On Vacation!

It's officially started - Jordan and I are on vacation.  For the next two weeks, Jordan and I will be hanging out in beautiful british columbia.  Our roommates are taking care of the house - and I think it will be a great break for both of us as we get used to living together.  It's been a good start to the living arrangements - a few hiccups, but thats all settled now and I think we're...

End of The Year Income

As the days left in December tick away Jordan and I have started to solidify our income transition plans from his bi-weekly pay schedule to his new twice/monthly pay schedule.  He has approximately $4,500 worth of vacation owing to him that will be paid out, and I have 30 hours of overtime that I have requested be paid out.  As Jordan has hit his CPP/EI maximum's, I expect that after taxes...

December Networth

Well, here it is - our final net-worth post for 2013.  We started this year at $16,938 and wound up at $74,198!  An incredible increase of $57,260! The biggest factor you'll recall, is that we built our garage, deck and fence - all which significantly increased our homes market value. We...

No-Income Transition

I'm now pretty confident on how we'll handle the bills when Jordan's job changes - but I still need to work out the transition between the two. His last regularly scheduled pay in December will include his last two weeks worked - last day is on December 20th and on December 26th he should be paid for the weeks ending December 13th and December 20th.  He will also be paid out his vacation accrual...

Variable Income - Fixed It (I think)

Thanks to an Anonymous poster on my post earlier this week- I think I just might have this variable budget business sorted out.  Check out the updated scenario where the bills/paydays are worked in. The Regular category includes: Mortgage, Monthly Spending, Escape, LOC, both RRSPs and the Baby...

Utilities - Year in Review

It's silly really - but I love being able to do my annual report on utilities because i've been tracking it for so long, I am able to create pretty graphs.  Keep in mind that each month is that which the utilities were billed, so if it was billed in November, it was actually the utilities used...

Variable Income

How do you manage? How do you even set up the budget? I don't know how many different charts/sheets I've already created and tossed because they didn't work as I had anticipated...I need some help on where to start.  I want to create the budget, with all of our automatic payments, based on Jordan...

We've got Roommies!

Earlier this month I shared with you all that we were inviting our very good friends to come and live with us while they work through some financial troubles.   This helps them with very low rent, and helps us - with a bit of extra cash for the next six months. They moved in this past weekend - it was busy and a lot of work; but we made it.  It will take a week or so for them to settle...

Jordan's got a new Job!!

Yes, a new job! After all that nonsense over his last raise, Jordan entertained an interview request from a connection he had made on LinkedIn.  Several weeks later and some negotiations - he's accepted their offer!  They are going to match his vacation, he'll have a more comprehensive benefits package and salary will be a combination of base salary as well as commission.  He'll rotate...

Jordan's Raise Finally Went Through

It only took almost two months of fighting - but Jordan's raise has finally gone through.  What is actually slightly funny; is that as much as they were bickering over $600; that actually wound up increasing Jordan's salary by another $200/year...so the difference is now $400 from what they had originally agreed on ($55K).  It's was all so petty. His take home pay is now $1,551.86 - a gross...

Making an Investment

A while back I had let you know that Jordan and I intended on purchases 100 shares where I work - it's an employee owned company with a remarkable return on investment.  The sale is in USD so I was waiting and watching the dollar to see when the best time would be to send in my cheque.  Unfortunately,...

October Spend Summary

I'm a few weeks late, but here is the October spend summary. I'm actually pretty pleased - it was one thing to post yesterday's write up on the gas savings, but another to see it here - where I've calculated what we actually spent for the month and see that compared against this years average! Groceries/Costco...

Fuel Economy on the Kia Rio

Back in September I had shared that we expected to save approximately $109/month in fuel by purchasing and driving our new Kia Rio then continuing to rely on the Escape as a commuting vehicle.  Well, two months later I am very pleased to tell you that we are doing slightly better than expected....

Knitting Up a Storm

I started looking at our Christmas shopping-for-who list this year and we're looking at a solid 18 - with three more we haven't decided on and maybe some baking for the neighbors, which I decided I wanted to do just now as I wrote that sentence. Quite a few people this year are getting home made scarfs..and...

Another Increased Expense

I really shouldn't be surprised but here it is, another increased expense.  Just got notice our house insurance is going up $168.96 annually. For those of you who have owned a home for a long time, is this a lot?  Or, is the increase reasonable? They also increased my deductible to $1,000....

Savings & Debt: Monthly or Lump Sum

I need help... Jordan and I have a budget date coming soon; and we will need to decide if we should approach paying off the Line of Credit and our Savings (including planned spending) monthly or lump sum as well as if we should count on rent in the budget; or use it as surplus to pay off the LOC early. If...

