Just Keeping A Touch Base

Just thought I'd do a little update like post just to keep everyone posted on what's been going on.

With all the car stuff I didn't get chance to mention that it is carnival time here on the island. It's the island's biggest event for the year and this year it got even bigger.

I haven't really gotten into the festivities this year with the car, work and other stuff going on but I have enjoyed a lot of the local music that it brewed.

I'm happy to say though that I will be getting to enjoy a bit of it coming on to the end. Yes, it has been going on for a good part of a month now and it comes to a climax on Monday(well Monday use to be the climax but they got our own Barbadian Rihanna to come into perform the Friday night while on her loud tour and decided to market it as part of the festivities).

Anyways back to the festivities, today, Saturday, P, some of her family and I will be attending what is known as Bridgetown Market. It uses a big stretch of highway with lot's of stalls where people sell some of everything(crafts, toys, clothes, drinks, food, etc.). I don't expect to pick up anything but you never know.

After that, P scored us two tickets to attend one of the Crop Over(that's the name of the carnival) shows on Sunday night so we will be attending that as well and it will be my first real taste of the carnival for the year.

Oh yea, because of the carnival we are also having a long weekend. Like I said the carnival's climax is Monday so that is a holiday and Tuesday following is Emancipation day which is another holiday so I am home till Wednesday. It's almost like a vacation.

I don't have any plans to participate in the festivities Monday but you never know what will happen. I would like to spend this weekend to do a bit of blogging(I think I enjoy blogging too much). I've got to get my net worth post up and ready as the month ends tomorrow but it's going to be one ugly update with the debt I've acquired. I've also got a back log of post I want out of my head and onto the blog but we will see.

Even though I will be going out this weekend I am still hoping to go easy on my bank accounts as I've been killing em all week long(also have to put together that post).

Anyways I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It may not be as long as mine but I still hope it is awesome. In leaving I want to post the video for you all to see a very tiny glimpse of the festivities. It's the finals for the Party Monarch competition here on the island. This is the performance my favourite artist did this year, this is also one of my favourite songs for the season. Hope you enjoy:

Weekly Money Check-Up & Spending Recap July 17 - 23

Money Check Up brought to you courtesy MPP

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on gas. I made sure and filled up the car when I got it.

2. Today I am thankful for owning my own car. Despite all the little problems and complaining I've been doing, having my own car has been so many good things. It's freeing, relieving, convenient, fun and so many other things.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was I can't answer this question honestly, I don't think I did much free stuff if any that brought me much joy. I did joyful things but they had a cost. I can't even say I had a good nights rest because that didn't happen either,  I was going a lot last week. I guess changing the headlights in the car myself may count so yes. I changed the headlights on my car.

4. I will consider this week a success if I can bring my life back to normalcy. I've got a few things on my mind that I want to do and I want to get my accounts balanced and in order before the end of the month. They've been out of wack for a while.

5. A good friend is someone who is there for you no matter what, who won't ever betray you, who will tell you that you are wrong but will still stand on your side. A good friend is someone who would literally take a bullet for you and whom you would want to take that same bullet for. A good friend is someone who will tell you they love you for who you are.

Spending Recap

Sunday July 17
$15 gas

Monday July 18
$4 bus fare
$14.50 lunch
$2.25 misc

Tuesday July 19
$3 pastry
$4 bus fare
$50 extra on down payment for car
$108 gas
$1 bank fee

Wednesday July 20
$18 laundry

Thursday July 21
$3 pastry
$2.25 soda
$28.17 car expense
$2.25 misc
$20 movie
$9.73 car expense

Friday July 22
$4.50 drink
$4 food
$5 car expense
$60 gas
$9.73 car expense
$10 snacks/drinks

Saturday July 23
$2.30 misc
$2.25 soda
$15.70 lunch/dinner

Total: 398.63

I paid the bill for my cell phone the week before this last one and forgot to include that. It was $125.82.

The adjusted total is $524.45

Let me try and justify some of the expenses even though I am still guilty of spending

The whole set of food expenses came about because I hadn't gotten to the supermarket as yet so I've been buying food and drink a whole lot last week.

