What Else?

Oh...so besides slacking off when it comes to writing about money, what have I been doing?

Well my mom, Jordan, and I all had birthday's in July - and I turned 30! Yea...30.

Also; we've gone camping a LOT, and BBQing a LOT...and some quading and really - just enjoying the summer.

Here's some pictures.

This Weekend...

Is going to be very full!

My girlfriend just had twins on the 29th and they were super early...They were only at 31.5 weeks and so they are staying in the hospital for at least a month.  My friend on the other hand, was released on Thursday. I imagine there will be quite a bit of back and forth visiting and what not - no one has seen the babies yet, and I would be very honoured if I was able to.

I'm also helping my mother-in-law move.  It's a bit of a stressful time on Jordan's side of the family - a lot of things are not going well with the family dynamic.  That said, I promised I would help before the current sh*t storm, so that is what I'm going to do.  I'm only going to go for 3 hours or so, instead of the all day event because of all the other plans this weekend - but I wanted to make sure I helped out a bit.  I'm hoping that she doesn't bring up any of the family stuff, because then I will have to leave early then planned (the conversation she may try to have with me, is not my conversation to have.

I also really want to go visit my great aunt - she's in an assisted living place in the city and it's been a solid three weeks since I've seen her.  She doesn't seem to phone as often anymore, and life just keeps getting in the way from a good visit.

The big at home job this weekend is painting the bathroom on the main floor.  We bought the paint two weeks ago, but haven't been able to make the time to get the job done...hopefully that will happen on Sunday.

I also want to pull out all of our camping gear and go through it.  My mom got a seasonal camping spot (means you can leave your camping trailer in one spot all year) and Jordan and I are planning on spending a lot of time out there.  So I want to sort out what gear we can bring and leave there as well as maybe some clothes and what not so I don't have to pack a tonne everytime.

If all that gets done - then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to fold some laundry.

Fun times.

Camping Costs

So last night we had a family conversation about how we were going to pay for the week of having a cabin on a beach.  A few of us had made some assumptions and didn't ask enough questions (namely me), which is fine because my family is a great one to learn in.

While money isn't talked about, as a general rule, I should have known to ask how we were going to pay for everything.

We wound up counting tent days as half as a cabin day (so Jordan and I sleeping in a tent and my cousin and her friend outside wouldn't pay as much  as our mom's and grandma sleeping in the cabin).  It is fair however; for us to chip in some because we're using the amenities of the cabin (like the shower, the kitchen, the bathroom...etc.)

Food on the other hand we figured should just be divided up based on the total number of days each person has stayed.

I won't get into allll the details, but we wound up talking about it for a solid hour or so.  Jordan excused himself outside, I think in part because it's my family - but also because he shy's from heavy money conversations in general.

At the end, Jordan and I wound up contributing $100 for the total cabin bill of $980 and $80 for groceries (which, so far is exactly our 'fair' share).  There might be more groceries that we wind up buying - but we'll handle that when we run out of food.  If we want more booze (which I think we might) that's up to each group of people to handle.

Going Camping

Jordan and I are gearing up for another week long camping trip! This time we're heading into the middle of BC where there's currently a fire ban :( So we may not need to bring as much firewood as we thought.

We're looking at a total travel time of about six hours, but we're going to stop at my parents place so it won't be straight there.  We're actually going with my parents, grandma and aunt - so should be excellent family time!

Tonight we gassed up the track and bought beer/rum/bottle of wine.  Tomorrow afterwork and Saturday morning we have to:

• drop off some clothes at the donation spot
• go to the bottle depot
• pack our clothes, tent, sleeping gear and colman mini-fridge/plug in cooler
• then we've got to pack the pickup

That's about it.

Once we get to the local - we'll go grocery shopping w/ the fam.

They are all staying in a cabin, and we'll have a tent - so we don't need to bring any of our cooking or primary camping gear, as we will be cooking w/ them in the cabin.

Hope you all have a great week!

Gone Camping

Jordan and I are leaving town this morning to go on a week long camping trip!  We'll be heading out to the wilds of BC for a wonderful eight/nine days!  I'm so looking forward to this. It's going to be great to spend the time with my family and Jordan and it will be a break from work.  Where we are going we have no cell/internet service - so I CAN'T check e-mails/facebook - or anything else.

