RRSP Deadline is Approaching

It's coming up. March 1st. I have only contributed $1000 but I am not going to be adding anymore before the deadline. I do have a goal of at least another $1000 for this year though. Slowly building it. Better slow than never though right?

I consider my RSP as money I will never touch until retirement. I know that you can take it out as part of a home buyer's plan and that could be an option but will have to investigate that further when that time comes. I consider the TFSA as spendable money, planned spending though. Things like a car or a downpayment.

This was actually the first year I EVER added money to an RSP. Are you adding more to your RRSP before the deadline?

Lack of Postings

Sorry about the lack of postings. It's been busy around here!

I had workshops Monday through Thursday. Friday I worked. I hung out with D everyday this week as well. Last Sunday I visited my cousin in Toronto. It was nice seeing her and some of the people in her life. It's always weird talking to her and she tells me all about these people. I picture them a certain way and it's never the way they actually turn out to be. It's kinda neat to do.

The workshops were for the school board. They were optional and we weren't paid but I believe in lifelong learning and thought they were well done. D was house-sitting this week for his boss and their dog just had puppies, so it was pretty neat to see the puppies. Their eyes are still not open.

I finished Generation A, it was interesting. A very weird ending actually. Not what I expected at all, I thought the ending could have been better, but oh well. On to the next book, not too sure what that will be yet. D recommended a mystery to me, but I think I might be in the mood for a quick chick lit. We will see. I have this entire week off so I could probably get a book done if I really tried.

This weekend we rented a couple of movies (Couples Retreat and  Cop Out). We made dinner together and this morning we woke up really early and went out for breakfast. We also watched Lilo and Stitch today haha. I think D and I might go out for supper tonight with my family, my brother's girlfriend, and my uncle. Not sure yet, but I hope so!

I still have not contributed to RRSPs, I will soon though. I think I am going to go with RSP GICs from ING. Wow a lot of acronyms!

I think I am also missing a paycheque from work I did in early July. I thought it would work itself out this past paycheque but it did not so I am going to have to go to the bank and get some records just to make sure, and if I really did not get paid I'll have to contact my boss and  payroll people. Grrr!

Where To Invest in RSPs??

I still have not invested in RRSPs. I am 25 and have thought about them but haven't looked too deep into what it all means. It's a bit confusing with the GICs, Mutual Funds etc.

Currently I have two bank accounts: Scotiabank, and ING Direct.

Where should I contribute to RRSPs? Should I be looking into GICs or Mutual Funds? What is the safest route to go?

What do you do?

In other news, I worked three days this past week which were really good. I enjoyed them a lot. I had a game night with D and two friends. D and I watched a couple movies this weekend and went out for ice cream and sat by the lake. It was a chilly weekend compared to normal. It was nice to hang out with him and hope to see him again soon.

I also contributed $600 to my TFSA on payday Friday woohoo.

DEBT-FREE

WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

Wow, this day has finally come. It took me a long time but it's here. I procrastinated the last bit too in order to start some savings. I finaly paid off that pesky family loan ;) I also paid off my credit card and phone bill today so I'm literally debt-free. However I also have very few assets. An education, a bit of savings, an old car, and a few personal items.

So now what??

With very little work this summer I think I will try to keep the spending to a minimum. But I also want to enjoy myself this summer but I won't go overboard. I think want to focus on the TFSA and start RRSPs. Any other suggestions??

Potential 2010 Budget

So I have been thinking about this for a while (well past couple of weeks at least).

I want to have a variable budget with regards to LIFE expenses. However with semi-fixed expenses/savings this is what I want to try to have each month:

$100 for Transportation
$600 to my Family Loan
$200 to TFSA
$50 for Gifts
$50 to E-fund

Transportation would cover gas and hopefully small repairs.
Family Loan is the loan my family gave after I graduated to help reduce interest costs. Contributing at this amount would take me to about June to get it paid off. Anything left over would also go here.
TFSA was started this month and would be "planned spending" but for something at a much later date (i.e. wedding, car)
Gifts is for birthdays and Christmas throughout the year
E-fund is low right now because I live at home and have relatively little expenses so an emergency is not very likely to occur but I still want to get one started to help for when I do move out.

You may be thinking that I should be contributing to an RRSP as well. I have thought about this, and I think for me it's more important to pay off my debt before contributing to retirement. Especially since I have a low income. I will start contributing to an RRSP once I get the family loan paid off. I have a budget for this as well. After loan is paid off I was thinking: $400 to TFSA, $250 to RRSP, $50 to gifts and $100 to E-fund.

*Also I should mention this is for typical paycheque months, some months I will not even make this amount and I will try to cut personal expenses as much as I can to make these payments but may not always happen. Other months I will try to go above these goals as well when I have better paycheque months :)

Any advice is welcome!! What do you think?