So I figure now that I have a mortgage payment, and will need to eat at home more often, I should go focus on my health and getting fit.

I’ve been pretty out of shape for as long as I can remember (like 100lbs overweight), so this is a good motivator of change. Since the new year I’ve been debating what to do, and finally bit the bullet and hired a personal trainer last week. At $70/hour, its a good chunk of change knowing that I’ll see him once a week for who knows how long! My goal is to not only learn how to make the most of my time in the gym, but to have that level of accountability that comes along with a trainer yelling at you (heh). I think this has been the missing piece of the puzzle for years, as I’ve always wanted to lose weight and get more active — now that I’m paying for it, and being held accountable, hopefully I’ll see positive results for the long term.

My first session was on Saturday, and a day later I’m feeling it — we started off pretty slow, did the measurements and initial testing, etc, and then spent the entire — entire — hour going through different exercise and equipment. It really highlighted just how out of shape I am, and the amount of work I need to do to reach my fitness goals.

The trainer himself was pretty relaxed — he realized that everyone hates him by the end of it, and kept sharing different motivational slogans (I think thats why people hate him… no one wants to hear it! haha). But, by the end of it, I was much more confident in what I was doing, as well as had some takeaways to do at home.

Only time will tell the results, but we’ll see next week if I lost any weight, and if I can continue the healthy lifestyle. Its a long journey trying to lose about 100lbs, but its better to try and fail than not try at all (though I’m not going to fail)! Wish me luck.

I’m now finding that showing up to work each day is getting harder and harder, as the work is just no longer interesting, and my passion for what I do is gone. I’m not sure if its specific to my company — as it is a great company to work for — or just the entire field I’m in. I know I’m good at what I do, but I find I’m losing my passion for what I do, without any sort of clue of what I would like to do.The work itself is just not interesting, and it really is just there is a LOT of work rather than it being challenging.

I’m trying to find a way to get re-inspired, but I think I’ve reached the burnout stage. How do I get past this?

I know I can look to different companies, but I have it pretty good where I am now — the pay, responsibility, and opportunity is there, but I almost feel as if I’m trapped. I could go somewhere else, and make less, or I could stay where I am now and continue to move up. Again, hitting the stage of just not being passionate about what I do.

I know I’m not the only one who has felt this — afterall, I’ve now been with this company for years. The average employee lasts on average 2-3 — I’m nearly double that at this job. How do you know when to jump ship for something different, even though it may be almost a lateral — if not slightly backwards — career move.

Is it better to stay in a job with a good potential, even though I’m beginning to hate it — or make a jump somewhere else, to be mentally stimulated?

To date, I’ve probably spent $1,000 on small things for my place, minor maintenance things, or building/strata obligations.

In no particular order, these have included: $50 visitor parking pass, $80 braided washing machine hoses (something the home inspector said I should do sooner than later, $15 for maintenance on my sink drain, $40 on new shower head (old one sucked!), $35 on new stove drip trays (old ones were dirty enough it was easier to just replace), $10 for bike locker key, $7/month for extended channels for TV (basic is always missing that one channel I really want)…. etc, the list goes on. All the small things add up quickly!

To top it off, I made the decision before buying that once I do, I’d furnish the place right. Before moving out of my last apartment, I had a fire sale and sold all my bigger items on craigslist. Now, I need to buy a new couch, tv unit, bar stools, headboard, etc. All of this, I figure will set me back another $3-4,000 — but, on the bright side, I expect to keep it for 10+ years.

One thing I discovered early on that has helped a lot, is that with the RSP Home Buyers Plan, you can use the $25,000 you withdrawal for ANYTHING. So $20k went towards the down payment, and the remaining $5k was kept in cash for furniture and other expenses.

The good news of it all, is that in the grand scheme of things, these added expenses are fairly minimal. I’ve heard horror stories of people moving in, and realizing they needed to do tens of thousands of dollars of renovations and repairs!

