Being on this semi-restrictive diet means I can't eat any of what I love: sweets! Cakes, cookies, anything with chocolate, etc. etc.
But I've really been craving something sweet the past couple of weeks; something to snack on between meals and I don't mean veggies (I can't even have fruit on this diet). Baked goods of some sort, that feel like a cheat, but aren't. So I perused the web. Why I continue to be surprised by what you can find on the web (I guess I should start asking 'what CAN'T you find?'), I don't know, but I found this recipe for banana loaf.
Recipe for dairy/sugar/yeast-free Banana Bread
2 eggs
2 bananas
1/3 c milk (I used soy)
2/3 c applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp stevia (plant-derived, natural sweetener: 4x's stronger than reg sugar, so need WAY less)
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
Preheat oven to 350C.
Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together. Combine the two.
Pour into 9x5 loaf pan and bake for 1 hour (I found that 50 mins was quite sufficient).
That's it. Super easy and boy, does it taste good! My breaks at work will be much nicer now. It's not that I really dislike rice cakes, you understand, but banana bread is banana bread and, well, made of slightly sterner stuff.
I also had a cup of 'regular' tea the other day, with Stevia and soy milk to replace the regular stuff. Not bad, but still not the relaxing, calming cup that I've been craving so bad. Soon, I hope, I can once again indulge my Tim addiction for my morning tea. Another week until I see the naturopath for another assessment. I'm hoping I can drop some of the supplements I'm taking, as they're damned expensive, but can't until I've seen her. But I just keep reminding myself that this isn't a bad thing to do, and I have been enjoying my meals more, too.
Monday, 28 December 2009
A pretty productive few days
I'm coming to the end of my Christmas break. I go back to work tomorrow after a lovely 4-day "weekend." I've been surprisingly productive, which I'm pleased about and have to decide what I'm going to do today.
Friday I did some baking and then went for dinner with my friend and three of her kids. It was delicious, but teenagers are pretty excitable. Her place is always noisy - the TV is always going, the boys are wrestling or fighting or arguing and whatever else boys do to bond with each other. I've heard that once you become a parent, "kid noise" just becomes something you can't hear anymore. But they're great kids, so I don't mind visiting now and again, although it WAS nice to get home to peace and quiet. :)
Saturday I decided to get things done that I've not done in months: clean my oven (always fun), the bathroom and then start tidying the place up. There's paper and assorted other crap everywhere. I've learned that EasyOff oven cleaner works best when the oven has been warmed first - it's really fast. I don't like to use the nasty stuff, but sometimes you need the toxic, chemically-charged power of such things to get the really old crap cleaned up properly. My oven looks fabulous now. And I have a large bag of books to take to the library for donation tomorrow, too.
Yesterday I vacuumed, did a laundry, tidied up a little bit more and today...well, I'm not entirely sure. I think I'll drive over to the recycling centre and (finally!) get rid of my stuff, although that can eat up more time than I plan for sometimes as I get distracted by people putting stuff where it's not supposed to go and following them around, removing the offending objects from the wrong bin and putting them in the proper one. Those I can reach anyway...Ahem...
I also finished my Jo Nebo book and two others this weekend, watched all my episodes of "Midsomer Murder," and am counting down the days until D gets back to town. He's due back Jan 5; 7 more sleeps. He called Christmas Day and is regretting staying; he's a real homebody and doesn't like the isolation of the mine, I think. I'm going to try and talk him out of leaving the mine so soon, but I'll get a newspaper for him as well, so he can keep his eyes open for job possibilities back in town.
CanadianSaver posts her list of "books read" a couple of times a year, and I'm going to do that as well, if anyone's interested. But I have to get my recycling done now that it's stuck in my head.
