Special K Day 1

[norsegirl]

This is the last entry you'll see if you're not on the Special K filter...

Here's where I'm starting, as of this morning right after waking:

135.2 lbs
29 3/4" waist

For breakfast (late, didn't wake until noon):
1 serving Special K almond vanilla
some pineapple (fresh - yum)

Snacking now on carrots.

No idea what the plan is for dinner. Any suggestions?

In other news, today is tax day. I finished mine this afternoon. Jason has to pay but I'm getting a refund. Unfortunately the refund will take a while and we have to pay today. Net is refund. Wish they'd just let us net the pair of us - sigh. Have you filed your taxes yet? Midnight tonight folks, don't forget.

Comments

[ya-inga.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the diet hon!

and I ewas good and mailed mine this afternoon : )

[kes-zone.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the diet. Please keep me posted!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

Did it a while ago actually, though I may have made a mistake and not claimed enough (it would be a benefit to me though). Know much about claiming student loans?

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

I used to do taxes for a living, yes, I know a little something. What is your question in particular?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

What exactly is 'interest paid' on one's student loan? Does this mean I can actually tell the government that my massive Brain Money loan actually is making me pay a heck of a lot of money each month? (at one point they said 'no bank loans', but BMO's loan is a student loan, just not OSAP)

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

It has to be OSAP and they send you a form detailing how much you paid. I pay a smackload on my TD loan too, the government doesn't care. They only care if it is loans through them.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

Even though OSAP is now done through banks?

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

OSAP used to be done through the banks dear, it hasn't been done that way in years. Or at least the last two years I was in school, and the only years I applied for OSAP, it wasn't. You can talk to your bank about it if you like, but unless you got the little slip that details how much interest you paid and all that good stuff, it's probably not a go. Kinda like the T4 slips you get for employment and the T220 for education. I can't remember the exact code, but there is an official-looking slip you have to have.

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

I went and looked it up. It's not an official form with any sort of code, however, it is pretty easy to identify if you have one. The form I had last year said in BIG BOLD LETTERS at the top of the form Official Receipt for Income Tax Purposes. It listed the interest paid during the year and my SIN number. It also gave the instructions about where to enter this amount on the tax forms.

Anyway, if your loan was the result of an OSAP application, you should probably have one of these receipts, no matter who is securing or providing the loan. If it is a loan you obtained privately (like my line of credit) then the government isn't interested.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

Bleh. We had to go with a bank student loan rather than OSAP since the Harris government didn't like teachers. How my brother and I could have gotten through school without my mother finally getting a full time job I have no idea. (when we applied, there was only one income and we had to go away to school rather than stay in the city)

Seems stupid to me since there's no way I'll be able to contribute much to the economy any time in the near (or far) future. I think I'll still call though- might as well register a complaint, even though they'll probably pay no attention to it.

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

OSAP is calculated based on the government's perception of need. They don't take the cost of your program into consideration (so my community-college-attending sister with a whopping $1,500 tuition would get the same OSAP as me, with my $16,000 tuition) and they don't give you money if either you or your parents make money. What they do give you isn't usually enough to live on, much less when you work in the cost of school itself. And if you try to make a bit of cash to close that gap between what they give you and what you need, you lose the OSAP. It's a great program *sarcasm*. So in their opinion, since they have calculated what you actually *need* (scoff), any additional bank loans you are taking must be for that extravagant Paris-Hilton-like lifestyle you're living.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

Bleh. Sounds like I wouldn't have gotten even the same amount as what the bank ended up giving us. It still wasn't enough of course, but it did help a lot, especially when I went into my Masters, which they actually understood that it costs more (they were willing to lend more than the undergrad amounts per year).
I've heard the interest rates are horrible for OSAP, though right now I'm not all that pleased about what BMO does. I think they'd be okay with me having to lengthen it though (right now, it's $400 a month and it'll likely go up next October, which will be more than I can afford; the joys of working at a non-profit- no gigantic salaries here!). In some ways we were pretty lucky that BMO started realizing that there were students in need of loans and began the lines of credit almost the same year we went off for school. (apparently the interest rates are pretty low compared to other loans)

Seems kind of stupid, doesn't it- it's almost like the government wants to punish us for getting an education.

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

I believe that the maximum OSAP gave out in the years I was in school was a paltry $9,000. Even living at home I needed about $20,000 over the two years I was at Ivey. I can't imagine what it is like trying to do it on your own. And yes, once you are out of school and the interest kicks in, OSAP interest rates are scary. Probably to make up for the fact that so many students default. I'm paying prime+1 on my current bank loan, which is where I moved the OSAP loan immediately when the interest started being charged. The only good thing about OSAP is the fact that they don't charge you interest while you are in school. And that little tax break, which maybe makes up for the ridiculous rate they charge.

As for punishing us for getting an education... I still have education credits and haven't had to pay any taxes so I can't complain.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medb_/]

Ugh. No wonder you needed to get a bank loan!
You're right about them wanting to make up the money they've lost on defaulters- one of my coworkers is of the generation that nearly all of them did that (she didn't- they nearly hugged her when she came to pay)

Lucky you about the credits- mine ran out a year ago. It was nice when I had them!