My Return to Western Home

This past weekend I went back to my Western Home and it was nice to be able to put my slide-out out and have a bit of space.

The weather is on the verge of warming up and things are looking up for me, at least that is what I tell myself. 

I cling to the belief that the worst of winter is behind me, and that spring is coming with summer behind it; after Anti-Fall, of course.

My weekend was nice and relaxing, and I look forward to the warm weather that is on the way.

For now I will keep moving forward as I try to enjoy the weather more. 

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

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 18.2% (of my Savings Target).

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

   

That’s right things jumped up to 19.3% of my savings target. 

That means I put away 1.1% of my total Savings Target this payday.

Okay, so this is progress and as I said yesterday I stole an extra hundred in there by topping up what I made in interest on my savings up to the next hundred.

The big one will be next payday when I get to 20% of my savings target. Until then I will make sure to keep doing what I am doing until I get to that big number. 

Every 5% is a large deal for me. Yet another way to keep me motivated and moving forward on this journey. 

As well the further I go down this road, and the further away from 0% savings I have, the more at ease I will feel.

After living all of my working life (so far) with no savings, I never want to go without it again. 

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

Leveraging Interest

Okay, so today is payday and so I get to shuffle cash around. 

It is my favourite day because I get to put my hard earned cash into my bank account and do what I please with it. 

My Long-Term Savings have grown to the point that I am now actually making money off the bank.

In that I pay $15.95 a month in “Bank Fees” yet I make about $20.00 in interest each month in my Long-Term Savings Account.

I typically put in only multiples of $100.00 into my Long-Term Account, because . . . it just makes for easy math and it looks neater.

Well, this payday I broke that tradition and put in an extra $40.00 . . . why? Because that was all it took to lift the balance of my Long-Term Account up to the next hundred.

It’s fun and I plan on doing this again in a few months, as every dollar that goes into savings has been doubly earned.

I am still on my drive to 20% and that will happen next payday (on the 22nd). It is just nice to see the banks actually giving me some cash for a change. 

All in the effort to help build my savings . . . and my dreams. 

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

Ready For The Warmth

Yep, I am now ready for the warmer weather to arrive. I am looking forward to tomorrow, because tomorrow is when the weather will get better.

It gets a bit better today, as in a step in the right direction but tomorrow it will get even better. 

I have been watching the weather for a while and the turnover day seems to be holding and tomorrow is it. 

I want to see the sidewalk again. I want to see the dead grass again (and watch it grow green again).

I want to BBQ again and yes I want to be able to use my sinks and toilets again. 

I am looking forward to another warm season and can’t wait to get started doing all the things I can do in the warmth.

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

The Last Days of The Bitter Cold

I keep looking to next week to keep me going, but so far I am still in the cold.

It is the last days of the bitter cold for this winter season, or so I keep telling myself. 

I still keep up my cold weather routine, yet I am able to get a bit of heat in the trailer in the evening, after work. 

Things are changing, things are warming up, yet not as quickly as I would like. 

Yet the same can be said about my finances, my savings are growing, yet not as fast as I would like. 

I will continue to trudge forward and keep reminding myself of my progress, now and again. You know, by pausing to look back at how far I have come.

I try to not look too far forward at how far I have to go, after all, all I have to do is look to this week, today in order to just keep trudging . . . cold or no cold.

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

The Verge of Anti-Fall

Yes, we are on the verge of a warming spell, who knows how long it will last, but I will take the not-so-cold weather no matter how briefly it stays.

I, for one, have had enough of being bitterly cold for one winter, and perhaps for the ones to come as well. 

I am not done my Grand Savings Plan, as I am only (currently) at 18.2% complete and it looks as though I won’t be to move on to the next phase of my life until April of 2023.

That is three full years from now, and three more winters in Wanda on these cold Prairie streets. 

For the most part, I get buy okay, it is just these really cold snaps that I hate. This is because it is when they daytime highs are below -20C that my lifestyle is really adversely affected.

My furnace has a hard time to heat the place up when it is that cold and the best I can seem to do is get it near zero with the furnace running full tilt.

My electric heater does a better job but that means I need to run my generator but it can get the place nice and balmy. 

Again, either choice means using more resources and yes costing me more. I will, however explore this as . . . I hate being cold. 

I am much more a: shorts, sandles and a loose shirt kinda guy with a light breeze blowing through Wanda. 

Oh yeah, that’s nice, that’s what I like. I endure the cold, I don’t frolic in it. 

So, I will spend a bit more resources next cold snap to make things nicer and warm(er).

Moving out of Wanda, even temporarily, is out of the question due to a promise I made to myself. Renting a spot at a local Year Round Campground is stupidly expensive. 

So, a bit more generator fuel and propane is a cheaper option to make my Wanda a bit more liveable in the cold months. 

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

New Month Same Cold (For Now)

So, here we are into a new month and yet one more weekend of bitter cold. I am still holding on to the fact that this time next week it should be warmer. 

It will still be cold but it will be warmer, as in Not-All-That-Bad-And-I-Can-Function-Okay, cold. As in the daytime highs near or above zero and the nightime lows only in the teens.

That I can do standing on my head, I can handle this bitter cold, but I don’t have to like it. I am still trying to get through this cold without blowing my budget.

One way or another, I will be okay, as things will get warmer and my budgets will stop bleeding so much. (Okay a bit melodramatic, but I will get back to more normal budgets).

I am looking towards getting on with my savings plan but mostly, I am looking forward to the warmer weather.

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