$500/Month for Six Months

My last few posts have been all about extra expenses; so I thought it was time to share with you something that will result in a bit of extra income for a little while. Our very best friends, a married couple with a cat and six month old twins for whom we are the God Parents/Guardians for if anything were to ever happen are in a financial pinch right now. Our city was one that was devastated with...

CHRP Member Fees Increased!

The topics of my last few posts have been about added expenses, so why not one more.... I just found out the my membership fees to the HRIA, that I need to pay in order to maintain my CHRP designation, are increasing by $100/year. Joy.&nbs...

November 1, 2013 Networth

Wow...so it's that time of the month again - net-worth time! In the last month Jordan and I have spent $600 in education for me, $2,679.50 in dental work for Jordan, and $977.59 in tires for our cars....phew!  We also spent just over $300 at Costco doing a big shop to get our deep freeze...

$7,900 in Teeth

Jordan was born with two congenitally missing teeth - every since he was small; his benefits have only provided for a flipper/mouth piece that give the appearance of teeth.  That appliance after 20+ years is now starting to wear on his existing healthy teeth causing more problems. So...given that for the past year we have been exploring alternatives to the mouth piece.  There are two -...

$1,000 in Winter Tires

So, this year we had to buy six winter tires. A set of four for the new Kia Rio and two for the Escape. Unfortunately we drove over a screw driver last winter and killed one of the Escape's tires...and you really ought to have the same two (tread/depth etc) on the front and the back....So, seeing...

Jordan Got a Raise....Sort of.

Almost a month ago, I shared with you all that Jordan got a raise.  He had an incredible performance review and was left feeling valued and confident. Four weeks later and it's all gone to crap.  I won't get into all the details other to say that he works for a company that is perhaps the least organized and professional that I have ever seen when it comes to managing performance/salary...

ahhhhh

That is a small sigh of contentment. I had a week of banked overtime paid out because we kept chasing a few hundred dollars owing on our credit cards and couldn't seem to get them caught up due to conflicting priorities.  I'm happy to say that all three credit cards have a $0 balance, and we have $150 for gas and groceries until Frida...

Going Back to School!

Yup!  I'm going back to school. I've registered for an extension certificate in Instructional Design and Curriculum Development.  It's an online programme with Mount Royal University - there are participants from all across Canada, so it's a really neat experience something like this with people from so many walks of life.  There are six courses, and each one costs $299.  I've...

Networth Update

Here is my October 1, 2013 networth update.  We're still a bit below where I'd like us to be, but I think that over the fall we'll start to trend upwards again. You'll see that I chose a trade in value for the new car a couple thousand less then what we paid - that's to account for the pretty...

August and September Monthly Spend Summaries

Wow - so I sure slacked off last month in not posting August monthly spend summary - so today you'll get both August and September. Gas is consistent - even after the purchase of the car.  We took both vehicles to my home town because I was staying a few extra days and Jordan had to go back...

Draft 2014 Budget

Since Jordan receiving his raise, I've been spending some time working on the 2014 budget.  I thought I would put it out to all of you for some feedback before we finalise things.  I've also assigned budget percents and added them up in Gails Life Pie Categories.  We don't line up...

Jordan Got a Raise

Jordan is meant to have a performance and salary review around June of each year - though, as is typical it didn't happen on time.  As it turns out, Jordan made exactly the right call when decided to postpone pushing is manager to have the conversation with him. The summer is a very busy time...

Updated Budget

Over the last couple of blog posts I shared with you our recent new car purchase and some of the expected fuel savings that we're looking forward to.  This post is all about how much it's going to cost us to save that gas and how the budget is going to change. The total price we are financing,...

Our new Kia Rio - Saving on Gas

Yesterday I shared with you that with you that Jordan and I took the plunge to purchase a 2013 Kia Rio EX manual transmission sedan. In pearl black with a grey interior an 16" alloy wheels - it looks super sporty! But looks...well that's just a side benefit.  The big reason we are making...

a Second Vehicle

sooo, Jordan and I bought a 2013 Kia Rio EX standard transmission sedan. We've been looking at second vehicles for a while now, and while I was happy to wait a bit longer - Jordan was ready to buy now.  The plan is to park the Escape except for big shopping runs (ie costco and camping trips and...

Cell Phone Usage

Cell phones...can't live without them....can't live without them. Jordan and I currently have different cell phone contracts by different providers - I'm with Bell and he's with Telus.  We have been waiting years for our contracts to end around the same time so that we could choose one, and...