Friday I did some baking and then went for dinner with my friend and three of her kids. It was delicious, but teenagers are pretty excitable. Her place is always noisy - the TV is always going, the boys are wrestling or fighting or arguing and whatever else boys do to bond with each other. I've heard that once you become a parent, "kid noise" just becomes something you can't hear anymore. But they're great kids, so I don't mind visiting now and again, although it WAS nice to get home to peace and quiet. :)
Saturday I decided to get things done that I've not done in months: clean my oven (always fun), the bathroom and then start tidying the place up. There's paper and assorted other crap everywhere. I've learned that EasyOff oven cleaner works best when the oven has been warmed first - it's really fast. I don't like to use the nasty stuff, but sometimes you need the toxic, chemically-charged power of such things to get the really old crap cleaned up properly. My oven looks fabulous now. And I have a large bag of books to take to the library for donation tomorrow, too.
Yesterday I vacuumed, did a laundry, tidied up a little bit more and today...well, I'm not entirely sure. I think I'll drive over to the recycling centre and (finally!) get rid of my stuff, although that can eat up more time than I plan for sometimes as I get distracted by people putting stuff where it's not supposed to go and following them around, removing the offending objects from the wrong bin and putting them in the proper one. Those I can reach anyway...Ahem...
I also finished my Jo Nebo book and two others this weekend, watched all my episodes of "Midsomer Murder," and am counting down the days until D gets back to town. He's due back Jan 5; 7 more sleeps. He called Christmas Day and is regretting staying; he's a real homebody and doesn't like the isolation of the mine, I think. I'm going to try and talk him out of leaving the mine so soon, but I'll get a newspaper for him as well, so he can keep his eyes open for job possibilities back in town.
CanadianSaver posts her list of "books read" a couple of times a year, and I'm going to do that as well, if anyone's interested. But I have to get my recycling done now that it's stuck in my head.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Boxing Day plans
I assume there's a bizillion things "on sale" right now around town, for those who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas. I'll also assume that that's where a lot of town will be headed.
Not me. I got a couple of phone calls, a nice visit with my friend and her family for dinner, baked some cookies and brownies, slept in...otherwise, I did not receive a single "thing" for Christmas. This makes me quite pleased, although I know there are a couple of items yet to arrive. I logged on to the computer this morning, as usual, and then remembered that it's Boxing Day! Our "Sale of Sales" Day, like Black Friday in the States.
I'd just like to ask: what sales? Apple sent me an email reminding me that I can still buy what I want if I didn't get what I want, but I see no knock-down, drag-em-out prices. Same with Amazon. Sure, I'd LOVE a KitchenAid mixer, but not at $340 (still too pricey for me). Canadian Tire has them on sale for $199 (!!), but where would I put it? Seriously. I just don't have the space for it anywhere.
:( Maybe next year...
Anyhoo, I'm not motivated to peruse a lot of sites, nor do I have the money to purchase anything. Besides, I don't NEED anything. I'm determined in the coming year to stop playing "ostrich" games with my money and just get the damn debt paid off! I have a list of three debts, each of which will be paid off at a certain time next year, to be completed by end of June. I am working on my goals list and will probably post it some time next week.
But as for today, I'm planning a trip to the local grocery store to pick up some steel wool and some oven cleaner. I've got some environmentally friendly stuff which works fairly well for light touch ups, but it needs a good old scrub and sometimes only the nasty stuff can get it done. Then some vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and that's that. I've got some DVDs from the library to watch, too. We've recently got the ENTIRE "Midsomer Murders" collection in, so I'm starting at #1 with that series. I love English mysteries!
Have a great day everyone!
Not me. I got a couple of phone calls, a nice visit with my friend and her family for dinner, baked some cookies and brownies, slept in...otherwise, I did not receive a single "thing" for Christmas. This makes me quite pleased, although I know there are a couple of items yet to arrive. I logged on to the computer this morning, as usual, and then remembered that it's Boxing Day! Our "Sale of Sales" Day, like Black Friday in the States.
