Been a while again, but just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for all of you who continue to come here to push us on :)
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
November 22, 2012
October 6, 2012
Lump Sum Delegation
So the $8444 showed up yesterday morning along with my paycheck (which was more this payday than last....I think it was due to meeting my 'time off' requirement for short term disability and was actually close to what *I* thought it was going to be here) and a transfer of $3000 from ING to put into the certificate of 4%.
Of the $8444, I moved $1400 to the Custom Club for our Cruise and Disney vacation making that fully funded. I sent $500 to my parents and we paid off some of the little debts that we had accumulated.
May as well start somewhere again.
The rest has been put into savings for now until we make hard decisions on what to do with it.
The remainder that is left of the lump sum is $5869
I know I have been off work since August 21 and I go back to work on Tuesday, but I cannot wait for our vacation. Now that it is fully funded of over $5000 (and I may just add more for fun before we go in January...can never have too much!) and the Cruise has been 'paid for' since last February when I got my bonus for work. Just waiting until we get closer to the Final Payment Date to pay that with Norwegian Cruise Line. I'll post more on the vacation here soon on what we're doing and where we're staying :)
But right now.....
Sitting around all day has not been fun. Very much NOT a vacation.
I am slowly getting back on my feet. Still very painful though.
Hope you all have a great weekend, if you have Columbus Day off enjoy it, and if you're Canadian, HAPPY THANKSGIVING (HAPPY TURKEY DAY!) Normally I cook a Turkey down here, but it's just too much with my foot out of action.
Of the $8444, I moved $1400 to the Custom Club for our Cruise and Disney vacation making that fully funded. I sent $500 to my parents and we paid off some of the little debts that we had accumulated.
May as well start somewhere again.
The rest has been put into savings for now until we make hard decisions on what to do with it.
The remainder that is left of the lump sum is $5869
I know I have been off work since August 21 and I go back to work on Tuesday, but I cannot wait for our vacation. Now that it is fully funded of over $5000 (and I may just add more for fun before we go in January...can never have too much!) and the Cruise has been 'paid for' since last February when I got my bonus for work. Just waiting until we get closer to the Final Payment Date to pay that with Norwegian Cruise Line. I'll post more on the vacation here soon on what we're doing and where we're staying :)
But right now.....
Sitting around all day has not been fun. Very much NOT a vacation.
I am slowly getting back on my feet. Still very painful though.
Hope you all have a great weekend, if you have Columbus Day off enjoy it, and if you're Canadian, HAPPY THANKSGIVING (HAPPY TURKEY DAY!) Normally I cook a Turkey down here, but it's just too much with my foot out of action.
July 4, 2012
Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th of July to everyone!
J and I will have a quiet day around here, maybe take the jeep for a spin around town, have steaks on the grill for dinner and then take the jeep to the fairgrounds for the fireworks display.
Stay safe and have fun today! :)
July 2, 2012
Beginning Of A Short Week
Well, June has come and gone.
Yesterday, was Canada Day. Totally forgot to post that here....so Happy Canada Day! :)
I also had to work yesterday. It Was Crazy. We had a large storm come through on Friday night which took out power all over VA, MD and DC including our house.
Half of the town was dark and the other half was not.
We got power back at about 7:00am Saturday morning, but Comcast went out and we had no cable or internet all day Saturday and half of Sunday. I will definitely be asking for a credit for that day. Apparently Comcast didn't go out until AFTER the power had been restored.
The queues at work were well over 100 ppl waiting for a representative in my department for pretty much the entire day. It sucked.
I made a $475 payment to the MBNA Mastercard, which will bring the balance below $2000. It feels good considering that card started at over $20,000 just last year around this time!
I also made another principal payment of $50 to the mortgage, and we are 1 month ahead on the mortgage with our next payment not due until September 1.
Our vacation up to the cottage in Muskoka has also been sent to my dad's bank account so they can write the check for the rental. I'm really looking forward to going back again this year. This will be J's first time up there, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I have all my life.
I think the first time he casts his fishing rod in the lake all will be good :)
Jand I have still not filed the taxes. I have done it over and over and over in TurboTax and the numbers always stay the same. We are going to just file through it, since we can get audit protection through TurboTax. It's the only 'unusual' thing we have in the filing, so we will go ahead with it.
