I've been looking for ways to make more money lately. I've got a passive source of income and rewards, but I'm also looking for something else i can do to increase the amount of money I get each month, thereby increasing the amount I move to debt repayment.
First I dumbed my personal cell phone in favour of my work-paid-for cell phone. I can do this because it's a perk work offers to all employees - I was just the only one not completely using it. Second, I recovered some taxes from a paid hobby I have that allowed me to put some money back on the debt. Third, when the gym membership is up for renewal - I won't be renewing.
The cell phone gained me $40 per month.
The return of taxes gave me a one-time contribution of $187.
The gym membership will recover $49.72 per month.
What else can I do to make more money?
I looked into a few options - I can deliver a local ad paper for $0.10 per paper. Depending on the routes I get that could be anywhere from 67-136 papers per route. That's a potential of $13.60 per route. The paper gets delivered once per week. That's a potential weekly earning of $13.60. Annually that would be a potential of $13.60 x 52 = $707.20 per year. That would be equal to just over one payment to my debt for the year. I get exercise - forced - once per week. After speaking to the person in charge of the routes, there are a potential of 5 routes in my area, she'd like to start me with 2 - just to get the feel of things. Let's do some math here:
2 routes - one at 136, one at 67 would yield me $20.30 per week (I'm sure taxes still need to come off this I'll have to get clarification.) This would work out to $1055.60 per year. That's about one full payment to my debt. Clearly this isn't a way to get rich, but one less payment is one less payment.
I could stop being so lazy, and check back into my hobby. It will take work, take persistence and take some time, but I can make anything I want, based on the sale of product. Clearly the overall return on this method is faster than delivering a small local ad paper. Clearly I am being extremely lazy to not have done this sooner. Clearly I've been looking for ways to make money without putting effort into it. I am a consultant with a reputable cosmetic line (on paper anyways). I buy the product at wholesale and sell at retail, effectively returning a 40% profit on each product sold. I need to sit down with a business plan and work out all my steps. Then I need to get off my butt and execute this plan.
Getting paid $0.10 per paper to effectively go for a 2 hour walk each night isn't that bad - perhaps I'll take a double route - obviously this will be a pain in the arse when the weather turns nasty. And walking in the cold doesn't sound like a fun time for the next 5 months. But effectively I'm getting paid to exercise, which is something I should be doing anyways.
Or I could call up 4 ladies I know, ask them to hold a start up class for me, give them incentive to do so, and start building up a small business.
Looking over my Credit Card bills, I've figured out that most of the debt came from this hobby to begin with. The rest was my spending stupidity. So, perhaps I'll simply sit down and put together a plan. This will help me make the money I need to make to get myself out of my current state, and would be a faster deal than delivering those ad papers above!
What other ways are there out there to make more money? Perhaps I have some skills I could use in my area - I can type quickly, I have bookkeeping skills I could use, babysitting, house-cleaning, makeup application, etc. Perhaps there is something that I'm not looking at that would allow me to make some more money. Anyone out there know of anything or anywhere else to be looking for possible avenues to make more money?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
A Wasteful Practice
I am an Environmental Scientist. I have been for years. I want to weave you a tale of comparison to a practice that we now have that makes our lives the healthy ones we have today.
Prior to the 1900's Sanitation was handled in a very different way. Waste was thrown in the streets from windows. It was piled in a corner of the city or town in those places sophisticated enough to have a pickup service. Sewer systems were just becoming an installation in many areas. Imagine living in a time when there wasn't a toilet to flush, when the sink didn't have a pipe connected to take away the dirty water, when a chamber pot was used and tossed out the window to the ground below. Health and disease were common place in those times.
So why am I telling you about all this? Because today we build debt like some used to build waste piles. What happens when you don't deal with debt? It festers and boils and rots and gets stagnant. Collectors come calling, and sometimes we throw up our hands and tell people we can't get out of the mess and walk away. This practice can be likened to how we used to deal with waste. Way back when. The smell would be horrific, the pile huge, the disease from it causing us to be sick, our family to be sick and mentally draining on us. In the waste industry we updated technology to bring new fangled ideas like flushing toilets and sanitary sewers and dumps in places that impacked very few of us. We developed waste collection services, and garbage bins, and some of us recycle items now. We had compost piles for organics, and rain barrels to catch runoff and fertilized gardens with someone elses organic mulch waste.
With all these modern advancements in what we do with our waste, why are we still using the antiquated thoughts to deal with other things?
What is debt? Well, debt is the accumulation of items that we no longer need or want that we've thrown away. Debt is the throwing away of money on frivolous things that don't make our life richer, they just mean more boxes to pack when we move, a misplaced emotional tie to an unfeeling, inademate object. Debt is waste. Waste of money. Waste of time. Waste of energy and emotion. Waste of worry and regret.
Our antiquated debt practices like consolidation, bankruptcy, accumulation are like the ways we used to deal with waste. Some of us understood that composting our organics made fertilizer to spread on our crops to grow food with to live on. Some of us understand that wasting last nights dinner was a horrible waste of money because there wasn't much food or money at the time, so left overs for lunch and dinner the next day were important to stretch both food and money. Some of us understood that a can could be a vase, or a pencil holder, a telephone or an object for target practice. Today, it is the stuff that fills some recycle bins to be remade into other cans, or stuff that goes in the garbage because we are lazy. Glass bottles were vases, or jars for other preserves, or milk holders or screw bins. It's amazing how now that we've modernized the waste industry we've become more wasteful.
Debt is very much something that has been around for many a century. Bartering with the promise of more to come. Borrowing with the promise to repay in crop yield. Credit for items with stores that needs to be paid back, somehow. Lending someone the 10 cents for a bolt of fabric, or $10 for a meal. It's all debt.
So how do we get out of debt?
We make a budget and stick to it. But do we? Most of us waver and balk because we are emotionally bottled up about something. Because we just didn't think life would happen to us. Because I really really needed another pair of black shoes. I am guilty of this. Those of us that understand that we got into debt because of our own behaviour are miles ahead of the norm these days. The economy fell. My stocks crashed. My boss cut back. My daughter needed the cell phone for school. My son needed that new gaming console because Jimmy and George had one. We belly ache. We whine. We cry. We complain. We want what others have because we are an envious, jealous sort of society. The trouble is we are terrible wasters. Waste money, waste time, waste accumulations of items, waste packaging, waste breath, I could go on.
