Needed a new look

I never really liked the blog design I had. Not even when I picked it. I was simply overwhelmed by the choices and essentially, I made a random selection.

The other day I had some time to kill so I went through some of the new designs they have and I selected a new one.

I think this one is great. It has rain drops and I love the rain. Plus, it gives a bit of a dreary look which is how I often feel about finances (even when things are going well).

What do you think?

My meeting at the bank.

As I discussed last week, I had an appointment last Friday with TD Canada Trust regarding our accounts.

It went well.

For the first time, the woman I met with seemed to actually care about what I was saying and interested in helping me out. She also didn't push any of the bank products on me. It was really nice to see that.

Boris and I were there for the full hour and we discussed my mutual funds, Boris' mutual funds and our overall accounts, net worth, etc. I've made some changed to my mutual funds that I had been meaning to do for quite some time. Mainly, I needed to make it more aggressive than where it's been lately. When I first opened my mutual funds (2003) I was a much more conservative person.

Then we discussed consolidating Boris' RRSPs because he has his scattered over 4 different companies because he worked for 4 different companies over the years that had a matching program. He is now starting to take the first steps to figure out whether he wants to consolidate or not. Good for Boris!

We also touched on our mortgage renewal for the Alberta condo. Even though it was the main reason for the visit, we really didn't get to it in time. So, we've set up another appointment for 2 weeks away.

I am good with that. I'm also pleased that she seemed to listen to me!

I still don't know what they will offer me for a mortgage and I am still willing to walk away from the bank if they don't give me a good rate but I sure did like her. :)

I did it!

I did it!

I have saved enough money for my girls' weekend! Yippie!

Although...I now have nowhere to go.

About a year ago, my friend and I decided that we should have a girls' weekend getaway. Since I moved away we miss our girly chats.

We had a weekend all planned and set aside (July 8 - 11). Unfortunately, when all the good flight deals were coming out in March and April she was too stressed out to pay attention or focus long enough to book anything.

I was a good friend and told her not to worry and we would figure it out later. Well, it's later.

And now the flights are ridiculously expensive so we've now put the trip on hold. We are thinking September or October might work out. siiiigh.

At least I will be ready for it.

I'm thinking I will keep up my $50 bi-weekly contribution to that account though because it may come in handy for other things and at the moment I don't even notice that I do it.

Long week

This has been an exhausting week. I'm not even really sure why. I just feel...drained.

I have no major plans for the weekend but I am hoping to try cooking a new recipe and hopefully go for a bike ride and go to the driving range. Oh, and of course my laundry is in desperate need of getting done. Don't you find that when the weather is nice your house turns into a bit of a pig-sty? Or maybe it's just me.

Either way, I have many things that need to get done and yet...I just want to sit outside and enjoy myself. ahhhh

Oh, and the scrapbook is now about 1/3 of the way finished. I sure am taking my sweet time on it but so far it looks great!

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

Operation Pay Less begins!

I have made an appointment with my bank (TD Canada Trust) for Friday afternoon.

I am so excited! Excited like only a PF blogger can be! Weeeeeeee!

I plan to talk to them about so many things. Everything from our Alberta mortgage getting renewed to bank fees to HELOC interest rate to RRSPs to whatever else is on my mind.

I am prepared to renew my mortgage with TD Canada Trust because lets face it, switching banks really can be a hassle. That being said, I don't plan to get abused.

I'm going to have my game face on and engage them in a staring contest! at the very least I'll have a conversation with them. haha!

Feeling the summer?

I know I am! It's sunny out and I'm feeling the urge to sit in the sun and bake...only I would never do that.

I am a very pale, blonde girl. Sun = red, painful skin.

So, I buy alot of sunscreen and am very sun conscious. This is just another one of those things that costs money but you know what? It's better than paying for cancer medication/treatments later in life. Or at the very least, skin care products to try to reverse the damage.

In the spirit of enjoying the outdoors I will keep this brief and say...I hope you are all enjoying the summer and being responsible. Are you?

More scrapbooking...

Over the weekend I decided it was time I do my wedding album. I'm thinking it would be nice to complete it before our third wedding anniversary!

Better late than never right?

Turns out, I have learned quite a bit since the last time I scrapbooked. That time it cost me about $170 and this time it was closer to $185 but the book is about 1/3 bigger AND I bought more items AND higher quality paper. I managed to do that by shopping around. I've also learned more about what I like and what kind of things I can do. This means that my book is taking much much much longer to create.

Last time I pretty much made a template and did the entire book in the same manner. This time, each page is a little bit different with more variety in the colours, layout, etc.

It's actually more satisfying than last time even though I am taking more time.

