lite) that was on sale, and this morning I shredded it up and put it into medium sized Ziploc bags. In the past I would have just bought the cheese already shredded, so a little step in saving some money.

I also have a bunch of pampered chef stone ware items, that have been given to me over the past years, which are still in their original boxes, so I'm going to try to use one tonight, when I make a baked pasta dish - with no name pasta, and a different spaghetti sauce, in a can, that I was able to pick up for a fraction of the cost of the jar spaghetti sauce, I usually use. So I'll add that with some of my shredded cheese and hopefully it will be tasty.

It is very cold in our house, but I've put on warm socks and have an extra sweater on and when I'm sitting down, a nice big blanket to cover up with, so that we won't have to turn on the heat. Once I put the oven on for the pasta bake, the house should heat up a little.

Bye for now...

Every Little Bit Helps

In our quest to use up what we have in the pantry and freezer, we are still amazed at our grocery bill, and seeing how expensive fruit, vegetables and basics like milk, butter, etc are. Even though we are trying to watch our pennies, we still want to eat somewhat healthy. We do eat 5-7 fruits and/or vegetables servings at least 5 days of the week and we make sure to have at least 1 good source of protein a day, along with getting in our minerals and vitamins on a daily basis. Plus, we try to drink 2.5 litres of water a day, we are pretty good at this, for at least 5 days a week. We have to work on it, all coming together for 7 days a week, but for now, we'll do what we can.

I'm amazed at what we have in the back of our pantry and frustrated with myself, for letting some things, sit there, unused, that have expired years ago. However, I have still used them all, within the past weeks, with the exception of a bottle of lemon juice,and we haven't gotten sick, so I feel better by using them up, but, I will definately make more of an effort in not letting things just sit around and not be used up.

Saturday's are always our "errand" day, this way we can cut down on the gas used in the vehicle - I think it is mucher higher here in Canada than the States to fill up your tank, so we are trying to be conscious of our driving routes and cluster everywhere we have to go. I use the odd coupon here and there, on stuff that we usually buy. I ended up with an amazing deal this weekend, Walmart had Gilette Gel underarm deoderant on sale for $1.97, reg price is $3.48 here, I had a manufactors coupon for $5 off if you bought any 3 Gillette products. So since, Hubby would be needing more deoderant in the next couple of weeks, I bought him 3 at $1.97, used the coupon and all in all, paid only 91 cents for all 3. That is the best deal I've ever had. In the future, I'm going to try to pair up any coupons I receive when the stores have extreme deals on that particular product. I plan on going through our flyers more diligently from now on, and maybe this extra time, will result in more savings in our pocket.

The next 5 years...

Where do you see yourselves financially on 5 years? There is a bank commercial that plays on our local station that asks that this question, so it got me thinking. In 5years our mortgage will be a bit lower, our Registered Retirement Savings Account will hopefully be higher in value and both our vehicle loans will be paid off by them. We'll have more travel experiences under our belt, but other than that, I don't see too much different from where we are today, to where we will be in 5 years time.

Looking back on 5 years ago, alot has changed as in, I'm married now to my best friend, have a lovely detached bungalow (along with this comes a not so lovely mortgage), have an adorable little dog and have more in my retirement account and savings than before. We have a rental property (that really is more headache than I could have ever imagined).

What do your next 5 years look like?

Bonus

Yay, my boss called me in and said that he was giving me a $1,000 bonus. That was a nice surprise, so I haven't actually received it, but he filled out the paper work and sent it off to our Head Office, so that it can be added to my pay cheque. I'm not quite sure when I'll receive it, if not in the middle of the month pay cheque, then it should show up on the month end pay cheque. I'm not sure how much I will actually receive, after taxes, so I worked out a budget for the $500, $600 or $700 that I might receive net. Definates are: $100 will go into Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) as an extra contribution, $60 I will put into my own Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), $60 will go into hubby's Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), $100 will go towards our Cruise Vacation Money Market Fund (for 2014), $130 will pay for my Chi Flat Iron that I had to replace on the weekend and $50 will go towards flowers for our backyard.

April Recap

April turned out to be fairly decent, financially wise for us.

We were able to put an extra $75 into Registered Retirement Savings, had enough money to also fill up our SUV and F150 Truck, was able to put some money aside for some annual fees (that will be coming due in the next couple of months) and we were able to put $170 towards finishing off our back yard, Hubby figured we would need $185 to finish it, so we are only $15 short. That $15 will come from any extra we have at the end of May.

All in all, a great month - financially. I am definitely struggling in the mind set of staying on weight watchers though. I seem to be dedicated more to saving and budgeting money, than I am to sticking with a diet (or new way of eating). I really must get on track. I've noticed that when I'm really focused with a diet, I'm not so good in staying within budget and on the flip side, when I'm really focused on the finances, I'm not so good with the diet.

Met with our Financial Advisor...

We met with our Financial Advisor last week and some of the recommendations he made were: we should try to be as even in our Registered Retirement Savings Plan Balances as possible - hubby currently has about $15,000 more in his RSPs, so we are gong to be opening up a Spousal RSP in my name, with hubby as the contributor. He will continue his RSP savings and matching savings with his group work plan, but will now contribute monthly to the Spousal RSP Plan instead of his individual plan, that he has separate from his work. The other suggestion was to reduce how many credit cards we have. We have 3 that we use on a continuous basis (but ALWAYS pay off the balances each month) and some cards that we have for " Just in case... scenerios" that we haven't used in ages, so our advisor suggested that we should cancel the cards we don't use.

