Lighter fare

It's payday, and on that note, I've placed the one remaining dollar from my change purse into the 50/50 draw. Let's just say I'm feeling lucky.

When that happens...

I broke two weeks worth of insulin pump supplies in five minutes this evening. I have run out of supply on hand, and am currently unable to reattach the medical device without assistance and additional supplies. This is not good. Its directive is to function as a pancreas would. I've switched back to injections until I can reach the nurse for advice.

Update:
Situation under control.

Update, April 1:
Well, not really...

Update, April 3:
Finally, it all seems to be working.

Update, April 4:
Went through another 4 weeks worth of supplies in 10 minutes this morning, but it's attached now. I did it myself. Patience is key.

Placed the order

819.13 for three months worth of insulin pump supplies.

Insulin not included.

Water from a stone

The skip-a-thon pledge for my youngest is due tomorrow. Her school is raising money for clean water in Africa. I'm giving just a little. These things matter. I should budget for them.

Just did it.

Today I reduced my RRSP contribution from 18% to 8%, effective April 15, without disrupting my current DPSP benefit. The maximum amount of employer matching for the DPSP is 4%. I think this will free up approximately $200 (net) per paycheque.

I paid my coworker the $20 that I owed him for an upcoming concert. He hadn't even noticed that he didn't have it yet. He will be paying for the batch of tickets tomorrow.

I booked a sitter for April 8. I'm going out again. It's a Friday, and it will cost $40.

Tastes like chicken

Any changes I make to my RRSP contribution won't take effect before mid-April.

I've transferred $500 from the Line of Credit to my chequing account. I think it will cost me less than $3 in interest charges if I pay it back within 30 days. Looking closely at numbers for April, I noticed that I'll exhaust and exceed the overdraft coverage before my mid-April paycheque if I don't transfer funds from somewhere. That could cost me more than $3.

I bought a concert ticket for April 8 at a cost of $39.50, cut my own bangs again, and have painted my toenails a crazy shade of red. It's going to be another long month.

Sketching out April

Today is Visa statement day: $1880.

My youngest turns six this month which means we have reached ineligibility for the $100 monthly universal child care benefit.

I will be hosting her birthday party on a budget, taking care to keep party costs under $50. A child's party can easily cost $500.  It will take some creativity, planning, and a theme like flowers. We can plant seeds, colour pictures of flowers, and make floral crowns from paper, and decorate cupcakes with seeds and stuff to look like flowers. She wants earrings.

New idea: Mad Hatter Tea Party. Seems only fitting. I'll dress her sister up like Alice.

There are five Fridays this month which means we have five $200 daycare cheques going through the chequing account this month.

This might be the last month with an interest payment towards the line of credit debt. That's a good thing, and coincidentally well timed with the UCCB disappearing this month.

I do not have to absorb the diabetic pump start-up costs this month either. That's deferred until the next Visa statement. Whew.

I'd like to cancel the line of credit once it's paid out. My mortgage goes up for renewal in December 2011, and I'll use it as a negotiation point for a better interest rate on a future line of credit. I'll attach it to the same bank that provides my next mortgage.

My chequing account has $500 overdraft protection. I am currently using $485 of it to close up the month of March, and I owe $20 to a coworker for next weekend's concert tickets. I'll try not to think of my six-figure salary as I return wine bottles, and scavenge through desk drawers and coat pockets to make up the difference in change.

The car is due for some maintenance this month. I've got some minor home maintenance planned: redoing the eavestrough caulking and re-attaching trim on a set of double doors.

Bike commuting conserves fuel.

We've started a container garden with seeds and soil on hand. I'm not sure it will yield much if anything, but it's an interesting hobby to share with the girls. We'll add a few more containers to the mix before March is up.

In the absence of the tax refund, something else needs to give to keep the month of April cash flow positive. I'll look at dropping my RRSP contribution to the minimum amount I need to qualify for employer matching. My current contribution sits at 18%.

