A little goes a long way

So I've finally managed to get myself set up to pay down my CIBC loan online and, I must say, I took the long, hard, kind of dumb way to get there.

I've never had internet banking set up with CIBC because I've always had direct debit arranged for my loan payments.  Because I've only been paying the minimum amount until very recently, it never mattered that I didn't have internet access.  Now, though, I've got more money to put on the bugger and I wanted immediate access, dammit!  So I decided to do it through CIBC - which led to me having to get a new internet banking password and then a new debit card because I couldn't make my password sync with my debit card and then to log on I needed my account number and transit number (which I should know but don't) and then I lost my debit card and had to get a new one...and THEN I realized I can add my CIBC loan account as a payee in my online account with Royal Bank and suddenly an internetical connection is made.

Sheesh.  Why did it take me so long to figure this out again?

Anyways...now that I've got the online connection, I've hatched a new plan to pay that sucker down and not spend on frivolous things.  See, when I get paid every two weeks I figure out what I need to pay from that cheque, make my payments and leave a bit in the bank as buffer, because you never know when something might pop up.  But then, because I had this extra money just sitting there, I'd buy a new shirt here and a pair of earring there and a new book and before long, that extra money was spent on things I wanted but didn't really need.

The new plan?  Whenever I see something I want (but explicitly do NOT need), instead of buying it I'm going to make a note of how much I would have spent and promptly put that amount on my loan. 

It's a good plan.  I earn interest daily on my loan and I have unlimited transactions with my RBC account, so this is really a win-win situation.  Even if it's $10, it still counts and will only benefit me. 

However, like most of my good plans, the theory is strong but the practice is weak.  I hope to turn that around with this one!

Oh, and right now my overall balance owing is $9,661.86 but I just made some payments that I'm still waiting to go through, so that should change the number a bit.