Wowitsawonderfullife's Personal Finance Blog

Wrote a nice long blog but it got lost in internet waste land.

Recap: I made my lunches for the week and froze them. Managed to only have unplanned spending of $7.53 which is a heck of a lot less than the week before. Darned emotional eating! I ate my lunch for breakfast then did drive through just before an important job interview that may have a significant impact on my income. I'm not beating myself up over it.

I have been tracking every penny I spend as my SA colleagues suggested. First, I hate doing it. I always forget and then at the end of the day I'm searching for my receipts. Second, holy cr$p, I spend a whack of money. This week was spendier than normal, had to pick up some clothes for my son. Fortunately he is not a clothes horse and I spent only $100 overall for shorts/underclothes/socks. He only asks for clothes twice a year and could care less about what brand they are. I'm fortunate.

Lastly, I have budgeted to pay off $886 on my LOC in the next 5 or 6 weeks. That will bring it in under $11,000. It looks right on paper but not sure if it's doable.

We have a heat/humidity/smog alert. Geez, we need rain!

Have a great weekend, especially to those of you who have a three day weekend!

So I've given much thought to feedback about my cash flow. I've decided to make my lunches for the next week. I bought the "subway meat" mix which is basically the ends of all the deli meat. It's 88 cents per 100 grams which is about a third of the price of all the other deli meats. With a loaf of sliced french bread for a buck 99 I made up 5 lunches and put them in the freezer. I used less than half a loaf. I've packed up some fresh lettuce and cukes and plums and I'm all set. Less than $5 for the whole week. Stay away from the vending machine... I get free coffee/tea/hot chocolate/fake chicken soup. I should be able to save a fortune this week!

I'm reading an interesting book about debt payoff called $10 per day. After all these blogs I am so happy to have two good ideas after reading just a few chapters. The first one is to contact the mortgage provider and ask for a secure line of credit. I asked for $12K to get my rate down on my credit card. They offered me $120K so I could have them pay the fees for a secured loan. I don't want that much! That's just crazy. Geez, they just throw that money around.

You would think that now that I have $100 extra per pay to go toward my remaining debt now that I've paid off Visa that nothing would change with my cash flow. But I'm short this week and was short last week too. I don't mean I can't make my payments, I mean that I can't find the cash to make the extra payments to power pay down my remaining debt. There have been two changes this month that might explain part of it. First, I've started going out every week with a dear old friend, and it's about $32 every other week. And second, now that work is a little more balanced I have time to take a lunch break and have been lazy and buying fairly cheap lunches a couple days a week. Well that adds up. But in the mean time I've looked at my old journals from paying off the last credit card and I see that I was also adding anything I didn't spend (no more parking cost for example) and adding that to pay down the outstanding debt. So where is this cash going? I'm going to do some research in my payment history and see what I can find. Meantime, I have reduced the debt another $200 in the last several weeks. Any suggestions for how I am straying?

Looks like paying off this line of credit will be a little trickier than I thought. That darned interest payment of $87 per month is really frustrating. Last week I was able to snowflake about $43. I did this by pinecone surveys (my first cheque arrived this week!), taste testing, some mileage expenses, and using my coin jar contents. I will be paying $100 per week against this debt but the net effect will be paying off only $1500, not the $5000 I wanted to achieve by the end of the year. Any suggestions for coming up with the extra $3500 are welcome. Perhaps you have an idea that might make this dream come true.

I'm happy that I can tackle my line of credit now that the Visa is paid off. It's a hefty one at $12,435.00. My goal is to kick $5,000 to the curb by the end of 2012 and have it fully paid off in 2013. It's my one and only credit card debt. So far I've paid off $347 but the monthly interest is more than $87 per month even at 8.4%! One of the great rewards of paying down debt is seeing that monthly interest amount drop like a stone. I can do it!

Yup, that's right, this entry is about shoes. Some of you may recall that I said that after my Visa was paid off I was going to go out and buy a new pair of shoes. I work in the corporate world and need solid decent shoes that look professional. And I wear flats - many years of uber high heeled disco shoes have destroyed my feet. The shoes that I wear are the Ecco brand and they are pricy at about $175 a pair. The ones I am currently wearing have a split seam at the sole, and I have a very discrete twist tie holding the decorative clasp together, along with duct tape on the inside to cover the gap by the sole (I know you are laughing at this and getting an incredible visual).

So I'm at Value Village (used stuff for cheap) looking for curtains - hey, why by new? And I stop by the shoe aisle. And low and behold, there are my exact shoes, brand new, never worn, same colour, same brand, for $11.99. I absolutely swooned! They are a Euro 41, mine old ones are a Euro size 40. Not such a big difference. So I saved myself at least $160 + 13% tax.

And the funny thing is that I got my original shoes for free because a product I received as a Christmas gift fell apart after a few months and they sent me a gift card.

