Believe

I've noticed lately that events have turned out way better than I was anticipating. What I was anticipating wasn't very good.

I believe it is the universe coaxing me to believe that the best will happen, even though it may end up being a totally different form than I had wanted.

The outcome in all 3 events/interaction I was kind of dreading was not only surprisingly positive but was in a form I would not have had the capacity to think/make up.

Ironically, one of the first things I bought for my office was a painted wooden sign which sits almost directly across from me that says "Believe".

The latest events have convinced me that my spiritual muscles needs some stretching!

I'll be away for the next few days. Back next week.

Happy Early July 4th to my American Bloggers and Readers!

Happy Canada Day!!!

Happy Canada Day to fellow Canadian Bloggers and Readers!!!

I am a proud Canadian and have been one since 1978.

Canada has been really good to me. I have been able to grow up learning English and French. As a country, Canada is beautiful and I have yet to see it all. Canadians are known world over as being accommodating and polite, even bit pushoverish.

We have big open spaces, varying geography as well as vibrant cities. One can choose many different ways of living. Standard of living is pretty high. It is still possible to find really good value in real estate, even in our large cities, compared to places in Europe.

It is our climate that most people are surprised about. We don't all live in igloos and around where I live, it can be as warm as the Caribbean here!

June

Last working day of the month. It looks like I've surpassed my goal amount again this month. By how much will be determined by how busy I am today and I won't know until I show up later today.

I tend to think in terms of a month at a time for goal/income setting purposes. I know how many working days I have each month and approximately what that can mean for income. Some days I wish I got a salary but come tax time, I am grateful I am self employed as we do get more favorable tax treatment.

We sold a set of speakers for $150 a few days ago and our list of available inventory is shrinking. There have been a few new items popping up and a few I've decided to donate if they are not sold by a certain time. It has been surprising just how much we are selling to people out of town that require shipping. I would have thought most if not all sales would be to local people.

We were visiting some great people over the weekend and they are more appropriately described as my "parents". I have gained many sets of "parents" over the years -- people who love and care and want for me the best, like our real parents.

This couple is my inspiration and the topic of world travel came up. They have been around the world twice -- each time for a year -- before they had children. We were discussing the pros and cons of that in today's society.

Surprisingly enough, they felt that it is more difficult to do that today than it was during their time as the pace of life and competition they felt, were faster and higher so you would be left really behind after a trip like that. I would have thought they would wholeheartedly agree a year off before going into a career be mandatory!

I can see that their point was, they were working in government and teaching respectively at that point and were able to take their 2 sabbaticals without fear of losing their jobs and they had saved up before going in the first place.

That led to me telling them what the latest rendition of my retirement vision was -- To teach skiing for the entire season and then use the money to travel for the rest of the year. The main house and or the cottage would be sold meaning a chunk of money in the bank along with retirement savings that wouldn't need to be touched much at all. I would be a citizen of the world. Something to look forward to in the next decade or so.

Agreement

I have been asked how D has managed to come around to the whole idea of me contributing to the mortgage when earlier in the year, it was a point of contention ie. he saw it as his responsibility, so back off.

He does claim it as his responsibility and we are keeping track of the amount I have contributed above and beyond 50%. So far it amounts to around $22500.

So what will happen?

Once the mortgages are done, I may start drawing an amount each month from our general revenue account until we equalize. I may use it and invest in something.

There are loads of options but right now it is a paper transaction that allows me to help out towards a common goal and the agreement allows him to feel good about things too -- a win win situation.

Get Stronger

It has been a tough and busy month. Paid work has been gratefully busy and I am a sore and achy from not stretching enough.

Selling stuff and re-organizing finances is like having 2 part time jobs so by the time I leave to walk to work after lunch, I've already been working since 7:30 am and my paid work won't wrap up until 7:30 pm!

I am definitely feeling it after this month.

When I get drawn out, I take it as a sign that something needs changing. Either I back off or I get stronger. I'm thinking stronger.

I'm going to spend some time this weekend looking at my health routine and seeing where I've slacked off, eaten poorly or not enough and go from there.

As I tell my clients, the goal is to be stronger than the worst thing you do to yourself...

Yeah Friday!

Except for a loaf of my current love -- the cranberry chocolate artisan bread, we now bake sour dough, rye and multigrain by either the bread maker or oven. They taste great and we have not missed buying regular bread at all.

I haven't calculated if we actually save money or not when accounting for the electricity the bread maker uses or the gas our gas oven uses... I guess we just feel good about doing it ourselves, that's all.

The other day, I threatened D that I will sell our pasta maker if we do not start using it! That no stone shall be left unturned in our house now that I am on a selling rampage! He thinks he'll come home one day to see an ad for himself and Cedric!

Now that we are into the warmer season (I had a challenging walk to work yesterday, with high temperatures and humidity -- 38 degrees Celsius -- and because I start work at 1 pm, I walk during the hottest time of the day), we have noticed our gasoline usage creeping up.

