Random Tuesday thoughts

• My back is still out, so I took today off work as well. However, I'm pretty sure I'm into LWOP now, so have to go back tomorrow, regardless of how I'm feeling. I saw the chiro yesterday and had a small adjustment, although I'm not sure how much good it did. It is inflamed, so ice and rest are the best things for it.

• I'm going to take myself out for a walk today and make a stop at the local gym on my way home ('uh-oh!' I hear you say). It's literally 5 minutes away from me. These problems with my back have really concerned me, not least because I'm too young to feel so, so crappy. I've N.E.V.E.R. (!!) been sporty or active and that's the likely cause of most of the issue. I'm going to inquire about rates & if there's a group discount. The other two gyms in town offer discounts for government workers (or any group over 10 people), so these guys might too. It costs nothing to ask.

• I also want to inquire about personal trainers. I need someone to keep me accountable for my progress. I realize that can be pricey, so this is simply a fact-finding mission at this point.

• I'm aware that part of the problem is that I'm unhappy in my job. The fact that I'm taking time off simply because I can is not a good sign. I don't want it to degenerate to the point that it's affecting my co-workers or their feelings about me or my work, but I know that it will come to that point if something doesn't change (my attitude being one thing). I'm anxious and stressed out at work, I don't enjoy what I'm doing any more and the job search is very, very frustrating. I hate feeling stuck. There's obviously something(s) I'm NOT doing that's keeping me stuck, however, so I have to work on that. I'm great at self-sabotage, so there are plenty of things I NEED to do that I don't, because it's easier to keep going in the same direction than make changes that are hard or will hurt. Human nature, eh?

• I already got my refund cheque for my dental appointment last week! Hurrah!

• I'm having a hard time with my second English essay. I had trouble choosing between two topics and sent in an outline even though I wasn't "feeling" it. I've since decided to do an entirely different topic, but that's feeling only marginally better. The format is challenging me, but I was, for the most part, pleased with my mark on my first essay - B+. The instructor has said that we can revise and try for a higher mark, though, so I might just do that.

• I'm reading some cosy mysteries by Mary Jane Maffini, a Canadian author. The character is a professional organizer and unfortunately I'm not loving them. Mostly because the dialogue is a bit...strange...(there are a lot of non-sequiturs and instances when I'm thinking "what a weird conversation") and in the second book I got entirely lost in the first chapter. One of the (main) characters is utterly flat and there are little details that don't necessarily need to be included, as they aren't contributing to the story in any way. I'm finding that incidents seem to happen a bit randomly, rather than in some sort of logical order. Does that make sense? I realize you have to throw red herrings and whatnot into mysteries to keep the reader guessing and throw them off track, but...I don't know. It's a bit hard to explain, but obviously I'm enjoying them enough that I keep reading. They're just disappointing, that's all, after reading such great ones over the past few weeks.

• I'm thinking of what goals I can set for March: financially, personally, physically, all that good stuff. I need to do better than I did in February, which wasn't entirely a bust, but was quite eye-opening upon review...ahem! Less stringent with the savings and a stronger focus on debt busting is definitely up there. And carry on reading the blogs regularly - it's very inspiring to read others' goals and be able to share the joy when they're met.

PS

What's with all the random words in the blogs that are somehow automatically linked to weird ads all of a sudden? Is anyone else getting these?

Final February Friday followup

Well, it's essentially the last week of Carla's February Challenge. I'm not overly proud of how I've done (or, rather, not done), but I have succeeded to a point. I'm happy with anything being done this month, quite frankly, seeing as almost two weeks were spent hosting a visitor.

I got my letter from the college today, letting me know that my application won't be complete until they have proof I can do Grade 10 math. Instead of making a total ass of myself (isn't this where algebra and fractions originated?) and sitting down to try and do something I don't remember doing 30 years ago, I've got a call into my high school for a transcript. I already called the college where I did my carpentry program, but they only have on file that I did the trades math route (shorter and differently focused than the regular Grade 11 stream) and my Grade 12 English, so there's no point asking for a transcript for that. I had to go back and upgrade the math portion before I got accepted into the carpentry program, anyway. Math and I were never friends. Still aren't, actually. But isn't that why god invented calculators? ;)

I'm a little disappointed, but will do what I need to do because I'm determined to get into this program and start as soon as I can. All the courses I want to take appear to be full, so I'm thinking I might lean towards the medical ones as there are spaces available in those. It seems that all I need to ensure is that I have the prerequisites for each one and I can (sort of) take the Office Administration and the Medical stream concurrently. Not certain how efficient that will be, but if it keeps me moving ahead instead of frustrated and stuck in one place, it's a good option.

