Upcoming FI Activities in the life of T

Alternative title for this post: list of random financial shit I need/want to do.

Since I haven’t posted in awhile, and I’m sure you are getting super-bored with nothing to read, I’m posting this list of FI activities I want to work on this week and beyond to hopefully 1) inspire others and 2) hear about YOUR FI activities this week to inspire myself. Here goes!

FI Activities I plan to achieve in April

1. Taxes: I have them all completed in Simple Tax, a free Canadian online tax software, recently purchased by Wealthsimple. As a result, it probably won’t be free next year. Now, I just need to file them with the government. This is a FI activity since I will be getting a decent return despite having to pay income tax on my CERB money (CERB = stimulus for you American and other types).  Why did I get a return? I had a number of deductions such as the new “Work from Home” deduction, RRSP deductions (I jammed my RRSP with an extra 2k that I borrowed from my new mortgage lender), medical deductions, and charitable donations. Now, Hubs and I just need to debate about what to do with the return. Put it in the new DECKSTRAVAGANZA 2022! fund in YNAB? Reinvest it in my RRSP/TFSA? Can you guess who wants to do what? To be fair, I also want a new deck…maybe I can split it between the two and call it a day.

What, you want to know more about DECKSTRAVAGANZA 2022!? Ok. Here’s our YNAB wish farm. When we have cash left over each month, we water the items in the wish farm with the leftovers. As you can see, none of the wish farm items have been watered yet this month, and Deckstravaganza 2022! is woefully underfunded:

I really want a screened room as part of the deck; hubs wants enough outdoor space beyond the room to allow for BBQing and lounging comfortably. Maybe something like this but bigger on the outside part:

He also wants expansive stairs with lots of opportunity to go up or down wherever you please, similar to this deck. Anyway, the point is, we need a fair chunk of change which we don’t have yet. And lumber needs to come down dramatically in price. We should probably get some quotes ’cause this won’t be DIY.

2. Smith Manoeuvre Investigation: I’m investigating the possiblity of performing this manoeuvre with my current lender who offers readvancable mortgages. Now I must get my hands on the book!

3. Your Money or Your Life: I finished the book and I want to implement some of the FI strategies that I haven’t already. I’d like to flip through and summarize a list of to dos. If I can get that far in April, I’ll be happy.

4. Slightly increase my automated savings: As I stated in a previous post, I need to get my savings rate up to an average of $1200 CAD per month. This should get me very close to my goal of retiring comfortably at age 55 (11 years from now). I’m hoping that by small, gradual increases, I can make the adjustments to the budget more easily. I recieved a small raise of 2% this month so that “extra” money will go towards the savings rate. Yippee!

Well that’s it for now. If I can get these things done in April, I’ll be happy. I’m trying to set lower expectations for myself these days to avoid burnout. The pandemic has really taken it’s toll on everyone, and I’m no exception. I’m holding up pretty well, but making more time for myself has become a priority to ensure I stay this way.

Now I want to know, what will you be doing to help propel yourself to FI this month? Please let me know your inspiring plans in the comments.