Give Me Back My Five Bucks

I have an ant problem in my place. It's disgusting.

My front door has gaps in it - on the side and at the bottom - so even when my door is closed, bugs can still crawl in. They're not huge gaps, but they're there ... and they're big enough that these ants can get into my place.

I've stayed at J's the last 2 nights, so when I got back to my place this morning, I opened my door to an ant-filled surprise. It was gross. I immediately dropped my purse, got the vacuum cleaner out and went to town on them. They were everywhere.

And now I'm going to have to scrub and clean and disinfect everything.

This is a landlord problem, right? I've never had an ant problem before, but I'm pretty sure this falls under something the landlord should be fixing. I mean, it's not like I'm leaving food out and inviting these ants into my house or anything.

OMG. I bounced a cheque for the first time today, which resulted in a $35 NSF fee.

And it was my rent cheque that I bounced. Yikes!

I bought those baseball tickets through PayPal, and it came out of my chequing account ... and b/c I knew I didn't have enough $$ in my chequing account to pay for both my rent and the tickets, I transferred $50 from my Travel Fund into my account. Well, it turns out the PayPal transaction AND the rent cheque both came out of my account mere HOURS before the $50 cleared ... and I ended up being short by $0.05. Whoops.

So anyway, I called PC Financial, and they waived the $35 NSF fee for me. And now I will have to write a new cheque out to my landlord, who probably thinks I'm a huge bum b/c I even gave him that rent cheque a day late.

I'm such an idiot.

For those who are curious, I received another SPOT message from J yesterday. :) It's been 13 days since he's been gone ... meaning I have a maximum of 11 days to go before he gets back. He could be back sooner, depending on if and when they summit. Although ... I'm not really even sure whether they would come home after 3 weeks if they haven't summited yet.

***EDIT***
Thanks to Canadian Finance Guy for telling me about the Google Maps terrain function! I didn't even know that existed. I've pinpointed exactly where they are. They seem a lot farther away than I would have expected them to be, given they've been on the mountain for about 10 days. But then again, what do I know?

Today after work, I'm going hiking with my friend Z. I'm pretty excited, because we'll be hiking in the rain, which I love to do. It's also nice to get out of the city and into the beautiful places surrounding the lower mainland. We're headed back up to the North Shore to Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, and apparently if you get on certain paths, you can hike from Lynn Valley all the way to Horseshoe Bay, for any of you who are familiar with this area.

When I first moved to Vancouver, I mentioned trying to find a place on the lower mainland that feels comfortable, and that feels like home. Well, North Vancouver, Port Moody, and to a lesser extent, Port Coquitlam are the winners for me. They all feel like I'm living in a smallish city, more the size of my hometown ... and I get a really good vibe from these areas. Everything is a little more quaint, and it feels like a real neighborhood. Plus, they're surrounded by the forest, mountains and water. These things make me happy. Perhaps when I eventually move from where I'm currently living, I'll look at these three areas as potential places to rent or buy.

I spoke with a mortgage broker today. I'm not being very optimistic about this whole property search. I think it's because I feel like I'm going to get priced out of everything. It's so depressing. In some cities, you can buy an entire house for $300k. Less, even. But in Vancouver, unless you have at least double that amount, you can just forget about owning a house. Ever. Fine. I can accept that. So my search is limited to older condo buildings.

Then I go to thinking, what if I bought a 2-bedroom condo, and then got myself a roommate? I could probably get at least $400/month in rent plus 1/2 utilities, and that would help significantly with mortgage payments. But am I willing to give up the privacy and comfort that comes with living by myself? I haven't lived with a roommate (who wasn't a BF) since 2002 ... but I could do it again, couldn't I? Plus, I'm always saying how I have no friends here in Vancouver. By picking up a roommate, it would probably be a lot easier to meet new people, wouldn't you think?

It's a massive decision, but financially, it does make sense. I ran some numbers through a mortgage calculator, and I could be paying less for my mortgage than I am for rent right now, if I got myself a roommate and a property in my price range.

