Friday, August 31, 2012

August Review and September Goals

August Review
Here's how I did on my August goals
  • Have $1,000 saved in our emergency fund - Done! We have just over $1,000 saved up now and we're continuing to put money aside. 
  • Set up our property taxes - Done! I received confirmation from the city and our payments start in September. Thanks to the one-time payment I made in August, the monthly payment isn't too bad.
  • Finish current freelance projects - Done! I did finish all the projects I had at the time my goals were made, but then I got more! 
  • Complete at least six projects around the house - Done! Here's what we did:
    1. Repaired the foundation cracks outside
    2. Fixed bathtub faucet (it was loose)
    3. Tightened bathtub sink (also loose)
    4. Put flooring under the kitchen sink (This was a great idea I saw on Pinterest - put stick-on tiles in the cabinet under the sink to protect the cabinet in case of any leaks.)
    5. Patch ducts (to help save energy)
    6. New roof! All done and looking wonderful!
  • Get Husband more life insurance and disability insurance - In the works! Husband has emailed the contact at his office to get signed up for life/disability and we've filed the paperwork to increase his life insurance through my office. We got a letter back saying they need more details from his doctor about a previous health issue, so he has to go in and see the doc to get that done still.
  • Write our wills - Nope! I keep meaning to schedule a time for us to do this, but something else always comes up.
  • Go to the beach - Unfortunately no! :(  With husband's schedule working nights, sleeping days it's hard for him to get motivated to go anywhere for a whole day. And now that summer is basically over, I don't think this will happen. 
  • Host a games night with friends/family - Yes and no. I had wanted to have host some friends for a games night with lots of yummy food and laughs, but it didn't quite work out scheduling-wise. But I did have a couple girlfriends over for a games night sans boys. And Husband and I did go to my sister's for games night as she can't come to our place because she's allergic to the cats. Not quite what I had in mind, but still fun!
  • Read 2 books - Done! I read Never Let You Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A bit of a strange read in that the style of writing is VERY conversational and jumpy, but an intriguing story. And I also re-read Life of Pi in anticipation of the movie later this year.
  • Go to the movies - Done! Saw The Dark Knight Rises and Hope Springs. Hope Springs wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, but it was entertaining enough.

September Goals
  • Write our wills. This is going back on the list and it will be done!
  • Finish current freelance projects. I have a 3-in-1 project that I'm hoping to get done this weekend. And then I just got another article due in mid-September.
  • Look into a winter vacation. I'm not sure if we can financially do it this year, but I want to sit down and crunch the numbers to figure it out.
  • Increase Husband's RRSP contribution. So basically harass him until he does this! ;)
  • Walk home from work 4x a week and work out at home at least 1x a week.
  • Start a baby fund. I'd like to have some money set aside for this big, one-time purchases (crib, car seat, high chair, etc.), plus some money to cover us when I'm at a lower income during mat leave.
  • Paint the office or spare bedroom. Either one, I'm not picky!
  • Make 1-2 recipes that I've pinned on Pinterest.
  • Hang our wedding pictures.
  • Plan our 1st year anniversary. Our first year anniversary is October 8th! 'm not sure what we're going to do just yet, so I want to figure this out and make any arrangements now. Maybe just a stay-cation at a hotel, or rent a cabin. 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Weekly Money Check-Up


















Courtesy of My Pretty Pennies

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on our car payment.
2. Today I am thankful for a long weekend! I have Monday off of work thanks to my overtime last week.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was re-read Life of Pi - such a great book! I can't wait for the movie later this year.
4. I will consider this week a success if I get my application in for a freelance job.
5. This time of year makes me want to start planning a winter holiday so I can keep the warm weather around longer.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thursday's This & That

Wow - you mean a Thursday's This & That post that actually posts on Thursday?! Incredible! ;)
  • The roof is done! It took a lot longer than anticipated (5 days instead of 2, although it rained most of one day). There were a few complications: the roofer found quite a bit of rotten wood that had to be replaced, our bathroom fan/vent was going into the attic when it should be vented to the outside, as well as a few other surprises (there was duct tape on part of the roof!). But now we have an amazing roof that will last us for a very long time. I'm so glad we went with the "cheaper", non-company roofer - he was great to work with and we didn't get dinged for every little thing. Final cost was just under $6,000.
  • An engineer came out to look at the foundation for the addition this morning. He's going to draw up some plans and figure out what we need to do to bring it up to code. Hopefully it's not too complicated/expensive. I'm crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath!
  • Husband got a GST cheque for almost $200! It was a very welcome surprise. 
  • I am taking the next two Mondays off of work with all my banked overtime, so I'll get three long weekends in a row!
  • Still no word from the lawyer... I'm getting very impatient! 
  • Tomorrow is the anniversary of my first date with Husband. Four years! <3



