On the last day of the first quarter of 2011, I wanted to take a look back at the last three months.
January I took I risk. I decided to set a goal for myself that would knock my socks off. I told the people in the Gail group I attend and it knocked their socks off. I told le man and he was able to keep his socks and gave me the encouraging words I needed to make sure I started this journey.
I will pay off $23,820.74 of credit card debt and be DEBT FREE ON DECEMBER 31, 2011.
February, I set up my planning to get me going. Truthfully I did this in January, but I was able to refine it in February with a little more direction. I really got going in February. I may have had a minor hiccup with the unexpected, but prepared for, car repair, but I've got a plan and I'm working that plan. I was able to come up with a little more cash to make sure I really took a good chunk out of the debt.
March was all about desire. March had me working hard on my desire. I was presented with many things that I could have let derail me, but overall I think I did a good job of staying on target. My credit card hasn't been in my wallet since the first week of the month. It's been elsewhere and I like it there. Same thing with my debit card. I'm using the jars. I can do things better than I am so I'll be tweaking my behaviour as I travel down the path to debt free. I took a look back over my credit card bills in the last couple of years. It's been 3 years since I've had the balance on my card that I do. What does that mean? Iv'e basically been spinning my wheels with this debt. I was fatigued from paying off all of my debts as quickly as I could. I let myself get talked into a few purchases I wouldn't have made, and I tried to take on too many goals at once. So 2011 I get debt free.
Looking ahead. April shows it is about friendship.
This first quarter has shown that there are things that I need to improve. There are things that are starting to click for me. I'm eager to get this debt thing kicked and I can't wait to see what the next three months brings for me. I've been enjoying staying in the moment this time. It has really been helping me make decisions at the time they present themselves and keep me grounded in this goal.
truthfully, the biggest eye opener was actually sitting down witht he numbers and plugging them all in. I found out what I spend my money on, what my triggers are, and I've been doing with my finances for the past couple of years. Doing the homework. I mean really doing the homework was the best thing I could have done for myself.
Have you done your homework lately?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Small Luxuries
Reading Fabulousy Broke's blog post on luxuries and her posting on the tasty (though I've not had the pleasure but can tell from the pictures) macaron post I got thinking...
Ok first I thought I have to get to Montreal and try some of these things!! That woman makes me crave all things tasty!
I was thinking about the luxuries she was speaking about and realized that although I am able to treat myself to a luxury each month...well two actually. Although for medical reasons I am able to claim the money against my medical allotment, I absolutely enjoy the treatments I receive each month. They have a dual purpose really. One: I get my back adjusted, my joins reset and some stretching of some hard to stretch without assistance muscles, AND I am able to go allergy free for a month, enable my liver to successfully process the synthetic sugars I've eaten each month, or cleanse my body of whatever toxin it is holding this month. Two: I get 15 minutes of utter bliss, followed by the best sleep of my live AND I get an hour and 15 minutes, during which I have 2 small naps, followed by the best sleep of my life for the whole weekend.
These are luxuries I absolutely keep in my budget, regardless of the reimbursement of funds. They serve a dual purpose but also, I sincerely look forward to them. Moreso I look forward to how I feel AFTER the treatment is complete. Here's the thing though. I still really really really enjoy a spa treatment that involves hot stones or parafin mani pedi or some other, thus far untried herbal cleansing wrap with complete massage.
Other luxuries I enjoy:
1) A Bubble bath, with a good book and a chilled glass of some beverage
2) A really tasty Hot Chocolate + good book or fantastic tv series
3) Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings
4) A Friday night meal with le man followed by a throw-down with a video game
5) Any time on the weekend with le man
6) Having my back absent-mindedly rubbed while we talk about our day and unwind after work.
7) A really good hair stylist
8) A clean kitchen when you didn't have to do it yourself
9) When the bed is made and the bathroom is clean and you didn't have to do it
10) A fantastic meal with really great company
11) A really good shopping trip that sees an entire afternoon disappear, more than necessary amounts of trying on clothing, shoes, accessorizing and coming away with one statement piece, your budget and credit card intact.
12) Anything FB likes, Asian Pear likes, and I reserve the right to add to this later, punking any good ideas from any commmentors or this blog or any other, or any author of any blog I read.
Friday past, I enjoyed a wonderful Japanese acupuncture treatment, followed by a homemade stir fry, a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory and an evening of snuggling with le man. It was luxurious!
Ok first I thought I have to get to Montreal and try some of these things!! That woman makes me crave all things tasty!
I was thinking about the luxuries she was speaking about and realized that although I am able to treat myself to a luxury each month...well two actually. Although for medical reasons I am able to claim the money against my medical allotment, I absolutely enjoy the treatments I receive each month. They have a dual purpose really. One: I get my back adjusted, my joins reset and some stretching of some hard to stretch without assistance muscles, AND I am able to go allergy free for a month, enable my liver to successfully process the synthetic sugars I've eaten each month, or cleanse my body of whatever toxin it is holding this month. Two: I get 15 minutes of utter bliss, followed by the best sleep of my live AND I get an hour and 15 minutes, during which I have 2 small naps, followed by the best sleep of my life for the whole weekend.
These are luxuries I absolutely keep in my budget, regardless of the reimbursement of funds. They serve a dual purpose but also, I sincerely look forward to them. Moreso I look forward to how I feel AFTER the treatment is complete. Here's the thing though. I still really really really enjoy a spa treatment that involves hot stones or parafin mani pedi or some other, thus far untried herbal cleansing wrap with complete massage.
Other luxuries I enjoy:
1) A Bubble bath, with a good book and a chilled glass of some beverage
2) A really tasty Hot Chocolate + good book or fantastic tv series
3) Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings
4) A Friday night meal with le man followed by a throw-down with a video game
5) Any time on the weekend with le man
6) Having my back absent-mindedly rubbed while we talk about our day and unwind after work.
7) A really good hair stylist
8) A clean kitchen when you didn't have to do it yourself
9) When the bed is made and the bathroom is clean and you didn't have to do it
10) A fantastic meal with really great company
11) A really good shopping trip that sees an entire afternoon disappear, more than necessary amounts of trying on clothing, shoes, accessorizing and coming away with one statement piece, your budget and credit card intact.
12) Anything FB likes, Asian Pear likes, and I reserve the right to add to this later, punking any good ideas from any commmentors or this blog or any other, or any author of any blog I read.
Friday past, I enjoyed a wonderful Japanese acupuncture treatment, followed by a homemade stir fry, a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory and an evening of snuggling with le man. It was luxurious!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Week Two: Envy
Week Two is Envy.
Seven things I lack or covet:
1. AN SLR CAMERA CAPABLE OF TAKING ALL KINDS OF SHOTS - I want one very badly and think it will help me create the kinds of pictures I get luck y with on my current 4 pixel digital.
2. I HAVE A JEALOUS/ENVIOUS STREAK TO ME - it often causes issues as I am really happy for people who attain my dreams, but secretly I wish it were me - There are times I lack the ability to turn this off and not make your joyous news about me somehow.
3. A PRESENT FATHER - mine is a piece of work. Nice person, but as a father he royally sucks. For personal reasons I'm not going to get into things about this. Suffice to say I would love to ahve a father that actually takes an active role in my live.
4. A HOUSE AND FAMILY OF MY OWN - I have a hard time relating to my mom right now, purely because at my age she had two children, one entering the preteen years, and one not far behind. I want a house because I want to own my own place and the right to do with it what I want. I also want to be rid of neighbours I have to bang on walls to signal they are being way too loud.
5. THE ABILITY TO HAVE A JOB THAT ALLOWS ME TO TAKE AN EXTENDED BREAK AND TRAVEL - always wanted to see the world. In light of the recent natural disasters, at the rate I'm going, the places I loved to see in pictures will look so drastically different I won't like them anymore.
6. SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO BACK MY QUEST TO REPRESENT CANADA IN MY SPORT - I long to be on the winning end of a Canadian Curling Championship. I have coaches that think this is do-able, however I haven't the funds or the time to devote to the sport the way that is needed.
7. THE IT FACTOR THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO BREAK THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING - I have tons of ideas, and they've been proven by others I've given the ideas to. I lack the ability to actually do this myself - or the something that lets me stop putting limits on myself.
Envy I found much easier. Which I also find interesting as it is a list of things I don't have but want.
Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
Seven things I lack or covet:
1. AN SLR CAMERA CAPABLE OF TAKING ALL KINDS OF SHOTS - I want one very badly and think it will help me create the kinds of pictures I get luck y with on my current 4 pixel digital.
2. I HAVE A JEALOUS/ENVIOUS STREAK TO ME - it often causes issues as I am really happy for people who attain my dreams, but secretly I wish it were me - There are times I lack the ability to turn this off and not make your joyous news about me somehow.
3. A PRESENT FATHER - mine is a piece of work. Nice person, but as a father he royally sucks. For personal reasons I'm not going to get into things about this. Suffice to say I would love to ahve a father that actually takes an active role in my live.
4. A HOUSE AND FAMILY OF MY OWN - I have a hard time relating to my mom right now, purely because at my age she had two children, one entering the preteen years, and one not far behind. I want a house because I want to own my own place and the right to do with it what I want. I also want to be rid of neighbours I have to bang on walls to signal they are being way too loud.
5. THE ABILITY TO HAVE A JOB THAT ALLOWS ME TO TAKE AN EXTENDED BREAK AND TRAVEL - always wanted to see the world. In light of the recent natural disasters, at the rate I'm going, the places I loved to see in pictures will look so drastically different I won't like them anymore.
6. SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO BACK MY QUEST TO REPRESENT CANADA IN MY SPORT - I long to be on the winning end of a Canadian Curling Championship. I have coaches that think this is do-able, however I haven't the funds or the time to devote to the sport the way that is needed.
7. THE IT FACTOR THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO BREAK THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING - I have tons of ideas, and they've been proven by others I've given the ideas to. I lack the ability to actually do this myself - or the something that lets me stop putting limits on myself.
Envy I found much easier. Which I also find interesting as it is a list of things I don't have but want.
Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Last Monday.
This really kind of jumped out at me. It is the last Monday of March. That means that this week will wrap up the first quarter of 2011.
March being desire month, has really allowed me to get in tune with myself and my financial goal. More than one time it came up in various conversations about things I could be doing at my age had I not been in debt. it's on of those things that helps you resolve to keep going. Because I've been concentrating on desire this month I also found a way to gain more cash this month that I could put down on my debt.
On the first Day of April, I have a counseling appointment at the University. I'm still taking classes to finish my B.Sc and am coming very close to finishing this as well. It's nice when goals get close to completion.
Looking back on March, I've done a decent job of contending with my debt. Can I do better? Sure. the first thing is that credit card of mine has been put under lock and key. (Not literally but it is out of my wallet and in a place that I can't see and forget it's there). Because I don't have my credit card on me, I don't have any slips anymore with things.
I did some how I can improve on my spending as I stopped looking for a bit and overspent by about $800 in between Feb 15 and Friday. That'll learn me.
Though my experiences this month were wonderful - Brier events, and I did come away with a new curling jacket for next season, a travel bag and a new watch. I didn't really need to spend the money I did on those items, but that's a good portion of the overspending I did. Sometimes I can have a bit of a bump too.
All in all I'd say I'm doing well with my march to debt free. I can be doing better, so we'll begin moving in that direction for the next quarter. I'm on track to being out of debt. The game I'm playing with myself is how quickly I can do that this year. Ever single dollar counts. So the next quarter is about finding even more money.
March being desire month, has really allowed me to get in tune with myself and my financial goal. More than one time it came up in various conversations about things I could be doing at my age had I not been in debt. it's on of those things that helps you resolve to keep going. Because I've been concentrating on desire this month I also found a way to gain more cash this month that I could put down on my debt.
On the first Day of April, I have a counseling appointment at the University. I'm still taking classes to finish my B.Sc and am coming very close to finishing this as well. It's nice when goals get close to completion.
Looking back on March, I've done a decent job of contending with my debt. Can I do better? Sure. the first thing is that credit card of mine has been put under lock and key. (Not literally but it is out of my wallet and in a place that I can't see and forget it's there). Because I don't have my credit card on me, I don't have any slips anymore with things.
I did some how I can improve on my spending as I stopped looking for a bit and overspent by about $800 in between Feb 15 and Friday. That'll learn me.
Though my experiences this month were wonderful - Brier events, and I did come away with a new curling jacket for next season, a travel bag and a new watch. I didn't really need to spend the money I did on those items, but that's a good portion of the overspending I did. Sometimes I can have a bit of a bump too.
All in all I'd say I'm doing well with my march to debt free. I can be doing better, so we'll begin moving in that direction for the next quarter. I'm on track to being out of debt. The game I'm playing with myself is how quickly I can do that this year. Ever single dollar counts. So the next quarter is about finding even more money.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Alright you Foodies!
It's Friday night. I've read about Macarons, and looked at pictures of tasty treats. Le man turns to me and says...I have a cravy for cheesecake. I'm eating grapes.<----- See tasty grapes
He continues on this reminder that he's cravy cheesecake or possible Dairy Queen, or frozen cheesecake from Dairy Queen for about a half hour. We get up and go to Zehrs - better selection...
Wandering around the sweet section at Zehrs I run into these little treats....
Macarons! What?! Macarons?? Oh boy!!!
