2016 financial resolutions.

[wimbly11]

Here's my mid-February update:

1. We've been paying on our debt and allocating what we can. However, we just found out finance's ex decided to go ahead and sign for braces for my step-daughter without our approval and now we're going to be accountable for half. We were told the braces would be covered through her band, turns out they aren't but she went ahead with them anyways. So we're going to be loosing something like $150 a month now...

2.Been doing great with coupons. Last month with coupons and rebate apps (not including shopping the sales) I saved about $130. Already have almost $80 saved this month

3. I've put aside money from things I've sold on kijiji and cheques from my rebate apps. Only about $100 in the envelope, but it's a start!

4. Trying very hard to do this. We've spent too much on groceries this month already, even with my coupons so we said we would be trying to use up things we have for the next two weeks.

5. Budget is updated, but I think it needs more work!

So overall, not too bad. I'm worried about finances in that I feel we should be saving for things as well, but there just never seems to be enough money!

Great thread! 2015 was a great year for us as we finally figured out our finances and got on track for debt repayment. We won't be able to continue putting as much on our debt now as our daughter just started daycare as I had to return to work but we plan on putting whatever we can on there. Our 2016 goals are:

1. Continue paying off debt as quickly as possible
2. Start using coupons again (I got out of practice and need to start paying more attention!)
3. Start putting money away monthly for a wedding (we got engaged over Christmas!)
4. Meal planning is key, so we don't waste food and leftovers
5. Create a new budget for this new year to include new expenses, etc

[SassyAshley]

Anyone looking at doing Renos especially those for exterior of the home now would be the time. Due to the Canada dollar there are a large number of increases coming as most of these materials are imported from the US. Even where products are made in Canada the raw materials comes from the US.

Also I believe it was Beckie looking to do Eaves, not sure if you plan to install yourself or not but if you are looking to install yourself check with local companies that install. A lot of them will do what is called Run Offs they just come and run it off for you to install. In some cases this will work out cheaper for the full package vs a Home Depot or Lowe's. Also this will allow for seamless eaves which really are the best option for life in Canada. In most cases Eaves fail where they are joined because of expansion and contraction from weather, any join is a spot for Eaves to fail.

[SassyAshley]

So far I have been so busy I have not really had time to focus on any of our goals.

This past week or so since I will be in town I have been working on trying to sell things on the local buy and sell just to get them out of the house and making room to post new things. Even just storing these items waiting on pick up takes up a lot of space.

Right now we are working on eating from our stockpile and freezer and cleaning both of these out so we can make our own freezer dinners. We do not buy freezer meals but like to make our own for quick meals which is becoming more and more important. Ever since I moved into my new job which includes travelling it also extends my hours making it hard to want to cook when you finally get home.

[jasperandchar]

Here's my mid-February update:

1. We've been paying on our debt and allocating what we can. However, we just found out finance's ex decided to go ahead and sign for braces for my step-daughter without our approval and now we're going to be accountable for half. We were told the braces would be covered through her band, turns out they aren't but she went ahead with them anyways. So we're going to be loosing something like $150 a month now...

2.Been doing great with coupons. Last month with coupons and rebate apps (not including shopping the sales) I saved about $130. Already have almost $80 saved this month

3. I've put aside money from things I've sold on kijiji and cheques from my rebate apps. Only about $100 in the envelope, but it's a start!

4. Trying very hard to do this. We've spent too much on groceries this month already, even with my coupons so we said we would be trying to use up things we have for the next two weeks.

5. Budget is updated, but I think it needs more work!

So overall, not too bad. I'm worried about finances in that I feel we should be saving for things as well, but there just never seems to be enough money!

AWESOME JOB - having a plan/budget is the starting point and it sounds like you have one, excellent.

As for the braces, dental should be claimable on taxes since the band is not covering I'm hoping you and your fiancée will get the receipt and tax break.

I don't think there is ever enough $ as there seems to be something that always creeps up, breaks, needs to repaired etc BUT we do what we can.

[wimbly11]

Thanks for the tip on taxes. They aren't on yet, not sure when it is happening, so will probably apply to next years taxes but good to know!

[beckie.c]

Anyone looking at doing Renos especially those for exterior of the home now would be the time. Due to the Canada dollar there are a large number of increases coming as most of these materials are imported from the US. Even where products are made in Canada the raw materials comes from the US.

Also I believe it was Beckie looking to do Eaves, not sure if you plan to install yourself or not but if you are looking to install yourself check with local companies that install. A lot of them will do what is called Run Offs they just come and run it off for you to install. In some cases this will work out cheaper for the full package vs a Home Depot or Lowe's. Also this will allow for seamless eaves which really are the best option for life in Canada. In most cases Eaves fail where they are joined because of expansion and contraction from weather, any join is a spot for Eaves to fail.

You're doing amazing, keep up the great work. P.s. where are you going on vacation?

As for goal #3 if you are doing yourselves if you can compare prices at Home Depot and Lowe's and get them to price match if possible and also bonus would be when they have don't pay for 12 or 18 months and budget each month to pay it off

Yes, we are all about the DIY (as long as we can do it right) luckily DH's family is really handy, and I'm willing to get my hands dirty. We did the soffit and fascia ourselves and it turned out great and saved over $1000 dollars compared to what I was quoted for soffit/fascia install :D The run-off is a great idea, I'm going to look into that, all I need is two 40ft pieces and then downspouts. I had a quote from one company last summer that was a really great price, but they didn't show up after I approved it . Our local economy has really slowed down over the last two months, so I think there may be some good deals to be had over the spring/summer as companies try to move materials/fill up their days. The plumbing companies that do new builds have laid off most of their guys, luckily DH does repair work and he's still getting about 20 hours a week in, he's been a real trooper and has taken on a lot of after-hours work to keep his paycheck close to 'normal'.

