Tax Pre-Planning

So we have a bit of tax planning to do - how much fun!

G works for the RCMP, who - many years ago - voted in favour to unionize.Years after that after the union reps were chosen, they started negotiating. Many months after that, the union members were presented with the contract, and asked to vote. Many months after that vote passed, the members are now seeing 5 years of retro pay on their paycheques. 5 years of raises… split between a few pay cheques… yeah… haha (Disclaimer: not an official timeline but this did all started in 2015).

G has received a little under $19,000.00 in retro payments so far - but that is not what is hitting our bank account of course. This is going to put him into a unique tax situation for 2022. His income is going to be inflated so we were brain storming a few ways to help and came up with three main no brainer solutions:

1. RRSP deposit - Didn’t see that one coming, did you? Still trying to figure out the exact amount, but we are lucky we can monitor this into next year (2023) before the RRSP deadline. We did complete an RRSP purchase of $5,000.00 which will help to get us started and then we can start fine tuning it closer to year end.

2. Banking of overtime - This was G’s idea and I think it’s a really good option! He has the ability to bank any overtime he works. This can either be used for time off or he can request for these amounts to get paid out at a later time. This is nice flexibility either way.

3. Charitable donations - This was already a goal of ours for 2022 but it will help in reducing G’s taxable income. I have this worked into our budget monthly and try to choose a new local/Saskatchewan based organization to support (but also researching some International organizations given certain world events currently unfolding…) 

The RRSP is going to be our biggest focus - our normal pre-authorized contributions are $100.00 biweekly, which is still going to be on autopilot. Once we have all our slips for this year I’ll see if we can get away with delaying the RRSP contributions from 2021, to use them for 2022 instead. But I’ll play around with the tax software once we have all the information available!

- M

Isolation Day 5

Today is my last day of isolation! G, however, is allowed to go out into the world for us - his isolation ended today. Our symptoms have stayed mild - my headaches were only the first two days and I didn’t have any other issues other than off and on fatigue. G lost his smell for a bit but it’s back. 

We tried to be as productive as possible while locked in the house, lol. Every afternoon I deep cleaned a room - dusting, wiping down base boards and wall, reorganizing some areas that have been neglected. It didn’t take me long but it was something to accomplish. We also went thru our hiking/camping first aid kit to restock after the summer season ended - yeah that task has been on our To Do list since September… 

G has been tinkering a lot too. We have a toaster oven that the on/off switch doesn’t always like to work. Eventually, after many times of pressing it, it does eventually go but we have known something was off. G looked into it and I guess the switches are prone to corrosion over time. G loves to take things apart and isn’t afraid to rebuild if necessary. He reminds me a lot of my dad. I have this vivid memory as a child of my dad sitting on our kitchen island with a soldering gun, fixing something we thought was broken. In this case, G went online and found a pack of 20 switches for $2.60. I looked to see what a new oven would cost us if we do need to purchase a replacement if the button stops working entirely: $320.00 at Canadian Tire. I will gladly pay the $2.60 if that small replacement will save us $317.40. I think G was also going to email Breville to see if it would be covered under warranty (although we’ve had this oven for a few years already) - but it doesn’t hurt to try! 

Other than that, I spend a lot of my day memory planning and reading, G would play computer games and mess around with his 3D printer. 

When the pandemic first started, the government closed down libraries so I had no way to borrow physical books. I went online to see if there were other ways to borrow, and sure enough I was able to find the Libby app and sign up via my library card. I didn’t enjoy reading eBooks at first but I didn’t have a choice - I got used to it quite quickly. I was using our extremely old iPad 2, and Libby was one of the only apps still supported on that old of a version. One day back in October the Libby app finally stopped for good and my poor little iPad was aged out of any function. :( Although I’m miffed that the iPad still works, I didn’t mind getting an upgrade either. We bought an iPad Air and I use this thing for everything! We have a keyboard I can connect it too so I wrote all my posts, read my library books, use it for recipes, browsing, streaming - worth every penny! I have no idea what to do with my ‘retired’ electronics though. 