Until the value of the tax refund is confirmed, the following self-imposed restrictions from January must carry over:

• electronics
• services related to hair and foot care
• sporting goods and events
• clothing and shoes 
• out-of-town travel will be limited to Easter dinner with my parents
• parking

The following expenses are coming soon (hopefully in May though, not April):

• advance bookings for camp sites (a weekend at Bonnechere in late June and a weekend at Lac Philippe in late August)
• a single Bluesfest pass which is a bargain for this family, when you consider both my kids still get in free. (The concert line-up is announced in late April.)
• the annual Spring Fever impulse drive to Montreal for lunch with the girls

It's nearly time to call the National Bank and find out if there are any penalty fees associated with reducing the amount left on the adoption loan (approximately $7000) through extra, early payments.

Clenching my teeth

While I am no accountant, I decided to try out the income tax calculator tool at TaxTips last night. I am expecting to hear the official verdict from my accountant next week.

Assuming I've entered in all the necessary information, the calculator suggests a refund owing of approximately $7000. The amount still borrowed from my line of credit is $6500.

I wondered how much the accountant will charge for his services this year?

I did not know that

Today I learned that child care costs are not claimed as a non-refundable tax credit, but as a deduction from income on line 214 of the personal tax return.

Although I have had child care expenses in past years, I have never had the proper sort of income from which to deduct them. Self-employment made me ineligible to benefit.

While I did have a little bit of proper employment income in 2009, it was so low that all income tax deducted at source was refunded by the government when I filed my return.

In 2010, a year in which I spent $10600 on child care for my youngest and $2303 for my eldest, my primary source of income has been through my role as full-time employee.

That's the biggest annual child care expense I've incurred to date, and it's probably the peak. It will drop considerably in September 2011 when my youngest starts full-day school.

I also have to compensate my ex-husband for his ineligibility for the credit, as my lower net income disqualified him from claiming it. It was factored into our financial agreement for our child, my eldest and his only. This is not new information, but I hadn't really given it much thought before now, and she's ten. It didn't seem like much, but I guess it adds up.

Race against time

The insulin pump supply company suggested I place my first $1000 supply order immediately after starting to use the pump. It meant the order should have been placed last night. The diabetic nurse did not agree when I saw her yesterday and my pump went live.

She suggested I try out some of the various supply options and wait a week before placing the order. It's good advice. Waiting a week should put the expense on next month's Visa statement, not this one. In the meantime, the accountant is busy preparing my tax return.

Fingers crossed for a refund.

Update, March 25:
She still advises I defer placing the order. I'd have drawn from the credit line if I needed it to pay off my incoming Visa bill, but by postponing this expense to the following month's Visa statement, I may not need to.

Biting the bullet

The daycare provider is away for two weeks in July. I need to have a backup plan. The first week I have one child; the second week I will have both. Week one is solved with summer swim camp for the youngest: $183. I'll get back to week two later. Camp for two adds up quickly. I will book time off work or arrange for my parents to return for an extended visit.

March madness

Today is my last day of vacation. It's been a good week. Trying to get through it without incurring additional costs has been a real challenge. I admit I indulged, just a little:

• on a really nice restaurant dinner with an old flame (we had wine with it)
• on a $22 live theatre ticket (front row of the balcony, not the orchestra)
• on several impulse trips to the grocery store without a list in hand
• on a new T-shirt (very casual, less than $20) from Winners
• on some origami paper and a pair of Hello Kitty yoga pants for my eldest

Other highlights of the week have included:

• having relatives (including both my parents my sister and my niece) visit me
• walking in the nearby woods, while the children hand-fed carrots the deer!
• baking bread with my niece and my youngest
• one-on-one time with my eldest at the bulk food store followed by a bit of shoe shopping (just looking, not buying), while my youngest stayed home to start sunflower plants (in containers) with my father
• dropping by a friend's place on a whim to play a board game on his iPad
• a three-day live test drive of the insulin pump, running saline instead of insulin
• walking around the Byward market on St. Patrick's day toute seule, when patios were open, and stationed with live musicians and people in costumes
• a semi-ritualistic sage cleansing of our home, on the occasion of last's night extreme supermoon, while the children were watching a movie on my iPad
• a trip to Starbucks with my sister, after we reorganized my storage room and she called minimalist me a hoarder (gasp!)
• receiving an unexpected delivery of roses from a male friend who wished to remain anonymous
• watching three decent films via Netflix, while the children were asleep:
  Vision, Elling, and War Dance
• itemizing tax receipts for the accountant
• running outdoors with the children
• several afternoons in the pool

$16.94

We finally have a new curtain for guest bathroom on our main level. There used to be blinds in there. I am not exactly sure what killed them; I just know they were beyond repair.

