Survived another week

Work has grown incredibly dull. Last weekend, I did a 12 hour overtime shift, the money was good. Other than it isn't mentally taxing, I don't know what I'm doing there any more. The hours are hard on me, and it would be nice to get some temperature control. Dust is also annoying. I feel that I'm over due for a change. My best skills are by far my thinking ones and I've not had a chance to use them in some time. We'll see what happens.
I suppose as general catch up, I've stopped tracking things as closely as I used to and I've also started spending more. Last week, I spent about $11 on a hobby, film and batteries for an old camera. I'm hunting for a digital SLR, though shooting film in the mean time. My cousin is getting married next month, so I'm running a roll or two through this camera to get used to it.
In the short term, my goal is to put up a picture or two in my room.
In the slightly longer term, my goal is to apply to go back to school.
My main worry right now is not being able to get back into engineering.

August month end

deductions/gross pay 21.6%
gross pay saved 59.8%
take home pay saved 76.3%

spending/gross 10.5%
spending/take home 13.4%

loan payments/gross 8.1%
loan payments/take home 10.3%

total outflow/gross pay 40.2%
savings $1675.61

This has been my most expensive month so far this year. I spent close to $300, which isn't inherently obvious in my summary. I'll put off changing the look of my spreadsheet till next year though. Overall though, I think I'm still doing well. As a percentage of my income, I am still saving more than half my gross pay and more than three quarters of my take home pay. Took the family out for lunch once, took my sister out for lunch once, and collected a set of Olympic sports water bottles. Overall, nothing too unusual. I have no good excuses like renewing my driver's license this time.
Finally as of the end of the month, I worked 138 days. As of this post, 139.

July Month End

Before I forget, 122 days worked so far this year, going 124. I've been behind on posting. So I guess a July month end is in store for now. The profit share cheque was for $600 or so. I suppose I'm pleased with it.

July summary
deductions/gross pay 18.9%
gross pay saved 66.9%
take home pay saved 82.6%

spending/gross 7.4%
spending/take home 9.1%

loan payments/gross 6.8%
loan payments/take home 8.4%

total outflow/gross pay 33.1%
total savings $2224.22
I spent about $240 this month, with almost $4 in taxes and misc attached government fees, mainly recycling levies and deposits. In the first half of the year, I averaged $202. This month is a tad higher because I renewed my driver's license for $64.45 and I also went to a party, which is where most of the recycling comes in. Maybe next year, I'll separate out the sales tax, recycling deposit and recycling levy. Also paid for some supplies for my sister's Canada day party too. All this and being only $40 or so over average makes me want to check my math, but I did this on a spreadsheet, so maybe checking my data entry would be more appropriate. Also notably a fairly light month on the reusable bag credits, largely due to a shift in my spending habits. Hmm, do I want to start tagging these sorts of things budget or month end or something? I wonder if there's a way that I can mark labels as obsolete so that they stop showing up in my list of suggested labels. Anyway, here's to hoping for a good August. There's only two pay days in August, my string of extra pay has come to an end.

Happy Canada day, end of June, end of Q2 and end of H1

It’s sad to say that half of yet another year has gone by. I feel like I’ve been missing out on a lot. Making good progress on my goals though.
Ignoring investment activities, I made $17K and this pie graph shows where it went.



Maybe if I actually get around to writing some software again, I’ll show my spending in categories. It should be fairly trivial task, but I haven’t done anything of the sort in quite a while. It’ll have to wait till I’m covering more of my expenses before it means anything though. At the moment, I think I’m going to target moving in October.

Almost half way through the year

Next payday I get my vacation pay for the first half of the year. It's scary that so much time has passed and it feels like it's just gone to waste. My life is largely the same. Anyway, 93 days down, going on 97, or possibly 98. Last weekend I was asked to work overtime, this weekend was the other production line's turn. I think next weekend might be my turn again if there is overtime. Also, I now know when I'll be working night shift, July 20 to august 12. 20 days in there and I'm not looking forward to that. The days are long and annoying regardless though. Personally I'm getting kind of sick of that job. I feel so apathetic while I'm there and I can feel it stifling my growth. Sadly though most of my life has been spent waiting for something.
Complaining isn't going to fix it. Planning on the other hand will. I'll have to see what I can think up.

