We're Renovating!

When we bought our house, we decided on a five year plan where we would renovate and then sell. We have lived in our house for 2 years already and we have done some smaller renovations so far but nothing big. We decided we would renovate the downstairs bathroom, turning it from a half bath into a full bath. Then once we were able to shower downstairs, we would renovate the upstairs bathroom completely. Here is what our half demolished basement bathroom looks like now:

We have a long way to go, but so far it's been a lot of fun destructing the bathroom and picking out new things for the new bathroom!

10 Pound Challenge Update

I've been trying to decide if I should bother posting am update because I haven't lost any weight. I've been hovering around the same two or three pounds, right now I'm a pound or so heavier than when I started.

I've gained a bit of weight since I started my new job in October, but if I'm honest with myself it's mostly because of the delicious food the cafeteria serves here. I do more walking now at this job then I did at my last. I've also been able to take some free fitness classes and use the gym.

Last month I bought myself a fitbit. It's like a calorie counter on steroids. I keep it in my pocket all day at work and I can go home and see a graph of how active I've been during the day. It's a great visual of how much time is spent not moving! It also motivates me to increase my activity. I'm no where near my 10 000 steps everyday, but I'm getting closer! It's been worth every penny to me!

I've made big steps towards not eating out! We have been eating at home more regularly. I think this alone will help me lose a few pounds. I haven't managed to kick the soda habit, but I'm drinking a lot less!

I think the biggest thing I've realized is being skinny isn't really a high priority. Being healthy is. I want to eat healthy and have an active lifestyle but the numbers on the scale don't matter to me anymore. I need to make sure I'm healthy and in a healthy weight range. I'm pretty close to the high end of my healthy weight range, so I need to make sure I don't gain weight.

I need to make sure that my lifestyle is based on healthy choices and happiness, no obsessive scale watching (which I tend to do very well!)

Where We Stand Now

Over the last month, my hubby and I have made some progress in coming up with a five year plan.

I'm still struggling to finish my course I'm taking now. It's not that its really hard but I'm having trouble finding the time or energy to work on it. We have so many projects going on right now! I am determined to get my course done, I don't want to waste the money I've spent on the course.

My husband decided to go a different route with his school. He will still get his degree but he can take the courses more spread out and it will end up costing us about $5000 less.

Our big goal for 2012 is to pay off our line of credit, which I'm happy to say we are on track for paying it off by December!

With our new budget, we have also been able to put away a fair amount in savings, which we have decided to use part of to do some renovations.

The most exciting part is, with my hubby not going to school full time and us having our finances under control, we can start planning for kids next year!

Oh Boy, What a Month

February ended up a pretty crazy month for me and I didn't get anything I wanted done, including my no spend challenge. The first couple of days went ok, with the only money we spent was $3 for parking to a seminar on financial management which was largely about goal setting. I will go into more detail about it later.

 We also had a car problem that ended up costing us $1000! That was very unexpected. Our car is still covered by warranty but apparently they only cover the parts and not the service/test to go with it. Rip off! After putting that $1000 back on the line of credit, I felt like giving up.

 Later in the month, my Mom had surgery and my husband and I did a lot of running around, helping out my Dad with watching the dogs, grocery shopping and visits at the hospital. It was a very busy couple of weeks where we didn't even get home before 9pm any nights. Of course we had to stop at home and let our dogs outside and give them a bit of quality time. Luckily we are home more now!

 My virus protection on my computer had expired and I managed to get a virus on my computer while I was waiting for my husband to update it (he's the tech guy in our house). He ended up wiping my whole computer just to be safe.

 Work has been super crazy too, whew! Glad February (and half of March) is over and I can get back to blogging!

February No Spend Challenge

After overspending a bit in January, I suggested to my husband that we try a no spend challenge in February. He laughed at me.  He actually laughed. He thought that I was joking - I wasn't.  I don't blame him for thinking I was joking, I hardly believe it myself.  A week I could do, maybe, but a whole month?  I'm nervous and it hasn't even started!

I like to go out. I like to eat out. I like to go for car rides. I like to buy things for the house.  For the month of February (notice how I chose the shortest month), I am going to give up all of that.  Hubby has agreed to do the challenge with me; he likes the idea, but I don't think I have sold him on the fact that I actually plan to do it for the whole month!

Here are the rules that I have set for us to follow:


1. Spending only on necessary items including groceries, gas and pet supplies.

Pet food is something I obviously can't "cutback" on, or feed them random things from the freezer/cupboard (don't want any upset stomachs!).  Our pets won't have any new toys for the month though. I also can save money by making sure that I use coupons or buy pet food on sale!


2. Making home cooked meals; using what we have in the pantry/freezer and avoid eating out.

This means both my husband and I have to commit to eating at home and packing our lunches.  Sorry Dear, no Timmies runs this month! For me, eating out is a really bad habit and I determined to conquer it this month; just in time for the 10 Pound Challenge. This month will we be eating whatever lies in the back of our cupboards and freezer, and spending minimally on groceries.

3. Stretching our fuel costs by spending more time at home and less time out and about driving.

I love to go driving and window shopping.  I am going to have to really cut back on driving by combining the errands I do and making less trips.  It is a 64km round trip to work everyday, so I usually do go through a tank of gas in a week, but every km I save is money I didn't spend in gas.

4. Finding inexpensive things to do for fun.

My husband and I both have a lot of schoolwork we need to do in February.  That should help decrease the time we spend out helping us not spend money.  We still need to go out, so I will look for free things we can do.  It will be interesting to find something to do for Valentine's Day!

I will be starting this challenge on February 1st and will be updating all month on how I am doing. This will be a month for me to prove to myself that I can get by without eating out, and for us to save some extra money for when hubby goes to school in April.


Photo Credit

Just Ordered Amazon Gift Cards With Swagbucks

I just ordered a few $5 Amazon gift cards with Swagbucks!  I have enough points to order 5 gifts cards ($25 worth) but you can only order 2 a day, so it will take me a few days to order them.

$25 is not bad for a few months of searching the internet with Swagbucks search engine.  To be honest, I haven't even used it that much.  I still prefer Google.

I ordered amazon.ca gift cards because I live in Canada.  They don't have nearly the selection of things that amazon.com does but I've been eyeing a few things for birthday and Christmas presents this year!

Have you joined Swagbucks?  Have you cashed in your points for any prizes yet?

$5000 Extra Income Goal - Update

It's been awhile since I did an update on our $5000 Extra Income Goal, so I thought I would do another update.  It's been a pretty quiet month. We did get a little bit of money for Christmas, but most of our extra income has been from my second part time job.

My part time job went from working 9-12 hours a week in November/December down to working 1-6 hours from now on.  My job has changed, but I am able to work from home and have freed up more time.  I work a full 40-hour work week as well.

I am hoping to create extra income by sorting through our basement and selling things we don't need anymore.

This money has gone directly to paying off debts faster.

To date: $1245/$5000