Meiji and me

On Sunday evening, I was eating a Meiji green tea ice-cream on stick followed by a Meiji double chocolate ice-cream on stick during my almost 15 minutes walk home from the supermarket. It was a cool 17 degree Celsius, with a clear evening sky and sunshine on Canadian Rockies, and a light gentle breeze on my stroll.

Contentment!

8th month's expenses

My total expense for the 8th month (1st to 31th May) is around CAD1,245, broken down as follow.

Amount (CAD) : Category

Once-off expenses

 *  3 : Emergency Response Bag contents (additional items)
 *228 : Write-off bad-debt loan¹

Yearly expenses

* NIL

Monthly expenses

* 500 : May room rental
*  39 : Mobile phone bill
*  61 : Medical Services Plan
* 110 : Transport - Monthly 2-Zone Farecard
* NIL : Transport - Others
* 224 : Food/groceries²
* NIL : Clothings
*   5 : Household Items (including toiletries)
*  43 : Recreation/Entertainment/Restaurant
*  16 : Meals/Drinks
* NIL : Personal Grooming & Make-up
*   2 : Stationery/Postage
*  14 : Others (Lottery, Souvenirs, etc)

Note 1:

An ex-housemate who originated from China called me up on 2nd-May asking to borrow money. His story was his girlfriend locked him out of their apartment, without any chance for him to take anything with him. Thus, he rented a car from a taxi company to drive around looking for her. As he racked up over $200 in petrol costs, the taxi company confiscated his mobile and demanded $200 in exchange. He had nothing else on him, beside a few coins for public phone calls and my name-card that, coincidentally, I gave him the day before.

I declined lending him any money initially. However, he said that I could follow him to the taxi company to verify his story and promised to return me the money that same evening when his tax refund cheque cleared. Thus, I went with him to the well-known taxi company's HQ, paid $200 on his behalf to retrieve his phone. [I had a deja-vu at the taxi company's HQ.] As I was in a rush to get to work, we took a taxi ride to the HQ and back to near my home, which cost $28. He suggested to add the taxi fare to his loan.

I told him to return me the money the next morning as I was working that evening. However, instead of calling me to arrange for repayment, he called to borrow more money several times. Each time with more stories/excuses. E.g. He needed some money for his new rental deposit, he is awaiting for his mother in Beijing to transfer money to his Canadian account, etc. Each time, I firmly declined. My suspicions were raised. Finally, he requested for another loan, offering to repay with 50% to 100% interest within a week, and that he would sign an I.O.U. for it. I told him calmly and firmly that it was a matter of principle, not whether I can or cannot lend him the money. However, I was angry inside -- he was setting me up! Loansharking is illegal! [In addition, it is against my principles.]

After 3 extensions to his deadline for repayment passed, I messaged him on the 21st May that since he has not kept his promise, I would do whatever needed to retrieve my money back, including reporting him as a con-man to the police. I told my landlord about the loan. My landlord told me that I should not have lent money to someone that I did not know well. [He is right, I am too trusting.] My landlord also told me that this ex-tenant is a good-for-nothing who idles around and was often late in his rental payments.

Guess, I will take it as 破財消災 ["losing some money to overcome misfortune/bad-luck"].

Note 2: There was lots of groceries sales and deals in May. Thus, I spent more to stock-up on microwavable meals, instant noodles, breakfast cereals, etc.