OMG

My laptop just died again..... So now I am updating via my iPod. WTF. Seriously. Punch me in the face. Stupid Vista.

I would hate to have to buy a new laptop because i've barely had this one a year but man, this is just killing me.

Hopefully this will get sorted out soon. I don't care if I lose compatibility with all my fancy crap (webcam, etc), i'm putting XP back on this computer.

I'm also thinking of writing a very strongly-worded letter to Microsoft about all this. Although I'm sure it is all old news to them.

Time to crawl into bed now.

So much for Seattle...

So my friends cancelled our proposed trip to Seattle without any warning or really (in my opinion) any cause. Apparently onw of the girls from the trip had to use up the vacation time that she had earmarked for this trip to visit her fiance who had gotten into a car accident in LA. That's totally fair to me - I would've done the same.

However, now the other girls don't want to go anymore - apparently it's not worthwhile to go with only three people instead of four. I think it is a lame excuse, but it is not my decision. I just wish that they could make up their bleeding minds. I hate this wishy - washy thing! I can't stand it whwn people make serious plans and back out at the drop of a hat.

Needless to say that I'm feeling a mix of anger, frustration, and dissapointment. I'm also feeling relieved since now I don't have to spend upwards of $1000 on some whimsical trip. At the same time, I really wanted to go. Boo.

Seattle

Well, I now have a bit of dilemna... some friends and I had originally planned a trip to Seattle for the Canada Day long weekend, but the plans kind of fell through recently. I had moved on and was planning other things for this weekend, when lo and behold the plans came back into being!

So... I'm going to go to Seattle with them, and it's going to be a blast... but I just haven't budgetted for this trip... yet.

So, here's my dilemna... currently my goals are sitting as follows:
Savings account: $8,193 (still need $1,807)
Pre-Trip Cash: $1,545 (still need $455)

So.... I will be bringing in around another $600 from fast-food job which will cover my Pre-Trip cash and give me about $145 to spare. I currently have $822 in my chequing account and will be getting another $1,100 or so from office-job. This will barely cover my savings account goal.

This is how I planned my month. This way, I would be basically at even at the end of the month and could start new goals next month. So... there's my problem. I'll either have to wait to accomplish a goal and use the cash for Seattle instead, or put everything for Seattle on my credit card, and pay it off next month when I get paid, which I would rather not do.

So far, the plan for Seattle is that we will drive from Calgary to Seattle (12hrs approx) on Friday, June 27th. We will arrive in Seattle Saturday morning sometime, and spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday night in Seattle. One of the gals has to be back in Calgary for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and so we will fly (Air Canada most likely) back Tuesday morning.

Here's the proposed budget:
Flight: $260
Hotel: $200 (most likely 4-5 of us will share a 1-bed, king size hotel suite and some will sleep on the floor)
Gas for driving there and rental: $120
Transportation while in Seattle: $20
Food while in Seattle: $200 (most likely at least one fancy dinner.)

None of this includes any shopping I'll do, which probably won't be tons. Either way, that adds up to $600. In my opinion, that's a pretty expensive trip, but the airfare makes it much more expensive.

So..... I'm not sure what to do. I'll wait another couple of days to see if any plans get finalized (which they probably won't), but more likely than not I'll be winging it.

So.... now comes the decision. Do I wait to put my money into my savings account and continue to add to my Pre-Trip cash, or other way around??? Ahhh!

And again, I'm lucky since the Canadian dollar is doing so good against the US, that at least I'm not getting nailed in terms of the exchange, but again, I've never been to Seattle. Those of you who live in (or have visited) Seattle, what do you think about the Budget? Too much, too little??

Garage Sale!

Well, the garage sale I had yesterday was a success! I actually grossed about $120 for the whole day, which, funny enough, is more than I would've made working at Subway for the 8 hours that I usually do. But better than that, I actually got rid of a lot of stuff, and a lot of the big stuff. In a way that's actually more satisfying than donating it, as this way, I know someone wanted it and will enjoy it.

The only downside, is comming back into the house after the garage sale and realizing that I still have so. much. crap. So much. I'm still looking at between 5 and 15 boxes of my stuff to pack up, which is so much!

I always wished that I was one of those people that could sell all their stuff and just live out of a backpack forever, and in a way, I will be forcing myself to do that this fall. I won't be giving away my stuff, but I will be leaving it behind. But, the truth is, I love my stuff. I really do. It seems wrong, but it's the truth. My stuff is a big part of who I am. Hmmm..

On the computer front, I seem to have done nothing more than slap a bandaid on a missing limb. Hah. My computer is functionning better, but it's still not up to par. I will still try loading XP onto it later in the summer, but for now, I still have access.

Nothing new to report on the money front, I'm excited to see how close I am to my goals, and my brain is running around thinking of new things to save for once I've accomplished these!!