So yesterday, we opened up a Spousal RSP Plan and we cancelled the extra credit cards that we never use. I have to admit that I was little apprehensive about cancelling the cards (even though we haven't used them for years), because I always worry about what if one day we need it..though in reality we wouldn't need it - at least that's what I keep telling myself.

All in all, he said that we were on the right track and he liked the idea that we were paying extra on our mortgage each month.

Gift Card Purchase

The above necklace and earring set, I picked up yesterday at a shop in the Mall, that I had a gift card for, from Christmas. I love fashion/costume jewelery. This set was regularly $24, but it was 30% off yesterday, so I purchased it with a gift card I had. The total came to $17 and change and the gift card was for $100, so I still have approx $82 left to indulge in. I saw many things I liked, I just couldn't bring myself to spend more of the gift card. I really do find it harder and harder to spend. I guess this is a good thing.

Saving Sidebars...

I wish I knew how to do the sidebars, that so many other great blogs have, along with some images, but ... I'm not very computer savvy. If I could figure out the whole sidebar thing, I would put up one for our "fabulous Cruise Vacation in 2014", the "additional RSP contribution", "Christmas Savings" to name a few.

I keep track for my own records, on Excel Spread Sheets. I find that visually seeing each category grow, makes me strive even harder to continue on the saving path.

Happy Savings Everyone!

House Maintenance Fund

Do you have a house maintenance fund? We don't. We pay for house maintenance as it happens, through our Grocery/Misc Budget allowance. Gail Vaz-Oxlade, the host of 'Til Debt Do Us Part, says that everyone should have a house maintenance fund in addition to an Emergency Savings. I'm feeling stretched to the limit with all that "we are supposed to be saving" according to the experts. Life needs to be about balance and I feel really strongly on this point. I wonder how many people out there in the general public, even have an emergency fund that could sustain them through 6-8 months of unemployment (factoring in unemployment insurance), let alone a house maintenance fund. I think it's a good thing to have, but I know for us, if we need to repair something, we just adjust our grocery budget to account for it, so that we still remain within our over all budget.

Ahh, the 1st of the Month...

I love the 1st of the month, because I'm weird, and I love the thrill of paying the bills. Paying off our credit cards in full each month, assures me that our budget planning is working and I know that with each payment, our mortgage is one step closer to getting paid off, our vehicle loans are one step closer to being paid off and our Savings are growing each month. We had $45 extra left over this month from our budget so I put $20 towards liquid savings and $25 towards my RSP.

I feel very optimistic going into April, how about you?

Our Registered Retirement Savings...

I really feel like we should be putting another $200 a month into RSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) in order to secure a better financial future, for ourselves. Currently, between hubby and myself and our employer contributions, we have $650 going in a month. I would really love to see that number increased to $850 a month, but for now we just don't have the extra funds to do it. I've decided that any "extra" money left over from our budget will now be going into the RSPs, as every little bit helps. So we had an extra $20 left over from the budget from last month, so I put it into my RSP, as hubby currently has more in RSPs than I do. I would like us to try to be as even in our Retirement Savings, in retirement, as possible.

In order to keep track of how much extra, over the course of a year we can put towards my RSP, I have made up a spread sheet. I am looking forward at seeing what all these actual little contributions add up to, by the end of the year.

March is a long month...

In more ways than one. I can't wait until Spring and to see some off our heaps of snow start to melt. I wrote out our budget, and because of the extra week this month seems to have, we must be extra diligent, with watching where our money is being spent. On top of the tight budget, I had to end up going to the Dr's as the back pain returned but it just didn't feel right and sure enough, after some tests it's come back that I have an infection in the area of the back pain (Dr said that it's either bladder or kidney) so I'm on some antibiotics - which of course cost some money that will now have to be worked into the budget.

But all in all, I am so pleased with Hubby and myself for sticking to our reduced spending over the past year. I really love seeing our savings grow and becoming more aware of where and how we spend our money. Over the past year, some of things we are proud off is: cutting our gas bill down by being more efficient when we are out running errands; using the library resources for books, music and movies which has allowed us to cut down on our entertainment budget; not buying "precut" vegetables and salads - I used to be guilty of this, but have since changed my ways; reduced the amount of meat we eat in a week; there are more, but that is all I can think of right now. Sometimes I think we all need to stop and reflect on what positive changes we have acoomplished and in return that will help keeps us on the right track with our financial journies. Due to the changes we've been able to establish, March may be tight, but it's doable and we won't be going into any debt or getting stressed out, by bills.

Sold My Silver Yesterday

I've been missing in action, as this is my work's busy time. I had mentioned before that my boss in 2009 had given me as a Christmas present of 1kg of Silver. He follows the markets regularly, so he said that this week, he thought would be a good time to sell it as it's made a nice gain. So yesterday, Silver was up, so I sold it. After the all the fees associated with it, I ended up with $889.07. It would have been tempting to buy a snowblower with it - but I didn't - I put $440 into my TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) and $440 into hubby's TFSA account. The remaining $9.07 will go towards the parking I had to pay in acting on this transaction. I love seeing our accounts grow - it may not be by leaps and bounds, but at least it's moving in the right direction.

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.

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.

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.