At Home With Ailsa - June 2004

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At Home With Ailsa

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Wednesday, June 16th, 2004. Yo, yo, yo! What up, Daaaawg?? L'il Daaaawggies... hey, why not -- it's not like I'm not out here in the Prairies...! ha,ha,ha! And I'm thinking about dogs because Tia has been in my lap a good portion of the morning -- she was outside playing, and I think she thought she stood a pretty good chance of catching one of the little Prairie Dogs she watches from the windows... so by the time she came back into the house, she was covered in mud -- she had managed to get her head into one of the holes those wee Prairie Dogs dig. Her ears were all filthy, and everything! So when I was washing her up in the sink, I had a helluva time trying to get those ears clean, but then when I was giving her a wee cuddle when I was drying her up, she fell asleep, and I started to nod off, too. It's very powerful when other people around you doze off, because we are all so susceptible to what we are surrounded by, right?

So the big Political Debates were on in Canada, last night -- if it's not Hockey, it's Politics... the Election is coming up so quickly, that at least I got some answers to the questions I'm concerned about. I have to say I was very surprised that the Liberals will not bring the issue of Same Sex Marriage to the House of Commons. Paul Martin, our current Prime Minister, wants the Supreme Court to make the decision... I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want those old hoots to make a big decision like that -- for one, they're not voted in, so they certainly don't represent my views... I think the only fair thing is to allow it to go to an Open Vote in the House of Commons, and the Conservative Party with Stephen Harper believes in that -- at least then the people who are making a decision about such a critical Human Rights Issue will be folks we've voted in ourselves, and that's better than the alternative.

One thing that drives me crazy with all this political talk is about Canada nt having a Two-Tier Health Care System -- who are they kidding? Puh-leeease! We've had a Two-Tier System for years, it's just kept hush-hush. I think I've mentioned before that there are the Ads on TV about this poor woman who is in her 30's and is diagnosed with Breast Cancer. The Ad says, "Will she have the Insurance to pay for her $42,000. Bill to pay for the Drugs she'll need??" What? At first I DID think it was an American Ad, since we get a lot of U.S. TV (Thank God, since Canadian Television sucks, for the most part... maybe they could start producing Shows that are actually GOOD, then they could support themselves instead of being subsidized by the Government to make sure we remember that we're Canadian... how stooopid is that? It would be a sad day if we identified with a pathetic Show just because it was made in the same country where you lived. And the few Shows that we DO have that are hilarious -- This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Air Farce -- come under fire and may or may not continue to be funded...).

Anyway, the Ad is for Alberta, and it's for Blue Cross Coverage to make sure you can pay for the drugs you might need. I wonder how many Canadians know they need additional Health Care Coverage to get the drugs they might need to save their lives? I'll tell you -- we're in no position to throw stones at the U.S. Model for Health Care -- I had much better Health Care when I lived in the States than I've had in Canada. Plus, I don't have a big problem with some Health Care Centers where you can 'Buy an Operation' -- if we let people who have the money pay for their own Procedures, won't that open up more beds for people who can't afford that choice? And if my life, or my child's life were ever at risk, and the Waiting List was soooo long (all based on 'fairness') that they may or may not make it -- of course you would go to any length to get the Health Care Service. You'd sell your house or do anything to keep them healthy or return them to good health... I think the option should exist.

Hmmm, I'm just watching an old Oprah Show with a guy who is talking about becoming a Millionaire, and he advocates the Double Monthly Mortgage Payment -- that's TWO Mortgage Payments in One Month... man, I hat ethat stoopid idea. That is sooo hard for regular families to manage, because sometimes things happen, and it's next to impossible to come up with a whole other Mortgage Payment every single Month. It's soooo much better just to put one Extra Mortgage Payment Once a Year -- Twice if you can manage that. It's far less stressful, and will knock years off your Mortgage.

The other thing this guy is saying is that you should Cut Up Your Credit Cards -- no, no, no -- that'll negatively affect your Fico Score, and you don't want that to happen. And I'm not such a big believer in the whole Money into the Retirement Fund thing -- I still believe it's far better to put money aside to Buy Your Own Home, or put that money on your Mortgage. Financial Advice is like any other kind of Advice -- take out the bit that seems reasonable and actually relates to your own life, and forget the rest.

