Sunday, 30 December 2012
2013 is gonna be a rocky year for this Rabbit...
For everyone born in the sign of the Rabbit, 2013 is a tough, stressful and tiresome year according to Feng Shui forecast.
http://www.fengshuimall.com/feng-shui-forecast-2013
It is good to know, so that I can be prepared to face the Year of the Snake head on. I am told to "Be positive and strengthen myself! To stay strong and healthy this year to face the year’s challenges and to try not to overwork and get enough sleep." Both of which for most people are not a challenge but for this bunny getting enough sleep and not overworking myself is like asking me to breathe regularly.
Apparently my spirit chi and vitality energy is lacking, and I will not be as enthusiastic as last year in my approach to work, or life. I thought the energy drag I have felt as I head towards the New Year was mostly do the chocolate hang over, lack of exercise and the laying around I have done over the Christmas holidays.
There's no doubt that my energy levels feel a little off kilter, but like everyone, I plan on making New Years resolutions that more than likely I will have difficulty keeping since only 8% of Americans actually follow through....sorry no Canadian statistics, but I doubt there is much of a difference.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
Just as a side note, the top 10 New Years resolutions for 2012 are (no surprise)...
1) Losing Weight: I need to say goodbye to 12 pounds minus whatever I gained over the holidays. Sorry not willing to look until Jan 1st...until then glug, glug, glug and someone pass me a chocolate truffle!!
2) Getting organized: Yippee! I am on this one....thankfully I am Mrs. Organized. That doesn't mean my plans always follow through or that I don't single-handedly organize my own disasters. I can over plan days like Mrs. Claus can bake too many fruit cakes....and I do this often. It is a curse and sometimes a super power....hence the lack of sleep and down time.
3) Spending less, saving more: No kidding! This is a resolution that got started in September and will be carried on into in January. Its not about how much money you make, but how much you keep. I plan on keeping most of it in 2013 despite my inner rabbit's dire predictions in the area of finance for 2013. There is no doubt that focusing on consolidating my resources is good advice considering the focus that I now have for reducing our debt and sticking to a budget. There may even be an awesome ray of hope....
My financial forecast says, "Be patient and composed. Do not be hasty in taking risks, starting new ventures or expanding business as it will drown you with troubles. Best to stay low key. Not a good year to change jobs or put money into investments. The 26 year old Rabbit will suffer very bad wealth and health luck. However, wealth luck is shining on the 38 year old." Lucky me....I will be a 38 year old rabbit!!!
4) Enjoying life to the fullest: I will be making good on this one in 2013 and that doesn't mean blowing everything at Vegas or building a stocked wine cellar or eating Prime Rib every night (Mmmmm, prime rib....). I am going to enjoy living to the fullest by hugging my kids a little closer, getting the rest and exercise I need, investing more time into the relationships that matter most, growing a little garden, and learning how to meditate or maybe just meditative breath.....hey, you gotta start somewhere.
5) Staying Fit and Healthy: See #1, no doubt that staying fit and healthy ties in with losing weight. The last three weeks have been spent baking, decorating, and participating in Christmas activities which means that exercising, healthier cooking and taking my vitamins have completely flown out the window. When I over schedule, the first thing to go is my personal health.....I am not alone in that, I am sure.
"Every Rabbit should take note of food hygiene and should seek early medical treatment when you’re ill." I learned this the hard way in 2012 when I let a plantar foot injury get so out of hand that I couldn't walk on the foot anymore. I am still struggling with it and need to resolve to invest in my health in 2013. As for the food hygiene, I can guarantee that everything I have stuffed my face with for Christmas was delicious and sanitary!
6) Learn something exciting: "Success luck is rather poor." So if it works better for me in 2013 to relax a bit, go with the flow and make it a year to upgrade myself with knowledge and skills, I am all for it. As I approach my 40's, I have this nagging feeling that if I ever wanted to change careers, the next two years is the time to do it while I still have plenty of time before retirement to save.
7) Quit smoking: Thanks goodness I don't have to do that....unless the resolution is about me quitting being smoking hot.....NEVER, will I make this a resolution, nor should you!!! :)
8) Helping others in their dreams: This is probably the best resolution out of the top ten and the easiest to stick to. My children have dreams of their own...things that they want to accomplish in the New Year and I can support them if I stick to my budget and pay attention to what they need. I am also open to what I can do for others in my family, my community and beyond. This is the kind of resolution that can fill you up.
9) Falling in love: I would stretch this resolution beyond the signing up on the Plenty of Fish website for those in my life who might still be single but rather being in love with the life that you already have or giving yourself the permission of self love and forgiveness. It is a worthy gift and it seems that in most cases, everything falls into place after that....
10) Spend more time with family: Good resolution to have....we can't replace time so spending it wisely is a great way to start the year!
For the Rabbit born, the Snake Year of 2013 surrounds me with challenges that require the use of physical, symbolic and cosmic assistance. I am told to make sure I use the necessary feng shui treatments to overcome my problems and to help me sail through the year.
What kind of Feng Shui treatments might save me from the dire warnings of "The Rabbit born sitting smack on the Natural Disaster Star in the year of the Snake 2013?" I am told to "wear red as much as possible, to consciously tell myself not to let anyone or anything to irritate me. I should also "curb my temper and show more concern to my spouse or loved ones to strengthen relationships."
By doing all of the above I should be able to avoid the Natural Disaster Star "which brings accidents and misfortunes, dangers of getting sick, being betrayed or losing something that I value such as the loss of a relationship, the loss of wealth or income, or the loss of one’s good name."
The red is easy...the allowing stupid people not to irritate me, not so much. I will do my best, but when someone asks me if I like to cook stuff and I am wearing a Chef uniform...it kinda goes without saying that it is a pretty annoying stupid question and deserves my scornful temper. Call it karma or fate or cosmic consequences for the offender but sarcasm is my body's natural defence against stupidity.
However fun it may be to use Chinese Astrology to discover our fate...I know that our destiny is determined by us and us alone. This Lucky Bunny predicts that if I continue on our new financial path and stick to my resolutions...all things in 2013 will be better than expected.
Happy New Years Everyone and All The Best For You and Your Family in 2013!!!
We are your average Canadian Family and we resolve to do things a little better in the New Year......
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
12 Days of Giving without Spending a Dime....
I have been asked so many times in the last few days if I am ready for Christmas. Usually when this question is asked it generally implies that the asker is really asking,"Have you finished shopping yet?". My answer to this question has been,"Yes, I am ready in spirit."
Without giving any elaboration to the askers since most people are also gauging how high your stress level is, in comparison to their own, like we compare weather and brag when ours is sunnier than someone else's, I choose to let others think that I am way behind thus giving them the upper hand as opposed to the truth.... which is that we are having a "Buy Nothing" Christmas at our house.
That doesn't mean that we will have nothing under our tree this year for those of you who may be worried that my Austerity Measures have turned me into the Ultimate Mother Grinch, soon to be a new storyline for Disney in theatres near you. (Notice how the mothers in Disney movies for kids are always dead, curiously missing or evil.....why do we buy these movies!!!!)
