That's right boys and girls! It's time for another exciting round of how slow can my finances grow!
Well, the disappointing thing is that I had both more expenses than I'd been counting on, and am receiving less pay than I'd been counting on! As I mentioned earlier, the company I had worked for went bankrupt, and now it's back as a new entity. What does that mean? It means that any CPP or EI that I had paid and maxed out is now being billed again as though I'd started a new contract at a new company, which I suppose I have. So I'm now bringing home less each paycheque as it automatically gets over contributed into my EI and CPP. On the plus side I guess that counts as forced savings... it'll go to the government and then at tax time I'll be getting it right back. Here's to great tax refunds?
I've also enrolled in an online business course through University of Waterloo to a: get a firmer grasp on some things with starting up your own business, and b: to open myself up to student discounts. The games that I'm working on making in my spare time need artwork, and I've decided I don't want to taint any of that artwork by working with illegitimate software. On the plus side though, as this is an indie venture I'm able to pick up a student copy of Adobe software and use that commercially. Taking the course and buying the student edition has saved me a good chunk over buying the non-student version. I also had a few friends who were departing the country and so was wrangled into more social activity than I'm used to. So hence less savings than I would have liked for the month. But hey, I didn't gamble away money on stocks... so I guess that's an improvement, right?
$950 a month for rent
$64 BC medical
$33.60 Telus Mobility
$58.56 Telus Internet
$25 BCHydro
$1132.5 Total Bills Per Month
Debt:
$0
Wealth:
$18755.11 @ 1.8% High Interest Savings with Ally (+2481.81 month change)
$347.21 @ 0.25% Thrive account w/ ING Direct (-113.62 month change)
$10525.98 CAD in ING TFSA Streetwise Funds (+61.98 change from last month)
$1747.06 in equity with Questrade TFSA (-16.85 change from last month)
$6682.46 CAD in equity with Questrade RSP (+147.37 change from last month)
GIC RSP with ING @2.75% (value at maturity Dec 2015 will be $6823.95)
TFGIC with ING @ 3% (value at maturity Dec 2014 will be 5,796.83)
For some reason I haven't been including my GIC's in here... so I'm adding them now... but as the final maturity value.
50678.60 CAD (+2560.69) / 12,447.30 AUD (+29.35) beginning of November
48117.91 CAD (-1091.63) / 12,417.95 AUD (-30.31) beginning of October
49209.54 CAD (+4634.00) / 12,448.26 AUD (-87.55) beginning of September
44575.54 CAD (+2746.95) / 12,535.81 AUD (-28.48) beginning of August
41828.59 CAD (+1121.82) / 12,564.29 AUD (+1154.84) beginning of July
40706.77 CAD (-1401.16) / 11,409.45 AUD (-25.75) beginning of June
42107.93 CAD (+2766.05) / 11,435.20 AUD (-126.11) beginning of May
39341.88 CAD (+2709.38) / 11,561.31 AUD beginning of April (10000AUD->10,492.08CAD)
26140.42 CAD (+2257.46) / 21,591.28 AUD (+5.16) beginning of March
23882.96 CAD / 21,586.12 AUD beginning of February
Finally realized that the odds of me getting back to Australia any time soon are much smaller than I'd originally hoped, and have put the majority of my Australian funds into a term deposit at 4.6% interest. I've kept $2000 in my regular HISA "just in case"
It hasn't been a particularly good month for the bank accounts. I was sick for a little while and haven't worked as many days as normal. When I'm sick I don't get paid time off. I also decided to bite the bullet and buy the final camera lens for my collection, so that was $1400 in expense, but I now have a complete set of camera equipment which is also a business expense.
December and January without question must be frugal months. I am quitting my job. I've been living away from my wife too long, and the situation at work has been worsening, so I've decided my current situation in life is just not working and it needs to be improved. I finish at work on January 24th, and then I move to live with my wife. This unfortunately creates a whole new set of things to fret over... but my options at the moment are: get work in America, or don't get work. One will bring in money, and the other will allow me to further develop the two independent video games that I'm working on. Truth be told I'll be happier unemployed and working on my personal projects, however that's going to likely mean that 2013 will be a virtual write-off for savings... so... as said, the next two months *have* to be frugal.
It's scary going forward.
