Wednesday 31 October 2018

The Eve of a Pivotal ‘Timesheet Day’

So, today is the end of the month, the end of October. Yeah, yeah, Halloween and all that. 

For me, in my world this is the last day of this payperiod, the one that will produce the November 7, paycheque. 

Why is this so special a paycheque? This should be (emphasis on ‘should’) a larger than average paycheque and the first of four such in a row. 

This is because, at this end of the year, the payroll taxes drop off, and so, I get to keep (for now) much more of my paycheque than before.

This will impact the next 4 budgets and so when I finally get my paycheque (you know, a week from today) I will see where exactly that number lands.

As in exactly what percentage of my paycheque do they keep? 

Why is this so big a deal? Well, that number slides from 27.5% of my paycheque in January, to around 18% of my paycheque in December.

So, for budgeting purposes, it is nice to know what to expect.

I just want to know if I will make my savings targets or not.

As always, Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 30 October 2018

Cold Weather This Way Cometh

Okay, so while it is not exactly -40C, it is going to get decidedly colder. 

Once again, I have seen this before and it is nothing that I can’t handle, but it is what it is. 

I may end up in full-blown-winter mode before too long, perhaps in two weeks, then again it could take longer, nobody really knows. 

All I know is that my shorts may be packed away before long and those long johns may be coming out of storage soon. 

I just sigh and go oh well, it is what it is and it will be what it will be. I have been here before so I know what to do. 

I am nothing if not determined and I will get through yet another fall (real fall) and yes, another winter.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Monday 29 October 2018

Relaxing and Unproductive Weekend

So, the weekend was nice and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t accomplish much. 

I had wanted to cook up another batch of my Mealstarter. I even bought the ingredients, but never got around to it.

I did some writing, even watched a bit of TV, went for walks, you know relaxing stuff.

All in all it was a good weekend, if a bit slow and boring. 

Yet, it was just what I needed.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward.

Friday 26 October 2018

A Modicum of Encouragement

So, Boss, like a lot of business people leases a vehicle through their business for both business and personal use. 

What Boss does is when the lease is up, will typically pay the lease out, then turn around and sell the vehicle, typically making a bit of money along the way. 

Okay, why not. This way Boss always has a new (or a year or two old) vehicle to drive. Again, why not. 

It has come to that time that the lease is up, and so this cycle will continue again . . . or will it? 

With the challenges facing the business, will Boss continue with the expense of leasing a vehicle or go with another more fiscally prudent option?

You see, as I see it there are a few options Boss could take:

Return/buy out and sell the vehicle & lease a new one. 
Buy out the vehicle and keep it.
Buy a used vehicle.
Carpool/share an existing family vehicle (technically could happen).

It goes without saying that we, around the office were interested to see which way Boss would go? 

If a fiscally prudent option was employed then we would see this as a sign that Boss’s confidence was waning in the mid to long term future of the business, as it stood now.

If a new vehicle showed up, then that would signal that Boss had every confidence that things would continue as normal.

So, what did Boss do? Boss leased a new, yet not quite as fancy as the last one, vehicle. 

So, all in all, this signals that Boss is pretty confident that the company will keep operating and that at least Boss, will remain employed.

After all, Boss has laid off the entire staff at least once, possibly twice before as Boss retools the company in a new direction . . . as a “one man operation.”

So, with a new truck, there is hope around the office . . . sorta.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Thursday 25 October 2018

Keep Calm and Build Savings

So, there has been much more talk around the office yesterday about what may or may not happen, all in response to the effects of those US Tariffs.

Our business model is to design products, have them built in China, and then sell them throughout Canada and the US. 

According to the current US Administration, that is a no-no, and so anything we bring in from China is slapped with not only a duty (as it always had been) but punitive tariffs.

On the outset, this wouldn’t be so bad, but while we, a Canadian company are hit with tariffs based on the retail price (what we charge our customer). 

Our US competitors are only hit with the punitive tariffs on the cost of the goods they bring in to the US . . . as in what they buy it for. 

