Carving out the life we want to live

I haven't been posting much to the blog a lot because life has been so exciting lately and I never seem to have the spare moment. We are in such a happy groove as a family O' five. A lot of the balance that has been lacking in our lives was restored this past year. The big boys are developing their own interests at almost 4 and almost 7 years old and we've been trying to nurture those as best we can. With them, we no longer have to focus so much attention on the basics like personal care since they take care of most of that on their own. In many ways it feels like a huge weight has been lifted and parenting has become much more enjoyable. We're appreciating each stage of babyhood and the last of the "firsts" with Noah and not wishing them away.

We've been looking at our finances and trying to better align them with our values, goals, and the things that make us happiest. Our family budget (which I just realized I need to write an update post on!) is split into several categories: housing, transportation, food, child care, vacation/sports, debt, investments, and entertainment/clothing. We're trying to consciously evaluate and maximize our happiness in each of the areas. More than ever before, we're at a really happy place.

A significant focus has been balancing each members interests and needs in terms of both time and money, particularly around vacations, sports, and entertainment. We've been trying to prioritize activities where we see potential for growing our own individual and shared interests into collective "family" interests. For us, some of these things are skiing/snowboarding, boating, fishing, skating, and travel. Having these collective interests will allow us to spend more time together as a family. For example, R loves to snowboard. I took ski lessons when I was younger and have decent ability. For the past few winters, we've taken the big boys out to the hill on a pair of second hand kid skis. This year, B took snowboarding lessons and loved it.  I'm planning on taking snowboarding lessons next year. If my attempt doesn't go well then the following year I'll go back to skiing and take lessons to improve my skills. We're really excited at the prospect of being able to go as a family to the hill and to go on awesome winter vacations to places like Blue Mountain, Mont Tremblant, or Banff (much later on).

We also just made a big family purchase this Spring ... a boat has been on our wish list for a really long time. Boating, fishing, and water sports were a significant part of R's upbringing and our summers together pre-kids. We're hoping to carry that on with our kids. We are so fortunate to live near so many lakes.

$25 per month iPhone

In December we re-evaluated our budget and decided to make cuts to our cable package and cell phones. For the past couple of YEARS I’ve been investigating cell phone alternatives but service providers other than the two main providers Bell or Rogers either didn’t have good service range,  weren’t compatible with the iPhone, or data was expensive so I stuck with the status quo. In December I did some more investigating and cancelled my plan and switched to a pre-paid account with the same provider. I wanted to wait until I had used the service for a month before reporting on the switch but, in short, I’m saving a ridiculous amount of money and I’m kind of bummed I didn’t make the switch sooner.

Here is a summary of what I use my cell phone for:

Checking Facebook and Instagram Accounts

Checking my personal email

Texting (a lot!..mostly R during the day)

Taking photos. Can’t remember the last time I used our camera.

Calling people. Rarely – only if I’m going to be late somewhere or have to get in touch with someone immediately.

Where: mostly at home, sometimes at work, occasionally while out and about to check directions, coordinate plans or appointments, or to pass time when I’m waiting for appointments

For 2 years I paid $55/month (3-year contract – including cost of cell phone – iPhone4S). This is actually a really good deal from what I hear. I had unlimited social media, My10 (free unlimited Canada-wide calling with 10 contacts), 200 local calling minutes, unlimited local calling evening and weekends, and 1GB of data. No voicemail or caller ID. I almost never had additional charges. R uses his cell phone much more than I do so had an $80/month plan with unlimited Canada-wide calling and text, 2GB of data, and caller ID, voicemail. He wasn’t locked into his plan since we bought his iPhone 5 outright so he decided to try to cut back on his usage and take over the remainder of my plan to avoid early cancellation fees.

With my new pre-paid account, I pay $20.75/month and get unlimited text messaging including photo and video, caller ID, voicemail, 100MB Data, and pay $0.25/minute for local calls.  The extra $5 covered additional data and a few phone calls I made. Since I have caller ID, I can answer urgent calls and otherwise return calls from our home phone or my work phone as needed.

My only issue this month was using up all of my data in the first 2 weeks. This was mainly due to iMessaging. I never knew about iMessaging but it uses data to send messages to other iPhone users. So there I was making full use of my “unlimited” photo and video text messaging and it was using my data since it was through iMessaging rather than regular text messaging. Also other silly things like the Stocks App used up some of my data so I figured out how to turn the data off for applications like those. Generally I’ve been keeping my cellular data turned off so my phone only connects to wi-fi when it is available (at home we have unlimited internet).  I love having the ability to use data though when I’m out and about to look addresses up, etc. and now that I’ve figured out the data settings on my phone, I think the data included will suffice. A bonus is that I find myself not checking my phone as often at work or when I’m out.

By switching to pre-paid I’m saving $30/month with minimal impact to my use or enjoyment of my cell phone and with the savings from R switching over to my old plan, we’re saving $55/month combined on our cell phones.

