Clawing our way to financial health

Recent financial posts

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Refinancing mortgage

RESP/Investment advisors

Where am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:16:00 +0000

I have decided to take a break from this blog and return to my more personal blog here:
www.westcoastwoolies.blogspot.com

Here you will find me posting on a wider variety of topics, including finance. Some of my thoughts will also be on motherhood, academia, self-employment, craft endeavours (this was originally my craft blog), and other personal happenings.

So come on over, I hope you can update your subscriptions and still peek in on my life once awhile. Having a personal finance blog has been fun, but limiting enough right now that I am not blogging. So to keep the motivation up, and to document a broader spectrum of my life, I am making the switch for now.

It has been great to meet you all, and I know I will keep following PF blogs in my internet readings. See you at the new site!

November money blues

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Blech to westcoast rain. Don't get me wrong, I like winter here better than in the interior of BC because I am not a fan of snow for months on end (I like little bits at a time), it is just gray here and I miss the summer sun. I WISH we could go to Hawaii again, but we are not financially able to right now.

As can happen with self-employment we are currently into our line of credit with the business and waiting for about $13k in money owed to us. These times make me very anxious. In fact work wise everything is uncertain; neither Mr W or I have contracts lined up for the next few months. There are a few possibilities but nothing signed and sealed for sure.

Also I am carrying a balance of about $5k on a credit card that had a low interest rate (3.99%) on it. The 9 month period of this low rate is over and I need to call and convert the credit card to a lower interest option of about 9%. It is on my to do list, and now on my blog so maybe this will light a fire under my butt to get this done!

Which stocks would you pick?

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:02:00 +0000

I have signed up for the Financial Post's Stockstar Challenge. It is a free online challenge where you sign up and are given $100,000 in play money to invest. The stocks are real, it is like you are playing the stock market with none of the risk.

I started a few days ago, and have made a few thousand dollars. Not bad considering I don't know what I am doing, and the stock market is down again today. Of course, some people have $800,000 in their portfolio now, they are obviously much better stock pickers than I!

I thought I would share what I have bought and why, and ask others what they would recommend for me to try (risk free!!!).
1. Apple - Vista is soooooo bad, I think Mac is gaining ground, and the ipod just rocks.
2. Microsoft - despite its troubles today it seems to be gaining ground
3. Potash Corp. - finanical news says this company which produces fertilizers is doing well
4. Suncor - this is an oil company in Alberta, and I don't think the oil sand boom is over, just slowing
5. WalMart, Costco and Canadian Tire - because in these times of financial woe, these guys are going to be busy
6. Tim Horton's - just to see - the drive thru is always busy here
7. Verizon Wireless - these guys have a great network and passable customer service, and I wanted a cell company
8. Johnson and Johnson and BMO - the financial bloggers have had success with these
9. AIG - because it was a BARGAIN and is getting bailed out
10. Wachovia - because today it was gaining rapidly

So there you go, kind of random, and definitely more random than if it was MY $100k.

Warranties suck

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Three (three!) items with warranties have recently broken in our household, days or weeks after the warranty expired.
First all three cordless phones went within a period of a month, about one month after the warranty expired. First one wouldn't dial and then the sickness spread slowly until one frustrating afternoon when I couldn't call out at all with any of the phones. Ironically I was trying to dial a company about the second item which has died:
Our kettle decided one morning not to work anymore. Oh yes, a mere 2 weeks after the warranty expired. It is a cordless electric kettle, and the switch to turn it on no longer turns it on. We might be able to fix it ourselves if the screws in the bottom of the kettle did not not have triangular heads. Who has a triangular screwdriver???? Not even my dad and his business requires an extensive array of tools.
Then shortly after our laser printer stopped feeding the paper. DAYS after the warranty expired. DAYS!!!!!
So what have we done. We bought new phones (no point in arguing about this warranty, I didn't like the phones anyway). We are using an old kettle until I can find the time to phone Cuisinart and ask if they can fix the kettle for less than the cost of a new one ($95). Mr W says he doubts they will. I phoned Dell about the printer thinking I had an extended warranty, and found out that OOPs! Mr Salesman only put the warranty on the computer NOT the printer as well. Since the original warranty expired two weeks ago I am pretty much SOL and may as well recycle this printer and buy another. This one REALLY irks me (as you can tell by my use of CAPS) and I argued with them for awhile until baby started crying and I had to go. I have concluded tho that for my sanity I will have to let this go. I could argue more, I could track down a manager, I could insist they cover the printer, but who has time for this?? Not me anymore unfortunately.
All I can do is rant about it on my blog :):)

Cozy fall morning

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:36:00 +0000

The baby boy and I are sitting here enjoying our first morning with our fire. We have been having stormy weather here on the coast but the wind blew the rain away this morning. It is quite lovely sitting by the warm fire with sun coming in the window. The boy says his hand sure tastes good today.

