Suite Thirteen

c.r.e.a.m. week 4 update!

rp — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:10:13 +0000

Oops. I guess I’ve been too busy saving money to write a post!

So, Project C.R.E.A.M. went well last week. And the week before that was great too. Using cash has become a habitual thing for me now and I’m totally enjoying it. Since I missed a week, I’m gonna double up the numbers to reflect the last two weeks of expenses and savings!

Expenses:
$200 for Groceries - Spent $150.00
$100 for Food & Entertainment – Spent $75.00
$300 for Gas & Car Maintenance – Spent $300.00
$50 for Clothing/Gifts/Misc. Shopping – Spent $50.00

Savings:
$50 for Home Maintenance – Saved $50 (Total so far this month: $200)
$200 for Emergency Fund – Saved $200 plus $75.00 from Expenses Surplus – total of $275.00 – (total so far this month: $501).

So in total, so far, we have saved an additional $701.00 for the month of June – which means my personal contribution is $350.50. I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can save for the rest of this week! It’s amazing that even out of the cash that had been budgeted, I still saved a little extra something. Now, that’s some news I’d love to take to the bank.

c.r.e.a.m. week one update

rp — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:57:17 +0000

So, the first week of Project C.R.E.A.M. has gone extremely well. Here’s the breakdown of last week’s expenses and savings:

Expenses:
$100 a week for Groceries - Spent $92.00
$50 a week for Food & Entertainment – Spent $30.00
$150 a week for Gas & Car Maintenance – Spent $102.00
$25 a week for Clothing/Gifts/Misc. Shopping – Spent $25

Savings:
$25 a week for Home Maintenance – Saved $25
$50 a week for Emergency Fund – Saved $50 plus $76.00 from Expenses Surplus – total of $126.00

Currently, the 2nd week is off to a good start too. Our food from last week is still carrying us forward - so we may not need to use as much from this week’s Grocery Fund. Awww yeah, cha-ching!! That’s the future sound of more money being dropped into the Emergency Fund.

Here’s to another week!

simply sia

rp — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:49:25 +0000

cash diet – project c.r.e.a.m.

rp — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:05:41 +0000

With all the budgeting I’ve had to do for the past few months for next year’s big life events (building/buying a house, getting married), I’ve decided to embark on a simple, yet not-so-simple challenge (for me anyways!) of spending only cash for the month of June. This is an effort to save more money and to make myself more aware of my spending habits. I’ve named this adventure Project C.R.E.A.M.. For those of you that aren’t WuTang fans, C.R.E.A.M. stands for Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

It’s not that I have debt tendencies when using my credit card, it’s that my dependency to charge every monthly purchase to the card and pay it off when the bill comes is pretty high. I justify expenses on the credit card vs. debit or cash as a way for me to accumulate Air Miles or Aeroplan points. Well, as ‘grand and lovely’ as it is to gain more miles or points, I always find myself eating out more or buying that extra jug of OJ at the grocery store because ‘I’ll just pay for it later when the bill comes’. Not feeling that immediate pinch of expenditures is something I want to create for myself.

So, I worked out a budget for everyday ‘life and leisure’ items I spend money on that are mostly variable and not fixed (such as my mortgage, utilities, car insurance, or my strict house/wedding fund that gets immediately shoved away into saving accts and TFSAs once I get paid). Luckily, I have no consumer debt so the budget is pretty straightforward.

The category amounts were determined by my spending habits during the past 4 months (thanks to my amazing Money Management iPhone App, I could get a sense of where I spent money aimlessly!). Because of this, I scaled back my allowance on Food & Entertainment and increased my Home Maintenance and Emergency Savings amounts. In other categories, such as Clothing/Gifts/Shopping, I’m being pretty generous as I don’t do as much shopping anymore. Any $ leftover in this category will go straight to the Home/Emergency Savings category.

Here’s the breakdown of the new June budget (shared between both my fiancé and I):

$100 a week for Groceries
$50 a week for Food & Entertainment
$150 a week for Gas & Car Maintenance (oil changes, car washes, unexpected car issues)
$25 a week for Clothing/Gifts/Misc. Shopping
$25 a week for Home Maintenance (b/c you just never know!)
$50 a week for Emergency Fund (in case something comes up and we don’t want to take money out of our Savings Accts)

So my personal cash allotment is $200 every week. Not too bad (I’m sayin’ this now! Haha!).

I’ll update and share my Proposed Weekly Cash Budget to reflect Actual Weekly Cash Expenses to create accountability in me every week. Wish me luck….I have a feeling this will be tougher than doing the Master Cleanse for 25 days!

a rebirth…

rp — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:28:30 +0000

So, I’ve been bad…yet again, with keeping up with the blogging the past few months. Oops! But, I have a truly justifiable reason as to why I’ve been so busy – I swear! I started a photography business that specializes in Lifestyle, Event, and Branding photography. It’s been a blast thus far and the people I’ve met through my latest assignments are beyond awesome. The whole process has been really rewarding and continues to be so.

I aptly named my new business Suite XIII based on the title of this blog, which I started over a year ago (crazy how time flies!). For those that know me very well, the significance behind this name is special and meaningful.

I do have a blog portion on my photography site – but these posts will mainly be more of what’s related to the business, things that inspire my creativity, and photographic journalism of everyday life happenings.

I don’t see myself stopping this blog in its entirety, as I do enjoy having a place to post things that fall under the ‘non-professional’ category, if you will. So, try to keep the hopes of me posting here and there fairly low on your hope-meter.

Also, feel free to check out Suite XIII - and don’t be shy in posting comments about my work! I absolutely love the feedback!

Thank you and much love.

who needs an umbrella when you have goggles?

rp — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:18:18 +0000

Regular umbrellas, watch out! Goggles Umbrellas are cute, efficient, and provide better coverage from the rain as you can actually see where you are going without lifting the panels of the umbrella.

Yay for Spring being around the corner!

sidewalk sale!

rp — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:40:53 +0000

Egyptian graffiti as of late.

sweet on social

rp — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:16:49 +0000

People who know me know that I’m a bit of a social media freak and addict. I enjoy getting lost in blogs, getting updated on the mini-world within my Facebook network, perusing the tweets on Twitter, and of course, being involved and engaged on LinkedIn.

I came across this neat site that maps out one’s connections on LinkedIn visually. Interested in seeing what yours would look like? Check it out here! Who knew a social network could look so pretty?

like a rocket

rp — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:27:05 +0000

the case of the missing photographers…

rp — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:24:59 +0000

Love the commentary and narration from Todd Bieber, the guy trying to find the photographers….I think I’d get along with him as well – we could be adventure buddies too!

Hopefully, the pictures make their way back to the people that captured those amazing shots. Photography truly brings out the best in people. This is proof of that!