Bi-weekly Budget

So far I'm finding it easier to budget on a paycheque to paycheque basis. Potentially I might try doing a full monthly budget in May but doing it by pay period makes me feel like I have more control. Plus, my inner geek now loves budgeting so I get to do it more often.

Tuesday, March 31st to Tuesday, April 14th

Income $2,636.31 * Incl. $1,100 from S for Rent & Util.
Groceries (100.00) *April 5th
Internet (34.84) *April 1st
LOC (210.00) *April 2nd
Rent & Utilities (1,790.00) *April 1st
Visa (53.00) *April 10th

Total $448.47

Days In Pay Period, 15
No Spend Days, (5)
Save as Much as Possible Days, 10

Max Spend per ok to spend Day, $44.85

Minimum Bank Balance Per Day

Tuesday, 31-Mar $2,636.31 *no spend
Wednesday, 1-Apr $766.62
Thursday, 2-Apr $556.62 *no spend
Friday, 3-Apr $511.78
Saturday, 4-Apr $466.93
Sunday, 5-Apr $322.08
Monday, 6-Apr $277.24
Tuesday, 7-Apr $277.24 *no spend
Wednesday, 8-Apr $232.39
Thursday, 9-Apr $232.39 *no spend
Friday, 10-Apr $134.54
Saturday, 11-Apr $89.69
Sunday, 12-Apr $44.85
Monday, 13-Apr $0.00
Tuesday, 14-Apr $0.00 *no spend
Wednesday, 15-Apr Pay Day

My mininmum bank balance takes into account my budgeted expenses, then deducts my ok to spend amount on my ok to spend days. So far I prefer the flexibility of a budget like this rather than breaking down a specific amount for clothes, entertainment, etc. As long as I keep my account above my daily minimum's, I'll reach my current goal of paying off Visa #2 by the end of September.

For my planned purchases (right now: hot yoga class card, yoga mat on sale, ski helmet) I was originally going to put all the $$$ I could on my Visa and then for planned purchases, just use my Visa. But I'm changing that plan. Now that Visa #2 balance is starting to come down, I don't think I could handle seeing it increase again - too anti-motivational. Since I need to change my financial habits anyway, I'll save up my ok to spend amounts instead for these purchases rather than resorting to plastic.

Today, my bank account balance is $2,666.31 - I'm $30 over my minimum but the $20 I budgeted for March bank fees hasn't come out yet so technically, I'm probably only about $15 over (hopefully bank fees won't be the whole $20). Have a great day everyone!

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.

Taking Visa #2 Downtown!

Now that Visa #1 is paid and out of the way, I need to focus my attention on my next goal. No getting lazy or cocky!  Visa #2 still has a punishing amount on it - over $6,000.00 - and it needs to be paid off. I started thinking about this over the weekend... what's my plan to tackle this innocent looking-yet-interest thirsty bank account vampire?

Examining my monthly budget, it looks like I can handle putting about $800.00 directly on to the card every month. My line of credit also requires a 3% payment every month (about $210) but the majority of that goes to principal. So, since my original plan of attack included me transferring my free (lower interest) loc credit up the debt chain, once I've made that payment, I will do just that. 

Line of Credit

3% Monthly payment on $7,000  -   $210

Approx monthly interest incurred - ($50)

Left over to transfer to Visa #2  -    $160.00

So, $800.00 direct payment, plus $160.00 indirect payment = $960.00/month to Visa #2

Plus, I decided that if I don't spend any money on an "ok to spend" day (my no spend days are Tues & Thurs) then, if I want to, I can transfer the ok to spend amount for that day directly to my Visa. A typical budget allows me about $40/day so if I do this on even one day per month I should be able to put about $1,000.00 on my debt every month. My second Visa should be paid off in about 6 months.

Goal:  Pay Visa #2 in full by the end of September 2009.

Re my first Visa, I had paused on whether or not I should cancel it now that it's paid off. Apparently if you have more credit and don't use it it's better for your credit score. However, my past spending record isn't exactly stellar and obviously I only need one Visa card anyway. So, on S's smart advice, I cancelled it. 

An Apple A Day...

Today I called my cell phone provider and substantially discounted my plan. My cell phone battery is more or less dead and has to be plugged in in order to work anyway and so I never carry it with me.  I could just get a new battery but the new frugal me doesn't want to bother since my contract runs out in a few months. I also have a work Blackberry so it's not like I'm cell phoneless. 

