Credit Creep

Jordan is absolutely thrilled to share that his Visa has been paid off - and this time - he's going to cancel it.  He's been using his personal spending allowance to slowly but surely pay it off.  A few birthday and cheques had gone towards the debt too. 

Once the final interest accrual is posted, he'll be calling the company and calling it quits! 

Last Week - ReCap

This is where I've been all last week - it was our one year anniversary :)

Year over Year

Now that we caught up on Friday with the last three months of spending - I'd like to update you on our year -over year tracking.  Below is our average monthly spending from July 2010-July 2011 then July 2011 to July 2012 and the difference thereof.

It looks like our battle to eat out less is winning - however our grocery bill has more then ate up what we were saving - this is a really interesting trend.

With regards to alcohol - that went up a bit - but I'm satisfied that this is reasonable considering how often we buy wine as gifts but I often track it here rather then in the gift category where it belongs.

We're spending more on home maintenance, but this really doesn't surprise me.  Now that we're settling in to the new space - and slowing buying furniture and what not - I expect that this will continue to be a top line item in our budget for a while.

I'm pleased that we're not spending as much on emergencies however; this unfortunately doesn't mean that we've had less of them - just that they've been closer to home this year.

I believe that we still have a bit of work to do when it comes to managing how much goes in our mouths - but perhaps we take a cue from one of my aunts and look at how much we buy in terms of groceries and how much gets wasted and/or thrown out.  We often buy way  more then we need and then in spoils...there used to be some once a week photo captures of the weekly food toss people were doing - I might see if anyone still does that and join in - maybe the visual would help.

Three Month Catch Up

I haven't posted the last three months of our spending, so this is a bit of a catch up post in that regard:

The categories that are in bold are that which our day-to-day joint spending account are for - the account that we give ourselves $300/week for.  The other categories are typically saved up for before purchasing - or purchases we've been able to make because of, for example, birthday  money/tax returns/ ect.

While groceries continues to feel like a lot for two people - gas has finally leveled out which is good.  Our eating out is fairly high as well - but nothing like it  used to be in years past - the same goes for Entertainment with just one splurge in July.

Education has leveled off because Jordan and I are (for now) currently both done with our most recent educational pursuits.

Home Maintenance also includes large 'for the home' purchases - furniture and that sort of thing.  We're still settling into our new home, so I imagine this line will continue to see fluctuations. 

Any questions?  Feel free to ask!

~Jesise

Jordan Got a Raise

Jordan and I are both so very excited to share that he completed his Journeyman Parts Technician program. He took that, along with the last four years of yard work and dedication to his boss and asked for a raise - and he got it!

He's going from $44,400 to $50,000.

It's going to be a two part raise - the first he's already received, so he's up to $48,000 now and in October, he'll get the last bump up to $50K.

I've already started playing with the budget to see where we can but his raise so it does the most amount of work for us - but we haven't decided on anything yet.

Quite a bit of this is the same as always - bills listed under fixed expenses (Mortgage, Utilities, Car payment, insurance, taxes, cell phones ect).  You may or may not recall that Jordan and I have two chequing accounts.  Once is for all of the above mentioned expenses, and the other is for our day-to-day spending - things like groceries, gas, haircuts, clothes ect.  It's like our 'jars' but it's one pot attached to a debit card. That's the monthly spending line.  It's been $1,200 which has felt pretty tight - often leaving us reaching for the MasterCard if we take a single extra trip outside of driving to and from work - needing gas money.  I think $1,600 is probably too much to start with - but I was just playing with numbers.

Anyways - personal allowances are the same.

Changes are in the variable savings items - including a baby bank, emergency fund, house fund and RRSPs.

I have a pension at work that vests this October (they match 5% of my salary) and Jordan does not - so fr that reason, I think we should start putting more towards his RRSPs than mine.

As always, if you have any thoughts - we would love to hear them.

~Jessie

Hi! Miss me?

Hi!

There's been a lot going on in my life over the last five months and it's been difficult to prioritize anything for myself, let alone my blog.   


The worst of it some of you have picked up on from my cryptic posts and I can't actually type it without crying- so I won't.


In addition to that, both my Great Aunt and my Dad's Mom are now in assisted living facilities in different provinces which involved a tonne of prep work and energy by the entire family to get them situated (my grandmother still not done yet).  It's for the best though, and we're hoping that they're enjoying their new spaces.


My best  friend and I had a huge falling out - she's been struggling with the way I'm coping with things and a significant absenteeism and commitment problem on my part.  We're going to get our nails done tonight though, so things are hopefully going to get better on that front.


July was hectic in and of itself - we have my birthday, my mom's, Jordan's mom's birthday, Jordan's birthday and his brother's birthday - not to mention the birthday's of two uncles and another cousin.  We did a lot of birthday dinners and party's - but for mine - my mom and I went camping.


We just got back from our trip actually - we had no cell phone or internet access for a full week which was magnificent.


There is still a tonne of busywork on my horizon, but I'm hoping to start writing more often again - I don't know about the rest of you, but my mom misses me when I don't.

~Jessie

Like Father, Like Daughter