It's Friday! Blargh

Honestly the lack of motivation from Monday has carried out all week. Which sucks ass.

Hence no blog posts this week.

I've even ignored Mint which has been out of the norm. I did finally look today and lo and behold it's having connectivity issues. Yay.

Alright time to try and be positive...but first:

The low of my week was feeling so bleh and tired. Not sure what's up with that. Hopefully having 3 days in a row off helps with that.

The high of my week was being done work at 5pm and having a proper sit down meal with the boyfriend. Had the same salmon I ruined last week. Turned out beautifully this time!

The best money I spent this week  was the $6.35 for lunch yesterday. Came out of my spending cash and I enjoyed it immensely (Only Subway but it was a nice break from making my lunch).

Weekend Plans include working tomorrow, hopefully hitting up the farmer's market on Sunday, and catching up on house work.

What was your week like?

Monday...Blargh

It's Monday and I'm not feeling motivated at all.

Bleh. I got things to do before I go to work and all I really want to do is sit in my jammies and be a bum.

Time to dig deep and find some will power to get my ass in gear.

Sorry for the rather lame post.

*forces self to go jump in the shower*

It's Friday! Finally!

Friday is here! TGIF! I work today but then have Saturday and Sunday off! I'm really looking forwards to getting some projects done and for some relaxing!

This week was mostly work seeing as I've worked Sunday to Friday. Payday was Tuesday and saw a nice increase in my net worth. It's slightly misleading though as part of that is part of July's rent. Technically it should be $200 lower but until that money comes out I'll keep my net worth number as is.

I was a bit more spendy this week then planned on. Mostly because I bought new flip flops and printer ink. That stuff is stupidly expensive.

The low of my week was ruining the salmon for dinner last night. I was supposed to add corn starch to the marinade but added baking soda instead. WHOOPS. Baking soda and soy sauce do not play well together.

The high of my week was payday. Paying down that credit card, watching my savings inch up, seeing my net worth make a big jump. It's all good.

The best money I spent was the $55 on new flip flops. Yep pricey but they were exactly what I was looking for: Dark brown, comfortable and plenty of support. My old brown ones were way past their prime. With summer coming I needed to get ones to wear with my shorts and skirts. Was bad and put it on my credit card. Used my extra $70 to cover some of it along with the printer ink. Also the $16 I spent on my new Cuisinart Griddler. It was on sale at the Bay and I had a $100 Visa gift card from Christmas. So instead of $129.99 plus tax it was $116 after tax. After my gift card it was $16! Totally doable.

Weekend plans include laundry (it's never ending ugh), hanging with some friends, and scanning some old recipe books.

Tell me about your week.

Pay Day! Impatience

Hooray! Today is payday (and a day off too)!

Happily there was a bit more money than normal due to the overtime I worked. Almost $70 worth. I was faced with what to due with it. Send it to my credit cards? My student loans? Savings?

In the end I sent it to one of my cards. I needed to replace my ink cartridges in my printer and put it on one of my cards. So off it goes to that.

I've paid my credit card bills for the month and am now impatiently waiting for that and my savings transfers to clear. I'm also impatiently waiting for my student loan payments to come out at the end of the month.

I'm rather in a hurry to get those debt numbers down and my net worth number up.

Obsessing

So I'm pretty obsessed with my financial numbers this month.

I find myself on Mint practically every day. I know some days that the numbers won't have changed but I do it anyways. I'm that impatient for numbers to head in the right direction.

I want to see my net worth go up. I want to see my savings go up. I want to see my credit card balances and student loan balances decrease.

I want to start seeing my RRSP go up.

I have a plan in place but I'm impatient. I want to be ahead already.

How do I stop obsessing about this?

Something That I Didn't Consider

So I was looking at my Mint account the other day when I noticed that my RRSP was now showing in it. My RRSP had reached my new bank. It only took 3 weeks.

What I didn't consider was what that would do to my net worth. My net worth was about -$14,000 and is now -$6000 all because my RRSP is now showing.

It's a nice feeling to watch that number inch ever closer to the positive side.

I might do a monthly update on my net worth to keep me motivated.

It's Friday! What an Awesome Week!

It's been an awesome week and it's Friday and I have today and tomorrow off!

Got my hair cut on Saturday and had 7 inches taken off. I feel so much lighter now LOL! Then had the pictures taken that afternoon...which almost didn't happen as it poured rain right at the time that we were supposed to do them. Luckily an hour later the rain stopped and the sun came out so we were able to do them. I've seen two of the pictures and they look awesome! Can't wait to see the rest.

I'm a lucky person. My boyfriend's family is super nice and at our family dinner on Sunday they surprised me with a birthday cake! I totally wasn't expecting that. I wasn't planning on having a cake but then I did get one! A very yummy chocolate raspberry one.

