Debt Free Kid

I no longer have access to someone's wireless connection at home, and I've been WAY too busy at work to blog from there. And I have lost my focus. I have to remember why I started this blog in the first place. Before I started here I enjoyed reading three kinds of blogs: self-help, single moms, and personal finance. The plethora of these blogs got me through some seriously dark days and some really lonely weekends. When I found myself ready and willing to start posting my own, I wanted to come up with a combination of the three. With a fourth element, the Canadian bias. Mostly, I was tired of trying to find inspiration in PF blogs written by one half of a couple. I don't have a problem with couples, but I can't tell you how many told me in their blogs, "WE paid off a $20 000 debt in just TWO years!" I'm on my own here, and no one is going to help me pay off my debt. As well I can't work more for extra income because I'm a single mom to a three-year...

It's been over a week since the cold symptoms first appeared. The illness peaked over the weekend, and I'm now starting to feel a little bit like myself again. It was just a bad cold. But what it has left behind is a general feeling of apathy and lethargy and I don't like that at all. I'm so busy at work but I'm not complaining because I love my job and the people I work with. It's just a matter of staying organized and keeping all the plates balanced in the air for the next couple of months. It's hard, because we know that there will be news this summer about what the administration is going to do about a several million dollar budget shortfall. I feel secure that my seniority in the union will keep me safe, but I would not want to have to move to another department, or to see any changes made to the one I'm in now if I get to stay. It all makes me feel so helpless. I'm still motivated to eradicate my debt by the end of 2010. In fact, I'm even m...

My "projected budget" gives me $1503.00 for daily and monthly expenses, not including any debt payments or savings. Those categories require an additional $784, ideally. In February I spent $1516.61 on rent, food, car (gas and insurance), phone, RESP and life insurance. Oh yes, and my "miscellaneous" category, in which I grossly overspent by $170.23. However I underspent on food by a scary $113.32. I decided about two weeks in to not food shop until I absolutely had to, forcing myself to get creative with what I did have in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. I had a lot more food than I realized. Plus there were a couple of nights where I was feeling not so well and Bean was happy to eat cereal and boiled eggs for supper. We start March with quite a bit of food still in the kitchen, which is a good feeling. In fact, I picked up a produce box last week from the community food program and have yet to do anything with it. Better get on that before it all wilts. Goal fo...

This week, after being presented with a pretty good homemade shepherd's pie (if I do say so myself), my son declared that "only snacks are good." He turned his nose up after one bite of the mashed potato, ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and his favourite frozen veggies concoction and ate only a banana, a handful of cashews, dried pineapple, raisins and a few dried apricots. He asked a couple of times for "eggies" but I didn't have any prepared his favourite way: hard-boiled with the yolks removed. I'm here to ask all the mamas (and dads, if any are reading) for any and all suggestions for healthy and affordable snacks to appease my son's picky appetite. I'm lucky (so far) that he enjoys raw veggies and fruits, dried fruits and nuts and rice cakes. I'm trying to keep the dairy foods to a minimum, because it creates a surplus of mucous that leads to ear infections. I get into food ruts, which is why I haven't yet been able to stick to ...

We got our subsidized food box from the YWCA this week. We had a choice of large or small, and I always sign up for the small box. The boxes are packed and ready to go twice a month: the staples box can be picked up during the third week and the produce box is ready the fourth week of the month. Because I receive the subsidy, I get the boxes for $5 and $6 each. They come at a great time for me, because my monthly paycheque is usually pretty well spent by this time. Have I mentioned already that I only get paid once a month? :) Non-subsidized boxes are $11 (staples) and $12 (produce) for the small sizes. I really like the produce box because it usually comes with one or two things that I wouldn't normally buy, like fresh herbs or beets. This week's staples box came with bagels and cream cheese, which I rarely purchase, so this was a treat, a bunch of carrots and a few potatoes, four apples and two tangerines, a can of beans, a can of tuna, a can of tomatoes, a package of spagett...