We heat with both electric heat and our propane fireplace. Yesterday our first tank of propane was delivered just in time for fall weather. Our house came with a 100lb propane tank when we bought it. Last year we used this tank up about every 3-4 weeks. The fireplace heats our living room and kitchen/dining area (house is open concept). We were paying about $100 every month or so from October – March. This year we found out we could rent a bigger tank for $68/year + $35 delivery fee, and save on our propane costs because the cost of propane goes down the more you buy. The new tank is 200 lbs and costs $122 to fill, only $22 more than the other tank half its size.

The fireplace is certainly not necessary, we could heat fully with electricity. It is just nice and makes the house seem cosier. And when the power goes off (as it just did, am writing this on laptop battery power), we still have some heat in the house!

Diaper inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Thanks to reader's encouragement and Nancy's challenge (I use cloth diapers today and she will make her lunch and take it to work) I got through the day using cloth diapers for the most part. I forgot early this morning - too groggy to do much other than reach for the disposable diaper at hand.

I did a calculation, hoping for that to inspire me. My parents have asked us if we all want to go to Maui with them this January. Oh yes, want to. Can afford to? Jury is still out on that one. But saving money using my cloth diapers takes us one step closer, even if it is a pipe dream!

So there are 72 diapers / pkg we buy at WalMart for $13.99 + tax. At 6 diapers a day these would cost us $485 (approx) a year in diapers. Not to mention the unnecessary waste. If I could cut this in half, that would pay for a couple nights in Hawaii :)

But oh my... the laundry... it sure is stinky :(:(

Diaper dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Talk about good intentions. I have the cloth diapers. I have the cloth diaper pail. I know how to use the cloth diapers. I like the cloth diapers. I know how much money I save with the cloth diapers. I am just having a little trouble USING the cloth diapers :)

Let's face it, I am lazy when it comes to cloth diapers. It is just easier to use disposable. And only marginally easier. I just don't have to do the extra laundry.

I can come up with excuses to not use a cloth diaper during the day:
I am going out, I should use a disposable
The baby is going to nap, I should use a disposable
Oops I forgot to put a cloth diaper on, too late!

Last week I found out about flushable or compostable diapers. Seems like a nice compromise- easy disposal with less environmental impacts. However, it is more costly than my current disposable diapers. Right now I am paying $13.99 for 60 diapers from WalMart, whereas the flushable diapers are $19.99 for 40.

Do I:
1.Pay more for the environmentally sound option of flushable diapers?
2.Continue to save some money and use WalMart brand diapers?
3.Save LOTS of money and get over my laziness and use the cloth diapers?

That is my dilemma. Right now I am opting for 2, hoping for inspiration to go for option 3, and considering trying out 1 just to see if I like it or not.

Good thing about all this is that baby doesn't care. As long as he is changed every few hours he seems pretty happy.

The week - thank goodness for grandmas

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +0000

I have been without Mr W all this week while he is away welding in Alberta for 5 days (plus 2 days travel). We knew the day would come when he had to go away for work, but the timing couldn't have been better.

The little boy and I spent 3 days with my parents and then came home to the in laws visiting for another 3 days. They left this morning and Mr W will be home tomorrow evening.

Thank goodness for grandmas (and grandpas!) who: cuddle crying babies, help out with shopping, cook, clean, go on walks with mom, baby and 2 dogs, and just generally make life easier!

I know I CAN do this (be a mom that is) on my own for a few days, it is just easier with help.

Our savings are getting lower, so Mr W is under more pressure to find work. This little job helped a lot, and while he was away a few more job prospects came up. None in town however! I think we are going to have to accept that while Mr W is working towards his professional status as a forester he is going to have to take whatever forestry work is available, either on contract, or as a full time job. The next two possibilities are in Kamloops, and in Campbell River (2 hours away).

