Lessons Learned

If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.

Truer words were never spoken. My grandfather has said that to me many times, but for whatever reason it didn't stick properly. It would have been great if it had! The last year and a half have been a huge learning opportunity for me. It took me a solid month to write the last two posts, because it was a hard pill to swallow. I dug myself into $19,000 of consumer debt in 1 year. 1 STINKING YEAR!

I get nauseated just thinking about it, but I have to do it. If I didn't think about it, I wouldn't learn anything from it, and I'd be setting myself up to fall again. God only knows where the floor would be next time.

Thankfully, I have managed to learn a few things from this experience. Hopefully in sharing them with you all I can prevent someone else from having to learn it the hard way.

You Need A Budget

This is a surprise to no one. At least, it should be a surprise to no one. This doesn't mean that you need to be categorized and itemized down to the cent in a fancy budgeting program, this just means that you need to know how much is coming in, and where it is going. If your income just barely covers your costs, should you really be going on that ski trip or buying a new wardrobe? Probably not. But unless you know where your money is and where its going are you going to be able to turn it down? Again, probably not.


Be Aware Of Your Income

Different incomes can afford different lifestyles, this isn't a surprise for anyone. Readjusting to a lifestyle on a lower income when you've been riding high for a while... that can be a bit of a shock, and not a pleasant one. It requires being cognizant of how much money you have (budget anyone?), and what it will afford. Anyone changing to a job with lower pay, losing hours, or losing a job altogether will have to deal with this at some point, its best to walk into it with your eyes open.

Life Changes Require Buffers

That lifestyle adjustment I mentioned above takes time, and time is money. Getting adjusted before the change, or having some money put aside to help with the change, will be a HUGE asset. Likewise, if there is another major change coming, such as buying a house or welcoming a baby into the world, you'll want a buffer. Chances are it's going to cost you more than you expect.

Get It In Writing

I thought I had learned this lesson while I was working up north, but apparently I didn't. If it's not written into a contract, it's not guaranteed. Overtime, bonuses, and other perks sound fine and dandy when you're negotiating your wage, but unless you get it in writing you can't rely on it. You need to make sure that you can cover your bases using what's on the page, and what's on the page only. Anything else is gravy.

Distinguish Between Needs and Wants

This one really is a gimme.

I NEED enough food that my body can function properly.
I WANT that Starbucks Chai Latte in the morning because they're yummy...

I NEED enough clothing to keep me appropriately dressed for work and the elements.
I WANT that Lululemon top even though I already have a closet full of clothes

I NEED some way of communicating with people
I WANT an iPhone and MacBook Air.

See where I'm going with this?

If You Can't Afford It Now, Chances Are You Can't Afford It Later

What is actually different between now and later? Are you getting a raise? Is there an inheritance coming? Are you going to cut something out of your daily spending habits? Are your expenses suddenly going to drop?

Is anything different? At all?

If nothing is different, and you can't afford something now, how is it you expect to be able to afford it later when the credit card bill comes in? The easiest answer to this is you can't. Especially when the next payday comes around and there is something else you want...

Find Healthy Outlets For Stress

I use shopping as an outlet for stress. It's a horrible fall back, and I'm actually not sure when it started. I can pinpoint when I started using debt for consumer spending, but I can't pinpoint when I started using shopping as an outlet for stress.

I know there are many, healthier, ways of dealing with it. Exercise it one of the better ones, and I find going to a yoga class or going for a run definitely help me cope with things better. So does getting a hug from a loved one. Seriously, hugs are my emotional/mental saviour. I'd probably be a total nut case if it wasn't for the occasional personal contact.
If I don't deal with the stress issue, my spending goes through the roof. Funny enough though, I don't always have to buy consumer items to get that relief. A little while back I was feeling stressed about my finances, so I put a little more money on one of my debts. It's like I'm slowly buying back my freedom, and it worked to sooth my nerves. Any action that reduces the stress levels without getting you further into trouble is good in my books.

Speak Up

Chances are if you have/had a high paying job, you also have friends with high paying jobs. They may want to do things they automatically assume you can afford, because they can afford to. They're not going to know otherwise until you actually speak up that you can't afford it, so do it! You just might find that some of them are in the same boat as you, and are grateful you spoke up.

