To My Dear Readers....

Someone has figured out who I am. I do appreciate her tact for not publically outing me on the blog, however, as I've said before, when it's no longer anonymous, I'm out for the count.

And with a heavy heart, I have decided to shut down this blog as of tomorrow.

I will continue to read and follow you all in hopes of joining your journies and helping mine along the way.

Thanks for a great year.  I love you all.

In the meantime, I will leave my email open for a little longer if you'd like to chat : anonymouscanadiangirl {at}gmail {dot} com.


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

The 'Perks' of Loyalty Programs.

In my {humble} opinion, it seems as though there are two distinct schools of thought on this: yay or nay, no ambiguity.

I personally refuse to pay for loyalty programs.  For instance, my Body Shop membership which would normally be $10/year costs me nothing if I use the card 3 or 4 times a year {which I do}.  I wouldn’t pay the $10 at the store – you want me to PAY YOU to come and shop in your store?  Two words for you: starts with F and ends with F!

One such program whose merits I was unsure of was PetSmart’s Pet Perks program.  This program doesn’t cost anything, but I wasn’t told an exact percentage of savings, nor exactly what I was to get out of being a member.  I was in PetSmart doing some doggie Christmas shopping {yeah, I dress my dog up…don’t judge} and remembered I was a member.  Figuring my bill would be high because of the 8 things I bought, which included doggie toothpaste and various items of clothing and toys, I handed over my Pet Perks card thinking nothing of it.  Low and behold, that card entitled me to a 40% savings. 

Yes, you read that right: 40%.  My bill went to $50.73 after tax to $30.40.  I can’t believe this.  I didn’t have to pay for it and just for patronizing your store, I get tremendous savings on things my dog needs wants anyway. 

Thank you PetSmart.  Perhaps other loyalty programs can take the hint and learn what it really means to attract and maintain a loyal customer base.

Feel freezies to share your loyalty stories {good or bad} below.  I’m sure we barganistas {or bargainistos…whatevs you fancy} would love to hear about it!

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Crocs. What a crock.

{I love a good pun in the morning, don't you?}

Comfort.  That’s what we all associate with Crocs, right?  NOT. {*insert Borat accent here* } 

I recently purchased {and returned} a pair of ‘dress Crocs’, which was in direct violation of any and all fashion rules I have. However, I was desperate for a comfortable, yet moderately attractive alternative to running shoes for my walk to work.  Whilest browsing about, I came across these puppies:

{click for larger...if you want}

BAD.  DO NOT BUY THEM.  Comfort my ass!  These not only gave me blisters, but gave off a farting sound while I walked.  I fart enough as it is.  I don’t need my feet doing it too! 

For those of you that swear by Crocs {and I hope don’t wear the ones with the big holes that attempt to look like clogs out of the house}, I commend you and congratulate you on your comfort.  I, however, will never wear them.  Alas, I’d much rather look good and be fart-free while getting blisters on my toes!

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Biz Etiquette/Budge Question.

Krystal over at Give Me Back My Five Bucks posted an interesting question on her Twitter the other day:  “Do u always give when ppl in the office are collecting $$ for wedding/retirement/bday/baby present? What if it's for someone u don't know?”.

This is something that I’m unsure of where the proper ‘etiquette’ lies.  What if you’re on a budget like me?  What if you don’t really know the person and wouldn’t buy a gift otherwise?  What if you simply don’t like him or her?  {so what, I’m a bitch.  Deal with it…} 

I always feel judged when going around to do this.  Now that I’ve switched to a smaller company, I don’t think it’ll be as big of an issue {that, and I’m far happier here and love everyone I work with…well almost everyone…}.  However, given that I’m still early on in my career, and though I don’t plan on leaving, you never know where life will take you, so I thought I’d go here to my public forum and ask what the proper etiquette would be.

How much is proper to give?  Should you feel obliged to ALWAYS contribute, or is it fair to just reserve the dollaz for those you like/are close with/are your boss?

