lilac's journal

Where are you and where are you going?
lilacorchid
Posts: 476
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:20 pm
Location: Canada

Post by lilacorchid »

Decided to spend some of my hours at work today figuring out what my fancy gov't pension actually means to me if I don't wait out the next 22 years before I can get it.
I also wandered over to the government of Canada's website which has a retirement calculator that will give you a general idea of how much you will need when you retire, including what you would get from them in terms of OAS, etc. It also allows you to input your pension and other earnings so you can see if any of it is subject to clawback.
Good news is between private and public pensions, I am covered for money at 65 until I croak. At 55, I can have 1/3 of my expenses covered. (This assumes that nothing changes and is in today's dollars.)
So now I just have to bridge the gap between 32 and 55. My husband and I have decided loosly that our retirment is at 40, which means we have about 7 years to save up 15 years worth of expenses. So still somewhat discouraging, but not as depressing as I thought it was.


LiquidSapphire
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Post by LiquidSapphire »

Sorry to hear that things are tough but hang in there. The only thing constant in life is change. It'll get better eventually.
7 years to save up 15 years of expenses is roughly a 50% savings rate, perhaps slightly lower. As time goes on you will find more things to tweak so I bet it takes less time. You'll notice most journals here became FI before they planned for a variety of reasons.
MMM and the MMM forum has a few threads about how to "convert" a spouse. The common thread seems to be to stop thinking/talking about your own dreams and to get him dreaming about what it would be like to not worry about money and get healthy. He needs motivation to stop going out for Fast Food every night, and if it is intrinsic, it works best. Extrinsic (e.g. what you want him to do) is not as effective and at worst creates resentment. Figure out what he wants in his retirement, and work on building that dream for him. Hopefully he will start to make changes on his own once he gets clarity there.


lilacorchid
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Location: Canada

Post by lilacorchid »

LS - He's on board in his mind, but when he gets stressed, his stomach and gaming needs take over. He once lost 40 lbs just by giving up fast food, (I was very jealous, btw) so he knows what is waiting over the rainbow for him. He is just the type of person who doesn't plan and believes that life happens to him, and he has no control over it. There isn't much I can do about that other then *be* life happening to him, kwim?
As for our expenses, if anyone is interested, I could post some numbers and we could pick it apart. I've done it myself and if we both lost our jobs, we could (theroretically) get by on $1300/mnth (we would have to take our son out of daycare for that to happen) or less if I don't put away money for the large yearly expenses such as property tax or car insurance. As it is, we are on a budget to spend $2200 a month, plus $1000 daycare. (It be $880 by summer, then lower every year until he goes to school in 2016.) We always go over, and it's always the food budget, specifically the eating out budget. I've been traking our expenses by catagory since 2009, and I make our starting budget based on last year's average monthly expense. It's stayed pretty much the same, two years running even though we say every year, "We'll stop eating out so much!" I get tired of trying to change it.


lilacorchid
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:20 pm
Location: Canada

Post by lilacorchid »

Happy Don't-Owe-Work-Any-More-Time Day to me!!! I'm done my six month sentence and can now quit without any financial penatly. Not that I will, but I heard rumours that the new head of my (large) business unit at work likes to clean house. I'm waiting for a package! ;)
In other good fianacial news, the tax returns arrived yesterday so the water fix is now paid for, and the daycare bill was less then expected.
$8500 left. I'm still socking away $1K a month just because I'm tired of seeing my savings doing nothing.


lilacorchid
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Location: Canada

Post by lilacorchid »

My husband quit his job today! No, there is no job to go to, though there are leads. But he just couldn't go in there anymore... too much bad blood, and it was affecting his life. He's gained weight and has been a real bear to deal with.
Getting our expenses down and getting rid of our debt has definitely helped make this possible. Now I wonder if I should get out of here and we should move somewhere else... *dreams*


lilacorchid
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Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 3:20 pm
Location: Canada

Post by lilacorchid »

Little update: The husband is making WAY more money then his old job. He also works more hours, so I see how much more he was doing around the house, even though I thought it was nothing, ha ha.
Also, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself: We are still a single car family. My husband takes the vehicle to work and I walk our son to his child care every day and then I walk to work. I'm getting in a mile before I get to work in the morning! We had the coldest April on record (we had a morning of -20C with windchill) and we still did it!


lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Spent MOAR money on the house. Finally have the yard done, and we ended up getting an AC for the upstairs so I can sleep again. Rationalized by telling ourselves that husband gets these things cheaper and can install an HVAC system himself due to it being his trade and that spending a few G's on me being able to sleep is so much cheaper then getting a divorce. ;)

For the first time in years, I think I forgot to calculate my networth at the end of the month. One week late!

We also borrowed against the house to put some money into savings, effectively deciding how much we are going to save for the year, and then front loading it. The tiny amount of interest we pay on the loan is worth making sure we are saving something. I find I am more motivated to pay off debt then to pad the savings account.

We have enough saved up so that January's needs are paid for for the rest of our lives!

lilacorchid
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Location: Canada

Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Calculated savings rate today if we stuck to our budget: 50%!

I'm not sure we will actually see that as we need new doors before winter and there is a possible project coming down the line that will reduce my hours for a while. I will happily work less hours temporarily!

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Happy one year anniversary to my journal.

