Passport Has Arrived & Upcoming Travel Plans

Hurray!! I am now a travelling lady! ... or I will be...I'm really quite excited about it all. I'm really looking forwad to  my trip to Palm Springs - not just for the amazing time I'll have - but I'm going to travel to more places in less time then I ever have before.  What do I mean? I think I mentioned that my grandpa took care of my flights for me using his points....well points...

where have i been?

My mom said that she's looking forward to work calming down some - because she misses me....  I hadn't realized how absent I've been lately.  So, what's been going on? Well - work mostly.  It's been pretty crazy lately.  Every April our company goes through a salary review process - everyone's salary is reviewed.  There is a lot of work that goes into it.  First -...

Guest Post: Creative Ways to Pay Off Your Debt

Many people are just starting to assess the damage from this recession, and realizing that they still need to reduce their debt load. They know now that credit can be great for liquidity when in supply, but it can also be an anchor when it goes unpaid. Here are some creative ways to find cash to pay back your credit card balances, a cash advance, or just stash money away for another rainy day. Review...

Renewed Tenants Insurance Today

Today Jordan and I renewed our tenants insurance! I increased our contents coverage from $15,000 to $25,000 - and the cost only went up by $8 a year! The total was $152.  We decided it was worth it to increase it because, as of late, we've been purchasing more valuable items - such as our new couch and our new set of pots and pans. On top of that, I had a great conversation with...

Passport

is still not here. Now - I was told it would likely arrive on March 26th - but I'm still getting nervous.  Why?  I asked one of my friends on the list of people they call and hey haven't been called by Passport Canada yet. I was going to use the tracking option with Canada Post to see where it's at, but I forgot my receipt at home - so I'll have to wait until this evening or tomorrow to...

Great Weekend!

From Saturday's post you can see that my weekend started out well!  I stopped by the farm where Starlight is for a quick visit before heading to BC for the weekend.  I spend some time with my parents, my Nanny (my dad's mom who is in the hospital), my Grandma (my mom's mom), two aunts (my mom's sisters) and a couple cousins - I did some power visiting! It was pretty great. Jordan stayed...

Photos: Happy Weekend

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Updated Status Bars

My Canada Student Loan is down to $1,639 for a total student loan debt of $6,843 – wahoo! Finally under the $7,000 mark. Our house fund is coming along really nicely. We’re at 41.72% of our first goal which is 5% of $250,000. Isabelle actually gave us $200 last night to add to this account. She really appreciates all the energy and time we put into helping her out around the house and doing shopping....

Bi-Weekly Budget

Things are about on track - I'm not able to put as much into my planned spending/saving accounts because I had a couple extra expenses this month.  Number on was my passport application which was $87 and my cell phone bill was due $45.  The other $100 on my visa was just some odds and ends...

Questions for Couples: My Response

Thank you to those who left comments yesterday - I could tell the responses were heartfelt and thoughtful. Jordan and I talked some last night and he is happy with whichever choice I make. I think, depending on the raise, I will likely funnel the extra money to my student loans to wipe them out.  Once that's done and the trucks paid off - we can look at if we want...

Question for Couples - When do you put more in the pot?

Jordan and I are at a point where things are humming along really nicely. We have our joint savings account for our house fund – which we each contribute $150/bi-weekly too and we have our joint chequing account for rent and the household utilities. We also hold roommates damage deposits in this account....

Vacation or Banked time - Palm Springs

I've been going back and forth between using vacation time or using banked overtime when I take a week off to go to Palm Springs.  Why the back and forth?  Up until now I was planning on using my vacation for camping trips in the summer/Christmas and using my banked time to pay of my student loan debt (I can just request a pay out if i don't want to use it). I've decided to use some of...

$850 towards debt!

Today's is a short post, but a good one! Jordan and I received our tax returns 6 days after we filed them (using e-file)!  The same day we took the money and applied it to our debt. Jordan put $400 towards the truck loan and I put $450 towards my Canada Student Loan!  It felt so good to put a lump sum on those suckers. The truck loan is now just cents under $1,100!! My Canada Student...

Palm Springs is a Go!

I have the most amazing family! My mom recently went to Las Vegas with my grandparents.  On that trip it came up that my Best Friend had invited me to Palm Springs and I was sorting out whether I could go or not.  My Grandfather, in passing, told my mom he thought he might have enough Airmiles for a trip like that. That was a few weeks ago. I wrote last Thursday, about all the...

sloooowww internets.

That's what i have. I mentioned on Saturday that Shaw came to install our TV - well something happened while the guy was here.  I was impressed to begin with because despite which appeard to be a severe hangover - the technician was professional and looked into our internet issues while he was here(the single was dropping a lot - but when we had it, it was strong).  He put an ampliphier...

Student Loan Update: Need $240/bi-weekly.

I got off to a bit of a rough start with my debt repayment goals this year with a family emergency that came up in the beginning of February. Now that I have settled that – I’d like to re-visit one of my goals. My primary goal this year is to pay off my student loans and finally become debt free. As...

PalmSprings - Update

I talked to the boss lady last week and althought she didn't outright say I couldn't go, it's not a good time - to take time off.  There's one other person that's taking vacation time that week and we're already short staffed as it is.   I'm going to keep saving and getting things organised - just in case - but it might not happen afterall. My Best Friend has invited me to Quebec...

Saturday Morning: Money Here & Money There

Not too long ago I told you that Jordan and I were making the TV switch from Bell to Shaw due to an amazing offer!  Well, the Shaw guy just left and we're all hooked up!  We will now have two bills each month instead of three - Shaw and Enmax.  We'll have a final bill and cancellation charge from Bell, but after the deals we get with Shaw - it'll still be worth the switch. I also mentioned...

Bi-Weekly Budget

Once again, it's time for my bi-weekly budget post. Things are starting to get back on track. This week I'm finally able to start contributing to my savings goals again.  I've got $90 slotted for my clothing fund - which may turn into a travel fund (we shall see - I'm taking to my manager today...

Palm Springs

My Best Friend (BF) has invited me to Palm Springs. This is a big deal.  I’ve never been anywhere. I’ve never left Alberta/BC – the two western provinces of Canada. I don’t have a passport. I don’t have any savings for travel. I so so so want to spend some quality time with her. BF lives ohhh…about...

Private or Public?

I've noticed that lately there has been an increasing number of personal finance bloggers that have been 'found out'.  Their anonymity has been challenged and/or they have been outed in a public way.  Often, the result is that these bloggers close down their sites - some start again under different names - some never come back. I think this is so sad - that people have come to...

Taxes are Complete & Filed

Phew! That was one other thing I accomplished over the weekend.  I did my, Jordan's and my grandmother's taxes.  I've used QuickTax for the last several years and so love how easy it is.  You can use their Easy Step process which asks you a bunch of questions or you can just fill out the forms page by page.  I normally really like the Easy Step - but this year it was like they...

This Weekend...

Canada won gold in men's hockey!!!! also some other things happened, but probably not anything as interesting.... It feels like this weekend has lasted forever - which is really weird because usually they go by so quickly. On Friday roommate number 4 and 5 moved a bunch of things to the house -...