Financial Autopilot

Over the past four months I've been a tad busy. (Insert me rolling on the floor laughing at the understatement of the century.) As a result my finances got interesting. I basically went on autopilot for four months. Pay check came in, got divided up, and bills got paid. But other than that finances got ignored.

Then the new year came and I took stock of where I was and was very happy. My good habits were sufficient to put me in a very good place. This month when I looked at my net worth I realized that I had surpassed my goal of being financially self sustaining. I've hit a net worth of $161,347.49 and I only needed to $159,400 to proclaim my goal completed. I had passed it (a year and a half early) and didn't even realize it.

If you're wondering what this financially self sustaining thing is click on the link bellow and you'll get the full explanation. 

Financially Self Sustaining

Goal:  $159,400 by July 2015

Current:  $161,347.49

101.22%

START

END

All of this was possible because I had instilled good financial habits including spending little, saving a lot and investing every month like clockwork. Other mile stones I've hit are:

-I'm down to 14 years left on my mortgage. 

-I have enough money set aside for this years 10% payment on my mortgage ($15,200) which I can pay down on the 8th of November 2014. (This will be my third of four payments for this amount, the fifth 10% payment will be approximately $1,900 so that I don't pay off my mortgage before the five year term is up.) The mortgage plan is going really smoothly and I'm supper happy with the progress. 

-I have just over  $6,400 set aside to put in my RRSP once I have the room after tax time. I should have $10,440 worth of room this year so I'll be able to fill up over half of my RRSP contribution room right off the bat. The rest of the room I'll be able to fill up over the 2014 year with contributions of $335 a month. So over the year I'll use all my room up for maximum tax refund. 

-My total Retirement Savings have reached the happy total of $29,140. Retirement is best saved for when your not actually looking at the pot grow. 

Pay Day January 2014

My budgeting for the month is a bit off because I wasn't able to pick up my check until I got back from holidays. Nonetheless my monthly pay check is in for a total of $5,635.22.  My pay has increased for the next few months as I’ve paid my EI for the year and my end of year bonus worth $2,500. My budgeting will continue as if I did not see this extra money and the surplus will be put towards my House Payments.

Housing 40% - $1,439.35

Mortgage - $646.62

House Maintenance - $315.00

Housing Taxes - $192.00

House Insurance - $72.00

Utilities – $213.73

Total – $1,439.35

Savings 10% - $359.83 – All going to my RRSP

Extra Mortgage Payments 10% - $359.83

Transportation 15% - $539.75

Bus Pass – $0

Train - $0

Other - $15

Car Savings – $0

Total - $15

Leftover - $524.75

Life 25% - $899.63

Food - $130

Cell – $30

Internet - $60

Health Insurance – $28.52

Clothes - $10

Gifts - $10

Misc - $10

Big Ticket Item - $100

Entertainment - $10

Social/Sports - $0

Financial Planning - $14

Cat - $10

Slush – $0

  

Of Note:

- I have a total of $4,166.14 to put against my mortgage. My monthly payment is currently $782.41 but I can double up my payment to $1,564.82 and have $2,601.32 left over to add to my yearly 10% pot.

-I’ve added $5 to my monthly budget for Health Insurance which will cover my Insurance deductable for a year. 

-Incidentally this pay check has given a jump start to a couple of my goal . . . but I'll let you know about those a little later. 

2013 Review

I've decided to break down a year's worth of spending since it will all have been done while living in my current house which means that these should reflect next year's numbers pretty accurately. 

Total Spent 2013 – $19,165.04

Total Income 2013 – $55,142.62

In other words I’ve spent 34.8% of what I earned in the past year.

Expected Spending 2014 – $23,176.72

Expected Income 2014 – $30,000

I’m giving myself a very conservative expected income assuming no side jobs, and assuming that my disability insurance pays out. Also it should by noted that the $8,000 that I expect to spend on my Masters tuition over the next year is already sitting in a savings account. But it is nice to see that even with conservative estimates my Income is greater than my expenditures.

