Tuesday Link Love - April 26, 2011

Because links need love too ;)

A girl after my own heart; eemusings started her post out with a tease of cheese, but sadly ended it with the news that T's bike was stolen :( Any readers in New Zealand, if you see the bike, please e-mail her.

Congratulations Krystal on buying your first home in the greater Vancouver area! That's a huge accomplishment, especially on one income.

Daniela talks about how she got into debt, how she got out of it, and how much money she spent on clothes during that timeframe.

Judy looks at how prices and lifestyles have changed in the 65 years since her grandfather originally bought the house she now owns.

Serena reminds us of the absolute wealth we have and take for granted with a series of photos on what some families in China own. I feel like a hoarder.

And finally for some compounded link love: Marianne from the Money Rabbit, Serena from Fabulously Broke (and the aforementioned Everyday Minimalist) and Clare from Young and Thrifty got some print time in the Financial Post article: Young  Bloggers Look To Spark Fin Lit Passion. Congratulations ladies :)

Chugging Along

Well, despite the fact that I feel more or less like crap, it was actually a pretty productive day.

I paid my bills... and I'm longing for when I can either watch my savings balance grow or debt balance shrink again.

I got the front lawn raked with the help of a friend (thanks again), then mixed the old lawn clippings into the strip of soil I'm working along my sidewalk (for putting edible plants in). I pruned the bushes in front of the house back into shape, drove some fertilizer spikes into the ground, and then hacked back everything at the base of my tree.

There is a noticeable height difference between my tree and every other one on the block. You can tell it was severely neglected before I bought the place.

I figured I could probably use a boost of vitamin C, and decided the best way to do that OBVIOUSLY was to bake lemon squares. You'll have to accept my fuzzy logic on that one. I had purchased all of the ingredients for a bake sale at the company I worked for before being turfed... they're aaaaaaaaall mine now ;)

I've been cleaning and polishing up my winter boots to be packed away for winter. I know we'll probably get another good dump of snow in May, but until then I'd like to get this out of the way. I'd like to be working again before then anyway.

Speaking of work, I've been kinda quiet on the job hunt so far. I'll continue to be pretty mum on the details until I actually have something in writing somewhere. In general terms so far I have a company up north that has expressed some interest, a company in town that called and requested I send them my resume (which I met casually last week), and another place that knows I'll be calling tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

For now I'm just keep my eyes/ears open. Here's hoping I'll have something noteworthy soon.

Lessons Learned

If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.

Truer words were never spoken. My grandfather has said that to me many times, but for whatever reason it didn't stick properly. It would have been great if it had! The last year and a half have been a huge learning opportunity for me. It took me a solid month to write the last two posts, because it was a hard pill to swallow. I dug myself into $19,000 of consumer debt in 1 year. 1 STINKING YEAR!

I get nauseated just thinking about it, but I have to do it. If I didn't think about it, I wouldn't learn anything from it, and I'd be setting myself up to fall again. God only knows where the floor would be next time.

Thankfully, I have managed to learn a few things from this experience. Hopefully in sharing them with you all I can prevent someone else from having to learn it the hard way.

You Need A Budget

This is a surprise to no one. At least, it should be a surprise to no one. This doesn't mean that you need to be categorized and itemized down to the cent in a fancy budgeting program, this just means that you need to know how much is coming in, and where it is going. If your income just barely covers your costs, should you really be going on that ski trip or buying a new wardrobe? Probably not. But unless you know where your money is and where its going are you going to be able to turn it down? Again, probably not.


Be Aware Of Your Income

Different incomes can afford different lifestyles, this isn't a surprise for anyone. Readjusting to a lifestyle on a lower income when you've been riding high for a while... that can be a bit of a shock, and not a pleasant one. It requires being cognizant of how much money you have (budget anyone?), and what it will afford. Anyone changing to a job with lower pay, losing hours, or losing a job altogether will have to deal with this at some point, its best to walk into it with your eyes open.

Life Changes Require Buffers

That lifestyle adjustment I mentioned above takes time, and time is money. Getting adjusted before the change, or having some money put aside to help with the change, will be a HUGE asset. Likewise, if there is another major change coming, such as buying a house or welcoming a baby into the world, you'll want a buffer. Chances are it's going to cost you more than you expect.

Get It In Writing

I thought I had learned this lesson while I was working up north, but apparently I didn't. If it's not written into a contract, it's not guaranteed. Overtime, bonuses, and other perks sound fine and dandy when you're negotiating your wage, but unless you get it in writing you can't rely on it. You need to make sure that you can cover your bases using what's on the page, and what's on the page only. Anything else is gravy.