My week this week, thanks to being at home with a bad back, has been pretty good with respect to no spend days.

Feb 20: Dentist - $242 (will be fully reimbursed, so kind of a no spend day)

Feb 21: no-spend!

Feb 22: no-spend!

Feb 23: Diabetic cat food (dry & tins) $56.32

Feb 24: Groceries $166.15, gas $70.06

I was up and out of the house by 7:30 this morning to go to grocery shopping. I went to Superstore because I knew there wouldn't be a lot of people there at this time in the morning. It was still more crowded than I anticipated, but I was in and out within about 45 mins, so that's pretty good. I did take a list but I'm worse than shopping with kids or a husband, I bet. All kinds of things jumped into my basket, although I'm pleased to say that I DID put several back after thinking about them. This is what I bought (keep in mind, Superstore is the cheapest place in town to shop):

Grocery
Minced garlic: $6.49 (1 kg container)
PC Butter Chicken sauce: $5.27
PC Pasta Sauce: $3.69
PC Organic Fusilli (rice): (2 @ $2.99 ea) $5.98
Unsweetened almond milk x 4: $9.08 ($2.27 ea, 965 mL)
NN FT 6x136: $5.27 (for the life of me, I can't remember what this is! I just went back to check my shelves & fridge...anyone?? No name something...argh...)

Deli
Yves Ground Round x 4: $15.88 ($3.97 ea <-- great price so I stocked up a bit!)
Garlic Hummous: $5.59
Soya Mozzarella x 2:$ 9.56 ($4.78 ea <--also a very good price)

Seafood
Salmon: $16.63
Salmon fillet: $8.36
(I love salmon and these two pieces will give me over a week's worth of meals)

Meat
Chicken breast (8 pieces, family pack): $27.35 <-- a reasonable price, considering this will give me up to 8 meals.
Italian sausages: $4.49

Produce
Fuji apples: $6.45 (1.475  kg @ $4.37/kg)
Broccoli: $2.48
Carrots: $2.24 (0.600 kg @ $3.73/kg)
Cucumbers: $3.76 (2 @ $1.88 ea - anyone else notice the English ones are getting scrawny?
Green onion: .89
Navel oranges (lg): $2.05 (1.190 kg @ $1.72/kg, or .78/lb)
Green pepper: $1.46 (0.335 kg @ $4.37/kg) that's one pepper
White potatoes: $4.86 (1.490 kg @ $3.26/kg) I bought a bag of larger ones, as the prebagged ones - the baby whites - were kind of soft and not very appealing.
Red peppers: $4.47 (0.510 kg @ $8.77/kg) three! That's an amazing price for red peppers, considering I've spent that much on ONE before.
Romaine hearts (3 in a bag): $3.48
Sweet potatoes x 3: $7.19 (2.350 kg @ $3.06/kg)
FM CRT MN 2LB: $3.88 - another mystery item! :P

The produce selection wasn't great, so I think we were between trucks - deliveries generally arrive on Fridays if I remember correctly - but I'm happy with my selection regardless. Some of the produce wasn't looking very good, so pardon me if I seem fussy, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on things that may not last even a day or two, never mind a week.

I have an essay to start this weekend and tea with a friend tomorrow afternoon. And I still need to pick up some cat litter. I'm down to my last box and it doesn't get pretty around here if that runs low...Fat Joey shows his displeasure by doing either a poop or a big wee in the living room. >:(

Tax refund!

I've just done my income taxes. I'm not going to complete it just yet, as I think I still need a couple more receipts, but I'm really pleased that so far it looks like I'm getting another refund this year - $1,035! That will definitely help with dropping the debt and boosting the savings. Gotta love the Northern Resident Allowance! :)

I just finished my mid-term English exam, so am taking a break to write up another post. I've been off work for three days with a sore back. It's migrated from my shoulder area and settled for now in my lower back/hip area. I think it's a combination of things: different mattress (from the weekend), dog wash, exercise (I know...but snowshoeing!) and period cramps, which I don't normally get. Anyhoo, it's making me pretty unhappy as standing or sitting for too long just simply hurts. I have a chiro appointment for Monday morning, so hopefully that will help. I suppose I should take a Tylenol as well, although I hate bandaid solutions. (Regular) exercise would help immensely, too, right? :P

As you recall, these were the challenges for the month. Let's see how I've done on the financial end of it:

1. Choose a financial goal for the month!

·         $200 - $300 to VISA card - FAIL + PASS. I DID put $341 onto the VISA, but I also racked up about $500 in expenses on it, pretty much at the same time.

