Although my crazy life seems to revolve around the drama of the Trolls in the basement, I'm happy to report that once in awhile something good happens and I'm reminded of the reasons why we are making the sacrifices we are.
The whole point of selling our cushy home was to save money and better our future. To date it's been hard to see the advancements that we've made as most of our day to day cash flow is eaten up by large, pre-existing debt and our living expenses. Having two little guys in a high end daycare is financially devastating. We can get cheaper daycare but frankly it's not up for debate. The boys LOVE the daycare they are in and they are learning tons. They are well socialized, happy and Buddy is even staring to write letters. Not bad for a not yet 3.5 year old! They bring home beautiful pieces of art and eat healthy, organic food. So, shelling out $2,400 per month (to have them in 4 days per week) SUCKS but it is for their benefit and I have no regrets.
We have been trying to keep our eye on the prize so to speak and have been looking forward to the spring when we know finances will start to shift and become much better for us. Firstly, I have been expecting a decent tax return this year. I knew we would be getting money back as we can write off a portion of our daycare expenses and I can also claim our move and related expenses since it brought me more than 40 kms closer to my office. Last night I sat down and braved a date with ufile. After several hours of plugging in and validating numbers I was thrilled to see what is owed to us: $13,700. I would have been happy with $5,000!
In addition, it's bonus time for my work. I have been long awaiting this bonus since I started in October 2010 and missed the cutoff for eligibility last year. I don't yet know what the payout will be, however, I received my review rating and our department scorecard ratings and both are above target. This means that I should be paid between 12.5-25% of my annual salary. I would expect somewhere around 15-18% which is a pretty decent chunk of change, even after the tax man takes his share.
With these two lump sums we plan to pay off more debt. We will pay off our car and free up $427 per month of cash flow. I hope to also pay my credit card off which frees another few hundred a month at minimum.
Super Husband and I have also been discussing the possibility of taking a family road trip to Florida/Disney this summer. Super exciting to think we have the means to be able to justify FUN now :)
In addition, we will probably buy the boys bikes for the summer and get a season's pass to Canada's Wonderland.
So while we still have a long journey of saving ahead, we are FINALLY getting some traction in our master plan.
Now....if only we could get rid of the Trolls we would be hitting a real high!
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