I think the first thing to do as I try to figure out what direction I'm taking with this is to haul out my list of long term goals and take a good, hard look at them. Right now they just sit there in that sidebar, mocking me. Am I still interested in them? Am I still working towards them? Is there something else that should be on that list? In other words, is this still a goal, or not?
So that leaves me with 4 out of my 10 goals that I can use or rework. I'm going to add one more now that will take me up to 5 goals and then I'll rework all my microgoals.
1. Become fluent in Hebrew.
2. Grow lavender.
3. Find a way to partner with others to develop a kosher wine business, including the possibility of fruit wines.
4. Get totally out of debt and stay there!
5. Develop at least two alternative income streams (in addition to my current employment) and use the money I make to accomplish my other goals, starting with getting out of debt.
So, my microgoals are the small steps I will be taking *now* in order to move ahead with each goal.
1. Go back to Rosetta Stone and figure out how to log in again.
My Dear Child and I wanted to get ahead in Hebrew, so I bought the Rosetta Stone course a few months ago when it was on sale. We tried it a few times and then got really busy. Now I don't remember our log in. If I can't figure it out, I'm sure there's a way to reset it.
2. Go to a few gardening centres (like Home Depot, Art Knapp's, etc.) and look at lavender plants. Only buy if I find the types of lavender I'm looking for.
3. Get together with someone who expressed interest in this project.
Maybe meet for coffee and discuss the project? This person suggested another mutual friend and perhaps that would be the first thing for us to follow up on.
4. Stay current on the regular bills, paying things every payday.
5. Go to the start up meeting for 31 Canada in BC on April 7 and enroll that night. Do as much pre-planning as possible ahead of time so I can start strong.
Not bad. I think I can live with these goals for now. The underlying theme behind these goals is happiness, something I would like to expand upon soon. For now, I think I'll just finish getting this post up and editing the sidebar. It is after 2 am, after all.
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budgeting. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A Little Math
I mentioned paying down money on my credit card in two ways in my last post. I haven't yet started making the direct payments I listed as a goal but here's an update on the regular monthly payments I'm already making. I (aim to) pay $90 every 2 weeks and last month I was charged $87.36 in interest. So I lowered my credit card debt by a total of $92.64 last month. The previous month I only made one of the 2 payments because I was juggling a lot of other bills and was trying to get current on everything. I paid $88.19 in interest and therefore my $90 in payments lowered my debt by a whopping $1.81 that month. So I was charged $0.83 less in interest this month than in November.
In January I'll be charged less interest than I was this month and so on. So, when I say that I'll pay down $1,080 in regular credit card payments, that means just one of my $90 payments each month will reduce my debt by that amount. My other payment each month goes mostly towards interest at this point but a couple of dollars of that are going towards reducing the debt too and that amount is rising by close to a dollar per month. I'm definitely no math whiz and won't even take a crack at figuring out what the interest charge will be a month from now (and therefore the difference between the $90 paid and the interest charged), but lets ballpark the difference at $3.50. Then, in February, it would be around $4.50, in March around $5.50 and so on up to $14.50 in December of next year. It will be more than that because of the way compounding works, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Add all those small amounts together and I get $113 extra in debt reduction over what I budgeted for in my goals!
It gets even better. I overlooked the fact that I pay every 2 weeks, not twice a month. That means there are 2 extra payments per year or another $180 that I'll be automatically paying down that I didn't even think about when I first wrote out my goals! That's almost another $300 I'll pay down without even doing anything different. And, when I start making those extra payments of $50 every two weeks, that will bring down my balance even faster, meaning even smaller interest charges every month than I had figured on! I love to see compound interest working in my favour for a change. And what I had originally dismissed from my calculations as an almost immaterial amount will snowflake gradually into a serious amount of money by the end of next year!
Of course, all this is contingent on making the payments as planned and not charging anything new (or paying it off within the month, which would have a minimal effect on the interest charged). But just running these numbers, rough as they are, makes me feel so good! I really can make significant progress in reducing my debt! I'm going to get out of debt as soon as possible and buy my little piece of land (and then pay it off before we hit retirement age).
In January I'll be charged less interest than I was this month and so on. So, when I say that I'll pay down $1,080 in regular credit card payments, that means just one of my $90 payments each month will reduce my debt by that amount. My other payment each month goes mostly towards interest at this point but a couple of dollars of that are going towards reducing the debt too and that amount is rising by close to a dollar per month. I'm definitely no math whiz and won't even take a crack at figuring out what the interest charge will be a month from now (and therefore the difference between the $90 paid and the interest charged), but lets ballpark the difference at $3.50. Then, in February, it would be around $4.50, in March around $5.50 and so on up to $14.50 in December of next year. It will be more than that because of the way compounding works, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Add all those small amounts together and I get $113 extra in debt reduction over what I budgeted for in my goals!
