July Spending

July absolutely flew by. I worked a ton which was great! I got a settlement for my car which went into savings. I celebrated my 27th birthday! D bought me new snorkelling gear for scuba diving and took me on a dive. We saw the fireworks, watched Spiderman, went on a date to a restaurant in town we've been wanting to go to forever. We went boating several times, and swimming. We went to Ribfest and my cousin and I made a bunch of treats for D's golf weekend with the boys.


July was an awesome month income-wise. I included the settlement as income, as well as tips, wages, and the paycheques I received from teaching.

Rent (19%) ACTUAL: 4%
Hydro (3%) 1%
Internet (3%) 1% 
Laundry (2%) <1 nbsp="nbsp" span="span">
Car and Gas (11%) ACTUAL: 2%
Phone (3%) ACTUAL: 1%
Food (8%) ACTUAL: 1%
Restaurant (3%) ACTUAL: 1%
Personal/Medical (4%) ACTUAL 2% Dentist appointment - no cavities!
Clothing (5%) ACTUAL: 0%
Gifts (5%) ACTUAL <1 br="br">Education (2%) ACTUAL 0%
Entertainment (3%) ACTUAL 1%
Everything Else (5%) ACTUAL: 1% Shoe rack, SD card, yoga mat, weights

TOTAL (73%) ACTUAL 17% I am sooo happy with this amount! Way under budget! Definitely helps when your income is much higher than usual.

TFSA (15%) ACTUAL: 27% Started new "Future TFSA" since I have maxed out the other one
Christmas (3%) ACTUAL: 3% Fully funded now!
Camera (3%) ACTUAL: 0%
RRSP (5%) ACTUAL: 8%
Travel Fund (3%) ACTUAL: 0%

TOTAL (28%) ACTUAL 38% I also managed to save $550 toward a gift to my parents. I have been saving all my $50 and $100 bills from work and it goes toward that fund so it's not a big shock to my bank account taking it all out at once. So if we included that, my savings would actually have been 46%!


I think August will be another great month. I plan on working as much as I can but also hope to have some fun with friends and D. Hope your July went well! 

Future TFSA

I maxed out my TFSA this year so I have no more contribution room. I also withdrew $15,000 this year so it's pretty much depleted and I would like to get it back up and running for next year. 

I created a regular savings account through ING and called it "Future TFSA."

I could have put money into the chequing account but it's at 0.25%, whereas a regular savings account is at 1.35%. ALMOST what the regular TFSA gives in interest currently. So I might as well make a bit of interest! By having a separate account I will know exactly how much I want to transfer over in the new year as well. 

I put in $2000 today. 

Updates For This Week

D and I went boating on Sunday. He taught me how to drive the boat!! It's kind of fun but I definitely prefer to be a passenger. We anchored the boat and went swimming at a beach before I had to go to work.

Work has been going well. I've been getting about 5 days a week which is exactly what I want. A girl told me that she wants to make $10,000 by the end of September and that would work out to be $833 a week. She is trying to pick up as many shifts as she can, I wonder if she will be able to make that goal?

On Wednesday, D and I did a group dive. It was the SAME location as last year which we were hoping to avoid but we both had the day off so decided we might as well take advantage of it. It was D's birthday present to me, he also bought me new snorkeling gear. I can't believe how expensive a mask and snorkel are! So it was really generous of him to buy it for me.

I have Sunday off! I haven't had an entire weekend day off in a long time, so I hope we are able to get up to doing something fun! I hope you enjoy your weekend!! :)

RSPs

I added $600 to the RSPs, and $200 to the Christmas fund.

Both are at my goals for the year now. RSPs are now at $1500, and Christmas is at $600, but I had $200 leftover from last year I did not use so it's really at $800.

I might contribute some more to RSPs but Christmas is done. Woo!

I have to remember to keep putting money aside so that I can replenish my TFSA when 2013 gets here.

Settlement Money

When I was in the car accident we went through insurance and just the other day they decided on a settlement. $2500....wow the car was definitely not worth that much....I think I paid $1500 for it from my parents in 2007!! Anyway, $500 was taken off due to the deductible.

My mom is giving the money to me. 

I feel guilty about this. SHE originally bought the car, I paid less for it than she is giving me. 

I told her I don't need all of that money and she said it's mine. That woman can be stubborn sometimes. 

So what I think I am going to do is pay $1000 toward their seasonal dues at a campground resort they stay at every summer. The rest will go into savings. 

Insurance Companies....

I planned to buy the car last week. I had been into the dealership quite a few times to check out the car, ask questions and test drive it. I decided I wanted it and decided to go ahead with everything. I did not have insurance in my own name since I was under my parents name before.

So I started to call around. I started with my parent's company since I was on record with them for about 10 years. They quoted me at $360 a month!! Uhh no.

An employee at the local high school told me to call this particular company, saying they offer great rates etc. I try it out and they won't even talk to me since I have a careless driving ticket issued to me. Okay then....moving on.

I went online to check out the best rates and Belair Direct came up. I call them up to get a quote and they say $250. Ughh better but I was still hoping for better.

The two speeding tickets and that major ticket are really working against me!!

My brother mentions he is with Desjardins so I call them and they quote me at $224. I still had one more evening before I HAD to get insurance so I said I said I would call them the next day if I was going to go with them.

I taught the next day and a friend of mine tells me that she is with TD financial and they offer discounts to college/university graduates. Why not call them too, so I do so after work and they quote me at $189.08. SOLD!!

Wow really helps to shop around. If I had gone with the original insurance company I would be paying an additional $171 per month, or $2052 a year!!

June Spending

June was a crazy month!! 
I dealt with the stalker issue. The police helped out so it should be done with! I crashed my car :( It was a 1999, and I rear-ended my roommate from university while we were in Toronto. I went to my roommate's bridal shower. I witnessed a guy stop to help a turtle across the road. D and I had a chipmunk come into the apartment!! I maxed out my TFSA and I bought a NEW CAR in cash!!! D and I saw Snow White and the Huntsman and went to the local pub a few times for dates with friends.

Rent (19%) ACTUAL: 9%
Hydro (3%) 2%
Internet (3%) 2% 
Laundry (2%) 1% 
Car and Gas (11%) ACTUAL: 4% if we don't include the new car, or 537% if we do...
Phone (3%) ACTUAL: 2%
Food (8%) ACTUAL: 4%
Restaurant (3%) ACTUAL: 5% Oops! D and I went on a few dates and starting at the new restaurant made me want to eat everything on the menu!
Personal/Medical (4%) ACTUAL 1%
Clothing (5%) ACTUAL: 0%
Gifts (5%) ACTUAL 1%
Education (2%) ACTUAL 0%
Entertainment (3%) ACTUAL 3%
Everything Else (5%) ACTUAL: 3% Second half of bridesmaid's dress

TOTAL (73%) ACTUAL 37% Another good month! Under budget (unless you count the car).

TFSA (15%) ACTUAL: 33%
Christmas (3%) ACTUAL: 0%
Camera (3%) ACTUAL: 0%
RRSP (5%) ACTUAL: 0%
Travel Fund (3%) ACTUAL: 0%

TOTAL (28%) ACTUAL 33% Maxed out the TFSA and that was all. I also took OUT $15000 from the TFSA this month. So really I should be in the negative but the plan was to use it as a planned spending fund so I am not going to put negative numbers in. 


July should be a great month. It's my birthday month, the weather looks like it will be amazing, and I only have one job this summer. Hope to get some savings in for next month though!