Debt Free Kid

Jolie pointed out in my previous post that the income amount I calculated did not deduct taxes. I kind of did that purposefully, thinking that low-income people normally receive most of their taxes in refunds the following year. I also left out GST/HST refunds with the intention of saving or putting towards student loan repayments. So, with taxes deducted the new spending total would be: $1435.00 - 215.25 (15% Federal tax) - 72.47 (5.05% Provincial tax) = 1147.28 +  355.96 (Child Tax Credit) +  300.00 (Child Support) = 1803.24 Guessing that rent + utilities will be around $1000, I can see how this adjustment will be problematic. The student loan folks will probably want $400, so this will leave me with just over $400 for food, household, and car expenses. As long as I do not plan to spend ANY money on fun for the next little while this can be managed. In the background I will have my extra income (about $400), plus other government deposits to put towards emergency f...

The light at the end of the debt tunnel is beautiful and warm. Just in time for a well-deserved thaw, I will be credit-card debt-free. With my income tax refund I paid off the line of credit. With the child tax credit I will put $200 on the credit card, bringing it down to $3000. The good news is that I was asked to house-sit for three months!! Without having to pay rent (or bills) this spring and summer I will be able to pay the debt off in full, several months before my self-imposed deadline. Then in the fall I can begin to pay my student loans. I am trying to come up with a strategy to get around the consolidation agreement that stretches out the payments over 14 years, doubling the amount borrowed. So, that is my good news. In other news I am grateful to have a little bit of savings into which I can tap to make a donation to MSF . Seriously, Karissa

My blogger friend Grace  struck a chord with me today when she posted about being the "go-to" person in the family, especially when it comes to money. Currently I am financially responsible for only myself and my son. However if something bad happens and I can no longer work and earn, it will force his dad to become more responsible with his own time and money, if possible. So in an indirect way I am the go-to parent, even though at this point in time no one is actually asking me for money. I get bills that the dad doesn't: Daycare - which is subsidized but there is a monthly bill to pay plus I have to meet with the social worker twice a year to insure continuation in the program Dental and prescriptions - which I have benefits to cover but I have to pay the bill before I can get reimbursed. School - always seems to be nickle and diming me for fundraisers, PLUS I have to come up with a lunch the kid will actually eat, which I try to keep cheap and healthy ...

For the first time ever, and without requesting it, I received a refund cheque for interest paid on my rent deposit. I almost fell over when I opened the envelope and realized what it was. With that I am $18.16 more wealthy. On a similar note, I checked my ING account today and found a $25 referral deposit, another first. Many thanks to the person who took my orange key from the sidebar and used it to open their own account. I hope your $25 serves you well. Since I gave up monetizing this blog I haven't looked at all at my account settings. Last week I chose to renew my domain name and clicking around in google took me to my adsense account. I saw that I had almost $10 in my account so I decided to update my information with them. I'm waiting on a password to arrive in the mail to finish the process. On a whim I also decided to re-visit my abandoned Swagbucks account. In the past few days I have earned over 40 Bucks just playing around on the 'net. I think I might try...

There's a lot of talk about freedom in my neck of the woods these past few days, but I'm going to try to keep it simple and mention a couple of cool free things that have come my way the past couple of weeks. There is of course the car, a great little Honda Civic that is serving us nicely around town. I say a prayer of thanks every time I get into it. I've been offered another car for no charge: my sweetheart has a Saturn that is not highway-friendly and he has been meaning to take care of it for over a year now. He said I can take it whenever I want to. The caveat is that it is manual so I will have to learn to drive standard. My "bucket list" (I really dislike that term) includes this skill so I think it is time to cross something else from the "list of things to do before I die" (my preferred title). Finally, I was pleased to receive an email from Ms Single Mama requesting my snail-mail address, as I had commented on her offer to give away a fr...

