Friday confab

Because sunflowers are ALWAYS happy flowers!

• I admit, I dragged myself out of bed to go to work today. I'm just not used to working 5 days a week anymore (poor NLA), so I was feeling tired and a little spacey, but think I did pretty well. I was binding reports all day, which was GREAT because I could just focus and do; I wasn't required to help customers or answer the phone.
• My wage is $13/hr! :) So I made about $78 today.
• I had three birthday cards waiting for me when I got home; funnily enough two of them were from the same card group, but came from two different people. Both have kittens on them. Hahaha! Lovely.
• Darn my mother!!! $500 in the form of a money order. It doesn't matter if I do nothing with it because she's already spent the money. She sends me money because I'm not "settled" (aka married) and I don't have someone to, um, live off. She's old-fashioned that way. I will put the majority of the money, of course, towards school, but might just take a little and buy myself some new clothes. The last time I bought any was May, 2011. 
• Thank you, mummy. <3
• I believe she sent the money order because she knew I might not cash a regular cheque.
• Joey is going to the vet next week for a "lion shave." I can't wait to see him. I think I'll be laughing for a week. Quite possibly a lot longer.

• Three bills to pay next Wednesday:
• Internet/phone: $132.72. Ridiculous. I could drop the landline, but I like long distance calling with that, rather than my cell phone. Besides, dropping the landline wouldn't save me any more than dropping the cell.
• Cell phone: $44.80 (this is generally about $30/m...)
• Hydro: +90.70, but will put $70 on it, so I stay in credit
• 157 days until school starts... :)
• I spend all together too much money on food. I picked up groceries today on my lunch:
• 3 x Almond milk: $6.81 ($2.27 ea)
• 2 x pasta (broad noodles): $3.76 ($1.88 ea)
• PC Decadent chocolate chip cookies: $2.47
• Extra-aged cheddar: $7.19
• PC Mayonnaise: $3.89
• Weetabix: $4.99 (400g box)
• Bananas: $2.10 (1.085 kg@ $1.94/kg)
• Chicken caesar salad (my lunch): $2.90
• 4 x grapefruit: $7.16 ($1.79 ea...ouch! why didn't I see that at the store?)
• Total: $41.37. Not too bad considering what I got.

Thursday Thinkings...

• My thesis for my final English essay received an A+! I'm thrilled. I took the instructor's topic and just "flipped" it. I've got some personal experience with the negative aspect of this topic, so am very pleased she responded so favourably to it. Now on to the essay itself...
• My temp job starts tomorrow morning at 8:30! I don't really know how long it will last, but any extra work right now is welcome. Apparently they are all sugar hounds, so my friend told me to bring cookies...
• I joined the gym yesterday. I met with the personal trainer for a chat about what I'm looking for and I ended up purchasing a 4-month membership. Cost: $178.61 (I got a 10% discount for being a gov employee - lots of us around, so applies as a "group" discount). I can use the gym without a membership, but only if accompanied by the trainer, which defeats my purpose and would end up being outrageously expensive. This was the (far) cheaper option. This will take me through to the beginning of August. The gym is less than 5-minutes walk from my house, was pretty quiet (standard, apparently, which is fantastic) and has everything I need.
• This is one of my challenges for my 45th year - to take better care of myself. I can't NOT afford to do this, so I'm looking at it as an investment in my health, rather than taking on more debt.
• Have already received most of my textbooks for school! They've arrived over the past couple of days. :)
• Fat Joey has a vet appointment today. Several claws on his front feet don't retract and end up curling over and growing into the pads. Not sure it hurts necessarily, but it is very uncomfortable for him. I take him to the vet as he gets very agitated when I touch his feet for any reason.
• Currently 0C and supposed to get to +8 today!! Spring is finally here. :) The snow will be gone in no time at this rate.
• It's been a long week of evening shifts...
• Monday night I'm going for sushi. Wednesday evening I'm going for a dinner with a friend whose birthday is the day after mine. Not sure where yet, but it'll be nice to see her and get caught up.

