(Just a side note but I am writing this on a gorgeous sunny afternoon in a parking lot overlooking the ocean while my son sleeps in the back of our car – what bliss, it is like my own ocean front hang out!) Two weeks ago I had a Bucket List Moment. Now I don't have a Bucket List so really what I am saying is I was doing something really cool I always wanted to do. And it turns out I am pretty pleased I got to do it at least once in this life. I was standing beside my husband at a Canucks hockey game (Canucks vs Nashville Predators Game 5) waving a white towel and screaming my lungs out, and I had this realization that I had wanted to do this for a long time. I have wanted to be in the arena waving a white towel pretty much from the second I saw the crowd doing this on tv for the first time at a Canucks Game in 1982. Roger Neilson, then Coach of the Canucks, started the tradition by waving a white towel on a hockey stick in mock surrender, protesting over the calls the refs were making. So yes, the towel waving thing that everyone seems to do now (but not very well Nashville! Really? Orange towels, get with the program!), was started by the Canucks. I absolutely loved the game even though the Canucks lost. They won the series in the next game, but it would have been nice for a win while we were there. The whole atmosphere and friendliness of the crowd was over the top, and not something I experience regularly. My husband, as a die hard Canucks fan, was in absolute heaven to be there, and I was thrilled to be with him. We sloshed our beers about, ate over-price food, lept to our feet at every goal and chanted Go Canucks Go as loud as we could. Semi-final tickets were not cheap. I got them on Ebay for less than the official NHL resale site. But everyone asks, how much were the tickets? Guess what? Expensive. The overnight trip was expensive but I am not going to ruin the moment by telling you how much on this post. Joy comes in unexpected places I tell ya, and when it is something that is a treat, something I will remember for the rest of my life, something unexpectedly momentus for myself and my relationship with my sweetheart, it is priceless.
I have decided to take up blogging about personal finances again, mostly about the debt we are still in. If you care to join me you can go over to B is for Debt.
Grief is a sneaky thing. I think I am ok and then it taps me on the shoulder in the middle of going about my life, and I am helpless to do anything but feel. Mahone died six days ago. I hated having to make that call but he was so sick. He wasn't my buddy anymore. I thought I had started the grieving process, but really you can't when someone is there, you can only buffer yourself in order to be able to make the decision you need to. I have a cold empty spot in my stomach that just aches for my good buddy dog. That dog drove me nuts at least once a day but he was so full of life and energy that I too couldn't help being better off because of it. If he was here he would be by my side because I am crying so much. He was always there. We had some tough times he and I, and there are things I wish I could have done better for him - trained him better, paid more attention to him, brushed him more often, took him more walks. When I told Dad last week I was going to have to put Mahone down he kept saying "It's for the best, he is just a dog" all the while crying right along with me. You know in your head that dogs have a short life span, but there is grief just the same.
And because he was a dog I feel I should be able to move on, but there you go, in the middle of a sunny, kid filled, energy filled day I was struck down with sadness so powerful I can do nothing but cry. It sucks.
Canadian Mortgage Trends had a post about what they would look for in a mortgage broker; excellent resource! I have been looking for a mortgage broker here in BC over the past month or so. I had found 2 great brokers in Ontario who had preapproved us, but wanted someone closer to home that knows the BC market. I started with someone at Dominion Lending Centres because they recently had one an award as mortgage broker of the year.
The person I talked to initially seemed very competent but lost my confidence on a few simple accounts over a few weeks: she didn't phone me to tell me that, based on our numbers, she thought could qualify for a mortgage; she didn't return my calls (after 6 days I called her and she didn't apologize); and finally, she had me doing her job. For this last point she had me calling appraisers to find out how they would appraise a refinance 30 days after purchase.
Yesterday I decided I needed someone better and called a woman from Mortgage Centre in Vancouver who has a great web presence. I had bookmarked her blog simply because of the volume of good information it contained on investment property mortgages. She was very personable, returned my call immediately, talked with me about all my options, and had an online mortgage application that was very to use. She crunched the numbers and emailed me with an answer last night at 11 so I knew as soon as I woke up that our numbers looked good.
Real estate investors talk about the importance of team, and I am always stunned how much of a difference an excellent team member can make compared to someone who isn't. A good team member can find deals or products that exceed expectations, and, as we get closer to a purchase, allow us to meet our goals for this purchase.
