And the money kept rolling in from every side...

(10 points if you understand the title reference.)

Apparently now that I'm no longer in debt, I get to join the group of people on the winning team when the term "the rich get richer" is used. Or at least it has felt that way this week. Three different freelance cheques arrived in my mailbox, including the one that is three months late, and I found out that I'm getting a bonus at work. Oh, and don't forget the three paychecks in January.

I am feeling downright wealthy.

And that feeling of wealth has allowed me to practice a skill that I kept under wraps for most of this year: spending money.

You guys, I am SO good at it!

Besides the coat that I purchased earlier this week, there has been some holiday shopping. And today I went on a mission to find sweaters, since it is bloody cold outside and my sweater drawer is looking rather empty. Or was looking rather empty... until I added four new sweaters. (I know it sounds really bad, but three of them were on really good sales.) I also treated the DP to dinner tonight, which is not something I get to do very often. He's a cheap date, so it wasn't a huge splurge.

However, things are still in good shape. The sweaters were all bought with actual money, the credit card is empty and I got to add some more to my tax fund. It's going to be okay.

But since I'm not going to be blogging quite as regularly until the new year, I'm not going to post my daily or weekly expenditures. I'm going to concentrate on the big goals. And it's my blog so I can do that if I want to!

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $1045

It's the most wonderful(ly busy) time of the year

I think it's fair to say that blogging will become sporadic as this month progresses. Tonight I worked late, ran some errands, ate some dinner, wrapped some presents, wrote some cards, chatted on the phone, and now I need to go bed. (I know it's early, but I'm desperate to go to the gym in the morning. I haven't been in a week, which would explain my curiously low energy levels. You have to expend some energy to earn some more!)

Two things:

1. The credit card is getting a continuous workout, but is also being continuously paid, so I'm not going to stress about it.
2. Speaking of giving the credit card a workout, I bought a new coat today. It was a good deal at Winners.

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $645
Spent today: $0 (from my weekly cash allowance)

FYI, tomorrow is my staff Christmas party and then I am babysitting on Thursday night so a lovely couple can go to their staff Christmas party. I'll be back a little later this week. And tree pictures will eventually be posted. Promise!

Deck the hall

I'm wearing a Santa hat. Why, you ask? Because the holidays have officially arrived in our apartment. The tree is all decorated and there's even a present underneath it! (Plus I've just purchased a Christmas album on iTunes that I've always meant to buy - The Carpenters!)

I am almost counting down the minutes until the break. Just 11 more work days for me. How many for you?

Anyway, tomorrow I will endeavour to post some tree pics, but tonight I must crawl into a hot bath and then into bed. Before I do that, here are the new numbers.

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $645 (As promised, I added that Google Adsense cheque.)
Spent today: $1.87 (Just a can of mushroom soup to cook our chicken in.)

Happy almost holidays everyone!

Here I am!

I've been lazy in my blogging this weekend, but only because I've been busy, busy, busy! I'm sure no one is surprised to hear that. December is notoriously hectic, but I love it. I love the lights and the music and...well, everything!

Yesterday was my debut concert with my choir. We sang five songs with the Scarborough Symphony orchestra at their concert. I wish I could say it was awesome. I wish I could say that I loved every minute of it. Instead, I will just say that it was long. We had an afternoon rehearsal and then had to wait around for almost four hours before the concert even began. (We didn't bother going home, since we had to be back an hour before the concert began.) And then, while we were singing our second last song in the show, one of the older women in the choir FAINTED! Right at my feet. It was awful. And concert etiquette is to JUST KEEP GOING! Isn't that insane? She was okay, though. And I was okay, too, when I finally made it home after 11 p.m. (I left home just after 1 p.m.)

But in money news, I found my phone!! It was on the floor of the back seat of the car. Phew!

AND I finally got my Google Adsense cheque!! All of you and your clicks helped me earn $147! I'm going to put it in my account tomorrow and then put it towards my tax goal.

Oh, and I managed to put a decent chunk of my paycheck towards my tax goal, too, so it's coming along.

Also, I think the one wayward freelancing cheque might actually arrive in my mailbox this week. They didn't have my full address.