When we go camping like this with my family, we usually (and have this time) split up the grocery shopping between us.  This saves on waste and then no one has to spend too much more $$ then someone else.  I anticipate the grocery bill to be between $100-$150 and then probably another $50 or so on beer.  That will leave me with about $100 for gas - which should be plenty.  Jordan will also have some cash, but I'm not sure what's left from our last camping trip (last weekend).

I have written a few posts that will go live throughout the week (like this one), but I won't be able to moderate them.  As I'm still getting some spam comments, I'd prefer just to accept all comments when I get back.  Please don't let that stop you from leaving notes - I love reading each and every one of them.



* the picture above is from our camping trip on the July long weekend.

Another Pair of Shoes

When Jordan and I were out and about the other day - we found an amazing pair of shoes (in addition to the riding boots I told you about last week). Asolo is apparently an excellent, high quality brand of shoe.  they are very comfortable and will be perfect for camping and light hiking.  The support is good, so I shouldn't role my ankles.

  

You can see that the shoes were regularly priced $200 and I bought them for $120 - that's an $80 savings or 40%. Yes, these are still expensive - but I'm tired of $20 walmart shoes that hurt my feet and don't last longer then a couple of months.  These baby's should last me a long while and keep me comfortable!

Pictures from Camping

Here are just a few pictures from our August long weekend camping trip!

Gone Camping!

I hope everyone (who gets one) has a wonderful long weekend! 

Jordan and I are running away to BC to go camping with my parents.  Unfortunatly my brother and lindsay have to work.

It will be a great trip I think.  The only significant cost is gas, which really won't be that bad because it's only about a 3.5 hour drive to the lake we'll be at.  Camping with my mom is fantastic, she has so many goodies stocked in the camper so we don't have to remember things like salt and pepper.

Jordan and I are in charge of lunches and some breakfast stuff and mom is champion-ing dinners! 

I'm Back!!

Camping was great!! I love spending time with my family, and it was nice to be with them for my birthday! I'll have some financial updates soon :D

Gone Camping!

I shall return on Monday!

I'm Back!

Side bars have been updated, that's unforutnatly all i have time for this morning. I will write more later on this evening.

Camping

Well I'm off camping for the week - I will be back to posting next Thursday or Friday.

I hope everyone enjoys Canada Day!

Jessie

Camping Costs - Update

Well so far we've paid:

$180 (me) campground reservation - I should be getting about $90 back from my girlfriend and her partner for this.

Last night, Jordan spent:

$150/alcohol - keep in mind about $40 of this was for part of his mom's birthday present (two bottles of wine), and we probably won't drink all the booze we bought.

$70/f00d - all the 'dry goods' and long lasting root vegtables ect.

We still have to buy hotdogs, burgers, breads, eggs, ect. So I'm guessing we still will be spending about another $50-80 on food.

With the $90 I get from my friends, I can help pay for all the gas it will take to drive to BC.

Camping Costs!

Jordan and are planning a camping trip from Friday (June 26) to Wednesday (July 1) - I have been so wrapped up thinking and planning for this trip I haven't had too many brilliant ideas for posting.

Jordan suggested I write about how much it costs to go camping!

Over the last two years, it has cost a lot - and I couldn't tell you exactly how much. Between buying coolers, tents, all manner of cooking supplies, bedding, spare tents, ect - it's a lot. That said, all of those supplies will last us a lifetime (if not the next 7 years or more).

This trip, we just have to buy food and booze for ourselves and Jordan's little brother. Right now I'm thinking it will cost about $100/liquor and $150/food. Though, there will also be gas which will be maybe $150?? We are driving about 12 hours to and from the campground from where we live. This of course will be split between J and myself - so we'll see how it all shakes down.

I have already paid $200 for the camping spots, which I'm supposed to get $$ back from our friends - but somehow I doubt that it will happen.

There's got to be a way to do it cheaper - but I'm just sure how. Suggestions?

I'm back

I've returned from my small hometown camping adventure to the big city. Camping was absolutly fantasic - spent more money then I planned to, and had an absolutly fantastic time. I havn't added everything up (though I did bring a notebook along to track what i spent).

My next payday is May 29th. That is when I will see how much money I can throw at my visa in addition to the $250/biweekly payment. Until then, there is no sense in stressing about it because I have no money currently to buy anything (whether that's groceries or debt repayment). Thankfully J get's paid on Thursday and it's his turn for groceries.

Camping

Hey all...

I'm going camping for the May long weekend and will be taking off early Friday afternoon - so I probably won't post again until Monday or Tuesday.