G went off to the Co-op to pick up groceries for the week. Our fridge was looking a bit bare but these 5 days were defiantly not difficult. This morning I celebrated the upcoming grocery shopping with a latte, I was hoarding the last little bit of milk just in case we needed it for a recipe. 

Waiting for groceries! & yes, our sour dough starter is named Joan of Starch 

Here the meal plan for the week:

Tonight: Pizza, G and I have both been craving pizza. We are using sauce from the freezer and G is making the dough fresh.

Monday: It’s Family Day, so I have the day off but G has to work. I’m making a Balsamic Braised Pot Roast, slow cooked in the oven with potatoes and carrots

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Salmon with salad

Thursday: Lasagna from the freezer

Friday: Freezer meal Friday (G is working nights so whatever we are individually craving we can cook up)

- M

TFSA Funding

One of our main goals in 2021 was replacing money we had taken out of our TFSA’s.

It started with two withdrawals we did in 2017 & 2018 when both my grandma and grandpa passed away and we needed to book last minute plane tickets and car rental (and in the case of my grandma, book a hotel).

Then it was a 2016 withdrawal that we took out to pay down our line of credit after completing a basement remodel.

The last was a 2015 withdrawal we did to pay off our car loan we had sitting on our line of credit. At that time we just had the TFSA’s in a daily interest savings account so it really wasn’t making us money. Which is how we justified the transfer.

In total, between both our TFSA’s, we needed to pay ourselves back $22,361.47. Last week after our bills had been paid I transferred the last amount owing of $2,854.35 to our TFSA’s to complete this goal!

It feels great to pay back what we borrowed from ourselves, even nearly 8 years ago for some amounts. It feels weird because it’s all our money but even with our budget the money in our joint chequing account the “House Money” as if it’s this separate entity we need to bow down too, lol.

We still have over $100,000.00 of contribution room between both our TFSA’s, but that is not a priority for us right now. We still have our automatic monthly and biweekly contributions on autopilot and I’m happy with the chunk of money that is growing tax free for us right now!

- M 

Covid +

Well after nearly two years and some very very close contacts - G & I finally caught Covid.

It started Sunday for him when he came home from work early. He wasn’t feeling well and thought it might be better to come home just in case, as most of his coworkers were out or just getting over Covid themselves. We just took it easy Sunday afternoon and evening. I made the cheeseburger soup and already had a bread going in the bread maker. 

Monday, I went to work feeling fine but G stayed home again, definitely feeling off. Again, we took it easy Monday night, left over soup and bread for dinner - I tested G, but he showed up negative. I ended up going to sleep a little after 8pm - completely exhausted. 

Tuesday, I woke up with a killer headache, but thought it was from sleeping so much. I went to work, caffeine and Advil not touching my headache during the day. G texted me shortly after lunch saying his test came back positive. He woke up feeling a lot more congested and sore throat, but minor symptoms. I tested myself that night when I got home from work, but still negative. Again, went to bed early, but I still had my headache and just wanted to go lay down in the dark. 

Yesterday morning I woke up, headache even worse, sore throat and a fever. G tested me and my test was positive nearly right away. Fever went away after some Tylenol, but the headache was still there for most of the day. My symptoms, like G’s, are mild. This morning I’m a lot more congested, headache but no fever. 

I didn’t go to the grocery store Tuesday after work to ‘stock up’ as it felt a tad irresponsible - even though I was expected to keep working that day. So our meals the next few days are going to be interesting. 

Yesterday we took out Porterhouse steaks and grilled those on the BBQ, with some Caesar salad. I found some onion soup mixes in the pantry, and mixed up one packet up with some sour cream to make a dip with cut up celery to go with it. Today we are going to have oven short ribs, we have all the ingredients except fresh onions - so I might try to mix in one of those soup mixes (honestly, I don’t know how we ended up with so many onion soup packets lol). I’m also going to try to make a beef roast one night and toss together some Mac and cheese with the left over Velveeta cheese from the cheeseburger soup. G was feeling good yesterday after a very long nap, so he fed our sour dough starter, and mixed up some bread with the discard. It’s been proofing overnight in the fridge, so we will bake them up today. While I’m waiting for G to wake up, I might take out croissants out of the freezer to quick proof to have for breakfast this morning. I found an orange in the fridge crisper, so we can share that this morning too!