It gets even better. I overlooked the fact that I pay every 2 weeks, not twice a month. That means there are 2 extra payments per year or another $180 that I'll be automatically paying down that I didn't even think about when I first wrote out my goals! That's almost another $300 I'll pay down without even doing anything different. And, when I start making those extra payments of $50 every two weeks, that will bring down my balance even faster, meaning even smaller interest charges every month than I had figured on! I love to see compound interest working in my favour for a change. And what I had originally dismissed from my calculations as an almost immaterial amount will snowflake gradually into a serious amount of money by the end of next year!
Of course, all this is contingent on making the payments as planned and not charging anything new (or paying it off within the month, which would have a minimal effect on the interest charged). But just running these numbers, rough as they are, makes me feel so good! I really can make significant progress in reducing my debt! I'm going to get out of debt as soon as possible and buy my little piece of land (and then pay it off before we hit retirement age).
Friday, December 11, 2009
Won't Wait Thursday?
Yeah, that's not so great with the alliteration but I didn't really accomplish that much yesterday. I ended up going out unexpectedly in the evening and then fell asleep in front of the computer after I got home.
It was payday yesterday so I have money to pay some bills. I've paid my cell bill in full (and it wasn't due until December 24th)! I also paid CapitalOne and Home Depot the amounts I'm putting towards them every pay period. I went to the bank and took out $144 in Loonies as Hanukkah gelt to give the girls! My purse is now a deadly weapon because it's so darn heavy. I've bought a present for my son's roomie (the name I drew in our gift exchange) and told my Hubby what to buy the person whose name he got.
I went to the deli and got food for Shabbos and put $20 worth of gas into the car. I've been buying gas at PetroCan and using their points card (and gave Hubby a secondary points card a month or two ago, along with instructions to only buy gas there). We've got almost enough points (assuming they haven't raised it again) to buy a gas card that gives us $0.05 off our next 200 litres of gas. Prior to this I used Shell in order to get Air Miles but getting cash off gas purchases has become a higher priority.
I also logged onto ING and set up my credit union account as a linked external account and wrote the void cheque I have to send in to complete the process. Once they have that in their possession my automatic transfers of $10 per week into the Emergency Fund will restart. And then I wrote a series of post-dated cheques for another (non-credit card) debt we have. We'd run through the previous series of cheques and I had had to order cheques from the credit union in order to be able to write these.
I'm pretty darn proud of myself! I think I accomplished a lot today both in getting prepared for Hanukkah (which starts tomorrow night!) and in working towards financial goals. I'll try to finish getting my 2010 goals into shape to be posted after Shabbos or on Sunday (even though Sunday is when we're having our family party).
I'll get out of debt and be able to buy my land yet!
It was payday yesterday so I have money to pay some bills. I've paid my cell bill in full (and it wasn't due until December 24th)! I also paid CapitalOne and Home Depot the amounts I'm putting towards them every pay period. I went to the bank and took out $144 in Loonies as Hanukkah gelt to give the girls! My purse is now a deadly weapon because it's so darn heavy. I've bought a present for my son's roomie (the name I drew in our gift exchange) and told my Hubby what to buy the person whose name he got.
I went to the deli and got food for Shabbos and put $20 worth of gas into the car. I've been buying gas at PetroCan and using their points card (and gave Hubby a secondary points card a month or two ago, along with instructions to only buy gas there). We've got almost enough points (assuming they haven't raised it again) to buy a gas card that gives us $0.05 off our next 200 litres of gas. Prior to this I used Shell in order to get Air Miles but getting cash off gas purchases has become a higher priority.
I also logged onto ING and set up my credit union account as a linked external account and wrote the void cheque I have to send in to complete the process. Once they have that in their possession my automatic transfers of $10 per week into the Emergency Fund will restart. And then I wrote a series of post-dated cheques for another (non-credit card) debt we have. We'd run through the previous series of cheques and I had had to order cheques from the credit union in order to be able to write these.
I'm pretty darn proud of myself! I think I accomplished a lot today both in getting prepared for Hanukkah (which starts tomorrow night!) and in working towards financial goals. I'll try to finish getting my 2010 goals into shape to be posted after Shabbos or on Sunday (even though Sunday is when we're having our family party).
