Give Me Back My Five Bucks

Trying to save on my cell phone bill

2009-07-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

Well I got my first Rogers cell phone bill since I've moved in with J, and it was $41.83. There were a few LD charges for when I was back home visiting, and I called J. Other than that, I barely used any minutes, and a fraction of the amount of text messages I would normally send.

My base rate plan is $18 month for 200 anytime minutes + unlimited weekends, billing by the second, corporate VM and corporate LD rates, etc. I pay an additional $5/month for unlimited weeknights (starting at 6pm) and $6 for 125 sent text messages.

I'm going to wait a few more months and see what my average usage is. Because if I don't need unlimited weeknights or a text messaging package, then that's a substantial savings! Shaving off $11 (+ tax savings) is more than a 25% savings.

I've had no problems with Rogers. They have good customer service, and I always get better reception than my friends on Bell or Telus. My contract is up next July, so I'm going to cancel my service and then when we come back from traveling, I'm sure rate plans with other companies will be so good they'll blow what I currently have out of the water.

Dear BC Parks: you suck

2009-07-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Words cannot begin to describe how annoyed I am at BC Parks (Discover Camping). I STILL haven't received my parking pass that I ordered an entire month ago. Their office is in Vancouver, and they state on their website that passes will be mailed out within 2 business days. So it's not like the letter has to travel very far to get to me.

Yesterday I called (for the third time) and told them that I still haven't received the parking pass. They said they were sorry for my inconvenience, and would look into it. That's what they said the last time! I asked them if it had been mailed out yet, and they said that the passes are handled by a third-party company so they don't have that information. So I asked if I could have a refund. Nope, they don't do refunds on parking passes. So I asked again if I could get a refund on any parking costs I have to pay until I get the pass from them. Nope, they don't do that either. Basically I'm screwed.

Even if/when I do eventually get the pass, it will be valid as of the date I purchased it (June 10). So I've already lost a month. And even if they could somehow make it so that it's valid as of the date that I receive it, it doesn't do me any good because 1) half the summer is already over, and 2) I won't even be in the country this time next year.

J wants to call and raise hell, but I'm going to wait a bit and call them 1 more time before I hand it over to him I think.

BC Parks = fail. Epic fail.

Need a new skillet

2009-07-09T08:02:00.001-07:00

We need a new countertop skillet. The one we were using now has a burnt bottom, and the coating seems to be peeling off where it's burnt the most. It was bound to happen. It gets used at least once per day (as most of you know, we don't have a stove, so we do all of our cooking with a skillet), and J has had it for quite a long time.

It won't cost that much to replace it - maybe $50-60. I saw this cool 2-in-1 skillet griddle on the Walmart website that looks good. They also have the same one that J has, so we'll probably have to go check it out this evening, or this weekend if we can hold out that long.

Yup, I cross stitch.

2009-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

So remember when I bought that cross stitching way way back in December? Well I stopped working on it for a few months, but pulled it out a few days ago and have been working at it for at least an hour each day. I'm almost done it, so I should start looking for a new one. My mom is going to take the one I'm working on, and hang it in a frame at home once I'm finished with it.

It certainly took a lot longer than I had first anticipated, but it provides me hours and hours and hours of entertainment. Last night, I was cross stitching on the couch, and J was watching the news. He turned to me and said, "why are we such an old married couple already?" Which is so silly because we do so many fun things ... but our downtime is spent at home being totally lazy.

Anyway, I'm going to start scouring eBay for my next project.

Unexpected dining out

2009-07-08T09:30:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I picked J up from work, and we ended up going to Red Robins for burgers and onion rings (he treated). It came to just over $30. We were supposed to go rock climbing, but instead we did pretty much the exact opposite. Bad, I know. But sometimes you just get the craving for a big, delicious burger.

We had frozen burgers and buns in the fridge, so we could have just gone home and made something for free. But it wouldn't have been as good, or with as many tasty ingredients. And now that we live together, it's in our budget to go out to eat once per week and alternate who pays.

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much except for the fact that we have a double date with my friends on Friday night, so the IMAX will likely cost about $35 for the both of us (much more expensive than the regular theatre). So we'll have to eat somewhere like Subway or Quiznos to keep the dinner expense down. Besides, we won't have much time in between getting off of work and driving to the IMAX anyway to go anywhere to sit down and eat.

