Batting Down The Hatches

With the reset, I feel that I should start over with some, if not all of the frugal things that I have experience with. Then I can add in new ones that I find. First off, budgeting.

I prefer to call it a Spending Plan instead of Budget, but the truth of the matter is, if I don't have one, I don't do very well over the month. I don't mind if we go over in a particular category, say grocery spending, because even if I do, it saves us money in the Restaurant/Ordering Out category. But, without the Spending Plan mapped out in the first place, I spend all willy-nilly and next thing I know, we're behind in the cable bill again. It's not perfect, and the income minus expenses are at an all time negative right now, but it is my starting point.

I've added up all the debt we owe. It's disgusting. I should be ashamed, and I am somewhat, but I've reset, so it also becomes our starting point. It will get a wee bit worse over the next couple of months while I re-juggle the spending plan and get back to work and whatnot, but it is what it is.

One thing that I found really, really helped us in the past was having a meal plan. I put up an empty weekly dinner sheet on the fridge and get the family to put in requests, or at the very least, help fill the thing in. Then I have a much clearer picture of what I need to buy when I am at the grocery store. I haven't taken an inventory of our cupboards lately, so maybe I'll do that too. Throw out old, outdated stuff that is never going to get used, and see what I can use up to lower the grocery spending this week. I'll definitely need to replenish the freezer meats (we are out of or nearly out of everything), so I will be keeping my lids peeled for deals on meats until we can save up for another freezer meat order.

Upcoming in August:

DD1 has a birthday coming up. I have already decided what I would like to gift her. It should be around $50 so that's not too bad.

DH's brother is getting married. DH is in the wedding party, so there will be a tux rental (ugh) and a gift to be bought for the newlyweds. I'll also have to find something appropriate to wear, like a dress, and we'll have to spend a small amount of money at the reception I suppose.

Then there is back to school shopping. Kids will need new shoes, there will be fees, and probably a few school supplies will be needed. I will have to keep this spending down to as little as possible.

Hockey fees; These are due by the end of the month and I'm just not sure where this money is going to come from.

All of this along with our regular monthly bills, the little bit that we are behind in rent, the amounts we are behind in some of the other bills and the debt. Oh the debt.

I'll have to adjust and readjust the debt payments as I move forward in this, but for now I've started small automatic payments just to get things going in the right direction.

Wish us luck. We're going to need it.

A Drive and A Good Talk

Every once in awhile, I have the pleasure of being able to bring Hubby with me to work. I especially love it when we have to go out of town, so I have his undivided attention for a few hours. We usually take this time to reconnect through conversation, and the other day was no different.

I was finally able to tell him my concerns about a work situation. I know that no one has any true security in their job anymore, and I am no exception. Thinking about the very real possibility of job loss, I wanted to talk about what we could and would do if one or both of us were to lose our jobs through no fault of our own.

As much as I love my Hubby, I know that he is a typically pessimistic person and that he usually brings my optimism down a notch or three. So for this conversation, I was not particularly looking forward to having it, nor was I thinking it would be a good one.

I was wrong. (And that does not happen very often.)

Hubby talked about the situations going on at his place of employment, and how it could possibly end up with him having a job loss. Please understand, that since he was 16 years old, Hubby has never been without work for more than a week, so unemployment for any length of time would be a whole different thing for him.

We talked about his options: going back to school for trade specific training, or for a whole new line of work altogether. He said he was willing to take almost any job that paid more than minimum wage, and if necessary, would take a min. wage job too.

We also talked about my options should I become unemployed. I offered a few suggestions of where I might also apply to work to stay in the same field, along with what I could do to increase business should I decide to stay self-employed. If worse came to worse, I would take whatever job I could in order to keep our family afloat.

Things that we could do financially to keep us going were a big part of the conversation. We talked about reducing cable, cellphones, and other variable expenses would be our first line of defense. Preparation was also a main point in the conversation. We agreed that we have been lax in the area of saving up enough money to see us through a rough patch, and have resolved to fix this as best as we can. So on Sunday, I sat down with the budget and financial plan and re prioritised our 2013 goals page. I will sleep better at night once we have at least $1000 each in our Emergency Fund and Emergency Essential Expenses accounts. As for the taxes owing, well, the sooner I get that paid off, the better we will be all the way around. I will be posting occasionally about how we are bumping up these funds and paying off the tax man.