Do you have a really good cell phone plan or do you pay an arm and a leg? Can you manage to avoid additional charges without it becoming too inconvenient?

Lately: balancing life and becoming debt free

In case you noticed, I haven't been on top of posting monthly updates on our debt repayment lately. Partly because we haven't been making too much progress in that department and partly because we've been trying to find a new money system that works for us, figure out exactly how much income we'll have with me back working, reevaluate our expenses and make adjustments in our budget accordingly.

A few things have put a halt in the short term on our debt repayment:

1) Fluctuating income. While I'm earning a bit more money working than I was collecting maternity employment insurance, my salary is just about 10K less than what I was making at my previous job to start and most of the additional is offset by increased child care expenses with 3 kids and it being summer break as well as pension plan contributions which I didn't have previously. The pension contributions are a HUGE bonus for the long term, especially since my employer will match them. In the short term it means less money in the budget than previously. Before making any concrete changes to our budget or financial plan, we're waiting on my probation period at work to end at which time I'll also receive a small raise. This will give us some real leverage if we plan on refinancing or consolidating debt. 

2) Fluctuating expenses. I don't know whether it is being outside all day or just my new reality with 3 growing gentleman but our grocery bill has gone up exponentially in the past couple of months. Our utility bills have also been higher.

3) Unexpected expenses. I've mentioned before that we decided against having an emergency fund since we'd rather put all of our additional money to pay down our high interest debt. At the beginning of the summer our A/C motor burned out. Luckily a friend of a family member was able to come and fix it for just the cost of the part since we let him borrow our extension ladder from time to time but we'll likely have to replace the unit in the next few years. More recently, we got an even bigger blow. One side of our roof is looking particularly bad. We're hoping we can put replacement off until next spring so we can use our tax return to help with the expense but it's entirely possible we won't be able to wait until then so we're slowly trying to put aside what we can from R's overtime money. I know we could get financing if we needed to but the mere thought of taking on more debt weighs heavily. Lastly, my car is in need of a tune up and brake job which I put off earlier this year when I took my car in for servicing and ended up walking out with a $600 bill. I'm anticipating about the same expense this time around so have put about $400 aside so far (on my visa) to cover this expense.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about how our budget allocations are a reflection of our family values. There are some areas where I feel happy with the proportion spent and other categories I feel could use some re-alignment. While some of this alignment can be done in the short term, some will have longer timelines or will only become possible with an increase in income.

Month 18: Debt Repayment Update

Well we didn't make it under the 50K threshold in April for the second month as anticipated/hoped but we're slowly creeping there. Since last month, we are down $400 which puts our debt at:

$50,923

This was my first month off work but I did receive a full pay early in the month along with my vacation pay.

Additional expenses this month were for convenience meals since my freezer meals ran out after a week and with the cesarean I still wasn't feeling able to do a lot of prep. Also, medications - a ton of them for myself and asthma/allergy medication for the boys. Most of this that isn't over the counter we'll receive compensation for through R's benefits. Other unanticipated expenses were for hospital parking, formula for few days we had to supplement, extra child care since R was working 6 days/week and I still wasn't able to manage on my own, a few items for opening our trailer, and additional groceries due to my increased hunger from breastfeeding!

Where we have had some savings this month has been for gas. My $40 tank has lasted 3 weeks so far and I expect will last another week. Also, though the overall grocery bill has gone up, I've been able to dedicate time to scouring the flyers to price match and use coupons which has made for big savings. I hadn't been making this a priority the past few months.

I've been contemplating doing something with our cable for at least the summer to save a bit there but we'll see. Now that I've received my first maternity e.i. payment we'll be able to put our maternity leave budget plan in to action and see what tweaks are necessary.

Month 17: Debt Repayment Update

After going back in the red in February, we filed our tax return earlier this month which was definitely a boost at getting back on track. Since last month, we are back down $718 which leaves:

$51,323

Typically in previous years we've used at least half of the return to pay off debt and another portion for renovations. This year with the tax return, we allocated just under 1/3 to debt so far and splurged on a new counter and dishwasher for the kitchen (more on that to come).

I actually retained about 1/3 of our tax return this year in my bank account. I'm still working right now but with DH's work being slow and my being off work so imminent, we didn't want to be in a bind and have to potentially use credit to pay bills during April while we wait on my first Employment Insurance payment. It is my hope that some, if not most of it, will still be able to go toward debt and that next month we'll finally be under the $50K threshold!

This weekend, DH worked his first overtime of this year which was a bit of a relief. Looks like work is finally picking back up - and just in time. As I mentioned in my past couple of updates, usually the slowness doesn't last much past January but this year it seriously dragged on. We were okay because I was working and luckily roughly 1/3 of my earnings isn't strictly allocated but it was a wake up call that we should be better planning for things like this that come up and that taking on any additional debt/payments at this point would compromise our ability to cover our living expenses without relying on credit. If anything I guess it was good practice for the baby budget since my earnings will decrease by about 1/3.  

