Goal Review End July

July was a really fun month, unfortunately my daily to do list has not been moving along with any particular speed. 

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 [I’ve got to love how my system just chugs away without me having to think about it.]

- 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 keep making progress towards my third 10% payment.  Also arranged my schedule so I won’t have to take a pay cut until around December.]

Educational

-Start Masters of Science / Masters of Science in Nursing in the fall.  NOPE [I’ve got some reading to do and some extra studying I set for myself to get a leg up on my thesis, but I’ve not put time aside to do it, life keeps happening.]

Social

-Join two new clubs in the local area.  CHECK [I’m checking out a new writers group in the area, made up of a very nice group of folks.] 

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 [I’m in the process of making some final edits to it before I launch it once again into the great abyss.]

-Become a respite foster parent. CHECK [I’m done my PRIDE class, home study still not complete due to my social worker’s case load but it sounds like the very, very latest that I’ll be fully qualified is the end of August.]

-Take a big backpacking trip solo. [This goal got trashed, see why here.] 

-Finish my current crafting projects.  NOPE [After the big push to get my brother’s wedding gift done I’ve kind of slacked off, guess I should get back at it.] 

Down to a dismal 71% (actually a bit surprising, I thought it would be a lot worse).  August will concentrate on 1.Get some studying done for my Master’s (really, this time I’m serious) 2. Get my manuscript back out there.  3. Get back to work on my crafting.  

36 hours - Done PRIDE

It's done, it's all over.  Ten weeks and 36 hours of class.  I now have my certificate for PRIDE.  Well I don't actually have it.  Bureaucracies being what they are it didn't get printed for our last class meaning that I'll get it in the mail at some point.

As much as I'll enjoy having my Wednesday evenings to myself I do have to admit that I will miss the classes.  It brought together a group of divers and interesting people.  That said I'm ecstatic about being one step closer to being a qualified foster parent.  All I need is the rubber stamp of approval on my Home Study and I'll be done.

My house is almost all in order with the exceptions of some furniture that I'm getting second hand (more on that later) and some stuff I need to buy only once I'm approved.  (Stuff like mattress covers and electrical outlet covers.)

At the very latest I should be good to go for the beginning of September.  I'm sincerely hoping to have kids in my home 3 weekends a month on average, mostly school aged to teenagers, with no preference for gender.  I'll hopefully have 4 beds approved for my house (two beds in each of my spare rooms) though I doubt that they'll be full regularly.

Our last class had a bunch of families who had fostered/adopted come to speak with us.  It was great and mostly confirmed what I already believed.  Those things that are the hardest to do are also the most worthwhile doing.  Those are the things that also teach us the most about ourselves; like being in the military, nursing and volunteering.  Being a foster parent is bound to be one hell of an adventure!

Food waste and building my nest bit by bit

I have no food waste, thus once again no picture.  I'll attribute my low food waste over the past few weeks to the fact that we are smack dab in the middle of summer.  For me that means a lot of sandwiches and salads because it's just to hot for a warm supper.  (The other option is that I've just been too lazy to make proper supers every night . . . I think I'll stick with the "it's summer" line.)

So, on to building my nest.  When I was in high school I had a very knowledgeable and very strict French teacher.  I loved her classes and one of the things that I remember most was the little phrases that she would repeat to us often.  (Mostly when people weren't  doing their homework.)  One of my favourite sayings was "Petit a petit l'oiseau fait son nid" for the non-franco's among my readers it means"little by little the bird builds it's nest."

For some reason I have been thinking about this tid bit of wisdom recently.  My faithful readers know that I plan on paying off my mortgage in 5 years by both doubling up my monthly payments and paying of 10% of my mortgage on each anniversary ( You can read the details of my plan in my post "Mortgage Plan Revisited - Monthly Payments"and in "Mortgage Plan Revisited - Yearly 10%".)  With my teachers wisdom bouncing around my brain I was wondering which part of my plan had the most impact on getting my house paid off.  So I did the math:

Downpayment  - 20%
Yearly 10% - 33%
Monthly payments - 47%

The math dosen't lie.  As much as walking into the bank and throwing $15,200 against my mortgage is exciting and watching years drop off my mortgage in an instant is thrilling the reality is that most of the progress made on my mortgage will not be done in a single fell swoop.  Most of it will be done patiently day by day as I keep in control of my money so that, come the 8th of the month, I have the ability to pay yet another double up.  Living frugally and below my means will have much more of an impact than earning more money for my 10% payments, (not that I won't be doing both.)

As my teacher said "Petit a petit l'oiseau fait son nid" so little by little I will build my own nest.

Mortgage - The non-payment option

While I was pretty thorough reading my mortgage documents before signing them I must admit that there was one part that I just skimmed.  You see I figured that the skip-a-payment option offered by my bank didn't apply to me.  After all when a girl's planning on paying off her mortgage in 5 years she hardly wants to take a "payment vacation."  (Have you ever noticed that the statement saying that interest continues grow on your unpaid portion is found at the very bottom in a font that would make a fly want to wear glasses?  Gee, wonder why that is!)

Recently though I decided to take a closer look at that part.  Turns out that while the normal skip option is available once every 12 months there is a deluxe option for those of us who have doubled our payments.  While I've not discussed this with my bank (not needing to use the option) from what I read it works like this; for every extra dollar you've paid they'll let you skip a dollar in payments.