I still don't intend for this to become a big hobby of mine or anything. It takes too much time, costs too much money, and makes a big mess!

How did your weekend go?

Rental property update

Oh, I have so much to update on since I last wrote about my rental property. I'm going to try to be as precise as possible so I don't bore you with the details.

1. My brother decided not to rent it out. He decided to move back in with our parents until he figures things out. This was good and bad for me. Good because I didn't really believe he could swing it in the long term but bad because in the short term I didn't have a renter. yuck.
2. My condo board has recently decided that all owners who rent out their suites (that's me) must pay a damage deposit to cover any damage the tenants may cause to the building. That's $1,200 I won't see for a very long time.
3. It sat vacant for May and June. In some ways you could count April as vacant because the horrible renters didn't pay their rent and instead walked away from their damage deposit leaving me in the hole to cover the damage they did cause and to pay for cleaners (approx $600).
4. A tenant was finally found! He sounds perfect. A professional who will be working across the street. whew! Unfortunately we had to lower the rent to $1,200 and include electricity (we used to rent it for $1,400 not including electricity).

All I know is:

1. I am relieved to have a tenant sign on for the next year. Plus he sounds perfect.
2. I am sooooo annoyed at my condo board for making me pay a deposit. Why can't they just bill me if the tenant does anything stupid?
3. I am so glad I put $2,500 of my tax refund into the Alberta condo account because without it I would have been a bit tight on funds. As it is, after the property taxes are paid I won't have anything left!
4. I hope that once I figure out the mortgage stuff I can hopefully get a lower rate.

Whew! Caught up now?

Boo to all dentists!

About a year ago I began what was a very painful process of having my old metal fillings replaced with sexy ceramic fillings.

I don't remember how many fillings we are talking about but it was too many and it was spread out over 6 or 7 teeth (apparently I had poor dental hygiene as a child). It was quite painful and took about 7 or 8 months to get them all done. In fact, one tooth is still a touch painful and that one was done in early December 2009.

I only went for it because some of them were cracked or crumbling (did you know that fillings need to be replaced every 15-ish years? I didn't!). Also, because I was told by the dentist receptionist (who handles all the benefits stuff) that it would be covered (except for $70 each fillings).

Imagine my surprise when today I get a bill in the mail for $1356.30! For some reason unknown to me or her, my stupid benefit company has refused to pay for the last 2 teeth that were done. Apparently they deemed these 2 teeth to have not been "required" to be replaced but they agreed with all the others. So what the????? Now I am on the hook?

I am livid.

I cannot believe this woman told me that it was all covered and I.believed.her. Shame on me.

From now on, I will ask to see verification of approval before I go ahead and agree to get anything done.

Fortunately, I do have a health spending account that can handle a good chunk of this but I am still on the hook for a bunch (not sure how much yet).

Again, I am a good little budgeter and I have the money to pay this bill but I had earmarked that money for some household upgrades that will now have to be postponed.

The Financial Catastrophizer is so livid that she had resorted to referring to herself in the third person!

I wish I could teach them a lesson and not go back to them but I actually really like the work my dentist does. CURSES!

Going to go for it!

I mentioned recently that I was thinking about getting my MBA and...I'm going to go for it!

At least in theory.

I still have so much to do. Here is what I've come up with:

1. Study and write the GMAT.
2. Get all reference letters and other requirements together.
3. Apply for the schools I am interested in.
4. Get accepted.
5. Decide where to go.
6. GO!

The biggest thing that isn't even on the list is, how do I pay for it? Good thing I have some answers!

I have 2 major sources of funding.

1. my employer provides scholarships of $7,500 per year of a graduate program. Likely the program I take would be 2 years and that would equal $15,000.
2. my parents have offered me their own version of a scholarship of $5,000 per year to a maximum of $10,000.

That is $25,000 towards my MBA (assuming I get the work scholarship). At the moment I am considering 2 schools with very different price tags. I'll get into the school options later as it doesn't really matter at the moment because I am so far away from actually applying but they range from $30,000 to $40,000 for the entire program (plus books and other expenses).

For now I am going to focus on the GMAT and I plan to see if my work will pay for the GMAT. That would be an extra bonus.

So exciting to even think about it!

Yay for benefits!

Over the weekend I was in Alberta and I had a mission: I wanted to replace the lenses in my favourite pair of glasses.

I had gone around my current city in BC to price out my options. I was quoted around $300. That's INSANE! When I bought the glasses 2 years ago they were about $200 for everything. No way was I going to do that.

While in Alberta I decided to go to the store I had originally purchased my glasses from and they were able to change the lenses for a mere $150. I know it is still expensive though but I love those glasses.

