Okay, I'm opening this in Firefox again on a different computer and it works. I guess I'm going to have to try putting Firefox on my laptop (I normally use Internet Explorer) and see if it works consistently. Right now I have a sample of 2 attempts, 2 successes. Interesting, but not statistically significant.
Today is Wednesday and I just got paid. I've been working a bunch of extra hours because my co-worker has been taking vacation so why don't I have very much money? I got my vacation pay for the year on my last cheque and didn't transfer it right away into ING (bad girl). I wanted to do that today, but that will only leave me with just under $600 and all my bill payments and end of month/beginning of month expenses that come out automatically total more than that! Plus, it might be nice to be able to buy groceries and gas for the next two weeks and I'm planning to go to the house for the BC Day long weekend just prior to when I get paid again. Translation? I've been spending my vacation pay and I'm not going to be able to fix it until after the next payday (which will also be for more hours than normal). What I really should do at that point is to transfer the money as fast as I can, because what's sitting in ING can't be frittered away.
I'm actually going to pay the bills from my laptop later (because I then save a print screen of the confirmations) but here's a list of what I'm planning to pay today (although not the exact amounts because I don't have them with me).
MasterCard $90, my usual every 2 weeks payment
Shaw internet ~$45
Bell cell ~$90
H2O ~$40
IKEA ~$45, the full balance owing from my trip there a couple of weeks ago
In other words, just over $300 worth of payments. And I want to get to my credit union so I can deposit my BC Benefit and another small cheque into my rural credit union account to cover my monthly service charge and the electric bill that will be coming out shortly. I think that's pretty good for today.
EDIT: Okay, I didn't get to the credit union (truthfully, I forgot all about it) but I did pay a total of $334.91 on those 5 bills and the 2 cheques to be deposited are sitting in my purse. I've been looking at my MasterCard statements and I see that sometimes (more often than I had realized) I only pay once, which really just takes care of the interest. I've made reducing my MasterCard debt by at least $100/month one of my mini goals now and I'll be keeping a closer eye on it. I actually want to get that card down below $5,000 before the end of the year. That would mean I'd have to pay off a little less than $900 in 6 months time ($150/month). We'll see how that goes.
Showing posts with label benefit cheques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefit cheques. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Payday and New Glasses
Today was payday Wednesday. What did I accomplish?
Well, for starters, let's look at a couple of things that didn't make it into my previous post. When I went to our rural house this past weekend I got to catch up on 6 or 7 months of mail! Fun. I really don't get a lot of mail there. There's my monthly statement from my credit union there, but I can check that online. And there's a bunch of stuff from the guy who is the MLA for that constituency, some of which is interesting to read because it brings up issues that are local to that area (things I don't see on TV or read in the paper in the city) but it's all just FYI stuff.
Then there's the "boil water advisory" from the local water system. I wasn't around for that, or the rescinding of same, but reading it (there's at least one at some point every year) reminds me of why I use bottled water. Okay, that and looking at yellow water with stuff swirling around in it when I take water from the tap.
But the most important mail that arrived in my absence was from the government: my property assessment, my property tax assessment and my rural garbage bill. I paid my property taxes a couple of months late last year and somehow never got around to paying the garbage bill. This year it's been rolled over onto my property taxes, which are due July 2nd. My assessment was interesting. The value of the property went up last year by a few grand but I'm paying property taxes this year based on the previous year's lower value. This has to do with the whole real estate decline and the economy. For this year, they're looking at both years and just charging based on whichever was the lowest year. That's fine with me!
The garbage bill bugs me. I'm rarely there. We put out garbage or recycling there maybe 6 or 8 times per year, but I have to pay for weekly pickup because there's no provision for pay-as-you-go. Last year it was about $120, or $10 per month. Since I'm behind on last year's payment I now owe about $133, what with penalties and interest. This year's bill is $165 or $13.75 per month. It's already due, but it has to be paid by the end of August or there's a penalty. The tax bill, including last year's garbage bill, has to be paid by July 2nd or there's a penalty on that.
So, how am I going to pay these? My original "plan" was to put money away for this every month. That hasn't happened on a regular basis although I have some money. I also got a very nice bonus, in that a cheque from Terasen was sitting at the house, waiting for me. Remember how I was getting billed for gas last year even though I couldn't possibly use it? Well, I had successfully argued the bill and it was eventually reversed. However, I'd already paid over $60 in gas bills initially. The cheque (which luckily wasn't stale dated yet) was a refund for all that! The night that I went into town I popped that money into my rural credit union account along with the BC Benefit cheque I regularly direct into there. Now I have to remember to transfer money into there from ING to pay the balance owing on the property taxes. I'm going to be out there from July 1st to 5th, so I'll go into town on the 2nd and pay my taxes in person on their due date.
As for this year's garbage bill, I'm going to have to come up with money for it by the end of August and I'll probably wait until close to that point to pay it. Okay, so that catches me up on the rural finances. Let's get to payday!
I worked slightly fewer hours than usual this pay period and my cheque reflected that. However, I also got a cheque for a side project I'd taken on. My regular cheque will cover the usual end of the month/beginning of the month bills. The extra cheque means that I'm finally getting my new glasses!
I went for an eye exam this afternoon and Dear Child helped me select my new frames at Lenscrafters! If I had simple vision problems and a mild correction I'd have my new glasses by now but, alas, I have to wait 10 days. I have astigmatism, am severely near-sighted, have also become far-sighted in my old age and have corneal issues. However, the lenses were currently 50% off, so my expensive lenses now cost what normal lenses usually cost. And I wouldn't look at frames that cost over $200. That limited me quite a bit, since I also can't wear the kind that has a plastic bridge. The little nose piece has to be adjustable because the bridge of my nose is quite narrow and, even with high index lightweight lenses, they're fairly heavy. Glasses with a molded plastic bridge continually fall down my nose and I'm perpetually pushing them up.
The total cost of the glasses was just under $450, including tax, and the eye exam was $95. We have a glasses clause in our extended medical through Hubby's work that pays $150 toward glasses every couple of years. I'm not sure if the eye exam is also covered or not, but it was worth it to me to have it today. I couldn't get into my opthamologist until mid-September and I've already been putting up with these broken glasses for 3 whole months. I'm tired of them falling off when I bend my head and I'll really feel safer driving when I replace them!
My cell bill is due, but I need to call them and make them explain $25 odd in extra charges (minutes that were billed at .35 per minute). Since almost all my calls involve my Fab Five or whatever they call it, I can't imagine how I have calls that exceed my basic number of minutes. The one thing I liked better about Fido (okay, there had to be *something* good about them) was that every single call was listed on the bill, in or out, with the number of seconds and how much, if anything, I was charged for it. What I may do is just pay the regular amount owing, plus my .70 in long distance charges and then dispute the balance. But, at least, I'll be mostly current.
So that's it. I spent a huge amount of money on myself today and, yes Abby, I feel guilty! But we are supposed to get $150 of it back and I haven't had new glasses in at least 5 years and maybe as long as 8 years. I know I needed them, but it would have been nice to pay down debt instead.
Well, for starters, let's look at a couple of things that didn't make it into my previous post. When I went to our rural house this past weekend I got to catch up on 6 or 7 months of mail! Fun. I really don't get a lot of mail there. There's my monthly statement from my credit union there, but I can check that online. And there's a bunch of stuff from the guy who is the MLA for that constituency, some of which is interesting to read because it brings up issues that are local to that area (things I don't see on TV or read in the paper in the city) but it's all just FYI stuff.
Then there's the "boil water advisory" from the local water system. I wasn't around for that, or the rescinding of same, but reading it (there's at least one at some point every year) reminds me of why I use bottled water. Okay, that and looking at yellow water with stuff swirling around in it when I take water from the tap.
But the most important mail that arrived in my absence was from the government: my property assessment, my property tax assessment and my rural garbage bill. I paid my property taxes a couple of months late last year and somehow never got around to paying the garbage bill. This year it's been rolled over onto my property taxes, which are due July 2nd. My assessment was interesting. The value of the property went up last year by a few grand but I'm paying property taxes this year based on the previous year's lower value. This has to do with the whole real estate decline and the economy. For this year, they're looking at both years and just charging based on whichever was the lowest year. That's fine with me!
