It's Done!

So I chose to redo my mortgage early to lock in at a low rate. I locked in at 5.55% for 10 years. I wanted the longest time period possible because when the rates do start to creep up, I don't think they will be coming down for a long time. I also took out a line of credit based on home value to get some work around here done. This summer I want to get the roof done, it isn't a want, it's a need. There is a hole and I have a little water damage on my living room ceiling. The range of estimates for the roof is from $4250 to $8300. Crazy huh?! I am going with a long time established company that gave me a very detailed quote of $6300.

I also want to get the soffit, fascia and eaves done. The eaves are also a necessity. It is like having none - they are so old and holey and I think redoing them will ease up some dampness issues in the basement.

I also want to get the three windows done upstairs. The cost will surely offset the decrease in hydro costs in the winter.

I am debating on replacing the super inefficient window in the back addition with a patio door in anticipation of the deck that will be out there. That door would also ease some hydro costs.

I am also going to replace and slightly increase the size of the little deck in the back. I have been buying the essentials piece by piece but for the wood, I will have to borrow someone's truck. Eventually a bigger deck will be adjoined to it (hence the back door). This I plan on doing myself. I have never built a deck but I think it is pretty straight forward. I will post before and after pictures once it is done.

Review LG DVR Model RH387-M

One of the blogs that I look forward to reading is One Project Closer. Their recent blog of a review of an LG dishwasher that they bought moved me to comment about an LG product that I bought and now regret.

I bought an LG DVR in July 2008. The DVR I had then had died after 5 years and the repair would have cost more than the price of a new machine ($400) so I upgraded. I had s choice of 3 models and I chose the LG because I thought made reliable products. It was also the mid priced machine.

I instantly hated it. I assumed that this machine would be heads and tails better than the old one - you know technological advancements and all. But it wasn't. So fine, I got used to it and then in July 2009- about 10 days after the warranty was up, it started acting up. Now if I want to record something onto a disc, i have to waste about 4 or 5 discs first.

This product is crap and I will never buy another LG product ever.

I have also learned to get model numbers and then Google forums to get the opinion of others BEFORE I spend money on a product. I found on an electronics forum that the recording problem is common to this particular model. If that is the case then LG should know. I think that if LG was a good company, they would recognize this problem and either change whatever the issue is and/or make it right for customers whose machines are affected.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid the $400 to fix my other machine.

Hell yeah for automation!

I was just reading a post by No Credit Needed entitled Automated And It Feels So Good and it excited me. I have had my finances automated for really for as long as I have been working which is just over 20 years. Back then, there was no online banking. I used to use a service called TelPay and I had to pay a small fee for every payment that I made. It wasn't very popular, no one I knew used the service. As a matter of fact, not many of my peers even knew what it was before I mentioned it. But for me this was a little slice of heaven for two reasons - I am not the most organized person in the world (but I am working one it) and I am a huge procrastinator (that I am not working on as much). The result is that I used to receive bills, put them aside to pay at a later date and then lose them or mistakenly throw them away. As I result, I used to waste hundreds of dollars a year in late fees and similar penalties. TelPay didn't cover ALL my bills but it was a better system than what I was using at the time.

Then I discovered mBanx and it revolutionized my life. I have always been a shift worker so my hours of work, sleep etc. have always been different the rest of the regular working world. With mBanx, it released me from the bonds of having to bank from 10 am to 3 pm like the rest of society. I could now do my banking at 3 am whenever I felt like it and I really never needed to physically go to a bank. I could pay a bill when it was received or at the very least, I could set up a later payment for when payday rolled around and file the bill right away. (For a while there I felt really organized but have since slipped).

Like No Credit Needed I also receive as many of my bills as I can online. I have also in the last year set up my pay stubs from work to be viewable online only. It is unfortunate that every one doesn't have this option. For 3 years I just received the stubs in my mailbox at work, looked at it and then threw it in the backseat of my car. Eventually, I got tired of the mound of envelopes and then recycled them. But sometimes you need a current stub for bank stuff, so that was not the best system. Now I send myself a PDF copy every two weeks and if I ever need a copy, I can print it anytime - at home or at work.

