Chatting with Hubby

While Hubby was on holidays last week, we had a few conversations around money. We talked about what our individual goals are, and our collective one too. We talked about how far we've come, and where we are going financially. We talked about our 'plan' - to have me working full-time (eventually & hopefully) for the new company and to have him take over our/my business so that he can quit his job at the hell-hole.

To get us started, one of us would find an episode of Til Debt Do Us Part playing a rerun on some channel or another. We would both then sit down to watch, and then comment about said couple during the commercials. Our commentary would lead us into talking about our own situation, comparisons and contrasts, leading us into the heavier parts of our budget and goals.

Here's some of the highlights of our conversations.

Hubby will be consumer debt free in less than six months. It's been a long road, but we've gotten there one pay cheque at a time. He's paid off an enormous loan, a credit card, a vehicle loan and is down to the last credit card, which is under $1000. (These were debts he incurred prior to meeting me.)

While watching, Gail had said,"Men die and women get sick. That's just what happens when we get older." I used this to help explain my reasoning for putting as much as I can into my RRSPs and TFSA (at least that's the plan anyway). I reminded him that I have no pension to see me through in my 'golden years' and although I plan to work well past 65, I'm likely going to be sick and alone. He'll have died, and I will only have myself to rely on. And be damned if I'm going to be a bag lady, pushing a grocery cart around and eating cat food straight out of the tin! That's why I have to save for my future!

We've both become content - with what we have, of where we live, and with who we are. Yes, we both still have goals and aspirations, but if not much changes, we're okay with that too. We have sacrificed and will continue to do so for the sake of our sanity (or what we have left of it anyway).

I admitted that I may never be fully out of debt. That was difficult for me to admit. I have traded (most) of my consumer debt for other types of debt (read tax debt) and the numbers are astronomical. It's a two steps forward, one step back kinda thing. I still make mistakes with how to handle my money, but overall I'm doing better. But now I am aware, I have a plan and I'm working the plan. Better than being an ostrich.

During his holiday, we spent a lot of time together and talked about lots of things. It was good just having some time to reconnect and be together. Now that he's back to work, the kids are home this week. Time to spend reconnecting with each of them. :)

I'm Still Here

I haven't been posting very much lately, but I wanted to let you all know I'm still here and doing OK. It's been a bit of an adjustment the past couple of weeks 'going to work' everyday. Then Cub got sick. Nothing major, but he needed his Mommy. Then Hubby was 'on vacation' from his regular job for a week. I loved having him around everyday,and in a much better mood too! It reminds me why I work so hard, and so many hours - so I can earn enough money that he can give up the job from that horrible place. Next week, I have DD2 home for March Break all week, and Cub will be home Thursday & Friday. Next Saturday is Cub's 4th birthday and we're going out for lunch.

I really struggled with the 'budget' for the new paycheque. I figured out how much I am getting paid every two weeks ($686.73) and how to break that down for the four piles of money. Every other week, I will be putting $70 into the Emergency Fund, $ 68.75 into Planned Spending/LTS, which leaves me $547.98 for Cash Flow. Out of the CF, $ 482.85 will go to pay rent which will leave me with a whopping $ 65 for everything else - groceries, fuel, bills, etc.

I have to be honest - this very first paycheque, I treated myself. I went clothes shopping. After I set aside all the amounts that I have to set aside, I went to Talize for some work shirts. Being the size that I am, most women's clothes don't really fit right, so I headed for the men's section. I bought 6 short sleeved shirts (collars and buttons down the front), 1 vest, and 1 long sleeved shirt. I also bought 2 work out videos on VHS and a CD for Hubby. I paid a total of $34.23 for all of it. Oh, how I love thrift stores! We also went to an outlet store this week to see if I could find a new suit for me. Well, I found 2 that fit reasonably well (the pants will have to be hemmed though) and looked decent. That store was having a 'sales event' so I paid $144.47 for two matching suit jackets and pants. Ouch! I don't regret it though, as the suits will likely last me for at least 3 years.