Then there was my actual birthday yesterday...I got totally spoiled. From the all the birthday wishes from my co-workers, friends and family I felt totally loved. And then there was the dinner at Chop with my darling boyfriend. That prime rib dinner I had was amazing!

The low of my week was the 11 hour shift I worked on Tuesday. The extra money is nice but the reason for the extra long shift is the low. I can't say because of other people's privacy but it was a sad reason.

The high of my week was my birthday! I really really really enjoyed my birthday dinner!

The best money I spent was the $57 for my hair cut and style. $42 for the hair cut and $15 for a tip because I absolutely love how it turned out. And I was still under budget!

Weekend plans include having some friends over tonight and doing laundry.

What's your weekend looking like?

Savings Goals

Currently  I have a total of four savings accounts. One is with my everyday bank and the other 3 are with Tangerine (previously known as ING Direct). Why four savings accounts you might ask?

For me the answer is simple. It's easier for me to track my saving goals if the money is separate from each other.

So what am I saving for?

1. Emergency fund. This is my savings account with my everyday bank. I wanted to be able to have easy access to this account in case of an emergency. Currently my goal is to get this account to $1,000 then to get it to 3-6 months worth of living expenses. Currently this account has $100.02 in it. Putting together a spreadsheet I calculated that at the $25 every pay day (every two weeks) I will get $1000 in my account in October 2015. This does not include any interest. The amount I'm contributing may increase before then thus decreasing the Goal Date.
2. Christmas/Birthday fund. And by birthdays I mean for all the ones that happen in November, December and January. I have lots that occur in that period. So $25 a paycheck also will be going here. This has no amount just to do it every paycheque.
3. Long term savings. This currently gets $25 a paycheque and is meant to cover things like new glasses and getting crowns for my teeth. Insurance will cover part of my crowns but I have to pay the rest. Eventually travel may be in here or I might give it it's own category.
4. My Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) is also getting $25 a paycheque. I know it's not maxing it out but right now $25 is all I can afford. It's better than nothing and once some of my debts are wiped out this amount will increase.

Overall I'm putting $100 a paycheque into savings. This isn't a lot but it's better than nothing. I could put this money towards my debts but I need to have savings in place. I'm trying to be balanced about debt and savings. Eventually the amount I'm putting into my savings accounts and RRSP accounts will increase. But for now slow and steady wins the race.

Investing

Currently I do not have the funds to start investing. Which is okay because I need to learn more about it. I've read The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle and Guide to the Perfect Portfolio (it's meant for Canadian)s by Dan Bortolotti. In fact I've got it on hold from the library again to refresh myself. Both of these deal with investing in stock and bond indexes. Guide also deals with ETFs (exchange-traded funds).

So if I can't invest anytime soon what am I doing posting about investing?

The other day I discovered that through my bank I can have a PRACTICE investment account. They give me $100,000 (not real) to practice with.

Using the Canadian Couch Potato's model portfolio the Complete Couch Potato I invested all of my money. This portfolio has a good mix and I'm curious to see how well it's going to preform.

If you want more information visit the Canadian Couch Potato's website at: http://canadiancouchpotato.com/

There's a FAQ and they can explain things so much better than I can.

It's Friday! Welcome To The Weekend!

I'm so glad it's Friday! Today is the last of 7 straight days of work several of those working extra hours. I'll be glad for the extra pay but boy am I looking forwards to having some time off. I do have both Saturday and Sunday off which is great. I'm getting my haircut on Saturday followed by pictures which will be cool. Sunday evening is reserved for a family dinner as my boyfriend's mom is in town.

So not much new this week aside from work. My darling boyfriend came home Sunday and I was so HAPPY to see him. My sleep improved once he got here which has made me feel way better. Finally got to see my best friend on Wednesday night. With my work schedule and hers not meshing it's been difficult to see each other. We've discussed booking a day off together so we can spend some much needed quality time together.

*Edit*
My sympathies to all of those affected by the terrible events in Moncton,NB

The low of my week was the mini meltdown I had at work on Tuesday. I was doing something I'd only done once before and wasn't confident in what I was doing. Couple that with the fact that the area I was working in was at 32C I sorted just broke down. Thankfully the only person who saw was my boss and she was so reassuring.

The high of my week was having my boyfriend back!

The best money I spent was the $160 to get my passport renewed. Okay that was on last Friday but I'm still going to count it for this week!

Weekend plans haircut, photos, some family time and some relaxation!

How was your week?

June Goals & Budget

So I probably should have posted this at the beginning of the month but here's my budget and goals for the month.



*Student loan #1 is only $140 not sure why I have $170 in there. End of month update will show the correct amount.

