Making Ends Meet is Harder than ever on a Pension.

[Judstir]

Does anyone notice how hard it is to live on Pensioner's wages? My husband was a teacher and gets a very nice pension and I worked in offices most of my life and paid into RSPs but now we can hardly make it from one pension cheque to another without really pinching our pennies. The cost of living keeps going up all the time and the groceries have almost tripled in price the past few years. Thank goodness for coupons and place like Smartcanucks to help us along with deals. We live in Ontario and the Hydro rates alone are staggering. Just was curious as to how many others are struggling.

[Shwa Girl]

Do you qualify for the lower hydro rate?
http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB...ergy+Consumers

[Shwa Girl]

Also, NW Ontario is more expensive than parts of Southern Ontario. Are you willing/able to move south?
Just a suggestion

[Newfiescreech]

Don't feel lonely judstir.. your not only one is struggling with stretching your money.. I hear it every where I go .. so many people out work due to ..cost of crude prices hit rock bottom.. everything is going up but our wages isn't moving .. I don't know when this is gone end .. sad for everyone.. I feel your pain

[Lynn49]

Sorry to hear of your struggles, Judstir, we share similar situations, DH full teaching pension, but not the struggles you unfortunately are experiencing. We've also put money aside for the past 47 years, but that's always been untouchable DH just asked if you live in a rural area where hydro rates can now be ridiculously high. I can't believe how much some been families are paying! I wish you both all the best, Hon....

[xlxo]

Be glad you don't live on the West Coast.... While our electric rates are lower.... housing and gas is higher.

[Redneck Charger]

Judstir, I know exactly how you are, it took us the longest time to get adjusted to LTD, and CPP Disability. Took us almost a year to learn to live on what we get for the month. You do learn to cut back, and you learn very quickly on the things you need and want. Before the car accident awhile back, I was making a GREAT dollar, and doing mega overtime when I wanted to, and money was NOT a shortage, but now it's a huge difference, and like you say groceries have tripled in money, what you carry out of a store now for $50 is a joke. But you learn to live on your means, and it takes about a year to learn how... Best of luck to YOU!!

[SnowFlakey]

Judstir, living on pension (OAS, CPP, etc) can be very very hard. Some advice: Of course the obvious is couponing and checking your flyers every week religiously. You can save a great deal of money. If you have a freezer, stock up on meat when it is on sale (also check the pink sticker meat, anywhere from 30% to 50% off). Same with non perishables like detergent, shampoos, body wash, toothpaste, etc. Buy only things that are on sale! Try not to pay full price for anything.

join some of the store cards that offer bonuses like points for groceries (PC Plus, Shoppers Drug Mart, Air Miles, Metro & Moi, Familiprix). you can redeem points for free groceries! It seems daunting, but once you get the hang of these cards, the rewards are good. And check the grocery stores in your area to see if they offer a Christmas plan where you pay in as little as $5 a week for 40 weeks and then you get it all back at the beginning of December in the form of the store GC. This way you dont need to worry about Christmas groceries.

And finally, if you are really really strapped, see if there any organizations (mostly Church) which provide a weekly or bi-monthly supply of groceries for about $10. You need to register, no questions asked.

But there are other ways also to cut down on your monthly bills.

There is a big difference between need and want. You have to sit down and decide what you really need to provide a healthy life (food, medication, roof over your head, etc) and budget for that. Think twice before you buy what you want! Want is only to give you a temporary relief; it is not necessary to your life.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON YOUR CREDIT CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is one of the biggest expenses going unless you pay the balance owing every month. Otherwise use cash to buy everything from groceries to gas. If you dont have the cash, dont buy it!

And like others here have said, the adjustment period is about a year, give or take a few months. Eventually things will fall into place.

Hope this helps a bit. Take care

[Silk]

<snip>
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON YOUR CREDIT CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is one of the biggest expenses going unless you pay the balance owing every month. Otherwise use cash to buy everything from groceries to gas. If you dont have the cash, dont buy it!

I think SnowFlakey had some good points. I want to share my 2 cents on this part of what she said

Pay for EVERYTHING with a credit card that you're able to - as long as you can pay off the balance when the CC statement comes in each month. May as well earn interest on your money in the meantime - yes rates are low but it's something. Even better, I recommend you get a cashback CC if you don't have one. I personally love the Tangerine CC and in the 4 months I've had it I've earn $60+ in cashback rewards. I don't have out of the ordinary expenses - some occasional dining out - but I charge everything - groceries, utilities, Rx's, gift cards - that I can except sometimes if my purchase is too small to make it worthwhile and/or the store has a minimum to use a CC. In those cases I try to use a store gift card - that I originally bought on the CC (so earned a cashback then). Those cashback rewards on everyday little expenses add up.