I'd just like to ask: what sales? Apple sent me an email reminding me that I can still buy what I want if I didn't get what I want, but I see no knock-down, drag-em-out prices. Same with Amazon. Sure, I'd LOVE a KitchenAid mixer, but not at $340 (still too pricey for me). Canadian Tire has them on sale for $199 (!!), but where would I put it? Seriously. I just don't have the space for it anywhere.
:( Maybe next year...
Anyhoo, I'm not motivated to peruse a lot of sites, nor do I have the money to purchase anything. Besides, I don't NEED anything. I'm determined in the coming year to stop playing "ostrich" games with my money and just get the damn debt paid off! I have a list of three debts, each of which will be paid off at a certain time next year, to be completed by end of June. I am working on my goals list and will probably post it some time next week.
But as for today, I'm planning a trip to the local grocery store to pick up some steel wool and some oven cleaner. I've got some environmentally friendly stuff which works fairly well for light touch ups, but it needs a good old scrub and sometimes only the nasty stuff can get it done. Then some vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and that's that. I've got some DVDs from the library to watch, too. We've recently got the ENTIRE "Midsomer Murders" collection in, so I'm starting at #1 with that series. I love English mysteries!
Have a great day everyone!
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Happy Holidays!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY PF BLOGGER FRIENDS! WHEREVER YOU ARE AND WHATEVER YOU DO, PLEASE BE SAFE, WARM AND WITH THOSE YOU LOVE.
BEST WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY FROM ME IN THE NORTH!
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Debt owed, paid
Yesterday my sister and BIL paid back what they had borrowed. The whole amount! This is very nice, and I was assured that it's okay and they're not short, which is important.
I thought about what I wanted to do with it (it came from my planned spending account), but then thought a bit more. Instead of doling it out to plump up my various accounts, I'd going to use it to pay down my computer. Every last penny. Plus the $300 I've already saved towards it.
I went over to Staples after work and tried to pay: I'd forgotten it won't clear for several days yet, so once again I'm going to have a late payment on the card, but it'll be big enough that it really won't matter. This is the one debt I'd like to clear up ASAP. It was a dumb move to finance it, but it appears it will be paid off a lot sooner than I'd hoped - once I've paid what I plan to, there will only be about $300 owing! I can easily get rid of that before March if I'm conscientious enough.
I thought about what I wanted to do with it (it came from my planned spending account), but then thought a bit more. Instead of doling it out to plump up my various accounts, I'd going to use it to pay down my computer. Every last penny. Plus the $300 I've already saved towards it.
I went over to Staples after work and tried to pay: I'd forgotten it won't clear for several days yet, so once again I'm going to have a late payment on the card, but it'll be big enough that it really won't matter. This is the one debt I'd like to clear up ASAP. It was a dumb move to finance it, but it appears it will be paid off a lot sooner than I'd hoped - once I've paid what I plan to, there will only be about $300 owing! I can easily get rid of that before March if I'm conscientious enough.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Spending, sending and receiving
I spent the weekend in a mad bake-athon of my own making. It was fun, but kind of exhausting, but I did manage to bake quite a number of (hopefully) tasty things. Apart from the Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies, which was my sole creation on Saturday, I spent Sunday making these recipes:
Lemon Buttermilk Cookies
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Gingerbread
I wanted to make about two or three more items, but I ran out of time, motivation and butter, which is apparently the cornerstone ingredient in every single baking recipe. Ever. Anyway, nothing else can fit in the box I'm sending to D, so he gets what he gets.
I took the truck in for repairs today, fearing the worst, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. The fuel pump needed replacing (and the oil light is still going on because...?). I dropped it off at about 9am and it was finished and ready to go before 11:00. Total damage: $289.98. A bit steep, but what can you do? You pay what you have to. These guys are downtown, so it's walking distance from work, which is one of the reasons I go to them. I'm glad to have her back, and she's plugged in for the night.