The lawyer’s roll is to really figure out the nitty gritty details, that can often be a surprise, both for the buyer and the seller. This way, its all handled up front, and all the potential issues are resolved before ever having the need to go to court! As well, at this stage in the purchase, its a whole lot of paper signing acknowledging who I am, agreeing to follow strata rules, agreeing to the mortgage payments, etc.

For $800, he did all the work regarding making the mortgage company happy (making sure the property is actually sellable, is what we say it is, etc), along with flush out all the remaining costs owed by the sellers (such as existing strata payments, property taxes, etc). All in all, my total result came down to the $800 in lawyers fees, $300 in expenses from requesting all the various docs, and $1200 in liabilities that I need to assume in the purchase. The $1200 included the movie in fee ($150), pre-paid property taxes from the seller ($600), pro-rated strata fees for the few days I’m in there before the full month ($50), etc.

So far to date, there hasn’t been any real surprises in terms of cost. Right now, I’m sitting at the Mortgage + $2300 Lawyer fees and liabilities + $450 home inspection. Not bad!

Now, I was on the fence about even needing one — afterall, its a condo, only 10 years old, and I read all the strata minutes, so I knew pretty much all there was to know about the unit and building. Thats good enough, right? Well, my real estate agent offered a pretty good insight — am I willing to risk buying a unit to save just 0.001% of my purchase price?

With that, I went for it — why not, afterall. I’d rather know, just in case. Even if it came back with nothing, I’d have that peace of mind. There are too many buildings where I live that have to get rain screened or have roofs replaced, because it wasn’t built well to begin with.

The inspection itself went quite well. The inspector was great at explaining everything, telling me why he was checking certain things, what to look for, as well as just ongoing maintenance tips over time. He checked everything from the electrical plugs, appliances, and  fixtures, to the underground parking, building exterior and common areas. As well, he pointed out where the water and electrical shut off valves are (they were hidden), how the dehumidifier system works, along with giving ballpark ranges for replacing the appliances and flooring when the time comes. All of this, he gave to me in a detailed report along with tips for what to do in the future to maintain it.

While there were no red flags — in fact, he gave my building a higher rating than similar buildings in the area — he re-affirmed my purchase decision, and helped me learn more about my future home

While $450 could be spent on other (funner) things… I’m happy I did it. I now know I’m buying a solid condo, in a well kept building.

If you’re buying — are you willing to risk structural, mould or electrical issues to save $450?

The main motivator, was that I started this year quite different than last year — this year I no longer had school, had no student loan, and had a fair bit of money saved up. Add on top of that, my landlord wants to renovate my suite (and kick me out to do it), mortgage rates have never been lower, and the condo market has turned to really favor buyers, so everything seemed to line up just right!

If you’ve been reading this blog for some time, you would have noticed I’ve been saving a fair bit of money each month in my RSP. All of this was designed to be used as a down payment, using the First Time Home Buyers program.

After getting pre-approved for a mortgage, I managed to find exactly what I wanted, only a few days later. While this is quick — very quick — I’ve been passively looking for the past 3 years, and really knew in my head what I needed/wanted in a place. These included a newer building, higher floor, up and coming/livable area, 1 bedroom, great building, and a good floorplan.  When I saw it, I jumped on it.

I ended up going realtor shopping, to find the right one — normally I’d try to find a recommendation from a friend, but there was no one who specialized in the area. With no hope there, I hit the pavement and went to a few open houses, both to see the units, as well as to secretly interview the agent. Turns out, I found the right one very quickly, who had a very similar personality, and was also willing to be agressive in the home search.

With the condo I wanted, it was over priced and out of my budget range — but that didn’t stop me and my agent from lowballing them back to a more reasonable price (well, reasonable for me). With the condo already empty, I had the fact I can move in very quickly on my side, along with another condo on the floor, with the same layout, selling for a big price drop only days before. Pairing these 2 facts together, along with a couple of motivated sellers, the owner countered me $5,000 (which is nothing), and I accepted!

While the deals not fully done yet, I am well down the path — I’ve gone through the condo strata minutes, have got all my financing figured out, and am now just waiting for 1 more form before I bring in a home inspector, and give my notice at my landlord.