We already have a few pressies under our tree from Grandpa Christmas, and will soon have a few more from our other wonderful Grandma's and Grandpa's who wonderfully spoil our children over the holidays. We are incredibly grateful....even if it means that they will probably supply our children with enough chocolate that if weighed would match their equivalent body weight in mass. I can't wait till my kids have kids so I can completely forget what large amounts of caffeine and sugar can do to a six year old over the holidays!
It makes sense that if we are fortunate to have grandparents supply the bling of the holidays, to stick to our budget and start the New Year off right for a change. It sounds great in theory, but as the big day approaches, it gets tougher and tougher to find ways to give without wanting to spend. We desperately want to let others know that we care and appreciate them in our lives, and frankly we want to spoil them too, since it feels so wonderful to give.
I'm not the only one who thinks it feels better to give than to get.....Michael Norton has devoted time and research to determine that money does indeed buy happiness. But not in the normal way that you might think.
Watch this short video clip to see what he has to say about how you can use your money or to give in a way that will cause you to feel happier.
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_norton_how_to_buy_happiness.html
Does that mean its time to whip out the plastic? Hardly, it means we need to get a little more creative this year so that we can stick to our budget and spread some holiday cheer....you would think it would be easy to find ways to give without spending a dime with a simple google search....not as easy as one would think, but I have found a few:
To feel Holiday joy by giving to others:
1) Give to the Hungry: http://www.thehungersite.com/ You can give food to others simply by clicking on a button on the website. Totally free and you can click once a day. Should you wish to buy something from their advertisers, you can give even more food every time you purchase.
2) Donate Blood: http://www.blood.ca/ Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. Check out their website to find locations that you can donate...its free and you may even get some juice or a cookie.
3) Donate Food, Water, Education and Money: http://www.ripple.org/ This is another fantastic way to use a simple click of the mouse to donate to others. Ripple works as a win for everyone and together we can make a real impact on poverty in our world by supporting simple websites like this to help others.
4) Donate Rice: http://freerice.com Improve your vocabulary, science and math skills or answer questions about art and donate rice to others. Its simple and fun! I am improving my spanish vocabulary for my next trip to Mexico and every time I do, I am helping others and not just with rice donations. I am sure the Mexicans would appreciate not having to communicate to me with my broken Spanish as well. "Cuanto is the busso to Puerto?", must be agonizing to listen to......
5) Goodsearch, Donors Choose and Kiva: http://www.goodsearch.com/ Choose your cause, donate or raise donations with a facebook page and help others in your community or around the world. You can track the progress of donations and inspire others.
Help teachers from around the world get the supplies they need to educate kids. You pick the project and help supply the materials or the money. The kids will even send you a thank you...http://www.donorschoose.org/project/stuck-in-canada/198847/
Empower people around the world with a $25 loan. Our kids donated their own $25 to their first entrepreneur a year ago, its been repaid and reloaned four times over. They choose the project and person to donate to. They receive the loan back in installments, depending on the ability to pay and once the final amount is received, they can then choose another project and person. It's a wonderful way to support entrepreneurs around the world. http://www.kiva.org/ ...
To Give Merriment to Family Members:
6) Slideshow/Pictures: Put that Windows XP to work with a slide show of your families year, complete with pictures, whitty text and cheesy background musak...its a gift that keeps on giving and is great for family members from afar since they often miss out on your day to day. I bought a digital picture frame for my grandparents last year, so now all I need is a thumb drive to send to them to update it every year.....here's hoping Grandma and Grandpa can figure it out.
7) Baking using Existing Ingredients in Pantry: Austerity Measures baking can go a long way to providing delicious gifts for others. I did some Austerity Measures canning last year and I have enough pickles to sink a ship.....there's nothing that says Christmas like Garlic Dill Pickles! Hey, they are green and it is the thought that counts...I am gonna add a little ribbon and some decorative fabric...et voila!
8) Coupons for everything from massages, house cleaning, car cleaning, babysitting, snow shovelling, house painting, or furniture moving can be created and will be much appreciated....I would like them all!!!! Can you give a better gift than time to do stuff that everyone can never get around to doing or to give your family members with small kids a break from life with toddlers or babies....I don't think so.
9) Cash in on Air Miles, PC Points, Bonus Rewards, and Optimum Points....now's the best time of year to get things for free....We are booking some ski lift passes and movie tickets using our Air Miles this year as a gift to ourselves and the kids. If we could get Moosehead hockey tickets...it would be even better!!! These could also be used to purchase items for others....save some money, use the points, they are the only benefit from overspending.
10) Make a mixed tape.....I mean, a mixed CD....damn, is my age showing!!! My family spends too much of our budget on music....so we have enough of an already paid for resource to give some great tunes to the rest of the family. We can even update the sound collection of our grandparents with maybe some Michael Buble...or a little Flo Rida, who knows?! They might dig it!
A little gift giving for your spouse:
11) Read 50 Shades of Grey if you feel like getting funky or use your imagination for a little romance.....its not complicated, and it is a great gift that can sometimes keep on giving and its free. Say no more......
To see smiles on your children's faces:
12) The gift of time is the greatest gift you can give your children. Build lego, play with Barbies, cuddle on the couch reading books, show them the joy of board games (remember those?!), build snowmen, make hot chocolate, try out the Just Dance on the Wii, and take time to listen to what makes their holiday special. The return on this gift in not measurable.
And here's a bonus gift just for you:
13) Read a book uninterrupted for an hour, sleep in, take a bath, give yourself a free yoga class (classes online or just lay in childs pose for awhile...close the blinds if you are worried about the neighbours), give yourself a pedicure (don't worry if you do a lousy job, no one will see your feet in December), watch a Christmas movie, eat chocolate chips from the pantry, go for a walk by the seaside, toboggan with the kids, paint something, stop worrying about tomorrow, kiss your kids, love your time off from work, let the housework be done another day, love yourself just as you are and be grateful for the little things that make your life joyful. Some of these are the best gifts you will get all year.....and they are free.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
We are your average Canadian family, with big hearts and oodles of joy and we have plenty to give.........
Without giving any elaboration to the askers since most people are also gauging how high your stress level is, in comparison to their own, like we compare weather and brag when ours is sunnier than someone else's, I choose to let others think that I am way behind thus giving them the upper hand as opposed to the truth.... which is that we are having a "Buy Nothing" Christmas at our house.
That doesn't mean that we will have nothing under our tree this year for those of you who may be worried that my Austerity Measures have turned me into the Ultimate Mother Grinch, soon to be a new storyline for Disney in theatres near you. (Notice how the mothers in Disney movies for kids are always dead, curiously missing or evil.....why do we buy these movies!!!!)