Control Your Impulses

And for that matter your daily habits. Do you cave and buy something every time you walk past a bakery or coffee shop? This week try just walking past it once. Maybe on a Tuesday. Just see if you can do it once (I know you can). Once you've done it, try it again next week. Maybe on a Thursday. The point of this is to show yourself that you don't NEED to cave every time you walk by. You are strong enough to say no. Willpower is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets. You might find after doing it for a while you won't have to make a conscious effort anymore and it will just come naturally.

Plan For The Future

Long story short: it's coming, so get ready.

Whether it's an old jar you put your recycling money into, or an investment account you throw half of your paycheck into, everyone needs to save something. Retirement, investments and emergencies all require money, and it doesn't appear out of nowhere. Despite how it may feel every little bit helps, so snowflake away. You'll be glad you did one day.


Anyway, that's what I've learned over the last year and a half. I'm sure there are more lessons in my future, but for now I'm doing my best to apply these ones.

Looking Forward - A Shopping Preflection

I was thinking about the upcoming month in terms of spending on my bus ride into work this morning. I know a lot of people set monthly spending goals ($1000 a month for everything above rent or something similar), but it's not something I really want to get into yet. I feel like my months are still quite variable in terms of spending, and I don't want to put off doing something because of an arbitrary figure I've chosen for myself. It's awesome if it works for everyone that's doing it, I just don't think I'm ready to hop on the bandwagon yet.

Especially not this month :s

Anyway, I was thinking about the spending because I realized that this was going to be a kind of expensive month for me. I need to get 3 things: A weedwacker, a bra, and moisturizer. It doesn't really sound expensive at first, but if I can't find cheaper alternatives it's going to set me back about $500 (minimum) for those 3 items.

The moisturizer is kind of a non-negotiable item for me. Some of you might remember back in December when I was struggling with the price of the stuff. Well, fast forward a few months and I can honestly say I'm not going back. My skin doesn't hurt when I wash my face anymore, and I don't have to avoid touching it for fear of rupturing something. The cyst I spent over a year trying to get rid of finally disappeared, and the scarring is slowly healing. The jar is almost empty, and I'm going to have to switch to the lotion as the cream is getting to be a bit too heavy as it gets warmer out. It's cheaper per ounce, but comes in a larger container. This is going to set me back at least $240. I'm going to try to time it to line up with a gift with purchase or something, because the stuff doesn't go on sale.

The bra is a bit of a contentious issue for me. You could say that I developed early as a kid. I started wearing a bra in grade 6 or 7, and by the grade 8 I was easily a C cup. That would have been fine and dandy if they had stopped growing then (and why not? That's when I stopped getting taller), but they didn't.

Above is a bra sizing chart. The areas outlined in green are approximately your standard bra sizes. That little red splotch over to the left? That's me. I don't even make it on to the chart. I spent much of my teenage and early adult bra shopping years crying in change rooms because nothing fit, and anything that came close looked like something your grandmother would wear. My mom has the same problem. A few years ago after I moved to Edmonton to go to University I found a bra shop that carried my size.

HALLELUJAH!

The shop specializes in bras and specialty sizes. They order their stock in from Europe, where you can actually get a wider range of sizes. Not only that, for the first time in my life I could get a pretty bra. I think I cried tears of joy in her fitting room. Unfortunately, they do come at a price, and the last time I bought bras there they were about $160 a piece. The exchange rate has gotten better, so they may have come down in price a little, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. Two of my current bras have underwires that are about to give out (trust me, they hurt when they're stabbing me), so I know this expense will be hitting me soon.