We are no longer burying our heads in the sand. We're thinking like optimists but planning like pessimists.

Have you put any thought into how your family budget would survive a job loss or god forbid, a double job loss? What would you do?

December Goals Update

1. Add $279.50 to any one of my RRSP accounts. This will round up my contributions for the year to a full $1200. $195 / $279.50.
2. Add $100 to the Emergency fund. Slow and steady wins the race. Done.
3. Add $50 to the Emergency Essential Expenses Account. $5 added.
4. Set aside $400 for the new van payment.
5. Pay $200 toward Income Tax owing. $50 paid.
6. Get $1000 RSP loan from bank. Applied, I think.?
7. Open TFSA account at CIBC for accelerating van payments and adding to house down payment fund. Done.
8. Get credit report and score so that I can do yearly update. Bank is getting this for me.
9. Add DD2's account to my 'bill list' to do online transfers for her savings account. Done.
10. Pay off $79  $231.76 owing on credit card by due date, Dec. 20/12. Paid $50.

I met with my rep at the bank this week to apply for the RRSP loan. I could just make a $1000 contribution, but I want to do it as a loan for a couple of reasons; the bank has a promotion going on that if you have three of the qualifing products, you get a reduction in bank fees across all your accounts - the only one I don't have already is a mortgage or loan, so I opted for the loan. Tax reduction is self-explanatory, and saving for retirement/home down payment are bonuses. :)

I also opened a TFSA account with CIBC so that I could set money aside as a buffer for the van payments. However, using my online banking, I am not easily able to transfer money to this account, so I will have to check to see how I am able to do that.

I'm only $84.50 away from my yearly RRSP contribution goal that I set for myself so long ago. I want to hit this goal in the worst way!

I'm adding to many of our savings accounts now while I am able to. There is already $100 in the account for Christmas 2013. The emergency fund has been added to. I've put money in both of the kids bank accounts. Money is set aside for upcoming auto maintenance and licencing. Vacation account has a little something to get that one started. I've increased the monthly contribution amount for the kids RESPs.

I also paid some bills before I went shopping. Oh shopping, how I love thee. But that's a whole post for a different day.

December Mini-Goals

Here are some things I'd like to accomplish financially to round out 2012.

December Mini-Goals, 2012

1. Add $279.50 to any one of my RRSP accounts. This will round up my contributions for the year to a full $1200.
2. Add $100 to the Emergency fund. Slow and steady wins the race.
3. Add $50 to the Emergency Essential Expenses Account.
4. Set aside $400 for the new van payment.
5. Pay $200 toward Income Tax owing.
6. Get $1000 RSP loan from bank.
7. Open TFSA account at CIBC for accelerating van payments and adding to house down payment fund.
8. Get credit report and score so that I can do yearly update.
9. Add DD2's account to my 'bill list' to do online transfers for her savings account.
10. Pay off $79 owing on credit card by due date, Dec. 20/12.

Notes:

1. Must keep adding to my RRSP. I have no company pension available to me when I will be ready to retire, so I have to do this for future me.
2. I can focus on the emergency Fund now with other things off my plate now.
3. This is our 'Life Backup Plan' if Hubby or I were to lose a steady source of income. It needs to have a lot more money in it.
4. Yes, we bought a new van. It's pretty, and beautiful, and shiny and new. And expensive.  And necessary. No regrets.
5. I will get this bill down every month and pay it off. I'm aiming for 2013 year end.
6. For credit history improvement purposes. I know I can borrow this amount and pay off within a year. :)
7. Already done. :)
8. In the works.
9. Need to do this so I can transfer her monthly allowance to her own account.
10. Start the new year off without any CC debt. :)

Do you have any goals for December?

We're getting there!

Today, we reached a milestone.

 

I came home from working, and Hubby asked me to see what he had written down. It was a list of the bills that he had paid.

Added to the list of bills I had paid off Friday.

 

We hugged and cried together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are CONSUMER DEBT FREE!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Wow, does that feel good to say.

 

We're not done yet, but we are making progress.

In 2008, we were approximately $60,000 in debt.

Today, that total is approximately $15,000.