The Misc. purchases are mostly things, example a soda I may buy for someone

We have been having a lot of rain recently so I took my clothes to the laundry to have them dried as we don't own a dryer.

The car expenses I've already wined about so nothing new there and the high gas was from fulling up.

Lastly, I saw my first 3D movie and it sucked. It was transformers and believe it or not I dropped asleep in the theater on P's shoulder near the end. The 3D was way below my expectations and I already wasn't a fan of transformers to begin with so I had only went to experience the 3D and because P and a friend of ours wanted to see it so bad. It didn't help that it was a late night movie and I was working the early shift that week. On the other hand. P had a blast. Probably was the most amazing thing she ever saw but I will leave her to comment below if she chooses too.

Who Knew Cars Could Be This Much Work

With gaining my new car and trying to get everything in order and still keep up with my regular schedule, work, spending time with P and everything else that is less important than those two I've been really busy. I barely found enough time to drop a quick post or two but I ended up falling way behind with reading everyone else's blogs that I usually follow.

Only yesterday evening did I catch up with almost all of the blogs I follow. I had 3 and 4 post to read for almost all of them and I tried to comment on everything even if they were a few days old. I don't really like falling behind cause I always feel like I am missing out.

Anyways I just wanted to use this post to do a few highlights.

There is one other PF blogger who is going through the same owning their first car {I couldn't find a word to put here} that I am going through and strange as this may sound, just like with debt and this whole personal finance game, it's always nice to know they are other people going through what you are going through and that you can share your experiences and learn with them.

So without further adieu(some of you may have read her stuff already) but that PF blogger who I am talking about(and one of my favorites) is

Sarah from Common Cents

Following are her post on her experiences gaining her first car. What she did do that I didn't that I completely tip my hat to her for is that she saved and payed cash. I am defineatly doing that next time around.

Her New Money Pit

&

How It Is Making Her Bleed Money

I also want to point back to a few first car stories I came across.

You can find them here.

Lastly I want to say a hearty thank you for all the support and advice I've been getting through this blog. I really appreciate everyone who visits and every comment I read and I try my best to return the favor.

On the car front here is a short checklist I want to cover within within the next two weeks:

• pay off the insurance
• buy two new tires
• get car cleaned
• get car inspected by a mechanic just for a peace of mind

Anyways that's it for this post. Hope everyone has a great day.

You Better Be Prepared.

When you decide to own a car you better be, especially if it's going to be a used one. You wouldn't believe how much my new used car has cost me. So far I've spent $47.63 just to correct a few little things that were unexpected.

First off, the right headlight bulb blew so I had to change it. I changed both at the same time to be on the safe side. After that I needed to get transmission fuel to top it up. Turns out it was extremely low and took two bottles and some. If I add in the gas I put into the tank it brings the total to $215.63 dollars(I filled it up the day I got it then I put in a half tank since then). I'm trying to use the half tank mark as the empty mark because from experience I know I save more gas when I am driving on a full tank. With all of this I still have to buy 2 tires with in the next week or two as the two at the front need changing.

The repercussions of owning your own car almost sucks but I am telling you, even after all of this nothing beats the comfort of having your own vehicle to drive. I'm so comfortable waking up a bit later for work and knowing that P and I don't have to worry about if we want to go anywhere at anytime. I'm also able to stay with her later as we don't have to depend on the bus to go to our separate houses(Can't wait till we live together).

Anyways I really wasn't expecting any of this except the gas so my savings really took a beating. I think my next car is going to be new(I will save for it though). I know my net worth is way back in the negative now but I can't wait till the end of the month where I can work it out exactly and by then have everything settled back to a norm with my spending so I can take full control again. It sucks when you are not fully in control of your money.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend. I'm working a little overtime this week. It should help recuperate some of the cost.

P.S Forgot to mention. I changed those bulbs myself and it rocked. Nothing beats a good DIY.

My Debt Has Four Wheels

Five if you count the spare, six if you include the steering wheel and it looks like this:

I got it yesterday finally and it's already been cleared to drive on the road legally. Heck I've driven it already.

P has christened it Fabio(hope the spelling is right). Think it is short for fabulous. She loves the leg room.

