Blogging with a Heart!

Carla – this is for you. YOU have a giving heart. You gathered us together to donate to the most worthy of causes – to provide a living, food, medication, warm clothing and clean water to those in need. These are gifts that will continue to give – to families and to their communities. Well done my friend.


AND, you have given a precious gift to me and to our fellow bloggers. You have given us the opportunity to pool our resources so that we can make a meaningful and substantial gift. Thank you.


At this moment in time I feel that all of my own hours sitting in front of this screen, sharing my thoughts and goals with all of you, have been well spent. Those many hours have brought me to all of YOU, and I feel humble and grateful to spend time with so many FRIENDS. 


So, raise your glass to CARLA, to yourselves and to bloggers everywhere who make a difference in someone’s life! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

When you arise in the morning

Give thanks for the morning light

Give thanks for your life and strength.

Give thanks for your food

And give thanks for the joy of living.

And if perchance you see no reason for

giving thanks,

Rest assured the fault is in yourself.

American Indian Saying

Goals for 2011

http://www.executivesbranding.com/1745/setting-career-branding-goals-for-2011/ Anyone interested in setting career goals should follow this link!

So I want to set some SMART goals for 2011. I’ll try to be serious for a while as I figure out what my goals will be.  My first assumption is that for a goal to be a goal it has to take you somewhere other than where you are right now AND that is should be an improvement on current circumstances. Goals should be attainable (so no pie in the sky), measurable (oh no, more math), and have an ending point…ie. one day, one month, one year, when hell freezes over… (Oops, my serious hat fell off, just let me get it back on…be back in a sec…

There. Ok, here goes…

Financial Goals:

I’ll start with the goals that are easy to measure (with a calculator in hand).

• Save another $5000 for my TFSA (at $650 savings/month this should by attained by August, 2010)
• Save $2400 for RRSP contribution (at $200/month beginning March 1st this goal will be reached in time for next year’s taxes (Feb.29/12)
• Save $2250 to add to my Emergency fund bringing it to a total of $3000 by year’s end
• save $1500 for Christmas by Dec. 2011
• Pay a total of $17,400 towards debt by Dec. 31/2011 (this includes $1200/month on Line of Credit and $250/month on PEI mortgage
• maintain $100/month to World Food Program (now on automatic withdrawal so I won’t miss a month due to forgetfullness!), and make six NEW Kiva loans this year ($150) in addition to reloaning the $$ that is repaid to me from previous loans
• TRY to spend a maximum of $225 twice a month on groceries
• TRY to spend a maximum of $100 twice a month on gas (this will work out til the end of June and then will have to adjust due to doing a ton more driving in the summer – like to PEI!!! My Crofters Lane jar will help to cover summer driving.
• Through a variety of methods (snowflakes, budget leftovers etc) increase amount in Crofters Lane jar from $360 to a minimum of $650 by June 30

Personal Goals:

• ride stationary bike 3-4 times per week and record mileage in sidebar
• lose 10lbs by 2nd anniversary (April 18)
• list books I read in my sidebar & read one non-fiction book for every five non-fiction books I read (increase learning)
• plant 50 trees at Crofters Lane this summer
• declutter the basement by June
• organize my cajillions of digital photos by the end of January
• make at least one person laugh each and every day
• use http://www.spendingdiary.com/ daily to track my spending
• get out into nature a minimum of once per week

Nothing too earth-shattering, I am keeping “attainability” in mind so that hopefully I won’t give up. Also some goals are achievable sooner than the end of the year which is tooooooooo loooonnng of a time to stay motivated for EVERYTHING.

* I also reserve the right to make adjustments throughout the year depending on circumstances – both positive and negative…for ex. I fall and break my leg thereby not being able to ride my bike…or…someone dies and leaves me a cajillion dollars…or…I get fired…well…you get the picture:)

I Didn’t Want to Do It!! (But now glad I did!)

Christmas is Over!

No, you can’t make me…noooooooooooooooooooo!

You know when you are watching a scary movie and you know something intense is about to happen and you squeeze your eyes almost shut or hold a pillow up to your face and just sneak a peek every once in a while??