I didn't know Home Depot and Lowes offered the 12-18 month payment, I'll have to look into that. Would definitely be worth it if materials come on sale before I have the cash saved.

We are planning a 19-day trip to Poland, Germany and France in Sept/Oct. I'm just waiting for a flight sale to start booking all the pieces since we aren't taking a tour. Skyscanner has become my new best friend, if anyone knows of other good travel websites I'd love to hear them! I've been planning mostly through Airbnb, Expedia and Skyscanner.

[beckie.c]

So far I have been so busy I have not really had time to focus on any of our goals.

This past week or so since I will be in town I have been working on trying to sell things on the local buy and sell just to get them out of the house and making room to post new things. Even just storing these items waiting on pick up takes up a lot of space.

Right now we are working on eating from our stockpile and freezer and cleaning both of these out so we can make our own freezer dinners. We do not buy freezer meals but like to make our own for quick meals which is becoming more and more important. Ever since I moved into my new job which includes travelling it also extends my hours making it hard to want to cook when you finally get home.

I agree, we used to have a lot of trouble with good meals when we were commuting to work. I think the homemade freezer dinners are a great idea, are you using any specific websites for your meal planning?

[jasperandchar]

Yes, we are all about the DIY (as long as we can do it right) luckily DH's family is really handy, and I'm willing to get my hands dirty. We did the soffit and fascia ourselves and it turned out great and saved over $1000 dollars compared to what I was quoted for soffit/fascia install :D The run-off is a great idea, I'm going to look into that, all I need is two 40ft pieces and then downspouts. I had a quote from one company last summer that was a really great price, but they didn't show up after I approved it . Our local economy has really slowed down over the last two months, so I think there may be some good deals to be had over the spring/summer as companies try to move materials/fill up their days. The plumbing companies that do new builds have laid off most of their guys, luckily DH does repair work and he's still getting about 20 hours a week in, he's been a real trooper and has taken on a lot of after-hours work to keep his paycheck close to 'normal'.

I didn't know Home Depot and Lowes offered the 12-18 month payment, I'll have to look into that. Would definitely be worth it if materials come on sale before I have the cash saved.

We are planning a 19-day trip to Poland, Germany and France in Sept/Oct. I'm just waiting for a flight sale to start booking all the pieces since we aren't taking a tour. Skyscanner has become my new best friend, if anyone knows of other good travel websites I'd love to hear them! I've been planning mostly through Airbnb, Expedia and Skyscanner.

There is something gratifying by doing things ourselves especially when it saves us cash.

I know for sure Home Depot does have promos generally on a monthly basis check the flyers for deals or if doing windows ask the windows/doors department they generally have a good idea of when the next promo is coming. Having said that of course you need their credit card and I believe your first purchase gets a discount BUT I don't believe you could do the discount and the do not pay for x amount of time.

[SassyAshley]

No websites really we just make our normal meals in a fashion we can freeze them. Like make a stew to the point where it needs to be thicken but do not thicken. Or most soups make without pasta and then we cook the pasta and combine later.

I agree, we used to have a lot of trouble with good meals when we were commuting to work. I think the homemade freezer dinners are a great idea, are you using any specific websites for your meal planning?

[Frugalbigmama]

Payday is coming up so cleaned up my account. Paid my cell bill which is approx. $10 cheaper per month because of my new phone . So I'm going to keep the budget amount the same but plunk the difference not needed somewhere else, for now I am going to put as credit on my credit card I don't use often and build up the credit for a shopping spree at Costco

[coupon girl]

money saved from kijiji ,snapsaves,chekout51 had 200.00 saved from last year in the fall
-used towards my son birthday gift (money)
-and gave hubby some for his wallet and mine too

-beats touching money in the bank right

[jasperandchar]

March's budget is done, it's going to be a very expensive month, wishing everyone a great March financially

[coupon girl]

-made money from checkout51 $22 and 25 from selling on kijiji-pay for hubby and I for our haircuts on march break -we get it cut every 4 months-stretch it to 4 months to save a bit of money

[jasperandchar]

Well my income tax return is 1/2 of what I was expecting so that has thrown a wrench into our bedroom & home office reno. The contractor today is coming over to give a final quote, we will be purchasing all the building materials to differ the costs. Dh's pays are primarily going into the reno account BUT sadly dh's truck needed to go into the shop which was unexpected so we also need to put a portion of dh's pay back into the vehicle maintenance account to rebuild for other repairs (sigh).

As they say 2 feet forward 1 step back.

Also our property taxes for the cottage have increased significantly and the boys cottage lots are all due on April 30th. Going forward need to add an additional $20 a month into the property taxes for both.

Dh's taxes for his hunting lease also went up...grrr....throw me a bone....so another increase in our monthly budget allocations.

Hope everyone is doing well and making progress

[wimbly11]

Trying to find a better excel spreadsheet for our budget and can't seem to find one I enjoy. Anyone have a great one they would like to share?