Overtime makes me feel so drained

89 days down, going on 93, or at least I'm not expecting another overtime shift. I'm not sure what to say, other than I just feel tired. It's good to have an extra $150. I find myself wanting to develop though. I feel that my current job is preventing my growth. So much of my energy is drained working there. Though for now, I can accept that as probably the quickest way to get somewhere. I can't seem to keep my head up now that it's my time off. I am very tired.
Anyway, other half of the problem, doing something with the money that'll help me not need to work. The market has changed so much since my last asset allocation plan. I suppose my portfolio still badly needs diversification. A couple more purchases will help with that. It feels like I just can't get money invested fast enough. The recovery has been so sharp, I worry that things might come crashing back down in a month or two. It's hard to decide what to do.

May month end

Special thanks to two overtime shifts and this being one of two months with three pay cheques, my income during the month of may was rather high. I decided not to include investment returns in my analysis, or that I got my tax refund this month. Maybe a budget would be more interesting, but my living costs are severely distorted due to living with my mom.

Gross pay: 4422
Take home: 3459.85
spending: 172.85
loan payments: 225.91
savings: 3061.09

deductions/gross pay: 21.8%
gross pay saved: 69.2%
take home pay saved: 88.5%

spending/gross: 3.9%
spending/take home: 5.0%

loan payments/gross: 5.1%
loan payments/take home: 6.5%

total outflow/gross pay: 30.8%

Some nice ratios there. I like that I'm saving 88.5% of my take home pay. However I don't really like 21.8% of my pay disappearing in deductions but I'm not sure there's really anything I can do about that. Now to invest the small sum that I've accumulated this month.

Whoo long weekend

Well, after the chaos and having worked a total of 77 days since the start of this year, I have four days off. Put today to somewhat decent use. I rested up, which is always important. It's more a reminder of how much work takes out of me than anything else. Also did something nice and cleaned the floors. Hmm, what else to report? The market retreated a bit but it's still higher than what I was thinking that things would be at. Notably though Artis did not crash back down as I worried that it might, instead it sits even higher at $8.10. Everything else I have though moved with the markets. I'm not sure if this is where I should consider selling. Personally I'm reluctant to.
Also tried to take up some music. The recorder doesn't feel as natural as I remember it being. If only I could find some sheet music for songs that I'm interested in learning how to play. I want to learn Bert the Turtle made famous by the Duck and Cover film. If I had the sheet music for it, I would make a goal out of being able to play it.

No Update

It's sad that I don't really feel I have the energy to update my blog right now. Haven't calculated my usual month end numbers. I'm contemplating doing a pie graph of where my money goes, but I suppose that only works after I do my tax return so that I know how much actually went toward taxes. It'll be interesting when it is eventually done though.
Oh, and 63 days down, and I should get some rest before I face day 64.

Month End

Hmm, I almost don't remember what I usually calculate at the end of the month. Anyway, here goes:
gross pay: 2629.75
net pay: 2106.80
spending: 220.17
student loan repayments: 225.91
savings: 2106.80 - 220.17 - 225.91 = 1660.72, wish it was higher
Not sure what sort of commentary to make at the moment. I picked up a bunch of blank dvds, want to back up some things. My photo collection is four dvds already and I have a few rather photo intensive events coming up. It's also nice to back up my laptop's entire hard drive, though it's a bit of a mess right now, so a bit of clean up and well, two copies will easily fit on one dvd. Also, I got reusable bag credits 9 times this month. That's pretty good. It was 5 in January and 4 in February.
I've got the radio on right now and Dr. Laura just said something that really hit me. Playing worker ant isn't living. I couldn't agree more with that sentiment. Can't wait to be done with that. I should get my final tax receipts next week and be able to file my return. This year I'll be getting money back, next year I'm thinking that I'll have enough investment income that I probably won't be getting money back. Either that or be pretty close. Refund probably shouldn't come till end of may, start of June. Should have vacation pay coming around June, also have profit share coming up in July. Also have money coming from managing the family firm in the next quarter, both the stuff I loaned it and something for my troubles. I'm hoping to make some significant progress towards not being a worker ant in the next couple months.

