I did some more thinking on the tax return question and it's comments of yesterday.
o ease my mind a little i went to my trusty spread sheet and plugged in some numbers. This had two-fold result. One was to see what would happen if I balance transfer some of the debt to a card that is offering a 0.99% Interest rate until Jan 2011. The second was to tell me how long it would take to pay off this sucker if I applied the whole return to debt.
Here's what I came up with - I'd save $100 in interest at the end of repayment if I balance transfer a portion of my current debt to the lower interest card. Second if I apply $1000 of the tax return to debt I"ll be debt free by Sept. 30, 2011. My current debt free date is Nov. 30, 2011. Not too bad. I"ll save a bunch of interest just by making this one extra payment to the debt (about $100), so at this moment, it is just fine for me to leave the debt on the one card and keep making the payments I've set up to make every pay check. At the end of this year I plan on reducing the limit on the card. If I can get the balance to a number that I can transfer the whole thing and pay off the original card, and get a transfer rate of 0.99% or better, then I'll think about doing that when the offer and balance are suitable. if I can save myself some at the end of the repayment time that will be nice. For now I"m glad I proved to myself that keeping it on one card and paying it off the way I've planned will be the best method for me.
Once this last card is paid, I'll adjust the balance to a more reasonable $7,000, and cut up the Mastercard completely. Visa is evil yes. Once i"m debt free I'll be able to shop for interest rates that are better than the 11% I currently have.
I"m really enjoying the fact that in 18 Months I"ll be debt free!!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thank you QTBFA Readers!
From yesterday's post I received some really great feedback on how people are thinking about my current finances and what to do with the Tax Return. I haven't received it yet, so this will be on hold until I get that cheque back in the mail. I filed my own paper return today, by mail, so I have to wait.
I'm glad to see that everyone took a look at my current debt, RRSP and Emergency Fund situation and considered each in their answer. I'll tell you that I'm still a bit torn in my decision. Part of me wants to plunk it right onto the debt - $1,000 is a nice little payment - plus it will get me to my goal for the year that much sooner. Though, I do want to put a little in the emergency fund - it is quite small I suppose. $3,000 when I looked on the 20th, but definitely room for more there!
I do have a confession to make - one of the commenters mentioned about saving some for themselves to get something nice. My exact return, as I've calculated it, is actually $1,167. So the of the $167 that I didn't tell you about (truthfully I'm afraid I made a mistake on the calculation and it'll end up closer to $1,000), I'll probably use $67 for myself, and put the $100 into the emergency fund.
I'll post again once the cheque is back and let you all know what I've decided to do with it.
Thanks again for weighing in!!
Monday, March 22, 2010
What would you do?
Ok PF Bloggers out there, here's a question...
You are getting $1000 back from the government. You have a sizeable debt to pay off still. What do you do with the money?
a) Put it all towards the debt
b) Split it half on the debt, half into RRSP
c) Split it half on the debt, half for your emergency fund
d) Split it half on the debt, quarter to emergency, quarter to RRSP
e) Another option I've not mentioned above.
I'm torn between increasing my RRSP contribution this year and paying some back to debt, or just plunking it down on the debt.
Some of you are probably asking how come I'm getting so much back and probably think I"m having something weird done with my CPP, EI, Federal Tax stuff to get this much back. You are wrong. I'm still going to school part time. Still taking 2 classes a year. This is where the return is coming from. Otherwise I"d be paying a bunch again this year.
So, what would you do? Drop the sucker on debt or split it between the two? I've nearly finished one class for this year already. I'm in the process of figuring out what the next class I"m taking will be, and if I'll do three or take a break this summer and only do two. This will help with the deductions I can use on my taxes and see what else I can do this year. I've rolled my charitable contributions over to next year as well so that will help a little bit too.
Your suggestions are much appreciated!
