Something different

I made my first Skype credit purchase today for the purpose of cross-border calling.  I put $14 on the account, and I set up the Caller ID to display my cell number. I don't have home phone service any more, and I don't miss it either.

Within Canada, the unlimited Worldline long distance service is great value for the $3.95 monthly price of it, and seems to meet most of my long distance needs. I've set it up the local number as one of my cell phone Favourites so it doesn't eat minutes.

What I have been missing the occasional call to a chatty cross-border long-term friend. We have Facebook and email, but it isn't the same. The first call to her land line from my Skype account cost me 8 cents. I got voicemail. I might call more often.

Update, March 3:
I reached her, and we managed to chat for nearly an hour. It was glorious.

Worry, worry, worry

I'm switching over to an insulin pump. Trying to wrap my mind around the new set of numbers and who pays for what is mind numbing. As near as I can tell:

• diabetes is a treatable condition, and treating it buys time until there is a cure
• time (to live, to love, to learn, to laugh) is an especially nice thing to have
• the approximately $7000 bill for the pump goes directly to the government. Less than a year after I was diagnosed, the Ontario government started to fund them.
• I pay the pump company directly for pump supplies ($260 per month)
• the government reimburses me for pump supplies with a $600 cheque every 3 months, and while I do not need to send them receipts, I should save them as I can be audited for proof of purchase later.
• private insurance requires a copy of the invoice from the pump supplies to help with the difference
• there is a 6 to 12 week wait between the need for the pump supplies and the arrival of the first government cheque
• according to the pump company, private insurance may be able to help with the costs before the subsidy starts, and to trigger this help, I need a letter from the pump company which goes to the government to trigger a letter which I can send to the insurance company.
• when I spoke with the insurance company on Friday, I learned they don't get involved before the subsidy starts. I will be calling them back.
• none of this factors in the cost of the insulin or supplies for the glucometer, which presumably are still covered at 80% by my private insurance plan
• the pump itself will be attached and start infusing on March 21
• I made my first pump supply purchase on Friday

I've yet to file my personal income tax return for 2010. Fingers crossed that the correct amount of tax deductions have been taken from my source pay. I worry about it because the year that I joined the company, it was late in the year, and I had no taxable income.

2009 was a big year for personal tax credits, plus I was taking a dividend from my self-incorporated company rather than a salary. When I started the salaried position in October, I'm sure there was a new hire payroll form I filled out to indicate personal tax credits.

Breakthrough

With the statement date upon us, the balance due to Visa in March is $1,639.86.

My February restrictions worked! Well that, or the short month was just cheaper.

It's my lowest monthly Visa payment due since April 2010.

Wake up and check the calendar

I just placed another sell order. Gulp. For all of my ESPP shares.

While they may well climb in value, it's risky and the key point is that they are of value now. This isn't 1999 either. Nor should it be. These kids weren't born yet!

Estimated proceeds: $6,662.20. Some of this amount will need to be reserved for taxes.

Update, February 25:
Your sell order for 313 INTC shares has been executed and should settle on Wednesday March 2, 2011. You will receive a notification when this transaction has settled and the proceeds have been sent via express mail.

An app for that?

Inspired by a recent article on parenting apps that came to me though Twitter, I downloaded ChoreBank to my iPhone at a cost of $1.99. It's similar to a system we've been using, except our self-serve low-tech version is paper based and supported by a fridge magnet.

Every little bit helps

A client just paid me for work a subcontractor has been doing. I get a small commission. Yay. I've applied some of it ($500) to the credit line debt, and left the rest in the business account to cover upcoming monthly business insurance fees and HST owed on the delta.

Oh, that

We survived the week on a $10 grocery run, relying mostly on an overstocked pantry.

Under the provisions of your Employee Stock Purchase Plan and based on the percentage contribution you elected, 170 shares of INTC were purchased for you on February 18, 2011.

Buying time

The child is up at 6 am, but I am not. She has my iPhone. Before I can even lift my arm, she's coaxed it to read Green Eggs and Ham aloud to her. Almost immediately, it prompts her to download Five Little Monkeys. She can't read the prompts yet, so she hands it to me. I enter the password; cough up the 99 cents. And I sleep in, for five more minutes...

I love you, App Store.

Restricted

Out of curiosity more than anything else, I have just placed my first sell order with eTrade to sell my 74 remaining vested units of restricted stock.

The tax implications are not clear.

The estimated commissions are $US 19.95 and the disbursement fee is $US 20. The proceeds of the sale should arrive by Fedex in 3 to 5 business days. I looked for a direct deposit option, but could not navigate the SWIFT and Fedwire codes it asked me for.

Your sell order for 74 INTC shares has been executed and should settle on Tuesday February 22, 2011. You will receive a notification when this transaction has settled and the proceeds have been sent via express mail.

Transactions typically settle in three business days, but company stock plan transactions may require additional time.

Update, February 22:
$1,565.07 (net)

Update, February 24:
The amount on the cheque is actually $1,506.36. It's going straight to the credit line.

Music is my hot, hot sex

I stole that from a hockey card. In a moment of weakness, I spent $10 at the iTunes store yesterday. It's the kind of thing that adds up quickly if you let it. It's not a new vice either. I can remember spending the money I earned from my paper route in 1977 on disco 45s.

Ticking time bomb

Recently, I noticed that the bank separates mortgages from loans in its financial analysis of how I've been spending the money in my chequing account. I wondered why that is...

This image is a snapshot of my chequing account activity from the last 30 days.

The average disposable income per Canadian household hovers around $54 000. Disposable income is essentially after-tax income.

