Raise the Roof

Well, not the roof actually.

Jordan just got a raise!  Woohoo!  Great timing with the renovations about to start and me about to go on Maternity Leave.  The excitement is because we have no idea when these changes happen - is workplace doesn't do formal communications.  It's just a cost of living adjustment, but it's a happy new year surprise.

I actually also got a raise effective Jan 1, 2019 which is pretty great too - we'll have just one, maybe 1.5 paydays at my new rate before going on leave, but it's enough that my employer paid EI top up will based on the new rate instead of the old one.

So, Raise the Roof!

Budget (s)

Last week I mentioned that Jordan and I are expecting eight iterations of our budget over the next year as we start/stop maternity and parental leave.  Here's the high-level of the five major changes that we'll see.  We're actually operating under the 'Wait for EI' budget right now.

Feel free to add any comments or questions you may have - things will no doubt change (as they have a propensity to do), but this is big picture guideline for the next year or so. 

I'll be tracking our actual spending and posting that regularly so hoping to stay on track with that added bit of accountability.  I'll also be making phone calls over the next few weeks to try to get the cell phone bill and a few other items negotiated to a more reasonable level.

Blend & Extend or Renew

Now that we have our quote and initiated things with our bank to get started on our basement renovation, we have a decision to make about how we handle our mortgage.

Current balance of the mortgage is just under $250,000 and the appraisal we had done in May of 2018 had the value come in at  $365,000.  We can borrow up to 80% of the value and so we have to re-appraise at  $423,000.00 to get the full budget out of the house.  That would then bring the mortgage up to about $335,000.  I don't think we're going to get that high, but I'm hopeful we come in around $395-$410,000 the market here is really good for sellers right now plus all of the work we did over the last 8 months.

On to our mortgage options - these numbers are based on the assumption that we'll get the full value from the house.  Our existing mortgage is a blended rate of 2.73% until June 3, 2020: with the new amount added plus the re advance fee of $250.00 our new blended rate would be 3.20% until June 3, 2020.  We currently have 206 months left in our amortization.

1. If we keep the 206 month amortization our weekly payments would increase to $492.28. 
2. If we renewed with a 300 month amortization our weekly payments would be $377.80.

We currently pay more than we need to at $350/week  and once we're back to work we can comfortably handle $500/week - but we would have to get through this year which would be tight.

What would you do?

Renovations...are we done yet?

Since we bought our home back in 2016 we've been taking on one renovation project at a time.  Before we moved in, we actually did a full kitchen and bathroom renovation on the main floor.  This past summer we did extensive work in our backyard (full privacy fence, deck, patio, pergola & hot tub). 




This fall, we updated the flooring in our Master Bedroom and added a tile back-splash in our kitchen.

We're now preparing for our final reno - the basement.  The basement was previously used as a yoga studio - just a big open space.  It wasn't particularly functional or attractive for our family, but we've made it work.  Given our newest addition, we felt very strongly that we now needed to get this last big job completed.  The urgency is now because I work from home, and my home office is going to become Little Miss' bedroom - so I need the space downstairs.

We're starting later than we had hoped, but are really excited to be moving this along.  The total estimate is just under $90,000 (including GST).  We'll be gaining two full bedrooms, a proper laundry room, a full bathroom (currently there is just a sink/toilet), a wine brewing & storage room and a proper living / family room & play area for the kiddos.

So, so excited.

Now that we have our quote, I've been pulling together confirmation of employment letters etc. etc. for the bank to see what we can muster for our renovation loan and how much we'll have to personally finance. Fingers crossed.

Money on Leave

The other day I mentioned that I've stripped back our budget to the bare bones in anticipation of waiting for Employment Insurance when I go on maternity leave.  We'll have several changes to our financial picture over the next 12 months or so. 

I'll be taking Maternity/Parental Leave for 6 months, then taking 3-5 weeks vacation (pending approval).  When I start vacation, Jordan's going to start his Parental Leave for the next six months.  The plan is to overlap for the month of August when baby is six months and Little Man is 3.5 years and really spend time as a family just connecting.  It will also serve as a transition before I go back to work full time.

Here's a rough ideal of the iterations we'll go through:

1. Prior to Maternity Leave - full salary for Jordan & I 
2. Maternity Leave Starts (wait for EI) - Jordan full salary, $0 for Jessie
3. EI starts - Jordan full salary, ~$500/week for Jessie (max benefit of $547 less taxes)
4. Work top-up starts - Jordan full salary, Jessie work tops up EI to 70% of salary for 15 weeks ~$1,700/month
5. Work top-up stops - Jordan full salary, ~$500/week for Jessie (max benefit of $547 less taxes)
6. Jessie Vacation Starts, Jordan Paternity Leave Starts - full salary Jessie, $0 for Jordan
7. Jordan EI Starts - full salary Jessie, ~$500 for Jordan
8. Jordan back to work - full salary Jessie, full salary Jordan

phew.

8 times.  8.

...The Wait

Happy New Year! 

Now that it's January, I feel like we're in the real count down until Baby #2 arrives.  She's due near the end of the month, but due dates aren't really predictors of when babies are going to show up.  Our son was a full two weeks overdue, so it feels like a real crap shoot.

Anyways, things have been so hectic with work and the holidays that I was feeling a bit under-prepared.  I only have 1, maybe 2 paydays before we're on the great EI wait....in Canada there's a one week waiting period before Employment Insurance kicks-in but it can take weeks and weeks for the money to actually start rolling in.  It really depends on how backed up the system is at any given time. 

So, to make sure we're ready I've stopped all of our automatic savings for things like vacation, gifts, vehicle etc. etc. so that our chequing account buffer increases over the next few weeks or so. I then did a cash-flow exercise (just timing of Jordan's pay-days with the remaining account withdrawals) and am feeling confident that we'll be fine until March.

I'm keeping RRSP & RESP contributions and the other expenses we'll still have are our internet, cell phones, BC Hydro, Mortgage, Gas/Groceries (though dropping from $400 to $300/week budgeted) as well as a day a week for daycare for kiddo (more on that later).

We'll be short about $350/month but with the buffer we have - we'll be fine until EI starts and then I can re-set the budget again.

Hello Out There!

It's been a very busy last 18 months or so - moving, job changes, life.

Part of those life changes have been our growing family.  I'm expecting baby #2 in January, 2019 and so with an impending Maternity & Parental Leave for me and my husband I've decide to dust off my blog and my tracking spreadsheets for the 2019 year....after that, we'll see where we are.

I'm looking forward to writing again, tracking and just increasing our mindfulness around our financial picture.