Hope you all have a good start to the week! I have tomorrow and July 4 off. Looking very much forward to it :)
Yesterday, was Canada Day. Totally forgot to post that here....so Happy Canada Day! :)
I also had to work yesterday. It Was Crazy. We had a large storm come through on Friday night which took out power all over VA, MD and DC including our house.
Half of the town was dark and the other half was not.
We got power back at about 7:00am Saturday morning, but Comcast went out and we had no cable or internet all day Saturday and half of Sunday. I will definitely be asking for a credit for that day. Apparently Comcast didn't go out until AFTER the power had been restored.
The queues at work were well over 100 ppl waiting for a representative in my department for pretty much the entire day. It sucked.
I made a $475 payment to the MBNA Mastercard, which will bring the balance below $2000. It feels good considering that card started at over $20,000 just last year around this time!
I also made another principal payment of $50 to the mortgage, and we are 1 month ahead on the mortgage with our next payment not due until September 1.
Our vacation up to the cottage in Muskoka has also been sent to my dad's bank account so they can write the check for the rental. I'm really looking forward to going back again this year. This will be J's first time up there, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I have all my life.
I think the first time he casts his fishing rod in the lake all will be good :)
Jand I have still not filed the taxes. I have done it over and over and over in TurboTax and the numbers always stay the same. We are going to just file through it, since we can get audit protection through TurboTax. It's the only 'unusual' thing we have in the filing, so we will go ahead with it.
Hope you all have a good start to the week! I have tomorrow and July 4 off. Looking very much forward to it :)
June 17, 2012
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father's Day to my Dad and to all of the Dad's out there!
I will once again be working this Sunday, so I called my Dad earlier to wish him Happy Day and in my Dad's fashion he was grumpy about it LOL
My dad is so funny sometimes.
He and I are very similar which is why we probably butt heads a lot. We're both very stubborn and will not admit when we are wrong, which I must apologize to my husband for about once every quarter *blush*
I hope this week goes by quickly, but I seem to be saying that a lot lately. I have been thinking about my future and what I really want to do. Things have been turbulant at work lately with things that have been going on and I feel like I am stuck. So, I have been looking at maybe going back to school or looking at what else is out there.
The only problem with the latter is the money I make currently and not finding something comparable that I would enjoy.
I'll keep you informed as to what comes of it.
Hope you all have a great day!
I will once again be working this Sunday, so I called my Dad earlier to wish him Happy Day and in my Dad's fashion he was grumpy about it LOL
My dad is so funny sometimes.
He and I are very similar which is why we probably butt heads a lot. We're both very stubborn and will not admit when we are wrong, which I must apologize to my husband for about once every quarter *blush*
I hope this week goes by quickly, but I seem to be saying that a lot lately. I have been thinking about my future and what I really want to do. Things have been turbulant at work lately with things that have been going on and I feel like I am stuck. So, I have been looking at maybe going back to school or looking at what else is out there.
The only problem with the latter is the money I make currently and not finding something comparable that I would enjoy.
I'll keep you informed as to what comes of it.
Hope you all have a great day!
November 29, 2011
Our Christmas Tradition
For the past few years J and I have started a tradition to give back to our community and adopt Angels so that they may have a Happy Christmas too. Usually, we adopt a couple of them from John's work, but since he switched divisions, and is currently deployed, we didn't know where we were going to get our Angel from.
When J was home in November, we needed to go to Walmart to deal with his prescriptions, and I noticed that they had a Salvation Army Angel Tree set up. While J was handling his order, I went over to see what the kids were asking for this year. Most wanted toys, crafts, bicycles. One child wanted educational toys...and a PS3 lol. But one child...Dustin, his toy wish was 'Anything'. I nearly started crying right there in the store. Needless to say, we found out Angel and we went on a shopping spree for the 7 year old boy.
I normally budget about $50 give or take for each child (since we normally do two) and just get them toys or whatever they have asked for. It's never exact, but it's a good place for it. Since we were just doing one child this year, and it does ask to purchase an outfit or coat I made it $100 - $150.
Well, I made my budget and we spent $150 on him. It was fun seeing J get all excited about buying toys for him. Even the clothes! "We need to get him a pair of bluejeans....every boy should have a pair" he said. He was so cute.
I hope that Dustin has a Merry Christmas this year, and that fulfilled that 'Anything' wish for him :)
Altogether we got him: Operation, Hot Wheels Double Loop, Extra Hot Wheels, Lego City Spaceship, Kre-O Transformers Bumblebee, Crayola art set, Giant Coloring Book, Cargo Pants, Jeans, sweatshirt, 2 longsleeve shirts, touque (beanie), mittens, socks and undershirts.