Last but not least is a weedwacker. This is the one where I should be able to get the most pricing wiggle room from. I've only checked 1 store so far, but they're sitting at around $150-$200 for a gas powered one. I'd like to find an electric one, but I'm not 100% set on that. I tried to get by without one last year after I bought my place, and I can tell you it's not going to happen this year. I bought my house during the winter, and come spring I realized I had bought "That house". You know, the one overflowing with weeds in the neighbourhood of pristine lawns. I spent a lot of time last year fighting the weeds, and I'll be doing it again this year. I need to keep the upper hand on them as they can get away from you REALLY quickly, and the city will fine you if you don't keep them under control. My lawnmower doesn't reach everything, so this year I need to get one. I'm going to check out Kijiji and Ebay as well for a used one. The snow is melting here quickly, so I need to get on it soon.

I'm glad payday is Thursday.

Savings Decision

After giving it a little thought, I'm going to follow the advice that was given to me earlier this week. I'm going to put the debt reduction on hold (beyond minimum payments that is), and focus on building an emergency savings cushion. I'm going to save $4000 in cash to augment my investments. At their present value, that gives me little over $7500 that I can use in case of emergency if I absolutely have to. That gives me at minimum 3 months to work with. If I take in a renter, sell my car and get whatever job I can while looking for a permanent one it will last closer to 6 months. My freezer is already full, so I only have some dried staple stocking to do.

Once the $4000 is built up, I'm going to switch gears back to debt reduction again. As much as I'd love to have 6 months worth of cash savings, I don't want to be letting those balances sit and accumulate interest while I'm doing it. I'm building a cash reserve for the sake of liquidity, but it still makes more sense for me to pay off the debts before focusing on building up savings. Credit isn't supposed to be used as an emergency savings account, but building up a stash of cash to avoid paying interest on your debt while your debt balance sits there generating interest doesn't really make sense. Hence the savings limit.

*shifts gears*

Moving forward again.

Mmmmm Payday

I'm happy that since starting my cash only year I've been much less concerned about when payday actually occurs. While some of my envelopes tend to run out rather quickly (I'm looking at you Food and Entertainment), its soothing to know that I have cash sitting in the other envelopes for when I need something. It also feels like the 2 weeks between paydays go by much faster now. Rather than sitting impatiently waiting for the money to come in again (MUST SPEND MONEY! RAWR!!!), I'm a little more content. Scratch that, a lot more content.

That doesn't mean the internal shopping beast doesn't occasionally try to manifest itself, it's just that I'm getting a little better at beating it into submission.

Along with the lower spending comes higher debt payments :) I love dumping a decent size chunk of change onto the totals. I feel like I'm sticking it to the credit card companies every time I do it (not nice, no, but if it's keeping me going...). I've also gotten better at writing my spending down in my day planner! So far I'm up to date with my February mini goal. I'm not blogging the result of that weekly, though I plan to do it all in a more visual form at the end of the month. I know you like the visuals FB ;)

I'm also a little excited about this payday, because I have a new way to track my money now :) One of my friends read that I have problems writing things down, so we met for coffee and she showed me how she tracks hers. She also gave me one of her little note pads, which was/is SO appreciated (Thanks M!), and I plan to start using it today as soon as I take my cash out for the next 2 weeks :)

On a side note, apparently Tim Horton's is trying to rebrand some of their products again. Their danishes and croissants are now European Style danishes, and European Style croissants. Really? Last I checked they haven't changed at all. Yay marketing?

Anyway, that's it for today. I hope you're all doing great ;)

Staple Soup

Kelly over at Almost Frugal did a post recently on the 6 key ingredients she uses in her day to day life to make quick easy meals. It's good to have fall back stash of multi-purpose foods you can rely on in a pinch when you need to make a quick, easy and cheap meal.

Reading through her list I realized a) I don't bake as much as I should, and b) I'm running out of my staples at home and need to stock up! Haha. It got me thinking though. While initially I looked at the list and thought "Yep, those are my staples too", I realized afterwards that they really weren't anymore. My staples have shifted.

These are Kelly's 6 Staples:

1. Flour
2. Baking Powder
3. Salt
4. Oil
5. Milk
6. Eggs

These are my 6 Staples:

1. Tea
2. Milk
3. Sugar
4. Bread
5. Eggs
6. Pepper

That's not to say that I don't use the other items, because I do, it's just that these are the 6 I use most frequently and almost always have on hand. I'd be lying if I said I never skipped meals and just had a cup of tea instead because I'm busy or on the run. I almost did that tonight :s Add on some squash, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes to this list and I'm pretty content for quite a while.