We already have a few pressies under our tree from Grandpa Christmas, and will soon have a few more from our other wonderful Grandma's and Grandpa's who wonderfully spoil our children over the holidays. We are incredibly grateful....even if it means that they will probably supply our children with enough chocolate that if weighed would match their equivalent body weight in mass. I can't wait till my kids have kids so I can completely forget what large amounts of caffeine and sugar can do to a six year old over the holidays!
It makes sense that if we are fortunate to have grandparents supply the bling of the holidays, to stick to our budget and start the New Year off right for a change. It sounds great in theory, but as the big day approaches, it gets tougher and tougher to find ways to give without wanting to spend. We desperately want to let others know that we care and appreciate them in our lives, and frankly we want to spoil them too, since it feels so wonderful to give.
I'm not the only one who thinks it feels better to give than to get.....Michael Norton has devoted time and research to determine that money does indeed buy happiness. But not in the normal way that you might think.
Watch this short video clip to see what he has to say about how you can use your money or to give in a way that will cause you to feel happier.
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_norton_how_to_buy_happiness.html
Does that mean its time to whip out the plastic? Hardly, it means we need to get a little more creative this year so that we can stick to our budget and spread some holiday cheer....you would think it would be easy to find ways to give without spending a dime with a simple google search....not as easy as one would think, but I have found a few:
To feel Holiday joy by giving to others:
1) Give to the Hungry: http://www.thehungersite.com/ You can give food to others simply by clicking on a button on the website. Totally free and you can click once a day. Should you wish to buy something from their advertisers, you can give even more food every time you purchase.
2) Donate Blood: http://www.blood.ca/ Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. Check out their website to find locations that you can donate...its free and you may even get some juice or a cookie.
3) Donate Food, Water, Education and Money: http://www.ripple.org/ This is another fantastic way to use a simple click of the mouse to donate to others. Ripple works as a win for everyone and together we can make a real impact on poverty in our world by supporting simple websites like this to help others.
4) Donate Rice: http://freerice.com Improve your vocabulary, science and math skills or answer questions about art and donate rice to others. Its simple and fun! I am improving my spanish vocabulary for my next trip to Mexico and every time I do, I am helping others and not just with rice donations. I am sure the Mexicans would appreciate not having to communicate to me with my broken Spanish as well. "Cuanto is the busso to Puerto?", must be agonizing to listen to......
5) Goodsearch, Donors Choose and Kiva: http://www.goodsearch.com/ Choose your cause, donate or raise donations with a facebook page and help others in your community or around the world. You can track the progress of donations and inspire others.
Help teachers from around the world get the supplies they need to educate kids. You pick the project and help supply the materials or the money. The kids will even send you a thank you...http://www.donorschoose.org/project/stuck-in-canada/198847/
Empower people around the world with a $25 loan. Our kids donated their own $25 to their first entrepreneur a year ago, its been repaid and reloaned four times over. They choose the project and person to donate to. They receive the loan back in installments, depending on the ability to pay and once the final amount is received, they can then choose another project and person. It's a wonderful way to support entrepreneurs around the world. http://www.kiva.org/ ...
To Give Merriment to Family Members:
6) Slideshow/Pictures: Put that Windows XP to work with a slide show of your families year, complete with pictures, whitty text and cheesy background musak...its a gift that keeps on giving and is great for family members from afar since they often miss out on your day to day. I bought a digital picture frame for my grandparents last year, so now all I need is a thumb drive to send to them to update it every year.....here's hoping Grandma and Grandpa can figure it out.
7) Baking using Existing Ingredients in Pantry: Austerity Measures baking can go a long way to providing delicious gifts for others. I did some Austerity Measures canning last year and I have enough pickles to sink a ship.....there's nothing that says Christmas like Garlic Dill Pickles! Hey, they are green and it is the thought that counts...I am gonna add a little ribbon and some decorative fabric...et voila!
8) Coupons for everything from massages, house cleaning, car cleaning, babysitting, snow shovelling, house painting, or furniture moving can be created and will be much appreciated....I would like them all!!!! Can you give a better gift than time to do stuff that everyone can never get around to doing or to give your family members with small kids a break from life with toddlers or babies....I don't think so.
9) Cash in on Air Miles, PC Points, Bonus Rewards, and Optimum Points....now's the best time of year to get things for free....We are booking some ski lift passes and movie tickets using our Air Miles this year as a gift to ourselves and the kids. If we could get Moosehead hockey tickets...it would be even better!!! These could also be used to purchase items for others....save some money, use the points, they are the only benefit from overspending.
10) Make a mixed tape.....I mean, a mixed CD....damn, is my age showing!!! My family spends too much of our budget on music....so we have enough of an already paid for resource to give some great tunes to the rest of the family. We can even update the sound collection of our grandparents with maybe some Michael Buble...or a little Flo Rida, who knows?! They might dig it!
A little gift giving for your spouse:
11) Read 50 Shades of Grey if you feel like getting funky or use your imagination for a little romance.....its not complicated, and it is a great gift that can sometimes keep on giving and its free. Say no more......
To see smiles on your children's faces:
12) The gift of time is the greatest gift you can give your children. Build lego, play with Barbies, cuddle on the couch reading books, show them the joy of board games (remember those?!), build snowmen, make hot chocolate, try out the Just Dance on the Wii, and take time to listen to what makes their holiday special. The return on this gift in not measurable.
And here's a bonus gift just for you:
13) Read a book uninterrupted for an hour, sleep in, take a bath, give yourself a free yoga class (classes online or just lay in childs pose for awhile...close the blinds if you are worried about the neighbours), give yourself a pedicure (don't worry if you do a lousy job, no one will see your feet in December), watch a Christmas movie, eat chocolate chips from the pantry, go for a walk by the seaside, toboggan with the kids, paint something, stop worrying about tomorrow, kiss your kids, love your time off from work, let the housework be done another day, love yourself just as you are and be grateful for the little things that make your life joyful. Some of these are the best gifts you will get all year.....and they are free.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
We are your average Canadian family, with big hearts and oodles of joy and we have plenty to give.........
Monday, 3 December 2012
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.....
I have a confession to make....my daughters and I just took a weeks vacation to Mexico for a girls trip to celebrate my mother and sister's birthdays. Now before some of you cry fraud, cheater, or give a tsk, tsk of disappointment at our lack of austerity measures....let me show you how we did it and still stayed on budget. Yep, that's right,....ON BUDGET!!!!
There are lots of creative ways that families can take a vacation without a humongous expense. For us, it was easy since my Mom owns a home in Puerto Vallarta, which keeps accommodation, food and entertainment costs to a minimum. She also has a vehicle that we drove Mexican style with no working seatbelts, but minus the open truck bed in the back with lawn chairs (we refer to them as Mexican car seats).
We had also purchased our tickets prior to the Austerity Measures on a great seat sale from WestJet. My children covered the cost of their own through birthday and Christmas savings.They have more in their bank accounts than we do because they prefer to save. Our kids are smarter than we are....almost always.
We were there for family time which also keeps expenses low, since our priority was sitting around my Mom's pool catching up and not drinking ourselves stupid, swimming with dolphins, or sitting through some god-awful time share presentation so that we can get free tequila and a day at some resort filled with other North Americans.