Well, that’s how I  feel about looking at my December 2010 monthly spends – I just want to take a quick sneak peek, or maybe just keep my eyes tightly shut and pretend it never happened.

But I know I must face the music, the sooner the better, like removing a bandaid with one quick painful RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPP!!!

So, I opened up http://www.spendingdiary.com/ (thanks Maureen for this site!) and entered my last few spends.

The results are in so may I have the envelope please…..cue drum roll…….

• overspending on groceries wasn’t too too bad – spent $517.04 and budgeted $450 so over by $67.04
• entertainment – a whopping $526.01 – this included $73 for tickets to the ROM, restaurant meals, movies, popcorn, coffees, parking in Toronto, books from Chapters, LCBO, a couple of lunches – didn’t really budget for any of this!
• gifts – $697.92 which includes the clothing purchased in Toronto – had $800 saved so did ok there so the extra $100 helped out with my high entertainment costs
• On the plus side I reduced debt by $1171.00 and saved a total of $1050 (includes TFSA, RSP & Emergency Svgs)

So I will start planning NOW for next Christmas so I am in control of my spending (I had to take some $$ out of savings as I didn’t set nearly enough aside) so will start saving $100/month in Jan. I don’t pay property tax in Nov. and Dec. so always add that into my Christmas account so I will have a total of $1500 for next year’s Christmas. I am also going to cut down in some areas and use any leftover to pay down debt.

You know – it could have been a lot worse. In the past I have thrown caution to the wind and spent much much more – I was more restrained in gift buying this year and spent with more awareness but there is definitely room for improvement…isn’t there always??

Link Love

This week is a week of reflection: counting my blessings, thanking those who have helped me in innumerable ways, acknowledging progress – personal AND financial, redefining future goals – short and longterm and developing ideas that will hopefully benefit others.

So the first thing I want to do is give a big thank you to my online community.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

The following are the top referring urls for my blog:

• http://saving4later.blogspot.com/
• http://anostrichnamedsam.blogspot.com/
• http://midlifemommusings.blogspot.com/
• http://angelabarton.com/
• http://444express.blogspot.com/
• http://whimfield.com/
• http://tobedebtfreeby30.blogspot.com/
• http://earlyretirementmiddleway.blogspot.com/

Thank you!!



A big virtual hug and thank you goes to Laura Jane at Whimfield who, back in August, posted a blogroll with my blog added to it. Then Witch came to visit and the rest is history. I checked out Laura Jane’s and Witch’s blogroll and found my way to all of you. And I am so grateful that I did!

I’ve had your support through the good times and the bad, I’ve made friends with women who are intelligent, thoughtful and thought-provoking, compassionate, helpful, funny and sincere.

I look forward to learning so much more in 2011 through my connection with all of you and I hope I can add something to the conversation. May the conversation be fierce, honest and productive…may we listen, challenge and grow together.

Have a wonderful and safe New Year celebration whatever that may look like. Going out or staying home, with friends or family, have a look around at all you have to be thankful for. We are blessed in so many ways.

My Charitable Journey

A woman in Africa that I support through Kiva

A lot of folks have blogged about the “charity line” on their budgets lately. As it is the season which emphasizes “giving” I thought I’d tell you a little about what I do.  First, however, I must confess that although a staunch Anglican (but working for the Catholic Schoolboard tee hee) I have stopped going to church. It had become such a chore (way too many committees) and such a hotbed of gossip that I just had to give myself a break. To me “church” should be a place of peace and community but it had become ALL about fundraising to stay afloat and people had divided into various competing factions and there was no longer any JOY.  So instead, being the “druidess” that I think I am I have turned to nature instead to find my JOY. One of the things I had to think seriously about once I cancelled my monthly “givings” to the church was what to do with my charitable dollars.

While searching the internet for likely causes to support I was overwhelmed by the numbers of registered charities. I had to narrow down my search and decided to concentrate on women and children. I have read that women in developing countries, especially in African nations, will use $$ given to them more wisely than men.  The women will use it to feed and educate their children while the man of the family, if indeed he is still with his family, tends to drink/gamble it away. So I came across Kiva, a microfinancing organization and coincidentally one of Oprah’s “favourite things” for 2010. 

