Marching Forward with Frugality & with Savings 2015 frugal chatter

[lizzie bargain]

J and C-I think we all learn( hopefully) from the financial mistakes we make-some small and some larger. As you say things do happen but we all have the ability to say no to keeping up with the Jones and controlling our spending for a rainy day-so that when disability, illness, divorce, job loss etc hit we have something saved to fall back on to help us get through the tough times. I saw on the news again last night that Canadians owe $1.63 for every dollar they have in disposable income and that is a scary thought-at least to me. Obviously some people have no debt which means others have more than this.

[jasperandchar]

J and C-I think we all learn( hopefully) from the financial mistakes we make-some small and some larger. As you say things do happen but we all have the ability to say no to keeping up with the Jones and controlling our spending for a rainy day-so that when disability, illness, divorce, job loss etc hit we have something saved to fall back on to help us get through the tough times. I saw on the news again last night that Canadians owe $1.63 for every dollar they have in disposable income and that is a scary thought-at least too me. Obviously some people have no debt which means others have more than this.

I saw that as well last night @lizzie bargain and coming from and having lived with debt I can see how it happens and glad I'm no longer there.

I'm proud to say that we have no debt other than our mortgage and it feels really good. We've made some poor choices over the years but have never tried to keep up with the Jones as it never crossed our minds HOWEVER many do as you mentioned.

DH & I now have the mindset that saving up for a purchase whether small or large is the way to do it, we went a month without a vacuum as we didn't have $ to purchase a $40.00 + tax vacuum were as before we would have purchase it and not given it a 2nd thought but no longer think that way and I'll tell you it gives you a greater appreciation for the small things as it all adds up.

An example is our ongoing renovations, if we don't have $ for the paint we move onto another project that we do have the things to work on until we can afford the $50 can of paint, it just makes sense I will admit it can be taken as 1 step back but going forward it's just a small obstacle and the results are quite surprising which results in pride in ourselves and what we do manage to do without borrowing and it all gets done in time

I think the biggest thing that has changed is we are a team and both must agree and have the same long term goals which is to do what we can afford as we don't want to rack up debt again.

And let's face it the generation of no debit, credit and raising their families during the depression can teach us a lot as they managed and where very crafty as they had to make do as they could not purchase things as they just couldn't afford it and they managed quite well in my opinion, my grandmas who would be 100 if still alive used to say

if someone showed up and it was dinner time, she would just add another cup of water to the soup enable to share or atleast offer to do so

she used to always says if you had $1.00, keep .50 cents for another day

and so many other insightful things, she was a very frugal and smart lady eventhough she never went to school but taught herself to read and write

[saundyl]

have fun!!

We are about to board out flight. Kids have been good and actually getting along! I

[coupon girl]

-nancy thank you for sharing trust me we have all been there with finances
here are our mistakes
buying a new truck many years ago and 0% financing -I didn't say no to hubby as i figured he worked hard at his job an deserved it
well a few years later after truck couldn't afford morgage and all the bills -so took out a line of credit on the house of course this was 14 years ago -to pay off the truck
-see we learnt to -mind you we have always paid off our credt cards
-its called live and learn and my mom always said -wait til you have it save up then buy it

[saundyl]

I think I missed the QOTD as well. Financial mistakes.

I think...not saving as much of my money in high school for my education was a mistake. Not saving as much meaned i ended up paying off student loans for much longer.

Having my dad co-sign for my bank student loan but being ok with him opting out of life insurance on the loan - it would have been paid off 5 years ago when he passed away instead of last year if i hadn't said i was ok with having just me having life insurance (he stated at the time he wasnt dying anytime soon and laughed - little did he know)

Impluse purchases in college on TONS of cd's that i dont even possess anymore.

Burrying my head in the sand when it came to an MBNA student credit card and getting behind on payments

Not learning to budget sooner.

[Crochetlady]

My biggest mistake was misusing the CC. I got so far behind in paying it off. Always made at least the minimum payment so they loved me. When it was maxed out they would raise the limit which , you guessed it...I would max out again. For the last 3 years I have been working on paying it off. When I got half way I called the company and lowered the limit. When it`s paid...hopefully at years end...it will get cancelled. The one I use now gets paid every month.

I was rather proud of myself on Wednesday when I was in Goderich. The only store I went into was a shoe store to buy a shoe horn to carry in my purse. When she found out that was all I wanted she gave me one. I didn`t know they still do that. I had lots of time to kill before my appointment so I took yarn and a hook with me and sat at the beach crocheting instead of shopping for stuff I don`t need.