·         $100 into my travel fund, $50 to vet, $50 to car, $50 to EFund - I've put $40 into each, and $60 into my EFund.

2. How will you achieve your goal this month?

·         Similar to last month: take lunches to work; use my calendar, debit and notebook to track my spending; and use more cash. This is also so I can have more coins to roll, to put back onto the VISA card - I'm going to take a PASS for this; I didn't do it right away and still have to update my spreadsheet, but I DID keep my receipts so I wouldn't miss anything and added the expenses to my calendar

·         Shave some off the grocery bill where I can: $50 - $60 week for food - work in progress

·         Shave the gas money to one fill per month - $80. This means *gasp* walking if it’s getting low. Easier now that it’s slightly warmer and staying light a bit later.

·         Can I get away with putting $70 onto the hydro bill, rather than $90? - I've put $80 on the hydro bill each month, rather than risk it being too low. I can adjust as necessary.

3. How will you allot your spending this month?

·         Cats. They’re continually hungry (imagine!), plus Dinah’s specialty diabetic food. I’ve upped my budget for them from $80 to $100 per month. - so far, so good.

·         As above, cut the gas budget from $150 p/month – which I’m not sure I’ve ever hit anyway – to $80. I have a friend visiting for a few days and will likely use a bit more than normal, but hopefully I’ll be able to keep it to just one fill regardless. - $69 this month and I've done a LOT of driving this month, comparatively. Hoping I can make it to March.

·         Be diligent about making lunches and breakfast daily. It’s working well so far, so I think lowering the grocery budget is feasible. Besides, how much food can one person eat anyway? (Answer: you’d be surprised!) - Pass. My friend made several meals, plus she very generously paid for the whole weekend away, which included most meals! I bought one Subway sandwich for dinner.

4. Track your purchases!

• Doing well with this, so it shouldn’t be hard to carry on. I now have a little notebook to mark my purchases in. It was an old one hanging around at work, so I asked if I could have it. - PASS, although I'm not doing it daily. It IS being done.

5. Are there any “exemptions” for the month

•  I have a $150 payment I need to make, plus at least two dinners out with friends. I go out for dinner very rarely, so this will be a treat for me. I still have to make sure I don’t go overboard with the meal, though, so I'll budget $20 for each of those. - no dinners out (other than with my friend who was visiting), so those are a fail, or a pass depending on how you look at it. The $150 payment was made, however.
•  Chiropractic appointment(s). I will get 80% back for these, so that money can get rolled back into a budget at some point. - two of these for the month. $80 out = $65 (approx) back. PLUS I had a dentist appointment, which, it turns out, will be fully covered by insurance ($242). Hurrah!

The decluttering is more of a challenge. I haven't done anything since my initial round at the beginning of the month, but do have a long weekend ahead of me, so I will hopefully at least clear out my kitchen pantry if nothing else. As for when this stuff will get moved out of here, that's anyone's guess. I'd like to sell some of it, but the most convenient way to do that is to log back onto Facebook, and I'm almost two months into my FB ban and quite enjoying it, so I don't want to do that unless I have to.

Otherwise, I've just got my essay thesis to post today - have to think of the thesis statement first - and will take a down day. Likely I'll just drink lots of tea and watch HGTV. In my pajamas.

Tagged...twice!

So I completely forgot to fill out my questions after being tagged - twice! Once by the lovely Jane and again by our favourite prairie teacher, Jolie. Is this still going on? Is it worth it to tag anyone two weeks after the fact?

These are my answers to the questions, for what it's worth, however.

Jane's tag:

1. Describe yourself in seven words.

Funny, smart, lazy, undisciplined, easy-going, aloof, loving.

2. Why did you decide to start a blog? The first one was because I thought I had something interesting to say. This one because I wanted to keep myself accountable, learn some things and get serious about my financial future. Plus it’s way more fun and I met all of you, which is a tremendous bonus!

