The Cost of Eating Out

There have been a few PF bloggers that recently wrote about the cost as well as the pros and cons of eating out or bringing your lunch to work everyday. I am a huge proponent of brining your lunch to work. I probably buy my lunch once or twice a month. I think it's important not to beat yourself up over it, but is is important to know where your monies going.There are two main reasons I bring my...

Credit Card Debt

I recently posted about a few unexpected expendatures. Everything has been now been posted to Visa, so my new balance owing is $1633. I was having a pretty large case of buyers remorse, but in looking at the numbers I have paid off 49.3% of my credit card debt since starting this blog. I'm happy with that, and one patio set (which was $180) isn't going to ruin me. Nor will $300 or so worth of...

Combining Your Finances

I read Gail Vaz Oxlade's Blog and in the 'Have your say' section. Someone replied to someone elses' question regarding combineing your finances once you're married. It was a great post! so full of Love!So credit for this post goes to:Name: MaureenFrom: Whitehorse, Yukon TerritoryLink: http://gailvazoxlade.com/gbook/gbook.phpPost:This is for Danny Jellis to answer his question.It is funny that you...

Unexpected Expenses - Continued

Excellent news. Well, perhaps, moderate news at least.Parts for the car are going to be about $100 less then we expected for the parts that we knew we would have to buy. Unfortunatly I also had a gasket, and a ball barring that need to be replaced. The gasket was about $40 and the ball baring will be about the same. J took my car to work today so hopefully that get's squared away tonight and I can...

Unexpected Expenses

Even great plans with good intentions can run into problems. I have recently set up these finanicial plans and goals to plan for the future and to pay for the now. Unfortunatly some future has come up before I had the $$ saved for the future.I blogged a few days ago about a fleeting desire to have a...

Not your typical "Jars"

I went home for Easter and spent some time walking & talking with my mom. I was feeling very overwhelmed with money and needed to vent. Above and beyond all my other ins and outs in terms of cash flow I'm also the point of money flow for myself and my three other roomates. So I get three rent checks a month and three utilites checks a month. Rent comes on generally in the first week but our...

36 Free (or almost free) Things To Do..

Check out the community calendarVisit a local libraryIs it summer? Go to a parkTake your pet for a walkPlay board gamesBake! Don’t know how? – learn!Learn how to juggleMeet your neighboursHave a potluck – you have to eat anywas, might as well do it with some friends, perhaps you could have a potluck while meeting your neighbours!Go for a test driveDo some spring cleaningTeach yourself how to knit....

Coping with Job Loss

This morning I read on stacking pennies blog that she is worreed about job loss:http://stackingpennies.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/tell-me-something-good/... and I read on Get Rich Slowly about someone who has lost their job:http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/17/ask-the-readers-help-ive-been-laid-off/A LOT of people are worried about right now, including myself. My company has been slowly downsizing...

Blog Updates

Hello!I have updated all of my tracking bars as today was payday! I also have updated some of my goals to be more realistic, and my tracking bars reflect this now. Once I acheive these goals, it will be easier to set new, higher ones.Also I now have buttons! Yes, I am quite please with my learning HTML and CSS (also thank you Lindsay for your help!). There is now an 'about me' page and a 'goals'...

How to ask for a raise in a recession...

I find myself in a place where I have been with my company for 9 months, and this happens to fall smack in the middle of a recession. It certainly doesn’t feel like a good time to ask for a raise, but I feel like I’m worth more money. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Here are some tips to ask for a raise during hard times…1. Know what your worth!Do some research to find out what your...

New Car

Okay - so about that new car....it was a fleeting fantasy.I am still going to look, but slowly. I would like to know what I want when I can afford it. It looks like Jordan will be able to get my car to stop sputtering with about $300 in parts. A far cry less then a new car payment. I think my new car timeline is going to be more like 6 months from now rather then 6 weeks from now.By October I'll have...

Want a mortage?....here's what i learned recently....

Here is what I learned about GDSR and TDSRLike many 20-something year olds, I am very eager to be in my own place. I know this is 3 or so years away, but I want to be so prepared in that time, armed with knowledge and money so that the process is relatively simple.I recently got some advice about your debt to income ratio, and how this can affect the amount of money you can borrow to mortgage a home....

A new car...?

My current vehicle, a 1997 Mazda Protégé, is going to start needing largely monthly investments to keep running. I bought it used, 6 months ago for $1500, I’m happy with that, and Jordan put a lot of work into it. We figure it’s probably worth about $2000 now. That said, I’m not willing to invest a great sum of money to keep it running.We are also looking at purchasing a home in the next 3-5 years,...

Visa Debt Plan

To eliminate the remainder of my credit card this is my plan - which I have broken down by my next three pay periods.I have created automatic withdrawls from my chequing account on to my Visa for the following amounts.April 17, 2009 - $411.50May 1, 2009 - $375.00May 15, 2009 - $375.00Cross your fingers for me, I really hope nothing comes up before this is paid off an my emerg fund is so...

New Progress Bars

I've found new progress bars from: http://stackingpennies.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/how-to-make-progress-bars-for-your-blog/I think i like them better - i've done my savings bars so far, but havn't changed the debt ones. What do you think, which looks bett...

How to Improve your Credit Score

Always pay your bills on time. Although the payment of your utility bills, such as phone,cable and electricity, is not recorded in your credit report, some cellphone companies may report late payments to the credit15 Financial Consumer Agency of Canada reporting agencies, which could affect your score.Try to pay your bills in full by the due date.If you aren't able to do this, pay at least the minimum...

Sucess Feels Good!

.... and I think sucess breeds happy, and happy breeds more success.. so this is a good road to be on.I've just updated my side bar numbers again... I've cleard if almost 64% of my Visa debt!! Thank you taxes!! I'm going to be a hermit this month (try to anyways) and try to get the last $1162 paid off within a month... I think i can *just* barely do it... it might be 6 weeks though instead of four.It...