Tuesday twitterings

• I deposited my income tax cheque last night and this is how I designated it ($689.50):
• $100 cash: $60 for my training session tomorrow and $40 for my allowance
• $24 to gifts, bringing it to a nice even $200
• $100 to savings: $20 each to vet, travel, school, car and canal boat funds (sidebars updated accordingly)
• $50 to my LOC, down to $4250
• $95.62 to VISA, down to $2400
• $68.95 each to RRSP and my EFund
• I have just over $120 left, some of which will go to cat food. Otherwise whatever is leftover stays in my account
• I moved $505.98 from my school account and put it on my MC; this pays off the majority of the school books. I have another $194 (1 book) plus a couple of other purchases I need to pay off.
• Did a little research into book prices when I was at the college yesterday for two more textbooks that I can get online for quite a bit cheaper (for the second term). I'm going to leave them alone for now, and probably get them closer to the end of the year
• My mother phoned last night to let me know she'd mailed a birthday card for me. This means that she's included a cheque, as she wants to know when it arrives. I'm okay if it's a little money towards school supplies, but not comfortable with anything much over that, although I'm very grateful - and pleased - that she's being so supportive of my school venture. It's because she's already given me way more than necessary, i.e. my truck.
• 160 days until school starts! :)

Have a great day everyone!

Monday musings

• I found a temporary job! It hopefully starts this week and will likely last only a few weeks, but the extra money will go towards lowering my debt and savings for school.
• I got my income tax return today! Exactly the amount I had figured on - $689.50. To be deposited and divvied up into RRSP, EFund, (10% each) school, travel & debt repayment.
• I'll have two extra shifts on my second paycheque in April. I worked Friday and got called in today, so the extra cash will go towards school & debt.
• Met with my account manager today at the bank. We discussed options for school funding: a student LOC and/or my RRSP Lifelong Learning option. I will likely use a combination of the two.
• I'll likely be able to return one of my textbooks, too. It's for a basic computer literacy course and I'm confident that I don't need to do it. Once I have been formally accepted to the program, I'll visit the assessment centre. I need 80% to pass, to get the credits and not have to take the course in September.
• The temperature today is supposed to get to +2C!! It's a lovely day and that will be a bonus. It means spring is sneaking into the Territory. :)
• The tuna casserole I made for dinner last night is a bit disappointing. I don't have mayonnaise, so it's a little dry. I didn't think about it as mayonnaise isn't something I buy. I don't like it. It does, however, add a little flavour and zing to a casserole, so I will get a jar to have on hand.
• Now I kinda wish I wasn't going to work...

Have a great day everyone!

It's Sunday again...all ready!

What are you… 

Reading?  “Seaweed on Ice” by Stanley Evans. This is the second in a series of books about a Coast Salish cop in Victoria (!) – all the titles are along the same lines: Seaweed on the Street, Seaweed on the Rocks, etc. It’s fun because not only is it well-written, it takes place in the city I consider home and where I lived for 16 years, so I can visualize the places he goes (apart from the fictional aspects, obviously) and how he gets there.

I’m also reading Martha Beck’s “Finding Your Own North Star.” I’ve just started it, but she’s very funny and I’m enjoying the process. It’s about listening to your ‘essential’ self (your heart/soul, whatever it is that speaks to you honestly about, well, everything: your job, people, situations, etc) and how to let it guide you to what you are supposed to be doing in life, your “North Star,” and figure out what it is that these uncomfortable, awkward and just plain “wrong” situations are supposed to teach you, so that you can find your North Star faster and more clearly.

Watching?  Nothing special. J

Listening to?  The landlords upstairs cleaning.

Cooking/Baking?  Tuna casserole for dinner this week. YUM!

Happy you accomplished this week? Had a co-worker over one evening for some card readings! She read gypsy cards for me and I did an Angel card reading. Then we each had a Goddess card reading. It was fun. I also managed to write up a thesis and outline for my final (research) essay for my English class and can’t believe it took me so long to get through it! I took a topic the instructor had suggested and varied it a little, so I hope that’s acceptable.

Looking forward to next week? Meeting with a personal trainer to chat about what I’m hoping to achieve. I haven’t yet joined the gym, so this is informational at this point, although it’s not a free session. Going to the bank tomorrow to chat about funding options for school and will be working/thinking this week about what I want to do for my birthday, with respect to challenges to be accomplished this year (apart from school…).