Distinguish Between Needs and Wants

This one really is a gimme.

I NEED enough food that my body can function properly.
I WANT that Starbucks Chai Latte in the morning because they're yummy...

I NEED enough clothing to keep me appropriately dressed for work and the elements.
I WANT that Lululemon top even though I already have a closet full of clothes

I NEED some way of communicating with people
I WANT an iPhone and MacBook Air.

See where I'm going with this?

If You Can't Afford It Now, Chances Are You Can't Afford It Later

What is actually different between now and later? Are you getting a raise? Is there an inheritance coming? Are you going to cut something out of your daily spending habits? Are your expenses suddenly going to drop?

Is anything different? At all?

If nothing is different, and you can't afford something now, how is it you expect to be able to afford it later when the credit card bill comes in? The easiest answer to this is you can't. Especially when the next payday comes around and there is something else you want...

Find Healthy Outlets For Stress

I use shopping as an outlet for stress. It's a horrible fall back, and I'm actually not sure when it started. I can pinpoint when I started using debt for consumer spending, but I can't pinpoint when I started using shopping as an outlet for stress.

I know there are many, healthier, ways of dealing with it. Exercise it one of the better ones, and I find going to a yoga class or going for a run definitely help me cope with things better. So does getting a hug from a loved one. Seriously, hugs are my emotional/mental saviour. I'd probably be a total nut case if it wasn't for the occasional personal contact.
If I don't deal with the stress issue, my spending goes through the roof. Funny enough though, I don't always have to buy consumer items to get that relief. A little while back I was feeling stressed about my finances, so I put a little more money on one of my debts. It's like I'm slowly buying back my freedom, and it worked to sooth my nerves. Any action that reduces the stress levels without getting you further into trouble is good in my books.

Speak Up

Chances are if you have/had a high paying job, you also have friends with high paying jobs. They may want to do things they automatically assume you can afford, because they can afford to. They're not going to know otherwise until you actually speak up that you can't afford it, so do it! You just might find that some of them are in the same boat as you, and are grateful you spoke up.

Control Your Impulses

And for that matter your daily habits. Do you cave and buy something every time you walk past a bakery or coffee shop? This week try just walking past it once. Maybe on a Tuesday. Just see if you can do it once (I know you can). Once you've done it, try it again next week. Maybe on a Thursday. The point of this is to show yourself that you don't NEED to cave every time you walk by. You are strong enough to say no. Willpower is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets. You might find after doing it for a while you won't have to make a conscious effort anymore and it will just come naturally.

Plan For The Future

Long story short: it's coming, so get ready.

Whether it's an old jar you put your recycling money into, or an investment account you throw half of your paycheck into, everyone needs to save something. Retirement, investments and emergencies all require money, and it doesn't appear out of nowhere. Despite how it may feel every little bit helps, so snowflake away. You'll be glad you did one day.


Anyway, that's what I've learned over the last year and a half. I'm sure there are more lessons in my future, but for now I'm doing my best to apply these ones.

Tipping Point (A Confession) - Part 2

Continued

For those of you who are new to this blog, I'd suggest checking out yesterday's post before reading this one. It will make more sense all together. But for the rest of you, continuing on:

April 2010

Having put well over $10,000 into my RRSPs the year before, along with the new homebuyer's tax credit, renovation tax credit and professional dues tax credit, I figured I'd be in for a pretty solid tax return. Imagine the nasty surprise I got when I found out that not only was I not getting a tax return, but I OWED the government money. My former employer did not take off even CLOSE to the amount of tax they should have been taking off. 

Oh to have been a fly on the wall in my room that day...

All of those RRSP credits and other tax deductions went towards my balance owing, and I ended up paying the government several hundred dollars. On top of this, I was now carrying a debt I had been expecting would disappear when tax time came around.

The only upside to this month is that I got a small raise at the end of my probationary period, and my salary was now sitting at $54,100.

May 2010

Despite the financial slap I got in April, I stayed the course of spending without paying attention to my accounts in May. Nothing really noteworthy happened this month.

June 2010

The tax assessment for my house came in, and it was higher than the previous year. My biweekly accelerated mortgage payments went up another $50, which really sucked. However, I wish that's all that had happened this month.

I had an emotional upheaval in the relationship department on the order of: boyfriend's other girlfriend sends me a message on Facebook basically saying "Hey, I've been dating _____ for a few months. He's met my friends and family, I'd like us to be friends too :)"

Yeah, you read that right.

She had no idea he'd been seeing me for years, and that I was waiting for his work to run it's course so that he could come home again. He had made it sound like I was a really close friend to her, and he had made her sound like "the guys from work" to me. He was working out of province at the time.