My biggest splurge was taking my Mom and sister out for dinner which was truly a fine dining experience with an outdoor playground that kept the kids happy (why don't we have this in Canada?!!) and involved 4 appetizers, 7 entree's, 7 desserts, pre-dinner drinks, and a bottle of wine. We had four wonderful Mexican men attending to our every need and we received welcome shooters for both us and the kids to kick off the evening (all kids deserve real fruit juice shooters!). I won't even share what our wonderful evening cost me...it will make the average Canadian family cry, especially when a dinner at McDonald's with a play place can cost you $30.
When we did shop, it was at the local grocery store or Wal-Mart. Even with the probably inflated gringo pricing at the local market, we still made off with bags of fruit and veggies for less than $7. My precious bottle of rum that I have refrained from buying since our austerity measures kicked in was purchased for $12.50, a gift from my Mom (they say Mothers know best....cheers to that!). The same bottle costs me $38.95 in Nova Scotia. The pineapple juice and cream of coconut to make killer pina coladas for the entire week cost me $4.00.
We travelled into Puerto Vallarta twice from where my Mom lives in Nuevo and it cost us the equivalent of .26 cents return. Our taxi and valet service from the airport, which is the most expensive place to travel from cost us $23 plus I gave them much more in tips.
We splurged on ice cream, hot nuts and orange pop too! It was a lot easier to stick to our grocery budget, even with the extras. Everything except purchasing power and the mortgage interest rate is cheaper in Mexico, compared to Canada. Makes me wonder why we live here at all.
To give you an idea of the difference, have quick browse at this, and then add 10% since it is probably based on Toronto pricing and almost is everything is more expensive in Atlantic Canada.
| Mexico | Canada | Difference | |
| Restaurants | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 65.00 MXN | 156.20 MXN | +140.31 % |
| Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 300.00 MXN | 781.00 MXN | +160.33 % |
| Combo Meal at McDonalds or Similar | 65.00 MXN | 104.13 MXN | +60.21 % |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) | 20.00 MXN | 65.08 MXN | +225.42 % |
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 30.00 MXN | 78.10 MXN | +160.33 % |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 30.00 MXN | 45.56 MXN | +51.86 % |
| Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) | 9.25 MXN | 25.90 MXN | +180.03 % |
| Water (0.33 liter bottle) | 8.00 MXN | 19.53 MXN | +144.06 % |
| Markets | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Milk (regular), 1 liter | 13.00 MXN | 25.90 MXN | +99.26 % |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) | 22.00 MXN | 32.54 MXN | +47.92 % |
| Rice (1kg) | 15.00 MXN | 43.61 MXN | +190.71 % |
| Eggs (12) | 20.00 MXN | 39.05 MXN | +95.25 % |
| Local Cheese (1kg) | 80.00 MXN | 130.17 MXN | +62.71 % |
| Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) | 70.00 MXN | 142.98 MXN | +104.26 % |
| Apples (1kg) | 30.00 MXN | 38.46 MXN | +28.21 % |
| Oranges (1kg) | 12.50 MXN | 39.05 MXN | +212.40 % |
| Tomato (1kg) | 16.00 MXN | 39.05 MXN | +144.06 % |
| Potato (1kg) | 15.00 MXN | 25.11 MXN | +67.40 % |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 10.00 MXN | 19.53 MXN | +95.25 % |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 12.00 MXN | 26.03 MXN | +116.95 % |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 120.00 MXN | 195.25 MXN | +62.71 % |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 15.00 MXN | 35.80 MXN | +138.64 % |
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 20.00 MXN | 39.05 MXN | +95.25 % |
| Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) | 40.00 MXN | 130.17 MXN | +225.42 % |
| Transportation | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 6.00 MXN | 35.80 MXN | +496.60 % |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 360.00 MXN | 1,054.35 MXN | +192.88 % |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 25.00 MXN | 46.86 MXN | +87.44 % |
| Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) | 5.20 MXN | 23.91 MXN | +359.90 % |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 150.00 MXN | 390.50 MXN | +160.33 % |
| Gasoline (1 liter) | 10.00 MXN | 16.82 MXN | +68.24 % |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 200,000.00 MXN | 290,272.45 MXN | +45.14 % |
| Utilities (Monthly) | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Basic (Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment | 1,000.00 MXN | 2,329.30 MXN | +132.93 % |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 3.74 MXN | 3.91 MXN | +4.41 % |
| Internet (6 Mbps, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 400.00 MXN | 585.75 MXN | +46.44 % |
| Sports And Leisure | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 600.00 MXN | 650.84 MXN | +8.47 % |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 150.00 MXN | 255.06 MXN | +70.04 % |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 60.00 MXN | 156.20 MXN | +160.33 % |
| Clothing And Shoes | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 649.00 MXN | 715.92 MXN | +10.31 % |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) | 623.61 MXN | 572.73 MXN | -8.16 % |
| 1 Pair of Nike Shoes | 1,100.00 MXN | 1,301.67 MXN | +18.33 % |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes | 845.00 MXN | 1,301.67 MXN | +54.04 % |
| Rent Per Month | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 3,500.00 MXN | 12,365.87 MXN | +253.31 % |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 2,900.00 MXN | 10,348.28 MXN | +256.84 % |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 7,000.00 MXN | 19,525.05 MXN | +178.93 % |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 6,000.00 MXN | 16,270.88 MXN | +171.18 % |
| Buy Apartment Price | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 11,631.96 MXN | 47,836.38 MXN | +311.25 % |
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 10,000.00 MXN | 33,084.15 MXN | +230.84 % |
| Salaries And Financing | [Edit] | [Edit] | |
| Median Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) | 10,000.00 MXN | 39,050.11 MXN | +290.50 % |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentanges (%), Yearly | 12.00 | 4.00 | -66.67 % |
| Last update | December, 2012 | December, 2012 | |
| Contributors (past 18 months) | 409 | 1572 | |
| Currency: MXN |
There are ways to travel and stick to a budget. Most often the way we overspend on vacations is because it is our "opportunity to live large", kinda like an extra Christmas. People also buy a lot crap that they don't need on vacations. We walked along the Malecon which is like an outdoor Ikea along the beach filled with so many good deals on stuff that if you were handed a giant yellow bag, you would immediately start stuffing with no clue as to why.
The Mexicans constantly approached us with things to buy which at first my girls were intimidated to say no, but by the end of the day had become experts in saying, " No, gracias". Imagine if they did this at Ikea...you would probably have to hand over the keys to your house and give them your first born too!
Even though it wasn't high tourist season, there were plenty of gringos buying souvenirs some of which are beyond my understanding as to why anyone would actually exchange money for. Sand in a vial from the beach, tequila shooter glasses, seashells, and ugly T-shirts galore were being bagged up and most probably going to be Christmas pressents for some poor relative at home who will have to feign excitement. Who buys sand in a glass?! I brought some sand home in my shoes....it was free. Maybe I can re-gift it for my buy nothing Christmas. Now I just need to figure out who the lucky relative will be.......