While its been a lightning fast process, it really has helped that I’ve been passivley looking for years — both to know what I want, but at the same time to prepare myself with reasonable expections, and knowing that I’ll be paying off a mortgage for years and years and years to come.

If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be in  my new home at the end of the month!

Now the tough part — getting out of paying April rent… I know I have to by virtue of my rental agreement, but I’m going to try to negotiate with them to let me out early…. after all, they want to renovate my apartment anyways, and jack up the rent for the next tenant.

Over the past several years, there have a number of studies on the benefits of a post secondary education and how they can increase your lifetime earning potential. While the studies are interesting to read, I thought I’d dive into my own life and look at the difference a degree has made for me in just a couple years, compared to my friends who went straight onto work.

For me, it’s been almost ten years since I graduated high school, and in that time I’ve managed to spend upwards of $30,000 for a Commerce degree. Even today, it’s hard to imagine that in just four-years, while living at home, I could burn through $30k — but, I figured it was an investment that would pay off quickly… and it did. Before even walking across the stage to pick up my degree, I had already landed a solid job that would become the basis of my career. Not only that, most of my graduating class were in the exact same situation! The only downside though, was this piece of paper came with a pretty hefty price tag attached to it that would follow me around for years to come.

In my case, the $30,000 student loan I took out, would (according to my bank) take about eight years to pay back, along with $10,000 in interest, at 3.5% per year, making my payment roughly $4,500 a year. Even with a good paying job, it’s was noticeable chunk of money out of each paycheck – money that could have been spent on something else… like beer! But, just like the countless hours I put into going to school, this money was as an investment.

Doing the math, this investment is already paying off – right now, I’m earning an instant 222% return on it. How do I figure? Well, I compared my income to that of friends who didn’t go to school, and looked at the difference in pay.

For my friends who went straight on to working after high school, they hold the advantage of actual work experience along with no student loan. But, when you look at the type of jobs they have, most of them being retail and restaurants, you realize that their earning potentials are quite different. Averaging out their salary, they make roughly $15,000/year less than what I do. From the other viewpoint, I was making $15,000 morethan them, in spite of the fact I had limited work experience. So even after paying the $4,500/year for my student loan each year, I was still making almost $10,000 more, simply by graduating university – a 222% return.

Now, in all fairness, this calculation discounts the fact that my friends also had a four-year head start in terms of earning income. Even calculating that in, with my degree earning me about 1/3^rd more than what they make, it would only take three years to catch up. And at that point, the additional earning potential is realized. But, I consider these four years a sunk-cost in my life, so I took them out of the calculation all together.

By simply showing up every day and applying myself, I had opened the door to a number of career prospects, while also growing a network of industry contacts. Sure, the four-years were challenging, filled with never ending homework, and stressful exams, but they were all part of the investment. Not only that, this return on investment only gets bigger over time – when you factor in my salary growth over the next 40 years, compared to those who didn’t get a university degree, the percentage will typically be much higher, thus widening the gap even further.

But that’s the long term – in the short term, I’ll sit back and pay my student loan each and every month, knowing that I’m enjoying my 222% return on investment.

For this year, I’m trying to find a way to fill this time with things that help me build my career… A couple of the idea’s I’ve been floating around (though haven’t really decided on), include:

Start a Web Consulting Business

I’ve got both a solid background in business and online marketing, and I do this for a day job (fairly successfuly… at least I like to think!). I believe I have a lot to offer small businesses, however, I struggle with finding how to even ‘start’ it. A lot of people have done this, and my ultimate goal is to be working fully for myself in the future. I guess the question on here, is where do I even start?

Where I think I’m good, is that I know my stuff pretty well, and have a proven track record. So its not whether or not if I can do it, per se, but rather, how do I start. I keep seeing all these people starting their own small business, and slowly growing them — so why can’t I?

Some of the area’s I struggle with, is how do I even figure out how much I’m worth per hour. I can do the math on my current salary, and make about $35/hour — is this too low, too high to even charge? I’d almost want to nock out a few ‘freebie’ clients, to prove my client base.

