Give Me Back My Five Bucks

Rock climbers will often tell you that if you don’t fall, it means you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. As a (former) climber, I often pushed myself to jump for nearly impossible holds. Most of the time I ended up falling, but sometimes I’d end up getting it. And that feeling of accomplishment was worth all of the failed attempts. However, unlike rock climbing, I have shaped my entire adult life around the idea of protecting myself from failing at something. I always put up safety nets, choose what makes the most sense, and almost never take risks that have … Continue reading →

For the last 5 years, I’ve talked about how multiple savings accounts have worked for me. It helped me keep track of my money and stay organized. But, I don’t think it’s working for me anymore. When I was eliminating my credit card and student loan debt years ago, it made sense to keep my goals separate because I was organizing my finances so that I was maximizing my debt repayment. Then, when I got out of debt, I shifted my efforts over to creating and managing a system of automatic withdrawals into multiple savings accounts. This worked because I … Continue reading →

Monday 12th + $350 freelance/side income $29.10 East is East Tuesday 13th $41.46 gas Wednesday 14th + $117.35 freelance/side income $470.40 work visa application (purchased through Swap) $432 travel insurance (12 months) $648.14 flight to Paris $0.66 postage Thursday 15th No Spend Day!  Friday 16th $11.07 Thai food $12.88 groceries Saturday 17th No Spend Day! Sunday 18th + $150 freelance/side income $9.86 groceries WEEKLY EXPENSES: - $1,614.11 WEEKLY SIDE INCOME *: + $617.35 TOTAL: - $996.76 So clearly this was a crazy week of spending as we had to put down a lot of money towards travel expenses. We went through Swap for our … Continue reading →

Well, the title of this post says it all, doesn’t it? Last week I quit my day job and booked a one-way plane ticket to Germany. Okay, you’re probably really confused. Let me start from the beginning: About 10 days ago, my boyfriend Nic asked me if I would consider moving to Europe with him. He has a 7 month break before he finishes up the last semester of his masters, and has some strong job leads in Germany. In typical Krystal fashion, I just laughed at him and told him that I couldn’t go. I have a job, responsibilities, … Continue reading →

If you didn’t win my $500 cash giveaway contest, you still have a chance at winning some money this holiday season! The folks at BrighterLife.ca want to help. All you have to do is tell them what brightens your holiday on their Facebook page, and you could win 1-of-3 prizes of $1,000. :) The holiday season seems especially bright this year. Especially when I reflect over what a crazy 12 months its been! I’ve come across so many amazing people through blogging – both in real life, and online – and it truly makes my day brighter whenever I receive … Continue reading →