We get out of debt by selling items we don't use. We find ways to cut our spending and increase our income. We take consolidation loans and roll things into our mortgage. We don't address the behaviour that got us into the mess in the first place. We don't address the feelings when Billy down the street gets the new X Box 360 Next Gen, and I have to use my 2007 X Box 360 where the graphics aren't as good and the sound isn't as good and sometimes I have to turn it on the turn it off then turn it on again because it's dusty. We don't address the emotions when Susan gets the iPhone 4 and I only have the iPhone 3. We don't address the emotions when Jane gets the promotion I wanted to get even though she's more qualified, has a better work ethic, and can show up to work on time, so when I don't get it I'll go get something she doesn't have, like the new Coach Bag. We don't deal with emotions or feelings about anything because it's a bad thing to have emotions or feelings. Instead even the most polished of adults are reduced to their 5 year-old self throwing a tantrum when mom says no.
You want to keep up with the Joneses - the ones that got that new fangled toilet installed because it'll keep Mrs. Jones happy, the one that put in a pool last year but haven't cleaned it because it takes too long. The same Joneses that work tirelessly each day to make sure you see all the material possessions they have and not the fighting the do, or how tired they are because they worry, or that the pool already has a leak because they used the cheapest, fastest contractor to do something and he didn't really do a good job. This behaviour has been happening forever. But we don't address it.
Oh and when the debt load gets too great - because the economy fell and I wasn't expecting that, or the boss had to make cutbacks and I wasn't expecting that, or I got ill because I let me eating habits go and I wasn't expecting that - we file for bankruptcy because the government says we can and then complain next year when we can't get credit to buy that car we wanted but the one we have is still running fine.
Is the excuse "We didn't know" valid?
When you were getting sick because you were drinking water from a pond that was being fed by runoff from the streets where you threw your bodily wastes, back when medicine was still learning all kinds of things it may have been valid. Today, however, it most definitely is not. Today it's a case of we didn't want to know, so we didn't watch the news, listen to radio or read a newspaper or magazine. We aren't good at math so how can anyone expect me to understand that when the item costs $20 and I only have $10 in my pocket I can't buy the item. I'm not a scientist so how am I supposed to know that the $10 makeup I buy is the same formula as the stuff that costs $200, it's just in more attractive packaging and some star lent their name to it? I'm not a economist so how am I supposed to know that at the beginning and end of each decade the economy takes a downward turn and bounces back a bit later, that every 15 years or so there is a "big economic issue" that results in tightened purse strings and economic uncertainty and a need to deal with my debt.
Waste is debt. We have to deal with it sometime. Just like when your mom asked you to clean your room, stuffing it under the bed only results in lots of yelling, that disapproving look and you have to clean your bedroom under her watchful eye and probably the playroom too since you messed that up as well. Debt is like the waste piles from yester years, causing illness, and smelling up the place and looking really bad - no matter where you put that waste pile it's still there. It's still festering, rotting, causing all kinds of problems. Today we have waste managers, in the finance realm they are called debt collectors.
What's funny is this:
You know you have debt. You know you have to pay it back. You get warnings from the holders of that debt but you don't open your mail because you only get bills and it's depressing. You won't look at your bank statements but you expect money to be there. You won't pay a cent to the credit card company but you expect them to continue to lend you money. The company gets tired of carrying your dead weight around so it sends in the debt collectors. You get irate with these people for doing their jobs and asking for you to do yours. You get angry, and frustrated, you yell and scream, kick things and threaten them with all kinds of interesting things. they get tired of waiting for you to do what you are supposed to do so they tell the banks, and the courts. People come and seize your stuff to pay back the money you borrowed to pay for that stuff in the first place. You get angrier and madder and all kinds of nonsense spews from your mouth. The eviction notices begin, the electricity gets cut off, the water gets turned off, and suddenly the facade you've built up to impress your friends crashes down around you. You file for bankruptcy to get these people off your back, but don't think about how you got there or what future ramifications will come from that. You just wanted what you wanted when you wanted it.
Now step back. Look at the above behaviour. Now find a child and watch their behaviour.
Just like the waste collectors from long ago, and currently working today. They come to take your stuff away. The difference is this is the stuff that you may or may not have paid for, but that you've decided you are finished with. We stopped throwing our chamber pots into the streets because we learned this was part of the reason we were getting sick. Some of us reuse what we have. Some of us freecycle what we have.
Most of the items we use today come from non-renewable resources. The earth can't put it back as fast as we are taking it out. Think of your money as a non-renewable resource in this sense. If you have debt, you have taken the money out faster than you can put it back. Solution, stop taking it out. Sounds simple? Nope - we are humans!
If you think of money as a renewable resource (something that can easily be replenished) then to stick with that idea, water is renewable because it rains. Money is renewable because we work. But is water actually renewable? Not really. It's simply a cycle. We drink it. We pee it out. It goes to a facility that makes that pee back into water and it's put back into the lakes. The sun evaporates some of it, we get it back as rain. So is money renewable? Moreso since we have a mint that prints new stuff all the time, but think of it as a cycle. You work. You gt paid for it. You take that money to a store to buy items. The money goes from the store to a supplier to pay them to send the goods you bought. The supplier gets their transportation equipment from the place you work. You work. You get paid. Same money.
Debt is waste. Getting out of debt is cleaning up the waste. Currently I am cleaning up my waste. However, I have identified that I am still being wasteful. What can you clean up to help you out of the debt waste?
Prior to the 1900's Sanitation was handled in a very different way. Waste was thrown in the streets from windows. It was piled in a corner of the city or town in those places sophisticated enough to have a pickup service. Sewer systems were just becoming an installation in many areas. Imagine living in a time when there wasn't a toilet to flush, when the sink didn't have a pipe connected to take away the dirty water, when a chamber pot was used and tossed out the window to the ground below. Health and disease were common place in those times.
