simpler-living report: CY21Q3

Summary: I was way, way, way over budget in Q3.

For the first half of the year, I was under the original budget I created back in 2018, even with rent payments.  But the wheels came off in Q3, in large part because of having multiple yearly payments all due around the same time.

Because I moved home in the summer four years ago, the tiny house insurance, car insurance, and vehicle registration are all due in July or August. There was also the vehicle safety inspection (a provincial requirement every two years) and, rather than forgetting about it until the weather had already turned cold and wet, I had the car rust-proofed in August.

September expenses included my first set of eyeglasses in five years.  I’m very happy with them and, even though the frames were inexpensive, the cost of those progressive lenses with a few bells and whistles gives one pause.  And I did pause and have a think between when the technician told me the price and before I pulled out my credit card.  Fortunately for me, they had quoted the total price.  I had, automatically when having my think, already added Nova Scotia’s 15% HST on top of that.

October in Nova Scotia is all about the autumn coloUrs.  Last year, I enjoyed an adventure day in Annapolis Royal and planned to go back in October to see the coloUrs in that area.  Well, I didn’t get back last year but it was on my to-do list this year.  I coordinated meeting up there with the family with an idea in mind: that my energetic 10-year old niece would enjoy the steep grassy embankments at Fort Anne as much as I did as a kid.  And I was right.  We raced up and down those hills together on a sunny mild October day (I left the rolling down part to her). 

Last week, I hiked the new Scots Bay trail at Cape Split for the first time and was impressed with the development the province has put into the area since making it a Provincial Park.  I’ve also been continuing with my biking this month while I can—the temps will soon be too low for me to comfortably ride long distances. 

Nova Scotia is holding steady in its fourth wave. Proof of vaccination at certain businesses became mandatory on 10/04 and, as of 10/25, 77.9% of the entire population is double-vaxxed. Last Thursday, I went to a commercial movie theater for the first time since the pandemic started—it was wonderful to do a once completely normal thing and eat overpriced popcorn and enjoy an action film on the big screen.  But watching a popular new release in an uncrowded theater due to social distancing, I never forgot there’s still nothing normal about it.

References and related links:

• CY21Q3: Calendar Year 2021, Third Quarter (July to September).  Calendar Year distinguishes from a company’s Financial Year (FY) which has a different start date than January 1^st.
• HST: Harmonized Sales Tax.
• Fort Anne National Historic Site (Parks Canada)
• Cape Split Provincial Park Map (Nova Scotia Provincial Parks)
• simpler-living report: CY21Q2 (post #166)
• pan-autumn (post #149)