Wait a minutes.....PC makes Macarons. Given the curiosity and need to try these tasty items, I pick up a package. It turns out I get four flavours...
From left to right: Vanilla, Raspberry, Coffee, Chocolate
Decidedly these frozen items will not be anywhere close to as good as the fresh ones soooommme of the PF/Foodies in the realm eat, but not a bad poor-man's substitute. I'll tell you, I don't like coffee so obviously these weren't my my favourite. Vanilla...not bad. Chocolate, decent. Raspberry though, were lovely. Though again I'm sure that these frozen, preserved poor-man's macaron aren't as good as La Maison du Macarooooonnn (snooty french voice tone intended). But truthfully it's because I"m jealous that I haven't been to said Maison in Montreal and didn't know to even look when I was there. Now I'm ruefully waiting for the day my debt is done so that I may travel to said Montreal and embark on a journey through the delectable offerings of La Maison du Macaron.
And so you all know. This is the actual size of the macaron found in the package offered by PC...
Teeny Tiny.
Alas, tiny treats were gone. And I wasn't even sure my craving had disappeared. The reason? It wasn't from that mystic place in Montreal. Perhaps my craving wasn't for the tasty treat but for the experience. Oh well. Macarons in my tummy were pretty yummy.
Have a great weekend everyone!!
Good News/Bad News
It's Friday. Good News.
I'm still working on Project Number One. Bad News.
I have an answer on that pay check discrepancy. Good News.
The answer is that I should have had a 9% pay increase, resulting in the number I've got on my paycheck being right. Bad News. (in that I was hoping it would be increased a little...not really bad news but still all this waiting and then nothing.)
I put an additional $100 onto my debt from my Medical fund yesterday, and added $800 from my paycheck, taking my total owing to $19,500.00. GOOD NEWS!!
I did a quick little calculation of my mileage for March, to today, and found out that April's snowball will be $202. REALLY GOOD NEWS!
I did some additional calculating in my handy little excel spreadsheet, and it turns out that I'll be able to keep my Christmas bonus for other things/Christmas things this year, as I'll be able to just use the paycheck money I get in December to complete the debt! SUPREMELY GOOD NEWS!!
That concludes this episode of Good News/Bad News.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!!
I'm still working on Project Number One. Bad News.
I have an answer on that pay check discrepancy. Good News.
The answer is that I should have had a 9% pay increase, resulting in the number I've got on my paycheck being right. Bad News. (in that I was hoping it would be increased a little...not really bad news but still all this waiting and then nothing.)
I put an additional $100 onto my debt from my Medical fund yesterday, and added $800 from my paycheck, taking my total owing to $19,500.00. GOOD NEWS!!
I did a quick little calculation of my mileage for March, to today, and found out that April's snowball will be $202. REALLY GOOD NEWS!
I did some additional calculating in my handy little excel spreadsheet, and it turns out that I'll be able to keep my Christmas bonus for other things/Christmas things this year, as I'll be able to just use the paycheck money I get in December to complete the debt! SUPREMELY GOOD NEWS!!
That concludes this episode of Good News/Bad News.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Oh Bother.
Wednesday I sat in the classroom of the St. John's Ambulance to go over my recertification for my First Aid and CPR. I worked until 7:15pm Tuesday night - no OT pay. I was asked by the boss that is looking into my pay status if I'd heard from boss number 2 about what the verdict was. When I said no, he was unhappy and borderline angry.
I was a little shocked at his reaction. Then I said to him, something along the lines of you were expecting him to actually discuss that with me, while you were gone? Apparently I have to wait until your return or after Thursday's meeting, which ever they decide to go by because I'm sure enough to bet a coffee that it wasn't even discussed at the previous meeting with boss number 1 was on holiday.
Alas, I have completed 2/3 of the project I've been working on since November last year. Why is it taking so long? Well I have to do it without overtime, and while dong the other million things I do in a day. It's a slow process this way.
Anyways - Thursday I will complete the last third. And then I move on to project number two. Again not supposed to work overtime and yet still get it done by March 31, 2011.
I really hope today brings some light to the pay check quandary. !!
I was a little shocked at his reaction. Then I said to him, something along the lines of you were expecting him to actually discuss that with me, while you were gone? Apparently I have to wait until your return or after Thursday's meeting, which ever they decide to go by because I'm sure enough to bet a coffee that it wasn't even discussed at the previous meeting with boss number 1 was on holiday.
Alas, I have completed 2/3 of the project I've been working on since November last year. Why is it taking so long? Well I have to do it without overtime, and while dong the other million things I do in a day. It's a slow process this way.
Anyways - Thursday I will complete the last third. And then I move on to project number two. Again not supposed to work overtime and yet still get it done by March 31, 2011.
I really hope today brings some light to the pay check quandary. !!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Debt Contemplation
Oh boy. This weekend was one of those that found me sitting with my thoughts a lot. Yes I purged a bunch of stuff form my apartment in an effort to better understand what I do have in certain areas and organize myself a little better. I went through all of my class notes form everything I've been keeping. Purge a bunch of the background to papers - i.e. articles that I just don't need to keep anymore. I reorganized the merchandise I have in stock and found that I've got what I need to start making sure I remove the stuff in a timely manner.
I also realized I don't need a gift for a female for a while.
In doing this I removed 3 bags of paper recycling, 3 bags of cardboard recycling and 2 bags of obvious garbage. I feel like some of the clutter weight is being lifted off my shoulders. I am scheduled to go through my closet again in May to determine what I want to keep and what I can sell/donate at a garage sale coming up. I'm not looking for big bucks here but any dollar counts when you are getting out of debt!
This also prompted a conversation about housing and life goals between le man and I. What we learned is that our debt is preventing us from doing some things in life. We also determined that if we had the money in savings that we do in debt, many other goals could become more of a reality in a more timely manner.
Basically it was one of those things that we talk about form time to time, and encourage each other on because we both have life milestones we want to start reaching and achieving.
I'm working hard at staying on budget and finding more snowflakes to dump on my debt. I'm excited each day for the potential it has to see money move towards lowering my debt. I look forward to pay days right now, because I can see my future and I'd like to move towards another goal.
Plus seriously - I'd rather put $20,000 towards a wedding, and a house than towards debt! I'm finished with paying back my past. I'd like to move into the saving for my future state!!
March is the first month I can honestly say I'm firing on all cylinders.
My tax return is on it's way. It will be zipping through several postal stations and many more hands on it's way to the Revenue Agency so they can process my stuff and mail me back a very nice check that will effectively drop my Credit Card balance by $1,000. I'm working hard. I'm still looking for other ways to increase the money moving towards my debt.
With the nice weather coming, I've even begun to think about saving transportation costs by biking to work. Have you seen gas prices lately?? They are just getting ridiculous!! I can think of a debt that can benefit from the $180 a month I put into my car.
Oh and I realized that I don't have any gifts to get for a while - le man's birthday isn't until November, so I've got a little time. That means that the $45 I have in Clothing and Gifts is going to start accumulating as well. I have to get 6 birthday cards for the rest of the year. I'll probably take some time on the upcoming weekend to go out and get those. That way I can simply start adding to that jar and not removing. I should have 4 months saved up by July - making it $180.00. I'll use a little for dinner with my bestie in July, but the rest will start the savings game for Christmas and le man.
And in all my cleaning this weekend I found a $50 Visa and $50 gift card to Home Depot. Guess my garden stuff is taken care of for the year as well. We will be trying our hand at a few produce items - lettuce, herbs, a tomato plant or two.
I also realized I don't need a gift for a female for a while.
In doing this I removed 3 bags of paper recycling, 3 bags of cardboard recycling and 2 bags of obvious garbage. I feel like some of the clutter weight is being lifted off my shoulders. I am scheduled to go through my closet again in May to determine what I want to keep and what I can sell/donate at a garage sale coming up. I'm not looking for big bucks here but any dollar counts when you are getting out of debt!
This also prompted a conversation about housing and life goals between le man and I. What we learned is that our debt is preventing us from doing some things in life. We also determined that if we had the money in savings that we do in debt, many other goals could become more of a reality in a more timely manner.
Basically it was one of those things that we talk about form time to time, and encourage each other on because we both have life milestones we want to start reaching and achieving.
I'm working hard at staying on budget and finding more snowflakes to dump on my debt. I'm excited each day for the potential it has to see money move towards lowering my debt. I look forward to pay days right now, because I can see my future and I'd like to move towards another goal.
Plus seriously - I'd rather put $20,000 towards a wedding, and a house than towards debt! I'm finished with paying back my past. I'd like to move into the saving for my future state!!
March is the first month I can honestly say I'm firing on all cylinders.
My tax return is on it's way. It will be zipping through several postal stations and many more hands on it's way to the Revenue Agency so they can process my stuff and mail me back a very nice check that will effectively drop my Credit Card balance by $1,000. I'm working hard. I'm still looking for other ways to increase the money moving towards my debt.
With the nice weather coming, I've even begun to think about saving transportation costs by biking to work. Have you seen gas prices lately?? They are just getting ridiculous!! I can think of a debt that can benefit from the $180 a month I put into my car.
Oh and I realized that I don't have any gifts to get for a while - le man's birthday isn't until November, so I've got a little time. That means that the $45 I have in Clothing and Gifts is going to start accumulating as well. I have to get 6 birthday cards for the rest of the year. I'll probably take some time on the upcoming weekend to go out and get those. That way I can simply start adding to that jar and not removing. I should have 4 months saved up by July - making it $180.00. I'll use a little for dinner with my bestie in July, but the rest will start the savings game for Christmas and le man.
And in all my cleaning this weekend I found a $50 Visa and $50 gift card to Home Depot. Guess my garden stuff is taken care of for the year as well. We will be trying our hand at a few produce items - lettuce, herbs, a tomato plant or two.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Week One: Pride
Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
I've watched many a wonderful blogger post in this serious - thanks My Money My Life for the original idea. Since I've stalled for a bit, I'll use these once a week for the next seven to infuse a little mental creativity and give you, the readers, a little more insight into moi.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.
I've watched many a wonderful blogger post in this serious - thanks My Money My Life for the original idea. Since I've stalled for a bit, I'll use these once a week for the next seven to infuse a little mental creativity and give you, the readers, a little more insight into moi.
Week One: PRIDE
Seven Great Things about me:
1. I AM A POSITIVE PERSON - I can find the positive in anything, even the worst situation. I prefer to be this way as it takes less energy, makes me feel better, and helps everyone else to have a better day.
2. I LOVE TO LEARN - whether I'm in school, or speaking with someone that does something I know very little about, I love to learn about it.
3. I'M GENUINE - I work hard to be genuine with everyone about everything. In that if I ask you about what you do I actually mean. If I don't want to do something I tell you, and give you a reason.
4. I'M A PLANNER - I like to plan almost as much as I like to execute. For instance, setting up my debt plan for this year, is almost as fun as making a payment onto that debt!
5. I TRY TO HELP PEOPLE AS OFTEN AS I CAN - that's pretty self explanatory I think. The only thing I won't do is give money to non-charity people. I'll help you budget, set up a plan, but I won't give you money to get you out of debt. This also makes me a fixer.
6. I'M LOYAL AND LOVING - I love hard. I'm loyal to my friends, family, bloggers, certain brands, and employers. I wear my heart on my sleeve most of the time.
7. I LOVE SUGARY TREATS, AND FOOD IN GENERAL - hence the reason I have to start moving my body. I love so many things about food that I need to move to get rid of the extra calories I think about and ingest most weeks.
There are many other things I think are great about me, but I'm not sure you would find them great. My modesty and humility spared you from others.
2. I LOVE TO LEARN - whether I'm in school, or speaking with someone that does something I know very little about, I love to learn about it.
3. I'M GENUINE - I work hard to be genuine with everyone about everything. In that if I ask you about what you do I actually mean. If I don't want to do something I tell you, and give you a reason.
4. I'M A PLANNER - I like to plan almost as much as I like to execute. For instance, setting up my debt plan for this year, is almost as fun as making a payment onto that debt!
5. I TRY TO HELP PEOPLE AS OFTEN AS I CAN - that's pretty self explanatory I think. The only thing I won't do is give money to non-charity people. I'll help you budget, set up a plan, but I won't give you money to get you out of debt. This also makes me a fixer.
6. I'M LOYAL AND LOVING - I love hard. I'm loyal to my friends, family, bloggers, certain brands, and employers. I wear my heart on my sleeve most of the time.
7. I LOVE SUGARY TREATS, AND FOOD IN GENERAL - hence the reason I have to start moving my body. I love so many things about food that I need to move to get rid of the extra calories I think about and ingest most weeks.
There are many other things I think are great about me, but I'm not sure you would find them great. My modesty and humility spared you from others.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Desire - The emotion that makes you do crazy things
March is Desire Month. It's time to check in and see how your desire is going to get you to those goals.
Mine seems to be opening up this month. I spoke to my mom and managed to have my classes paid for AND a sizable chunk to put down on my debt. If my desire had faltered, I would have stopped at only the money for school. If I had been torn about my drive to get my financial goal done by Dec. 31, 2011, then maybe I wouldn't have had a clear thought about finding more money.
The next thing desire is doing is helping me sort out my possessions. It will allow me to build a lovely little portfolio of items to be sold from my little store in the spare bedroom. It will also move me towards streamlining my life a little. I'll be moving towards a more minimal lifestyle, and removing the clutter that often weighs me down, bogs my mental world down, and makes me feel closed off from life.
