Well, the HST is officially in effect here in Ontario, and all I have to say is - BOO!!! I have to change my budgeted amounts to compensate for the fact that my gym fees are now being charged HST. They went from $109.52 to $117.85 which is way to much to pay for the gym (it includes nutritional counselling, which I finished months ago but they prorated it over the year). Once my membership is up (end of September), I will NOT be renewing it. Yes, I was using it an average of 2-3 times per week for most of the year, but its just way too expensive. The bf and I discovered a rec centre a couple of blocks away from our apartment that has a pool and a gym that is $52 for the whole year!!! We thought it was one of those little family centres, so we hadn't put much thought into looking to see what they had there, but I will definitely be joining up there as soon as my gym membership is gone. That will give me a bit more wiggle room at the end of the month, which will be awesome.
We don't drive, so the HST attached to gas won't affect us that much, except when we go up north to visit the bf's family. It won't be on groceries, so that's good, although we are anticipating a rise in groceries anyways - as my bf puts it, "the groceries are brought in by trucks, the trucks have to buy gas, the gas will now have HST, therefore groceries will be more expensive". I'm not sure how else the HST is going to affect us, but I will post here when I find out!
In other "bad" news, I spent $82.48 on clothes today! Oops :S Its really only because I'm losing weight and I need to replace key pants in my wardrobe, otherwise I wouldn't be bothering. Yesterday I couldn't keep my pants up! I know it would be cheaper to buy belts than new pants, but I really hate belts, and its not just in the waist. In fact, the waist is still a bit tight in some pants (which should mean I can wear these pants a bit longer in the weight loss process) but the butt and legs are extremely droopy in most pants and it looks horrible. I think it was because I was buying Reitman's 16 plus (petites) pants and now regular 16 (petite) fit better, so the plus must have had extra room in the butt and legs, which is now annoying. At least I got everything on sale! A pair of jean capris for $22.99 (regular $45), a pair of work silver capris $30 (regular $36), and two lace camisoles (to wear under cardigans or v-neck sweaters) for $10 each.
I also realized that I didn't put any money on my MasterCard last month! Again, something I've been working on getting under control for quite a while now. I put $22.45 on the Visa, but paid that off before the billing cycle ended. I just have to keep this up and I will feel like I may have finally got the credit monkey off my back. We'll see.
This weekend, I will be going to a street festival tomorrow (maybe $20 in spending?) and then a Renaissance festival (yes, I am THAT geeky!) on Sunday - $22.65 for the ticket and maybe $10 for food? Should be fun, though! TTFN, Morgaine.
Wow. A renaissance festival? That sounds spiffy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, boo to HST. :(
It was a lot of fun :) We saw a swordplay demonstration, a geekshow (basically a guy that hammered a nail up his nose, broke a cinderblock on his chest, stuck a whole party balloon down his throat, and swallowed razorblades), a viking raid on the "castle", some hawks, and various people in Renaissance garb. We also took an archery lesson and the bf was a natural, we may try it again soon.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't quite felt the total pinch of the HST, just in my gym fee, but I'm sure this is going to suck big time!