Update, February 15:

Out of curiosity, I calculated my disposable income. I give up 18% of my gross income at source for RRSPs, and another 5% of income at source for employee stock purchase. What's leftover seems to qualify my family unit as an average Canadian household.

The average Canadian mortgage debt currently equals the average amount of home equity: $146 000. That surprised me, in a good way.

The average Canadian household debt is approaching $100 000. This number includes mortgages and unsecured debt. Canadian debt-to-income levels are approaching $1.50 owed for every $1 of disposable income. These numbers are on the rise. That's scary.

Mortgages are secured, and considered good debt from the bank's point of view. Interest rates are lower. Check the above figure: this segment is shown in green.

Update, February 16:
Note to self. The fixed interest rates on my car loan and adoption loan are both lower than the interest rate on my mortgage. Remain calm.

Unsecured debt, such as credit card debt and lines of credit, costs us more. Twenty-five million Canadians with debt owe an average of $25 000 each, excluding mortgages.

There are some fascinating articles on the Canadian debt problem available through the Vanier Institute of the Family.

Update, February 22:
Are SPP deductions before or after payroll taxes have been deducted from my paycheck?
Your SPP contributions through payroll deductions are made after taxes are taken out.

Update: February 23:
ESPP shares are purchased at a discount. My plan offers a 15% discount on the lower price at the beginning or end of the purchase period. An ESPP allows employees to delay paying income tax on the discount until they actually sell their shares. But wait, there's more! The stock price on the day of the purchase is called the fair market value (FMV). The difference between the FMV and the selling price is treated as a capital gain or loss, and taxed accordingly.

How low can it go?

In search of the baseline number for recurring items I charge to Visa, I took a closer look at my most recent statement. I don't think I can get this set of expenses under $1000.

The main items were as follows:

• food: 493.54
• wine: 270.92 (single transaction; dated Dec. 30, 2010; inherently anomalous!)
• gas for my car: 110.34
• utility: 173.03
• gym: 107.35 
• coffee: 72.42

I also compared these actual numbers to my 2011 budgeted values for these categories:

Underestimated

The first guitar lesson happened last night. I overlooked care and feeding costs for the instrument itself. It will go off to the music shop for a tune-up before the next lesson.

Update, February 13:
It's a second-hand guitar. I picked it up stringless, from kijiji last summer. The neck is warped. Stringing it properly is a problem, but they've done the best they can with it. Eek.

Update, February 14:
One step back. It's more than just warped; it's cracked. New guitar and hard case: $475.

Call me Even Stephen

Last night's working dinner ran pretty late. My Californian colleagues were still talking when I left. I was home by 10:30. Evening sitter: $40. There's another on the books for tonight.

Update, February 10:
$45 for last night's sitter.

Recovery: Submitting an unclaimed $85 massage therapy receipt from January. On it...

Pennies from heaven

In lighter fare, I've just received an email message from my elder daughter's Girl Guide leaders. They've decided to refund the winter camp fee. The unit is able to cover the cost unassisted. That's $45 in the February plus column. We're not rushing out to re-spend it.

To her credit

I have a $30000 business line of credit (to stabilize business cash flow) that I am not using. In 2001, it was a real pain to secure it. When Adobe merged with Macromedia in 2005, I was doing business with Adobe; I maxed it out to pay my team before I paid me.

It's paid off now. I have not used it since October 2009, and last week I realized that a $10 monthly fee going through my business account was attached to the privilege of keeping it. There is also an annual fee of approximately $75 charged to review my credit history.

There's no obvious way to shut it down from online banking, although increasing it is the first "helpful tip" offered. I just called the bank to close it by phone. (I tried to shut it down last August, but at that time, they were insistent that I present myself to their downtown location on Sparks Street to sign some forms. No surprise. Their annual fee was due.)

When asked for my reason for closing it down, I told them I've stopped using it and I don't need it. I did not reference the fees at all. I was immediately offered other "lower fee" Visa products for small business, to which I could only ask why? I declined. They closed it.

Economics 101

When it looked like there might have been a bit of a buffer in the February section of my financial planning spreadsheet, I offered to take the children out for dim sum to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Later that same day, I fielded an unplanned lunch order expense for my eldest. It is usually a shared expense, but that's for another blog. It happens.

The lunch order came in around $150 (for milk, pizza, and Mazzola), unbudgeted, on January 27, with "Here's the form, Mom, it's due tomorrow." In paying it, I lost the buffer.

I am gently but firmly reminded of the difference between savings and loans. The buffer itself is a fictional concept at this point in time. The bank calls it overdraft protection.

My recovery plan was fairly simple. Food Basics now carries Chinese dumplings for approximately $2. One package makes a meal for three of us, and we had tried them once before to rave reviews by the children. They could make for a nice celebration at home, and a reasonable compromise. I bought three packages of jiaozi and froze them.

Then came the Lucky Money. Both kids received red envelopes by mail this week, from my sister and my parents. Total: $40. I told them that I'd still be happy to make them their dumplings, but they now had enough to pay for the dim sum, if they preferred that option.

The youngest handed me both of her tens immediately, and reached for her coat.

The eldest really stewed over the decision:

• "That's a LOT of money, Mom."
• "Well then I get ALL the change, Mom."
• "You need to pay for your own, Mom. This is OUR money."

So we agreed that she would get the change, and I would not pay for my own meal. She held her tens close to her chest right up until we had parked the car next to the restaurant.

The meal came in at $35.03, before tip. We paid with cash, not Visa: lesson learned.