Thankful for today?  Met up with a friend and we went for a photography outing and tea for about 3 hours. It was lovely. There was very light snow this morning, but it cleared up into a beautiful afternoon. Got rid of another bag of books at the second hand store for some credit and picked up some groceries. 

*****

Gas has gone up to $135.9! That must have happened yesterday, as I filled up on Thursday for 4 cents less a litre and it was still the same price on Friday when I was out. I'm going to be walking or biking much more often this summer, I can guarantee that. I'll have to take my bike in for a tune-up next month, likely with my first paycheque. It should take me about 20 minutes to bike to work, which is quite reasonable.

Definitely missing CS...Hope you're okay!  :\

Sunday night chit chat

Dog mushing, Feb 12/12

It's time once again for Sunday Night Chit-Chat, hosted by the lovely Carla!

What are you… 

Reading?  “Malled” by Caitlin Kelly. The memoir of a journalist turned retail slave. Due to the downturn in the economy, Caitlin Kelly, who worked for a NY newspaper, turns to a big outfitting company in order to bring in some much needed cash. She spent two years with the company (part-time) before finally having enough. This is her story of what retail staff are expected to do in the face of low wages, no benefits, constantly shifting HQ expectations, and customers. Quite enjoyable, if not a little repetitious at points.

I’m also perusing some of Oprah’s books, those compilation ones she puts out every year or so. Not a manic fan of Oprah’s, but I do like her magazine and these books a lot. I can always find something “speaking” to me when I’m flipping through them.

Watching?  Nothing special, my usual HGTV/DIY selections. J

Listening to?  The washing machine in the spin cycle at the moment!

Cooking/Baking?  Will just be reheating some chicken korma and rice for dinner. Yum! That, or making an omelette.

Happy you accomplished this week? Purchasing almost all my required textbooks; starting my countdown for school (168 days); washing some lovely dogs yesterday at the HSY fundraiser, including a puppy called Moon and a beautiful brindle Mastiff-X called Harley.

Looking forward to next week?  A few extra hours at work and a hopefully quiet week. Increasing my daily walks to work. Hopefully will walk three or four times this week.

Thankful for today?  Fixed the blog after hours of frustration. A reminder to just slow down a little and READ things more carefully. And not to mess around with something that was working fine in the first place! :P An hour’s walk with a good friend.

Having a Charlie Brown moment...

All these changes that supposedly make this stuff better and faster are just way more frustrating!! I figured out that I had to go BACK to Google+ to get my info back and be able to work on this blog, but it means that I can't post on anyone else's blog because I can't change it to read "NLA" because that's not a real name and goes against the Google+ name policy or something. Putting in your "nickname" just puts it between names, like Sally "Jumps up and Down" Smith, so what's the point??

AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!! *unpleasant muttering*

SO frustrated right now.

...

Updated: It appears I may have it figured out, so I'm going to stay here for the time being and see what happens.

Updated again: I FINALLY figured it out!!!! Good lord, what a process...Had nothing to do with Google and everything to do with Blogger. Honestly...Remind me N.E.V.E.R to play with this stuff again, okay?

Searching and buying

Has anyone noticed that the costs of textbooks are, comparatively, OUTRAGEOUS?! You use a book for 4 months and can pay $100 (min) for even a simple one. And it just keeps going up from there. I've just spent a couple of hours searching the 'net again for reduced price textbooks for my program, and was initially excited to find a site that even has RENTAL options for books (I had no idea)! There's only one problem...

They don't sell, rent or ship Internationally. As a Canadian, I'm considered International. Poop. They have such a great racket set-up, too. You can buy new or used books and when you're finished with them, you send them back and get up to half the cost reimbursed, making it stupidly cheap to buy your textbooks.

I was feeling pretty deflated, as it doesn't leave many options for me. Several of these textbooks have inserts (CDs, access codes, etc) that I will likely need for the course, so it would be more sensible to buy them new as used doesn't guarantee those things will be included or, if they are, still accessible.

