You know what's kind of a piss off? Having food spoil before you can use it.
Specifically, sale food.
I've been trying to make a concentrated effort of buying food sale to bring my costs down. The problem is that there is only one of me eating it. I might find bread for $1 off, but I get half the shelf life compared to the bread I buy full price. I know it was at a discount, but I don't feel like I get my money's worth when I throw half of it away. The other piss off is when you avoid giving into the urge to eat out, and make the decision to make food at home instead, and find that the stuff you needed to use is spoiled. Bloody frustrating.
You might be able to tell I'm just a little pissed off about having to throw away half a loaf of bread.
I'll admit I'm terrible at cooking (and grocery shopping) for one. Its a skill I have yet to master, despite my efforts. I come by it very honestly, my mom cooks like a typical farm wife.
For example: Thanksgiving 2009. I expected to be working (out of province) that weekend, and my sister expected to be at her boyfriend's parents for dinner. My mom planned a dinner with enough food for her and my dad. The day of, I managed to get out of work and made the drive up north to my parents. At the same time, my sister and her boyfriend changed their plans and went to my parent's house as well. The dinner for 2 now had to feed 5 adults. No one, except my mother, was concerned about this. At the end of the meal, 2/3 of the food had to be packed up as leftovers.
So, all of you single ladies and gentlemen, what tips and tricks do you have to make cooking for one easier? How do you prevent food from spoiling? When it comes to something like bread, do you buy individual buns, or put it in the freezer and thaw individual slices? I could use some advice right now. I'll be set when I have a family, but for now my food budget feels like it's being unnecessarily abused.
Showing posts with label Spending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spending. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
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.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
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.
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
Saturday, April 2, 2011
*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.
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
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.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Fritter Fritter?
*sigh*
Wow. What can I say? I had a distinct lack of no spend days last month. I did add my online payment stuff into this month's calendar, but there are still far fewer no spend days in there than there should be. Here's how it went for the month of March:
A little legend for the calendar below:
Wow. What can I say? I had a distinct lack of no spend days last month. I did add my online payment stuff into this month's calendar, but there are still far fewer no spend days in there than there should be. Here's how it went for the month of March:
A little legend for the calendar below:
Green = No Spend Day
Yellow = Spend Day
Red = Used Credit/Debit Card
March - All Spending | ||||||
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
$1.25 | $68.71 | $110.00 | $16.80 | $70.00 | ||
$19.05 | $4.45 | $0.00 | $52.70 | $280.84 | $677.83 | $14.25 |
$0.00 | $2.50 | $6.30 | $46.25 | $0.25 | $14.51 | $49.03 |
$9.61 | $0.00 | $105.81 | $9.02 | $11.39 | $1,182.15 | $16.26 |
$17.48 | $433.38 | $0.00 | $24.96 | $14.50 | ||
Before you jump at the red box that's over a thousand dollars, I'll point out that both my mortgage and utilities were paid on that day as well. In fact, any day that you see that's over $100 is due to either utility payments, debt payments, a car/insurance payment or a mortgage payment. Looking at the non-(semi)automated stuff, this is what I spent this month:
March - Cash & Card Spending | ||||||
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
$1.25 | $68.71 | $0.00 | $16.80 | $70.00 | ||
$19.05 | $4.45 | $0.00 | $2.70 | $60.84 | $22.85 | $14.25 |
$0.00 | $2.50 | $6.30 | $46.25 | $0.25 | $14.51 | $49.03 |
$9.61 | $0.00 | $34.07 | $9.02 | $11.39 | $17.17 | $16.26 |
$17.48 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $24.96 | $14.50 | ||
There is still a distinct lack of No Spend days here. Seriously, what's up with that? I took out the frivolous food purchases, and this is what I came up with:
March - Cash & Card Spending - Without Frivolous Food Purchases | ||||||
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
$0.00 | $65.92 | $0.00 | $13.95 | $70.00 | ||
$19.05 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $59.34 | $20.00 | $14.25 |
$0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $45.00 | $0.25 | $0.00 | $46.71 |
$0.00 | $0.00 | $26.00 | $7.52 | $0.00 | $15.67 | $5.00 |
$10.48 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $19.96 | $0.00 | ||
That's more like it.