I soothed that pain and rage with personal spending like nobody's business.

July 2010

July was a lot of carry over from June. I had emotionally shut down and start culling my emotionally draining/toxic friendships. My now pseudo-boyfriend was trying his best to perform damage control on the relationship, and I just couldn't care less. Needless to say I didn't really pay attention to my finances this month other than my month end update. I can tell you that update wasn't pretty, but I still maintained the position of the proverbial ostrich with my head in the sand.

August 2010

My boyfriend came home for a couple weeks and tried frantically to patch things up with me. I was still pretty checked out and emotionally spent, but I let him try. I wanted to believe things could get better again. I was naive, and it did a huge number on me.

Outside of the relationship realm, I wanted to finish the renovating my kitchen before the snow hit, so I bought more construction supplies for my home. I also pre-paid a hotel room in Vancouver for a couple days in the next month. I needed to be within a reasonable distance of Stanley Park for the Vancouver Triathlon, and there really wasn't much in that area that was either a) cheap, or b) not booked full.

September 2010

I knew at this point that I had to do something about my money, I was beginning to feel the pinch when it came to paying the bills every payday.

I was also freaking out in the personal department, because there was a distinct possibility that I was carrying a little mini me. This was causing me a LOT of stress.

After finishing the triathlon in Stanley Park I went back to my hotel for a bath, some soup and some tea. After warming up a bit, and taking my bike apart again for the plane ride, I made the misguided decision to walk around the shops in Vancouver for a while.

Now, I'm in love with trench coats. I have wanted a Burberry trench coat, no word of a lie, since I was 12 years old. God only knows what a 12 year old knows about clothes or what they cost, but I've been stuck on this coat since then. Through all of the seasons and different styles, it has never changed: beige, knee length, dark buttons. I had been looking for one in my size since university, with no success. I searched for it like Bridget did in her the hunt for the Herve Leger dress over at hithatsmybike.

I found one.

In a moment of sheer stupidity fueled by high running emotions, I emptied out what savings I had to pay for it. It wasn't enough. Despite swearing up and down to myself that I would never do this, I called my credit card company and had them increase the limit. For a coat.

That afternoon I bought a Burberry Manston Trench. $1595+HST. I've kept the price tag as a painful reminder of that; it's sitting on my dressing table at home.

What should have been an exciting purchase (I've wanted it for over a decade...), made me sick to my stomach. What the hell did I just do? I couldn't return it, the store was closed and my flight left before it opened again in the morning. I sat on my hotel room bed staring at the bag wanting to be sick. I was having a hard enough time paying the bills, how was I going to pay for this too? What if I am pregnant, how am I going to find the money to raise a kid? What if I have to do it by myself? What am I doing??

I had a problem, and I needed to do something about it. My money was out of control. Seriously, a year ago the only debt I had was my car, what on earth had gotten into me?

I promised myself I was going to turn this around.

October 2010

I started this blog.

Now I'm digging my way out and up.

Tipping Point (A Confession) - Part 1

*Heads up, I split this post into 2 parts. Rather than just hitting you at the end with a To Be Continued, I figured I'd tell you now.*

Well, I've been on here blogging for 6 months now, so I figure I should probably tell you how I got myself into this mess in the first place. This whole 20/20 hindsight bit is doing a good job of smacking me around right now. It was actually kind of stressful writing this, it's quite embarassing.

There were no dire emergencies, no unexpected job losses, no identity theft crises, nothing. Just good old fashion bad judgement. Lots of rash decisions coupled with serious fiscal mismanagement.

This is when I finally realized I had gone too far:

Those of you who follow fashion know exactly what this is a picture of, and know that it's not cheap. This was my wake up call. I'll start at the beginning.

September 2009

I had been working at a company that was a very poor fit for me, to the point that it was making me ill. By this point I had been suffering from severe insomnia for about 6 months, I was having anxiety related panic attacks at my desk at work, I was depressed, and my physical health was starting to deteriorate. I was getting chest pains from the anxiety. I began worrying about my heart health, as my grandmother started having heart attacks in her 30's. I didn't want to be the one who started in her 20's.

I demanded the company take me off the project where I was working, and bring me back to the office. It was either that or I quit. I was working a camp job a couple hours outside of Fort McMurray, working 21 days straight for 12-16 hours a day. It's a very intense work environment, which normally I like, but the company culture made it very difficult for me.

My salary at this job, including all of the perks, bonuses and RRSP contribution matching was just shy of $100,000 a year.

October 2009

Back at the office I told my supervisors what the issue was, and told them that I needed some stability for a little bit to get my health back under control. They agreed, and said this wouldn't be an issue. So, I started working my 40 hour work weeks, doing the best job I could while I was there, and doing my best to leave work behind when I got home.