The garbage bill bugs me. I'm rarely there. We put out garbage or recycling there maybe 6 or 8 times per year, but I have to pay for weekly pickup because there's no provision for pay-as-you-go. Last year it was about $120, or $10 per month. Since I'm behind on last year's payment I now owe about $133, what with penalties and interest. This year's bill is $165 or $13.75 per month. It's already due, but it has to be paid by the end of August or there's a penalty. The tax bill, including last year's garbage bill, has to be paid by July 2nd or there's a penalty on that.
So, how am I going to pay these? My original "plan" was to put money away for this every month. That hasn't happened on a regular basis although I have some money. I also got a very nice bonus, in that a cheque from Terasen was sitting at the house, waiting for me. Remember how I was getting billed for gas last year even though I couldn't possibly use it? Well, I had successfully argued the bill and it was eventually reversed. However, I'd already paid over $60 in gas bills initially. The cheque (which luckily wasn't stale dated yet) was a refund for all that! The night that I went into town I popped that money into my rural credit union account along with the BC Benefit cheque I regularly direct into there. Now I have to remember to transfer money into there from ING to pay the balance owing on the property taxes. I'm going to be out there from July 1st to 5th, so I'll go into town on the 2nd and pay my taxes in person on their due date.
As for this year's garbage bill, I'm going to have to come up with money for it by the end of August and I'll probably wait until close to that point to pay it. Okay, so that catches me up on the rural finances. Let's get to payday!
I worked slightly fewer hours than usual this pay period and my cheque reflected that. However, I also got a cheque for a side project I'd taken on. My regular cheque will cover the usual end of the month/beginning of the month bills. The extra cheque means that I'm finally getting my new glasses!
I went for an eye exam this afternoon and Dear Child helped me select my new frames at Lenscrafters! If I had simple vision problems and a mild correction I'd have my new glasses by now but, alas, I have to wait 10 days. I have astigmatism, am severely near-sighted, have also become far-sighted in my old age and have corneal issues. However, the lenses were currently 50% off, so my expensive lenses now cost what normal lenses usually cost. And I wouldn't look at frames that cost over $200. That limited me quite a bit, since I also can't wear the kind that has a plastic bridge. The little nose piece has to be adjustable because the bridge of my nose is quite narrow and, even with high index lightweight lenses, they're fairly heavy. Glasses with a molded plastic bridge continually fall down my nose and I'm perpetually pushing them up.
The total cost of the glasses was just under $450, including tax, and the eye exam was $95. We have a glasses clause in our extended medical through Hubby's work that pays $150 toward glasses every couple of years. I'm not sure if the eye exam is also covered or not, but it was worth it to me to have it today. I couldn't get into my opthamologist until mid-September and I've already been putting up with these broken glasses for 3 whole months. I'm tired of them falling off when I bend my head and I'll really feel safer driving when I replace them!
My cell bill is due, but I need to call them and make them explain $25 odd in extra charges (minutes that were billed at .35 per minute). Since almost all my calls involve my Fab Five or whatever they call it, I can't imagine how I have calls that exceed my basic number of minutes. The one thing I liked better about Fido (okay, there had to be *something* good about them) was that every single call was listed on the bill, in or out, with the number of seconds and how much, if anything, I was charged for it. What I may do is just pay the regular amount owing, plus my .70 in long distance charges and then dispute the balance. But, at least, I'll be mostly current.
So that's it. I spent a huge amount of money on myself today and, yes Abby, I feel guilty! But we are supposed to get $150 of it back and I haven't had new glasses in at least 5 years and maybe as long as 8 years. I know I needed them, but it would have been nice to pay down debt instead.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Ticking Items Off the List
Well, I was busy today! No, I didn't tile the floors, but we did move a bookshelf from the living room into the bedroom (which necessitated moving a bunch of stuff and tipping my bed on its side so we could get the bookshelf upright -- love those 7 foot ceilings!). It was blocking the glass front one that I wanted hubby to attach to the wall in the living room. Somehow we never got that far.
But I did clear off our nightable and windowsill and clean them. I also cleaned the inside of our bedroom window and the outside of ALL our windows! We vacuumed under my bed while it was on its side and my hubby filled the new bookshelf with all his music and sports magazines.
Maybe we can finish with the glass front shelves tomorrow. Then I can empty the 6 boxes in Dear Child's room into there.
On Friday I finally got my missing pay and my benefit cheque as well as two other small ones. I made it to both banks and also used the credit union ATM to deposit to my other credit union account in the Okanagan. The benefit cheque went in there to cover 2 months worth of electic at the house, the pay one went into the credit union here to pay for part of the cost of Dog's upcoming vacation and the other 2 cheques reduced my overdraft slightly.
Oh yes, and I baked cinnamon buns today! I was busy, I tell you.
But I did clear off our nightable and windowsill and clean them. I also cleaned the inside of our bedroom window and the outside of ALL our windows! We vacuumed under my bed while it was on its side and my hubby filled the new bookshelf with all his music and sports magazines.
Maybe we can finish with the glass front shelves tomorrow. Then I can empty the 6 boxes in Dear Child's room into there.
On Friday I finally got my missing pay and my benefit cheque as well as two other small ones. I made it to both banks and also used the credit union ATM to deposit to my other credit union account in the Okanagan. The benefit cheque went in there to cover 2 months worth of electic at the house, the pay one went into the credit union here to pay for part of the cost of Dog's upcoming vacation and the other 2 cheques reduced my overdraft slightly.
Oh yes, and I baked cinnamon buns today! I was busy, I tell you.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Preparing to Pay Home Depot
All the money I transferred from ING last week is sitting in my account, waiting. Hubby should get a cheque tomorrow that he can deposit before the weekend. Friday is a short day and a tough one to get any kind of running around done before candlelighting, but I want to try to get to Home Depot to pay them tomorrow afternoon! I want Hubby to go into a branch and deposit his cheque at a teller so there won't be any possibility of any holds and then for us to go together to pay the bill off. He can pay $650 via Interac from his account and I can pay the balance from mine and then we'll be done!
Well, at least we'll be done paying that bill. We'll still be very tight for at least the first half of February and possibly for the whole month. But paying down about $1,800 of debt in the first 5 weeks of the year has got to be a pretty good feeling. I mean, generally speaking, I'd be pretty happy to be able to pay down $1,800 of debt in 5 months, never mind 5 weeks.
Once we catch our breath we can start working on the credit cards. I'd personally be thrilled if I could cut my credit card debt by 1/3 by the end of the year. $2,000 divided by 10 months is $200 in principal to pay down each month. And right now the interest charge is about $90 per month. So, if I can start to pay $300 per month on my credit card I should be able to achieve that goal. But can I really do that? I don't know. I know I've budgeted for at least $180 per month. That would drop my principal by only about $90 per month and would have me paying down only about $900 by the end of the year. Still, that's a $900 improvement over where I am right now. I'd rather aim high though.
I'm hoping that when I do our taxes this year I'll find that my BC Benefit increases once they recalculate it for July. It should. We both earned less in 2008 than we did in 2007. If so, maybe I can snowflake the increase towards paying my credit card. I never expect a big tax refund. It's usually in the $50 range, but that can go directly to paying down debt too.
We're going to be debt free sooner or later. Preferably sooner!
Well, at least we'll be done paying that bill. We'll still be very tight for at least the first half of February and possibly for the whole month. But paying down about $1,800 of debt in the first 5 weeks of the year has got to be a pretty good feeling. I mean, generally speaking, I'd be pretty happy to be able to pay down $1,800 of debt in 5 months, never mind 5 weeks.
Once we catch our breath we can start working on the credit cards. I'd personally be thrilled if I could cut my credit card debt by 1/3 by the end of the year. $2,000 divided by 10 months is $200 in principal to pay down each month. And right now the interest charge is about $90 per month. So, if I can start to pay $300 per month on my credit card I should be able to achieve that goal. But can I really do that? I don't know. I know I've budgeted for at least $180 per month. That would drop my principal by only about $90 per month and would have me paying down only about $900 by the end of the year. Still, that's a $900 improvement over where I am right now. I'd rather aim high though.
I'm hoping that when I do our taxes this year I'll find that my BC Benefit increases once they recalculate it for July. It should. We both earned less in 2008 than we did in 2007. If so, maybe I can snowflake the increase towards paying my credit card. I never expect a big tax refund. It's usually in the $50 range, but that can go directly to paying down debt too.
