Debt Free Kid

I might have mentioned 100 or so times on here that I get paid only once a month. I've been working at the same institution since 2002, so I'm over it. We get paid on the 28th, but if the 28th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then we get paid on the Friday before. The days leading up to payday are full of anticipation for me, because I look forward to seeing the amount go into my chequing account, and I love removing bits and bobs of it into my various savings accounts. Then I calculate what bills are going to be removed electronically and leave that amount in chequing, while the amount of bills that I pay manually later in the month goes into a savings account. I usually have less than $200 on the credit card that I pay before the due date. This past weekend I knew I would leave extra in the chequing, because the kid would be home and we had lots of plans. Friday morning, I didn't receive an email about the deposit, and I logged into my account about a half dozen times, ...

So my Ford is still sitting in my parking lot, and I'm still driving the borrowed Honda. I can't say I've saved much money, since I have paid $130 for a new (used) tire and a replacement brake line. Both situations leading up to these repairs were costly in terms of stress and slight trauma as well. I have a feeling I should bring the Honda back to it's owners' house and say "thanks!" If I do that I have three choices: 1) Get back on the bus 2) Buy a new(er) car 3) Repair the Ford The mechanic who installed the Honda's new brake line said more lines are rusty and are going to break, and will need replacing. He's willing to take look at the Ford for free. He thinks $3000 was a high quote for the repair, but admitted that it will still be expensive. I hope to have the credit card balance down to $7000 and in a couple of months I will transfer it back to the LOC (5.5%), before the interest rate on the card goes back up to it's normal 19%....

April was a little too spendy for my liking (two impulse shops + one trip to the Capital + one trip to have my snow tires removed + Bean's fourth birthday = $500) so for May I have switched to cash only. I withdrew $400 cash ($200 for food & household, $100 for car-gas, $100 spending money) and divided it into a couple of old spagetti sauce jars. So far, I hate this system. I am just not used to cash. I like cards. I don't know if I'll get used to it. I'm going to try my hardest, because I can't rely on the security of my line of credit anymore, since I transferred the balance of my debt onto a low-interest master card (0.99% for ten months). Previously I was depositing my monthly paycheque into the LOC account and removing a weekly amount for expenses (usually $100 a week or $200 when car insurance was due). This system seemed to work really well for me: I was paying the balance down and feeling secure about access to my funds. Now that my debt is sitting...

I called Master Card to check the status of my application for the new card. It was still pending, but the rep informed me that I had a deal on my current card for 0.99% for the next nine months. I decided on the spot to go for it, and now my diminishing debt is back on the MC for a little while. It changes my strategy of pooling all my resources into my easily-accessible LOC, and means I will have to be more diligent to put a large chunk onto the card rather than hoarding it in a savings account with fear. However it will be nice to use my neglected savings account again. Hopefully I can keep some funds in there for once! Seriously, Karissa

Well, my debt is under $10 000 and settled nicely into my Line of Credit at 5.25%. The only strategy I had planned for the next year-and-a-bit is to plug as much money possible into that account to pay it down to $0. I was looking forward to starting with my next paycheque on the 28th (I get paid once a month, right?). I figured at least one of my credit card companies would come sniffing around since they all have zero balances. So I don't know why was I surprised today to receive an invitation from MBNA to switch to their PremierRewards card. Normally I shred these invites but today I sat down and looked it over. If they approve me for $10 000 I can move my LOC balance over and pay 1.99% for ten months. The "small" print at the back of the page tells me that there is a balance transfer fee of 1% of amount transferred with a minimum fee of $7.50. So right off I will pay $100 to transfer over. Interest on $10 000 is $16.58 per month, which would go down if I continue ...

