Debt Dumpers - 2017

[Jen and Ashwin]

Hmm... I would argue the original due date is a great day, October 13th if I did the math right? I may be biased... that might be my birthday @Jen and Ashwin @Tygerlilly

Well, my dad's birthday is October 6, so I might have been hoping for baby to be just a tad early!

 

[amalone1013]

On a non debt dumping note, I've been meaning to post this for the last week...

Got to see the eclipse. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! Complete totality is SOOOO much more fun than a partial!! Had some worries at the beginning, looked like clouds were going to ruin it, but they stayed thin and I could see great!

April 8, 2024, just let me know if anyone wants to crash at my house. The one then should come through about 90 miles from me. I bet I can find a great place to see it from (home field advantage )

Dismeet at @dayvewc 's place!

 

[bababear_50]

Best wishes Jen and Ashwin
I am voting for Oct 7th as a birth date.

Hugs Mel

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

DH got his merit salary increase letter. It is so different from mine. Even though we work at the same university, each department handles their own process. The letter explains their process in pretty extensive detail and has an entire page of text. It says that his department has a minimum increase of 1.625%. My letter is one paragraph and just gives my salary increase % plus my new salary amount. DH got an increase of 3.4%. I was estimating that he might get around 2.5%, so I am pretty pleased to see that his increase was much better than that. He has worked really hard this last year so I think he should be very proud of himself.

Also, Sept. 12 is his 1 year work anniversary so he will start getting the university's 10% retirement match, which will be very helpful. I calculated our retirement savings until the end of the year and we will have saved 17.5% of salary for 2017. Next year we should get to 19% of salary saved. And depending on how expenses go next year, we might even be able to tuck away a bit extra and reach our goal of 20%. If not in 2018, then we definitely plan to increase our savings up to 20% in 2019 and maintain that rate going forward. Retirement savings and paying off our mortgage are big priorities for us, since DH has seen the stress on his parents that are in their late 50s/early 60s with no real savings and a huge mortgage still to pay off.

Because DH got a bigger increase than anticipated, plus my boss allowed me to keep my raise as well, we are not nearly as tight as we might have been for next year. We had a budget meeting the other day to discuss allocation of funds starting in January. Much of our salary increase will be going towards adding baby to DH's health insurance. But we still had some left over. We will be able to set up a $125 a month fund for ongoing baby expenses, such as clothes, breastfeeding supplies and other necessities. We will also be putting $125 per month towards baby's college fund. Originally, I didn't think that we would be able to put anything towards the college fund, so this makes me very happy to start this out right from birth. We plan to continue increasing this amount over time, making a big increase once baby is out of daycare. We also increased our gift fund by $25 per month to cover birthday and holiday gifts for baby. And we even had a little money left over to increase our dining out and family fun money funds by $25 each a month.

I really love how easy it was for us to see everything in YNAB and easily come to an agreement on how to allocate our increased cashflow towards things we value. It is amazing how far we have come with our finances in less than a year and a half.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Best wishes Jen and Ashwin
I am voting for Oct 7th as a birth date.

Hugs Mel

Thanks Mel.
Did you make a post about retirement plans and how to anticipate expenses? I was too tried to reply last night, but now I don't see it. I had some thoughts, if you are interested.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

Continuing my slow-but-steady upward trek. I love the reports in YNAB (I have the old desktop version still) so I can just see that little mountain graph get closer and closer to the horizon.

I moved and my rent went down but I'm still kind of in a holding-steady mode right now--though I am shoving more into my emergency fund than I have been, which is good. Whenever I try to tighten the belt too much I rubberband back the other way so... just trying to hold steady.

Meanwhile... booked our trip to WDW for the 2018 Princess Half weekend! WOOP WOOP! I feel like I have plenty of time to save. (knock on wood)

 

[pblack]

Paid off our smallest credit card debt today at $400, now only have $5700 left to go! I feel pretty good about this since we had close to, or slight above, $10,000 at the beginning of the year. I'm sure if I took the money we're putting toward our October vacation towards credit cards we could pay it off faster, but i'm just so ready for a vacation. Our new plan for our week off is to fly out to Austin, TX to visit my best friend and her husband who we haven't seen since last year. Then from there we're flying to Anaheim to do the Mickey's Halloween Party and spend the following 3.5 days in the parks. We just got back from a quick weekend trip last weekend for our anniversary and we had a good time! Got the new Disneyland Starbucks "You are here" cup which I was pretty excited about.