Howdy all. Decided to stroll back over here for awhile. Although have to say am liking the conciseness of Facebook, there seems to be a lot of people who just shoot out random sentences into cyberspace.
From today forward I am done talking about debt and am here to talk about my adventures in real estate investing. I have always been interested in this topic but have been getting serious about it for the past 6 months.
We currently have enough downpayment to purchase a property for up to $160,000. Tough market to buy into on the island here in BC where house prices tend to start at $200,000. Condos are possible, as are, as I found out today, mobile homes, but we really feel more comfortable with our knowledge of houses.
And that is why my brain is full. I have a tendency to jump around looking for deals. I do a lot of web surfing and quite often find that the deals online are really not deals at all when seen in person. I also still tend to jump around looking for different types of property: duplexes, mobile homes (this week as I said), triplexes etc.
I am doing a lot of learning though, and experts seem to agree that one reason people start to learn about real estate investment and never apply their knowledge is their fear. This is true with me in part, I have pulled out of one or two deals simply out of fear recently. However, lately it is indecision and lack of focus that is slowing me down. I am searching for the perfect deal and quickly lose interest if I don't find my high cash flow, high equity property.
So I hope doing some writing might serve to focus my thoughts and efforts. We currently have an excellent realtor in a small town on the island. This town has really gone through some hard times. But the real estate market had hit an upswing, followed by a drop and currently a stall because of the global and local economy. It is affordable, but we have confidence that things will continue to improve since the town is diversifying and there are strong signs of an improving economy: new shops being built, new WalMart, new housing developments, houses being fixed up.
One key for us was that we needed to be able to invest in a town we could easily visit. One course I took really tried to push the students to invest across the country, but this only added to my sense of fear every time I came close to purchasing a place. It is tough to do, and I feel more confidence when I can walk through with my realtor.
On Saturday we are going up island again to view some properties, including one our realtor says is a good find because the place is almost in foreclosure and is in decent shape. We may get it for a good deal.
Hope so! Need something to keep me focused :)
I have decided to take a break from this blog and return to my more personal blog here:
www.westcoastwoolies.blogspot.com
Here you will find me posting on a wider variety of topics, including finance. Some of my thoughts will also be on motherhood, academia, self-employment, craft endeavours (this was originally my craft blog), and other personal happenings.
So come on over, I hope you can update your subscriptions and still peek in on my life once awhile. Having a personal finance blog has been fun, but limiting enough right now that I am not blogging. So to keep the motivation up, and to document a broader spectrum of my life, I am making the switch for now.
It has been great to meet you all, and I know I will keep following PF blogs in my internet readings. See you at the new site!
Blech to westcoast rain. Don't get me wrong, I like winter here better than in the interior of BC because I am not a fan of snow for months on end (I like little bits at a time), it is just gray here and I miss the summer sun. I WISH we could go to Hawaii again, but we are not financially able to right now.
As can happen with self-employment we are currently into our line of credit with the business and waiting for about $13k in money owed to us. These times make me very anxious. In fact work wise everything is uncertain; neither Mr W or I have contracts lined up for the next few months. There are a few possibilities but nothing signed and sealed for sure.
Also I am carrying a balance of about $5k on a credit card that had a low interest rate (3.99%) on it. The 9 month period of this low rate is over and I need to call and convert the credit card to a lower interest option of about 9%. It is on my to do list, and now on my blog so maybe this will light a fire under my butt to get this done!
I have signed up for the Financial Post's Stockstar Challenge. It is a free online challenge where you sign up and are given $100,000 in play money to invest. The stocks are real, it is like you are playing the stock market with none of the risk.
I started a few days ago, and have made a few thousand dollars. Not bad considering I don't know what I am doing, and the stock market is down again today. Of course, some people have $800,000 in their portfolio now, they are obviously much better stock pickers than I!
I thought I would share what I have bought and why, and ask others what they would recommend for me to try (risk free!!!).
