Finance

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No Need to Dawdle

The internet in Whitehorse is pretty bad, so I had a frustrating night there trying to get work done and ended up going to bed way too late. I needed to be out of my spot by 11 Thursday morning and still had errands to do, so the morning was pretty painful. I managed to get to two stores and then lost time back tracking to Canadian Tire to get my debit card. It’s the new kind with a pin number and I’m not used to not getting my card back immediately after it’s slid through the card reader. It was therefore much too late to get groceries and beer. I decided that I could get some beer in Watson Lake and that I didn’t need to ‘stock up’ on groceries since I’m heading back into civilization anyway.

So, I pulled out of Whitehorse at 11 and headed straight for Nugget City. I stopped in Teslin for lunch fixings and a nice picnic since I’d been given a ton of veggies before pulling out of Dawson. Teslin is still the prettiest spot in the Yukon in my mind!

Teslin Lake

Sometime after Teslin I started to get quite sleepy, so I pulled over for a leg stretch at George’s Gorge:

George’s (Gorgeous) Gorge

The ride from Whitehorse to Nugget City is one of my favourites; the road is in good shape and you can actually enjoy the scenery. It’s not a technical drive at all, so I was still reasonably coherent when I pulled into Nugget City. It’s a good thing for that since my friend Amber threw herself into my arms the second I stepped out of the rig! We haven’t seen each other since May of ’09!

Forget setting up beyond plugging in the rig; I was quickly spirited away to the lake where a pair of trumpeter swans were swimming.

The male got spooked by a beaver and took off to make sure everything was good.

beaver coming up for air

After two days of hard driving, it was great to get off my butt and get some exercise in fresh air! By the time we got back to the main part of the property, I was famished, so I headed to the restaurant and grabbed a beer after putting in an order for a chicken stir fry .

Amber works late hours so she came back to see the cats on her break around ten, then showed me the digs she’s had all summer. It’s a fifth wheel, the second one I’ve visited this summer, and I have to say I really like the way they are split into several levels…

Since there’s no cell service at Nugget City, I couldn’t get online, so I went to bed at a much more reasonable hour and slept well. This morning I had time to eat breakfast before Amber scared the living daylights out of me by sticking her face up against my back window and then rocking the rig so I’d noticed her. I just about hit the ceiling! She helped me pack up, we did the round of good-byes, and then she became the first ever passenger I’ve carried in this rig, traveling with me from the RV park to the restaurant.

I pulled out of Nugget City around 11 and drove to Watson Lake. After getting gas, groceries (including the black bread and gyoza I can only find here), and enough Yukon Brewery beer to get me through to next spring, I’m now parked downtown and plan to do at least an hour’s worth of work. I’ll then meander down to Liard hot springs, then I will have a couple of overnight options. I’d really rather not go much further than Liard tonight since I’m beat. I need to start boondocking; I’d forgotten how expensive it is to stay several nights in a row at an RV park!

And, so, another summer in the Yukon draws to a close…

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Pecuniary Shyness, or This is Real Life!

Some RVers like to talk at great length about their finances, to the point of splashing out for all to see their balance sheets. I made a decision early on to gloss over this topic because I realised early on that full-time RVing is real life. Let me repeat that: full-time RVing is a lifestyle choice, not a perpetual vacation. Everyone’s reality and circumstances are different. I don’t see any value in going into any sort of detail about my financial portrait.

This issue has come up several times over the past few days. I’ve had someone comment that I ‘owed’ it to other RVers to explain how I get by day to day financially so that they could emulate me (!). Another person was appalled that I ‘steal’ from the thrift and free stores since I’m obviously well off, with a ‘nice motorhome and recent model car.’  Another doesn’t get the difference between being ‘tight’ (choosing not to do or buy certain things in order to do or buy other things) and being ‘broke’ (not being able to do or buy anything). If I lived a mainstream life, no one would expect me to pull out my balance sheet, they would understand how someone my age living in her own home and driving a recent model car might need to be frugal in other areas of her life, and they’d understand that not being able to do it ‘all’ is normal!

So far, the financials of my RVing life have been very cyclical. I have had periods with good cashflow and periods with bad cashflow. During the good periods I get caught up and during bad periods I try not to get behind. The goal is, of course, to balance out these periods and provide a steadier cashflow instead of one with gigantic negative and positive peaks. This summer was my first taste of this ideal cashflow vision and it has been lovely, but I am now heading back into squirrel mode, especially since I have a couple of big expenses coming up.

One thing to keep in mind is that I’m single with only cats as my dependents. That gives me a lot of freedom in how I choose to allocate my money. Once the bills are paid and I’ve put money away for retirement and emergencies, there is no one to care if I decide to buy a new toy and eat beans for a month. But if I were to put all of this on a balance sheet for the world to say, I’d have to erase a lot of comments from people with different priorities and values who think they have a right to tell me how I should be managing things. I might as well save them the trouble. 😀

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Detachment

I’m leaving Dawson in less than two weeks. I’ve had an okay summer this year, but I still love this town and am glad that I have had a chance to know it so well. That said, my feelings about my imminent departure are completely different from last year. In fact, this is the first time I’m going to leave a place without having my departure panic attack. I didn’t really get settled in this year and I’ve stopped thinking of this stop as a destination, as an event with a beginning and an end. It seems that sometime between leaving Campbell River and the last couple of weeks, my RVing life began to find a continuity of its own, with routines that carry over whether I’m stopped or traveling.