Mortgage

Total Spent – $47,477.19

Interest – $4200 *

Principal – $43,277.19 *

Total Expected Next Year - $34,134.32

Expected Interest – $3,300.00*

Expected Principal – $30,834.32*

*Numbers are estimates

Monthly Expenses

	Spent per Month	Total Spent	Expected 2014
Groceries	$132.83	$1,593.99	$1,500.00(1)
Misc	$12.57	$150.79	$150.00
Utilities	$298.14	$3,577.63	$3,600.00
House Maint.	$43.28	$519.36	$550
House Taxes		$2,246.70	$2304
House Insurance		$1,105.56	$1,200
Bus	$68.25(2)	$606	$0
Car Payments		$45(3)	$0
Gas		$70.17(4)	$0
Train	$4.36	$52.29	$60
Cabs	$3.86	$46.28	$50
Entertainment	$10.95	$131.37	$120
Social Memb. Fees		$45	$30
Health	$32.59	$391.08	$300(5)
Clothes	$0	$0	$0(6)
Gifts	$4.90	$58.83	$60
Cell	$28.72	$344.65	$339
Internet	$47.14	$565.64	$691
Financial Planning	$13.56(7)	$122.04	$162.72
Total	$701.15	$11,672.38	$11,116.72

(1) It will be a tad cheaper since I’ll be vegetarian all year long.

(2) For the months that I needed a pass, which ended in August. I have a pass included with my Masters Tuition.

(3) Actually it was a wagon payment.

(4) I only had my parents van for one month, I have no expectation to pay for gas in the next year.

(5) I am now out of Wisdom Teeth to remove. : D

(6) Why break my streak?

(7) Only paid the monthly fee for 9 months, it will be 12 months next year.

Other

	2013	2014
Masters	$2,283.46	$8,400
Cat	$149.63	$120
Professional Memberships	$403.25	$190
Masters Application	$142	$0
CPR Recertification	$100	$50
Furnishings	$54.32	$0
Passport Renewal	$160	$0
Total	$3,292.66	$8,760

New Year

I generally don't partake in large New Year Celebrations. I spend it with may family, we'll have a nice dinner, a movie or games and then a small toast (Egg Nog!) when the count down is over. Despite the fact that our celebrations aren't grand I've always enjoyed New Years Eve. There's just something about standing on the cusp of a new year that makes me excited about what the next year is going to hold. After all the last year was grand so the next one should be stupendous. Here's what 2014 has in store for me:

-Four masters classes in four months. (The normal load is three but I don't do things small.)

-I'll start taking respite foster care placements. I've working at the approval for 7 months, but the social worker in charge of my file says it will be signed soon and I can start the fun part.

-Lots of new stories written down. I've been writing stories down since I was a kid, but it was just in the past November that I made it a priority, and that feels great. In 2014 I'll plan on spending an minimum hour a day (20 min on the bus to work, 30 min on my lunch break and 20 min on the bus home) writing fiction. Who knows? Maybe I'll even manage to sell a story.

-Summer vacation at the cottage. With my cousins summer vacation is always a hoot and nature doesn't get any better than my grandfather's cottage.

-Start my thesis. Kind of a big scary unknown, but I've got some great classmates and a couple of really supportive supervisors.

-At my current rate of saving I should become Financially Self Sustaining sometime in 2014. Which means that, if I really had to, I could live off of my Net Worth indefinitely. (Granted there would be no fun and my house would have to be sold for more modest accommodations, but I could keep a roof over my head and food on the table.)

In short my 2014 looks like it's going to hold a lot of interesting happenings, and I'm looking forward to it.

Writing Fun

Many of you will know that I was absent from this blog a fair bit last moth because I was partaking in an absolutely silly venture. I signed up with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to write a 50,000 word book in November. I can now say that I won!

Yes folks, over the course of 30 days I pounded out 50,000 words in the form of a novel. Either I'm really good or I need my head checked. So what did I learn from this insane venture?

1. Friends are important. One of my good friends also took part in and won the challenge. We had each others backs that whole time and e-mails back and forth were frequent. We pushed each other and then got to celebrate together at the end.

