Final Shopping Totals

So, as I said in my last post my husband and I had quite the slip up last month. These are the final totals:

• XboxOne Titan Fall Pack: $519.99
• A video game (can't remember the name): $59.83

That was hubby's part of the damage. Only two items but holy cow game systems are expensive these days! To be fair, video games are he's main source of entertainment and many of his friends play online with him so I know he will get his monies worth. 

• ASOS Midi Black and White Floral Print Skirt: $73.83
• Ruche Midi Floral Skirt: $54.99
• Ruche Polka Dot Blouse $42.99
• Dior Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush: $38.25
• Dior Creme de Rose Smoothing Lip Balm: $24.65
• Benefit Boi-ing Concealer: $22.10
• Free samples with from Sephora order GlamGlow BrightMud Eye Treatment, Marc Jacobs Honey perfume, Be Delicious perfume
• Indigo Zipper Wallet with Heart: $19.50
• Clash of Kings (book): $15.16
• A Storm of Swords (book): $15.16

Yaaaaaa, I went a little bit overboard. That was my first time ordering from ASOS and I was kind of disappointed, well it's my fault really because I didn't do enough research and ordered the skirt in a size too big. I'm having it tailored at a local shop though because I do really like how it looks and the quality. Both items from Ruche though fit me like a glove! I think they are both items I'm going to get a lot of wear out of once the weather starts warming up (if that ever happens).

Sephora, oh Sephora... they were having their VIB 15% off semi-annual sale and I kept getting those stupid emails reminding me. So of course one day I 'innocently' started browsing the website. "Oh I could use this discount to purchase my concealer" -- I was not going to the city anytime soon, it's an expensive product that never goes on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart, and I was running out of my current one (see the excuses building up lol). So I'm trying to think of something else I need to purchase in order to get the free shipping and of course I get pulled into the Dior section of the site. $$$$$$$$$$$ I could already see the dollar signs being added to my cart, lol. However I narrowed it down to two items I had been wanting to try for years, and let me tell all of you... I have zero regrets. That lip balm is luxurious to put on before bed and the blush was made for my skin tone. I'm really happy I purchased them during the sale though and I will keep that in mind next time I need to purchase any of my more expensive makeup or skin care (although that doesn't happen that often because my products are mostly drug store).

My shopping binge came to an end with an order from Indigo/Chapters. I am currently reading, and obsessed with, A Song of Fire and Ice series (aka Game of Thrones). I started reading the first book last week and am flying thru it, so I ordered the next two books in the series which should keep me busy for the next little while. I also got a really cute pink wallet that was on clearance and a gift card for my mom for mothers day which I did not list.

Total damage: $886.45

That basically eliminated one of my pay cheques for the month. We could have been under the $10,000 mark in our Line of Credit if we put it towards that. We could have made an extra mortgage payment. We could have made 9 extra car payments. 14 full tanks of gas in our car. One round trip flight back to Ontario to see my family... Okay, that last one stung a bit.

Although all of the above could have been done if we had not spent that sort of money on stuff, hubby and I discussed it and we don't really have many regrets. All the orders were done thru our credits cards, yes, but we paid them off as soon as the balance showed up and we have zero owing on our cards. And we were still able to put over $4,000 towards our LOC over the last two months. Plus save over 10% of our income. It's all about balance for us, and in a strange way it's amped us up more to pay off our debt completely. This was really surprising to me considering when I tried in the past to pay off my credit cards and I would 'slip up' that would be all it took: the flood gates would open. I would say to myself "F-it, I'm never going to get this paid off might as well just shop to make myself feel better". And shop I would, lol. I felt good in the moment, but always felt worse then before when my statement would come in the mail. This time however it's sort of like, okay we treated ourselves after living with a really really tight budget the last 3 months, lets get this over with. And we will pay it off before summer. That's our goal. It was last August when we opened this LOC and got our first statement showing we owe $19,816.58. It drives me to be able to say we paid off nearly $20,000 of debt in less then one year.

We are going to make that happen people! I really determined now and I got a bunch of cute clothes to wear while doing it ;o)

-M

I'm back!

Nearly two months since my last post & do I have a lot to update.

These long Saskatchewan winters have definitely gotten the better of me and I kind of went into hibernation mode for these last fews weeks. But I am off work today and it's raining so I want to do nothing more then curl up with my laptop with a cup of tea and write down what's been going on with my life and more importantly: my finances!

---------------

These last few months have actually been really good for us here considering all that's happened.

