Give Me Back My Five Bucks

For years, my line of credit was my crutch. I used every available dollar of credit available to help me limp from month to month, or whenever an “emergency” arose. Times have certainly changed for me. I just hit the $10,000 mark for my emergency fund – which represents 4 months of comfortable living based on my current needs – or 5 months of living on a bare-bones budget. However, now that I’ve been debt free for a few years, I’m often asked why I don’t use a line of credit as my emergency fund instead – leaving me with the … Continue reading →

It has taken almost five years, but for the first time EVER, my Emergency Fund is fully funded at $5,000. For long-time readers, you know that I’ve suffered major setbacks in trying to get to this $5,000 mark, such as being unemployed for nearly 3 months (and having E.I. take 11 weeks to get me my first payout!), ending a 1-year contract,  crashing and totaling a car (whoops), and let’s not forget last year when I found that my job was posted on Craigslist behind my back. This number is meant to represent one of the following scenarios, based on … Continue reading →

So today was pay day, and I updated my sidebars and my NetworthIQ. I put my car in my NetworthIQ. I went and looked at the Kelley Blue Book “Suggested Retail Value” with the car in good condition (in Blaine, WA – closest US city to me). Then I took that value and converted it from $US to $CAD. With the exchange rate, it makes the value a lot higher than I paid for it. But, I think I did that right. Perhaps I should just put the value back down to what I paid for it ($3,000)? But they … Continue reading →

I’m really struggling with the idea of going home this weekend. I told my sister that if I had to work, I’d be there for sure. And I definitely will. But if the PT job didn’t need me, I told her I’d come anyway. Now, I kind of regret saying that. Lately I’ve been spending way way way too much money. I inputted all of my receipts over the past few weeks, and I doubt I’ll be able to save anything this month. Right now I’m already over budget for April, and we’re only halfway through the month. Granted, my … Continue reading →

So, my Condo Down Payment account is gone, and my EF is above $3,000 for the first time in a long time. I changed my goal to $5,000 because I’d like to reach that amount before going traveling. I think $5k is a solid amount to get me on my feet once we come back. The rest of the money has disappeared into my RRSPs.