November Top Referers

This is just a short thank you to my top referrers in November:

1. Saving 4 Later
2. Frugal Dreamer
3. Canadian Savings
4. Shaking The Money Tree
5. Girl Makes Cents
6. Give Me Back My Five Bucks
7. Financial Catastrophizer
8. Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Blog
9. Small Steps for Big Change
10. Punch Debt in The Face

Thanks everyone!  I love the Love - you're some of my top reads as well!!

Bi-Weekly Budget - Tomorrow is Payday

I got my paystub this morning for tomorrow's pay, so I thought I would post my bi-weekly budget.

My current balance is a little higher then usual as I transfered over the rest of my Christmas fund into my main account to pay my mom back from some shopping she helped me out with.  I also have a little bit of extra income this month from my recent participation with a research panel.

• RRSP/Emerg/Clothes fund are as per usual.  
• Yes I know, bank fees suck -
• I'm in the middle of fighting with my bank about them - once it's sorted, I'll do a post and let you know how it goes.
• I have an extra RRSP deposit this month so that I can reach my 2009, $3,000 goal
• I've been trying to get a hold of my horse board guy to confirm December's amount, but I haven't heard back yet - so I'm defaulting to the max
• Student loans and joint account - as per usual
• I bumped transportation a bit b/c we are heading to BC this weekend; however entertainment/other is down a little
• After a few comments from FrugalDreamer about her thoughts that my allotment of $150 was too much - i thought I'd see how it would go
• Misc. item's on my credit card are also being paid back
• I bought both of my scores and Jordan's as well (I wanted to know what it was, so I volunteered to pay for it)
• It's Christmas, so I elect to put 'other' instead of get into specific details on the final entry

So that leaves me with a little more then $110 left over.

Let's see how it goes.

Making More Money

Jordan has discovered a great way to make more money!

Okay - well he probably didn't 'discover it' but he introduced it to me.

On Monday night we participated in a two hour research panel and each made $75!  Not too shabby!  It was a group of 8 people (plus a facilitator) and he just guided th conversation around the topic at hand.  There were people behind a two-way mirror, mics, and cameras so they could review our responses and conversations at a later date - it was pretty frosty.

You can participate (if you qualify) about once or so a month.  I'm going to sign up for a few more of these!

Joy - Parking Rates Go Up...

Here's the e-mail I received this morning:

Dear Parker,

As you may already be aware, effective December 1, 2009 the monthly parking rate will be increased to $57.50 per month and for those customers who pay quarterly (every 3 months) the rate will be $170. Please note these rates include GST. For example, those customers who have paid for a 3 month period which includes December, the next billing period will reflect the $170 rate and the renewal rate will be effective January 1, 2010. These rate increases are due to higher property taxes, and increased enforcement/security costs.

On or around December 1st, you will be receiving a notification via email that your OLD subscription payment scheme has been cancelled. You will need to re-establish your subscription after December 1st by extending your parking term under the new rates. You will receive detailed instructions on or around December 1st which you will need to follow to ensure your parking subscription is maintained under the new rates after the expiry of your parking term under the old rates.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your parking space or extending your term please do not hesitate to contact us at (XXX) xxx- xxxx.

Thank you, The XYX Parking Team

Joy of Joys.... it's going from $147/quarterly to $170/quarterly - I'm unimpressed!  

Overtime Update

By the end of today I will have 26.75 hours of banked time - that's 35.67% of my goal of 75 hours before January 1, 2009.  I actually had another 7.50 hours, but I used that when my family was in town.

So.. what does that mean?  Well, to reach my goal - I'll need to bank another 48.25 hours.  I have 4 full weeks left prior to the end of the month, and two short week when Christmas falls & January 1st falls.  As i will be taking a few days off around Christmas, I think that I should try to get the rest of the hours in during the next four weeks - that way, I don't have to worry about it during Christmas.

48.25/4 weeks = 12 hours/week

Remember though - each week i work overtime, I 'give up' 2.5 hours (because of my 37.50 hour work week). That means, I'll actually have to put in 14.5/week, or an extra 3 hours a day. As of late, I've been working 7:30am - 5:30pm and taking 30 minutes for lunch instead of an hour - which gives me 9.50 hours a day (2 extra hours).

To hit the three hour mark, I'll need to work 7:00am to 6:00pm and continue only taking 30 minutes for lunch.


What do you think, is it do-able?  Will I drive myself crazy?