This further skews an already uneven playing field further away from us. Then again, this current US Administration is all about helping the US and only the US.

All of that aside (regardless of how you feel about what the current US Administration is doing) what this means to us and our company is that it looks like we will pull out of the US Market as it is becoming too expensive for us to compete in. 

This means that what was once 80% of our business, yet now shrunk to 60%, is going to go bye-bye, through no fault of our own.

So, there are some jittered nerves around work these days as we all wonder what is going to happen. 

Most likely is that the company will retool and move in another direction. Yet I don’t see pay raises coming, only pay cuts with an absence of direct website sales.

As for me, I will keep doing what I always do: keep clomping on forward. 

I will keep building up my savings for as long as I can. I will focus on savings as much as possible and eliminate all unnecessary spending, as anything could happen.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 24 October 2018

Fear is in The Air

How lovely, the bills have started to come in, and the effects of the tariffs from the US have started to be felt. 

This has started to make everyone in the office a little edgy, starting with and emanating from, Boss.

As we all know, Sh*t rolls downhill, so too does Fear. Yet with Fear, as it rolls downhill it picks up Intimidation along the way.

While it is in early stages of Boss feeling the pinch of these Tariffs, I am anticipating more grouchiness with a few ‘dead weight’ insinuations along the way. 

I do my job and I know how to do it well (I should after all these years). 

I am always looking for an order to process and get out the door. I make it a policy that if I can process and order today, I will do so and get it out the door today.

Can I really be blamed of the orders have dropped off? I am: where I am supposed to be, when I am supposed to be, and ready willing and able to do what I am supposed to do. 

I don’t create orders, I process them . . . so give me an order to process and we’ll both be happy.

I know Boss is stressed and rightfully so, I would also be stressed if I were in Boss’s shoes. 

I know that taking it out on your subordinates, helps nothing. We’re not the problem.

As I said, it is early days yet, and I only saw the first indications of fear on Boss yesterday. So there has been no intimidation or insults (yet).

I simply take comfort that I have paid my debts off and I am a few paycheques away from having that two year’s worth of living expenses cushion in tucked away in my savings.

Yet, I like my job and I like the company I work for and yeah I like Boss. I just don’t need to hear the tales of “Saint Entrepreneur” as I am told that I “have no problems as an employee.”

I at least know that life is complicated and that nobody has it perfect, and yeah, everybody’s got a story that can break your heart. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 23 October 2018

Grand Savings Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” 

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . . 
  

For review, here is how things looked from last payday . . .
   

And this is how things look like, after the dust settled on this payday’s budget . . . 
   


That’s right things jumped up to 10.1% of my savings target. That means I put away 0.9% of my total Savings Target this payday. 

I do need to pause and reflect on the fact that even though I put a toe over the line, I have indeed crossed over the 10% of my savings target. That bottom row is now fully crossed off!

As with my Last Payday, I put away less than 1% of my target. This is frustrating, but it is what it is and I do hope to make up a bit of lost ground with the next 4 paydays.

You see these next four paydays should be larger due to the fact that much fewer deductions are taken off. So this will increase my take home pay, even though my gross doesn’t go up.

Even if I don’t get a bump, and if I just keep plugging away at my savings as it is, that’s okay. I will still get there, eventually. 

Even if some large life event comes my way and I have to abandon my Grand Savings Plan, any savings is better than no savings. 

As always; Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Monday 22 October 2018

Total Debt Freedom Day (1st Anniversary)

Yes, yes, my friends it is now officially one year since I have become Totally Debt Free! It has been a bit of a rocky start to the year, but all in all, I have done well. 

First of all I have remained Totally Debt Free, and that is something. I have had my challenges and run up a credit card a bit over the past year, but all in all I am okay.

All credit cards are paid off and I continue with my practice of paying off all outstanding balances in full each and every payday.

I am building up my savings and have maintained my Personal Overdraft in my Main Account. 

I have built up my Personal Line of Credit to my reasonable personal emergency fund. 