Like I said, just my 2 cents. HTH in some small way, Judsitr. My best to you

Silk

[maggiespice]

Pay for EVERYTHING with a credit card that you're able to - as long as you can pay off the balance when the CC statement comes in each month. May as well earn interest on your money in the meantime - yes rates are low but it's something. Even better, I recommend you get a cashback CC if you don't have one. I personally love the Tangerine CC and in the 4 months I've had it I've earn $60+ in cashback rewards. I don't have out of the ordinary expenses - some occasional dining out - but I charge everything - groceries, utilities, Rx's, gift cards - that I can except sometimes if my purchase is too small to make it worthwhile and/or the store has a minimum to use a CC. In those cases I try to use a store gift card - that I originally bought on the CC (so earned a cashback then). Those cashback rewards on everyday little expenses add up.

That can be a great idea, but the only thing is for me personally this kind of backfired. I would pay off my balance each month, so that was not the problem.

To try and explain it is a little hard, but I will try. I used the card on the usual, groceries, gas and such. But what started happening is I was buying more than I needed just to get the points. When I was using just plain old cash for my purchases, I stuck to a hard and tight budget. When the cash was gone, it was gone. This build good financial lessons for me. So when I switched to using the card for all my purchases, I found I spend more than I did using the cash.

I am now trying to use cash again, and I am finding it hard to discipline myself. I have to relearn everything I lost!

[Judstir]

Credit card debt is the worse thing I can do. I know myself too well. I had a couple and found them just too darn easy to use. Now I only have one with a $500.00 Limit so I can order on line if I need too. Also for emergencies. We are slowly coming around to living on our income. We live in a town in Northwestern Ontario right on the U.S. Border and another town just across the river from us in MN. When the money was better for us to buy over there we can get our Gas and BBQ fuel and some foods a lot cheaper. Right now it doesn't make a whole lot of difference when we have to pay the exchange rate on U.S money. We have stopped eating out which we didn't do all that often. but not at all now. Thank you for your suggestions and I am Thankful for what we do have. A nice home, a cottage, and a vehicle. We will be okay.

[Silk]

That can be a great idea, but the only thing is for me personally this kind of backfired. I would pay off my balance each month, so that was not the problem.

To try and explain it is a little hard, but I will try. I used the card on the usual, groceries, gas and such. But what started happening is I was buying more than I needed just to get the points. When I was using just plain old cash for my purchases, I stuck to a hard and tight budget. When the cash was gone, it was gone. This build good financial lessons for me. So when I switched to using the card for all my purchases, I found I spend more than I did using the cash.

I am now trying to use cash again, and I am finding it hard to discipline myself. I have to relearn everything I lost!

That's a good point, Maggiespice. i can see where that could be a problem. I have done that in the past and also bought more than planned when the store had a minimum to charge. One day I realized that just didn't make sense. Even when I shop at SDM now, I leave my total at $x.99 instead of buying something to take it to the next dollar so I can get the extra 10 optimum points! (on 20x days sometimes it does make sense to do this imo).

Definitely we each have to do what works best for ourselves and makes sense for our individual situations, lifestyle, and personality

One thing that has also helped me is I basically only use the one credit card now. The exception is if I shop at the Bay (online or in-store) because their card gives 3-month return period which is useful to me. Previously I was using different cards that had different 'rewards' e.g. the optimum CC for most things, grocery cashback for groceries, etc. Using only one card helped me to see how much I was spending - it was a shock initially to see a big total on one card rather than 2-3 smaller balances on several CC statements! I think that does help me keep my spending in line

[coupon girl]

judstir -yes it is harder on a pension -only one income in our house hold and hubby has a pension and works part-time
-we use our credit card and pay off monthly -but not for everything then may overuse it who knows
-I have most every points card going ,plus I do a few surveys ,caddle and checkout51
-we only have one basic cell phone -very cheap month bill
-I always look at the clearance in stores -got cookies 50% off today -try to make a lot from scratch
and a lot of what others have said on here -of course being a part of smart canucks helps too
-oh and we only have one credit card -and I have a hbc mastercard -as I love online shopping (3 month return policy does appeal to me too)

[Shwa Girl]

Credit card debt is the worse thing I can do. I know myself too well. I had a couple and found them just too darn easy to use. Now I only have one with a $500.00 Limit so I can order on line if I need too. Also for emergencies. We are slowly coming around to living on our income. We live in a town in Northwestern Ontario right on the U.S. Border and another town just across the river from us in MN. When the money was better for us to buy over there we can get our Gas and BBQ fuel and some foods a lot cheaper. Right now it doesn't make a whole lot of difference when we have to pay the exchange rate on U.S money. We have stopped eating out which we didn't do all that often. but not at all now. Thank you for your suggestions and I am Thankful for what we do have. A nice home, a cottage, and a vehicle. We will be okay.

Great idea shopping in the nearby US stores where it is cheaper.
Congrats that you also have a cottage. If necessary, that could be a source of income.