3. What is your favorite kind of cheese? Extra aged cheddar. Can. Not. Get. Enough.

4. What keeps you awake at night? Songs (various), thoughts and images of horse slaughter (I have not watched and will not watch YouTube videos detailing this, but nonetheless I imagine it), wishing I had a different job, one of the cats vomiting somewhere, the cats arguing, the cats lying on my chest, a sore neck, what I’d do with the money if I won the next Lotto Max jackpot…

5. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? That I had much more discipline to do what I need to do (work, school, health, finance, etc).

6. Here's a question from Michael that he likes to ask me on the phone: "What are you wearing right now?" A pair of purple, snowflake decorated pajamas. SLA (Standard Lazing Apparel) of my evenings and weekends. That’s EXACTLY how often I go out in the evenings…hahaha!

7. Tell us something about the person who tagged you!

Jane lives in London, ON, and has a lovely daughter, Kazi, and a (really hot!) boyfriend, Michael. She’s a teacher and is cycling to Philadelphia – I think on a stationary bike. She has a marvelous sense of humour, a heck of a lot of fun and seems like the kind of person you can sit down with and have an easy conversation.

8. Stretch out your arm and tell us what is the closest thing to you right now? My little calico cat, Dinah. She’s tucked up into a loaf on the corner of the desk.

9. What's your favorite flavour of ice cream?  Do you lick your ice cream or bite right into it? Really anything with chocolate – there was an amazing flavour called “Moose Tracks” that I used to buy. Lovely creamy vanilla ice cream with a ribbon of fudge and mini peanut butter cups throughout. I also found an amazing coconut ice cream that I haven’t been able to find again. Coconut’s one of those funny things – you love it or hate it. I love it. Lately it’s a dark chocolate coconut ice cream. YUM!! I bite right into the ice cream. Why wait?

10. Do you prefer the truth or a white lie that doesn't hurt your feelings? Truth please! Give it to me straight – it’s not always what I want to hear, but it’s what I always NEED to hear.

11. Do you like your life right now? Why or why not?

Yes, because over the past couple of years I’ve opened up to so much awareness about myself and why I am the way I am (and what needs to be taken care of). I am truly fortunate and lucky to have a good job, a warm, comfortable home, three loving and entertaining furry companions, friends, family and a beautiful place to call home. And no, because I could be doing so much more with my life, but I’ve let fear take hold and that’s tripping me up badly. My creativity has become dormant to the point of non-existence, so I need to work on that badly and just let myself play, make mistakes, not be “perfect.”

Jolie's tag:

1) What is one small difference you do to make money changes in your world?

Pay attention to how I’m feeling. That seems to have a huge impact on whether I spend money or not and on what.

2) What piece of advice would you tell 22 year old you?

Go to school and get a degree – it doesn’t matter in what. Then get a certificate to Teach English as a Second Language so you can travel the world and for god’s sake, set some personal boundaries and start standing up for yourself!

3) What free entertainment makes you smile? Walking, photography, reading, my cats, spending time with my friends.

4) If you had the choice of $1000 a week for 10 weeks or $10 000 all at once, which would you take, and why?

The $1000 weekly. It feels like more, although it obviously isn’t, and I’d be less afraid that I’d spend it all at once and all randomly than if I got a lump sum. It just “feels” like the lump sum would have to be all put towards one thing, whereas the weekly payments “feel” more flexible and like I can apply them to more things. Doesn’t really make much sense, but there you are.

5) What is one thing you purchased in the past that you wish you hadn't? A business instead of a house. I got caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement of two others and still kick myself.

6) What one piece of advice would you give someone heading into their first adult job/career? Pay off your student debt asap and start saving 10% of your income. Make sure you love your work, and aren’t just doing it for the money.

7) What book would you take with you if you were stranded on a desert island? “War & Peace” so I would finally find the time to read it.

8) If you could go back to the past and have coffee/tea with 1 person, who would it be? My dad.

9) What is your favourite season and why?

Spring! Partly because it’s when my birthday falls and partly because everything is new and fresh and clean. A close second is autumn. Actually it's close enough to be a tie.

10) Cat lover or dog lover?

Both actually, but I have cats right now.

11) If your life were a movie, who should play you?

Sandra Bullock, because she’s awesome. Her or Betty White, just because I would love to meet Betty.

Update - with photos, even!

