Quarterly Report

The first quarter is almost done. What do we have to show for it?

• net worth (see side bar) has gone up a bit, from cash savings as well as very recent market activity
• decided to give savings a go vs paying of mortgage more aggressively -- current amortization is 9 yrs -- due to D's insistence on paying his own way
• drove to work once this year (so that I could carpool to a meeting), other than that, haven't driven to work since Oct '08
• we have decided to increase our monthy cash allowance to $60 from $40, down from $80
• am impressed enough with ING, who currently holds my non tax acct (index fund), to seriously consider opening up another registered rsp account with them
• finished up our first ski season out west
• bought new skis
• replaced tires and brakes on my car
• had a few lunch dates and dinner parties
• received my trip documents for Alaska
• bought flights to France for fall -- seat sale
• working accounts are working well -- where I draw out of to pay for flights and car repairs -- current balance at $1500 each, will get to $5000 each by end of the year
• got Cedric the Black Cat -- he seems to like being called Black Bob more...
• went to an association meeting and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome and food
• donated to a couple of good causes
• cooking from scratch fairly consistently -- only buying barely a handful of prepackaged food
• started our veggies seeds
• currently rearranging layout of house to fit our lifestyle goals better
• revamped insurances for cottage and ski condo
• our mortgage rates went down to 1.6% and 1.75%
• began tracking gas, water and electricity usage monthly vs. last yr -- we have reduced our usage to between 18 - 35% -- unfortunately, the cost of utilities have gone up so our bills haven't gone down directly by the same percentage
• already getting into the Easter chocolate...