Not all of the eating out was taken out of that last one. If I was meeting friends for breakfast/lunch/dinner, then I counted it as socializing. If it was just me, it was frivolous. I know why I've been eating out so much, and I know it's within my control and I need to find a way to work around it. Usually I spend my Sunday afternoons cooking/cleaning and generally preparing for the week. This last month I've spent pretty much every weekend at The Boy's place, meaning I haven't been doing my food prep. Consequently, I've been running out the door in the mornings without a packed breakfast or lunch of any sort, and nothing really planned.
Oops.
So, I need to fix that. It's far too easy to spend money on food. Last month I spent $84.69 on groceries, and $235.46 on eating out. WAY too much!
The other thing that's been causing me to fritter is stress. Lately, I've been going down to the corner store in the building and picking up a chocolate bar as an afternoon pick me up. Seriously, since when do I buy chocolate bars at work?
Since this year I guess.
Anyway, that's how last month went. I'm going to try to do better this month. I acknowledge that will be a little difficult with exams towards the end of the month, but I'm going to try. This morning I brought my tea to class in a travel mug. That's one step in the right direction, now I just have to keep it up. Tomorrow I'll go over where the *RED* purchases occurred.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Back Again
Wow, what a week.
I've been sorely neglecting my blog, not because I didn't have anything to write, but because I just haven't had 2 minutes to do it. I worked late friday, then worked all weekend on a construction site (continuing currently, I just have the evening off).
Despite running my butt off at work, I've actually had a decent amount of reflection time. Largely the habits I fall back into under certain circumstances. It's amazing how much habit plays into my money handling. I already know that when I'm stressed I spend money. It's a fairly well proven link, especially when I'm dealing with personal issues.
Relationship or work stress = Cassie needs new clothes/makeup/food/Starbucks to make herself feel better.
Does it fix anything? Not really, unless I got things that were missing from my wardrobe/cupboard. It's a temporary salve to give me a momentary perk up when I'm feeling really low. I can control when the perks come, even if I don't feel that I can control the external stressors in my life. The important part here, in my mind, isn't actually stopping the flow of perks. It's knowing when to take the reigns on the stressors that feel out of my reach, and knocking them around before the perks become a daily necessity to make up for the fact that life sucks.
To clarify, my life doesn't suck. In fact I've been reflecting a lot lately on how good I actually have it.
I'm pretty sure that most of us know that if you give yourself perks too often, they eventually lose their perkiness. Then they just become part of daily life. Then you need something different, possibly bigger, to give yourself that high again. That's a dangerous cycle. Even if you don't run out of money, the perks will eventually lose their effectiveness and no matter what you buy you won't be able to get that feeling anymore.
Don't ask me how I know that. Let's just say I've had to beat around my stressors before.
But that's big picture obvious spending. Lately I've been paying attention to my less obvious spending habits. Situational spending. I almost never eat out for lunch or dinner while I'm at work. While I've been on site? Almost half of my meals have been purchased. Why? It's quick, I don't have to think about it, and I don't have to spend any time preparing for it. That right there is probably the reason why I gained a full dress size on my first post-university construction job.
I had KFC for lunch today. I hate KFC. Why did I do it? It was there. I know full well that I know better, but for some reason I've associated being on site with eating out. If I make any more money than usual on site it will be minimal, so it's not like it's something I can easily get away with. It's a BAD habit.
So what do I do about it?
Well, I'll have to find something I can bring to work that satisfies me in a similar fashion to fast food. Lets face it, when you're freezing cold sitting in a truck eating lunch, a salad or jam sandwich isn't going to have the same appeal as a hot, salty, greasy meal. It just isn't. We don't have a microwave on site, let alone a lunchroom, so whatever you pack is probably going to be cold when you get to it. A thermos of soup would be a great meal, but I've always found it to be cumbersome eating soup in a truck. That thermos would be great for some chai tea to warm me up though, in fact I'll be getting it out tonight for exactly that. As for the meal itself *shrug* I need to figure out what I can eat cold that will fix that salt tooth. Chances are I'd just drink the tea. It's a bad habit, yes, but I'm just being honest here.
