Is $300 Enough?

So, it's the middle of June.  We're halfway through the year.  This feels like a good time to look at the budget and to see if it's working.  In particular, is 300/week working for our day-to-day spending?

I thought we should first look at what we actually are spending.  So here's our spending summary for the first five months of the year for what should have been spent out of the day-to-day and wasn't saved for through our planned spending accounts.

Our monthly average is just under $2,000.

Then I looked at how many weeks were in each month, and what we spent per week.

Not a single one was at or under $300, no wonder we can't stick to the budget, the budgets not working.  In fact; in all of the years that I've been tracking our spending; we've NEVER stayed at $300.

We had bumped ourselves up to $400/week for around six months last year, before Jordan's commute was slashed, but then brought it back down because we were saving so much in gas.  The kicker is though; that gas prices have been going up, and we drive a lot - so that did save us money; but now those costs are rising.

Next I took our average of $2,000, multiplied that by 12 months and divided it by 52 weeks.  I came up with $460.  Again, no wonder we can't make $300/week work.  Sheesh.

So...my next question would be, can we afford it?  Well, we obviously can because we're not in debt, we pay of the credit card (s) every month; and we are in fact spending this every month.  

I think a reasonable thing to do would be to bump us to $400/week - and get serious about not using our credit cards so often.  That should help us stay on track; and on budget.  Even on Jordan's current salary guarantee that's set to end this month (more to come on that later); we can make this work.

So we can make the money work; but can we make sticking to the debit card work?

When we set up our day-to-day spending account, Tangerine (then ING) would only allow a single debit card for each chequing account, so it was impossible for Jordan and I to be in two different places making two different expenditures both on the debit card.  So one of us, always has a C/C to use - a big huge pain in my but when I reconcile the spending each month.

So, I phoned them to see if that has changed...more on that tomorrow.

Weekly to BiWeekly

Wowza!  It's been a long time since I've written.

February is a pretty hectic month for me generally speaking.  I spend a lot of time back home with family ( I went three times) and my brother comes in from Eastern Canada for a visit with his girlfriend. I also went to Ontario three times, northern Alberta twice and worked a crap tonne of Overtime for work.  Jordan and I also had houses guests on the weekend when I wasn't in BC.  So...its been busy.

Here's the thing though - I love busy!

My blog doesn't, but I do....

So...that said, on to today's topic.  Since Jordan has started his new job and his salary went from every two weeks (bi-weekly - opposite weeks of me) to bi-monthly (15th and the last of the month), I've been trying to keep up with weekly payments on all of our planned savings, retirement and debts...it was getting a bit much, so we decided to switch everything to bi-weekly and sync things up with my pay schedule because Jordan's salary will fluctuate a lot.

Most were pretty easy to do - all of my ING funds were just a quick switch.  The streetwise funds too slightly more effort to organize, and the Mortgage took some time as well.  

Here's a the before and after snapshots of our Mortgage:
 

Because technically we're now 'short' two payments of $385.11 and we'll pay a bit more interest because of the change - the remaining amortization changed.

The last thing I have to sort out is the payment on our Escape - we fought tooth and nail to get it switched to weekly and things got so messed up when we did that last time BMO took wayyyy more money then they were supposed to and bounced a mortgage payment...so, I'm nervous.  Jordan and I are debating just paying off the Escape with the LOC (and I know, I know, we've talked about doing that before) - I just can't decide.

That's it for now :)

$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 - either bridge or surgical implants.  For a variety of reasons; primarily longevity, quality and ease of maintenance Jordan has chosen implants.

After many quotes, and many arguments with our benefit providers and dental surgeon...we have a plan.  The total cost of the two implants is $7,900 - are combined benefits will reimburse us $3,000 each calendar year....that led us to the tough decision to plan for two surgeries rather then one.

Jordan's already undergone the first surgery to implant a screw into his jaw bone and now we wait 2-3 months for it to heal. Once healed (end of December), the implant/screw will be fitted with a tooth.  Then, and only then - when the first tooth is considered 'complete' can the dentist submit the expenses to our benefit providers.  So, Jordan and I have had to pay cash (read use the credit card) for the first part of the procedure (and will continue to pay cash each time something happens related to the procedure).  In January we should get our first reimbursement; and then we'll promptly schedule the second surgery.  

Our debt load is getting a bit scary, but we have a plan and will eventually be reimbursed.  Jordan and I would both rather pay the interest now for him to have a happy and healthy mouth before we have kids or anything else when there are more demands for the money.

This Christmas

This Christmas was hard.

It was the first without my dad.  It was also the first without my brother (he's moved to Winnipeg).  It was Jordan's first without his mom and his brother (they were on a trip together).

I tried to stay upbeat and positive, mostly I faked it until I could make it.  I think for the most part people believed that I was in good spirits, and that put me in a better mood then I would have been otherwise.