I was explaining my system to my 64 year old mother who still waits for bills to arrive and then sends cheques. I tried to convince her to set up some automated payments for bills where the amounts don't vary much from month to month but she won't even hear of it. She only trusts her cheque system. And that is her choice and she is happy with it. Her main concern is that there will be a difference and they will have more of her money than the amount of the bill and similarly that she will underpay.

I basically take the amoung of a bill, cut it in half and then pay that every two weeks. For example hydro is roughly $300 a month so every two weeks, I pay $150. Some months like this month have three paydays so I will be $150 ahead. I am sure that some where through the year, I will need that $150 and will adjust that weeks payments so that no payment will be made and I will no longer be $150 ahead. When I exlained this to my mom, she was appalled that I would let them "hold" my money like that. Really, it is not ideal. But for me as someone that has a credit past of late payments for no other reason than that I'm stupid, it is a small price to pay to make payments in good time.

So for the extremely organized and for those of us that are just not that motivated. Automating your banking life is the way to go for sure!

Really!

I tell you, there is one thing that chaps my a$$ more than anything. People who when driving, put on their brakes before they indicate why they are braking. Don't these idiots realize that the turn signal is the indicator to the car(s) behind them to slow down or to change lanes if they so desire. When you brake first without warning, it ruins my smooth driving because now I wonder, is there an animal in the road? Am I not hearing an emergency vehicle; is the driver in front of me in some kind of distress? No, the vehicle ahead of me is being piloted by an imbecile who doesn't know how to drive and shouldn't be allowed on the road. Aaaargh!

In Grief

I had the loose framework of a post that I wanted to write on Thursday night. I felt exuberant and free and wanted to share my joy with the world. Well I will still write that post but it is now tainted by a great sadness.

My friend's young cat had to be put down yesterday. I don't know all the details as I understand how raw the pain is for her. I will call the cat "Bootsy" for the sake of respect and privacy. The story of Bootsy is for another day as I am grieving as well.

Big sigh, anyhow before I learned of Bootsy's passing, I was feeling exuberant. After a situation at work that I see as another form of harassment. I had experienced some harassment from a peer last year and have been dealing with the emotional aftermath since that time. Last year during that difficult time, I was not dealing with it well at all. Actually, I don't really deal with adversity well at all period. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view working with difficult people in a difficult environment has forced me to speak up to defend myself and learn to deal with adversity.

I am a firm believer that you are where you are supposed to be so perhaps these are all lessons that I need to learn to have a happy successful life. In the meantime however, it makes for some crappy and dark days. This is where my wonderful mood comes in. I didn't go home after a couple of difficult days at work and cry (as I have done in the past). I also didn't toss and turn as I replayed conversations over and over in my head, second guessing my responses and wishing I had said different things (as I have also done in the past). I slept like a baby and woke up rested and content. When I realized that this minor setback (because really, it is not the end of world although sometimes things feel that big and bad in the moment), hadn't shut me down as minor setbacks in the past have done, I felt victorious.

I am a Phoenix rising out of the ashes and I know today that I am mentally and emotionally stronger today than I was even a week ago. Those bastards can throw their best at me. As long as I continue to try to be a diligent fair employee, there is nothing they can do to me. Bring it, I'm ready! Wednesday, February 17th is my new birthday - financially and emotionally. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.


Rest in peace Bootsy. I am convinced that you are a angel that I was fortunate enough to know for just over two years. Thank you for sharing a part of your life with me.

Damn Nice

It is a damn nice feeling to not feel the pressure of bills unpaid, looming large in your mind and in your dreams. To be able to plan is awesome. And the cushion of my now very small emergency fund is like a cloud under my feet. Wow, so this is a tiny taste of being debt free. I can't wait!

