Waterfall

Tomorrow I find out if I will be let go from my job. All other depts have been told and ours of 70 people will be told tomorrow. I don't feel too optimistic.
Approx. 100 out of 800 people have been given their walking papers so far. It has been a very difficult time and I don't know how bad it will be for us tomorrow.
My family has 6 months of savings so we'll be ok, but it is a hurtful thing to think you'll be let go. My mind is totally stressed out!!

Who knew that when you sync your iPod Touch with your computer the iPod takes on the same time as the computer. My laptop is new and I use my iPod as my alarm clock. That's why I woke up at 3am and started getting ready for work. I had my contact lenses in before I realized it was way too early. Doh!

I'm filing this one under "continuous learning"

I thought of that title since this post is food-related

So, wonders never cease ... I have actually been doing pretty well about having breakfast at home or taking it to work, and taking lunch to work. Not every day, 'cause that would be miracle. But often enough to surprise myself. I have also noticed how much more dough I'm left with at the end of the week. Ha! Who would have believed it?

I'm also going to sleep earlier too. That has many benefits. But I'll leave that for another post. Ciao.

After my spendy summer, I have eased up on impulsive spending.

We are eating out less and finding that there is so much stuff we can do without. I have been bitten by the de-clutter bug and my husband seems to have caught it.

It would be so great if we could keep this up.

I have begun leaving my credit card at home again. I ignored it all year in my wallet until summer came and I briefly turned into a spendy monster.

I've also started having breakfast at home and taking my lunch to work. If I can keep that up, I'll save quite a bit that we can spend on other stuff that will improve quality of life.

Successfully decluttered on Monday ... just not my closet. I did DD's whole room - closet, all drawers, laundry - the works. I left the dreaded underwear/socks drawer for last, but got that done too.

She is so happy now. Everything is in it's place. Outgrown clothes are bagged to go to charity.

Maybe next weekend I'll tackle my closet. Groan.

I'm finally going to tackle my clothes closet. Ironically, the clothes are organized. It is the stuff I have on the closet floor and the top shelf that needs organizing/throwing out. I have four big garbage bags and I plan to be ruthless.

DH and DD have gone out, so this is the best time to do it.

Wish me luck.

A bit of a spendy weekend - on Saturday a wedding gift plus money - but I'm glad of the dollar store for the wrapping paper, bow, and card. They don't look cheap. Last night I was asked to sing at the wedding, so I'm going to spend this morning preparing.

Sunday is an engagement ceremony (for another couple) during the regular service at our church so that won't cost anything. The couple are going to live in the UK while he studies.
We'll give them a nice gift when the wedding takes place.

I wrote the biggest exam of my life mid-June and spent the first summer in years not studying (or feeling guilty about not studying).
Every weekend was full of some sort of fun activity for the family --- from weddings to barbeques.
There were some times of heavy spending, but that is being paid back now to the line of credit. It helps that less taxes are taken off the paycheque near the end of the year.
Now we are looking forward to the change of season.

I'm not that old, but I have to constantly stay on top of my grey roots. I started to get grey hair, since I was 16.
I like to look healthy and natural, but I still have to colour my roots once a month. Otherwise I don't feel well-groomed.
I used to get it done at the hairdresser for years but this month I did it myself at home and it turned out great. I saved $55. Seriously.

I've been studying hard and working hard, but in two weeks I'll be done with exams ... until next year.
I'll actually be able to enjoy my summer for once.
We'll finally have time to make our backyard a living space for our family. We'll get patio furniture, a swing for the kid, and maybe even a storage shed.
We also want to turn the other spare bedroom into a music room as both DH and I sing and play instruments. That just means emptying it out and finding a place to put the stuff currently in there.

Many years ago I read the book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and have never forgotten it. It is about combining Eastern philosophy with Western rationalization, making it easier to live in the modern world.

I don't want to give away too much for people who haven't read it, but the motorcycle journey for the narrator is a period during which he reflects on his past experiences and his views on life.

It's not the most cheerful book, but worth the read when you are feeling in a spiritual mood.

What does this have to do with finance? The narrator used an old motorcycle for the journey and used rational deductions and commonsense to maintain and repair it all by himself ... saving hundreds of $$$'s in the process

I was carrying a small, temporary credit card balance but that has now been cleared.