As Julie Andrews sang in the Sound of Music "sometime in my youth, or childhood, I must have done something good".
Awesome!!!!

I sure won't keep Ecco in business but I love their product!

I am always salivating over Ima's incoming checks. Today, in great "Ima" style I received 2 checks. One for dish soap that I did a survey on, and one for a complaint I sent regarding a new frozen pizza. Total checks $12.38. Will put that in my EF fund. And I'm doing another taste test tomorrow for another $20. Awesome!

I am feeling guilty. I have a very good friend who is always dropping by and helping themselves to my food and drink. This happens at least once a week, often two or three times a week. I am happy to have this person visit but they never call and ask if it's a good time. When I visit them they always ask me to bring food and wine. So it has always been unbalanced. This person owns a home worth more than $700,000 with no mortgage and has the cash flow to do big renos like windows and new air conditioner and furnace. I don't have that cash flow. So it's not like this person is cash poor or broke. Or hungry!

A year ago when I realized how much this is costing me I requested that this person start a BYOB effort. Food I can handle but the drinks really add up. For a while the BYOB thing worked by now it's just getting out of hand, costing me time (making sure I have everything stocked for drop in guests), and money. Plus I feel like I have no control about my plans as this person may stop by any time. When I mentioned the BYOB this person became angry and told me I was cheap. So far this year I know it's been in excess of $1,000 so I reminded this person about contributing. Now they are mad at me, and dropped off a check for $200. This has really damaged our relationship which I really honour.

Am I being cheap? Please give me your honest input. And would you cash the check?

I've just made the final payment to Visa. Balance is zero. I am so relieved! Thanks for being part of my journey. Happy dance!

I had a great garage sale. Mostly social, and I missed the dealers, but still made $65. All the dealer stuff (glassware, etc.) is now stored away for next year's sale. I found a loonie today ($1.00 coin for non Canadians). I really need to tally up how much found money I have. I have kept a loose list - will report on that later. Coin counting machines and gas stations seem to be the best for finding money.

I have worked the numbers and plan to have the Visa paid off this Friday. Fingers crossed that I have no surprises. I have my dancing shoes ready for a happy dance.

I was very surprised to see my tax refund of $908 in my bank account this morning. I transferred most of it to my Visa card, naturally. So my balance is down to $874 - down from over $5K in late December 2011.

I can tell you that I am taking a break in June as soon as this is paid off. Momma needs a new pair of shoes! I've been wearing the same pair for more than 2 years and actually had to duct tape the inside last week. I will likely go out and buy the exact same pair and brand even though they are very expensive. I only have three pairs of shoes - not like it was when I was in my 20's and had purses and shoes in every colour - and matching them as that was the ONLY way to do it at that time.

I can't really express what an amazing sense of relief I feel knowing the Visa will be gone within a few weeks. A huge weight off my shoulders.

I did another taste test today for $20, and had a message when I arrived home that they want me to do another one. My income tax return is $908 - only because my DH had medical expenses that can only be claimed under the lowest household income (c'est moi). This means I need $53.80 to meet my goal of paying off the Visa by the end of May (assuming I get my tax return by then). I have been invited to a garage sale this Saturday. I hope my table makes that much. To that end I am ripping art work off the wall to make my target. It's so much easier when I ask myself if I love it. If I don't - into the garage sale bin. Wish me luck. Visa is currently under $2K. I can't wait to celebrate the payoff on this one.

I'm finally working in the town I live in. It saves me more than $50 per week in gas and parking, not to mention lunches because I am 8 minutes away from my office. Unfortunately I no longer get mileage from my head office to my local office but that strikes me as fair. This means I won't be able to pay off my Visa until the end of June at the earliest. But wait - another door opened. My son accepted a job offer and had to buy a car. He opted for insurance with the same company I use. So when I called to remove him and save a couple bucks they advised me that we are also eligible for a family discount. So I save $60 per month and his insurance has decreased from $155 per month to $117. As a recent grad with two years of intership (one was three years with a summer job each summer in the industry and one year as a co-op year) he had two offers before he wrote his final exams in his last year. I may make that June deadline yet!

Can you share your experiences regarding this survey group? Is it worth it? When is the payout? How soon do they pay after you request your payment? Any other thoughts?

OK, paid off another bit. Down under $2,000. I hope to get it paid off in May. I need to manifest $472.56 so this is gone by end of May. I did an interesting food tasting yesterday for $20. It was really interesting and enjoyable. I'll do it again any time! Otherwise this won't be gone until mid June. Send it up there folks!

Balance now at $2,167. Down from over $5,000 at Christmas. My plan is to have the Visa gone by the end of June 2012. Then I'll take a break and focus on the EF for a bit. Starting in August I'll tackle the line of credit. If all goes according to plan I will have the line of credit paid off in late Spring 2013. Wohoo!