The best thing of all is that as of today, I will be activating my Long Term Account and putting my savings into it (until my TFSA is maxed out).

In the beginning of the year I did spend, but mainly on things that I should have done before. Such as repairs to Wanda, a new mattress (fantastic). 

Yet there was also the new computer that I probably shouldn’t have. I find that if it is not a laptop, with its own internal battery, that it is not a practical computer for me to have. 

Anyways, I digress, but the main thing is that the financial lessons and tools that got me debt free, are still being employed to help me build my savings. 

I am also proud to say that as of today, I will be at 10% of my overall savings target on my Grand Savings Plan!

I do not say these things to brag, as that is not my style. Rather, I say all this to show that it is possible to not only get debt free but stay debt free, all while still working your regular 9-5 job (no extra income required).

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Friday 19 October 2018

Alls Quiet Before Payday

So, this Monday is my payday and it is a special one. This is because it is the payday when I actually activate my Long Term Account (again).

I now have, or will come payday, to put the minimum balance that the bank will start to pay interest (their whopping 1.1%).

So, that is what I am going to do, start putting cash into my Long Term Account (as in my TFSA). 

It is yet another start and yet another step forward on my journey towards having the land and starting the town. 

Yet, here I am on the weekend before payday and I am doing my darndest to stop all spending so I can do this.

I do take the time to mark these milestones, not to brag but to show myself that I am making progress and to keep doing what I am doing, because it is working. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Thursday 18 October 2018

Accepting a Missed Target

So, here I am five paydays (including Monday) away from the end of the year. I have a goal of reaching 16.7% of my savings Target before the year is out. 

As it stands, unless there is a sudden and unprecedented rush between now and the end of the year (unlikely), I will fall short of that target. 

As it stands, I will, most likely hit 14.6% (at best). 

Now, while missing a target is frustrating, it is not the end of the world. I have to remind myself that I still have more money in savings than I did a year ago.

Add to that, that this money in savings is mine and it is not earmarked for some debt relief. I can do what I want with it, and that is a good feeling.

I will make my savings target of 100% . . . eventually. I just have to remember that it will not happen in a day. 

Slow and steady wins the savings race, and even though I have had setbacks and I will continue to have setbacks, I need to remember that any movement forward is still movement forward. 

Celebrate your successes and don’t worry so much if you miss your target or goal. You are still further ahead than you were when you set that goal.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!Accepting a Missed Target

So, here I am five paydays (including Monday) away from the end of the year. I have a goal of reaching 16.7% of my savings Target before the year is out. 

As it stands, unless there is a sudden and unprecedented rush between now and the end of the year (unlikely), I will fall short of that target. 

As it stands, I will, most likely hit 14.6% (at best). 

Now, while missing a target is frustrating, it is not the end of the world. I have to remind myself that I still have more money in savings than I did a year ago.

Add to that, that this money in savings is mine and it is not earmarked for some debt relief. I can do what I want with it, and that is a good feeling.

I will make my savings target of 100% . . . eventually. I just have to remember that it will not happen in a day. 

Slow and steady wins the savings race, and even though I have had setbacks and I will continue to have setbacks, I need to remember that any movement forward is still movement forward. 

Celebrate your successes and don’t worry so much if you miss your target or goal. You are still further ahead than you were when you set that goal.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 17 October 2018

The Unexpected Ding

So, there I was, checking my Banking App, as I do every morning, and there I saw it . . . the unexpected ding. Rather, the ‘Premature Ding.’

What happened was that the place where I have my mailbox at charged me (yesterday apparently) for my yearly fee.

Now, usually (or at least last year) I paid for it in person, and . . . you know . . . was asked. 

This was just dinged to my card (the whole year in advance) as per usual without at least calling me to let me know this was happening. 

Now, I am an organized guy and I had put it in the budget for the Nov 7 Pay Period, as I expected to pay for it in the store again at that time.

