MY WIFE wife Mandy will go to any length to avoid hav- ing to balance her chequebook at the end of the month. But her pocket mouse caper is pushing things just a little too far. Long-time readers will remember early in our marriage, just after we moved into our first house, Mandy suggested a deal. **You're the financial adviser,”’ she said, ‘so you balance my chequebook and I! take the mice out of the traps.’” We don’t trap as a sideline. we have always iived in homes surrounded by a fair bit of bush, and when it’s cold out the smaller creatures like to come in to the warm. I dislike removing mice and rats from traps. Nor is it good finan- cial planning to throw out the trap along with the trapped. Australian-born Mandy, on the other hand, grew up with regular moth, flea, mouse, rat and other assorted plagues. When we holi- day in tropical climes, she thinks nothing of crushing cockroaches and negating other nasties. At home, she keeps the traps snapp- ing and disposes of the rodents without comment. In our arrangement, a mouse is worth one bankbook reconcilia- tion while a rat rates three. Lately, with the generaily warmer weather, both the in- house rodent population and the monthly reconciliations have suf- fered a sharp decline. Dreading a six-month catchup balancing act, | mentioned to Mandy recently that I might consider advancing her a couple of reconciliations. Rur Michael Grenby DOLLARS AND SENSE It was the wrong thing to say. Soon after my comment, Man- dy planted the sceds of her plan. At first, it all seemed innocent enough. She decided it would be a good idea to hang a bird feeder outside our bedroom window. The birds came — and so did the squirrels, scrambling down from the roof and leaping on to the feeder from a nearby branch. Somewhat belatedly, Mandy added a $50 squirrel-guard to the feeder, a hood so the squirrels couldn’: climb down. But it was too little, too late. All that leaping 5 YEAR TERM DEPOSIT i 983-3773 PERSONAL BANKING ONLY RATE SUBJECT TO CHANGE ARE YOU ... discuss your future. right direction. Tel. 985-8231 Lonsdale Quay Next to Seabus North Vancouver ; 24 Hr. Quote Line 682-4636 § E Citizens Trust | MEMEER CANADA DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION Waiting for your results from the June 6th Real Estate Examination? While yow’re waiting, come on in and !et’s To find out about your future at Royal LePage, talk to a few of our sales associates, they'll tell you what we're all about, or contact Brian Thompson at the Royal LePage Esplanade office. We'll make sure you're headed in the SHARE TON Creer SUCCESS WITH SUCCESS 116 West Esplanade North Vancouver, B.C. "ROYAL eee LePAG V7M 1A2 ge Kral batate Cid, bewker had spilled quantities of Girdseed over the ground below. And all tha: birdseed on the ground brought in the pocket mice. When the mice started to climb the bushes to try ta get on to the feeder. the feeder went. We scraped up as much of the sced as we could. But as I write this col- umn, there are five pocket mice busily nosing into clumps cf grass and happiiy eating all the seeds we couldn’t find. Anywhere else, these mice would be cute. They look (not surprisinely) very well fed, with See: to cur members. institution. lars. 2 Year 5 Year @ LEGAL FEE PACKAGE Gulf and Fraser is offering a residential mortgage “Legal Fee Package” exclusive BNO TRANSFER FEE Gulf and Fraser has a “No Transfer Fee” policy for transferring your residential mortgage to Gulf and Fraser Fishermen's Credit Union from any other financial @ PRE-PAYMENT FLEXIBILITY * We make it possible to pay off your mort- age sooner and save you thousands of fo Weekly, bi-weekly along with semi-monthly and monthly payment schedules are available to you. FIRST MORTGAGES* TERM | OPEN | 6 Month 1 Year 10.75% teconciling the trapper with the trap beautifully smooth, shiny. dark erey fur. All five would cusily fit into a teacup. 1 open the window and have taken to holding long conversa- tions with them, suggesting they might move along. They ijisten politely, but then resume feeding, quite content to siay close to home. Mandy has set out the traps However, with all the free seed sull lying around, this could be an extended project. That worries me. While I can't be sure, one of the mice looks pregnant. Mendy doesn’t have to say any- thing. But f think it will be a long time before [ have to worry about her bankbook reconciliations fall- ing into arrears again. Michael Grenby is a Vancouver- based coluninist and independent financial adviser who works with individuals; he will answer your questions as space ailows in his column — write to him c/o North Shore News, $139 Lonsdale, North Vancouver V7M 2H4. 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