This experience is definitely forcing us to use what we have and find alternatives when possible - I love it!

- M

Meal Planning, Canning, Baking & Grocery Budget

Meal Plan for the Week:

Monday: We had mini sliders using some ground beef and a few buns that have been in the freezer for waaaayy to long. G canned some red onions with garlic and jalapeños and left one jar in the fridge to use with our burgers. The rest of the jars (I think there were 7 in total), we put downstairs where the rest of our salsa lives. I have some bigger plans for canning experiments this summer - we have salsa down pat but I would like to try making some chutney’s and pie filling. This weekend when I was reorganizing our freezer upstairs, I found a bag of really REALLY old strawberries - I think the bag had more ice than strawberries, lol. I looked up a use for frozen strawberries and found a recipe for a baked crisp. I made that yesterday and was able to get 24 bars - which I individually packaged and froze. I took one to work today, to have with my coffee in the morning and it was delicious! I think I have some frozen rhubarb from my garden somewhere in the freezer downstairs that I can easily add to this recipe in the future. 

Tuesday: Sunday night I took out some chicken thighs (again from the freezer) and made a marinade for them. Tonight, G is baking those up with some roasted carrots and potatoes.

Wednesday: We are going to use up the rest of the baked chicken thighs but make a wrap out of them. Lettuce was on sale at our Co-op this week so we are defiantly trying to eat as much salad as possible. Wraps were in the pantry - so more of an idea to use those up too.

Thursday: Pork buns and salad. Again, when I was cleaning out the freezer upstairs, I found the last of our homemade pork buns we made in 2020. G and I both work days on Thursday, and the buns are an easy meal to throw into the steamer. I’ll cut up some cucumbers and red peppers to throw into the salad as well. 

Friday: Freezer Meal Friday! Lots to choose from here - we will see what kind of meal we are craving on Thursday and just take it out then. 

Saturday: We are having a double date night! A local restaurant is having a Valentine’s Day steak special so I booked spots for G & I and our friends, C & D. C just found out on Saturday that she has Covid, and she came over for pizza on Friday, so I’m holding my breath that we didn’t get it… if so, it looks like these Saturday plans will change, lol. 

I have a rough idea of things I want to make next week (I really want to make a Hamburger Soup on Sunday) but I try not to plan too far ahead because something always seems to come up… 

I calculated our final grocery bill from January and it came out too $339.77 (not including the beef purchase of $850.00). I had budgeted for $400.00 so I’m definitely happy with this result! The beef purchase is included in our grocery line officially but I know that will average out over the year for $70.83 /month. For February I will try to keep the grocery budget about the same - aiming for $400.00. I know G had to go to the store to pick up some fruit and cereal - which we were low on. He spent about $100.00, but purchased everything on sale! He washes, cuts up, and freezes all the fruits, which he then eats as a snack. I might try to go over the flyers with him every week to see if there is a fruit he would like that’s on sale, that way we can spread the stock up bill through the weeks and keep the rotation changing for him. I’ll see if we have the time to organize, lol. 

- M

Good News Friday

Yesterday was the perfect day to end a stressful week.

My manager’s goal was for everyone to “have a day to breath”. And that’s exactly the kind of mood everyone was in. It was still an extremely productive day for me, but without the looming deadline pressures. 

A subcontractor, who I have been helping on a project with, emailed me saying how impressed she continues to be with my work and if I ever need help with my career path to let her know and she will do her best to try to make it happen for me. Getting her recommendation/reference has been in the back of my mind for a while and I was eventually going to ask when the time was right but I feel even better that she approached me about it. This will make the 3rd recommendation offer from people I have worked with in the past 2+ years. And their references come with a lot of connections, so I know how much weight that has not even 10 years into my career.

