Well, I decided after my blathering yesterday about not feeling comfortable with no cash in the bank that I was better off paying down my debt instead.
So, that decided, I put another $110 on my Rev Can debt, another $50 onto my LOC and another $25 on my student loan.
Total debt paid: $497.96
Total debt remaining: $3792.89
Much better! :)
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Travel plans...OFF!
Travel plans for September have been, essentially, cancelled. D was called for jury duty - starting September 14, the day after we were supposed to have left for the trip. He tried to explain this, but short of mental/physical incapacity, he's got to show up. Whether this is for jury selection or for the start of the trial, I'm not sure, but regardless, it messes up the travel. So, my disappointment was profound, to say the least, but I've moved on. Obviously we just aren't meant to go right now, so this means that I can save up a little longer and have a little extra money to spend when we get there (wherever it happens to be).
This also leaves me with more holidays to play around with and have taken some time in October & November. My schedule works in such a way that the Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day stats fall into a week where if I take only two days holiday, I get nine straight days off. So I've done that. Air North always has deals for long weekends Outside, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some around that time. It's not the same as the much anticipated road trip, but we can do that next year.
My side bars have been updated and I'm really pleased with my saving progress, although I do admit to spending a lot, too. I just really have a hard time keeping my fingers off my debit card (so maybe I should take it out of my wallet??). I've bought a lot of stuff this month, including sending my sister some money to pay for shipping some pieces of furniture to me (I bought this from her and my BIL last year when I was visiting. Now that they're heading to Edinburgh, it's time for them to start clearing out). And as there are still several more pieces to come, I'll be out of pocket for that over the next few weeks, too. But that was part of the agreement I made with them - I got an outrageous deal on the actual furniture, and I would pay to have it shipped. I'm still keen for it to arrive, so I can arrange it and take photos. It's really lovely stuff!
I've made an appointment to see my account manager at the bank, too, as my fees this month were nearly $40, which is outrageous! I realize I will still have to pay a fee for debiting and banking on my own account, but it will be a very small, fixed amount compared to this. I do my banking online and each time money is taken out of my account, whether to pay a bill, add to my savings, etc. I get charged (I think it's .65 - .85 per transaction) and I do approximately 25 - 30 transactions a month. I am okay with paying a fixed fee, as long as it's reasonable (less than $10 p/month), and this is what I'm aiming for with my account manager next week, as well as boosting my RSP auto-savings a little bit.
So, this is how I used my last two paycheques in August:
Rent: $700
Gift Fund: $50
LOC: $50
Rev Can: $110
Student Loan: $85
Rent (svgs) account: $50
ING: $150
USD: $98 (bought at par from hotel)
VISA: $67.96 (from travel a/c & planned spending a/c)
Brakes: $40 (D is going to fix these for me and that's my share for parts)
Jars: $260
Allowance: $40
Total spent: $1700.96
Total pay: $2044.12 (both jobs)
Total remaining: $343.16
Total debt remaining: $3977.89
Total debt paid: $312.96!
It was a good pay day, as my overtime came through. I'm pleased to have so much left over, too. Although I realize it could be applied to my debt, I don't like having nothing in the bank. As well, my job at the hotel is winding up and I won't be working there after the Labour Day weekend (I put in my notice. I don't want to get up at 5:30am on -40C mornings anymore!), so I'll be losing $400 extra a month after that. If that hurts too much, I will go back to a second job, but right now I am learning to value my free time a lot more. It means that it will take me a little longer to get out of debt than I had wanted, but at least I'll be out of Rev Can's thrall by the end of December - with my extra $10 bi-weekly, it's really bringing the total down faster! Yahoo!
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I've been enjoying reading your blogs, even though I haven't been around much. Always motivating and inspiring! :)
This also leaves me with more holidays to play around with and have taken some time in October & November. My schedule works in such a way that the Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day stats fall into a week where if I take only two days holiday, I get nine straight days off. So I've done that. Air North always has deals for long weekends Outside, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some around that time. It's not the same as the much anticipated road trip, but we can do that next year.
My side bars have been updated and I'm really pleased with my saving progress, although I do admit to spending a lot, too. I just really have a hard time keeping my fingers off my debit card (so maybe I should take it out of my wallet??). I've bought a lot of stuff this month, including sending my sister some money to pay for shipping some pieces of furniture to me (I bought this from her and my BIL last year when I was visiting. Now that they're heading to Edinburgh, it's time for them to start clearing out). And as there are still several more pieces to come, I'll be out of pocket for that over the next few weeks, too. But that was part of the agreement I made with them - I got an outrageous deal on the actual furniture, and I would pay to have it shipped. I'm still keen for it to arrive, so I can arrange it and take photos. It's really lovely stuff!