I'll get out of debt and be able to buy my land yet!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Preparing to Create Goals
When I was looking back at my goals for 2009 the other day I wondered why I hadn't succeeded with them. I've been thinking about that quite a bit ever since and I came up with a couple of thoughts.
The first thought is not original in the least. I think about this every time it happens, then develop amnesia until the next time I end up majorly off track with my goals. I forgot about them. On the face of it, that sounds pretty darn dumb doesn't it? I forgot that I planned to pay down 1/3 of my total indebtedness? I forgot to keep current with my bills? But it happens to me all the time. I set a goal. Sometimes I even plan out how to get to the goal. I start off well. Then I forget. It's like falling asleep, waking up and not being able to recall the dream you just had. Over the years I've come to realize that this zoning out or forgetting is a form of resistance. What I haven't figured out is why I have such strong resistance to so many types of positive changes (because I'm not just talking about financial issues here). And why do I forget instead of just rebelling? Is it a way to be passive-aggressive with myself?
My second thought was more practical. I need a way (or ways) to help me stay focused on the goal so that I will work toward it and continue to do so until I achieve it. What will kep me headed in the right direction? Accountability strikes me as a likely possibility. Really? Knowing I'd have to admit failure here on the blog didn't help me keep up with my goals this year, did it? So maybe I have to be accountable on a more regular basis, like monthly or weekly, or even twice a week. If I know that every Sunday and Wednesday I have to address how I'm doing maybe I'll actually stay on task. Setting monthly goals is also an idea, but monthly goals that relate to the overall ones directly instead of additional random goals.
In the end, what got me fired up enough to write this post was going online and looking up a property I had considered earlier this year. It was smaller than I wanted but in the right price range and I might have done something about it if I'd been able to easily access the money we have tied up in my Eldest Daughter's house. I didn't because they weren't in a position to refinance and take out that chunk of equity now that my daughter will be going off on maternity leave in the New Year. In fact, they won't be able to do that until she goes back to work at the end of her year-long leave. They can't make the ratios while she's only getting 57% of her usual salary. So I know that my dream is kind of on hold for a year. And this property isn't on the market currently. I don't think it sold; I think it was just taken off because there wasn't enough interest in it.
Anyway, I'm using it as a bit of a focal point. I looked up what the mortgage on it would be and then got serious about figuring out how to pay down some of our debt because I also need to come up with another $4,000 to $5,000 over what I can eventually access. I looked at how fast I could just put it aside versus paying down debt and then saving, versus doing both at once. Once I pay off my credit card debt I can take that money and add it to the mortgage payments. Basically, it looks like I can do this in 18 months to 3 years and then pay off a 25 year mortgage in 5 years. In the end, I've decided that doing both at once provides me with psychological benefits so that's what I'm planning to do.
Now, I realize I don't have this piece of land and that it may not be available once I reach the point where I'm ready to move on it. But there have been a few pieces of land in that same price range over the past year so I'm willing to trust that there will be another one if this particular property isn't available. At least, once I pay down debt and save up that money I'll be prepared to jump on something when it comes up. Otherwise, the best deal in the world could come around and I wouldn't be in a position to accept it.
I'm still working on refining my goals a bit. I'll put them up soon, along with how I'm planning to keep myself accountable.
The first thought is not original in the least. I think about this every time it happens, then develop amnesia until the next time I end up majorly off track with my goals. I forgot about them. On the face of it, that sounds pretty darn dumb doesn't it? I forgot that I planned to pay down 1/3 of my total indebtedness? I forgot to keep current with my bills? But it happens to me all the time. I set a goal. Sometimes I even plan out how to get to the goal. I start off well. Then I forget. It's like falling asleep, waking up and not being able to recall the dream you just had. Over the years I've come to realize that this zoning out or forgetting is a form of resistance. What I haven't figured out is why I have such strong resistance to so many types of positive changes (because I'm not just talking about financial issues here). And why do I forget instead of just rebelling? Is it a way to be passive-aggressive with myself?
My second thought was more practical. I need a way (or ways) to help me stay focused on the goal so that I will work toward it and continue to do so until I achieve it. What will kep me headed in the right direction? Accountability strikes me as a likely possibility. Really? Knowing I'd have to admit failure here on the blog didn't help me keep up with my goals this year, did it? So maybe I have to be accountable on a more regular basis, like monthly or weekly, or even twice a week. If I know that every Sunday and Wednesday I have to address how I'm doing maybe I'll actually stay on task. Setting monthly goals is also an idea, but monthly goals that relate to the overall ones directly instead of additional random goals.
