Thursday 23 April 2009

Twice the pay, twice the paydown!

I get my pay stubs electronically and I had two waiting in my in-box at work on Tuesday, which initially confused me. But I realized that instead of one paycheque, I was getting TWO! My previous position was two weeks behind; my current one auto-paid on the pay date for the dates worked. This meant over $1400 EXTRA to use for savings and debt repayment. Wow.

I designated the pays as follows:

RRSP (18%) - $446.86
TFSA (rent) - $270
Income Tax - $200 (owe $1770.00)
Student Loan - $200 (owe $2425.25)
LOC - $198.85 (owe $2600)
Money Market a/c - $120
Visa - $134.41 (zero balance)
Rent - $300
Jars - $280 (2 wks)
Savings - $300

I've updated my sidebars to reflect the changes and added my savings goals for my RRSP and my Rent account. I started this at Big Bank to save money specifically for rent payments while I'm travelling next year (that's still the plan for now). This is outside my EFund as I wanted to make sure I didn't fall short while I was gone. The auto payment is set up for $30 bi-weekly, but I thought I'd get a head start and sock some money away while I had the chance. This won't happen again, so it's best to take advantage of it.

My income has fallen considerably more than I anticipated with this new position. My take home pay for 60 hrs bi-weekly is $1043. This includes benefits now, but still was a bit of a shock. There are definitely areas I can still (and will have to!) shave in my budget, so I'm going to have to be careful from here on in. I'm always willing to take on extra shifts, and while I still have the hotel job, it's only once a week and so isn't a great source of income. I have asked about an extra shift here & there, but there's no guarantee, although not hiring new staff for the summer is taking a risk and is making the assumption that no one will quit, get sick or be generally unavailable straight through to October.

I managed to get an awful lot of errands done today and I still have two days off ahead of me! This is actually really nice, although I do need to get used to having so much time to myself. I ran around today so I can have some down time the next couple of days. Just go for walks, visit with friends...D and I are planning a visit to Braeburn Lodge tomorrow evening for dinner. It's about an hour and a half north and a nice drive. We go on occasion and the food portions are ENORMOUS! I can eat exactly half of their grilled ham & cheese sandwich - barely. It's all comfort food, grilled or fried, so not something you'd want to indulge in on a regular basis!

And of course, I have to admit I splurged a little and bought some more DVD box sets. What made it better, though, was that a) I went for the used sets instead of the new ones and b) that the used sets are on SALE! $5.99 per disc, so for 4 box sets I've spent $100.73. After taxes it's a savings of over $40, so I think that's pretty good. I could save even more and go to Wal-Mart, but I'm into my second year of boycotting Wal-Mart, so I won't. Alternately, I could just NOT buy the box sets at all and save myself even more, right? I know the library has the entire collection of "Midsomer Murders" being prepared for use, so I have that to look forward to, as well.

I learned today that at least two of the grocery stores in town are now charging for bags - 5 cents per bag! This is an (extra) incentive for me to remember to keep some reusable ones in the truck. Even when I plan to go grocery shopping, as I did today, I never remember to bring them with me. I've put 4 outside my door, so that next time I get into the truck, I will remember to put them there.

Now that I have more free time, I also need to start thinking about some fundamental changes I need to make with respect to my eating habits, spending habits, general health and well-being and just letting go of a lot of stuff. Spring cleaning everything - my physical house, my emotional house, and my home. Part of the reason I work so much is that I don't want to take care of these important things (keeps me busy and away from too much time to just sit & think), but now I really need to start paying attention to what my body is trying to tell me - apart from that which I already know: I'm not 20 anymore, so trying to keep working like I am isn't doing me any good!

4 comments:

dinah34 said...

an extra paycheck!?! wow, what luck. :)

our superstore has started charging 5 cents for bags too. it is really good incentive to bring the cloth bags or to bring our own plastic bags.

Anonymous said...

Well I can't wait to see your food & exercise (day 1) post!!!!

Thank you so much for participating!

Money Minder said...

An extra paycheque! What a nice surprise!

I NEVER pay for bags. Even if I forget my reusable ones at home (I carry four collapsable ones in my purse) I will load the groceries into the van sans bags and bag them at home to carry them into the house. Time consuming, yes, but I am tooooo cheap to pay for plastic bags ;-)

The Asian Pear said...

that's awesome. a whole paycheque! talk about helping out with the expenses eh? :)

shucks about the pay decrease. but at least you get benefits and all. and this is always good. :)