I'm not going to put up a recipe for my top 6, because I'm pretty sure most of you can figure out what goes into an omelet or french toast yourself, but I will put up one I did recently with squash and garlic. Actually, I do it frequently. It's stupid simple.

Basically:

= 

You take a medium sized butternut squash, cut it into chunks that are similar in size to a golf ball, and put them in a roasting pan. Then take the papery peel off ~8 cloves of garlic, and throw them in the roasting pan with the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, wrap top with foil or lid, and put them in the oven at 350F/175C until they're softened and toasty (about 45 minutes). Let them cool enough to handle, and take the peel off the squash (you're supposed to do it first thing, but I find it's easier this way). Put the squash and garlic into a pot, and cover with either stock, or water with bouillon cubes/powder. Simmer on medium-low for about half an hour or so, then remove from heat. Either transfer this to a blender, or use an immersion blender, and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste, reheat if necessary.

It's really easy to make, and super forgiving. You can put the stuff in the oven and walk away to do something else while it's roasting. Ditto when it's simmering. It's really adaptable too, you can add all sorts of seasoning to it. I usually like mine with just salt, pepper, and a dollop of either yogurt or sour cream.

Anywho, I have homework calling my name. Have a good night everyone. Happy eating :)

Month End - January 2011

Every once in a while I have to sit back, look at my finances, and go wtf?


This is one of those months

	31-Mar-10	31-Dec-10	31-Jan-11
Chequing	$116.66	$1,140.22	$149.68
Savings 1	$0.24	$0.26	$0.26
Savings 2	$100.00	$0.90	$0.90
Savings 3	$500.00	$0.07	$0.07
Investment	$2,189.67	$1,182.81	$1,154.89
TFSA	$0.00	$2,463.64	$2,423.86
RRSP 1	$1,525.96	$1,594.74	$1,632.31
RRSP 2	$3,868.08	$4,016.84	$4,016.41
ASSETS	$8,300.61	$10,399.48	$9,378.38
Car Loan	($13,138.27)	($9,760.77)	($9,397.49)
LOC	($10,000.00)	($11,100.00)	($11,000.00)
Credit Card	($5,155.65)	($4,978.23)	($4,433.32)
DEBTS	($28,293.92)	($25,839.00)	($24,830.81)
Net Worth	($19,993.31)	($15,439.52)	($15,452.43)

It's more a question of where my money went, so I guess I should be saying WDMMG, rather than WTF.

I know I finished off the last month with an extra pay cheque, which skewed my assets higher and mostly went to a mortgage payment, but I'm not entirely sure where the money went. My net worth changed by $13 in the wrong direction? I'm shaking my head at this one. 

I've tried writing down every penny I spend before, and unfortunately it's failed miserably in the past. I had been thinking about making it a mini goal to write down everything I spend in the month of February. This post seems to be heavily encouraging that - coincidence?

Tomorrow I'll be taking a look at my slip ups in the cash only department in January, maybe I'll be able to shed a little light on this situation? I hope so.

Interest Introspection

I was looking at my debt balances the other day, and thinking about how much I pay on them in interest every month. My credit card balance currently costs me about $55 a month in interest charges, while my line of credit costs me about $85 a month in interest charges. For a little while there I was thinking "maybe I should pay down the line of credit first, it's costing me more in interest." For a couple days now that's what I'd been thinking I'd do *shakes head*, but I sat down and gave it some thought in terms of investments this morning. The money I put towards paying off the credit card is like investing money and getting a 12.9% return, while putting money towards the line of credit is like getting an 8.52% return. Sure, I'll feel better watching the total interest I'm paying decrease every month, but it will decrease at a much slower rate than if I keep paying off my credit card first, and I'll end up paying more interest overall. If I had applied my slightly confused money sense to all of my debts I would have had myself paying off my mortgage before I paid off my credit card. Doesn't exactly make sense, does it?

Some days I wonder how I got myself into this mess. Then I have moments like these. Then I remember.

*facepalm*

Food For Thought

Mmmm lunch time.

