A New Appreciation for EI

Whenever I'd get a regular pay cheque, a nominal amount was deducted off the top for Employment Insurance (EI). I never really thought much about it and just accepted it as part of the tax I have to pay for living in Canada. The only time it ever crossed my mind was when I maxed out my EI contribution for the year and they stopped deducting, at which point I'd think "yahoo" an extra $20 (or whatever it is) into my account instead of the governments.

As of this morning, when EI depositted $802.00 into my account, I have a whole new appreciation. It turns out that since I was "forced" to quit my job and move because my spouse had to relocate for work, I am eligible to receive EI. In Toronto, I was making $50k annually which works out to the maximum weekly benefit of $447 less $46 for income tax - $401.00 every week. They were a week behind in processing my claim so that's why I got $802.00 this morning.

I'm hoping not to be on EI for that long though. It's not that I'm adverse to using the system (I do pay into it afterall) but I'm starting to get bored! Last week I applied for four jobs and there's one in particular that I'm pretty excited about. The managing director of that position doesn't return from vacation until next Monday. So, next Monday I'm going to go in and submit a paper copy of my application along with some letters of reference.

Now that I know that I have a regular stream of income - $401 per week until I find a job - I feel comfortable getting my budget reset. S is going to pay our rent & groceries and I'll be responsible for the following monthly expenses:

*elecricity

*internet

*my mobile

*MS society donation

*paying off Visa #2

*making minimum payment on my LOC

*national student loan payment

This should give me some flexibility to pay off my Visa at a quicker pace. Today I put down $206.92 plus $150 from my line of credit bringing my balance down to $5,350.00. I can't wait to be back at $4,900.00 which is where I was before I fell off the wagon.

Current bank account balance: $889.24

Allie in the NEW City

What an unbelievable few months. Since my last post, my world has up and done an unexpected 180 degree turn. Allie in the "city" is no longer a Toronto girl but an EDMONTON one... heehaw! Although Edmonton seems like a bit of a small town compared to T.O., there are over 1.1 million people living in the Edmonton metro area so it is still a city which means I don't have to change my URL!

My last few months in a nutshell....

My job in T.O. was project-based and the huge project I'd been working on all year was coming to actualization in mid-June. During my Toronto tenure, this time of year was easily my busiest and most exciting. It was also all-consuming and totally threw off all the great routines I'd gotten myself and S into. Thankfully, all the hard work paid off and the project was a big success!!

Come July... I'm doing wrap-up at work and generally trying to get my personal life back on track. S and I had been talking broadly about how this summer brought with it the two year guideline that we'd set in place for our time in Toronto. Although we both enjoyed the city and had lots of great friends, we both felt that the workaholic daily grind which TO is famous for was aging us. We're both laid back west coasters at heart.

Then as if the universe opened up and smiled S was offered a great new position here in Edmonton. They flew us both out so I could check out the city and S could meet with the exec's and within 3 weeks we'd both quit our jobs in Toronto and moved into our new home in Edmonton. I can't say that I've EVER thought of myself as an Edmonton girl but now that we're here, I really like it so far. There are tons of festivals and it's definitely a more relaxed vibe.

Financially speaking, I am now jobless. Committing all time and energy into my T.O. project also came at a price as I'm sad to say that I'm pretty much back to where I started in terms of debt. It's interesting that once I got out of the routine of checking my finances daily, I really didn't know where I stood financially. I think it was that lack of knowledge that led me back down this path. If I was looking at something, I would generally tend to assume I could afford it even if that wasn't the case. I also purchased 3 plane tickets in that time frame which didn't help either. I haven't figured out exactly where I stand financially yet but now that we're settled, getting myself back on track financially will become one of my top priorities.

Blew My No Spend Day

Boourns. I blew my no spend day today. Even though I forgot my lunch this morning - ok, rushed out of the house in a late panic is a better description - I ended up being treated by a business associate and internally was thrilled that I didn't have to buy food (my pet peeve!).

However, the $14.00 that I did end up spending later this evening was sooooo worth it. I'm totally lonely right now because S is in Europe for two weeks for some lectures for his MBA. He's doing it by correspondence but he is required to take one trip to the university during his program and that time is now. Wow, it's only been a week but it feels like FOREVER and I miss him constantly. I consider myself a pretty independent woman but this sucks. This really sucks. This really, really sucks. Did I mention that this sucks? Anyway, the $14 that I spent was on some Skype credit since I missed his calls earlier. It was so good to speak to him, I love that man!

Skype, btw, is something I'm going to start using more of. Right now I have a long distance plan that gives me unlimited calls in Canada for $6.77/month (Comwave). It costs just under 3 cents/minute to call within Canada on Skype so that's equivalent to 225 minutes on Comwave or 3.76 hours per month. I'm not a big phone talker to be honest so I'd probably save money if I switched to Skype. The Comwave fee is automatically charged to my Visa every month and that irritates me anyway since I'm trying hard to pay it off.

Birthday Love

I haven't had much opportunity to write lately because of the demise of my laptop. Right now it's almost 6:00pm on a Friday and I can't wait to get out of the office so this will be a short update.