The Mastercard interest on that small amount for such a short time was astronomical. Using the chequing account's overdraft would have cost way less in interest.

When are they going to go back up?!!

Breathe. Breathe. That's better.

I love watching money shows. Today I got the chance to watch "Maxed Out". It featured a couple who was so stressed out about their finances and dreams that the wife was in tears or on the verge of tears for the entire show.

Knock on wood. I hope I never get there.

An interesting point that the host mentioned is that with finances, you need to keep it simple. This couple had 15 bank accounts.

I'll come back to keeping it simple in a second. The couple was paying $150/month on bank fees. The host told them that they shouldn't be paying more than $100 in bank fees. What the hay?! This is Canada. There are alternatives. I pay $0.00 in bank fees because I bank at President's Choice (PC) and ING Direct.

PC gives unlimited debit card usage, which means: no charge for cash withdrawals, buying stuff, and writing cheques. Even the cheques are free.

It makes sense to keep your personal finance simple. I have decided to create a different blog for my other (equally important) goal of exercising and eating healthy, so that I can give the proper focus to each goal, and not bore finance bloggers on how my toned my tummy is getting

I found my Stretch Yoga (title) DVD while looking for something else in a cupboard. No excuse now to keep from getting all bendy and limber.

Just to clarify my previous post ... I have emergency savings that I hope to never, ever touch until my daughter finishes her studies and is ready to get married. Then the emer. savings will pay for her wedding and other things beyond. That money is "sacred" and I wouldn't dream of touching it.

Another type of fund I have is like a self-funded line of credit. I use it to pay for things that are not part of regular monthly spending ... such as water/electricity bills, vacations, etc. I continuously replenish that fund to have a $2-3k balance.

The thing I have trouble with is saving long term aside from those two funds, to be able to have extra cash on hand when I retire. Maybe to use for vacations or just to have extra spending money. I just can't seem to keep my hands off it when it starts to grow.

I tried to save in an ordinary savings account. The problem is that when I see the $$ there, I think "ooh, I'm rich. I can buy things".
I had to save my money from myself by putting it away into registered retirement savings. I can't trust me with my own money. How bad is that?

Cutting out the bad stuff will be really hard unless DH is on board. If he buys it, I eat it ... cheesies & ice cream.
He says he has noticed that I am eating healthier, but I know that if the bad stuff is around, my willpower is nil.

I'm not blaming him, but the change needs to be a team effort.

It will do him good too as he has a spare tire, which I don't think comes from eating too many apples and bananas.

- stairclimbing exercise
- study tax and foreign currency translation
- find yoga mat and start doing yoga again
- start log of things to take for work lunches (I failed to start logbook yesterday) - this will save me a lot of lunch money and will be healthier.

I was sorely tempted this evening by some fudgy chocolate ice-cream that DH had bought for me last week thinking he was doing a good thing.
I ate a banana instead.
I wish I had the willpower to make substitution work everytime.
Part of me feels guilty because I know the ice-cream is not going to get eaten and will just spoil and be a waste of money. Is that a good enough reason to eat it?

- start working on a workday lunch planner > things i can realistically make and take to work for lunch. Hopefully, writing it down will make me follow that plan.
- eat healthy breakfast again.
- have only fruits as snacks between meals.
- eat meals on time so that I feel full and am not tempted by junk food.
- do 20 minutes of stairclimbing exercise

- have similar breakfast as yesterday
- take snacks and lunch to class to save money: strawberries, low fat biscuits, cheese sandwiches, guava drink box (that has spent some time in the freezer) to keep everything else cool.
- walk 10 mins. between the subway and class. And take train route that requires me to change lines to get more walking done.
- read over the class material during break & lunch to make study time easier.

- Breakfast today will be Soy milk, a cinnamon raisin bagel with Becel, cheddar cheese, and fresh strawberries.
- I will make a card and a gift for my daughter for Mother's Day, "from" her dolls who she calls her children.
- I will go to buy a few beautiful, long-lasting flowers for my mom for Mother's Day.
- We are celebrating Mother's Day today because I will be in class all day tomorrow.

I have started this blog to help me bring my lifestyle closer to where I want it to be: to eat healthier, spend less $$'s, reduce clutter and material things, and be more active.
My real desire is to live a long and healthy life.