Build a Web Business

This may be the more lofty goal, as it is all about selling an actual, tangible product online. This would be a full fledged functioning business — sites like thinkgeek.com and threadless.com come to mind, where they have a full on ‘vibe’ to them, and provides real value. The reality here, is I’ve never started/ran/operated my own business, and am at a loss for things to sell… It’s probably even outside of my scope of skills… but I like a challenge.

Conversely on this, it could even be an online service — though I don’t know if I’d fit well in a startup environment (let alone my own!)

Create an Online Resource

This would mean setting up some sort of online blog around a particular topic (probably online marketing?). Here, I could share some expertise and build a following over time, and continue to post and write new content. It’s almost similar to this site — I could even continue to grow this site into a solid resource for twenty something’s trying to figure out finances.

When I originally started TSM, that was my goal — but it almost seems far apart from expertise and skillset — but maybe that’s a good thing?

Where this could help though, is if I built a site that into a Consulting business, and use it to build my brand online, and expand it to the offline consulting world.

Flip a Website

This one has always been teetering at the back of my mind. What if I bought an out dated or stale website, and try to ‘flip’ it. Here, I’d put some investment in up front, and then through my business/online marketing skills, grow the traffic, go after some partnerships to help bolster it, and then ultimately sell it (or continue to run it).

This one is probably the most risky option, as it requires $ up front — but maybe this is the perfect tie in with my skills and interest. This could turn into that ‘business’ on the side, that generates passive income, rather than working in a traditional consulting role.

I keep toying with the idea around all this — but I know I need to do something if not for my own sanity. I like being busy, and something like above could provide that real focus on something greater than just work, sleep, eat, repeat.

Has anyone ever done any of these — what were your challenges behind it? I’m really keen on exploring these options, and stepping outside of my comfort zone.

But, on for the fun — here’s what I planned for my 2011 goals, and here’s how it really went down:

2011 Financial Goals

I have a few big goals over the next few years in terms of finances, including…

• Pay off my $10,000 student loan by the end of 2011:
  SUCCESS! — paid this off by Oct 2011
• Save $10,000 by the end of 2011 (for retirement/down payment)
  SORTA — My bonus got bumped to January, so I figure I’ll hit around $9,000 by then. 
• Buy a home in the next few years
  ON TRACK — planning for late 2013
• Earn an additional $5,000/year from sources other than my full time job
  FAIL — earned approx $500. Didn’t feel like working, after working a fully day! 
• Become financially independent and work for myself
  ON TRACK — but no set timeframe

Overall, I’m fairly happy with myself — nocking off my student loan felt great, and I’m well on my way to having a decent down payment for my eventual home. I didn’t hit all the goals, but I got pretty far on the ones that mattered the most. I think I need to rethink my extra-income idea for 2012… just with how my work is, I don’t think its going to happen.

For 2012, I’m going to come up with a list of goals — mostly focused around saving, eating out less, finding the work/life balance, and becoming more active.

The most important part of a goal isn’t actually accomplishing it (though that would be good), its working towards it. As we all try to achieve our goals, things come up, plans change, but they do so as we try to achieve it.

Over the past several years, I’ve always had the goal of paying off my student loan. But as the stock markets crashed, I pushed off that goal deliberately, and shifted money into the stock market to buy at a low, and cash out at a high. Well, pushing off that goal was a good thing for me, and worked out well.

As of this month, I’ve officially paid off my entire student loan, and closed the account.

I could have kept this student loan for almost 5 more years, based off the loan agreement, but I really wanted to get rid of it. While it took a couple years longer than my original plan, it feels great to scratch it off.

For the first time since I started school, I’m 100% debt free — it feels great. Granted, it will be short lived, as I’m hoping to buy a place next year, but I will enjoy it nonetheless.

This year, I’ve already completed 2 of my big goals — Pay off my student loan, and graduate with honors. My third goal for the year was to save $10,000 for retirement, and it looks like I’m on course for that by the end of the year. So far, 2011 has been good!

I’m slowly working in my head to set goals for 2012 — both professional, financial, and life goals. These will all help fall into the longer term goals, but will help make 2012 much more focused of a year.