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April Monthly Goals March 30, 2007

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

I’m going to try and be a hardass this month, what with me being so close to being debt free. The only difference this month is I anticipate going out for my friend’s birthday, so I’ll up my $30/month dining out budget to $50. I might not need the $20 breathing room, but at least it’s there!

April 2007 goals:


March Goals: My Review March 30, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : debt, monthly goals, sidebar totals , add a comment

I got paid today, so I updated the sidebar! $1,000 towards my student loan, $25 to my condo down payment fund (almost not even worth contributing, but at least it’s something), and $50 into my RRSP. The Emergency Fund won’t get much love for a while, but I’m not that concerned. I don’t foresee any major emergency that could cost me over $500 anyway. Plus, it’ll only be for a month or so until I’m completely out of debt. I also paid $150 rent, and $35 for a new field hockey skirt that my team ordered.

My boyfriend and I live in a basement suite that my parents rent out. I lived here rent-free while going to college though. Our total rent is $500 (all utilities included), and since my parents own it, I pay significantly less than market value for rent. So does the BF, but I still pay way less than him. Suites in a college town like this usually go for at least $800-$1,000/mo. It’s a pretty sweet deal. 1100 sq/ft, with in-suite laundry, and 2 bedrooms (one is converted into our gym). The only deal is I’ve gotta be out when I turn 25. My birthday is in October, but my contract runs out at this job in November. So my parents decided I can stay until I’ve found another job. Since I am looking to move to Edmonton after this job is over, it would be very hard to find a place that would let me move in on a month-to-month basis.

Anyway, it’s the end of the month, so it’s time to take a look at the monthly goals I set for myself!

March Goals (end of month review):

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty successful month. I spent more than I wanted to, what with my dental surgery costing me $200, 2 birthday presents, and my accountant’s fee of $95 for doing my taxes.


My friend March 29, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous, retirement , 1 comment so far

This is along the lines of NIUiceprincess’ post.

I know this person in my life. I would consider her to be one of my good friends, but I worry about her. She has no concept about finances and she is definitely not planning towards the future. She has nothing saved for retirement, no emergency fund, at least $15,000 worth of debt, and just bought a new car. Oh, and she’s unemployed.

This frightens me, but I never want to talk about it with her, because she can get quite defensive. It makes me upset. I’ve been planting seeds, like Nancy suggested; mentioning an emergency fund, casually bringing up retirement, etc. Nothing is working, and I don’t want to see her ruin her future just because she doesn’t want to think that far ahead. I also don’t want to become the snooty friend who only cares about pinching pennies and having no fun, because that’s not fair. When I owe money to someone else other than myself, it’s my duty to become best friends with my money. That’s not being a downer, that’s just being fiscally responsible.

I don’t know what to do. I guess it’s none of my business, and I shouldn’t stress out about it, but I want what’s best for her. I don’t even know if she reads this blog (in a way, I hope she does, but mostly I hope she doesn’t) … and maybe I should just let it go. Some people just don’t care, afterall. But I can’t help but cringe when I think about all those pay cheques gone to waste and all the frivolous stuff she buys. A fraction of that amount could have gone into an RRSP and she probably wouldn’t see any change in her lifestyle at all. And what about all those years she was working full-time and not going to school? She wasn’t able to save a penny? I mean, sure her clothes are nice, and she has a nice car, but none of that’s going to matter 30 years from now.


One final push to the end! March 29, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : annual goals, debt, tax refund , add a comment

That little bit of student loan debt has been driving me INSANE. So to stop me from going crazy, here’s what I propose to do over the next 2 weeks:

I currently owe approximately $2,700.

So that means it will have taken me one year to get rid of that dumb student loan debt. One year on the dot, as a matter of fact. The seemingly unbelievable goal will be obtained! I can’t believe it! WAHOO!!!

I will now be completely debt-free by the end of May! :)


Blew the boyfriend’s birthday budget (say that three times fast!) March 26, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : budget , add a comment

Well, I went and blew my $50 budget on the BF’s birthday present. There was this book he really wanted, but after shipping, it was a little over $100. Why was it so expensive? Because it was independently published and not many copies were printed, so the costs are higher. But he really wanted it … and he had only mentioned it a million times to me last week. Plus, it’s apparently a really informative book on the career that he wants to get into, and since it’s such a huge change in careers (from a computer programmer to a helicopter pilot), I want him to be as prepared as he can get. At least my sister will be contributing $25 to the present, so it’ll really only cost me $75. And that’s only $25 over my budget.

My sister and I also split a present for my boss at the arena. My boss always buys us chocolates and little presents for the holidays, and since her birthday is coming up, we bought her some gormet tea from Murchie’s, and a box of chocolates. My share of the present came to $10, so that’s not bad.