At the same time at home, I had an unhealthy long distance personal relationship, and an unhealthy roommate relationship. I had originally planned to buy my first home by October 2010, but the living arrangement pushed me to start searching immediately. I found, and put an offer on, a foreclosed home in Edmonton's west end. It needed a bit of work, but I was looking forward to doing exactly that.

Toward the end of the month I noticed that my coworkers were making snide remarks about me. Leaving at 5:00 pm was called "Pulling a Cassie". They'd plan group get togethers and not invite me. It was an uncomfortable work environment to say the least.

My salary at this time was around $61,000 a year.

November 2009

Work asked me to help out with a project in another province, just to help them get over a rough patch. The first estimate was 1 week. Then by the end of the conversation it was 2 weeks. By the end of the day they had stretched it to 2 months, so I went up to the supervisor and said it's either 2 weeks or I don't go, because I had to be back here to sign my mortgage papers in 2 weeks. I went.

When I got there, my hours bumped back up to the 70-80 hours a week range. I couldn't take it anymore. I ordered a laptop online to replace my dying one so that I'd have something to assemble resumes and cover letters on. I started contacting everyone I knew for references; past managers, university professors, you name it. I sent out resume after resume, at this point, I'd do anything to get out of there. I bought a couple USB keys and put all of my work on them, so that when they tried to tell me my computer had to stay (so I'd come back after signing my mortgage) I'd tell them I didn't need to.

I signed the papers on my home and moved in at the end of the month.

December 2009

I got a reply from one of the resumes I sent out, and set up an interview that quite convieniently fell right after a doctor's appointment downtown. They offered me the job in the interview, and said they would get back to me with a salary offer in a couple days. It was lower than what I was currently making, though I calculated that I could still live on it even with my mortgage payments, though it would take a bit of overtime to make things comfortable. They said that wouldn't be an issue. I accepted over the phone, walked back inside, and quit my job... 2 weeks after I moved into my home.

I spent 2 weeks over Christmas renovating my home, living off the vacation pay I had accumulated from not going on vacation while working for my former employer. I spent several thousand dollars on housing materials, and several hundred dollars buying office appropriate clothing for work, as I was doing largely construction work before.

January 2010

I started my new job the beginning of this month. It's a much healthier work environment, though I still find myself struggling with anxiety. I spend my evenings and weekends going out with friends and doing things I never had time to do before. At this point I didn't really keep an eye on my finances. For that matter, my spending habits didn't really acknowledge the fact that my income had severely decreased over the last couple months.

My salary at this time was around $52,000 a year.

February 2010

Back in the summer of 2008 I submitted an application to volunteer for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. What do you know, I made the cut! I was assigned to be part of the course crew for the men's downhill ski races. That meant I spent the majority of the duration of the Olympics skiing and working on Whistler mountain. That also meant I had to take time off work. My new employer knew this in advance, and was completely cool with it. However, because I was still in my probationary period, I had to take my time off with no pay rather than take it out of my vacation time. So, 1 month into my new job, I took off to Whistler for 3 weeks with no pay. I stayed with friends of the family in Squamish, which brought my costs down considerably, but I still spent money on odds and ends while I was there. By odds and ends I mean I bought some ski clothes when I figured out that the clothing provided was inadequate for my volunteering position.

Adding to the cost was the fact that one of the medics spilled beer on my phone, and despite my best ricing efforts it was frazzled. Instead of waiting it out, or getting a cheap replacement, I went out and got the phone I had been planning on getting in a few years when my phone was supposed to die: an iPhone. Out came the plastic.

It was a very expensive month.

March 2010

I was quite aware that I had spent a good chunk of money the last couple months, so I decided I should start paying more attention to it. When I did up my net worth calculation I wasn't really happy about where I was sitting. I knew I was going to be getting a decent refund the next month, and I planned on using it to pay a bunch of the debts off, but I knew I should start keeping better track of my money. I started doing my month end balance checks this month.

To Be Continued

*and away...*

Okay, now for this month's slip ups.

I don't know how it is you girls (and guys) out there manage your all out shopping bans without slipping up at all. You have willpower of steel. I apparently have the willpower of a wifflebat.

