Small Successes

While it wasn't a cheap weekend, this past weekend was a weekend of small successes.

I went down to Holt's on payday to pick up some moisturizing lotion for my face. I have some cream left, but with the weather changing it was beginning to feel kind of heavy. My face was starting to break out, and I was hoping to kick that before it got out of hand. They have a sales "event" coming up, but it's one where they give you 10% back in gift cards, and you have to spend $350 to qualify. Not happening. I asked the lady at the counter for a bottle of lotion and she launched into a sales pitch on how I really won't see the full results unless I also use products X, Y and Z with it. Great. My skin is a gleaming beacon for sales people, screaming: sell stuff to me! *sigh* Anyway, 10 minutes later I've left the sales counter without the bottle of lotion, but with a handful of samples! I know from last time I used their samples that I'll be able to get a couple weeks worth of use out of them before I run out. So, it doesn't appear that I'll be spending money on moisturizer this month. If I get the sales pitch again next time I go in I may just order it online.

Spring is coming in a hurry right now. Where I had snow up to my hip 2 weeks ago I now have a patch of sad looking grass that is about to turn green in the coming weeks. I did a little online hunting for a weedwacker, because the $150-$250 for a gas model wasn't really an option. Success! I went on to the Canadian Tire website and found a little electric model for $40. I'll have to drag an extension cord around behind it, but I don't care about that. I have to do that with my lawnmower already anyway.

I spent probably a good hour Sunday evening making breakfasts and lunches for the week. I now have a stack of peanut butter bagels, salami and cheese sandwiches and containers of salad for this week in my fridge. I spent  a little too long in the shower this morning so I didn't have time to boil water for tea, but having my breakfast and lunch ready for today means that my spending will be limited. Extra bonus is the fact that since I've been focussing on eating my veggies again rather than reaching for easy carbs (scones, muffins, buns), I've been feeling better. I don't feel bloated, my skin feels better, and I'm not dealing with the hunger swings and crashes. Fewer crashes = less spending. Even better is that I'll probably be able to curb the recent migration of pounds to my midsection again.

I said sayonara to the dry cleaner and handwashed a couple of my dry clean only items last night. The result? Well, I'm wearing one of the items right now and it looks and feels the same as it does when it comes back from the dry cleaner's. Minus the chemical smell. You can consider me sold. Maybe now the money I set aside for clothes will actually be used on new clothes rather than on cleaning my existing ones. Score.

I FINALLY picked up an iTunes card when I went for groceries yesterday. Now I can download music without using my credit card. That only took me... oh... 2 and a half months... Oops. The important part is that I did it.

Did any one else have an small successes this weekend?

The Top 10

While work is known to be a source of stress for many most almost all all of us at one point in time or another, sometimes it's not just the money that keeps us coming back. I know it isn't for me. If I was just in it for the money I'd haul my butt back up to Fort McMurray and get a job as a heavy equipment operator. WAY more money in that line of work. That's a pay off all non-mortgage debts before Christmas and have money left over type of job.

*sigh*

Sometimes the little reminders of why you do your job come just when you need them. Like Wednesday when I got a package from APEGBC (the Engineer's governing body in BC). In it was a bunch of registration related paperwork, and a little card with the Code of Ethics on it. We're held to a high standard of professional conduct in our work, we do more than just number crunching. It's one of the reasons why I feel good about when I do for a living. Despite the inevitable ups and downs, I can sleep well knowing that I'm working toward helping people as a whole.

Now that I'm done with that little sap story, I'll get back to the card. They break the code down into 10 easily manageable bites:

1. Public Interest
2. Know Your Limits
3. Don't Fake It
4. Conflict of Interest
5. Respect Your Value
6. Lifelong Learning
7. Do Unto Others
8. Stand Your Ground
9. Be Brave
10. Spread The Word

I'd go into detail on each one, but let's face it, it's kind of wordy (otherwise why bother with the short form?), and 99% of you would never read anything I write ever again if I did. Seeing as knowing that people do read this is keeping me accountable, I figure I'd like to keep you guys around ;)

The 10 ideas, in their most basic form, can be applied to the concepts of personal finance and frugality, as well as to my work. Think about it:

1. Public Interest - Reducing energy consumption, keeping excess "stuff" out of landfills, growing our own vegetables and not wasting the things we purchase... These not only help ourselves, but are in the interests of the community as a whole. Think of more than just self gratification. 
2. Know Your Limits - Besides the obvious example of credit limits? How about transaction limits? Or drink limits? Or stress limits? Or the limit of your budget? How far can you go before you lose control, whether it be financially or otherwise? Recognizing your limits, and working within them, is crucial to success in all walks of life. 
3. Don't Fake It - You've got it made. You're out in the work world, you're an adult, you should look the part right? High end clothes, condo downtown, brand new car, eating out every night at restaurants, international holidays.... Or should you? The short answer, if you can't afford it in cash after you've stashed some away, is no. Don't fake it. 
4. Conflict of Interest - How does your financial advisor get paid? Do you pay them up front? No? Well they're making money off you somewhere, make sure you know how. Otherwise you'll never know if that awesome fund they're recommending is great for your account... or theirs. 
5. Respect Your Value - You work hard for your money, shouldn't your pay check reflect that? Know what you're worth, and go for it. If your employer isn't paying you what you're worth, they may not respect your value. Show them they're wrong, and get the pay check you deserve. 
6. Lifelong Learning - You are never too old or young to learn a new skill. No one in today's job market can afford to stay stationary and rely on "how things have always been done". Get out there and sponge up every new skill and piece of knowledge you can. You never know when it will come in handy. 
7. Do Unto Others - Be good to others, and they will be good to you. This piece of advice has come in handy more times than I can count. 
8. Stand Your Ground - Store not honouring their return policy? Someone wants to drive after having a few too many? Credit card trying to charge you unreasonable fees? Dealing with a bully? Stand your ground. If you don't, there may not be someone else there to do it for you. 
9. Be Brave - Whether it's going back to school, starting a new job, or *gulp* going without a job, change is scary. Be brave, you'll make it through. 
10. Spread The Word - As all of my fellow PF and lifestyle bloggers are doing, spread the word. You never know if that little nugget of advice you take for granted could be the switch that helps someone and finally sends them in a positive direction. Whether it's a savings tip, an explanation of confusing financal jargon, a cheap dinner recipe, or just a way to deal with stress, you never know who you might help. Likewise, you never know when someone might just reach out and help you.

Who knew work could be so applicable?

Price Check Please?

For some reason my back and neck are really sore today. Massage is covered by my insurance (up to a certain dollar amount), so I figured I'd book an appointment on pay day (so I can pay cash).

I looked up one of the spas near my house online, checked their prices, and then called to book an appointment. This was the tail end of the conversation.

*booking appointment, inquired about price*

Spa: "That will be $110"

Me: "Your website says $55-$75"

Spa: "That's the American price, our spa isn't listed on there"

Me: "I looked you up on the Canadian site, and they have different services listed based on the locations so I know it's not standard pricing."

Spa: "But that is the American price. We're globally owned though, so after the exchange rate it comes out to the same price."

Me: "The dollar is at par"

*long pause*

Spa: "It is right now"

*It has been for, ummm, quite a while, and is projected to be for some time in the future*

Me: "Thank you for your time, but my insurance won't cover that cost."

I'm glad I double checked the price before I hung up the phone, that would have been a VERY unpleasant surprise if I hadn't. Needless to say, I'm irritated. Granted, that could also be due to my back being sore. Has anyone else run into this lately? If so, how did you handle it?

The Cost of a Guilty Pleasure

I know that taking a bath uses more water than taking a shower. I know this for a fact. Put the plug in while you're having a shower and note the water level when you're done, almost guaranteed the tub isn't even half full. From a green standpoint it's abhorrent that I prefer baths to showers, I know. However when I come inside after walking home from the bus stop in -35, a 5 minute lukewarm shower just doesn't get rid of the chill. It really doesn't. Enter long hot bath. I've been wondering for a little while what my baths are costing me though, seeing as during the middle of winter they happen much more frequently.

Excuse me while I geek out for a bit, I've been wanting to do this calculation for a while.

If you're looking for an easy metric unit reference sheet, I'd recommend using this: http://xkcd.com/526/ Geeky, somewhat tongue in cheek, and not necessarily 100% accurate. Perfect.

The temperature of cold tap water here is close to 10 degrees celsius. I wouldn't be surprised if it's colder than that right now, but I'm going to use this as my starting point. I like my baths somewhere around 43 degrees to start, which means the water has to be heated 33 degrees.