In the end, what got me fired up enough to write this post was going online and looking up a property I had considered earlier this year. It was smaller than I wanted but in the right price range and I might have done something about it if I'd been able to easily access the money we have tied up in my Eldest Daughter's house. I didn't because they weren't in a position to refinance and take out that chunk of equity now that my daughter will be going off on maternity leave in the New Year. In fact, they won't be able to do that until she goes back to work at the end of her year-long leave. They can't make the ratios while she's only getting 57% of her usual salary. So I know that my dream is kind of on hold for a year. And this property isn't on the market currently. I don't think it sold; I think it was just taken off because there wasn't enough interest in it.
Anyway, I'm using it as a bit of a focal point. I looked up what the mortgage on it would be and then got serious about figuring out how to pay down some of our debt because I also need to come up with another $4,000 to $5,000 over what I can eventually access. I looked at how fast I could just put it aside versus paying down debt and then saving, versus doing both at once. Once I pay off my credit card debt I can take that money and add it to the mortgage payments. Basically, it looks like I can do this in 18 months to 3 years and then pay off a 25 year mortgage in 5 years. In the end, I've decided that doing both at once provides me with psychological benefits so that's what I'm planning to do.
Now, I realize I don't have this piece of land and that it may not be available once I reach the point where I'm ready to move on it. But there have been a few pieces of land in that same price range over the past year so I'm willing to trust that there will be another one if this particular property isn't available. At least, once I pay down debt and save up that money I'll be prepared to jump on something when it comes up. Otherwise, the best deal in the world could come around and I wouldn't be in a position to accept it.
I'm still working on refining my goals a bit. I'll put them up soon, along with how I'm planning to keep myself accountable.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
How to Spend Money
What's that you say? You don't have any problem spending money? Well, neither do I. Sometimes I spend it intelligently; sometimes not so much.
Today was a good day, moneywise. I got paid and promptly turned around and paid a whole bunch of bills. I paid my cell, water, internet and IKEA in full and am totally current on those. The IKEA card is closed now because they switched providers and I haven't filled out another application. I paid $90 to MasterCard, which covers the interest with a dollar and change left over and I'll keep paying them $90 every payday. (My big problem with them has been that I've only been paying once a month when money has been tight and, at that rate, I should have the card paid off in 500 years or so!) And I paid Home Depot $106, right on track to have the first of two purchase plans paid off just before it comes due at the beginning of January.
There's a few things that come out automatically, either as pre-authorized charges or as post-dated cheques and the money is in place for all but one of those. My hubby will have to transfer money into my old bank account when he gets paid at the end of the month and that will cover the service charges and that pre-authorized payment.
Then I went out after everybody got home and bought $50 worth of groceries to last us until Monday and $25 worth of gas. I'm pretty much broke again but it feels really good to have taken care of all the important things. I feel today was a success.
Today was a good day, moneywise. I got paid and promptly turned around and paid a whole bunch of bills. I paid my cell, water, internet and IKEA in full and am totally current on those. The IKEA card is closed now because they switched providers and I haven't filled out another application. I paid $90 to MasterCard, which covers the interest with a dollar and change left over and I'll keep paying them $90 every payday. (My big problem with them has been that I've only been paying once a month when money has been tight and, at that rate, I should have the card paid off in 500 years or so!) And I paid Home Depot $106, right on track to have the first of two purchase plans paid off just before it comes due at the beginning of January.
There's a few things that come out automatically, either as pre-authorized charges or as post-dated cheques and the money is in place for all but one of those. My hubby will have to transfer money into my old bank account when he gets paid at the end of the month and that will cover the service charges and that pre-authorized payment.
Then I went out after everybody got home and bought $50 worth of groceries to last us until Monday and $25 worth of gas. I'm pretty much broke again but it feels really good to have taken care of all the important things. I feel today was a success.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Won't Wait Wednesday, Remembrance Day Edition
Today was Remembrance Day. It was nice to have a day off in the middle of the week but it's serious business as to why we have the day off in the first place. I hope you took time today to think about the brave men and women who have fought on your behalf through the years. Here's a link to last year's Remembrance Day post.
Today was also Wednesday and payday, although it was a pretty sad cheque. I really hated taking that time off being sick because I knew it was going to hurt all over again come payday. And it did. The money came into my account. I logged on, paid as many of my bills as I could and I'm broke again. If I'd had a full paycheque I'd have been okay. I mean, it wouldn't have been tremendous but it would have been enough to get by on until my next cheque. As it is, we'll just have to see how things go over the next 2 weeks.
I'm really pleased that I'm getting all the bills under control again. I'm really frustrated that this cycle keeps repeating. I think it's important that I keep picking myself up and starting over. I mean, it would be great if I could finally figure out why I keep finding myself back in the same place pretty much every year but at least I don't give up.
