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Sometimes, a girl’s gotta spend a little money February 28, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : budget, spending , 1 comment so far

I usually find that buying CDs gets classified under “want” instead of an actual “need.” That is, unless any one of my favourite artists just happens to be releasing an album. Then I must own it, no questions asked, no matter the price. I’m all for being frugal, but a girl’s gotta have some form of entertainment! (Another weakness of mine: concerts. Nothing beats live music. Nothing.)

It just so happens that two of my favourite artists are releasing albums in the next few months! Squee!! Jeremy Fisher is releasing his album, Goodbye Blue Monday, on March 27th. If you think his name sounds familiar, he’s the Canadian guy who rode his bike across Canada for 6 months, performing and raising money for “Tour des Femme,” which promoted bicycle transport and education for girls in Africa. He’s a really great guy, and he even helped me by promoting my HIV/Sexual Awareness campaign at one of his performances in 2005. :)

The next album coming out is Easy Tiger, by Ryan Adams on June 5th. The man is a frigging genius, and that’s all there is to it. This is his first official album in a while. In November 2006, he released 16 albums via streaming audio on his website. 16 full-length albums. Granted, most of it was crap, but a lot of it was pretty good.

Anyway, that’s $30 extra I have to budget for in the next few months!

Also, since I’ve installed a hits counter on my blog, I’ve noticed no one has actually visited in the 3 days since I launched this site. I wonder how I can infiltrate and make friends with all the other PF bloggers out there? Maybe I’ll go over to the blogs that I read regularily, and comment that I really like reading their posts, instead of being all annonymous about it.


A wake-up call February 28, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : debt, emergency fund, investing, job , add a comment

I just found out that a good friend of mine got fired yesterday from basically her dream job. I don’t really know the details, but we both graduated from the same program together last year, and she’s an amazing graphic designer (a million times better than me).

Anyway, it got me to thinking: if I lost my job right now, today, I’d be fvcked. Royally. I have less than $400 in my emergency fund, and debts still looming over my head. I need to pick it up, because I know I’ve been slacking at work the past month or so. It’s not that I’m being lazy about it, it’s just that I think I’m still in a little over my head, know what I mean? I’ve found it really overwhelming to be SO busy all the time, with 5 or 6 coordinators pulling at me, all wanting different things, managing a huge budget … I got hired because of my graphic design skill, and nothing else (even though my design skills are mediocre at best) … and to try and learn all these new skills on the job, well, it’s been an eye-opening experience to say the least! But I’m so grateful to have gotten this opportunity, and I’m going to take the most out of these next 8 months.

Also, this morning I checked my mutual funds online, and because of the lovely Chinese stock market, my porfolio fell over 2%! I checked the TSX this morning when I got to work, and to my horror, it was already down 300 points! But I just checked it now, and it’s still down, but only by 45 points. What sucks is I have both my registered RSP and non-registered MF accounts in the same fund. They’re still higher than they were at the beginning of 2007, but it’s still a huge jolt to have them drop so much in one day.


Frugal vs. Cheap February 27, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : budget, saving money , add a comment

I hate it that some of my friends have taken to calling me cheap or stingy. It actually makes me feel really bad about myself, because I’ve always thought of myself as frugal. But I guess there’s a very fine line when it comes down to comparing the two.

For example, my boyfriend and I rarely eat out, and when we do we almost always use a buy-one-get-one-free coupon, or some equivalent discount. (Helloooo Entertainment Book!) I always feel cheap when I hand a coupon to a waitress, but I have to keep telling myself that by saving 50% of the bill, we are actually being frugal because we’re being smart with our money. Being cheap would be basing our tip on the discounted price. We always tip as if we had paid for the entire meal without a coupon (even though I don’t necessarily believe in tiping in the first place).

I have a set monthly and yearly budget, and I try as hard as I can to stick to it. For example, I have a $30/month budget for dining out – that also includes going out for coffee, or any sort of snack that I buy. I brown-bag my lunch every single day, and in the 4 months I’ve been at this job, I’ve only eaten out once with a co-worker. It takes a lot of discipline to stick to a budget like this, because I love dining out.

When I want something badly enough, I buy it, and I buy quality. Ever since I started changing my spending habits, I’ve discovered a lot about myself when it comes to want vs. need. I want to buy a fancy $4 coffee from Starbucks, but do I need it (and the calories)? No, so I’ll buy a tea instead for $1.70. I choose my battles when it comes to buying things, and I feel so much better about myself when I can afford to buy an amazing pair of shoes that’ll last me years (or a ridiculously expensive computer), because I’ve stopped wasting money on the small things that I like, but don’t necessarily need.

I’m not cheap because I never deprive myself of anything I really want. If I go out for drinks with friends after work, I’ll get a beer, but I won’t order any food. Or I’ll order a “daily special” and drink water. That way, I can enjoy “going out” with friends without having to break the bank.

Some of my friends just don’t understand where I’m coming from and continue to rag on me everytime I see them, and that’s fine by me. I’ll shut my mouth, and go along saving thousands of dollars, while they’ll stay perpetually in debt. :) Real friends should understand, and I shouldn’t have to go into debt just to maintain their friendship.


Scooters: not just for old, balding men February 27, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : car, saving money, scooter , add a comment

In September 2006, I sold my beautiful car (1989 Mazda 323). Okay, fine. She was a piece of crap, but she was my piece of crap, and I loved her. But I needed to sell her. She was one of my biggest expenses, and I wasn’t driving her enough to justify paying $80/month for car insurance. I worked downtown, so most mornings, I got a ride into town with my Mom, who worked in the building next to me.