So why am I telling you about all this? Because today we build debt like some used to build waste piles. What happens when you don't deal with debt? It festers and boils and rots and gets stagnant. Collectors come calling, and sometimes we throw up our hands and tell people we can't get out of the mess and walk away. This practice can be likened to how we used to deal with waste. Way back when. The smell would be horrific, the pile huge, the disease from it causing us to be sick, our family to be sick and mentally draining on us. In the waste industry we updated technology to bring new fangled ideas like flushing toilets and sanitary sewers and dumps in places that impacked very few of us. We developed waste collection services, and garbage bins, and some of us recycle items now. We had compost piles for organics, and rain barrels to catch runoff and fertilized gardens with someone elses organic mulch waste.
With all these modern advancements in what we do with our waste, why are we still using the antiquated thoughts to deal with other things?
What is debt? Well, debt is the accumulation of items that we no longer need or want that we've thrown away. Debt is the throwing away of money on frivolous things that don't make our life richer, they just mean more boxes to pack when we move, a misplaced emotional tie to an unfeeling, inademate object. Debt is waste. Waste of money. Waste of time. Waste of energy and emotion. Waste of worry and regret.
Our antiquated debt practices like consolidation, bankruptcy, accumulation are like the ways we used to deal with waste. Some of us understood that composting our organics made fertilizer to spread on our crops to grow food with to live on. Some of us understand that wasting last nights dinner was a horrible waste of money because there wasn't much food or money at the time, so left overs for lunch and dinner the next day were important to stretch both food and money. Some of us understood that a can could be a vase, or a pencil holder, a telephone or an object for target practice. Today, it is the stuff that fills some recycle bins to be remade into other cans, or stuff that goes in the garbage because we are lazy. Glass bottles were vases, or jars for other preserves, or milk holders or screw bins. It's amazing how now that we've modernized the waste industry we've become more wasteful.
Debt is very much something that has been around for many a century. Bartering with the promise of more to come. Borrowing with the promise to repay in crop yield. Credit for items with stores that needs to be paid back, somehow. Lending someone the 10 cents for a bolt of fabric, or $10 for a meal. It's all debt.
So how do we get out of debt?
We make a budget and stick to it. But do we? Most of us waver and balk because we are emotionally bottled up about something. Because we just didn't think life would happen to us. Because I really really needed another pair of black shoes. I am guilty of this. Those of us that understand that we got into debt because of our own behaviour are miles ahead of the norm these days. The economy fell. My stocks crashed. My boss cut back. My daughter needed the cell phone for school. My son needed that new gaming console because Jimmy and George had one. We belly ache. We whine. We cry. We complain. We want what others have because we are an envious, jealous sort of society. The trouble is we are terrible wasters. Waste money, waste time, waste accumulations of items, waste packaging, waste breath, I could go on.
We get out of debt by selling items we don't use. We find ways to cut our spending and increase our income. We take consolidation loans and roll things into our mortgage. We don't address the behaviour that got us into the mess in the first place. We don't address the feelings when Billy down the street gets the new X Box 360 Next Gen, and I have to use my 2007 X Box 360 where the graphics aren't as good and the sound isn't as good and sometimes I have to turn it on the turn it off then turn it on again because it's dusty. We don't address the emotions when Susan gets the iPhone 4 and I only have the iPhone 3. We don't address the emotions when Jane gets the promotion I wanted to get even though she's more qualified, has a better work ethic, and can show up to work on time, so when I don't get it I'll go get something she doesn't have, like the new Coach Bag. We don't deal with emotions or feelings about anything because it's a bad thing to have emotions or feelings. Instead even the most polished of adults are reduced to their 5 year-old self throwing a tantrum when mom says no.
You want to keep up with the Joneses - the ones that got that new fangled toilet installed because it'll keep Mrs. Jones happy, the one that put in a pool last year but haven't cleaned it because it takes too long. The same Joneses that work tirelessly each day to make sure you see all the material possessions they have and not the fighting the do, or how tired they are because they worry, or that the pool already has a leak because they used the cheapest, fastest contractor to do something and he didn't really do a good job. This behaviour has been happening forever. But we don't address it.
Oh and when the debt load gets too great - because the economy fell and I wasn't expecting that, or the boss had to make cutbacks and I wasn't expecting that, or I got ill because I let me eating habits go and I wasn't expecting that - we file for bankruptcy because the government says we can and then complain next year when we can't get credit to buy that car we wanted but the one we have is still running fine.
Is the excuse "We didn't know" valid?
When you were getting sick because you were drinking water from a pond that was being fed by runoff from the streets where you threw your bodily wastes, back when medicine was still learning all kinds of things it may have been valid. Today, however, it most definitely is not. Today it's a case of we didn't want to know, so we didn't watch the news, listen to radio or read a newspaper or magazine. We aren't good at math so how can anyone expect me to understand that when the item costs $20 and I only have $10 in my pocket I can't buy the item. I'm not a scientist so how am I supposed to know that the $10 makeup I buy is the same formula as the stuff that costs $200, it's just in more attractive packaging and some star lent their name to it? I'm not a economist so how am I supposed to know that at the beginning and end of each decade the economy takes a downward turn and bounces back a bit later, that every 15 years or so there is a "big economic issue" that results in tightened purse strings and economic uncertainty and a need to deal with my debt.
Waste is debt. We have to deal with it sometime. Just like when your mom asked you to clean your room, stuffing it under the bed only results in lots of yelling, that disapproving look and you have to clean your bedroom under her watchful eye and probably the playroom too since you messed that up as well. Debt is like the waste piles from yester years, causing illness, and smelling up the place and looking really bad - no matter where you put that waste pile it's still there. It's still festering, rotting, causing all kinds of problems. Today we have waste managers, in the finance realm they are called debt collectors.
What's funny is this:
You know you have debt. You know you have to pay it back. You get warnings from the holders of that debt but you don't open your mail because you only get bills and it's depressing. You won't look at your bank statements but you expect money to be there. You won't pay a cent to the credit card company but you expect them to continue to lend you money. The company gets tired of carrying your dead weight around so it sends in the debt collectors. You get irate with these people for doing their jobs and asking for you to do yours. You get angry, and frustrated, you yell and scream, kick things and threaten them with all kinds of interesting things. they get tired of waiting for you to do what you are supposed to do so they tell the banks, and the courts. People come and seize your stuff to pay back the money you borrowed to pay for that stuff in the first place. You get angrier and madder and all kinds of nonsense spews from your mouth. The eviction notices begin, the electricity gets cut off, the water gets turned off, and suddenly the facade you've built up to impress your friends crashes down around you. You file for bankruptcy to get these people off your back, but don't think about how you got there or what future ramifications will come from that. You just wanted what you wanted when you wanted it.