I guess before I say more, 35 days down as I go back for another week of work. I don't know what I hate more, the haphazard records of the company that was dropped on me or the dull monotony and industrial conditions of the company I work for. Anyway, I really want to get away from things and just do something big, wild and outrageous. The more I learn about seafaring, the more it feels like I've barely scratched the surface on what there is to know before one sets out on the ocean, though someone suggested a Calgary to New Orleans river trip. I do want to be in motion for a while. Something about changing scenery helps make things feel like they're going somewhere.
Oh yes, the monitor I picked up happened to be a dud, there's a strange buzzing noise and oddly enough it'll work with my laptop but won't do anything with my desktop.
Hmm, other news. I made a good call last week in letting my money stay put till next week. Bought at a much reduced price, however towards the end of the day the price sank further. Question of the moment is what do I do if the price goes back up again? Do I take the chance and sell hoping to buy again at a lower price? Then there's all the other questions of what next. I suppose I'll have to cross that bridge later when I see how things change over the next while.
I still feel very unsettled and want to ramble, but I don't know what more to say.

Month End

Before I begin, 31 days worked so far this year. I've been falling behind on my regular postings. Anyway, what did I bring in this month and what did I spend it on? Two paydays this month, there's only two months with three. Anyway:
gross employment income: 2680
deductions: 563.61
take home pay: 2116.39
spending: 273.32
sales tax: 1.29
Loan payments: 225.91
Spending is a little higher because I didn't buy my bus pass in the previous month. 40% of my gross income goes somewhere, so I guess 60% was saved by the definition of saved that doesn't include the principal portion of loan repayments as saving. 10% of my gross income, 13% of net, was actually spent on stuff, not loans and taxes.
Until I'm in an actual independent living situation, I'm not sure what to think of my data.

Random Reflections on Vacation

Well, I'm at the all good things must come to an end point of my vacation, so many things have gone wrong. I wish I could stay longer to get more things straightened out. Though on the plus side, I caught up with a bunch of movies that I haven't seen yet. Forrest Gump was something that really made me think. Sometimes it's better to simply not understand enough to let things drag you down. I am aware though and I don't think trying to change that is a good idea.
Today was one of those days where things didn't go right, high winds, and heavy rains canceled my plans. Did some reading, and watched a lot of TV. Some of what I read made me wonder if there's really decent returns to be had in investing or if it's kind of like the squirrel. Nuts get stored up for the winter, but in terms of real returns, the squirrel never gets back more than what's put in. I'm still betting that there are gains to be had. In any case, it's still better to have a reserve than nothing at all.
That also brings me to another though, some people have been saying that it's not a good idea to use a line of credit as an emergency fund because lending restrictions are likely to tighten during economic down turns when you're more likely to need the money. That is true though I don't know anyone who advocates keeping your emergency fund in another currency in case the even that you run into happens to be hyperinflation or the local government is over thrown. I guess people expect gold to take that spot. Then there's also events that render food and shelter unobtainable at any price, like if you get hit be a mega tsunami. Granted, there's little point saving money for an event like that because the extreme scarcity renders money meaningless. As I start reducing my cash reserves this is a question that I need to address sooner or later. For now though I think I'm happy using credit as an emergency fund. The numbers are still small in my game, I'm not trying to support a family or cling to things like fancy cars and I don't have a mortgage to support.
Oh, and speaking of family, I had an update on the family thing. It seems like things will be back to normal, for a while anyway.
And well, there's location scouting. While parts of this area do have their charm, there are a stunning number of run down buildings around here. I'm not sure what to really make of it. I'm not completely turned off from this area yet. Still going to check out the employment center to find out about relevant opportunities, immigration and wages. While I was here, I've been going to grocery stores, keeps costs down a bit and gives me an idea of the cost of living. I'm starting to really like extended stay hotels. Though this hotel makes me wonder how hard the region got rocked by economic slowdowns. The rate posted inside the room is twice the current rate. They haven't updated the sign in a while. I think I'll still hunt around for a while. This really doesn't stand out as a definite winner.

