May Goals: My Review May 30, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : monthly goals , add a commentWell, the good news is that I came under budget for May. The bad news is the only reason I came under budget is because I didn’t have to pay my $725 rent.
Overages:
- Cell phone – LD minutes and data usage from the car crash.
- Medical/Health Care – 3 months worth of BC and 3 months of MSP.
- Food - lots of eating on the go and fast food due to moving (no usable kitchen).
- Household – bought a couch, rented a moving van, IKEA trip and Home Depot miscellaneous due to the move.
- Entertainment – when BF’s brother’s family was in town
- Clothing – what a debacle that turned out to be. I was doing so well too. Bought a necklace/bracelet the day my grandma passed away ($65). Bought a black top for the funeral ($25), a black purse ($28) b/c my mom said my brown purse was unacceptable, plus those Mountain Hardware pants that were on such a good sale that I couldn’t pass them up ($68 after shipping, taxes and exchange).
- Transportation – this included a $87 ticket for the car crash, and extra gas because I was driving back-and-forth a ton when I was moving boxes.
- Climb a mountain on the May long weekend. FAIL! We didn’t end up going on a trip at all.
- Go rock climbing 5 times. FAIL! We went once. Too busy! :(
- Half-heartedly try to find a PT job in the area that BF lives in. CHECK! I applied for 2 PT jobs, and have been checking the job boards every few days.
- Lose 3 lbs. FAIL! I gained 1 or 2 lbs due to stress and not having enough time to work out on a regular basis. But on the plus side, I have started running in my new neighborhood.
- Post and sell my stuff on the internet. FAIL! Nope. I suck.
- $300 in my Retirement Portfolio. CHECK! I was able to deposit $525!
- $250 into my Savings. CHECK! I deposited $300 – and that was even after I took out money to pay for J’s birthday present. So I’m really pleased with that.
- Pay off Alaskan cruise. CHECK! I paid $1,339 for the final payment.
- Only buy the essentials (fridge/couch/hallway coat-shoe rack). FAIL! I bought the couch, but had to pay for the moving van. Then I bought a few odds and ends at Home Depot and IKEA.
- Make an extra $300. CHECK! I made an additional $322.30! That came from selling a digital camera ($100), my couch ($70), and the rest came from blog income.
- Get my $362.50 damage deposit back from apartment landlord. CHECK! He said he’ll mail out my damage deposit within a week.
- Do something social with someone I haven’t seen in at least 3 months. CHECK! I went for sushi with a friend, and hung out with my cousins a lot this month.
Taking the car to the island May 28, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : spending, travel , add a commentToday after work we’re taking the ferry to the island. I almost always walk across, but this time we are going to drive. The cost difference is lame, but I don’t want to inconvenience anyone by having to ask to be picked up/dropped off, and it’s a lot faster to have a car than to take public transportation. 99% of the time I would opt to save money and just walk across, but this being a time for family, I didn’t feel like wasting time and stressing out by trying to catch a bus.
The cost round-trip for the both of us w/0 car = $54 + $20 (parking @ terminal) = $74
The cost round-trip for the both of us w/car = $144
So taking the car basically doubles the cost. I don’t even remember the last time we drove over, so it’s not like this is a normal expense and I don’t feel bad because of the reason why we’re going.
Also, we won’t have time to stop for dinner, so hopefully we can pick up something cheap at the terminal, because eating on the ferry is ridiculously expensive.
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Giving up the apartment keys today May 28, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : housing, spending , add a commentYesterday afternoon BF left work early and went to my old apartment to start putting things into the moving van. I didn’t do a good job of packing up my apartment. I basically packed up the essentials, and left everything else. Was not looking forward to a long evening of suck. So when I got to my apartment 2 hours later, I was very surprised to see that he had packed up my entire kitchen, and everything else was basically ready to go. He’s great. I wiped down the counters and cleaned the washroom while BF vacuumed. A few trips to the van, and to the garbage/recycling area, and we were done!
With all of J’s hard work, plus the entire day of moving he did on Sunday when I went back home to see my Grandma (and the fact that he was able to borrow a huge van on 2 separate occasions for free), I treated him to a nice all-you-can-eat sushi dinner afterward. The total bill (after tax and tip) came to $50. :) A fraction of the price it would have cost to hire someone to do what he did.
Since BF has to work all weekend, I’ll spend that time going through the boxes and organizing everything. I’m going to drop off my apartment keys to my landlord on my lunch break today, and then we will officially be living together. My landlord said that he’ll mail me my damage deposit within a week. I’ll be splitting the money – half into my EF and half into Savings.