After a week away though, Mr W knows for sure he doesn't want to do what his dad did which was work away from home for weeks or even months at a time. Time is just too precious with our little guy!

Budget confessions

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:33:00 +0000

We are NOT doing well with our new reduced budget. It sucks actually, how poorly we are doing. Since the baby has been born we have so bad at buying take out coffees (at least $7 a visit), baby stuff, take out meals or meals out, and things for ourselves like clothes (me), and items like kitchen stuff (Mr W). To top it all off, we have been spending more on gas than ever before since we drive a lot when the baby is fussy. And I didn't budget for diapers, wipes, or baby formula. What was I thinking?

To be honest, it shouldn't be surprising. Unless we are vigilant at watching our finances, our problem is that we spend without thinking much about it. Now that our attention suddenly has been diverted wholly to caring for this new person in our life, we just have lapsed into some of our old habits. Money watching for us is necessary, and a chore, something that must be worked at. And when we take a break from this job, things start looking pretty nasty once again. And since I am the primary money watcher AND primary baby feeder it is no wonder things have gone awry.

I just looked at our debt numbers for August, and our debt actually increased for the first time in over a year. Sheeeiiiiittt. Ok, now I have noticed the problem, we need to start addressing it.

Night out without baby

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:36:00 +0000

Last night Mr W and I went out for a few hours and left Wooly Baby with his grandparents. It was our first night out by ourselves since WB was born. The occasion was our 3rd wedding anniversary and we enjoyed a meal out and a chance to catch up on our time as a couple. And WB was an angel with his grandparents! Apparently he quite contentedly ate dinner with them sitting in his rocker chair on the table, allowed himself to be cuddled by their friends who came for a baby visit, and sat quietly with them after the friends left. He wouldn't sleep until we came home and I gave him a little cuddle, but that is fine, he did amazingly well. It is a relief to know I can head out without worrying!

Life with a baby - kind of like being retired

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Life with baby is certainly hard, but to me it is like being retired- getting to forget about work (for awhile) and doing something I absolutely LOVE to do. I realized the other day I have always wanted a child, it just took 35 years before I fulfilled that dream. I don't think I have wanted anything else for as long. I certainly never imagined that I would get a PhD, and forestry was something that I stumbled into, not something I had dreamed of doing (even though I enjoy it). So here I am having the time of my life! And the brilliant thing is that Mr W has been home having as much fun during this baby retirement as I am.

I was reading Sydney's blog about retirement the other day and she says she can only plan two things to do each day. I agree, but one of those things for me is baby, so I end up only being able to plan one thing each day :) This often includes the dog walk, depending on how vigorous the walk is. Some of the activities this week were: hike, thrift store shopping, lunch with my parents, visit from my cousin, and, today, our first Mom's group at the women's health centre. I find my days filling up magically each week, with so little time that the household chores are getting neglected (which is a good thing in my mind).

But ahhh, all baby retirements come to an end. To be honest, I have been working a few hours each week. A client contacted me two weeks ago asking if I could possibly do some GIS work for him. Since he was willing to be flexible, is a good client, and pays well I figured I would attempt some maps for him. So far so good, I don't work more than 6-7 hours a week, and I can fit an hour or two first thing in the morning between feeds when the baby is happiest. We usually have a morning feed, some playtime, and then he naps. Even if he doesn't nap he entertains himself well during this time and I keep him close so we can interact.

And then there is Mr W's work. He may go to Alberta to weld for September. One of the oil refineries is having its annual shutdown for maintenance and they are calling for 3000 welders and pipefitters next month. This could mean very good money, so much so we would be able to relax about money for the rest of the year, and take on forestry contracts as we felt able. Trouble is him being away for a month and since he will be in camp it is not possible for the baby and I to go visit. He would come home on his breaks, but in all liklihood he will be working up to 18 days at a time. So we will miss him and he will miss us a lot! It will be a tough decision for Mr W to make, I think we will play it by ear.