Taking a day off

2009-07-08T07:59:00.004-07:00

I talked to my boss yesterday and because I'm banking hours right now by coming into work 1 hr. early most mornings, I'm probably going to take next Friday off because my sister is in town. :) We'll probably head down to Washington to go shopping. The dollar isn't doing that great, but we feel like the sales will make up for it. And if not, then we don't have to buy anything!

Being able to bank hours is great, but I'm really starting to feel the effects of getting up at 5:45am every morning while still going to bed at the same time. Plus, I'm not able to run in the mornings anymore. So in a way, I'm looking forward to getting caught up with all of this extra work. But until then, I'll be happy to collect some extra time off.

Not shutting down the blog

2009-07-07T08:00:00.004-07:00

Some of you read on my Twitter that I was thinking of shutting my blog down. Well I'm not. I don't think that's the best thing to do. But I did decide to go private with Twitter (please still request to add me if you want to follow!), and I've removed some posts from this site. Not many though.

I have a feeling that someone from my work knows about my blog. Judging from my site statistics and tracking IP addresses, I'm almost certain. I also notice that user history on my computer shows that there is activity on my computer after I leave at 5pm. I can't tell if it's just Firefox and other programs refreshing, or if someone is actually using my computer? This concerns me, but I know that I have nothing to hide. It's not like they can use this blog against me. Except to say that I've visited my blog during work hours. Still, I've changed the password to my computer anyway.

The posts that I write are almost all written at home, and scheduled to post in the future. I don't have any posts about my job or where I work, and while anyone can find out who anyone is on the internet, I think I do a decent job at keeping anonymous while still being interesting enough that people would actually want to read my writing.

So that's the update with me, in case any of you were wondering! :)

Designing again

2009-07-07T07:13:00.001-07:00

So I won the contract to work on a design project for my old job, and so far I’m about 1 hr. into the project. I was asked to quote for the entire project, instead of hourly – which kind of sucks. But I totally understand.

I quoted $300 for 5-6 hours of work (my estimation). That's $50-60/hr. A little more than I would usually charge (I used to charge that amount regularly, but the past year if I had to quote something, I'd usually bump it down to $30-40/hr ... not that I've been doing much of any work).

Once I submit the first draft of the project, I’m going to have to go back to the island for a face-to-face meeting. I’ve been meaning to go back sometime soon anyway, so I’ll be able to write off the expense. And it will be nice to see some of my old co-workers again.

I'm really enjoying this design work. It's giving me the opportunity to be creative - something that's definitely lacking in my full-time job.

GMBMFB Readers: do you save your change?

2009-07-07T06:49:00.001-07:00

In our place, we have 2 places to collect change – the money plate – which only has quarters, loonies, toonies and bills. Or the money jug – which houses all of the change that I don’t get my hands on first (usually J gives me his big change for the plate, and all the smaller change goes into the jug).

I don’t think either of us has an idea of what we’re saving for. Originally it was going to be for our anniversary dinner in December, and I still think that's a really good idea. We can treat ourselves to a really nice dinner out!

We have about $35 in the money plate, and who knows how much is in that money jug. It’s one of those huge water jugs, and it’s about ¼ full.

Sometimes we steal from the money plate – a dollar or two here or there. But the amount keeps on rising. The jug remains untouched. Not that I'd ever want to tip over that massive jug and try to shake change out of it.

Also, I have a chocolate tin that I collect American money in. Right now it has about $325 in it because I bought $300 US for spending money on the cruise to Alaska, but usually it has a few random bills and some change.

Do you collect your change somewhere? Are you saving it for something?

Must book a massage appointment

2009-07-07T05:44:00.001-07:00

Okay I booked a massage appointment for Monday. I haven’t gone since mid-April ... and J kindly gives me little massages daily to help out ... but it seems like once every few months I have to go to a professional.

I think that 45 min. costs me $60, and after shopping around to different massage therapists in the area, this is the best option – and conveniently right next door to where I work.

This isn't in the budget, but I can put it in my Misc. category.