I've made an appointment to see my account manager at the bank, too, as my fees this month were nearly $40, which is outrageous! I realize I will still have to pay a fee for debiting and banking on my own account, but it will be a very small, fixed amount compared to this. I do my banking online and each time money is taken out of my account, whether to pay a bill, add to my savings, etc. I get charged (I think it's .65 - .85 per transaction) and I do approximately 25 - 30 transactions a month. I am okay with paying a fixed fee, as long as it's reasonable (less than $10 p/month), and this is what I'm aiming for with my account manager next week, as well as boosting my RSP auto-savings a little bit.
So, this is how I used my last two paycheques in August:
Rent: $700
Gift Fund: $50
LOC: $50
Rev Can: $110
Student Loan: $85
Rent (svgs) account: $50
ING: $150
USD: $98 (bought at par from hotel)
VISA: $67.96 (from travel a/c & planned spending a/c)
Brakes: $40 (D is going to fix these for me and that's my share for parts)
Jars: $260
Allowance: $40
Total spent: $1700.96
Total pay: $2044.12 (both jobs)
Total remaining: $343.16
Total debt remaining: $3977.89
Total debt paid: $312.96!
It was a good pay day, as my overtime came through. I'm pleased to have so much left over, too. Although I realize it could be applied to my debt, I don't like having nothing in the bank. As well, my job at the hotel is winding up and I won't be working there after the Labour Day weekend (I put in my notice. I don't want to get up at 5:30am on -40C mornings anymore!), so I'll be losing $400 extra a month after that. If that hurts too much, I will go back to a second job, but right now I am learning to value my free time a lot more. It means that it will take me a little longer to get out of debt than I had wanted, but at least I'll be out of Rev Can's thrall by the end of December - with my extra $10 bi-weekly, it's really bringing the total down faster! Yahoo!
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I've been enjoying reading your blogs, even though I haven't been around much. Always motivating and inspiring! :)
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Long Overdue
It's been a crazy week trying to catch up on regular stuff, never mind the blog, so I'm going to try to do this now, so it's up to date and I can get on with a couple of other things I need to do today (also involving lots of email...).
The weekend with the fire crews went, for the most part, well, but was the cause of two meetings with my supervisors to explain what exactly happened and how I got there. I thought everyone was aware of this (I was told "the email has gone out"), so was sort of taken aback when even HR was wondering what the hell was going on. The weekend, being my own time, wasn't so much the issue as my taking the Monday as well. Mondays being what they are simply by virtue of being Monday, there were a couple of people off sick, and the communication wasn't as clear as it should or could have been and it left those working scrambling to fill slots. All I wanted to do was help, but one of my flaws is that very often I do, then think about what I do-d. In this instance, there should have been paperwork filed, approvals gathered, signatures signed and THEN I would have been allowed to go - it's technically a temporary assignment in another department, so there's a lot more involved than simply saying 'yes' to a phone call.
Sigh. I really can (and have) put myself in a mess sometimes by thinking about stuff AFTER the fact, so I really have to tread more carefully. You know those habits or traits that are such a part of you that you just don't see them until someone points them out? Everyone has one. This is one of mine. And this is particularly relevant right now as the position I'm in just might become permanent very soon (we're not certain how exactly, but it's now 'out there') and apparently I've been "pissing everyone off"...
Anyhow...live and learn, it's all we can do, right?
I've updated my sidebars as today was the first payday in August. I didn't have as many bills as I normally do today, so managed to put a little extra to savings and am still waiting to see how much extra I can throw at my debt.
I disbursed it as follows:
LOC: 108.89
Visa: 56.74 ($100 left)
Rev Can: $110 (this should bring me down to approx. $900!!)
Gift fund: $25
Phone/Internet: $113.81 (ridiculous...)
ING: $150 (extra $75 today)
RRSP: $100
TFSA: $50 (extra $20)
Student loan: $25
Total pay: $1070.84
Total paid: $739.44
Remaining: $331.40
Total debt remaining: $4222.85
Total debt paid (since July 29): $645.63!!