Extra trips to the cottage, extra social outings etc. We haven't chosen to limit activities but it is more an observation.

With our new commitment towards the mortgage, our yearly holiday schedule will consist of 4 1/2 weeks skiing, 1 1/2 weeks cottage for D. For me, 4 1/2 weeks skiing, 3 weeks cottage, 1 week solo trip and 1/2 week extra, probably at home.

I'm not sure if D actually believes me but I brought up renting out our vacation properties again. Remember that he vetoed it due to my reluctance? Now that I have gotten the taste of selling stuff and feeling good about it, I suggested that we revisit the concept of getting ready to rent the ski condo this coming season.

I am not ready mentally for the cottage yet but winter is far enough away that I can get my head around it. He said he'd get back to me about it...

Sobering Thoughts

I asked D to create a new spreadsheet for me the other day and the results were quite depressing. It was designed to show our cash flow when I move to a 2 day work week -- not pretty.

Even if I took out most of our leisure activities, I could not make it work. The reason? The mortgages and our savings goals were too ambitious. There was no leeway to live.

I figured that I was D's backup until the mortgages are done and this sheet made me realize that I was not just casual backup, I was mandatory backup.

Unless of course we move into real estate selling mode and I'm not quite ready for that yet.

Sometimes I find it easier to function when I do not have a choice. Sound strange? It helps me settle my mind since I have a propensity to think too much. On some level, there is peace with "it is what it is".

The 8 year or less timeline coincides with D getting another week's holiday so it will be great to celebrate that and the increased cash flow.

From now til the end of the year we have freed up enough cash flow from trips etc. to put about $10000 towards mortgage prepayments. My march towards the 2 days work week has begun.

Prepayments Revisted

Yeah! The other buyer did come through and made the purchase yesterday. $55 was the result.

I've been busy this morning playing around with mortgage calculators to determine what effect our up and coming prepayments will make and if it will be worth it. So far it seems to be.

We know that when the renewal comes in 3 years or so, that mortgage rates will likely be higher. I am factoring that in and looking at what the payments will be at 3.5, 4 and 5% over a 5 year term.

I don't want to go longer than that to finish what is left but I want to make sure that the payments will fit what D is currently paying -- because if it doesn't, I will have to step in and I don't want to do that.

So the trick will be to put enough prepayment monies towards it so that the amount left in 3 years or so will fit nicely in a 5 year term.

Paid bi-weekly, the overall amortization will be 4 yrs 7 months with no prepayments and much quicker with. That will be my job.

Tired but Good

I have probably spent way to much time on the spreadsheets lately. Though something really good has come out of it, I am still tired. A break from it is in order. It feels like it ought to be a Thursday instead of Tuesday!

We will be extending our Christmas vacation by a week so that we would not need to be flying out west twice in the winter. The difference in ski days is 3 days for a savings of 2 flights and transfers!

Life Beyond Selling

I did end up sending an email yesterday to the slow response buyer. I worried that I would come across too pushy but it was good for my peace of mind. Another email went out to someone who had expressed interest but I had delayed due to the above slow response person.

What will become of it? I don't know, but I feel better about establishing healthier boundaries. I sometimes think that Internet dealings have the potential for allowing personal laxity that otherwise may or may not occur if we were dealing face to face.

My budget spreadsheet had a major overhaul due to the recent trip changes. So far, 2010 and 2011 will look fairly similar. We are making more use of the cottage and ski condo. I am going to look into converting some foreign currency I have into Canadian dollars so it can be put into savings and work for us now, rather than just sitting there.

On a fun note, we started watching the Harry Potter movie series yesterday in anticipation of the next film opening soon. I have been a late adapter to the books and movies -- just last year! I can certainly understand why there is such a large following.

Can't wait until Transformers opens either! To top it off, an old fashion ice cream truck came by our neighbourhood -- the ones that have that circus like jingle playing -- and I got a Spiderman popsicle -- hard to describe but it was of the face and there were 2 gumballs that were the eyes and the red and blue tasted like red and blue slush! It was Yummy!

Selling Sagas

I am frustrated with this one person who I am awaiting payment for a couple of items. Meanwhile I have another person who I have put off since last Thursday because of what I thought was a pending deal.

Maybe I'm just too nice about this. I am thinking of writing him back and saying that I am pursuing my next lead because I have not heard back since last Wednesday. This sale may not be worth it me. He has had previous recent feedback stating that he was slow with communication.

How slow is too slow? I had already fallen for the single dad sob story. Is this yet another version of a bad buyer?

On a much more pleasant note, Happy Fathers Day!!!

Cancellations

We are biting the cancellation bullet for the remainder of our trips this year. I am on hold with Air Canada as I type to finish off the airfare part of it.

I have to admit that it has been a difficult decision even though logically it makes a lot of sense. My desire for adventure is very strong but luckily, so is my desire to reach my savings goals.