February Goals: My Review February 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : budget, monthly goals , add a commentOkay, well as you can see I went over on my budget by a lot. By about $900. BUT, $771 of that amount is for ski equipment and a pass for the mountain (for the rest of this season and all of next season) – all of which is coming out of my Travel Fund. So, when you look at it that way, I really only went over budget by $135.02 … and that’s not too bad. Not good. But not bad.
February Goals (end of month review):
- $300 into Retirement Portfolio. CHECK!
- $600 into Travel Fund. CHECK! I was able to deposit $700!
- Go rock climbing at least 5 times. CHECK! We’ve gone 5 times, and plan to go again tomorrow. So possibly 6 times.
- Run once per week. FAIL! I wasn’t able to get sweat in my eyes for the first 2 weeks of the month (b/c of LASIK surgery), so I only got 2 runs in.
- Lift weights (at home), work on my abs, and stretch 3 times per week. FAIL! I started doing this regularly during the last 2 weeks of the month.
- Stay within my $200 food budget for the month. FAIL! This was an epic fail on my part. I ended up spending $224.34! I’m really disappointed in myself, but I’m getting better, so I’m going to keep trying to hit this goal.
- Do something social with friends once per week. CHECK! And I did everything rather frugally too, I might add. :)
- List at least 3 items on eBay or Craigslist. FAIL! I only listed one thing – my scooter. I’m happy that it’s going to sell next month, but still disappointed that I didn’t get my act together to list more things.
March Monthly Goals February 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : budget, monthly goals , 1 comment so farHere is my monthly budget for March. A few things are different from the February budget – namely I dropped my Entertainment category down to $50 since I purchased ski equipment and a ski pass. I also don’t have to pay MSP or Hydro for the next 3 months (both are billed in 3-month blocks).
Also my Personal Care category is up to $90 b/c I will probably run out of face cream and eye cream. Plus I want to buy a new face cleanser and I need some feminine products as well. Fingers crossed that I don’t actually spend the entire $90!
March Goals:
- Work out 5-6 days per week. Can be rock climbing, running, gym, skiing, or a combination of those things. BF is all about going skiing and then going climbing right afterwards. That’s something I would like to do on a regular basis. But that would just count as one work out.
- $300 into Retirement Portfolio.
- $600 into Travel Fund. An extra $50 above and beyond what I would normally contribute.
- Do something social with friends once per week. This might be hard to do, but I’ll be home twice in March, so I should be able to accomplish this.
- Stay within $100 travel budget. 1 of the 2 weekends BF will definitely be able to drive me, since he’ll be coming over as well. But the other weekend I will probably have to figure out how to get to and from the ferry terminal myself, since he plans on climbing Mt. Baker or something.
- List at least 3 things for sale on Craigslist or eBay.
- Organize all my tax paperwork. It takes forever to get all of my statements.
Financial Post Magazine: interview February 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : blog , add a commentNot too long ago I was interviewed by Sarah Efron of Financial Post Magazine. You can read the article here, but I’ll also copy-and-paste it below.
Congrats to the other Canadian PF bloggers who also got mentioned: Million Dollar Journey, Apples and Telephones, Fabulously Broke in the City, Saving4Later, and Northern Living Allowance!
Krystal is a 26-year-old marketing coordinator in Vancouver. She’s trying to declutter her house, she likes to go rock climbing in her spare time and, if you go to her blog, “Give Me Back My Five Bucks,” you’ll quickly learn every imaginable detail about her finances. Krystal is a member of a growing online community of personal-finance bloggers now baring their hopes and dreams – and their financial statements – online. Collectively, they’re breaking one of the last taboos: talking about money. In a recent post, Krystal laid out her goals for the month: sticking to her $200 food budget, putting $300 in her retirement portfolio and going climbing at least five times. She regularly updates graphs that show how much money is in her travel, emergency and retirement funds. Other bloggers itemize everything from their investment returns to the cost of vegetable soup on their grocery bill.
Their motivation is self-improvement, not exhibitionism. When these bloggers aren’t updating their own data, they’re reading each other’s entries for ideas and strategies. Many are young women, and most, like Krystal, choose not to reveal their real identities. Nevertheless, Krystal credits her blog with keeping her accountable and helping her get a handle on her saving and spending. “When I first decided I wanted to change my life and get out of debt, my friends made fun of me and called me a penny-pincher,” she says. “So I turned to the Internet. There, I found such a wonderful, welcoming community of personal-finance bloggers. This blog has been the best decision of my life.”
Not only has the blog helped provide emotional support for Krystal, it’s also provided some cold, hard cash. In the past two years, she earned $2,239.44 from advertising and by writing sponsored posts – reviews of books, blogs or services – providing money that has helped her reach her goals. In fact, since she started the blog in 2007, her net worth has increased more than $33,000, going from about $5,000 in the red to $28,220 in the black.