I'm afraid I haven't really followed through on the February challenges as I had hoped to, but I've been busy otherwise! I had a friend visiting for 11 days (she left this morning), and so haven't had much computer time since shortly before she arrived on the 10th. So, to hopefully keep things short(er) & sweet, I'll do a bullet point update.

• No change in the clutter situation. I haven't removed anything I've collected, but neither have I brought anything in. My friend did bring me a couple of gifts, but other than that, I've managed to refrain from refilling any empty spaces on my shelves and in my closets.

• Actually, that's not true. I did buy Season 2 of "Hot in Cleveland."

• And I have spent a lot. Every day since my friend arrived, actually.

• But it was fun! 

• Having my friend here was great, although I am glad to have the place to myself again. I've known her a number of years, but not well, and you learn a lot about a person by spending time with them, you know? She calls herself a night owl, but I would lean more towards insomniac. Up at all hours of the night on the computer. Lights on. Lights off. Lights on again. It's a small space and sharing with someone who puts stuff everywhere pushes a few buttons. She had a great time, however, and I think really needed the time away, so I'm pleased she managed to relax and have some time to herself. Here's some photos of what we did:

Bundle up for a day of dog mushing! I got a gift certificate for Christmas and it was a perfect day for it. Temperature was only about -2C - a bit warm for the dogs - but the sun was out, the sky was blue...Beautiful!

Ginger (l) and Strider (r), our lead dogs.

The dogs spent a lot of time cooling off in the snowbanks when we stopped. It's hot work for them on such warm days.

Away down the Takhini River we go. I'm driving and my friend is in the basket.

Resting dog in his harness.

I think this one's name is Bear. He was on a different team. Isn't he gorgeous?

Penny (l) and Boober (r). These two were our wheel dogs (closest to the sled).

Getting ready to return after our lunch break.

Lovely day for it!

The return journey.

The beautiful Strider (l) and lovely little Ginger (r). Lead dogs. Check out Ginger's booties!

Puppies!! They attacked anything that moved - and didn't. Adorable.

We also spent a couple of nights at the Hotsprings Valley Retreat. There was a Japanese fellow who'd come all the way to see the Aurora and when we got there hadn't had any luck so far. The day after we arrived, there was quite a beautiful display, so we were all very happy for him. It was my first attempt at taking photos of them - it's a bit of a challenge - so apologies for the blurry outcome!

The cabins. Electricity, but no washrooms or kitchens. You have to go the main building for those.

Tracks in the snow. Small, so perhaps a weasel.

Snowshoed up to this point - my first time in snowshoes! What a view.

I think I might get myself a pair of these. It was a lot of fun.

My first attempts at capturing the aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights). I gave up after a while and just enjoyed watching them dance. They are amazing - far better than anything man made.

Ice crystals on the trees.

Elk at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.

Short horned sheep.

Stone sheep.

Musk ox. We were hoping she would turn to look at us, but she was too busy scratching an itch with the stick to pay any attention to us.

Mountain goats in their natural(ish) habitat.

One of three lynx in their new enclosure.

More goats coming down to investigate a little closer.

One of two Arctic Foxes in their new enclosure. They're tiny things and turn brown in the summer.

Caribou.

Wood bison (male). He was simply enjoying the sunshine.

These are photos from the area where the warm river (which heats the hotsprings pools) flows into the lake. This accounts for the lovely ice crystals on the trees in the above photo as well as the steam and ice crystals around the area below.

 

It was a lovely weekend!

• I've decided that I want out of my job desperately enough to enrol in the office administration program at the college. I'll be taking it online and can take up to two years to complete it, but am hoping I can be finished in less time than that. There are two new streams that have been added recently - legal and medical - so once I'm finished the main program, I'm going to take the Medical Coding stream so that I can get out of the public domain and work from home instead! I'm still waiting to hear whether or not I've been accepted into the program, but I'm very excited and it feels right. I took it as a sign when I was screened out of yet another job application because I don't have the education (although I do have the experience). I decided that being proactive about things would smooth the road better than moping about it and getting depressed.

• I'm already halfway through my English course. I have my mid-term exam tomorrow and a second essay due on March 2. I'm fairly happy with my first mark (B+), but I know I can do much better, so need to organize and review more thoroughly for the next one.

• I booked a flight for another friend to come and visit me for a few days in May. I can't really afford it, but I can afford it much better than she can and much better than if the airfare was at the regular price. I am so excited to have her here.