Month 15: Debt Repayment Update

 So for January we are only down $236 which leaves:

$50,052

Still not below the $50K mark. January is always a month of catch up for us since DH doesn't get paid for almost 2 weeks over the holidays and then work is always slow to pick up for him afterwards. Especially slow this year due to the frigid temperatures. January is also when we go back to having CPP and EI payments deducted from our pay. DH usually pays these off by late summer if not earlier so for the last half of the year, there's a couple hundred dollars more on each pay. 

This month, a few unanticipated costs came up like DH having to pay a few hundred dollars in union dues. We were planning on paying these in February but the union called - no choice. We also made a few trips up north this month to visit DH's family which didn't cost too much aside from gas but still, the small things add up. 

We've been trying to make the most out of our last few months as a family of 4 - and doing a pretty good job at it might I add (DISNEY)! Once the baby is here, the boys will get a little less attention at least for the first little while so when friends of ours, who also have two boys, invited us up to Horseshoe Resort with them for the weekend, we jumped on the opportunity. They had already paid for the accommodations, had extra space, and took care of all the meals in exchange for us hosting them one weekend this summer at our family cottage in Temagami. DH took the boys this weekend as I've been battling a kidney infection and they had a blast skiing, swimming, and eating sugary breakfast cereals. DH has taken B out the last 2 years (since he was 3) to the local ski hill with a pair of child skis and boots we got off Kijiji for $20. This was N's first time on skis at 2 1/2 - so a year earlier than B. Apparently it went remarkably well. N was grinning ear to ear and B didn't need any one on one assistance at all from DH.  I'm sad I missed it but happy they had so much fun. They do like their daddy time. 

Planning ahead for when baby arrives, this month I also booked a local swimming pool for the boys' birthday party in May. I've posted before about how I feel about larger than life birthday parties. Both of my guys LOVE the water and with a newborn only a few weeks old, I know I won't be up to hosting parties for a 3 and 6 year old at home. Something has got to give but..combined party..and you know I'm DIYing it up with the food, decor, and fun. I also paid for B's summer baseball registration. I've been trying to pay as many additional costs in advance of being off work since my maternity leave budget is really lean and won't allow for large additional expenditures. In February I plan on buying paint for the nursery but really focusing on tackling the last of our credit card debt since I feel like there's a very good possibility this little guy will be coming early so the pay checks are limited. 

Baby Budget!!!!

For the past few months I've been a bit nervous about how we were going to manage with my drop in income come April when Baby #3 arrives. 

In Canada we are lucky to be able to collect maternity/parental employment insurance benefits for up to a year which helps. I did some number crunching and made some telephone calls this month. It looks like in April 2014, I can expect to bring home $1,950/month as I will be eligible for the maximum benefit amount based on my income in the past 52 weeks. This amount is the amount AFTER minimal taxes are taken off. I will be selecting the less tax option (with spouse). Note: there is some variation by province - I am in Ontario.  I will also receive the Universal Child Care Benefit of $100/month per child under 6 years of age which means I will stop receiving for B in April but will start receiving for the new baby. In total, I will be bringing in $2,150/month. 

I don't plan on taking a full year off this time around. I will for sure take the Summer off but hope to go back to work sometime in the Fall. Since I am working on contract currently, I'm not guaranteed a job to go back to so it is nice to know that I have the safety net of a guaranteed income for  up to one year, should it take me some time to find another job. 

Surprisingly, we didn't have to make too many cuts to our budget which was sitting somewhere around $6,900/month though we've been bringing in about $7,200 or better so we did have a fair bit of slack in there. By the end of March, we will also have our Visas completely paid off, freeing up just over $5,000 as an "emergency fund" should we need to use it at any point while I'm off. 

Without further ado, the budget line items that were affected have been highlighted in red: 

Expenses	Monthly	Notes
Housing
Mortgage Interest	900	Approximate
Property Tax	420
House Ins	85
Enbridge	135
OPUC	80
Water	65
	1685
Transportation
Car Loans	740
Car Insurance	290
Gas	270	$60/week for DH, $15/week for me
	1300
Investments
Mortgage Equity	500	Approximate
RESP	70
TFSA	25
	595
Debt	620	These are more or less our required payments or payments that would be a hassle to reduce.
Vacation	570
Life Insurance	120
Childcare	400	This was only actually reduced by $100. Won't be making use of this as much but will be using as a placeholder/banking hours to lessen the increase at first when I go back to work.
Entertainment	300	2 iPhone Plans, VIP Cable w PVR, internet - unlimited bandwidth, homephone w 500 NorthAmerican LD minutes
Groceries	400
Spending/Other	160
	$6150