Since Spring and better weather are on their way, it's time to really get going with a lot more things.
First - determine what in my possession can be better used by someone else, and find a place to have a house sale.
Second - start ramping up my exercising to start slimming down my body
Third - determine what items are going to be needed.
Fourth - make lists of items I do have, items I"m looking to part with, and items I want, so I can stay better organized
Fifth - be brutal with myself. If it hasn't moved, been worn, been used in more than 5 years, it's time to part with it.
Desire is making me want to pick up my socks in many aspects of my life. The first one, obviously, is getting myself a few side gigs to bring in extra cash to pay off this debt faster. I have many skills to offer, and many items to offer. It's all about marketing myself to the right people. Curling has 3 weeks left and then my committments for the year have ceased. This means I have no reason to say no to doing things.
What has your desire moved you to do this month?
Mine seems to be opening up this month. I spoke to my mom and managed to have my classes paid for AND a sizable chunk to put down on my debt. If my desire had faltered, I would have stopped at only the money for school. If I had been torn about my drive to get my financial goal done by Dec. 31, 2011, then maybe I wouldn't have had a clear thought about finding more money.
The next thing desire is doing is helping me sort out my possessions. It will allow me to build a lovely little portfolio of items to be sold from my little store in the spare bedroom. It will also move me towards streamlining my life a little. I'll be moving towards a more minimal lifestyle, and removing the clutter that often weighs me down, bogs my mental world down, and makes me feel closed off from life.
Since Spring and better weather are on their way, it's time to really get going with a lot more things.
First - determine what in my possession can be better used by someone else, and find a place to have a house sale.
Second - start ramping up my exercising to start slimming down my body
Third - determine what items are going to be needed.
Fourth - make lists of items I do have, items I"m looking to part with, and items I want, so I can stay better organized
Fifth - be brutal with myself. If it hasn't moved, been worn, been used in more than 5 years, it's time to part with it.
Desire is making me want to pick up my socks in many aspects of my life. The first one, obviously, is getting myself a few side gigs to bring in extra cash to pay off this debt faster. I have many skills to offer, and many items to offer. It's all about marketing myself to the right people. Curling has 3 weeks left and then my committments for the year have ceased. This means I have no reason to say no to doing things.
What has your desire moved you to do this month?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Savings you didn't know about
It's Saturday and I felt the urge to post.
Many of you are on a journey to debt free. Many of you spend your days tracking each penny you spend, save, and otherwise transfer to whatever company is requesting it. You have financial obligations and stress related to this. You come from work and have to prepare dinner for you, the kids, your parents, and any many of others depending on the day. You have activities to rush off to, and side jobs to run to, and work to do for work the next day.
So there's a hole pile of energy you expend each day. I don't know what your personal situation is so some of these things will apply to some of you and not others.
For the last two months le man has been at home recovering and healing from ear surgery. Other than the first week, when I took care of him - getting his meals, cleaning his wound, scrubbing his back etc., I've been at work the whole time he's recovering. As he got better and started moving around, I began to notice a great weight lifted form my shoulders...
He was making dinner. He was cleaning the apartment. He was doing the dishes, making out the grocery list, and running small errands. This took enormous weight from my shoulders, as prior to his surgery, I was basically doing all of the things...in a 80% me 20% him ratio. Now it's more like 80% him, 20% me. I've found time to do things I was struggling to fit into my schedule before. I am less stressed out, less tired all the time and experiencing more joy in our relationship. Why? Because the work load is such that I don't have to worry about everything all the time and we are more equally in this together. There is more time to speak about things. There is more together time. And there is more of my time spent telling him he's a good man and how much I appreciate the little things he's doing.
Because he is coming up with dinner ideas Monday to Thursday, that leaves me with the weekends to enjoy some cooking time. It means I can pour over recipe books on a Saturday afternoon, visit a market and come up with something new for the weekend, that he'll try to emulate during the week. It means I'm eating better, eating less take out, spending less money on food, and enjoying the art of cooking more.
Creativity has been rejuvenated.
Sometimes it isn't possible, but if you live with someone - married or otherwise - why not put together a more shared schedule. One of you comes up with a tasty meal idea for Monday night, and cooks enough to do lunches the next day and with a small addition, dinner the following night. One of you does the same on Wednesday. That gets you to Friday.
Friday is usually pizza and date night at my place - though lately it's felt like date night every night!
Saturday and Sunday - if you have kids - can be kids cook nights - or Friday and Saturday. If they are too young - but can decide and help put together a menu, do that. It helps when you don't have to think you just have to execute.
If you are on your own this will be harder - but perhaps, taking some time on Saturday to find two recipes to make - One Sunday, One Wendesday. Figure out ways of adding to those meals to make them tasty but slightly different each time you eat them. Cook enough on each day for the next two or three days and voila - you've made it to the next weekend!
The second savings trick seems easy enough...put your lunch together the night before. Seems easy right - but seriously, when you make dinner drop the left overs into a reheatable container - I like Pyrex with lids - to take with you to work the next day. You'd be amazed at how many people do not do this!!
Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than normal...and jump your clock forward by 2 minutes...every one of them. Then forget you've done it.
Turn the TV, Computer, iPad, iPhone or whatever other electronic device you are attached to, off for one hour each evening. I know it's blasphemy. But seriously. You'll find that you suddenly have time to hang that picture, wash the towels, read your insurance policy, file that pile, put something into a scrap book, discover the back of your closet, or read that book you keep meaning to get through, or have a bubble bath or even go for a walk.
Just one hour unplugged each night can give you 7 hours a week of productive time or you time or super secret weight loss time!
Incidently - though I've posted on Saturday and written this like it is Saturday - it's actually only Thursday. And I shut down after I wrote this, went to curling and had a fantastic time!!
The above has begun translating into saving in my pocket as of late as well - because for me they are all different forms of entertainment. And, other than curling, none of them really cost me anything! Have a happy Saturday - and unplug for a bit!
Who knows - you may even end up in a bubble bath by candle light!
Many of you are on a journey to debt free. Many of you spend your days tracking each penny you spend, save, and otherwise transfer to whatever company is requesting it. You have financial obligations and stress related to this. You come from work and have to prepare dinner for you, the kids, your parents, and any many of others depending on the day. You have activities to rush off to, and side jobs to run to, and work to do for work the next day.
So there's a hole pile of energy you expend each day. I don't know what your personal situation is so some of these things will apply to some of you and not others.
For the last two months le man has been at home recovering and healing from ear surgery. Other than the first week, when I took care of him - getting his meals, cleaning his wound, scrubbing his back etc., I've been at work the whole time he's recovering. As he got better and started moving around, I began to notice a great weight lifted form my shoulders...
He was making dinner. He was cleaning the apartment. He was doing the dishes, making out the grocery list, and running small errands. This took enormous weight from my shoulders, as prior to his surgery, I was basically doing all of the things...in a 80% me 20% him ratio. Now it's more like 80% him, 20% me. I've found time to do things I was struggling to fit into my schedule before. I am less stressed out, less tired all the time and experiencing more joy in our relationship. Why? Because the work load is such that I don't have to worry about everything all the time and we are more equally in this together. There is more time to speak about things. There is more together time. And there is more of my time spent telling him he's a good man and how much I appreciate the little things he's doing.
Because he is coming up with dinner ideas Monday to Thursday, that leaves me with the weekends to enjoy some cooking time. It means I can pour over recipe books on a Saturday afternoon, visit a market and come up with something new for the weekend, that he'll try to emulate during the week. It means I'm eating better, eating less take out, spending less money on food, and enjoying the art of cooking more.
Creativity has been rejuvenated.
Sometimes it isn't possible, but if you live with someone - married or otherwise - why not put together a more shared schedule. One of you comes up with a tasty meal idea for Monday night, and cooks enough to do lunches the next day and with a small addition, dinner the following night. One of you does the same on Wednesday. That gets you to Friday.
Friday is usually pizza and date night at my place - though lately it's felt like date night every night!
Saturday and Sunday - if you have kids - can be kids cook nights - or Friday and Saturday. If they are too young - but can decide and help put together a menu, do that. It helps when you don't have to think you just have to execute.
If you are on your own this will be harder - but perhaps, taking some time on Saturday to find two recipes to make - One Sunday, One Wendesday. Figure out ways of adding to those meals to make them tasty but slightly different each time you eat them. Cook enough on each day for the next two or three days and voila - you've made it to the next weekend!
The second savings trick seems easy enough...put your lunch together the night before. Seems easy right - but seriously, when you make dinner drop the left overs into a reheatable container - I like Pyrex with lids - to take with you to work the next day. You'd be amazed at how many people do not do this!!
Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier than normal...and jump your clock forward by 2 minutes...every one of them. Then forget you've done it.
Turn the TV, Computer, iPad, iPhone or whatever other electronic device you are attached to, off for one hour each evening. I know it's blasphemy. But seriously. You'll find that you suddenly have time to hang that picture, wash the towels, read your insurance policy, file that pile, put something into a scrap book, discover the back of your closet, or read that book you keep meaning to get through, or have a bubble bath or even go for a walk.
Just one hour unplugged each night can give you 7 hours a week of productive time or you time or super secret weight loss time!
Incidently - though I've posted on Saturday and written this like it is Saturday - it's actually only Thursday. And I shut down after I wrote this, went to curling and had a fantastic time!!
The above has begun translating into saving in my pocket as of late as well - because for me they are all different forms of entertainment. And, other than curling, none of them really cost me anything! Have a happy Saturday - and unplug for a bit!
Who knows - you may even end up in a bubble bath by candle light!
Friday, March 18, 2011
What would you do with $100,000? $1,000,000?
A few ladies I read in the blogging world have posted about what they'd do with a wind fall. Some have done for $100,000 and some for $1,000,000. I'm going to cover both here:
With $100,000:
Pay off the debt - $20,000 (leaves $80,000)
Take a chunk out of my RRSP contribution room $25,000 (leaves $55,000)
Put a chunk into my Emergency Fund $10,000 (leaves $45,000)
Use the rest to get my house down payment started.
With $1,000,000:
Pay off my debt - $20,000
Max out my RRSP contribution room - $60,000
Max out le man's contribution room - $70,000
Buy a house using a sizable down payment - $100,000
Give Mom $100,000 to do whatever she wanted
Give my sister $50,000 to get her feet under her
Give $50,000 to le man's brother for the same reason
Give $100,000 to le man's mom
Put $50,000 into an emergency fund
Invest $200,000 to earn cash and live on the interest
Put $50,000 into a housing repair fund
Donate $50,000 to a favourite charity
Take a trip to Europe $10,000
Take a trip to Australia $10,000
Take a trip to South America $10,000
Finish my degree $6,000
Take a trip around Canada $10,000
Take a trip to the US $10,000
Get married $20,000
Set up a baby fund $50,000
Leave the remaining money in our accounts as quick liquid cash and go abut our lives like we always have. $24,000
I over estimated on the trips, but that's because I want to see everything I can in all of these places. I also over estimated on the amount for school as well. I'm pretty sure it'll cost me about 2/3 of that to finish everything for my degree. I also think I'd probably buy my house outright as well. But those are things I'd like to do with the money. Giving some to our parents is a given. Giving some to our siblings will entirely depend on their situation at the time. I'm one to help them out, but only if they are helping themselves - and at this stage they are both floundering around playing "the world is against me" card at every chance they get.
I would take those trips after I finished school as well. It's the last major life event I want to accomplish before too long. The addition of some funds would help me take a leave of absence from work for the 8 months I need to finish and be able to soundly fund it...but that's only if I were to get that money in the next 8 months. After that I'll be done the debt and I can save for it myself.
Oh to dream.
With $100,000:
Pay off the debt - $20,000 (leaves $80,000)
Take a chunk out of my RRSP contribution room $25,000 (leaves $55,000)
Put a chunk into my Emergency Fund $10,000 (leaves $45,000)
Use the rest to get my house down payment started.
With $1,000,000:
Pay off my debt - $20,000
Max out my RRSP contribution room - $60,000
Max out le man's contribution room - $70,000
Buy a house using a sizable down payment - $100,000
Give Mom $100,000 to do whatever she wanted
Give my sister $50,000 to get her feet under her
Give $50,000 to le man's brother for the same reason
Give $100,000 to le man's mom
Put $50,000 into an emergency fund
Invest $200,000 to earn cash and live on the interest
Put $50,000 into a housing repair fund
Donate $50,000 to a favourite charity
Take a trip to Europe $10,000
Take a trip to Australia $10,000
Take a trip to South America $10,000
Finish my degree $6,000
Take a trip around Canada $10,000
Take a trip to the US $10,000
Get married $20,000
Set up a baby fund $50,000
Leave the remaining money in our accounts as quick liquid cash and go abut our lives like we always have. $24,000
I over estimated on the trips, but that's because I want to see everything I can in all of these places. I also over estimated on the amount for school as well. I'm pretty sure it'll cost me about 2/3 of that to finish everything for my degree. I also think I'd probably buy my house outright as well. But those are things I'd like to do with the money. Giving some to our parents is a given. Giving some to our siblings will entirely depend on their situation at the time. I'm one to help them out, but only if they are helping themselves - and at this stage they are both floundering around playing "the world is against me" card at every chance they get.
I would take those trips after I finished school as well. It's the last major life event I want to accomplish before too long. The addition of some funds would help me take a leave of absence from work for the 8 months I need to finish and be able to soundly fund it...but that's only if I were to get that money in the next 8 months. After that I'll be done the debt and I can save for it myself.
