I am a little late to the new years resolutions, but late is better than never.
My financial goals are:
Get Married without accumulating any debt - This is actually an easy one since I have my TFSA which will be at $30,000 by the end of the month. However, J won't have much to contribute since he is still paying off his loans and I said I would rather him focus on doing that. I am hoping we can keep the wedding to a $20 000 budget???
Save $3000 in RSPs - If I get another full-time teaching position next school year this should be doable. I have already contributed $1000.
Save $5500 to TFSA - I have contributed $1500 so far. After the wedding, this account will be used toward a down payment on a house. The goal is to purchase our first house in 2016. Basically after I take money out of the TFSA, I hope to still have $15 000 in it by the end of the year.
Save $1000 in my Furniture Fund - It currently has $2000. I bought a new bedroom last summer but would like to start saving so we can buy a living room set when the house buying time comes.
Save $1000 in a Travel Fund - I currently have $1900 in this fund so would like to up it so we can go on a trip likely next summer (delayed honeymoon).
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Wedding Planning
J says, "These things plan themselves." Haha.
We have a venue (will confirm this week) and set a date of September 26, 2015!
That's 7 months away. It's totally doable but I was feeling stressed with report cards the past few weeks that I didn't allow myself to think wedding stuff. Now that they have been sent home, I am enjoying pinning things and talking about it with people.
I went to a wedding show with J this past weekend and I am feeling better about the planning process. I was a little shocked last week when a co-worker told me I should have my dress by now. I said, "uhhh, well we've only been engaged for two weeks!" We are going to do a hall. It's a pretty hall with a fireplace and big windows overlooking the lake. There is a ceremony site close by and we will rent a train to take us to and from it. They have a heritage train to do this. We will pray for nice weather.
We met with a potential caterer this weekend who is supposed to come back with a price for us at some point this week. It's going to be expensive since we need them to rent the dishes/cutlery/etc. I've let this sink in and I know we will cut costs in some ways but it's still going to be pricey. Our guest list is currently 196 but we are going to cut it to 150.
We are going to do our own open bar and we will hire a couple of people to run it and help with takedown. My brother is a brewer and will be able to give us a discount on beer, but we will have to apply for a special occasions permit and buy the rest of the alcohol (and supplies) ourselves.
We will have to rent chairs for the ceremony. J thought we could do hay bales with wooden planks and I loved the ides, but I think it will end up costing more than chairs.
We need to hire a DJ, and potentially a photographer (J's aunt and uncle said they could do it). Then flowers and other decorations (backdrop, head table, centrepieces, etc)! So much to do!
Do you have any favourite things about a wedding you've been to? Any wedding suggestions? Or things NOT to have/do?
We have a venue (will confirm this week) and set a date of September 26, 2015!
That's 7 months away. It's totally doable but I was feeling stressed with report cards the past few weeks that I didn't allow myself to think wedding stuff. Now that they have been sent home, I am enjoying pinning things and talking about it with people.
I went to a wedding show with J this past weekend and I am feeling better about the planning process. I was a little shocked last week when a co-worker told me I should have my dress by now. I said, "uhhh, well we've only been engaged for two weeks!" We are going to do a hall. It's a pretty hall with a fireplace and big windows overlooking the lake. There is a ceremony site close by and we will rent a train to take us to and from it. They have a heritage train to do this. We will pray for nice weather.
We met with a potential caterer this weekend who is supposed to come back with a price for us at some point this week. It's going to be expensive since we need them to rent the dishes/cutlery/etc. I've let this sink in and I know we will cut costs in some ways but it's still going to be pricey. Our guest list is currently 196 but we are going to cut it to 150.
We are going to do our own open bar and we will hire a couple of people to run it and help with takedown. My brother is a brewer and will be able to give us a discount on beer, but we will have to apply for a special occasions permit and buy the rest of the alcohol (and supplies) ourselves.
We will have to rent chairs for the ceremony. J thought we could do hay bales with wooden planks and I loved the ides, but I think it will end up costing more than chairs.
