New Blog! And a Giveaway!

I have a new blog! I've finally bought a domain name and have gone self-hosted!

www.morgaineandmoney.com

Please visit my new blog and right now I'm giving away a $25 Best Buy Canada gift card! Check it out!

Morgaine

Weekly Spending: April 1-7

4/1 - $24.14 (debit - dinner for me and T)
4/2 - $1.00 (cash - milk)
4/3 - $18.55 (cash - TTC tokens) + $235.98 (credit but paid for w/planned spending acct - taxes on flight to Alberta, rest was with Airmiles) = $254.53
4/4 - $6.50 (cash - lunch) + (+$5.00 - cash from selling an item) = $6.50
4/5 - $3.05 (cash - breakfast and coffee)
4/6 - $13.54 (debit - lunch) + $6.80 (cash - dollar store for gift bag and cards) + $49.45 (debit - pet store) + $19.21 (debit - LaserQuest) + $62.00 (credit - dinner) + (+$10 cash - from cousin for dinner) = $151.00
4/7 - No Spend!

Total: $440.02 - $235.98 (from Planned Spending) = $204.04 (+$15)

Other than the taxes from the flight to Alberta it was a pretty normal spending week. Oh, and going out to dinner and laser tag with friends for a friend's birthday.

Not much else exciting this week :)

How did your last week go?

Morgaine

Tag! 8 Questions about Love and Money

Time for another #Tag post! Got this one from Girl Meets Debt who got it from Justin at The Frugal Path. I like these posts because I think you get to know a bit more about the person behind the blogger :) Feel free to participate!

1. Would you discuss money on the first date?
Besides, who's paying? No, probably not. I work in the financial industry, so usually some discussion comes up but I wouldn't talk personal numbers.

2. How long should you wait to talk about money with your spouse?
Before they were my spouse! I can't remember exactly when T and I discussed money but it was probably fairly early on. We both had student debt when we met and tried to be fairly frugal on our dates.

3. Who brings up money in your relationship?
T brings it up more than me! He is constantly thinking about how much money he has and what else he has to purchase and tells me all about it ;) He's also fascinated with investing in ETFs and the housing market right now.

4. Is it harder managing money as a couple than it was when you were single?
In some ways, easier. I know I can fall back on T if I'm a couple of bucks short or maybe more (but I would pay it back). This prevents going into debt or paying bank fees for some stuff. In some ways, harder. We're constantly buying stuff for each other. This weekend, for example, he paid for dinner and I bought him socks! The amount was about equal, but the budgeting categories were not. We like to take turns treating each other and it may not always be equal. Right now, even though we're married, we do not have a joint account. Once we have a house, we will have a joint account for household bills that we will contribute to on percentage basis (based on income) and keep our spending accounts separate.

5. Would you offer to pay off your spouse’s debt?
Yes, if they were absolutely desperate and the interest was killing them. But, they would be expected to pay it back. In T's case that won't happen, he's now very responsible with his money and has no debt (unlike me).

6. Is debt a deal breaker?
It would be extremely hypocritical of me to say yes. But, anyways, its not. T had student debt and a bit of credit card debt when we met. Being responsible with money is a deal breaker. Even though I have been irresponsible in the past, I've learned from my mistakes and have tried to fix them (still in progress). I think more than anything, apathy would be the deal breaker. I dated one guy who just didn't care and I couldn't handle that.

7. Do you think it’s important to have the same money views?
Maybe not 100% but generally agree, yes. T likes to make more money, I like to cut expenses. He's willing to take risks with his investments where I like to be a bit safer (especially when it comes to the home fund and emergency fund). He spends more money on quality items but has less, I have more stuff but spent less. We balance each other out :)

8. Can you really change how your spouse spends money?
Yes, but you can't force it. They have to want to change. We've both helped each other with being encouraging and giving advice when appropriate but we both wanted to get out of debt, pay for the wedding/honeymoon in cash, and put at least 20% down on a home. If either of us just wanted to spend money on crap and maintain/increase debt, it probably wouldn't have worked out.

Tag! You're it!

Morgaine

Monthly Budget Update - March 2013

Here's my numbers for March. I just have one word ... yuck!

Click to make larger

Highlights: I made extra money this month due to overtime at work and my income tax return. I put $1,300 towards debt and paid off a credit card! I saved $6,100 towards various goals.

Lowlights: I broke my shopping ban by purchasing a swimsuit, spring coat, a couple of t-shirts and a cardigan. I spent over $300 on restaurant, fast food, and or convenience food! Entertainment and gifts are also a bit high due to taking my friend out for a spa day. Everything else is fairly steady.

Luckily, April should be fairly quiet with only one birthday. I may purchase a bike but that would come out of the planned spending. We purchased our flights to Alberta for T's sister's wedding in August through Airmiles so only had to pay for taxes which is also out of the planned spending.

I've been offered a bit more OT this month so I'm going to take it but keep my goals infront of me this month, unlike last month. Just because I made more money is no excuse to go crazy and spend it all!

How about you? How did you do in March?