Things getting mixed up again

Well, with the exception of my short term plans, everything is up in the air again. A sort of a family thing. I have no idea what's coming up and no idea what's been planned already. There's a chance that I could be tied down for a while, which I suppose is slightly different from from simply being stuck for a while.
Still heading to Ohio soon, there's some serious sorting out to do there. Other than that, just going to have to see how things unfold.

Preparing for the Inevitable

Well, plans have been made clear now. Apparently, I have a year to make preparations. Then I'm on my own again. One year to build my resources. As much as I'm eager to see this phase of my life end, I can't help but to feel that it's been too soon. The longer this continues, the more resources I have, the quicker the dullness of the next phase will pass and the sooner I can move on with my life. In a lot of ways, knowing what's going to happen is a relief, but in other ways, I'm now forced to face what's coming to me. I'm not sure what this does to my timelines and to a certain extent, I'm not entirely sure I want to know at this point. Well, I guess I should get busy making preparations as best I can.

Weekend review

I do my weekend review a little early because I work the weekend shift. We're at it Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so this a natural transition in my week. Anyway, I got a portion of my room cleaned. Lack the drive to do it all at once. Did not open a new brokerage account like I had wanted. Still need to do that. Didn't file my tax return yet. Though I have assembled a shopping list of what I'd like to be in my long term holdings. It's a roughly $30K shopping list right now and it'll be nice. It should take me roughly 17% closer to the red line, for a total of 19% or so. Umm, where is the green line again? I think that need stamp that on my desktop wall paper, or perhaps round it to something. Anyway, that'll be 10.4%. It makes things look so quick when I look at it like that, though I'd still need to get the $30K to buy all of it.
I've also tentatively scheduled a location scouting trip into the USA. I've got a friend there who I think will give me all the help he can relocating. However there is still a border there and it'll be pesky. I'm guessing E-2 might be the easiest visa for me to get, though I'm going to be very reluctant to empty my investment portfolio to focus on one thing. That'll make things take a little longer. I'll also need to bump my lines a bit to cover health insurance. Maybe I can take that trip to China while I wait for funds to build up.
Also for location scouting, it seems the bank has given me a little gift. I'll be surprised if this doesn't brutally murder the formatting...

                              Real            Housing            Retail
                              GDP             starts             sales

                                             Thousands

                         07    08    09    07    08    09    07    08    09
                         --    --    --    --    --    --    --    --    --
   NFLD.                9.0   0.5   1.0   2.6   2.5   2.0   9.5   5.5   2.0
   P.E.I                1.9   1.2   1.4   0.8   0.7   0.6   8.2   4.4   3.7
   N.S.                 2.4   2.5   2.8   4.8   4.6   4.0   4.0   4.7   6.5
   N.B.                 2.5   2.4   2.5   4.2   4.0   3.4   6.2   4.4   4.0
   QUE.                 2.1   1.1   2.2  48.6  47.1  40.0   4.4   4.1   4.4
   ONT.                 1.8   0.8   1.9  68.1  66.8  59.4   3.9   3.8   4.5
   MAN.                 3.5   2.8   2.9   5.7   5.6   4.5   9.5   8.1   7.6
   SASK.                4.6   3.6   3.2   6.0   6.1   4.5  12.7   9.0   8.0
   ALTA.                4.3   3.3   3.0  48.3  41.6  35.3   9.0   7.4   7.0
   B.C.                 3.1   2.3   2.8  39.2  37.2  30.5   7.1   6.2   7.5
   CANADA               2.7   1.6   2.3   228   216   184   5.8   5.1   5.5

                          Employment            CPI

                         07    08    09    07    08    09
                         --    --    --    --    --    --
   NFLD.                0.6   0.2   0.3   1.5   1.0   1.3
   P.E.I                1.0   0.5   0.2   1.8   1.3   1.6
   N.S.                 1.3   2.0   2.0   1.9   1.1   2.0
   N.B.                 2.1   1.9   0.9   1.9   1.2   1.7
   QUE.                 2.3   1.1   1.1   1.6   1.2   1.8
   ONT.                 1.6   0.9   1.0   1.8   1.4   1.8
   MAN.                 1.6   2.1   1.7   2.0   1.8   2.1
   SASK.                2.1   2.4   1.9   2.8   3.3   2.9
   ALTA.                4.7   2.2   1.8   5.0   2.9   2.8
   B.C.                 3.2   2.0   2.2   1.8   1.1   1.6
   CANADA               2.3   1.4   1.4   2.1   1.4   1.9