I took it to get a road worthy certificate today as the insurance asked and they said I have to change the two front tires as they are worn out. They seem perfectly fine to me but I will get them changed so I don't run into any trouble with the insurance if that time was to come.

I have an interesting post to write kinda of related to the car. As soon as I get the time I'll put fingers to computer and put my thoughts in order to be post worthy.

Think that's it for today. Hope everyone is having a great week. Don't think I mentioned it but it is really nice to drive. It's my first car. Never thought it would be this one but no complaints here. I'll try and make it last a good while before I look to change it.

Just so I will have a record of it somewhere(what better place than my blog). The car has driven 105952km up to the time of this post(I got it at a little less but I didn't record it at that point and I've driven a bit). I will track it every once in a while to see how much driving I do.

Weekly Money Check-Up & Spending Recap July 10 - 16

Money Check up brought to you courtesy of My Pretty Pennies

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was one third(1/3) of my car insurance payment.

2. Today I am thankful for my family including P. I don't feel like I have much others who love and support me like they do.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was attend a personal financial planning session. It's good to know I work in an organization who realizes that good financial management produces better employees.

4. I will consider this week a success if I get the car I should have gotten since last week. I have to go get something done for the insurance company and I want to get my finances back under control. This whole car buying thing has it really unstable.

5. My favorite cuisine to prepare is anything I can pop in the toaster over. I am no cook but it's on my list of things to learn. The other day, I actually saw the price of a pack of pasta and freaked out. If you go out and buy it from someone you get such a small portion for so much more.

Spending Recap

Sunday July 10
$2 bus fare

Monday July 11
$3 bus fare
$1 snack

Tuesday July 12
$4 bus fare
$3.50 snack
$654.50 car insurance

Wednesday
$4 bus fare
$1.50 snack

Thursday
$8 bus fare
$3.40 bread
$3.75 snack

Friday
$4 bus fare

Saturday
$2 bus fare

Total: $694.65

• If you minus the insurance payment I would have spent $40.15.
• If I didn't have to pay bus fare and cut out all of those snacks I could have had 6 no spend days. Instead I have none. It was quite a snack filled week. I had a lots of cravings/temptations. Was mostly slices of cake I bought.

Overall, not a bad week, the insurance put a whole in my account though.

CARS ARE EXPENSIVE and I haven't even driven it yet. After a crap load of set backs tomorrow is suppose to be the day. I will keep my fingers crossed. Getting this car has been so much trouble I don't want to begin to list my frustrations. Hakuna Mutata.

I Think I Might Be Ahead Of The Game

Let me start off by saying thank you to all of you PF bloggers out there. I have learnt so much from you and I hope I have at least given back 1% of the teachings and benefits you have brought to my life.

Remember that meeting I was 24 hours early for. Well I attended it on Thursday and it was pretty interesting. I didn't learn a whole lot of new stuff. The reason being it was a personal financial planning advice and I was way ahead in my knowledge or at least it appeared so. I even got to teach a little and share a lot of my views and debate them against other people and the speaker in general.

Here are some interesting highlights.

• In the beginning he went around the room and asked what we think about when he hear personal financial planning. I answered investing and retirement. Retirement took the room by shock and even the speaker himself thought I was being a bit forward in my thinking.
• Another highlight was when he said an emergency fund was 6 months salary. I responded I thought it was 6 months living expenses. He combated 6 months salary because living expenses would be bare bones and you may not want to cut your lifestyle. He also said in case of illness. I didn't argue much past this because the most important part is to have an emergency fund. Everyone has their own level of comfort with this. Heck mine is only $1000 but I am comfortable with that. I don't really want the 6 month salary or living expenses at this time.
• Last thing I found interesting is when he was teaching about net worth. He targeted me specifically and asked what if I knew what my net worth was. I don't think anyone was expecting an answer besides 'I don't know' at first but I did and I said $6000 and something which was what it was at prior to this whole car fiasco. I felt proud to actually know my net worth cause I doubt many people do but almost everyone responded with a laugh. Even the speaker had a joke comment about it. One guy even joked he could go to the bank and write a cheque to buy me. It hit me a little hard but I took it in good faith and went along with the meeting. I know it isn't much to have a four figure net worth but I was AM pretty proud of it. I am now starting out and it's growing. Some day hopefully that guy won't be able to afford me and I can get a good laugh at that.