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Confession time














I love personal finances, but I hate budgets. Let me rephrase that - I love making budgets, playing with budgets and crunching the numbers, but I hate following budgets. For someone who claims to be a PF lover, it's appalling that I can't stick to a budget. But I think I've found something that works for us... We have automated EVERYTHING. I'm not sure if this is exactly like the "pay yourself first" mentality, but here's the way we do it: each week we get paid, certain amounts are automatically withdrawn and go into different accounts for various goals. As well, almost all of our bills are automated, so we get paid and the money comes out that day or the next and we never miss it.

 Here's the basic breakdown of where our money goes automatically each month (other than bills):

  • RRSPs (me): $100 (twice a month)
  • RRSPs (Husband): $75 (twice a month)
  • Vacation fund: $100 (twice a month)
  • Emergency fund: $100
  • House repairs fund: $50 (twice a month) 
  • Planned spending: $100 (for things like new furniture, computers, etc.)

Then, we live on the rest. Whatever we are left with is used as needed, whether it's for groceries, hair cuts, new clothes or gifts. We do have amounts set aside in our so-called budget for allowances, clothing, gifts, etc., but honestly I rarely follow that. If we have a birthday coming up, we buy the gift and then that means we probably won't go out for dinner on date night. Lately, we have been spending a lot on the house lately, so we haven't been going out to eat as much.

It all works out in the end, or at least it has so far! And this way, we have savings for almost anything you can think of, the bills are paid and we are still able to have fun.

Do you see any flaws in my system? I'm interested in hearing what other people do budget-wise. Does anyone actually stick to a budget cent for cent?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

August Goals - Update

Wow, I can't believe it's the middle of August already! Why does summer always seem to fly by, but winter is here forever?

Since we're mid-way through the month now, I thought I'd check in on my August goals:
  • Have $1,000 saved in our emergency fund - Done! We have just over $1,000 saved up now and we're continuing to put money aside. 
  • Set up our property taxes - Done! I'm still waiting for confirmation from the province, but I have filed all the paperwork. I even went down to city hall and made a one-time payment so once everything is set up, our monthly payments will be lower. 
  • Finish current freelance projects - I have a few changes to make to the last one before I send it to my editor, but I should finish that today. BUT, I got three more assignments last week! I won't finish all those by the end of August, but we'll see how it goes. 
  • Complete at least six projects around the house - Done! Here's what we did:
    1. Repaired the foundation cracks outside
    2. Fixed bathtub faucet (it was loose)
    3. Tightened bathtub sink (also loose)
    4. Put flooring under the kitchen sink (This was a great idea I saw on Pinterest - put stick-on tiles in the cabinet under the sink to protect the cabinet in case of any leaks.)
    5. Patch ducts (to help save energy)
    6. New roof! The roofing guys have been at our place since Saturday working on this. Rain slowed them down on Sunday, but everything should be done today! 
  • Get Husband more life insurance and disability insurance - I have sent in the paperwork to increase his life insurance through my work, but we haven't done anything else yet.
  • Write our wills - Nothing yet. I keep meaning to schedule a time for us to do this, but something else always comes up.
  • Go to the beach - Not yet. 
  • Host a games night with friends/family - Not yet. We did go to my sister's for games night earlier this month as she can't come to our place because she's allergic to the cats.
  • Read 2 books - I've read one so far - Never Let You Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A bit of a strange read in that the style of writing is VERY conversational and jumpy, but an intriguing story. 
  • Go to the movies - Done! Saw The Dark Knight Rises. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie! I normally likesuperhero movies, but they're not my fav, but this one I really did enjoy. I'd like to see Hope Springs before the end of the month too.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Weekly Money Check-Up