We're going to be debt free sooner or later. Preferably sooner!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Baby Step
Well, my UCCB cheque finally showed up today but I was stuck in the house with all 3 girls because today was a Professional Development day at Dear Child's school. Why was I stuck? Well, I had no car and no car seats. My son-in-law drove his van to work with 2 of the car seats and my hubby took our car with the remaining one. I really didn't mind that much because he hardly ever has it any more since he started riding his bike to work. Besides, I'll have to have the van tomorrow so I can ferry DC to and from school, plus pick up my Dear Granddaughter at school in the middle of the day. Days like that I pretty much spend my time buckling and unbuckling car seats containing small children.
The only reason I would have wanted a vehicle today would have been to drive to the credit union and I ended up doing that after work this evening. I put the whole $100 cheque into VanCity, which will forward it to my own credit union. I needed about $65 for the electric bill and just under $10 for the service charge at the end of the month and it was simpler to deposit this cheque than to deposit the $56 one that came on Friday plus a cheque from my own (deep in overdraft) bank account. There won't be an electric bill in December but I'll still have to pay the service charge on the account and that will use up another $10.
Now, my only concern is whether the transfer into my own credit union account will be complete by Thursday, when the electric bill comes out....
The only reason I would have wanted a vehicle today would have been to drive to the credit union and I ended up doing that after work this evening. I put the whole $100 cheque into VanCity, which will forward it to my own credit union. I needed about $65 for the electric bill and just under $10 for the service charge at the end of the month and it was simpler to deposit this cheque than to deposit the $56 one that came on Friday plus a cheque from my own (deep in overdraft) bank account. There won't be an electric bill in December but I'll still have to pay the service charge on the account and that will use up another $10.
Now, my only concern is whether the transfer into my own credit union account will be complete by Thursday, when the electric bill comes out....
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hunkering Down
Right now I feel like I'm just hunkering down, being really quiet until payday rolls around again next Wednesday.
If I hadn't publicly stated that I wasn't going to use my MasterCard this month I might be tempted to put $20 worth of gas and $20 or $30 worth of groceries on the card, even though it would be dangerous. Right now I'm so close to my limit that just the accrued interest could tip me overlimit if I don't make an appropriate payment next week so charging anything more would be a very poor choice.
I'm close to my overdraft limit on my regular bank account and I have to transfer money into my credit union account for a payment that will come out Thursday so I'm not spending any money at the moment. To make things just that little bit tighter, my monthly UCCB cheque for $100 hasn't arrived yet. I'm hoping it will show up tomorrow.
But, in the meantime, I'm figuring out what we have for dinner for the next couple of nights. I think Monday will be fried eggs and hash browns. Tuesday we can have lemon pepper linguine with butter and the last of the mozzarella cheese. As for breakfast, we have a couple of packets of oatmeal, a box of frozen waffles, plenty of cold cereal and enough of my morning protein drink to last us until payday. There are apples, a few cookies (2 types), a couple of granola bars and some flavoured applesauce for snacks, with challah and 2 types of cream cheese for sandwiches.
So why do I feel so deprived? We're not starving; we just don't have all our preferred junk foods around at the moment. I'll be able to go shopping Wednesday night (although I probably should make sure I eat something before I go or I might buy out the store!). It's just very interesting to see how I'm reacting.
If I hadn't publicly stated that I wasn't going to use my MasterCard this month I might be tempted to put $20 worth of gas and $20 or $30 worth of groceries on the card, even though it would be dangerous. Right now I'm so close to my limit that just the accrued interest could tip me overlimit if I don't make an appropriate payment next week so charging anything more would be a very poor choice.
I'm close to my overdraft limit on my regular bank account and I have to transfer money into my credit union account for a payment that will come out Thursday so I'm not spending any money at the moment. To make things just that little bit tighter, my monthly UCCB cheque for $100 hasn't arrived yet. I'm hoping it will show up tomorrow.
But, in the meantime, I'm figuring out what we have for dinner for the next couple of nights. I think Monday will be fried eggs and hash browns. Tuesday we can have lemon pepper linguine with butter and the last of the mozzarella cheese. As for breakfast, we have a couple of packets of oatmeal, a box of frozen waffles, plenty of cold cereal and enough of my morning protein drink to last us until payday. There are apples, a few cookies (2 types), a couple of granola bars and some flavoured applesauce for snacks, with challah and 2 types of cream cheese for sandwiches.
So why do I feel so deprived? We're not starving; we just don't have all our preferred junk foods around at the moment. I'll be able to go shopping Wednesday night (although I probably should make sure I eat something before I go or I might buy out the store!). It's just very interesting to see how I'm reacting.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday on Thursday
I didn't do anything about Won't Wait Wednesday yesterday because I was working. Normally I'm home with the little girls then and I work in the evening but my son-in-law's folks have been here for a few days and his mother watched the girls Monday and Wednesday. That meant I got to work 2 full days instead of 2 half ones, for a net gain of 6 hours! Sweet.
I worked all day today too, but my brain clicked on and I realized there were some things I needed to take care of. I got a couple of bills online over the past few days so I checked them out. The important one was my MasterCard.
I'm within about $50 of my limit, which is not a good scenario. That's even with the $81.36 dental reimbursement I put towards the card earlier because my interest charge was bigger than that payment!
The good news is that I only made a small donation to charity on the MasterCard in October. I don't feel badly about that because it was for a tribute card I sent to someone back east who'd had a heart attack. This month I haven't charged anything.
I don't have a minimum payment due but it would be a huge mistake to fail to make a payment because the interest alone will push me overlimit. So the absolute minimum I have to pay next Wednesday is the amount of the interest that was charged last month plus the amount I charged, about $114. But ideally, I want to pay the 3% that is the normal minimum payment demanded on a card, about $180. I'll have some extra pay for these hours I worked this week but not that much, especially once the deductions come off. We'll just have to see.
I also have an electric bill that is due to come out of my credit union account automatically next week (for the house) and I need to put money in now to cover that because it takes a few days when I deposit in a different credit union's ATM. I got the smaller of my 2 government cheques, the BC Benefit one, today but it's for $56 and they're taking out about $64, so I have to deposit other money too so there will be enough for that and the service charges.
If I can, I'll do it tomorrow but Fridays just keep getting shorter until mid-December and I have things to get for Shabbat, plus my regular passbook to update. I work until almost 2 pm, pick up Dear Child from school at 2, run my errands, dash home to make sure the food will all be ready by candlelighting at 4:06 pm!
I expect to be asleep right after dinner tomorrow night! After all, I can't watch TV or be on the computer on Shabbat. I usually read but when I'm tired that just puts me right to sleep.
I worked all day today too, but my brain clicked on and I realized there were some things I needed to take care of. I got a couple of bills online over the past few days so I checked them out. The important one was my MasterCard.
I'm within about $50 of my limit, which is not a good scenario. That's even with the $81.36 dental reimbursement I put towards the card earlier because my interest charge was bigger than that payment!
The good news is that I only made a small donation to charity on the MasterCard in October. I don't feel badly about that because it was for a tribute card I sent to someone back east who'd had a heart attack. This month I haven't charged anything.
I don't have a minimum payment due but it would be a huge mistake to fail to make a payment because the interest alone will push me overlimit. So the absolute minimum I have to pay next Wednesday is the amount of the interest that was charged last month plus the amount I charged, about $114. But ideally, I want to pay the 3% that is the normal minimum payment demanded on a card, about $180. I'll have some extra pay for these hours I worked this week but not that much, especially once the deductions come off. We'll just have to see.
I also have an electric bill that is due to come out of my credit union account automatically next week (for the house) and I need to put money in now to cover that because it takes a few days when I deposit in a different credit union's ATM. I got the smaller of my 2 government cheques, the BC Benefit one, today but it's for $56 and they're taking out about $64, so I have to deposit other money too so there will be enough for that and the service charges.
If I can, I'll do it tomorrow but Fridays just keep getting shorter until mid-December and I have things to get for Shabbat, plus my regular passbook to update. I work until almost 2 pm, pick up Dear Child from school at 2, run my errands, dash home to make sure the food will all be ready by candlelighting at 4:06 pm!
I expect to be asleep right after dinner tomorrow night! After all, I can't watch TV or be on the computer on Shabbat. I usually read but when I'm tired that just puts me right to sleep.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It Won't Wait Wednesday Returns
I got kind of out of the habit of taking care of outstanding tasks during all the recent religious holidays, but I'm back into it today with a vengeance!