I got home to find my Amazon order waiting for me. I bought Gail Vaz-Oxlade's new book "Debt-Free Forever," and am looking forward to reading it (I have to finish my Jo Nesbo mystery first, however...sorry, Gail!). I also purchased "30 Rock" S2 and a book I read a couple of years ago called "The Writer's Mentor," which is a thoughtful book on encouraging and motivating you to write. I need a gentle shove.
My biopsy has been arranged for January 22 in Vancouver. The flight is covered by health care, I would just have to arrange a hotel, but will most likely stay with a friend who has offered me her spare bedroom, as well as to drive me to and from the hospital! How lovely. And the bonus, of course, is that I would have lots of time to spend with her.
Time for bed and for at least two more chapters in my book: if you like mysteries, but haven't yet discovered Jo Nesbo (Norwegian author), I very much recommend him. Excellent!
Lemon Buttermilk Cookies
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Gingerbread
I wanted to make about two or three more items, but I ran out of time, motivation and butter, which is apparently the cornerstone ingredient in every single baking recipe. Ever. Anyway, nothing else can fit in the box I'm sending to D, so he gets what he gets.
I took the truck in for repairs today, fearing the worst, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. The fuel pump needed replacing (and the oil light is still going on because...?). I dropped it off at about 9am and it was finished and ready to go before 11:00. Total damage: $289.98. A bit steep, but what can you do? You pay what you have to. These guys are downtown, so it's walking distance from work, which is one of the reasons I go to them. I'm glad to have her back, and she's plugged in for the night.
I got home to find my Amazon order waiting for me. I bought Gail Vaz-Oxlade's new book "Debt-Free Forever," and am looking forward to reading it (I have to finish my Jo Nesbo mystery first, however...sorry, Gail!). I also purchased "30 Rock" S2 and a book I read a couple of years ago called "The Writer's Mentor," which is a thoughtful book on encouraging and motivating you to write. I need a gentle shove.
My biopsy has been arranged for January 22 in Vancouver. The flight is covered by health care, I would just have to arrange a hotel, but will most likely stay with a friend who has offered me her spare bedroom, as well as to drive me to and from the hospital! How lovely. And the bonus, of course, is that I would have lots of time to spend with her.
Time for bed and for at least two more chapters in my book: if you like mysteries, but haven't yet discovered Jo Nesbo (Norwegian author), I very much recommend him. Excellent!
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Groceries and baked goodness
I went to see a naturopath just over a week ago, and she's put me on a diet which excludes sugar, dairy and yeast. Three items which make up most of my favourite foods: anything sweet, cheese, breads & bagels, milk...
What bad timing! I didn't feel I could say "is there anyway I could start this after Christmas?" because the reason I went to see her in the first place is because I'm not feeling healthy. So really I only have myself to blame. It's a modified candida diet and fortunately there were no reactions to wheat and/or gluten, so it means I don't have to cut out pasta, soy products (like Yves Veggie Ground Round) or stuff like that which makes shopping a bit easier. I still have to read the labels, though, because it can't contain any yeast.
Prior to this, I had decided that I was going to do a little baking for Christmas, so I bought like $200 worth of stuff (flour, sugar, butter - SO MUCH BUTTER! - etc.). So I'm baking because I don't want this stuff to go to waste. It's absolute torture because I can't taste anything before I put it in the over or when it comes out. I'm following the recipes word for word and just trusting people to let me know if they like it. So far, I've had two thumbs up, which is a relief as my counter space is very limited which makes a lot of prep work a bit un-motivating.
However, my first official grocery shop was today - I had enough stuff, for the most part, in my fridge and cupboards to be able to get through just over a week of dietary requirements which, quite frankly, surprised me, but there you are.