But even more exciting than all of that - we have a Christmas tree!! It smells fantastic. Tomorrow night after work we will decorate and bring the holiday into our home. It's about time!!

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $500
Spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday: $87

Wait, one more thing! It was a good weekend for loyalty points. We got $20 off of our groceries and I got $25 off at the drugstore. Bring it on!!

Get the worst over with

Here's the bad news:

There are many things that I am feeling the need to spend money on. The first is a new computer. My four-year-old PC has suddenly slowed waaaaayyy down. I have to turn it on and walk away for a solid ten minutes before I can use it. And then it takes another minute or two to open a program after that. Frustrating. So I want a new one. A Mac. No more PC for me. And it needs to be a laptop.

I also really, really, really want laser eye surgery. After almost 20 years of wearing contact lenses every day, I'm done.

And, sadly, there's the chance that I might need to buy another cellphone. Mine has been missing for almost a week and I cannot figure out where it has gone.

Plus, my reckless credit card spending escalated faster than I noticed, so much of the money that I planned to put into my tax account this week will have to go to that instead.

I guess my financial situation continues to be tenuous at best.

The good news:

The universe gave me a sign today. When I walked in the front door at work this morning, there were three stacks of white packing crates up against one of the walls. I only just quickly glanced at them, but I immediately noticed that only one out of the 60 crates had writing on it. It said Sutherland.

Okay then. Tenuous as things may be, at least I'm in the right place.

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $0
Spent today: $11-ish
Weekly total: $109 (a wee bit over...)

Quick recap

It has been a loooong day, let me tell you. I got up early and hit the gym, which was supposed to give me energy for the rest of the day, but left me pooped by 7 a.m. Not so good. Plus it was one of those workouts where every minutes takes about two minutes to go by. Brutal!

Then a busy, crazy day at work. I have three different roles I'm doing right now and today they all collided. I got through it, but gave myself a stress tummy ache in the meantime.

And tonight was choir rehearsal. We have a concert this Saturday that we are guest-starring in and then our big concert is two weeks from tonight. I wish I could say that I'm looking forward to them, but not so much.

To cap it all off, I was so looking forward to coming home and hanging on the couch with the DP for a bit, but he's still at work! Poor guy. I could not be a TV/film person. I like my 9-5-ish life. Occasional overtime - no problem! Every day overtime - forget it!

That's all I got. I'm beat.
Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $0
Spent today: $0 (Who had time!)

A hodge podge, if you will

I did something I wasn't expecting to do tonight - I paid off my student loans. Again.

See, I've been meaning to take a trip in to a bank so I can close that account now that the balance is at zero, but things have been very busy. 'Tis the season to be busy, right? Anyway, since the account is still active, I clicked through online just to enjoy the sight of the big fat zero.

Instead my balance read $5.57.

AAARRRGH!!! Damn interest. Damn end of the month interest.

No worries, though. I paid them their $5.57 and I'm once again in the clear. Phew! That was close.

Sorry I missed posting last night, but I was out at the SYTYCD Canada taping. It was fun but sooooooo long. Almost three hours of sitting without access to food, water or lip balm. I didn't mind my hunger for the first two hours, because I was busy looking at all the dancers bodies and trying to figure out how I could get mine to look like theirs. I concluded that I'd have to not only give up pretty much all of my favourite (read: sugary) foods, but I'd also have to quit my job so I could exercise all day. Every day. For the rest of my life. When I realized that wasn't going to be my fate, I just desperately wanted a sandwich.

Thanks to the DP, we did get to stroll around backstage after the show. Jean-Marc Genereux kissed me on both cheeks and Tre complimented my belt. I felt special.

In other news, there was lots to gossip about around the office today, because Rogers laid off a whole bunch of people in their publishing sector. No final number has been confirmed, but someone who works there said 45! They lost five at Macleans alone! Can I just say that my chair felt cozy and comfy. And everything on my to-do list took on new meaning: I have a job! Let's hope it stays that way.

On that note, I need to finish some freelancing before I retire for the evening. Sweet dreams everyone!

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $0
Spent yesterday: $0
Spent today: $13-ish (Stamps for holiday cards!)