You are getting $1000 back from the government. You have a sizeable debt to pay off still. What do you do with the money?
a) Put it all towards the debt
b) Split it half on the debt, half into RRSP
c) Split it half on the debt, half for your emergency fund
d) Split it half on the debt, quarter to emergency, quarter to RRSP
e) Another option I've not mentioned above.
I'm torn between increasing my RRSP contribution this year and paying some back to debt, or just plunking it down on the debt.
Some of you are probably asking how come I'm getting so much back and probably think I"m having something weird done with my CPP, EI, Federal Tax stuff to get this much back. You are wrong. I'm still going to school part time. Still taking 2 classes a year. This is where the return is coming from. Otherwise I"d be paying a bunch again this year.
So, what would you do? Drop the sucker on debt or split it between the two? I've nearly finished one class for this year already. I'm in the process of figuring out what the next class I"m taking will be, and if I'll do three or take a break this summer and only do two. This will help with the deductions I can use on my taxes and see what else I can do this year. I've rolled my charitable contributions over to next year as well so that will help a little bit too.
Your suggestions are much appreciated!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sometimes what you put out comes back!
Ok more than sometimes - you just have to be open to receiving it.
I read a chain email the other day. I'm pretty sure I sent it back to the required number of people. While it said four days form now your wish will come true, it's taken a few more than four days, but the wish is about to come to fruition.
When I started this blog oh so many moons ago (about 5 years now!), I began with a journey to find myself a very specific kind of man. I spent some time refining my desire for a life partner, and until recently things were going very well in the department. We hit a very very rough patch, with one massive pot hole in the middle of it, and have been working to repair things since. I've decided to stay and make things work. WE have yet to actually patch that pothole though.
I digress - that's not the topic of my post today.
The point is that I started this blog because I wanted to put out some positive energy on what I truly wanted and what I was going after. 3 years ago I changed the focus of this blog to one of a personal finance journey and I've been journeying ever since. I've learned many things along the way, met some great people, found a mentor and have been systematically plugging away at this goal for some time now. I am closer to the end than the beginning and am in a position to reach my goal by the end of next year - just 20 months from now.
I made a wish two weeks ago. I wished for a certain amount of money to arrive in my lap. I had no idea how I was going to achieve this wish, or how the universe would see fit to grant it. Last evening I sat down with all of my actual numbers and plugged away at my taxes. At the end of the page where that refund or pay box appears, the number that was in this box blew my mind. It blew my mind because it has been quite a while since I've seen a return this large! Large for me. Even more than last year.
(Note: Last year's return equalled the outstanding balance on my car loan, which allowed me to pay that sucker off 9 months ahead of schedule!)
So the wish is nearly granted - I just have to mail it off, and hope that my math (checked 3 times) is correct.
What I put out, and then left to the universe to grant has been granted. I didn't stress over the wish. I didn't think much about it until this morning. I didn't even run around trying to figure out how to force the wish to come true. I just made it. Was clear on what I wanted. And I left it to the universe to return.
I read the Secret many moons ago. It was the underlying tone of the original blog. This weekend I'll be viewing it again. I like positive clean messages. I like the straight forward-ness of the thinking presented. It isn't rocket science. It does require a true, honest look at how you react, portrait, self-speak, and present to the world yourself.
An example of what I'm talking about:
You get in the car in the morning on your way to work. You take a look at the time and realize you are probably going to be late. You are getting upset and starting to think "Dammit I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late." Now BAM you're late for work, in a foul mood and your day goes down hill from there.
Instead, when you notice the time you should start thinking to your self "I'll be on time. I'll be on time." You turn on the radio, find a song you can belt out and think one more time "I'll be on time". You arrive to work and you check the clock to find out you are 2 minutes early! Congratulations on staying calm, adjusting you thought process and arriving to work on time!!
My point here is this. I asked for a certain amount of money to fall in my lap. I will be receiving very close to that amount of money! Once I receive it I'll be posting a question on what to do with it. I want to make sure I have the money in hand before I decide how to spend it.