I don't know though. I love living alone, and the only person I could really see myself living with would be J. And he doesn't pay rent at his place, so if I did end up buying, it's not like he'd be too eager to start living with me and paying a chunk of my mortgage every month. Plus, we haven't been together for very long. So, it would definitely be a stranger I'd have to live with. It's kind of scary, but I'm sure if I ask my friends, they'd know someone who's looking for somewhere to live. The rental market is pretty tight here. I got really really lucky with my place.

Anyway, I'm just thinking (typing) out loud. I really don't anticipate getting too serious with my property search. But you never know. Maybe my dream property is out there, just waiting for me to discover it ... and that's exactly why I'm starting to think up all of these scenarios now. :)

I'm not gonna lie, the walk home from the grocery store this evening was hell. My bags were SUPER heavy, it was windy and rainy, and I was all hot and sweaty (even though it was freezing outside) and in a bad mood. So I called a cab. It only cost me $6 after tip, so I don't feel too bad about it, but I was literally only 2 km from my house. I could have done it, but I really really wasn't feeling it. I spent a lot on groceries. A LOT. $86.63 to be exact. I didn't realize how much I needed to buy ... so along with my usual weekly purchases, I also had to get things like a Brita filter, dish detergent, hand soap, extra virgin olive oil, etc ... stuff I had back home, but didn't bring with me to Vancouver.

The good news is that my place is looking organized and pretty darn nice, considering the limited amount of space I have. I just have to bolt up my coat/shoe rack, hang some pictures/artwork, and get a bed (J said he would probably have it finished by early next week). Once everything is set up the way I want it to be, I'll take pictures and post them here.

I've been ignoring Quicken for the past few weeks. I'm scared to see how little money I really have. I'm hoping that my EI payment comes in soon, so at least my bank account doesn't look so pathetic. And my fingers are crossed that my last T-4 comes in this week so I can pick it up when I come this weekend.

Today after work, J and I are going skiing. I've never been skiing (or snowboarding) before, so I'm going to be pretty pathetic out there. Apparently on Mondays, lift passes are free for women ... otherwise they'd be $23 or something like that. So all I have to pay for is rental gear. Not too bad. I've secretly got high expectations that I'll catch onto this skiing thing easily, but I have no coordination of any kind, so chances are I'll spend most of my time falling down and looking like an idiot. :)

Tomorrow we're going to my suite to measure and take pictures of everything. I've started to make a list of things that I'll need to pack, as well as things that I'll need to buy. I've been watching Craigslist religiously the past few days (the Vancouver listings, as well as the one for my hometown), and have a few leads on couches. I'm just praying my queen-sized mattress fits in the bedroom, otherwise I'll have to buy a smaller mattress.

Sometime this week I'm going to have to go to a mall and pick up a gift for a good friend's baby shower on Sunday. I completely forgot that I had to go to it, so it's a good thing we're heading back to the island right after work on Friday.

All I've been talking about the past few days is finding an apartment - so now that I've got one, I can focus my attention on talking about the job. Also, if you're wondering, I'm currently avoiding looking at my RRSP accounts. While there's nothing I'd like more than to see my money disappear thanks to that wonderful, volatile biatch that is the TSX , I'd rather talk about the new job. :)

The job is great. My boss is great, and my co-workers are great.

Although, I must admit that being let go was a huge hit to my confidence ... and it'll always be in the back of my mind until my 3-month probation period is over here. I'll try not to let it stress me out, but for those of you who've been in this situation before, it's pretty darn hard not to think about it.

Anyway, I'm really excited to be moving into my new place. I talked to J about a bed, and he said it would only take him about 5 hours to build me one. I have to go back to the suite next week to take measurements and pictures (so I know what crap I should be moving over), so I think he might come along to take measurements of the bedroom. How much should one pay to have a custom bed made for them? I have no idea.