I'm proud. Hell, I'm bragging. In fifteen months I have paid off 50% of my credit card debt. Over ten thousand dollars. I don't know how I did it. I didn't take a second job and I didn't sell anything online. I still have a social life and a car. I even paid off a huge car repair bill ($1400+) and bought two pairs of orthopedic shoes ($500). I bought a crappy new cell phone ($300 with all the bells and whistles). And still, I managed to pay HALF my debt in just over a year. I'm psyched I tell ya. If I can keep this up, I'll be paying off my student loans in no time, and then I can start saving up for a bigger and better life for my son and I. Seriously, Karissa

You have to imagine my surprise when I received a voice mail from the cable company offering me free digital TV, high-speed internet, and telephone with the purchase of my new home. I returned the call to confirm and as it turns out, with my new lease I will be receiving all three services FOR FREE for twelve months. I was told that I would receive cable with the new apartment, but I assumed I would have to pick one service. I had decided on telephone because I still hate Telus so much. Nope. All three. It has been years since I watched cable TV, and over a year since I canceled my cable internet. I feel like I'm back in the 2000s. I just might gain twenty pounds being a couch potato in the next twelve months. Seriously, Karissa

*This is not a sponsored post* Back in 2005 I spent two months in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and it is one of my long-term goals to return. For a few months now I have been receiving email from Sara Avant Stover and I thought I'd share the most recent one here. Dear K, I don't know about you, but for me, one of the hardest things to do is LET GO. Another way to put that is "Surrender." When I'm faced with a bad day, a challenging situation, or a super-human to-do list, sometimes I can get wrapped up in the drama. I can take on a defeatist attitude and say to myself, "Oh, I can never do that." "I'll never have enough time." "This is overwhelming." And, when I say these things to myself I actually start to BELIEVE them. This is when I get into trouble. I get tired, even sick. I lose focus on the big picture. And, worst of all, I lose touch with my soft core as a woman. I KNOW I'm not alone in this. I hear it from many of you, from m...

Happy New Year! Here are some of my goals for 2010: - go to the gym three times a week (yoga, weights, cardio) - eat three proper meals a day - with protein - and keep them as healthy as possible - start knitting again (xmas presents) - pay another $7000+ off the debts - practice gratitude every day Seriously, Karissa

I was driving myself and my son to the big city on the 23rd to begin our christmas festivities. It was cold and the roads were ok, but as I was driving on the highway I was thinking about my spectacular snow tires. When I started this blog I had a "Car Fund" to save money for car repairs, oil changes and hopefully snow tires. Then I had over a thousand dollars worth of car repairs from which the car fund never recovered. Back in September I was talking to a grad student where I work who is knowledgeable with all things car related. Thinking about my lack of savings and the pending cold season, I asked him if snow tires were really worth it. I had never had them before and was thinking maybe I could get through another winter without them. The grad student was adamant about the necessity of snow tires, and I decided to take his word for it. A couple months later I get an email from the student, telling me that he found a set of snow tires for me at the wreckers, and would char...

OK, I don't want to jinx this, but I just received great news on one of my credit card statements. I logged in to check my balance, with the intention of at least paying the interest charge, and what I saw made me blink and blink and "huh?" out loud. I was expecting a balance of just under $10 500, and what I saw was lower. Much lower. The balance shown was $9798 and change. When I clicked on details I saw that a $628.28 credit had been applied on July 31st. The activity line says "Finance Charge Correction - ion." I thought of calling them to inquire, but I don't want to jinx this. I think I'm going to leave it just for now, and enjoy the feeling of having a balance of under $10 000 for the first time in years. That $628 credit just about covers the car repair bill from last month. Now that's good car-ma *guffaw* Seriously, Karissa

I have known for the past few weeks that I was feeling low. Every time I thought of something to post on this blog I decided it was too negative, or whiny, or not grateful enough. Like, the old me. I was snapping at my son A LOT. And freaking out on his dad TOO MUCH (well, the doofus did play a mean trick with money in April, but I didn't want to react the way I did). I was spending A LOT of time at work trying to wrap up the semester, and trying to get to my weekly Al-Anon meeting each Tuesday afternoon. I spent a weekend with my mom, which turned out pretty well, for maybe the first time ever. I was stressing a lot about a potential new relationship. And then I got sick. Disgustingly, embarrassingly sick. I couldn't keep water down and what I thought was a spider bite on my back migrated to my front. I writhed and itched and thought I might be dying. After a whole weekend of suffering, I went to the doctor. Diagnosis: SHINGLES. Yes, the same shingles that my grandmother gets....

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...

Supporters Behind each of us stands at least one supporter. This was once thought to be the spouse who ran the home while leaving the other spouse free to work. While this is still one valid scenario, most of us will find that we have other kinds of supporters in our lives. In some cases, our supporters are the people whose help allows us to do the things we’re best at, see to our obligations, or pursue or dreams. In other cases, our support may come from the people who are there to help us through life’s challenges by offering us their strength and bolstering our spirit. Our support may come from our families and friends or from the people we hire—nannies, assistants, gardeners, healers, therapists, and advisors. Our supporters may be the mentors who help us express ourselves by listening to us as we share our thoughts and feelings. Our supporter can be the person sitting next to us at a networking meeting or the teacher from our childhood whose words still resonate in our minds. We h...