I haven't posted in the past couple of days because I've been really tired but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Trent quoted a comment of mine in his Monday Mailbag. It was about being PC (or not) and was the part of the post this week that was clearly intended to generate a lot of comments. And it did.
I'm tired again so I'm heading for bed. Sorry if this post sounds disjointed. I'm still not 100% and I spent a couple of hours out with my Eldest Daughter today, buying baseboards, a rug and some smaller items. I think it just wore me out. Oh, if that wasn't clear, I didn't buy stuff. She did. I drove and carried things. My big luxury today was getting a 2 piece covered butter dish at IKEA. It was discontinued and cost a whole $1.50. I love it because it's just the right size for the sticks of butter we use. We always keep a stick out so it's soft and I really like having a cover for it!
Today was also Wednesday and payday, although it was a pretty sad cheque. I really hated taking that time off being sick because I knew it was going to hurt all over again come payday. And it did. The money came into my account. I logged on, paid as many of my bills as I could and I'm broke again. If I'd had a full paycheque I'd have been okay. I mean, it wouldn't have been tremendous but it would have been enough to get by on until my next cheque. As it is, we'll just have to see how things go over the next 2 weeks.
I'm really pleased that I'm getting all the bills under control again. I'm really frustrated that this cycle keeps repeating. I think it's important that I keep picking myself up and starting over. I mean, it would be great if I could finally figure out why I keep finding myself back in the same place pretty much every year but at least I don't give up.
I haven't posted in the past couple of days because I've been really tired but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Trent quoted a comment of mine in his Monday Mailbag. It was about being PC (or not) and was the part of the post this week that was clearly intended to generate a lot of comments. And it did.
I'm tired again so I'm heading for bed. Sorry if this post sounds disjointed. I'm still not 100% and I spent a couple of hours out with my Eldest Daughter today, buying baseboards, a rug and some smaller items. I think it just wore me out. Oh, if that wasn't clear, I didn't buy stuff. She did. I drove and carried things. My big luxury today was getting a 2 piece covered butter dish at IKEA. It was discontinued and cost a whole $1.50. I love it because it's just the right size for the sticks of butter we use. We always keep a stick out so it's soft and I really like having a cover for it!
Monday, November 9, 2009
I'm Recovering, So it Must be Time to Overdo
This was another typically crazy Sunday. I spent about 6 and a half hours laying a laminate floor (including putting down underlay) in my granddaughters' bedroom with my Eldest Daughter. Hubby took Dear Child and the older of the 2 girls to the movies, which kept them out of our hair. The "baby" on the other hand was at home and we tried to keep her occupied with videos and dressing up. There were still a lot of interruptions and she managed to put off her nap for literally hours. What we wouldn't have done for a typical day where she sleeps soundly for 2 1/2 hours right after lunch!
However, we did almost finish, except for the last row where about half a dozen boards need to be ripped. We felt 8:30 pm was a little late to be using the power saws outside. I think we can probably finish up tomorrow after everybody is done with work and school. If not, we're all off on Wednesday for Remembrance Day. There's still a new heat register to buy and the baseboards to buy and install. Luckily they have a nailer that takes both staples and brads. Equally luckily, I don't have to pay for any of this because it's not my part of the house.
Afterwards I sat down to look at my bills and my bank balances again. Yes, I had to pay some more bills and still have more to pay. I have money for some of the remaining ones, but not all, and it's not going to get any better on my payday because I'll be getting just over half a cheque. Darn being sick anyway! Once I update my bank book and transfer some more money to the credit union I'll be able to finish paying as many bills as possible.
I'm mostly recovered from the flu now, although I'm still coughing and having some difficulties breathing. And I'm tired a lot. By the end of this afternoon I could barely get off the floor to go cut boards and I got kind of shaky but I made it. Oh yeah. Remember when I said maybe I'd lose some weight? I dropped 6 pounds and ended up at 125 (my goal is 120) and I've only gained back one pound since I started eating normally again and getting better hydrated. I bet my upcoming book, entitled "The H1N1 Diet" will be a best-seller! No calorie counting, no exercise and you can lose five pounds a week. What a deal!
However, we did almost finish, except for the last row where about half a dozen boards need to be ripped. We felt 8:30 pm was a little late to be using the power saws outside. I think we can probably finish up tomorrow after everybody is done with work and school. If not, we're all off on Wednesday for Remembrance Day. There's still a new heat register to buy and the baseboards to buy and install. Luckily they have a nailer that takes both staples and brads. Equally luckily, I don't have to pay for any of this because it's not my part of the house.
