- Read Chapter 8 of textbook
DONE!
- Questions #2, 7 & 8 of final assignment
DONE!
- Journal Chapter 8
FAIL! Husband wanted to go to the in-laws to watch football earlier than I expected, so I didn't have time to do this. BUT, I did take my textbook over there with me and I got through 3/4 of Chapter 9, putting me ahead for next weekend.
- Address envelopes or confirm if mother-in-law will address them (for our wedding thank you cards)FAIL! We saw her on Saturday and forgot to ask. Husband called today but didn't reach her.
- Harass husband to fill out his thank you cards (I did my friends and family, he's doing his)My part is done! Husband promises me they will be done for tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can figure out the answer to the above point by then too.
- Update budgetFAIL! Complete fail - no excuse on this one.
- Find hotel for post-cruise in HawaiiHALF DONE! We found one we like. I have to sit down and crunch some numbers and make sure the cost is do-able though. A hotel in Hawaii is going to be fairly expensive no matter what, but seeing as how we're going to be spending 98% of the time sleeping in the hotel room and then out on the beach, we don't really care about views or such. It's more about a prime location.
- Get rid of misc. wedding stuff once and for allOne more thing left to get rid of. A friend of mine is coming over this week and she may like this item - it was a wedding gift that we didn't register for and it's not our cup of tea (literally - they're Japanese tea cups).
- Review wedding photos and select those for framing (the photo album is going to be my big project after my course is done)
HALF DONE! I've narrowed them down to maybe 20 or so that are my top picks! Husband and I have to sit down together and select the few that we're putting into the various frames and get correct sizing. He was working all weekend though, so this will have to wait until we both have a free evening this week to review them together.
I think I had a fairly productive weekend. I may not have accomplished everything on my list, but I got out and had some fun. We saw J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio, which was pretty good. Definitely a bio-pic, so not a ton of drama or such, but the acting was stellar. We went out for dinner on Saturday and over to the in-laws on Sunday. I did a lot of cleaning around the house and got some Christmas shopping done too.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Weekend To Do
These to do list posts may not be terribly exciting, but it helps keep me in check and accountable to anyone who actually reads this!
- Read Chapter 8 of textbook
- Questions #2, 7 & 8 of final assignment
- Journal Chapter 8
- Address envelopes or confirm if mother-in-law will address them (for our wedding thank you cards)
- Harass husband to fill out his thank you cards (I did my friends and family, he's doing his)
- Update budget
- Find hotel for post-cruise in Hawaii
- Get rid of misc. wedding stuff once and for all
- Review wedding photos and select those for framing (the photo album is going to be my big project after my course is done)
- Read Chapter 8 of textbook
- Questions #2, 7 & 8 of final assignment
- Journal Chapter 8
- Address envelopes or confirm if mother-in-law will address them (for our wedding thank you cards)
- Harass husband to fill out his thank you cards (I did my friends and family, he's doing his)
- Update budget
- Find hotel for post-cruise in Hawaii
- Get rid of misc. wedding stuff once and for all
- Review wedding photos and select those for framing (the photo album is going to be my big project after my course is done)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
2012 Goals
As we are getting closer to the end of 2011, I want to outline our financial goals for next year.
1) Get out of debt. By the end of 2011, we'll have about $3,000 to pay.
2) Save $2,500 in an emergency fund. This is aggressive, as it's about $1,000 more than what we'd have if we kept up with our current plan of $50 a month.
3) Have $15,000 in a savings account for a down payment on a house. We're currently at $5,000, so we have $10,000 to save next year.
4) Pay for Hawaiian vacation.
5) Go on another trip (location TBD)
6) Increase Husband's RRSP contribution. My job offers an excellent pension, so my small RRSP contribution is enough.
1) Get out of debt. By the end of 2011, we'll have about $3,000 to pay.
2) Save $2,500 in an emergency fund. This is aggressive, as it's about $1,000 more than what we'd have if we kept up with our current plan of $50 a month.
3) Have $15,000 in a savings account for a down payment on a house. We're currently at $5,000, so we have $10,000 to save next year.
4) Pay for Hawaiian vacation.
5) Go on another trip (location TBD)
6) Increase Husband's RRSP contribution. My job offers an excellent pension, so my small RRSP contribution is enough.
Balance transfer
I got Visa cheques in the mail with a low-interest rate of 1.99% until the end of May. Right now the interest rate on my personal loan is 7.24%. Obviously saving 5.25% in interest each month is appealing, but the credit limit on my Visa is only $2,000 and the loan is just under $4,000.
So our options are: use $2,000 in savings to pay down the loan and then transfer OR keep paying the loan as we have been, and then transfer when it is down to $2,000.
The difference in interest is going to save us more than any money we'd make by keeping that $2,000 in savings. BUT, there's the always important emotional side of things. Husband and I both like having a nice cushion in the bank. What if one of us lost our job tomorrow? Or what if I got pregnant? Or if an emergency happened? Sure we have the beginnings of an emergency fund, but it's not that much right now, so that general savings account is our cushion. This is money that we'll be putting towards a house one day. Not anytime in the near future, mind you, but it's there and right now, it's our piece of mind.