First, I updated my passbook at the bank on the way to work this morning. My paycheque was in there and it was about $110 more than my average pay because of the extra hours I worked the other week. Of course, it would have looked much more impressive in there if I hadn't been almost $300 into overdraft.
So, then I started paying bills.
IKEA is HISTORY! Totally paid off!
I paid one month on my water bill and one month (last month) on my cell bill. I only just got a notification about my cell bill the other day and realized that I hadn't had one last month. So, I paid it now and will try to pay the rest in 2 weeks.
I've also finally written the cheque for the plumber. I have stamps. I just need to find an envelope so I can mail it tonight.
All of that puts me back about $50 into overdraft (at least it would if the cheque I just wrote were to go through today) so I've also initiated a transfer of $100 from my ING vacation pay account back into my chequing. This was money I should have transfered last month to cover the 2 vacation days I took during Sukkot. And I'll have my 2 government cheques totalling $156 coming between the 20th and the end of the month. At least one of them and probably both will come before my next payday (2 weeks from today).
I still have about $20 on the Safeway card I got at the beginning of the month and I'll ask Hubby for $100 for another one when he gets paid at the end of the week, but I'm not sure he'll be able to. After all, he has to pay at least that much for the repair to his bike and we're going to have to pay for a new partial plate for him after all. Glue just isn't holding it. I'm not sure if any of that will be covered by his extended medical. We'll see.
Anyway, when all's said and done, I should have about $200 to last me for 2 weeks. Plus I could go back into overdraft but I'm trying not to. I still haven't used the credit card and I'm planning not to use it at all this month. I'd like to pay another $100 on my MasterCard on the 26th but I don't think I'll be able to because I have to pay about $90 on my cell bill.
We're not doing tremendously well, but we're hanging in there and trying not to go any further into debt. If things like this bike accident and the car repair would stop happening we'd be fine!
First, I updated my passbook at the bank on the way to work this morning. My paycheque was in there and it was about $110 more than my average pay because of the extra hours I worked the other week. Of course, it would have looked much more impressive in there if I hadn't been almost $300 into overdraft.
So, then I started paying bills.
IKEA is HISTORY! Totally paid off!
I paid one month on my water bill and one month (last month) on my cell bill. I only just got a notification about my cell bill the other day and realized that I hadn't had one last month. So, I paid it now and will try to pay the rest in 2 weeks.
I've also finally written the cheque for the plumber. I have stamps. I just need to find an envelope so I can mail it tonight.
All of that puts me back about $50 into overdraft (at least it would if the cheque I just wrote were to go through today) so I've also initiated a transfer of $100 from my ING vacation pay account back into my chequing. This was money I should have transfered last month to cover the 2 vacation days I took during Sukkot. And I'll have my 2 government cheques totalling $156 coming between the 20th and the end of the month. At least one of them and probably both will come before my next payday (2 weeks from today).
I still have about $20 on the Safeway card I got at the beginning of the month and I'll ask Hubby for $100 for another one when he gets paid at the end of the week, but I'm not sure he'll be able to. After all, he has to pay at least that much for the repair to his bike and we're going to have to pay for a new partial plate for him after all. Glue just isn't holding it. I'm not sure if any of that will be covered by his extended medical. We'll see.
Anyway, when all's said and done, I should have about $200 to last me for 2 weeks. Plus I could go back into overdraft but I'm trying not to. I still haven't used the credit card and I'm planning not to use it at all this month. I'd like to pay another $100 on my MasterCard on the 26th but I don't think I'll be able to because I have to pay about $90 on my cell bill.
We're not doing tremendously well, but we're hanging in there and trying not to go any further into debt. If things like this bike accident and the car repair would stop happening we'd be fine!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Sometimes People Just Don't Get It
I just read 7 Surefire Ways to Stay Poor by Liz Pulliam Weston and, with all due respect, Liz just doesn't get it.
She starts strong, talking about a friend who drives a clunker but pays a hefty car payment. When she asks about it, she finds out that the friend's previous car needed $2,000 in repairs (been there, done that) and she couldn't afford it. Because she had bad credit, a dealership set her up with a used car at an astronomical interest rate. The payments were just barely affordable. But the point is, they were affordable and there was no way she could pay $2,000 up front. Her friend did what she had to do.
Liz is right. It's not a great solution. And it may cause further problems for her friend if paying this big car payment means she can't take care of routine maintenance or put money away in an emergency fund or pay down her credit cards (which were maxed).
But, if you're poor, you do what you have to do. If you think she shouldn't have taken the car loan then come up with a better solution that is actually feasible, given your friend's circumstances.
I've dealt with this situation twice. The first time (before I remarried) I sold the car for scrap and started taking the bus to work. Then we had a bus strike. Two wonderful co-workers drove way out of their way to pick me up in the mornings during the strike and I walked home (an hour walk) at night. This time, my hubby got an advance on commissions and increased his credit limit. But, if we couldn't have done those things or gotten a loan (either from the bank or a family member) we too would have had to trade the car for a used one.
I'm unimpressed by much of the rest of her, well, I can't even call it advice. For example, Liz notes that one of the ways the poor stay poor is by overspending on the big items (rent, mortgage, car payment) rather than on the little ones (too many visits to Starbucks). Her advice, such as it is? Just don't spend more than 30% on shelter or 10% on a car.
If you're poor or if you suddenly become poor (by job loss or divorce) that may be difficult to impossible to do. Moving isn't cheap, even if you do it yourself with a friend's truck. There are still deposits and all sorts of connection fees (gas, electric, phone) to pay. You may not be able to sell your own place or break your lease. You may not be able to move out of an expensive city because of custody agreements for your kids.
Yes, there may be some ways to economize while you wait for a buyer or the anniversary date on your lease. If you have any extra rooms you could try to rent them out to students. If you aren't upside down on your car you could try to sell it privately and then buy a decent used one. If the situation is new to you, there are probably a lot of little expenses you could cut out. But if you've been poor for any length of time you've probably done all that and hearing all the same suggestions over and over is liable to get on your last nerve.
When she talks about credit cards she says to just stop using credit if you can't pay your bill in full. Then pay far more than the minimum until you wipe out the debt. What about when you're a few days from payday and there's no milk or bread in the house, and no gas in the car you must drive in order to keep your job? Do you say "Mustn't use the credit cards?" or do you just charge the minimum amount that will feed your kids and get you to work until payday?
How do you pay more than the minimum payment when you can't even afford the minimum?
Liz talks about the danger of considering only the monthly payment in determining affordability and warns against using payday lenders or rent-to-own places. Now, payday lenders are a huge, huge problem. I hate that they can charge something like 300% interest and would like to see them legislated out of existence. But I know someone who uses them to cash her BC Benefit and UCCB cheques. I think they charge something like $3 per cheque but this person uses them because she doesn't have a drivers licence or any other acceptable photo ID and therefore can't open a bank account.
And, many years ago, I went the rent-to-own route for a VCR so I could play videos for my kids. It wasn't too much monthly and we got a ton of use out of it. Yes, I did pay almost 3 times what the VCR would have cost to buy outright but I was a single parent with 3 small kids and no credit rating. In fact, it actually helped me to establish a credit rating. But don't buy a 42" flat screen on a rent-to-own plan or a big dining room set!
Now, I'm not saying that Liz doesn't make some good points. If you're broke, tracking your money is vital. You shouldn't get yourself in over your head on anything, whether it's too much house, an expensive car, rooms full of furniture (don't pay until 2010), or whatever. Don't confuse wants with needs. Don't cash out your retirement fund when you leave a company.
She just needs to realize that some of her suggestions were unrealistic for a poor person to implement.
She starts strong, talking about a friend who drives a clunker but pays a hefty car payment. When she asks about it, she finds out that the friend's previous car needed $2,000 in repairs (been there, done that) and she couldn't afford it. Because she had bad credit, a dealership set her up with a used car at an astronomical interest rate. The payments were just barely affordable. But the point is, they were affordable and there was no way she could pay $2,000 up front. Her friend did what she had to do.
Liz is right. It's not a great solution. And it may cause further problems for her friend if paying this big car payment means she can't take care of routine maintenance or put money away in an emergency fund or pay down her credit cards (which were maxed).