Eff.  So many questions.

I’m seriously stumped.  Readers - throw me a bone please in the comments below!

Follow Krystal’s Twitter here.

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

No Spend November.

I finally hit my no spend goal!!!  Woot woot!! 

14/12 for MoNovember. 

Too bad that with Christmas coming, it's going to be one spendy December!!


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

November Numbers.

If you've been reading for a month or so, you'll remember from this post that I've been tracking all spending categories for the month of November.  I did some crunching yesterday, and here's what it looks like:

...perhaps I should quit drinking.  NEVER!  I loves me some wine. 

It's important to note that the $169 in the clothes/gifts category was for 2 gorgeous dresses for my bday/Christmas parties.  I have very few hot little dresses, so this was a treat to myself.  The transportation portion of my budget is hefty this month due to rising gas prices, and the 'beauty' category the same simply because I needed a hair-doing this month. 

I'm $22.41 in the red over my $400 budget.  I'm going to list a pair of sunglasses {Armani...big and round, so totes in style but too wide for my skinny, long face} on Kijiji/Craigslist to see if I can make up the shortfall.


Thank you all for your comments on my last post regarding moneyville.ca.  I'm glad as many of you find certain posts as useless as I do!


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Reading Moneyville.ca.

How many of you have been reading the new moneyville.ca site posted by the Toronto Star?  I know Krystal over @ Give Me Back My Five Bucks posts on the blog there frequently, however I tend to think she’s one of the few there with the experience and know-how to post insightful blogs that people can utilize and learn from.

I’m not trying to negate the fact that moms who post don’t know how to save a buck or stretch a family budget, I’m just simply noting that their tips and experience doesn’t really relate to the younger, internet and blog saavy readership that moneyville.ca attempts to capture.

Let’s dissect this post here from Adam Goodman.  Have a read thru, and I’ll bet you’re hard pressed to find any innovation whatsoever, or anything of true merit in his post.  It’s the same old dribble that we’re used to hearing.

The post starts with the title ‘How I Saved $7,000 Painlessly’.  Intriguing, no?  Who wouldn’t like a list of ways to save $7,000 without cramping their style too much?  WRONG.  The premise of his whole post for ‘painlessly’ saving $7,000 is this: you should pay yourself first before paying your debts. 

Hrm? Come again now?  He says in one of the last bits of his post that his savings account is $7,000.  However, he had student debt when he first graduated which he struggled to pay off.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather maintain a small emergency fund and use any excess ‘reserves’ to pay down that debt.  Unless my savings account has 12% interest, it’s not worth the trade-off.  That’s a few thousand {or even hundred…} dollars that could have been much better utilized.

He says it was painless to save the $7,000, but I think that when you muse over debt and are up at night thinking about money issues, it entirely negates the pain.

{Disclaimer: I’m all for an emergency fund, however I sure wasn’t socking away $100 per month when I was in major debt and wanted to get out.  I did it in small increments and stopped at $1,000.}

Let’s look at an example:

Using what Mr. Goodman professes, we’d be saving $100 per month for a year.  With a simple calculation of compound interest, that means we’d be making roughly $188 per year and growing our deposit to a mere $288.  I’m out of debt now, so $188 is great, but when I had big debts to pay, that $188 would’ve gone a long way! It’s not much when you consider a debt of $5,000 or more, where the monthly interest amounts to about half that total yearly savings.