While in the store I realized...hey...maybe I can get a good deal on new glasses! So I shopped around and found these:dfd

They came to roughly $350. In total, it was $500! Crazy huh? It's okay though because I have some pretty awesome benefits. I get $250 towards glasses/contacts every two year...but I've used up most of it on contacts over the last 18 months (this was before I found out about clearlycontacts.ca). BUT, Boris gets $350 every 2 years and I haven't used his at all. AND, I have a health spending account with about $800 in it. woo hoo! Unfortunately, I may end up needing that $800 for some dental work but that's besides the point. The point is that my costs are covered and I got to keep my original glasses plus get new ones. Score!

Family can be great!

This past weekend I returned to my hometown in Alberta for a visit. It was busy! I went to breakfast with my grandma, dinner with the family, movie with my parents, drinks with friends, dinner with friends, etc, etc etc. And you know what...it hardly cost a thing! Everybody was treating me!

Which is great.

In all, I paid for my flight, parking, and gas for my parents vehicle. That's it! I even got lucky and ran into my in-laws at the airport and they gave me a ride home! That alone saved me about $50!

So, it was good and affordable. :) yay!

Tomorrow I will tell you all about my fantastic new purchase I made! :D

Skipping town again...

Sorry to run off for what feels like the tenth time lately but I am going back to Alberta for a long weekend visit. I got a good deal on a seat sale about a month ago and suddenly...it's here.

I'm sure I will have plenty to update you on when I return.

In the mean time, if you live in Alberta do what you can to arrange for some good weather!

Mortgage renewal

As of September 1, 2010 our mortgage for our Alberta condo will be up for renewal. Hard to believe we bought it 5 years ago and thought to ourselves, "this time, we'll stay here for at least 5 years before moving". HA. We lasted 3 years and then moved to a whole new province!

But here we are.

I can either renew now with our current bank, TD Canada Trust or I can go to another bank. At the moment we have a fixed rate of 4.6% which we signed for 5 years with a 25 year amortization. When we lived in it we paid on a rapid bi-weekly schedule but now that it's a rental property we have moved it to monthly and that works well for us. Not the fastest way to pay down but it works with those rental cheques I like to cash.

This time we will still be looking for a fixed rate. I am thinking for 5 years but I'm starting to read some stuff saying that on average a 4 year is actually the better option. Thoughts? Comments?

However, this time we will go down to a 20 year amortization. By the time we renew I approximate we will have about $121,000 left owing.

So, what to do? I've crunched some numbers to see what different options might look like. For these calculations I have assumed a 20 year amortization and paid monthly:

4.49% (ING 4 or 5 year, TD 4 year) - $762.49

4.59% (TD 5 year) - $768.56

Of course, this is based on the posted rates. I would like to believe that since we do so much business with TD (2 mortgages, 1 HELOC, 1 line of credit, 2 credit cards, 2 RRSPs, 4 bank accounts) that we can get a better rate.

So, now begins my quest.

I plan to set up a meeting with TD and see what they offer. Then, go to the other banks in the area and see what they offer. I will then return to TD and give them a chance to counter offer. Lowest rate wins the prize! (aka...my money)

Or maybe I'll go to the other banks first. That way I only have to visit TD once. What would you do?

Either way, if I can get my butt in gear and do this quickly we may actually get a lower rate than our current 4.6%, which I always thought was a pretty good rate!

Contacts

Since I've decided not to get corrective eye surgery, I need new contacts and glasses.

The glasses take a while but the contacts don't. So, I decided this time I would take the plunge and order from clearlycontacts.ca. I've always seen their ads advertised online or on tv but always felt like it must be some sort of scam. How could they possibly sell me the real thing and half the price? And come from Canada?

Well I still don't know how they do it but it sure does work! Fortunately for me, my eyes are the same prescription for my contacts so I only needed to order one box. It would have been cheaper per box if I had bought 4 boxes or more (a 1 year supply) but I was nervous ordering from an online retailer for something as important as my eyes so I only ordered 1.

Normally, it costs me $80 ish for one box when I buy from my optometrist. Well this time it cost me $53 and that's including shipping! Plus, it was delivered the very next day!

They are exactly the same brand that I normally buy! I can honestly say that there is no reason for me to ever order contacts from my optometrist again. Of course, I'll still go to her as usual for my overall eye health and for new prescriptions.

Oh, and my benefits covers this! I am so excited about this deal. I will no longer feel upset about losing a contact while playing sports again. This is a huge deal for me because part of my desire for eye surgery was because contacts and glasses were so expensive. At least now I can get my contacts cheaply.