So why this talk of job references? Well that leads me into my next good news:

G has been training and studying for the last year for a certain qualification that would make him the ideal candidate for a unit he would really like to get into. He has been talking to the Corporals of that unit to flat out ask what he needs to do in order to make his name go to the top of the list. Last April, he got this qualification training approved to get paid for, and has been studying ever since. Yesterday, he wrote the exam - very quietly I might add… lol. He didn’t even tell me until the day of when he was letting me know he was shutting off his phone for a bit. I didn’t make a big deal out of, just texting back a super casual good luck, even though I kept checking my phone all afternoon to see if he texted. He passed! This is perfect timing too because someone from the unit called him a few weeks ago to give him the heads up that there is a strong possibility that a position would be opening up in the next few months. Now with this certification under his belt, he’ll be ready when it does come up. We’ve been at this current posting since 2016 - so I definitely know staffing wouldn’t deny him a transfer either.

Lots a moving parts though, so not trying to plan to far ahead…

To continue with a wonderful Friday, N made it out to my place for our movie night! Night shift ended up stopping by (N worked with G so these were all her coworkers before she transferred) for a slice of pizza and to catch up + some caffeine before heading back out. N and I kind of watched the movie once they all left, but mostly caught up with each other. I need to make it to the city soon to see her new house! N and I have always had a no pressure friendship - we can go months without seeing each other but once we do it’s like no time has passed and we pick up seamlessly right where we left off. Although, our friendship is that way I do want to make more of an effort to come out to see her or let her know if we are in the city for appointments, if she can catch lunch or coffee. I know how much I would appreciate the thought (even if it doesn’t work out for her to come see us/me).

Starting Friday with a good mindset set the wheels in motion for a Feel Good Friday, and that good mood is continuing on into the weekend! I have my beef stock simmering, roast in the slow cooker & a strong coffee next to me on the couch. Happy Saturday :)

- M

A Snow Storm and Weekend Plans

Monday we got a huge snow storm - one of the worst I've had to drive thru in a while. Work sent us home a bit early and I'm glad because once it got dark out, all the highway's in our area (or pretty much the entire southern/central part of the province) had closed. G was working days so I'm glad he didn't have to be working in those conditions because there were a ton of people still trying to drive/getting stuck. We hunkered down Monday night, I did a bit of laundry and other small chores around the house and made us some nice tea. Tuesday's drive to work was much better than the drive home the previous day, just a few areas were the snow had drifted really badly. I stopped for one person who had driven into the ditch but they were fine (just waiting for the tow truck). 

G and I have recently upped our car kits: adding lots of hand warmer, a tow rope, and a space blanket. Although I don't wear my winter boots, hat and gloves when I'm driving I do have all those things in my car just incase. We also have the basics: shovel, jumper cables, etc - it's good insurance just incase myself or someone else needs help.

Dinners this week:

Tuesday: Leftover freezer lasagna

Wednesday: Pork chops (a freezer meal we had marinated and froze) with some roasted potatoes that have been in the pantry for a while.

Thursday (today): G switched to nights, so I'll make myself a salad with some left over pork - maybe roast some more potatoes. Tonight is my cleaning night so I’ll be glad to have an easy no-prep dinner.

Friday: A friend, N, from the city is coming over after I'm done work to have a pizza and movie night with me. G is working nights but I’m ordering a bit extra pizza in case those that are on shift can come over for a quick bite to eat.

Saturday: I’m going to use one of our roasts we got from our quarter beef to make a slow cooker French Dip! I’ll probably make some buns to go with it since I’ll be in the kitchen most of the day on Saturday. I’m also going to make some Beef Broth with some of the bones we had gotten from the beef as well. THAT is a process, lol. I’ll have to wake up easily on Saturday (after a late night on Friday) but I definitely think it’ll be worth it. We have chicken stock in the freezer but not beef - so I think that will be nice to have on hand. 

Sunday: Left overs! & Probably a relaxing day after spending most of Saturday in the kitchen

- M