• I've already booked my holidays for the year and they're spread out quite nicely. My birthday weekend; a few days in May; a week in July for a trip to Ontario; and over Christmas. I took 4 days holiday at Christmas and because of regular closures and time off, I get 16 days in total!

• This will be a busy weekend as I get caught up from the last two weeks! Including reading all your updates and blog posts. Looking forward to it!

Slacker Saturday

I had grand plans for today - sort of. I was going to declutter the kitchen, but that hasn't happened yet. I was going to get to those long, long, long, etc. overdue emails that I owe people. That hasn't happened either. Where HAS my morning gone? Well, I've been reading all the updates on your blogs...um....okay, so I need a little motivation...

I DID however, do something I've never done before - write a letter to someone as the result of a TV show. I've discovered "Undercover Boss" (anyone?) and love it. The inaugural Canadian one was on the other night - the CEO of the Toronto Zoo, John Taragno, got to go undercover and clean gorilla poo! And penguin poo! And human poo! What a trooper. Anyhow, I was so moved by the custodian he worked with that I wrote a letter to Mr. Taragno. I hope he doesn't think I'm a total wingnut.

I have very fond memories of visiting the Zoo when I was growing up, and the show aired almost exactly 31 years to the date of my dad's death, in 1981. Mr. Taragno had recently lost his own dad and I must have got something in my eyes because they were tearing up at one point. The utterly, utterly lovely custodian had lost one of her daughters and she and her husband wrote letters to her to help them deal with their grief. She had written a beautiful letter to Mr. Taragno's undercover persona "Jim" to suggest that he do the same to help him with his grief about his dad. I have been struggling for a way to connect with my dad and as soon as she explained what she did, I knew that was what I had to do, too. She was Amazing.

I don't believe in coincidences, so I made up my mind right then and there that I would write a letter to let him know how much the show meant to me. My goal is to now spend a day at the Zoo when I'm there in July, and I will do what I can to make that happen. I have loose plans to spend my only full day in Toronto with a friend I haven't seen in 15 years and I'm going to suggest that she & I spend a day at the Zoo. I think she'd be okay with this.

Now I just don't really feel like doing anything else. I'll make a point of going through my kitchen and putting some things on the table where I'm collecting my items for sale/donation/disposal, but I feel a little bit drained to be honest. Coming to terms with the fact that I have feelings and it's okay to actually FEEL them (bad, sad, happy, angry, whatever) after 44 years of repressing them is a big deal. And a lot harder than I thought. I've only just made the connection, for example, that the reason I'm not a happy person is the fact that  I haven't completely dealt with my dad's death so long ago. I was a happy kid, but then my dad died and we were left with my mum, who really couldn't cope and fun literally disappeared from my life, replaced with shame, guilt and condemnation. It's embarrassing and a bit shameful when people ask what I do for fun, and I don't really have an answer. Because I don't have fun. The depression I've been in and out of for the past 30 years stems from the fact that I wasn't allowed to grieve for my dad when I was a kid - everything else has just built it up, obscuring that fact and adding layers of untruths, repressed feelings and beliefs to it.

I'm just so afraid that if I start grieving (aka, crying) I won't be able to stop. I just don't know what to do with all that rage and sadness and grief that would well up and overflow. But holding onto it is just making me sick, depressed, unhappy, cold...

Wow...this post turned out much differently than I expected. That letter was obviously very cathartic at some level.

Thank you all for being so awesome that you'd listen to this, too.

A busy day!

There was no decluttering going on today, unless you count a lot of recycling. I don't really as that's generally par for the course, although it did feel good to finally get rid of it. I have a corner in my office that's my Recycling Collection Point and it tends to build up for longer than it should. Once it reaches the point that the door won't open all the way, I transfer some to the truck...ahem...

Out of sight, out of mind, right? Ha!

I had a list of things to do and get today and I'm happy to say that I completed most of them. Costs associated with each are included.

Chiropractic appointment: check! $40 (actually I only had $38, so owe $2)

Groceries: check!
4L 1% milk: $4.69
Salmon: $18.22 (family size, will last me about a week!)
Ground turkey: $5.37
Bananas: $2.11 (1.090 kg @$1.94/kg)
Berry bowl: $5.65 (mixed fruit salad of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries)
6 Ambrosia apples: $4.94 (1.505 kg @$3.28/kg)

Officially adopting Fat Joey by FINALLY filling out the paperwork: check! $0 :)

Cat food: check! 12 tins @$1.56 ea = $18.77

Recycling: check!