 

[DnA2010]

DH got his merit salary increase letter. It is so different from mine. Even though we work at the same university, each department handles their own process. The letter explains their process in pretty extensive detail and has an entire page of text. It says that his department has a minimum increase of 1.625%. My letter is one paragraph and just gives my salary increase % plus my new salary amount. DH got an increase of 3.4%. I was estimating that he might get around 2.5%, so I am pretty pleased to see that his increase was much better than that. He has worked really hard this last year so I think he should be very proud of himself.

Also, Sept. 12 is his 1 year work anniversary so he will start getting the university's 10% retirement match, which will be very helpful. I calculated our retirement savings until the end of the year and we will have saved 17.5% of salary for 2017. Next year we should get to 19% of salary saved. And depending on how expenses go next year, we might even be able to tuck away a bit extra and reach our goal of 20%. If not in 2018, then we definitely plan to increase our savings up to 20% in 2019 and maintain that rate going forward. Retirement savings and paying off our mortgage are big priorities for us, since DH has seen the stress on his parents that are in their late 50s/early 60s with no real savings and a huge mortgage still to pay off.

Because DH got a bigger increase than anticipated, plus my boss allowed me to keep my raise as well, we are not nearly as tight as we might have been for next year. We had a budget meeting the other day to discuss allocation of funds starting in January. Much of our salary increase will be going towards adding baby to DH's health insurance. But we still had some left over. We will be able to set up a $125 a month fund for ongoing baby expenses, such as clothes, breastfeeding supplies and other necessities. We will also be putting $125 per month towards baby's college fund. Originally, I didn't think that we would be able to put anything towards the college fund, so this makes me very happy to start this out right from birth. We plan to continue increasing this amount over time, making a big increase once baby is out of daycare. We also increased our gift fund by $25 per month to cover birthday and holiday gifts for baby. And we even had a little money left over to increase our dining out and family fun money funds by $25 each a month.

I really love how easy it was for us to see everything in YNAB and easily come to an agreement on how to allocate our increased cashflow towards things we value. It is amazing how far we have come with our finances in less than a year and a half.

That's really awesome! Do you guys also get a pension from the university, or is their match their contribution? I've been thinking about this a lot lately too- currently I have 10% of my pay taken off into retirement savings, and then I have a separate RRSP (Canada retirement savings) which has $150/month direct deposit, and then my bonus go straight to retirement savings (then I don't pay tax on it) however we currently only have whatever DH is getting in pension in savings for him- which I don't really understand but need to understand better. We also need to get our babies collage savings account going, we set it up but never got the direct deposit going.
We still have 18 years 4 months left on our mortgage, but when it comes up for renewal it would have 17 years 3 months, we are hoping to up the payments enough to go to 15 years, and are also going to try to increase our payments a bit more for the next year till then, once we know where things are going to be once DH goes back to work in a few weeks (he's with the ambulance service and irreg scheduled (long story but to get full time we would need to move to a big city) - his schedule is good as it's flexible, so hopefully we will be able to get away without childcare as he will mostly work when I don't.

 

[Ngwira]

Back from Disney with a sinus infection . We had a great time though. Got to ride Flight of Passage, Everest, Space Mountain, Mine Train, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Test Track... also some favorite rides like Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, Soarin and Star Wars.

Ate like a king so food budget went slightly over. Good news is that we have no big travel plans coming up until Easter of next year. We do have a weekend trip in October and November but nothing expensive so I can start saving again.
We have $2300 left on our $7200 window loan taken out in July 2016. We decided to pay $400 a month so we will be done with it in February.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

That's really awesome! Do you guys also get a pension from the university, or is their match their contribution? I've been thinking about this a lot lately too- currently I have 10% of my pay taken off into retirement savings, and then I have a separate RRSP (Canada retirement savings) which has $150/month direct deposit, and then my bonus go straight to retirement savings (then I don't pay tax on it) however we currently only have whatever DH is getting in pension in savings for him- which I don't really understand but need to understand better. We also need to get our babies collage savings account going, we set it up but never got the direct deposit going.
We still have 18 years 4 months left on our mortgage, but when it comes up for renewal it would have 17 years 3 months, we are hoping to up the payments enough to go to 15 years, and are also going to try to increase our payments a bit more for the next year till then, once we know where things are going to be once DH goes back to work in a few weeks (he's with the ambulance service and irreg scheduled (long story but to get full time we would need to move to a big city) - his schedule is good as it's flexible, so hopefully we will be able to get away without childcare as he will mostly work when I don't.