 

We've paid off two vehicle loans.

We've paid off three extremely large (for us) credit card balances.

We've paid off two store credit cards.

We pay our bills monthly, and on time.

We have money in our savings accounts.

We are setting some money aside for retirement and our children's post-secondary educations.

We are saving for a down payment for our forever home.

 

What a great day.

Thanks to all of you who are sharing in our success.

 

 

Coming Back and New Goals

I have missed the blogging community greatly. I felt like I was part of something, and then I was missing out on the friendship and sharing. But it had to be done. I had so much to say, but I was under wraps for awhile (self-imposed). I know me. I have trouble keeping my mouth shut, lol. But now, I can talk a little more freely about what has been happening.

The big news is that the company I work for has opened an office location right here in London. I'm still working part-time hours, and if all goes well, I should be out from under my probationary period in the next week or so. This will enable me to serve my client families more efficiently.

My goals for working with this company are to become a full-time employee, to gain status as a managing director, and eventually be able to 'buy-in' as silent ( Ha- who am I kidding? I'm never silent!) partner for this location.

In anticipation of major changes ahead in the next few years, I'm forging forward with personal and financial goals also.

Toward the beginning of the year, I opened yet another RRSP account at my bank. I put a small deposit in, and left it be. No further deposits to date. After thinking about it for a time, I realised that I could use this account as my 'Home Down payment Fund'. Using  the Home Buyers Plan, I can 'borrow' my own money from my RRSP, up to $25,000 toward the purchase of a home. Meanwhile, any deposits I make will count toward my RRSP contributions for that year, giving me a small break on the amount of tax I will owe.

Still with me this far? Good.

I will still have to 'pay that money back', but since it's mine, there won't be any outrageous interest fees associated with it (at least none that I am aware of). Just a repayment schedule that the government defines.

So off to the bank I went, and signed a paper to say that they could take $25 per pay out of my chequing and put into the 'House RRSP Fund'. I know it will take me a hundred years or so to save up a down payment at that rate, but it's a starting point, ya know?

Seeing as I've hit the big 4-0, I've been thinking lots and lots about where my life is headed, where I am right now, and where I want to be in the future. I want to have a home of our very own, however modest it may be. I want to have money in the bank should the day ever come that I want to semi-retire. (I'm pretty sure if I ever fully retire, it will be due to health reasons only.) I'm putting away money to help partially pay for my kids post-secondary educations. Our debt is almost gone...Can you say U-RAH to that!!!! We've finally gotten that consumer debt monster down to something manageable.

On the other side of the coin, it looks like we will be shopping for a newer vehicle this year. Well, we have been looking for awhile, and I have absolutely nothing saved up for a new van, but we will need to replace it I think. A van is vital to my employment, so hopefully we can get a good deal on a 1 or 2 year old used one. I'm hoping for a Dodge Grand Caravan with Stow-N-Go seating, but we will see. I will not be taking out another 7 year long, $28,000 car loan, that's for sure.

One of these days, I will get around to updating my reading list. I've read a ton of books over the last little while, which has certainly helped my keep my shopping habit under control. Speaking of shopping, I'm working at the couponing again to keep our grocery costs down with budget limits. I think this is the first May in the last 5 years that we have stuff in the pantry, cupboards and freezer and I don't feel like an unfit parent. I'm anticipating what we will need over a given period and stocking up (not extreme couponer style) some of the things that we regularly use when its on sale.
I'm feeling good about life these days. I hope it lasts.

What are you feeling good about today?

Where I'm At Today

Didja see the new progress bars I added to the side? ------->

Trying to stay focused on several things at once is difficult, and my wee little brain gets all swarmed with things I'm trying to remember. Thank goodness I write mostly everything down and/or put them on my blog so I can see them every day.

So this is where I'm at today with some goals:

• 10 pound challenge: I've lost 1 pound. I have eliminated almost all salt from my diet, increased fruit, veggie & water intake. But I haven't exercised. Let's see if the 1 pound stays lost or it finds it's way back home to my rear end.
• Emergency Fund: with only 39 days to go, I'm unsure if I'll make it to the $500. With $63.00, I'm 12.6% of the way there. Money will find it's way into this account if it kills me. :)
• My sealed pot is collecting little bits of change here & there. I'm actually hoping to fill it.
• I did start an Etsy shop, but am procrastinating putting anything in it. Must. Do. Soon.
• I printed out my Big Book, and have started filling it out. Lots of info to compile still.