I had a lot of lists.. I always do, but this year it felt a bit more mechanical.  That helped get through I think...task lists...accomplishing things.

To distract myself, I made a lot of Christmas gifts this year.  We also spent a lot - but instead of telling you how much we spent (I don't 100% know just yet... haven't added up all the receipts), I would like to share with you some photo's of my creations...

Homemade Chocolates

Hand Painted Christmas Bear

Home Made Spice Blends

Stocking Stuffer for Jordan

Scarf for Jordan's Cousin

Scarf for my Mom

Scarf for My Cousin 

Centerpieces & Isle Flowers

This past long weekend I went to my parents place in BC to spend some time with my mom putting together the centerpieces and ceremony isle planter pots.  Other than getting a nasty sunburn, it went really well and was low cost too!

We had gathered the centerpiece pots and painted them a while back and had some excellent soil that we had been given a while ago which was fantastic.  My mom graciously bought some miracle grow as well as the flowers (approx $175) and we had bought some large planter pots from Walmart (approx $30) as well.

All told the total cost was just over $200 for our centerpieces (25) and isle flowers (12).

Here's some photo's of pulling everything together:

My Last Bi-Weekly Budget

It's a little anti-climatic but this is my last bi-weekly budget I'll be posting - going forward Jordan and I will have a monthly budget that we post and an end-of-the-month spending re-cap. There will probably be a few posts around our allowances and how their working out as well.

You'll notice that I have none of my normal ING Transfers going through, they've been put on hold until August 6, 2010. What am I doing with the extra money? Paying off my visa bill - it was a bit high due to camping and birthday's this month.

I'll be going into August with zero credit card debt, and looking forward to that.

Bi-Weekly Budget

July 9, 2010 - Bi-Weekly Budget

Things are coming along nicely. I'm  happy that all of my 'funds' are slowly starting to increase again - though I'm not sure exactly what to do with all my baby pots of money when Jordan and I join forces.  I am thinking I'll keep everything in one pot as a 'me/backup' fund.  We'll see.

I have half a tank of gas still, so I think that $300 should be plenty for the next two weeks.

I have a $150 visa payment this week.  This includes my last cell phone bill (approx $50) and a few other odds and ends.  I currently have a balance of $462.90 - which is not so bad.  As long as I don't use it during the next two weeks, I should be able to wipe out the balance on my next pay day (crossing my fingers).

I think it would be easier for both Jordan and I if we had $0 credit card balances when we join everything.

Bi-Weekly Budget & a Question...

The Breakdown:

• ING Transfers have no changes = $275
• Transport/Food/Entertain/Other categories have no changes = $300
• Joint/Bills Account has no change  = $287.50
• Student Loan has no change = $300
• Bank Fees - same same

so what changed, and where's my question?

My horse board up until this point has been $165/month.  During the first week of July my boarder stopped feeding hay and Starlight is now on full pasture.  He has kindly pro-rated what I over paid for July and thus I only owe $27.50 for the month of July.

What do you think I should do with the left over $275 this month?

I'm inclined to just make an extra student loan payment, but if you look at any of my 'funds' on the side bars   ------>>>> Do you think I should put the money in any of them?

Bi-Weekly Budget &

Here's my budget for the next couple of weeks.  I've increased my travel amount slightly because now that the snow is off the ground, we're bound to be out and about more often.  I've also managed to squeeze an additional $200 student loan payment.

This pay, I'm putting 33.66% of my income to debt.  Not too shabby.

After the payments clear, it will bring my Alberta Student Loan down to $3,985.85.

Questions/Comments?

Jordan's Bi-Weekly Budget

Here it is folks, the first of Jordan's bi-weekly budgets that has no truck payment!!

For the next couple of weeks he'll likely have Visa payments of $150-$200 to have that cleared off - and then he's set.  We're both looking forward to having a bit more flexibility week-to-week.

Bi-Weekly Budget

As most of you know I received a raise in pay that was effective as of April 3, 2010. This raise was 12.77%.  When I wrote about it I said it was 11.30% (I  had done the math wrong).  It's a pretty significant sum of money.  That said, for the two pay periods following my raise I asked for some of my banked time to be paid out so that I could finally pay of my Federal/Canadian Student Loan.

Today is my first pay day where I will actually see what I'm going to be making for the next year.

So, my first pay of each month will be $1,445.52 and the second will be $1,479.39 for a total monthly income (except for two pay's a year) is $2,924.91 (it was previously $2,623.21).  This is a little bit less then I thought (I had guessed closer to $1,500/bi-weekly) - so I've revised my bi-weekly budgets a tad.

