Time to Have Some Fun in 2013!

Instead of making a resolution list this year I have decided to make a bit of a life list - things that will bring more fun into our lives in 2013. Now, don't get me wrong, there was some fun in 2013, mostly spent exploring the beaches here.

There was also lots of work this year - readying our home for sale and having it on the market for five months, packing up, moving, unpacking, and oh yeah, the first year of self employment!

So 2013 is the year of FUN!

My list includes both things we can do for free, some with little money, and some with more money!

1. Do some hiking. We did some hiking last summer on our trip to Whistler and we really enjoyed it. There are some fantastic hikes within driving distance so this should be easy to accomplish. Cost? Gas. Lunch? Pack it in the backpack I bought last summer with Birthday money.

2. Travel to a country we have not yet been to, hopefully somewhere in Europe. Cost? Large. Is this a realistic goal in 2013? Well, there is just over $500 in the travel fund right now and it is not growing as we are carrying two homes. If we sell the Alberta home this is going to happen. If I win a trip (I still enter contests) it may happen. One can dream as travelling is one of the few "things" we spend money one.

3. Go to Portland Oregon in September. This is going to happen as my cousin is getting married and these family get-togethers are the only way I get to see my extended American side of the family. We shall drive and take Mom (her brother is the Father of the Groom) to share some of the travel expenses but as Portland is a seven hour plus ferry ride away - come hell or high water we shall be there.

4. Explore some new beaches. Cost? A small amount of gas. As I meet more people here we hear of new beaches so this will definitely be something we do this year.

5. Learn to Sea Kayak. Cost? $100 for a couple of lessons and rental for the two of us. We shall pay for lessons and kayak rental first and then when we get more accomplished we shall just rent the kayaks. We have one of the best protected areas for sea kayaking here and you can get into the water right from the rental store. We wanted to do this last year but ran out of time when hubby's company took off. This is one of those things not to put off as we are 43 and 50 years old. I can't see us buying kayaks as we own cars so it is difficult to transport them and store them.

6. Day trip to towns we have not been to on Vancouver Island. Cost? Mostly gas. We can take lunch or splurge on lunch out. Vancouver Island is beautiful and although we have explored many towns here - there are many we have not been to. Tofino is one of the ones we hope to get to this year.

7. Do some biking. We own bikes, and I need more exercize. This requires me to get into slightly better shape as we have many hills around our home that need to be conquered to go any distance. Cost = free! We own the equipment already.

8. Do more socializing and accept invitations that come our way. In the past we have been guilty of avoiding socializing primarily because hubby was in upper management at his last J.O.B. and he had a very social job. He always felt like after hours(I mean after his 12 hour heart attack inducing day) was his time and we tended to cocoon at home. We declined many invites. Now that we are self employed we need to get out of the house more. We recently had our neighbors(new friends) over and had a very nice, and yet still inexpensive evening. You don't have to break the budget to entertain.

9. Do more photography. I love taking pictures and since I purchased the Canon T3I Rebel camera before our trip to Costa Rica in 2011 I have the equipment already. Some of the activities on the FUN list will allow me to take pictures but I also need to start keeping it in the trunk of my car as see many photo opportunities, such as seven bald eagles sitting in a tree yesterday on my way to get groceries. Unfortunately the camera was at home.

10. Date nights. Yes, hubby and I are together most of the time now as live and work together at home but we need to schedule more dates where talking about the Business and using the iphone is off limits. The budget may go up and down on this but we need to make it happen.

We are going to have a fun next two days - Mom is coming for a two night visit this afternoon. Tonight we are going to go see The Hobbit. Yes, I will actually make it to ONE first run movie in 2012! Tommorrow I cook the holiday turkey feast and we shall watch movies at home. Cheers and Happy New Years!

23 Degrees

The bird ornament was my Grandparents - unfortunately he is missing his feet but still goes on the tree every year. The Santa ornament was a gift from my family a few years ago

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We flew back on Christmas Day after several days spent in our Alberta home with the kids visiting friends and family. It was nice, but very exhausting. Today we are taking a day to do whatever we want and tomorrow we go back to work as Hubby got an extra contract signed in December that we were not expecting and there is much to be done.