I heart you, Swagbucks

2009-07-06T08:37:00.006-07:00

So far with Swagbucks, I've earned $35 worth of Amazon.ca gift certificates! :) Not bad considering I've been doing this Swagbucks thing for less than a month. I'm really pleased, because there are 3 or 4 travel books that I've been wanting to buy for a while now. I'm going to keep going and see if I can make more, but I really want to get the books in time for my cruise to Alaska. I might split the order in half, and buy the other 2 books once I've accumulated more gift certificates.

For those who are really into Swagbucks, don't forget to add them to Facebook and Twitter. They post codes almost every day that I try to snag. Those totally help.

If you're still on the fence about Swagbucks, please consider using my referral code! And thanks to all of you that have used my referral code and are actively using Swagbucks.

Loving my new netbook!

2009-07-06T08:15:00.005-07:00

So far, I'm loving my new LG X120 netbook. When I put it beside my 24" iMac, it looks so cute. I should take a picture of it. :) Anyway I'm having some problems with it - namely PCs are so confusing to me after having my iMac for the past 2.5 years. Especially switching back and forth between then every few minutes. I don't know where any files are located and I keep trying to pull up my widgets and spaces.

But I cleaned up the programs, installed Google Earth, and got the wireless internet working pretty smoothly. Well, J got the wireless internet working.

And also, I don't think the LG Smartlink software works with my Mac, so I can't directly transfer files back and forth. When I link my computers up, all I get is a dumb .exe file, which clearly I can't use on my iMac. I'll have to transfer music the ghetto USB way. But that's okay, I guess.

The netbook came with its own soft carrying case, but I'm going to be on the lookout for some sort of neoprene case for it - something that's slim and not bulky, but will offer a bit more protection than the cheapo one that came with it.

Making plans

2009-07-06T08:07:00.005-07:00

This coming Friday night J and I are going on a double date with a friend and her BF. We're going to see that Transformers movie in IMAX. I guess I'll have to see the 1st Transformers movie before then. Has anyone seen the new movie? Is it good? I'm kind of excited for it being in IMAX!

Then on the weekend, we have vague plans. We will definitely be going to the climbing gym - but I also want to try out the Grouse Grind, just to see why everyone does it. J says The Chief up in Squamish is harder, and I did that last summer. I don't understand why the Grind is so popular - it always looks so busy and there's not even really a view at the top. But, I still want to do it.

And I also want to do The Lions. J said we can do it as a day hike, and I see them all the time in the distance, so it makes sense to climb it. We'll have to check the weather reports though - right now, I see nothing but rain all week. Boo urns!

Weekend date + exercise

2009-07-06T07:48:00.004-07:00

This weekend was great - gorgeous weather, and fun activities! Even though it was more expensive than I thought it was going to be, I'm okay with it.

Saturday we had a walking date downtown. We started in Stanley Park, walked along the beach, did up Robson St. (and had lunch + cupcakes), then wandered down to the new convention centre, and then back to Stanley Park and the beach. It was nice to people watch and hang out downtown for a change.

Sunday we got up bright and early (6am) and headed up to Squamish for some climbing! We tried to do some crack climbing, but it was an epic fail. We both suck at crack climbing. So after we did a few other routes, we headed back to Vancouver and went to our climbing gym instead. I felt good - strong too. Which is surprising, since we haven't gone very often. But I think we both realize that we're going to have to get a lot better at climbing.

Saturday

$8 parking - all day parking in Stanley Park. The cheapest place to park downtown.
$45 sushi - I treated J to lunch on our Saturday date downtown. We rarely ever go for sushi, and I can count on one hand the times we've eaten downtown together.
2 x cupcakes from Cupcakes - J paid. YUM! I've never had a cupcake from Cupcakes before. They were pretty tasty but I thought the frosting was a bit much. J, on the other hand, devoured his in seconds, and proclaimed the icing the best part.
Starbucks - J paid. We were boiling in the car on the way home, so we stopped and got a cold drink for the car ride.

Sunday

Tim Horton's breakfast - J paid. I heart breakfast sandwiches. But they're really not good for you.
$23.81 groceries. We went to Superstore and picked up things for a caesar salad, as well as veggies and other lunch items for the rest of the week. Oh, and I picked up my hair mousse ($7). I don't think we'll need to go to the store again until the weekend.

MY TOTAL: $76.81

Not bad!

