Time to get to work!

Well, its time to get into the real purpose of this blog.  ACTION!

Despite some of my bad habits of not planning as well as I should, I do have some good habits that I think are worth sharing  The good is that I am able to save money.  The bad is...I don't always follow up on the money that I am saving. Sometimes I am just plain tired from everything that is going on around me that I forget certain areas that could be working for our future financial benefit.  So here goes:

PROBLEM TO RESOLVE #1:

If you have children, you are aware that you get a $100 monthly check for each child under the age of 6.  Sadly we are down to getting $100 a month, but everything helps!

Our original family plan was to put half of each month checks into an RESP to help save for our children's education (which according to the rep we met with, the cost is going to be astronomical).  We did end up opening an RESP for all three children through a company, however, had the money auto deposited through my husbands bank account.  That left the government money for the kids coming to me directly each month via check. Yes...I should have transferred the money into our family checking account, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put it aside if we weren't actually missing it.  So every month I have deposited it  into my personal bank account...which obviously has no income...just a little bit of savings.   I rarely use this account and am pretty good about not splurging and have only used it if a special need arose.  I may have dipped into it a few times, but currently have $9000 in savings in there, which I plan to save for my children's future.  Sad thing is....it has been growing over some time, untouched...earning zero interest...basically doing nothing.  I know.  I don't even know what to do with it.  

Truth is, I don't want to add it to the childrens RESP account because after blog hopping it appears that  we may have been taken in and are paying some pretty steep enrollment prices and have seen some fairly negative reviews of people who invested in the same company.  More on that in a different post. 

So what to do? 

The goals for the money are to be there to help our kids out with education and  missions for our church should they decide to go. My biggest hope will be to support and educate my children in being able to earn money for each of those events themselves...however...we will be happy to help match...support or loan....and maybe if we are independently wealthy, we may gift some.

PROBLEM TO RESOLVE #2

As I mentioned about the secret account at the beginning of this blog...I took that to heart.  I was single and still had my secret bank account theories, so I met with an advisor at Royal Bank and started doing some auto deductions each month  - both into an investment and an RRSP account.  I was working at the college at the time, and didn't have a great income but did manage to set some aside without touching it.  When I got married, my husband had already bought a house, and so we just left that money alone.   It became my secret account...one that he knew about...but one I didn't have to touch.  So empowering.:)   Once I had my first child, 11 years ago, I stopped working...and have since left the account alone.

I know...so embarrassing. I virtually haven't talked to anyone about the account for over almost 10 years.   I look at the statements once in a while...and it has slowly grown...but obviously may need to be looked at.  The money market fund that holds $9500 in it, earned a whopping $11.76 interest during the last period....OOOOOPS, while the Balanced fund with only $3,500.00 earned $123.67 interest during the last period.)

That would be why I finally decided its time to get down to business and pay attention.  

Regardless of how ignorant I have been to areas of finance that could have been providing better returns...it just goes to show, that even people who are trying hard to save money at the grocery store can be missing small areas that with even just an hour or two of attention can make a big difference to future savings.   

As was previously disclosed...I have no idea what to do with the money once we have saved it.  And...just for your information we have no special affiliation with any particular bank or institution.  I am just trying to share what I learn through my journey.  In fact...you will soon find that we bank through several different institutions.  I don't know if that is a good or bad thing but I will try and find out.:)

So step one has been taken:  I made an appointment to meet with the bank on Friday morning to address the two problems I plan to work on first.  I will keep you posted. 

 ========================================================
(disclaimer:   I know that these seem to be first-world challenges to have, and am so aware of those who are struggling...or who are working from pay check to pay check to make ends meet.  I will try and get to those challenges later.  For now in our situation...I am choosing to forget about issues in our lives like impending unemployment, job hunting, celiac disease and the additional cost to our family budget, and a dental implant that needs to happen.   We all are faced with difficulties, but I am hoping that there are ways that we can all work through financial stresses and come out on top.