The weather was very cold in Alberta, with temperatures on average being -24 degrees celcius and lots of snow. We flew home to a little snow on the ground that was slushy and melting with a temperature of 1 degree celcius. A difference of 23 degrees and we shall take that anyday! Green grass is still peeking out from under the snow and THAT IS WHY WE MOVED HERE - way less winter and the ocean.

This Christmas was on budget. We spent 1/3 less on gifts, and to be honest nobody noticed. We used the money saved on a lower gift budget to help defray the costs on the airfare (we used 1/2 points and 1/2 cash) and car rental. This Christmas still was very expensive but hopefully the sealed pot will help our 2013 Christmas budget. The grocery budget was blown as expected, not because I went overboard but because a lot of groceries had to be bought for the Alberta home for meals with leftovers that were left behind for my stepson who lives there. This will definitely be our last Christmas in that house as we have made a decision to put it back on the market in March, and this time with a realtor as we now live out of Province. Even if we have to lose money we will sell it as cannot see carrying two homes through another year. It is way more expensive than anticipated and we are just fortunate that we had saved so much money for this year of transition and are debt free with exception of a small mortgage from carrying the 2nd home. The other thing that saved us is that hubby's company took off and we have actually been staying afloat on that income since October. We had initially kept the Alberta house as expected an increase in the market as Alberta seems to be booming again due to the Oil Sands - but it will still take several years that we don't have. This is our priority in 2013. Our new Island home costs 1/2 of what the Alberta home does to maintain and is just perfect for the two of us.

Mom is coming to visit for two days for New Years and that is when I am cooking a Turkey with all the trimmings as Christmas Eve we had the traditional Ukrainian food (I even cooked two Ukrainian dishes to my Mother-in-laws approval) and Christmas day was spent travelling. Five alarm Chili waiting to be re-heated was in the freezer and that was our dinner last night with a Christmas drink and the opening of our gifts to each other.

Today is a jammie day with lots of tea drinking and reading. Have a great day!

Two Lists

On Thursday we fly out to spend Christmas in Alberta with the kids. We fly back on Christmas day as we traditionally open presents and celebrate on Christmas Eve and then they spend Christmas day with their Mother. I have two lists going - one for all the things I have to do before we go and one for all the groceries I have to buy when we get there. I also have to deal with snow (remember, that white stuff?) and cold temperatures.

Lights in our bedroom

This Christmas will be a bit odd as the Island house is all Christmasfied and the Alberta house is not. I had left some decorations in the Alberta house, a small fiber optic Christmas tree that we have had for years and a few small decorations along with the kids Stockings so we will decorate on arrival. If it looks too bare I will have the kids (teens and young adults really, 15, 17, 19 and 20) help me make paper snowflakes and cut some boughs off the trees to festify the house. I am not going to go out and buy a bunch more decorations - that is for sure. This may be the last Christmas we spend in the Alberta house as are tossing around putting it back on the market this Spring - decisions, decisions.

There is a story to the little tree in our bedroom. This little tree used to be one of a pair of pre-lit trees that were used outside either side of the garage, bought about seven years ago in our less frugal minded years. Last winter vicious winter windstorms took out a wreath and the other tree breaking both into little bits. I did not realize that until we went to put them up this year - hubby and the kids had quietly disposed of the other one when we were cleaning out the garage in preparation for the big move. What does one do with one lone tree? One that none of the lights work as the wind smacked this one around too? Unstrung the lights (very difficult on a pre-lit tree by the way, only made better by a round of rum and eggnog), and decorate it. I had enough decorations but not enough lights. For some reason I had been hanging on to a long string of multicolored lights that only half the strand works. I decorated it with half the strand and stuffed the other half behind it hiding it in a black blanket used also as a tree skirt. It sits in the corner of our bedroom and I particularly like the way the lights reflect on the boughs and the wall. The ribbon gracing it has been used over and over for the last 10 years - in it's last reincarnation it decorated a large wreath that was given away before we left Alberta.

I love this candle holder - there used to be two but one broke. I use it year round as you can put whatever you want in the bottom of it. I took a couple clippings off the front yard tree and used a few gold balls that had previously been part of the aforementioned departed wreath - and now it sits in the kitchen window.