1. Apple - Vista is soooooo bad, I think Mac is gaining ground, and the ipod just rocks.
2. Microsoft - despite its troubles today it seems to be gaining ground
3. Potash Corp. - finanical news says this company which produces fertilizers is doing well
4. Suncor - this is an oil company in Alberta, and I don't think the oil sand boom is over, just slowing
5. WalMart, Costco and Canadian Tire - because in these times of financial woe, these guys are going to be busy
6. Tim Horton's - just to see - the drive thru is always busy here
7. Verizon Wireless - these guys have a great network and passable customer service, and I wanted a cell company
8. Johnson and Johnson and BMO - the financial bloggers have had success with these
9. AIG - because it was a BARGAIN and is getting bailed out
10. Wachovia - because today it was gaining rapidly
So there you go, kind of random, and definitely more random than if it was MY $100k.
Three (three!) items with warranties have recently broken in our household, days or weeks after the warranty expired.
First all three cordless phones went within a period of a month, about one month after the warranty expired. First one wouldn't dial and then the sickness spread slowly until one frustrating afternoon when I couldn't call out at all with any of the phones. Ironically I was trying to dial a company about the second item which has died:
Our kettle decided one morning not to work anymore. Oh yes, a mere 2 weeks after the warranty expired. It is a cordless electric kettle, and the switch to turn it on no longer turns it on. We might be able to fix it ourselves if the screws in the bottom of the kettle did not not have triangular heads. Who has a triangular screwdriver???? Not even my dad and his business requires an extensive array of tools.
Then shortly after our laser printer stopped feeding the paper. DAYS after the warranty expired. DAYS!!!!!
So what have we done. We bought new phones (no point in arguing about this warranty, I didn't like the phones anyway). We are using an old kettle until I can find the time to phone Cuisinart and ask if they can fix the kettle for less than the cost of a new one ($95). Mr W says he doubts they will. I phoned Dell about the printer thinking I had an extended warranty, and found out that OOPs! Mr Salesman only put the warranty on the computer NOT the printer as well. Since the original warranty expired two weeks ago I am pretty much SOL and may as well recycle this printer and buy another. This one REALLY irks me (as you can tell by my use of CAPS) and I argued with them for awhile until baby started crying and I had to go. I have concluded tho that for my sanity I will have to let this go. I could argue more, I could track down a manager, I could insist they cover the printer, but who has time for this?? Not me anymore unfortunately.
All I can do is rant about it on my blog :):)
The baby boy and I are sitting here enjoying our first morning with our fire. We have been having stormy weather here on the coast but the wind blew the rain away this morning. It is quite lovely sitting by the warm fire with sun coming in the window. The boy says his hand sure tastes good today. We heat with both electric heat and our propane fireplace. Yesterday our first tank of propane was delivered just in time for fall weather. Our house came with a 100lb propane tank when we bought it. Last year we used this tank up about every 3-4 weeks. The fireplace heats our living room and kitchen/dining area (house is open concept). We were paying about $100 every month or so from October – March. This year we found out we could rent a bigger tank for $68/year + $35 delivery fee, and save on our propane costs because the cost of propane goes down the more you buy. The new tank is 200 lbs and costs $122 to fill, only $22 more than the other tank half its size. The fireplace is certainly not necessary, we could heat fully with electricity. It is just nice and makes the house seem cosier. And when the power goes off (as it just did, am writing this on laptop battery power), we still have some heat in the house!
Thanks to reader's encouragement and Nancy's challenge (I use cloth diapers today and she will make her lunch and take it to work) I got through the day using cloth diapers for the most part. I forgot early this morning - too groggy to do much other than reach for the disposable diaper at hand.
I did a calculation, hoping for that to inspire me. My parents have asked us if we all want to go to Maui with them this January. Oh yes, want to. Can afford to? Jury is still out on that one. But saving money using my cloth diapers takes us one step closer, even if it is a pipe dream!
So there are 72 diapers / pkg we buy at WalMart for $13.99 + tax. At 6 diapers a day these would cost us $485 (approx) a year in diapers. Not to mention the unnecessary waste. If I could cut this in half, that would pay for a couple nights in Hawaii :)
But oh my... the laundry... it sure is stinky :(:(
Talk about good intentions. I have the cloth diapers. I have the cloth diaper pail. I know how to use the cloth diapers. I like the cloth diapers. I know how much money I save with the cloth diapers. I am just having a little trouble USING the cloth diapers :)
Let's face it, I am lazy when it comes to cloth diapers. It is just easier to use disposable. And only marginally easier. I just don't have to do the extra laundry.