Mocha, my big fat adorable chocolate lab, was having a few issues with her lungs that we were nervous about so we had a full check up done on her. Although they actually didn't find any serious issues (other then pointing out the fact she needs to lose weight) the $600 bill was maybe the best money I could have spent. We've only had Mocha for a bit over one year, although it seems like she's been apart of our lives forever and both me and my husband love that dog more then I thought was humanly possible, and her previous owners didn't care for her as much as they should have. When we first adopted her she had a horrible limp and when ever she should lie down for a long time her hips would become so stiff it was difficult for her to walk. Of course we had her checked out at the local vet in town and he said to try giving her Glucosamine pills. Within a month of taking them she had improved 100%. Why the owners before her didn't do this? I have no idea. But what matters is she is getting the love and attention she deserve now. So hubby and I didn't mind spending the extra money because we had pretty much a complete check up done on her: X-ray's, heart worm, checked her thyroid, etc; and we know the only issues she has is the arthritis in her back legs, which we are doing everything to prolong the development of!

We got our taxes done! Oh boy was the CRA good to us this year ;o) First of all, I need to thank our accountant who did our taxes last year. She let us know that here in Saskatchewan they have a program called the Graduate Retention Program. You can read about it here: http://ae.gov.sk.ca/grp but basically it's a program where if you live and file a Saskatchewan tax return and have post secondary schooling the government will give you a tax credit! So after our talk and a little research on the internet both my husband and I filled out our forms and sent them off to get processed. Not too long after (we did this last summer so I can remember exactly how long it took to get back) we got our approval package in the mail. Now fast forward to beginning of this March, we go to do our taxes but they can't find our rebate associated with our SIN's. Turns out we needed to sent the paper work we got from the Saskatchewan government to the Canadian government so they can do the paperwork on their end. ANYWAYS: after a lot of confusion and some very patient phone calls with CRA everything ended up being attached and we just had to wait for a Notice of Reassessment to be processed. Fast forward again to about a week and a half later there was a mystery direct deposit from the government into our account for $800. First thing we agreed on was "Don't touch that money until we figure out what it is" because we were convinced it was a mistake lol. A few days later we got two letters from the Government, one was explaining that the $800 was part of hubby's reassessment from last years tax season! The other was a cheque for me (the same reassessment from last) but for $1800!! Whaaaaa! I guess because we had filed a Saskatchewan tax return last year we were able to get that Retention program refund for those years as well -- which we were not expecting at all. Thanks government!

So with those unexpected windfalls and overtime payment on one of hubby's cheque we were able to put $3043.55 towards our line of credit. Which puts us at *drum roll please* exactly $10,000 left! We have paid off $10,000 in 7 months :o) Half way mark!!

And guess what, I haven't discussed our 2013 taxes yet. We got the paper work from our accountant yesterday which breaks down our returns and I cried: hubby is getting back $1,047.34 and I'm getting a refund of $3,970.77. Someone pinch me because there must be a mistake. I read and re-read the paperwork that breaks down the numbers. I knew I was going to get some back because my parents always taught me to have extra income tax taken off my pay check so I never have to pay taxes and it's money I don't miss (they knew I was bad with money even at a young age lol), but it's the graduate program that sent my return waaaay high. I swear I could kiss my accountant. So we should be getting back a little over $5,000.00 before the end of the month. Can anyone take a wild guess where that money will be going? LINE OF CREDIT BABY. That means only $5000.00 left if everything goes well! And I have a feeling that with us being so close we can kick paying it down into overdrive. I've even noticed hubby was really excited, talking about how we can allocate the money we've been putting towards this debt after we have it paid off. Surprisingly he's first plan was to kick up our savings even more! I think my positive attitude is rubbing off on him, yay! It's so much easier when we work as a team.

Now, I know you may be thinking: wow things are looking really good for her right now. Well I need to confess we had a bit of a slip up last month. Hubby purchased a XboxOne and a game and I had a bit of fun online shopping at Sephora, ASOS and Ruche. This little shopping binge cost us a little under $1000. That's a big opps on our part.... Kind of embarrassing really, it's all paid for though and none of it went on credit. But this long winter kind of put hubby and I in a funk and it got the better of us. That's no excuse really but I'm not going to lie it made us feel really good, lol and the skirt I got were perfect! But it would have felt a whole lot better putting that money towards our LOC. Ahhhh, the balance of paying off debt and indulging :(

Anyways, I'm really sorry about skipping most of last month. I hope I didn't ramble too much during this post and it's somewhat easy to read lol.

Hope everyone is well!

- M

February Budget Overview

            Happy March everyone! Too bad here in Saskatchewan it’s -40C, so much for spring, eh? Today’s post is going to be a complete overview of our February budget. This was the first month were we really were meticulous about tracking where our money was going and hubby made it all into a neat pie graph.

