Almost There!

One thing I neglected to mention in my holiday re-cap post was that I received a check from my grandfather for $1000.00. Yes, one THOUSAND dollars. I was in shock and disbelief.

Today I called him to say thanks and then I proceeded to put that $1000 towards my car loan. My loan is now down to $2000!! I am sooo close to being completely debt free. I hope to have it gone within the next few months and then I can start to get serious about moving out.

Extra Car Payment!

One of the best things about my recent vacation was that I only spent about half the amount of money I had saved for spending money. Because of this, I just made an extra payment of $1000 towards my car loan!!! I'm really excited about this. I have been searching the internet trying to find a loan calculator to help me figure out how much interest and time I have shaved off by doing this but I can't find one! All the calculators I have found only calculate using extra monthly payments and there is no option to enter a one time extra payment. :( If anyone knows of one out there please let me know!

"We got a whole lotta money but we still pay rent cause you can't buy a house in heaven"

The title of my post is a quote from a Lady Gaga song called "You and I". Actually it's "U&I". It's probably my favourite song on her new album which is, by the way, amazing. Anyone that is a fan of her previous works needs to get this album!!

Anyways, on to some update on what is going on with me.

-I recently redeemed some Air Miles for a $25 gift card to Rexall and another $25 gift card to The Gap. I already used the Rexall one, getting some much needed razors and a new mascara. The mascara is L'oreal Voluminous Millions Lashes and I HIGHLY recommend it. I actually had a customer tell me she loved my lashes. I think Amy recommended it on her blog which is what made me get it. I haven't used my Gap one yet though. I want to use it to get a new pair of black dress pants, because the ones I have right now I have been wearing for years! They are looking pretty worn. I'm waiting to combine my gift card with a sale. I check this blog every day to see who's having sales!

I also recently made my first WagJag purchase! The promo was you pay $15 for $30 voucher to a used clothing store here in my city. But I had a redemption code for $5 off my first WagJag purchase so I only paid $10 for that voucher. Today I went and got 3 tops and 2 bracelets, and paid $1.13. So I got about $30 of clothes for about $11. Not bad!

In other news, my car insurance is going up! :( My policy renewal date is June 30th. I just logged into my online portfolio today to see what my new rate was going to be and it's gone up by about $26 a month. So my rate is going from $199 a month to $225 a month. Don't get me wrong, I know that is not a bad rate, it just irked me a little because after my first year, my rate went down, so I was hoping after 2 years it would go down again. So I called them to find out why, and it's basically because of the general increases in rates in Ontario due to all the changes that the government made. The only way I could get it lower would be to get a winter tires discount, or make my deductible higher. Right now my deductible is $500 collision and $300 comprehensive. I feel those are comfortable amounts for me and don't really want to change them.

I think I am going to do a little research and see if there is anything lower out there, although I have a feeling I may not find anything. What do you guys think?

Weekend Spending

So I managed to get my car accessories after all. And for a rather good price! Here is what I spent this weekend:

Friday:
$2.05 starbucks banana bread (on break at work)
$27.09 snow brush and floor mats for my car. I got a snow brush on sale for $9.99 and 2 front mats for $6.99 each on sale. Did not expect to be able to get floor mats for $6.99 each!! And they are pretty good too. They are thick enough and do not slide around.

Saturday:
$5.95 Tim Hortons

Sunday (today):
$21.23 makeup. Shoppers had the GOSH makeup line for 40% off so I wanted to try something out since I haven't really tried their stuff. I bought a lipstick. And then I also bought a new concealer, mine was almost finished.
$17.89 groceries at Food Basics
$12.80 groceries at Zehrs
$2.61 ice cap at Tim's
$5.99 dollar store

I bought some ham, turkey and lettuce to make sandwiches/wraps to bring to work this week. Also got some grapes and bananas and Crispy Mini's which are like my new favourite thing. They are so good, almost better than chips and way less calories! They only problem is trying not to eat the whole bag!

Weekend Shopping List

As you know, I bought a car this summer. Well kids, the time has come for me to get winter accessories! The other night when I went to leave work, I actually had ice on my windshield! And today was the first snowfall. So this weekend I plan to go to Canadian tire to pick up some:

• car floor mats
• snow brush with ice scraper

I thought I would do a recap of what I've spent so far this month:

Sunday: $32.52 movies
I treated my mom, she had a birthday recently. I paid for our tickets as well as some popcorn and pop. The popcorn was not very impressive this time! It tastes better when we make it at home.

Monday: $7 Tim Hortons. I grabbed a bagel before work and also went there on my break. Yes, I have an addiction.

Tues: $6.96 bought some left over halloween candies/chocolates that were marked down.
$4.50 sub

Wednesday: $1.46 drink. I brought my lunch but forgot to grab water when I left the house! Could of been a no-spend day!

Thurs (today): $0!!

Exciting News

I know it has been awhile since my last post. It has been a little hectic lately and lately I just havent really felt like I
had the time to post anything. But I do have some exciting news! I bought a car! :)

I have to admit, one of the reasons that I didn't mention it sooner was because I was...I dont know, almost afraid of what you guys would say! Crazy right? I guess I thought maybe you guys might think it was a bad move. I dont know.

Anyways now to the details. I bought a 2008 Toyota yaris 4 door hatchback. It's silver and cute as a button. I had been researching for a looong time and knew what I wanted. It was just a matter of going to the dealership and picking one out. Unfortunately these cars are pretty popular, you can wait months for a brand new one, and there was not many used ones to choose from. But it's ok because I found one I liked. There is a few options that it doesn't have that I wanted, but when it came down to it, they were not deal breakers and I felt I could compromise. When you are searching for a deal on a used car you cannot be too picky.

In a way, it kind of sucks to be back in debt again, but hey I have a car!! I have so much freedom now to come and go as I please. I don't have to make sure its ok with my parents first if I want to go away for the weekend and I dont have to worry about renting a car when I want to go on a far-away extended trip. Plus its totally affordable for me, it's not pushing my budget to the max or anything, atleast not in my opinion. I honestly feel that I have never been in a better position for getting a car as I am now and just felt that it was time for this next step in life.

Anyways I hope you guys are excited for me!! :)

P.S. With all the excitement I wasn't exactly being diligent with recording my daily spending. Because of little boo boo I will not be posting what I spend in June. I can hear your disappointment :P I will get back to it for the month of July though :)