So - to my readers, I say this. Be very specific about what you want. Ask for it. Put it out of your mind and be ready to receive it when it meets you!
Have a very fantastic day!!
I read a chain email the other day. I'm pretty sure I sent it back to the required number of people. While it said four days form now your wish will come true, it's taken a few more than four days, but the wish is about to come to fruition.
When I started this blog oh so many moons ago (about 5 years now!), I began with a journey to find myself a very specific kind of man. I spent some time refining my desire for a life partner, and until recently things were going very well in the department. We hit a very very rough patch, with one massive pot hole in the middle of it, and have been working to repair things since. I've decided to stay and make things work. WE have yet to actually patch that pothole though.
I digress - that's not the topic of my post today.
The point is that I started this blog because I wanted to put out some positive energy on what I truly wanted and what I was going after. 3 years ago I changed the focus of this blog to one of a personal finance journey and I've been journeying ever since. I've learned many things along the way, met some great people, found a mentor and have been systematically plugging away at this goal for some time now. I am closer to the end than the beginning and am in a position to reach my goal by the end of next year - just 20 months from now.
I made a wish two weeks ago. I wished for a certain amount of money to arrive in my lap. I had no idea how I was going to achieve this wish, or how the universe would see fit to grant it. Last evening I sat down with all of my actual numbers and plugged away at my taxes. At the end of the page where that refund or pay box appears, the number that was in this box blew my mind. It blew my mind because it has been quite a while since I've seen a return this large! Large for me. Even more than last year.
(Note: Last year's return equalled the outstanding balance on my car loan, which allowed me to pay that sucker off 9 months ahead of schedule!)
So the wish is nearly granted - I just have to mail it off, and hope that my math (checked 3 times) is correct.
What I put out, and then left to the universe to grant has been granted. I didn't stress over the wish. I didn't think much about it until this morning. I didn't even run around trying to figure out how to force the wish to come true. I just made it. Was clear on what I wanted. And I left it to the universe to return.
I read the Secret many moons ago. It was the underlying tone of the original blog. This weekend I'll be viewing it again. I like positive clean messages. I like the straight forward-ness of the thinking presented. It isn't rocket science. It does require a true, honest look at how you react, portrait, self-speak, and present to the world yourself.
An example of what I'm talking about:
You get in the car in the morning on your way to work. You take a look at the time and realize you are probably going to be late. You are getting upset and starting to think "Dammit I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late." Now BAM you're late for work, in a foul mood and your day goes down hill from there.
Instead, when you notice the time you should start thinking to your self "I'll be on time. I'll be on time." You turn on the radio, find a song you can belt out and think one more time "I'll be on time". You arrive to work and you check the clock to find out you are 2 minutes early! Congratulations on staying calm, adjusting you thought process and arriving to work on time!!
My point here is this. I asked for a certain amount of money to fall in my lap. I will be receiving very close to that amount of money! Once I receive it I'll be posting a question on what to do with it. I want to make sure I have the money in hand before I decide how to spend it.
So - to my readers, I say this. Be very specific about what you want. Ask for it. Put it out of your mind and be ready to receive it when it meets you!
Have a very fantastic day!!
Friday, March 12, 2010
March is half way over!
Time seems to be just flying by!
Of note so far, I added another $550 to the debt repayment. March is half way over already - things are going pretty well on all fronts.
I've been having some struggles with an illness I haven't been able to shake. The trouble mostly is that I don't actually feel ill and I'm still doing everything I was before. I notice more in that I get tired much faster, and when performing exercises I do regularly I'm much more easily fatigued and my body is sweating more doing it. So it seems to be finding things more labourous than previously. I"m on my second course of anitbiotics. I hate when take really nasty ones, suck it up for 10 days, deal with the side effects and then it only fixes part of the problem. I got a week off in between - went to my accupuncturist asked her for the mega detox so I could prepare for the second round, and now I'm three days into this round...of 14! Good news is, this one is already having results, so I think we've finally narrowed down the last issue! About time - $275 in prescriptions later!
