I'd Love to Stay and Party, but I Gotta go to Work

Feminem?

Looks like the party is over and I need to snap back to reality (oops there goes gravity). Today marks the end of my week of holidays with my sister and her boyfriend and we did so many incredible things while they were in town. We spent a day at the spa, went to Montreal, went zip-lining, went to a water park, and ate some delectable dishes that were fit for a king.  I was on such a high from having them come visit; it was a sensory overload of really fun times. I took this week as an opportunity to treat myself and truly enjoy my holidays here in my home city, but at the same time, I completely neglected my budget for the week (I guess that's what my savings are for). But you know what, sometimes you just need to spoil yourself and the ones that you love with an incredible week! Thank you so much for taking the time off just to see me M&Z!

I wish I would have had this booklet. 

My sister and her boyfriend left only a few hours ago, so now I am at that place where the reality of work is sinking back in and I am reading all the mail that I have been avoiding for the past week. My income tax letter finally arrived and apparently I owe the government another $500 on top of what I already paid, so that comes as a bit of a blow since I was expecting to get back about $500 from the government. I wish they had some sort of tax program that would give me some money back for helping lower the national consumer debt with this handy blog!

Anyway, I am going to review my claim again and see if I truly did make an error because I certainly don't think that I did. Yes, everyone, you can reassess the assessment that was made by the government, and I mean c'mon, how many people do you know out there who are as obsessed with their money and debt as I am? It seems like every year they assess me and every year is the same story, I make too much, and I owe them more money! Well, add that to the list of bills I guess! Wait until I get my TSFA off the ground government! I'll show you who owes taxes!

This seems like the appropriate time to announce some changes and exciting things that have been happening in my life. First of all, I am officially leaving the job that is driving me to the brink of a mental breakdown and into something different. I haven't really figured out what that something different will be yet, but I know that it will be a change. I love change. Those of you who are just joining my blog now might be wondering how I can be so confident that I will get to do something different so easily. I have been acting in a position for the past year, and that year is officially coming to a close which means that I can go back to my old job and continuing to strive in something that I am good at. Between you and I though, I am really desperately seeking to do something where I use my brain a little more and let my creativity run wild! In my current job, I do a lot of administrative work, and while I am good at it, I am not passionate about it. I hear a lot of ramblings and ranting that in this economy, I should just be grateful for the job that I have. But I already know that. The struggle that I face every day (which I am sure most of you can relate to) is that I want to be getting paid to do something that I love. My current job is not something that I love.

My hope is that by going back to where I was, I could have more chances to really shine and prove that I am capable of doing something so much bigger that what I am doing right now. I really don't feel as though I am living up to my potential. This blog is a great outlet for me to scratch my creative bone but I can't help but imagine me doing something much more fabulous with my life.

Which brings me to my other new job! In July, I am starting to work part-time at the yoga studio that I volunteer at in exchange for free yoga and another salary. This money is going all go right into my savings account to prepare me for a great big celebration when all of this debt repayment is finished or maybe just to get my debt paid down even sooner. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter everyday and I know that I will have that financial freedom sooner than I can say "Gail Vaz-Oxlade".

And speaking of my idol, financial guru: Gail Vaz-Oxlade, look who sent a tweet about me on her Twitter page WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back in September:

Best Tweet of my Life!

I only noticed this recently when I saw a spike in readership due to hits from Twitter! Needless to say, I have now officially joined the Twitterverse and following Gail!  She and I have been nonchalantly tagging each other in our tweets. My lovely friend Inez has sent Gail a tweet to tell her about my progress and now Gail is saying that I should send her my story so I could be appearing as a guest on her show! I don't quite know what show exactly (I assume it's her radio show) since she has a bazillion of them! Where does this lovely lady find the time to do so many things? Girlfriend takes moonlighting to a whole new level!

I don't think you need to read my blog to tell that I am incredibly excited at the possibility of interacting with Gail in real life! Her book and shows have really turned my life around and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to finally say thank you! So right now, I need to write to Gail and tell her about me so she can judge whether or not I should be a guest on her show. Check back in soon and I will gush all the juicy details! I'm so freaking excited! Wish me luck!!!

xoxo

John

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Another One Bites the Dust

Suck it Line of Credit! 

I can't help but feel an immense sense of pride when I get to enter the word PAID next to another one of my debts! Despite going on a major spending spree in Montreal for my 4 year maniversary, I have managed to completely eliminate my line of credit and raised my total percent paid off to almost 60%! At this point I was only expecting to have half my debt eliminated, so for me to be 10% ahead of the game makes me feel pretty darn special.

Lately however, I have been feeling the other kind of "special" and doing silly and forgetful things. Maybe it's something to do with the season? After locking myself out of my apartment for an hour and a half yesterday, I finally got around to doing my income taxes and (yay) I am getting a $1,000 refund! That's going to go right to my debt repayment for sure (pay attention people). This year, I was able to do my taxes much faster than most other years because I finally have some stable employment and an employer who actually takes off all the right amounts of deductions. Filled with excitement that I wasn't going to have to pay more income tax like I did last year, I put all of my receipts, T4s and whatever other forms and receipts I had and then I sealed my envelope. Now lucky for me (depending on how you feel about it) I have a tax forms drop box down the street from where I work so I opened the mail slot and dropped my envelope in the box. At that moment, something hit me - I didn't sign the freaking forms. I really hope that they will come back to me soon, although I am not too concerned since the money is all going right to debt repayment anyway. Sure I could netfile or call someone to see if I can fix this error and get my refund quicker, but the reality is that I just don't give a $hit.

This is what has dawned on me; my "aha" moment, if you will. I am finally in a place financially where a delay on a cheque for $1,000 dollars doesn't even make me blink an eye. I am truly getting to the point where I can be comfortable with what I have in my bank account enough so that I don't need to be worried about this. When I was at the beginning of this process, the things I would do with that $1,000 were numerous and I would be so thrilled to get that money to buy a new computer or take a little trip somewhere, but now it's not even important.

My perspective has really been changed over the course of this past year and a half. A couple of weekends ago, I spent a day relaxing at a spa that cost $50 for a day of relaxing in their mineral baths and I thought, "if I were to have done this when I had my first job, I would have had to work 10 hours to afford my entry into the spa". I cannot help but feel incredibly fortunate for everything that I have right here and now. I am constantly learning that I truly can have anything I put my mind to if I keep a positive attitude and include the people I love in my journey.

Happy Maniversary Baby!