Do any of you use this site?

More education?

Since I found out about the potential for a promotion in a few years, I've been thinking about what I can do to make sure I get it.

The first thought is, maybe I should get more schooling. I have a Bachelor of Commerce that I earned in 2003 through the University of Alberta. I always assumed I would return to school at some point for my MBA but so far I haven't felt ready or the desire to commit to something that large.

Now I think I might be ready. Of course, it's a long application process (depending on the university I might choose) and it's alot to consider.

I have to think about where I might go to school, how I will pay for it, and whether I think I can commit to the roughly 25 hours a week of part time school.

As for where, I am thinking either my local university in BC which is a good school or Royal Roads out in Victoria. Royal Roads is a 2 year program done mostly online with a few spurts of on campus learning. It is basically geared to the working professional.

Cost? Along with books and the laptop that MBA programs require, I am looking at roughly $32,000 to $40,000 for a 2 year part-time education. YIKES! My employer does offer a scholarship program where I could get potentially $15,000 covered. I could apply for other scholarships. Or, I could ask my parents if they want to help out (when I was in my undergrad I asked if they would pay for an MBA at the time and they said yes then but that was 10 years ago and much has changed since then).

So much to think about! If I do decide to go for it, I wouldn't be applying yet. I would likely want to start in the fall of 2011. Besides, I'm not sure I could get my application pieces in for this fall anyways.

What do you think? Do any of you have multiple degrees? If so, has it helped you?

Progress at work

I haven't discussed my job very much and I don't plan to really disclose too much about it. Essentially, I am in human resources where I work at a computer most days. I am a senior level professional that others come to for very specific advice.

So far in my career, I am the youngest person at my level of work. I am 28 and I've been at this level of work since I was 25. I am pretty proud of that.

Recently, my boss and I had my performance review. Basically, I rock.

As of Monday this week, I also have an employee. She is a junior level professional and I need to train her to do the job better. She has done the job for about 2 years but just returned from maternity leave. I plan to change her job slightly and give her some proper training.

That's besides the point.

During my performance review my boss asked me what my career goals were. I told him that I am quite happy with where I am at the moment and that I am quite pleased to have an employee because it gives me a good opportunity to safely try it out. Next, he asked about my long term plans. I told him quite honestly, "I want your job". Bold huh?

Thankfully, he agreed. He told me that he plans to retire in 3.5 years and that he has already identified me as his successor and has told our senior executive of this plan. I guess they have a succession management plan that I didn't know about.

Yay me.

So now I have 3.5 years to get trained up for a HUGE opportunity. I am thrilled at the idea. It doesn't hurt that it's about a $25,000 per year jump in pay either. Of course, there is alot more work involved but that's a good thing because I think I will be ready for it when the time comes.

I am really quite pleased about all of this. Even if nothing happens (which I hope it does), it's nice to know that I'm being recognized and considered for it already.

The joys of property ownership

Owning property obviously has costs associated with it. Including...property taxes!

Unlike most people, I'm not going to complain about having to pay property taxes because I think they are important. Where else is the government going to get money to pay for the services that people need? It's important. I just hope that they take it seriously.

Because we own property in two provinces it has become quite clear to me that different provinces (and cities) do things very very differently. I'm going to give you a summary of the details:

British Columbia property: valued at $265,000

The total owing is $1,693.10 BUT because it is my home that I live in, BC gives us a homeowners grant of $570 which brings the price I actually have to pay down to $1,123.10

Alberta property: we technically own 2 pieces of property in Alberta. The condo is one and the parking stall is another. This means I could actually sell my parking stall if I wanted to...but why would I? Anyways:

Condo: valued at $225,000

Total owing is $1,653.45. We don't live in Alberta but even if we did, there is no homeowners grant. Notice that even though our Alberta condo is valued at less, we actually have to pay more. Like I said, different provinces.

Parking stall: valued at $9,000

Total owing is $66.12

These aren't a problem for me to pay for as I set aside a set amount every month during the year to make sure we have the money on hand.

However, just in case this is any of you...do NOT let your banks roll the amount into your mortgage! They did that to us when we first bought our condo in Alberta. Basically, we didn't know any better. What they promised was that our monthly payments would go up an appropriate month to cover it. At the end of the year though we realized it was no where near appropriate. They were only putting about $10 towards it. So at the end of the year, they wanted to roll the $1,500 we still owed into the principle of the mortgage! hell no! Then we would be paying interest on it too! So we pulled it back out but it was an ordeal. I don't know why anybody would do this.

Another option is you can always arrange with the city to split your payments up monthly and they don't charge for this either.

Do you pay property tax? If so, what do you owe this year?