October Goals

I know... 1/3 of the way into the month.. like really?! Ahaha This is my life :)

October is THE BEST MONTH EVER!!! I mean what is there not to like? SO many awesome things happen. Let me name just a few:

1. My Birthday - Boom! Enough said
2. Thanksgiving - Who ever says no to a turkey feast?
3. Halloween - The worlds most important holiday
4. Autumn begins - Crisp air, delicious apples, cranberries and other yumminess come out to play. The leaves are changing color. 
5. A lot of other awesome Libras around me celebrate their birthdays - Yay, its a birthday fiesta!!

5 glorious reasons to love October. Those were just the ones that popped out of my randomness. I'm sure there are many more reasons I forgot to list. Care to share your favorite thing about October?

So as hard as it is to keep focused with so much amazing stuff happening all around me I must buckle down and accomplish a few things between all the fun.

General Goals

1. Enroll in French classes - More on this later this week :)
2. Finally send in MSP reimbursement paperwork that was supposed to be done a million years ago
3. Send in BF's old MSP cheque he thought he had lost to be reissued because its out of date
4. Turn 30 - ok so that not a goal but a requirement of life, ugh
5. Organize my whole place because company is coming - Another post upcoming
6. Cancel MSP (msp... get off my back, lol)
7. Introduce my couponing obsession to blog - exciting - yes or no?
8. Get some winter clothes - a BC girl starting a new life in QC needs some warmth
9. Enjoy October to the max!!! Find fun activities to enjoy my new province

Financial Goals

1. Set up new RRSP account and start the process of transferring over last jobs contributions.
2. Save $1000 - I did it last month and trying it again might be setting myself up for failure but I've got to put pressure on myself so I'm going to try for it again. 

Health Goals

1. Drink 4 cups of water a day - I will start this from today. I really need to drink more water. 
2. Take 3 long walks a week - I need to get off my ass and get moving around. 

There ya go folks. I'm late to the game and I've got a big list but I'm going to try my little heart out. What is your biggest goal for October?

Tuned In Tuesday

October is just flying by

Wow I can't believe we are a third of the way into the month already! Feels like yesterday it was October first. I'm sorry for my lack of posts. I've honestly been loving life a lot this month and caught up in other things. Bad blogger! If you're a regular reader you know this is one of my naughty habits.
Later today I'm going to post my Tuned in Tuesday :) Also this week I'm going to do a post about my Thanksgiving weekend, October goals (better late then never) and that long overdue post about our big purchase.
Excitement is in the air. I can feel it. October is so amazing. 

September Savings Challenge Final Tally

The end of September is already here. Crazy stuff. Well in September I decided to join in on Carla's savings challenge. I'm glad I did because it gave me motivation to really put my nose to the grindstone and I met all of my goals. Here is a flashback to what they were:

1. Save 50% of regular income. Right now this is $1240 monthly. So from this I would like to save $620 which I will do in 2 shots.
2. Remember to also set aside $100 for ASP at the end of the month. My ASP is set to deposit into the "house fund".
3. Save 50% of all bonus money that comes in. Just this morning I found a cheque from my previous employer that I forgot to deposit. Half of that will go into savings. I am also hoping to get my PBX cheque (if they ever send it to the correct address). Anything extra or bonus is subject to a savings cut.

That's my plan and do you want to know what my ultimate goal for this month is?

SAVE $1000 DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER !!!

I did it!! And then some... here are the numbers...

August

Travel Fund - 50.76
Wedding Fund - 50.14
Furniture Fund - 130.37
House Fund - 150.17
EFund/TFSA -  2.68
--------------------------
Total Savings $384.12

September

Travel Fund - 380
Wedding Fund - 300
Furniture Fund - 250
House Fund - 700
EFund/TFSA - 2.68
-----------------------------
Total Savings $1632.68

That's is a $1248.56 increase! I am totally stoked! I can't believe that I was able to make and surpass my goal and this is without the cheque from Pacific Blue Cross. I haven't cashed that yet and BF will be getting the bulk of that as I owe him 50% of our big purchase I forgot to blog about. 

Thank you Carla for inspiring me to really challenge myself. It's not every month that I would be able to do this but its showed me that I need to be more diligent with my savings and really think about where my money is going. 

BF has said that he wants us to save $40,000 before purchasing a house and I'm really keen on that so I want to get there as soon as possible. I'd also like to get married in the spring of 2014 and for that I am hoping to save $5-8,000 for. Those are some huge financial goals and I'm glad for this wake up call.

Yay me!!!! 

Problem Resolved

So I talked it over with BF and he thought it was too much money as well but we knew that my sister-in-law would never ever take the money back. So we came up with another solution.

I had thought about buying something for each of the kids but their parents like to keep the children's things to a minimum. Something I noticed and admire about them greatly. I had considered an origami set for one and an different type of activity book for the other. Maybe those would be more appropriate for Christmas though.

BF suggested doing for their parents what we used to for my sister. Take the boys for an evening out with their aunt and uncle. What an awesome idea. We get to give a little back, the enjoy a nice night out and we get to hang out with our nephews. When I told SIL her face was priceless. She was sooooo happy :) and the best part is that BIL has been away at work and is only home for this weekend. So we decided to take the boy Saturday evening so they can have a nice dinner out somewhere together. Awwww

We couldn't decide on bowling or a movie but last night SIL told me that the boys were super jealous in March when we had couples bowling night and they were stuck at home with the babysitter. They have never been bowling before and well you guys know how much I heart bowling so its on! BF is calling now to make a reservation.