Still in my pjs, better get going to get ready for Mom's group :):)

Costs of a hospital birth

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:21:00 +0000

Well as mentioned here we did end up at the hospital after a planned home birth because of some minor complications where Wooly Baby wasn't arriving as quickly as the midwives (and me) would have liked. I had previously posted on the costs of home birth, and now can comment on the costs of hospital birth at our local hospital.

Costs:
1. Parking - this was free at our hospital, but I know many hospitals charge for parking.
2. Fuel - Mr W would have spent a few dollars on fuel going back and forth to the hospital. We live 5 minutes away though so I don't estimate it to be more than $10 over 3 days.
3. Food - Because the hospital didn't really feed Mr W except for lunch right after the birth, Mr W ended up buying take out quite a bit, as well as purchasing some fruit and treats (decaf latte and chocolate and fruit juice) for me. The meals were quite big though so I usually shared something with him. Every meal came with fruit, salad, soup, main course, dessert, milk, juice and tea. Well except for breakfast, but it was big too.
4. Cell charges- we called everyone on our cell phones of course which meant we will have some long distance charges. I think I remembered to use the calling card most of the time, but I am pretty sure I got excited I called without it a few times too.

Savings:
We got several freebies, including a knitted hat, diapers, and wipes. That was nice :)

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Life with the Wooly Babe is excellent. We have moved from the sleep deprived stage where we walked around saying "What just happened?" which lasted about 3 weeks as we all got used to each other. Wooly Babe has started our training well though and we have moved into the sleep deprived stage where are wooed by his smiles, coos, giggles, and yes, even his crying. In short, we are madly in love with him, as was his plan. What he doesn't know is that he had us completely enthralled from the moment we laid eyes on him!

We even have a small routine working right now (touch wood). I am able to gauge his feeds throughout the day, which are about every 2 hours, with a 3 hour period in the afternoon when he has a longer nap. Evenings are pretty good. We had our first real bedtime with him yesterday with a bath, story, and then bedtime where he slept until midnight. Mr W does a bottle feed at midnight and then I feed again anywhere from 4 to 6 am.

And we have been getting out! At first we just drove around a lot, drinking a lot of drive thru coffee (our latte factor was high in July), but now we actually get out and go for walks and visit people. A friend and I took our two babies to the beach yesterday for a picnic quite successfully.

So all good, and I was able to fit in writing this post, which is great, I may be able to think up some finance related content other than latte factors for next post :) Thanks for all your well wishes from the last post when he was just born!

A Wooly Baby is Born!

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Our wee Wooly Baby was born June 30 at 9:19 am. He weighed 7 lbs 14 ozs, and is gorgeous with a full head of blonde hair and blue eyes like his dad.

Labour at home with the midwife was fantastic until little baby decided to take his time coming. We had to transfer to hospital after 13 hours, and had some help encouraging him to arrive. This has left me very sore and immobile, but we did not have to have a c-section.

Baby is almost back to his birth weight and LOVES breastfeeding, so is getting plump little cheeks already. What a ride the past 6 days, it is an experience I couldn't imagine, and worth every single minute.

It may be a week or two before I can post again- consider it our Babymoon- but we'll be back.

Why are the banks pushing HELOCS?

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:48:00 +0000

Every time I call my bank to do something (such as pay off my loan yesterday) they try to get me a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). They see I have a mortgage, and I have debt, and then try and convince me to apply for a HELOC. Do they get commission on these applications? Because I have been turned down for a HELOC before. Reasons: too much debt, and self-employment income, which they won't count as "real" income for another few years.

By why push the HELOC? It would be a cut in interest rates for me to be able to consolidate loans, almost by half these days- from 8.75% to 4.75%. So it seems counterintuitive that the bank would want to push the HELOC. Do they imagine I won't pay off the other debts, thus being more in debt? Or, as I said, does CIBC simply pay a commission to its customer service reps for getting at least an application started? I can understand if they were pushing a high interest credit card instead!

The other interesting part of the conversation on the phone with the bank yesterday was when the guy asked me what I planned to do with my current line of credit (which is maxed). Pay it off of course, I said, just like I just paid off one of my current loans with you today. I found this question absurd. What I else would I do with debt? Keep digging a hole? Been there, done that, no thanks! As soon as that debt is paid that LOC will be closed. No more keeping such things open "just in case" I have proved myself inept at managing such tools, so I am cutting myself off.