For example, let’s take a calculation of someone who’d be in roughly $7,000 debt and it will take almost a year to pay off:

Without the $288 the debt payoff would look somewhat as follows, using a roughly 7.5% interest rate on the debt and it would be paid off at the beginning of June:  

With the $288 {applied to the last payment, considering it would take roughly a year to compound the interest – I know, I know, it’s JUST an illustration of a point, not what would be really earned in the time frame}, the debt is cleared almost an entire month earlier.  And this is without consideration of any snowballed funds towards the debt.  To me being clear of that debt a month earlier means far more than the $288 opportunity cost:

Moral of the story:  Adam Goodman, your ideas idea sucks.  Congratulations for being out of student debt.  But if you want to expand your horizons a little, think outside the box and create real savings tips.  Most normal people who are struggling on limited incomes and wanting to payoff debt can think of way better things to do with $100 per month.  Moneyville.ca – perhaps you should reconsider who you allow to blog on your site {not you, Krystal – you’re great} and ensure the blog is a real PF blog and not just some site where anyone with a savings account and a computer can post.

Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below.  But note, please, that any hateful comments will not be approved :)

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Monthly Spending Category Challenge: Update #2.

In this post here, I provided an update on Categorize November.  I said I’d have money for my trip fund.  FAIL! I got $50 from grandma.  That’s it!  I guess I can’t complain; that’s $50 more than I had before, and my parents aren’t obligated to purchase me a gift, since paying for the majority of my wedding is gift enough.

However, I had really hoped to have more to put in the trip fund!  Oh well, just looks like it’s going to involve me scrimping more to save enough for one last trip before we’re a married couple.  Sounds so weird.  Oh emmm geee!

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Christmas Gifts. Oy!

I think I’m organized for Christmas Christmukah.  I’ve got my Dad and Fiancée’s Dad completely done, and am halfway done the Future Mother in Law.  All that’s left are my Mom, Sister and Fiancée. The fiancée will be splitting the cost of some gifts with me, so that alleviates the dolla pressure a little for me!

The budget?  It’s under $400 so far, and I’m going to give myself that limit.  This includes stockings for Mom and fiancée – but Dad will split the cost of some of Mom’s gifts with me as he always does {that’s the trade-off…I do all the shopping!}. 

I think this budget is realistic, though it may seem a little high, it essentially allows me to spend almost $60 each {and that’s with sharing of the cost, so it’ll actually be more in monetary value}.  Be that as it may, the cost isn’t always what should be considered first in the gift.  I think this year I’ve managed to create {read = make} gifts and purchase gifts that people will truly like, all the while saving some pennies.

I will update more on the Christmukah sitch as it develops.

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Dying to be Thin Again.

I’ve been reading Carla’s blog over @ My ½ Dozen Daily.  She’s a little shorter than me, and 117 lbs.  That’s where I’d like to be.  I’m currently 135, and weight has been a struggle my ENTIRE life.  I look back at pics of me when I was in uni, just over 2.5 years ago, and I was crazy thin and willowy.  What the eff has happened to me? 

My brain tells me I’m not fat – I’m 5’9” {5’10” on a good day} and 135 lbs.  That’s on the cusp of underweight.  But I’m dying to be thinner.  I’ve battled eating disorders in the past, and it seems like they’re about to show their ugly heads again. 

I need some tips to lose weight.  I exercise, I eat right, but don’t want to sacrifice my social life or mental health in the process. 

Tips….please…..

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl
.

I'm Old.

Well, it's official.  I'm 25 today.  I feel so old.  Krystal over @ Give Me Back My Five Bucks did a post on feeling older than your age.  You can link to it here.

I totally agree with everything she says.  I'm often tired by 10pm, I feel like I'm no longer a kid, and I sometimes wish I had my care-free high school days back.  Not only am I engaged, but I'm gainfully employed full time, own my own home, and pay all of my own bills without help from the parentals {you'd be surprised JUST how many of my friends get help from their parents...still...despite owning a home....}.   I guess it's good to be grown up and totally self-sufficient at my {relatively} young age.  I live my life on a budget, pay down bills as soon as they arrive, and try to be frugal without sacrificing the good things in my life.  I guess that's all part of growing up, eh?!  {yeah, it's my birthday and I'm Canadian.  I'll say 'eh' if I want to!}

{srsly...this dog's face pretty much sums up how I feel turning 25}

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY TO MOI!

