All Entries

I've been losing my financial focus a little bit lately. Taking care of Mom and shlepping her back and forth to physical therapy and taking my daughter to multiple doctors appointments and blood draws has been very draining and we have gotten fast food twice this week because of it. I had one day where I could barely move because I sat in waiting room chairs for 3 hours the day before. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a painful disease and I think I've used more painkillers this week...
[ Read More ]

All seems to be going well at DH's new job. He's having a bit of trouble with his fear of heights as the new office is 23 floors up. But I hope he'll gradually get used to it. And again, he loves their free lunch, And he's using his university transit pass to get him on the bus and back for free. He's become cheap to have around!
I've also been pretty cheap this week--spending only on a couple cups of coffee and not much else. We also have piles of CSA veggies so grocery...
[ Read More ]

2nd paycheck from husband's new job. I've been sticking with YNAB and it is nice to see GREEN categories for all our bills because I have put back the money.

I worked extra on web design this month and I should have about $450 to throw at the credit cards. That is nice, hopefully I can keep it up and pay them down quickly.

Husband did a little bit of balking last night at our new budget. He seemed to have thought that the $400 additional money he will be getting a month...
[ Read More ]

I woke up at 6 am this morning to a loud CRASH! I shot out of bed, expecting to find something knocked over. I have a lot of boxes stacked in the dining room because of the impending garage sale. But -- nothing. I looked all over and nothing is out of place. I know it wasn't part of a dream, because Iggy was freaked out, too. So I can only surmise that something happened upstairs. There were no footsteps, so whatever happened, it happened without human intervention.

Anyway,...
[ Read More ]

It being fall, there are certain home maintenance things I do each year:

* Schedule a furnace cleaning
* Schedule a chimney cleaning
* Clean out the gutter over the family room

And this year,
* Get prices for resealing my driveway

There was one chimney sweep I called and couldn't reach until the other day. I was surprised when he told me that I really don't need to clean a furnace flue, which is all that I have. I don't have a fireplace. He said I'm basically wasting...
[ Read More ]

So I’ve been socking cash away for some time to pay my car insurance for six months and to save for car repairs. I’m tired of paying monthly.

Well last week I decided to pay the insurance for three months. I’d struggled with this ( three months vs six) but I said hey just to do it. Something told me to pay only three months, it was like a nagging bug 🐛 .

Fast forward, the car broke down last night. I needed a new battery and a motor mount. I’m so glad I kept...
[ Read More ]

I was going to wait a little longer to post this, but since some of my recent purchases can't be explained without it, here goes...I'm pregnant again!

Yesterday was my 12 week checkup, and I'm due next April. (Fingers crossed!) I haven't really let myself be excited about it, and I've had a pretty rough first trimester, so I'm hoping it lets up soon. Since it's been so difficult, I just kind of leaned into it. There was a lot more eating out than normal since I had no energy...
[ Read More ]

I had $405 left in checking so transferred $300 to the EF. Over a third of the way to my goal.
[ Read More ]

So I have been going over our barefoot investor book (I love his advice) and looking at where we can save more money again...have been a bit off this year due to specialists (have a couple more to go) but we are wanting to buy a house in a couple years and we are looking at 15-20% deposit.

so I am going to look at butchers that have bulk buys in our area, we have a couple insurances that are coming up in nov so will look around and see if we can get a better deal from the one...
[ Read More ]

It was crazy stupid how easy the "free car charge" was in the end. But admittedly, MH downloaded the app and set up the account. I told him just to put his login on my phone, since I was just going to be trying it out (later this week). For the long run, I should probably get my own account. Though maybe the one account is fine with the one car. If only one of us will be charging the car at any given time.

I think the difficult part of it all is finding good information....
[ Read More ]

We are planning a family trip in December - if you can believe it, it was DH's idea! We started planning and saving a year ago for this trip. It is scheduled for the first week in December and we have rented a huge home in a resort about 4 hours away. All of my kids and grandkids will be under one roof for 5 days! So excited. We havent done a trip like this with all the kids and grandkids since the year after my dad died...so 10 years ago.

When we started planning, we thought...
[ Read More ]

What a nice feeling it is to start a new budget month. I did some shopping yesterday, spending $27 at Aldi and $16 for a new ink cartridge, which I ordered from Amazon, using a $5 credit. I also spent $1.50 on laundry.

I headed out to my usual Aldi, but it was finally closed while it finishes remodeling. So I just kept going and went to an Aldi in a neighboring suburb. What a surprise that was! The Aldi there is BEAUTIFUL! Basically the same stuff, but more produce, and...
[ Read More ]

New job is going *great* so far.

Life is still a whirlwind. I am really hoping things settle down next week.

MH had to go in 2 days for jury duty (UGH) but was excused. Was going to be a long-ish trial and the judge's schedule was crazy (off Fridays and leaving early half the week?) Which would have probably made everything more doable, BUT between this judge's schedule and DL's schedule (gets off school a different time every day) it would have driven me batty! I am...
[ Read More ]

One third of the challenge done. I bought a ring at the thrift store for $6. I didn't need it but it is pretty and I'll get years of wear from it.

I borrowed Jesse Mecham's You Need a Budget book from the library and had a look at the tutorial for the program. It seems a bit daunting, I think it would work well for accounting nerds and spreadsheet geeks. My finances are quite simple so the free EveryDollar and the cash envelopes work well for me. The app doesn't work in...
[ Read More ]

The last couple of months have been brutal when it comes to savings and I am completely off track so October I am going to get back on track hopefully won't have many or any medicines or specialists that we have to pay for...my goal is to get our savings back to at least $2000.

We spent almost $200 yesterday on meat for the freezer as it was getting low...can't wait it is almost bbq season...lots of salads and outdoor time...can't wait...our tomatoes are starting to grow as...
[ Read More ]

It's finally here.

I paid the mortgage and my assessment fees. I paid my two credit card bills in full.

Later today I will pick up some groceries.

After subtracting fees and the overspending last month, I have $168 to add to this month's variables budget. I am hoping I will be able to stay within budget this month.

Here is the recap from last month:

Housing: $713
Utilities: $284
Medical/Health: $240
Groceries: $99
Gifts/Charity: $71
Vet/Pet Supplies: $59
Phone:...
[ Read More ]

Payday. I stocked up on oats, $5.10, and potatoes, $7 for 10kg, as they were on sale. I also paid the Regional Council rates, $141.60.
[ Read More ]

GROCERY – $65.07, we went to this butcher shop we haven’t been to for 3 months or so. We end up getting more than we intend to.

GIFT - $110 for a friend’s 40th.

LUNCH & GOLD CLASS MOVIE - $88.50, also for the friend’s 40th birthday.

It was a bit of spending on the weekend but it was good to be out with friends.


[ Read More ]

I shared this in the forums but I had miscalculated something in my spending log. I posted earlier that our monthly surplus was about $3,000. It's actually more like $4,000. I had made the mistake of counting a number of monthly expenses twice because I listed them individually but also listed our average monthly credit card bills and many our our expenses get paid by credit card so I was counting them twice. For example, auto insurance, Netflix, alarm, cell phone, and more are...
[ Read More ]

Our vehicle registrations came in the mail this week. Last year we paid $276 to register both vehicles. This year just $102. This is the advantage in some states as your vehicle gets older the less you pay! Nice surprise to have our van drop to just $50 a year, just like the truck has been for a few years. I'm going to move that extra $174 to our Big Goal savings fund.

I sold an Oak Lane Cedar chest that my parents gave me in the early 1990s to a woman today for $50. She has...
[ Read More ]