I would love to bring this down even further by the time I leave for holidays in mid-September. I made a LOT of overtime last weekend and this will really help both bring down the debt and plump up the savings. I must also use my last hotel pay cheques wisely, as I've just put my notice in. My last day is Sept 7 (Labour Day) and will be heading down south on holiday after that for two weeks, but I want to be looking at, hopefully, less than $3K by the time I go. My TFSA will be used for my rent payment for October (this is exactly the purpose I'm saving it for), leaving my September paycheques solely for debt/saving/travel.
The Revenue Canada payment is falling quickly enough that in the next couple of months, I might just throw money from savings (or LOC) at it to get rid of it. The extra $10 I'm adding each payday really does help, even a little, and according to my budget, it'll be gone by the end of the year if I keep this up, but if I can get rid of it sooner, why not? The student loan has fallen to $1712, and the LOC now stands at $1500. Both very reasonable, and doable, amounts.
The travel plans are going well enough. I've booked hotels in Tofino & Vancouver and cancelled the one in Victoria, as we're now going to be staying with my brother-in-law, which is very kind of him. This is also much easier on the budget, as it means we can also eat most of our meals in and I can make sandwiches to bring with us during our days out.
It's only a month away now! :)
The weekend with the fire crews went, for the most part, well, but was the cause of two meetings with my supervisors to explain what exactly happened and how I got there. I thought everyone was aware of this (I was told "the email has gone out"), so was sort of taken aback when even HR was wondering what the hell was going on. The weekend, being my own time, wasn't so much the issue as my taking the Monday as well. Mondays being what they are simply by virtue of being Monday, there were a couple of people off sick, and the communication wasn't as clear as it should or could have been and it left those working scrambling to fill slots. All I wanted to do was help, but one of my flaws is that very often I do, then think about what I do-d. In this instance, there should have been paperwork filed, approvals gathered, signatures signed and THEN I would have been allowed to go - it's technically a temporary assignment in another department, so there's a lot more involved than simply saying 'yes' to a phone call.
Sigh. I really can (and have) put myself in a mess sometimes by thinking about stuff AFTER the fact, so I really have to tread more carefully. You know those habits or traits that are such a part of you that you just don't see them until someone points them out? Everyone has one. This is one of mine. And this is particularly relevant right now as the position I'm in just might become permanent very soon (we're not certain how exactly, but it's now 'out there') and apparently I've been "pissing everyone off"...
Anyhow...live and learn, it's all we can do, right?
I've updated my sidebars as today was the first payday in August. I didn't have as many bills as I normally do today, so managed to put a little extra to savings and am still waiting to see how much extra I can throw at my debt.
I disbursed it as follows:
LOC: 108.89
Visa: 56.74 ($100 left)
Rev Can: $110 (this should bring me down to approx. $900!!)
Gift fund: $25
Phone/Internet: $113.81 (ridiculous...)
ING: $150 (extra $75 today)
RRSP: $100
TFSA: $50 (extra $20)
Student loan: $25
Total pay: $1070.84
Total paid: $739.44
Remaining: $331.40
Total debt remaining: $4222.85
Total debt paid (since July 29): $645.63!!
I would love to bring this down even further by the time I leave for holidays in mid-September. I made a LOT of overtime last weekend and this will really help both bring down the debt and plump up the savings. I must also use my last hotel pay cheques wisely, as I've just put my notice in. My last day is Sept 7 (Labour Day) and will be heading down south on holiday after that for two weeks, but I want to be looking at, hopefully, less than $3K by the time I go. My TFSA will be used for my rent payment for October (this is exactly the purpose I'm saving it for), leaving my September paycheques solely for debt/saving/travel.
The Revenue Canada payment is falling quickly enough that in the next couple of months, I might just throw money from savings (or LOC) at it to get rid of it. The extra $10 I'm adding each payday really does help, even a little, and according to my budget, it'll be gone by the end of the year if I keep this up, but if I can get rid of it sooner, why not? The student loan has fallen to $1712, and the LOC now stands at $1500. Both very reasonable, and doable, amounts.
The travel plans are going well enough. I've booked hotels in Tofino & Vancouver and cancelled the one in Victoria, as we're now going to be staying with my brother-in-law, which is very kind of him. This is also much easier on the budget, as it means we can also eat most of our meals in and I can make sandwiches to bring with us during our days out.
It's only a month away now! :)
Sunday, 2 August 2009
What a weekend!
I'm behind in my postings but catching-up is going to have to wait just a bit longer!
I worked at the hotel on Friday (7-3), got home at shortly past 5 and made the "mistake" of picking up the phone when it rang moments after I got in. I'm now staying in the small community (pop. 400) of Teslin, about 2 hours south of Whitehorse and I'll be here until tomorrow morning, unless something changes in the next 12 hours.