First, the photo of my glorious haul:
Meats:
Chicken breast: (family pack) $10.73
Bison sirloin: $2.84
Bison sirloin: $2.77
Eye of round: $1.63
Eye of round: $1.36
Pork chops (4 pack): $8.45
Veggies
Carrots: (.385 kg @ $3.73 kg, 4 carrots) $1.44
Broccoli: (.345 kg @ $6.15 kg, crowns) $2.12
Ginger root: (.145 kg @ $15.41 kg) $2.23
Green onions (2 bunches): $1.58
Snap peas: $2.49
Groceries
Falafel mix: $4.29
Linguine: $3.90
Spaghetti sauce x 2: $11.80
Indian "fast food" (Jyoti tins x 2): $8.98
Yves Veggie ground round x 2: $8.58
Hummous: $4.19
Soya mozzarella (melts great, not nearly as bad as it sounds & a great price): $9.98
Wraps (tomato, spinach): $6.98
Simply Egg Egg whites: $3.49
Eggs, 1 doz lrg: $3.38
Other
Cat food x 6 tins @ .79 ea: $4.74
Total: $108.19
Surprisingly good, considering I walked to the local grocery store instead of driving across town, where I would most likely have saved money, but been in line forever. At this time of year, and this last weekend before Christmas I prefer the convenience, empty aisles and slightly higher prices of my local. SuperStore would be absolutely unbearable.
And aside from that, my truck is going to the mechanic on Monday morning. When I was driving her around yesterday, both the oil light AND the charge lights came on, always when I was pulling to a stop, which is very frustrating. When I got home, I opened the hood and saw dirty black oil sprayed over most of the front of the engine, so something is torn or loose or broken there. I'm reluctant to drive her more than I have to now, so as I was going out last night, I asked a friend who was also going if she would be kind enough to pick me up and drop me home.
I added half a litre of oil this morning and that will hopefully get me to town without the engine siezing. Not sure how much it will cost to fix it, but it's necessary, so I'll pay what I need to. The gas pump in the engine is also leaking, so that needs to be fixed, too. My poor old girl. I really need to look at a newer vehicle...
My baking attempt today was Raspberry-Cream Cheese Brownies. They look a bit gruesome, but they smell delicious!
They're going out to Desmond at the mine, along with some cookies I'll make tomorrow. I'm going to attempt these and make these again, as they've been well-recieved over the past several days. Friday morning I was up relatively early and baked one of these for our Christmas pot-luck at work. Mine didn't look light and fluffy like the one in the photo, it was a fair bit denser, but people seemed to like it; very lemon-y, I was told.
These are my new dishes. Fields is going out of business and everything is on sale 10 - 50% off! Not bad. I'm disappointed as it's my go-to bargain store in lieu of Wal-Mart, but what can you do? Of course, it's busier now than it's ever been. I also picked up some baking sheets and loaf pans and may well go back for another look sometime next week. Although I don't need anything...
What bad timing! I didn't feel I could say "is there anyway I could start this after Christmas?" because the reason I went to see her in the first place is because I'm not feeling healthy. So really I only have myself to blame. It's a modified candida diet and fortunately there were no reactions to wheat and/or gluten, so it means I don't have to cut out pasta, soy products (like Yves Veggie Ground Round) or stuff like that which makes shopping a bit easier. I still have to read the labels, though, because it can't contain any yeast.
Prior to this, I had decided that I was going to do a little baking for Christmas, so I bought like $200 worth of stuff (flour, sugar, butter - SO MUCH BUTTER! - etc.). So I'm baking because I don't want this stuff to go to waste. It's absolute torture because I can't taste anything before I put it in the over or when it comes out. I'm following the recipes word for word and just trusting people to let me know if they like it. So far, I've had two thumbs up, which is a relief as my counter space is very limited which makes a lot of prep work a bit un-motivating.
However, my first official grocery shop was today - I had enough stuff, for the most part, in my fridge and cupboards to be able to get through just over a week of dietary requirements which, quite frankly, surprised me, but there you are.
