No Matter How You Slice It...

I'm poor. I'm coming up on *finally* being out of debt this year. Every way I figure it, I should be clean & clear from all debts by June 2, 2006 (or sooner, depending on when the tax refund comes in).

It's a strange feeling.

I'm not living month to month. I'm not shifting money from one credit card to pay the other. Or writing "purchase cheques" from a credit card to myself to make sure my rent/car payment still goes through.

It almost feels like I'm rich!!

But, I'm not. If I want to take all this new-found income, and save it towards a house... it still doesn't do me much good. I'll be allowed (at BEST) to purchase a home valued at just under $150,000. Or, if it's a condo, and the fees aren't INSANE, we're looking at about $120,000. That's a 25-year loan. Oh, that's also about a year and a half from now, when I'm able to save up a $15,000 deposit on the home. Looking around, there aren't too many homes available for under $150,000. Thinking ahead, I don't suspect the prices will be dropping anytime soon, either.

I know a home is an investment, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah... but, if I'm paying say, $400 in condo fees, plus $200 in taxes/month, plus $100 for heat/hydro... that all adds up to about $700. Which is equal to my rent payment now. Wouldn't I be smarter to invest any money I have for a mortgage somewhere?

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks sometimes it's smarter to rent...!

Some cream with your coffee?

Ran out of cream in the office this morning (again), and in a frantic search for old creamers... I happened to gaze into the freezer, and found this:



I'm not sure how long it takes for that much frost to develop... but... even if i could get the creamer out, I don't think I'd be putting it in my coffee. Although, I think the sugar might be ok... I'm just wondering what's in the Tim Horton's bag! :o