But, if you're poor, you do what you have to do. If you think she shouldn't have taken the car loan then come up with a better solution that is actually feasible, given your friend's circumstances.
I've dealt with this situation twice. The first time (before I remarried) I sold the car for scrap and started taking the bus to work. Then we had a bus strike. Two wonderful co-workers drove way out of their way to pick me up in the mornings during the strike and I walked home (an hour walk) at night. This time, my hubby got an advance on commissions and increased his credit limit. But, if we couldn't have done those things or gotten a loan (either from the bank or a family member) we too would have had to trade the car for a used one.
I'm unimpressed by much of the rest of her, well, I can't even call it advice. For example, Liz notes that one of the ways the poor stay poor is by overspending on the big items (rent, mortgage, car payment) rather than on the little ones (too many visits to Starbucks). Her advice, such as it is? Just don't spend more than 30% on shelter or 10% on a car.
If you're poor or if you suddenly become poor (by job loss or divorce) that may be difficult to impossible to do. Moving isn't cheap, even if you do it yourself with a friend's truck. There are still deposits and all sorts of connection fees (gas, electric, phone) to pay. You may not be able to sell your own place or break your lease. You may not be able to move out of an expensive city because of custody agreements for your kids.
Yes, there may be some ways to economize while you wait for a buyer or the anniversary date on your lease. If you have any extra rooms you could try to rent them out to students. If you aren't upside down on your car you could try to sell it privately and then buy a decent used one. If the situation is new to you, there are probably a lot of little expenses you could cut out. But if you've been poor for any length of time you've probably done all that and hearing all the same suggestions over and over is liable to get on your last nerve.
When she talks about credit cards she says to just stop using credit if you can't pay your bill in full. Then pay far more than the minimum until you wipe out the debt. What about when you're a few days from payday and there's no milk or bread in the house, and no gas in the car you must drive in order to keep your job? Do you say "Mustn't use the credit cards?" or do you just charge the minimum amount that will feed your kids and get you to work until payday?
How do you pay more than the minimum payment when you can't even afford the minimum?
Liz talks about the danger of considering only the monthly payment in determining affordability and warns against using payday lenders or rent-to-own places. Now, payday lenders are a huge, huge problem. I hate that they can charge something like 300% interest and would like to see them legislated out of existence. But I know someone who uses them to cash her BC Benefit and UCCB cheques. I think they charge something like $3 per cheque but this person uses them because she doesn't have a drivers licence or any other acceptable photo ID and therefore can't open a bank account.
And, many years ago, I went the rent-to-own route for a VCR so I could play videos for my kids. It wasn't too much monthly and we got a ton of use out of it. Yes, I did pay almost 3 times what the VCR would have cost to buy outright but I was a single parent with 3 small kids and no credit rating. In fact, it actually helped me to establish a credit rating. But don't buy a 42" flat screen on a rent-to-own plan or a big dining room set!
Now, I'm not saying that Liz doesn't make some good points. If you're broke, tracking your money is vital. You shouldn't get yourself in over your head on anything, whether it's too much house, an expensive car, rooms full of furniture (don't pay until 2010), or whatever. Don't confuse wants with needs. Don't cash out your retirement fund when you leave a company.
She just needs to realize that some of her suggestions were unrealistic for a poor person to implement.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Payday!
I'm looking forward to having my paycheque in the bank in the morning. The cheque itself won't be huge, but it won't be terrible (especially when you consider it's my 3rd one this month). I need to mail a cheque to the plumber and make payments on a couple of other things. I should also transfer $100 into my chequing account from my vacation pay account at ING because I took 2 days of vacation time that fall out during this pay period. Oops, and I have my other benefit cheque to deposit as well. I have a number of items that come out at either the end of the month or in the first week of the next month that have to be covered and that money will do that.
I also want my hubby to give me $100 from his month end cheque to put towards groceries. Dear Child's school sells Safeway gift cards and I want to buy one. I do a lot of our regular grocery shopping there anyway (it's directly on my way home from work) and for every $100 card you buy the school gets something like $8. Even if I only buy 2 or 3 cards per month I could potentially make a couple of hundred dollars for the school. That may not be a fortune for the school but it doesn't cost me a penny! Why wouldn't I do it?
What else do I need to pay? Well, I'm going to order DC's school pictures. The proofs came home yesterday and they're gorgeous. They're much better than most of the school pictures my grown kids had (well, with the exception of Eldest Daughter's grad pictures, but they cost a fortune). I don't know if the photographers are better or if it has something to do with digital technology, but I was really impressed.
My only problem is that I prefer one pose and hubby and ED prefer a different one. I really don't want to order a 2nd package to get 2 poses since the package I want costs about $32 (additional packages are half price). I suppose I could add 4 pictures of a 2nd pose for $16 ($8 really). That brings the total up to $40 but we have to give pics to the in-laws, DC's siblings and other family members, and we want to have a couple ourselves to display and to carry around in our wallets. I also really love the idea having a collection of pictures taken about the same time every year to capture how she changes and matures.
So, it's an expense, but it's one that I care about. This year was the first time that I didn't buy anything from the wrapping paper/chocolate fundraiser the school does every year. I love gift bags but I didn't let myself get tempted. By not spending at least $14 on a set of gift bags I have a little more money to get the pictures. Photos I can keep forever. Gift bags, not so much.
I also want my hubby to give me $100 from his month end cheque to put towards groceries. Dear Child's school sells Safeway gift cards and I want to buy one. I do a lot of our regular grocery shopping there anyway (it's directly on my way home from work) and for every $100 card you buy the school gets something like $8. Even if I only buy 2 or 3 cards per month I could potentially make a couple of hundred dollars for the school. That may not be a fortune for the school but it doesn't cost me a penny! Why wouldn't I do it?
What else do I need to pay? Well, I'm going to order DC's school pictures. The proofs came home yesterday and they're gorgeous. They're much better than most of the school pictures my grown kids had (well, with the exception of Eldest Daughter's grad pictures, but they cost a fortune). I don't know if the photographers are better or if it has something to do with digital technology, but I was really impressed.
My only problem is that I prefer one pose and hubby and ED prefer a different one. I really don't want to order a 2nd package to get 2 poses since the package I want costs about $32 (additional packages are half price). I suppose I could add 4 pictures of a 2nd pose for $16 ($8 really). That brings the total up to $40 but we have to give pics to the in-laws, DC's siblings and other family members, and we want to have a couple ourselves to display and to carry around in our wallets. I also really love the idea having a collection of pictures taken about the same time every year to capture how she changes and matures.
So, it's an expense, but it's one that I care about. This year was the first time that I didn't buy anything from the wrapping paper/chocolate fundraiser the school does every year. I love gift bags but I didn't let myself get tempted. By not spending at least $14 on a set of gift bags I have a little more money to get the pictures. Photos I can keep forever. Gift bags, not so much.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Another Quick Trip
We made a very quick trip to the Okanagan this weekend, but it worked out well.
Sunset is coming earlier every week and we really didn't think we could make it out there before Shabbat, so we packed up the van when Shabbat ended and got to the house around 2 am. Actually, the plan was to load the van before Shabbat but that didn't happen (unless you count the 2 bookshelves I bought Thursday night at IKEA that were in there).
We got going kind of late, about 10 am, but got tons done. Hubby mowed the grass and moved boxes around. I weeded the bed where my rosemary and 2 kinds of mint were being overshadowed by grass and weeds. It looks gorgeous. I also weeded around my one and only grape vine and started thinking about how to protect it through the winter, as well as wondering whether I should prune it at all this year. I cleaned up more of the morning glory type vines that were growing on the chain link fence between our place and our neighbour's. I planted 3 lavender plants (2 in the front, 1 in with the herbs). And, amidst all this, I realized just how much I enjoy pottering about in the garden. I would have happily spent another couple of hours in the garden today. This is A Good Thing, given that I'm planning to eventually grow several acres of both lavender and grapes.
Then I put together the 2 low Billy bookshelves I bought the other night at IKEA (with part of the store credit I had) and placed them in the dining area under the smallest window. There's enough room left over on that wall that I'm going to go back for either another low shelf (but in 40cm wide this time) or take a 40 high with a glass door to use as a display case. I was going to have a display case, but I'd originally planned to have a wider one so I could display more things. We'll see.