[jasperandchar]

My biggest mistake was misusing the CC. I got so far behind in paying it off. Always made at least the minimum payment so they loved me. When it was maxed out they would raise the limit which , you guessed it...I would max out again. For the last 3 years I have been working on paying it off. When I got half way I called the company and lowered the limit. When it`s paid...hopefully at years end...it will get cancelled. The one I use now gets paid every month.

I was rather proud of myself on Wednesday when I was in Goderich. The only store I went into was a shoe store to buy a shoe horn to carry in my purse. When she found out that was all I wanted she gave me one. I didn`t know they still do that. I had lots of time to kill before my appointment so I took yarn and a hook with me and sat at the beach crocheting instead of shopping for stuff I don`t need.

Gotta love freebies and a great surprise to be offered one without even asking .

Great mindset to stay away from the stores and not having to deal with the temptations

Sounds like you have a great plan in place and we'll be here cheering you on along the way

[jasperandchar]

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!!

What are your 3 key financial tips, it could be as simple as avoid stores, bring your coffee to work anything goes large or small

I could always use more knowledge & tips.

[bobbiegirl2010]

QOTD Financial Mistakes:

Thank you so much for sharing JasperandChar. I can really relate to what you said. Most of our financial mistakes are very similar with DH and I not wanting to say no to each other. That and not really knowing how to budget or live frugally earlier on in our marriage.

Of the many big mistakes we've made the biggest mistake we made which caused all subsequent mistakes to happen (like a domino effect) was:

Selling our "starter house" to buy a bigger house. We only owned it for 2 years before we sold it to buy a slightly bigger house that had a garage. If we were smart we would have kept that house because the utilities were less, property taxes were less and we'd have owned it for 12 years so we'd be 1/2 way to paying off the mortgage. Not to mention that it was only 10-15 mins from DH's work so gas expenses would have been less and could have gotten away with just having 1 vehicle.

When I was younger I just thought I'd always just keep getting raises, work overtime as much as I wanted, buy now pay later because I can.... I never worried about money. I had not planned for how much kids cost or if we could afford everything if one of us got laid off or unable to work....

For us the days of "buy now pay later" are gone. If we don't have the $$ we don't buy it. And with the help of having savings in various sub accounts (well one account and I keep the amounts separate in a spreadsheet) we are no longer accumulating debt every time an emergency happens (car repair etc...). I'm going to keep working on being content with what we have and look forward to the day when we are finally "debt free"

[jasperandchar]

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!!

What are your 3 key financial tips, it could be as simple as avoid stores, bring your coffee to work anything goes large or small

I could always use more knowledge & tips.

Here are mine -

1. Avoid the stores as much as possible & Plan your outings for example we do multiple errands all at once,
for example we'll do groceries, return any items that need to be returned, go to the library to borrow movies & return movies the following week, pick up the mail basically anything that needs to be done, we do everything that needs to be done all at once, we do this because we are rural and it's a 30 minute drive each way so the travelling costs quickly add up if we were to venture out several times a week.

2. Save up for items, when you have the $ to purchase the item then do so, we used to many years ago purchase 1 item needed/wanted per month, it made a huge difference and didn't break the bank all at once. We used to have a growing list of things that were needed and also a list of wants

3. Take your time to make purchases large or small, sleep on it, make a list of pros and cons, do your research, get different quotes, ask for discounts if possible, don't purchase something on impulse as often we have regrets

4. If it aint broke don't fix it , wear things out they may not be pretty or shiny anymore but if they work what's the point of getting a new one, for example many new appliances are rated as energy efficient but how many folks have acutally noticed a decrease in their energy consumption after purchasing a energy rated appliance, I personally do not know anyone in my circle of life outside of sc

5. Always have a plan it's better than no plan, include milestones which boost confidence and fuel excitement and give visual progress

6. Don't let past mistakes dictate your financial success, lots of times with get stuck in a rut or wear rose colored glasses, reality sometimes is hard to accept but small steps and changes can lead to great times and are great confidence builders are great motivators.

7. Don't be afraid to say no whether it's to your children, your spouse or yourself at the time you may feel embarrassed, uncomfortable or ashamed but sometimes the truth hurts but AND after the initial sting as time goes on we forget and practice makes perfect

[bobbiegirl2010]

IMWTK: 3 Financial Tips

I'm not sure if I really have any "new" ideas as I've learned most of my tips from all you frugal smartcanucks... Some things I've recently started doing are:

1) Cooking from scratch and buying staples in bulk (flour, rice etc...) instead of buying "convenience foods" I no longer buy: frozen waffles, mixes of any kind (pancakes, cake etc...), mac and cheese, granola bars, rice mixes... ***I still buy bread products and frozen pizzas as I have never made anything with yeast before lol***

2) Batch cook on the wknds so I have easy reheat meals during the week. This also saves on electricity (esp if you are on TOU billing) since wknd rates are the lowest and the cost of running the oven for 4 hours straight to make several different things is not much different than 1 hour because the most electricity is used when the elements are heating up.

