Valentines week

All week I have been cooking and preparing for the big day when I can surprise Hubby with my amazing Valentine's Day cookies for him to enjoy, (I hope). They have taken a total of three days to prepare and decorate but he is worth the effort. On top of that, I had to hide them for the finally viewing. Not a easy thing to do when you have a cookie hound around.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. Look good, don't they?!!! Martha I'm still waiting for you to discover me.....







Hubby got a hair cut today and then we cleaned the house from top to bottom which is a regular Sunday chore. Have I told you how much I hate Sundays for this very reason? Plus, you know tomorrow is back to work. Where do the weekends go?

Today, I'm making a big batch of chilli and then we are also baking a pork loin roast in a honey garlic glaze and some rice. It's a Sunday power cooking day here which will make it easier through the week if one of us has to work late.

We have lots of snow down and it just keeps on coming every day. What's up with that?! I want Winter to be over NOW, YES, RIGHT NOW! Damn, nothing happened, the white stuff is still here. I do have to admit though, that in the mornings going to work it looks like diamonds on the road and I really like that effect. What girl wouldn't like diamonds and plenty of them.

This week we have to go into the Credit Union and deposit some money into an RRSP so we can lower hubby's tax exposure and then take the refund to pay down the mortgage. We have also increased the mortgage payments again slightly by lowering the tax portion and increasing the total amount we pay every two weeks, so hopefully we can get closer to our 5 year goal of paying this off. YAAAAA!!!!!!

I also want to max out my TFSF. I just need $400.00 more and our emergency fund is in place. Out of sight and out of mind. Then I want to start saving for a vacation this year. It will probably be in the Maritimes somewhere because it is really truly a beautiful part of Canada. We are very lucky to be living here.

Raise

Yay, I did it!!!!

I bargained for my raise and got it. Three and a half percent and retro pay back to September. Sometimes a girl just has to stand up for what she believes in because it's all about the money when it comes to review time.

I was pretty happy about this raise, especially when you hear about all the people who are losing their jobs. It could've been me. The industry that I'm employed in can be touchy when the economy is down. I just have to hope for the best and not dwell on what might happen down the road. I've been through that cycle before. It gets you nowhere and can rob you of the good times that lay ahead.

I bought some used skates yesterday and I'm hoping to use them soon. I'm not used to boy's skates and I found them very stiff, so I will also have to overcome that, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll have to phone the rink tomorrow to see if they have any beginner's skate time. I'm very nervous of falling, I wouldn't want to break anything and be off work especially with what I went through last year with that awful insurance company. Be just my luck.

If this works out Hubby is also going to get a pair of skates, too and we can go together. How Sweet.

My scarf is really coming along great and I'm very proud of the look of it so far. Its 100 percent wool so it should be very warm also. You would need it today is is -20C and with the wind chill factor -30C, ugh. We are warm and toasty inside though and I'm not even thinking of going outside today so, yes, it will be another NO SPEND DAY!

We did the usual cleaning today and now we will have the rest of the day to relax. Later we are going to bake a chicken for supper and watch the wind swirl outside. Life is really good and we are very lucky.

We are also getting our funds in order to buy some RRSP's. We had a meeting on Friday to get some information on how best to proceed. I feel we got some good advice. We're going to put our money into retirement savings and put the tax refund down on the mortgage.

I also have a company X-mas bonus coming at the end of Feb. and my retro pay should be on this week's check along with my raise. I may use the X-mas bonus for something like a getaway weekend or I may just decide to be cheap and squirrel it away. What would you do if you won millions? I can't even decide what to do with $400.00. We bought a few tickets on the 649 lottery because the jackpot was $43 million, but we didn't even win a free ticket. Oh well, it saves me having to figure out how I would budget that amount. HA HA.

Here's a nice sunny picture from our holiday in 2007 just to keep reminding us that there is hope that winter will end!

New Years Goals for 2009

Happy New Year to you all!!!!!

We have been stormed in for two days and just finally got our main road plowed out at around Noon.
Hubby has been out twice using the snowblower to clear the driveway just to stay ahead of the blowing snow. The drifts were 6' in some areas and out on the road they must be 10' or more.
Welcome to another New Year of storms. The same day in 2008 was also a storm. Weird.

We had a few friends over on New Years eve before we all went to the Community complex for the dinner and dance. Fun times were had by all and the New Year was officially rang in. YA HOOO!!! I'm hoping for 2009 to be the best year ever. Now that's positive thinking.

Goals for the New Year are as follows:(no particular order)

Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
Buy skates and use them.
Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
Drink more water at work and home.
Try new recipes.
Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
Open a TFSA acount and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
Make more time for myself.
Read more books.
Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
Get a complete physical.
Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
Continue to declutter.
Continue to work on our basement renovations.
Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
Tweak the budget throughout the year.

Yes this list is long but surely I can accomplish some of these goals and even if it is just a few , I think I would still be pleased.

How about you? Any goals or dreams you want to share.