Here is how we're shaping up for the next two weeks:

...here's the breakdown:

• I have re-instated contributing to all of my planned spending/saving accounts.  I would like to increase these numbers but I won't be able to for a few months.  I've got a bit of a credit card bill left over from Palm Springs that I'm still hacking away at
• Transportation budget has gone up by $50/bi-weekly for the summer months - we're bound to do more driving
• Joint Account - same same
• My Alberta Student Loan payment is set to be $300/bi-weekly.  This will have it paid off by December 24, 2010.
• Car Insurance - is as per usual.  I'm hoping this will go down in October when it's renewed.
• Visa Bill - this will be pretty steady for the next few pay periods

Bi-Weekly Budget & Goodbye to the NSL

Today is a pretty stellar day.

Today My Canada (National) Student Loan Has Been Paid Off!

Okay, so all of my online payments haven't gone through yet, so according to nslcs it's not paid off - but as far as I'm concerned it is.  The balance this morning was $472.97.  My regular $75 payment is due today and I transfered an additional $397.97 first thing.  So, my new balance will be $0.  

Here is my bi-weekly budget:

My pay is only this big because I had an extra 37.50 hours of banked time paid out.  I'm currently planning on putting $400 towards my Christmas Fund and $400 on my visa (to pay off palm springs).  I believe that my horse board will go down to $90 in May, 2010 but I'll be confirming that tonight.  

~i hope you have a fabulous weekend~

Pay Day Today!

so, today is kind of a big day.

why is today a big day you ask?

For one, today is the first pay with my new salary PLUS I had 21 hours of overtime paid out.  So I have a big fat pay.  As a result of my big fat pay -

I'm paying $1,100 towards my Canada Student Loan

That leaves $472.11 remaining.

wow that feels good.

I think the rest of my bi-weekly budget is pretty self explanatory - not a lot going on.

Financial Priorities

My recent raise and the prospect of paying off on of my student Loans in April, prompted me to re-evaluate the financial priorties I had established at the beginning of the year.  I spent a couple hours talking about it with my mom - and when I asked well how does this look (pointing to an excel spreadsheet) she would say, well what's important?

hmm...what's important?

well, at the beginning of the year my goals (other then paying off debt) were to reach some saving milestones.  They included:

• Saving $12,500 (in combination with Jordan) towards a house down payment
• Saving $2,000 in my RRSPs
• Saving $1,000 into a Christmas/Gift fund
• Saving $500 for clothing

I beleive that I now have some different priorities.

1. Saving $12,500 (with Jordan) towards a house down payment
• we're actually trending to $11,200 and change.  This goal will continue to go up in increments until we are at 20% off $300,000 or $60,000.
2. Saving $500 for professional/work clothes
• I had almost acheived this and am now using the money to go to Palm Springs.  I'm going to start by saving $100/bi-weekly until I'm to $500 and then I will keep it maintained by contributing $25/bi-weekly
3. Starting a new/used vehicle fund
• My car will eventually crap out so bad that I need to spend significant $$ on repairs or need to just buy new/used - I have no end goal for this, I just want to start being more prepared for vehicle expenses. 
4. Continuing to contribute to my Christmas Fund for all the other gift giving oppotunities that come up every year
5. Continuing to contribute to my Emergency Fund until I have 3 months of essential expenses saved up.
• I currently have $1,100 saved and I think I need about $2,800
6. Starting a travel fund
• This might be flights to visit my Best Friend in Vancouver, or it could be gas to go camping - but either way I need to start putting money away for this.  It's important to the people in my life so it's important to me. 

Starting in May, you'll see the above categories represented in my bi-weekly budgets.

Bi-Weekly Budget - there isn't one

Me not being organised combined with going to Palm Springs combined with the Easter weekend means there's all sorts of un-rest in my bank....
That said my credit card is paid off and I have $154 American and $260 Canadian to get me to Palm Springs and back.  I'm leaving $50 behind for groceries for Jordan (to fill up the fridge while I'm away) so we're all sorted.  I'll be chipping in $100 to go towards accomodation in PS's and I'll chip in whatever seems fair for food after the weeks through - but I figure that will be around $50-$75.  So I will have between $250 for other......

What does other mean?  Well, I'm not really sure.

I hope to do a bit of tourist-y stuff...would like to do some shopping - or at least see what shopping is like in the states.  We'll see how it goes. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

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 here and there.

I've committed to a $250 lump sum payment on my student loans this pay as well

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 about time off for Palm Springs).  

My variable allotments for transport/food and entertainment are the same as usually.  I have an extra $20 in transport b/c I think it's just about time for an oil change but at the very least I need to top up my washer fluids and what not. I'm set to do a $200 lump sum payment on my student loans.  Car insurance is due during this pay period and I have a $200 visa payment to make.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about this.

Bi-Weekly Budget

Here is this pay period's bi-weekly budget:

You'll notice quite a few changes as a result of the last few weeks that were in turmoil.  I wrote yesterday about my praise for emergency funds and that I decided that instead of taking ~$650 from my emergency fund account, I would just adjust my budgets for this week and next payday to cover the unexpected expenses.