Morgaine

Weekly Spending: Mar 25 - 31

3/25 - $3.00 (cash - tip for Thai delivery)
3/26 - No Spend!
3/27 - $1.80 (cash - tea at Timmies) + $2.75 (cash - drink @ convenience store) + $30 (cash - tickets to One of a Kind Show - friend owes me $20) = $34.55
3/28 - $6.40 (cash - lunch) + $13.79 (debit - dinner) + $39.55 (cash - purchase at One of a Kind show) + $51.21 (credit - booze) + $8.79 (debit - grocery store for snacks) (+$20) - cash from friend for OofaK show) = $119.74 (+ $20)
3/29 - $10.00 (cash - lunch)
3/30 - $8.54 (debit - Timmies breakfast) + $47.02 (debit - Walmart) + $35.51 (debit - haircut plus tip) + $10.14 (debit - convenience store for mix for drinks) = $91.07
3/31 - No Spend!
Total: $258.36 (+$20)

End of March was an absolute disaster for my budget. We fell off so many wagons this month - food, exercise, spending. We went up North to visit T's family and friends, so we bought some booze and snacks in anticipating of staying up late chatting and playing board games.

Since I was restarting the Shopping Ban in April and I had gone through my closet on Friday (donated 3 *big* recycling bags of clothes) I knew what I needed to buy to replace defunct items: 1) new black socks for work (2) 1 bra. I picked up both of these at Walmart on Saturday along w/socks for T.

April is here (although you wouldn't know it to look/be outside - yuck!) so we are trying to make a fresh start - meal planned for whole week including dinners and lunches, going to the gym tonight, Thursday and Friday (maybe Saturday), and Shopping Ban is back in effect!

How did your last week go?

Morgaine

P.S. The dinner previously listed for March 31/13 was actually purchased Apr1/13 and is now under the next week's Weekly Spending Report.

March Goals Update

March Goals

1) No breakfast/lunch/snacks/coffee during the work week - FAIL I started off fairly strong (I think the first 2 weeks there was none) but I lost control during the second two. Went out for breakfast 2X, lunch 2X, one drink, and 2 teas.

Financial:

1) Shopping ban - FAIL - I purchased a bathing suit, a spring/rain coat, and 3 tops, 1 cardigan.
2) Savings goals - Check - My RSP is over $25K and I put another $700 into other savings accounts this month.
3) Debt goals - Check - I paid $1300 off my debt, closed one credit card, and now my total debt is under $4K!
4) Increase my Net Worth - Complete - up +$14,511.01 (goal = $10,000) Hmm, how much should I increase this to?
5) Track spending and post budgets - Check - I need to verify the numbers but I'm pretty sure I kept track of everything.

Lifestyle:

1) Lose weight -FAIL - ??? I don't even want to know, so I'm not weighing myself yet.
2) Do something physical at least 4x a week - FAIL - Gym, what's a gym? With all my time and energy going into OT this month, the gym definitely took a back burner.
3) Eat better - FAIL - Stress eating, that's all I'm going to say about that ...
4) Read more books - Pass - Finally finished "The Kingmaker's Daughter" by Philippa Gregory.
5) Make more things - FAIL - OT, need I say more?
6) Sell/donate more - Check - I sold 3 wedding items this month and I've posted some more items online.

Blogging:

1) Post my weekly spending and bi-weekly budgets. - Check
2) Post at least one other post a week other than #1 - Check
3) Comment on other blogs and become more of the community - Check
4) Use twitter more (@morgainemoney) - Check
5) Post updates on my progress with the Shopping Ban and these goals. - Check - unfortunately :(
6) I will update my blog and sidebars with these goals (other than the Closing Costs since this is mostly T). And if I'm on pace or not. - Check

April Goals

All of the above PLUS ... Actually, stick to these goals! The diet and exercise especially. I feel so tired, lazy, and lathargic lately. Hopefully Spring is here and we can do more things outside :)
How about you? How did you do on your March goals? Was March a crazy busy month or more relaxing?

Morgaine

Payday! OT Edition

The last two weeks (Mar 8-21) I worked 89.75 hours and it paid off ... literally :)

I made an extra $666 net. And its practically spent already :(

Hmm, $666 is this a sign this money is cursed or something?

Here's the breakdown:

$275 rent
$40 share of groceries
$50 share of parking
$500 to T to partially pay back $1000 borrowed to go into my RSP
$400 to my aunt to partially pay back loan
$100 share of renters insurance
$100 to EF
$500 to Planned Spending (want to purchase a bike this month and need to pay for taxes for flight to Alberta)
= $1965 out of $2308 = $343 which is around what I typically leave for myself.

You may notice that I didn't put any money towards debt repayment. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels a bit. At the same time that I really want this debt gone, it is at 0% (balance transfer) and the amount (just under $4K) isn't causing me stress or causing me to lose sleep.

But, anytime I have to make a large purchase, if I don't have savings, I have to put it on credit. So, the goal right now is to not accumulate any more debt than the $4K I have and then pay it off. That's why I decided to put the $500 in savings (planned spending) rather than on debt. That money's going to get spent eventually.

Hopefully that makes sense.

What about you? What would you do with the extra money? Would you pay down debt even though its at 0% or would you put it in savings for future purchases that would avoid adding to debt?

Morgaine