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Our Bill Pickle

real life with (very) real debt

It feels like we’re moving backwards

January 27, 2022

Ever felt like you're moving backwards on your goals? In this post, I'm sharing my thoughts about going backwards on our financial journey.

Something was off, but it took time to figure it out.

I had a whole other post on the schedule for today. The idea was to talk about some of the ways I plan to take care of myself in 2022. I had the outline, the headings identified and a few sentences drafted.

The last part was my first clue something was wrong. Those sentences…man, they did not come easy.

Of course, writing isn’t always easy. I worked as a reporter at a daily newspaper for almost six years. I’m not stranger to writer’s block.

This was different.

Each day it felt like I made less progress than the day before. Eventually, it got to the point where I found myself avoiding the task altogether, as if doing so would somehow solve the problem I didn’t know how to define.

When I finally figured it out, I felt relieved…until I realized what it meant.

Writing a post about self-care felt disingenuous. Writing a post about…just about anything felt disingenuous. Because if I’m being completely honest: I’ve been struggling lately. And while I wish I could just ignore that fact, I’m finding it hard to move forward as a writer without acknowledging it.

So, in the interest of moving forward — and in keeping with my mission to keep it real in this space — I wanted to take a moment to share some of what’s been going on lately. I’m hopeful writing these things down will remove them from my brain and allow more space for other things.

So here we go.

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Posted by Tara 2 Comments
Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged: debt-free journey, homeownership, life update, motherhood, personal finance, postpartum

Four considerations for buying a house in a hot market

January 20, 2022

For many, buying a house is the most significant purchases they will make. Here are four considerations for buying in a hot market.

For many, buying a house is one of the most financially significant purchases they will make.

Individual circumstances notwithstanding, becoming a homeowner can involve a lot of money upfront followed by years spent paying back the rest of the money required to attain the asset. Sure, there are folks out there who can purchase a house without taking on debt to do it, but that’s most certainly the exception, not the rule.

Finding a home can also be a time consuming process, frustrating process — especially when the market is hot.

I know this because it’s what we experienced while house hunting in spring 2021.

It’s been about seven months since we closed on and move into our house. And while buying one house in a hot market does not an expert make, I did learn a few things during the process which may (or may not) be useful to others who are in the process of house hunting.

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Filed Under: Personal Finance Discussions Tagged: buying a house, homeownership, house hunting, mortgage, real estate

Where I’ve been (and where I’m heading) – a life update

September 2, 2021

A lot has changed over the last six months at Our Bill Pickle. This life update talks about where I've been (and where I'm going).

How does one even begin writing a life update covering a six-month span where their life completely changed?

Hello. It’s been a while — certainly longer than I intended.

When I hit publish on my last post, I did not anticipate it would take me so long to get back to this space. If you go by that date, it’s been more like five months, but most of that post was written in advance. Realistically, it’s been closer to six months since I actually sat down to write.

That’s wild to me considering I kept a pretty consistent twice-weekly schedule for almost two years.

But a lot has changed. Life today looks very different than it did at the beginning of 2021.

And while I am hopeful things will be a little less chaotic coming into the end of the year, some of the events are going to continue impacting my life and this blog.

Here’s a glimpse at where I’ve been and where I’m heading.

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Posted by Tara 2 Comments
Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged: Baby J, debt-free journey, emergency fund, homeownership, life update, parenthood, RESP, student loans

Exactly what we did with our tax refund this year

April 7, 2020

How we spent our tax refund this year (instead of paying back debt)

How should we spend our tax refund this year? It’s a question I find myself asking every spring as I finish keying in our slips and receipts and prepare to netfile.

It’s nerdy, but I really enjoy doing our taxes. I started doing ours three years ago and while there was a small learning curve, I’m glad I took the time to work through it. I still have to look things up sometimes, but for the most part, I feel pretty confident filing our taxes on my own.

But let’s be honest: my favourite part of doing my taxes is spending the refund.

Here’s how we spent our 2019 refund.

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Posted by Tara 10 Comments
Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged: debt-free journey, EQ Bank, financial goals, homeownership, income tax, personal spending allowance, simple tax, tax refund, tax season

Four reasons we aren’t rushing to buy a house

May 15, 2018

Rent, don't buy: how not owning a house helps us financially

I was sitting at the desk in the spare room, working on a project when I heard the dripping.

At first, I thought it was coming from outside, the result of snow melting near the open window. I don’t know what prompted me to look left, but I’m glad I did.

The closet wall was glistening. A cardboard box on the top shelf was soaked. And the piece of pressboard nailed to the ceiling was warped and loose on the right side.

I called Jeff in for a second opinion. He pried off the damp pressboard, peered into the tiny hole and confirmed my suspicion.

Our ceiling was leaking.

That was 8:30 p.m., on a Sunday night.  

Three days, eight hours of work, and exactly zero dollars later, the dripping stopped. 

And let me tell you: I have never been so happy to be a renter.

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Posted by Tara 2 Comments
Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged: debt-free journey, financial planning, homeownership, intentional spending, renting, saving money

Hi, I’m Tara!

Welcome to Our Bill Pickle, a Canadian personal finance blog. Here, we share the good, the bad and the ugly about real life with (very) real debt.

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