Give Me Back My Five Bucks

Long weekend hiking plans

gmbmfb — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:44:47 +0000

This (long) weekend, BF and I are going hiking!!! It will take 3 full days of hiking (1 in, 1 to summit, 1 out). I’m extremely excited because it is my first attempt at a 9,000+ ft. mountain. The tallest mountain I’ve climbed to date is Grimface Mountain at 8,645 ft. So my fingers are crossed that I’ll be able to do this. :)

We are again going with dehydrated meal packages instead of carrying in heavy fresh food. Last night we took BF’s new Jeep for a spin over to MEC, where we picked up 4 meals, 2 pairs of socks (quality hiking socks are so ridiculously expensive) and a canister of fuel for $47.50. I paid for everything, and BF will buy the rest of the food for the trip – trail mix, fruit, sausage, cheese, rye bread, etc.

I’m hoping that it won’t be crowded where we’re going. When we hiked the Juan de Fuca trail, it was pretty busy and I definitely prefer isolation when we’re hiking.

Do you have any plans for the long weekend?

Baby Snail

gmbmfb — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:26:30 +0000

I found a baby snail in my fish tank! Just one. I’m not sure how the little guy got there since I have one adult snail in my tank and it hasn’t laid any eggs … and the one live plant that I have was inspected thoroughly before I put it in the tank. It’s super cute though. I’ve already named it, so I hope it lives.

Speaking of living, that’s not what my fish are doing right now. I killed them all with high ammonia levels. I tried emergency cycles and doing everything I could, but the damage was done. Stupid new tank syndrome. So right now I have zero fish. I know, epic fail. But I’ve gotten the ammonia levels back down to close to zero. I want to test the water again, stabilize for a week, and then buy a couple of fish.

Macbook Pro almost within reach

gmbmfb — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:46:25 +0000

I am very close to buying a new MacBook Pro. I’ve been doing months of research on what exactly I’ll need, and who to buy from for the best possible deal. I’m getting a great deal by buying from a reputable online seller (trust me, I researched up on this big time). Basically I’m getting student discount pricing, and saving an additional $400 for a fully loaded 15″ MBP. Was going to go with the 17″, but it’s just a little too big for easy portability.

The total cost is $2,600. Go ahead, freak out a little. I’m freaking out too! It’s a lot to pay for a computer (less than I paid for my current one though). When I was researching laptops, I knew 2 things: it was going to be an Apple product, and it had to run multiple CS5 programs at once with minimal lag. I work my computers hard when I’m designing, and I need this to last me at least 5 years.

I was originally set to wait a year or so to upgrade to a new computer, because my current one – despite its inability to run CS5 without major lag (it can barely run CS4 when I downloaded the full trial version) – is in great condition. But with the release of CS5, my design business still getting work, and this new PT job opportunity, portability is so key. Especially in our house, where space is at a premium and I might have to relocate to a coffee shop or outside if BF is studying. Plus, the upgrades to the Adobe products are so crazy that I need to get out of CS3 and into CS5.

Right now I have about $1,200 in cash saved up from extra income that I’ve made over the past few months – which includes the $300 sitting in my Savings. I would have had more, but the weddings took a fair chunk of change out of my accounts. I put my iMac up for sale and have generated good interest at $1,100 … hoping to sell it for no less than $900 (anyone want to buy an awesome used computer?). That leaves me with about $300-500 left to make. I’ve got about $300 of guaranteed side income coming up, so once I get that, depending on how my iMac sells, I could have all the cash in hand! :) All that without having to dip into my regular FT job income.

Timeline for purchase is by the end of August. Hopefully mid-August.

Goodbye, VW Golf

gmbmfb — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:20:22 +0000

Over the past week, BF’s car (my old 1994 VW Golf) has been slowly dying. There are many things wrong with it. Because the repairs would cost about double what the car is actually worth, BF has found himself a used older model Jeep. He got a good deal, and says it’s in great condition and will last him for the next few years until I finish paying off my car loan – and then he’ll be able to buy something newer. That way we will still be able to easily afford a mortgage (our plan is to buy in 2 or 3 years).

That Golf really served us well, and we put a lot of KMs on her, driving her out to many different places to go hiking and camping. I thought she’d last longer than 15 months, but that’s the risk you take when you buy cheaper, older cars.

It will be nice to have a 4×4 vehicle, and it fits into BF’s active lifestyle. I personally wouldn’t have chosen a Jeep simply because it’s not the greatest on gas and it’s not that practical, but BF’s commute to school and most of his other activities is much less than mine and it’s his money so it’s his choice! :)

As for our old car? Because it will be very hard to sell a car that needs major repairs, we decided to go with the BC Scrap-It program, where I will be able to get a $500 credit towards a new bicycle (I doubt we’d get much more than that if we did end up selling the Golf on Craigslist or something). Since I don’t have a bike and he does, we both think that this is the best use of the Scrap-It program. The other option was $300 cash, which isn’t really worth it.