I'll also be calling the bank about the random 1% increase in my interest rate that TD/Canada Trust threw at almost every customer a few months ago. Nice customer service. No reason at all for the increase. I'm getting my new credit cards and lines of credit from another bank due to this type of behavior. Will do some shopping around.

I'm loving the posts of rewards people are getting when signing up for credit cards. But I'm a little confused. My understanding is that every credit card application reduces your credit score and therefore increases your interest you will pay on future cards. Can you share your experiences? I'd like to get in on this gig. Do you notify Equifax when the card is closed and paid in full?

We have a dead tree in our yard. We called 4 companies for quotes. All of the people we called are insured. For the removal of one dead birch tree quotes were $700, $525, $450, and $350. They all agreed to take the wood. I can't figure out why there is such a variation. The least expensive guy was the most professional. Guess who I'm hiring?

Made a few more payments to the Visa bringing it down more than $1,500 since the end of December. Looks like I'll achieve my goal of paying this one off in 2012. It's possible I might be able to pay it off sooner - my job may be moving much closer to my home saving me about $40 a week in gas and another $20 in parking. If it's meant to be it will happen. I am doing a happy dance!

Just paid another $257 to Visa. Down $1,050 so far. I am targeting another $450 in the next three or four weeks. It will be a challenge but I'm up for it. I'd like to see that balance at $3,500 by early March.

It's minus 25 with the wind chill today. No walk but I might hit the stationary bike. Oh, I sound soooo motivated :-)

OK, really, this has been a brutal week or two financially. My son has asked for more money so he can graduate debt free. We have already paid $30K + living expenses for the last three years. And he wants more? We set up a line of credit so he could ride out his last year and accrue a small education debt (less than $10K). Was I ever that naive and feeling a sense of entitlement?

My employer screwed up my pay so I only got paid 10 hours out of 35 and they hoped I didn't mind a late payment for a week or two. Seriously?

Oh, and my brakes (pads and rotors) had to be replace on my new van. I have on 27,000 km on it!

I had to use all of my banked time because I was sick with pneumonia and in the hospital. That sucked another bunch of coin.

And what makes me crabby the most is that I was doing so well on my great Visa payoff plan.

RANT OVER - Thanks for reading.

Another payment to Visa, hope to have it down to less than $4,000 by mid February.

Didn't exercise today but did sleep for 4 hours this afternoon. Must have needed it!

Paid off another $220 to Visa yesterday. I hope to receive a $100 cheque for last week's side job some time this week to add to the Visa powerpayment this coming Friday. I'll update the side bar again next weeking and add in the interest due this month.

I have been asked last minute to make lunch for 20 teenagers. I figure 30 sandwiches and a vegetable platter should do it. Is that enough? I have several cans of tuna so that will make perhaps 8 sandwiches. I also have a few vegetarians in the group. Chicken and cheese are expensive where I live. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Well, the potential for a big Visa payment this Friday is there. I'm waiting on a $100 payment on a side job and another $119 for expenses from work. I'll also add $100 from my pay cheque. Oh, it sounds sweet. Will update on the weekend!

Wow, my son paid me back the $70 he owed me and therefore another payment to Visa today. Had a great walk at lunch - it's unseasonally warm - so did my exercise today. And because I've been motivating by all the bloggers who cook once and eat twice I made a pork and rice and veg concoction for dinner. Should be more than enough for dinner and a third meal for my lunch at work tomorrow. I hope it turns out ok. Will update my sidebar shortly.

Did 3 solid hours of decluttering a warehouse today and consider that to be my activity today. Yes, the heart rate went up for quite some time. Also made a payment to Visa in the amount of $60. Good to see some movement getting rid of that debt. So far I've paid off $130 since I started 9 days ago.

Not often that I have what I consider a perfect day. I'm off on a days vacation after doing too much over the holidays. Today I slept in, exercised, picked up a few groceries for the next few days and used two $1 off coupons. I found 66 cents at the grocery store. I just picked up a retro gaming system for my son on Freecycle and he is thrilled! I also posted a few items to give away on Freecycle. Someone just picked up a couple dozen VHS movies. I'm cleaning the fridge and have $36.00 put aside to pay against the Visa card. $20 was from DH's wallet, $10 was from returns, and the balance was from the change jar up north.

Beautiful sunny day, minus 18C with the windchill (you don't need to convert it to Farenheit - just know it's really, really cold!).

I missed 2 days of exercise getting over what I thought was bronchitis but turned out to be pneumonia. Felling better now thanks to drugs - and lots of them.

Hope to get the Christmas tree out soon.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the blogs here today. I had to catch up on three days worth. You are all so motivating. I am so fortunate to have SA as part of my life.

Truly an abundant day!

Made my first payment to Visa in the amount of $70. This was comprised of $50 paid back to me for a gift I bought on someone's behalf, $15 in returns, and $5 from my spare change. Will update my side bar randomly. Two days of activity so far! Hope to do something active by end of day today. Keep moving.