September 1, 2013: Networth Update

Below is our networth update as of September 1, 2013. We've dipped a bit - and that is because we had one final bill to pay for the backyard last month and the payments we've made to the LOC haven't quite off set it yet. I'm looking forward to making a lot of headway on the LOC debt...

Love this new Album by Only1Noah!

I already bought this on iTunes, but just wanted to share - it's a pretty great album from a Youtube turned professional artist!...

CPP & EI - I hit my max!

Woohoo!  I finally hit my CPP and EI contribution maximums. Now that I've hit my max, my take home pay will increase by $180.56/pay.  For the remainder of the year that's $1,444.48.  I knew this was coming a while ago, and so this extra cash is already allocated toward paying off our backyard project - but it still feels so good when it happens. For those folks that follow...

Networth Update

Here it is!  Our August 1, 2013 Networth Update! I'm so proud of this, Jordan and I have come such a long way. You would have seen a few days ago that our homes value has increased such that our mortgage owing is quite a bit less then what it's worth on the market. We also continue to contribute...

Our Homes Updated Value

I have been waiting to write this post for a long time.  This is the post where I get to tell you that our homes value has dramatically increased since we bought it in December, 2011. Up until this point, I have been using our City Tax Assessed value of our home ($328,600), which as you may know...

The Big Backyard Project is Done!!

Check it out! The final piece to the project is done! ...

Update: LOC, Big Backyard Project, Shares & Escape Pay Off Plan

In November of last year, I was offered a Line of Credit with BMO.  We accepted it, thinking that it couldn't hurt to have the funds available - especially with planning our Big Backyard Project.  A few months back, we actually increased it from $10,000 to $40,000 thinking that it would...

Gone Camping

...well, going. We're heading out camping for the next 7 days!  Can't wait!  I don't have any posts lined up, but I'll leave with you with a photo of where we are headed. ...

Are we saving enough for retirement?

This is certainly not the first time I've asked this question, nor will it be the last.  I got to thinking about it after writing the post the other day which included an update that Jordan is contributing an additional $25/week to his RRSP Streetwise Fund with ING. I'm lucky that I...

The Big Backyard Project Update

The garage is almost done!  It's completely framed and shingles are on.  The windows are in too (just not shown in this picture). We're just a few weeks away from having this project completely finished!  ...

Recent Decision Making

The last little while, my posts have been a bit all over the place as we've had some conflicting priorities.  I've talked about buying an investment property, or investing in RRSPs or even investing with shares at work.  I've talked about paying off the escape and looked at increasing our mortgage payment. There are just so many options. Yesterday I wrote about our decision on a vehicle...

Update on our Vehicle Decision

okay...so a few weeks a go I wrote a post about fuel economy and Jordan and I trying to decide if the Escape was the right vehicle for us. We haven't decided, but we have spent a lot of time doing research.  One of the things that we are going to do the next time we wish we had a truck - is rent one!  That way, we'll get to test it out, see how it feels...is it really that much easier then...

Happy 30th Birthday Jordan!

http://coolmotivator.com/send/happy-birthday/...

Networth: July 1, 2013

I feel like I have a bit of catching up to do.  I'm going to start with our networth.  We've gone down from $23K to $18K over the last month.  This is because we have paid some of the bills related to our big backyard project - the project isn't done yet, so I'm not ready to increase...

Gas Mileage/Fuel Economy

Jordan and I, as part of our conversations about growing our family, have been talking about vehicles.  Right now, we are a single vehicle house hold with a 2011 Ford Escape.  When we bought the vehicle, we thought it would be a great family car - able to handle all of our needs as our family...

The Deck, is Done!

Not only is the deck finished, but it actually came in under budget!!  I had originally planned on spending $5,596.64 - but i had mis-measured - the total square footage came to 180 rather than 210!  At $15/sq/ft - that's a $450 difference.  I had also over estimated the railing costs...

June Networth Update

It's hard to believe another month has gone by already.  Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of progress on our big backyard project - not so much that I can adjust the value of our home but enough that our networth is declining. We have paid for about half of the backyard project,...

Beneficiary Cheque

...no, not that kind. Jordan is an Inuvialuit beneficiary. Each year, the Trust that he is a member of distributes a beneficiary payment to all that are enrolled over the age of 18. The distribution payments are based on a percentage of the average earnings for his band.  They...

The Fence is Done!

Hizzah!  Our Fence is done!  The deck would be too if it wasn't for the torrential rain storm that we are currently having, but it is on the docket for next week!  We are so absolutely pleased with how it turned out.  We chose a fence called The Fortress II.  The...