We did it!

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:58:00 +0000

I just made my last payment on one of my debt snowball loans for $119.63, so as of tomorrow we will be down yet another loan! This loan was a leftover debt consolidation loan of mine from the horribly badly managed financial years when I was doing my MSc. I bought and lived on a tug for awhile, sold the tug, lost some money, made some bad financial decisions, didn't keep up with my taxes. Lived beyond my means to say the least. Saved nothing.

One less monkey on my back, yay!

The waiting game

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:16:00 +0000

39 weeks and two days. And counting :)

Mr W and I were getting a little antsy this last week so we started getting out of the house and going on little adventures, at least for part of the day. When I am at home all I think about is "When will this baby arrive?" We have both been working a little this week too though. We submitted a proposal for work in Sept for Mr W (which we didn't get, our bid was too high), and I am revising a journal article with a colleague in Arizona.

On Thursday morning I went for a walk with a friend and her two young ones, and we have promised to get together early this week to bake cookies. Mr W and I then went for Japanese food for lunch, yum!!! My favourite is the spicy agedashi tofu these days. He and I then drove around for a bit and just chilled out. Came home, had a nice dinner and puttered around the yard.

Friday afternoon we decided to go geocaching on one of the local islands. We caught the ferry after lunch, and I managed to haul my butt and baby belly up one of the mountains on the island for some spectacular views. I joke that I will have to run a marathon to make this baby come out because he is used to these types of hikes, and seems quite content in there! We had dinner on the island and then went to beach to take the dogs for a swim before catching a later ferry back home. Lovely day.

Yesterday was less adventurous, mostly organizing the new office and working around here. Today however, we are off to Victoria for a garden tour with my parents and grandmother. Mr W is leaving for a few days work tonight though. He is away tonight, but back tomorrow night. Then away for 2 more nights, but on high alert for baby!

If Wooly Baby is anything like his dad though, he isn't going to be early. Even his mom is either right on time or a little late, so I don't expect to see him before the end of the week. Stay tuned to see if I have good intuition or a baby who is going to be completely opposite his parents and arrive when least expected :)

No Canada Child Tax Benefits for us

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:42:00 +0000

I was just reading Four Pillar's post on the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) available to families with children. I had presumed we would be getting something, but I read that you must have a combined family net income of $102,000, and I suddenly realized then that we were above that. I went to the government's calculator though and checked it out for myself, and yes we don't qualify because our net income was $114,000 or so last year.

I have mixed feelings about this. I can see why we wouldn't qualify with a higher income. I reached my salary goal last year where I wanted to earn around $70k a year. I set this goal when I became self employed because I felt the salaries being offered to me as an employee (in the consulting world) did not match the salary I would be making working for government, industry, or perhaps academia (although this may not be true depending on the position). As someone with an MSc I was making around $50k a year before returning to school, and I believed that my added years of experience AND 4 years of school to get a PHD qualified me for a salary somewhere around $65-70k. I was getting offers which ranged from $55k-60k, and less respect, responsibility, and freedom than I wanted to so I headed out on my own.

Mr W made less last year than he usually does because he too started in the self-employment world, moving away from his welding career which could bring in up to $60k a year for him depending on the work picture and his willingness to work in Alberta for extended periods of time. Yet he still had a net income of $44k.

So yes, on paper we are well off. But here is where it is not so straightforward.
1. We have a lot of debt (our fault yes), partly because of school, and in order to manage that debt we have to be careful, and make sure to budget wisely. In order to take time off work, it was crucial that we eliminate at least $20k in debt by June so that our monthly debt payments were lower ($1400/month vs $2200/month).
2. Neither one of us qualifies for EI maternity or parental leave because we are self-employed, and thus have had to SAVE money (from that net income!) in order to take this time out to have a child. You can effectively reduce our net income by at least $20k as savings for this year, which would drop our net income into the acceptable range where we would qualify for the CCTB. The only way I could have used this to my advantage would have been to put the money in an RRSP and then withdraw the money this year as needed, thus getting last year's tax benefits but paying the tax this year. Too much hassle.

I wasn't counting on the money from the government, don't get me wrong, and truly I don't think I am surprised that we don't qualify. Mainly because the whole EI debacle has already highlighted for me the gap in government policy when it comes to self-employment and women in this country (except Quebec).