And my naughty purchase (and the reason I owe $2 to the chiropractor): 3 books $22.02. There goes most of my allowance for the month, but really. I know...it was the 25% off signs that dazzled me, I'm afraid.

I went to the bank with all my rolled coin and US$. I deposited the US$ and now have $101.00 in that account. My rolled coin amounted to $205! I put $50 onto my LOC as an extra payment and the rest, $155, onto my VISA. This is technically an extra payment, but because I bought my plane ticket I'm not really counting it as extra, because it doesn't fully clear the ticket cost. Regardless, it's snowflake money and every little bit helps.

I have just sent off my first English essay thesis to my instructor and over the next few days have to sketch out my ideas for the completed essay which is due next Friday. I've also spoken with an instructor at the college in a certificate program I've decided to register for. I'll be attending part-time and it appears most of the course is online, so I can do it as and when I can. I'm quite excited as I think this is the right program for me. It "feels" right and I can get started before the end of February, so that's even more motivating.

It's begun...

Well, as I stated yesterday, I have fairly little to purge compared to some (oh my!), however, I *STILL* managed to find a load of things that can be sold, donated or tossed. Amazing. I really don't have that much space, so where it all comes from, I have no idea.

First up: the TV/DVD stand. I don't even particularly like this stand, but it was basically free and keeps things tidy for the most part. Look at all the DVDs I've got! Ridiculous really.

Note the green flat thing on top of the DVD player. This is a green version of the little blue storage container in the top photo. So, after some "hard" work, I got this:

MUCH better! (Sorry about the glare). Most of the DVDs went into the green container on the right. I sorted a bunch of them out and removed them for selling or donating. And, er, yes, the stand does still need to be cleaned.

Next up were the bookshelves in my bedroom.

Bookshelf one. This actually looks almost identical after I tidied, except for the pile of books on the top left side. It was actually a pile of letters - half of which were unopened! - from 2006 - 2008. Wow. So the top is much neater now.

Bookshelf #2 before the purge. And after:

Again, not a big difference, but I actually pulled a surprising number of books off it. The little pile on the top right will be going to the library. They're German books (kids' books) that I got last year when we were decluttering our multi-lingual collection. I won't be reading them and they're just taking up space, so back they go.

This is the pile of books I got from the bookshelf:

There are a few cookbooks there, too, because who am I kidding? I don't cook, so there's no point keeping them around. I have a few left, plus a binder full of recipes I've collected. More than enough to use should I ever feel the urge to make something creative for dinner. So my cookbook cupboard is quite a bit tidier now, too! Yay! I also put a couple of crossword puzzle books in the purge file because I like to think I'm much smarter than I actually am. Those are NY Times Sunday crosswords - hard! I kept a couple of books, so these are going to be donated. I don't imagine I can get anything for these at the used bookstore. Everything else, however, will be taken in for evaluation and whatever is left will be donated to the library.

I'm not even sure it's worth showing you a picture of my bedroom closet before and after. In the 2nd bookshelf photo, there's a pile of stuff on the left hand side. That's what came out of my closet. I also threw out an old belt that was worn, torn and not worth keeping. I added a cooling rack (I have 3) to the pile and a pair of shoes I don't like, too. 

I also did a declutter of my computer. This isn't something I can prove, but I cleared out some big files (photos) and some unused and unwanted documents and it just feels better to have cleaned out a little bit of space from that. Whether it makes any difference to the performance or not, I don't know. It just feels a little better for having done it.

My kitchen is tiny, so space is at a premium. I purged this spice rack because I literally have nowhere to keep it. This is the extent of my counter space - one of the reasons I don't like to cook. I have very little space to move around in. When the dishes are drying, as below, I literally have zero counter space. 

Saturday I will be working on my kitchen. I have found a number of things I can get rid of, leaving me with more cupboard space at least. As well, the living room will be getting a very tiny purge - there really isn't much to do in there, but I can at least tidy a little and clear away a few things that just gather dust.

And this one is just because:

Fat Joey is still with me. Here he is, exhausted and resting on his blanket, from overexerting himself doing nothing today. Good Joey!

It doesn't look like I did much, but I was a busy bee for almost three hours! 

Confession...

