$1,000 in Winter Tires

So, this year we had to buy six winter tires. A set of four for the new Kia Rio and two for the Escape. Unfortunately we drove over a screw driver last winter and killed one of the Escape's tires...and you really ought to have the same two (tread/depth etc) on the front and the back....

So, seeing as Jordan works in the automotive industry it was his job to get this sorted out for us.

Here's the breakdown he sent me:

2x Hankook RW11's @ $135.32 (for the escape)
4x Hankook W419's @ $110.10 (Kia Rio)
6 tires x $4/tax = $24
4 steel rims @ $49/ea = $196.00 (Kia Rio)

Tax in = $977.60 

To save us money Jordan put the steal rims on the tires and swapped the tires/wheels over on the escape at his workplace shop with the help of one of our very good friends who also works there and is a mechanic.

Jordan Got a Raise....Sort of.

Almost a month ago, I shared with you all that Jordan got a raise.  He had an incredible performance review and was left feeling valued and confident.

Four weeks later and it's all gone to crap.  I won't get into all the details other to say that he works for a company that is perhaps the least organized and professional that I have ever seen when it comes to managing performance/salary expectations.

His pay raise has been reduced from $300/month down to $250/month and he will not receive the increase in pay until November.  Effective November 4th - both pays for the month should show the new rate.  A month of stress, anxiety and b*ll sh*t for $600....it's pretty pathetic that the leadership at his company chose to behave that way.  He will also start getting a flat $40/month to cover part of his cell phone bill has he's expected to take off-the-clock work phone calls.

His new annual salary of $54,400 ($26.15/hour) will net about $68.62 more each pay, or $1.784.13 a year - which is about $462.02 less then we were anticipating. I'll be updating the 2014 budget with the new numbers this week as we get closer to posting it.

ahhhhh

That is a small sigh of contentment.

I had a week of banked overtime paid out because we kept chasing a few hundred dollars owing on our credit cards and couldn't seem to get them caught up due to conflicting priorities.  I'm happy to say that all three credit cards have a $0 balance, and we have $150 for gas and groceries until Friday.

Going Back to School!

Yup!  I'm going back to school.

I've registered for an extension certificate in Instructional Design and Curriculum Development.  It's an online programme with Mount Royal University - there are participants from all across Canada, so it's a really neat experience something like this with people from so many walks of life.  There are six courses, and each one costs $299.  I've already started the first and will have two over winter.

To help offset the cost I'm applying for funding through my work which would give me $1,900 if I'm successful.

Successfully completed the programme will help me to continue to advance my career and meet my personal needs of continued education.

Wish me luck!

Networth Update

Here is my October 1, 2013 networth update.  We're still a bit below where I'd like us to be, but I think that over the fall we'll start to trend upwards again.

You'll see that I chose a trade in value for the new car a couple thousand less then what we paid - that's to account for the pretty much automatic depreciation new vehicles have...you really never cover the taxes/delivery fees that you have to pay up front.

The MasterCard also has a balance that I'm cranky about.  We're waiting for some reimbursements from Jordan's work and also had some unexpected expenses crop up.

August and September Monthly Spend Summaries

Wow - so I sure slacked off last month in not posting August monthly spend summary - so today you'll get both August and September.

Gas is consistent - even after the purchase of the car.  We took both vehicles to my home town because I was staying a few extra days and Jordan had to go back to work, plus a couple of other trips around the city.  I expect that October will be far less....crossing my fingers anyways.

Groceries has settled down...some now that we're not camping any more - but we spent a big chunk of money (about $100) on an end of the summer BBQ at the house...so that explains part of why it's still so high.  I would like to see this closer to $400-500 and eating out back down to around $150.  We've been splurging on food.

Alcohol also went way down now that we're not out camping all of the time - it works out to be about $50/week which makes sense for a case of beer and a bottle of wine.

Home Maintenance and Education went up, but I'm saving talking about those for posts later this week.