It's only fair to mention that with the car debt and all associated expenses my net worth went straight to the negative. I am still proud of it and I intend to bring it back to positive status by year end. A full update will be coming in the monthly net worth update.

On the car. I have the plates and everything else to drive the car but my mom had some trouble having the funds released for the down payment and her account rep magically disappeared all Friday. I told this to my uncle who is selling me the car but he was quite busy and we haven't conversed for more than 2 minutes. Anyways I don't know if I will be getting the car till next week as I feel a little apprehensive to take the car and without at least giving him the promised down payment. We will see how it goes.

Given I have been quite busy for the past two days I only got time to catch up on the blogging world today and it feels like I have been gone for weeks. In two days my network of favorite blogs had so many posts it was almost overwhelming. Everyone had about two or three post and some even redesigned their entire blog. I was surprised. Also a blog whom I enjoy reading who was off the map for a couple weeks is now back up and seems to be in prime blogging spirit.

Welcome back Frugal Forties.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Trust Me. There Is No Point To Rushing

This is another car update just so you know.

This morning I woke up an hour late for a group orientation related to work. That left me with 30 minutes to get up, get breakfast, take a shower and get myself to the meeting. Long story short I was rushing. So I borrowed my aunts car and got to that meeting about 10 mins late to find out it is TOMORROW(bummer). Since last week I had it in my head that wednesday(today) is the 14th. Major shocker when I got to the board room and saw the wrong people then when I looked at my watch saw I was a day early. No need to say I was pissed at myself. I could have used the sleep knowing that I only got in from work after 11pm last night and have to go in for 3pm this afternoon.

Anyways since I was up and had transport I decided to knock off some of the car stuff to get it on the road legally.

I got the insurance yesterday. I decided to insure it on my own and I split the payment into three monthly installments of $654.50 each. I decided to go the independent route and skip my aunt and to to be honest I didn't even consider that her insurance could have gone up if I got in an accident. I really must say thank you to those of you who left advice. I really did take it and it did help a lot and also was an eye opener.

Next up I went and paid the road taxes today which would count as my first payment towards the car as my uncle was going to pay for that. I also went to get license plates but I didn't have all the measurements and the place was soon closing not to mention I still have to prepare for work. I will try and get the plates between tomorrow and Friday. After that I can drive away the car. I am almost excited but I will wait till I put the plates on.

Think that's it for today. I am going to prepare for work now. I have never seen my account balances drop so fast yet not to mention the nuclear warhead my net worth just took. Since I am not going to be counting the value of the car in my net worth I can safely say I won't make my 9k goal for the end of the year but I will try and bring it back to zero at least.

Car and Career Update # 2

This time I will start with the career.

If you have been following you would know that I made a complaint with my superiors last week about the state my work area was left in and following that things seemed like I flew right up a hornet's nest.

The meeting I mentioned came off yesterday but nothing was mentioned in regards to my complaint and in the end I chose not to bring it up(I still shared a couple of my views about the company  but I did it quite earnestly). Over the weekend the rage I had settled down dramatically and things aren't as abrasive at work as they were last week. I am not happy that not one person found it appropriate to respond to my email but for now I will let the dust settle and just know that my issue was made known.

My main reasoning behind this is that I don't want to cause to much trouble as I am about to settle into this whole car loan thing and I don't want to be losing my job with a pile of debt. I will just stay quiet for now and only speak out if things get to an unacceptable state.

Not long ago I mentioned I was up for an interview at work for a new position. Turns out I didn't get the position as they hired someone else for it and I only found out by chance. They could of at least have the decency to notify me but oh well. On to the next one I guess.

Now the car.

The hold up on the car like I mentioned yesterday is the whole insurance thing. On one hand I can insure it myself for $1961.

My next option is to sign ownership over to my aunt and co-insure it through her for $1485.

That creates a dilemma. On one hand my uncle who is selling me the car prefer's the option that I go with my aunt(my mom's sister not my uncle's just to make clear).  Doing this saves me $476 in the short term.

Both my mom and my dad prefer that I own the car and insure it myself. They are of the opinion that I should just do it in my name and hopefully my insurance quote would come down faster for the future. If it does it would save me money in the long haul.

