Back on the Wagon

It's time to bring this lengthy hiatus to an end!

Last month my laptop went sideways. It's been a frustrating affair as it's old and not easily fixed I take it, based on the length of time the laptop surgeons have had it. In fact, it's still not home and I'm questioning the qualifications of those jokers. All I really care about is my data and they promise me that's safe so *knock on wood* I hope they're right.

However, around the time that my laptop broke, I started planting the seed with my boss that I could work much more easily & effectively if I had a work laptop at home. So, thanks to my powers of persuasion and his generosity, today I was blessed with a tres petite new laptop. It is so handy, it fits right in my purse!

Being crazy busy at work these days and without a laptop at home, I became pretty disconnected with my blog and unfortunatley with my focus on personal finance. I mean I didn't go bananas with spending or anything but if you're not blogging about it almost daily, and creating budgets for each pay period, it's easy to lose site of your financial goals.

So far, I'm doing ok on my goals. Had I been disciplined enough to follow my original plan, I should have $500 more paid off on Visa #2. Even though I'm disappointed to be behind, I'm still happy that I've broken the $5k mark and I'm down to $4,900.00 owing. I also took a quick trip back to BC to see my family last weekend so there were some additional costs for that. Once home, I got my watch fixed and bought a shirt from American Eagle that I lusted over in my sisters closest. (The bonus of living so far apart, you can buy the same clothes as your sister/friends if you please).

Well, it's midnight now and I should head to bed. Good night!

Lower Prime Rate

All those who are fiscally responsible with investments were probably not too pleased to see that the Bank of Canada had dropped it's prime rate by another .25%, bringing it to 2.25%. However, for those like me with a negative net worth, this announcement last week made our day.

All of my debts are floating and so a lower prime rate, means lower interest payments. In my case, .25% is marginal but every penny counts!

Here are my new and improved interest rates -

Visa #2, Prime + 6.9% = 9.15%

Line of Credit, Prime + 5.75% = 8%

Student Loan, Prime + 2.5% = 4.75%

Some banks are increasing interest rates on lines of credit but (knock on wood), this hasn't happenned to me yet. It seems pretty unethical to raise interest rates on lines of credit but I guess ethics isn't the strong point of the banks these days. If you haven't had a chance yet, listen to Juan Enriquez the chair and CEO of Biotechonomy, a research and investment firm helping to fund new genomics firms, speak about the economy and our economic & technological future. Really Citibank? You loaned 47x the amount of cash you had? They say payback is a bitch but in this case, it was obviously leverage.

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!

Who Steals Parking Tickets?

This weekend I went to this really interesting event on Creativity and Innovation. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, learning how to "fire up my brain" and also the history of creative theory.

Apparently drinking pure water (coffee/tea don't count) is the number one thing you can do to make your brain most effective. So if you're going into a big exam or meeting, have a big glass of H2O before you begin. I'm kicking this up and am going to try to drink 8 cups a day, which is equivalent to just under 2.5 times the stainless steel water-bottle I have.

I had 2 tickets to this event and invited a friend to come along with me. Then when I got there, I got asked for a $20 'donation' per ticket. Kind of embarrassing when I told my friend they were pro bono and I didn't have any cash. Anyway, no biggie, quick trip to the bank machine and I covered both tickets. I'll just expense them but I wasn't anticipating having that money out of my account so another area will have to be cut out this period.

Anyway, it got worse because I went out to feed my parking meter half way through and a shop keeper comes out and tells me that I got a parking ticket and a homeless person stole it!!  Only one question come to mind here... uh, why? Was he also going to pay it for me? Somehow I doubt it...  Why would someone steal a parking ticket? Was this person so vengeful towards others that he was hoping I'd get a second ticket?  If that's the case, peace be with him. What a way to live your life!

The parking signs are so confusing in this city, they might as well be in Swahili. The parking authority has paid at least one salary on my parking tickets alone since I arrived, I'm sure. Anyway, now I have to call them to see if they can find the ticket because of course, it triples in price if you don't pay it in the first week.

