Adventures in Debt

While I was pleased to hear the Bank of Canada lower the prime interest rate 0.25% earlier this month,as it helps me out with my lines of credit, it means that one of my banks has lowered their savings account rates. I was disappointed to see that this bank has lowered its interest rate from 3.75% to 3.30%. This means that it’s now back to a “regular” rate for those types of savings accounts. This is the bank I’ve got my Emergency Fund with, and while 3.30% is still very good, that’s almost half a percentage point of a change. The whole reason I opened this account last year was because of the rate, the fact that it was significantly higher than my other accounts. That and also because I can simply withdraw the money with a bank card if I need it, which is a good thing to have for an Emergency Fund. But still, I am disappointed to see the rate change in general. This doesn’t mean I’ll be moving the money, however it means I’ll be earning a smidge less than previously on my savings.

It bode well for me this morning when I arrived at the office for a new day of work not feeling my best (I’m coming down with a cold), and I found a penny just inside the front door. I’ve fully crossed the threshold of 10 cents now, increasing my total to 11 cents, and widening the lead on Melanie. I haven’t asked her if she’s found anything lately and just hasn’t reported it, or if she hasn’t found anything at all.

Since we’re almost at the end of the month and these numbers won’t change, here are the monthly numbers for March:

Total Debt: $24,178.89 (+ 220.79 from last month, sigh)

Debt Paid off This Month: Not applicable since I went back over my original debt amount.

Total savings this month: $200 (not including interest)

Emergency Fund total: $ 2,112.11 (including the savings interest!)

RRSP Savings: $400

Yet again, I’ve increased my debt, although thankfully I’m starting to bring that down closer to zero. The one thing I am pleased about is that I’ve started a pre-authorized withdrawal for my RRSP account, a twice monthly deposit of $200. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, and am glad that I finally got off my duff and started it up again.

I’m also still making good headway on my Emergency Savings, continuing to save $200 a month. I’d like to increase this amount as well, but for now it’s a good steady growth for me.

I managed to create a $100 “snowflake” with some sales on eBay, although I’d like to increase this amount.

Next item on my money savings list is to call up my cable company and change my cable package around. A few of my deals are expiring this month, so in order to save the cash, I’m going to get rid of all the channels that I don’t need or use.  I figure this should save me about $10-20 a month, so I’ll be “snowflaking” that into my debt repayment as well.

There you have it, not a completely disastrous month, but not yet a success.