I'm on the fence.

• On one hand I want to do it myself but that is mostly through selfishness, stubbornness and independence. I want to do it myself and also have on record that the car is mine.
• On the other hand I want to save the $476 for now and use that savings to help me pay off what I will owe for the car and then look at transferring the ownership and insurance onto myself either next year or in the future.

I could use you opinion everyone as this decision will  be made by tomorrow. I really don't know what to do.

Weekly Money Check-Up & Spending Recap

Money Check-Up brought to you compliments My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on gas. My aunt lets me use her car to get to and from work some weeks so I make sure to put in some gas.

2. Today I am thankful for being in control of my fiances. I am about to take on the hugest(and first really) loan of my life and it's daunting.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was play Lego Star Wars on the xbox with P. P is becoming a trend in my free things I do that make me happy but what can I say. I love her.

4. I will consider this week a success if I get the car I am suppose to get this week and have it on the road by weekend. This includes getting insurance, paying the road tax and whatever else little things I need to do. Insurance is the major hold up at this point.

5. The strangest thing I have ever eaten is I have no idea. I really can't remember but I am a really picky eater and rarely would I try something strange.

Spending Recap

Sunday July 4

$4 bus fare

$13.43 misc

$3.40 bread

Monday July 5

$2 misc

$30 gas

Friday July 8

$3.90 snack

$4.20 bread

Saturday July 9

$2 bus far

$2.81 misc

$8 groom

$4.75 drink

$2 magazine

Total: $80.19

Not a bad week what so ever. Can't complain. Three no spend days and generally low spending. Having to go to work and planning your shopping properly really does help.

It's Monday. Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Sharing The Link Love Again

I haven't done this in a really long time but I have a tonne of links stored up to share. I never stopped collecting them, I just didn't make time to post them so here goes.

• First up I recently found this blog and I am going to bet it's going bet it is going to be a shining gem. Check out this post on denial. The first step is to realize your situation.
• Here is a great post on Passions and it is a view I agree with. Sometimes are passions are best left as hobbies instead of trying to monetize them. I also agree that the word is probably thrown around to loosely. If you do know any professional pancake consumers please introduce me.
• Wear Sunsceen by Boz Lurhman posted by Marissa of Thirty Six Months is one of the most eloquent pieces of advice I have ever read. I can't even explain it. Just read it.
• Showing Up is one of the single best things we can do for anyone we truly care about. They will always remember it.
• I thought this was an interesting article about no goals. I never really set goals for myself since I just automate everything like my retirement contributions and such and then just let life flow. Even my end of the year net worth goal can be achieved by simple automation and then never thinking about it again. Have no goals is a double edged sword so you have to do what works for you.

I think that is enough for today.

Today as I was randomly browsing PF blogs I came across a term that can be crossed against My Golden Personal Finance Rule. That is

• Make more money than you spend vs. Spend less money than you earn

I actually came across it twice so I am going to be thinking about this for a bit. A future post might be in the making.

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

I Flew Into A Hornet's Nest

That's how one of my fellow employees described the situation I have found myself in at work in regards to the complaint I made. I laughed when he described it that way but I don't think anyone could have described it any better.

So last night I had a one on one direct chat with my supervisor. It's kind of hard to relay his stance on the situation but he isn't offended by what I did but I think he is also tired of the stress that comes with his position, he has been there for 13 years and he says it is a waste cause nothing ever changes. I believe he is a good guy just he doesn't want to bother much so I will let him be.

Basically what he told me is my email pissed off quite a bit of the management staff and I will have to watch my back as they will be picking on me and trying to get at me for any foul ups I make on the job(I expected this so not much surprise there). I was also informed that day before yesterday, a supervisor from a different department came work the morning and flew off the hinge. Apparently, the manager who came down and left the work area in a mess came down to save us all and because he left the area "a little dirty"(the area was stink or I wouldn't have complained) we(meaning I) pay him back with ungratefulness.