We are also considering asking his other 2 nephews (who have crazy schedules for kids) and switching cars with BIL so we can take them all with us. Not sure if that will work out but if it does we will go down as the best auntie and uncle to these guys.

This is why we moved here. Among all other reasons was that BF wanted to see his nephews growing up and spend time with them. So amazingly special.

So what do you think? I'd call this a win win situation for sure :)

Babysitting

This week I'm helping out my sister-in-law by babysitting two nights for her while she's working and hubby is away. I've watched her kids (my nephews) a few times for an hour or two here and there and it was fine. I've always refused payment because she's family and if its only a short time its alright with me. She tells me I should except payment because its her decision to go out and if I wasn't here she would pay somebody else. I compromised and told her if its an hour or two its ok. If its longer than that I'll accept her offer.
Yesterday I was babysitting from 2pm until 1am. I think the kids are more comfortable with me now which is good but one of the boys was off the wall crazy and refused to listen at all. There is a language barrier but we get around it with my limited French and the older child's help. It was a LONG day but after the mother called and spoke to the wild one he settled down a bit. When BF came over to help out he took charge which was a relief. He put them in the bath and then to bed. My hero. We are neighbours to them so it works out well.
Last night she paid me for yesterday and today. I will be working the same hours tonight. She asked me what my rate was and just said whatever you think is suitable. She handed me cash and I just put it in my pocket. I felt weird taking money from family. When I got home I counted it and she gave me $140 and I kinda felt bad. Should I give some back?
I guess when its family its complicated. We've had many discussions about this and she gets frustrated at me when I say I don't like to take money from her. That's why BF and I discussed it separately a few times and then the 4 of us talked about it once out in the yard when they tried to pay us for watching the kids for 2 hours one night. We told them we ate their ice cream and that was payment enough. We agreed though that we would not fight against taking money when we are there long hours.
So what do you think? Is it too much?

I Am Accepted

Today I had a meeting at the local Quebec employment office to find out if I qualify for job search assistance from them. Since I have a Diploma for Pharmacy Tech school I indeed meet qualifications and am so excited!!! The first step was to qualify as now I they will enroll me in full time French lessons.

It's been super frustrating and depressing not being able to communicate effectively since I moved here in July. I feel so lonely and caged in my apartment all day long by myself. It's started to really bring me down and make me yearn for my home town.

So the next step is for me to visit the 4 schools in different areas and see which one is best for me. There is one in Terrebonne which is closer to me. 2 in Laval and 1 in Montreal. There are pros and cons for each school. I have to consider things like commute, class schedule, class size, the instructor, the focus of the instructor and how it all works together to fit our current schedule.

 I visited the one closest to me but had lukewarm feelings about it. The class is small and people are at all different levels. There is only one instructor and so I don't know how much individual attention I would get. Its in the evening and there is a big 1 and a half hour break in the middle of it. I also was not sure about the instructor. Kind of rubbed me the wrong way and said they would focus a lot on speaking. I think that's what she thought I wanted to hear but honestly if I'm going to be working after this I need a balance of speaking, reading and writing. I believe it will be important for me to connect with the teacher to feel more comfortable.

Also this is the only one that is at night. I will have to commute at night in the snow during the winter. BF would be on an opposite schedule from me which means I would only see him on weekends and would not get to practice with him. The other students are mostly speaking Spanish so I'm not sure how well I'll be able to connect with people and honestly I'm hoping to make a friend or two :) *shy face*

Who knows? It's better to reserve my opinion until I see the other schools and how long it takes to commute back and forth. Although I'd rather be commuting than sitting in a cafeteria for an hour and a half eating a packed cold dinner. I'm getting ahead of myself. I am hoping to visit the other 3 schools before the end of the week because I have to choose soon. The waiting lists are sometimes 5-6 weeks long and I want to get on right away.

Full time French classes... very intimidating but necessary :)

 

Tuned In Tuesday

This song was a recommendation from BF. Loving it. Please enjoy :)

FUN Updates

So I have two very happy things to report!!!

1) I have reached my savings goal for September!!!! I have saved $900 this month already. Hoping to surpass my goal but seeing as BF and I made a HUGE purchase a week ago (more on this later) I don't know how far that can go. The last $100 will be from my automated savings plan at the end of the month. I will update you all on the actual numbers of each savings account at the end of the month. Woohoo!!

2) I got a letter in the mail today saying I've been a very good girl and have been offered a credit increase on my credit card. It seems like 6 months has just flown by since I originally got the card. It was a huge accomplishment for me. It meant I was on my way to improving my credit which is so crucial when we want to buy a house. Now that I've reached this step I am very proud of myself. I have definitely learned from the mistakes of my past. This is a great feeling just before my 30th birthday in a months time.

I am a bit weary of such a huge increase so I'm going to think about it. I have 3 weeks to accept. I would prefer a card that has some rewards like airplane miles or something because I now have to travel across Canada a few times a year. My Aunt has one that she thinks is great so I'm going to ask her. I wonder if I get the increase if I can also change cards? I am a total newb when it comes to this stuff. I guess I'll have to call the bank on Monday.

So that's my big update. Feeling pretty good right now about my financial accomplishments lately. Dreams of a home are dancing in my head :)

Tell me something that you feel really good about accomplishing lately.

How to suck at blogging

Hang around your blog and don't post anything for over a week. Enough said. Just feeling blah. Should be back soon ;)