I hope no other unexpected expenses come up this week!

Friday Financial Analysis

Prior to my frugal days, the weekend was the most dangerous time for my bank account because of my weekend spending binges. It was like the money was magnetically repelled away from my wallet. I'd go to Costco and drop $250 at the til without any prior consideration or head to the outlet stores and cherry pick some cute shoes or outfit(s) to add to my already too small closet. Pointless! Looking back, I'm not sure how I managed that but I only have to look at the remaining balance on my #2 Visa card to remember.

Original Balance: $6,150.56
Today's Balance: $5,500.00
Total repaid to date: $650.56

I actually had paid off more but added another $500 on it for a trip back to Vancouver for the May long weekend. Anyway, the $650 is not impressing me and if I want to achieve my goal of paying off Visa #2 by the end of September, I need a plan!

Voici - "le plan"
The payment schedule is pretty stiff but I think I can do it. I really need to be frugal and save though because admist all this debt repayment, I also have to pay for a few other big expenses like another trip back to Vancouver for on of my BFF's wedding. Which reminds me, I really need to work on my 2009 overview budget this weekend.

Should be a pretty low key weekend this weekend. I went MIA on my turn for house-cleaning last weekend so I need to do that, then yoga and sushi which is becoming my Sunday ritual.

Today's bank account balance: $631.56
Minimum balance: $578.19
Ahead of the game: $53.37

Top Secret Budget

Unfortunately, this pay period I can't post my official budget because it includes some dolla dolla bills for S's birthday gift. It's his birthday next week!

Any stellar gift recommendations for a male stranger in his late twenties / early thirties? I've got a few ideas but am definitely open to any strokes of genius any readers may have.

However, I will post my minimum bank balances for the period because S certainly doesn't have time to sit there trying to decipher my budget!

Overall, I'm left with about $33/day to spend on my ok to spend days. It should turn out to be a fun and doable pay period.

Also, I need to get my taxes submitted asap! I've been waiting because the National Student Loan bureau hasn't sent my receipt for my interest credit yet (despite multiple phone calls). Since the deadline is just around the corner, I don't think I have much choice. S says I can carry the credit forward to next year though - providing I EVER get the form out of them.

Fingers crossed for a nice refund.

IT'S PAY DAY TOMORROW!!

Just wanted to throw that out there :)

Today's bank account balance: $59.26

Tonight (if S has a new work laptop he brings home) I'm going to sit down and figure out what a no spend pay period would look like. Lately I've been reading Carrie on the Cheap and came across Carrie's 10 Baby Step to Financial Freedom which I found very helpful, especially Baby Step #1 Write It Down which is about doing a budget for the whole year.

Although I haven't done this in it's entirety yet, I do plan to. I've got some big bills coming up this year including another plane ticket back to BC for one of my best friends wedding and one to Scotland for my brother's wedding. I had not even considered starting saving for my next plane ticket to BC since it's not until August but that's only 7 pay periods away! Thanks to Carrie from Kansas City, I'm on it.

Bad Laptop Karma

Tonight I'm writing from S's tiny Nokia E71 because S and I have clearly done something to piss off the laptop gods.

My Toshiba laptop has been on the fritz for a while with the battery dying even when it's plugged in and registering a charge. Now it will only stay on for a few minutes. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Do I just need a new battery? Anyway, it's not useable so we've been using S's work laptop which today totally went sideways!! The screen went bananas with all these crazy lines and we can't see a thing.

S suggested that I try to take things to a whole new level and try a no spend pay period (except monthly bills and groceries). Now I'm thinking that's not such a bad idea. The weather is getting warmer now anyway so we could play tennis, etc, to keep ourselves entertained for cheap as chips. If I did, that would be a great way to save for a new computer. Then in the summer I could try it again to save for another plane ticket back to BC for one of my best friends weddings.