I've been thinking about my morning tea routine at the University as well. It's not nearly as expensive, but it is something I just do at the University. I don't normally buy drinks in the morning when I'm going to work. At school I do. It's a weird little idiosyncrasy of mine.
What's kind of funny is that both the tea at the university and eating out on construction sites used to be perks for me. Now I automatically assume them to go hand in hand. It's a habit. It's something I have to be more aware of.
Man I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now. At least when I'm not tired I'm more likely to make better financial decisions. Yep, definitely going to sleep Now.
I've been sorely neglecting my blog, not because I didn't have anything to write, but because I just haven't had 2 minutes to do it. I worked late friday, then worked all weekend on a construction site (continuing currently, I just have the evening off).
Despite running my butt off at work, I've actually had a decent amount of reflection time. Largely the habits I fall back into under certain circumstances. It's amazing how much habit plays into my money handling. I already know that when I'm stressed I spend money. It's a fairly well proven link, especially when I'm dealing with personal issues.
Relationship or work stress = Cassie needs new clothes/makeup/food/Starbucks to make herself feel better.
Does it fix anything? Not really, unless I got things that were missing from my wardrobe/cupboard. It's a temporary salve to give me a momentary perk up when I'm feeling really low. I can control when the perks come, even if I don't feel that I can control the external stressors in my life. The important part here, in my mind, isn't actually stopping the flow of perks. It's knowing when to take the reigns on the stressors that feel out of my reach, and knocking them around before the perks become a daily necessity to make up for the fact that life sucks.
To clarify, my life doesn't suck. In fact I've been reflecting a lot lately on how good I actually have it.
I'm pretty sure that most of us know that if you give yourself perks too often, they eventually lose their perkiness. Then they just become part of daily life. Then you need something different, possibly bigger, to give yourself that high again. That's a dangerous cycle. Even if you don't run out of money, the perks will eventually lose their effectiveness and no matter what you buy you won't be able to get that feeling anymore.
Don't ask me how I know that. Let's just say I've had to beat around my stressors before.
But that's big picture obvious spending. Lately I've been paying attention to my less obvious spending habits. Situational spending. I almost never eat out for lunch or dinner while I'm at work. While I've been on site? Almost half of my meals have been purchased. Why? It's quick, I don't have to think about it, and I don't have to spend any time preparing for it. That right there is probably the reason why I gained a full dress size on my first post-university construction job.
I had KFC for lunch today. I hate KFC. Why did I do it? It was there. I know full well that I know better, but for some reason I've associated being on site with eating out. If I make any more money than usual on site it will be minimal, so it's not like it's something I can easily get away with. It's a BAD habit.
So what do I do about it?
Well, I'll have to find something I can bring to work that satisfies me in a similar fashion to fast food. Lets face it, when you're freezing cold sitting in a truck eating lunch, a salad or jam sandwich isn't going to have the same appeal as a hot, salty, greasy meal. It just isn't. We don't have a microwave on site, let alone a lunchroom, so whatever you pack is probably going to be cold when you get to it. A thermos of soup would be a great meal, but I've always found it to be cumbersome eating soup in a truck. That thermos would be great for some chai tea to warm me up though, in fact I'll be getting it out tonight for exactly that. As for the meal itself *shrug* I need to figure out what I can eat cold that will fix that salt tooth. Chances are I'd just drink the tea. It's a bad habit, yes, but I'm just being honest here.
I've been thinking about my morning tea routine at the University as well. It's not nearly as expensive, but it is something I just do at the University. I don't normally buy drinks in the morning when I'm going to work. At school I do. It's a weird little idiosyncrasy of mine.