We also took the tall bookshelf that will go in our bedroom and 4 or 5 more boxes that belong there. Once I can access my display case in the city (there's another bookshelf in front of it, too long a story for tonight) and fill it, I plan to bring the other boxes of similar fragile items to the Okanagan and create a display there. One of the boxes I brought contains the special ceramic plates with planes on them that my dad got from the airline where he worked for over 30 years. I want to display those on the wall.
DC played with the girl next door most of the day. I also wrote a cheque and dropped it off and then deposited my BC Benefit in the credit union on the way home so there will be enough money in there to cover both the electric bill and the monthly account fee.
We got back to the city just before 11 pm. I think that was a very successful day!
Sunset is coming earlier every week and we really didn't think we could make it out there before Shabbat, so we packed up the van when Shabbat ended and got to the house around 2 am. Actually, the plan was to load the van before Shabbat but that didn't happen (unless you count the 2 bookshelves I bought Thursday night at IKEA that were in there).
We got going kind of late, about 10 am, but got tons done. Hubby mowed the grass and moved boxes around. I weeded the bed where my rosemary and 2 kinds of mint were being overshadowed by grass and weeds. It looks gorgeous. I also weeded around my one and only grape vine and started thinking about how to protect it through the winter, as well as wondering whether I should prune it at all this year. I cleaned up more of the morning glory type vines that were growing on the chain link fence between our place and our neighbour's. I planted 3 lavender plants (2 in the front, 1 in with the herbs). And, amidst all this, I realized just how much I enjoy pottering about in the garden. I would have happily spent another couple of hours in the garden today. This is A Good Thing, given that I'm planning to eventually grow several acres of both lavender and grapes.
Then I put together the 2 low Billy bookshelves I bought the other night at IKEA (with part of the store credit I had) and placed them in the dining area under the smallest window. There's enough room left over on that wall that I'm going to go back for either another low shelf (but in 40cm wide this time) or take a 40 high with a glass door to use as a display case. I was going to have a display case, but I'd originally planned to have a wider one so I could display more things. We'll see.
We also took the tall bookshelf that will go in our bedroom and 4 or 5 more boxes that belong there. Once I can access my display case in the city (there's another bookshelf in front of it, too long a story for tonight) and fill it, I plan to bring the other boxes of similar fragile items to the Okanagan and create a display there. One of the boxes I brought contains the special ceramic plates with planes on them that my dad got from the airline where he worked for over 30 years. I want to display those on the wall.
DC played with the girl next door most of the day. I also wrote a cheque and dropped it off and then deposited my BC Benefit in the credit union on the way home so there will be enough money in there to cover both the electric bill and the monthly account fee.
We got back to the city just before 11 pm. I think that was a very successful day!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Won't Wait Wednesday Rocks
Today was It Won't Wait Wednesday, when I try to handle at least a couple of tasks that I've been, ahem, putting off. How did I do today?
Today really rocked. I went to the bank with the $786.82 cheque I received yesterday, deposited it and updated my passbook. My paycheque was Direct Deposited this morning and it was a couple of hundred dollars more than usual, due to the extra hours I put in last week.
My goal for today was to pay a bunch of bills that have been hanging around. I made a list and really gave it a good try but I didn't manage to complete every item on my list. Let's look at what I did accomplish however.
I paid Fido the last $25.11 I owed them and they are now officially history. Good riddance!
I wrote a cheque to my Eldest Daughter for two months worth of our share of the utilities and cable and Dear Child's swimming lessons from last month.
I logged on to my credit card account and totalled up all the money I charged last month (a couple of small grocery purchases) and on my trip to Seattle last weekend. I also added the amount of interest that appeared on the statement and paid that total.
I opened a new sub-account on ING named Home Depot and put in the $384.74 that will be due in January. I thought about just paying it off early but decided that I wanted the interest I'd earn between now and 5 months from now.
I paid IKEA the difference between the amount owing on my statement and the amount of the store credit I have. I had hoped to drive out to IKEA and get them to transfer the store credit back to my credit card today (because I finally found the missing receipt that showed I'd charged the mirror I returned on my IKEA card). But the traffic southbound on Knight Street was nasty after I got off work so I just went home and I couldn't get motivated to go out again in the rain later on.
I called Bell about the problems I've been having trying to link to my account and access my bill. The girl I talked to gave me the last piece of data I needed to input in order to complete the link. So I went online and tried yet again but got a message that they were having "technical difficulties" when I was about halfway through the process. Then I spent a while filling out a contact form asking for help or for them to fax hard copies of the 2 bills to my office. Is it so terrible that I just want to look at the charges before I pay them? But I still love my BlackBerry! They're supposed to contact me within the next 48 hours, so I'm hoping I'll be able to check this off my list very soon.
Anyway, that was my list of successes and I'm really proud of everything I accomplished today.
Today really rocked. I went to the bank with the $786.82 cheque I received yesterday, deposited it and updated my passbook. My paycheque was Direct Deposited this morning and it was a couple of hundred dollars more than usual, due to the extra hours I put in last week.
My goal for today was to pay a bunch of bills that have been hanging around. I made a list and really gave it a good try but I didn't manage to complete every item on my list. Let's look at what I did accomplish however.
I paid Fido the last $25.11 I owed them and they are now officially history. Good riddance!
I wrote a cheque to my Eldest Daughter for two months worth of our share of the utilities and cable and Dear Child's swimming lessons from last month.
I logged on to my credit card account and totalled up all the money I charged last month (a couple of small grocery purchases) and on my trip to Seattle last weekend. I also added the amount of interest that appeared on the statement and paid that total.
I opened a new sub-account on ING named Home Depot and put in the $384.74 that will be due in January. I thought about just paying it off early but decided that I wanted the interest I'd earn between now and 5 months from now.
I paid IKEA the difference between the amount owing on my statement and the amount of the store credit I have. I had hoped to drive out to IKEA and get them to transfer the store credit back to my credit card today (because I finally found the missing receipt that showed I'd charged the mirror I returned on my IKEA card). But the traffic southbound on Knight Street was nasty after I got off work so I just went home and I couldn't get motivated to go out again in the rain later on.
I called Bell about the problems I've been having trying to link to my account and access my bill. The girl I talked to gave me the last piece of data I needed to input in order to complete the link. So I went online and tried yet again but got a message that they were having "technical difficulties" when I was about halfway through the process. Then I spent a while filling out a contact form asking for help or for them to fax hard copies of the 2 bills to my office. Is it so terrible that I just want to look at the charges before I pay them? But I still love my BlackBerry! They're supposed to contact me within the next 48 hours, so I'm hoping I'll be able to check this off my list very soon.
Anyway, that was my list of successes and I'm really proud of everything I accomplished today.
Hello CCTB Retroactive Payment
My nice surprise for today was that I came home and discovered my CCTB retroactive cheque had arrived a day early! Too bad it's dated the 20th. Guess what I'm going to be doing tomorrow!
After I deposit my cheque and update my passbook (it's also payday on Wednesday) I should pay some bills! This will be a big cheque and the next one will be too. I have this big retroactive payment, plus I'll be getting 2 more government cheques within the next few days. So, I'm going from broke to having a nice chunk of change pretty abruptly.
What's the plan for spending it? I have 2 months of utilities at the city house to pay, I need to make a payment on my credit card, I want to either pay off the next amount owing on the Home Depot card or put the cash for that into ING so it's available when it comes due some time in January. Even more than that is the payment that will be due in February. It's about $1,400 and I have nothing saved for it yet. That means I should be trying to put away at least $200/month. Good luck. I've been in the red mostly by the end of each month.
And then again, there's a little more money owed to the school for supplies and books and I still need to get DC some new skirts and 2 pairs of shoes. I ran into her teacher today when I went down to the cafe for lunch and she said they should be really easy to put on and take off because they change shoes so often (when school starts and for each of the 3 recesses thereafter and again to go home). Basically, that spells velcro.
There are so many possibilities for spending the money. I just have to make sure I pay off and pay down as much as possible and that I don't leave myself short for anything I've already committed myself to (like the tuition payment).
After I deposit my cheque and update my passbook (it's also payday on Wednesday) I should pay some bills! This will be a big cheque and the next one will be too. I have this big retroactive payment, plus I'll be getting 2 more government cheques within the next few days. So, I'm going from broke to having a nice chunk of change pretty abruptly.