I went to view that suite today after work (the one the woman who had my job before me lived in). It was really nice, very clean and well-kept ... although quite small. It was in a good neighbourhood (about a 25 min. walk to work, or a 5 min scooter ride), and I really really liked the landlord. There's a place I can park my scooter off the street and has shared laundry too. I asked if I could have the suite before he showed it to anyone else, and about 20 min. later, I handed over a cheque for the damage deposit. He said I could start moving in on Monday, and he wouldn't charge me rent for the rest of January, which I thought was really nice ... even though it'll only be 4 days until the end of the month by then.

So, the rent is $600/month, all utilities included except for internet and cable ... internet isn't that expensive but it's a necessity for me to keep in touch with my friends & family, and I'm undecided as to whether I'll get cable or not. I don't really watch TV, except to watch sports ... and I could just go to J's if I want to catch the hockey game or something. And the few shows I do watch, I'm sure I could just watch online if I become that desperate.

It's a month-to-month agreement, but I plan on staying there at least 6 months. Probably more like a year. Like I said before, the place is super small (3 rooms - kitchen/living area, washroom, bedroom) ... which is good b/c I don't have a lot of furniture ... and for only $600 in Vancouver, that's really cheap considering I won't need to buy a bus pass or anything, since I'm so close to work.

The one thing I'm worried about is how small the bedroom is. I don't even know if a queen-sized bed and dresser would both fit. I have an idea as to how I'm going to maximize the space, and J said that he could build me a bed that was raised up high enough so that I could store stuff underneath (I'm thinking maybe 3 ft. high). I don't know how much work it takes to build a bed (he built the bed he currently has), but it definitely sounds like an awesome idea. I'd pay him, of course.

Anyway, I'm feeling a lot less stressed out now that I've found a place to live. I'm going to stay with J until next weekend (this weekend we're going to Seattle for the Ryan Adams concert) ... because then we're going back to the island to move all my stuff over. Probably in a UHaul, because I'll have to bring my scooter over somehow as well, and not everything will fit in a truck.

So J and I went to check out that $500 2-bedroom basement suite yesterday, and it was a total dive. You could just tell that the guy didn't take pride in his house - he was just using it to generate an income. The backyard was littered with debris, and the carpets inside were stained and dirty and disgusting. Plus, the guy was kind of weird. I guess that's what you get sometimes - gotta weed out the crap.

Today after work, we went to see another place. This was a 1-bedroom suite for $650, utilities included. It was much, much nicer ... and in a much nicer area of town. That being said, I didn't ask for it right away, because I'm going to see another suite tomorrow after work - this is the one the woman whom I'm replacing at work lived in. It's $600, utilities included ... and the landlord seemed really keen about me moving in, since I came recommended. This suite is much closer to work - so close that I could walk to work - and that would save huge on transit costs. Plus, I'm pretty sure she said there was in-suite laundry. Fingers crossed!

So sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't even gotten the chance to read many blogs either. It's just been a crazy last few days, and I haven't had much time for anything lately.

It's 2:00am and I can't sleep ... J is picking me up from the ferries tomorrow afternoon at around 2:30pm, and then he's coming with me to go check out a place I found on Craigslist.

This place seems like a pretty good deal - $500/month (all utilities included) for a 2-bedroom basement suite ... which is way, WAY under budget for rent. It's kind of unbelievable, actually.

The guy who owns the house, he occupies one of the bedrooms, but he lives up north, and only comes back down to Vancouver with his wife about once a month for a few nights ... so I would practically have the place all to myself. AND, the entire place is fully furnished (except for my bedroom), so I wouldn't have to buy anything except a bed frame (and also a dresser, since I forgot the one I have is completely shot to hell). It seems like an ideal situation, and the guy seemed really nice on the phone, so hopefully the place isn't a dive, and the surrounding area isn't completely shady.

The guy is heading back out of town tomorrow evening, and he would ideally want to have a deal done by the time he leaves ... so if everything checks out, I could have a place as early as tomorrow!