Now step back. Look at the above behaviour. Now find a child and watch their behaviour.
Just like the waste collectors from long ago, and currently working today. They come to take your stuff away. The difference is this is the stuff that you may or may not have paid for, but that you've decided you are finished with. We stopped throwing our chamber pots into the streets because we learned this was part of the reason we were getting sick. Some of us reuse what we have. Some of us freecycle what we have.
Most of the items we use today come from non-renewable resources. The earth can't put it back as fast as we are taking it out. Think of your money as a non-renewable resource in this sense. If you have debt, you have taken the money out faster than you can put it back. Solution, stop taking it out. Sounds simple? Nope - we are humans!
If you think of money as a renewable resource (something that can easily be replenished) then to stick with that idea, water is renewable because it rains. Money is renewable because we work. But is water actually renewable? Not really. It's simply a cycle. We drink it. We pee it out. It goes to a facility that makes that pee back into water and it's put back into the lakes. The sun evaporates some of it, we get it back as rain. So is money renewable? Moreso since we have a mint that prints new stuff all the time, but think of it as a cycle. You work. You gt paid for it. You take that money to a store to buy items. The money goes from the store to a supplier to pay them to send the goods you bought. The supplier gets their transportation equipment from the place you work. You work. You get paid. Same money.
Debt is waste. Getting out of debt is cleaning up the waste. Currently I am cleaning up my waste. However, I have identified that I am still being wasteful. What can you clean up to help you out of the debt waste?
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Looking for viable extra income options
After tonight's Gail meeting, I got thinking about ways to make some extra money. Since I blog on a fairly regular basis, I was out roaming the net to find options out there. I remembered some time ago that GMBMFB mentioned about Pay Per Post things she'd looked into. I took a tour around and found a few sites. As a result I have to verify my ownership of this blog to the site so the next sentence will not make any sense to you readers, but will make perfect sense to the site:
The chicken reports the scattering stair throughout our composite.
Also - I found another option for making money without even really trying. I'm interested to explore this option as well: advertising on your vehicle, or driving a vehicle that advertises for someone.
I'll keep you posted about my searching. If anyone in the blogosphere has had any dealings with PPP's or other ways to make some cash doing online things, please drop me a comment.
The chicken reports the scattering stair throughout our composite.
Also - I found another option for making money without even really trying. I'm interested to explore this option as well: advertising on your vehicle, or driving a vehicle that advertises for someone.
I'll keep you posted about my searching. If anyone in the blogosphere has had any dealings with PPP's or other ways to make some cash doing online things, please drop me a comment.
A Melange of items from commentors
Happy October short week to all my fellow Canadians!
From some commentors on various bog posts over the last little while I'm answering some questions and clearing up some air.
First things first:
Regarding HBC and the approximately $50 it took to cut me a $0.37 cheque:
I paid exactly ZERO DOLLARS in interest to them while I had the account open. I used it to purchase all of the wedding gifts I had to buy for all the weddings I attended this year, and my sister's wedding and shower gifts, both of which are up-coming events on my calendar. They billed me two weeks later, and I paid the balance in full when it arrived - actually rounded up to the nearest dollar which is what left the $0.37 to begin with. So clearly - thanks for asking Canadian Savings - I am much farther ahead than they are!!
Regarding Telus and the $4.41 credit with them:
They transfered the credit to my friend that took over the account, basically negating the 3 days she would have had to pay for for taking over the contract 3 days before the end of the billing cycle. The billing cycle would have ended on the long weekend of September, so I made the drive to London to get it done early. The credit they owed me equated to just a bit more than the money she would have had to pay for the extra three days from the roll over. In the end she got a bit more back than those three days were worth, simply because I rounded to the next dollar when paying them my last bill. No harm no foul to me, the company or her. Thanks Asian Pear for asking. Also - I received my last bill from Telus with a zero balance on it.
Reimbursement from hobby-job:
I received a check in the mail for the taxes reimbursement from MK. $187 was the reimbursement - a little less that what I was anticipating, but that's because I made an error in some math and it carried through. Not to worry - it's $187 less that I have to worry about now, and $187 more paid back to my debt! I'll be heading to the bank today before Gail Club to deposit the monies from this cheque and my $0.37 from above and will be electronically moving the money when I get home tonight. thank you MK for finally sending the cheque!
My debt repayment march has been gathering purposeful speed over the last few months. I've been able to find more money each month to move towards this debt than I had even expected. It helps that a bunch of the expenses I've had lately were work related, and thus reimbursable to me. it also helps that I've been doing a decent amount of travelling for work lately and they pay well for those kilometers. That money has been extra for me to put on my debt.
Moving purposefully makes reaching this goal all that much more sweet. Stay tuned for an update on my budget, and debt repayment payments over the last few months. Coming soon I'll be done with the gym membership as well so that's another $50 moved to the debt for the new year. I will be tracking this this coming weekend (since the exam takes priority this week) so I'll have a pretty good look at how I'm doing with all kinds of things.
From some commentors on various bog posts over the last little while I'm answering some questions and clearing up some air.
First things first:
Regarding HBC and the approximately $50 it took to cut me a $0.37 cheque:
I paid exactly ZERO DOLLARS in interest to them while I had the account open. I used it to purchase all of the wedding gifts I had to buy for all the weddings I attended this year, and my sister's wedding and shower gifts, both of which are up-coming events on my calendar. They billed me two weeks later, and I paid the balance in full when it arrived - actually rounded up to the nearest dollar which is what left the $0.37 to begin with. So clearly - thanks for asking Canadian Savings - I am much farther ahead than they are!!
Regarding Telus and the $4.41 credit with them:
They transfered the credit to my friend that took over the account, basically negating the 3 days she would have had to pay for for taking over the contract 3 days before the end of the billing cycle. The billing cycle would have ended on the long weekend of September, so I made the drive to London to get it done early. The credit they owed me equated to just a bit more than the money she would have had to pay for the extra three days from the roll over. In the end she got a bit more back than those three days were worth, simply because I rounded to the next dollar when paying them my last bill. No harm no foul to me, the company or her. Thanks Asian Pear for asking. Also - I received my last bill from Telus with a zero balance on it.
