My Pre-Trip spending...

So... seeing as I'm close to reaching my goals.... I thought about the many ways I'll get to spend my pre-trip cash! I'm looking forward to going on a mini-shopping spree, as long as I know exactly what I'm going to buy. There will be no impulse shopping here!

So, some of things that I had planned on using this fund for that I have already purchased (and don't include in the fund).

• Point and Shoot Camera
• Spare battery for DSLR Camera
• Major item of luggage
• External Hard-Drive
• 2 Plug Adapters

So, really, when I think about it, most of the stuff that I had planned to buy I have already purchased. I'm sure as time goes on I will find more things, but for now, these are the things that I'm thinking about:

• Spare battery for Toshiba laptop (assuming that I can get the damn thing fixed)
• Spare battery for new Nikon Coolpix D52 (Point and Shoot that I just bought)
• Packing cubes, Ziplock bags and other small packing accessories.
• Burnable DVD's (storage!)
• Smaller, carry-on luggage
• Rick Steves' travel DVDs and guidebooks (love him!)

At the moment I can't think of anything else, but again, I'm sure I'll find more.

I'm also thinking about what I want to do with the leftover money. I'm debating between putting it into different savings accounts, buying another large-scale item (camera lens or the sort), or use the money for whatever needs I'll have while out in Toronto visiting family.

Is there anything that I've forgotten on this list?? I can't think of anything right now...

Now that I'm really thinking about it, I'm glad I didn't end up going to Seattle... I would've had a lot of fun there for sure, but now, I'm so close to my goals that I can taste it. It's on the tip of my tongue and I can't (freaking!) wait!!!

As well, I'm a bit OCD with trip-planning. I make timetables and shedules and do probably between 80 to 100 hours of planning for every 3 weeks of trip or so. That sounds like a crazy thing to do, but trust me, it'll save you not only cash, but headaches as well. Either way, there wouldn't have been the time to plan enough for Seattle, and I would've ended up following people around, most likely to places and things I didn't care for. $1,000 is a lot to spend on a whim.

I can't wait to do my "Goals Accomplished!" post - and I'm already thinking of more for summer!

I still need to get my computer working again. It's stressing me out and all I want is for it to work reliably and properly. My father said that it should take less than an afternoon for him to walk me through downgrading to XP. (If you can call it downgrading, I'm happily calling it 'being rid of the monster!'). Now all I have to do is pin him down for an afternoon.

I also spent the better half of this evening photographing the items that I'm packing away for my kitchen box(es). I plan to itemize these things into folders and label the boxes appropriately, so that if I ever need an item, I won't have to sort through multiple boxes, I can simply look for a photo (which will eventually be in my Creative Memories photo-database software) and immediately know which box it is in. Yay for neerdy organization!!

Things feel a little more organized, and I'm pleased.

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!!

All quiet on the update front...

It's been a couple of days since I've posted, and I've got the following updates for you!:

• I seem to have temporarily (permanently??) fixed the computer. This was a long, drawn-out process that involved a 6 hour back up to DVD, 4 system restores, 3 attempts to turn that bloody Windows Update function off, and a lot of finger crossing. So far the computer is back up and running, which does bode well. I still think I will try putting XP on it, since XP runs better, but at least now, I know how to use Vista.
• I have finally updated the sidebars to reflect my new savings levels. I'm so close to reaching my goals, and I can't wait!!
• I've done the math, and it looks like I will be able to reach all my goals by the end of this month. This is very exciting! I will be drawing out a plan for the money that I will make for the rest of the summer.
• The end of the month trip I was hoping to do to Seattle with some friends looks like it probably won't happen, which is too bad. The good side is that I will be saving some money, and I will probably still take those 5 days off and just relax at home.
• I'm having a garage sale this Saturday, rain or shine! I'm surprised at the amount of stuff that we will be selling. It'll be interessting to see how well we do. Right now I'd be happy if people just take the stuff off my hands, since it saves me a trip to the Thrift Store.
• I'm still keeping an eye on airfare from Toronto to London, as well as Calgary to Toronto. So far most airlines are staying pretty much the same (actually, airfare seems to drop price while the fuel surcharge keeps rising).

That's all so far, if I think of anything else I'll keep you posted!