What's the plan for spending it? I have 2 months of utilities at the city house to pay, I need to make a payment on my credit card, I want to either pay off the next amount owing on the Home Depot card or put the cash for that into ING so it's available when it comes due some time in January. Even more than that is the payment that will be due in February. It's about $1,400 and I have nothing saved for it yet. That means I should be trying to put away at least $200/month. Good luck. I've been in the red mostly by the end of each month.
And then again, there's a little more money owed to the school for supplies and books and I still need to get DC some new skirts and 2 pairs of shoes. I ran into her teacher today when I went down to the cafe for lunch and she said they should be really easy to put on and take off because they change shoes so often (when school starts and for each of the 3 recesses thereafter and again to go home). Basically, that spells velcro.
There are so many possibilities for spending the money. I just have to make sure I pay off and pay down as much as possible and that I don't leave myself short for anything I've already committed myself to (like the tuition payment).
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Missing in Action?
Sorry about that. No post last night. Nothing this morning. And yesterday was It Won't Wait Wednesday. So, what happened? Well, this cold, work and taking care of little girls (who are also taking turns spiking temperatures) finally took its toll.
My co-worker left on vacation early (a vacation planned around the appearance of a new grandchild) and yesterday was, ahem, pretty interesting as I couldn't arrange to stay for the day on short notice. Luckily, we had a volunteer who was able to come in and handle the phones.
I have a cough that's moved into my chest, not a great thing when you consider that I have asthma (generally well controlled) and have a history of pneumonia, even though I had the pneumococcal shot several years ago. I don't think I'm as sick as Trent has been over at The Simple Dollar and I'm not at the point where I really need to go to the doctor. However, if I get worse I won't have time to go because I'm going to be stuck in the office (not a good thought).
I obviously need more sleep than usual though. I've been falling asleep early and sleeping until my alarm goes off, when I normally stay up late and wake up anywhere up to an hour before my alarm. This evening I was reading posts and fell asleep for at least an hour while Hubby and DC were at the park!
Probably the hardest thing is that Eldest Daughter is going away on business again from tomorrow until Sunday sometime. That means there will be no free time this weekend when I can try to rest and recuperate. Actually, I believe that she'll be away every weekend this month. On the other hand, she's staying home 3 days next week with the girls when I'm in the office. And then I think the trade shows are over for the next several months.
So, what about yesterday? Did I take care of any outstanding business? Well, the only thing I tried to do was update my passbook. I have a tendency to avoid doing that when I know I'm not doing too well, but that's come back to bite me in the past. So, I was a good girl and tried to update it after work yesterday but I ended up having to take the info on a printout. It seems that at night the passbook feature can't be accessed, but it will give you the same information on a strip of paper. Weird. It was just as well I did, because I ended up putting the couple of items I needed at the grocery store on my credit card so I wouldn't end up risking NSF charges.
Today, on my way home, I finally managed to get the passbook itself updated. I paid Fido their $79.99 this evening. And I transferred $300 from my ING emergency fund into my bank account. I don't like doing it. I didn't want to do it. But it was the right thing to do. It's counterproductive to have money sitting there while my bills are going unpaid or I'm sitting in overdraft. Things will be more normal after my next paycheque (which will have one week of the extra hours I'm working on it). They'll be much better after the following cheque in the first week of September, which will have 2 full time weeks on it. And I'll also be getting my retroactive CCTB payment of just over $700.
I'm proud of myself today for having brought leftovers for lunch instead of buying food at the cafe downstairs. I won't be able to do that tomorrow though because there was nothing left after dinner tonight. And we'll have to eat well tomorrow night and Shabbos lunch because the fast of Tisha B'Av starts when Shabbos ends.
My co-worker left on vacation early (a vacation planned around the appearance of a new grandchild) and yesterday was, ahem, pretty interesting as I couldn't arrange to stay for the day on short notice. Luckily, we had a volunteer who was able to come in and handle the phones.
I have a cough that's moved into my chest, not a great thing when you consider that I have asthma (generally well controlled) and have a history of pneumonia, even though I had the pneumococcal shot several years ago. I don't think I'm as sick as Trent has been over at The Simple Dollar and I'm not at the point where I really need to go to the doctor. However, if I get worse I won't have time to go because I'm going to be stuck in the office (not a good thought).
I obviously need more sleep than usual though. I've been falling asleep early and sleeping until my alarm goes off, when I normally stay up late and wake up anywhere up to an hour before my alarm. This evening I was reading posts and fell asleep for at least an hour while Hubby and DC were at the park!
Probably the hardest thing is that Eldest Daughter is going away on business again from tomorrow until Sunday sometime. That means there will be no free time this weekend when I can try to rest and recuperate. Actually, I believe that she'll be away every weekend this month. On the other hand, she's staying home 3 days next week with the girls when I'm in the office. And then I think the trade shows are over for the next several months.
So, what about yesterday? Did I take care of any outstanding business? Well, the only thing I tried to do was update my passbook. I have a tendency to avoid doing that when I know I'm not doing too well, but that's come back to bite me in the past. So, I was a good girl and tried to update it after work yesterday but I ended up having to take the info on a printout. It seems that at night the passbook feature can't be accessed, but it will give you the same information on a strip of paper. Weird. It was just as well I did, because I ended up putting the couple of items I needed at the grocery store on my credit card so I wouldn't end up risking NSF charges.
Today, on my way home, I finally managed to get the passbook itself updated. I paid Fido their $79.99 this evening. And I transferred $300 from my ING emergency fund into my bank account. I don't like doing it. I didn't want to do it. But it was the right thing to do. It's counterproductive to have money sitting there while my bills are going unpaid or I'm sitting in overdraft. Things will be more normal after my next paycheque (which will have one week of the extra hours I'm working on it). They'll be much better after the following cheque in the first week of September, which will have 2 full time weeks on it. And I'll also be getting my retroactive CCTB payment of just over $700.
I'm proud of myself today for having brought leftovers for lunch instead of buying food at the cafe downstairs. I won't be able to do that tomorrow though because there was nothing left after dinner tonight. And we'll have to eat well tomorrow night and Shabbos lunch because the fast of Tisha B'Av starts when Shabbos ends.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Taking Care of Business
I finally took care of some business with my bank that's been driving me crazy this past month. I have a small amount of overdraft protection (that costs $3 or $3.50 per month) and this month I've exceeded it twice.
I get paid every second Wednesday but I have a lot of things that come out of my account on fixed dates (the majority of which are clustered near the beginning and end of the month). So, as my pay dates cycle around on the calendar they gradually fall more and more out of sync with the pre-authorized dates. This is why I have overdraft protection and it usually works fine. So, what happened?
Partly I overspent a tiny bit while we were at the house, plus we spent a lot on gas. I thought everything that normally comes out at the beginning of the month had come out, but one thing that comes from the States didn't make it before the 4th of July, so it came out on the 7th. Then, after it came out ING took the $12 I transfer to my Emergency Fund every week. I didn't get paid until the 9th. Both the US debit and ING were sent back NSF on the 8th. And, to top it off, the NSF fees just went up, so I got dinged $42.50 for each one!
It gets better. I got shorted on my paycheque. It was missing 3 days that I took as vacation because my vacation pay was already paid out for the year, 3.5 hours I'd worked (on days I'm technically scheduled to work fewer hours) and 4 hours for Canada Day. The 3.5 hours weren't really a problem. The accountant said she'd pay them on my next cheque but she hadn't paid me for the statutory holiday because I had taken the 30th of June as a vacation day and she said I didn't qualify for it unless I worked both the day before and the day after the stat. This is what happens when your head office is in a different province from the one you work in. I emailed her the link to the BC Employment Standards Act that clearly states an employee qualifies if he or she has been employed for at least 30 days and has worked at least 15 out of the 30 days prior to the statutory holiday.
So, after deductions and after I put the cheque in the bank I was back in the black to the tune of $66. That's $66 to last for 2 entire weeks when I pay for all the food, more than half the gas, have pre-authorized stuff coming out, etc. Hubby transferred $75 to me and I could have, should have transferred $150 from my ING Vacation Pay fund ($50 for each vacation day I took). But I didn't. I'm still not so comfortable with moving stuff from here to there and back again, so I just never got around to doing it.