Reimbursement from hobby-job:
I received a check in the mail for the taxes reimbursement from MK. $187 was the reimbursement - a little less that what I was anticipating, but that's because I made an error in some math and it carried through. Not to worry - it's $187 less that I have to worry about now, and $187 more paid back to my debt! I'll be heading to the bank today before Gail Club to deposit the monies from this cheque and my $0.37 from above and will be electronically moving the money when I get home tonight. thank you MK for finally sending the cheque!
My debt repayment march has been gathering purposeful speed over the last few months. I've been able to find more money each month to move towards this debt than I had even expected. It helps that a bunch of the expenses I've had lately were work related, and thus reimbursable to me. it also helps that I've been doing a decent amount of travelling for work lately and they pay well for those kilometers. That money has been extra for me to put on my debt.
Moving purposefully makes reaching this goal all that much more sweet. Stay tuned for an update on my budget, and debt repayment payments over the last few months. Coming soon I'll be done with the gym membership as well so that's another $50 moved to the debt for the new year. I will be tracking this this coming weekend (since the exam takes priority this week) so I'll have a pretty good look at how I'm doing with all kinds of things.
Monday, October 11, 2010
How much 37 cents actually costs!
In Friday's post I mentioned about this $0.37 check I to from HBC. Well, I thought it would be fun to see how much it actually cost HBC to send me that check. So here goes:
First I had to call HBC to cancel the account. That took about 20 minutes of my time.
Then they sent a statement out - printing costs for a colour printer for one copy on my Sharp machine at work is $0.09 per print out, since it was in colour we'll go with this amount. An accounting clerk at HBC would make about $41,000 per year....doing some math, that works out to about $15.77 per hour. To print one page would take about 5 minutes of time, so that would be about $1.31. ($15.77/60 minutes x 5) The verification would probably take another 15 minutes of time and may be done by someone else, but let's just use our number here...$1.31 x 3 = $3.94. It goes into an envelope and gets stamped - done by a mail clerk probably making about $36,000 a year...so that boils down to $13.85 per hour, let's say that's 5 minutes of that person's time...$1.15, plus the $0.57 stamp on the envelope.
For the statement they sent me - the last statement I should have received, telling me that I had a balance of -$0.37 - it cost HBC $7.06.
Here's where it gets interesting. HBC also sent me a letter stating that the account could not be closed as there was a balance showing on the card and that I would continue to receive statements until the balance was removed and a zero showed up. I didn't both calling them back as I already had the letter stating I'd made the attempt to close the account but they were keeping it open because of $0.37. This letter probably cost about $10 including everything since it was sent by the VP of something or other. That person cost more than the others.
Then I get another statement in the mail - same $7.06 from above.
Now comes the funny part...I get the $0.37 check int he mail sating this will close the account completely and I should be receiving no further correspondences but if I want to reopen the account I can call within 90 days to do so.
This check says $0.37 but it took quite a bit of money to print. There's the accounting clerk and their 5 minutes $1.31, there's the person that prints the checks...another $1.31 for arguments sake, the cost to the company for printing and cutting the check from the account and the cost to the bank when I go and deposit this check! Oh and don't forget that $0.57 stamp! Though I don't know the actual costs here I have it on good authority to cut a check for a business such as HBC it would cost them about $25 - including staff time, paper costs, and toner costs - the stamp would be on top of that.
So far for a balance of -$0.37 I've cost HBC a whopping $25.06 + $25 to cut the check + $0.37 to give back to me.
So by leaving this tiny amount on my card, and cancelling the account (other costs that I haven't actually factored in here!) my $0.37 actually cost HBC over $50 with all the statements they sent, and stamps that were used, and my $0.37 back to me! Keep in mind I haven't even figured in the costs for the bank to process this thing yet!
Most places won't cut you a check for less than a certain amount because of all the costs involved with it. For example Telus wouldn't send me a check for the $4.41 they owed me, so I was able to call them up and tell them what to do with my money. HBC falls into a different category than Telus - something about considerations as that of a financial institution - so they have to give me back all my money before they can close out the account.
Tired of all those Credit Card places giving you grief - apparently I found an interesting way to get back at them! Keep a small amount in the balance - that they owe you of course - and then watch as they continue to send statement after statement after statement once you've closed your account with them!
[insert full belly laughter here]
First I had to call HBC to cancel the account. That took about 20 minutes of my time.
Then they sent a statement out - printing costs for a colour printer for one copy on my Sharp machine at work is $0.09 per print out, since it was in colour we'll go with this amount. An accounting clerk at HBC would make about $41,000 per year....doing some math, that works out to about $15.77 per hour. To print one page would take about 5 minutes of time, so that would be about $1.31. ($15.77/60 minutes x 5) The verification would probably take another 15 minutes of time and may be done by someone else, but let's just use our number here...$1.31 x 3 = $3.94. It goes into an envelope and gets stamped - done by a mail clerk probably making about $36,000 a year...so that boils down to $13.85 per hour, let's say that's 5 minutes of that person's time...$1.15, plus the $0.57 stamp on the envelope.
For the statement they sent me - the last statement I should have received, telling me that I had a balance of -$0.37 - it cost HBC $7.06.
Here's where it gets interesting. HBC also sent me a letter stating that the account could not be closed as there was a balance showing on the card and that I would continue to receive statements until the balance was removed and a zero showed up. I didn't both calling them back as I already had the letter stating I'd made the attempt to close the account but they were keeping it open because of $0.37. This letter probably cost about $10 including everything since it was sent by the VP of something or other. That person cost more than the others.
Then I get another statement in the mail - same $7.06 from above.
Now comes the funny part...I get the $0.37 check int he mail sating this will close the account completely and I should be receiving no further correspondences but if I want to reopen the account I can call within 90 days to do so.