To all of my dear readers,

You are all the reason I keep posting. Thank you.

As I look back and go thru the posts from a year ago today, I see such a juxtaposition in my own personality and sense of self from what lies here in front of me right now.  I didn't know who I was, where I was going, or where I wanted to be, for that matter.  I was lost - for lack of a better term.  A lot has happened in the past year and has made me who I am today.  I can stand here and say that I am finally happy.  I've waited 25  24.89 years for this and it's finally here.  I couldn't have done it without the support of my dear readers.

Here's to many more blog posts and to coming leaps and bounds from where I was one year ago today.

I love you all.


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Category Challenge: Update.

Epic fail! Or win...depends on how you look at it.  I've not been spending much at all.  I've only bought things I need so far, like groceries, toiletries, leotards, and medications!  I guess it's a win...but so much for my tracking!

My birthday is coming up, so I hope to have some dolla billz to put towards my 'trip' fund.  The bf fiancee and I are planning a sort of a last minute trip {to save $$$$} with another couple and are hoping to go in the New Year and save what's left of our sanity after a long, Canadian winter.  The total budge there should be roughly $600 and we're hoping to get a 4 star or better hotel about 2 weeks before we leave.  Suggestions are welcome!!

Let's hope I start spending a little cash to track it...or not.


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl


PS
Tomorrow is my blogiversary!  Can you believe it?  A year of blogging.  Whoda thunk it?

Monthly Spending Category Challenge.

This month, I am going to challenge myself to categorize each expenditure I make and to identify discernable, concrete ways to cut down on my cash out flows.

It's going to take determination and really nit-picky notes on my budget tracker, but I think it'll be a cool exercise to really identify my indulgences.  It'll be sort of a wants vs. needs exercise.  I've obtained my inspiration from Jesse's post {click the link to the right to go to it}, whose blog is fantastic and entitled Jessie's Money and Jordan's Too .

Hers is more of a monthly budget, and mine will be too.  However, she's far more diligent than I and keeps very accurate track every month like that!  Let's hope this helps me get back on the wagon.



Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Is Paying Off Debt an "Emergency"?

Knowing that I'm a bit of a PF nerd, a friend recently posed a question to me:  "should I use my $1,000 e-fund to pay off some small debt?". 

This got me thinking - is debt really an emergency?  Is your irresponsibility {or not - could be different circumstances} really considered to be an emergency of sorts?

I told her that it could go 1 of 2 ways - if it was due to an emergency, yes, take the $1,000.  If it wasn't and you're unsure about your future income, then don't touch it.  I'm going to work with her to get the money reduced in a few months - right now, it's at roughly $7k, so it's a pittance comparatively speaking. She hasn't a foggy clue what a budget is, nor how to save or that she should be packing away a bit for retirement already.

This is my first 'client' for lack of a better term {disclaimer: I am NOT a financial advisor; I'm just helping a chica out!}.  Let's hope this goes well.  I'm going to take a list of ways to save money, use my weekly budget tracker, and make her read Gail's blog daily!


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

News.

Big news.  The BF proposed!!  WOOOOO HOOO!  I’m engaged.

This is scary, and exciting, and a huge surprise. 

All I can think about is the money; where can I save without affecting the time my guests have at the wedding?  I’ve been to a few weddings where it’s blatantly obvious where the money was skimped and where it wasn’t.  I’ve also been to weddings where guests were asked to do things like contribute to the bride and groom’s honeymoon instead of gifts – this is not on the list for us, as I think it’s tacky for us to ask people to send US on a trip when it may have been a year or more since they’ve spent money on a trip for themselves.

Here are a few ways I’ve come up with to save:

-         designer sample sale dress – I can get one for $500 or less {none of this Say Yes to the Dress over priced shizz for me….I’m a size 2…I can fit into the mannequin stuff!}

-         make my own favours

-         make my own place cards and menus

-         use fake flowers in the centerpieces

-         get a friend to do the engagement pics {which, I’m not even 100% sure I want yet!}

-         make my own invites

-         hire a friend to be the DJ

-         ask friends to volunteer services instead of a gift – ie. A makeup artist or hairdresser friend

There’s only one problem:  I’m not crafty.  Perhaps getting things made on Etsy.com will be a better bet!