Finally, the grand finale, the living room tree. Yes, it is fake. We have had it for several years now and works great. Never dries out and can be left up for many weeks as I usually have it up the last week of November. One day, when we are not travelling back and forth I wouldn't mind having a real tree, but for now this will do. The vintage ornaments found in November at the thrift store fit in nicely with the mishmash of family ornaments. There is no theme - I don't do theme trees.

This will be my last post until after Christmas so I would like to wish all my readers a safe and happy Christmas!

Favorite Things Post

Hubby's iphone pic yesterday - how you celebrate Christmas when you live on a boat - stick your tree on top - taken at the Comox Marina


One of my favorite things is taking a walk by ocean with hubby. Yesterday was a nice sunny chilly day (when it is cloudy here it is much warmer) so we took a walk at the Comox Marina. I left my camera at home but hubby's iphone takes really nice shots (one of his favorite things).

Earlier this week I did the two hour drive to see my Mom and spent the night with her - another favorite thing to do. I do this run about every three weeks and make sure to visit all the thrift stores along the way combined with stopping at The Old Farm Market in Duncan which has some of the cheapest best produce on Vancouver Island. They are open year round and have mainly local produce but do also import some vegetables from Washington State and Mexico, especially in winter. For $10 I brought back 10 pounds of potatoes, green peppers for .39 cents a pound, celery, tomatoes and some other greens and bananas. My mother who is a low income senior visits this market at least once a week.

This trip Mom gifted me with something very unique and special, her WWII ration booklet. Mom was born in January 1943, making her 70 years old this coming January. She was the oldest of six Children born in the middle of the War. This rations booklet was recently found in my Grandparents things and was the first she had seen of it. Many of the ration stamps are unused as my Grandparents owned an apple orchard and raised some of their own animals so as a result, along with many other farmers, lived quite well in these lean times. This booklet was issued when she was eight months old, August of 1943. This is one of my new favorite things, which I hope to share with my Stepkids this Christmas. My new favorite saying found on the rations booklet "IF YOU DON'T NEED IT, DON'T BUY IT" - foreign words in modern times.

Linking up with Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing Saturday.

Our hearts are heavy with the recent events in Connecticut, Oregon and Colorado. There are no words...

The Reason I Live Here

It doesn't always rain in the winter on Vancouver Island - photo taken December 4 as proof. I love it. I talked to an old friend back in Alberta last night - it was 30 degrees celcius colder there than here. I am so glad we moved here. Now, I must go dig out my winter clothing for our trip back to Alberta on December 20th.

Oatmeal 101 Breakfast of Champions

Favorite Garage Sale Cannister $1

My oatmeal is not boring and therefore my family and I love it. Yes, take plain oatmeal and add a bit of milk and it can be boring. We add some of these items every time:

Cinnamin
Cloves
Nutmeg
Vanilla
Raisins
Any bits of dried fruit like cranberries, figs, Raisins
Chopped Apple
Frozen or fresh berries

Today's oatmeal was chopped apple (free from September box Mother gleaned from a friend kept crisp in the fridge), cinnamin, dash of vanilla, handful of raisins and handful of dried cranberries. Breakfast for less than a dollar.

The secret to good oatmeal is putting the fruit and spice in with the water and bring to boil. The spices also make your house smell great. Use a wooden spoon to stir for one minute while simmering then remove from heat and let it set up - about 3 minutes. You will never burn oatmeal to your pan and it comes out perfect every time. Hubby eats his with Spenda and milk, I prefer a dash of brown sugar and milk. If you are going away for the weekend and have access to a kitchen you can easily pack breakfast in a bag this way.

After the breakfast of champions I am off to buy our .95 cent per pound holiday Turkey. Cheers!

In The Spirit of The No More Christmas Cr**p Campaign

SFT's Sealed Pot Challenge Results

Our fireplace mantle - decorated with items bought over five years ago in compliance with the No More Christmas Crap Challenge. The Glass Candle holder on the left had a mishap in our move and we had to repair the base with glue - add some greenery around the bottom and you can't even tell!


Head on over to SFT's Life After Mortgage to see 2012 Sealed pot Challenge Results.

I am joining for the first time this year and have my sealed pot all ready to go - do you?