I stumbled back across this slide show earlier today:

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/slideshows/food-health/how-much-food-can-you-get-for-a-dollar.html

I've actually seen it a couple times, but it never really loses it's impact. It's 20 pictures of how much food you can buy for $1, from a couple threads of saffron to 4 somewhat sorry looking grapefruit. The prices are from New Mexico, so they don't translate to the same amount of food here, but it's still interesting in terms of scale. What's even more interesting is when you consider that many people live on $1 or less every day. I'd be interested to see this photograph experiment performed in countries all over the world. How much would $1 buy you in Nigeria, Russia or England?

It's unfortunate that the items with the largest volume per dollar are also the ones with the lowest nutritional density. Something just seems downright wrong about the idea that the more processing an item gets the cheaper it becomes. Processing and manufacturing cost money (a lot of money actually), so one would think that the more processing went into an item, the more expensive it would be. You know, like it used to.

Thanks Henry Ford.

I'm actually quite surprised by the grapefruit comparison. I don't know about you guys, but the organic produce in my area looks more like the photo of the 4 grapefruit rather than the photo of the individual grapefruit. Not that I could get either for $1. Going to the conventional grocery store I'm more likely to see the "pretty" fruit.

"Pretty" food landed me in the hospital as a kid, but that's a story for another day.

I'm just curious, when did we decide we were too good for ugly food? I feel like it's been ingrained into me, even though I grew up eating oddly shaped, yet very tasty, veggies at home. I know a couple shops I can get "ugly" fruit and veggies from, and I go to them for different foods that they carry. Purple bell peppers anyone? My Italian market sells them, but I still hesitate at the "flawed" veggies. I'm actually mildly frustrated with myself for this, because there is a substantial cost savings. Do you find yourself hesitating when faced with blemished food?

Food for thought.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

I know what you're thinking, and no, this isn't about cans and bottles. It's about money. I've been trying to employ the 3R's into my financial life as well as with items at home. Hopefully I can keep both of them out of the trash? Here's how it works:

Reduce - Your Expenses

Reuse - Your Expenses

Recycle - Your Expenses

Okay, so they all say the same thing, but it's actually two different types of expense I'm talking about. I'll explain.

Reducing expenses is fairly self explanitory, almost everyone reading this blog is trying to do the same thing. In my grandfathers words:

If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.

I like that saying; it's catchy and it gets the point across. If you want to keep more of what you bring in, you have to figure out how to spend less of it. Sometimes it's as easy as keeping track of where it's going, sometimes it requires painful cuts and changes in lifestyle and expectations. Mine required both: I needed to track where my money was going to see that I needed to adjust my lifestyle and expectations. I don't use any fancy accounting programs or online software, I use plain old Excel. Or on my home computer, Numbers. Pencil and paper works fantastic here too.

Reusing expenses is one that I've actually been doing a fair bit now that I think about it. The most recent example of this was this semester's university tuition. School is expensive, and I didn't have $2000 sitting around waiting to be used on courses and books until work reimbursed me in May. So, we got work to reimburse me as I was paying out of pocket, rather than at the end of the semester. My first expense was $250. When I got that money back I added a little more to it and paid $300. Then $400. Then $450. I snowballed the same money onto my university tuition until it was completely paid for with minimal pain. Same with my medical expenses; as I pay out the money and get reimbursed for it, the money will be put back in the medical envelope to be reused the next time I need medication.

I've done the same thing with a $25 microloan I made while I was in university. I had been reading about microloans and how they were giving a hand to people that the banks wouldn't lend to due to the size of the loan or not enough credit history. I signed up with Kiva, who seemed reasonably reputable, and donated $25 to a young woman in Tajikistan to start a business. When that money was paid back, I donated it again to a young woman in Ukraine. It will be paid back again soon, so I'll be able to lend it to someone else. It's like the charitable donation that keeps giving.

Recycling is easy; once something has outlived it's usefulness, turn it into something else! My last tuition expense reimbursement should be sitting in my account tomorrow. Rather than saying "Yay, free money!", it's going towards my internet set up costs and a big credit card payment. It's going to feel so good watching that sucker get knocked down another notch! The hard part here is avoiding the "Oh perfect! Now I have money and I can buy ________." or "Now I have money for Starbucks this week!"