My biggest stress right now is about our housing situation.I'm not comfortable sharing the whole situation, but suffice it to say we could be moving at the end of next month. We could have some very rocky times ahead of us.

My girl has a PD day today, so I'm bringing her with me and Cub to playgroup this morning. We have a bunch of running around to do after, so it should be an exciting day.

How are you doing with your monthly goals and challenges?

Little Ways To Pad Your Emergency Fund

An Emergency Fund is an essential part of a solid financial foundation. It is a cash cushion that you have accumulated over time. It should be easy to access, and to be used only for an emergency.

Some so-called experts will say that you should have 6 months worth of salary in your Emergency fund. Others say that having only $500 to $1000 set aside is a good start. You have to decide what amount is right for you and your family. I am rebuilding my Emergency Fund after having to use it this past fall. I’m starting small, with a goal of $500 by the end of February.

Here are some Microsavings tactics to help pad your Emergency Fund:

·       Automated transfer $25 from your paycheque. You have to start somewhere.

·       At the beginning or end of the week, transfer the last three digits of your bank balance over to your E-fund. (If your balance is $542.68, transfer the $2.68.)

·       Save your pocket change. 50 cents a day can add up over a couple of months.

·       Sell something and put the proceeds in your fund. Kijiji is my personal favourite to sell unwanted items.

·       Add government cheques like GST/HST or your income tax refund.

·       Add amounts equal to your ‘spending – savings’. If you buy groceries and reduce your out of pocket expense by using $7.50 worth of coupons, transfer that amount to your Emergency when you get home from the store. Same goes for your loyalty rewards points accounts.

·       Have a No Spend/Low Spend month to reduce your variable expenses and deposit the difference.

·       Round up your budget categories. If you spend $146.50 on cable/internet, budget $150. At month’s end, sweep remaining funds into your emergency fund account.

·       Replace one bad habit with a good one: If you smoke ( or whatever your vice is), smoke one less cigarette a day, and put $0.30 into your change jar. At month’s end, deposit into your E-fund.

·       Make something you can sell; sewing, knitting, woodworking, and card making are all viable types of side income for boosting your e-fund.

·       Do some babysitting, pet-sitting, house sitting, snow shovelling, attic cleaning or whatever to earn a little extra funds to pad your account.

·       Reduce your consumption of meat for a week or a month. Whatever you would have spent, add to your E-fund.

·       Skip a take-out meal or two (or a month). Save your money instead.

To have a fully funded emergency fund, you have to start somewhere. I am a firm believer that having an Emergency fund is part of a healthy financial plan. I won’t tell you how many months worth of expenses you should have, only that you should have an Emergency Fund. So should we.

Here’s to starting over, in a new year, with renewed hope, and renewed focus. 51 days to $500.

My RRSP Strategy for 2012

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was looking at the idea of a RRSP Catch up Loan to assist me with some tax benefits. I received a comment that they were a very, very bad idea. I'm not one to jump to conclusions, so I took this under advisement and did some research. Of course, I turned to Gail's blog.

Borrowing more money while you still have debt is never a good idea. Borrowing money to invest for the long term has some benefits, but not enough for me to consider it at this point.

Borrowing to contribute to an RRSP only makes sense if you’re in the highest tax bracket AND you can pay off the loan within one year WHILE making monthly contributions to your current year’s RRSP. ~ Gail

So what's a gal to do? I get that borrowing the twenty something thousand dollars in contribution room I have available is not really an option for. Sure, I could borrow it and pay it back within a year, but my cash flow will take a huge hit, and I just can't live like that, nor can I expect my family to.

Taking on too much debt for the sake of some other objective is a sure way to mess up your cash flow and rob you of sleep. ~ Gail

I value my sleep too much. I don't do enough of it as it is. The sense of peace I have knowing that I am doing the best I can financially is not something I'm willing to give up either.

The most important part of my financial well being is to find balance. Saving for the long term takes time and discipline. Time I have. Discipline, not so much. But I'm getting better.