So, I perused the Amazon.com website instead and actually found some good deals on new books there. Because the dollars aren't that far apart right now, I'm still saving money and they're new items to boot. I bought 4 textbooks:

Amazon.ca price: $391.57 (free shipping)
Amazon.com price: $346.37 (incl. $20.95 shipping & $15.50 import fee)

I also bought two textbooks from Amazon.ca for $159.61 (free shipping) because they didn't have them on the US site. That leaves three, which I've made a note of. I'm hoping that by the time the books arrive, I'll have my income tax return. That, plus the money I've already set aside to cover school expenses, will cover the whole cost so far. :)

I'm still feeling overall that this is the right thing for me to do, but my friends (mostly Europeans who don't quite get this whole "quit-your-job-and-go-back-to-school" thing) have barely managed a blip of excitement for me. It just hurts a little, that's all, and has me questioning if it really IS the best thing to do. But I know that I need to do this if I want a new job - part of the updated application requirement is inclusion of a copy of your certificate! There's just no point at all applying without it.

And besides, I've already started a countdown as to how many days I have left to work (170 as of today)...

*Updated: I've removed my Followers list, not because I don't want to know who you all are, but because there's something gone wrong with the code and it's disappeared on its own! I can't find the "friend connect setting" it's talking about to fix it... >:(

Sunday night chit chat

Play along through Carla's website every Sunday!

Reading?  “Sketch Me if You Can” a mystery featuring a ghost US Marshal from the 19^th century and a modern day former police sketch artist-turned PI. The characters are great and I enjoy the writing. I have a several books lined up and waiting, and another one on hold for me at the library, but I have to prioritize or I’ll never get them read.

Watching?  Nothing special. I’ve discovered a few shows on BBC Canada that I enjoy, plus the usual stuff on HGTV/DIY networks.

Listening to?  I started a meditation challenge on my walks to work this week. They’re supposed to be listened to consecutively over a three week period, but if I only listen to them every other day, it’s going to take me a lot longer than that! I enjoy them though. At lunch I’ll generally play Angry Birds on my iPod.

Cooking/Baking?  I’m cooking up some sausages tonight for dinner and will have them with leftover rice, with plenty for lunch tomorrow. I made dark chocolate cupcakes on Friday night which actually turned out quite well.

Happy you accomplished this week?  Started school supply shopping and costing out textbooks online; having dinner with friends; walking to work several times; savings towards school and a trip next year.

Looking forward to next week?  Focussing on clarifying some ways to earn/save/get funds to see myself through school.

Thankful for today? I met a young friend for a nice brunch, where we spent 2.5 hours getting caught up on things and I helped her with some questions with respect to home buying and credit (she’s German and has just got her Permanent Residency and a great new job). Lots of stuff she didn’t know, although I ultimately told her to speak with her bank for proper financing info, as well as work with a realtor to see houses, ask lots of questions and start saving for that 20% down. Getting rid of 1.5 bags of books at the second hand store and returning with three “new” ones. Have one more bag to unload as they only take one bag per person at a time, but because my second bag counted more as a half, that’s why she took it.

Had a call from my brother in the UK. He was concerned that I might be taking on overwhelming debt to go back to school, but when I gave him the details of what I was doing with respect to finding the means to do it, he stopped panicking. He and his partner are off to Sri Lanka for 10 days over Easter and it sounds like a marvelous trip they have planned: beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving, a national park overnight to see leopards, train trips, highlands…I’m very much looking forward to seeing them in July, when I go to Ontario.

Taxes done at last

I just sent off my income tax return - one less thing to do! After waiting for any final papers, it seems I have everything I need. My last T4 arrived last week and brought my $1000 return down to $689.50, but I'm not complaining. That's terrific and will be split between school, debt & travel once it arrives in several weeks.

I did a bit more online research with respect to textbook buying this morning and have found a couple of sites that will save me some cash on the ones I need. Great news for my budget! I've also had another suggestion of where I could find some money to support my education, so I'm going to look into that on Monday. Asking costs nothing and I won't know until I try.

It's a beautiful day in Whitehorse today, -1C and slightly cloudy. I just got back from a walk with a friend along the river. Her partner made cranberry oatmeal cookies, so I was gifted a few to enjoy later! :) I can officially mark today off as another no spend, too.

All in all a great weekend and I still have brunch to look forward to tomorrow, as well as getting rid of books from last month's declutter.

Friday update (...long post...)