If I am interpreting this correctly I could walk up to the bank tomorrow and ask for an extended payment vacation and not make another payment for over 2 and a half years ($20,631.58 extra paid divided by $646.62 per month = 31.9 months.)  Granted I would lose all the headway that I had made paying my mortgage off early and would have to sit there watching the interest slowly grow on the balance (which for me would be excruciatingly painful) but the important thing is that the bank would not foreclose on my house during this time.

Let me be clear, this is NOT my first safety net.  I have insurance coverage should I not be able to work, I have very marketable skills should I lose my job, and I have both emergency and personal savings that could keep me afloat (including mortgage payments) for 3 months to 3 years respectively.

What this safety net does provide is a means to hold onto my house for as long as it would take to sell and make other living arrangements should my life fall apart and my other safety nets become unreliable.  This option is obviously not as ideal as owning my own place outright it simply adds another layer of security, and that is always worth having.

Apologies and Bloggers Helping Bloggers

My sincerest apologies for my absence from the blogging world.  I took the weekend to go and have an adventure (aka I helped my parents moved.)  I hope the fact that I had a blast is a conciliation to all my faithful readers.

I would also like to extend my thanks to the lovely folks over at Bloggers Helping Bloggers.  I just finished a mentorship that they arranged and must admit that it was a very educational experience.  My mentor was Aaron over from Three Thrifty Guys and many of the improvements that you have seen appear on my site were guided by him.

How was the experience?  In a word, great!  I would highly recommend a mentorship such as this to any new blogger. My mentor was more then happy to explain the areas of blogging that I was most interested in pursuing and his advice was very practical.  My advice to any new bloggers looking to get involved in a mentorship is two-fold.  First off, have a good idea of the things that you are aiming to learn.  This will help you and your mentor focus your time and energy.  As much as "Being a better blogger" is a laudable ambition it's a bit hard to formulate into a concrete question =D.  Secondly, make sure you pick a session during which you will have some spare time.  The process does take a weekly time commitment above and beyond your normal blogging schedule.  My brother's wedding fell exactly in the middle of my mentoring session and I certainly felt the time pinch of so much to do and so little time.

Thanks again!

Needs and Wants

One of the first things that we are (hopefully) taught as children when it comes to money is the difference between a need and a want.  Unfortunately, while it is very easy to point out a "want" to a child, that new toy or an ice cream, needs are a bit more difficult which leads to a bit of a grey area.

So I divide the idea of needs into primary and secondary needs.

Primary needs are what you need to live.  Missing them tends to lead to a deterioration of health and then death.  They are found on the bottom two tiers in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  You need water, food, air, shelter and access to appropriate medical care.  Food does not mean caviar, it means basic nutrients that  your body needs to survive.  It doesn't even means variety in the food you eat, just that you can eat.  Shelter doesn't mean owning a home.  In certain cases a tent might suffice, or an apartment shared with a friend.  Just something to protect you from the elements.  Clothes would fit in here only as much as was needed to keep you healthy.  You don't need a $1,000 coat, you need one that will keep you warm when it snows.

Secondary needs are what you need to get and keep a job that will provide the resources for your primary needs.  This means appropriate clothing for your job (office ware for sales men, scrubs for nurses and steel toed boots for construction workers.)  A cheap cell phone (pay as you go) so that you have contact info for your resume may be a need.  Other misc. needs may include fees for a professional college or materials you are expected to provide yourselves. A car is only included if your job includes moving yourself and materials a considerable distance, such as a truck driver or a home health care nurse.

Everything else that you spend money on is a want.  I doesn't make it bad, it just means you don't need it.

July Mid Month Check-Up

Bills/Savings Paid

Mortgage - Successfully doubled-up

Retirement/Emergency Savings - On Track

Housing Taxes/Insurance – Taxes have been increased based on my predictions for next year’s bill.  Insurance is on Track

Travel – No longer saving, has been rerouted to mortgage payment

Health Insurance – Spent – but need to claim last round of meds

Bus Pass - Spent

Car Savings – Will have enough come August first

Bills waiting to be paid

Cell Phone/Internet - Bills have not yet arrived, had to use my extra to pay for increased internet usage when my room mate was here. 

Financial Planning - $14.32.

Utilities – $264.28 at my current rate I should set enough aside during the winter to pay for the spike in costs.  The utility company offers to do a similar thing, but it’s cheaper to average it myself. 

Others

House Maintenance - Savings are up to $1,772.13. I’m slowly learning the value of small and constant maintenance. 

Big Ticket Items - $485.18 in savings. 

Train - $51.71 still there.  Spent some last week so I can go see my folks.  = D

Other Transportation - $90.70 set aside, mostly because people have been offering rides or lending me their car when I’m out past the time that busses run.  

Food - $172.71 left.  I’ve only gone shopping once this month so far. 

Miscellaneous - $20.59 

Entertainment - $15.44.  I’ve been buying books from the local library at 2 bucks a pop, it’s great and cheap. 

Social/Sports - $40, savings are going to stop here until I actually start spending some of it.  

Clothes - $70

Gifts - $48.40.   

Life is steadying out, and along with it so are the finances.  That said I wouldn't want you guys to get bored so FYI my finances should become a tad more challenging come September when I start my Masters since my full time pay check may decrease and I may pick up short term stints as a teaching assistant or research assistant.