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Showing posts from January, 2014

To Save or to Spend?

I already know the answer to this question. But now that I am not putting my money towards credit card debt, I am antsy to spend. I have been looking at autotrader.ca listings for a new (to me) car. My criteria are: low kms, manual transmission, and air conditioning. I don't care about the other features. My current automobile is the little Toyota I purchased from a graduate student in 2011. I am in a love/hate relationship with this car. First, last summer was unbearable, what with she having a black exterior and no air conditioning. We had only a couple of weeks of heat-wave, and I was miserable. This summer I hope to drive to NY state for a vacation and I'd really like air conditioning for the highway. Second, the driver's side lock is finicky, in such a way that sometimes I get locked in, and I have to climb over the stick and out the passenger side door. So frustrating! Slightly embarrassing! Other than those things, she's a great little car. If I cou

Debt Free Again

I paid off the last bit of credit card debt (again!) in December. I owed about $500 on a low-interest card; I think it was left over from 2012's yoga teacher training or perhaps it was half of what I paid for 2013's meditation retreat. Either way, it is paid. I actually paid $900 for debt re-payment last month, since I accidentally sent a $500 payment to one of my student loans instead of to the credit card. Whoops!! I felt stupid when I caught the mistake, but realized it was ok because the student loans also have to be paid. I cashed out my savings for the first payment, and most of my mutual funds for the second payment. I also contributed $600 to my RRSP savings account, making up for the $50 a month that I used to save, but ceased when I began my debt-free journey back in 2009. In a couple of months I will contribute another $600 to cover the year ahead. Since I last posted, I took on a few more part-time hours at the university, which I believe has tipped me into th