If you want to catch up your RRSP unused contribution room, trim back on your expenses or make enough extra money to sock away what you want. Don’t borrow it. ~ Gail

Oddly enough, I can hear her voice saying this directly to me. It's like she's right here in the room with me, telling me not to be a dummy, and that there is a better way to do this.

On Gail's advice, I will not be taking out an RRSP loan, catch-up or otherwise. My goal for 2012 will be to put $2500 into my RRSP, or $208 per month. That's the maximum amount of loan repayment monthly that I would be comfortable making. OK, maybe a little outside my comfort zone, but whatever. If for some crazy reason I am unable to make that 'loan' payment in a given month, my credit history won't go to hell in a hand basket and I won't be getting any nasty phone calls from the bank. It would mean that I would just have to deposit that much more the following month. I'll have no interest costs with this method, and all my money will be working for me right from the get go.

I feel like I'm behind the eight ball with my retirement contributions. I may very well be. But if I don't start somewhere, I will never be able to retire, and that is just not an option. With how much I've contributed to CPP as a self-employed person, and no pension to speak of, when I'm 65, I'll be eligible for about $32 per month. Lol!

Aim to set aside 10% of your net income every year until you retire. ~ Gail

The thing with RRSPs is that they market them to make you feel like you aren't contributing enough, and that without the help of financial institutions, you have no hope in hell of ever accumulating the astronomical cash projections that they say you need to have. This puts people in one of two mindsets. They either fall for the hype and take out 20 year RRSP loans without ever really getting ahead, or they give up hope of ever retiring comfortably, and choose to ignore the situation.

I'm choosing neither. I will forge my own path, by making contributions on my own schedule that will take into account that my income fluctuates greatly. I have goal number in mind for 2012, and I will make sure I hit that goal at all costs. I'm working on all our financial goals for 2012, so adding this in will be another part of the budgeting process for us.

What's your retirement savings strategy? Do you have RRSPs or have you ever used a RRSP catch up loan? I'd love to hear about your experiences with this.

My Top 10 Checklist

Thanks to Carla over at My Half Dozen Daily ( who attributes her post to Momof2 at Abundance: Frugality, Food, Fitness and Fun ), I have also decided to make my own Top 10 Checklist.

The idea is to make a list of ten things that are important for you to do every day. Write them down, and then check them off as you go along.

At first I thought, "Oh, I'll just write down the top ten things I need to do today" and then I realised after rereading both articles, that the list should be things you need or want to do everyday. Thinking about it while writing my list really shows what I value and where my priorities are.

My Top Ten Checklist

1. Write a blog post, a letter, a thank you note, or a section of my story. Writing everyday is something I love doing.
2. Have my 5-A-Day. Smoothies make this much easier but I need to keep this a priority if I ever expect to lose any weight.
3. Clean for 1/2 hour. I can break this into two fifteen minute intervals if need be.
4. Do 1 load of laundry. We go through lots of clothing, and the mountain never seems to get any smaller. I have to keep up on this, and this is a good way to do so.
5. Spend 1 hour a day making or creating something. (Knitting, plastic canvas, candles, etc.)
6. Spend 1 hour daily on business paperwork. This should keep me caught up.
7. Make dinner from scratch.
8. Exercise for 1/2 hour; Walking outside in nice weather or doing at least one circuit of my DVD.
9. Spend 1/2 hour on budget/spending or finances. Must. keep. costs. down.
10. Spend time with members of my family, either individually or together. I love spending time with these people, so I will continue to show them that they are a huge priority in my life.

So, that's my 10.

And this post means I can cross off one thing on that list today. ;)

Month End Report - September

Let's review:

September goals:

1. $75 for the pager; this will pay up the account until June 1/12 No
2. Continue making small-ish deposits to Emergency fund, EEE Account, House fund, Vacation fund, car fund, and laptop fund. Sort of.
3. Start 2 new funds for Business Equipment and Dental Work. No 
4. Our Insurances are coming due. Pay off #1 & #2. 1 of 2 paid
5. Catch up with all paperwork for business. o_O Halfway accomplished.