Look at me. Day One of the February challenge isn't even over yet and already I've blown my budget and goals! I got an e-flyer from Air North in my inbox this afternoon and bought a ticket to Vancouver - for LESS THAN $300 RETURN! That's $99 o/w. I just about fell over. Never, ever, ever, EVER (!!!) have I seen a price that low before - it totals HALF of what it usually costs, so I'm helping my brother out a little bit and that's going towards my Ontario trip in July. Next step, Vancouver - Toronto.

Wow. I'm not even upset that I blew it. Not even a little bit. I'm still shaking my head. Plus I entered to win a return flight anywhere Air North flies, so who knows?

February challenges. Bring it on!

Okay, Carla - here are my February goals:

1. Choose a financial goal for the month!

·         $200 - $300 to VISA card

·         $100 into my travel fund, $50 to vet, $50 to car, $50 to EFund

2. How will you achieve your goal this month?

·         Similar to last month: take lunches to work; use my calendar, debit and notebook to track my spending; and use more cash. This is also so I can have more coins to roll, to put back onto the VISA card

·         Shave some off the grocery bill where I can: $50 - $60 week for food

·         Shave the gas money to one fill per month - $80. This means *gasp* walking if it’s getting low. Easier now that it’s slightly warmer and staying light a bit later.

·         Can I get away with putting $70 onto the hydro bill, rather than $90?

3. How will you allot your spending this month?

·         Cats. They’re continually hungry (imagine!), plus Dinah’s specialty diabetic food. I’ve upped my budget for them from $80 to $100 per month.

·         As above, cut the gas budget from $150 p/month – which I’m not sure I’ve ever hit anyway – to $80. I have a friend visiting for a few days and will likely use a bit more than normal, but hopefully I’ll be able to keep it to just one fill regardless.

·         Be diligent about making lunches and breakfast daily. It’s working well so far, so I think lowering the grocery budget is feasible. Besides, how much food can one person eat anyway? (Answer: you’d be surprised!)

4. Track your purchases!

• Doing well with this, so it shouldn’t be hard to carry on. I now have a little notebook to mark my purchases in. It was an old one hanging around at work, so I asked if I could have it. FREE! J

5. Are there any “exemptions” for the month

•  I have a $150 payment I need to make, plus at least two dinners out with friends. I go out for dinner very rarely, so this will be a treat for me. I still have to make sure I don’t go overboard with the meal, though, so I'll budget $20 for each of those.
•  Chiropractic appointment(s). I will get 80% back for these, so that money can get rolled back into a budget at some point.

Here’s how the Decluttering challenge will work:

1. There will be 4 main challenges for the month. I pick the theme, you pick the challenge!

Week One: Personal Space Challenge

It’s all my personal space, but I will concentrate on the 2^nd bedroom as that’s where I spend a lot of time. It’s my office and there’s still “stuff” I can finally let go of cluttering a corner. Can probably also find more stuff on the computer to delete.

Week Two: Family Space Challenge

As above, it’s all my personal space, but the living room could still use a declutter, although there’s not much left to get rid of. Old magazines, a board game I’ve never used, DVDs I’ve never watched…

Week Three: Productivity Challenge

What? The above isn’t enough?! I’m not really sure yet. I can improve productivity in many (most!) areas of my life, so perhaps it will show up on its own as I’m purging, cleaning, decluttering, etc. What I’d LIKE to see is more time spent doing creative things: drawing, writing, knitting, etc., rather than sitting down in front of the computer or TV to unwind. Spend time with horses?

Week Four: The “Dreaded” Challenge

Hmm. Kitchen? I have lots of stuff in the pantry and cupboards that I don’t use or need, so will count that.

2. Bonus Challenges!

Looking forward to these!

3. Purging!!

I’ve already started collecting a bag of things, plus a pile of books. This is a work in progress. I will be taking the books to the second hand store for either credit or cash (or both – I don’t know what the options are). The “things” vary and I could probably sell at least some of them online, but is it worth the cost of mailing them. I may have to sign back on to Facebook and use the buy, sell, trade site that has worked well for me in the past. This is not the ideal option, so I may end up just donating it all instead. We’ll see.

4. The Proof is in the pudding!

Comparatively, I don’t have a lot of clutter, so not sure photos would be all that useful as the only one who would really notice is me. But I will anyway, to stick with the spirit of the challenge.

So. I guess we're rolling... :)