This Weekend

So... what did we do this weekend?   I didn't post a list like some did, but there were a few things we wanted to and got done.

• We bought my great aunt a laptop (she paid for it, we just shopped for it).  She wants to be able to e-mail family.  She's 80, and never experienced a computer before, so it'll be pretty interesting to teach her how to use it.  We've got it set up, and i'll probably deliver it on Tuesday.
• Played WOW! Yea.. that wasn't really on the to do list, but I asked Jordan what we accomplished - and he said 'we played wow.
• We did some grocery shopping (and yes, i kept the receipt and will be posting a summary of my spending at the end of this two-week period).
• We got a huuge start on cleaning out the basement.

When we had all of our roommates shuffling around for the past couple of months, the basement became a sort of dumping ground.  We have Jordan's little brother coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks (starting Wednesday after school), and it was important that we gave him a space to hang out that wasn't his bedroom, or the living room - because we're just not very cool these days lol.  I really want him to be comfortable during his stay.  There's still some saving, selling and donating to do - but it's coming along.

On the PF side of things, Jordan's mom is giving us $150 for the duration of his stay.  Jordan and I give ourselves $50/week/each for groceries - so figured that $100 is safe for his stay, and the $50 is for any other incidentals that may come up...that said, neither of us know how much a 14 year old eats.  Any tips?

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.  

Jordan's Response

...to yesterday's questions was:

@Jessie's Mom - I have carry over due to the fact that my employment date started Aug 8th of 2008. Of which time I didnt take any vacation hence the roll over.

@Frugal Dreamer - aside from not having a performance review since I've started working here... its been great. I've been blessed with having only 2 bosses ever that were intolerable.

@All - I am going to cash in the vacation pay as being able to have the truck paid off during the month of July (which is my birth month) that'll be my xmas present to myself :) Also I was planning on re-investing my tax return for our savings goals... so either way I win :)

Thanks for all the feedback on my situation

Jessie Says > He did leave the above in the comments section this morning, but I thought I would post it for those folks who don't go back to read them.

Vacation Pay: Carry Forward or Pay out?

I'm sure most, if not all, of you know that my boyfriend/common-law partner is Jordan.  He receives each of my blog posts via e-mail, reads them, and rarely comments - though sometimes we talk about them after work if something was particularly interesting for him.

He's called me - and has a question for all the Jessie's Money reader's out there.

Unlike Frugal's partner H, who's Boss in an Ass,  his employer actually tracks and pays for vacation properly.  He's just found out that he has $527.39 worth of vacation left to take from 2009.  His employer is giving him the option to carry it forward to 2010 or to have it paid out.  He'd like your/my help in figuring out what to do.

I'll break this down for you.

His annual salary is $38,400 (or approximately $18.46/hour).  That means the above mentioned amount of vacation is worth 28.56 hours or 3.57 days (based on an 8 hour work day).

Jordan mentioned that after taxes, his net pay was $30,000 which means his marginal tax rate is 21.88%.  So, if we deduct 21.88% from $527.39 Jordan would receive a payout of approximately $412.

He has given me these five options:

1. Leave the 'money' as vacation, and use it during the year.  I kind of like this idea because I get 3 weeks vacation each year, and Jordan gets 2 weeks.  Keeping the 3.5 days would mean we could take more time off together.

The next four involve having the vacation paid out.

1. Use the money to play - new video games or some other such thing!
2. Use the money to contribute to his newly opened RRSP (currently has about $550)
3. Use the money to contribute to our house fund
4. Use the money to pay down his only debt, the personal loan we took out to get him a truck.

With regards to the debt, I'll give you some details.

We took out the loan for $4,500 a while back, and Jordan was making payments of $216.06/month - which would have the loan paid off in two years, $8 of that payment was also for loan insurance b/c at that time our jobs were uncertain.  In September '09, Jordan increased his payments to $150/bi-weekly which shaved off about 6 months to the re-payment timeline.

The loan is currently sitting at $2514.59 w/ an interest rate of 9.25% - which leaves 17.88 bi-weekly payments left or a Debt Elimination Date of Sepetember, 2010.

If he uses the money to put towards the loan, it would result in 14.95 bi-weekly payments, or give him a Debt Elimination Date of July, 2010.

Phew - okay, so I've obviously put more thought into the debt repayment option - but don't let that sway you (it's just kind of what I do).

So - what should Jordan do?  Should he keep the vacation as vacation or should he request a payout.  If he get's it paid out - what should he do with the $412 he'll receive...

Thanks All!

The house fund... is back!

Back in October, Jordan and I put our house fund on hold.  We had just gotten notice that all of our roommates would be moving out - and weren't sure if we'd be able to handle the rent on our own (It was $1,500 back then).  Since then, we successfully negotiated a rent decrease to $1,350 and went from having three roommates to just one.  Our rent effectively went from $300/month to $425/month.

Even with an increase to our monthly expenses, I'm pleased to report that both Jordan and I have set up our bi-weekly automatic transfers into the house fund.  We will each contribute $150/bi-weekly on opposite weeks.  So each month, the fund will get $600/month, except for four months out of the year where it will get $750 (thanks to our 'extra' pay days).  It's pretty powerful, saving for a joint goal this way, the savings increase very quickly - and thus we are encouraged to continue to save.  

I'm sure a few folks remember that we also took a loan from ourselves to the tune of $750/each (so $1,500 total) to purchase some much needed household items.  We are still planning on depositing any tax returns we get to the fund to top it back up.

That said - would you folks out there suggest we stay that course, or take any tax refund we get and pay down debt (Jordan the truck loan and me a student loan)?

Overtime Project II - Payout Question

In October, I wrote about my Overtime Project II.  My goal was to reach 75 hours of OT before Christmas, which would net me approximately $1,000 to put towards my student loans.

I actually reached 54.00 hours, 72% of my goal.  I'm pleased with my effort - and still have some extra work to do in the office.  I'm going to continue to plug away at work, and if I get some more OT - that's great, if not - I won't beat myself up over it.  It's a lot of work - to put in so much work ;)

Currently, I plan on waiting until April before requesting a payout.  I should get a raise in 4 months, and my OT hours will be worth my new rate (it's an accepted practice at my office).  So currently, those hours are worth $24.10 (I gross 47K annually).  I was told in October '09, that my boss would like to see me making $50-$51K - so let's assume I get a $3K raise to $50K gross - my hours would then be worth $25.64 (based on a 37.50/hour work week).

That would mean my 54 hours of overtime would be worth $1,382 (gross) vs $1,301.40 (gross). Considering taxes (marginal rate of 32%) - I would get $884.95 now or $939.76 later.

Would you wait for April, or should I request my OT payout now?


[Edit]
Thanks for all the great comments so far - here are my interest rates:
Alberta Student Loan Interest Rate - 2.25%
Canada Student Loan Interest Rate - 4.75%

Personal Goals

Hello All!

What an absolutley fabulous Christmas/New Years vacation I had! 

I'm feeling a little rusty, but am eager to get back into the swing of things.

Thanks to everyone for their postive feedback on my 2010 budget and financial goals - I think it's going to be an excellent year!  In terms of personal goals, I've only come up with a few so far.

• Give myself more time in the morning to get ready for work
• I often find that I wind up sleeping in and so only have 20 minutes to get out the door.  I want to push that to an hour and get my mind in body in shape using that time.
• Be a healthier me
• This means taking the stairs at work, drinking more water, being more active in general & eating salad

That's it!

I'm keeping it simple and acheivable.