So far in the past year I have made 14 $25.00 loans, mostly to women in Africa. The $$ goes to help them in a small cottage industry and usually I get paid back in full. Then I reloan the money out again. I try to average one new loan each month. Also, last year on the anniversary of my mother’s birthday I gave a $25.00 Kiva gift card to each of my 4 siblings so they could experience the joy of picking a deserving person to help with their business. Its so much more worthwhile I feel to help someone develop a self-sustaining business than to just give $$ away. 

My Impact:

Number of Loans Made 14 
Number of Kiva Cards Given 4
*Updated as of Dec 08, 2010 12:12 am

The other charity I support on a monthly basis is the World Food Programme. I have set up a monthly withdrawal of $100.00 from my account and I have chosen to have it distributed to wherever it is needed the most. My money has gone to support the people of Pakistan who were devastated by the huge flood and to Haiti and Afghanistan. 

I chose the World Food Programme because they are among the “first responders” to any emergency in the world. When the earthquake hit Haiti WFP workers were on the ground dispersing food and water within 24 hours. I decided I want my $$ to have an immediate impact as well as a long-lasting impact (Kiva).

There are many other charities I support also with one-time donations, but these are the main two. I wanted to share them with you in case you are undecided as to where to direct your charitable dollars. These are two that I feel very strongly about. Every little bit counts.

There are also many places online you can go to and “click” for charities and it costs absolutely nothing at all, but a little of your time.  One site I have my students go to on a regular basis is http://www.freerice.com/. By playing games (all subject related like math and english) they win “grains of rice” which is donated to where it is needed most. It’s one of the best ideas EVER!!

If you go waaaaaaay down on my sidebar you will see widgits for my Kiva loans, World Food Programme and Free Rice in case you want to explore them further.

There – I never mentioned the weather even once….oops!

Good Goals Good Grief!

This is what I imagine I’ll look like in 1611 days when I retire. I need to come here more often, here meaning my blog. When I started this blog not quite a year ago I had well over 1900 days until retirement but my counter now reads 1611 days until my goal is met. Good grief!

And I just checked my bank accounts/RSPs etc and I am right on track & my debt is reducing every week without fail. YAY!

My Kiva loans are also being repaid to my Paypal account and this month my new Kiva loan will only cost around $15 instead of $25. Double YAY!

It’s nice to check in once in awhile and actually see REAL progress being made.

Now if I could only get rid of my whiplash injury incurred while dancing up a storm a week ago – I guess you can never really have it ALL!

Though I can’t complain – you should have seen the spa treatment I received the other night from Michael – that’s will take another post to do it justice 🙂 I’m a lucky woman!

End of the Year Roundup

Merry Carollers in Bracebridge, Ontario – December 24, 2009

So much is going on. I am halfway through my second week of Christmas holidays and time is disappearing faster than the money in my bank account! Well, not really, the money is gone! My wee family arrived home from Bracebridge on Saturday, 5 days ago, and I just unpacked my suitcase today! So many gatherings of family and friends – twice as many now that I have someone in my life.

Just checked out my kiva loans – 2 of the 3 are now in the process of being repaid. Considered making my 4th loan which would be for Jan. 2010 (1 loan per month since October) but at this point in time they have more loaners than loanees so will check in again tomorrow. I’d like to think that this has something to do with Oprah profiling Kiva on her show a few weeks ago or perhaps it’s to do with the time of year, the Christmas spirit of giving and all that. Whatever it is, I’m happy to be a part of it.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Michael and I are going to Jambalaya’s for dinner and dancing and then to a friend’s house party. On New Year’s Day we are going to “collage” our goals and hopes for 2010. Our main focus for 2010 will be “trusting the trust” – something I’ll explain more fully as we move forward.

The New Year is also a time to readjust one’s budget and financial goals. I appear to be on track with retiring my debt (if not my person) in 4.3 years. So if I decide to retire in 4.5 years I’ll be debt-free ONLY if I don’t add to my personal line of credit. So please please please my little Chev Cobalt, please last at least another 5 years, please, I love you……

2009 has been a very memorable and groundbreaking year for me. Entering into a new relationship at a time when I thought I had my life’s path all figured out has been challenging and wonderful. More to come on that as well.