What's kind of funny is that both the tea at the university and eating out on construction sites used to be perks for me. Now I automatically assume them to go hand in hand. It's a habit. It's something I have to be more aware of.
Man I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now. At least when I'm not tired I'm more likely to make better financial decisions. Yep, definitely going to sleep Now.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
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.
;)
*Misseda 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
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
Paying Myself
Finance Say What
Debt Free Kid
Fabulously Frugirl
Little Miss Money Bags
Figuring Money Out
Hi That's My Bike
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tracking Coinage
Okay, a little legend for the calendars below:
*fritter fritter*
*fritter*
*fritter fritter fritter*
You hear that? That's the sound of me frittering away money on a near daily basis buying tea and breakfast items at the university. It occurred to me about half way through the month that I was doing this, so I decided to see what my spending would look like if I took the morning treats out of there. This was the result:
Considerably more no spend days!
However, when I totalled it up, my morning breakfasts out added up to about $30.79 over the course of the month. That's just over a dollar a day. I expected it to be much higher than that once I realized how often I was doing it.
Now I'm trying to decide whether this is something I want to stem for the sake of saving a little extra money, or just let slide for the sake of sanity? I know that the *right* answer is to bring my tea and scones from home and put the savings towards my emergency fund; but right now I am feeling a bit of frugal fatigue.
It sucks. Hard.
The savings grace of having this habit at the university is where I can go to get my snack attack breakfast fix. If I was getting a venti chai latte and scone at Starbucks, it would set me back about $8. Grabbing an extra large chai tea and scone at Cram Dunk? Closer to $2.50, $2 if they have day old baking. The tea itself is $1.25.
I have a month and a half until class is done. To be completely honest, I'm probably going to let myself fritter on this in the morning.
Frugal? No.
Sane? Yes.
I'm already crazy enough as it is, I don't need money driving me further down the rabbit hole.
Green = No Spend Day
Yellow = Spend Day
Red = Used Credit Card
Here's how it went for the month of February:
February - All Spending | ||||||
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| $75.00 | $1.25 | $0.00 | $1.25 | $24.00 | ||
| $0.00 | $2.09 | $0.00 | $2.85 | $3.16 | $117.15 | $13.13 |
| $0.00 | $27.37 | $199.59 | $2.85 | $15.24 | $1.60 | $0.00 |
| $0.00 | $3.57 | $4.20 | $0.00 | $1.60 | $31.66 | $1.25 |
| $0.00 | $1.25 | |||||
*fritter fritter*
*fritter*
*fritter fritter fritter*
You hear that? That's the sound of me frittering away money on a near daily basis buying tea and breakfast items at the university. It occurred to me about half way through the month that I was doing this, so I decided to see what my spending would look like if I took the morning treats out of there. This was the result:
February - Spending, Without Morning Snacks | ||||||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| $75.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $24.00 | ||
| $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $115.00 | $13.13 |
| $0.00 | $25.27 | $195.39 | $0.00 | $12.90 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| $0.00 | $3.57 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $31.66 | $1.25 |
| $0.00 | $0.00 | |||||
Considerably more no spend days!
However, when I totalled it up, my morning breakfasts out added up to about $30.79 over the course of the month. That's just over a dollar a day. I expected it to be much higher than that once I realized how often I was doing it.
Now I'm trying to decide whether this is something I want to stem for the sake of saving a little extra money, or just let slide for the sake of sanity? I know that the *right* answer is to bring my tea and scones from home and put the savings towards my emergency fund; but right now I am feeling a bit of frugal fatigue.
It sucks. Hard.
The savings grace of having this habit at the university is where I can go to get my snack attack breakfast fix. If I was getting a venti chai latte and scone at Starbucks, it would set me back about $8. Grabbing an extra large chai tea and scone at Cram Dunk? Closer to $2.50, $2 if they have day old baking. The tea itself is $1.25.
I have a month and a half until class is done. To be completely honest, I'm probably going to let myself fritter on this in the morning.
Frugal? No.
Sane? Yes.
I'm already crazy enough as it is, I don't need money driving me further down the rabbit hole.
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