No pension, just the 10% match from the university. They did away with pensions long before I started working their 6 years ago. But honestly, I like the idea of retirement funds that stay with me no matter where I end up working. Both of our jobs are based on grant funding, so the jobs aren't 100% guaranteed. I have to hustle for my salary. DH's job is probably much more secure. He works for the survey research division of the university, which has been around for decades and has large government contracts to conduct monthly surveys. And if his position disappears, there are lots of other opportunities for computer programmers in other parts of the university. Not so much for a public health attorney, so if my job funding ended, I would have a much harder time.

Our retirement savings is honestly my #1 priority. If we can get to the 20% savings rate and maintain that level, we should be in very good shape when retirement does come around. We will also be living well below our means, which should make it an easier transition into our retirement years later. They say that you should aim to replace 70% of your preretirement income once you retirement. That means that the shift won't feel as drastic once we are ready. It is still a long ways away for us both, but I want to know that we will have enough to live comfortably, travel a bit and not end up a burden to our kids in our old age.

And after retirement, our two other priorities are paying down our mortgage and college savings for kids. The mortgage has just under 25 years left, but we started making extra payments at the beginning of this year. If we stay at that current payment level, then we will have about 9 years left on our mortgage. And college savings is very important to us. My goal is to help my kids start off their working lives without any student debt. It was the best gift that my parents ever gave to me and I would like to do it for my own kids. But it is hard right now with daycare expenses to be able to save much more than the $125 a month. I figure that once daycare ends, we could bump up the college savings by a lot and then once the mortgage is gone, we can increase it even more to make up for the lower contributions early on.

Now that we are very careful about budgeting, I find myself thinking more and more long term. I find it strangely comforting.

 

[bababear_50]

Thanks Mel.
Did you make a post about retirement plans and how to anticipate expenses? I was too tried to reply last night, but now I don't see it. I had some thoughts, if you are interested.

Hi Hon
Yeah I did but I felt it was such a jumble mess that no one would be able to understand it.
I think so many things have happened lately that I feel pressure to get ontop of things and plan.
Number one is the loss of my brother (I have 3 other siblings ) but I was closest to him.
I am executor of his estate--well this is a eye opening -jaw breaking-exhausting experience.
I am learning so much--way more than I really ever wanted to.
I never want the job of being an executor of someone's estate ever again.So alot of emotional pain from missing him and frequent reminders that we were going to do things together when I retired.

I've been a single mom for so long and had to scrimp and save, so getting an inheritance should be great but I feel this overwhelming stress to not mess things up --if that makes sense.

I have been off on sick leave for 3-4 months --ruptured popliteal cyst,
sciatic pain,skin issues.
I had my work accommodation meeting last Tuesday and I will be going back half days (o.5),next Tuesday. I will try half days for a month and see how i do.
I love my job ,,and I give it 100% all the time but being an Educational Resource Facilitator for special needs kids can be exhausting. I will see a specialist (neurologist) next Wednesday to evaluate my sciatic pain. I rather like the thought of working half days.

Now I just have to figure out how to figure out if I can afford to quit my fulltime work and go half time.

I guess I am scared and the one person who was always there to advise me is gone.
I know I should see a financial advisor, but I hoped that maybe some people here might have some thoughts or ideas.

Thanks for listening to me rant on
Hugs Mel

 

[Eureka]

No pension, just the 10% match from the university. They did away with pensions long before I started working their 6 years ago. But honestly, I like the idea of retirement funds that stay with me no matter where I end up working. Both of our jobs are based on grant funding, so the jobs aren't 100% guaranteed. I have to hustle for my salary. DH's job is probably much more secure. He works for the survey research division of the university, which has been around for decades and has large government contracts to conduct monthly surveys. And if his position disappears, there are lots of other opportunities for computer programmers in other parts of the university. Not so much for a public health attorney, so if my job funding ended, I would have a much harder time.

Our retirement savings is honestly my #1 priority. If we can get to the 20% savings rate and maintain that level, we should be in very good shape when retirement does come around. We will also be living well below our means, which should make it an easier transition into our retirement years later. They say that you should aim to replace 70% of your preretirement income once you retirement. That means that the shift won't feel as drastic once we are ready. It is still a long ways away for us both, but I want to know that we will have enough to live comfortably, travel a bit and not end up a burden to our kids in our old age.