I can come up with excuses to not use a cloth diaper during the day:
I am going out, I should use a disposable
The baby is going to nap, I should use a disposable
Oops I forgot to put a cloth diaper on, too late!
Last week I found out about flushable or compostable diapers. Seems like a nice compromise- easy disposal with less environmental impacts. However, it is more costly than my current disposable diapers. Right now I am paying $13.99 for 60 diapers from WalMart, whereas the flushable diapers are $19.99 for 40.
Do I:
1.Pay more for the environmentally sound option of flushable diapers?
2.Continue to save some money and use WalMart brand diapers?
3.Save LOTS of money and get over my laziness and use the cloth diapers?
That is my dilemma. Right now I am opting for 2, hoping for inspiration to go for option 3, and considering trying out 1 just to see if I like it or not.
Good thing about all this is that baby doesn't care. As long as he is changed every few hours he seems pretty happy.
I have been without Mr W all this week while he is away welding in Alberta for 5 days (plus 2 days travel). We knew the day would come when he had to go away for work, but the timing couldn't have been better.
The little boy and I spent 3 days with my parents and then came home to the in laws visiting for another 3 days. They left this morning and Mr W will be home tomorrow evening.
Thank goodness for grandmas (and grandpas!) who: cuddle crying babies, help out with shopping, cook, clean, go on walks with mom, baby and 2 dogs, and just generally make life easier!
I know I CAN do this (be a mom that is) on my own for a few days, it is just easier with help.
Our savings are getting lower, so Mr W is under more pressure to find work. This little job helped a lot, and while he was away a few more job prospects came up. None in town however! I think we are going to have to accept that while Mr W is working towards his professional status as a forester he is going to have to take whatever forestry work is available, either on contract, or as a full time job. The next two possibilities are in Kamloops, and in Campbell River (2 hours away).
After a week away though, Mr W knows for sure he doesn't want to do what his dad did which was work away from home for weeks or even months at a time. Time is just too precious with our little guy!
We are NOT doing well with our new reduced budget. It sucks actually, how poorly we are doing. Since the baby has been born we have so bad at buying take out coffees (at least $7 a visit), baby stuff, take out meals or meals out, and things for ourselves like clothes (me), and items like kitchen stuff (Mr W). To top it all off, we have been spending more on gas than ever before since we drive a lot when the baby is fussy. And I didn't budget for diapers, wipes, or baby formula. What was I thinking?
To be honest, it shouldn't be surprising. Unless we are vigilant at watching our finances, our problem is that we spend without thinking much about it. Now that our attention suddenly has been diverted wholly to caring for this new person in our life, we just have lapsed into some of our old habits. Money watching for us is necessary, and a chore, something that must be worked at. And when we take a break from this job, things start looking pretty nasty once again. And since I am the primary money watcher AND primary baby feeder it is no wonder things have gone awry.
I just looked at our debt numbers for August, and our debt actually increased for the first time in over a year. Sheeeiiiiittt. Ok, now I have noticed the problem, we need to start addressing it.
Last night Mr W and I went out for a few hours and left Wooly Baby with his grandparents. It was our first night out by ourselves since WB was born. The occasion was our 3rd wedding anniversary and we enjoyed a meal out and a chance to catch up on our time as a couple. And WB was an angel with his grandparents! Apparently he quite contentedly ate dinner with them sitting in his rocker chair on the table, allowed himself to be cuddled by their friends who came for a baby visit, and sat quietly with them after the friends left. He wouldn't sleep until we came home and I gave him a little cuddle, but that is fine, he did amazingly well. It is a relief to know I can head out without worrying!
Life with baby is certainly hard, but to me it is like being retired- getting to forget about work (for awhile) and doing something I absolutely LOVE to do. I realized the other day I have always wanted a child, it just took 35 years before I fulfilled that dream. I don't think I have wanted anything else for as long. I certainly never imagined that I would get a PhD, and forestry was something that I stumbled into, not something I had dreamed of doing (even though I enjoy it). So here I am having the time of my life! And the brilliant thing is that Mr W has been home having as much fun during this baby retirement as I am.
I was reading Sydney's blog about retirement the other day and she says she can only plan two things to do each day. I agree, but one of those things for me is baby, so I end up only being able to plan one thing each day :) This often includes the dog walk, depending on how vigorous the walk is. Some of the activities this week were: hike, thrift store shopping, lunch with my parents, visit from my cousin, and, today, our first Mom's group at the women's health centre. I find my days filling up magically each week, with so little time that the household chores are getting neglected (which is a good thing in my mind).