I spent barely any money these past 2 weeks. The absolute minimum on food and gas. My big splurge was the $5.66 I spent last week for a hard cover book. The pre-authorized stuff came out, my life insurance and ING. Would you believe I missed it by that much? By $6 to be exact.
So, I went to the bank this morning before work and had a little meeting with them. I basically said, "This is what I want or I walk and take my RRSPs with me". When the dust cleared I was assured the payment to ING would not go back, there would be no $42.50 fee (although there will probably be a $5 one), they took the earlier ING NSF fee off and increased my overdraft by $100. I also deposited the $56 benefit cheque to reduce the overdraft.
What have I learned from this? First of all, this wouldn't have happened if I had kept a closer watch on the bank account. I've been trying to get back into the routine of entering all the money we spend but I've been having a tough time doing it. I have to try harder. Second, I wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever if we weren't living paycheque to paycheque!
We don't have a big enough buffer and I'm not comfortable enough moving money between my main bank and ING. It's ironic, but if I hadn't moved the vacation pay I got a few weeks ago out of my bank and into ING I wouldn't have been in overdraft at all, let alone exceeded it. But I'm trying to learn new skills so, just like a kid with the training wheels removed, I'm having a few falls. I have to keep trying. I have to keep adding to my Emergency Fund (yes, I know it will take only slightly less than forever at $12/week, but that's what I can do) and I have to start doing set-aside accounts (escrow, Freedom, whatever you want to call it) in order to have money ready for irregular expenses.
After I did all of that I called Fortis BC to ask if I had another electric bill due for our rural house. Yes, there's a payment of just under $69 scheduled to come out on the 25th. So, tomorrow I need to go to a Credit Union and deposit money into my account in the Okanagan. And, while I was on the phone with them I signed up to receive my future bills via email. That way it won't matter whether we've been to the house or not. I'll still know how much I owe and when it's due!
I get paid every second Wednesday but I have a lot of things that come out of my account on fixed dates (the majority of which are clustered near the beginning and end of the month). So, as my pay dates cycle around on the calendar they gradually fall more and more out of sync with the pre-authorized dates. This is why I have overdraft protection and it usually works fine. So, what happened?
Partly I overspent a tiny bit while we were at the house, plus we spent a lot on gas. I thought everything that normally comes out at the beginning of the month had come out, but one thing that comes from the States didn't make it before the 4th of July, so it came out on the 7th. Then, after it came out ING took the $12 I transfer to my Emergency Fund every week. I didn't get paid until the 9th. Both the US debit and ING were sent back NSF on the 8th. And, to top it off, the NSF fees just went up, so I got dinged $42.50 for each one!
It gets better. I got shorted on my paycheque. It was missing 3 days that I took as vacation because my vacation pay was already paid out for the year, 3.5 hours I'd worked (on days I'm technically scheduled to work fewer hours) and 4 hours for Canada Day. The 3.5 hours weren't really a problem. The accountant said she'd pay them on my next cheque but she hadn't paid me for the statutory holiday because I had taken the 30th of June as a vacation day and she said I didn't qualify for it unless I worked both the day before and the day after the stat. This is what happens when your head office is in a different province from the one you work in. I emailed her the link to the BC Employment Standards Act that clearly states an employee qualifies if he or she has been employed for at least 30 days and has worked at least 15 out of the 30 days prior to the statutory holiday.
So, after deductions and after I put the cheque in the bank I was back in the black to the tune of $66. That's $66 to last for 2 entire weeks when I pay for all the food, more than half the gas, have pre-authorized stuff coming out, etc. Hubby transferred $75 to me and I could have, should have transferred $150 from my ING Vacation Pay fund ($50 for each vacation day I took). But I didn't. I'm still not so comfortable with moving stuff from here to there and back again, so I just never got around to doing it.
I spent barely any money these past 2 weeks. The absolute minimum on food and gas. My big splurge was the $5.66 I spent last week for a hard cover book. The pre-authorized stuff came out, my life insurance and ING. Would you believe I missed it by that much? By $6 to be exact.
So, I went to the bank this morning before work and had a little meeting with them. I basically said, "This is what I want or I walk and take my RRSPs with me". When the dust cleared I was assured the payment to ING would not go back, there would be no $42.50 fee (although there will probably be a $5 one), they took the earlier ING NSF fee off and increased my overdraft by $100. I also deposited the $56 benefit cheque to reduce the overdraft.
What have I learned from this? First of all, this wouldn't have happened if I had kept a closer watch on the bank account. I've been trying to get back into the routine of entering all the money we spend but I've been having a tough time doing it. I have to try harder. Second, I wouldn't have had any problem whatsoever if we weren't living paycheque to paycheque!
We don't have a big enough buffer and I'm not comfortable enough moving money between my main bank and ING. It's ironic, but if I hadn't moved the vacation pay I got a few weeks ago out of my bank and into ING I wouldn't have been in overdraft at all, let alone exceeded it. But I'm trying to learn new skills so, just like a kid with the training wheels removed, I'm having a few falls. I have to keep trying. I have to keep adding to my Emergency Fund (yes, I know it will take only slightly less than forever at $12/week, but that's what I can do) and I have to start doing set-aside accounts (escrow, Freedom, whatever you want to call it) in order to have money ready for irregular expenses.
After I did all of that I called Fortis BC to ask if I had another electric bill due for our rural house. Yes, there's a payment of just under $69 scheduled to come out on the 25th. So, tomorrow I need to go to a Credit Union and deposit money into my account in the Okanagan. And, while I was on the phone with them I signed up to receive my future bills via email. That way it won't matter whether we've been to the house or not. I'll still know how much I owe and when it's due!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A Busy Fast Day
Sunday is a fast day. I don't mean it will go by quickly; I mean I can't eat or drink from roughly 3 AM to 10 PM. Believe me when I say it won't be going by quickly. This fast and the one 3 weeks from now are the toughest fasts of the year for me. Yom Kippur is not as bad, even though it's longer than this one.
I think it's because these two are during the hottest part of the summer, when it's harder to go without water and because they are fairly regular days in other respects. On Yom Kippur you spend the day praying with a million other people in shul. It keeps your mind and body occupied and everybody else around you is doing the same thing.
Sunday, on the other hand, I will be spending at home updating my excel expense sheet, doing laundry and going through boxes. Hubby is taking DC and our 3 year old granddaughter to an open house at the local fire hall (always fun) and then to his folks for a swim (because they've only been swimming 5 times in the past week, but they have new swim goggles to try out).
I didn't mention it on Friday, but I finally got my regular monthly Child Care Benefit cheque. It's for $56, so that's what I'll get every month for the next year. I still haven't received the retroactive cheque though and it was too late to call about it on Friday, so I'll have to wait until at least Monday for that. I really want to know what's happening because, judging from this year's payment, I should be getting somewhere around $600 (right about what I'd expected).
Well, I already had several pieces (okay, 5!) of cinnamon toast (the challah was really squished and the pieces were only about an inch high) with a big cup of decaf. I'm going to post this and go drink the protein drink I normally have for breakfast and then hit the hay. I'm not going to stay up right until 3 AM just so I can eat and drink up until the last possible second. The extra hour isn't going to kill me.
I think it's because these two are during the hottest part of the summer, when it's harder to go without water and because they are fairly regular days in other respects. On Yom Kippur you spend the day praying with a million other people in shul. It keeps your mind and body occupied and everybody else around you is doing the same thing.
Sunday, on the other hand, I will be spending at home updating my excel expense sheet, doing laundry and going through boxes. Hubby is taking DC and our 3 year old granddaughter to an open house at the local fire hall (always fun) and then to his folks for a swim (because they've only been swimming 5 times in the past week, but they have new swim goggles to try out).
I didn't mention it on Friday, but I finally got my regular monthly Child Care Benefit cheque. It's for $56, so that's what I'll get every month for the next year. I still haven't received the retroactive cheque though and it was too late to call about it on Friday, so I'll have to wait until at least Monday for that. I really want to know what's happening because, judging from this year's payment, I should be getting somewhere around $600 (right about what I'd expected).
Well, I already had several pieces (okay, 5!) of cinnamon toast (the challah was really squished and the pieces were only about an inch high) with a big cup of decaf. I'm going to post this and go drink the protein drink I normally have for breakfast and then hit the hay. I'm not going to stay up right until 3 AM just so I can eat and drink up until the last possible second. The extra hour isn't going to kill me.
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