When J was home in November, we needed to go to Walmart to deal with his prescriptions, and I noticed that they had a Salvation Army Angel Tree set up. While J was handling his order, I went over to see what the kids were asking for this year. Most wanted toys, crafts, bicycles. One child wanted educational toys...and a PS3 lol. But one child...Dustin, his toy wish was 'Anything'. I nearly started crying right there in the store. Needless to say, we found out Angel and we went on a shopping spree for the 7 year old boy.
I normally budget about $50 give or take for each child (since we normally do two) and just get them toys or whatever they have asked for. It's never exact, but it's a good place for it. Since we were just doing one child this year, and it does ask to purchase an outfit or coat I made it $100 - $150.
Well, I made my budget and we spent $150 on him. It was fun seeing J get all excited about buying toys for him. Even the clothes! "We need to get him a pair of bluejeans....every boy should have a pair" he said. He was so cute.
I hope that Dustin has a Merry Christmas this year, and that fulfilled that 'Anything' wish for him :)
November 26, 2011
Black Friday
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I worked, since J wasn't here, and I don't have any family around. Work did feed us a really nice meal, and our Vice-President (who runs our contact center) served it to us. Was nice to see that.
I worked until 11pm on Thanksgiving and thought, what the heck, I'll go to walmart just to check out Black Friday. I've never done it, since I would usually be in bed by then! I got to walmart, and the parking lot was full, but being the lucky one I am got a spot right near the front. I went in, grabbed a cart, walked about 20feet inside, turned around and left HAHA. There were so many people in line to check out that you couldn't even move through. Driving by some other stores, Kohls, Best Buy, people were lined up around the buildings. It's ridiculous!
Needless to say, I went right home. The only thing I was looking for was a small camera for the cruise I'll be going on in January with my parents (they invited me, and since I'm the third person in their suite...and Owner's Suite at that! it was very affordable) I bought a package on bestbuy.com
That was the extent of my Black Friday experience.
Christmas here is going to be really odd. My parents will be coming down, but without J it will definitely be lonely. I normally spoil him big time, but I don't have to do that yet. I am going to send him a package over in Afghanistan, but it will only have small things, since I don't want to overload him with things that he'll have to bring back.
No new updates on the house yet. I hope we will hear something....anything...soon.
Next month, I will start up the debt updates again. Still waiting on a regular paycheck for J again, since he was off of 30days with no pay.
Until next time!
I worked until 11pm on Thanksgiving and thought, what the heck, I'll go to walmart just to check out Black Friday. I've never done it, since I would usually be in bed by then! I got to walmart, and the parking lot was full, but being the lucky one I am got a spot right near the front. I went in, grabbed a cart, walked about 20feet inside, turned around and left HAHA. There were so many people in line to check out that you couldn't even move through. Driving by some other stores, Kohls, Best Buy, people were lined up around the buildings. It's ridiculous!
Needless to say, I went right home. The only thing I was looking for was a small camera for the cruise I'll be going on in January with my parents (they invited me, and since I'm the third person in their suite...and Owner's Suite at that! it was very affordable) I bought a package on bestbuy.com
That was the extent of my Black Friday experience.
Christmas here is going to be really odd. My parents will be coming down, but without J it will definitely be lonely. I normally spoil him big time, but I don't have to do that yet. I am going to send him a package over in Afghanistan, but it will only have small things, since I don't want to overload him with things that he'll have to bring back.
No new updates on the house yet. I hope we will hear something....anything...soon.
Next month, I will start up the debt updates again. Still waiting on a regular paycheck for J again, since he was off of 30days with no pay.
Until next time!
October 10, 2011
Happy Thankgiving!
To my fellow Canadians and Happy Columbus Day to my American friends :)
Plan for today is to eat turkey leftovers (we had our turkey dinner last night, and it was yummy!)
Tomorrow we head to Buffalo (my parents and I) to have some fun at Seneca Casino. I haven't been to a casino in a while, so it will be nice to have some fun, and I already budgeted for it. Wednesday I return home. At least my landlord will be happy to know that we are not moving out as soon as we hd thought since the house deal fell through.