The easiest ways for me to save money were to cut out at least one Shopping Trip per month (then work your way to cutting out one Shopping Trip per week), which saved well over $500. per month, so that was good. And then to be completely aware of how much you spend, and what you spend it on -- if you find you're out buying a whole lot of stuff you don't need a t all, decide whether you really need to do that, and if the answer is 'No', then stop. Make a mental decision and stick to it -- it'll be worth it when there's a lot more money in your Bank Account at the end of every month. Makes you feel nice and secure.

The other thing this fellow says (and this is a Financial Guru) is to 'Not have a Budget'... Hmmm. I agree that it's annoyink to live with a Strict Budget, but I think it's very reasonable to look at all the money that comes into your house each month, and make a decision about how much of that money will go to paying for everything in your life. In this house, I have a 'General Budget' of $2500. per month -- in our last house (it was a whole lot smaller...), my monthly budget was $1500. There are always things that come up that cost more than that, but I don't include Building Costs in that Dollar Number. I consider those Costs outside of the Main Monthly Budget. There's a separate Bank Account to manage the Building Costs, and that works well for us.

The important thing about having a General Budget is to know exactly what you have (and don't have) so you can work within your own Budget. One thinfg that constantly amazes me with Financial Advisors is when they see a young Family struggling away in a house they really can't afford, they tell them to put more money aside for a Retirement Fund -- because theirCompany is managing it... and they don't say to the Family -- "Look you need to move. Sell that house where all your money is being sapped up, and 'Buy Down' ... a nice Condo or a smaller home." That is the most obvious thing to me -- it's not more important to hold onto a house that no longer serves your purposes, even if you love it. Financial struggles are not worth any nice house -- it's always better to cut your losses and find a new place to live that doesn't cost nearly so much. THEN, you can recoup your finances in your new place, be more comfortable emotionally and financially. Your life will be so much better right away -- or at least within a couple of months, if it even takes that long to integrate yourself into your new place!

Tip of the Day: If your House has gone waaaay up in Value from the Day you bought it, and you want to 'take the money out of your house', consider selling it, taking the Profit and buying a Brand New or Relatively New House. Just like the Stock Market, if you buy a house and never sell it, it still holds the value it did on the day you bought it, until you 'realize' the dollar difference by selling it. If you bought some stock at $5.00 a Share, and then they went up to $90.00 a Share, but you didn't sell, you wouldn't have realized any new money -- and then if the Stock Market goes back down and then your Stock drops to $2.00 per Share, you've lost money... so if you want to see the money you've made, you need to sell the Stock or the house.

It's always a personal choice, of course -- some folks really like to find one home and stay there forever ("I'm gonna die in this house..."). Me, I like to take the money out of any house and move to another one, reinvest the Equity and eventually have no Mortgage at all, or take that extra money and invest it in other Real Estate. But that's just me -- you need to find where you're comfortable and where you'll be financially happy, then you'll find the emotional stuff will be much easier to deal with, then!

I still haven't been able to get into my Program to get my new pictures into the computer, but when I do, man, I've got some great new shots for you! ha,ha! I'll go see what I can find for today -- be right back!

I was going to put some pictures of the little Prairie Dogs, but then I happened to click on this picture, and it's so cute, I thought I'd just put it on -- since I refer to Aidan and Tia so very much! They're both cute, ain't they?? ha,ha,ha!

This is in the Great Room, and Tia and Aidan vie for the Lounger Settee -- it's everyone's favorite place to sit, because it's an enormous Chair/Couch!

Thanks for swinging by for a little visit!

See ya, Baby! Ailsa!

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Great Dads 'n Grads Gifts -- it's not too late to Order Stuff Online -- Father's Day is this Sunday! (And I add new stuff in every day, to keep it interesting!)

I love this Ad for Spongebob Squarepants Screensavers because on of my very favorite Spongebob scenes is where Spongebob is secretly watching a Show of Jellyfish like it's a porn movie, when Gary the Snail comes in the room and Spongebob yelps at getting caught watching 'something bad' and quickly changes the channel so Gary can't see it ... Hilarious!

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