I had to laugh. I could not believe they took it for ungratefulness and she thinks it was a little dirty. I have pictures proving it was worst than a little but oh well. Honestly this upcoming battle has me so excited. I am not sure why but I have this huge excitement for conflict especially when it comes to right and wrong and treating people like people and having respect. I had already prepared since yesterday for the worst which is they fire me for something petty so I am not to worried. I just want to fight and bring my point to the light. Even if it changes nothing at least people will be aware and hopefully won't settle for crap.

By the way, it is now Thursday and I sent my email since Monday and no one has responded up until now, not even HR. I can't believe this is how they chose to handle it. I have been informed that there is a general meeting for my department with the management on Monday next week closely related to where my problem began but the meeting actually has nothing to do with my personal situation, at least not that I know of, I don't know if they will bring it up then. Given this opportunity, once I am given the chance to air my views I have a lot to say. I actually have so much to say that after I rehearsed it in my head several times I had to write it out in a speech format just to ensure I don't forget anything. I really am excited and a bit scared, I was never much of a public speaker and I am afraid to be judged by other people but I won't stay in silence. What will be will be and if people choose not to like me so be it. I have enough people who care for me already and I have all the support I need.

Monday will be an interesting day.


An update on the car.

As I was typing this my uncle called me to let me know we are still on, he said the driver's side window isn't working properly but he ordered the part to fix it. He also said he talked to an insurance broker who is trying to get me a good deal on the premium. I doubt this broker will get better than the $1961 I was quoted but I will see and it would be a great surprise and a big help if he does. I'm hoping for the best and the broker is suppose to get back to us by tomorrow. If all goes well I should be on the road by next week with my own wheels. I'm excited about this too.

As usual I will be keeping you updated. I have a tonne of link love to share as I haven't done that in a while and also a few other post that I will try to get out in between all of this commotion. If I can't find the time I will just push them all back and have stuff for the future.

See you soon. My next post on the career conundrum should show up around Tuesday next week. Enjoy the upcoming weekend everyone.

Car and Career Update.

First the car.

I haven't got the car yet or made any payments so right now it's just in an agreement stage. I don't want to post much until its official. Basically it's the same car I was going to get the loan for before just this time with different terms. Marissa from over at Thirty Six Months ask what type of car it was. It is a 2001 mazda demio. I'll post a picture of it and give full details on the agreement once it is official. So far all I have done was called around to get insurance quotes and the cheapest so far is $1961.00 and this is only because I get a discount because of my job. Sucks being so young, no one trust you when it comes to business(banks and insurance companies).

Speaking of my job I have put myself in a little trouble. Sunday night when I went into work this week I found my work area in a mess, and not a small mess, this was above and beyond what I would call standard as I know it's easy to make a mess doing what I do. On top of the mess and no one cleaning it up, this mess was left by one of my managers(a senior one at that) so I was super upset.

Anyways, I took a few pictures before cleaning up the mess and decided to send an email expressing my major disapproval. I sent this email to 4 of my superiors in order of rank and to the HR manager. Up until now no one has responded.

I told my direct supervisor about it but as usual when it comes to this company, you just have to take crap and accept it and I refuse to become like the long standing employees and keep quiet. Just because I am at the bottom of ranks does not mean I have to accept crap and especially not when it comes to a manager who should be setting an example.

Up until this morning when I left work for the day their only seemed to be a small buzz. My supervisor said that the manager(the one who is responsible for the mess) wasn't happy with my email and he will deal with it himself, I was told he would have responded in an email but it's been two days now and nothing. A fellow workmate also commented this morning saying that he heard I took pictures about the place being dirty and I have pissed off the managers but he didn't say how he heard it. Lastly, I think the head supervisor, the one directly over my supervisor maybe avoiding direct contact with me but I don't know for sure, I just don't like the vibe that is coming off him.

I don't think I was wrong in doing what I did but I know that I might have created enemies with the wrong people, especially now when I am trying to get a new position and only had an interview last week.

To be honest I am a bit uncomfortable with the entire thing because not one person I emailed has said anything to me what so ever. I am also upset that 5 senior people got an email of concern from an employee and none found it fit to reply. I also am a bit worried as to what will happen from now on. Will my career climb within this company be stumped? Will they come down harder on my mistakes in order to pressure me? Will they try to find a justifiable reason to get rid of me? Will they just ignore it and let it pass with time?