To Do List

2009-07-03T09:37:00.002-07:00

Deposit $20 into bank account.
Buy more hair mousse.
Figure out what's going on with my BC Parks parking pass - STILL haven't received it.
Find out when I'm going to get my Shaw Cable refund.
Figure out when my shoes were shipped (bought flip flops off eBay a few weeks ago).
Wash my car (inside and out).
Oil change for my car.
Put away my laundry.
Start on contract design project.
Plan a double date with my friend and her BF.

A weekend date and rock climbing

2009-07-03T09:22:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow J and I have a date. Since we’ve been going out, we’ve never hung out in downtown Vancouver before, so I’m really excited. It’s such a great place to people watch, and there are so many cool little places and buildings and beaches to walk and see. It’s going to be a gorgeous day, and it will be a frugal way to spend time together. Usually we're going hiking or doing something out of the city. It will be a nice change to have a city date. Maybe we’ll grab lunch downtown somewhere, or bring a picnic and have it at Stanley Park. Who knows!

And on Sunday we’re driving up to Squamish to go rock climbing!!! It’ll be my first time outdoor climbing this year. I think we’re also going to do a short hike up that way as well.

I think the weekend will be quit cheap. Obviously we’ll have to pay for gas to get downtown and to Squamish, but after that, there are no fixed expenses for what we have planned. Everything else is up to us – where/what we eat, the activities we do, etc.

How are you going to enjoy the gorgeous weekend weather?

The fate of my car

2009-07-02T13:55:00.003-07:00

Originally I was going to sell the car and use that money towards traveling. But since I've moved in with J, I'm probably going to be able to save up the $10k by the end of this year (about 6 months earlier than I had anticipated).

So I'm considering letting my sister borrow the car while I'm gone (under her own insurance, that is). It would be nice to have a car when we get back from traveling, especially for job interviews and getting settled back into life.

Logistically, none of the details have even been discussed. I don't even know if she'd want to borrow the car (and have to pay insurance/gas on a student budget), but I think I'm going to offer her the option of borrowing it if she wants to.

Win a $10 US or $15 CDN Amazon gift certificate!

2009-07-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

If you don't know already, Ginger from Ginger Won't Snap has relaunched her blog! :) And in celebration of it, she has decided to do a bunch of giveaways on her blog.

The first being a $10 US or $15 CDN Amazon gift certificate!

If you'd like to enter, please check out her blog.

Oh, Canada!

2009-07-02T08:57:00.004-07:00

You know what sucks? Going back to work after being on vacation. Especially after being around such gorgeous scenery the entire time. But I guess this is just a 2-day work week, and then it’s the weekend again, so I can’t really complain. :)

Yesterday was very relaxed. We unpacked our backpacks, did some laundry, cleaned up ... then went grocery shopping ($47-something for my portion). A little more expensive than normal, but I bought a package of chicken breasts, some sausage, and also some ice cream.

I also went to Canadian Tire so I could buy what I needed for J to do an oil change on my car. That was $24-something. I don’t have the receipts with me, so I’m not sure of the exact total. It’s a lot cheaper to do it ourselves than take it to an oil change place. Luckily J knows how to do an oil change – because I sure don’t.

Oh, and it was J’s turn to buy gas for the car, and that was $43.99. He buys around every 3rd fill-up.

During the evening, our plans were to go watch the Canada Day fireworks, but we were feeling lazy. And J's calf has been bothering him since we got back. I feel kind of bad - his pack was a lot heavier than mine - he had all of the climbing gear and the tent. And near the end of our hike on Day 1, he ended up taking more weight off of my pack (he said maybe 5 lbs or so, but it sure made a difference) because it got to be too much for me. But to be fair, I'm not used to such a heavy pack (I was carrying all the food) and we had been hiking for almost 7 straight hours. When we got home, I weighed my pack and it was 30 lbs. without any of the food. And the food was HEAVY. We think the food weighed about 10 lbs. So my pack was about 40 lbs? :(

Anyway, last night I ended up zoning out and playing The Sims 3 for like 4 straight hours. And J watched Taken. I don't know why though. We both agreed that it looked like the worst movie ever - yet he still insisted on watching it. And we were right. It was HORRIBLE.

How was your Canada Day?

Bought the LG X120 netbook!