Oh to dream.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A Merry St. Patrick's Day to you!
With a pint o' Guinness, a shot o' whiskey and a click of my heels, I'm off to curling tonight!
Ok - seriously I won't be drinking at all - even though I am Irish and today is a great day. Nope I'm not anti-drinking. I just have to drive home after curling and thus, no alcohol for me.
I'm making some head way on my debt. I'm below that $20,000 mark, and I'm working hard to close in on the $15,000 mark in short order.
Still it can't hurt to start finding other ways to make more money. I have an apartment full of items that are just collecting dust, so I'll be spending this coming weekend making a royal mess of my apartment to put together everything that I can sell.
I also have a birthday coming up. My real life birthday that is. 3 weeks away actually. It's time to figure out what I'd like for my birthday. I have a list of wanted items. I am just not spending money on them any time this year.
Here's my list:
Books:
Fit to Curl by John Morris
Never too Late by Gail Vaz Oxlade
Practical Items:
New SLR Digital camera with 10-12 pixels per ... my current digital is 4 pixels per and it's dirty and worn out in places. The shutter button is actually stuck most of the time and I'd like to be able to take better quality shots and begin printing and framing them. Why pay for art when I can create my own?!
Foam and Fabric to refinish the seats on my dining room chairs.
Frivolous Items:
Royal Doulton Figurine in my name - the new Pretty Ladies Edition.
Spa package so I can get my facial, massage and mani pedi on.
Concert Tickets to see a few of my favourite bands before it's uncool for me to do so.
Fantasy Curling Camp with Team Howard - to improve my skills and work on some things.
Not greatly out of the question on the practical items and books, but the frivolous items are definite no gos this year I think.
Sometime this year I will also begin finishing some of the other crafts I have started. This weekend while I search my place for saleable items, I'll also be making a list of things I have to do this year.
Using my Irish luck, perhaps I'll have a brain storm to get moving on some other things. First things First - get my stock opened and packages put together to sell. Spa at home anyone?
Ok - seriously I won't be drinking at all - even though I am Irish and today is a great day. Nope I'm not anti-drinking. I just have to drive home after curling and thus, no alcohol for me.
I'm making some head way on my debt. I'm below that $20,000 mark, and I'm working hard to close in on the $15,000 mark in short order.
Still it can't hurt to start finding other ways to make more money. I have an apartment full of items that are just collecting dust, so I'll be spending this coming weekend making a royal mess of my apartment to put together everything that I can sell.
I also have a birthday coming up. My real life birthday that is. 3 weeks away actually. It's time to figure out what I'd like for my birthday. I have a list of wanted items. I am just not spending money on them any time this year.
Here's my list:
Books:
Fit to Curl by John Morris
Never too Late by Gail Vaz Oxlade
Practical Items:
New SLR Digital camera with 10-12 pixels per ... my current digital is 4 pixels per and it's dirty and worn out in places. The shutter button is actually stuck most of the time and I'd like to be able to take better quality shots and begin printing and framing them. Why pay for art when I can create my own?!
Foam and Fabric to refinish the seats on my dining room chairs.
Frivolous Items:
Royal Doulton Figurine in my name - the new Pretty Ladies Edition.
Spa package so I can get my facial, massage and mani pedi on.
Concert Tickets to see a few of my favourite bands before it's uncool for me to do so.
Fantasy Curling Camp with Team Howard - to improve my skills and work on some things.
Not greatly out of the question on the practical items and books, but the frivolous items are definite no gos this year I think.
Sometime this year I will also begin finishing some of the other crafts I have started. This weekend while I search my place for saleable items, I'll also be making a list of things I have to do this year.
Using my Irish luck, perhaps I'll have a brain storm to get moving on some other things. First things First - get my stock opened and packages put together to sell. Spa at home anyone?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Oh What a Beautful Morning!
Oh What a Beautiful Day!
I just dropped $1,500 on to my debt! Everything's going my way!!
If you know show tunes you'll recognize that way from Oklahoma.
Mom came through with the money yesterday. I promptly moved $1,500 to my account at Western - to preempt the tuition payment for the courses I'm taking. Western will simply take the money and apply it to the balance owing for the two courses I'm registered for. It should cover them...perhaps there will be a few dimes left, but I have a $4.11 credit from the last class, so that should cover it all.
I put $1,500 onto my debt yesterday. It'll clear later this week. My payment from last week of $955 hasn't cleared yet. I'm happy to have busted through the $20,000 barrier in the debt. The end of the month will see me somewhere around $19,000.
I'm telling you, finding money snowballs in the most unexpected places is making me such a giddy person!!!!
April will see a mileage check for $100, medical funds transfer of $235, plus the scheduled $1,68[and change], and my tax return at some point. I'm scheduled for a mileage check in May as well, plus the scheduled payments and whatever else comes my way in terms of snowballs. And June see's a three paycheck month. That means double the money towards debt...approx. $3,200 that month! By the time I'm done with June's payment, I'll be looking at a remaining debt of about $12,500 or so. That's halfway!!
I am so excited about this debt being gone! Stay tuned for more news on ways I've found to side hustle!!
I just dropped $1,500 on to my debt! Everything's going my way!!
If you know show tunes you'll recognize that way from Oklahoma.
Mom came through with the money yesterday. I promptly moved $1,500 to my account at Western - to preempt the tuition payment for the courses I'm taking. Western will simply take the money and apply it to the balance owing for the two courses I'm registered for. It should cover them...perhaps there will be a few dimes left, but I have a $4.11 credit from the last class, so that should cover it all.
I put $1,500 onto my debt yesterday. It'll clear later this week. My payment from last week of $955 hasn't cleared yet. I'm happy to have busted through the $20,000 barrier in the debt. The end of the month will see me somewhere around $19,000.
I'm telling you, finding money snowballs in the most unexpected places is making me such a giddy person!!!!
April will see a mileage check for $100, medical funds transfer of $235, plus the scheduled $1,68[and change], and my tax return at some point. I'm scheduled for a mileage check in May as well, plus the scheduled payments and whatever else comes my way in terms of snowballs. And June see's a three paycheck month. That means double the money towards debt...approx. $3,200 that month! By the time I'm done with June's payment, I'll be looking at a remaining debt of about $12,500 or so. That's halfway!!
I am so excited about this debt being gone! Stay tuned for more news on ways I've found to side hustle!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Half Way Through Desire!
March is Desire Month. Today is the 15th of March. We are half way done this month!
Holy cow! Half way already! Anyone else feel like this fist quarter is going like gangbusters?
So, with this being that half way point, how is your desire doing? How are you doing on taking those calculated steps toward reaching your goal? For me, I have solidified my March payment schedule to my debt. I am not-so-patiently waiting for that last RRSP slip fr the 2010 tax season so I can file this tax return and get my money back in a more timely manner.
I have made the call to mom for the money for both school and for a sizeable payment to my debt. I am currently waiting for the transfer to come through, so I can pay for both.
I am looking at my future - a couple of months from now - and liking how it looks. I am almost giddy with excitement to reach this goal. With the money from my mom I know it is going to be obtained by year end.
My plan will work. My money will be all mine January 2012. I can't help it if I am now looking for ways to increase my incoming cash so I can be out of debt before Christmas this year. I can't help it that I got giddy when my sister called yesterday asking if I still had product available for sale, because a friend of hers is in love with Mary Kay Eye Makeup remover. I know I have one left in my stock. I know that it's only $17.50 plus HST, but it's going directly to my debt! That's another $19.78 that I can put towards that debt!!
This leads me to think about what I can do to increase my income to help get out of debt sooner. I have to take a weekend - the one coming in fact - to clean out some items from my apartment, and to pull out the stock I have left and start thinking of ways I can sell it off!
Ooooohhh!! Sale!! For me it's a two-fold thought process. The more I sell the less I have taking up space in my apartment. I have fresh stock in there and a few items that I can use for gifts for upcoming celebrations, therefore that gift and clothing budget will get to be reallocated as well....hmmm..Christmas funding here I come!!
This weekend is going to be interesting I think. I can't wait to put together packages and a flyer for my friends. It'll be a nice way to find a gift that makes a woman feel pampered.
Holy cow! Half way already! Anyone else feel like this fist quarter is going like gangbusters?
So, with this being that half way point, how is your desire doing? How are you doing on taking those calculated steps toward reaching your goal? For me, I have solidified my March payment schedule to my debt. I am not-so-patiently waiting for that last RRSP slip fr the 2010 tax season so I can file this tax return and get my money back in a more timely manner.
I have made the call to mom for the money for both school and for a sizeable payment to my debt. I am currently waiting for the transfer to come through, so I can pay for both.
I am looking at my future - a couple of months from now - and liking how it looks. I am almost giddy with excitement to reach this goal. With the money from my mom I know it is going to be obtained by year end.
My plan will work. My money will be all mine January 2012. I can't help it if I am now looking for ways to increase my incoming cash so I can be out of debt before Christmas this year. I can't help it that I got giddy when my sister called yesterday asking if I still had product available for sale, because a friend of hers is in love with Mary Kay Eye Makeup remover. I know I have one left in my stock. I know that it's only $17.50 plus HST, but it's going directly to my debt! That's another $19.78 that I can put towards that debt!!
This leads me to think about what I can do to increase my income to help get out of debt sooner. I have to take a weekend - the one coming in fact - to clean out some items from my apartment, and to pull out the stock I have left and start thinking of ways I can sell it off!
Ooooohhh!! Sale!! For me it's a two-fold thought process. The more I sell the less I have taking up space in my apartment. I have fresh stock in there and a few items that I can use for gifts for upcoming celebrations, therefore that gift and clothing budget will get to be reallocated as well....hmmm..Christmas funding here I come!!
This weekend is going to be interesting I think. I can't wait to put together packages and a flyer for my friends. It'll be a nice way to find a gift that makes a woman feel pampered.
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Monday in the middle of a month
It's Monday. I'm at work today. I can tell you I'm having a little bit of a motivation issue to get some major things done today. I can also tell you that I'd like nothing more than to start my day with a bubble bath, a cup of tea and the current book I'm reading. I think it's the book I'm reading that lends me to want to be places other than work lately...it's a true account of one person's experience in surviving Auschwitz. It's well written so far, and really makes you think of life.
That's not what I want to talk about today though.
I had the pleasure of attending two more games at the Tim Hortons Brier this weekend. Man I love curling! (yes I'm a bit of geek and no I don't care). it was a nice time, we sat in really good seats, and were able to take part in a full autograph sessions with all but three teams. I had the pleasure of striking a conversation with many teams at the Brier, and speaking to them about random things. My favourite would be speaking to Kevin Martin about his fresh loss to team Ontario, and the remark made by Marc Kennedy regarding my Team Canada shirt and the birth of his upcoming child.
I came away from this weekend having relaxed, doing something that I truly love to watch and do, and speak to some of my role models.
Sunday I spent recovering for the day before - it was a long, adrenaline induced day, that allowed me to exercies in the most awesome of ways. I'm talking about the exercise you get when you don't pay attention to it, doing something you love to do.
Being in an really well laid-out venue like the John Labatt Center in London, allows you to walk quite a bit to do things like find a bathroom, find your seats, find suitable edible items, find the door to get to your care. Between games, we opted to schlepp to the Convention Center for the autograph session, rather than taking the very busy shuttle. In doing so we got to see Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy arrive at the hotel, and walk the concourse with many of the athletes. I also did stairs up and down both venues, since my seats for the second game were on the 200 level. We found the stairs and walked those a little bit.
I've noticed in the last few days I feel better exercising. I feel great lightly jogging up and down stairs at a fast pace than I thought I could go. I love this new found energy of mine. And other than the two oversized slices of pizza, half a small box of glossette raisins and half a box of reeses pieces, I did eat well. No weird snacking things happened.
On a financial note, I deposited my check and my mileage from February and put $955 towards my debt. I also spoke to my mom about the fund for school and such. I decided to take $3,000 now, and leave the rest with her a little longer. With that $3,000, $1,500 will go to school, leaving $1,500 to go towards my debt.
That is the money I needed to find to get out of debt this year. With this early, I'll save myself a little interest by putting that down. With the extra money coming from my mileage, I'll be able to put some more money each month towards my debt. Also, I'm waiting on my last T5 for my last RRSP contribution for the 2010 tax season. From this I'm expecting about $1,000 back. That's going straight to my debt. Remember I said I needed $3,000 on top of all the scheduled payments towards my debt?
That's $1,000 from my tax return. $1,500 form the money sitting with my mom, and I still have mileage each month, and the medical fund I'm getting returns on to add to my debt. It's looking very good that I'll be out of debt before the of this year!
Not bad for a Monday, I'd say!!
That's not what I want to talk about today though.
I had the pleasure of attending two more games at the Tim Hortons Brier this weekend. Man I love curling! (yes I'm a bit of geek and no I don't care). it was a nice time, we sat in really good seats, and were able to take part in a full autograph sessions with all but three teams. I had the pleasure of striking a conversation with many teams at the Brier, and speaking to them about random things. My favourite would be speaking to Kevin Martin about his fresh loss to team Ontario, and the remark made by Marc Kennedy regarding my Team Canada shirt and the birth of his upcoming child.
I came away from this weekend having relaxed, doing something that I truly love to watch and do, and speak to some of my role models.