This check says $0.37 but it took quite a bit of money to print. There's the accounting clerk and their 5 minutes $1.31, there's the person that prints the checks...another $1.31 for arguments sake, the cost to the company for printing and cutting the check from the account and the cost to the bank when I go and deposit this check! Oh and don't forget that $0.57 stamp! Though I don't know the actual costs here I have it on good authority to cut a check for a business such as HBC it would cost them about $25 - including staff time, paper costs, and toner costs - the stamp would be on top of that.
So far for a balance of -$0.37 I've cost HBC a whopping $25.06 + $25 to cut the check + $0.37 to give back to me.
So by leaving this tiny amount on my card, and cancelling the account (other costs that I haven't actually factored in here!) my $0.37 actually cost HBC over $50 with all the statements they sent, and stamps that were used, and my $0.37 back to me! Keep in mind I haven't even figured in the costs for the bank to process this thing yet!
Most places won't cut you a check for less than a certain amount because of all the costs involved with it. For example Telus wouldn't send me a check for the $4.41 they owed me, so I was able to call them up and tell them what to do with my money. HBC falls into a different category than Telus - something about considerations as that of a financial institution - so they have to give me back all my money before they can close out the account.
Tired of all those Credit Card places giving you grief - apparently I found an interesting way to get back at them! Keep a small amount in the balance - that they owe you of course - and then watch as they continue to send statement after statement after statement once you've closed your account with them!
[insert full belly laughter here]
Friday, October 08, 2010
The Verdict is In
After a lot of waiting, a couple of phone calls and 2 policies containing the wrong address (seriously how do you mess it up when you've got it three times?), I have received my new and improved insurance policy!!
I will be paying $141.03 per month. My previous policy had me paying $157.74 per month. This mean that another $16.71 per month can be diverted to my debt! YAY!!
For those who are keeping score:
1) I have removed myself from my personal cell phone account with Telus - a friend took it over, they waived all change-over fees for both of us, and gave her the credit they weren't giving back to me. I can divert $40 to debt because of this.
2) I have received $0.37 cheque from HBC to close out my account with them - yep these guys sent me a cheque for $0.37! Stay tuned for a post on this - it's a pretty funny story!! $0.37 more to my debt!!
3) I have reduced my car insurance costs by $16.71 - so I can divert $16.71 to debt per month.
4) Still pending is the diversion of the gym membership I have that runs out in December. That will be another $50 per month when this happens!!
My committed payment to debt are $1,100 per month. That's twice what my minimum is. Now adding the above amounts, $40 + $16.71, I'm up to a committed payment of $1,156.71 per month onto my debt.
This paycheck I received my mileage and expense reimbursement - the expenses were put on my credit card so that portion will go back to put back that money I used ($45.08 for a lunch for a meeting at work), so an additional $161.00 is available to move to debt from this cheque that will count as a debt reduction not a reimbursement.
It is very rare that I end up having to use my personal credit card for work items, so this won't be happening again for the rest of this year - that I can see.
So far for October than I'm up to $1,317.71 in total money to move to pay down my debt.
I'm travelling a bunch again this month, so I'll have another decent cheque in November to use on debt repayment.
Of the $1,317.71 form above I've actually moved over $767.71 to my CIBC Visa card. The base payments are split so that a chunk comes from each paycheck.
I will be paying $141.03 per month. My previous policy had me paying $157.74 per month. This mean that another $16.71 per month can be diverted to my debt! YAY!!
For those who are keeping score:
1) I have removed myself from my personal cell phone account with Telus - a friend took it over, they waived all change-over fees for both of us, and gave her the credit they weren't giving back to me. I can divert $40 to debt because of this.
2) I have received $0.37 cheque from HBC to close out my account with them - yep these guys sent me a cheque for $0.37! Stay tuned for a post on this - it's a pretty funny story!! $0.37 more to my debt!!
3) I have reduced my car insurance costs by $16.71 - so I can divert $16.71 to debt per month.
4) Still pending is the diversion of the gym membership I have that runs out in December. That will be another $50 per month when this happens!!
My committed payment to debt are $1,100 per month. That's twice what my minimum is. Now adding the above amounts, $40 + $16.71, I'm up to a committed payment of $1,156.71 per month onto my debt.
This paycheck I received my mileage and expense reimbursement - the expenses were put on my credit card so that portion will go back to put back that money I used ($45.08 for a lunch for a meeting at work), so an additional $161.00 is available to move to debt from this cheque that will count as a debt reduction not a reimbursement.
It is very rare that I end up having to use my personal credit card for work items, so this won't be happening again for the rest of this year - that I can see.
So far for October than I'm up to $1,317.71 in total money to move to pay down my debt.
I'm travelling a bunch again this month, so I'll have another decent cheque in November to use on debt repayment.
Of the $1,317.71 form above I've actually moved over $767.71 to my CIBC Visa card. The base payments are split so that a chunk comes from each paycheck.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
When Children have Better Financial Heads than their Parents
For a very long time now I've known more about my parents financials than I cared too. At the ripe old age of 15 my parents divorced and went their separate ways. Mom had full custody, with visits and partial custody to my Dad when he wanted. An agreement was signed, lawyers involved and a whole bunch of nonsense insued.
I learned early that my father - for all his fatherly greatness of my youth - was indeed a financial idiot, and a selfish man. Fast forward to last night when I received a call from my Mom to let me know the news from this week regarding my sister's upcoming wedding.
Please note we've all been praying that my Dad and his favourite child were able to navigate through the mess that is the financial side of the wedding without any hiccups. What has traspired this week is something more of a Projectile Vomit of ridiculousness.
My father is my father. He contributed half my DNA structure, had a hand in some of my upbringing prior to my 15th year and early on showed signs of the fatherly greatness we all attribute to our father. Having a child like me - inquisitive to a fault, extraordinarily intelligent, athletic, independent and outgoing - made his life very difficult. Moreso than I could know at the time.
What has transpired through the years is me understanding that I knew things my father didn't, I learned things he could never grasp, I made him keep promises he never intended to keep and I learned fairly young that he only said what he thought you wanted to hear but didn't actually mean, so when it came time to make good on the words my father would offer an excuse from the rolidex and slink away from the situation having no idea that the extreme heartache and disappointment, tears and anger he left in his wake. I was on the receiving end of most of this, being the older child. On the other side was my sister.