We need to hire a DJ, and potentially a photographer (J's aunt and uncle said they could do it). Then flowers and other decorations (backdrop, head table, centrepieces, etc)! So much to do!
Do you have any favourite things about a wedding you've been to? Any wedding suggestions? Or things NOT to have/do?
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
I Said YES!!!!
February 1st is a day I won't forget. It's the day J asked me to marry him. I was absolutely surprised and still cannot get over the fact that I am getting married!!!! To the man of my dreams, how is this real life??
I made it to be the most awkward proposal ever, but we rolled with it and that's kind of just how we are....awkward!
On Sunday morning we started our day off normally. J bringing me coffee in bed, and he playing guitar in the next room. We chitchat back and forth poking fun at each other and I request a Matchbox 20 song. It was a lesser known one and I finally get out of bed with my phone to play it for him. I do a little dance and sing along and sit close to him looking for the chords on my phone.
He begins to play Adam Sandler's "I Wanna Grow Old With You" song and changing some of the lyrics. This is still not out of the ordinary. After he sings "I'll buy you chocolate and flowers too..." He starts clearing his throat and nodding toward our coffee table. I was so consumed with looking for chords before that I didn't notice the flowers and chocolate sitting there the whole time! Again not out of the ordinary for him to do something like this. But I was caught so off guard by it this time that as he continues on with his song I got emotional by the surprise. I leave the room to get a kleenex.
I am laughing at myself in the next room for getting emotional over flowers and some M&Ms!! I give myself a minute and J says, "Are ya coming back??" I go back on my phone now trying to avoid looking at him because I am slightly embarrassed of tearing up. He continues singing, keeping some lyrics the same and changing others.
At the end he sings, "I'll make you dinner and rub your feet, will you marry me?" I look up and smile and then immediately I'm back to my phone.
Then he starts searching for something under the throw pillow at the other side of the couch. Then he throws two blankets and the throw pillow on the floor. At this point I'm looking at him confused as to why he is being so messy. He comes out with a box.
He gets down on one knee and then like every other girl who has ever been proposed to I continue to say, "Are you serious?" And cry happy tears, even happier than when I found out he got me chocolate and flowers just minutes earlier...
Awkward proposal? Yes. But it was real. And I am absolutely ecstatic about being with J forever.
I made it to be the most awkward proposal ever, but we rolled with it and that's kind of just how we are....awkward!
On Sunday morning we started our day off normally. J bringing me coffee in bed, and he playing guitar in the next room. We chitchat back and forth poking fun at each other and I request a Matchbox 20 song. It was a lesser known one and I finally get out of bed with my phone to play it for him. I do a little dance and sing along and sit close to him looking for the chords on my phone.
He begins to play Adam Sandler's "I Wanna Grow Old With You" song and changing some of the lyrics. This is still not out of the ordinary. After he sings "I'll buy you chocolate and flowers too..." He starts clearing his throat and nodding toward our coffee table. I was so consumed with looking for chords before that I didn't notice the flowers and chocolate sitting there the whole time! Again not out of the ordinary for him to do something like this. But I was caught so off guard by it this time that as he continues on with his song I got emotional by the surprise. I leave the room to get a kleenex.
I am laughing at myself in the next room for getting emotional over flowers and some M&Ms!! I give myself a minute and J says, "Are ya coming back??" I go back on my phone now trying to avoid looking at him because I am slightly embarrassed of tearing up. He continues singing, keeping some lyrics the same and changing others.
At the end he sings, "I'll make you dinner and rub your feet, will you marry me?" I look up and smile and then immediately I'm back to my phone.
Then he starts searching for something under the throw pillow at the other side of the couch. Then he throws two blankets and the throw pillow on the floor. At this point I'm looking at him confused as to why he is being so messy. He comes out with a box.
He gets down on one knee and then like every other girl who has ever been proposed to I continue to say, "Are you serious?" And cry happy tears, even happier than when I found out he got me chocolate and flowers just minutes earlier...
Awkward proposal? Yes. But it was real. And I am absolutely ecstatic about being with J forever.
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