Friday, October 24, 2003
More money
I try not to worry about money very much, because things just seem to have a way of working out, and we're not stupid with our money, but we're not terribly savvy either.
But today I am a little worried, because listening to the news this morning we were hit with the double whammy of impending hydro rate hikes and school tax increases.
We are now homeowners, as of two years ago, and our little house has brought us untold joy over these two years. But I knew that owning a house would mean that we would fall prey to all kinds of tax grabbers over the years, and the timing of this particular double hit is bad.
We'll see how it all comes out in the wash, of course, but I think we're going to have to start putting a little money aside to pay off the school tax bill when it comes. The Hydro hike is just another incentive for us to invest in a wood stove, something we've been talking about seriously for a while now. We can't afford it, but I think we will find that it is worth getting into a tiny bit of debt for, because we will probably save in the long run. And think of the enjoyment it will bring us!
As for the school tax, well, I don't mind paying taxes, generally speaking, but with two kids actually in school I would love it if I could feel that some of those school taxes might actually go to the schools and the kids in them. This is a preposterous idea in the case of the English school board, because it gets very little funding from the government, for alas, we are but a small minority population.
With me as the sole wage-earner our family is just barely getting by, but we're pretty frugal and so we actually feel like we're doing okay. We can go out for a cheap meal once a week, we get videos once a week, and we don't lack groceries and we pay our bills in full and on time. But like so many people we're one paycheck away from ruin, and that's not good.
Well, time to tighten our belts, I guess! No more Indian take-out, and we can get our videos from the library until we've seen them all. Well, maybe we can do the take-out thing every two weeks... if I buy all my clothes second-hand. Sounds good to me!
Stay tuned to see whether we will be ruined, or whether your plucky heroine will learn to transform old curtains into school uniforms!
I try not to worry about money very much, because things just seem to have a way of working out, and we're not stupid with our money, but we're not terribly savvy either.
But today I am a little worried, because listening to the news this morning we were hit with the double whammy of impending hydro rate hikes and school tax increases.
We are now homeowners, as of two years ago, and our little house has brought us untold joy over these two years. But I knew that owning a house would mean that we would fall prey to all kinds of tax grabbers over the years, and the timing of this particular double hit is bad.
We'll see how it all comes out in the wash, of course, but I think we're going to have to start putting a little money aside to pay off the school tax bill when it comes. The Hydro hike is just another incentive for us to invest in a wood stove, something we've been talking about seriously for a while now. We can't afford it, but I think we will find that it is worth getting into a tiny bit of debt for, because we will probably save in the long run. And think of the enjoyment it will bring us!
As for the school tax, well, I don't mind paying taxes, generally speaking, but with two kids actually in school I would love it if I could feel that some of those school taxes might actually go to the schools and the kids in them. This is a preposterous idea in the case of the English school board, because it gets very little funding from the government, for alas, we are but a small minority population.
With me as the sole wage-earner our family is just barely getting by, but we're pretty frugal and so we actually feel like we're doing okay. We can go out for a cheap meal once a week, we get videos once a week, and we don't lack groceries and we pay our bills in full and on time. But like so many people we're one paycheck away from ruin, and that's not good.
Well, time to tighten our belts, I guess! No more Indian take-out, and we can get our videos from the library until we've seen them all. Well, maybe we can do the take-out thing every two weeks... if I buy all my clothes second-hand. Sounds good to me!
Stay tuned to see whether we will be ruined, or whether your plucky heroine will learn to transform old curtains into school uniforms!
# posted by becca : 9:33 AM