The average Canadian family can still have a vacation with a little help from family and friends or not. We are fortunate to have family across Canada and in the United States. It gives us great places to visit and in exchange we open up our home in the summertime to anyone who wishes to visit us. We love having guests and are fortunate to live in the Maritimes, which I think is the most beautiful province to live in within Canada.
For those of you, who can't imagine a vacation with relatives....sometimes it can be a fine line, we have all seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation....there are others ways to stay on a budget.
Here are just 5 ways that you might be able to squeeze a vacation in without breaking the budget:
1) Home Swapping: Want to save on accommodations? Try swapping houses with someone else! There are many websites dedicated to the idea, some are free and some are not. If you are open to switching with another family and have a cool house to offer (you should have a look to see some of the places available!), then you might be able to get a great vacation and have an authentic experience in another country. Here is just one link: https://www.homeexchange.com/landing_page2/1homeexchange?alias=1homeexchange&gclid=COK92eu9_7MCFQ-e4AodDBwA0Q
2) Visit Cheap Destinations: According CNN travel, the current five cheapest destinations to travel to are Mexico, Thailand, Burma, Egypt and Greece. Choosing where you travel can help with your budget as well as your airfare. If you can pick a place that balances out the airfare with your weekly spending budget, you may even come out ahead. Given that you are using company paid vacation time, it can actually be a week away without any financial sacrifice. http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/escape/5-cheapest-travel-
3) Stay fit and Meet Locals: The Warm Showers Community is a free worldwide Hospitality exchange for touring cyclists. People who are willing to host touring cyclists sign up and provide their contact information, and may occasionally have someone stay with them and share great stories and a drink! I can't think of anything cooler since there are over 15,000 hosts in many countries all over the world. Spa vacation be dammed! http://www.warmshowers.org/
4) Couchsurf: Travel the world & stay with friends you haven't met yet! Pick a travel destination, then search through the members to find someone who is willing to let you crash on their couch. They may be also willing to share food, show you around and split a 6 pack. It's all done through facebook and you do need to sign up to start your BFF search for a travel buddy. http://www.couchsurfing.org/
5) Volunteer Vacations: Make a difference in the world and change your perspective. You can even choose the place and get some downtime. Think of the appreciation your children would have for their day to day, even if it is short-lived (my girls didn't fight with their brother for three full days after we got home....) with an experience of helping others. This is one that has really got me thinking about all of our BIG plans that we thought we needed to fit into our future budget. http://www.globeaware.org/
I am currently reading a book my father found at a garage sale called "The Power of Positive Thinking." Published way before "The Secret" in 1952 by Norman Vincent Peale, a minister who was notoriously anti-Catholic, accused of using hypnosis on his followers to convert them, and opposed the election of John F. Kennedy and supported Nixon (hey, not everyone is perfect.....).
The book itself was on the New York times best seller list for 186 consecutive weeks, so there must be many great things about Norman too. Most things you need to read with a grain of salt, if you know what I mean.
Whatever his personal defects may have been, there are some good things within the book, and a quote which I will share, "The way to happiness: keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Fill your life with love. Scatter sunshine. Forget self, think of others. Do as you would be done by."
Vacations don't need to be expensive, luxurious or fanciful to be fantastic. Yes, we spent ours in sunny Mexico but the main reason we were there was to spend time with our family creating memories that will last our lifetimes....it just so happens that we are fortunate that my Mom lives there and not in Brantford, Ontario anymore. (Sorry Brantford, but your time of greatness passed when Wayne Gretsky left town.....)
We are your average Canadian family and we are truly grateful that we can take a vacation from time to time without breaking the budget.........
Thursday, 29 November 2012
We are the stupidest people alive….
I truly
believe that there are signs in the universe that if you take the time to pay
attention and listen to them, they will let you know when things are going off
the rails or when you are heading down the right path. I don’t think I am the
only one who has beliefs that support the idea that you can manifest the good or the bad in your life
based on the messages that you are sending out.
Just to
give you an idea of what that might look like, believer or not, here is how we
spent one month listening, cringing, paying attention and then heading down the
right path.
Jeff
Foxworthy uses the phrase, “You might be a redneck if….” as a starter to his
many jokes, to help you identify the signs that you are indeed a redneck. Here are my signs that, “You may be in
trouble financially if….”
You max out your borrowing account to cover
your Mastercard payment. If you are playing what I refer to as the money game each month, with a
revolving door of money going around in circles from high interest credit
cards, to low interest borrowing accounts to zero percent interest credit cards
for six months only, and then back again….you may be in financial trouble.
You paid the Mastercard bill by mistake twice
in one month. How
often do you and your spouse have conversations regarding the accounts, bill
payments, savings and retirement? More importantly, how often do you have this
conversation uninterrupted by bigger priorities like work, sleep, appointments,
events and fighting kids?
There is a
horrible gap between the proportion of time that we set aside to discuss our
financial planning with each other compared to the relative importance of what we need to discuss.
The result of our lack of devoting the
necessary time means that I have left the retirement planning entirely up to my
husband. He has left the bill paying mostly up to me, but not always.
If he were
to die tomorrow, I would have little to no knowledge of what we have saved and
where to access the money we have in anything from RRSPS, to investment
accounts to life insurance to his own company’s benefit plan.
If we were
to both die simultaneously, I recently found out that our children would end up in foster care until the
courts decide who best to raise them and our estate would be up the air in
until the government gets paid and our funeral costs get covered. Even then, there is no guarantee without a
will that our children would receive anything that we own or be placed with a family member.
Kinda important?! No kidding, yet we dawdle like many others in
getting a will in place because we never seem to have the money for it. It’s outrageous!
The signs
of this lack of communication in our relationship shows up in small and big ways in our current
financial well-being. We both paid the Mastercard this month….someone, not
naming any names, neglected to write the payment down on the statement. (It
wasn’t me….but someone….) The result left a credit balance on our Mastercard
and our line of credit extended to its limit when it wasn't even necessary.
The cheques you gave your sister for your
nieces birthday's bounces and you are charged $90 for overdraft on your line of
credit. I can’t believe I am sharing this, because it
is SO stupid, it’s beyond embarrassing and I haven’t even had a conversation
with my sister yet. So the cheques I wrote in August, she cashed in
October…right at the same time that we double paid the Mastercard and maxxed
out our borrowing account to cover it. The shame I
feel is worse than the extra charges we need to fit into our budget for next
month to make up for it.
I mean the
timing couldn’t have been worse….this is like the perfect storm of stupid on so
many levels….I don’t know where to begin. Maybe I should have started with…..If
you are writing birthday cheques to pay for gifts on your borrowing account,
you may be in financial trouble. Or how about…If you are not checking to see
that the cheques you write are cashed on your account before you write more
cheques…... or best of all is,..... if your finances are
shaming yourself with other family members, you are definitely in financial
trouble…..