Afterwards I sat down to look at my bills and my bank balances again. Yes, I had to pay some more bills and still have more to pay. I have money for some of the remaining ones, but not all, and it's not going to get any better on my payday because I'll be getting just over half a cheque. Darn being sick anyway! Once I update my bank book and transfer some more money to the credit union I'll be able to finish paying as many bills as possible.
I'm mostly recovered from the flu now, although I'm still coughing and having some difficulties breathing. And I'm tired a lot. By the end of this afternoon I could barely get off the floor to go cut boards and I got kind of shaky but I made it. Oh yeah. Remember when I said maybe I'd lose some weight? I dropped 6 pounds and ended up at 125 (my goal is 120) and I've only gained back one pound since I started eating normally again and getting better hydrated. I bet my upcoming book, entitled "The H1N1 Diet" will be a best-seller! No calorie counting, no exercise and you can lose five pounds a week. What a deal!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Slow Progress
Well, I'm still plugging along slowly. I didn't post for Won't Wait Wednesday yesterday because I fell asleep. Woke up about 4 am and turned the computer off, then went back to sleep.
It was payday yesterday but all my money (and then some) is already earmarked for bills, etc. I did go grocery shopping but I made sure I ate dinner first! I spent just over $106 on food for the week, $20 on gas and about $23 on my prescriptions. Again, that $23 wasn't in the original budget for this pay period. Yet another thing to mess with my house of cards.
Today, I took money from my main account and moved it to my other credit union account and my old bank account for various things that are coming out, as well as lent Hubby $20 for a day. I'm supposed to get it back (along with another $80 he needed previously) tomorrow afternoon.
I won't be able to do too much more until after the 7th when I'll have another $400 to play with. And I do hope Green Shield hurries up with that cheque for $127 for the dental. I'll be paying a couple of bills with that.
It was payday yesterday but all my money (and then some) is already earmarked for bills, etc. I did go grocery shopping but I made sure I ate dinner first! I spent just over $106 on food for the week, $20 on gas and about $23 on my prescriptions. Again, that $23 wasn't in the original budget for this pay period. Yet another thing to mess with my house of cards.
Today, I took money from my main account and moved it to my other credit union account and my old bank account for various things that are coming out, as well as lent Hubby $20 for a day. I'm supposed to get it back (along with another $80 he needed previously) tomorrow afternoon.
I won't be able to do too much more until after the 7th when I'll have another $400 to play with. And I do hope Green Shield hurries up with that cheque for $127 for the dental. I'll be paying a couple of bills with that.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Falling Short of My Goals
Time seems to be getting away from me. Tomorrow is Friday (well, technically it's already Friday but I haven't been to bed yet, so it doesn't count). Where did the rest of the week go? And how did it get to be the middle of October so fast? The year will be over before I know it and I don't feel like I've accomplished too much.
I set very few financial goals for myself at the end of 2008 and I haven't really looked back at them. Let's see how I'm doing. Just to refresh everybody's memory they were:
1. Pay down a minimum of $6,000 of debt in 2009.
2. Have at least $1,000 in an emergency fund by the end of 2009.
3. Establish an account for "Set Asides" (otherwise known as a Freedom or Escrow Account).
4. Get current and stay current with all the monthly bills.
Have I done any of them?
1. We paid off about $1,800 in debt at Home Depot but have charged about $1,600 more since then. Of course, I had put in a limitation that new debt for the house renos didn't count and about $600 is for our bathroom reno, with the balance for our storage shed. The credit cards are still close to being maxed, if not maxed. Am I going to have a big chunk of money come in with which to pay down debt? No, I had that a couple of months ago and then we had to sink close to $2,500 into the car instead.
2. I have about $130 in my EF right now and I stopped the automatic transfer a few months ago because I was going to switch the bank it was coming out of. Only I never started it up again from the new account.
3. I haven't done a thing about a setaside account.
4. I'm working on getting current again but I was 2 to 3 months behind on most bills as recently as 2 weeks ago.
Clearly, it's not going too well. And I don't know how much I can accomplish in the next 2.5 months. I have to try something though. What actions can I take now?
1. The most important at the moment is having the money in place to pay Home Depot when the 2 payment plans come due. The first one is for $528.44 and is due January 1st. I literally have $0.69 in the Home Depot fund right now. I have 5 paydays between now and the end of the year. I obviously need to transfer $106 each paycheque in order to have enough. Wow. I don't have the date for the other one in front of me right now, so we'll leave that for another time.