The phone call I got was from a branch of government I worked with a couple of summers ago and really enjoyed. They take care of the wildfires of the Yukon during the summer months and they are severely short staffed this summer and have lots of fires to contend with. So they put a call out for reinforcements and that's how I ended up out here. There are 5 fires around the area, creating lots of smoke, but fortunately contained on the far side of the lake, where there are fewer properties and other values. They are keeping a close eye on the movement and were up in the helicopters at least a dozen times yesterday tracking the spread.
I arrived here at 11pm on Friday night and won't be going home until Monday morning sometime. I've had to inform my boss (who very kindly took on last minute cat-sitting for me!) that there's a chance I won't make the start of my shift tomorrow, what with briefing the secretary who's normally here (for something else entirely!), travelling back to the city, unloading my stuff/dropping off the vehicle I was given to use (a monster!), heading home to shower and then getting to work just won't happen for 1pm.
Regardless, it's been great to be back among the crews and familiar faces, despite the fact it's all over tomorrow. I miss D and my cats and my nice cool bedroom back home and I was rushing to get organized so quickly I didn't bring a jacket with me (it's drizzling and cool today, but that's good for fires), a crossword puzzle book or even anything to read!! ARGH!! So I'm stuck watching satellite TV instead and there are not many channel choices, leaving me happy that I no longer have even cable to fuss over! When you've been away from it for so long, you really do realize that you're not missing a damn thing. But...unfortunately, I am taking in the "best" that NBC has to offer in the evenings, although I wish the Knowledge network was available for those English mysteries I love. Ah well. My own fault for rushing, really.
I have lists of spends to post at some point, but as I say, that will have to wait. As it is, I'm sneaking in time to post this. I will admit, however, that I spent $$ on three DVD boxsets the other day: S4 "Weeds," S1 "Saving Grace," (don't know much about it, but it's gotten good reviews and intrigues me) and S1 "Trueblood," the Charlaine Harris Book-to-TV series which I'm VERY excited about as I love the books.
Have yourselves a great weekend!
I worked at the hotel on Friday (7-3), got home at shortly past 5 and made the "mistake" of picking up the phone when it rang moments after I got in. I'm now staying in the small community (pop. 400) of Teslin, about 2 hours south of Whitehorse and I'll be here until tomorrow morning, unless something changes in the next 12 hours.
The phone call I got was from a branch of government I worked with a couple of summers ago and really enjoyed. They take care of the wildfires of the Yukon during the summer months and they are severely short staffed this summer and have lots of fires to contend with. So they put a call out for reinforcements and that's how I ended up out here. There are 5 fires around the area, creating lots of smoke, but fortunately contained on the far side of the lake, where there are fewer properties and other values. They are keeping a close eye on the movement and were up in the helicopters at least a dozen times yesterday tracking the spread.
I arrived here at 11pm on Friday night and won't be going home until Monday morning sometime. I've had to inform my boss (who very kindly took on last minute cat-sitting for me!) that there's a chance I won't make the start of my shift tomorrow, what with briefing the secretary who's normally here (for something else entirely!), travelling back to the city, unloading my stuff/dropping off the vehicle I was given to use (a monster!), heading home to shower and then getting to work just won't happen for 1pm.
Regardless, it's been great to be back among the crews and familiar faces, despite the fact it's all over tomorrow. I miss D and my cats and my nice cool bedroom back home and I was rushing to get organized so quickly I didn't bring a jacket with me (it's drizzling and cool today, but that's good for fires), a crossword puzzle book or even anything to read!! ARGH!! So I'm stuck watching satellite TV instead and there are not many channel choices, leaving me happy that I no longer have even cable to fuss over! When you've been away from it for so long, you really do realize that you're not missing a damn thing. But...unfortunately, I am taking in the "best" that NBC has to offer in the evenings, although I wish the Knowledge network was available for those English mysteries I love. Ah well. My own fault for rushing, really.
I have lists of spends to post at some point, but as I say, that will have to wait. As it is, I'm sneaking in time to post this. I will admit, however, that I spent $$ on three DVD boxsets the other day: S4 "Weeds," S1 "Saving Grace," (don't know much about it, but it's gotten good reviews and intrigues me) and S1 "Trueblood," the Charlaine Harris Book-to-TV series which I'm VERY excited about as I love the books.
Have yourselves a great weekend!
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