This is not a disaster, as I don’t run a balance on any credit card (life is simpler that way)  I will still hit 10% of my savings target this payday (on Monday) anyways.

Yet, whilst I knew that this charge was coming, and yes they do have my card on file, I wasn’t expecting this. 

Now, technically I can call my credit card company and claim fraud and have the charge reversed. 

Yet, to me, that seems like a kinda jerkish thing to do when I am going to pay it in a few weeks anyways. 

All in all, just a friendly note to those of you in retail, just ask first before dinging.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 16 October 2018

Who Wears Short-Shorts

Not me, but I did wear shorts yesterday evening. I came home to a wonderful 20C in my house and so I had the door and windows open. 

It was nice and a delightful way to spend the evening. I know that winter is coming and on the prairies it can change on a dime.

So, as I keep saying, I’ll enjoy the nice weather when I can. 

Otherwise things are moving along nicely and I am, for the most part, keeping out of trouble. 

I am looking forward to Monday, because it is not only payday (a glorious day in its own right) but it is the one year anniversary of Total Debt Freedom Day!

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Monday 15 October 2018

Summer Days Are Here Again

It is nice to have the sliver of a reprieve from the icy cold hand of oncoming winter. I will take the warm days when I can get them and enjoy them.

It was a bit cold and yes there was snow on the weekend. It didn’t stick around, but there was snow. 

Yet this morning I walked to work in 10C and it was still dark. Again, it was nice. I even was able to have a jug shower in my trailer this morning. 

I know that this warm weather will not last forever but I will simply appreciate it as long as it is here. 

Even if it cools off, I am still thankful every day that I can be in Fall/Spring Mode and not shoved into Winter Mode (as in when I can’t use my sinks or toilet).

So, nice warm weather is a treat, and as long as it is above zero during the day . . . I’m good.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Friday 12 October 2018

Weekend Warm-up-ish

So, it is the weekend and I am celebrating that last night it did not dip below zero (yay). 

Also, for this weekend it will get warmer (sorta) and I will take that, more specifically, I will take the fact that the overnight lows will not dip below zero.

Next week we should get warmer temps, into the double digits, and that is something to celebrate. 

I have no idea what the weather or the future will be. All I can do is prepare for both the best that I can, and deal with whatever comes.

That is all that any of us really can do, because all we can do is control (as best as we can) our present, and in so doing, help shape our future. 

After all, the direction that you start walking in now, is where you will be headed in the future, so you might as well pick a good destination . . . come what may.

Thursday 11 October 2018

New Way to Bank

Okay, so I am not one that likes to change, or at least do radical changes all the time. I know it sounds funny, but I am a creature of habit. 

I like going to the bank on payday and depositing my paycheque and getting my cash. 

Yet, with this last payday being on Sunday, and the Monday being a holiday, that meant that I would have to wait two extra days in order to deposit my paycheque.

Now, I could have done my banking through the cash machine, but making a special driving trip to my bank to use the ATM seems silly.

So, on Friday, I withdrew the cash that I needed to fund my wallets. I waited until mid morning on Sunday and then deposited my paycheque through the app on my iPad.

I had always resisted this as I was not sure if there would be any holds on my cash or what have you. Again, I was not about to muck about with my paycheque. 

This time, I was willing to give it a try, and so I did. In the end it went well and was painless. I deposited my paycheque from my trailer and the cash was in my account instantly. 

I am considering doing this trick again, withdraw cash on the Friday before payday and just do the e-deposit thing through the app on payday itself. 

We shall see how things go, but now and again, you can teach me a new trick or two.

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 10 October 2018

More Snow, Then Sun

It snowed again yesterday and it snowed again last night. Nothing serious and not even enough to gather on the roads, but it snowed and freaked some drivers out.

As for me, I take it all in stride, depending on how much snow is out there I break out my winter boots. Otherwise I just wear my regular boots.

It will warm up soon, so they say. There is even some talk about getting up to 20C early next week.

That is a nice thought when it has been hovering around 0C for the past few days.

