Updates

I have not been blogging nearly as much as I have wanted, but life is busy! I've been working 6-7 days each week. However, Sunday was my last day at the restaurant. It's a seasonal restaurant so they have closed down until May. So bittersweet, I am really going to miss a lot of the people that worked there this summer, best one yet! I will also miss the added income, but it will be nice to have additional time to catch up on things.

D and I took three days off from work last week and went camping! We canoed for about 40 minutes, then hiked for an hour and a half (just because we had to make 2 trips) and then rowed for about 10 minutes to a little cabin on an island. It was an adorable cabin! It was a great few days as well. Much needed!

D and I were having some problems earlier this month and in September. Mostly myself getting mad at him for not spending time with me or lack of effort with everything, and he getting mad at me over little things too (i.e. he was so upset when I threw out expired meat). It was just bad, I think stress from our jobs was adding to it. It's been getting better now though, we talked about things a lot. It definitely made me question a lot of things though too. I want things to work out, I hope that they do! So far since our camping trip things have been a lot better, maybe it was just a little break from work that was needed.

My best friend's ex boyfriend passed away a couple of weeks ago from a drug overdose. She dated him for more than 3 years, but they broke up 4 years ago. He was a different person back then. I went with her to the memorial on Sunday, it was incredibly sad. A parent should never have to go through something like that.  I also arrived second to the scene of a fatal car crash on my way home from work about a week and a half ago. Both instances made me realize that life is so short and that it's so much about the relationships you have.

I've been reading a bit more. I just finished "I've Got Your Number" by Sophie Kinsella. It was a fast read, not very believable, but entertaining. I bought it from a girl selling things on kijiji in my area. I bought 6 books, including one hardcover for $10! They are great, brand new looking!

I want to make something a little crafty too. Maybe some throw pillows for our ugly couches. I entered our couches into the Leon's room makeover contest and was surprised we didn't win!

Extreme Cheapskates

Have you heard of this new show on TLC? It gives you an inside look at some really cheap people in America. Some reuse toilet paper, dive in dumpsters for gifts, asking strangers for their leftovers. Check out a clip here from one of the shows.

Is there anything you do that you consider especially frugal?

September Spending!

I cannot believe it's already October!! September went by so fast! I worked a lot during September, even got 2.5 days of teaching in. Went to my elementary school's 25th anniversary with D, hung out with work friends a lot (I am going to miss them once the season is over), went out a couple of times with my brothers too.

Rent (19%) ACTUAL: 8%
Hydro (3%) 3%
Internet (3%) 2% 
Laundry (2%) 1%
Car and Gas (11%) ACTUAL: 12% A lot of driving!
Phone (3%) ACTUAL: 2%
Food (8%) ACTUAL: 6%
Restaurant (3%) ACTUAL: 1%
Personal/Medical (4%) ACTUAL 0%
Clothing (5%) ACTUAL: 6% A couple of t-shirts, hoodies, and a pair of jeans
Gifts (5%) ACTUAL 4% Wedding gift, food basket for my mom
Education (2%) ACTUAL 0%
Entertainment (3%) ACTUAL 1%
Everything Else (5%) ACTUAL: 1% Hair for wedding

TOTAL (73%) ACTUAL 47% This is pretty good for September! I only went over in car and gas spending. There was a lot of driving this month to the city and to work which is about a 50km round trip.

TFSA (15%) ACTUAL: 60% toward the "future TFSA"
Christmas (3%) ACTUAL: 0%
Camera (3%) ACTUAL: 0%
RRSP (5%) ACTUAL: 0%
Travel Fund (3%) ACTUAL: 15%

TOTAL (28%) ACTUAL 75% I am really happy with the amount of savings again. It was due to having that serving job though. It's going to be difficult when it's back to only teaching again. Hopefully I can work there at least one more summer! 

October I want to save more toward the future TFSA. I want to carve pumpkins. I have to figure out whether we are going to stay in this apartment or not since our least is up at the end of the month! Ah, some big decisions coming up. 

August Spending

A little late on this post. August and September were really busy months! A lot of working, but it was good!

Rent (19%) ACTUAL: 7%
Hydro (3%) 2%
Internet (3%) 2% 
Laundry (2%) 1%
Car and Gas (11%) ACTUAL: 8%
Phone (3%) ACTUAL: 1%
Food (8%) ACTUAL: 4%
Restaurant (3%) ACTUAL: 1%
Personal/Medical (4%) ACTUAL 6% Hair appointment and prescription
Clothing (5%) ACTUAL: 1% Pair of shoes for work and the wedding
Gifts (5%) ACTUAL 3% Bachelorette gift
Education (2%) ACTUAL 4% ASL course
Entertainment (3%) ACTUAL 3%
Everything Else (5%) ACTUAL: 10% AUX wire for the car, purses, dress alterations

TOTAL (73%) ACTUAL 53% This isn't too bad. I am sure I could have done better, but I am still happy with this amount!

TFSA (15%) ACTUAL: 61% for the "future TFSA"
Christmas (3%) ACTUAL: 0% This is done now!
Camera (3%) ACTUAL: 2%
RRSP (5%) ACTUAL: 0%
Travel Fund (3%) ACTUAL: 0%

TOTAL (28%) ACTUAL 64% Now THIS is a great number!! I am very happy with the savings this month. I am going to miss having my serving job once it's complete, the extra money from it was amazing!

Quick Thursday Updates

I reached my goal of saving $1000 for my parents yesterday! I have it all neatly placed in an envelope so I will have to make a trip out to where they camp to put the deposit on their seasonal dues for next year.

Work has been busy, which is great! I need to make money this summer!

I went to bingo the other day with my mom. It was so much fun but we didn't win anything.

We had dinner at D's family's house on Sunday. My cousin and her boyfriend joined us there. We went boating, ah I love summer!

D has a family reunion on Sunday, I have the day off work so it should be a good time. Will be nice to see that side of his family again. I have to either bring a dessert or a salad to the party, not sure which one to bring. His family gets pretty fancy with their desserts and I won't have a ton of time to make something up to their par.

We had an apartment fly infestation!! There were so many of them flying around. They would keep me up at night and they were just a nuisance in general. I put up some of those disgusting sticky tape things to catch them....did they ever work well! I should post the picture I took of one of them COVERED with flies! EWW!!!

I did day one of Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, it nearly KILLED me!!! I am way more out of shape than I thought! The days after the video were harder than the video itself! Might try to do another one today. My cousin said she is going to do it too starting on Monday.

I want a pet so badly. It doesn't make sense to have one in our apartment though. Instead I visit my parents a lot, but mostly just to play with their dog :)

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.