Doing more with less: budgeting!

I am doing a lot better today than yesterday. I slept in very late. I actually wake up at 13 pm… The TSX is burning me. Today, the TSX gain some points and is now at 9 849.2. It’s part of the reason why I am feeling better today. It wouldn’t be the case if the TSX would had drop points again for 2 days in a row.

I took my day-time off until the month of June and it’s going to be very difficult for me to start getting up early in the morning again. But I might continue to sleep-in if it happens I can’t find a day-time job. I just got terribly lazy among the way. But not that lazy as I am trying very hard to make money online. I would very much to make a 200$ per month with Google Adsense. It’s the goal I gave myself.

For now, and let’s say if it happen I couldn’t find a day-time job in June, I would probably work at paying some debts of mine instead of investing. I am making 1460$ per month at my evening job and my weekend job is giving me an average of 620$ per month. At 2 080$ per month, my income is not that much, but its making enough to pay my usual expenses and pay-off some debts.

By “doing more with less”, I mean to minimize my expenses in other to maximize the payment of my debts. And to do so, I need to respect a tight budget.

And here it is:

Rent: 535$
Internet: 35$
Metro pass: 67$
Student loan: 150$
Groceries and coffees: 250$
TOTAL NEEDED: 1037$

2 080$ Income - 1 037$ Needed = 1 043$

This makes 1 043$ I have available to pay on my debts each month (this is the reason why I seriously need to begin job searching in June lol). I do not carry heavy debts, but it will be better if I could begin to pay-off some of them. At this time, I have 800$ in my bank account. I just received my pay from my weekend job. I currently have a balance of 645.46$ on my American Express. I like to use my American Express to received Air Miles, but at 19.99%, the interest rate is extremely high. Almost scandalous…

Anyway, I am going to send a check tomorrow to pay the balance I have on my American Express credit card. The remaining money of 154.54$ will go on my credit line at TD. For this month, it’s about all I can make as payment. But I guess I am going on the right direction.

Reading Derek Foster Books

I have been quite busy this weekend with work and it didn’t give me too much time to do what I really wanted to do: read Derek Foster two books I have bought from the Chapters located downtown on St-Catherine. It’s a good thing that it’s Eastern tomorrow, because I really need a brake and I really need to continue my reading.

It’s getting hard on me, since I finish work at midnight at my full-time job. And I had quite a few things to do as I didn’t receive the tax paper for ING Direct and for my Fidelity fund I have with Desjardins. As for ING, I find out that since I only made a few bucks with their interest, I won’t receive a tax paper. But the thing is I have that account with them since 2005 and since 2005, I didn’t declare any of the interest income I had received from them because they never send me a tax paper. But for this year, for a reason or another, I worried; I call, and give me the amount of the interest over the phone. So I don’t know what I going to do for 2005 and 2006, since I didn’t declare the interest gain. But does it really matter for less than 20$ per year of interest gain? I am all confused, as usual, and I don’t really need to do about it. Anyway, I am going to talk about it when processing with my taxes. So a lot is going on for me.

Unfortunately, my part-time job do not allow me to work both weekend days next week, which I don’t understand why, as they call be to come back to work. I was going to complain about this to them, but I decide to keep my mouth shut and keep them as backup. It’s really mean to them since I really was hoping to pay my complete rent with that money, but now, my hope is gone. I plan to take the day of tomorrow to apply to some part-time job. But at the same time, it’s not that a bad thing that I only work one day next week too, it gives me a little break. But at the same, I want a part-time on weekend really badly.

I was quite impress with my 2007 income, since I have earn more than 40 000$ in total. It’s quite nice, knowing than about 2 years ago, I barely hit the 25 000$. I really had a difficult time for work, as I once was in Ottawa, and before New Brunswick. I was quite happy to leave Ottawa, as I dislike their temporary contract with government agencies and their low pay. I wouldn’t like to work for the government for anything in the world. I get through a few contracts in Ottawa and I find them all extremely boring and poor work experience, as there was nothing much to do.

I want to post that final check to American Express to pay what I have left to pay, about 65$. So by the end of March 2008, I will be finally free of credit card debt. I continue to pay my regular expenses, with a Visa (I love Visa, it’s not like American Express, which seems to barely be accept where I go shopping). Only places I where able to pay with my American Express is at Wal-Mart and Reitmans. Otherwise, groceries store do not accept AE. But I like AE because of its Air Miles. And I don’t give a damn regarding that report that they didn’t want to translate in French. I just dislike living in Quebec sometime. I don’t like the mentality they have here and their law is too complicated. I just hope I will be able to do like Derek, retired early and move in another province, someplace near the sea. In a cool hot place in the Maritimes.

I really want to follow the strategy of Derek Foster to buy my first stocks and this time seems to be a good time to buy bank stocks. I begin to read The Lazy Investor, which I really like, as it’s describe step by step what you need to do to follow his strategy, which I won’t explain in much details here, as it’s his strategy. I wasn’t able to finish the book yet. And I have trouble to fully understand each steps. But anyway, I am going to study more deeply his books tomorrow. I also buy last week Stop Working, but I wasn’t able to begin the reading. Those two books are the first one I have buy since I graduated. It’s too bad I didn’t pay more attention to his work before because I could have done much better on reaching my first 50 000$. Tomorrow is Easter and it’s a good time to read, but as always, I have other thing to do. And it’s too bad stores are not open because I would had like to shop over for bargains; I need a new pair of jeans lol.

On how it's important to pay credit card debt

I knew, of course, I was paying interests on the 2 549.52$ (which is a little bit more than what I taught), but it just catch my eyes that I was paying 18.89$ per month in fees for that debt. I didn't pay too much attention because my plan was to invest first for my 2007 RRSP and but some money away in mutual funds.

But now that I am done with that for 2007, the next step was to pay, if not my student loan that is more than 10 000$, at least pay that credit card debt. That debt was under 7.99% with American Express. It's a low rate, but knowing it cost me almost 19$ for money that I can easily pay off...

I would like to pay off another 1 000$, but my plan is to wait in 3 weeks, at the next pay.

My living expenses for March (which were made for February) are very low, 170.78$ at my Visa, 520$ rent, 67$ metro pass, 165$ student loan, 200$ (extra, like going out...), for a total of 1122.78$. Which is nice, because this month, I made something like 1 000$ for the 2 pays, so there's an 877.22$ right there this month that can go for savings, but it's not enough if I want to reach 18 000$ in savings this year to reach my fabulous 50 000$.