First, the photo of my glorious haul:
Meats:
Chicken breast: (family pack) $10.73
Bison sirloin: $2.84
Bison sirloin: $2.77
Eye of round: $1.63
Eye of round: $1.36
Pork chops (4 pack): $8.45
Veggies
Carrots: (.385 kg @ $3.73 kg, 4 carrots) $1.44
Broccoli: (.345 kg @ $6.15 kg, crowns) $2.12
Ginger root: (.145 kg @ $15.41 kg) $2.23
Green onions (2 bunches): $1.58
Snap peas: $2.49
Groceries
Falafel mix: $4.29
Linguine: $3.90
Spaghetti sauce x 2: $11.80
Indian "fast food" (Jyoti tins x 2): $8.98
Yves Veggie ground round x 2: $8.58
Hummous: $4.19
Soya mozzarella (melts great, not nearly as bad as it sounds & a great price): $9.98
Wraps (tomato, spinach): $6.98
Simply Egg Egg whites: $3.49
Eggs, 1 doz lrg: $3.38
Other
Cat food x 6 tins @ .79 ea: $4.74
Total: $108.19
Surprisingly good, considering I walked to the local grocery store instead of driving across town, where I would most likely have saved money, but been in line forever. At this time of year, and this last weekend before Christmas I prefer the convenience, empty aisles and slightly higher prices of my local. SuperStore would be absolutely unbearable.
And aside from that, my truck is going to the mechanic on Monday morning. When I was driving her around yesterday, both the oil light AND the charge lights came on, always when I was pulling to a stop, which is very frustrating. When I got home, I opened the hood and saw dirty black oil sprayed over most of the front of the engine, so something is torn or loose or broken there. I'm reluctant to drive her more than I have to now, so as I was going out last night, I asked a friend who was also going if she would be kind enough to pick me up and drop me home.
I added half a litre of oil this morning and that will hopefully get me to town without the engine siezing. Not sure how much it will cost to fix it, but it's necessary, so I'll pay what I need to. The gas pump in the engine is also leaking, so that needs to be fixed, too. My poor old girl. I really need to look at a newer vehicle...
My baking attempt today was Raspberry-Cream Cheese Brownies. They look a bit gruesome, but they smell delicious!
They're going out to Desmond at the mine, along with some cookies I'll make tomorrow. I'm going to attempt these and make these again, as they've been well-recieved over the past several days. Friday morning I was up relatively early and baked one of these for our Christmas pot-luck at work. Mine didn't look light and fluffy like the one in the photo, it was a fair bit denser, but people seemed to like it; very lemon-y, I was told.
These are my new dishes. Fields is going out of business and everything is on sale 10 - 50% off! Not bad. I'm disappointed as it's my go-to bargain store in lieu of Wal-Mart, but what can you do? Of course, it's busier now than it's ever been. I also picked up some baking sheets and loaf pans and may well go back for another look sometime next week. Although I don't need anything...
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Where things stand
An update on what my debt looks like at the end of November:
LOC: $4489.36
Computer: $1600.00
Total: $6,089.36
The LOC is high because I keep using it to pay off my Visa. I need to stop doing this - just because the interest rate is half of what the Visa rate is, doesn't mean I can just keep adding to the debt. Proof: I'd been auto-paying $80 a month up until now, but the minimum payment went up to $90! So I've upped it to $55 bi-weekly. That should help for now. I'd like to say I'll stop putting money into my EFund and add it to the debt repayment, but that just makes me far too uncomfortable.
The computer, well, we all know what happened there! The minimum payment appears to be approximately $51 a month, so I paid $102. I had this as snowflake money in my rolled coin jar, so figured that would be the perfect thing to put it towards. I will have over $400 saved by the time the next bill comes due, so that will pay it down nicely. I'm going to find $100 a month to pay it off with.