Has anyone else utilized the Scrap-It program before?

Spending Recap: July 19-25, 2010

gmbmfb — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:00:58 +0000

Monday 19th
No Spend Day!

Tuesday 20th
No Spend Day!

Wednesday 21st
$5 lunch w/boss (pho!)
$142.50 MOH dress ($115 + shipping)
$169.64 hotel for wedding (2 nights)

Thursday 22nd
$100 cash withdraw (for camping weekend)
$7.40 groceries

Friday 23rd
No Spend Day!

Saturday 24th
No Spend Day!

Sunday 25th
No Spend Day!

TOTAL = $424.54

(ouch!)

Hello, Sister

gmbmfb — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:48:30 +0000

So, my sister found my blog a couple of days ago. She said that she was Googling for Shaw Cable’s student promotional rates, and since I just blogged about it a few weeks ago, my post came up in her search. At least I know that Google is indexing my blog properly! :)

This is the first time a family member has seen my blog (that I know of). It’s a little weird, but I don’t really mind. I’ve asked her to keep it a secret until I stop blogging anonymously (sometime next month). I still don’t really know how I’m going to organize this blog when that happens, so I’m really going to have to figure that out.

Toronto trip on hold

gmbmfb — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:00:28 +0000

Wahoo! I made an additional $270, bringing my extra income total for July to $1,250! I *would* be happier if I could be saving all of that money, but most of that is going to pay for the trip to Hawaii (and my new MOH obligations), as well as the August wedding. On a positive note, that means I won’t have to dip into my savings or pay for any of it out of my monthly budget (since my monthly budget only reflects spending out of my FT income).

Also, in an effort to get back on track with saving (this summer has been pretty spendy with all my traveling), I’m not going to take my trip to Toronto. I think I’ll try to go later on this fall, maybe in November – where hotel prices and flights might be cheaper. It totally sucks, but I need to replenish my savings accounts and get that pesky Emergency Fund fully funded before I can think about another vacation!

Booked the hotel & got a discount!

gmbmfb — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:49:27 +0000

I am on a savings roll! After buying the Maid of Honour dress yesterday (for Hawaii), I realized I had to book a hotel for the other wedding I’m going to in 2 weeks.

I booked us in a Days Inn/Travelodge caliber hotel because I didn’t want anything fancy. But even then, the cost for 2 nights was $217.19 after tax/fees. :(

The great thing about the hotel we booked with is that if you find a cheaper rate anywhere else, they will beat that rate by 10%. So I scoured the internet for a better rate, and ended up finding one! I submitted my claim, and got confirmation within a couple of hours that my new rate for 2 nights will be $169.64!

That’s a savings of $47.55! For just a few minutes of work.

It makes me feel good that even though I have to spend money on certain things, I know I’m getting the best deal that I can.

Maid of Honour

gmbmfb — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:48:24 +0000

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it yet or not, but when I was in Seattle, my friend asked me if I would be the Maid of Honour for her wedding in Hawaii. Of course I said yes, and we proceeded to look at dresses I could wear to the wedding. We checked online, as well as shopped for hours in downtown Seattle. In the end, she really liked the J.Crew Taryn dress in Spiced Wine. She didn’t offer to pay for it (and I didn’t really expect her to), so at a price of $215 US + shipping + alterations, I was really apprehensive.

Then I got a fabulous idea – eBay! I did one simple search, and ended up finding the dress (brand new with tags) in the size and colour I want! It was Buy It Now at $149.99 or Best Offer … so I submitted my offer of $115, and a few minutes later, it was accepted!

My budget for this month is cringing, but $115 is a heck of a lot better than $215!!! My fingers are crossed it will need little to no alterations (I’m usually a 4 petite, but bought a 6 petite because of the sizing chart, and reviews online were saying that the dress fit a bit more snug than normal because of the interior corset).

Bring on the extra income!

gmbmfb — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:44:53 +0000

So far this month, I’ve made $980 in extra income through my PT job, and through this blog. :) I’m really happy for the extra income because it will help with the extra bills that I am paying, and for the 2 weddings that we will be attending this summer.

I still have to claim for a few expenses from the Las Vegas trip (probably around $50-60), as well as get a refund for my prescriptions that I claimed on my extended health plan ($100+).

Going forward, I don’t think I’ll be making any money from the PT job until early September. Which is fine, because in August I’m set to get another Google Adsense cheque, and hopefully I can do a few odd jobs with my side business or sell some unwanted items on Craigslist or eBay.

I’m grateful that I have multiple channels to generate income above and beyond my FT job: this blog, design side business, and my new PT job (at the end of the year, all extra non-taxed income I make gets grouped together under the umbrella of my design side business, for income tax purposes – gotta stay legit!).

So this means that starting in the fall, I should be able to bring in an extra $1200/month, which will boost my income by 29% and put me in the $65,000 salary range. Of course, that means I’ll have to pay more taxes at the end of the year, but it won’t put me in a new tax bracket at least.