Originally I was going to use the sealed pot for a travel fund, but due to self-employment and the realization that there are certain months of the year when our income is less than our outgoing funds, December being one of them, we will use the sealed pot for Christmas 2013. We have four kids, two mothers and three nephews who we buy gifts for plus a small gift for one another. This will hopefully ease the pain next year.

What are you using yours for?

November Budget Results and Getting A Handle On Our Grocery Bill

November's Grocery Budget $425
Year to date overage prior to November $261.25
Actual November grocery spend $472.
Over by $47 this month for year to date overage now at $308.25.
Coupons Used $10.97.
If you are a new follower the grocery budget includes all over counter medications, grooming and cleaning products.


Annual Clothing Budget $200
Remainder after October $6.40
($109.79 was transferred out of clothing to cover part of grocery overage in September and October)
Bought leather Kenneth Cole belt for $3.35 at Salvation Army.
$3.15 remaining for rest of year. I might buy a pair underwear this month, new of course as don't buy used undergarments.

Annual Hair Budget $400
Balance after October $99.13.
Zero spent - I used the root kit bought in October last week. I need a hair cut but am trying to stretch it another week so I can get one closer to our Christmas visit to Alberta. Whatever is left will be transferred to reduce the grocery overage at end of year.


It seems harder than ever to stay within our grocery budget, even after increasing it to $425 per month. Perhaps it is because our entertainment budget has been reduced $60 per month for two of us(eating out once) but I think the true reason is that all groceries have gone up. I would have paid $5.69 for four litres of milk last week - got it free using Quality Foods points. Perhaps it is because we pay 12% tax on all nonfood items (and some food items that are considered convenience foods). Perhaps it is because I am still stocking up and have been forced to buy items when not on sale. Whatever the reason, I have gone over the food budget again this month. We are living leaner than we ever have and as a result my cooking skills have become better because we are eating at home 98% of the time. I do use coupons but most of the ones I have access to are for processed foods or for items that I don't buy like air fresheners. If only they made coupons in Canada for staples.

There are no Tim Hortons Coffee's (the last one I had was in October when my Stepson was here as a treat). There are no spontaneous lunches out. We carefully plan our days and outings to avoid eating out as that is the number one budget buster. We belong to a business organization that has a lot of fundraisers for Charity. Since August we have been to two - cost $30 per plate. We declined going to their Christmas party at $37 per plate as it is not going to charity. There are no movies out with popcorn as we own a PVR purchased in 2011 with cash so we record lots of movies and tv shows (yes, we have cable). Once in a great while we rent a DVD for $4 - the last time being early October. Early in November we invited our neighbor friends over for some drinks and I splurged on a variety of cheese and crackers to go with it. The extra cheese was frozen to use for casseroles.

In order to keep our entertainment budget low we try and keep our diet varied and interesting, which sometimes involves buying more expensive ingredients. This week's menu included chicken curry, shrimp stirfry, cajun chicken pasta casserole (one of the best things I have ever cooked so says hubby and I just threw it together with ingredients we had) and tonight barbequed burgers. Yesterday a large batch peanut butter cookies for desert was whipped up - froze half.

It is difficult to source out inexpensive meat here. For now we are using less meat in casseroles and stir fry's. Last week Tuna was on for .77 cents a can - the usual lowest price here is .99 cents so I bought twelve. I creep about in the meat section of every grocery store looking for pink stickers with extra dollars off. Every week the flyers arrive out comes the list to write down the loss leaders at every store - and that is my shopping list for the week. Buy only what is on sale and do without until something goes on sale.

The plan this month is to start a Price Book to keep track of lowest prices found on grocery items so that when a sale comes along I know how good the sale is to stock up. This is certainly not my idea, but one borrowed from that famous Frugalista
Amy Dacyczyn, author of the The Tightwad Gazette - go to the library and read the books if you haven't already for frugal ideas,some over the top and some very good ones that anyone could benefit from. The budget is likely to get blown again this month due to Christmas as we are flying back to Alberta for five days and the four kids will be over at our house for at least four of those days. They consume huge amounts of food being 15, 17, 19 and 21 but we are really looking forward to the time with them so I will have to do some meal planning for that timeframe. Family time is worth blowing the budget!