Otherwise, I've updated my sidebars to reflect what's going on in my savings accounts. The planned spending is looking exceptionally depleted because that's where the money I loaned my sister came from. Plus, I used that for shopping in Vancouver. I'm expecting about half of my loan to come back sometime in the very forseeable future, so I'll be plumping up all of the accounts accordingly (including to my RRSP & EFund). I'm feeling quite comfortable with all my savings right now, and that includes my $35 bi-weekly CSB deduction from my paycheque. The rate isn't great, certainly, but it's one more place to save that I can't get my sticky fingers onto easily. By the end of next year, I should have about $1200 in CSBs - not too shabby!
I've decided that Christmas cookies will be my gifts to people this year and there won't even be that many! I used to do a lot of baking, but haven't in recent years. I do love it, and thought that Christmas is a good time for practicing that sort of thing. Some paper plates from the Dollar Store, a little plastic wrap and they're good to go. D will get a camera as I priced out the coveralls he had his eye on and they cost over $300! Well out of my price range, unfortunately, although they would be an excellent purchase because they'd actually get used and keep him really, really warm. Despite that, I just...can't.
Anyhoo...I'm thinking now of my end of year "resolutions," as I didn't do at all well with last year's. I will carry some over, but need to think carefully about others, particularly about my savings. I might be a bit aggressive with some of these things, or it could just be that I'm (still) too careless with my spending. Perhaps a little of both. Regardless, I have to just calm down and realize I can't do everything at once; I need to prioritize things, cut back a little here and there and just NOT PANIC!!!
I'm looking forward to everyone's postings! Last years were very inspiring and I've no doubt that this year's will be just as well thought out and enjoyable to read.
LOC: $4489.36
Computer: $1600.00
Total: $6,089.36
The LOC is high because I keep using it to pay off my Visa. I need to stop doing this - just because the interest rate is half of what the Visa rate is, doesn't mean I can just keep adding to the debt. Proof: I'd been auto-paying $80 a month up until now, but the minimum payment went up to $90! So I've upped it to $55 bi-weekly. That should help for now. I'd like to say I'll stop putting money into my EFund and add it to the debt repayment, but that just makes me far too uncomfortable.
The computer, well, we all know what happened there! The minimum payment appears to be approximately $51 a month, so I paid $102. I had this as snowflake money in my rolled coin jar, so figured that would be the perfect thing to put it towards. I will have over $400 saved by the time the next bill comes due, so that will pay it down nicely. I'm going to find $100 a month to pay it off with.
Otherwise, I've updated my sidebars to reflect what's going on in my savings accounts. The planned spending is looking exceptionally depleted because that's where the money I loaned my sister came from. Plus, I used that for shopping in Vancouver. I'm expecting about half of my loan to come back sometime in the very forseeable future, so I'll be plumping up all of the accounts accordingly (including to my RRSP & EFund). I'm feeling quite comfortable with all my savings right now, and that includes my $35 bi-weekly CSB deduction from my paycheque. The rate isn't great, certainly, but it's one more place to save that I can't get my sticky fingers onto easily. By the end of next year, I should have about $1200 in CSBs - not too shabby!
I've decided that Christmas cookies will be my gifts to people this year and there won't even be that many! I used to do a lot of baking, but haven't in recent years. I do love it, and thought that Christmas is a good time for practicing that sort of thing. Some paper plates from the Dollar Store, a little plastic wrap and they're good to go. D will get a camera as I priced out the coveralls he had his eye on and they cost over $300! Well out of my price range, unfortunately, although they would be an excellent purchase because they'd actually get used and keep him really, really warm. Despite that, I just...can't.
Anyhoo...I'm thinking now of my end of year "resolutions," as I didn't do at all well with last year's. I will carry some over, but need to think carefully about others, particularly about my savings. I might be a bit aggressive with some of these things, or it could just be that I'm (still) too careless with my spending. Perhaps a little of both. Regardless, I have to just calm down and realize I can't do everything at once; I need to prioritize things, cut back a little here and there and just NOT PANIC!!!
I'm looking forward to everyone's postings! Last years were very inspiring and I've no doubt that this year's will be just as well thought out and enjoyable to read.
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