I was feeling lucky so I bought some tickets for the hospital lottery. Am I being delusional? The last time I bought a lottery ticket was about 5 years ago and I wasn't feeling lucky then, but didn't win anything. The draws are in June.
Has anyone else felt lucky and then did something on a hunch. I'm not feeling guilty, exactly, but want to feel like I have company.

We're planning a two week European vacation starting 1st of July. The goal is for three stops: Amsterdam, Paris, and England. We're starting from Canada. It will be two adults and one child, by train after landing first in Amsterdam.

At least three dinners will be at the homes of friends/family. I don't expect breakfast to be very expensive. We won't be renting a car.

Has anyone done a similar vacation. Would you say $5k is a realistic budget for this trip? Thank you.

I thought I had this Christmas under control but I was too spendy. I'm paying for it now that the credit card bills are coming in.
My normal budget process is on track. It's just the bigger events that put me off track: Christmas & vacations.
I need to be better and more consistent at saving for these two ahead of time. Now I just have to stop saying, I'll do it, and just start.

My cousin, who just had a milestone birthday, invited the cousins to a restaurant for dinner. Everyone got there on time in high spirits and she was a charming hostess. Until the waitress began to take our orders ... The waitress began asking for our names so she could make up separate cheques. We said "let's check with our organizer" who told us "oh yes, the waitress needs to make separate cheques".
So we all made the necessary mental switch.
It was embarrassing afterwards when our cousin continued to act like the hostess by walking around the table to make sure we were doing all right.
At the end, the waitress brought out a dessert with a candle. I felt a little sad:
1) that the birthday girl seemed to need the attention on this milestone birthday.
2) that I wouldn't have given her a $50 gift card if I had known I was to pay my own way.
3) that this story will become part of family legend without her knowing.
Sigh.

Being from Canada, eh, I don't have to worry about health insurance but I did often think I should get some type of life insurance for DD.
Yesterday she came home from school with umpteen forms to sign. Emergency contact information... that kind of thing. One of the forms was from an insurance company saying that we could insure our child for one full year for death, disability, etc.
It's only $26.50 per year.
Susie Orman says that with the death or illness of a child, you might not be able to cope with going back to work in a hurry. That's the only reason she would recommend life ins. for a child.
I sent it in.

I'm ashamed to admit I wish I was super rich and didn't have to worry about spending a few bucks here and there. There, I've said it. I'm done with the fantasy and now I can go back to my normal life.

Back to saving again. I'll be so glad when my course is finished in June 2011. Then I won't have to pay out a tuition fee and have to wait 1 yr to get it back from my employer.
Hopefully I have passed the exam I wrote in May and won't have to do the rewrite in Aug. I'll find out the results in July.

We're back from Disney. The park admission costs were high but I was prepared for that. We stayed at a friend's condo that is rarely used. It was large and had two big bathrooms. My parents liked that because of the privacy.
My DD had a ball meeting lots of princesses and two animal characters. She got to be Princess Jasmine one day.
While unpacking last night, I realized I did not buy a lot of souvenirs. Yaaaaah. No junk!
An awesome vacation.

Whoa! Spendy self, knock it off. I spent about 40 bucks online for a software that I don't really need. Moment of madness there.
I've been doing pretty well with taking breakfast & lunch to work. So not a total spending nightmare, but I have to be more careful.

I'm spending on breakfast and lunch again at work. It's so easy to slip back to old habits, and it is just sucking up my money like a vacuum.
I have to return my focus to being more prepared with my meals. I can't afford this much longer

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!!

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.

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 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

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?

- 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.