Courtesy of My Pretty Pennies
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on our TV, internet and cell phones. The bill was higher than normal with the move as we didn't have TV from this particular company before, so we had to pay for 2 months (one for the current month and one because they bill a month ahead). Does anyone ever understand the billing system from these companies? 
2. Today I am thankful for extra freelance work. I have 3 new projects that came up late last week. 
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was went to the playground with a friend and her adorable daughter. We played with her, relaxed by the kiddie pool with our feet in the water and got some sun. 
4. I will consider this week a success if I get through this week! I have a week-long video shoot with long hours, so it's going to be a long week!
5. The last thing I won was our Olympics pool at work! Prize money for 1st place is $55, so minus the $5 entry fee, I'm walking away $50 richer!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Our Key Map






















 Shortly before we moved into our new house, I saw this great idea for a key map on LearnVest. It's a shadow box with the keys of every place you've ever lived in... a "map" of your homes. I love stuff like this - cute, not overly done (i.e. not everyone has it hanging in their home), it celebrates our past together, and is a nice change from typical pictures.

Since we were still in our apartment (the first place we lived in together), it was perfect timing to get this started and have a key from every home we've shared together. So I got a copy of my apartment key made before we moved out, and then once we took possession of our house, got a copy of that made as well. A trip to Michael's landed me the shadow box and I had the labels already.

It took almost no effort to do this and it was quite cheap (under $15). If/when we move again, we can add to this and years from now, we can look back at the various keys and remember the fun times we had in each home we shared together.

Cost of materials:
Copying keys - $2.81 x 2
Shadow box - $7.84 (I got a great deal at Michael's. The regular price was $16.99)
Labels - free as we already had some.
____________________
Total cost: $13.46

Friday, August 10, 2012

Thursday's This & That

Once again this week, Thursday's This & That is being published on Friday. I worked a 12 hour day yesterday, so that's my excuse! ;)
  • Work has been very busy lately. I work in advertising and summer is very busy for us because good weather brings more video and photo shoots. I had a shoot yesterday that went until 7 p.m. and next week, I'm on a shoot from Tuesday to Friday, with a couple of 16 hour days. I love the work, but the hours are rough!
  • I'm afraid to call my lawyer about all the house stuff - if I call him and there's no update, then he'll charge me money for the call and it'll be for nothing. No news is good news, right? 
  • We're getting our new roof this weekend! But that means men banging on my roof at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, so no sleeping in for me this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. 
  • I got three more freelance assignments yesterday! 
  • I have fallen off the diet wagon big time. I'm hoping I can climb back on this weekend, but with a week of craft services and long hours coming up during the video shoot, I'm not going to hold my breath.
  • I'm going for a bra fitting on Saturday. I am a firm believer in having a properly fitted bra! The last time I had a fitting was 5 or 6 years ago and my body has definitely changed since then.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Weekly Money Check-Up



Courtesy of My Pretty Pennies

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on our car payment.
2. Today I am thankful for a long weekend! It's a civic holiday in Canada and I love having the extra day off and the short work week.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was play board games with family.
4. I will consider this week a success if I win the Olympics pool at work - first prize is $55! 
5. I am trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies in my diet. I tend to grab grains and milk products for snacks, so I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies throughout the day and make it a habit.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Expenses of moving

I thought it would be interesting to see what we've had to pay since we bought and moved into the house, so here's the breakdown:

Actual moving expenses:

$50 - Sublet apartment. This is an administrative fee that the building management charges.
$114.45 - Shampoo the carpet in the apartment, including a pet deodorizer.
$90.12 - U-Haul rental.
$28.63 - Slurpee run for our friends/family who helped us move.
$0 - Food for our movers. My lovely in-laws hosted a dinner for the movers and put us up for the night.

Sub-total: $283.20


Regular, but new to us, bills
$534.66 - Mortgage payment - first one!
$325 - Property taxes. We'll be on a regular monthly payment as of September, but I wanted to bring that monthly amount down, so we did a one-time payment to drop the overall amount owing.
$139.16 - Home insurance. First payment is a double one, but it's normally $70.
$38.33 - Mortgage insurance. We decided to cancel this after the first month as we increased Husband's life insurance through my work and he's going on his work's plan too.

Sub-total: $1046.15



Home updates:
$90.39 - Home Depot and Rona purchases (various home repair stuff - wood, cement, spray foam insulation, wood screws, etc.)
$100 - This went into a TFSA for our home repairs fund - so not yet spent, but I'm treating it like it has.