Anyways, on the personal front - I wrote a couple of weeks ago about giving my boyfriend up for lent. With everything that's been going on and after everything that has been said, it's been going pretty well. the girl's night I had last weekend helped me work out a few things.
True Best Friends listen to the vent. Tell you straight when you are being irrational. Want to deck that tool of a man for what happened. Hand you a glass of champagne to wash away the vent. Help you figure out why you are feeling that way, provide you strength to change the situation, and give you the kick in the pants you need to stop being such a mouse on things. As a result I've been much more vocal about things that bother me, things that we need to fix, my feelings and all those related things. This is helping me to not harbour resentment over some of my issues, struggles, etc. It has the added bonus of allowing my bf to know exactly how I'm feeling without any speculation.
The relationship still needs help. More to the point, it still needs the actions to match the words currently streaming forth. Still puzzling through. And since I'm a social person, I've stopped asking for permission to be social and instead phrase my sentences involving me going out to see people as, "So and so is having a party that I want to attend. Please let me know if you would like to accompany me to this event." It takes out that asking for permission to go and then asking for an escort. Case in point, my grandfather's birthday was Wednesday, which means we are doing Family dinner on Saturday. I talked to my mom about when she wanted to do it, then mentioned something to bf about the event.
Me: Poppa's birthday dinner is on Saturday. I'd like to be home for lunch so there is enough visit and family time in the afternoon that I can help prepare dinner and see them all.
BF: Cool, I'll come with you. I haven't seen your family in a while and I would like to.
Me: Ok great! (shock)
I still can't believe March is half over.
Of note so far, I added another $550 to the debt repayment. March is half way over already - things are going pretty well on all fronts.
I've been having some struggles with an illness I haven't been able to shake. The trouble mostly is that I don't actually feel ill and I'm still doing everything I was before. I notice more in that I get tired much faster, and when performing exercises I do regularly I'm much more easily fatigued and my body is sweating more doing it. So it seems to be finding things more labourous than previously. I"m on my second course of anitbiotics. I hate when take really nasty ones, suck it up for 10 days, deal with the side effects and then it only fixes part of the problem. I got a week off in between - went to my accupuncturist asked her for the mega detox so I could prepare for the second round, and now I'm three days into this round...of 14! Good news is, this one is already having results, so I think we've finally narrowed down the last issue! About time - $275 in prescriptions later!
Anyways, on the personal front - I wrote a couple of weeks ago about giving my boyfriend up for lent. With everything that's been going on and after everything that has been said, it's been going pretty well. the girl's night I had last weekend helped me work out a few things.
True Best Friends listen to the vent. Tell you straight when you are being irrational. Want to deck that tool of a man for what happened. Hand you a glass of champagne to wash away the vent. Help you figure out why you are feeling that way, provide you strength to change the situation, and give you the kick in the pants you need to stop being such a mouse on things. As a result I've been much more vocal about things that bother me, things that we need to fix, my feelings and all those related things. This is helping me to not harbour resentment over some of my issues, struggles, etc. It has the added bonus of allowing my bf to know exactly how I'm feeling without any speculation.
The relationship still needs help. More to the point, it still needs the actions to match the words currently streaming forth. Still puzzling through. And since I'm a social person, I've stopped asking for permission to be social and instead phrase my sentences involving me going out to see people as, "So and so is having a party that I want to attend. Please let me know if you would like to accompany me to this event." It takes out that asking for permission to go and then asking for an escort. Case in point, my grandfather's birthday was Wednesday, which means we are doing Family dinner on Saturday. I talked to my mom about when she wanted to do it, then mentioned something to bf about the event.
Me: Poppa's birthday dinner is on Saturday. I'd like to be home for lunch so there is enough visit and family time in the afternoon that I can help prepare dinner and see them all.
BF: Cool, I'll come with you. I haven't seen your family in a while and I would like to.