2. I have to start up the automated weekly transfers into my ING account from my credit union. I don't think I can go back to $12 per week just at the moment but I think $5 is workable. At least it will be something. And when I'm done with Home Depot I can increase it.
3. I have to set up at least one set-aside account and put money into it once a month. I think it should be for property taxes and that I should deposit $10/month. (Yes, my property taxes for my rural place really are that low.)
4. I have to pay a couple more bills to get current (or closer to current). And I have to pay my Eldest Daughter back the $100 she fronted me for gas money for the trip last Monday. That $100 also gave us enough for a week's worth of gas for the van.
That's 4 simple steps for me to take to get back on track.
I set very few financial goals for myself at the end of 2008 and I haven't really looked back at them. Let's see how I'm doing. Just to refresh everybody's memory they were:
1. Pay down a minimum of $6,000 of debt in 2009.
2. Have at least $1,000 in an emergency fund by the end of 2009.
3. Establish an account for "Set Asides" (otherwise known as a Freedom or Escrow Account).
4. Get current and stay current with all the monthly bills.
Have I done any of them?
1. We paid off about $1,800 in debt at Home Depot but have charged about $1,600 more since then. Of course, I had put in a limitation that new debt for the house renos didn't count and about $600 is for our bathroom reno, with the balance for our storage shed. The credit cards are still close to being maxed, if not maxed. Am I going to have a big chunk of money come in with which to pay down debt? No, I had that a couple of months ago and then we had to sink close to $2,500 into the car instead.
2. I have about $130 in my EF right now and I stopped the automatic transfer a few months ago because I was going to switch the bank it was coming out of. Only I never started it up again from the new account.
3. I haven't done a thing about a setaside account.
4. I'm working on getting current again but I was 2 to 3 months behind on most bills as recently as 2 weeks ago.
Clearly, it's not going too well. And I don't know how much I can accomplish in the next 2.5 months. I have to try something though. What actions can I take now?
1. The most important at the moment is having the money in place to pay Home Depot when the 2 payment plans come due. The first one is for $528.44 and is due January 1st. I literally have $0.69 in the Home Depot fund right now. I have 5 paydays between now and the end of the year. I obviously need to transfer $106 each paycheque in order to have enough. Wow. I don't have the date for the other one in front of me right now, so we'll leave that for another time.
2. I have to start up the automated weekly transfers into my ING account from my credit union. I don't think I can go back to $12 per week just at the moment but I think $5 is workable. At least it will be something. And when I'm done with Home Depot I can increase it.
3. I have to set up at least one set-aside account and put money into it once a month. I think it should be for property taxes and that I should deposit $10/month. (Yes, my property taxes for my rural place really are that low.)
4. I have to pay a couple more bills to get current (or closer to current). And I have to pay my Eldest Daughter back the $100 she fronted me for gas money for the trip last Monday. That $100 also gave us enough for a week's worth of gas for the van.
That's 4 simple steps for me to take to get back on track.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Hating the Snow
The snow has messed up pretty well everything. Our dinner worked out fairly well, although one set of family friends weren't able to make it through the snow. But it snowed far too much through the mountain passes for me to be able to go to the house. I did phone my neighbours though, and found that everything seems to be in one piece.
Then my Eldest Daughter and son-in-law took the girls and went up north to his folks for a few days. While we were eating Shabbat dinner last night we heard a huge crash. I went upstairs to check and found that the fibreglass and 2x4 cover over the deck had collapsed due to the weight of the snow. It's a huge mess and it bent the metal railing around the deck all out of shape, as well as doing some damage to the wall where it was attached.
As soon as Shabbat was over tonight I called and the kids are coming back home tomorrow, a couple of days early. Hubby shoveled over a foot of really wet snow off the shed that's attached to the house, just behind where the deck is. It has an almost flat roof and we were afraid it might collapse too, especially now that it's getting warmer and has been raining, saturating the snow to the max. In fact, some buildings have collapsed due to the snow so it's a totally valid fear.
Tomorrow we'll try to take apart the ruin of the cover, at least enough that we can get around on the deck and try to dump some of the snow off the deck and bring in a couple of items of furniture that were out there. I guess once the kids get home they'll call their insurance and start a claim. Sigh.
The side streets and lanes are a combination of slush, snow and ice and are practically impassable. Lots of people are getting stuck and some folks are just leaving their cars where they are! How dumb are they? It may not be fun, but if you get totally stuck the answer is to call a tow truck. You don't just leave your car in the lane and wait for it to melt some more!