She hero-worshipped the guy. You couldn't get mad at anything that happened because she almost always blamed me for the trouble that was occurring - I "listened like mom, only hearing what I wanted and not the words he was using". I gave him a hard time about commonsense and wouldn't go along with the elaborate stories he was telling so "I was a very difficult sister to have".
Fast forward to two nights ago. In front of her family to be, my mother, he fiance and herself he committed to doing certain things for her wedding, financial and otherwise. My mom wrote it down in the notes she took, my sister signed off that everything written down was exactly as it was said. Two night ago when giving a courtesy call to my father to give him a month's heads up that a deposit was due that he agreed to pay for, she gets told he didn't say anything of the sort, she was only hearing what she wanted to hear and that's not what he said at all. Response back was I have it in writing and your daughter signed off saying that's exactly what you said. Sister gets put on the phone and he says the same thing to hear - that's what she wanted to hear blah blah blah. After 15 years of trying to explain why he and I have a strained relationship, why I don't ever believe anything coming out of his mouth, why I do nothing financial with him, in 30 seconds she has now been given the key to golden gates.
This is the first time he's done something like this to her. He's been doing it to me for more than 15 years now. Mom called to warn me of this situation. I called my sister to see how she's doing. Since it's her first time I know the emotions are going to be raw. The part we got to is, how can you tell me you live paycheck to paycheck when you just got back from vacation in Arizona with some friends? Sister? Where does all his money go?
My mother taught us well. Though we are both in debt, we are both working diligently to remove the debt burden, don't ask to borrow money form people, understand how to budget for things, and get that if you want it you save for it. The problem here is that my father has been in debt for about 40 years now. We've only been there for 6 - mostly due to school related stuff. I don't know where his money goes, but I know that my financial head is on a lot straighter and in much more stable a position than his is.
So what's the reason for this post? Well it is this - a wedding that is supposed to happen on Jan 22, 2011, with invitations set to be mailed next Friday, we now don't know what is going to happen as the amount now missing from that budget is $2,000 - all for the reception. Mom being mom could handle it - but that's not the point. The point is my father agreed to it, my sister counted those chickens already and now has to figure out if she and he fiance can work that into their budget. They have to figure it out this weekend as the deposit is due on the 22nd of this month. Mom is being diplomatic about it and waiting to see what happens before she steps in and rescues her - again.
Especially since the warnings have been issued about those chickens and they were ignored. Especially since a good Captain always has a contingency plan and she expressly stated she didn't need one because Dad was going to come through for her. it isn't like he didn't have warning - she was engaged last year in April, we had a stag and doe in November the same year, the date has been set since June of last year. That's more than a years worth of time to save up the cash for this event.
The funny part was she asked me why he hadn't saved some money up over that time - that would be more than 12 months of time to save - at $125 per month saved for 16 months of time. Interesting, sister dear, I don't know why Dad can't save $125 per month for 16 months to pay for his part of your reception.
A tough blow indeed this has been for her. Some tough things will be coming for her in light of this event. Lord knows this is why my mother wants he fiance to get a job - so this nonsense she won't have to deal with. Alas, I vent a little, puzzle a lot and wonder if there have been times when you've realized that you outgrew your parents, you've exceeded their station in life or have faced something similar?
I learned early that my father - for all his fatherly greatness of my youth - was indeed a financial idiot, and a selfish man. Fast forward to last night when I received a call from my Mom to let me know the news from this week regarding my sister's upcoming wedding.
Please note we've all been praying that my Dad and his favourite child were able to navigate through the mess that is the financial side of the wedding without any hiccups. What has traspired this week is something more of a Projectile Vomit of ridiculousness.
My father is my father. He contributed half my DNA structure, had a hand in some of my upbringing prior to my 15th year and early on showed signs of the fatherly greatness we all attribute to our father. Having a child like me - inquisitive to a fault, extraordinarily intelligent, athletic, independent and outgoing - made his life very difficult. Moreso than I could know at the time.
What has transpired through the years is me understanding that I knew things my father didn't, I learned things he could never grasp, I made him keep promises he never intended to keep and I learned fairly young that he only said what he thought you wanted to hear but didn't actually mean, so when it came time to make good on the words my father would offer an excuse from the rolidex and slink away from the situation having no idea that the extreme heartache and disappointment, tears and anger he left in his wake. I was on the receiving end of most of this, being the older child. On the other side was my sister.
She hero-worshipped the guy. You couldn't get mad at anything that happened because she almost always blamed me for the trouble that was occurring - I "listened like mom, only hearing what I wanted and not the words he was using". I gave him a hard time about commonsense and wouldn't go along with the elaborate stories he was telling so "I was a very difficult sister to have".
Fast forward to two nights ago. In front of her family to be, my mother, he fiance and herself he committed to doing certain things for her wedding, financial and otherwise. My mom wrote it down in the notes she took, my sister signed off that everything written down was exactly as it was said. Two night ago when giving a courtesy call to my father to give him a month's heads up that a deposit was due that he agreed to pay for, she gets told he didn't say anything of the sort, she was only hearing what she wanted to hear and that's not what he said at all. Response back was I have it in writing and your daughter signed off saying that's exactly what you said. Sister gets put on the phone and he says the same thing to hear - that's what she wanted to hear blah blah blah. After 15 years of trying to explain why he and I have a strained relationship, why I don't ever believe anything coming out of his mouth, why I do nothing financial with him, in 30 seconds she has now been given the key to golden gates.
This is the first time he's done something like this to her. He's been doing it to me for more than 15 years now. Mom called to warn me of this situation. I called my sister to see how she's doing. Since it's her first time I know the emotions are going to be raw. The part we got to is, how can you tell me you live paycheck to paycheck when you just got back from vacation in Arizona with some friends? Sister? Where does all his money go?
My mother taught us well. Though we are both in debt, we are both working diligently to remove the debt burden, don't ask to borrow money form people, understand how to budget for things, and get that if you want it you save for it. The problem here is that my father has been in debt for about 40 years now. We've only been there for 6 - mostly due to school related stuff. I don't know where his money goes, but I know that my financial head is on a lot straighter and in much more stable a position than his is.
