We've been married almost 30 years and here's a true confession: we have never used a budget. But now that we will be sticking to a fixed income, we'd like to make sure that we are living within our means.
We are using a tool called Every Dollar. It's been developed by personal finance guru, Dave Ramsey. (He is a Nashville-based, self-proclaimed "redneck", who tells people about his past mistakes and gives them straight advice about how to get out of debt and build wealth.) I've been an avid listener to his podcasts, for the past couple of years.
Every Dollar is super-easy to use and allows you to plan ahead, look back at previous months, and customize your expenses for what makes sense for you & your family. I look at it every few days and adjust accordingly. Even though it's developed for Americans, and we're Canadian, it's a tool which can be used universally.
The other unique thing about budgeting, is having my husband's involvement. He's become an active participant in the budget and decision-making. It's really amazing! For years, I pretty much ran all of our finances by myself. But now it's kinda nice to have his input and to run ideas and amounts by him.
Dave Ramsey always tells his listeners that it will take at least 3 months for couples to get comfortable with budgeting. Wish us luck!
Monday, August 14, 2017
Friday, August 11, 2017
Only 3 weeks until I retire!
The countdown is on...it's only 3 more weeks until my working-for-a-living chapter is done!
Only a few folks at my workplace are aware that I am retiring. The rest are about to find out next week and I am bracing myself for the congratulations, the mixed feelings, and the "how could you do this to me" reactions. I've been feeling a bit guilty that I haven't been able to share this with the larger group yet. I made the decision 12 weeks ago, but was asked to not shout it from the rooftops, or at least within the building, until we had a replacement for me.
Well, that took some doing: Finding a replacement. I work as a Talent Acquisition Specialist for a large company in Mississauga, Ontario. But our head office and my boss, is based in Montreal. Originally, they wanted to hire someone bilingual, but as time ticked on, they opted for someone who was like me and just wanted to come and work on a one-year contract. To complicate matters, my boss went on vacation while we were recruiting for my replacement. The final candidate was selected and during one of her interviews, with an HR Director, she became suspicious and decided not to join us. Was I upset? Yes! Did I want to throttle this Director? Yes!
So, I made a call to this candidate and had a long chat and gave her the straight goods about the job, which the Director, seemingly knew very little about and had mislead our final candidate down a road of negativity, for some reason. Odd. Anyway, I was able to help her to understand what the job was really like and she agreed to join us. So, good news for my boss, the this crisis was averted, while she was away on vacation.
Now, as I said, the countdown is on... 3 more weeks. In one more week, my replacement will be joining the company and I will begin to share all of my knowledge with her. A mind-meld, of sorts. There is so much I need to share with her; about personalities, idiosyncrasies, software, candidates, outstanding work, deadlines, how I did things. How will I cram it all in? And I typically work (and am paid to work) a 3-day week but I agreed to would work a 4 - day week during her 1st week with us, but only a 3 -day week for her second week, which is also my final week. There was absolutely no way I was going to work 4 days during my final week of work. I cannot wait until August 31st!
#retirement, retirement, Milton Ontario,
Only a few folks at my workplace are aware that I am retiring. The rest are about to find out next week and I am bracing myself for the congratulations, the mixed feelings, and the "how could you do this to me" reactions. I've been feeling a bit guilty that I haven't been able to share this with the larger group yet. I made the decision 12 weeks ago, but was asked to not shout it from the rooftops, or at least within the building, until we had a replacement for me.
Well, that took some doing: Finding a replacement. I work as a Talent Acquisition Specialist for a large company in Mississauga, Ontario. But our head office and my boss, is based in Montreal. Originally, they wanted to hire someone bilingual, but as time ticked on, they opted for someone who was like me and just wanted to come and work on a one-year contract. To complicate matters, my boss went on vacation while we were recruiting for my replacement. The final candidate was selected and during one of her interviews, with an HR Director, she became suspicious and decided not to join us. Was I upset? Yes! Did I want to throttle this Director? Yes!
So, I made a call to this candidate and had a long chat and gave her the straight goods about the job, which the Director, seemingly knew very little about and had mislead our final candidate down a road of negativity, for some reason. Odd. Anyway, I was able to help her to understand what the job was really like and she agreed to join us. So, good news for my boss, the this crisis was averted, while she was away on vacation.
Now, as I said, the countdown is on... 3 more weeks. In one more week, my replacement will be joining the company and I will begin to share all of my knowledge with her. A mind-meld, of sorts. There is so much I need to share with her; about personalities, idiosyncrasies, software, candidates, outstanding work, deadlines, how I did things. How will I cram it all in? And I typically work (and am paid to work) a 3-day week but I agreed to would work a 4 - day week during her 1st week with us, but only a 3 -day week for her second week, which is also my final week. There was absolutely no way I was going to work 4 days during my final week of work. I cannot wait until August 31st!
#retirement, retirement, Milton Ontario,
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