I'm a little late to the March challenges game, but to be fair my Internet was down for three days this week, so I was unable to get up to date with blogs and whatnot. Fortunately, it's Reading Week from school this week, so there was nothing pressing that needed doing. The tech was here for about 3 hours on Wednesday afternoon and did manage to fix it, but not without some real frustration and convincing me to switch to cable from ADSL. Same price, more megabytes and now more reliable. It shouldn't cost me anything, either, so I will set up an appointment to do that. This was the first time I've ever had an issue with the ADSL, so was quite surprised it was as complicated as it turned out to be. I still have no idea what the actual problem was, but as I say, it's fixed and working fine now.

The Arctic Winter Games (U18 yrs) and Dene Games are in town this week. Thousands of visitors from all over the world are here: Greenland, Yamal (Russia), Sami (Finland), Northern Alberta and Nunavik Quebec, and Alaska. There was a big cultural festival on Wednesday night with food, songs, dancing, etc. The First Nations are from Nunavut, NWT and Yukon and competing in all kinds of traditional games. It's quite exciting really. I'm not attending any of the activities, but did see part of the snowshoe races from the windows at work. Those kids were working hard! They're winding up today and tomorrow and will likely be heading home Sunday after a week of competitions. Yukon is in 2nd place behind Alaska.

I am SO excited about school that I've already started pricing textbooks (via Amazon) and thinking of ways to get them at a cheaper cost - used is likely the most cost effective. Today I took my list of school supplies and went to Wal-Mart and Staples, initially just to compare costs, but I ended up buying some little things like paperclips, paper, pencils, pens and a couple of rulers, scotch tape, etc. The prices were excellent and I'm keen to stay proactive and continue to focus like everything has already fallen into place. I already have several of the items on the list, so that saves me a few $$ (calculator, USB stick & stapler).

I bought (so far):
2 x paperclips (regular and bulldog clips in one container): $1 each. I'm considering returning these as I don't need the bulldog clips, just the regular ones, but because they were on clearance, I'm not sure that I can. Will check.
25 letter size file folders: $7.42
1 box black fine ball point pens: $2.34
1 12" acrylic ruler: $1.32
1 clear metric ruler: 0.48 (it says 'clear ruler' on my list, and wasn't sure exactly what that meant, so bought two, just to overkill things)
2 binders: $7.82 ($3.91 ea; will look into cheaper/free ways of collecting these instead)
3x5 index cards (100/pk): $1.97
Scotch tape (3/pk): $4.83
Pencils (20/pk): $1.67
400 sheets paper: $4.40
Total: $36.23

Likely a lot of this stuff will have to be refilled at least once over the course of the program, but some will not. The cost estimate I received for supplies was $400, but I honestly think that's way too high. I guess we'll see. All this went onto my MC, but because I have the money set aside for that, I'll be making a transfer to cover the card expenditure.

Then I went to the bookstore to look for a book that I needed for school, the only one I can buy outside the college. I had a gift card for Coles, so that was the perfect opportunity to buy something I needed and not spend anything to do it.

I'm a sucker.

Buy 4 books (ANY BOOKS!) for the price of 3??! Wow. Great deal, right? Let's see:

Collins Gage Canadian Paperback Dictionary (my intended purchase): $14.95
It's Your Money (Gail V-O): $21.99 w/20% off
Wealthy Barber Returns: $19.95 w/20% off
Oprah's Best Advice Ever (I know...): $32.95
Total: $44.83

I suppose that's a pretty good "savings." I intentionally got two books that were 20% off (the irony that they are both financial books does not escape me, btw), so that helped bring the cost down a bit, too. Original price $89.84, so I "saved" $45.01.

Then it was on to grocery shopping.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (for tuna casseroles): $3.98
2 pkgs egg noodles: $3.76
Butter chicken sauce: $3.69
Korma sauce: $3.69
Brick extra-old cheddar: $7.19 (this reminds me why I'm trying not to buy this anymore)
3 pkgs Jasmine rice: $11.97 ($3.99 ea)
2 L organic 1% milk: $5.69
2 containers garlic hummous: $11.18 ($5.59 ea)
Filet of salmon: $15.50
Ground turkey: $5.50
Mild Italian sausages: $3.98
Gala apples: $5.94 (1.360 kg @$4.37/kg)
Berry bowl: $5.87
Green grapes: $3.42 (.520 kg @$6.57/kg)
Total: $91.76

I'm set for at least another couple of weeks with this haul. Yum!