• I've transfered $50 from my ING annual expenses fund to help cover the cost of my car registration which I have to pay this month.
• I've put a temporary stop on all ING savings/funds (except for the house fund) for this pay and next until I pay off my visa
• My variable categories are the same (transport, food, entertainment, and other).  The entertainment is likely to just go to gas as I'll be trying to visit family this up-coming weekend
• I've put my student loan lump sum payment on hold

The rest of my visa bill will be paid off next pay day.

Bi-Weekly Budget

Here it is, my bi-weekly budget:

• Current Balance
• Whoa! What?!  Is that a minus?! ... yes, yes it is.  It has been an extremely hectic week with Jordan's little brother, and during a visit to the children's hospital this past Saturday I wasn't thinking about $$.  We needed some sustenance (we were there for about 8 hours, I won't go into details, but the kid's doing okay).
• I'll take a $5 overdraft hit and some interest penalty
• ING Transfers are all the same as usual
• I've cut my entertainment and food budget a tad to make up for a $117.34 visa payment. Don't worry about the food and the 14 year old, we're managing well and still have some cash ($20) left over from last week and we're well stocked.  What pray tell is on my visa?
• A $50+ charge from a restaurant that Jordan and I visited when we were in my home town over Christmas!  It just posted to my account and I  had forgotten about it.  Given this surprise, I'm thinking I should follow some of Gail Vaz-Oxlade's advise and reconcile!
• $30 from my ancestry.ca registration, I started digging into my family tree again
• Parking at the Children's Hospital
• $20ish in interest from visa planning fail over Christmas.  Jordan owed me a couple hundred from Christmas spending and he didn't get paid until after my bill was due.  It was just a couple of days - but that surely won't happen again next year.
• I'll be making a lump sum payment on my Canada student loan this pay day!
• I thought about using this money to make up for the trip to the hospital and some of my visa bill, but that's really not in the spirit of getting my loan paid off - even if it was an emergency.
• It's still crazy winter here, so my horse board will be $165 for a few more months yet (probably won't come down until April or May).
• yes... i know.. bank fees still suck
• Regular monthly student loan payments are set to come out as usual.

That should be everything!  questions/comments ?

Oh - and in case you are worried that having $0 for entertainment will set me up to use my Visa - I think it's safe - I've got some gift cards that I have saved from work and Christmas - but that's for another post.

Bi-Weekly Budget

It's that time again - below you will find my bi-weekly budget:

This weeks pay is about what I thought it would be given the changes I made, but there of courses were variances because each year the tax man changes the rules around federal/provincial taxes.

You can see all of my ING transfers are set to go through for my new funds detailed in my 2010 budget.  I'm looking forward to see all of these 'funds' going up!

The joint fund as well as the Transportation/Food/Entertainment (other) are as per usual.  It's been difficult but I'm sticking with $100 on the entertainment/other category.  I find that I have been using my credit card to supplement it through, so it may be worth it to try tacking expenses a little closer for a while to see if the budget as a whole needs re-working or my thinking does.  Either way, I've got a visa payment on this budget that pays off the balance.

Something new you'll see on my bi-weekly budgets is a CSL - Lump Sum Pay category.  Any monies that I have not allocated somewhere else will go towards a payment towards my Canada Student Loan.  My snowflakes - to take from Jolie at Shaking the Money Tree.  I anticipate that each month this should equal about $350 or so.

For the sake of being honest...which i'm not excited about...The Visa payment includes:

• Lunch with Jordan
• A few household items at Ikea
• we decided to finally get an area rug and needed a few things for the kitchen
• Staples
• got a can of air to clean out my printer which has been crapping out, also needed this for my computer. we also bought a small shelving unit to store all the movies/games we got for Christmas.. they were just stacked in front of the tv looking messy and disorganized.
• London Drugs
• this was a tub for storage of Christmas decorations and paper for my printer and some tinsel for next year that was on sale
• BBQ Galore
• I gave Jordan a smoker for Christmas but we needed charcoal, wood chips & lighter cubes - he smoked an entire 10lbs turkey - it was great, and we've been using it for sandwich meat.
• Liquor Store
• a few odds and ends to re-stock after Christmas.  I like to have a couple bottles of wines handy should be invited somewhere for supper - don't like to show up empty handed
• A few household items from Walmart
• i can't even remember what we bought.. so that's a bad sign - I'm defn. going to keep receipts for the next two weeks...now that I'm thinking about it - I believe there were a couple of blue ray movies on sale that I bought.  oops.

There were certainly some indulges there (ie lunch out) - but there were a few things that I feel were needs (yes some were just wants).  So I will track all of my spending for the next two weeks to have a look at things.