Since I have been off work and transitioning onto maternity leave benefits I have become extra obsessed with balancing our budget, living off of “money jars” and getting started on saving reasonable amounts of money for certain things. In theory my plans always look great on paper. In practice we have an incredibly hard time sticking to them. Things always come up that eat into our budget and we are used to buying what we want/need, when we want to, and getting by without a problem.
I have a new obsession: being a Frugal Franny. Ever since Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s show Till Debt Do Us Part started airing I have been incredibly interested in budgeting, saving, debt repayment and investing. (if you have never seen this show, watch it. It’s awesome!)
Since I have been off work and transitioning onto maternity leave benefits I have become extra obsessed with balancing our budget, living off of “money jars” and getting started on saving reasonable amounts of money for certain things. In theory my plans always look great on paper. In practice we have an incredibly hard time sticking to them. Things always come up that eat into our budget and we are used to buying what we want/need, when we want to, and getting by without a problem.
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So, here I am 27 years old. No longer can I consider myself in my mid-twenties. Oh no. I have made the leap into the land of late-twenties. You know what I mean- the land of sweater wearing, newspaper reading, responsible adults who actually start to think about getting older, retirement, and doing something about it. And ya know what? It feels good.
27 really feels like a turning point to me. 26 sounds young and carefree, still young enough to be out partying every weekend with 18 year olds and not necessarily have people think that you are old, washed up, and pathetic when they see you in the bar. Somehow 27 seems so different from 26- years older instead of just 12 months. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my life is about to change so dramatically, perhaps not. Imagine this: you wake up feeling rested because you did not have to wake up to an alarm and stumble through your morning half asleep and rushed. The sun is shining, and after having a piece of toast and tidying the kitchen, you make your way outside to water the flowers and the grass. Back inside, you check your email, put on some proper clothes, lace up your shoes and head out for a walk in the morning sun. This is how my day started today. After I got home I made myself some lunch, baked a batch of brownies, prepared supper for the next day (it needed to chill overnight) and got a Sheppard’s pie put together and in the oven. Some people might think that this sounds boring. Like a day filled with chores, forced upon me by a sexist society simply because I am a woman. But I thought it was wonderful. ***Disclaimer- I am by no means a financial expert, nor do I have any professional training or education in finance (Except for 2 Certified Financial Planning courses). I simply enjoy learning as much as I can about investing, finance and budgeting, and anything posted on this blog is my own opinion, and a professionally un-informed opinion at that.*** Yesterday when we picked up the mail, once again there was a letter addressed to Blair and I from Visa, marked Urgent! A Special Opportunity Inside! This was the third letter of this type we have received over the last 6 months. So, once again I opened the letter to see what it had to say... I mean after all, maybe they are offering us a one day shopping spree or something on our credit card. A girl can dream, right? But no, the "special opportunity", available only for a "limited time" was an offer to increase our credit limit by 50%. Most people would not think twice about increasing their credit limit. Wonderful!! They might think. Visa thinks I am such a trustworthy and good customer that they want to give me more credit. I rock! Right? Wrong. Until recently, credit card companies could increase your credit limit without the average person even noticing. There would just be an increased amount showing on your statement when it arrived, and a small notice at the bottom indicating that your limit had been increased, and if you did not with to accept this limit increase, you had to call Visa and cancel it. On May 21, 2009, The Minister of Finance released new credit card regulations to help protect consumers. Relating to this blog is article 6. CONSENT TO INCREASE CREDIT LIMITS, which reads I stumbled upon this recipe about 1.5 years ago, and have made it numerous times since- I just cannot get enough of it!! I found it on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog, and I love that it is so versatile- I can make pizza buns, french bread, baguettes, pizza crust, focaccia bread, or any combination of these things with this recipe- wow! To get started on the pizza buns, first we start with the basic french bread recipe. I was watching a design show once, and something the designer said really stuck with me. He said "the nursery is not for the baby... oh no, the nursery is for the parents".
The more I thought about it, the more I thought he was probably right. A baby is not going to remember what colour the walls are, if the bedding matches the lamp shade, or if the rocking chair is an old creaky hand-me-down or a brand new glider. No. The only thing the baby is going to remember (subconciously) is if it got lots of love from it's mommy and daddy. It is the parents who are going to remember the room, and spend a lot of time in there, doing late night feedings, comforting a crying toddler and playing on the floor. Pretty much as soon as we found out I was pregnant, I started thinking about the unborn baby's room, making list after list of things we would need, things we would want but not really need, and things I wanted to get done around the house before the arrival of our little one. So far, we have gotten quite a few things done, and I wanted to write this blog to share our nursery and baby items so far. |
AuthorI am a stay at home mom to a beautiful baby girl, born August 2011. Archives
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