My stock up item for the week was bodywash. I hate running out of bodywash and I so dislike using soap. We typically only use Ivory Bodywash, because it doesn't leave a flowery scent on your skin which is important to Hubby because of his allergy to bee stings. Flowery scented stuff tends to attract bees, and he could very well die if he's stung a couple of times. I would rather not take the risk. I haven't seen that brand of bodywash on sale for a good price in a long time, so when I saw it itn the No Frills flyer for $2.99 for the 705 mL bottle, I knew I'd be buying several. I was going to buy 12 of them, but seeing as there was only 12 on the shelf, I only took 8. I don't want to be the 'shelf clearing' kind of buyer. I also managed to snag a good 'sale' on Pull-Ups this week for Cub. ( Good lord, isn't that kid potty-trained already?!) I had an email coupon from Shopper's for $10 off the purchase of $50 or more, and the larger packs of Pull-Ups were marked down from $27.99 to $19.99. I bought 3 ( after going to the 3rd store to find them), used my coupon and paid only $52.97. One of the stores that didn't have any on the shelves gave me a raincheck for two packs. The raincheck is good for 30 days, so its like extending the sale for me. :)

I'm hoping to get the paperwork together to file our taxes this week. I still have lots to do in that department, but with only DD2 home this week, I should be able to take a big chunk out of the preparatory work. Cross your fingers for me!

Today's agenda includes grocery shopping, laundry, making bread, and cleaning the kitchen. I don't know how much of that will get done, but I'm going to give it the old college try.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, and don't forget, clocks go forward one hour on Sunday.

4 Pile Percentages and $ Amounts

My new budgeting system will work like this. (There is probably an easier way, but this is how I can understand it easily. Plus, it forces me to slow down because I have to do the math first.)

Example: Contract Income of $1309.40 (this is an average monthly amount from one of my contracts)

$ 1309.40
-  150.64  ( for HST)
=$1158.76

-  231.75 ( 20% for taxes)

= $ 927.01 ( this amount is my working income)

Then I multiply by pre-determined percentages for each of my 4 piles:
80% for cash flow; 10% for Emergency Fund; 5% for Planned Spending; 5% for Long-Term Savings

CF = $741.60     EF = $ 93.70     PS = $46.35    LTS = $46.36

Everything I need to put my money toward falls into one of these categories, or into the taxes that I take out first. This puts me on a strict budget of where my money needs to go. I know that rent, groceries, gas & insurance, and debt payments all have to come out of the Cash Flow. My Emergency fund will get regular contributions from all the fixed and variable income coming in. Planned Spending will fund accounts that are special - Christmas fund, new work equipment, new vehicle fund, house down payment, etc. Long-term savings is just that - saving for my future. When I have a certain amount accumulated, like $250 or so, I can transfer it over into my RRSP Mutual Fund.

I will also apply these percentages to my regular pay cheque once I know how much it is. I have no idea how much will be taken off for deductions, so I will have to wait until the first pay comes in and then budget every other week with that amount.

Who else has variable income and how do you deal with it?

Back To Budgeting Basics

Spring, historically, is the worst time of year for us financially. Income is tight, tight, tight, and bills are mounting. usually by this time of year, we owe months worth of payments on everything, and we scrimp and struggle to get through. Then, just before summer, an influx of cash comes in, and we try to get caught up in unpaid bills and set some aside for the rest of the year. The tiniest thing can throw off the whole plan.

If our monthly income does not exceed the bills for the month, we tend to rely on credit (overdraft) to see us through. We borrow and then pay it off as we can. We've made great strides over the past four years; we paid off several debts, two vehicle loans, and increased savings. Now is the time to go back to the beginning and do things right.

I will think of the money coming in as my 4 Piles of Money . Having a Fluctuating Income makes budgeting a challenge at times, but with effort and determination, we can achieve all our goals. For the next 60 days, I will balance the budget, using these methods. I've broken down our budget into Fixed and Variable Expenses  and percentages for the 4 Piles, so that regardless of what amount comes in, I know how to divide it. :)

Pretty much, I had to dummy-proof it for myself. I have always made it so much more complicated than it needs to be.

Next post, I'll talk about how the 4 piles are split into percentages, and how it becomes dollar amounts.