get my finances in order

Lately, my life has been consumed with working. The good thing about that is that I’ve paid off my line of credit. The bad thing about that is that I stopped having a life. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like a fair trade off.

I don’t usually get very excited when the mail comes…there’s usually some bills for other people, some bank statements for me, maybe some junk that I skim through…nothing too fancy. I’ve paid back my entire OSAP loan, so I stopped getting any info from them. But imagine my surprise (note: horror) when I saw that they had sent me a letter of some kind. I freaked out, wondering why these money hungry people wouldn’t leave me alone…”I paid it all off suckers…what do you want from me?!!!” But, alas, I opened it, thinking that perhaps is was some congratulatory letter on having paid everything off. So I opened it, with no real zeal, to see what was inside…when, “Oh my, what is this? A check? Made out to me? With a very substantial sum neatly typed on the right? Wait, is this a joke? This isn’t real, is it?”...and on and on I went, all the while thinking it was fake…some hoax…a sad a pathetic joke that OSAP head office pulls on poor, educated graduates. So I passed it over to my dad…”Oh yeah, it’s real alright.” Did you say real? Oh my word!

So I called them…and low and behold…the check was real…it’s a Canadian Students Study Grant…and while I’m no longer a student, I did qualify for it…and since I paid off my entire loan, they sent the check to me.

Yippee, yippee!

Been learning a little bit about stock investment…so far I’ve made a bit of dough…I could see this being a bit addictive and quite a gamble. It feels really nice to learn…even if it’s going a little slow at the moment.

Made my first payment…felt kind of nice.

well, actually, I typed it out…but that’s another matter…the point is that I’ve established a payment plan…every month…like clockwork. It’s all very manageable so I feel very confident that I’ll be debt free in about 11 years! lol no…I’m joking…maybe 12.

So…my OSAP loan has been paid off…and that interest rate of prime + 2.5% can go straight up their you-know-where! Now…to pay off my other loan…the loan that I took out in order to pay off that loan…yeah, it’s a circle…but at least the interest is lower. Now I have to develop a monthly payment plan that works…and most of all, stick with it!

OSAP sent me my statement today…ouch, is all I have to say about that.