Take care and all the best to everyone in 2009.

Only Four Days 'til the NEW YEAR!

The New year is always about hope and promises , BUT WHAT ABOUT GOALS????

Resolutions, just forget it, everyone breaks them and then feels guilty and stressed. Goals are easier. If you don't achieve them, well, there is always the next day, week, or month.

The stress we put upon ourselves is just that. These are our goals and maybe they can't be achieved when we expect them to be. Just keep a positive attitude and move ahead every day.

I have lots of goals to post and I can hardly wait to unveil them, but right now they are all on paper and in my head so you will have to wait.

Some Thoughts About Christmas

Once again it has been awhile since I've written but I didn't sign a contract to blog everyday as yet!!

Still, I’m always hopeful Martha Stewart will arrive one day and cook in our kitchen. Oh what fun we will have fa la la la! Ok I know Santa can't even begin to fulfill that one, but I have other wishes for the Holiday season.

First, lets think of charitable organizations that we can all contribute to or volunteer for. Yes it is the Season for giving and everyone can!!!!! Please don't tell me “no, you can't” because all you have to do is look around you to find ways to get involved. Maybe even shovel off the walkway for your neighbor, bake an extra batch of cookies to share, visit someone in the manor who may need help addressing Christmas cards, time volunteered at a soup kitchen. You’ll get the BIG picture if your mind allows you.

I'm happy to say we gave very generously this year more so than last year because it made ME feel good and worthwhile. We have so much and as I have said before WE are truly blessed that I don't need to run out and buy just for the sake of having something around the tree.

Because of our jobs, this is the busiest time of the year but, yes, WE still contribute. So can you. NO EXCUSES!

Ok I’ve nagged enough so I'll wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Solstices, oh just Happy Everything and all the best in the New Year.

Hopefully I'll update my goals and wishes for 2009 and the side bars plus maybe I won't be sooooo shy and actually put my BLOG out there for the world to see. (Yeah, Martha Stewart)

Take Care and Happy Holidays to everyone.
Love Me XXXXXXX 00000000

Why do weekends go by so fast?

Yikes, the weekend is gone again and here it is Monday morning all ready!
It started out nice. We went apple picking at a great little spot not too far from home. The orchard was beautiful, especially with all the fall colours as a backdrop. There were so many varieties of apples to pick from (Honey crisps, Cortland, Macs, and a few other varieties the names of which escapes me just now. Getting old and the memory is going, too.) Anyway the price per pound was also good, 50 cents for any variety you picked. We picked 9 and a half pounds. I usually eat 2 apples a day at work while I'm walking at breaks so they probably won't last all that long, and I know a few horses who would appreciate them also. We made a pot roast for supper which turned out very tasty and will last us till Wed. this week then I'll have to think of two days of meal planning and this weekend I would like to have pizza night on Saturday. It is always a little harder to plan when I'm working the evening shift, but we manage.
I'm going to sit down this week and see what my long term goals may be. I would like to save over $25,000 in the next five years and wonder if this will be possibly with our mortgage payments and other expenses. Eventually we are going to need another vehicle which maybe the money saved will have to go to this big ticket item.
I just don't know how things are going to go in the future, right now the markets look so gloomy and I have already lost over $10,000 in investments because of the stock exchange collapse. I know there is no sense in panicking because everyone else is in the same boat; it’s just hard to see that money disappear when it would have been nice going against the mortgage. It’s all about paying that off as quick as possible.
Well I guess I better start gearing myself up for work soon.
I had to do some tests to prove to the idiots above that I was still capable of doing the job. So, all the tests came back PERFECT and now they are happy. We still have co-workers who have failed the tests a few times and haven't even redone them yet for fear of failing again. Poor little babies. What, they never failed anything in their lives before? We are also going to have another new recruit starting next week so I guess there will be another trainee for me to teach. With all these new recruits maybe the writing is on the wall for me. It would be funny if I was training my replacement, wouldn’t it?. I just can't figure out why they won't let me move on to another area in the plant. Yes, I know I'm very good at my job but, let’s face it, after 5 years in the same dept. I'm bored to death. No challenges makes for a very unhappy worker, while I realize others are very happy just to do the same thing day after day. Which type are you?
Have a great day.

Who I am and why I'm here.

I’m not a accountant, I’m a engineer who is currently employed in a different trade. I have never taken any economic courses but I’m trying to become a self taught financial guru. I enjoy trying to improve my budget every month so that I can keep our financial situation strong. Hopefully by blogging daily I can keep my goals in perspective and see how I doing. My goals and reasons for starting this blog are to:

• Keep my spending on track.
• Pay off our only debt right now, which is the mortgage.
• Build up my RRSP savings.
• Build up my emergency fund.
• Cut down on grocery spending.
• Make menu planning a must do.
• Make daily exercise a must do.
• Allow for some quality reading time.
• And, the most and important right now, is to plan for our retirement at freedom 55!!!!!!