On the upside however, even though there were a lot of red days last month, the spending itself was kept pretty low. Less than $100 for the entire month. This is the smallest total to date :)

Okay, as I mentioned a few days ago I was working outside for about a week this month. All things considered, it was reasonably nice out. It was about -8 out, perfectly acceptable March weather. Unfortunately, it was also a little windy, which makes things worse. I didn't have direct access to sunshine, and the landscape was shaped in such a way that the wind funneled itself to where we were working. Basically build a wind tunnel and put it inside a deep freezer, that's where I was working. I made it all of half an hour the first morning before I was shaking uncontrollably. Knowing that I'd be there the rest of the week, I went down to Mark's Workwear World and bought myself a big bag of those chemical warmers that you can stuff in your gloves, an insulated boot sole liner which I had to cut down to size (they don't make full liners or insulated rubber work boots in my size), a neck warmer, and a pair of fleece lined work gloves. I've worked in colder temperatures before, but I have never been as cold at work as I was that day.

Credit Card Damage: $46.71

The next day, rather than bringing cash from home, I put a hot lunch on my credit card. I've really got no excuses for this, I used it because it was convenient.
Credit Card Damage: $9.61

Back at Mark's Workwear World again. I had run out of those chemical warmers and needed some more to finish the job off. Again, I didn't have any cash on me.
Credit Card Damage: $7.52

My recurring habit that I know how to fix and just haven't. iTunes. This is sheer laziness. I bet if I took my credit card number off the site this one wouldn't happen anymore.
Credit Card Damage: $11.31

And finally, the last one to top off my month (which literally was the last day of the month) was lunch. As I mentioned yesterday, I haven't been brining my lunch to work. As such, I've pretty much run through my desk lunch supplies. My body has had it up to HERE with scones, bagels and other processed baked goods; my skin is beginning to show it; and I just don't feel good. Not cool. I had $3 in my coin purse, which would pretty much only get me those baked goods. So, I picked up lunch and put it on my debit card. So ticked off that it happened on the last day of the month.
Debit Card Damage: $11.50

That beings me to a grand total of  $86.65 worth of non-cash spending. It's better than February and March, but there is still lots of room for improvement.

On another positive note, I managed to write down all of my spending for the month of March as well :) I'm going to keep this up for now on, it's been very helpful.

Month End - March 2011

An interesting thing happened while I was at work yesterday. As those of you who were reading back in February know, I signed up for the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a 200km bike ride fundraising money for cancer research. I was in a meeting yesterday with my coworkers/coparticipants, working on fundraising ideas. The discussion of team jerseys came up, and their cost. A minimum order is 12 jerseys, and there aren't that many of us riding, so we'd each have to order 2 in order to get them. Their (discounted) price is $65 a piece, or $130 a person. All around the table was a chorus of "Oh, that's a lot of money", "I don't know if I have that kind of money right now", "I'm maxed out".


I'm impressed.


I'm not impressed that $130 is financially tight for most of us, but I'm impressed that they're willing to say that rather than just putting it on credit. Some of the other places I've worked you would be looked down upon for saying that, like you were being cheap. It's much easier when you're working with a group that is receptive to hearing your concerns.


So thank you PF community for being the receptive ear (eye?) for me to talk to about my financial worries. I really appreciate it.


Anyway, welcome to the March edition of how the financial ball is bouncing:

	31-Mar-10	28-Feb-11	31-Mar-11
Chequing	$116.66	$661.78	$166.51
Savings 1	$0.24	$0.26	$0.26
Savings 2	$100.00	$0.90	$0.90
Savings 3	$500.00	$0.07	$580.07
Investment	$2,189.67	$1,256.02	$1,362.91
TFSA	$0.00	$2,522.19	$2,514.04
RRSP 1	$1,525.96	$1,642.74	$1,649.01
RRSP 2	$3,868.08	$4,038.05	$4,027.81
RRSP 3	$0.00	$667.42	$889.90
ASSETS	$8,300.61	$10,789.43	$11,191.41
Car Loan	($13,138.27)	($9,034.03)	($8,665.84)
LOC	($10,000.00)	($11,000.00)	($10,950.00)
Credit Card	($5,155.65)	($4,301.76)	($4,030.33)
DEBTS	($28,293.92)	($24,335.79)	($23,646.17)
Net Worth	($19,993.31)	($13,546.36)	($12,454.76)

One thing you might notice is that my starting tally is officially 1 year old today. In that time frame I've improved my net worth by little over $7500. It seems like a bit of a measly sum for a year's worth of work, but it's also because my net worth went down further last year before it started coming back up. I've got a set of posts mostly written for next week explaining how/why I got into debt in the first place. To be completely honest, it was stressful writing them, and quite embarrassing. It will probably turn into a 3 post set, because I'm thinking I want to talk about what I learned as a result of it.


Anyway, the big winner in the account department last month was my Emergency Savings account which went from $0.07, to $580.07. It could have been sitting at $800, but I decided at the last minute to put some extra money towards my credit card. I didn't follow the game plan I set out last month to a T, but it's still a move in a positive direction. *shovels money*


It feels good knowing I've at least gotten somewhere in the last year.