I cleaned out my TFSA and put it on my MasterCard. I am so close to paying it off I can taste it. I will probably move another $400 from my LOC to bring the MC balance down to $1500. Then it's the waiting game for my tax return which will go right on there as well, hopefully paying it off. I'm not putting anything into my RRSP this year. I want this debt gone. After fifteen months sharing a one-bedroom, Bean and I are moving into a two-bedroom on March 1st. We're staying in the same building, just moving down to the ground floor. I'll be paying about $150 a month for the extra bedroom plus a small backyard behind our apartment. Plus the super said they would give us a basic cable account for free for one year. I will have to sign another one year lease, which I think is BS considering I just finished one with them. Seriously, Karissa

First of all, I always express gratitude for my life whenever my car breaks down at the side of the road. This time wasn't as serious as times past, but I still felt lucky to be alive. Second, now that I'm facing a $600 repair bill, I feel like I should switch to public transit! Luckily I had already pulled off the highway to grab a bite to eat, when I discovered my power steering was no longer powered. I called my dad and he predicted a broken fan belt ... I wasn't comfortable taking the car back onto the busy busy highway so I had my friend take over the wheel and get the car twenty minutes east to my mom's place. The next day I used my CAA Plus membership to access my free 200 km tow to a mechanic in my own town. The mechanic is fixing the belt, as well as a leaky water pump and rusty coolant pipe, for just under $600. He said with my CAA membership I will get 3% back to apply towards my next round of annual membership fees, which are actually due next month. ...

I think I have come up with a strategy that works for paying off the debt as well as contributing a little to my savings. The debt payment system seems a tad strange, but will make sense to people with OCD :) As soon as I receive an email statement I check to see how much interest was added for the month. I pay that amount immediately. This keeps the balance at a nice round number, to which I apply $50 or $100 payments throughout the month as I can afford them. I was concerned that I wasn't padding my TFSA sufficiently, so I came up with a snowflaking plan that does not make me feel as though I am taking priority away from the debt repayments. What I have decided to do is snowflake the odd amounts from my pay, child tax credit, and GST. For instance, my GST rebate is $156.50 every three months, so I put $1.50 into the TFSA. I added up all the snowflake amounts year-to-date and just deposited $35.40 into my TFSA account. It isn't much but if I keep doing this each month it will ...

I way way way overspent in May. There were two trips to the big city, the second one involving a trip to the thrift shop where I scored three dresses, a blazer and a pair of leather flats for $40. I would like to make a picture post with my deals, and some of the frugal meals I have been making, but it's not often I get to an internet connection long enough to do so. I am still reading most of the blogs I am following on my smartphone. For a few days last week my facebook-addiction was seriously challenged, when I couldn't get it to load on my phone. I tried to convince myself that it was a good thing, that I could now downgrade to a simpler phone and drop the $15 unlimited web access from my phone bill. I even pulled out one of my old phones to make the switch. Then I figured out how to fix the facebook and practically kissed my smartphone in relief. It's kinda like when I quit coffee when I was sick. I lasted almost three weeks, and slowly the coffee addiction has crept b...

Inspired by recent posts by Saver Queen and Fabulously Broke in the City , I spent a few hours the other day contemplating moving some or all of my Emergency Fund (EF) into my RRSP account. Canadians have until March 2nd to contribute to an RRSP and use it towards our 2008 tax return. I logged into Ufile.ca and played around with some of the numbers. I found that I can add only $500 more to my RRSP without making an over-contribution. That $500 will also give me an extra $40 in my refund. It hardly seems worth it for the $40, but it might be worth it for my future. $500 compounded with the almost $5000 I currently have invested might make a difference to my retirement ( FB - I need one of your fancy equations to figure it out :)). Transferring $500 from my EF still leaves me with $500 for emergencies, and I will be able to bring it back up to $1000 when I get my refund in April. Any thoughts on this? Comments and suggestions are always very much appreciated :) Seriously, Karissa

Last week I transferred the balance of my 11.5% VISA to my 7% Line of Credit. I checked the statement of the LOC from the month before to double-check that the period ended on the 28th before I went ahead and arranged it through telephone banking. Today when I got into work I checked the LOC balance online and found that the period ended on the 31st after all, and because I made the transfer on the 30th, I was charged $1.47 interest! It makes me burn a little, because that's one whole coffee I might not purchase this week. I'm tempted to call the bank to find out what happened, but I don't think I want to make a big deal about less than $1.50.