Me: Ok great! (shock)
I still can't believe March is half over.
Monday, March 08, 2010
A girl's night and a funk
I had a wonderful weekend! Spent a night with my best girls' at an undisclosed Toronto location. I had two glasses of champagne, a Barrel sized Bellini, and too many Electric Popsicles and Bozuka Joe's to count. We danced until my feet hurt and my hair curled and slept in large white marshmallows! It was wonderful - and I totally needed it!
We will be doing it again soon. REal soon. I spent more than I wanted to but that's what a planned spending account is for. I'll have to make the transfer later this week - though I want to see if I need it after the paycheck coming this week with some extras on it. Ya they were ear-marked for the debt, but after the last couple of weeks I needed this more than i thought. I've been in a funk lately - and today was no real exception.
Had some health issues as of late too - though I did get good news at the doctor - my hemoglobin and iron counts have increased since Dec. 2008 and is more into the acceptable range than I was expecting. Something to be said for red meat. I infused a little bit more into my diet the last couple of months, in the form of thin quick-fry eye of round steaks. little and just enough to get the protein and iron requirements apparently necessary to my body. My glucose levels are great - but I seem to be experiencing an overabundance of leukocytes (white blood cells) and thusly I'm on 14 days of another antibiotic. Blegh.
Let's hope these ones deal with the maybe problem. The trouble is I have to start the course before all the cultures and things are back next monday. While I dislike the idea of taking meds before we have a definite result on what is going on, I dislike more the way Ive been feeling for the last three months, and the results of said feeling. Tried one course of antibiotics - finished those last week and the funny thing is the problem kinda went away and then came back worse then before. Double blegh.
So, proper nutrition is required, another accupuncture appointment will have to be made for the end of these meds to help detox the system balance out the side effects. Lots of veggies and protein meals in my future. Not all bad I suppose, but it means i"ll have to seriously curb the sugar intake. Lot's of fun.
On another note - three weeks into Lent, and the talking is continuing. Things seem to be getting smoothed out, some progress is being made and some things are being talked out. Major milestone was that I went out with my ladies, dancing and drinking, and there was no major freak-out. We didn't take any pictures of the evening, so there is nothing documented to produce anything that could be construed as incriminating for anyone involved. WE had a great talk about some insecurities on relationships among men and women, which helped with things. We decided to simply enjoy the evening, no thoughts, no talk, no drunk phone calls to home from anyone. As a result two of the three of us were able to completely let go of ourselves, one of us got a little further to letting go of everything and get out of the headspace. We've planned to do another one in three months. By then some things in my life will have changed - I joined a gym to help me have an outlet for things and to deal with an issue that both of us seem to be having.
All in all I had a most excellent weekend. I just wish I could have gotten out of my headspace a little more. I love girl's nights and guy's nights. They should be a must in any relationship. an evening to get out, vent a little and then completely move on and have fun. What you do during said evening is not the point, it's that you need them to reconnect to friends', get some things off your chest, have a new perspective and new eyes on a situation if need be, but really just go and be you with people who you trust and can let loose with.
I'm still funking a little but I'm getting out of it.
We will be doing it again soon. REal soon. I spent more than I wanted to but that's what a planned spending account is for. I'll have to make the transfer later this week - though I want to see if I need it after the paycheck coming this week with some extras on it. Ya they were ear-marked for the debt, but after the last couple of weeks I needed this more than i thought. I've been in a funk lately - and today was no real exception.
Had some health issues as of late too - though I did get good news at the doctor - my hemoglobin and iron counts have increased since Dec. 2008 and is more into the acceptable range than I was expecting. Something to be said for red meat. I infused a little bit more into my diet the last couple of months, in the form of thin quick-fry eye of round steaks. little and just enough to get the protein and iron requirements apparently necessary to my body. My glucose levels are great - but I seem to be experiencing an overabundance of leukocytes (white blood cells) and thusly I'm on 14 days of another antibiotic. Blegh.