Tomorrow I'll run the numbers to see how much of my salary I have managed to squirrel away. I suspect it will be less than I wanted due to all the repairs. Speaking of which, door replacement shortly, and then I think all the big stuff is out of the way for another 20 years.

I have been thinking about a side business, and I'm thinking I might find some work sewing. I started sewing this year to see if it was something I would like, and so far it's going okay. If the coat I am making is fit to be worn outside the house, I might start sewing niche articles, like costumes for Renfaires or cosplay. In any event, I am bitch'n with a stitch-ripper now. ;)

Stay tuned for numbers tomorrow...

LiberateMind
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by LiberateMind »

Tuned in..

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Okay, here's the figures (percentages due to privacy):

Networth change: +17%
Portion of that due to house gaining value: 42%

Portion of net salary saved: 17%

Largest expenses (percentage of net salary):

Renovations/Mtnc: 26.7%
Food: 15.9% (Further broken down: Eating out: 7.1% and Groceries 8.8%)
Childcare: 13.5%

---

75% of the rennovation expense included a new roof, structural repairs and upgrading of our back entrace/untility room (we did some of the work), and landscaping to fix drainage. The other 25% went toward a new A/C system for our upstairs to make it comfortable enough so we don't have to move. My husband is an HVAC guy, so the system was had for cost, and he did the labour himself. I could see us living in that house for another ten years because of that outlay.

Food is obviously a big expense. I buy fresh, out of season fruits and veg anytime we want them, so I don't see our grocery bill going down any time too soon. The dining out bill is down about 15%, which is a good change, but still very very crappy as far as actual dollars go. It's mostly due to my husband working out of a truck and eating out all the time.

Childcare, in dollars, is nearly double what my friends pay. We chose the facility due to proximity to our house and the fact that it had no waiting list. (Too expensive for that!) I can walk our little guy to daycare and then walk to work. If we were to go somewhere cheaper, we would need a second vehicle. Adding up all costs of that, plus the cost of the other daycare, would have us spending the same but instead of a nice walk through our neighbourhood, it would be a shitty commute in a car. (Speaking of car expenses, ours was more than I expected this year. This is due to loss of work vehicle and paid gas, as well as a few tickets/tows and a couple of trips back home.)

Overall, I'm somewhat depressed at our savings rate. At this point, pretty much everything is done in the house that costs a bundle, so our bender on fixing up the house is coming to an end. I predict spending about a quartre of what we spent this year on the house next year, and then after that, just general upkeep. Childcare goes down as our child gets older, so there should be a 10% decrease there too.

This year, we do have some debt because we chose to front load our savings for the year. I'm much better at paying off debt vs saving, so we figured the small interest charge would be worth it. Due to illness, we are breaking even at this point, but mentally, we feel it's better to have it sitting in the savings box then not.

Goals for next year:

Reduce dining out again. Shoot for another 15%
Front load savings again, but three months at a time
Work on 2nd income stream

And finally, I am having troubles feeling good about these successes as they feel like failures when I compaire them to my goals or to others. Something non-monitary to work on this year.

There is also something coming down the pipe job-wise, but I don't want to talk about it until it's official. It's a good thing, but will greatly impact our cashflow. I'm hoping it all works out!

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Husband took a sip from the koolaid today. I'm hoping it doesn't bog him down too much. It can be pretty disheartening when you see what was lost or what could have been done and seems like so much work ahead.

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Happy birthday to me!

This coming trip around the sun involves taking time to look after myself now that the tyke is old enough to get food out of the fridge and knows where the potty is, even if he doesn't want to use it.

Life goals:

1. Keep up with sewing and music hobbies
2. Lifestyle adjustment for my health (drop 20-30 lbs as a byproduct)
3. Do something fun as a family or couple once a week

The event I am waiting on is still in the works. Things move slooooooow where I work, so even if it all has to be done by April of next year, and we are six months behind, it will not move any faster. I am not getting excited until I have something in writing. That being said, I have heard rumblings on the horizon at work that tell me my job's days are numbered. I'm expecting that my position will be eleminated, but some time off, say 10 year horizon. Considering this is my second career with the company I work for and I'm pretty good and finding a place to fit in, I'm not too worried. And if it is ten years off, FI should theoretically happen before the rolling shitstorm hits me.

This year's financial goals (added to above) are:

1. Top up RRSP to optimum level
2. Cross over into six figures saved up
3. Support husband at his final trade level in school
4. Get kiddo into cheaper daycare that is even more walkable

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jennypenny
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Post by jennypenny »

Happy belated Birthday, Lilac!

Don't worry about the kiddo--by the time they get to high school, they've usually figured out the potty. ;)

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

Thanks @jennypenny! I'm just seeing this now. :D

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

It's official! We are 1/4-millionaires! :D

I wish it was more liquid holdings then our house, but still! First time our networth is that high!!!

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GandK
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Post by GandK »

Woohoo! Congratulations!

lilacorchid
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Re: lilac's journal

Post by lilacorchid »

My cat died suddenly this weekend and I never wished we had a second car more then when I had to figure out how to get to the vet with my toddler and cat to try to help him. :( There was nothing to be done, but at least they could have eased his passing instead of him dying in a cat carrier in the back of a cab. :(

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jennypenny
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Post by jennypenny »

I'm so sorry!

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GandK
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Post by GandK »

Sorry to hear it. Losing a pet is hard on the whole family.

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