Sub-total: $190.39


Necessary or not so necessary home stuff:

$75 - Lawn mower and weed eater (got off Kijiji for cheap)
$10 - Shovels. A bit early I know, but two shovels for $10 on Kijiji was hard to pass up.
$0 - Garden hoses. Free from a woman on freecycle!
$11.54 - iPod arm band. I am now walking to work for more than 2 minutes, so I wanted an arm band to easily carry my iPod. Because of this we're saving $60 a month for a bus pass.
$26.97 - An area rug for the living room, a clothes drying rack, a new water bottle and cutting boards. The actual bill was nearly $300, but we had gift cards.

Sub-total: $123.51


Unforeseen expenses:

$166.40 - New box spring. The one piece we had wouldn't fit up the stairs, so we had to buy a new split box spring. Luckily I sold the old one for $80, as the new box spring actually cost $246.40.

TOTAL: $1,809.65


Thoughts on spending: 
It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. It's only $763.50 if you take out the regular bills (those were put into our monthly budget and replace our rent and down payment savings).

But this doesn't include the lawyer's fees or any actual costs of buying the house like land transfer fees, title insurance, etc. It also doesn't include our new bedroom furniture, which we would have bought regardless of moving, but that was another couple grand.

On the positive end, we did get our $500 or so damage deposit back from the apartment, plus we're waiting on our $50 deposit from the parkade that we used when living downtown.

A few weeks ago I probably would have cursed the house and wished that we had never moved, but now I'm settling in and feeling more relaxed, so I'm okay with the money we have spent. Hopefully this will now taper off and we can stick to our regular budget.

Have a great weekend everyone! Long weekend here in Canada! :)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Addition Headache

Because of the leak in the sun room, we brought in a contractor to look at the addition (which houses the sun room), just in case there were unseen problems. Indeed, there is. A big one. 

Turns out the previous owners removed the foundation that had originally been holding up the addition and replaced it with concrete and wood posts. I'm not sure what their reasoning was - if there were problems prior, but whatever the case, they mucked up. The contractor immediately looked at it and said it wasn't to code, the owners had not gotten the proper permits from the city and that this would have to be fixed within the next year or so. If it's not fixed, the foundation will start to sink and the addition will pull away from the house! As we live in a location that gets snow, it's crucial that the foundation be below the frost line, which it is not. The contractor said that chances are, what they took away foundation-wise, probably would have been better.

So the next steps are to get an engineer in who will draw up plans on how to repair this. We then have to get the proper permits from the city and get a construction crew in to do the work. This could be anywhere from $5,000 - $15,000, although the contractor figured it would be about $7,500, so on the lower end thank goodness. It all depends on what the engineer thinks has to be done. Thankfully he said this doesn't have to be done immediately - we can wait a year or so as shifting in one year is not going to change much. A few years though and the repair costs could go up.

So on top of the previous owner's not telling us about the sun room leak, they also didn't disclose this huge issue. Something that they not only didn't disclose, but also something they screwed up. The contractor who saw the addition sent an email to our lawyer stating all the evidence that points to the previous owners have done it.

Our lawyer is hoping to get some money from the previous owners to fix it. We also got title insurance, which the lawyer says may cover the foundation issues not being to code. It's all up in the air now, but our lawyer is taking both avenues to try and get us some money for both this and the roof. But of course, we have to pay the lawyer for his time! Ideally he can get us the full amount for the addition and at least part of the cost of the roof and his costs won't be horrendous. If he can save us $10,000 and we have to pay him $2,000, I'll be happy. Time will tell!

In the meantime, the Option A roofer confirmed he can and will do the work, so that is scheduled for next weekend! We can save a lot of money going with him, so that's great. We will need the extra money to pay for the addition work upfront.

While we do have all these headaches, I am finally starting to feel settled in the new house. I think once I know how much the addition will cost and how much we are able to get from the previous owners/title insurance, I'll feel better.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

August Goals
















 I can't believe July is over! With surgery, moving and house stuff, the summer seems to be a "blink and you'll miss it" season for me right now. I'm hoping I'll have more time in the month of August to enjoy summer, our house, each other and just relax.

Goals:
  • Have $1,000 saved in our emergency fund
  • Set up our property taxes
  • Finish current freelance projects
  • Complete at least six projects around the house
  • Get Husband more life insurance and disability insurance
  • Write our wills
  • Go to the beach
  • Host a games night with friends/family
  • Read 2 books
  • Go to the movies