I've highlighted the two provinces in this country I've been seriously considering in purple. Green is one that I've had someone ask me to consider, possibly jokingly. Those last figures also highly the dangers of not building up enough money. If I've got a return of 6% on my fixed income investments, and inflation reaches say, 5%, which it was for Alberta in 2007, 5/6ths of my income needs to be reinvested to keep up with inflation and I only have a 1% return to cover my expenses. Dividends from common shares, however, are typically linked to corporate profits, which typically increase with inflation. Anyway, enough rambling, I need food, then food shopping. Adjusting for inflation though are for goals I set after I've cleared the yellow line and need to start setting new goals.

Taking Inventory

Where do I sit right now? At the start of the year, I had two student loans at an interest rate of prime +2.5% for roughly $4.6K and $9.3K. Now that it's nearly a third of the way through the year, the amount has gone down a tad. Between the two of them, there's $2710.92 in payments to be made this year. I'll estimate that about $1000 of that will be interest and that's tax deductible, so I should get about $250 of it back on my tax return.
Besides that, I should be getting about $2000 back on my income tax. I'm going to be getting $4000 back for a personal bail out loan that I made earlier and I'm not sure if I'll be getting all of another $2000 I loaned out back this year. I'm determined not to make any more personal loans for a while. $6K tied up in loans with another $2K in tax refunds is quite a significant portion of my net worth at the moment.
I'm purposefully ignoring the amount I have in my RRSP at the moment, because my goals are more short term than when I turn 65. Though off the top of my head, I'd guess there's about $7.5K in there.
Then there's about $5K in common stock and $1.5K in income trusts, with a combined yield of about $300/year right now. Then there's about $6K in cash getting 3.35%.
Umm, this is a seriously disorganized mess. First order of business should be categorizing things. Second order of business, I've been running under the assumption that I can get a better after tax return investing my money than paying off my loans, I should revisit that.

Money aside, I also have decent health. I seldom get sick and seldom stay sick for long. I do however worry about my health. My family has a history of autoimmune disease and I worry that I might be affected too. I'm also decently fit. Currently I've got a decent amount of employment income coming in. I'll have to say that my job sucks, I hate it and it really tears me apart. I also have a couple good friends. Moral support can't be neglected at a time like this. Granted, I seem to be the only one of them trying to build a financial safety net. See above regarding ~$6k of bail outs. I will get to a point where I feel I have some security before making any more personal loans.

About the Gravitation Sling Shot

The gravitational sling shot can very simplistically be described as the art of plummeting towards something that'll kindly step out of the way for you. Since the point you're falling towards is shifting, you effortlessly change speed and direction.
It seems to be a better analogy for what I want to do than hitting rock bottom and bouncing back. Things might be falling apart right now, but I'm going to try to keep things controlled and avoid a total shattering.
A variation on this is the Oberth effect, where you want to hit the engines where you've got your highest speed. You get the same amount of speed increase for the amount of fuel you burn, but you get more energy out of it and hence go further.
With my sister getting ready to go off to school, I can't stay here for too long. My parents want to sell the house soon. I'm not sure if they're going towards selling when she starts or waiting till its over.
That's going to be another thing just waiting to crumble. I haven't heard anything about any plans to pay for her schooling. They've been telling me that I should go back to school too while they have money saved up. There's about $20K saved up. I wonder if they know that if they had actually met their expectations instead of having me lie to get loans and grants, all that would have been gone half way through third year. I sure hope that some of the money from downsizing housing goes towards covering her schooling.
Well, getting back to me, my expenses are going up when she leaves, so I'm hunting down investments to augment my income. I'm going to need a lot of extra income to start my life over again.