3) Have separate budgets for as many different categories as you need. I use 3 different types: 1) Cash envelopes for everyday expenses (excl gas and groceries), 2) Credit Cards for Gas and Groceries (and I track all expenses on a spreadsheet to stay on budget and the balance paid in full every month), and # 3: Savings accts for short term savings (vehicle maintenance, pets, vacation etc...) and long term savings (emergency, retirement etc...)

[bobbiegirl2010]

@jasperandchar

I love your financial tips I wish someone would have told me those 15 years ago lol. These are all things DH and I come to realize are important and will lead us hopefully into the ultimate goal of one day being debt free

[MrsSunshine]

OH CL.. crocheting on a beach... sounds heavenly.
after discussing with a pattern creator through email, i realized i was doing the incorrect stitches. makes a heck of a difference. so now that project is back on track. as well as another.
not sure what this weekend we'll bring besides possibly a church sale, maybe looking at a vehicle for our son. lease to own.

[saundyl]

My biggest mistake was misusing the CC. I got so far behind in paying it off. Always made at least the minimum payment so they loved me. When it was maxed out they would raise the limit which , you guessed it...I would max out again. For the last 3 years I have been working on paying it off. When I got half way I called the company and lowered the limit. When it`s paid...hopefully at years end...it will get cancelled. The one I use now gets paid every month.

I was rather proud of myself on Wednesday when I was in Goderich. The only store I went into was a shoe store to buy a shoe horn to carry in my purse. When she found out that was all I wanted she gave me one. I didn`t know they still do that. I had lots of time to kill before my appointment so I took yarn and a hook with me and sat at the beach crocheting instead of shopping for stuff I don`t need.

I think thats kinda what i did with my student card. although i wasa rotter and let it go til it got cancelled completely and THEN still had to pay it off plus interest. The only thing that has always ticked me off is I had paid for the insurnace in case you lost your job. I was laid off from a seasonal position and 4 month prior had quit a waitressing position (and took the owner to the Labour standards board as she was having people work extra hours and ONLY paying them for the time sh wrote on the schedule. If someone didn't come in she made another person stay but refused to pay them for their time.) I qualified for EI but the insurance said it wouldnt cover even the minimum payments on the card. I cancelled that waste of insurance payment pretty soon after it was denied.

[saundyl]

What are your 3 key financial tips, it could be as simple as avoid stores, bring your coffee to work anything goes large or small

I could always use more knowledge & tips.
Here are mine -

1. Plan your shopping – search for coupons and sales ahead of time.

2. Walk places.
3. Save for Items but also – seriously consider if you really will use the item before you purchase it. I hmm and haw for months before I make major purchases (anything over 50 feels major to me at times if its not food or bills) – do your research, “test” the item if a friend owns it, check “generic” or offmodel reviews and prices. Watch for sales.
4. Reuse things! Purchase second hand rather than new.

5. Gift cards are awesome. Especially ones you get by saving points or earning online.
I order a variety from swagbucks, Esso rewards. SORELY disappointed hearing today that home hardware is not going to be doing aeroplan any longer – i just reached enough aero miles for a 25 dollar card went to order it and found out...now the lowest you can get is $50.
6. Cooking things from scratch/making your own culinary delights rather than purchasing premade.
7. Little things like energy management – unplugging items that aren’t being used, turning the heat down when you aren’t home. Opening the curtains rather than turning on a light
8. Return your recycling for money.
9. Buy staples on sale.
10. Entertainment at home rather than paying to go out all the time. A movie can be rented for $6 dollar here and as many people as we want can watch it. Its $10.50 at the theatre per person for a non-3D movie here, not including any snacks. There’s 4 of us in our little family....we can buy or rent the movie for less and still have $$ for snacks.
11. Track your money.
12. Apply extra payments to debt repayment (less interest paid in the long run) if you have extra left at the end of the month.
13. Set a little aside for emergencies. Even if its $10 a month that little bit set aside will make the emergency (like when your bathtub tips wildly to one side in the ONLY bathroom in the house and you have company arriving the next day) much less stressful because there’s a little something there to ease that burden.
14. If you’re really really crafty – sell your crafts and hobby.
15. Let people know you’re willing to take old car batteries etc. In sask. and Alberta (im not sure about other places) you can return them to places like Canadian Tire or Waste Stations for a refund of $5 to $10 dollars. Just remember to pop a tarp under them when you transport them though.