This is what a normal budget is going to look like for me aside from a few things.

1. My rent is normally $400 but because my boyfriend owed me $90 we just lowered my rent for the month.
2. My cell phone (which is pay & talk) is set to auto bill from credit card #1. So it shows up twice in the budget
3. Hair cut and nail polish are not going to be regular items. I won a photo session for this month and seeing as my hair hasn't been cut in a really long time I thought it was appropriate to get it looking good. There's 2 nail polishes I really want and if I don't get them for my birthday I'll use some birthday money to purchase them.
4. I don't have a food category because my rent money goes towards bills and groceries. My boyfriend pays for all the groceries and utilities and my rent goes towards that.
5. Spending cash is what I'm giving myself to spend on whatever I want. If I want to eat out it has to come from that money.

Goals

1. Limit my credit card spending. Now that I have an income again I really just want to spend spend spend. I'm going to try and live on cash and really limit what I put on my credit card.
2. Drink 4 cups of water a day. I understand that this is important for my body and that 8 would be best but I know that if I try to do 8 right away I'm going to fail.
3. Continue to blog regularly. It might not be everyday but I do have lots to talk about so hopefully this won't be an issue.

If you like my budget layout and inspiration I got it here: http://blondeonabudget.ca/budget-template/

I created my own categories and added my own colors. I then imported it into Google Docs to be able to post to the blog.

What's your goals for June?

How I'm Paying Down My Debt

When I sat down to figure out how I was going to pay of my debts I had several options but the one I chose to do was the Snowball Method. I chose this because I wanted to see results fast.

I have two credit cards (both 19.99% interest). I'm paying off the smaller one first. It will be paid off by the end of July. Then that money (all $400 of it) will be added to the next card so that I'm paying it $500 a month which should have it paid off by the end of the year. Sooner if I can swing it!

Then all of that money will go to my student loans. I owe more there but my interest rate is lower on those.

I have a plan that I'm happy with and am looking forwards to saying good bye to my debt!

Payday!

Oh Tuesday how I love you! Not just because it's no longer Monday but this Tuesday you're payday!

I get paid every other Tuesday and today it's Payday! A little redundant I know. I'm excited; I can't help it!

I can put more money towards my credit cards and watch those balances drop. Money is heading into my savings account and increasing the balances. My net worth will head in the right direction; slowly but surely!

A rent cheque will be heading to the boyfriend. The first in a long time. Feels good to be contributing to the household again!

Apparently I really like my exclamation marks today!

How excited are you for pay day?

Annoyance

So I'm slightly annoyed.

My student loan payments were supposed to come out of my bank account on May 31 (a Saturday). They didn't.

I figured that was because it was Saturday isn't a normal business day and that it would be out of my account today Monday, June 2.

So far nothing.

I'm not a happy camper at this point. I'm going to give it until tonight and if it hasn't happened I'll be calling he student loan people to find out what's going on. I'm a bit nervous because this is supposed to be coming out of my new bank account (the old one is closed) and the student loan people said it was all set up and good.

Here's hoping!

June 2 Update

Got up this morning and low and behold the money has come out! *does the happy dance*

Why I Love Mint

I love Mint. I'm not taking about the plant (although I do like that kind of mint). I'm talking about the website.

Mint is a FREE financial website by Intuit (the folks who brought you QuickBooks). It allow users to connect all of their financial accounts and look at them in one place. You can't move your money through their site just view it. Bank accounts, credit cards, investments, student loans you name it you can link it.

Which makes it fantastic! Tracking your spending is easy as it's all there.

Want to make a budget? Make it right in Mint! It's reasonably easy to do and easy to change if you need to. Budgets also carry over monthly as well. You can even make a category for once or every few months. 

I love that it shows you your cash vs. your credit card debt; the total amounts you owe in loans and credit cards (probably your mortgage as well I just don't have one of those); your total networth. It's nice not having to manually figure that all out.

There are a some things that I do have issues with though. The first is that when creating your budget it's all monthly including your income. Now some people out there do get paid once a month but what about the rest of us who get paid bi-weekly or even weekly? Being able to chose my own time frame would be nice. Also it would be nice if all of the budget categories had this option

The second thing that could use some improving is the alerts. It shows you when bills are due and how much is owed. I'd love it if I could do it for paydays. I was able to create my own alert but it wants you to put in an amount you owe. I just left it at zero.

Overall Mint is a great site for staying on track of your finances. It's easy to use, free, and will help you on your way to better finances.

I'd have included screen shots but I'm still figuring out GIMP (like Photoshop but free). I may come back and those at a later date.

Have you ever used Mint? Tell me what you think of Mint.

*I was not asked to review Mint. This is my own personal review of Mint. All praise and criticisms are my own*