The bathroom window is the only window at the front of the house, located next to the main entrance door, with a view into the front porch and the park across the street.

I admit that I could have done this replacement project for less, but I splurged a little and got the exact look I was going for. We're not nearly as modest as our house guests seem to be, and they are due to join us for a few days over the March break.

It isn't really a curtain.... instead, it's a white gauzy scarf from Winners. I draped it over the existing curtain rod (after removing the valence), and I didn't even have to hem it. If I get tired of it as a curtain, it can go back to being a scarf. The clerk at Bouclair hustled me out of the store when I asked if they sold white gauzy bathroom curtains. (They don't.)

That's Ms. Pac-Man to you

TGIF

On my mind:

• Tax on last month's 15% ESPP stock purchase discount will be deducted from my March 15th pay cheque. I am hoping this amount falls below $200. I should be relieved it's handled this way. It will save me from worrying about it later. 
• It currently takes approximately 30 days from the point a medical claim is submitted to the point the reimbursement appears in my chequing account.
• A full week of paid vacation, which starts at close of business today.
• Rumours of yet another near-term equity grant, seriously.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.

Update, March 15:
Tax deducted: $354

Fear of failure

Switching over to this insulin pump carries a risk. It might not work. Odds are strongly in my favour though. It's the fundamental reason I can't switch back to self-employment and a schedule more balanced in my direction, even though I carry lightweight disability insurance through my own company at a cost of $80 per month. The stakes are high.

I've been paying this premium for nearly 10 years. It's intended for critical illness. It kicks in at about the 3-month mark, and it works on the presumption that I keep a 3-month financial buffer lying around. I used to, but I lost financial ground in 2009. I'll get it back eventually, but not in this calendar year. I did not draw from this insurance, for example, when I went offline for a coma-related incident for most of August 2007. I was not sick long enough.

If the pump fails, my currently employer has my back covered. The group disability plan is much better than the one I secured on my own. I missed this point in my initial analysis a few days ago, but I think it's the kingpin. Rational fears are the scariest kind.

I also left out life insurance from my cost-benefit analysis. I maintain two private term insurance policies at a combined cost of approximately $40 per month, but I recognize the value of the additional coverage that my current employer provides for me.

Adjusting

My first cheque from eTrade was issued in Canadian dollars. It didn't cross my mind to check the second one before I deposited it into the bank machine on the weekend. Through an unexpected PTB Adjustment debit of $341 from my chequing account this morning, I've just learned the second one was issued in American funds! I'm awake now.

In the long run

I'm in training for my next 10K event. I just ordered my SPIbelt, on the advice of the insulin pump company representative. It looks like something I will need to use, and soon!

This item qualifies for free shipping.

On the fence

I got email today from a former client, about an upcoming contract opportunity. It's a three to four day work week, and it looks like they are interested in a long-term thing. I started looking at the costs of it, wondering if it's something I can currently afford to consider.

I suspect the take-home pay itself amounts to about the same as I get now. I'd go back to dividends which are taxed differently than regular income. I'd regain self-employment status, which in itself could be a costly decision should the contract suddenly evaporate.

My unvested DPSP currently sits at $5000. I think that's before tax dollars. I should find out how and when it vests. It's not something the company offered when I first joined, and I expect the opportunity to further accrue here could disappear as quickly as it appeared.

As a full-time employee, I pay into a mandatory government employment insurance plan for which the self-employed are ineligible. It guarantees me a bit of income in case of layoff.