Any tips from you married readers out there?  How can I save without looking cheap?

Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

PS

This will NOT turn into a wedding blog.  I will NOT be bridezilla.  If you see that happening, please tell me in the comments.  I love you all and want you to enjoy my blog!

Getting Back on the Wagon.

Thanks, Krystal for your tip {you can see her comment in a previous post}.

I’ve gone back to ye ol’ budge and I’m working on getting back on the decreased spending wagon.  Instead of doing it weekly tho, I’m going to be doing just a monthly flat $600 {I haz gas now to pay for!}, and tracking monthly spending with receipts stapled to the expense list.

I’m still going to go for 12 ‘no spend’ days a month.  However, I know I won’t make it this month since I’ve had a ton to do with the new job, car etc.  I will be starting my monthly updates in November. 

I have some money to pay off from the purchase of the car and savings to replenish {used in my month off work}, so I’ll have to update my monthly budge once I get a picture of how my spending pattern is going to go.


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

New Job.

I've started my new job this week.  I'm loving it so far, but am totes finding it difficult to live on the reduced budge that's resulted from my month off.

I went a little off the bandwagon and now I have to get myself back in gear - NYC just does that to you!

Eff.

How do you guys get back on track?  I'm at a loss this time.  I can't really go to cash only, and find it difficult to keep any and all receipts.  What gives?  Am I that out of it that I can't manage my own finances?

Help!




Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

Citibank Platinum Enrich is Gonzo. Officialz.

I gave up a ring to Citibank today just to inquire as to when the CIBC takeover would be effected.  The kind and knowledgable attendant on the phone informed me that CIBC has only purchased some of Citibank's Mastercard portfolio, and that my Enrich Platinum was part of that takeover. 

I will be issued a cheque for the cash portion {so as not to lose it}, and then re-issued a card with CIBC branding.  Um...yeah.  I'm on the hunt for a new Mastercard.  I highly doubt that the same perks as the Platinum Enrich will be upheld when CIBC effects it's final takeover, and the lady I spoke with was of the same mindset.

Therefore, I'm going to begin my foray, yet again, into the world of mastercards with perks.  I like to have 1 of each - visa, mastercard and amex.  Since my visa is Aeroplan points and I'll be using the mastercard strictly for my business and gas expenses, I need would like something that offers a similar cashback perk to the Platinum Enrich.

I've narrowed my search to the cards as follows:

- MBNA Smartcash
- Capital One
- BMO

Any suggestions?  I'm leaning towards one of the first two, and selecting one with cashback.

Thoughts?  Please comment :) 



Hugs,

*Canadian Girl

I'm BAAAACKKKK....

Did you all miss me??  Ha.  I know that was a resounding yes! *lolz*

I had a fantastic time in NYC.  I'd forgotten how much I truly missed that place; despite living in a somewhat thriving metropolis, it's still my favourite place on earth.

Given that the bf was working all day every day, I had a lot of time to kill.  I found some super cool stuff to do {besides shopping...which I did lots of} that was cheap or free.  One of my favourite things to do was sit outside the NY Public Library {think SATC - Carrie's almost wedding} with a Starbucks and people watch, or do the same in Times Square.  I could go on for hours.

Instead of doing that, I will give you all some NYC picture porn.  You're welcome.


Hugs,

*Canadian Girl



Oh PS!

Since this is a PF blog and all, I have to throw some PF shiznat out there: TD Bank now has a HUGE presence in NYC {and according to them, will be doing so in other States in the near future}.  I was able to withdraw US funds from my Canadian account WITHOUT a fee.  Can you believe it?  Go TD!