Banging My Head On A Table

I made what is quite possibly the most bone headed move I've made in QUITE a while.

I was late on a credit card payment.

Actually, scrap that, I was early on a credit card payment.

I made a payment thinking it would be going towards my March bill, but I didn't pay attention to the date on my billing cycle. The payment actually got posted onto my February bill, leaving my second March payment short of what I actually owed.

I'm kicking myself so hard right now, you have no idea. I've never done this before. Short of racking up my credit card balance, this is the stupidest thing I've ever done with it.

The only reason I noticed anything was wrong was the fact that my minimum payment jumped. It had been below $100 a month for a little while now, and my balance had been steadily decreasing, so when it jumped to $120 I looked at it with my head tilted to the side thinking wtf?

Then I saw the little note at the bottom:

Your account is one payment past due, which may result in account suspension. Please contact the account management centre at 1 888 XXX-XXXX to make payment arrangements.

You want to see my eyes bug out? That did it. I checked my bank records. I checked the credit card's payment history. Sure enough, it was all there, just not where I thought it would be.

I am absolutely livid with myself. This was nothing short of bone headed.

Let this be a lesson for everyone in knowing your payment due dates. Learn from me so you don't have to learn for yourself.

*head desk*

I'm Dreaming

Because the last couple days have been a little stressful, I really wanted to do something light and fluffy. Something fun and semi-useless. I say semi-useless instead of useless, because this exercise can give you real insight into where your priorities actually lie. Sometimes that's just as useful as money. So, inspired by Money Rabbit's What I Would Do With $100,000, and Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks' What I Would Do If I Won $1,000,000: 4 Years Later, here is what I would do if I had $100,000:
Credit Card - $4,300 ($95,700 left)

So long sucker. Like a bad ex-boyfriend, I won't miss you when you're gone.

LOC - $11,000 ($84,700 left)

This is like the annoying kid brother to the aforementioned bad ex-boyfriend. Less directly spiteful, but I'll be happy to not have to deal with it again either.

Car - $9000 ($75,700 left)

I still plan to sell my silvery little lemon, but in the mean time I'd rather not have the monthly payments or inflated insurance on it either. Hello extra $450 a month...

Mortgage - $48,000 ($27,700 left)

My mortgage, while it is fixed, has multiple pre-payment options including one allowing me to put up to 20% of the total mortgage down on the balance every year. That chunk right there takes my mortgage out of the oh please don't let the rates get too high category into the *breathe* category. Ah the things you learn when you're young and dumb.

New Homebuyer's Repayment - $15,000 ($12,700 left)

Because when I put money into RRSPs, I want my tax money back dammit.

Emergency Fund - $5,300 ($7,400 left)

I'd plunk the money for my goal of $4000 in there, along with a little extra just for good measure. That puts my combined cash savings and investments between $9,000 and $10,000. I'd feel pretty good about that for the time being, as that gives me several months living expenses should I need it. Or a new furnace in January. You never know.

Renovations - $5,000 ($2,400 left)

I need to finish the flooring on my staircase, and the tile in the kitchen. After that, I should have enough money left to put up the other half of the fence in my back yard.

Pantry Restock - $400 ($2,000 left)

Assorted dried/canned odds and ends, as well as 1/2 a lamb from a farming friend of mine up north. Some containers to hold dried goods in an orderly fashion would be nice too.

Grandfather's Birthday Present - $250 ($1,750 left)

Because he deserves it. I don't know yet what the exact gift would be, but I can assure you it likely includes a large Tim Horton's gift card.

Grandmother's Birthday - $750 ($1,000 left)

It's my grandmother's 80th birthday this year, and the family is all getting together in BC to celebrate. That means flights and accommodation, along with a gift for my grandmother.

Wardrobe Restock - $995 ($5)

Right now the thing I'm most in need of are a pair of gum boots (rain boots, wellies, whatever you call them). The snow is melting around my place, and the water on the sidewalks gets quite deep in some places. Other than that, some good quality work clothes to kick a couple items off my list would be great.

Starbucks Chai Latte - $5 (I'm Out!)

Because, you know, I want one.

;)


*Missed a couple several others - Oops*
Paying Myself
Finance Say What
Debt Free Kid
Fabulously Frugirl
Little Miss Money Bags
Figuring Money Out
Hi That's My Bike

Foul Ball

I went into the bank last Thursday to take out my money for the next 2 weeks. I wish there were still bank machines that gave out $5 and $10 bills rather than just $20 and $50 bills, it would save me a trip in to the bank to talk to a teller. Furthermore, it would save me from the frequent credit product pitches that the bank likes to give.