11 Days until J comes home! Cannot wait :))
I have so many things planned out to do and to not do while he is home for 30 days. We have to pack in as much as we can lol. Trips to Gettysburg, dinner there, his birthday (early), Capitals game, and absolutely nothing (where he can play video games all day if he wants...it's his vice, and I don't mind).
I love October :)
Plan for today is to eat turkey leftovers (we had our turkey dinner last night, and it was yummy!)
Tomorrow we head to Buffalo (my parents and I) to have some fun at Seneca Casino. I haven't been to a casino in a while, so it will be nice to have some fun, and I already budgeted for it. Wednesday I return home. At least my landlord will be happy to know that we are not moving out as soon as we hd thought since the house deal fell through.
11 Days until J comes home! Cannot wait :))
I have so many things planned out to do and to not do while he is home for 30 days. We have to pack in as much as we can lol. Trips to Gettysburg, dinner there, his birthday (early), Capitals game, and absolutely nothing (where he can play video games all day if he wants...it's his vice, and I don't mind).
I love October :)
July 1, 2011
June Recap and July Goals
June was a good month.
June Recap
10 No Spend Days - SUCCESS! I had 11!
Pay off J's Pesonal Loan - SUCCESS!
Pay In Full 4 Credit Cards SUCCESS! PIF JCPenney, Best Buy, Walmart and REI Visa.
Start Fitness Program and Lose 5 pounds - FAIL! Again...I really need to get off my butt and work on this.
July Goals
12 No Spend Days (If I can do 11 I can do 12!)
Pay In Full 3 Credit Cards
Get off my Butt and Work out and Get back to Weight Watchers! (If the weight comes off, it will be a success, but I have to do it!)
Updates to the balances will be posted tomorrow. I updated the sidebar already, and I can't believe in 2 months since J has made the sacarifice to go to Afghanistan and make the money to do this, we have paid off over $10,000 worth of credit card debt! It feels so good!
To all of my Canadian friends and readers, Happy Canada Day!
To all of my American friends and readers, Happy 4th of July!
:)
June Recap
10 No Spend Days - SUCCESS! I had 11!
Pay off J's Pesonal Loan - SUCCESS!
Pay In Full 4 Credit Cards SUCCESS! PIF JCPenney, Best Buy, Walmart and REI Visa.
Start Fitness Program and Lose 5 pounds - FAIL! Again...I really need to get off my butt and work on this.
July Goals
12 No Spend Days (If I can do 11 I can do 12!)
Pay In Full 3 Credit Cards
Get off my Butt and Work out and Get back to Weight Watchers! (If the weight comes off, it will be a success, but I have to do it!)
Updates to the balances will be posted tomorrow. I updated the sidebar already, and I can't believe in 2 months since J has made the sacarifice to go to Afghanistan and make the money to do this, we have paid off over $10,000 worth of credit card debt! It feels so good!
To all of my Canadian friends and readers, Happy Canada Day!
To all of my American friends and readers, Happy 4th of July!
:)
November 26, 2010
The Christmas Rush Begins
So with yesterday being Thanksgiving, and my husband's birthday, we celebrated with a quiet turkey dinner and a little bit of football.
Today, officially brings the Christmas countdown in our house. I absolutely love Christmas, J on the other hand does not. There is no Christmas music or decorations allowed until after Thanksgiving. Now that it has passed, let the Christmas explosion begin! :)
I'm relatively new to this whole Black Friday thing down here. Being that I'm Canadian, our 'black friday' has always been Boxing Day, or December 26. That being said, I've learned to get my deals online. I don't do crowds. I got my Christmas shopping started by ordering a gift that was on my list to give to J, and I saved $25 with free shipping. I paid cash, did not use any CC (yay!) and I plan to keep it that way. So far we have about $1100 budgeted for Christmas this year. I could put that all towards debt, but at this time of year, a lot of that money goes towards causes that J and I both believe in. Last year while we weren't in the greatest position, we still were able to budget $100 ($50 each) to two kids who were listed on the Angel Tree at J's work. I'm pretty good at getting deals and the most for our money. With that, we were able to get quite a lot for those kids and I hope they enjoyed their Christmas Day with those gifts.
We plan on doing the same thing this year.
Thankfully, December is a 3 paycheck month for both J and I, that will help.
