A momentous day today in Toronto my friends: I opened up the moonroof on my car while driving! Yes, it’s true. The first time opening it this year, and I must say, it felt great! After dealing with extremely low temperatures at the beginning of the week (-15C), we’re certainly going to break a record today with a high of +16C! Can’t wait. Even the fact that it’s clouded over right now can’t dampen my mood. So in the spirit of almost-springtime, I bring you, The Five Signs That Spring Is In The Air:

1. It’s Roll Up the Rim to Win time at Tim Horton’s. The annual contest where you can win prizes ranging from free coffees to $25,000 to new vehicles is back. I normally don’t buy coffee outside of the house, but even I get sucked into this contest and have to buy the occasional coffee. So far I’m 0-for-2, but my fingers are crossed. I usually win at least one donut and a free coffee every year, so I’m hoping to keep the streak alive.
2. The streets are all dirty. Because all of the snowbanks have pretty much melted by now, all that’s left is all the dirt and gravel and everything else that gets caught up in the snow when they plow the streets. Pretty soon the city will be sending out the street sweepers to gather it all up, and things will be looking much more ship-shape.
3. My head has been killing me off and on over the last two weeks as the weather starts its roller-coaster trips. I suffer from weather-related headaches, so the wild fluctuations in barometric pressure do a number on my head. Thankfully caffeine is one way to help alleviate the headaches, so Fact #1 comes in handy right now.
4. The lineup at the car wash is HUGE! Most people don’t even bother to wash their cars in the winter time since they get dirty upon leaving the car wash, so there’s really no point. I might wash it once a month or so, just to get rid of the salt off the car. Don’t want it to eat into my paint job or anything, especially since I’ve got quite a few stone chips right now. A few went right down to the chassis, so I want to make sure those don’t rust. But still, I don’t wash it nearly as often as I do during the rest of the year. But today I caved. I was frugal though and only got the basic wash, so it didn’t cost me a million dollars or anything, so the car looks all spiffy.
5. The joggers are out. I live near a park, and usually it’s filled with joggers and other athletic-type people, but of course in the winter there’s only the die-hards and those training for marathons. But right now there are a whole whackload of people running around. In fact, I might be one of them too as I get off my duff and dust off the running shoes too. I think I’m going to start running again this year, so it’s time I get ready as well. Might enjoy the warm temperatures today with a nice leisurely jog in the park.

What signs of spring are you noticing around your neighbourhood? Anything getting you in the mood to end your winter hibernation?

This is an official post from Adventures in Debt.

My car payment!

That’s $519, and it comes out on the 8th. Oh crap! *smacks head against keyboard of computer*

I had taken out enough money to put me below the $519 amount, and I didn’t have enough room on my line of credit to top the chequing account back up. Double crap. So I went over to my TV savings fund and pulled the money out of there. No problemo, since there’s no way I’m going to be buying a new TV any time soon, and I figured the money could be put to better use.

Phew, crisis averted.

Then I looked over at my line of credit, and saw that I was $33.17 over the limit. Thankfully my bank doesn’t charge me for going over on that account, but still, I found it strange that: a) I’d gone over, and b) that the bank let me go over. I clicked over to the account to see what was going on, and saw that a cheque I’d written last week to cover my rent increase next month went through. (I had to update my deposit amount.) Dang it! And the pisser of this one is the fact the top-up wasn’t due till Feb. 1! (I found the paper work again this morning when I was organizing the pile of papers on my desk.) Son of a #$%%^#!

Have any of you ever gotten eager in your finances and then had to scramble to cover them?

This is an official post from Adventures in Debt.