OK, so I didn't accomplish much this month or so it would seem. I did pay the contents insurance on our apartment for the year, and I did get the dreaded Income Tax filed (finally). I so dislike doing that. Of course, the result wasn't favourable, which is probably why I dislike doing it so much. Everything seems to be on hold until I can get a grip on the finances. Paying out an additional $600 per month for childcare is something that is hard to get used to. If I don't start getting more work soon, I may have to pull him from daycare.


Ok, on to the Month end report:


TFSA/ EEE Account $460.54 (up $23.70)
Xmas Fund/Car Fund $1603.72 (up $0.10)
RRSP Savings Acct. $107.19 ( up $25.08)
Vacations Account $48.65 (up $2.80)
RRSP MF Acct. $1,687.75 (down $20.84)
RESP MF Acct. $1371.75 (down $24.11)
Emergency Fund Account $8.94 (down $991.46)
House Fund $5.03 (down $114.99)
Biz Savings/5 Categories $129.07 (down $2291.07)
Canada Savings Bonds $1605.00 (up $140.00)
B's Savings Acct. $59.10 (down $184.41)
$5 Bill Laptop Fund $60 (up $35.00)




Personal Loan: $5655.50, down $160.00
MBNA Card (27.98%): $1,213.73, down $267.64
Capital One Card (19.8%): $2948.15, down $125.93
Overdraft 1: $648.58,down $260.86
Auto Loan: $ 0
Tax Owing: $3191.26, up $8.73 (correct as of Sept. 19th)


Our current total Debt owing: $13,657.22


Total Debt owed January 1, 2011: $23,861.01
Difference since January 1, 2011: $ 10,203.79
Difference since last month: $ 908.49


The auto loan was paid off, finally. I got my credit card balance under $3k, and hubby's credit card balance is approaching 3 digits instead of four.It is going to be a rough few months for us if I can't get more money coming in. Hopefully, October will be a good month income-wise.

September Goals

First, I'd like to go over last month's goals.

1. Deposit the remaining $347.29 needed into the Emergency Fund. Check!
2. Put $500 into the rent account to start paying back the loan. 313/500
3. Spend the vacation money we have taken out, and to spend it without regret or guilt. Check!
4. Put any leftovers from vacation into rent account. No leftovers to add. :(
5. To earn $500 total from all side gigs. Check!
6. Draft some blog posts and see if they will actually post while I am away on vacation. Check!

4 out of 6 isn't bad, I guess.

September goals:

1. $75 for the pager; this will pay up the account until June 1/12
2. Continue making small-ish deposits to Emergency fund, EEE Account, House fund, Vacation fund, car fund, and laptop fund.
3. Start 2 new funds for Business Equipment and Dental Work.
4. Our Insurances are coming due. Pay off #1 & #2.
5. Catch up with all paperwork for business. o_O

Of course, other things will pop up inevitably, and we will be looking at how to make the new budget work, but I think we'll be ok. I just wish we hadn't spent so much money. Oh well. We'll dust ourselves off and go from here.

At least we aren't using any credit cards. :)

August 2011 Goals

I typically write out our budget in my spiral notebook, which is my guide, in order of priority of what needs to be paid and when. At the top is our monthly rent amount, as well as our telephone/internet/cable/fax account, followed by credit card payments and then various savings pots.

This month, I have added 3 new categories. One is the repayment to our rent account. The sooner we pay this back, the better I will sleep at night. Second is the Laptop fund. I want to start saving for this, although it not a necessity, it will make life easier when I meet with clients. Third is a saving fund for the new equipment I will need at some point for my business. I have to have it on my radar by writing it on the budget, so I won't forget about it.

My goals for August are:

1. Deposit the remaining $347.29 needed into the Emergency Fund.
2. Put $500 into the rent account to start paying back the loan.
3. Spend the vacation money we have taken out, and to spend it without regret or guilt.
4. Put any leftovers from vacation into rent account.
5. To earn $500 total from all side gigs.
6. Draft some blog posts and see if they will actually post while I am away on vacation.

I've been feeling like I'm all over the place with our money, so to try to combat that feeling, I'm going back to basics somewhat. all monies brought in during August will be divided by percentage according to Gail's Life Pie suggestions, and then deposited to those various accounts or jars.
It won't get us out of debt any faster, or get us to our savings goals quicker, but it will make me feel better about our money. That's what is the most important, that I feel like I'm in control.

What are your goals this month? How is your money making you feel lately?