How anonymous is this blog? March 25, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous , add a comment

I’ve been trying to keep this blog anonymous, but I’m not sure how anonymous it really is. For a brief few hours, I had a link to this blog from my regular blog on a different site, and then thought better of it, and took it down. But a few hours is enough time for a couple of friends to click on the link and wander over. Plus, based on the details of myself on this blog, I’m sure it’d be pretty darn easy to figure out who I am, where I live, and what I ate for breakfast.

And my boyfriend now knows I have this blog, and desperately wants to read it. He’s really into personal finance as well, and he’s very “fiscally responsible,” as he likes to describe himself. But, I’m reluctant. I like how this blog is my very own, and to my knowledge, nobody in my real life knows about it.

But I guess I have nothing to hide. Having this blog forces me to be open about my finances, and that’s what I wanted from the beginning. My boyfriend is fully aware of my financial situation (although he was definitely against me buying that new computer), and sometimes I try to talk shop with my friends, but honestly none of them have any interest in finance.

It’s also an issue of security. Is it smart to tell the world how much money you have? I know most PF bloggers have a sidebar that tracks their finances down to the penny, and a lot of them even have pictures of themselves. Is this safe? Are they scared of getting stalked and robbed? Or have their identity stolen?

I don’t really know what I’m trying to say. My other blog has gotten me into some weird situations in the past (a very famous music magazine took a paragraph word-for-word from my blog, for starters, and that turned into a little bit of a fiasco with a famous band, but I digress …), and I like the idea of having a completely anonymous blog … but on the other hand, maybe one of my friends will get inspired by reading my blog, and decide to start one up of their own.

So right now, to my knowledge, nobody I know in real life has ever read this journal (p.s. if any of my friends are reading this right now, please leave me a comment). But how about the rest of you PF bloggers? Do your friends and loved ones know about your blog, and if they do, do they read it? How do you feel about it?


It’s none of my business, but … March 23, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : investing , add a comment

I can’t help but rant about my mom and my sister.

I’ll talk about my mom first, because she should really know better. She has a lot of money invested in these weird bonds that yield only 2% interest annually. I asked her why she didn’t invest in at least a high interest savings account (4%), or GICs, where the interest rate could be as high as 6%+, depending on where she invested. She said she’s “always had” the bonds she currently is investing in, and doesn’t want to go through the hassle to switch. This is coming from a government finance manager, and the woman who has constantly advised me to invest my money for the future.

Then there’s my sister, who is 20, and is going to college. She has over $7k in her savings account, but her interest rate is a paltry 0.1%. That’s not a typo, it’s actually 0.1%. I asked her why she didn’t just put that money into a high interest savings account at 4%, since she wasn’t needing the money anytime soon. She looked at me, and said that she isn’t concerned about money like I am, and she doesn’t think it’s necessary. Granted, when I was her age, my bank account was empty and I was carrying a balance on my credit cards. But still. Gah!

It’s not like I’m talking about investing in the stock market! I’m talking about a savings account, and GICs! The least riskiest things around.

Now I know it’s none of my business, and I wasn’t about to argue with them about how they’re going to invest their money … but they’re essentially throwing away free money every year in interest they could be earning. This infuriates me! Maybe they aren’t as concerned about making money, but if anyone, my mom should be actively looking to invest as smartly as she can, what with retirement just around the corner.

It’s not my place to say anything, and when I mentioned it to them, they both got super defensive … so I’ve dropped the subject for now, but I just wish they could see it from my perspective. I just want what’s best for them, that’s all.


Free concert tonight March 22, 2007

Posted by gmbmfb in : budget, entertainment , add a comment

I just got back from the Nelly Furtado concert with my sister. Because we both work for a professional hockey team, my boss got us both free tickets to the show. They were great seats, but I was a little disappointed in the concert. This is her home town, afterall. If anything, this should be her most energetic show of the whole tour! (On a side note, Nelly graded from my high school, and her aunt used to be my hair dresser. Way back in the day before she became famous, whenever I was in the salon, Nelly used to come by with a basket of her independent CD, asking if anyone wanted to buy one for $20. I obviously said no every time, because who the heck did she think she was, anyway? Now that I look back on it, that $20 would have been a huge investment! She’s so famous now, and that CD would be a collector’s item). Anyway, it was a great way to spend an evening for free with my sister.

Although I guess the evening wasn’t exactly “free.” I wasn’t going to mention anything, but this blog is here for me to be open and honest about my spending. I spent $17.40 on food tonight with my sister. We went to a local sushi place, and paid $14 each for dinner (including tip), then I bought us both teas at Starbucks ($3.40 total) while we were walking to the concert. This outing puts me around $14 over my dining out budget for March of $30. My only saving grace is that each month I budget $10 for entertainment, and I haven’t used a single cent of that category this entire year.