A lousy financial strategy leads you to put money
into a high interest saving account while you are paying fees on your chequing account due to overdrafts. Imagine my surprise when my husband
and I sat down to sort out this mess to find out that he had money being
deducted off his paycheck each month to go into a high interest savings
account. Yet he couldn’t keep his chequing
account from going into overdraft each month because of the deduction of income.
It’s so crazy, I can barely believe it!
We also
realized that the other reason the chequing account was overdrawn was because
the money being put towards the kids RESP was going into the wrong account and
has been for 10 months! It’s ridiculous, but so easily solvable once we made
the time to discuss it and fix it. There was also a windfall waiting for us in
the other account since the money was just sitting there, not being applied to
anything. Nuts!!
What came
out of this giant anvil on the head from the universe was that we seriously
needed to start talking more about where we are at financially and not once a
month….but rather, we decided, once a week. While it sounds like a big
commitment from two people who would be lucky to have had a yearly conversation
in the past, we both felt that by talking weekly, it gives us time to make the
adjustments we need before an entire month or better yet, ten months, is financially wrecked by stupid
decision making.
There are good signs as well....this is how you can tell that you are on the right track financially after going down the wrong path.....
You may be on the right track financially when
cheques from your health insurance provider start landing on your doorstep. Remember that HSA spending account
I discovered through taking the time to understand my company benefits? We
received five pay checks in the month of November that covered spending for my
entire family and topped up the benefits my husband’s company provides. It’s
like winning the Set for Life of Lottery at our house! I can’t believe how much
lost income we were missing out on because I didn’t want to take the time to
understand my policy….which I am paying for, by the way.
You review your bill statements and find a
windfall. We just
received our fuel oil statement this
month and because I was paying attention, not just filing it and forgetting it,
I uncovered another double bill payment back in July of almost $500. We must be
the most vigilant bill payers on the planet….that or we are the worst investors
ever. Say, honey…if we overpay Bluewave and Mastercard….do you think they will
send us profit sharing? Yikes, it’s painful. The silver lining was a windfall
in our bank account when we contacted our fuel supplier and politely asked for
the money back.
You increase your disposable income by finding
more affordable services or using less of what you have. By switching our Cable provider,
looking at our home heating costs, reducing our electricity consumption, making
tough choices about our childcare needs and getting smart about using the
resources we already had, we spent substantially less then every month
previous. Hard to believe it can be that
easy to slow down the bleeding when it comes to money, but it is. There are
always ways to spend less and in a way that makes sense for your family.
Finally, you finish the month, and there is still
money in your bank account and the bills are paid. Who knew we could stick to our budget one month
into the new plan?! But we have! We finished
the month of October with our first payments of 15% made to decreasing our
debt, paying all of our bills without credit and having 5% of our income saved
and in the bank. We also got the buffer back on our borrowing account by not having to pay anything on our Mastercard this month and by using our financial windfall.
Our Austerity Measures pantry and freezer cooking month paid
off too. We saved our entire grocery budget by eating only from our existing
kitchen inventory. We had some interesting meals (Pasta Surprise with three
kinds of noodles was a hit with the kids) and also some excellent ones (forgot
about some T-Bone steaks in the freezer that were a hit with the parents).
The
greatest thing out of the austerity measures pantry experiment was a turnover
of the product in our fridge and freezer, an immediate reduction in the food
being thrown out, an increase in our kitchen pantry space and our kids seemed more open to whatever was on the table
since we included them in the changes we needed to make along the way.
Our son who is six asked in the beginning of our Austerity Measures discussion, “So does that mean we are poor now?”, which gave us a
great laugh since we may have little money in the bank right now, but if you
look around our home, there is no poverty….all the money is around us.
We still
have a long way to go, but when I look at how many signs we have had that,
“things might be better financially if…”, I can’t help but feel empowered by
the changes we are making. No shopping spree for things we don't really need or impulse purchases on treats we think we deserve could make me feel this good.
We are your
average Canadian family and we make stupid financial decisions, sometimes
without even thinking about it………..
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
2% just ain't gonna cut it.....
It's been a year since I signed on with a good company which has offered me benefits, a retirement plan and a 45 hour work week. Previous to that I was a small business owner running catering for executive charters which operated around the clock.
While I may be getting substantially more family time with the new job, we are struggling financially with the pay cut I took to create balance. I am struggling with the idea that I need to wait for the valuation of others to increase my pay and I am frustrated by what will be more than likely, a standard rate of increase that all employees receive, since I am not your standard employee. No ego here... I don't just punch a clock if you know what I mean.
Having been with them a year, I was secretly hoping for there to be a little fanfare such as a performance review, a raise and a thank-you for an exceptional job well-done. My standards are low since I have inside information that the raises are a standard 2% increase, which is the same increase my husband received at his performance review for another company. While we both love our employers and companies that we work for, we are fortunate to have dream jobs........2% just ain't gonna cut it.
Our collective income after taxes is about $17 an hour. For a family of five, with two parents working a combined total of 85 hours outside the home a week.....that seems a little skimpy. Our oldest child is 12 and has 6 more years before we need to start looking at colleges and universities. If we have a combined total of 2 % raises from here to there, even despite our meager RRSP savings, we will be lucky if can we send our kids to the School of Minimum Wage Retail, Campus at your local Tim Horton's.
Given the increases that we have had here in Nova Scotia, any increase in salary is quickly eaten up by something else...trust me, its negligible.
Here are just a few of the reasons why any raise Andrew & I receive this year won't make a damn bit of difference in our income level.
Power Rate Increases Gone Wild."Our power rates have gone up some 25 per cent in the last three years," said Jamie Baillie, leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
Nova Scotians know that they are being gouged by NSP, an external audit even identified that we should be receiving a rebate from our power utility. The report says the private utility company spent $6 million more than necessary on natural gas over a two-year period.
Read more: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/nova-scotia-power-couldn-t-be-trusted-to-look-out-for-customer-interests-audit-1.961713#ixzz2CZXW8qGM
Never mind that NSP doesn't have its customers best interests in mind when it comes to purchasing, but what is this natural gas that they speak of?
“The only reason that I can think of for the failure of Nova Scotia to achieve penetration of natural gas to at least 75 per cent of the province, after 13 years (since Sable gas came ashore), is fierce opposition behind the scenes from NSP/Emera,” he says. Those 150,000 or more domestic hot water heaters, plus electric heat in half of Nova Scotia homes, and some other functions like cooking or even clothes drying, are NSP’s bread and butter." Says, "Peter Allen, Dalhousie University energy expert, who has been making the case that we’re missing the boat on natural gas, especially in the HRM domestic market, whereas everybody else in North America is forging ahead."
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/178038-surette-the-real-power-rate-story-we-ignore
"Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Power’s top executive Rob Bennett received a 23 per cent hike in his package last year, which climbed to $1.15 million, compared to $934,212 in 2010."