Let's hope these ones deal with the maybe problem. The trouble is I have to start the course before all the cultures and things are back next monday. While I dislike the idea of taking meds before we have a definite result on what is going on, I dislike more the way Ive been feeling for the last three months, and the results of said feeling. Tried one course of antibiotics - finished those last week and the funny thing is the problem kinda went away and then came back worse then before. Double blegh.
So, proper nutrition is required, another accupuncture appointment will have to be made for the end of these meds to help detox the system balance out the side effects. Lots of veggies and protein meals in my future. Not all bad I suppose, but it means i"ll have to seriously curb the sugar intake. Lot's of fun.
On another note - three weeks into Lent, and the talking is continuing. Things seem to be getting smoothed out, some progress is being made and some things are being talked out. Major milestone was that I went out with my ladies, dancing and drinking, and there was no major freak-out. We didn't take any pictures of the evening, so there is nothing documented to produce anything that could be construed as incriminating for anyone involved. WE had a great talk about some insecurities on relationships among men and women, which helped with things. We decided to simply enjoy the evening, no thoughts, no talk, no drunk phone calls to home from anyone. As a result two of the three of us were able to completely let go of ourselves, one of us got a little further to letting go of everything and get out of the headspace. We've planned to do another one in three months. By then some things in my life will have changed - I joined a gym to help me have an outlet for things and to deal with an issue that both of us seem to be having.
All in all I had a most excellent weekend. I just wish I could have gotten out of my headspace a little more. I love girl's nights and guy's nights. They should be a must in any relationship. an evening to get out, vent a little and then completely move on and have fun. What you do during said evening is not the point, it's that you need them to reconnect to friends', get some things off your chest, have a new perspective and new eyes on a situation if need be, but really just go and be you with people who you trust and can let loose with.
I'm still funking a little but I'm getting out of it.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
History has been made!
Olympics have closed. Canada topped the medal standings with 14 Gold medals when all was said and done - more than the other countries at this games, more than any host country at any games, more than any country at a Winter Olympics (I'm not sure what the record for most won at a summer is). Other than a small twang of disappointment over the Ladies Curling Final, I am so proud of our athletes, for Owning the Podium. What a way to end the Games!!
On another note - February turned out to be quite a good month for me. The only overspending I did was on amy online game. Note to self - take a break and you won't want all the lastest cards right now - let the game get ahead a bit then you won't be fighting a gremlin to be the first one in everything.
Another $1100 was put onto the credit card debt. Another $400 was put into the various savings accounts I have (RRSP included). All bills were paid on time. One small issue I'm going to have is that my insurance is going up this year - about $20 per month. I've shopped around and that's the best rate I can find. My umbrella company dropped my insurance provided and thus means I have to go elsewhere. they found a comparible but it's $20 more a month. I"ve spoken to 3 insurance companies and have been told "stay with your current provider". That's nice. I can't. The current provider has quote independently and it's the same as this new company my old guys found for me. Not happy. Looking at more options - I have 20 days to figure this out.
I can't believe it's March already!
On another note - February turned out to be quite a good month for me. The only overspending I did was on amy online game. Note to self - take a break and you won't want all the lastest cards right now - let the game get ahead a bit then you won't be fighting a gremlin to be the first one in everything.
Another $1100 was put onto the credit card debt. Another $400 was put into the various savings accounts I have (RRSP included). All bills were paid on time. One small issue I'm going to have is that my insurance is going up this year - about $20 per month. I've shopped around and that's the best rate I can find. My umbrella company dropped my insurance provided and thus means I have to go elsewhere. they found a comparible but it's $20 more a month. I"ve spoken to 3 insurance companies and have been told "stay with your current provider". That's nice. I can't. The current provider has quote independently and it's the same as this new company my old guys found for me. Not happy. Looking at more options - I have 20 days to figure this out.
I can't believe it's March already!
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