(She's real pretty isn't she?)

Debt Repayment: (43%)

We worked our butts off this month and were able to put nearly $3000 towards our debt. Hubby got his raise that was due back in October so one of his pay cheques was a lot more then usual. My goal is to definitely keep this number up above $2000 in the coming months.

Savings: (9%)

$400 went to our Emergency Fund and yesterday we hit our first goal of having $5000! This number will also be a bit higher next month as we have an appointment to discuss RRSP with our financial advisor. This is the first time investing so we are both really excited and nervous to loose our investing virginity! Lol Wish us luck!

Food: (8%)

A bit higher then usual as we went to the city to stock up on a few things that are more difficult to get in our small town – and my husband did a few shops on his own this month so that kind of messed up my usually extremely planned out shopping trips. He’s getting much better though about purchasing things that are on sale! One thing at a time I suppose.

Shopping: (10%)

Again this number was a lot higher then usually due too the city trip. My goal is to have it under $200.00 next month.

Personal: (3%)

$100 of this was birthday gifts for a few friends of ours; the other $80 was for things like Netflix’s, two eBooks I purchased, a prescription and hubby purchased a video game expansion. There isn’t too much to do in a small town so this number is always pretty low.

Home: (12%)

Mortgage payment, insurance, and all that really fun stuff! It’ll be a bit more next month as we have a plan to paint our main floor bathroom, but those are all the home improvements we have planned next month, as it’s just too cold to do anything else!

Utilities: (6%)

Boooooring. This number might be a tiny bit higher next month, as I believe our water bill (which comes every 3 months) will be due.

Transportation: (9%)

$360 of this number went to car payments; the rest was fuel and insurance.

To sum up February, I think we did pretty well. Our biggest accomplishment was paying off all our credit cards and still being able to put $2000 on the LOC. That was a really exciting day for us, lol. There is definitely room for improvement and our trip to the city kind of threw us off bit, but that’s why I’m tracking this: to see where we can improve and were we are doing really well. :) I really love being able to see where our money is going. It makes me excited to see with Debt Repayment being such a large percentage what we will be able to accomplish once that debt it gone! Hopefully those days aren’t too far away…

Line of Credit Payment

           As I said in my last post, our focus this week was making a larger then normal payment towards the line of credit. Wednesday payday came and the first thing hubby and I did in the morning (before we even got out of bed lol) was make a payment of $2,049.34. As it stands right now we have we have exactly $14,000 left to pay. Even though I was so excited to be able to make a larger payment, seeing that there’s still $14k left made me a little depressed but at the same time more determined to get that ugly sucker down to 0! And I believe from here on out a payment of $2000 a month should be do-able since this month we had to pay $500 + on a credit card I had completely forgot until the bill came in (yes I was kicking myself). But I can honestly say all our credit cards are sitting at 0 balances, and both of us plan to keep it that way.

Actually this week it was kind of cute because I asked my computer-wiz hubby how to make a pie chart in excel so I can visually see our budget per month. And not only did he make a pie chart, he was able to make this awesome budget that calculates everything for me, breaks purchases down by category and is so colourful!! Needless to say my pencil and paper tracking sheet was in the recycling bin in no time lol. And he was said it was a great idea and was completely on board with using it. It’s a relief knowing how we are on the same page about sticking to a budget, since this time last year talking about money was something that always ended in a huge fight and left me really stressed out. I can’t wait to post my beautiful pie chart in a February overview at the end of the month. J

            Other then that my week has been so busy with work, this weekend is time for me to start and finish the mountain of chores and housework that was seriously neglected. I hope you all have a great weekend and are ready to watch some great Olympic hockey on Sunday!

Week in Review

This week was bill week. We had our mortgage come out at the beginning of the week and then we got our energy, power and Internet bills all arrive in the mail by Friday. Having those paid and out of the way (all our other bills were paid at the beginning of the month) let’s us focus on our line of credit! I got paid on Friday, which helped bump our chequing account back up after paying the bills and going grocery shopping for the week. Hubby’s paycheque for this coming week will be double what he normally gets paid since his promotion from back in October FINALLY went thru and he will be getting back paid for the difference. We talked about it yesterday and were on the same page with putting a bigger payment towards the LOC then what we normally put per month. We aren’t sure of the exact number after taxes but we are definitely going to stretch this week in terms of meals to make as big of a dent as possible. I'll definitely write a post about what we decide next week.