Apple Canada Student Promo! May 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : saving money , 1 comment so far
So, my sister is pretty sure she’s going to buy a Macbook to replace her old laptop. Because she’s still in school, she’s eligible for the Education discount. And she said she’d wait for Apple to offer a free iPod with the purchase of a computer – since they do the same promo every year before September. Then she’d just give me the iPod (!!!!!). She said she would refuse to take money from me, since she has an iPod and has no need for a new one. And she’d rather give it to me than try sell it for money, since mine is currently garbage. My sister is great.
I just saw that the free iPod promo is going on right now on the Apple Canada website. The 8 GB iPod Touch is what she’d get for free if she bought the Macbook. For $70 you can upgrade to the 16 GB and for $170 the 32 GB. I’d probably go for the 32 GB since I already have 18 GB worth of music. And for $170 (+ tax)? That’s a killer deal considering the 32 GB is $429, and the Classic that I was going to get is $279.
Previously I said that the Touch was too flashy to take traveling, even though it’s the iPod I really really wanted. And I still think that’s true. Actually over the past month, I’ve been thinking about not even bringing an iPod with me when we go on our trip. I never listen to music when I’m out and about with BF, and if we ever felt like listening to music, I could just load our songs onto the netbook and bring a pair of headphones or something.
And if I really want an iPod on the trip, I could buy a refurbished or older generation Shuffle (less than $50), and load music via my netbook while we’re on the road. That would make me feel safer (with a music player I could hide a lot easier than a Classic), and I would still come out ahead money-wise. Something to think about for sure.
What would you do with 3 financial do-overs? May 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous , add a commentJ over at BudgetsAreSexy asks: What would you do with 3 financial do-overs?
I personally don’t regret anything I’ve done in my life, otherwise I wouldn’t be the person I am today. You learn from everything you do, and you can take those learning experiences and apply that knowledge when new situations arise. That being said, it’s still fun (or maybe a little tragic) to think about where I would be had I done these 3 things differently:
- I wouldn’t have moved into my own apartment in between switching colleges. When I came back from the USA after completing 2.5 years of University, I took 2 years off before going back to college (1 of those years I spent taking random courses, but mostly I worked full-time). And during those 2 years I started to date someone my parents didn’t like. I was used to the glorious freedom of going away for school. So, being the rebellious ungrateful brat I was, I moved out into an apartment downtown. So I went from zero expenses to a zillion expenses. Had I stayed living at home, I could have saved myself over half of my student loan debt – if not all of it!
- When I was working my 1st government job (1st of 3 stints), I should have saved at least some money. I remember when I got that job. I was living at home, and went from making $250 bi-weekly at a PT job to $1,100 bi-weekly at an entry-level government job. I spent pretty much all of it. I had no expenses! I didn’t care about saving money. I would literally wander around, trying to spend my money. If I had money left over, I wouldn’t save it, I would figure out a way to spend it. On clothing, purses, shoes, food, electronics – anything I could think of. I’m cringing at how many thousands of dollars I wasted away. And what do I have to show for it today? A big fat nothing.
- I would have started to contribute to my RRSPs a lot sooner. My sister is so smart. She started to contribute to an RRSP when she first started working a PT job. I started when I was 24 – 8 years after I started working.
And just for fun, here are 3 that could have been considered “mistakes,” but I’m glad I made:
- Going to University in the USA. I pursued my dream of playing high level sports, and I earned a full scholarship to a Div.1 NCAA school. I hired someone to make my recruitment video, sent out packages, got the offers, and did everything on my own. That being said, even with a full scholarship, University life was expensive. Especially because I wasn’t allowed to get a job. I had very little money saved up from working PT in high school, and I’ll admit that I fell victim to one of those credit card offers so I could get a free t-shirt. No joke. And don’t get me started on the fact that the cost of flights home ended up being more than the tuition of my hometown’s University.
- Not taking that sweet, sweet job in Northern Alberta that I was offered 1.5 years ago. I seriously cannot imagine what my life would be like had I taken that opportunity. It was a great offer (Communications Manager for an entire city), and something I wouldn’t be able to achieve here on the Lower Mainland for at least another 7-10 years. But I waited for something to come along that was a little more local, and I ended up moving to Vancouver. If I were living in Alberta, I wouldn’t be with BF, wouldn’t be saving to go traveling … who knows what I’d be doing. It’s weird to think about. I was so close to choosing such a different path in life.