I bought my lovely car in 2003 for $1800, and sold her 3 1/2 years later for $1600. Not too shabby, eh?

So what was I going to use to get around the city? I purchased a scooter! Better fuel economy, and way cheaper insurance – I couldn’t go wrong! So I ended up buying a 2005 Yamaha Vino 50cc scooter for $2200, which only had 34km on it so it was practically brand new.

A month later, I got a new job in a different municipality – which translated into a 45km roundtrip commute every day. If I still had my car, I’d have to either 1) drive to work every day, or 2) buy a bus pass for $60/month. 4 months into my job, and I can’t say that I love riding my scooter in every day, but for the money I’m saving, it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Let’s do some math, shall we?

So even though my scooter was more expensive than my car, it’s already paid for itself in just 4 months. A big bonus is that because my scooter is new, I haven’t had to do any repair work on it. With my car, I could count on spending at least $800 annually to fix something.

I do plan on buying a car again in about a year, but I’m definitely going to buy new, and drive it until it falls apart. My dream car is a Mini Cooper. The price tag is quite steep, and I may not be able to afford it if I end up having a mortgage to pay for, but I’d rather drive a car that I’m in love with for the next 20 years, rather than an ugly Yaris that I hate. However, that’s a long time away, so we’ll see!

Countdown to pay day: 3 days. Hoorah!


Investments give me headaches February 26, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : down payment, emergency fund, investing , add a comment

I’ve been wondering if I’m making sound choices with my investments. I want the most “bang for my buck,” but with limited investment knowledge, it’s hard for me to grasp exactly what I should be doing.

My emergency fund is currently in a PC Financial Interest First account that’s earning 3% interest. Once I have over $1000, I will transfer the balance into the Interest Plus account, which will earn me 4%, plus an anniversary bonus each year I keep a minimum of $1000 in the account. The reason why I chose this account is because it’s highly liquid. I’ll have access to my funds in 24 hours, and as high interest savings accounts go, PC Financial beats practically everyone.

My mortgage down payment fund is being held in a non-registered mutual fund with TD Canada Trust. This is where I don’t think I’m making the right move. The MER on this MF is quite high (I believe it was at 2.39%). I want to earn more than a 4% return, but since I plan on spending the money within 2 years, I don’t really know where to park it. I’m getting a 7.5% return right now, which is practically nothing. I’d like to be earning at least 10% … but how?

My RRSP is being held in a registered Balance Growth mutual fund with TD Canada Trust. It’s the same fund that my mortgage down payment fund is in, with the difference being this one is tax sheltered. This is earning 7.5%, and I’m okay with that for now. Once I’ve gotten more investment knowledge, I’d like to try TD’s eFunds, and manage my own financial portfolio (goodbye, ridiculously high MER!).


One step forward, two steps back February 26, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : debt, job, monthly goals, spending , 1 comment so far

Well, not quite. Yesterday, an hour before I launched this website I dropped just over $3,000 on a new 24″ iMac computer. Let me be the first to admit that 1) I did not need to get an iMac, and 2) I did not need to load it up with a ton of add-ons. That being said, I’m considering it an investment in my graphic design business. Let’s face it, working on a crappy Seanix PC laptop just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Plus, if it’s any consoloation, it’s tax deductible. I know I shouldn’t have to justify splurging a little lot. What’s done is done, and I’m very happy with my purchase. I should get it in the next week or so, and I’l be sure to post pictures. :)

Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a financial expert. In fact, I hardly know anything about investing. Up until a year ago, I was living paycheque to paycheque, up to my eyeballs in debt. Some months, I could barely make ends meet. It was horrifying and embarrassing. I made some dumb mistakes when I was younger (including lending money to a significant other, who obviously never paid me back), and I am determined to make up for lost time. Just thinking about all the money I’ve wasted over the years makes me sick to my stomach. I think a lot of my friends think I’m “money-obsessed” these days, and think I’m too wound up in it all. Maybe I am, but maybe I’m okay with that. I want to have the financial freedom to do anything I want to do, and that is my ultimate goal.

My job. I currently have one full-time job @ 35hrs/week, and one part-time job that gives me approximately 20-35 hrs/month. Combined, I gross about $4000/month, and actually net around $3000/month. That’s a decent salary for someone my age, and with my education. That’s also not including any graphic design contract work I receive.

After fixed expenses such as my cell phone bill, rent, groceries, RRSP contributions, and Mutual Fund contributions, I am able to put $2000 towards my debt. Any money left over at the end of the month gets put into my emergency fund. As I write this, I’m carrying about $6,500 worth of debt. Because March is a 3-paycheque month, I’ll be able to put away a little more. Hopefully.

March 2007 Goals:


Welcome to my new blog! February 25, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : annual goals, investing , add a comment

I decided to start this blog for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I want to clearly outline my financial goals, and write about my failures and (hopefully) my successes along the way. I got really inspired by reading other financial blogs (listed on the sidebar of this blog), and seeing that I’m not the only one who’s made mistakes in the past. For me, it’s good to have my financial profile out in the public – no more secrets. It makes me feel good that I’m actively working to change my way of life.

Investing is very important to me. It is something that I can directly control, and at my age, it’s about time I start to look towards the future. The funny thing is, this time last year, I never even thought about retirement, but now that I know better, I don’t want to be scrambling at 40 to try and save for retirement when I can start building my nest egg now, and earn interest on my investments. A big key for me to achieve financial independence is to buy property, which is my next big step in life. I would like to achieve this goal before I’m 26.

My financial profile:

Read my financial goals for 2007