I got my annual bonus on Wednesday plus my annual increment, so I had a nice big paycheque to play with! I've updated my side bars as a lot of it went into my school and my travel accounts ($425 each). I put $75 into other savings, plus 10% of the bonus amount into my RRSP and my EFund. This makes me very happy.

I actually also did a return today, which I'm quite proud of. I've walked to work several times this week (approx 40 mins each way) and yesterday I dropped into the bookstore downtown and walked away after spending over $45! I was halfway home when the guilt got to me, so I returned half the items today, getting back $28.32. I'm feeling better about that.

My March challenges list:

Personal
1) Review/redo my resume and look for p/t jobs, preferably ones that don't have a heavy customer service oriented focus(<-- a challenge!)
2) Start looking into book prices and collecting items on supplies list
3) Walk to work at least three times a week; walk 35 - 45 mins on days off

Financial
1) Make appointment at the bank to discuss options for attending school (loan, RRSP, etc)
2) Set up savings account; aim for $3K by September
3) Look into bursaries, loans, grants, etc for funds for school

Declutter
1) Take books to used book store and "stuff" to the free store
2) Pantry (tidy and discard out of date items)
3) Tidy away school supplies

Phew! So there we are. I'm off to make chocolate cupcakes for a dinner tonight. Hope you all have a great weekend. I'll be spending some time tomorrow catching up on your blogs.

Oh my...

I just spoke with someone at the college admissions office as I had thought of a couple more questions with respect to the program.

Turns out she has processed me as a FULL-TIME STUDENT instead of the part-time I had anticipated. So I'm actually IN THE PROGRAM. I just need to complete the first part of the assessment, which she assured me doesn't include algebra (hallelujah!!!!), so I'll save myself $22 and just do that instead.

Well...

Wow.

YAHOO!!! The decision has been made for me, so I need to start saving.

Decision time

I had a conversation with a co-worker yesterday about...things...school and my back and the fact that I'm unhappy at work and that's partially what's contributing to my back problems. She's a lovely woman and I really value any input or insight that she gives me. She's also unhappy at work - to the point that she and I both look forward to holidays, not because we're on holiday and have lots of fun things to do, BUT BECAUSE WE'RE NOT AT WORK. That's not what a holiday should be.

So. What came of this conversation is that I'm seriously thinking about going back to school full-time and just getting the program done, rather than fumbling through it part-time as and when I can. I'm mailing my transcript request in today - god knows when the college will receive it - but of course this leads to thoughts of financing this gig and supporting myself while doing it, which would be approximately 10 months. A phone call to the college this morning also indicated that if I'm going to apply full-time I need to do it NOW, as the program fills quickly. So, essentially, I have to make a decision by tomorrow.

Let's make a list.

Pros:
1) I can take a leave from work (unpaid) and still have my job to go back to when I'm finished (if needed).
2) I can use my RRSPs to fund the education (LLP program). It's non-taxable and I have to pay them back, but it's definitely an option if I enrol full-time. I also have some CSBs I could cash in.
3) I would get it DONE, instead of dragging it out, leaving me in the position to find a new job sooner, rather than later.
4) I can get a $97 per week grant to cover my food costs from the government (it will help).
5) This opportunity excites me and at this moment feels like the right thing to do.
6) I'd be away from work for 9. Whole. Months.

Cons:
1) I'm not working, so would have to find some way of paying rent, etc. I would have to discuss this carefully with my landlady. She's a doll, but there are limits.
2) I'd have to save every single penny I make between now and September if I want to have some money to live on while I'm studying. Not sure if I can also get Student Loans if I use my RRSPs. Will have to look into that. I'd rather have the student loans than cash my RRSPs, to be honest.
3) Um...

Well...a rather unbalanced list in favour of the pros for sure. Any thoughts? Arguments? Points in favour or not?

Either way, I'll be doing the progam, as if I don't do the full-time, I'll be registered for the part-time.

Argh.