Pension Commenced!

October 1, 2010 marks the first pay which my employer starts my pension.  It's a defined contribution pension plan which means that the contributions are set in stone, not the benefit.  The benefit (after I retired) will be based on how well the money does with the investment profile I've...

October Budget

As we're just a couple of days away, I thought I would put up our budget for October. This month has five pay days, which is why the income section is higher than normal. The cell phone bills and enmax are guesses based on previous use - and I update these as the bills come in throughout the month. whoo...

Catch Up!

Phew! It has been so so busy lately!  With checking out vendors and spending more time visiting family in the last few weeks then we have in a long time - I haven't had much 'veg' time (or blog time).  So, this is a bit of a catch up post. Wedding Jordan and I have paid a $500 deposit to secure or vendor and picked up a few things (benches, arbor) to help set the stage on the big day. ...

Budget Blues

I was talking to my mom last night about our wedding budget, and realized that there are still several items that we forgot to include.  Part of this realization comes from an amazing gift from my grandmother.  She wants to take care of a weeks worth of accomodation following the wedding for our Honey Moon. Back up, a honey moon?  That's not on the budget. So, on top of a honeymoon,...

Hit & Run

I would like to tell you that the title of today's post is some sort of clever way of describing exactly what it's not.  However; that's not the case.  A week ago Monday, I was driving to work and a transport truck changed two lanes and moved directly into me! I saw him coming and was able...

Busy Weekend!

We had a great last weekend of summer!  Did you? Friday was pretty low key, but Saturday we hosted a 'last hurrah' BBQ.  Lots of Hotdogs, Burgers & Beer!  We went from 2pm until about 2am.  I love casual nights like those.  They are inexpensive, when compared to a night...

CPP & EI - Do you max out?

Last year, in December, I was pleasantly surprised on my last pay of the year with a bit of an increase.  It wasn't much, but it had me interested enough to look into it a little deeper.  As it turns out, I had maxed out my CPP contributions for the year.  As I got a raise this...

Wedding Budget - Part Two

Thank you so so much for all of your comments yesterday.  There were so many thoughtful ones, that I thought it deserved writing another post about it to comment back. @ every little kiss - What a great idea to have buffer money!  Do people actually say they are not coming and then come anyways?  or RSVP with more guests then you actually invited? @ SSBC - Thank you for the congrats! ...

Wedding Budget

It's strange, I always thought people who spend upwards of $10,000 and multiples of that were crazy!  How is it possible that weddings actually cost that much!?  Well, apparently weddings do cost that much! Below is the first 'draft' of our wedding Budget, next to each line item is how...

Auto Insurance Decrease

When I got home from work last night, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a notification from my Automobile Insurance Provider, AMA.  My policy renews in October and my premiums are reducing.  I'm going from $1803.36 annually to $1477 annually - a decrease of $326.36!  My car is a '97 Mazda Protege which we bought for $1,500, it's rediculous that my insurance has cost me more than...

Allowance Adjustment

On the tail end of our engagement and the prospects of buying a house within the same time frame of less than a year.  Jordan and I have decided to make a change to our allowance.  Part of this decision came from the realization that it's a pain in the but to have our allowances and still have to budget for our phone bills, hair care, clothes ect.  We both want a truly 'splurge' account...

Expectations - Who Pays for What?

I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not yet: Jordan and I are planning to pay 100% of our wedding costs.  While I've never thought it would be any other way, I appreciated when my mom made sure Jordan and I knew right away that she and dad haven't been squirreling away their pennies to pay for our big day.  When my mom did tell me, I was initially surprised - telling her that of course...

August Spend Report

When Jordan and I joined our finances (only a few months ago), I mentioned that my bi-weekly budgets would be dissapearing, but in their place would be end of the month spending re-caps.  Today, I give you our first re-cap.  The first one is a bit unique as we were feeling out how the joint...

Wedding Blog Help

I am on the hunt for some excellent wedding/marriage blogs. I would love recommendations for Canadian blogs that have great diy prjoects and discuss budgeting (of course). Thanks al...

what a whirlwind

The last week has gone by so quickly, I can't believe it's Labour Day already! I've spent just about every day since getting engaged last Saturday thinking and planning our wedding.  Jordan started getting a little overwhelmed and asked if we could just enjoy being engaged!  Well, of course we can (while I'm planning). I spent the weekend wedding planning with my mom, and Jordan...

Grrr... Roommates!

Hi All, I haven't disappeared - just have been in meetings (will be) for two full days, plus work dinners and what not.  Also, I'm freakin' exhausted.  Actually, too tired to think about money, so I'll tell you about my crummy night. My roommate, for the fourth or fifth time woke the house up in the middle of the night.  His weekends are Wednesday/Thursday - but he's...

We're Engaged!

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