Speaking of meals, like I said we went grocery shopping yesterday. Spending $129.16 we picked up enough to last us way more then the week. And today, while hubby is out snow sledding, I took it upon myself to organize and take inventory of our big freezer to see what we could get creative with! I have about two weeks worth of meals that are possible. I just might need to buy small things like fresh veggies and milk but at least all the big-ticket items (i.e. meat) are accounted for!

** FYI to anyone that shops at the CO-OP grocery store (I think they are a Saskatchewan thing) and has a smart phone: download the app! I’ve gotten tons of free items and money back on my purchases. This week since we spent over $100.00 we got free toilet paper. And lets be real, nothing says Happy Valentines Day like free toilet paper! LOL But don’t fall into the trap of purchasing unnecessary things just to use the coupon because then you are defeating the purpose. This week just happened to be a higher grocery week for us since we had to buy our dog her food -- even though I had a coupon it’s still expensive.

Now I’m off to enjoy the peace and quiet until hubby gets back. Have a good long weekend and happy Family Day to those province that celebrate/haven’t celebrated it yet (am I the only one still confused about how this holiday works? Lol)

-M

Emergency Fund

When I first started getting serious about paying down our debt a few months ago, I searched for solace in other people on the Internet. I mean, I knew debt was a huge problem in our country (nay: the world) and I needed to know I wasn’t alone in making debt repayment a priority. This is how I found the awesome personal finance community. Real people, making real changes to their life style, and being really *gasps* honest!

Reading about how in debt some of these people really are and how much they have been able to pay down is so inspiration! But I was confused when people started discussing their emergency funds. I mean I knew what an EF was but I was and it’s purpose but I thought that the luxury of having a few thousand dollars just lying around was only something that could happen once you were out of debt. The more and more I read, the more I understood: if I really wanted to be truly debt free I need to stop having to rely on credit in case something happened. How is the debt ever going to go away if any progress you make gets racked up again? We need a safety net. So after discussing a bit with my husband we agreed each paycheque we would set up automatically transfers to a savings account we would open. If we didn’t see the money we wouldn’t be tempted to spend it. Now if you told me last year I would have close to $5000 in savings I would say your insane, and then tell you I need it to pay off my credit cards – which I would then max out again in a few shorts months, never learning any lesson.

I’m hoping by the end of this month we will have met our first goal of having $5000 in our savings account. We are pretty happy with that number and won’t be making extra payments to that account until we get our line of credit completely paid off (by extra payments I mean before if we every got any additional money we would split it 50/50: half going to debt and half going to our savings). We will keep those automatic transfers though as we’ve gotten into the habit of not having that money available to us and I don’t want to get used to it again, lol. And that’s just it, saving isn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Saving is just a habit, and I really am kicking myself for not realizing this earlier, but alas hindsight is 20/20.

-M

About Me & The Debt

I've been toying with the idea of making a blog for a really long time. Having been reading/obsessing over a lot of other money and debt blogs recently and I really look up how open and honest these people are. Anonymous or not: putting yourself and financial messes out there for anyone to judge takes guts! Now its my turn. I want to be held responsible for my actions when it comes to my money and archive this journey for myself (yes I'm putting this out for the world to read but pretty much only doing this for selfish reason, although feel free to come along for this interesting ride).

Now for an introduction: I am 23 years old, currently living in an extremely small town in Saskatchewan, Canada (like I'm talking less then 1000 people). Now for this big-city-Ontario girl this was a huge shock but the small town life and REALLY cold winters has its way of growing on you and I don't every see myself moving back (sorry Ontario, car insurance is so cheap here!). My husband is the real reason I moved out here though as his job requires us to move every 5 years or so. Husband: you read, now don't go thinking the debt I'm are going to be talking about in blog is wedding debt. Nope! We got married at 21 with not much to our name, so we planned our wedding in just 12 days, and had an extremely small ceremony and a BBQ dinner afterwards in his parents backyard. My dress: less the $60 (basically just a white summer dress) and I did my hair and makeup myself. It was the best day every and I won't change anything since it was so stress free.

Unfortunately our $16,049.34 of debt is strictly self indulgence...

Let that sink in a bit.

I was blessed by having my university degree paid for by my parents, I lived at home for 21 years rent free, I had a job since high school and after my University degree was finished I got a full time job right away making around $18,000 a year, we didn't have to pay for our move out here to Saskatchewan, my husbands parents gave us the downpayment on our house as a wedding gift... seriously how could this have happened?! So spoiled rotten and we still mess things up? This is where is stops though, it has to stop. I promise to never take money for granted every again and never get ourselves into this position every again.

Ready to start this journey with me? Let's go ;o)

- M