$950 a month for rent
$64 BC medical
$33.60 Telus Mobility
$58.56 Telus Internet
$25 BCHydro
$1132.5 Total Bills Per Month
Debt:
$0
Wealth:
$18736.76 @ 1.8% High Interest Savings with Ally (-18.35 month change)
$419.92 @ 0.25% Thrive account w/ ING Direct (+72.71 month change)
$10546.64 CAD in ING TFSA Streetwise Funds (+20.66 change from last month)
$1774.40 in equity with Questrade TFSA (+27.34 change from last month)
$6320.67 CAD in equity with Questrade RSP (-361.79 change from last month)
GIC RSP with ING @2.75% (value at maturity Dec 2015 will be $6823.95)
TFGIC with ING @ 3% (value at maturity Dec 2014 will be 5,796.83)
AUD:
$2004.97 AUD HISA @ 3.25% (-10442.33 change from last month)
$10552.30 AUD Term Deposit @ 4.60% (value at maturity Nov 2017 will be 12870.69)
50419.17 CAD (-0259.43) / 14,875.66 AUD (+2428.36) beginning of December
50678.60 CAD (+2560.69) / 12,447.30 AUD (+29.35) beginning of November
48117.91 CAD (-1091.63) / 12,417.95 AUD (-30.31) beginning of October
49209.54 CAD (+4634.00) / 12,448.26 AUD (-87.55) beginning of September
44575.54 CAD (+2746.95) / 12,535.81 AUD (-28.48) beginning of August
41828.59 CAD (+1121.82) / 12,564.29 AUD (+1154.84) beginning of July
40706.77 CAD (-1401.16) / 11,409.45 AUD (-25.75) beginning of June
42107.93 CAD (+2766.05) / 11,435.20 AUD (-126.11) beginning of May
39341.88 CAD (+2709.38) / 11,561.31 AUD beginning of April (10000AUD->10,492.08CAD)
26140.42 CAD (+2257.46) / 21,591.28 AUD (+5.16) beginning of March
23882.96 CAD / 21,586.12 AUD beginning of February
Here comes the last chance for income. I expect that a lot of what I earn in January is going to evaporate into moving costs, but here's hoping that I can put something away. I move to San Francisco January 26th, at which point I'll be unemployed indefinitely while I work on making some independent video games whilst my wife becomes the sole income earner. I'll hopefully be able to use this time to learn more about investing (without throwing cash into the toilet like I did this year), will start looking more carefully at my wife's finances so that we can start keeping track of our combined incomes, but mostly will just be spending as much time as I can into development of my own projects in the hopes that I can one day make that profitable.
This unfortunately means that I'm not anticipating my funds to have any growth this upcoming year aside from tax returns. Maybe I can sell some stock photography or something, but my options will be pretty limited while living out of country
$950 a month for rent
$64 BC medical
$33.60 Telus Mobility
$58.56 Telus Internet
$25 BC Hydro
$1132.5 Total Bills Per Month
Debt:
$0
Wealth:
$21500 @ 1.8% High Interest Savings with Ally (+2763.24 month change)
$179.38 @ 0.25% Thrive account w/ ING Direct (-240.54 month change)
$10619.43 CAD in ING TFSA Streetwise Funds (+72.79 change from last month)
$1790.89 1774.40 in equity with Questrade TFSA (+16.49 change from last month)
$6355.47 6320.67 CAD in equity with Questrade RSP (+34.80 change from last month)
GIC RSP with ING @2.75% (value at maturity Dec 2015 will be $6823.95)
TFGIC with ING @ 3% (value at maturity Dec 2014 will be 5,796.83)
AUD:
$2010.21 2004.97 AUD HISA @ 3.25% (+5.24 change from last month)
$10552.30 AUD Term Deposit @ 4.60% (value at maturity Nov 2017 will be 12870.69)
53065.95 CAD (+2646.78)/ 14,880.90 AUD (+5.24) beginning of January 2013
50419.17 CAD (-0259.43) / 14,875.66 AUD (+2428.36) beginning of December
50678.60 CAD (+2560.69) / 12,447.30 AUD (+29.35) beginning of November
48117.91 CAD (-1091.63) / 12,417.95 AUD (-30.31) beginning of October
49209.54 CAD (+4634.00) / 12,448.26 AUD (-87.55) beginning of September
44575.54 CAD (+2746.95) / 12,535.81 AUD (-28.48) beginning of August
41828.59 CAD (+1121.82) / 12,564.29 AUD (+1154.84) beginning of July
40706.77 CAD (-1401.16) / 11,409.45 AUD (-25.75) beginning of June
42107.93 CAD (+2766.05) / 11,435.20 AUD (-126.11) beginning of May
39341.88 CAD (+2709.38) / 11,561.31 AUD beginning of April (10000AUD->10,492.08CAD)
26140.42 CAD (+2257.46) / 21,591.28 AUD (+5.16) beginning of March
23882.96 CAD / 21,586.12 AUD beginning of February
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