Sunday 21 September 2008

A weekly round-up

Well, it hasn't my best week to date by any stretch of imagination, but apart from mad spending on DVD box sets on Monday and Tuesday (which, as Frugal Dreamer says, will keep me entertained for weeks now), I also bought a plane ticket and BCAA coverage for my truck.

I've been saving for my trip to Victoria since about January and had just over $1500 to this point. Airline prices have gone up so I paid $100 more for my ticket than I would have last year, but there's nothing I can do about that. I have two airline choices to get Outside: Air Canada ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) or Air North ($$$). My total, then, for my return flight on Air North (taking into consideration the minimum two-week discount) is $628.25. This has already been pre-paid onto my Visa card, and I still have plenty of funds to use in Victoria. Plus I have a paycheque this week and in two weeks' time, when I'm actually there, so there's still a little time to plump up the travel funds until I leave in October. I'm actually taking 10 days off after much mulling and thought because I haven't had a holiday in two years, I work every weekend and sometimes taking care of yourself and relaxing is worth more than a paycheque. I've reached that point, as I want some time to get a few things done around the apartment. With one day off a week, lots of stuff just gets pushed aside for "later."

I bought roadside assistance again because with a very old truck (by vehicle standards - she's 27) it's a peace of mind that I need through our very long, very cold winters. Last year I used it twice in two weeks: once for a tow ($125) and once for unlocking the truck ($60) when I shut the keys in it (it was -43C that morning...), and for $70 for the year, I definitely got my money's worth. I feel it's well worth the cost, even if I don't have to use it this year.

I've got two trips that I'd like to do next year, so I'm going to be very careful with what I spend while I'm away this time. I found a pamphlet about Horsepacking Trips of 1 - 8 days, which I thought was really fortunate, as I've wanted to do something like this for years! Of course, I've decided on a 7 night trek (may as well make it worthwhile, right?) for $2188 and a driving trip to the South-West US. This was just decided today with a co-worker of mine and we're looking at next September, so there's lots of time to plan, etc. Two things in particular may halt the trip, namely a road-worthy vehicle and whether my friend will still be in Canada (she's German) as she'll need permanent resident status to do any travelling! So...planning is fun, but I'll need a contigency plan in case it doesn't work out.

Spending this week (apart from the above):

Lunch on Friday with a friend: $7.98
Groceries: $16.49 (inc. $10 for 16 kg of cat litter)
New shirt: $31.50 (this was on sale, plus I also saved $5 by exchanging a pair of pants). Another want, I admit, but it looks really cute! Ha! :-)

Another week of travel ahead of me. 5 days no driving (not really counting the fact I'm driving to pick up a government vehicle Monday morning and leaving my truck until Friday when I need to get home). Plus I'm going to get loads of overtime from my week of travel, plus another reimbursement cheque for it, so I should be fine with keeping my expenses and savings about where they currently are.

But first there's a 5 a.m. start...blah!

1 comment:

Canadian Saver said...

Glad to hear you got the flight booked! That horseback trip sounds really amazing :-) And the roadtrip too!! SO many things to look forward to :-)

And I hear you about the roadside assistance, I wouldn't drive without it :-)