Sunday I spent recovering for the day before - it was a long, adrenaline induced day, that allowed me to exercies in the most awesome of ways. I'm talking about the exercise you get when you don't pay attention to it, doing something you love to do.
Being in an really well laid-out venue like the John Labatt Center in London, allows you to walk quite a bit to do things like find a bathroom, find your seats, find suitable edible items, find the door to get to your care. Between games, we opted to schlepp to the Convention Center for the autograph session, rather than taking the very busy shuttle. In doing so we got to see Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy arrive at the hotel, and walk the concourse with many of the athletes. I also did stairs up and down both venues, since my seats for the second game were on the 200 level. We found the stairs and walked those a little bit.
I've noticed in the last few days I feel better exercising. I feel great lightly jogging up and down stairs at a fast pace than I thought I could go. I love this new found energy of mine. And other than the two oversized slices of pizza, half a small box of glossette raisins and half a box of reeses pieces, I did eat well. No weird snacking things happened.
On a financial note, I deposited my check and my mileage from February and put $955 towards my debt. I also spoke to my mom about the fund for school and such. I decided to take $3,000 now, and leave the rest with her a little longer. With that $3,000, $1,500 will go to school, leaving $1,500 to go towards my debt.
That is the money I needed to find to get out of debt this year. With this early, I'll save myself a little interest by putting that down. With the extra money coming from my mileage, I'll be able to put some more money each month towards my debt. Also, I'm waiting on my last T5 for my last RRSP contribution for the 2010 tax season. From this I'm expecting about $1,000 back. That's going straight to my debt. Remember I said I needed $3,000 on top of all the scheduled payments towards my debt?
That's $1,000 from my tax return. $1,500 form the money sitting with my mom, and I still have mileage each month, and the medical fund I'm getting returns on to add to my debt. It's looking very good that I'll be out of debt before the of this year!
Not bad for a Monday, I'd say!!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
I love Saturdays!
Why? Well because I don't have to work today!!
This Saturday I'm going to be using my entertainment budget to head to London to be part of the spectators at the Page 3, 4 playooff game and the first semi-final game at the Tim Horton's Brier!
Also, I thought I take this time to reply to some of the comments I've received from readers:
To Jolie - knowing you are from a few provinces away, I know that you have a chance to get to the World competition this year...it's being held in Regina! That should be some seriously great curling!! One Draw gives you four games worth of serious shot making. Check it out if you are close!
To Ryann - please email me with what you are proposing. I always check out articles before deciding, so if you have the article you've written and would like to submit, you can find my email address to the left of this post.
This Saturday I'm going to be using my entertainment budget to head to London to be part of the spectators at the Page 3, 4 playooff game and the first semi-final game at the Tim Horton's Brier!
Also, I thought I take this time to reply to some of the comments I've received from readers:
To Jolie - knowing you are from a few provinces away, I know that you have a chance to get to the World competition this year...it's being held in Regina! That should be some seriously great curling!! One Draw gives you four games worth of serious shot making. Check it out if you are close!
To Ryann - please email me with what you are proposing. I always check out articles before deciding, so if you have the article you've written and would like to submit, you can find my email address to the left of this post.
- The more I read your blog, the more I think you might be my twin;) Same age - same marital status - same debt (although I'm not as agressive with my repayment) - I also curl - I am also a "plus-size" lady....so I will gladly take this challenge with you. Actually we recently adopted a dog from the SPCA and I have been walking A LOT and am down about 15 pounds already. Good luck with your journies (weight loss, debt, life...)
LOL! I love that there are people out there on the same journey. It appears though, that you have a few small differences in your journey - with the addition of your adopted pal and a bit of a head start on your walking! I also love that you are a curler! You can appreciate how many separate things you have to think about to play the game, and how many different tiny muscles it takes to balance your body so as not to crash to the ice and really injure yourself. I'm sure you can also appreciate what a " Hurry! Reeeaaalllly Hard" does to your shoulders and arms and the drive to really move that rock to where it's supposed to be. I had heard you have a doppelganger (twin but completely unknown to you), I've just not had anyone mention it before!
- Woops, think I stumbled on to sesame st. by mistake. Oh, no I didn't, it's really you. Ah, the continuous exercise and calorie counting saga of which I am very familiar. In fact, I can probably tell you the # of calories in everything you eat! Not that it does me any good, but I keep trying:)
As always I wish you all a fabulous day! Keep planning your next move towards your individual journey. One step is one step closer to your goal.
Friday, March 11, 2011
No Wammies No Wammies No Wammies!!
It's Pay Day!! And so far nothing has been done about the pay issue. That's because the boss that asked didn't bother saying anything until Wednesday of this week AND he's gone on holidays all next week so I'll get an update sometime before the end of March I think? WAMMIE =(
In other news, I'm putting another chunk of money towards my debt.
After that I've started my health regime. I'm going to get myself to a healthy weight, eat more healthy food, and live a more balanced life - health for the mind, body and soul.
This week I figured out my fine print at the gym - expires on April 25, 2011.
That means I have 44 days to use that sucker and jump start my healthy me.
I started at the gym on Wednesday. I weighed myself that morning - at one number...I'm not ready to let you all know where I'm starting yet. But that's on me, not you =)
I weighed myself this morning....at 3 pounds less than Wednesday!
Okie dokie - this is starting well. Now to get something sorted out, and a chart made for myself. I'm planning on weighing in every Sunday morning. It's the start of the week on the calendar. It's a time I've got with myself to do whatever I want, and le man is around to witness things.
This will not impact my pocket book any further. I will not have to pay for a thing to work out and exercise from now until I decide to do something else in the future AFTER my debt is paid off. I have put kickboxing on hold as well, since it' costs about $210 every three months. It's not in the budget until after the debt is gone.
So I have the gym for free until April 25, 2011. I have 20 swim tickets to get me to Mid May. I'm hoping by the end of April, our weather has stopped snowing on us and I can start walking my circuit around my home - and actually going somewhere when I take a step. Instead of round and round on the treadmill. For now that's good though - because it's warm and dry, and I can watch tv while I walk round and round.
What's different now than before? Well I want to feel better. I want to look better and I want to purge like nobody's business in August of this year, such that I can have an appropriate wardrobe for me and not have more than one size of clothing in that walk-in of mine, and actually have more room for things, less clutter, and truly feel better about everything. Plus - as some very wise women have said before me - I want to be able to go to a mall, see a sale in a regular sized store and spend $5 on a really awesome piece of clothing. Instead of waiting until my favourite plus-sized store has a sale and spending $35 on a similar awesome piece of clothing, but because it's got more material I have to spend more!
Plus I want my svelt body back. I was svelt once...for a chunk of years (6 actually), then I started working full time, driving way too much in Toronto traffic, and being overly stressed out and becoming a hermit for years. No more hermit!
The thing I've found is that my desire to be debt free and my desire to be svelt me are really kicking it up a notch this week. I started feeling slightly bummed out. I started walking, and now I have energy in the morning, I sleep better at night, and the scale has already rescinded that number!!
2011 is going to be a banner year for me. I can feel it!
To those ladies in blogger land taking their own healthy journey. I would like to offer a little challenge. I have a goal in mind to be 10% less of my weight by July 1, 2011. I challenge you to find ways to incorporate exercise into your day, such that it doesn't feel like you are exercising. Walk three extra blocks a day. Climb the stairs are home - a lot. Maybe your office building has stairs - try taking a half hour and seeing how many you can do.
Perhaps you're like me and had a plan to start when the weather got better......take a risk, make a plan, and get moving today. Why not go to the mall simply to walk in a place that offers heat, warmth, and fun things to look at?
Start moving though ladies, because I'm I'll be working to catch up to those of you that started before me. I'm already 3 pounds down from when I measured myself. I'll be going on the record on Sunday and will be adjusting my sidebars to show my progress. Let's see what you can do!!
In other news, I'm putting another chunk of money towards my debt.
After that I've started my health regime. I'm going to get myself to a healthy weight, eat more healthy food, and live a more balanced life - health for the mind, body and soul.
This week I figured out my fine print at the gym - expires on April 25, 2011.
That means I have 44 days to use that sucker and jump start my healthy me.
I started at the gym on Wednesday. I weighed myself that morning - at one number...I'm not ready to let you all know where I'm starting yet. But that's on me, not you =)
I weighed myself this morning....at 3 pounds less than Wednesday!
Okie dokie - this is starting well. Now to get something sorted out, and a chart made for myself. I'm planning on weighing in every Sunday morning. It's the start of the week on the calendar. It's a time I've got with myself to do whatever I want, and le man is around to witness things.
This will not impact my pocket book any further. I will not have to pay for a thing to work out and exercise from now until I decide to do something else in the future AFTER my debt is paid off. I have put kickboxing on hold as well, since it' costs about $210 every three months. It's not in the budget until after the debt is gone.
So I have the gym for free until April 25, 2011. I have 20 swim tickets to get me to Mid May. I'm hoping by the end of April, our weather has stopped snowing on us and I can start walking my circuit around my home - and actually going somewhere when I take a step. Instead of round and round on the treadmill. For now that's good though - because it's warm and dry, and I can watch tv while I walk round and round.
What's different now than before? Well I want to feel better. I want to look better and I want to purge like nobody's business in August of this year, such that I can have an appropriate wardrobe for me and not have more than one size of clothing in that walk-in of mine, and actually have more room for things, less clutter, and truly feel better about everything. Plus - as some very wise women have said before me - I want to be able to go to a mall, see a sale in a regular sized store and spend $5 on a really awesome piece of clothing. Instead of waiting until my favourite plus-sized store has a sale and spending $35 on a similar awesome piece of clothing, but because it's got more material I have to spend more!
Plus I want my svelt body back. I was svelt once...for a chunk of years (6 actually), then I started working full time, driving way too much in Toronto traffic, and being overly stressed out and becoming a hermit for years. No more hermit!
The thing I've found is that my desire to be debt free and my desire to be svelt me are really kicking it up a notch this week. I started feeling slightly bummed out. I started walking, and now I have energy in the morning, I sleep better at night, and the scale has already rescinded that number!!
2011 is going to be a banner year for me. I can feel it!
To those ladies in blogger land taking their own healthy journey. I would like to offer a little challenge. I have a goal in mind to be 10% less of my weight by July 1, 2011. I challenge you to find ways to incorporate exercise into your day, such that it doesn't feel like you are exercising. Walk three extra blocks a day. Climb the stairs are home - a lot. Maybe your office building has stairs - try taking a half hour and seeing how many you can do.
Perhaps you're like me and had a plan to start when the weather got better......take a risk, make a plan, and get moving today. Why not go to the mall simply to walk in a place that offers heat, warmth, and fun things to look at?
Start moving though ladies, because I'm I'll be working to catch up to those of you that started before me. I'm already 3 pounds down from when I measured myself. I'll be going on the record on Sunday and will be adjusting my sidebars to show my progress. Let's see what you can do!!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Reading and Understanding Fine Print
Today's post is brought to you by the sentiments Grr. and Arg.
So I joined a gym last year. I diligently went to said gym for the first 5 months. Then I stopped being so diligent. I got out my contract in September and read the thing a few times. I took my letter of cancellation in when I thought it was appropriate. I signed the paperwork and put it away. Then I noticed the payments were still coming out of my account....
So I've paid for January, February and March of this year. After discussing for the third time, the contract I signed, I have determined that there was an ambiguous section, that although I have an expiry date, it doesn't actually expire, and that this ambiguous section caused the payments in January and February to come out. I thought my last day was Feb 26, 2011. Then it was March 25, 2011...after speaking to the representative from the gym about my account, I am officially payment free and my last day with the gym is April 25, 2011. I will not see another payment removed from my account.
Ok.
Pays to understand the fine print. Even though I read it, and they explained it, never was I told that just because there is an expiry date on the contract, that it wasn't actually an expiry date because of the automatic renewal clause after 30 days. So why have a contract with one on it???
Anyways, it's good news for me since the weather is horrible out and I'm looking for things to do to get my body moving and this weight off of it. Now i have the use of this gym until April 25, 2011.
I started walking last night. Did a little research on the distance and how many potential calories I could burn. I was looking to walk 10km last night. It's about the equivalent of 10,000 steps. I got to 7km and there were pains in places I wasn't used to. It also took me two hours to walk to 7km. I wore my own heart rate monitor, complete with calorie counter and everything. The machine said I burned about 562 calories walking this distance. My monitor said It was 1263. Since it's directly proportioned to me, and my heart rate I'm inclined to believe my monitor. Those machines are calibrated at a 150, 35 year old male with a great heart and in excellent shape. Last time I checked I was not 35, not male, and definitely not 150 pounds.
So last nights walk in two hours I got to 1263 calories. Now if I start actually figuring out how many I eat in a day and how many I burn while doing my job, I can figure out how many I need to burn every day to start to walk off my weight. I've done it before. I can do it again. And with the gym extension to close to the end of April, I'll have a dry place to work on that, and two hours of entertainment each night I go taken care of. As I get better I'll start working towards that 10km in two hours thing.
So for the next 44 days I have a gym membership, that won't be costing me any more money. After I run this out, I have swimming tickets to use up at my local pool. I bought them years ago. There is no expiry on them as they act like a one-shot pass, for 20 passes, to be used for aquafit, lane swim, or any other class they offer. When the weather gets a little warmer - closer to the end of April - I'll start using these to get in a work out.