2. I had cut active fun out of my life way too much. Sure I took in some passive fun, usually watching TV while I made and ate supper or folded laundry, but I wasn't DOING things that I enjoyed. Writing a novel every day was to be constantly thinking planning and plotting, on the bus, during chores, and as I slept. I was always excited about getting just a couple minutes alone to pound out some words.

3. I can manage a heck of a lot when I put my mind to it. I worked 32 hours a week and was doing a full time masters (including final projects) while I wrote my book. Nothing else suffered as I dedicated myself to my writing during my off time, if anything I felt more balanced.

4. I need to set more writing goals and work at them earnestly. My friend from point 1 will be helping me out with this by holding me accountable as I hold her accountable.

5. I am so doing this next year. A novel in a month is sooooooooo much fun. Especially when there several 100 thousand other people doing it too.

Pay Day 1 December 2013

So my monthly pay check is in for a total of $3,805.97.  My pay has increased for the next few months as I’ve paid my EI for the year. My budgeting will continue as if I did not see this extra $200 and that amount will be put towards my House Payments

Housing 40% - $1,439.35

Mortgage - $646.62

House Maintenance - $315.00

Housing Taxes - $192.00

House Insurance - $72.00

Utilities – $213.73

Total – $1,439.35

Savings 10% - $359.83 – All going to my RRSP

Extra Mortgage Payments 10% - $359.83

Transportation 15% - $539.75

Bus Pass – $0

Train - $0

Other - $15

Car Savings – $0

Total - $15

Leftover - $524.75

Life 25% - $899.63

Food - $130

Cell – $30

Internet - $60

Health Insurance – $23.52

Clothes - $10

Gifts - $10

Misc - $10

Big Ticket Item - $100

Entertainment - $10

Social/Sports - $0

Financial Planning - $14

Cat - $10

Slush – $492.11

Total - $1107.21

Extra from not having to pay EI - $207.58

Of Note:

- Between my normal mortgage payment ($646.62), my Extra Mortgage Payment Amount ($359.83), what is left from the transportation budget ($524.75), my Slush money ($492.11), and my Extra from not having to pay EI ($207.58) I have a total of $2,240.89 to put against my mortgage. Which means not only can I afford to increase my monthly payments from $711.28 to $782.40 but I can double up my payment to $1,564.80 and have $666.09 left over to add to my yearly 10% pot.

- My BTI money is earmarked this month for a wisdom tooth extraction. Truly there is nothing more exciting to spend $100 on. 

End November Goal Review & Salad Waste

First things first I had to waste the last serving of a wonderful salad because one of the ingredients had gone off. I made a huge bowl of it at the beginning of the week and just kept eating it. The down side is that when one part goes the whole thing need to be tossed. The up side is that I actually ate salad this week. The result being I will make more week long salads and just make sure that I use ingredients that are roughly the same age.

Lets take a quick look at how goals shaped up over the last month.

Financial

- Set up RRSP investments with my return of value pension from the military and contribute $359 a month for the year, along with any tax refunds. CHECK [It's on auto pilot and I'm looking forward to more RRSP room next year.]

- Pay off house in 5 years.  I should be able to accomplish this by doubling up every payment and paying a 10% lump sum every year.  CHECK [I put my second 10% principle payment down this month and now own 43% of my house.]

Educational

-Start Masters of Science / Masters of Science in Nursing in the fall.  CHECK [One take home exam and one big paper and I will have passed my first semester.]

Social

-Join two new clubs in the local area.  CHECK [I’m actually up to two writers groups plus quilting.] 

Other

-Have my novel accepted to be published.  I plan to have it ready by the end of the month (January), so I can start sending it out. CHECK [Getting ready to launch query letters at people again, plus I'm 48,443 words into my second novel.]

-Become a respite foster parent. CHECK [I’m in the process of being matched up.]

-Finish my current crafting projects.  NOPE [But Christmas break is coming which is usually a very productive time for me in this arena.] 

A respectable 86%. December goals will be (1) getting my school work done in the first half, (2) spend some time on crafts over Christmas, and (3) keep up the good novel writing habits I developed in November.