This is a little chunk of my most recent discussion:

"I see you don't have our XXXXXX visa, would you be interested in signing up for one today?"

"No thank you, I already have a credit card"

"But this is an excellent card. If you do any travelling and rent a car with it, if you get in an accident the card covers the insurance for you"

"I understand that, but I'm not interested in another credit card"

"This card has a lot of other perks as well that you might be interested in"

Seriously, I just want $5 and $10 bills, leave me alone.

"What is the interest rate on it?"

"19.9%"

"That's too high"

"But if you pay the card off every month, you don't have to pay anything and the rate doesn't matter"

"It's more a matter of principle"

Okay, so right now it's not strictly a matter of principle, but in general it is. 19.9% is just greedy, especially when you contrast it with what they pay you in a savings account.

"We also have a low rate card you might be interested in. The rate on it is 11.9%, and the annual fee is only $20"

"My existing card is 12.9%, and I don't pay an annual fee on it"

*blank look*

"Which bank is that with?"

"XXXXXXXX"

"Oh. I'll have to leave a comment in the notes about that"

Seriously guys, I know you can see right on the screen that I have a fairly healthy chunk of debt with your bank, why push it?

Okay, chances are your supervisor is making you do it, but still.

It used to be hard to apply for credit. Now it's hard to avoid having it pushed on you. I just wanted small bills.

The more the banks push, the more I want to pay the debt off NOW so that I have less of a reason to deal with them. I know a lot of people who are getting pissed off at the banks right now over it. One guy told his bank that if they don't stop calling him and pestering him to sign up for things he's going to close all of his accounts and go elsewhere. One of the girls I hung out with this past weekend got a message on her answering machine from her bank saying it was very important she call them back. When she did, they tried to sign her up for a credit card. Seriously? Call me saying it's important if someone has tried to drain my accounts, not because I don't have one of your credit products.

Banks, if you're reading this, PISS OFF!

Interesting Rate

I received an anonymous comment a couple days ago on my month end review telling me that my line of credit interest rate was exceptionally high. I hadn't actually given my line of credit interest rate any thought at all, it was just something that was there so I accepted it. The comment however spurred me into gear. I didn't expect to get the 4.5% interest rate he/she mentioned, but if my interest rate was high why not look into getting a decrease?

To google I go!

Apparently the internet isn't a very good place to go to find interest rates on lines of credit in Canada, the banks play that information pretty close to their chest. So, I called my bank Tuesday at lunch, and managed to get an appointment for after work on Wednesday. That was fast!

I almost got my hopes up there!

So, I went in and discussed a rate decrease. No dice. Apparently the major banks tie their line of credit rates to the "customer relationship" they have with you, ie: The more financial credit products you have with them, the better the rate they'll give you. So, if you have your mortgage, credit card, line of credit, RRSP, TFSA, and other investments through them, they'll give you a better rate than if you have just a chequing or a savings account with them.

Lovely.

If you wanted my investment business to build our "customer relationship", why did you try to convince me to lock into a 5.5% fixed rate mortgage when I was being offered 3.99% elsewhere? That doesn't sound like good relationship building to me.

Save 1.5% on a $237,000 mortgage, or save... any number... on a $11,000 line of credit balance.

You tell me what to pick.

There was the option of securing my line of credit to my house equity, but that wasn't guaranteed to be successful. Along with the application process there was an assessment cost of just under $200, and other application/closing fees of close to $500. Those fees alone are essentially the same as tacking another 6% onto my interest rate for the year. Why on earth would I want to do that for a drop of a couple percentage points? I'm trying to pay the thing off, not float it.

The other option offered was to look at increasing the limit on my line of credit. Apparently if I bumped the limit up to $20,000 it would put me into a different "relationship" category, and COULD possibly drop my rate 0.1 - 0.15%

Excuse me if I don't jump for joy on that one.

I contemplated the very financially dangerous maneuver of increasing my credit limit and using the money to pay off my credit card to save myself a few percentage points. I thought better of it.

If I'm going to be shopping around for a better rate, I want as few credit inquiries as possible. The financial advisor did offer me a useful piece of advice though. She said that if I have investments with another bank, I should consider looking to them because they might give me a better rate on a line of credit. Definitely something to remember.

I was just hoping to get a better rate through my existing account. The last thing I wanted to be doing was rate shopping with a balance sitting at 90%+. Not good.

Makes me want to rethink my savings vs. debt repayment plan.

Any Canadian guys/gals know what the banks are offering for line of credit or loan rates right now?