And after retirement, our two other priorities are paying down our mortgage and college savings for kids. The mortgage has just under 25 years left, but we started making extra payments at the beginning of this year. If we stay at that current payment level, then we will have about 9 years left on our mortgage. And college savings is very important to us. My goal is to help my kids start off their working lives without any student debt. It was the best gift that my parents ever gave to me and I would like to do it for my own kids. But it is hard right now with daycare expenses to be able to save much more than the $125 a month. I figure that once daycare ends, we could bump up the college savings by a lot and then once the mortgage is gone, we can increase it even more to make up for the lower contributions early on.

Now that we are very careful about budgeting, I find myself thinking more and more long term. I find it strangely comforting.

I get a 10% match too and have the same anniversary date as your DH but I was eligible after three months. It's too bad he had to wait a full year, but still it's an awesome perk.

We are I'm guessing considerably older than you, but we also put a lot toward our future....retirement and college savings. DS14 has been asking a lot lately about how much things cost and when we will retire (we still have a way to go!). It's an interesting conversation. We are very open about our finances with our kids. We see no reason to not tell them these things so they can learn.

 

[Eureka]

Hi Hon
Yeah I did but I felt it was such a jumble mess that no one would be able to understand it.
I think so many things have happened lately that I feel pressure to get ontop of things and plan.
Number one is the loss of my brother (I have 3 other siblings ) but I was closest to him.
I am executor of his estate--well this is a eye opening -jaw breaking-exhausting experience.
I am learning so much--way more than I really ever wanted to.
I never want the job of being an executor of someone's estate ever again.So alot of emotional pain from missing him and frequent reminders that we were going to do things together when I retired.

I've been a single mom for so long and had to scrimp and save, so getting an inheritance should be great but I feel this overwhelming stress to not mess things up --if that makes sense.

I have been off on sick leave for 3-4 months --ruptured popliteal cyst,
sciatic pain,skin issues.
I had my work accommodation meeting last Tuesday and I will be going back half days (o.5),next Tuesday. I will try half days for a month and see how i do.
I love my job ,,and I give it 100% all the time but being an Educational Resource Facilitator for special needs kids can be exhausting. I will see a specialist (neurologist) next Wednesday to evaluate my sciatic pain. I rather like the thought of working half days.

Now I just have to figure out how to figure out if I can afford to quit my fulltime work and go half time.

I guess I am scared and the one person who was always there to advise me is gone.
I know I should see a financial advisor, but I hoped that maybe some people here might have some thoughts or ideas.

Thanks for listening to me rant on
Hugs Mel

I'm sorry you're going through all this. Hope you get some medical answers soon. Wouldn't it be nice to work half days forever?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Back from Disney with a sinus infection . We had a great time though. Got to ride Flight of Passage, Everest, Space Mountain, Mine Train, Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Test Track... also some favorite rides like Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, Soarin and Star Wars.

Ate like a king so food budget went slightly over. Good news is that we have no big travel plans coming up until Easter of next year. We do have a weekend trip in October and November but nothing expensive so I can start saving again.
We have $2300 left on our $7200 window loan taken out in July 2016. We decided to pay $400 a month so we will be done with it in February.

So, what did you think of Flight of Passage?! Glad you ate well, any particularly great restaurants? I think you told me you were going to Cali Grill?

Hi Hon
Yeah I did but I felt it was such a jumble mess that no one would be able to understand it.
I think so many things have happened lately that I feel pressure to get ontop of things and plan.
Number one is the loss of my brother (I have 3 other siblings ) but I was closest to him.
I am executor of his estate--well this is a eye opening -jaw breaking-exhausting experience.
I am learning so much--way more than I really ever wanted to.
I never want the job of being an executor of someone's estate ever again.So alot of emotional pain from missing him and frequent reminders that we were going to do things together when I retired.

I've been a single mom for so long and had to scrimp and save, so getting an inheritance should be great but I feel this overwhelming stress to not mess things up --if that makes sense.

I have been off on sick leave for 3-4 months --ruptured popliteal cyst,
sciatic pain,skin issues.
I had my work accommodation meeting last Tuesday and I will be going back half days (o.5),next Tuesday. I will try half days for a month and see how i do.
I love my job ,,and I give it 100% all the time but being an Educational Resource Facilitator for special needs kids can be exhausting. I will see a specialist (neurologist) next Wednesday to evaluate my sciatic pain. I rather like the thought of working half days.