Wait a minute?! Hold the phone! We as Nova Scotians have received rate increases of 25% over the past three years and this valuable team player at NSP gets a 23 per cent hike in his income over one year for a job well done?
Not only that but, "The base salaries of Bennett and three of his executive team and 50 per cent of incentive payments for 2011 are recovered in Nova Scotia Power rates, which is approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board." http://thechronicleherald.mobi/business/105115-taylor-emera-can-t-escape-ire
Great. So translate this to mean that the good ole boys gave themselves a raise while simultaneously giving customers power rate hikes to pay for it.
"The Nova Scotia government, on the other hand, has been saddled with overspending and constantly increased taxation in recent years, said Kevin Lacey, Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Atlantic director.
Is New Page newsprint (124.5 Million) and a Muskrat hydro dam (6.2 Billion capital cost) the best our government can come up with? I'm no genius but if I had that much moola to invest it would be in something a little less archaic.
Keep in mind too that our deficit in Nova Scotia is $390 million...think we could have paid a few bills with that money before we invested? I do and so do many other Nova Scotians.
Hooray, we also win the prize for our cost of living increasing faster than anywhere else in Canada! "Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index numbers released today indicate that Nova Scotia’s costs have risen faster than anywhere else in Canada, at a rate of 4.6 per cent. The national average was 3.7 per cent. Nova Scotia’s HST, at 15 per cent, is the highest level of consumer tax in the country. The latest statistics on average wages in Nova Scotia indicate only a 1.6 per cent gain." This means that I should cherish my 2% since it is higher than the average 1.6%.....not that I get to keep it.
“Higher costs for food and gasoline are a reality across Canada but Nova Scotia is unique in that we are also paying the highest HST in the country,” said Progressive Conservative Party leader Jamie Baillie. “At a time when Nova Scotians need help making ends meet, the NDP government has made their job harder.” http://www.thecapebretoner.ca/?p=10152
No kidding its been made harder...in order to increase our income to cover the NDP's increases, we will need to ask our bosses for a 5% raise minimum just to break even. At a time where companies in this province are focussed on cutting costs to remain profitable, it would seem unconscionable to even consider it.
Growing economy or growing mess? The bottom line is that for every raise requested, at the end of the day, someone is going to have to pay for it. Take NSP for example, the big boys got their raises but the result was that my household paid for it and your household paid for it and your neighbours and so on.
Should we ask for our, I think well deserved raises, there is always the trickle down to the consumer in terms of rising costs or our fellow employees in terms of lay-offs in some way. This is what happens in a growing economy but does a growing economy really equate a better economy? If we needed less, then would we really need those raises, deserving or not?
"What does economic growth actually mean? It means more consumption – and consumption of a specific kind: more consumption of goods and services that are exchanged for money. That means that if people stop caring for their own children and instead pay for childcare, the economy grows. The same if people stop cooking for themselves and purchase restaurant takeaways instead.
While I may be getting substantially more family time with the new job, we are struggling financially with the pay cut I took to create balance. I am struggling with the idea that I need to wait for the valuation of others to increase my pay and I am frustrated by what will be more than likely, a standard rate of increase that all employees receive, since I am not your standard employee. No ego here... I don't just punch a clock if you know what I mean.
Having been with them a year, I was secretly hoping for there to be a little fanfare such as a performance review, a raise and a thank-you for an exceptional job well-done. My standards are low since I have inside information that the raises are a standard 2% increase, which is the same increase my husband received at his performance review for another company. While we both love our employers and companies that we work for, we are fortunate to have dream jobs........2% just ain't gonna cut it.
Our collective income after taxes is about $17 an hour. For a family of five, with two parents working a combined total of 85 hours outside the home a week.....that seems a little skimpy. Our oldest child is 12 and has 6 more years before we need to start looking at colleges and universities. If we have a combined total of 2 % raises from here to there, even despite our meager RRSP savings, we will be lucky if can we send our kids to the School of Minimum Wage Retail, Campus at your local Tim Horton's.
Given the increases that we have had here in Nova Scotia, any increase in salary is quickly eaten up by something else...trust me, its negligible.
Here are just a few of the reasons why any raise Andrew & I receive this year won't make a damn bit of difference in our income level.
Power Rate Increases Gone Wild."Our power rates have gone up some 25 per cent in the last three years," said Jamie Baillie, leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
"That's a real hardship for too many Nova Scotians." No kidding its a real hardship! We now pay $200 per month for electricity in our home. Its no surprise either that we are paying a lot more than our fellow Canadians.
This is a review of the power rates from May 2011. We are almost at the top and right behind an island....and frankly, they should pay more for living on an island.....:)
| Province | 375 kWh | 750 kWh | 1,000 kWh | 2,000 kWh | 5,000 kWh |
| Quebec | 32.40 | 52.62 | 68.21 | 143.31 | 368.61 |
| Manitoba | 31.68 | 56.50 | 73.05 | 139.25 | 337.85 |
| British Columbia | 30.15 | 58.06 | 82.71 | 181.31 | 477.12 |
| Alberta | 51.21 | 83.31 | 104.71 | 190.31 | 447.11 |
| Average | 49.20 | 83.98 | 108.07 | 206.10 | 491.65 |
| New Foundland Labrador | 50.63 | 86.26 | 109.86 | 204.26 | 487.47 |
| New Brunswick | 52.88 | 88.32 | 111.94 | 206.44 | 489.94 |
| Ontario | 56.37 | 96.11 | 123.55 | 237.47 | 579.22 |
| Saskatchewan | 59.07 | 98.85 | 125.37 | 231.47 | 549.76 |
| Nova Scotia | 57.86 | 104.88 | 136.23 | 261.63 | 637.83 |
| Prince Edward Island | 69.76 | 114.95 | 145.07 | 265.57 | 541.57 |
Nova Scotians know that they are being gouged by NSP, an external audit even identified that we should be receiving a rebate from our power utility. The report says the private utility company spent $6 million more than necessary on natural gas over a two-year period.
"NSPI has demonstrated that customers cannot rely upon it to champion their interests with respect to prices for natural gas in the Maritimes market," said a section of the audit that was previously redacted.
A heavily redacted version of the audit by the Liberty Consulting Group released this summer said Nova Scotia Power owes its customers a refund because it overcharged them $22 million due to poor fuel purchasing practices.
Read more: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/nova-scotia-power-couldn-t-be-trusted-to-look-out-for-customer-interests-audit-1.961713#ixzz2CZXW8qGM
Never mind that NSP doesn't have its customers best interests in mind when it comes to purchasing, but what is this natural gas that they speak of?
“The only reason that I can think of for the failure of Nova Scotia to achieve penetration of natural gas to at least 75 per cent of the province, after 13 years (since Sable gas came ashore), is fierce opposition behind the scenes from NSP/Emera,” he says. Those 150,000 or more domestic hot water heaters, plus electric heat in half of Nova Scotia homes, and some other functions like cooking or even clothes drying, are NSP’s bread and butter." Says, "Peter Allen, Dalhousie University energy expert, who has been making the case that we’re missing the boat on natural gas, especially in the HRM domestic market, whereas everybody else in North America is forging ahead."