Today, I am doing what I said I was going to do yesterday. Making a Payment Calendar from the DRP. I would have done it I swear! But I found a new blog to read, and ended up reading it from start to finish. It's amazing how reading other Personal Finance Blogs can motivate you to reach your goal. The one I read yesterday was Shaking The Money Tree and has definitely done that. Doesn't hurt that the author is Canadian :P
So today, it will be back to my work. So far, with just some preliminary numbers, it looks like we will be able to pay off some of our debt earlier than the DRP has planned. Plus, our Taxes, and a yearly bonus that I will receive in February, which will be between my regular paychecks and roughly the same amount, will all go towards debt.
Perhaps an update on my findings for the DRP later today...
Today, officially brings the Christmas countdown in our house. I absolutely love Christmas, J on the other hand does not. There is no Christmas music or decorations allowed until after Thanksgiving. Now that it has passed, let the Christmas explosion begin! :)
I'm relatively new to this whole Black Friday thing down here. Being that I'm Canadian, our 'black friday' has always been Boxing Day, or December 26. That being said, I've learned to get my deals online. I don't do crowds. I got my Christmas shopping started by ordering a gift that was on my list to give to J, and I saved $25 with free shipping. I paid cash, did not use any CC (yay!) and I plan to keep it that way. So far we have about $1100 budgeted for Christmas this year. I could put that all towards debt, but at this time of year, a lot of that money goes towards causes that J and I both believe in. Last year while we weren't in the greatest position, we still were able to budget $100 ($50 each) to two kids who were listed on the Angel Tree at J's work. I'm pretty good at getting deals and the most for our money. With that, we were able to get quite a lot for those kids and I hope they enjoyed their Christmas Day with those gifts.
We plan on doing the same thing this year.
Thankfully, December is a 3 paycheck month for both J and I, that will help.
Today, I am doing what I said I was going to do yesterday. Making a Payment Calendar from the DRP. I would have done it I swear! But I found a new blog to read, and ended up reading it from start to finish. It's amazing how reading other Personal Finance Blogs can motivate you to reach your goal. The one I read yesterday was Shaking The Money Tree and has definitely done that. Doesn't hurt that the author is Canadian :P
So today, it will be back to my work. So far, with just some preliminary numbers, it looks like we will be able to pay off some of our debt earlier than the DRP has planned. Plus, our Taxes, and a yearly bonus that I will receive in February, which will be between my regular paychecks and roughly the same amount, will all go towards debt.
Perhaps an update on my findings for the DRP later today...
November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your day be filled with friends, family and food!
Today is J's birthday as well, so it's filled with Turkey and Cake. He got his birthday present about a month ago, so today will be a good day to just relax, play some of the video games he already has (no new ones until Christmas) and enjoy the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven.
Might spend some time with the DRP on what payments will be made, how much and when. This journey doesn't get a holiday :)
Today is J's birthday as well, so it's filled with Turkey and Cake. He got his birthday present about a month ago, so today will be a good day to just relax, play some of the video games he already has (no new ones until Christmas) and enjoy the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven.
Might spend some time with the DRP on what payments will be made, how much and when. This journey doesn't get a holiday :)
April 11, 2009
Happy Easter!
Just a short blog to say Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates...or in my case: 'Celebrates' :P
Since Husband is working both days this weekend, it will give me an excuse to do some cooking. I went and bought a small turkey. I was going to just do a turkey breast, but the turkey was on sale, so it ended up costing me less for an entire turkey rather than just the turkey breast!
Plus, I LOVE turkey, so any excuse to eat it is fine by me!
Some financial news for us. Since Hubby is working on a super long project and is getting 'overtime' (He's salaried so normally doesn't get paid for overtime) we'll be able to make a nice dent into some of the payments we need to make this month and next.
I'd like to make out Car Insurance Bill in two payments rather than the 4 that we normally do. Then we'll have 4 months of the extra $150 we normally pay to put towards our other debt. Our Renters Insurance has around $200 left on it, so I'd like to half that as well. Then we can knock it out next month and not have to worry about it until February 2010.
Also, Hubby only has two more payments for my engagement ring. I'd LIKE to pay it off this month, but it's a toss up between that and the Car Insurance. The payment is only $111 a month, and since next month's payment will be the last, I'm not worried too much about the interest on it. Although, I should give them a call and see what it would be to make a Final Payment. If it's something we can do, get them to send a Final Payment statement and just get rid of that payment for good. One thing we can scratch off from our debt list!
I'll let you know what we decide to do.
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