Hmm, It seemed like a good idea at the time

So I have made what at the time seemed like a great decision. Now I a a little apprehensive but what is done is done so there can be no looking back now. I took out a consolidation loan which will free up $475 every paycheque. The loan is pretty high interest but is only $350 a month so I can pay ahead on that loan and still throw some money at the line of credit (also high interest) and still have a little to build up a small emergency fund.

I did go a little crazy. I bought Michael Buble tickets because he is awesome and I was celebrating my good decision. I bought a cheap vacuum cleaner because I have been borrowing my mom's for about a year and that really sucks. It is refurbished and the belt broke the first time I used it. I bought an extended warranty for $10 which gives me two years so I can deal with that. I bought a new belt for $6.50 and look at 'er go.

So after this Wednesday's payday, my car loan will be done. Complete. Mine all mine. Now Bazoo 2 is free to break down. Lol, please Murphy, if you must use your Law on me wait until next winter when car dealers are desperate for a deal.

Net Worth - Better Than I Thought

So I have been reading a lot of financially related blogs and I just read one by Spilling Buckets - Positive Net Worth: The Day of Zero! and they were celebrating that fact that after just under a year of budgeting and frugal living, they have achieved a positive net worth. The whole article gave me a great deal of encouragement. I have felt trapped by my debt mainly for the last year. Really only since I have set my goal of being debt free. Since then I have realized that I have been and still am wasting literally tens of thousands of dollars on interest. But if I look at my situation in terms of net worth I am not doing too badly.

Value Owed
Home $60,000 $41,000
Second property $15,000 $ 9,000
Vehicle $10,000 $ 7,800
Other Debt $ 900
$ 2,000
$ 8,000
$ 1,800

$85,000 $70,500


Based on my rough numbers I have a net worth of $14,500. Which is remarkable because my net worth will be really rockin' in less than a year. I am energized and my resolve to keep on this path is solidified.

Pain or Sleep, Pain is Better

Well it seems my last few foggy sleep filled days may have been hormonally induced. Generally around this time of the month, I have a frenzied need to clean and organize which is followed by a day of pain and then it's pretty much over. This time just long agonizing days of fatigue. If I get the choice, I will take the pain. This sucks and I have wasted half a week. now don't get me wrong. I spend a fair bit of my life wasting time, but when I have goals and plans, don't get in my way.

So of course there is always a situation, always a decision to make. Today is new year's eve. I am totally fine with having no plans. It is just another day. OK, so I have made not so much resolutions but a list of things I want to accomplish this year. I have never done this before in such a detailed way. I feel that since last year was a difficult and I feel unsuccessful year, that I need a game plan. And I feel that a list of goals broken down into smaller manageable goals - as the time management people suggest - is the perfect way to provide that added guidance that I seem to need. At any rate, it is new year's eve and a couple of weeks ago I suggested to my mom that we hang out. You know order a pizza, watch a movie, nothing crazy. But now . . . it is cold outside and all I want is to stay in my PJ's and finish organizing my movie collection.

I know I must go however. I think she will be very disappointed if I don't go over. I do want to go, it is just getting motivated. Alright, I am going, I will jump in the shower at around 7 and leave after that.

Happy New Year's everyone. I hope 2010 is as successful for you as I plan it to be for me. Play safe tonight, you know how I worry.

Still Tired

So I have a whole pile of days off. From the 28th to the 6th. I had such big plans for stuff that I wanted to accomplish. So far they have been wasted. I have been off for 3 days and have done nothing. I haven't been able to stay awake for more than a couple of hours at a time. I wanted to tidy up a bit because the TV guy is coming tomorrow to try and fix why I have no TV upstairs. I still have time but I like doing house work during the day when the sun is shining but I guess I have no choice, he is coming tomorrow morning. Sigh!

I wanted to:
- cook about 20 meals for lunch
- organize my cassettes and sell a bunch on ebay
- go through the crap in the porch
- go through the crap in the 3rd bedroom
- paint the living room