Tomorrow is the last day to enter! April 30, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : contest , add a commentIf you haven’t already entered my contest for 1000 free business cards or 500 free brochures, please do! The contest will end tomorrow (May 1st) at 5pm PST.
Thanks, and good luck! :)

Thursday Morning FMLs April 30, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous , add a commentMy favourites from FMyLife over the past week! :)
Today, I went up to a secluded mountain my boyfriend took me to for our first date. As I saw another couple hooking up in the bushes, I phoned my boyfriend to tell him someone found our secret spot. His Bob Marley ringtone started playing from the bush. FML
Today, I spent 90 dollars and two and a half hours getting my hair done at a fancy salon. As I was unlocking my car, a bird pooped in my hair. FML
Today, I was running the register at my work and this big lady pulls her wad of cash out of her bra and hands it to me. The bills she handed me were moist. FML
Today, I finally exchanged pictures with the woman I’ve been seeing online for some time now. She replied, saying “Thats not funny. Some people actually look like that.” I sent my real picture, and thought I actually looked pretty good in it. FML
Today, I came home from work and went to open the door. I Iooked in the window and saw a man in my house. Terrified, I called the police. They came, searched the house, and found nothing missing. I went back inside and looked through the window and saw him again. It was my reflection. FML

Advertising the apartment April 30, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : housing , add a commentSo I put an ad up yesterday afternoon for my apartment on Craigslist. My Landlord put one up as well. So far I’ve gotten a few responses (as well as someone from Twitter who read my Tweet and is interested). So I forwarded everything onto my Landlord.
Even though the summer is traditionally a slow month for trying to rent, I’m almost positive he’ll be able to get this apartment rented. While it’s kind of an older building, it’s cheap ($725/month) rent, and the location is fabulous and central to pretty much everything.
That’s that for now. Hopefully my Landlord will have a couple of showings in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

Update to my ‘lease’ problem… April 29, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : housing , add a comment***UPDATE***
So this is the exact BC Residential Tenancy Agreement that I signed.
EXCEPT I never ever EVER saw Page 2, which states length of tenancy, payment of rent, etc. I have all of the other pages though, and none of those pages say anything about a length of tenancy or a lease.
So if that’s the official agreement, then that trumps anything else right?
Let’s say hypothetically speaking, in super small print in that “About Me” paperwork that I filled out along with the official paperwork, there was some sort of wording like “tenant agrees to” x 6 months or x 12 month lease. And I signed it without knowing what it actually was (very unlikely, I read everything really carefully and would have definitely questioned it) … does this Residential Tenancy Agreement override that?

Help with supposide apartment "lease"! April 29, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : housing , add a commentSo I talked to my Landlord today.
When I signed my paperwork, my Landlord had me also fill out a sheet that was “About Me,” so it had my contact info, employer, etc. It also had a check box stating how long I was looking to rent for. There were 2 boxes: 6 months or 12 months. I checked 12 months, because that’s at least how long I planned on renting an apartment for. I’m 99% sure that I didn’t sign that paper, I think I just wrote down my information. I don’t think there was even a section for a signature. But even if I did sign it (I never got a copy of it from him), it looked like just a home made contact information sheet that he wanted to have for his filing. Then I signed the official Residential Tenancy Agreement, which doesn’t state any sort of lease on it.
My Landlord said that because I checked 12 months on my “About Me” paper, that means I’m bound to a 12-month lease. But I never signed a paper that stated the address of the apartment, and that I was committing to staying there for 12 months. I may or may not have signed an “About Me” sheet of paper.
And the next day after I had signed the paperwork, my Landlord dropped off photocopies for me. He didn’t include the “About Me” paper. So I figured it was just for his own personal filing.
What do I do now?

April Goals: My Review April 29, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : monthly goals , add a commentOh, the tragedy of my April Monthly Budget. I’ve been dreading this recap, and it really is horrifying. I’m in shock and embarrassed as to how awful I did. Sure, I was super mega stressed out, but I didn’t need to spend so much money. There’s that emotional shopper in me.
Granted, a lot of the expense was the car accident, and these numbers do include the purchase of the new car (less the $1,600 for the sale of the scooter). It doesn’t count my insurance though.
I’m happy that I had my Emergency Fund there to bail me out of a tough situation … since I clearly spent more than I earned this month. *hangs head in shame* But at least I didn’t go into debt because of it? Now I need to refocus and start to throw money back in there to bring it up to at least $3k. Since I’m moving in with BF, I don’t feel such a panic to bring it up to $5k as fast as I would have previously liked to – since if I did ever get into such an emergency that I needed $5k, I have my Travel Fund to back me up.
- Exercise 15x. FAIL! hahahaha what an epic FAIL. I only exercised 4x. I left my runners in the car when I got in the accident, and didn’t get them back until after J got home. And since he’s been home, all we’ve been doing is running around, trying to get our lives organized. That being said, I did lose weight. Probably due to stress though. :(
- Only buy lunch a maximum of 2 times. FAIL! I bought my lunch 4 times this month.
- No buying snacks from Tim Horton’s or 7-11. FAIL! I bought snacks 2 times.
- $300 into Retirement Portfolio. CHECK!
- $600 into Travel Fund. CHECK!
- Stay within $150 clothing budget. FAIL! I spent $183.55. :(
- Make an extra $150. CHECK! I made an additional $2,400 (selling scooter, selling FOTC tickets, making extra income from blogging)! :) But all of that money either went towards the purchase of my car, or to pay off something to do with the accident, to help BF out with buying his bike (he’s paying me back), oh and the rental car (I submitted the receipt, and will be getting a refund on it sometime soon).
- Do something social with someone new, or someone I haven’t seen in a long time. CHECK! I went out for dinner with a friend from my old work. I also popped into a store that a friend works at when I was back in my hometown, and I had a good 30 min. conversation with another friend on the phone. Wish I had gotten to see more people, but time (and especially money) is tight these days!
- Organize the boxes under my bed. FAIL! I started, but didn’t do enough.

GMBMFB is one of the 100 Best Financial Planning Blogs! April 29, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : blog , add a commentHoorah! This blog was named one of the 100 Best Financial Planning Blogs, according to www.onlinembaguide.net.
Congrats to the other PF bloggers who were also mentioned. :)

Digital camera: SOLD! April 28, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : making money , add a comment
So the digital camera that I listed this morning is now sold!
I put it as my Facebook status, and I got a response right away.
The camera went to my sister’s ex-boyfriend. Kind of random, but whatever. I cut him a deal, and he got it for $100 including shipping. I probably could have sold it for $150 on eBay + shipping. But he’s just a poor college student, and I know what that felt like. Not being able to afford anything but junk.