It was S's birthday this week! The extra $$$ I needed was all included in my secret b-day budget this pay period. Because I budgeted, I was able to get him some great gifts and still keep my bank account afloat. For a mid-thirties b-day, S got:

*a cd case for the collection of indy rock he keeps in his car
*a nose hair trimmer (asked for) - yes, we are married now so this is ok apparently (ha!)
*a fishing mapbook to show where the best places to go fishing in Ontario are
*a $100 gift certificate to a local sport fishing shop so he can get a new fly rod
*dinner with his me, bro & bro's wife
*delicious cake & wine
*lots of kisses

The nose hair trimmer is a bit of a hilarious gift. It's not like he really needs it but then again, it will probably come in handy one of these days. Is this the men's equivalent to a woman getting a blender or a vacuum? In any case, he asked for it soooooo..... yeah. Potentially it was a bit of a domestic gift but we've got to take care of each other so that's o.k.

Today my bank account is at 143.22. That's $8.77 below my minimum bank balance for the day but given what a big week it was with the b-day and all, I think that's pretty good. Next pay period, I'm really going to need to get my laptop fixed - stat!

Mini-Crisis Averted

This morning I was sitting at my kitchen table catching up on my favorite blogs and drinking tea while S made french toast for breakfast. We were half chatting... I was trying to explain the "blogosphere", and I was telling him what interesting things you are all doing, he was half listening, half humming to himself.. you get the idea, regular Sunday morning at casa S & A.

After breakfast, S mentioned that he wanted to catch up on my blog, and so he read my previous post (the one that said I only had $41.01 to last me until April 14th). The result of that? Bank of S to the rescue!!

Now, despite being married, I am trying to get myself afloat on my own. I have serious "burden" issues -i.e. I DON'T WANT TO BE ONE. That being said, I'm definitely not above accepting support in the form of a short term, interest free loan of $253.91! The amount is so specific because it's the amount of my 2 benefit expenses that are pending ($188.91 + $65.00). When they come in, I'll just sign them over to him. Going forward I'll make sure to have better foresight into my budgeting and to think not just of my income statement but also in terms of cash flow.

Without getting overly romantical (Allie's lexicon), S does make me want to be a better person and that's where a lot of my motivation to get out of debt comes from. I really appreciate his support. Once I dig myself out of this money pit, I'll be able to contribute to our long term financial goals instead of just monthly expenses. I'll also feel a lot better about eventually combining more of our finances because I won't feel like such a drain or that he's bailing me out.

The best part of this whole thing is that I'm back on track with my budget for this period and when my transit pass expenses do come in, I can put them directly into a side account for next month. Problem solved.

Weekend Money Merengue

I had such a great weekend, this weekend - despite being totally foiled by the weather!  I decided to clean house on Saturday (picture perfect sunshine), so that I could relax and have some fun on Sunday. Then on Sunday it poured!  Lucky for me the Vancouver roots kicked in and it ended up feeling pretty refreshing.

S and I have a pretty good division of chores going on right now. We alternate weeks, cleaning the house and grocery shopping. Cleaning has never exactly been my strong point but Karma was my friend when I met S - a cleanoholic.  I get a lot more pleasure from grocery shopping because I'm a label reading fanatic.  For any entrepreneurs out there, I think you should open an ethical grocery store that doesn't stock any products with trans fat in it. I wonder what that would look like...

Anyway, money-wise the weekend was not too shabby. I didn't spend any cash on Saturday and on Sunday my expenses broke down like this,

1.5 hour Hot yoga class (including mat & towel rental) $22

Sushi lunch $19

Salsa practice $10

Total: $51.00

Looking back it seems kind of frivolous.. Since I'm going to hot yoga every Sunday now, I'm going to invest in a class card so I don't have to pay the drop in rate. I'm also going to check Craigslist for a reasonable yoga mat (new). I shouldn't have had to pay $2 to rent a towel but I forgot mine.

$19 is pretty expensive for lunch, not sure how that added up so quickly. I haven't been eating out much lately and have stopped buying work lunches cold turkey so I'm not going to beat myself up over it but looking back, I'm definitely wincing! I have to do better on being more price sensitive if/when I do eat out.

Salsa practice! I found this fantastic new salsa spot not far from my place. Thrilled!!! Best $10 spent all weekend.

When I was a little kid, I had this green Snoopy sign above my bedroom door that said "To Dance is to Live, To Live is to Dance".  I still think that :)

The Unexpected Benefits

Since starting my journey back to black about three weeks ago, I've taken to checking my bank accounts and balances every morning before work. I know how much I have and owe down to the penny and have become super protective over the funds in my account. It's a bit of a strange transition... In fact, I was starting to get a bit concerned that I was obsessing over my money a little too much. Checking, planning, comparing, counting, calculating. I don't normally have an obsessive personality and I wouldn't classify it as OCD yet but I am putting a lot of energy into an area that was previously grey.

However, the benefits of doing this have been unexpectedly greater than just my shrinking debt. First off, it has substantially decreased my stress level (health benefit!). My husband and I always had separate accounts while we were dating and living together and that worked for us so we've continued that way now that we're married. Or course we split house expenses and I suspect our funds will become more integrated as we move forward but we're in no rush. We'll probably always have at least one individual account each. Anyway, the downside of this was that I was never completely honest with him about my finances. I wasn't dishonest but since we had separate accounts, the balances within them never came up and so he really had no idea of the state of my affairs.

When I started this blog I was a bit nervous about telling S about it but true to form, he's been wonderful and supportive (relationship benefit!). Even though I wasn't stressed about telling him about my debt on an everyday level, because ultimately it's only money, now that it's all out in the open, a weight has been lifted.

And another weight has been lifted as well. By getting my act together, counting my pennies, budgetting and setting goals, I'm being honest with myself and it feels great. It's about time, I say!!

In life, there aren't that many things one can control. It's empowering to be in control of my money and finally taking responsibility for my financial future.