*slide*

And now, for last month's slips. Needless to say, it was a little rough for me this month, especially around the middle. I'm not going to beat around this one, I slipped into an old, very bad, habit this month. I used shopping to beat stress.

I seriously deserve a beat down for this one.

After what was the hardest day I've had at work in well over a year, I went shopping. I didn't use cash. I did set myself a limit, I wasn't allowed to spend any more than 50% of my extra payments this month. That way by the end of the month I was still digging myself out, it was just slower than anticipated. Still, it's a habit I need to break.

After reading on Hi That's My Bike that the jeans I had been after were on sale at Anthropologie, I trotted down there and picked a pair up. Originally almost $220, they were marked down to $80.  While I was there I noticed the sweater I had been fawning over the weeks leading up to Christmas was marked down to $40 from $120, so I picked up the last one in my size as well. Tack on a couple small gifts for people, and a tube of mascara to replace mine (it was time), and I was done. Part of what limited the shopping (other than the fact that the mall was closing), wasn't so much the fact that it would mean my debt would take longer to pay off, but the fact that I'd have to write about it on here. Let's face it, admitting to this stuff is embarassing. So, thank you all.
Credit Card Damage: $184.64

I love music. I know what I should do here is delete my credit card information off iTunes, go out and buy an iTunes gift card with cash, and then use that. As of yet I haven't done it. Chalk this up to laziness, I'll buy one next time I'm out getting groceries.
Credit Card Damage: $3.57

As many of you probably saw earlier in the month, I signed up for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Unfortunately there was a sizable registration cost associated with signing up for it.

That's right, I paid money to raise money for someone else.

I don't feel too bad about the cost of the registration because they feed us and provide us with a place to sleep that weekend. I'm basically paying for a weekend out now rather than in June. They only took either credit card or cheque for the registration costs, and I didn't have any cheques on me, so it ended up going on my credit card. That's the problem with having your card number memorized, its still usable even when it's frozen in a block of ice. My only saving grace on that is that while I have the loooooong number on the front memorized, the short one on the back I don't. That means I usually can't use it online. I put extra money on my card the following payday, but it would have been nice if that money went towards paying the balance down rather than just maintaining it.
Credit Card Damage: $75

That's $263.21 in non-cash spending during the month of February.

*facepalm*

That sucks.

Amazingly enough though I didn't use my debit card all month, other than to take money out of the bank machine every payday. I did however write down and track my spending all month, which was one of my other goals for February. I'll post the results of that tomorrow :)

Month End - February 2011

I had some fun at the company curling bonspiel this weekend. For those of you who don't know, curling is quite possibly the only sport in the world where house cleaning experience comes in handy. Hehehe. They call it sweeping, but it's really more of a mopping motion. I'm a little sore from sliding those chunks of granite around now.

I realized something earlier this month. I've been contributing money to my RRSPs through work, but I never actually took the money into account when I was doing my month ends. Oops. Looks like I have about $600 more in assets than I thought I had :)

Sweet.

Anyway, here's how the month panned out:

	31-Mar-10	31-Jan-11	28-Feb-11
Chequing	$116.66	$149.68	$661.78
Savings 1	$0.24	$0.26	$0.26
Savings 2	$100.00	$0.90	$0.90
Savings 3	$500.00	$0.07	$0.07
Investment	$2,189.67	$1,154.89	$1,256.02
TFSA	$0.00	$2,423.86	$2,522.19
RRSP 1	$1,525.96	$1,632.31	$1,642.74
RRSP 2	$3,868.08	$4,016.41	$4,038.05
RRSP 3	$0.00	$444.94	$667.42
ASSETS	$8,300.61	$9,823.32	$10,789.43
Car Loan	($13,138.27)	($9,397.49)	($9,034.03)
LOC	($10,000.00)	($11,000.00)	($11,000.00)
Credit Card	($5,155.65)	($4,433.32)	($4,301.76)
DEBTS	($28,293.92)	($24,830.81)	($24,335.79)
Net Worth	($19,993.31)	($15,007.49)	($13,546.36)

While I didn't backslide anywhere, I didn't exactly pay anything off by leaps and bounds. It's disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. I'll go into more detail on where the money went in tomorrow's post, because it would make for far too long of a post if I put it in today's. I'm utterly miffed by how small the change in my credit card was, but it's my own fault.

I really need to consolidate my RRSP accounts, I don't need to have 3 of them. I've been meaning to do that for about 6 months now, I just... haven't. It's right up there with writing a will and buying more life insurance. I know better. I'll probably do it when I get all of my tax slips in, that way I'll have all the information I need to switch things around. I'll set that as a goal for April. The will and life insurance will probably be goals for May and June.

How did you guys fare this past month?