Again, this is life on the prairies as the saying goes “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”

Some people get all bent out of shape over the weather, but I don’t. I have just learned to continually adapt what I am doing in relation to the weather and the temperature.

It is a dance that I dance with the temperature, as I must move in concert with it in order for me to not only survive, but thrive. 

You can fight the weather, but you will spend a lot on resources in order to make things how you want them. (Excess use of furnace or air conditioner for example).

So, it snowed a bit, big deal. 

As always: Keep your head up,  your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Tuesday 9 October 2018

Grand Savings Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” 

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . . 
   

For review, here is how things looked from last payday . . .
   

That is 8.7% of my Savings Target. 

And this is how things look like, after the dust settled on this payday’s budget . . . 
   

That’s right things increased to jumped up to 9.2% of my savings target. That means I put away 0/5% of my total Savings Target this payday.

So, that is a rather dismal showing but I am solacing myself with the fact that I at least moved the number forward. 

I am also consoling myself with the fact that I was able to cross off a square. This is because even though I just flopped over the line from 8% to 9% I still got over that line.

This was due to the fact of me paying for my camping spot in my Mountain Home for my Christmas Break. 

Due to the fact that I did not put at least a whole percentage point of my Savings Target into my Savings, I lost ground on the estimated done payday. 

As you saw, the payday that I estimate that I will have my savings fully funded has been moved from July 7, 2022, to July 22, 2022. 

I can and will still make up ground on this as I am quite early my Grand Savings Plan.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Friday 5 October 2018

Being Thankful

So, it is that time of year again, and Thanksgiving us upon us and so it is time for reflection. It is time to pause to remind oneself what we are or should be thankful for.

The big thing for me to be thankful for is that I am debt free. I am one payday (the next one, the one on the 22nd) away from the one year anniversary of becoming Totally Debt Free.

It is important, because I have remained debt free and while I had a bit of a rocky start I am on track again and not only remaining debt free, but building my savings.

I am continuing to train myself to be good with what cash I get so that can use it to not only live but also to get myself further ahead.

I am thankful for my good fiscal habits (that have been hard earned).

I have been living in Wanda for 4 years and so I pretty much know what to expect and how to deal with whatever comes my way. 

I am thankful for the confidence and knowledge that comes with the experience of just figuring out what to do and how to live in an RV trailer year round.

It is true that life could be better, but life could also be worse. It is true that happiness comes from being happy with what you have right now.

That does not mean that you must be complacent and not strive and work to improve your situation, just find a way to be at peace and be happy with what you have.

Be thankful for what you have as you work to improve your life and lot in it.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Thursday 4 October 2018

I Got My New Wallets

So, in late August, I ordered some new wallets online. I selected the cheapest shipping and knew it would take the longest to get here . . . it arrived last Friday Sept 28.

I wanted to replace a rather silly looking wallet that was for one of my departments. The trouble was that I could not find any cheap wallets anywhere (dollar stores, big box stores, etc).

So, for review, I use wallets in order to separate out various “Petty Cash” accounts for my day to day expenses. 

This way, it is easier to budget and easier to stay within the budget for each petty cash expenditure department.

Instead of buying just one wallet online I ended up buying five, in order to replace all five of my Wallets: 

1. Groceries
2. Utilities (propane/dumping fees)
3. Treats (coffee, the odd meal out, etc)
4. Entertainment
5. Contingency (the on hand oops fund)

Anyways, my wallets arrived and one look at the package told me why it took so long. . . 
  

They were mailed from China. Still, I got them and didn’t have to pay any duty, or what have you (yay).

With my old wallets I slapped a label on each wallet to tell me which one was which. With these new, snazzy wallets I decided to label them with a bit of style.
  


What I did was put a piece of paper with the name of each wallet printed on it and slipped it into the clear wallet that is there for “identification cards”

So, here are they all lined up.
  

And here they are with my two coin wallets all tucked away in my safe.
  

It is a simple yet effective way to handle and budget day to day expenses between paydays. 
This lets me life and do what I need to do, yet stop spending using my bank card or credit card. 