Some of Canada’s most interesting – and revealing – personal finance blogs
A mid 20s Vancouverite chronicles her rise out of debt and into the black.
A 27-year-old Eastern Canadian doles out investment advice as he builds towards his goal of having a networth of $1 million by the age of 35.
A 23-year-old Canadian photographer living in England struggles to stretch the value of her Canadian dollars.
A confessed shopaholic travels down the path of financial prudence.
A woman in her 30s details her life and her spending habits.
A 40ish single blogger fights debt and angst.
FiLife: Pocket Profile Interview February 26, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : blog , add a commentI was just interviewed by FiLife (in partnership with the Wall Street Journal) for their weekly Pocket Profile.
Go check it out! :)
Going to look at some ski equipment February 26, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness, spending , add a commentToday after work BF and I are going to look at some ski equipment that we saw for sale on Craigslist. I’m excited to start skiing, but I’m one of those people who needs to get the most value out of my purchases. So if we don’t go as often as I’d like to go, then I’ll feel a little ripped off. Actually, I’ll feel really ripped off and I’ll probably get annoyed. No, I will definitely get annoyed.
When I bought my annual rock climbing pass in January, I think we only ended up going once or twice during the entire month. Now that we’ve been going about 2x/week, I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth (even though I got a mega discount on the pass anyway).
I like knowing that my purchases were smart ones for my lifestyle, and that I’m getting the most out of what I’ve invested in.
Just a thought: I miss Casey Serin February 25, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous , add a commentCall me crazy, but after all this time … I still miss 
Casey Serin.
I’ve always been pro-Casey, and I followed his story for a really long time. While he made some stupid mistakes in his life (really stupid), I admired him for his openness and undying determination to succeed.
Oh well.
I hate crowded gyms February 25, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness, spending , add a commentLast night I went to the gym with a friend. I paid $42 for a 10x pass. The gym was ridiculously crowded because we went at about 6pm. I generally like going later (maybe around 8pm) when it’s a little less busy – but BF was going to come over later in the evening. So we braved it.
I had a decent workout. I would have liked to use more cardio machines but they were all being used. My arms and back are sore from lifting weights, so that’s a good sign. We’re hoping to go again next week sometime. I haven’t been to a gym since I moved to Vancouver (about a year).
I forgot how much I hate a lot of the people that go to gyms. Guys staring at their muscles in the mirror, flexing and acting all macho when the girls with make-up and tight pants come walking by. And what’s with people talking on their cell phones when working out? Can’t be that much of a workout if you still have the breath to talk to someone. Annoys me so much.
Tonight I’m meeting BF and we’re going rock climbing. It’s going to take me about 1.5 hrs. to get there by public transit which is really obnoxious. But I really want to go climbing more often. And that’s what I get for not having a car.
To ski or not to ski February 25, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness, spending , add a commentI’ve been thinking about taking up skiing. It is a VERY expensive sport, but it’s pretty fun. I have all the clothing – I just need the equipment. Oh, and the ski pass. It makes me lightheaded just thinking about how much it will all cost.
BF and I were looking at used equipment on Craigslist, and someone is selling a complete set of ski equipment for $450 (includes skis, bindings, boots, 2 pairs of goggles, poles, helmet, plus a ski bag). BF said that it was a total bargain for really high quality stuff, and I of course would try to negotiate the price. I think I would offer $375 and hope for around $400. That’s if I decide to buy it.
The ski passes are on sale right now for the rest of this season and all of next season for about $375 including taxes. That’s a really big discount considering they are regularily $750. I’d have to decide rather quickly, as the discounted ski passes sell out very fast.
So all in all it will cost me about $750-800. If I do go for it, I would pay for it with my Travel Fund. Then I would reduce my Entertainment Budget each month from $100 down to $50, and add the extra $50/month to my Travel Fund. Or, when I sell my scooter next month, I could use that money to pay for the entire thing.
If I do decide to go for it, $800 out of my Travel Fund isn’t going to hurt me. At the rate I’m saving, I should have $10k saved for our trip by March. That leaves approximately 3 more months of saving above and beyond that amount. Plus starting at the end of this year I’ll be able to save $725 more per month once I move in with BF.
Getting the equipment would be nice, because if it’s really good quality then it will last me for years and years. But then again, if we move back to the island after traveling, how often would I go skiing? Once or twice per season? Although if I didn’t have the equipment, then I probably would never go at all – renting equipment is such a rip off!
It’s a really hard decision to make. Buying the equipment would be an investment, and going forward I really would like the opportunity to ski on a regular basis, but I would also enjoy not spending $800. Hmm.