Financially, the summer was a blessing and going back to financial incertitude is going to be tough, but I actually managed to do a solid job of replenishing the coffers. I’ll do fine for myself well into the fall even if I don’t find a job in Osoyoos, although I have decided to look for something part-time. I have enough set aside to actually travel back south and I’m giving myself a full sixteen days to do so. My itinerary is a bit bold and I may chicken out about one section, but I look forward to an even longer period of boondocking while being able to work every night.

My fall plans are slowly coming together. I have decided to fly to Montreal at the beginning of November for a week to see my family, something that will be made possible since I’ll have a rig and cat sitter available to me. My sister had a baby on September 1st, my first niece, so it will be nice to see her and my two nephews. I’m pretty sure the youngest one doesn’t remember me!

Besides that, I have a writing project to complete and I also need to work on things related to that announcement I’m not yet ready to make. I’d also like to continue with the renovating and decorating, although I will have to be extremely frugal in all areas of my life so as to stretch my savings as far as possible. I’m committed to being in Osoyoos until December and have not made plans beyond that.

So, that’s the latest status update. Nothing too exciting, but things are going to pick up soon. 🙂

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Banking on the Road

Banking in Canada is about as far ahead of the United States as communications are behind it. With our national bank system and the Interac network, banking for Canadian RVers is a cinch, even when out of the country.

While there are two types of financial institutions, banks and credit unions, I suggest you go with a bank. Credit unions are local, so the chances of your find a branch of your credit union in another province are slim.

For the bank, I recommend CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce). It is the most major Canadian bank, so if a small town is going to have a bank, it will usually be a CIBC. This is especially the case in the Territories. While you can do most of your banking with CIBC online or on the phone, it’s nice to have access to a branch to deposit cheques instead of having to mail them in.

I’ve dealt with every major bank in Canada, and some local ones, too, and CIBC has always come out on top. I’ve been with them for more than half my life, except for a disastrous year when I tried someone else (I came crawling back to CIBC on my hands and knees). I will never again consider moving; I’m going to be a CIBC customer for life.

CIBC is the leader in online banking in Canada. They have had a top-notch secure system since the late 1990’s. You can do everything online except deposit cheques, including paying bills, moving money between CIBC accounts, requesting a credit product, ordering cheques, scheduling pre-authorized payments, tracking your investments, and more.

If you don’t have access to the internet or want to speak to a live person, just call 1-800-465-CIBC. Their telephone system is very intuitive and getting to a live person takes seconds, and this 24/7. If I have a question about my account and am not sure if it would require going to a branch in person, I can call and ask.

Now that banking in Canada is centralized, that is decisions are made the head office, not local, level, it is very rare that you will need to go to ‘your branch’, where your account was opened, to get things done. If something needs to be done through your branch (eg. modifying loan terms) you can go into any CIBC to fill out the paperwork and they will send it through internal mail. My accounts are with a CIBC in Gatineau, Quebec, and there is no reason for me to open up an account wherever I’m currently staying. Even if I’m disputing a charge on my account, I can walk into any CIBC and get it reversed. When I lost my bank card last fall, I just went to the branch in Banff to get a new one. This applies to other banks, too. My vehicle loans are with BMO (Bank of Montreal) and when I needed to make a change to my contracts, I just went to the branch in Whitehorse. They had a bit of difficulty in that Quebec does everything differently, but I’m a customer and they wouldn’t let me leave until the issue was resolved satisfactorily.

CIBC’s fees are a little higher, but still competitive, with that of the other major Canadian banks (TD, Scotia, RBC, BMO, etc.). I pay $12.95 per month for a chequing account with unlimited transactions. Transactions include online payments, debit payments, ATM withdrawals, and more. Since I use Interac for 95% of my purchases and do a lot of online banking, this fee makes sense to me. There are less expensive packages for those who have fewer monthly transactions.

When out of the country, you can use your ATM card to withdraw cash at competitive rates, mail cheques to your branch for deposit, and use the online and phone systems to keep track of everything.

Banking on the road for Canadians, if you choose the right financial institution, is easier than figuring out how to manage mail, access the internet, choose a cellular provider, or vote. Thank goodness for one less headache!

(for the record, no, this post was not sponsored by CIBC 😀 )

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Campbell River Grocery Stores

I haven’t done much grocery shopping since I got to Campbell River, but I have tried three of the five options I see open to me.

My first instinct was to go to my favourite western chain, Save-On-Foods, but it is definitely pricey compared to other options. Being on a super tight budget, I decided to explore other options.

I received some gift certificates for Discovery Foods in Willowpoint Village. It’s a small, full-service store. The prices are high and the selection isn’t very good. It is the only one that’s within walking distance, so I tend to go there on my days off to get a little some special for dinner so I have an excuse to get exercise.

A third option closed at the end of December, Super Valu. This name makes me shudder as it is the same store where I had to shop in Oliver. I never set foot in there figuring the prices would be just as over-inflated.

The fourth option is the Super Store. I only shop at the Super Store in Whitehorse because it’s the best option for that city, otherwise I avoid this chain. The stores are just too big and overwhelming and the selection is limited.

Today, I discovered a fifth option, Thrifty Foods. I expected this store to be a small, bargain-type supermarket like Buy-Low, but nope. It is a smaller, full-service grocery store with excellent prices and selection. I’ll be shopping there from now on! Today’s exciting buy was skinless, boneless chicken breasts. They had a ‘two-for-one’ sale, which really meant 50% off the regular per pound price. I had to convert from kilograms per dollar, but it looks like I paid about 4$ per pound, which is a bargain. I bought enough for at least six meals, for just 9$. I wasn’t the only person whose basket was piled high with chicken. 🙂

Walmart will be opening up a store in Campbell River this spring. I believe it will be a Supercentre with full grocery, so that will be another place to shop (and probably the reason why Super Valu closed).