Reading this post by Frugal Dad today reminded me of how grateful I am to have done it my way, against all odds, despite all criticism. I was thirty years old when I found myself pregnant by my ex. We had reconciled briefly, but I was in the process of getting rid of all my stuff and moving to Thailand for eight months or longer. I had already arranged a leave of absence from a position I despised at the university, and was looking for a geographical cure for my misery. I was already thirty, with a B.A. in International Development and no overseas experience under my belt. It was time to go. But there were other plans in store for me. Under my belt was a little sprawn, who would inspire me to stop smoking, stop living by my four credit cards, and get real about life. I mean, GET REAL. I found out I was pregnant a week before I left for Thailand. I felt it was too late to change my plans, my job was given out on contract and my apartment was already rented to new tenants. Trying to arr...

The idea of home ownership is never far from my mind, especially because being a reader of finance material exposes me to all the benefits and pitfalls of having a mortgage. And of course there's all the news about the bursting of the housing bubble in the U.S. and all. We didn't have the same crisis in Canada but I hear that prices are falling and this makes me a little antsy to get out of debt and into the property market. This feeling of antsy hit me a couple of years ago, before I rented my house . I have near-perfect credit and always pay my rent on time, which is always around $900. I was starting to fall for the idea that I could roll that kind of money into a mortgage payment. I actually became obsessed with the idea of owning my own home (which helps me dramatically now, because I never let a payment slip on my debts) and I would drive around different neighbourhoods every weekend picking out houses I thought I could afford. One weekend I found a house in my neighbour...

I have my bad days, we all do. I had a few this past week that made me want to run away. Seriously. But I chugged ahead and by week's end - today - I was having a great time with my little guy. I have been following single mom blogs closely for the past few weeks, and I am grateful that I have found this online community of women with whom I can share my similar problems and concerns. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone better in the months and years to come. I have a community of moms on livejournal, most of whom have been with me since my pregnancy. I love them and wouldn't trade them for the world, but only a few are single moms. So I'm always looking for more moms to relate to. This parenting thing can be really difficult, and I need all the help I can get. However the way it is now, I really wouldn't have it any other way. My son is bright, healthy and happy. We have people around who love us. He goes to an excellent and trustworthy daycare. He sees...

From Gururattan K. Khalsa, Ph.D NMBeing #157 - PISCES JOURNEY: "As we cultivate our Divine Connection, we must grab on to every hint from the Universe that we are being supported. Acknowledgement is how we build trust and faith. Gratitude is how we solidify our connection. Our ability to allow establishes our willingness to receive divine assistance. The universe works through us in our acts of service and attitude of kindness. We witness our alignment through synchronicity. Devotion and gratitude evoke the Divine embrace."

I had several positive and encouraging comments to my post about my parents, and I'd like to express a sincere show of gratitude for all the support. I haven't yet figured out what I should write as a follow-up, or if I should just leave it be ... I have a couple of ideas and I hope to be able to sit down, figure them out, and express them here. Boy it's busy at work these days. It always is during the second semester, especially because we are compiling all the applications for the September intake. It's a slow week for me financially. No extra money coming in, just the support cheque and sometimes that's a few days late. I'm comfortable with living on the small allotment in my chequing account, but I told my dad that I would bring Bean out for a visit on Saturday. It's a three-hour drive, so if the cheque is late I will have to either make a transfer from my savings, or use my credit card. I'll pay it off as soon as the cheque comes in and is safely de...

As a believer in natural, holistic, alternative and universal healing strategies, I had the opportunity to visit a new Holistic Health and Education Centre near where I live. I picked up a few handouts and today I wanted to share one of them here. It's a list of principles by which I have been making a real effort to practice. Rules for Empowerment - Stop trying and start allowing - You and your own care must become a priority - Stop trying to manage the universe - Stop gossiping and get your nose in your own business - Have a vision that gets you out of bed - Add gratitude 24/7 - Accept things as they are (you don't have to like it, just stop resisting and accept it) - Trust that the Universe is abundant and will provide - Acknowledge yourself and your gifts daily - Do not make yourself responsible for the happiness of anyone but yourself - Know that you are the only one that can make your life great What do you think? Seriously, Karissa Dee