Once those are used up I'll be in a position to not be overly affected by the weather and I can start on my 6 km circuit around my home. It's hilly and a decent length. Once I do this for a few weeks, I'll move into a light jog/fast walk pace. With my heartrate monitor on me I can tell when I'm sitting in the fatburn stage of my heart rate and when it crosses into the cardio region. Since my idea is to burn off the fat on my body, being in the fatburn stage is where I need to be.
Today I'll be wearing my monitor at work for 8 hours so I can see what I burn in an eight hour period. Since I'm pretty seditary at work, I can multiply this number by 3 to get what I do in a day just doing my daily routine. Figuring out what I eat in a day will be the next step. Since I have two packets of oatmeal for breakfast and add only hot water to the it - no sugar, no milk, no honey - I know that breakfast is 220 calories. Time to find out what is in a Tim's Hot Chocolate, the bread I eat at lunch and an idea of the calories in the veggies and fruit I eat.
So I joined a gym last year. I diligently went to said gym for the first 5 months. Then I stopped being so diligent. I got out my contract in September and read the thing a few times. I took my letter of cancellation in when I thought it was appropriate. I signed the paperwork and put it away. Then I noticed the payments were still coming out of my account....
So I've paid for January, February and March of this year. After discussing for the third time, the contract I signed, I have determined that there was an ambiguous section, that although I have an expiry date, it doesn't actually expire, and that this ambiguous section caused the payments in January and February to come out. I thought my last day was Feb 26, 2011. Then it was March 25, 2011...after speaking to the representative from the gym about my account, I am officially payment free and my last day with the gym is April 25, 2011. I will not see another payment removed from my account.
Ok.
Pays to understand the fine print. Even though I read it, and they explained it, never was I told that just because there is an expiry date on the contract, that it wasn't actually an expiry date because of the automatic renewal clause after 30 days. So why have a contract with one on it???
Anyways, it's good news for me since the weather is horrible out and I'm looking for things to do to get my body moving and this weight off of it. Now i have the use of this gym until April 25, 2011.
I started walking last night. Did a little research on the distance and how many potential calories I could burn. I was looking to walk 10km last night. It's about the equivalent of 10,000 steps. I got to 7km and there were pains in places I wasn't used to. It also took me two hours to walk to 7km. I wore my own heart rate monitor, complete with calorie counter and everything. The machine said I burned about 562 calories walking this distance. My monitor said It was 1263. Since it's directly proportioned to me, and my heart rate I'm inclined to believe my monitor. Those machines are calibrated at a 150, 35 year old male with a great heart and in excellent shape. Last time I checked I was not 35, not male, and definitely not 150 pounds.
So last nights walk in two hours I got to 1263 calories. Now if I start actually figuring out how many I eat in a day and how many I burn while doing my job, I can figure out how many I need to burn every day to start to walk off my weight. I've done it before. I can do it again. And with the gym extension to close to the end of April, I'll have a dry place to work on that, and two hours of entertainment each night I go taken care of. As I get better I'll start working towards that 10km in two hours thing.
So for the next 44 days I have a gym membership, that won't be costing me any more money. After I run this out, I have swimming tickets to use up at my local pool. I bought them years ago. There is no expiry on them as they act like a one-shot pass, for 20 passes, to be used for aquafit, lane swim, or any other class they offer. When the weather gets a little warmer - closer to the end of April - I'll start using these to get in a work out.
Once those are used up I'll be in a position to not be overly affected by the weather and I can start on my 6 km circuit around my home. It's hilly and a decent length. Once I do this for a few weeks, I'll move into a light jog/fast walk pace. With my heartrate monitor on me I can tell when I'm sitting in the fatburn stage of my heart rate and when it crosses into the cardio region. Since my idea is to burn off the fat on my body, being in the fatburn stage is where I need to be.
Today I'll be wearing my monitor at work for 8 hours so I can see what I burn in an eight hour period. Since I'm pretty seditary at work, I can multiply this number by 3 to get what I do in a day just doing my daily routine. Figuring out what I eat in a day will be the next step. Since I have two packets of oatmeal for breakfast and add only hot water to the it - no sugar, no milk, no honey - I know that breakfast is 220 calories. Time to find out what is in a Tim's Hot Chocolate, the bread I eat at lunch and an idea of the calories in the veggies and fruit I eat.
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Oh the Irony!
So March is desire month. Well, the last couple of days I've been fresh out. I've had no desire to do anything, talk about anything, buy anything, make anything, think anything....see where this is going?
March is desire month. But I haven't got any at the moment.
Believe me I'm still looking for ways to get rid of this debt thing. But haven't much felt like doing anything. I'm in a bit of an emotional rut I'd say. I know this because I'd like nothing better than to sleep until 10am every day, read a book, take a bath, rinse and repeat.
On another note - I may have found where I can come up with the extra money I was looking for. I have a sizable amount sitting with my mom that I totally forgot about. Because school isn't in my budget until I'm debt free I called her the other day to see if she could move some of that money to me so I can pay for a couple of courses I need to take to get to the end of my degree. Slightly counter productive, but she told me to let her know how much I wanted from the stuff she has and she'd transfer it over.
The classes will cost me about $1500 (one full year, one for a semester). Hmmm....wait a tick!
If I use $1500 to pay for these two courses, I'm not looking at taking anything else until September or maybe even January....and I have about $6,000 she's been holding.....that would leave me with $4,500 to drop onto my debt....
That would mean that I could be clear of the thing by the first of December.....
Liiiiight Bulb!
Here's the thing. I don't necessarily want to drop all of that on my debt at once. I think I'll ask her for $3,000 now - to pay for the courses and put the other $1,500 onto the debt. And get the rest of it when I decide when I'm taking the next batch of courses and put the rest down then.
This way I don't get lax on my payments because I dropped a chunk of change on the debt already.
I know myself. I know I'd have these thoughts and inevitably derail sometime in April or something. The object of the game this year is to get out of debt without that derailment.
So - $3,000 it is. School paid for and doesn't cost me a bundle (I already found the books for these classes), and $1,500 onto the debt extra. I won't count this egg just yet though. I have to get the money first and have the conversation with my mom about getting it.
March is desire month. But I haven't got any at the moment.
Believe me I'm still looking for ways to get rid of this debt thing. But haven't much felt like doing anything. I'm in a bit of an emotional rut I'd say. I know this because I'd like nothing better than to sleep until 10am every day, read a book, take a bath, rinse and repeat.
On another note - I may have found where I can come up with the extra money I was looking for. I have a sizable amount sitting with my mom that I totally forgot about. Because school isn't in my budget until I'm debt free I called her the other day to see if she could move some of that money to me so I can pay for a couple of courses I need to take to get to the end of my degree. Slightly counter productive, but she told me to let her know how much I wanted from the stuff she has and she'd transfer it over.
The classes will cost me about $1500 (one full year, one for a semester). Hmmm....wait a tick!
If I use $1500 to pay for these two courses, I'm not looking at taking anything else until September or maybe even January....and I have about $6,000 she's been holding.....that would leave me with $4,500 to drop onto my debt....
That would mean that I could be clear of the thing by the first of December.....
Liiiiight Bulb!
Here's the thing. I don't necessarily want to drop all of that on my debt at once. I think I'll ask her for $3,000 now - to pay for the courses and put the other $1,500 onto the debt. And get the rest of it when I decide when I'm taking the next batch of courses and put the rest down then.
This way I don't get lax on my payments because I dropped a chunk of change on the debt already.
I know myself. I know I'd have these thoughts and inevitably derail sometime in April or something. The object of the game this year is to get out of debt without that derailment.
So - $3,000 it is. School paid for and doesn't cost me a bundle (I already found the books for these classes), and $1,500 onto the debt extra. I won't count this egg just yet though. I have to get the money first and have the conversation with my mom about getting it.
Monday, March 07, 2011
A Lovely weekend!
Today's post has little to do directly with finances, and more to do with taking the time to slow down.
I planned on heading to London to visit with one of my very best friends. I have three of those - each for different reason, and each in a different city. One in London, one in Acton, on in Johannesburg. The one in London is the one that houses me during my courses, kicks my butt when is needed for school and life purposes, and the one that I see most often.
I digress.
I toted myself to London Saturday afternoon, prior to the weather turning the rain into sleet, into snow, and 10+ centimeters falling. She was holding an open house for her jewelery business. I came home with the watch I'd been eyeing for quite a while. She also had a friend that makes the most gorgeous bags. I came home with a proper overnight bag. (I think this does have more to do with finances than I thought). We cleared down her house after the show was over, moved furniture back into the appropriate rooms, put some of her stock away and went to dinner. We enjoyed a lovely dinner, talking and laughing - and her husband came along too.
Sunday she had to pop in to the laboratory to complete a section of the tests she was running. While she was away, I opted to shovel their driveway and sidewalk for them - they live on a corner lot so the shovelling is more than any other house, and they have a car pad capable of parking 6 cars...it took me about an hour. I then headed to downtown, to do something I've always wanted to do, and to date haven't been able too. I went to a Draw of The Tim Horton's Brier. For those that don't know, this is a week long tournament that determines the reigning Team Canada for Men's Curling. The winner of this goes on to represent us at the World's next month.
It was lovely. The morning draw was not full, and for one ticket of $20 I was able to get to ice level, three rows in. It was truly close enough to almost reach out and touch the players. The benefit of being in the arena, is that while those at home see the featured game with highlights from the others playing at the same time, when you are there, you get all four games!!
I'm a curler, so i can appreciate the strategy, the difficultly of those shots, and when a fabulous shot is made. For example, those of you tv, only capturing the second half of the game between Alberta and New Brunswick were unable to witness first hand the utter frustration from Kevini Martin for missing yet another draw early in the game. Though, I'm pretty sure you did get to see the skip from New Brunswick, while facing a potential score of 5 for Alberta, come down with firm weight, angle hit his own rock into the pocket of red Alberta stones to take his one point and keep the game within one. That shot had the entire crowd holding their breath, and unleashing a thunderous applause and partial standing ovation for Skip Grafton after he made it.
I had a wonderful weekend. Though I did overspend this weekend on many a thing (the bag and watch for sure). I had enough in my budget to cover the dinner out and the ticket to the Brier. It's a good thing that payday is Thursday and my budget resets. I've cleaned it all out.
The only trouble with the weekend was that Monday got here. I hope you are having a great Monday. Mine is going well - but I'd love it to be a weekend day again. My allergies are buggin' the heck out of me today!
I planned on heading to London to visit with one of my very best friends. I have three of those - each for different reason, and each in a different city. One in London, one in Acton, on in Johannesburg. The one in London is the one that houses me during my courses, kicks my butt when is needed for school and life purposes, and the one that I see most often.
I digress.
I toted myself to London Saturday afternoon, prior to the weather turning the rain into sleet, into snow, and 10+ centimeters falling. She was holding an open house for her jewelery business. I came home with the watch I'd been eyeing for quite a while. She also had a friend that makes the most gorgeous bags. I came home with a proper overnight bag. (I think this does have more to do with finances than I thought). We cleared down her house after the show was over, moved furniture back into the appropriate rooms, put some of her stock away and went to dinner. We enjoyed a lovely dinner, talking and laughing - and her husband came along too.
Sunday she had to pop in to the laboratory to complete a section of the tests she was running. While she was away, I opted to shovel their driveway and sidewalk for them - they live on a corner lot so the shovelling is more than any other house, and they have a car pad capable of parking 6 cars...it took me about an hour. I then headed to downtown, to do something I've always wanted to do, and to date haven't been able too. I went to a Draw of The Tim Horton's Brier. For those that don't know, this is a week long tournament that determines the reigning Team Canada for Men's Curling. The winner of this goes on to represent us at the World's next month.
It was lovely. The morning draw was not full, and for one ticket of $20 I was able to get to ice level, three rows in. It was truly close enough to almost reach out and touch the players. The benefit of being in the arena, is that while those at home see the featured game with highlights from the others playing at the same time, when you are there, you get all four games!!
I'm a curler, so i can appreciate the strategy, the difficultly of those shots, and when a fabulous shot is made. For example, those of you tv, only capturing the second half of the game between Alberta and New Brunswick were unable to witness first hand the utter frustration from Kevini Martin for missing yet another draw early in the game. Though, I'm pretty sure you did get to see the skip from New Brunswick, while facing a potential score of 5 for Alberta, come down with firm weight, angle hit his own rock into the pocket of red Alberta stones to take his one point and keep the game within one. That shot had the entire crowd holding their breath, and unleashing a thunderous applause and partial standing ovation for Skip Grafton after he made it.
I had a wonderful weekend. Though I did overspend this weekend on many a thing (the bag and watch for sure). I had enough in my budget to cover the dinner out and the ticket to the Brier. It's a good thing that payday is Thursday and my budget resets. I've cleaned it all out.
The only trouble with the weekend was that Monday got here. I hope you are having a great Monday. Mine is going well - but I'd love it to be a weekend day again. My allergies are buggin' the heck out of me today!
Saturday, March 05, 2011
The World is An Oyster For Everyone!
Random post date this week.
I've been reading fellow PF bloggers and their posts about articles they find discussing the ability to save money and becoming wealthy. I've read commentors that harp because the families featured in the articles collectively have 6 figure salaries that are decent and they attribute this fact to the reason they save and are wealthy.