No. I. Don't.

I have money that can be used towards my goals, not instant gratification. Isn't that what got me into trouble in the first place? Right, avoiding that. Onwards and Upwards.

Mmmmm Chai...

This morning's bus ride was filled with sweet visions of Chai Latte as I read the post over at Fabulously Broke about Starbucks' 1/2 price Tea Latte promotion. *drool* It most certainly helped with the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes for a bus in -25 weather. Thanks FB!


This right here ladies and gentlemen is Chai Porn. Mmmm...

 Unfortunately I can't make it to a Starbucks today between 2-5pm, and frankly in this weather I really don't want to go outside any more often than absolutely necessary. So, I used up the last of a gift card and bought one after class. The spot has been hit, I am now happy(er). When I was working in a camp job, away from civilization for 3 weeks at a time, I would pack boxes of concentrate in my luggage to mix with milk and ice in my water bottle. Needless to say, I was the recipient of more than one jealous stare (and yet no one else just brought the concentrate with them...)

I could wax poetic for a while, but I think that's enough for now. Anyone who loves them as much as I do, and I know there are a lot of you, knows that the cost of them adds up over time. You can get Tazo Chai concentrate in Starbucks and at the grocery store, but you'll probably notice it isn't quite as strong. According to my barista former roommate, the concentrate they use is MUCH stronger. Even after adding water it's still stronger than the store stuff. It works nicely in a pinch though when you have a ridiculous craving, and it's a fair bit cheaper too. The cost of 2 grande chai lattes is approximately the cost of 1 carton of concentrate. Following package directions you'll get 4 lattes out of it.

However, last winter my mom got me a milk frother for Christmas. I have a little too much fun with that thing... I got into making Starbucks style drinks at home for a while. I was making a pretty awesome Cinnamon Dolce Latte that was similar to the one you get in Starbucks. Very similar actually. I've tried making my own copycat Chai Lattes at home as well, though I've never tried to copy the Starbucks one. I think it's time I do try to though. *evil grin* There looks to be some interesting looking recipes here as well. If I come up with a good taste-a-like, I'll post it.

Sometimes it seems like a bit of a shock looking at the sugar contents in these recipes, mostly because we don't know what goes into our drinks when we buy them. According to Starbucks their grande Chai Tea Latte has 42 grams of sugar. This is approximately 10 teaspoons, or little under a 1/4 cup. Suddenly I don't feel so bad for using the occasional teaspoon in my tea at home! lol. That right there is why it's a treat, not a daily indulgence. It's also why a lot of people lose weight when they start cutting out the extra drinks. Oh well, what's the point in living if you can't occasionally enjoy it? I certainly do, and I'm now staring longingly at my empty travel mug. Soon my friend, soon.

Excuse Avoidance

Yesterday morning should have been a Monday morning. I got up early to catch an earlier bus than usual, then realized as I was brushing my teeth it was in vain because it was the wrong bus. The right bus had already gone by 15 minutes earlier. Then as I was walking out the door to catch the next bus, I looked down at the peanut butter sandwich I had packed myself for breakfast and realized the bread had gone moldy. How did I miss that last night? As I got on the bus and sat down I realized my cell phone was sitting on the table by my front door. Then after popping into work, I went down to the university and found out that my instructor had started the seminar sessions before he had the first class, and I had already missed one.

Does this sound like a Monday to anyone else?

Anyway, the whole point of this post was avoiding excuses, specifically in the food department. When I realized my packed breakfast wasn't going to do, my first urge was to stop off at Starbucks on the way to work. Old habits die hard. But, I didn't do it. Why not? I had back up. In my desk at work I have a plastic container of Raisin Bran, a small bag of quinoa puffs, dried miso soup, almonds, pistachios and tea. I've also kept oatmeal, dried fruit, other dried soups and chocolate in there in the past, as well as a frozen container of homemade stew in the lunch room freezer. I tend to get hungry throughout the day, so having food available is a must. Instead of grabbing a morning latte and scone, I grabbed a banana out of the company fruit bowl, had a handful of almonds out of my desk, and made a cup of tea. Not exactly a hearty breakfast, but it certainly calmed the beast growling in my stomach. Thankfully I had also grabbed a couple containers of pasta out of the fridge for lunch, but even if I had forgotten those I would have had lunch as well. As the Girl Guides say: Be Prepared.