Hi, I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC....

Okay, not all of you will get that reference, since I'm not sure where those ads run, but seriously, I love them. And right now, I want to beat that little PC man to a pulp. Seriously. I hate Vista. SO MUCH. It's not even funny.

I haven't completely managed to fix the problem, since I don't really know what the problem is with my computer. I know it's not a virus, since I've run extensive virus-scans and haven't downloaded anything really that could've contained a virus. My dad thinks that one of those nagging "Windows Updates" has changed something in the registry and now the computer can't function. Go figure. The computer itself manages to be the downfall of the computer. Bah.

Most likely in the next couple of weeks my dad and I will blow this computer off and load Windows XP on it, which is much, much better.

I'm starting to understand why people chose Macs. If they don't have any of these problems, they'd be worth the extra money.

However, either way, I am super glad that I did copy all my important files onto external Hard drive and DVD. That way, I wasn't nearly as panicked as I could've been when the computer refused to turn on without giving me a crypic "F&#k You" and shutting off again.

On the monetary side of things...

Again, I haven't been keeping track of my spending. I'm trying, I really am, and haven't spent that much. Tomorrow morning at work I'm going to add as much as I can into the spreadsheet.

I have a paycheque and a $100 cheque from my parents (for graduating college!!) as a gift to deposit. Yay!

I am also busy prepping for my garage sale this saturday. I'm gathering (what I think) some good quality stuff to sell. I hope that it stops raining before Saturday (the weather here seems to be giving me a glimpse of London.... with the rain and all...). It's been a while since I've had a garage sale, so we'll see how profitable it is, given that I'll be losing a day of work at Subway (approx $80). Either way I'll be glad to be giving me stuff away for a small price rather than donating it all.

Alas, it is 12:32 a.m. and I must get my beauty sleep. Hee hee. Farewell from my poor, broken computer...

I hate Windows Vista.

And for the love of everything, go back up your important files. NOW.

I'm glad I did.

Boo on Windows. They have kept me up until 2 a.m. messing around with my computer. I'm not even sure I fixed the problem. We'll see.

Omg. So. Tired.

May in Review

Okay, so, it's a couple days late, but I thought I'd post my May in Review for everyone to read!

Now, this month was a little bit different, mainly because I didn't keep track of my spending. I know. It's bad. It was actually a lot more painful than I thought - I was frustrated that I didn't know where my money had gone. It really reminded me how useful my budget has been.

However, for not keeping track of my spending, I still did an okay job at saving and boosting my networth. So, for all your viewing pleasure:

May's Total Income:

So, the income was pretty standard for May. I just realized now that I didn't update my Subway paycheque. I leave it at $300 until I get it, as it's usually just slightly over. Of course I've deposited that cheque and can't find the paystub. Oh well. But it's pretty accurate none the less.

These are my current Savings accounts balances. I don't include my Pre-Trip Cash savings, which I did open a 4th account with ING. This will show in June's month-end.

I have started a new fund called "Pre-Trip Savings", which ultimately has a goal of $2,000. This is a dynamic goal, so I might never reach $2,000, as I'm currently buying things that I require for my trip. To date, these purchases include some random stationary, a map, and some burnable DVD's (for storage). Hopefully I will have this fund either fully stored or fully shopped by the end of June.

Here is a breakdown showing some daily contributions as well as daily spending for this fund:

Other than that, I've included both May's and April's (late payment) in this month's contribution to my savings account. I still need just under $2,000 in this fund, and this will be accomplished by the end of June.

This chart shows my payments into this fund since it started:

You can see the little dip where I missed a month's payment, however I have put all the money I owe it back. I've been pretty good about staying on time with this fund, and while I hope to have it funded by June 30th, it may spill over into July. The original goal was to have it funded by August 1, 2008, so I'll still be a little ahead of schedule.

I didn't contribute anything to the London Fun Fund, as it is fully stocked. I guess I could take out the extra $147 that is in there and put it in savings, but we'll see how close I cut it.

And here, courtesy of ING Direct, is the nice little chart they provide me with showing me how I accomplished my goal. I'm very pleased that I was able to accomplish it ahead of time. That paved the way for other fun during the summer.

And now, finally, here is my Networth as of May!