Apparently the point of the article - living below your means, making sensible decisions with your money and staying out of debt are lost on the majority of readers. I think it's mainly because most of the population is still looking for the quick fix to the debt problem even though it took cumulative years to get into the mess.
You can have anything you want in the world. You can be anything you want to be. I grew up in a household where these statements were are regular part of my life. Until I was 15 I had two working parents. Until I was 15 I didn't have any clue what my parents made in a year. Until I was 15 I didn't begin to truly appreciate what my mom meant by I have to buy groceries before I can get you a new bike. New-to-me things were part of my life. Until I was 15 I didn't know most of this because I didn't understand that my mom was frugal, a saver, and responsible with her money and my dad was a spender, a gambler, and horribly irresponsible with his, and that there was a divide in how they viewed the family money. My mom went to work for the family, my dad went to work to hide things.
I digress. The point isn't what type of place I grew up in, but that my parents didn't make 6 figures between them, but still managed to have savings and plan for a future.
When my mom was on her own, I got more involved in learning things. I had started my first real part-time job, and now I needed to understand what to do with my money. before then I would save up for something really big - aka the band trip to New York City in 8th grade - funded entirely by me! I'd buy GIC's when mom said the interest rate was good - so I'd have money for university when I was ready to go. But the numbers and percentages and the reasons you did those things were still pretty vague for me.
On her modest salary, my mother raised two teenaged daughters. She didn't complain about being in debt. She simply went to work to do what she had to to live and keep us living. She traded services rendered for registration fees and equipment fees and tournament money - my sister and I played representative level fastball until we were 17. (It's the highest level, and gets your to provincials, eastern canadian and national fastball tournaments, and the accolades of winning or placing at these tournaments.) We were expensive kids on one salary so she did what she had to. My father didn't pitch in anything, and money continues to be water to him, having declared bankruptcy twice now.
The part I didn't really see was that my mom managed to get a car, make the payments and drive it, make the mortgage payments, the utility payments, cover food, and living expenses, travel expenses for the fastball stuff for two of us, and still contribute to her RRSP, and her pension, have an emergency fund and a little extra once a month for something fun, AND save for Christmas each and every year. And she did this on her own, on one salary - that I only found out recently was between $35,000 and $45,000 for all those years.
Now that my sister and I have moved out and are living on our own - and my sister has finished floating back and forth and is married - she's been able to really ramp up her savings for herself. RRSP's are maxed out each year. Emergency fund grows nicely. TSFA's are maxed out each year. She's taking a trip a year. She's making necessary house repairs, and fulfilling her own wants. She shops for herself, adding to her wardrobe each year, the statement pieces she's always wanted. At times I even catch her muttering aloud - what am I going to do with all this money??
She still struggles some days with making the switch between extremely tight budget to being able to spend on herself whenever she wants, because for 45 years she had kids to worry about.
Incidently for those of you that need an example of what to do one a smaller income? My mother has owned two houses in her lifetime. (we moved once when I was 8) She finished paying off the mortgage on the second house when she was 47. She's not 47 anymore (it's been a handful of years since then.) She took herself to Cuba when she turned the big 5-0 as a reward to herself for all those years of sacrifice. She went alone. Took a suitcase of books and enjoyed the resort. She met a few people on the trip to chum with while she was there, but had such a good time on a beach in Cuba without anyone telling her something had to be done, without a schedule, without family, and most of all without any restrictions. All inclusive meant she didn't fork over anything major for cash, and she did decide to join an excursion last minute because someone at work had told her she'd kick herself if she didn't.
My mother is the best example I have of sacrifice to get to where you need to be. She did everything those people with 6 figure salaries did but on a modest 5 figure salary. And she managed to pay off my Dad's debts before they split so we didn't have creditors or police officers looking for him.
It can be done. The problem is that people want to maintain the appearance of a well-to-do life with illusions and air. Regardless of what your salary is, if you are budgeting, keeping your expenses down, and saving you can have the life you want now as well as later!
I've been reading fellow PF bloggers and their posts about articles they find discussing the ability to save money and becoming wealthy. I've read commentors that harp because the families featured in the articles collectively have 6 figure salaries that are decent and they attribute this fact to the reason they save and are wealthy.
Apparently the point of the article - living below your means, making sensible decisions with your money and staying out of debt are lost on the majority of readers. I think it's mainly because most of the population is still looking for the quick fix to the debt problem even though it took cumulative years to get into the mess.
You can have anything you want in the world. You can be anything you want to be. I grew up in a household where these statements were are regular part of my life. Until I was 15 I had two working parents. Until I was 15 I didn't have any clue what my parents made in a year. Until I was 15 I didn't begin to truly appreciate what my mom meant by I have to buy groceries before I can get you a new bike. New-to-me things were part of my life. Until I was 15 I didn't know most of this because I didn't understand that my mom was frugal, a saver, and responsible with her money and my dad was a spender, a gambler, and horribly irresponsible with his, and that there was a divide in how they viewed the family money. My mom went to work for the family, my dad went to work to hide things.
I digress. The point isn't what type of place I grew up in, but that my parents didn't make 6 figures between them, but still managed to have savings and plan for a future.
When my mom was on her own, I got more involved in learning things. I had started my first real part-time job, and now I needed to understand what to do with my money. before then I would save up for something really big - aka the band trip to New York City in 8th grade - funded entirely by me! I'd buy GIC's when mom said the interest rate was good - so I'd have money for university when I was ready to go. But the numbers and percentages and the reasons you did those things were still pretty vague for me.
On her modest salary, my mother raised two teenaged daughters. She didn't complain about being in debt. She simply went to work to do what she had to to live and keep us living. She traded services rendered for registration fees and equipment fees and tournament money - my sister and I played representative level fastball until we were 17. (It's the highest level, and gets your to provincials, eastern canadian and national fastball tournaments, and the accolades of winning or placing at these tournaments.) We were expensive kids on one salary so she did what she had to. My father didn't pitch in anything, and money continues to be water to him, having declared bankruptcy twice now.
The part I didn't really see was that my mom managed to get a car, make the payments and drive it, make the mortgage payments, the utility payments, cover food, and living expenses, travel expenses for the fastball stuff for two of us, and still contribute to her RRSP, and her pension, have an emergency fund and a little extra once a month for something fun, AND save for Christmas each and every year. And she did this on her own, on one salary - that I only found out recently was between $35,000 and $45,000 for all those years.
Now that my sister and I have moved out and are living on our own - and my sister has finished floating back and forth and is married - she's been able to really ramp up her savings for herself. RRSP's are maxed out each year. Emergency fund grows nicely. TSFA's are maxed out each year. She's taking a trip a year. She's making necessary house repairs, and fulfilling her own wants. She shops for herself, adding to her wardrobe each year, the statement pieces she's always wanted. At times I even catch her muttering aloud - what am I going to do with all this money??
She still struggles some days with making the switch between extremely tight budget to being able to spend on herself whenever she wants, because for 45 years she had kids to worry about.
Incidently for those of you that need an example of what to do one a smaller income? My mother has owned two houses in her lifetime. (we moved once when I was 8) She finished paying off the mortgage on the second house when she was 47. She's not 47 anymore (it's been a handful of years since then.) She took herself to Cuba when she turned the big 5-0 as a reward to herself for all those years of sacrifice. She went alone. Took a suitcase of books and enjoyed the resort. She met a few people on the trip to chum with while she was there, but had such a good time on a beach in Cuba without anyone telling her something had to be done, without a schedule, without family, and most of all without any restrictions. All inclusive meant she didn't fork over anything major for cash, and she did decide to join an excursion last minute because someone at work had told her she'd kick herself if she didn't.
My mother is the best example I have of sacrifice to get to where you need to be. She did everything those people with 6 figure salaries did but on a modest 5 figure salary. And she managed to pay off my Dad's debts before they split so we didn't have creditors or police officers looking for him.
It can be done. The problem is that people want to maintain the appearance of a well-to-do life with illusions and air. Regardless of what your salary is, if you are budgeting, keeping your expenses down, and saving you can have the life you want now as well as later!
Friday, March 04, 2011
Benefits and Benefit Plans - what are you covered for?
This came up in a conversation with a few friends the other day. I thought to myself, that's something I should look into at work. We have a non-directed medical benefit amount for anything medical that starts anew each January 1. What that means is we can submit receipts from any medical practitioner - chiropractic, acupuncture, psychologist, massage, prescription, orthodontics, etc, up to a cap amount each year, or any combination of the lot. They return to use the full amount of our payment, less taxes.
The question has come up a couple of times, as we have newer employees and older employees. We currently have an employee out for 3-6 months due to a broken leg (4 places) and a fractured pelvis. I posed the question to my boss this morning - Say I broke and arm or a leg and had to be off work for 2 months, what would happen to my wages? he said if it's an arm, you can work with one hand and answer phones for half days while you rest and relax and heal (joking!) His response was, we'll continue to pay you full salary while you recover, and would encourage to submit your receipts for prescriptions or physio up to our cap amount while you are away.
Well that is good to know. Le Man has a benefit plan at work that also has short and long term disability included, and some other nice to have options. I also have a Critical Injury and Illness policy through my bank, that costs me $12.37 per month to maintain. I have $100,000 coverage on the plan and includes many things like loss of limb, sight, breaks, hearing loss. I have to read a little more carefully about how the coverage and payouts work, but I'm happy to have something that will help me through an accident. Between my use what you need, and his group benefit plan, we are 100% covered for any medical requirement, and then some.
I also learned I may be able to find a better life insurance policy with a different company and that I should look at increasing my overall payout amount while I'm still young and healthy. I'll be taking a closer look at my policies over the next little while and determining if I can increase the items I'm covered for.
For $29.25 a month, plus $34.50 a year, I have a decent start on coverage of the various aspects of my life. It's time though to familiarize myself with the fine print and exclusions. it'll be good to know that I am working for a company that will help me through anything medical relating to time away from work. it'll also be nice to know that I've got policy coverages for things as well. Medical expenses have a way of exponentially increasing based on the condition, so the extra money from an income will help bump up the coverage of a policy and it's payout.
From my experience, one can never be too careful with these things. While prostate cancer may not be covered for men, and some other types of cancer either, it's a good thing to know what you can get and have the policy payout.
Have you read your policy lately? Do you have a life insurance policy? If not, what's the reason?
The question has come up a couple of times, as we have newer employees and older employees. We currently have an employee out for 3-6 months due to a broken leg (4 places) and a fractured pelvis. I posed the question to my boss this morning - Say I broke and arm or a leg and had to be off work for 2 months, what would happen to my wages? he said if it's an arm, you can work with one hand and answer phones for half days while you rest and relax and heal (joking!) His response was, we'll continue to pay you full salary while you recover, and would encourage to submit your receipts for prescriptions or physio up to our cap amount while you are away.
Well that is good to know. Le Man has a benefit plan at work that also has short and long term disability included, and some other nice to have options. I also have a Critical Injury and Illness policy through my bank, that costs me $12.37 per month to maintain. I have $100,000 coverage on the plan and includes many things like loss of limb, sight, breaks, hearing loss. I have to read a little more carefully about how the coverage and payouts work, but I'm happy to have something that will help me through an accident. Between my use what you need, and his group benefit plan, we are 100% covered for any medical requirement, and then some.
I also learned I may be able to find a better life insurance policy with a different company and that I should look at increasing my overall payout amount while I'm still young and healthy. I'll be taking a closer look at my policies over the next little while and determining if I can increase the items I'm covered for.
For $29.25 a month, plus $34.50 a year, I have a decent start on coverage of the various aspects of my life. It's time though to familiarize myself with the fine print and exclusions. it'll be good to know that I am working for a company that will help me through anything medical relating to time away from work. it'll also be nice to know that I've got policy coverages for things as well. Medical expenses have a way of exponentially increasing based on the condition, so the extra money from an income will help bump up the coverage of a policy and it's payout.
From my experience, one can never be too careful with these things. While prostate cancer may not be covered for men, and some other types of cancer either, it's a good thing to know what you can get and have the policy payout.
Have you read your policy lately? Do you have a life insurance policy? If not, what's the reason?
Thursday, March 03, 2011
March = D E S I R E
My calendar says March is Desire month.
The quote, from confucius: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."
So let's talk about desire. It's a great thing, I think.
To have desire is to long or hope for something. To crave it. To want it. To express a wish. To ask for something.
Looking at this further. To ask for something. To crave something. To want something. with these definitions, it seems we desire things all the time. The trouble with this, I think, is that desire invokes much more thank simply asking or craving or wanting. These seem too base for desire. I think it's because most of the time we cannot tell the difference between a simple action to attain something and a true desire. We speak of our true hearts desire, in terms of what we really want. Isn't everything we want what we really want?
Desire. For me that means not only understanding what you really want - i.e. setting a GOAL - but the drive to get you to that want. Things like I want a chocolate bar, or too small to truly desire. Something like losing 60 pounds is more on par with what I call a true desire. Being free of a $23,820.74 debt is a true desire.
I think that's why I find it so interesting that February was Planning Month and March is Desire Month.
If you are on a journey, ask yourself, is it something you really want? If it is. If it makes you sick, anxious, excited, jubilant, scared, then you've got a real desire. If it doesn't then it's something that is nice to have but you can do without it.
For example - you are trying to lose weight but your weight is simply bouncing around. Is losing weight what you really desire? Are you going to do whatever it takes to get to your goal? Are you willing to make the hard decisions to get yourself there? Are you working through an exercise plan that feels daunting, and tiring, and like you can't do it? Keep going. It gets easier every day you do it. And it's the desire to feel better and be healthy that will get you there.