I don't know what happens from here but I won't be making the next move. I will wait it out. I only hope that it does not come to the point where I start to get pressured. I know for sure that no one in management has had anyone really stand up to them like I have so this might have come as a shock to them given I have only been there for a year and I was their youngest employee up until a few weeks ago. I was really enjoying the company up until this point and even getting to like my position more but I am afraid I might have butt heads with the wrong people.

I hope it doesn't come to the point where my relationship with this company ends prematurely but whatever happens I won't regret what I did. Someone needs to stand up and that's what I did. Also I was right but because of who did it I was suppose to let it pass.

Anyways I'll keep you all updated on both as they progress.

Net Worth: June 2011 & Quarterly Review

Up until yesterday I had so much good stuff to report that I was super ecstatic. By the end of the day things changed a lot. The least I can say is that I am happy and kind of apprehensive as of now. Will fill you in at the bottom and maybe 1 or 2 follow up post. Without further adieu, the net worth.

Assets

Liquid Cash - $3504.00

RRSP - $650.03

Stock Fund - $750.00

Credit Union Shares - $120.00


Liabilities

About to acquire


Explanations

• Liquid Cash - All my money I can access without much hassle(just a basic withdrawal or transfer from the bank). Does not include any money in my wallet which can vary from 0 - 100 dollars.
• RRSP - Registered Retirements Savings Plan. This speaks for itself
• Stock Fund - Money I set aside with my employer to purchase shares in our parent company.
• Credit Union Shares - Shares I own in the credit union that houses my RRSP.
• About to acquire - I'm getting a car

Monthly Progress Update

In the middle of June I had declared that it would have been a failed month. With all the unplanned expenses that had sneaked up on me I was really not expecting it to be much of a month in terms of growing my net worth.

Surprisingly it increased by 9.65%. Trust me this jumped the crap out of me and made me happy. I went back to not tracking my expenses and I have no idea where my money was going, I just knew my account was draining every week. I have no idea how I use to live without tracking but I will be doing it from now on. Something else I am going to do is begin to track all sources of income. When I think about it I know why it was a bigger jump than expected.

• For starters I pushed back a dentist appointment that would have cost me $300.
• I also renewed my driver's license for only 1 year instead of 5.
• Adding to that I made some extra money that was unaccounted for.
• Lastly because the month ended on a Friday and I got payed before June ended but technically for July, July's first income was calculated in June(This helped the most).

With all of this I am ahead on my year end goal to have a 9k net worth. Actually with the way things are looking I would have surpassed it. I am confident in this because on returning to work this week I found out that I got a raise without even asking. I believe it has something to do with me achieving my first full year at the company. I was super excited when I found out because this assured me that I would have met my net worth goal and accelerate my wedding savings. Along with that one of my July goals was to ask for a raise so I can cross that off already. One goal down without even trying.

All of this happiness got all mixed up come yesterday when my mom told me she was going to help me get a car. Back in April I was having a vehicle debate and after coming to a few realizations I wasn't really going to bother to get a car for a while. This all changed yesterday but I will detail it in a future post. I will add a couple bars to the side to show this but everything won't be reflected properly until the end of the month.

Quarterly Progress Update

It's the end of another quarter so we are half through the year. I was so excited for the last half because I had already shot pass the halfway mark for my year end goal and with the raise and how things were going before it, I would have surpassed my goal and still have other achievements. With the car purchase coming up everything is sunk but I am still happy because even though a car means a liability(a major one at that), it comes with quite a few perks.

Compared to the first quarter I wasn't a quarter of the way to achieving this goal so within 3 months I have really made a huge turn around.

I went from being 12.28% at the end of March's net worth update which was only being worth a little over 1k  to being at 55.82% by the end of June which brings my value to a little over 5k.

Total and Complete AWESOMENESS.

With the up coming car purchase I am not as happy as I should be as I am a bit scatter brained with how to plan out this big change and what it will mean. I am still happy though. I am about to own my first car the only problem is the cost that comes with it and I don't only mean the up front cost.

Anyways until next time.

I try to have that update on the car fiasco by Wednesday. I'm hoping tomorrow but I will be quite busy and I want to give myself some breathing room in case I can't have it ready.