It isn't actually that hard to do, you just have to actually think ahead to do it. Even if you don't have a desk at work where you can stash a bunch of food, you can stash a full meal in your purse if you think about it! The space it takes to throw a dried soup packet and a tea bag or instant coffee packet is about the space of a make up compact. Add some nuts, dried fruit or a granola bar and you're around the volume of a small wallet. Lets be honest, most of us have enough room in our bags for that. Throw it all in a sandwich bag and you don't have to worry about digging through your bag (as much) to find it. You could add reusable cutlery and a collapsible bowl and mug if you want to or if work doesn't have anything in the coffee room/your situation calls for it, but you can usually get a container and some hot water from a food court vendor for anywhere from 25 cents to free.

A little bit of forethought can save a lot of money in the long run.

Progressive International Collapsible Prep Bowl Set, Blue and White

Sea to Summit X Mug,Orange

Kikkoman Instant Tofu Miso Soup (Soybean Paste Soup with Tofu) - 9 Packets (3.15 Oz)

Round, Round, Get Around...

I get around... Get around OOOOEEEEOOOOOooooo....

Yeah, the Beach Boys don't really come out on the screen the way they do on the radio. Oh well.

I was thinking yesterday how much my cost of transportation is about to change. I've been making the shift over to public transit for about 8 months now. I've stopped relying on my car so much, and have started looking at the bus as my main mode of transportation. January last year I would have driven my car to work, parked at the office, and then drived to where ever I felt like going after work (usually not cheap.) After the stark realization of how much this was costing me, I bought a bus pass and started taking the bus to work. Much cheaper!

After talking to a couple coworkers, I found out our company had a (poorly advertised) bus pass subsidy program, where they pay for 25% of your pass if you sign up for at least 6 months. I signed up faster than they could point to the dotted line! That meant I had my pass delivered to the office 2 weeks in advance, rather than trying to find a place that still had some left the last day of the month. Very convenient.

Fast forward to this month and I now have a student bus pass, which is leaps and bounds cheaper than any of the aforementioned options. Work is supporting me in a decision to take some more classes, and is paying for them as well. The bus pass is actually included in the course fees, but for the purpose of this post I'll pretend they aren't and I'm paying for it seperately.

January 2010 - Monthly Cost of Driving

Car Payment: $400

Car Insurance: $95

Fuel: ~$80

Maintenance: ~$40

Tires: ~$40

Downtown Parking: $230

----------------------------------

Total: $885.00

January 2011 - Monthly Cost of Taking Bus

University Pass: $22.50

Car Payment: $400

Car Insurance: $110

Fuel: ~$25

Maintenance: ~$40

Tires: ~$20

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Total: $617.50

May 2011 - Monthly Cost of Taking Bus

Subsidized Bus Pass: $61.13

Possible Cab Rides: ~$40

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Total: $101.13

My only hesitation with switching back to public transit was the limited access to my house in the evenings. As far as I knew the last bus left the transit center at 9:45, meaning I had to leave downtown at 8:45 to get there. Kind of a wet blanket when you want to go out for the evening, even just going to a movie would have been difficult! I did a little digging and found out there is a different bus which leaves the transit center at 10:30 and 11:30 in the evenings, meaning I can still get home after visiting friends. After seeing that, I'm much more gung ho about selling my car!

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Hiccup

I double oopsed yesterday, I used my debit card and I raided the coin jar. Both were due to nothing less than lack of planning on my part. In my haste to get out the door yesterday morning, I forgot to grab a couple dollars for the coffee date I had after work. Oops. $3.50 on debit. I also had to wrangle $2.75 from the mortgage extras jar so that I would have bus fare to get down to the university and pick up my bus pass. *facepalm* So, I owe that money back to the jar next time I'm distributing it through the envelopes.