I use weight, because lots of people I know are making this attempt to better their health by helping their body become more svelt. Some are doing fantastically, others are struggling. I think the difference between them isn't that they are doing anything differently than each other. I think it's the level of desire they have to obtain it. Obviously there are a host of other things happening, but I'm not discussing them. I'm only concerned with desire.
Here's another example. I'm in debt. I received a message from my friends that there is a cool concert on Canada Day t hey are all attending and would like to make a day of it and be our summer gathering. While it would be really awesome to attend this concert, I am not going to put the charge on my credit card. These tickets are likely going to sell out super fast as well, given who is headlining, and without a ticketmaster box office available to me, I'm not going to be spending money I haven't saved on these tickets. I'll just have to catch up with the group later. My desire to be out of debt, outweighs my desire to see the concert. Though my desire to spend a day with my friends in Toronto is big, I'll make a date with them on a different day.
Desire to really have something requires your whole heart. When you really desire something you'll get it, no matter how long it takes to get it.
What do you most desire?
The quote, from confucius: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."
So let's talk about desire. It's a great thing, I think.
To have desire is to long or hope for something. To crave it. To want it. To express a wish. To ask for something.
Looking at this further. To ask for something. To crave something. To want something. with these definitions, it seems we desire things all the time. The trouble with this, I think, is that desire invokes much more thank simply asking or craving or wanting. These seem too base for desire. I think it's because most of the time we cannot tell the difference between a simple action to attain something and a true desire. We speak of our true hearts desire, in terms of what we really want. Isn't everything we want what we really want?
Desire. For me that means not only understanding what you really want - i.e. setting a GOAL - but the drive to get you to that want. Things like I want a chocolate bar, or too small to truly desire. Something like losing 60 pounds is more on par with what I call a true desire. Being free of a $23,820.74 debt is a true desire.
I think that's why I find it so interesting that February was Planning Month and March is Desire Month.
If you are on a journey, ask yourself, is it something you really want? If it is. If it makes you sick, anxious, excited, jubilant, scared, then you've got a real desire. If it doesn't then it's something that is nice to have but you can do without it.
For example - you are trying to lose weight but your weight is simply bouncing around. Is losing weight what you really desire? Are you going to do whatever it takes to get to your goal? Are you willing to make the hard decisions to get yourself there? Are you working through an exercise plan that feels daunting, and tiring, and like you can't do it? Keep going. It gets easier every day you do it. And it's the desire to feel better and be healthy that will get you there.
I use weight, because lots of people I know are making this attempt to better their health by helping their body become more svelt. Some are doing fantastically, others are struggling. I think the difference between them isn't that they are doing anything differently than each other. I think it's the level of desire they have to obtain it. Obviously there are a host of other things happening, but I'm not discussing them. I'm only concerned with desire.
Here's another example. I'm in debt. I received a message from my friends that there is a cool concert on Canada Day t hey are all attending and would like to make a day of it and be our summer gathering. While it would be really awesome to attend this concert, I am not going to put the charge on my credit card. These tickets are likely going to sell out super fast as well, given who is headlining, and without a ticketmaster box office available to me, I'm not going to be spending money I haven't saved on these tickets. I'll just have to catch up with the group later. My desire to be out of debt, outweighs my desire to see the concert. Though my desire to spend a day with my friends in Toronto is big, I'll make a date with them on a different day.
Desire to really have something requires your whole heart. When you really desire something you'll get it, no matter how long it takes to get it.
What do you most desire?
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Implementing a Plan - Step Two
Ok. February is over. March has started. You spent February identifying your habits and getting intimate with yourself. Step One asked you to.
Step Two: Write out your plan.
To begin with implementing your plan you have to have one. So where does this fictitious plan come from?
Well from YOU!
You spent a month with yourself deciding what you can work on and what you want to leave until later. Now it's time to set pen to paper and write it out.
To have a good solid plan you need a couple of things:
1. You need a goal. You need to decide what big thing you are going to go after.
2. You need to write out the steps to get you to your goal.
3. You need to set up reward steps to keep your desire, momentum going.
4. You need to write your goal in as many places as you need to keep reminding yourself of it.
Bonus Item - make a cool chart or sign or something visual to use during those days when you don't feel like it.
As an example I'll give you my plan:
GOAL - BE DEBT FREE ON DECEMBER 31, 2011
Steps: 1) I must put a minimum of $1630 per month towards this debt.
2) From each paycheck I need to put a minimum $815 from each paycheck towards debt to meet
my monthly goal.
3) I must find an additional $3,000 to meet my goal for the end of the year.
4) I track my goal on my computer at home, at work, and on a colourful chart in my kitchen.
5) I remind myself of my goal each day and get excited for pay days.
These steps help me when I get an urge to get something like concert tickets to The Hip at Canada Day at Downsview Park. It also helps when I think I want a chocolate bar after work, but I know that it will go straight to my jiggly bits and make them more jiggly. Plus I've just got to wait 10 more minutes and I'll be able to have anything else I want at home - where I stock plenty of protein, fruits and veggies - all much better for my body and my physique.
I have 10 months left on my goal. My reward day isn't until April, so that means I have to get through March before I can have a reward. I haven't decided what that will be. My birthday is in April, so I'll combine it with a birthday outing to maximize my happiness and affirmation of my goal, and minimize the impact to my pocket book. My bestie does a good job at keeping me in line...unless it involves shoes. Then we are both reduced to drooling girly-girls coo-ing over the latest, amazing pair of shoes (that we don't need at all, since we both have more than 50 pairs!)
This is a very basic idea of what I did to get myself a plan for my goals. Some of you may have more than one thing you want to do. I do...
Another is to not pay bank fees this year. But as I mentioned here sometimes you have to adjust your goals. Adjusting them may need to happen as you go along - simply because life happens and doesn't necessarily care that you want to reduce your transport cost - so you got a flat tire and a bent rim and it cost $400 that you were putting away for something much more fun.
So, go ahead! Get creative with yourself and get moving. It's March. Who cares if it's Tuesday, Friday, Sunday or Wednesday. Start today. Don't wait for tomorrow. If you say to yourself, I'll do my plan tomorrow, I don't feel like it today - you haven't invoked enough fear, anxiety, trepidation, excitement, or desire to get yourself moving on any of your goals.
Step Two: Write out your plan.
To begin with implementing your plan you have to have one. So where does this fictitious plan come from?
Well from YOU!
You spent a month with yourself deciding what you can work on and what you want to leave until later. Now it's time to set pen to paper and write it out.
To have a good solid plan you need a couple of things:
1. You need a goal. You need to decide what big thing you are going to go after.
2. You need to write out the steps to get you to your goal.
3. You need to set up reward steps to keep your desire, momentum going.
4. You need to write your goal in as many places as you need to keep reminding yourself of it.
Bonus Item - make a cool chart or sign or something visual to use during those days when you don't feel like it.
As an example I'll give you my plan:
GOAL - BE DEBT FREE ON DECEMBER 31, 2011
Steps: 1) I must put a minimum of $1630 per month towards this debt.
2) From each paycheck I need to put a minimum $815 from each paycheck towards debt to meet
my monthly goal.
3) I must find an additional $3,000 to meet my goal for the end of the year.
4) I track my goal on my computer at home, at work, and on a colourful chart in my kitchen.
5) I remind myself of my goal each day and get excited for pay days.
These steps help me when I get an urge to get something like concert tickets to The Hip at Canada Day at Downsview Park. It also helps when I think I want a chocolate bar after work, but I know that it will go straight to my jiggly bits and make them more jiggly. Plus I've just got to wait 10 more minutes and I'll be able to have anything else I want at home - where I stock plenty of protein, fruits and veggies - all much better for my body and my physique.
I have 10 months left on my goal. My reward day isn't until April, so that means I have to get through March before I can have a reward. I haven't decided what that will be. My birthday is in April, so I'll combine it with a birthday outing to maximize my happiness and affirmation of my goal, and minimize the impact to my pocket book. My bestie does a good job at keeping me in line...unless it involves shoes. Then we are both reduced to drooling girly-girls coo-ing over the latest, amazing pair of shoes (that we don't need at all, since we both have more than 50 pairs!)
This is a very basic idea of what I did to get myself a plan for my goals. Some of you may have more than one thing you want to do. I do...
Another is to not pay bank fees this year. But as I mentioned here sometimes you have to adjust your goals. Adjusting them may need to happen as you go along - simply because life happens and doesn't necessarily care that you want to reduce your transport cost - so you got a flat tire and a bent rim and it cost $400 that you were putting away for something much more fun.
So, go ahead! Get creative with yourself and get moving. It's March. Who cares if it's Tuesday, Friday, Sunday or Wednesday. Start today. Don't wait for tomorrow. If you say to yourself, I'll do my plan tomorrow, I don't feel like it today - you haven't invoked enough fear, anxiety, trepidation, excitement, or desire to get yourself moving on any of your goals.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
The First of March
It's a new month. With a new month, I get 31 days of happy unknowns to navigate life through. This is also a month that I work at being a little more cautious than any other month. It's the last month in the quarter (or the first depending on your year-end).
My cautious nature this month comes from having a bad accident on the Ides of March. If you know Shakespeare you know the lore behind that day. Seems to be true for me. I actually try to take that day off whenever I can, so I can sit in my house and not go anywhere. it's also a good excuse to take a rest before St. Patrick's Day!
Moving on though.
I have paid down $2,821.19 of debt so far. This month I'm scheduled to make a repayment of $1,684.00. Any further found money will be tossed directly onto the debt.
My company has an interesting medical amount for each employee. We aren't on a group plan or anything - it's just an amount the company gives us to cover our medical expenses. What I've been doing so far is paying out my medical expenses each month from my budget. $125.00 per month. I use $114.10 per month for my medical related items. For me that's a chiropractor visit and an acupuncture visit each month. The company reimburses me the money minus appropriate taxes. I get back $107.10 per month. That money goes into my snowball jar. In August I have a dentist appointment - that will cost me approximately $126 - or less. I take the money left over in the medical jar, plus the money reimbursed to me and put it into a jar marked Snowflake.
At the end of March, I will take out all but $125 from that snowflake jar, deposit it and put it against my debt. By the end of the year, I'll have put about $1300 back onto my debt from the medical jar reimbursements and savings. Couple the $1,000 refund, with the $1,300 medical fund snowflake and I've found $2,300 of the $3,300 that I need before year end to get out of this debt. That leaves me with having to find $1,000 throughout the year. Some of that will come from my mileage driving from work. I think I'd like to see about selling some items or working some overtime or odd jobs for others to make that money faster though. I've learned from my handy little spreadsheet, that the faster I find the money, the less interest I pay in the long run.
So it's time to put my thinking cap on and start coming up with ways to make some money before the end of the year. As the weather starts getting nicer, I can start getting out more as well. Curling season is over in the middle of April, so I've got six weeks and I free up a bunch more time to do extra work in. I will probably start but putting together some of my things and deciding how and where to start selling them. I have a local place that takes used CD's and DVD's and trades them for cash. Perhaps this is a good place to start. Also - I'll be looking into the Amazon book selling stuff kijiji and craigs list as well.
As always - your thoughts are much appreciated!!
My cautious nature this month comes from having a bad accident on the Ides of March. If you know Shakespeare you know the lore behind that day. Seems to be true for me. I actually try to take that day off whenever I can, so I can sit in my house and not go anywhere. it's also a good excuse to take a rest before St. Patrick's Day!
Moving on though.
I have paid down $2,821.19 of debt so far. This month I'm scheduled to make a repayment of $1,684.00. Any further found money will be tossed directly onto the debt.
My company has an interesting medical amount for each employee. We aren't on a group plan or anything - it's just an amount the company gives us to cover our medical expenses. What I've been doing so far is paying out my medical expenses each month from my budget. $125.00 per month. I use $114.10 per month for my medical related items. For me that's a chiropractor visit and an acupuncture visit each month. The company reimburses me the money minus appropriate taxes. I get back $107.10 per month. That money goes into my snowball jar. In August I have a dentist appointment - that will cost me approximately $126 - or less. I take the money left over in the medical jar, plus the money reimbursed to me and put it into a jar marked Snowflake.
At the end of March, I will take out all but $125 from that snowflake jar, deposit it and put it against my debt. By the end of the year, I'll have put about $1300 back onto my debt from the medical jar reimbursements and savings. Couple the $1,000 refund, with the $1,300 medical fund snowflake and I've found $2,300 of the $3,300 that I need before year end to get out of this debt. That leaves me with having to find $1,000 throughout the year. Some of that will come from my mileage driving from work. I think I'd like to see about selling some items or working some overtime or odd jobs for others to make that money faster though. I've learned from my handy little spreadsheet, that the faster I find the money, the less interest I pay in the long run.
So it's time to put my thinking cap on and start coming up with ways to make some money before the end of the year. As the weather starts getting nicer, I can start getting out more as well. Curling season is over in the middle of April, so I've got six weeks and I free up a bunch more time to do extra work in. I will probably start but putting together some of my things and deciding how and where to start selling them. I have a local place that takes used CD's and DVD's and trades them for cash. Perhaps this is a good place to start. Also - I'll be looking into the Amazon book selling stuff kijiji and craigs list as well.
As always - your thoughts are much appreciated!!
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