2009-07-01T06:03:00.002-07:00

Well, I bought the LG X120 netbook at Future Shop on Friday. After doing hours and hours of research, and waiting patiently for months, it was a deal I couldn't refuse.

The regular price of the netbook was $499. It was on sale for $449, but I was able to get an "open box" model for $349!!! I bought the 2-year extended warranty for $100, because it gives me full coverage around the world. I'm really, really pleased.

I haven't had a chance to play with the computer yet, except to turn it on and play with a few of the functions. I'm going to have to spend a few hours checking everything out. :)

Grimface Mountain

2009-06-30T21:52:00.019-07:00

Wow, what an amazing trip! The pictures don't do it justice, they really don't. Grimface Mountain was way more badass than I thought it would be, and I'm really proud that we did it.

Day 1 - 7 hours of hiking up and through a valley.
Day 2 - 1.5 hours of hiking up to the base of Grimface Mountain. We spent an hour or so exploring - which means hiking up up up. Other than that, it was a rest day.
Day 3 - 5 hours of hiking up to the ridge and across to Grimface.
Day 4 - 5 hours of hiking out of the valley.

The picture to the left of this is the route we took up Grimface (in red - click on the photo for a bigger view). And below are a few pictures from our trip. :)

July Monthly Goals

2009-06-30T21:45:00.003-07:00

My July goals are a bit cushier than my usual monthly goals. My sister is coming to visit, so I wanted to have a bit of spending money - for clothing and entertainment.

June Goals:

Go rock climbing 4 times. We really, really need to get going with climbing.

$400 into Retirement Portfolio.

$900 into Travel Fund.

$400 into Savings.

Provide rough sketch and outline to design client. I am working on a simple project that should net me about $300.

Make an extra $200.

Organize August long weekend trip. J and I both took a vacation day to extend it into a 4-day long weekend. So far we've got a few options.

June Goals: My Review

2009-06-30T21:20:00.004-07:00

I went over budget this month by quite a bit. A lot of it was unexpected expected expenses, but I also bought that netbook that I've been wanting! :)

Here is how I did:

Overages:

Hydro - last payment from my old apartment.
Internet/cable - last payment from my old apartment - but I should be getting back a $45-something refund sometime soon in the mail.
Food - self-explanatory. I spent too much dining out. Actually, I think I did pretty good this month, considering the only reason I went over is because today (June 30) we ordered pizza after coming back from hiking, instead of going grocery shopping and cooking. something ourselves.
Entertainment - I bought The Sims 3, and none of my friends have paid me back for their share of the camping costs yet.
Clothing - I bought those black leather boots that I've been wanting since last year. Got them for $161.53, and they were originally $250 + tax.
Travel - had to pay $87 for my passport.
Personal care - Avene face cream with SPF 30.
Miscellaneous - I bought the LG X120 netbook!!! I wasn't going to, but I got a deal that I couldn't refuse. I'll write a post about it later.

June Goals:

Go rock climbing 4 times. FAIL! We only went once, because J worked so much OT.

Organize Canada Day long weekend hiking trip. CHECK! It was so much fun.

$450 into Retirement Portfolio. FAIL! I only put in $325.

$800 into Travel Fund. CHECK! I was able to save $1,000!!!

$150 into Emergency Fund. CHECK!

$200 into Savings Fund. CHECK! I saved $225.

Get my $362.50 damage deposit back from apartment landlord. CHECK!

Make an extra $300. FAIL! I only made about $110.

See at least 2 friends on my trip back to the island for June 6-7. CHECK! Well, sort of. I saw one friend, but I saw a lot of friends and family during my family dinner and brunch.

See you on Canada Day!

2009-06-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well, J and I are hitting the road now! I'm very excited, and hopefully I'll have lots to tell you about when I get back Wednesday night (plus, hopefully pictures!).

Have a great weekend and a great Canada Day.

Finally have my passport

2009-06-26T15:24:00.003-07:00

Whew! Thankfully after all the hassle (getting the Letter of Authorization from Canada Post, calling 4 different times - and getting 4 different answers, getting the L0A notarized, and finally mailing it off to my mom so she could have the required original copy), I finally got my passport from Canada Post. Well, my mom has it. And my sister will bring it over with her when she comes to visit in a few weeks. Woo hoo!

Now my fingers are crossed that my BC Parks parking pass arrived in the mail today. :)