Stealing the words of a friend I hope that all of you are feeling loved, cherished, supported and understood.

One love!

Outpouring of Help

Every year classes at the highschool where I teach take on an advent project. We raise money in a variety of ways to assist seniors, newcomers to Canada, street kids and families in need. This year we decided to help one of our own students – a girl with an intellectual disability who has had to live with her mentally ill (schizophrenic) father since her grandmother died two years ago.

Dad has been in and out of work (currently out) and they have had their heat turned off due to non-payment and have had to resort to using the food bank. The young lady has mental health issues of her own and is unable to advocate for herself. After learning that she and her dad had gone to the local food bank for help I decided then and there to make them our Advent Project. My staff agreed wholeheartedly. We would try to raise enough money to get their heat turned back on, provide them with enough food to get them through the two week Christmas break and buy a Christmas gift or two.

Next I decided to put the request for help out to the whole staff of my highschool because several have had my student in their class and might want to make a donation of food or money. The response amazed me.

Even though I am well aware of my school’s propensity to give and give and give I was overwhelmed at the magnitude of the response. And humbled. Gifts of food have begun to fill the 3 large boxes that we decorated with Christmas wrapping paper, offers to buy clothing and school uniform pieces, offers of cash in order to get the heat back on and another entire class has offered to make this family THEIR advent project. The most touching moment for me was when one of our custodians brought me a $100.00 cheque saying “every kid deserves to have a Christmas”.

My decision this year to make Christmas more about giving to others and about spending time with family and friends rather that the usual “shop til I drop” fiasco has taken on a life of its own.

The joyous feeling that comes from helping others in need truly can’t be beat.

Active Giving – Jambalaya

Here’s my partner – Michael – and our good friend Kevin – owner and chef at Jambalaya Restaurant at the moment of “settling accounts”. Kevin and his wife – Denise – generously offered their restaurant and incredible food as a venue to raise money for Hand to Hand Global Leadership’s non profit efforts in Jamaica. Between the meal and the silent auction we raised around $1500.00. It was an amazing night spent with friends and supporters eating Caribbean food – jerk chicken, rice and peas, blackened steak, bread pudding and rum sauce, pina colada cheesecake etc – all for a great cause.

In other news I am really excited to report that one of the loans I made on http://www.kiva.org/ is already being paid back (19% so far) after little more than a month. Most loans take 6 to 8 months before they start being paid back so I was thrilled to see that the group of women I supported is making its own profitable way in the world already!

I have been researching ways to get donated goods to Jamaica and have come up with a couple of ideas. Mustard Seed Communities are always looking for donations from a long list of needed items that they ship to Jamaica from Atlanta. That might be cheaper than packaging and shipping by air. My class has offered to use the money raised by our anual Advent project to pay shipping costs as well as donating toys and books to send. Its amazing how much people want to help out when you approach them with specific ideas. Most people want to help out, they just don’t know what to do.

This week also marked my attainment of over 2,000 points for my cause (World Food Programme) on Social Vibe. Every 100 points that I earn equates into a donation of one week’s worth of micronutrients for a hungry child. So far I’ve earned enought points to contribute 21 weeks worth of micronutrients. Check out my side bar for the Social Vibe’s button and you can help me with my cause. It costs nothing but a few moments of your time. Social Vibe is also on Facebook.

I am happy to report that I haven’t shopped this week except for groceries. The only other money I spent was to buy gas for the car and one meal out (at Jambalaya of course) plus $10 for a CD to support our friend Charmaine Bailey who is embarking on a Caribbean tour this January.

Savings is on track and so is my debt reduction. The car I bought in June will be totally paid off in 12 more months. Not bad! I’ve paid off my trip to Jamaica and started an emergency fund which now has over $400 in it. When I get the bill for the furnace repair it will come out of that. Any money I have left over at the end of the month also goes into the emergency account so within another week it will grow some more. Yay! Hopefully nothing major will happen to steer me off course. Like Christmas! I will definitely be on a budget this year but I don’t have much to buy as I have been donating $$ instead.

Life is good.