My tub, very crudely measured to bath water level, is approximately 40cm x 60cm x 135cm. I'm not going to take my body volume out of there, we'll just assume that I'm going to warm up the water at some point. This gives us a volume of approximately 0.32m3.

It takes 4.184 Joules of energy to warm up 1 gram of water by 1 degree celsius. 1 gram of water is approximately 1cm3. So, in order to warm up my bath water, I'm going to require: 

(0.32m3) x (1,000,000cm3/1m3) x (33C) x (4.184J) = 44,183,040J or 44.18 MJ

So now I know how much energy this is going to take. Kinda. This is assuming everything goes absolutely perfectly, and that every last bit of energy is converted into heat and goes directly into the water. As nice as that would be, it doesn't happen this way. My hot water tank is heated by natural gas, which isn't overly efficient. Lets assume my tank is 65% efficient.

44MJ / 0.65 = 67.69MJ

That's probably a little closer to what is actually being used to heat the water. My gas bill charges by the Gigajoule of energy. Not that they know the exact amount of energy I'm getting, they've just applied an average conversion factor to the volume of gas provided. Anyway, from my last set of utility bills:

$3.97/GJ for the gas itself
$0.53/GJ for the gas delivery
$0.23/GJ for the GST on the gas
$4.73/GJ for heat

$1.59/m3 for the water itself
$1.18/m3 to drain the water
$2.77/m3 for water

Apparently GST is charged on gas and electricity, but not water? Oh well. I'm only taking the variable charges on this, because I have to pay the fixed charges regardless of whether or not I take a bath. I'm also not taking the electricity for the bathroom fan into account, because I don't really feel like looking for the motor rating. That would mean actually finding the label! lol.

So my guilty pleasure is currently costing me:

(0.06769GJ x $4.73/GJ) + (0.32m3 x $2.77/m3) = $1.21

That's better than I was expecting. Cheaper than Starbucks, that's for sure. However, I can see how this would add up over time. Having a hot bath every day of the month rather than a quick shower? That's almost $40!

It's enough to make me think "I'll just have a shower tonight". Tomorrow, maybe not so much ;)

A Couple Quick Hacks

Look around any personal finance site, and you will eventually find an article or blog post about frugal hacks. Basically, tricks to can do easily to save yourself money, or get more for your money. There are thousands of them. Here’s a couple of hacks that I use frequently:

At Home:

Out of body scrub and your feet resemble a reptile? Mix granulated sugar, salt, or rice into a squirt of your usual body wash. It works really well in a pinch (and is WAY cheaper than the sugar/salt scrubs you can buy. I’m looking at YOU Fresh Brown Sugar Polish). I wouldn’t suggest using it on your face though. Maybe it’s just me, but I found this to be way too harsh on my skin, and I broke out worse after trying it. It worked really well on my legs through.

While Travelling:

Do you feel like your intelligence is being insulted when you go through airport security and the price of bottled water jumps another $3? I know I do. That’s why I started carrying an empty water bottle though security. On the other side I go to Starbucks and ask the barista to fill it for me. I’ve never had a problem with this. One thing to consider, make sure the water in the country you’re in is safe to drink. I drank tap water in Prague once and was quite sick as a result. In Canada and the US however, it’s perfectly safe to drink. If you go to a fast food joint and they try to tell you their tap water isn’t safe to drink, remind them that the same tap water is being used to make their fountain drinks. TIP: Take the bottle out of your carry on and put it in the tray before putting it through the scanner, otherwise security will rip your bag apart looking for fluids. Or try one of those new collapsible bottles that are popping up everywhere.

At Starbucks

Most Starbucks hacks have to do with coffee, but this one is for the tea drinkers out there. When you order your tea, order the Venti (not a huge price difference from the Grande). The Venti price includes 2 tea bags rather than the standard 1 bag. Ask the barista to leave one of the tea bags out on the side when she’s making your tea. For the extra 20 cents or so you paid for the size upgrade, you now have a second cup of tea. I stash the extra bags in my desk at work. And seriously, use those bags more than once. There is a ton of tea in them, you can easily make 2 or 3 cups. Do that with both bags and you have 4-6 cups of tea for the price of 1.

What are some of your favourite hacks?