So, do we keep our piece of mind and keep chipping away at the loan until it's down to $2,000 (which will be in February) or do we pay that $2,000 now and transfer immediately? We're definitely both sitting in the camp of the former. I like logging on to the bank balance and seeing that we have money. Maybe because it's still a novelty after being in debt for so long, but whatever the reason, I like the feeling and plan to keep that for as long as possible.
So our options are: use $2,000 in savings to pay down the loan and then transfer OR keep paying the loan as we have been, and then transfer when it is down to $2,000.
The difference in interest is going to save us more than any money we'd make by keeping that $2,000 in savings. BUT, there's the always important emotional side of things. Husband and I both like having a nice cushion in the bank. What if one of us lost our job tomorrow? Or what if I got pregnant? Or if an emergency happened? Sure we have the beginnings of an emergency fund, but it's not that much right now, so that general savings account is our cushion. This is money that we'll be putting towards a house one day. Not anytime in the near future, mind you, but it's there and right now, it's our piece of mind.
So, do we keep our piece of mind and keep chipping away at the loan until it's down to $2,000 (which will be in February) or do we pay that $2,000 now and transfer immediately? We're definitely both sitting in the camp of the former. I like logging on to the bank balance and seeing that we have money. Maybe because it's still a novelty after being in debt for so long, but whatever the reason, I like the feeling and plan to keep that for as long as possible.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Working Overtime
This weekend is a long weekend in Canada, as Friday, November 11th is Remembrance Day. But, unfortunately/fortunately I have to work tomorrow. Not for the whole day, but for a few hours in the afternoon. This may sound like a bad thing, but it's actually really great!
I work in a union job, so I get paid for the day anyway, plus I get paid double time for any hours I work. So if I work 3 hours, I get paid for 6, on top of being paid for the day to begin with! And that's not all... I also get another day off in lieu of having to work on the national holiday. It's a very nice situation! I get paid more, get a day off anyway and I still get to sleep in!
It's also a great project that I'm working on, so it'll be semi-fun. Still work and stressful, because it's an important project, but fun.
I figure I'll make an extra $125-$150 for those few hours after taxes. This extra money is going to go towards Christmas shopping, so it's perfect timing!
I work in a union job, so I get paid for the day anyway, plus I get paid double time for any hours I work. So if I work 3 hours, I get paid for 6, on top of being paid for the day to begin with! And that's not all... I also get another day off in lieu of having to work on the national holiday. It's a very nice situation! I get paid more, get a day off anyway and I still get to sleep in!
It's also a great project that I'm working on, so it'll be semi-fun. Still work and stressful, because it's an important project, but fun.
I figure I'll make an extra $125-$150 for those few hours after taxes. This extra money is going to go towards Christmas shopping, so it's perfect timing!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
No Spend Challenge
I love eating out. I love not having to figure out what to have for dinner that will please both husband and I. I love not having a mess in the kitchen and not having to clean it up. I love perusing a menu and deciding what to get.
But I hate paying the bill.
We are generally pretty good about not eating out, but when the food in the house starts to dwindle, out goes our motivation. We have been really bad lately too. I think part of it was being so used to eating out when we were on the honeymoon. But I'm going to issue a 'no spend' challenge for ourselves, particularly when it comes to food. I was going to say this would start after the weekend, as its a long weekend coming up, but I realized that I'll always have some excuse or another to put it off, so it's starting now!
I guess I better clue in husband... ;)
But I hate paying the bill.
We are generally pretty good about not eating out, but when the food in the house starts to dwindle, out goes our motivation. We have been really bad lately too. I think part of it was being so used to eating out when we were on the honeymoon. But I'm going to issue a 'no spend' challenge for ourselves, particularly when it comes to food. I was going to say this would start after the weekend, as its a long weekend coming up, but I realized that I'll always have some excuse or another to put it off, so it's starting now!
I guess I better clue in husband... ;)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Weekly Money Check-Up
From My Pretty Pennies
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on... our Hawaiian cruise payment! It hurt, but it was budgeted for.
2. Today I am thankful... for a workplace that pays for my schooling.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was... playing board games with husband, my sister and her wife. We had a lot of fun just staying at home.
4. I will consider this week a success if I... finish one of my freelance articles.
5. I don't care about Daylight Savings. I'll change the clocks, but otherwise I don't even notice it.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on... our Hawaiian cruise payment! It hurt, but it was budgeted for.
2. Today I am thankful... for a workplace that pays for my schooling.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was... playing board games with husband, my sister and her wife. We had a lot of fun just staying at home.
4. I will consider this week a success if I... finish one of my freelance articles.
5. I don't care about Daylight Savings. I'll change the clocks, but otherwise I don't even notice it.
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