I'm still thinking about goals for 2009. I've already managed to balance our budget, but I was looking at how long it will take us to eliminate our credit card debt at our current rate. Basically it will take us between 4 and 5 years, assuming that we keep the payments at this level and don't drop them as the minimum payment drops. That's not acceptable. We have to get out of debt faster. I would really like to be out of debt by the end of 2009 but I'm not sure if that's realistic. I won't be getting a raise this year and I actually worked fewer hours this year than last year. I can only hope that I'll be able to work more hours in 2009 so I can earn a little more money that way.
Then my Eldest Daughter and son-in-law took the girls and went up north to his folks for a few days. While we were eating Shabbat dinner last night we heard a huge crash. I went upstairs to check and found that the fibreglass and 2x4 cover over the deck had collapsed due to the weight of the snow. It's a huge mess and it bent the metal railing around the deck all out of shape, as well as doing some damage to the wall where it was attached.
As soon as Shabbat was over tonight I called and the kids are coming back home tomorrow, a couple of days early. Hubby shoveled over a foot of really wet snow off the shed that's attached to the house, just behind where the deck is. It has an almost flat roof and we were afraid it might collapse too, especially now that it's getting warmer and has been raining, saturating the snow to the max. In fact, some buildings have collapsed due to the snow so it's a totally valid fear.
Tomorrow we'll try to take apart the ruin of the cover, at least enough that we can get around on the deck and try to dump some of the snow off the deck and bring in a couple of items of furniture that were out there. I guess once the kids get home they'll call their insurance and start a claim. Sigh.
The side streets and lanes are a combination of slush, snow and ice and are practically impassable. Lots of people are getting stuck and some folks are just leaving their cars where they are! How dumb are they? It may not be fun, but if you get totally stuck the answer is to call a tow truck. You don't just leave your car in the lane and wait for it to melt some more!
I'm still thinking about goals for 2009. I've already managed to balance our budget, but I was looking at how long it will take us to eliminate our credit card debt at our current rate. Basically it will take us between 4 and 5 years, assuming that we keep the payments at this level and don't drop them as the minimum payment drops. That's not acceptable. We have to get out of debt faster. I would really like to be out of debt by the end of 2009 but I'm not sure if that's realistic. I won't be getting a raise this year and I actually worked fewer hours this year than last year. I can only hope that I'll be able to work more hours in 2009 so I can earn a little more money that way.
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!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Will I Ever Catch Up?
Probably not. I keep trying to get current on entering my receipts but I can only do it when I don't have kids bopping around and I tend to put it off for all kinds of reasons. It's too late. I'm too tired. I have to get up early in the morning. It'll take too long.
I've been at it since I came home and I'm literally falling asleep here as I type. I wish I could say I'm all caught up now but that's not the case. Worse, it puts me behind in writing here on the blog and I feel compelled to try to stay up and complete some kind of semi-coherent post. That's hard to do when I pause for a moment and a game board just somehow appears in my mind and I start playing this game I've never seen before. Do you think maybe I fell asleep? Uh huh. And I woke up a minute or so later. The problem is, next time I may not wake up until morning.
One of the reasons I fall asleep when I try to do this sort of thing is that it's a form of resistance that's going on in my brain. The other reason is that I'm really tired. But resistance is significant. It means I'm doing something that is really out of my comfort zone and my brain will try anything to get me to stop. Why does it seem to be so threatening just to try to get a handle on how much I'm really spending and what I'm spending it on?
Perhaps I want to think I'm in control of my spending and that we're managing well, even though it's clear we've been spending more than we've made recently. Perhaps I don't want to see the changes I need to make.
Whatever it is, I can fight and win through. But a good night's sleep couldn't hurt.
I've been at it since I came home and I'm literally falling asleep here as I type. I wish I could say I'm all caught up now but that's not the case. Worse, it puts me behind in writing here on the blog and I feel compelled to try to stay up and complete some kind of semi-coherent post. That's hard to do when I pause for a moment and a game board just somehow appears in my mind and I start playing this game I've never seen before. Do you think maybe I fell asleep? Uh huh. And I woke up a minute or so later. The problem is, next time I may not wake up until morning.
One of the reasons I fall asleep when I try to do this sort of thing is that it's a form of resistance that's going on in my brain. The other reason is that I'm really tired. But resistance is significant. It means I'm doing something that is really out of my comfort zone and my brain will try anything to get me to stop. Why does it seem to be so threatening just to try to get a handle on how much I'm really spending and what I'm spending it on?
Perhaps I want to think I'm in control of my spending and that we're managing well, even though it's clear we've been spending more than we've made recently. Perhaps I don't want to see the changes I need to make.
Whatever it is, I can fight and win through. But a good night's sleep couldn't hurt.
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