Married again!

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:16:00 +0000

A year ago or so (it was the day before Mother's Day May 2007) I lost my wedding ring. I think I posted about this awhile ago. I knew it was in the house somewhere because the day it disappeared I had not gone anywhere and had been cleaning the house in preparation for a friend's visit (who is a very clean person). The next morning I went to put on my ring, since I always take it off at night, and it wasn't where it should be in the bathroom. I looked everywhere for it, including emptying the vacuum bags, garbage, checking under the beds and furniture, but it didn't show up. Until today! Turns out we had been sleeping on it for 13 months. It was wedged in between the feather mattress topper and the main mattress, and despite the fact that I had turned that feather mattress every few months it didn't make its appearance until today. Wow! I am so thrilled. It needed cleaning but is good as new. I guess it slipped off when I made the bed, seeing as it was one size too big for me all along. It isn't now, since I am swollen enough for it to be snug right now, so I will wait to get it sized properly until after the baby is born. I didn't know how we would replace it since it has so much sentimental value- Mr W and I picked it out when living in Arizona and it has a First Nations artist who carved it out of thick silver, with a beautiful piece of Arizona turquoise inlaid. Guess I should keep it on my finger eh?

Baby Shower

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:44:00 +0000

My mom organized a baby shower on the weekend. 20 lovely, laughing women - Great Grandmas, Grandmas, Moms, and babies! Mom organized about 10 of them to knit up this gorgeous blanket for our Baby Wooly. Every woman knit a different square and then Mom and her friend knit and sewed it all together. Amazing, what a treasure! I was very overwhelmed by the thought that Wooly Baby will always be able to look at this and see how much love there was for him when he came into the world.

There were other very practical or needed gifts, I am very grateful. We got books, hand knit or hand made items, a nursing pillow (very much needed), a few stuffed toys, bath time supplies, and a music box for the crib. And since the shower was at my house I packed away a box full of leftovers for after the birth!

I am 38 weeks now, and see the midwife once a week. We have gathered all our supplies and pick up the borrowed birth pool this morning. That should be interesting, I have no idea what it will look like, or how we even fill it yet. I had to order a tub liner for it, well worth it I am told because it saves cleaning up after, but it cost $40! Just another item that was more expensive than I thought.

We do still have a few outstanding items to purchase. I ordered a few BPA free baby bottles online but none have arrived, so I want to pick up one inexpensive bottle, a soother, and I need 1 or 2 large swaddling blankets. The swaddling blankets have proved indispensable for a friend with a colicky baby, and I only have one large enough to swaddle the little guy properly. We took a class on the weekend called Happiest Baby, and swaddling is one of the primary techniques parents can use to calm their fussy baby in the first trimester. It worked so well with my friend`s baby I am sold! I may just go purchase some flannel from the fabric store and make them myself.

So forgive the lack of finance posts in the next little while. With two weeks to go the baby has descended, and really, all I can think about is the birth, mainly because I am pretty uncomfortable. I am not very good at staying off my feet, but after I gardened and walked yesterday I am paying for it with aches and pains today :):)

If anybody would like to guest post on a finance topic I would be most grateful. Otherwise I will just keep posting my ramblings about pregnancy, at least for a little while longer.

Costs (real money) of a home birth

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:38:00 +0000

As I have mentioned, Mr W and I are planning a home birth. This is one of the wonderful and safe (in my opinion, I know there are skeptics out there) options available to us since we are under the care of a midwife. In BC, midwife care is free, and is an alternative to have an obstetrician and hospital birth. Although, I should stress that I also have the option of a hospital birth with my midwife (but not vice versa with an OB). My pregnancy so far has been completely normal with no complications, and we live 5 minutes from the hospital, making home birth a relatively risk free undertaking.

As part of the home birth, my midwife does a home visit around 36 weeks. She will come this morning for about an hour to check on our home, get to know us, our surroundings, our pets in this case, and to check we have compiled our home birth supplies. This list of supplies is quite lengthy, containing some common and some not so common items. Ironically, it contains the two items which I think stereotype the home birth - a pot for boiling water, and lots of extra towels and sheets :) Other items include gauze pads, epsom salts, digital thermometer, antibacterial soap, flashlight, extension cord, and "labour aide" a sugary lemon drink I will prepare ahead of time and freeze to keep my energy and hydration up - basically it is like gatorade.