- Moving to Vancouver. Moving was a pain and I was excited but sad about it. I really wanted to stay in my hometown. But, I needed to experience something new. I needed to get out of my parents basement, and I needed to see if I could survive in a big city. It cost me a lot of time and energy to move, and the cost of living is so much higher here. But I’m glad I did it. Now I know that big city life isn’t for me, and it makes me certain that my hometown is where I’d like to settle down and raise a family. And if not my hometown, than a city like it – something smaller, with a rich history, lots of culture, and a slower pace of life.
June Monthly Goals May 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : monthly goals , 2commentsSo here is my official June budget. It’s changed a bit from my potential June budget. Now that all of the hoopla is over, I’m really hoping to settle into a routine. I’m finally moved in (no more take-out/food on-the-go), the car issues have been dealt with, and we have no major purchases coming up. BF’s parents are coming into town, and we’ll probably go out for dinner with them at least once. But that can be worked into the Food budget.
Personal Care is $50 because I need a hair cut, which will cost me about $40.- Entertainment is $100 (instead of the usual $50) because of a 5-day hike we’re going on. I’ll need to buy food, and my share of the gas.
- Household is $50 just in case we need to buy odds and ends for the place.
- Clothing is $0 because I don’t need anything, and don’t intend to do any shopping. Especially because my sister is coming to visit me in July, and we’ll probably do a bit of shopping then.
- Apartment insurance is $0. I think the house insurance covers my things, but I have to have BF look into it for me.
Other than that, everything looks right. Have I missed anything?
$900/month seems reasonable. We’ll see how that works out. I haven’t come under my Food budget at all this year, but my fingers are crossed that by living together, we can prepare meals at home more often. At least, that’s what we both think is going to happen. I need to start learning how to cook on the skillet. BF has been preparing every meal so far, and that’s not fair. It can’t be that hard. A skillet is just the same as a frying pan, really. It’s just that most of the meals I’ve learned how to make involve the stove, or something other than a frying pan.
June Goals:
- Go rock climbing 4 times. We’ve only gone one lousy time since BF’s come back from France. May was an extremely busy month and we really haven’t had much time to relax and take it easy. BF’s brother was in town until the 10th, then he started to do a lot of OT at work, all while trying to help me move and renovate the suite and organize our lives together.
- Organize Canada Day long weekend hiking trip. We have a 5-day trip scheduled and we need to figure it out and organize it. I’ve been looking forward to climbing this particular mountain since last summer. It will be nice to have a little vacation just the 2 of us, and get out of the city!
- $450 into Retirement Portfolio. This includes my RRSPs and TFSA.
- $800 into Travel Fund. This is up by $200 from previous months. I’m hoping to eventually stretch it to $1,000/month so I can meet my $10k savings goal by the end of the year.
- $150 into Emergency Fund.
- $200 into Savings Fund.
- Get my $362.50 damage deposit back from apartment landlord.
- Make an extra $300. Through this blog, a PT job, or by selling things.
- See at least 2 friends on my trip back to the island for June 6-7. The past few times I’ve come home, I’ve been busy for various reasons and really have been neglecting my friends. Must see them!
Everything is getting done tonight May 27, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : housing, miscellaneous , add a commentLast night we moved a car load of things back to our place, but today after work we have to get everything done. BF has borrowed a van, so we can get all the big items over no problem. But I still need to pack up the kitchen, and then we’ll have to clean and vacuum before we’re ready to leave. Then I have to drop the keys off at my landlord’s house.
BF said that we can do it all today for sure, so I didn’t bother asking my landlord if I could have Saturday before giving him the keys.
We’ve decided to go back to the island on Thursday night and then come back Friday night. The funeral is on Friday, then there’s a big family dinner afterwards. I might stay for Saturday, but haven’t decided yet. Probably not.
Other than that, not much is new. I’ve been playing The Sims 2 on the Wii for a few days now, and I’m hooked. I totally heart The Sims. Although, games like that don’t really utilize the Wii for what it was intended for, so it’s not really that great. We have wireless internet, so I think I’m going to try to play Mariokart with my sister. :)
5 free meals May 26, 2009
Posted by gmbmfb in : saving money , add a commentMy boss from my PT job back home gave me a $25 Subway gift card. He gave everyone one to thank them for all of their hard work, but since I haven’t been home for a while and I haven’t worked since March, I didn’t get mine until yesterday. $25 = 5 meals! I usually get the veggie sub because I don’t eat processed deli meat.
Anyway, I treat myself to lunch out once per pay period, so now I can use my Subway card instead. Which is good, because I usually just pop across the street to this burger shop, which isn’t nearly as healthy as my veggie sub. :)
