Give Me Back My Five Bucks

August was an expensive month. I went to Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle, and I booked my flight to the Financial Blogger Conference in Chicago. However, the only trip that made it into my monthly budget is the Seattle trip – all of the spending in Oregon and San Francisco, and the flight to Chicago, came out of my Travel Fund. Which is now pretty much depleted. But, that’s what it’s there for! :) My Moneyville/Toronto Star editor is also heading out to Chicago for the conference, and I am ridiculously excited about it. It will be nice to see him … Continue reading →

Hey, remember when I received my first fraudulent American Express charge back in February? And then I received my second fraud charge earlier this month, followed by my third and fourth fraud charges (both to Netflix) two weeks ago? Well GUESS WHAT!? I received my fifth fraud charge to my CANCELED American Express card a couple of days ago. I asked again, how are things being charged to my credit card if it was canceled back in February? I got another roundabout answer. She said that if I had recurring charges from before, then they can still be billed to my account. … Continue reading →

Monday 22nd – San Francisco $46.61 Joanie’s Happy Days Diner (breakfast x3) $112.57 Fry’s Electronics (iPhone wall charger & noise canceling ear buds) Tuesday 23rd – San Francisco $79.25 Alcatraz tour (tickets x3) Wednesday 24th – San Francisco + $804.35 freelance/side income $7.37 Starbucks $54 parking (5 days in Bellingham) $75 Ryan Adams tickets (x2) Thursday 25th No Spend Day! Friday 26th $39.93 groceries Saturday 27th $40.11 gas $52 Kingyo (dinner x2) Sunday 28th No Spend Day!  WEEKLY EXPENSES: - $506.84 WEEKLY SIDE INCOME *: + $804.35 TOTAL: + $297.51 This could very well be one of the most expensive weekends I’ve had this year. … Continue reading →

Well, I am squeezing one last trip out of the summer – this coming long weekend, I am headed to Tofino! I haven’t been there in a few years, so I’m really looking forward to it – even if we’re only going to be spending one night camping We also plan on heading down to Victoria to spend a night in the city. It will probably be my last time home until Christmas. It won’t be a cheap vacation – trips to the island never are. But, we will be staying with relatives one night in Nanaimo, camping in Tofino, … Continue reading →

I briefly mentioned before that I was thinking of hiring a cleaner, and it’s true. I am definitely going to hire one. For the longest time, I was completely against it. When I moved into this townhouse, I tried to reason with myself that my place is small (just less than 700 sq. ft.), and I can just suck it up and spend the time to clean it myself. Surely doing it myself would be worth it to not have to pay someone to come and do it for me. But you know what? Cleaning sucks. I work 65+ hours/week, … Continue reading →