So what's the reason for this post? Well it is this - a wedding that is supposed to happen on Jan 22, 2011, with invitations set to be mailed next Friday, we now don't know what is going to happen as the amount now missing from that budget is $2,000 - all for the reception. Mom being mom could handle it - but that's not the point. The point is my father agreed to it, my sister counted those chickens already and now has to figure out if she and he fiance can work that into their budget. They have to figure it out this weekend as the deposit is due on the 22nd of this month. Mom is being diplomatic about it and waiting to see what happens before she steps in and rescues her - again.
Especially since the warnings have been issued about those chickens and they were ignored. Especially since a good Captain always has a contingency plan and she expressly stated she didn't need one because Dad was going to come through for her. it isn't like he didn't have warning - she was engaged last year in April, we had a stag and doe in November the same year, the date has been set since June of last year. That's more than a years worth of time to save up the cash for this event.
The funny part was she asked me why he hadn't saved some money up over that time - that would be more than 12 months of time to save - at $125 per month saved for 16 months of time. Interesting, sister dear, I don't know why Dad can't save $125 per month for 16 months to pay for his part of your reception.
A tough blow indeed this has been for her. Some tough things will be coming for her in light of this event. Lord knows this is why my mother wants he fiance to get a job - so this nonsense she won't have to deal with. Alas, I vent a little, puzzle a lot and wonder if there have been times when you've realized that you outgrew your parents, you've exceeded their station in life or have faced something similar?
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
On My Own Again....
well kind of...
Le Man has been sent up to a Central Ontario City (I'll refrain from saying up North, since technically it's only the top end of Central Ontario) for work. He spends 5 days a week there then can come home for the weekend and turn around and do it again....until January.
What this means is I'll be alone at the apartment through the week, and have a visitor for the weekend, every weekend until January. This will affect (and effect) some aspects of daily life for me in a great way, and some things in a more subtle way.
The first thing is this. I'm used to getting home from work by 4:45 and having about 2 hours to myself at home. I look forward to this alone time to do things like, study for the course I'm taking, watch a favourite program or two on the T.V., clean up an area of my apartment I've identified as messy, relax and unwind from work, plan the evenings dinner, get ready for my after-work activity. I know though that two hours later, the love of my life will arrive home from a long day at work and need three things - a long hug, pre-empted by a happy-to-see-him-lady, followed by a kiss and a "how was your day?". The second is a shower, the third is sustinence of some kind. I do not cook every night (sometimes a well-toasted tomoato sandwich makes us both happier than pigs in...well you know...) but when I do, the salavation that is visible on his face and the elation that he doesn't have to think about that is enough to make me do it twice a week. For the forseeable future, there won't be anyone arriving home between 6:30 and 7pm. I will not get the hug I long for some days, and cherish always. I will not see that look in his eyes every night, nor be able to snuggle with him before bedtime, or say goodnight to him face to face. I will be alone in my apartment with just myself and my things to do.
This will allow me the time I need to study hard for this course - and hopefully pull off a 90 in the course (after the first assignment I have a 97.56%!). This will allow me the time to clean through some things in the apartment without interruption, or needing to get it done before he gets home. I will be able to complete some crafts I have on the go, and decide about where certain knick-knacks are best suited. I will be taking care of myself.
His absence will also affect directly the food budget I have and my need for constant replenishing of fresh veg and fruit, He's a vegetarian - I'm an omnivore. Instead of buying 6 apples for us both, 3 will do me. Instead of buying 2 peppers of each colour, one will do me. One small lettuce, an onion or bunch of green onions will be enough. It'll effectively cut my bill for a week down by 1/3, thus stretching those dollars farther. Plus, I can cook meat and veg in the same pan and save myself form having to do a bunch more dishes.
I can see this having the opposite affect in the Entertainment department, though more from lack of discipline on my part than anything. I have enough to keep me entertained right now - it's just a matter of recognizing this and not trying to fill the void at home with other things.
Mostly this is going to be a trial for us both.
Le Man has been sent up to a Central Ontario City (I'll refrain from saying up North, since technically it's only the top end of Central Ontario) for work. He spends 5 days a week there then can come home for the weekend and turn around and do it again....until January.
What this means is I'll be alone at the apartment through the week, and have a visitor for the weekend, every weekend until January. This will affect (and effect) some aspects of daily life for me in a great way, and some things in a more subtle way.
The first thing is this. I'm used to getting home from work by 4:45 and having about 2 hours to myself at home. I look forward to this alone time to do things like, study for the course I'm taking, watch a favourite program or two on the T.V., clean up an area of my apartment I've identified as messy, relax and unwind from work, plan the evenings dinner, get ready for my after-work activity. I know though that two hours later, the love of my life will arrive home from a long day at work and need three things - a long hug, pre-empted by a happy-to-see-him-lady, followed by a kiss and a "how was your day?". The second is a shower, the third is sustinence of some kind. I do not cook every night (sometimes a well-toasted tomoato sandwich makes us both happier than pigs in...well you know...) but when I do, the salavation that is visible on his face and the elation that he doesn't have to think about that is enough to make me do it twice a week. For the forseeable future, there won't be anyone arriving home between 6:30 and 7pm. I will not get the hug I long for some days, and cherish always. I will not see that look in his eyes every night, nor be able to snuggle with him before bedtime, or say goodnight to him face to face. I will be alone in my apartment with just myself and my things to do.
This will allow me the time I need to study hard for this course - and hopefully pull off a 90 in the course (after the first assignment I have a 97.56%!). This will allow me the time to clean through some things in the apartment without interruption, or needing to get it done before he gets home. I will be able to complete some crafts I have on the go, and decide about where certain knick-knacks are best suited. I will be taking care of myself.
His absence will also affect directly the food budget I have and my need for constant replenishing of fresh veg and fruit, He's a vegetarian - I'm an omnivore. Instead of buying 6 apples for us both, 3 will do me. Instead of buying 2 peppers of each colour, one will do me. One small lettuce, an onion or bunch of green onions will be enough. It'll effectively cut my bill for a week down by 1/3, thus stretching those dollars farther. Plus, I can cook meat and veg in the same pan and save myself form having to do a bunch more dishes.
I can see this having the opposite affect in the Entertainment department, though more from lack of discipline on my part than anything. I have enough to keep me entertained right now - it's just a matter of recognizing this and not trying to fill the void at home with other things.
Mostly this is going to be a trial for us both.
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