I'd also lose paid vacation, paid sick days, and paid statutory holidays. These alone could amount to approximately $10000 (in before-tax dollars) per year. Red herring.

A return to contract work means that I'd lose my health benefits provided by my current employer. I maintain private benefits so that's probably not such a big deal.

This year's bonus payouts were nice in their own way. As much as I enjoyed them, I can't convince myself to list them in the costs of changing things up. I'm skeptical that they will recur with any meaningful frequency.

There's unvested stock to consider as well. It's the restricted options that have potential value. The other ones are nice to have, but could be as much of a capital loss as a gain.

There's also the guaranteed 15% discount I get through the ESPP on future stock purchases through this plan. I have been making a bit of money through this option.

In a future post, I will consider the benefits. Maybe.

Update, March 9:
I wrote him back, with a very clear No Thank You. It was hard.

Resistance is futile

Insulin pump supplies are usually procured in 3-month batches. That's about $1000 more to spend this calendar month. I'll get most of it back, eventually but not immediately.

I suppose it's time to start sorting my tax receipts, although I am still waiting for a few.

Danger, danger

The weekend weather was just frightful, and I could not bring myself to make the drive to SAQ depot in Gatineau. It's Sunday night, and I'm heading into the week with one bottle of unopened white wine. I don't know why I need it, I just blindly accept that I do. Risk of budget disruption in one form or another is running high.

To get through the week without incident, I promise myself:

• to not even so much as walk into a restaurant
• to find time for a candlelit bath before bed at least twice
• not to buy wine in a restaurant or order a single glass in a bar
• not to go to bed crabby because I have not had a glass of wine
• to be extraordinarily patient with my children and my coworkers
• to return the empty bottles in the garage before the week is up
• to reward myself with a Vintage bottle from the LCBO bin ends

I'm on vacation the following week. My mother, sister and niece are coming to visit us.

Because I'm worth it!

A trip to the hair salon or spa for touch-up highlights (to camouflage grey) runs at least $150 and takes three hours. I don't see that happening before spring. I lack the time.

A L'Oreal Colour Expert kit from the Superstore set me back $11.94 + HST. For the so-called Blowout price of it, discontinued Brioche seemed close enough to my natural shade. After several reads through the instructions, I worked up the nerve to try doing it myself.

It came out a little darker than it was before, the grey is completely gone, and I love it.

Note to self: I only used half of the two-part kit.

Getting ahead of myself

I've been working from home all week, but today I came into the office. I found my February 28 pay slip waiting at my desk for me. My year-to-date RRSP contribution is $5124.94, and it will probably serve to reduce my taxable income in 2010.

I'll try to worry less about the possibility of taxes owing when I file my 2010 tax return.

Worth the money

This post is on the subject of self-care, in particular, my feet! My discount foot file wore itself out after a few weeks of daily use. The vaseline and sock trick buys some time by softening (not reducing) skin but plateaus. A pedicure is not in budget for March either.

With all of that in mind, this past weekend I caved and spent the $15 on the Ped Egg at Zellers. It's well constructed, low maintenance, and I will be able to use it again. I traded it off against the $40 cost of my next pedicure, which will need to wait until April or May.

I did not know this product had its own infomercial before writing this post. I've noticed it appearing in the foot care section at most pharmacies and department stores that I frequent, and wondered what made it so popular. I ended buying the larger Ped Egg for men. It seems they can't keep up with demand for the smaller woman's version.

It happened again...

One or more of your investments has paid a cash dividend or interest, the details are below. If you are not enrolled in the Dividend Reinvestment Program, the amount shown below has been credited to your account.

Security: INTEL CORP (INTC)
Amount: $39.32

To reinvest your dividends automatically, log on to your account and go to the Online Service Center; choose Reinvest your Dividends from the Service Your Accounts menu.

Sounds like I should probably do just that. So I try.

You do not have any eligible accounts to submit this request.

Breaking the habit

I ran out of disk space on my 16 GB iPhone.

Update, March 2:
Rumour has it that AudioGalaxy can help solve this problem. I couldn't get it to install though. Sigh. Trying again.