Those are the number one drain on any bank account as they are sooo easy to spend with and not realize how much you are spending. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Wednesday 3 October 2018

Yeah, It Snowed

So, it snowed yesterday and we all had to deal with it. You see, in a 36 hour period it snowed quite a bit, again, such is life (at least life on the prairies).

So here is what my truck looked like after work. It had been snowing for about 24 hours by this point. 
   

Doesn’t look that bad, right? This is what it looked like after I started to brush the snow off.
  

I had to move because the city declared a “snow route parking ban” meaning that you can’t park at all on any of bus routes. Since work is on a bus route, I had to move.

I decided to move in the evening yesterday, to be safe and do so without any traffic. 

It got dark fast and so after I cleaned the truck off and moved, here is what the truck looked like.
   

I will be getting my ladder out tonight and brushing the roof of Wanda off. I just wanted to wait until I was sure all of the snow was done falling and it was daylight.

This morning, this is how much snow had fallen just overnight. 
   

I will be here until the weekend as it makes sense and the “snow route parking ban” lasts for 72 hours or until they either cancel it early or extend it.

The one thing about living in a trailer and parking so close to work is that:

1. I never have to worry about traffic or bad weather hampering my ability to get to work.
2. I have no excuse to be late . . . ever.

Ah well, I do save on gasoline though.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

PS: due to all of this snow, I have already cancelled my plans to head to Banff this weekend. Call me chicken, but I’m not risking it.

Tuesday 2 October 2018

Meh, It Snowed

I went to bed with green grass that was slightly wet out my door and woke up to a healthy blanket of snow. 
  

Again, not that big of a deal in the city where I live but would shut down Vancouver (couldn’t resist). 

Sure, we grumble and complain and all that, and there is the trouble of keeping the roads clean when the snow keeps coming down.

But we just deal with it and life rolls along, albeit a bit slower and a bit more slippery, but life rolls (or slides) along.

I am happy that I was still parked in my place near work and so I just had to break out my snow boots and clomp on to work, as per usual.

I’m counting on a nice warming spell sometime soon to get rid of this white stuff.

I still have my site booked for Banff this weekend, and had intended to get away to the mountains for the long weekend. 

With the dumping of snow they (and the highway to them) are getting and continue to get I am wondering about cancelling my weekend away plans.

I will make a call tomorrow and either decide to go or no go then. 

Things will be okay, and I will continue to just clomp on ahead and just deal with whatever comes my way. 

While I keep trying to delude myself each and every spring that winter will never ever come again, I know that it does and will do so, shockingly soon.

Yet, this is where I am and this is what I have to deal with in order to get ahead. I am dedicated to my goals. 

I know that if I can just tough it out for four more years (massive crowdfunding campaign notwithstanding) that I can and will build up my savings to my savings target.

Then I can actual go forth and start that town that I want to start (the town for science) in very meagre and very humble beginnings, but at least it would be started. 

So what does a couple of (real) snowflakes think they can do to stop me? Bring all of your (real) little snowflake buddies and pile up outside my door. I will still clomp on ahead.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Monday 1 October 2018

First Blast of Brisk

Okay, so it got a bit chilly over the weekend, nothing serious, but at least enough to remind me of what cold is like, as well as what is to come.

I actually had to pull my black coat out of the closet due to necessity. This is always a true sign of the chilly weather hath come. 

It is not too bad, as I can still keep water liquid and I can still do what I need to do. all in all it is nothing I haven’t seen before, and after living through -30C in my trailer, nothing scares me.

I did go to the winterizing special that the RV Dealership that I bought Wanda from and had her winterized. 

It was interesting to look at the newer models of trailers and I could evaluate how practical this one or that one would be to live in. 

Again, my life and mantra is to make do with what I have and live as cheaply as I can so I can move on to the next phase of my life (homesteading).

A little cold does not scare me, as I know how to adapt in order to not only survive but thrive in whatever comes my way. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!