Mr W and I went to the new Walmart Superstore in town yesterday to get most of the supplies, and walked out $120 poorer. And we have been fortunate to have been given some supplies already by friends who didn't use everything in their home birth! The most expensive item we bought was a digital thermometer for $60, because we rationalized that we should have one appropriate for infants that goes in the ear. However, I am still shocked at the price so it will remain in the box until I can check at Costco to see if I can get it any cheaper. Or I give birth, whichever comes first. Hahahaha.

When I got home though I did realize that had I chosen to have a hospital birth I could have saved this money. It is just one of those hidden costs you don't anticipate when making such a decision, partly because making a decision on where to birth your child never seems like a decision to be made based on finances. And our decision wasn't, it was based on our wish to have a calm, comfortable birth in our own home where we can welcome our child into his new surroundings, provided that our caregivers believe that the baby and I are safe and healthy at all times.

Happy Blog Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:50:00 +0000

One year ago today I posted my first financial post! When I started tracking our debt I had no idea how rewarding it would be to make new connections, be inspired by other's journeys in the financial world, and I surpassed my own expectations with our financial debt repayment.

Without expecting to, we met the following milestones this month:

Total Debt now is LESS THAN $70k
Officially have paid off ONE THIRD of our debt (in 15 months)
We are $450 short (one more payment) of having ONE LESS Loan
Our new baby budget, made possible by aggressive debt repayment, is $1300 less than previous budget
We have savings set aside which replace the government maternity leave payments, which, as a self-employed individual, I am not eligible for.

Thanks for all your support and comments and inspiring blog reads over the past 12 months!

Scheduling payments

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:38:00 +0000

When Mr W and I get back from our mini vacation (leaving today, back by the weekend) I need to think about how best to automate as many bill and loan payments as possible. I don't want any company to withdraw automatically, I just want to set up payments (if possible) on online banking.
I don't like companies like Telus and Rogers having access to withdraw payments automatically for several reasons: 1) what if the bill is wrong (I always check) and then I have to argue to get my money back, 2) I can control the payment to ensure I don't go into overdraft, and 3) I can match my payments to my pay cheques, regardless of the bill due data (I pay them ahead of the due date).
Of course, because the bill amounts can vary slightly, this is going to make it a little more difficult to schedule payments using online banking. For bills I think the solution will be to over pay slightly - for a few months only while we adjust to parenthood. After this time I will revisit the bills and start paying them myself again.
I guess I am not willing to hand it over to Mr W. I don't want to have to nag him about the bills, he does tend to let those things slide and I have a system that works for us, so why mess with a good thing?

Baby Budget - the Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Wooly Woman) — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:38:00 +0000

I am still playing with these numbers - and I am pretty sure we will be spending less than this for the first few months as baby takes over our lives. Nevertheless, having padding in the budget means that if there are unexpected baby expenses, we will be prepared.

Regular Expenses

mortgage $1,660
loans $1,269
insurance (car, little truck and house) $214
cable + internet $105
medical $96
hydro $80
cell $75
phone bill $65
savings $50
union $28

SUBTOTAL: $3,641

Irregular Expenses

gifts $50*
taxes/water $14

SUBTOTAL: $64

Variable Expenses

groceries $500
car gas $160
shawn fun $70*
kirstin fun $70*
dining out (take out) $65*
pet food $65
entertainment $60*
housecare $50
clothes $30

SUBTOTAL: $1,070
TOTAL: $4,775

I have put an * beside each area where I expect we will underspend. For example, highly unlikely we will be going to any restaurants in the first few months, so dining out probably will consist of take out food, and will not reach the $65 budget level. As for our personal spending, again this will probably drop. Mine is mostly spent on the garden right now, or a latte or two, and the garden is nearly finished up. Mr W's might not change much- he spends his on sports (like golf) and may get out to the driving range from time to time.

Oh yes, and before we go to the new thriftier budget and before the baby arrives, Mr W and I are taking off for one night of luxury at a local resort tomorrow. Can't wait, because I am booking myself into the spa for my first ever massage (a pregnancy massage). Oh please soothe my aching body, if only for an hour!