But ahhh, all baby retirements come to an end. To be honest, I have been working a few hours each week. A client contacted me two weeks ago asking if I could possibly do some GIS work for him. Since he was willing to be flexible, is a good client, and pays well I figured I would attempt some maps for him. So far so good, I don't work more than 6-7 hours a week, and I can fit an hour or two first thing in the morning between feeds when the baby is happiest. We usually have a morning feed, some playtime, and then he naps. Even if he doesn't nap he entertains himself well during this time and I keep him close so we can interact.
And then there is Mr W's work. He may go to Alberta to weld for September. One of the oil refineries is having its annual shutdown for maintenance and they are calling for 3000 welders and pipefitters next month. This could mean very good money, so much so we would be able to relax about money for the rest of the year, and take on forestry contracts as we felt able. Trouble is him being away for a month and since he will be in camp it is not possible for the baby and I to go visit. He would come home on his breaks, but in all liklihood he will be working up to 18 days at a time. So we will miss him and he will miss us a lot! It will be a tough decision for Mr W to make, I think we will play it by ear.
Still in my pjs, better get going to get ready for Mom's group :):)
Well as mentioned here we did end up at the hospital after a planned home birth because of some minor complications where Wooly Baby wasn't arriving as quickly as the midwives (and me) would have liked. I had previously posted on the costs of home birth, and now can comment on the costs of hospital birth at our local hospital.
Costs:
1. Parking - this was free at our hospital, but I know many hospitals charge for parking.
2. Fuel - Mr W would have spent a few dollars on fuel going back and forth to the hospital. We live 5 minutes away though so I don't estimate it to be more than $10 over 3 days.
3. Food - Because the hospital didn't really feed Mr W except for lunch right after the birth, Mr W ended up buying take out quite a bit, as well as purchasing some fruit and treats (decaf latte and chocolate and fruit juice) for me. The meals were quite big though so I usually shared something with him. Every meal came with fruit, salad, soup, main course, dessert, milk, juice and tea. Well except for breakfast, but it was big too.
4. Cell charges- we called everyone on our cell phones of course which meant we will have some long distance charges. I think I remembered to use the calling card most of the time, but I am pretty sure I got excited I called without it a few times too.
Savings:
We got several freebies, including a knitted hat, diapers, and wipes. That was nice :)
Life with the Wooly Babe is excellent. We have moved from the sleep deprived stage where we walked around saying "What just happened?" which lasted about 3 weeks as we all got used to each other. Wooly Babe has started our training well though and we have moved into the sleep deprived stage where are wooed by his smiles, coos, giggles, and yes, even his crying. In short, we are madly in love with him, as was his plan. What he doesn't know is that he had us completely enthralled from the moment we laid eyes on him!
We even have a small routine working right now (touch wood). I am able to gauge his feeds throughout the day, which are about every 2 hours, with a 3 hour period in the afternoon when he has a longer nap. Evenings are pretty good. We had our first real bedtime with him yesterday with a bath, story, and then bedtime where he slept until midnight. Mr W does a bottle feed at midnight and then I feed again anywhere from 4 to 6 am.
And we have been getting out! At first we just drove around a lot, drinking a lot of drive thru coffee (our latte factor was high in July), but now we actually get out and go for walks and visit people. A friend and I took our two babies to the beach yesterday for a picnic quite successfully.
So all good, and I was able to fit in writing this post, which is great, I may be able to think up some finance related content other than latte factors for next post :) Thanks for all your well wishes from the last post when he was just born!
Our wee Wooly Baby was born June 30 at 9:19 am. He weighed 7 lbs 14 ozs, and is gorgeous with a full head of blonde hair and blue eyes like his dad.
Labour at home with the midwife was fantastic until little baby decided to take his time coming. We had to transfer to hospital after 13 hours, and had some help encouraging him to arrive. This has left me very sore and immobile, but we did not have to have a c-section.
Baby is almost back to his birth weight and LOVES breastfeeding, so is getting plump little cheeks already. What a ride the past 6 days, it is an experience I couldn't imagine, and worth every single minute.
It may be a week or two before I can post again- consider it our Babymoon- but we'll be back.