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/178038-surette-the-real-power-rate-story-we-ignore
"Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Power’s top executive Rob Bennett received a 23 per cent hike in his package last year, which climbed to $1.15 million, compared to $934,212 in 2010."
Wait a minute?! Hold the phone! We as Nova Scotians have received rate increases of 25% over the past three years and this valuable team player at NSP gets a 23 per cent hike in his income over one year for a job well done?
Not only that but, "The base salaries of Bennett and three of his executive team and 50 per cent of incentive payments for 2011 are recovered in Nova Scotia Power rates, which is approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board." http://thechronicleherald.mobi/business/105115-taylor-emera-can-t-escape-ire
Great. So translate this to mean that the good ole boys gave themselves a raise while simultaneously giving customers power rate hikes to pay for it.
Nova Scotians are the most taxed in Canada. "A new report from Nova Scotia’s Finance Department, which reveals its own citizens bear the highest level of taxation nationwide, provides a glimpse of how much Canadians pay in federal, provincial and local taxes combined.
Saskatchewan, a province similiar to Nova Scotia in terms of its nearly one million citizens has recently balanced its books. "Saskatchewan was the lowest taxed province, with its total taxation percentage sitting near 20%, compared with Nova Scotia’s 30% of the nominal gross domestic product in 2009, excluding social security contributions.
“Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan are the polar opposite models of where we should be looking,” he said, in response to the report. “It runs balanced budgets while the rest of the country engages in Keynesian spending sprees.
“Nova Scotia is the model of what not to do. Don’t accept equalization, don’t accept higher taxes.”
He says it’s about time the Nova Scotia government “admitted the problem of taxation in the province” he said, after coming across the Overview of the Nova Scotia Tax System report, which was recently posted on the Finance Department site.
The biggest glut comes in the form of provincial income taxes, which are just a little bit lower than Quebec’s. It can be explained by the province’s overspending in recent years, Mr. Lacey said.
“Already the province is dealing with an approximately $390-million deficit and just for too many years it’s overspent,” he said from his office in Halifax. “The report the government has produced should lead to calls to deal with this taxation problem. The province should begin to reduce tax rates to make it competitive with other provinces, otherwise the province, economically, can’t compete.” http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05/25/nova-scotians-the-most-taxed-in-canada-provincial-report/
I don't think any of this comes as a surprise to most Nova Scotians. To say that I am excited about supporting a Pulp and Paper Mill in Cape Breton or even the Muskrat Falls deal is an understatement. To quote a friend, when you arrive in Nova Scotia, make sure you turn your clock back 20 years.
"Nova Scotia's Premier says he believes his province will face higher costs for the proposed Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador. But Darrell Dexter says he still believes the development is the cheapest option to meet Nova Scotia's future power needs."
So basically, we have invested money so that we can pay more money. Who is running this monkey show? Certainly not someone interested in being the voice of the people. To quote a fellow Nova Scotian, Marc Boutilier who tweeted about the New Page deal when it was thrown back on the table at the last minute, "I felt a great disturbance in the Force as if almost a million Nova Scotians cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."Is New Page newsprint (124.5 Million) and a Muskrat hydro dam (6.2 Billion capital cost) the best our government can come up with? I'm no genius but if I had that much moola to invest it would be in something a little less archaic.
Keep in mind too that our deficit in Nova Scotia is $390 million...think we could have paid a few bills with that money before we invested? I do and so do many other Nova Scotians.
Hooray, we also win the prize for our cost of living increasing faster than anywhere else in Canada! "Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index numbers released today indicate that Nova Scotia’s costs have risen faster than anywhere else in Canada, at a rate of 4.6 per cent. The national average was 3.7 per cent. Nova Scotia’s HST, at 15 per cent, is the highest level of consumer tax in the country. The latest statistics on average wages in Nova Scotia indicate only a 1.6 per cent gain." This means that I should cherish my 2% since it is higher than the average 1.6%.....not that I get to keep it.
“Higher costs for food and gasoline are a reality across Canada but Nova Scotia is unique in that we are also paying the highest HST in the country,” said Progressive Conservative Party leader Jamie Baillie. “At a time when Nova Scotians need help making ends meet, the NDP government has made their job harder.” http://www.thecapebretoner.ca/?p=10152
No kidding its been made harder...in order to increase our income to cover the NDP's increases, we will need to ask our bosses for a 5% raise minimum just to break even. At a time where companies in this province are focussed on cutting costs to remain profitable, it would seem unconscionable to even consider it.
Growing economy or growing mess? The bottom line is that for every raise requested, at the end of the day, someone is going to have to pay for it. Take NSP for example, the big boys got their raises but the result was that my household paid for it and your household paid for it and your neighbours and so on.
Should we ask for our, I think well deserved raises, there is always the trickle down to the consumer in terms of rising costs or our fellow employees in terms of lay-offs in some way. This is what happens in a growing economy but does a growing economy really equate a better economy? If we needed less, then would we really need those raises, deserving or not?
"What does economic growth actually mean? It means more consumption – and consumption of a specific kind: more consumption of goods and services that are exchanged for money. That means that if people stop caring for their own children and instead pay for childcare, the economy grows. The same if people stop cooking for themselves and purchase restaurant takeaways instead.
Economists say this is a good thing. After all, you wouldn't pay for childcare or takeaway food if it weren't of benefit to you, right? So, the more things people are paying for, the more benefits are being had. Besides, it is more efficient for one daycare centre to handle 30 children than for each family to do it themselves. That's why we are all so much richer, happier and less busy than we were a generation ago. Right?
Obviously, it isn't true that the more we buy, the happier we are. Endless growth means endlessly increasing production and endlessly increasing consumption. Social critics have for a long time pointed out the resulting hollowness carried by that thesis. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that infinite growth is impossible on a finite planet." http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/03/debt-federal-reserve-fixation-on-growth
The middle class was greatly focussed on in the recent US election with the idea that if we work hard, we will be rewarded and be able to enjoy the "good life". I know I have bought into this ideal and so have many other average American as well as Canadian families. If half of our population stopped working tomorrow, what would happen? Here's some interesting food for thought:
"A statistical oddity; dual earner families are 75% more likely to file bankruptcy than the single earner family. Sounds strange, but consider that people live to their means - the two earner couple saves very little more than the single earner family. All the extra money is spent on toys and fun things to do; that’s mostly what it’s about! At the same time, when there are two earners there is twice the probability that one will lose their job from a layoff, sickness, injury, etc. " http://wilderness.hubpages.com/hub/Two-Earner-Incomes-Is-It-Worth-The-Cost
Once we subtract what it actually costs me to work, it hardly seems worth it based on the numbers.However little I may be bringing in, it is for us is making the the difference between having enough and not having enough. Once we get out of debt, who knows?
We are your average Canadian family and we are tired of rising costs to pay for bad government investments and selfish stupid executives......
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