On the topic of saving money on phone bills, I am loving the new *Google Directory Assistance* service. Doesn't the typical $1.50 charge drive you bonkers? But sometimes you get stuck and need to look up a number. Thanks to Google, the monthly frustration when you get your bill is gone because Google directory assistance is FREE!

Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 for directory info from Google (GOOG = 4664). You can also text a name, city and prov/state to GOOGL (46645) and get the digits back via text - which is bonus if you have an unlimited texting plan.

Woot, Woot!

Quebec Weekend Recap

Top Reasons I love Montreal:

1) They REALLY know how to make breakfast in that city. Delish.

2) The houses aren't crazy expensive so when you walk past the real estate window, the listings don't feel extraordinarily out of reach.

3) The cops are young and fit! (what a concept) and they wear fantastic camouflage pants. Yes, even the police are stylish.

4) Cobble stone streets in Old Montreal

5) Charming balcony and brownstone buildings on every street

6) Love how tout le monde parle Francais

7) People smile and say hello/bonjour on the streets

8) Four words: Bring Your Own Wine

Thanks to S, the weekend trip didn't blow my budget. In fact, I was only about $1.50 over, haha. What did put me over the top though was grocery shopping when I got home. I only had $100 budgeted but ended up spending $140. It should be ok though, since I'm inserting an extra no spend day today to make up the difference. Tomorrow is my regular no spend day so by Wednesday I should be back on track.

There are a couple things I need to think about this week - more vacation and my credit score. I was reading an entry on one of my fav pf blog's on credit scores and unfortunately, I have no idea what mine is. Next thing, more vacation! I have 9 vacation days left to use before September 1st, so I need to start planning when I'm going to take some days off.

Current Bank Account Balance: $158.81

Btw, does anyone else find the Highway signage in Ontario hilarious? There are all these attractions signs for the small towns trying to lure in some tourist $$... Everything from Jungle Cat Safari's to Granny's Homemade Honey HoneyBee Farm. So random, so priceless.

Montreal Weekend Trip

We are heading up to Montreal this weekend! I'm so excited, I love that city. It's the St. Patrick's Day parade weekend and apparently it's an absolute blast. I don't want to set expectations too high (we all know how that usually turns out) but I'm really looking forward to it. The hotel accomodation was a Christmas gift so it should be a realively low cost weekend, I hope.

Here's my trip budget,

Current bank account bal: $392.08

Less:
Sunday Groceries: ($100.00)
Sunday minimum bank account bal: ($198.09)

Total Montreal trip spending: $93.99

It doesn't seem like that much for a weekend away but I figure it will mostly go towards food & of course, a few drinks. Weekend trips are one of S & I's most favorite things to do and I'm so happy that Winter is over (Officially over today!!!) and we'll get to do more of them.

My favorite semi-local weekend trip destination is a little town called Grand Bend which is on Lake Ontario west of Toronto. There is a beautiful national park called The Pinery, which has incredible white sandbanks that trail off into blue water. The town has one main road which goes directly down to the water and Summer weekends there are straight out of footloose. I can't wait!

Cashing Out on Fashion Week

Yesterday I had a real dilemna on my hands... to go to the Calvin Klein fashion show (which would have blown my budget) or stay in and save my cash. It was particularly hard given that I was on the list to bypass the line and had a super discount on tickets.

Old me:

$30.00 - order in Thai food before leaving for the show
$10.00 - taxi to get there
$10.00 - entry to the show
$20.00 - drinks
$10.00 - taxi home
$80.00 (probably on my trusty plastic)

New me:

$0.00 - cry a little inside as I decide not to go to the show
$0.00 - feel a bit relieved and happy with the decision
$0.00 - make dinner for S & I with food we already have in the fridge (yum!)
$0.00 - Catch up on some reading, snuggle with S
$0.00 (I'm up $80!)

We're heading up to my second favorite Canadian city this weekend, belle Montreal, for the St. Patrick's Day parade festivities so I need to save my pennies.

Today's bank account balance: $392.08

By the way, I am so so sad for Liam Nieesen and his family with the passing of Natasha Richardson. Usually I don't ski with a helmet on although had been having second thoughts about that recently. Before I go skiing again, I will most certainly invest in a good quality helmet. If you're a non-helmet skier like I was, click on the link above and read what can happen if you don't wear one. Let's all protect our heads.