Now I just have to figure out how to figure out if I can afford to quit my fulltime work and go half time.

I guess I am scared and the one person who was always there to advise me is gone.
I know I should see a financial advisor, but I hoped that maybe some people here might have some thoughts or ideas.

Thanks for listening to me rant on
Hugs Mel

Hope you get your pain sorted out, Mel. Sorry you're dealing with that. I know that job is exhausting, so take care of yourself!

 

[bababear_50]

I'm sorry you're going through all this. Hope you get some medical answers soon. Wouldn't it be nice to work half days forever?

It would be nice,,I hadn't planned on doing it till I turned 60 (58 now) when I would be able to receive CPP (Canada Pension Plan),which would help offset the wage loss.
I am definitely openly discussing retirement with my sons,,,so much they need to know.
I can not believe what happens to RRSP, RIFFS, GIC, TFSA, etc, when a person passes away.
When you have a spouse a lot can just roll over or transfer to the surviving spouse ,,,,but if you don't then the "TaxMan" comes into play. I have definitely become a fan of TFSA (tax free savings account). TFSA funds can be accessed a lot faster than other funds when someone passes away and funds are needed immediately.

I know of many people who have reduced their work day and love it.
The people I know who have retired ,they are unhappy and do not feel they put enough money away to live day to day.
Sometimes life throws us a a few curves and I guess I need to start moving with those curves.
Hugs Mel

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

It would be nice,,I hadn't planned on doing it till I turned 60 (58 now) when I would be able to receive CPP (Canada Pension Plan),which would help offset the wage loss.
I am definitely openly discussing retirement with my sons,,,so much they need to know.
I can not believe what happens to RRSP, RIFFS, GIC, TFSA, etc, when a person passes away.
When you have a spouse a lot can just roll over or transfer to the surviving spouse ,,,,but if you don't then the "TaxMan" comes into play. I have definitely become a fan of TFSA (tax free savings account).

I know of many people who have reduced their work day and love it.
The people I know who have retired ,they are unhappy and do not feel they put enough money away to live day to day.
Sometimes life throws us a a few curves and I guess I need to start moving with those curves.
Hugs Mel

Firstly, I am very sorry about your brother. And I hope that you start feeling better as well. You are going through a rough time, so remember to be gentle with yourself.

I don't know a ton about the Canadian retirement system, just a bit from talking with my in-laws and researching some issues for them. I used this calculator to show my FIL what they might be able to expect from CCP and OAS when they retire:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/retirement-income-calculator.html

You might want to go through it to see what you might be able to expect. You can run a few different scenarios, including retiring now or working part time and delaying retirement for several years, etc. You can add this to your anticipated payouts from your RRSP and other retirement savings to see what you might be able to expect as your monthly "income" in retirement.

The general wisdom is that you want to be able to replace 70% of your preretirement income with your retirement savings (including work pensions, government pensions and other savings vehicles) while only drawing down 3-4% of your savings per year. So someone who makes $100k per year preretirement would want to have enough savings that they would have $70k per year in retirement. This would come from all income sources, so your CCP, OAS, RRCP, etc. would all contribute towards that. The 70%/3-4% is more of a guideline than anything. Some people will be able to maintain their standard of living on much less. Others retire and find they their expenses actually increase, especially in the early years of retirement, because they choose to travel more or engage in more hobby activities.

And honestly, reaching that 70% number can be hard, especially for those who haven't been saving on a regular basis throughout their careers. My in-laws are a perfect example. They moved to Canada about 16 years ago. They won't have lived or worked their long enough to be eligible for full CCP and OAS benefits. They have saved very little into their personal retirement accounts over those 16 years and they still have a huge mortgage payment. My FIL is 60, my MIL is 52 and they no prospects of retiring any time soon because they just would not be able to afford it. DH and I worry a lot, which is why we are so focused on ensuring our own finances are in good order. We know that we might need to help support them later on and we want to be prepared for that reality.

And if your aren't keeping a careful eye on your monthly budget, then I would start doing that now. Knowing how much you are actually spending will be one of the best tools you will have to ensure that you can transition into retirement successfully without overextending yourself. Careful budgeting will let you know if you need to cut down on expenses in order to afford retirement and help you decide where those cuts should come from.

 

[Ngwira]

So, what did you think of Flight of Passage?! Glad you ate well, any particularly great restaurants? I think you told me you were going to Cali Grill?

