Monthly Spend Report October - December

The last time I did a monthly spend report was back in September.  I'm not going to go too in depth here because tomorrow I've written up a full 2015 in review, but I wanted to get this posted anyways. The average that's displaying is the annual average for comparison.  The other bit of information is I gave birth in October so wasn't hitting up the grocery store too much in November (thanks mom).

My Money, My Choices - Level Five Update

In updating my blog, I thought it was time to revisit our My Money, My Choices progress.  The last I left it we had just finished level four, and were working on five.  Level five has four activities.  The first three we've completed:

1, 2, 3... Make a Will, Designate a  Financial and Personal Care Power of Attorney.  Back in the summer of 2014 we found a lawyer and got these taken care of, but now that we have Little Man, we need to update our will.  That also will take care of activity four which is to appoint a guardian for any children.  So, I've got to dig up our will, and make an appointment with a new lawyer in BC and get these all updated.

Cloth Diapers

Lots, and lots of people have written on the pros and cons of cloth diapering.  Anyone who's looked into cloth versus disposables knows that cloth - over the long term - is far more cost effective than the alternative.  So for that reason, and for Jordan - because of the environmental impacts of disposables, we bit the bullet and jumped on the cloth wagon.

Isn't his little butt cute!!

I mean, really, that should be reason enough to cloth diaper.  The cute factors.

We got started by purchasing some covers, and pre-fold diapers, which are working really well for us.  We picked up a locking garbage can and liners that will keep the dogs all out.

My mom bought some material, a pattern, snaps etc. so that we can make some more covers ourselves.  We've started working on that, and will post some pictures once we have them made.

Upfront, we've spent about $750 plus maybe $100 or so on material etc.  I think, honestly, we could have spent a bit less but I also don't feel like we over spent by a great deal.  Little Man was crying and then nursing when we were shopping so Jordan and my mom picked out most of our stash and I love what they chose for us!

Does anyone else out there cloth diaper?

We're still doing disposables for overnights, and if we're going to town for more than an hour - but overall it's working out really well!

Life Insurance 2.0

I've written quite a few times about life insurance - I know it's something we need...but now that we have Little Man, I'm feeling a lot more pressing urgency to get it taken care of.  There was a medical issue that we needed to get more information on before we felt like we could confidently pursue it, but now that we have some answers - we can go ahead.

I've got some initial quotes from a Sunlife Representative, but want to do a bit more research before we settle on things.

I would love to hear what you guys pay and for what kind of insurance.  I would also love to hear people's thoughts on critical life insurance too.

I still feel like Jordan and I would be wise to have somewhere in the neighbourhood of $300-$500 in term insurance and maybe $25K each of permanent....because there's always costs at end of life no matter what and yes while people should, and you hope to have money to take care of things at the end - the fact is sometimes other crap has happened and you just don't.  I think critical life is important too - I just don't know how much of all of this we can afford right now.

Life with a Newborn

So often I think about sitting down to write - it's passing thoughts really.  When we started our cloth diapering journey, as I'm dealing with some of the payments through my layoff, EI etc.  and then, Little Man wakes up, or fusses, or is just awake and fun and I would much rather play with him...but he had a good nap day not too long ago, and I've had a bit of a writing spurt.  I'm hoping to keep it up, but the reality is I probably won't write very frequently for a while longer yet.  I'm still here though, reading..and well, thinking about writing.

We are doing well, our little family.  Learning how to be parents, and doing so while sharing my mom's home as we wait for the sale of our home to go through and as we explore options for our new town in BC. I'm looking forward to sharing with you all, as much as we're able.

Pages Updated

Hey Gang!

The About Us, and Current Budget tabs have been updated.  Woohoo, Little Man had a nap.

Updating

Over the next day or two the blog will probably look a little sloppy. I'm working on updating it, and doing so live.

Thanks for your patience.