FOP was amazeballs. Reminded me very much of Soarin! Thank God for FP as the standby wait was 210 minutes!! So our favorite restaurant of the trip was actually Chef Art Homecomin at Disney Springs. We also ate at Narcoossee twice, Via Napoli twice, Trails End Buffet and Sci Fi at DHS. The rest were CS. We didn't eat at an AK restaurants this time.

Hope you get your pain sorted out, Mel. Sorry you're dealing with that. I know that job is exhausting, so take care of yourself!

 

[bababear_50]

Firstly, I am very sorry about your brother. And I hope that you start feeling better as well. You are going through a rough time, so remember to be gentle with yourself.

I don't know a ton about the Canadian retirement system, just a bit from talking with my in-laws and researching some issues for them. I used this calculator to show my FIL what they might be able to expect from CCP and OAS when they retire:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/retirement-income-calculator.html

You might want to go through it to see what you might be able to expect. You can run a few different scenarios, including retiring now or working part time and delaying retirement for several years, etc. You can add this to your anticipated payouts from your RRSP and other retirement savings to see what you might be able to expect as your monthly "income" in retirement.

The general wisdom is that you want to be able to replace 70% of your preretirement income with your retirement savings (including work pensions, government pensions and other savings vehicles) while only drawing down 3-4% of your savings per year. So someone who makes $100k per year preretirement would want to have enough savings that they would have $70k per year in retirement. This would come from all income sources, so your CCP, OAS, RRCP, etc. would all contribute towards that. The 70%/3-4% is more of a guideline than anything. Some people will be able to maintain their standard of living on much less. Others retire and find they their expenses actually increase, especially in the early years of retirement, because they choose to travel more or engage in more hobby activities.

And honestly, reaching that 70% number can be hard, especially for those who haven't been saving on a regular basis throughout their careers. My in-laws are a perfect example. They moved to Canada about 16 years ago. They won't have lived or worked their long enough to be eligible for full CCP and OAS benefits. They have saved very little into their personal retirement accounts over those 16 years and they still have a huge mortgage payment. My FIL is 60, my MIL is 52 and they no prospects of retiring any time soon because they just would not be able to afford it. DH and I worry a lot, which is why we are so focused on ensuring our own finances are in good order. We know that we might need to help support them later on and we want to be prepared for that reality.

And if your aren't keeping a careful eye on your monthly budget, then I would start doing that now. Knowing how much you are actually spending will be one of the best tools you will have to ensure that you can transition into retirement successfully without overextending yourself. Careful budgeting will let you know if you need to cut down on expenses in order to afford retirement and help you decide where those cuts should come from.

Hi Jen
Thanks for all the great info.
My Ex has no game plan,no savings and no resources and this is already causing my sons stress and money and the man has not even retired yet. I never want to be a financial stress on my kids. Many people I know right now are downsizing and making big changes so that in the future they do not have to be reliant on their families. The community resources are just not going to be in place for any baby boomers. I have 3 nieces in the Health care field and 2 friends P.S.W (Personal Support Worker) in home care and 1 sister in the Elder care. All of them tell me of the lack of resources that people are facing. Retirement /Elder Care planning is a difficult but very much needed conversation that kids and their parents need to have.
I am checking out the web site you posted, it's great-thanks.
I am going to see what the doc says this Wednesday and then I will have an idea what my realistic work abilities are going to be. One of the conversations I had was with my middle son who works from home and has no immediate or future plans to move out.
He contributes by paying a few bills and all the food. I do not think he will ever move out, but I will not use his contributions in my budgeting,,I don't want him to think he doesn't have the choice.
I am going to pay out my mortgage in the next couple of months and then plan to bank
that money. I am also going to get the advise of a financial planner regarding my inheritance and how best to invest the funds.
One positive thing about living in Canada is our Health Care,it may not be perfect but it
a great help to know it's there.
It is time to get your baby education fund going,,I wish I had started my grand daughter's RESP (Registered Educational Savings Plan) when she was born and not just last year.
Thanks for all the support and advise.

Hugs Mel

 

[Eureka]

My manager just handed me my salary increase letter. It goes into effect today and I should see it in my next paycheck. Woohoo. (Knowing my DH, he will already have a plan for it, LOL).

 

[bababear_50]

My manager just handed me my salary increase letter. It goes into effect today and I should see it in my next paycheck. Woohoo. (Knowing my DH, he will already have a plan for it, LOL).

Alright!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats Hon!!