I'm not going to give up and say cash only is too hard and go back to using debit. Nope. This was a hiccup, and I learned a few things from it:

1) I have to put the money I need into my wallet the night before I actually need it. Relying on my foggy spaced out morning brain is just a disaster waiting to happen.

2) I need to leave about $4.75 in loose change outside of the coin jar, for small cash only expenses like bus fare, where I can't use dollar bills.

3) I need to find my glue gun and actually glue the lid of my mortgage extras jar down so I don't raid it in the future.

Thankfully these were small expendatures. I'm glad I learned my lesson on something reasonably painless like this. The first few weeks were going to be the toughest anyway. Onwards and upwards.

The Best and Worst of 2010

I don't have nearly enough blog posts to warrant writing a "Best Of 2010" with a list of links, I only started writing in October. What I do have, however, is a bunch of financial decisions I've made in the last year. Some were good, some were bad, others were downright stupid. Maybe you'll recognize yourself in some of them. That's okay, because the whole point of this is to figure out where the issues are, and then solve them. The only direction I intend on going from here on out is up!

Worst Decisions of 2010

• Putting a new iPhone, expensive clothes, dinners out and renovation supplies on credit
• Letting myself be talked into purchases I wasn't sure about
• Taking 3 unpaid weeks off work to volunteer at Whistler (I don't regret the experience, just the financial implications)
• Paying other people's way because I felt I was able to do so (I wasn't)
• Undertaking more renovations than I should have all at once.
• Not opening my mail and taking a good hard look at it (was paying online)
• NOT KEEPING A BUDGET

So.... yeah. Not really proud of that, but now that it's sitting right in front of me staring me in the face I know I have to do something about it. It took me a year to dig myself in, and it will take me more than a year to dig myself back out. It's not all bad however, I did make some good decisions as well:

Best Decisions of 2010

• Shutting down my "leaks": Subscriptions to services I was paying for but not using (Consumer Reports, Gyms, etc...)
• Putting my credit card on ice
• Tracking my financial progress to see whether I was saving or going further into debt.
• Starting a blog to keep myself accountable

The positives aren't as blatant as the negatives, but they are there. They give me a starting point to grow from. Onwards and upwards.

What were some of your best and worst financial decisions of 2010? Give me a shout :)

  

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2011!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

A little too much enthusiasm for the hung over folks this morning? Maybe just a teensy bit....

I’ve never been one for partying personally, not hard anyway. The year I turned legal to drink I was home by 10pm on my birthday and my dad looked at me like I was nuts. What’s kind of funny about that scenario is that my dad doesn’t drink either.

So, I’m actually feeling pretty good this morning :) Reasonably ready to meet the new year. It’s great, because last year I DEFINITELY wasn’t ready. I wasn’t hung over last year either, instead I was trying to bring myself down off a bad case of anxiety and depression as a result of my last job (which I had just quit), and gear myself up for my new job (which I’m still at). I’ll go into that further another day, for now I’ll just say that I feel much better prepared to greet 2011 than I was 2010.

I spent part of yesterday doing prep work for my goal of going cash only this year.  I had a stack of Christmas cards I bought on sale a while back which had apparently gotten damp. The cards themselves were fine, but the envelopes had all sealed themselves shut. Rather than chuck them out and get different envelopes for my budgeting, I sliced the tops open with a paring knife. There was exactly as many sealed envelopes left as I had categories, it’s like it was meant to be. Rather than using my canning jars for the “Oh Shit!” and “Mortgage Extras” categories, I repurposed a couple containers headed for the recycling. “Oh Shit” is now housed in a mayonnaise jar, and “Mortgage Extras” is in a 4L milk jug. Not pretty, but to be fair they never really had to be. I’ll probably get bored one day and decorate them anyway.

I went around the house gathering up everything money related: a gift card here, a stack of change there, a whole whack of grocery cards... It really is amazing how much change can hide in the bottom of a purse. This compounds when you have more than one. Between my existing change jar and the coins I rounded up, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s $15 - $20 in the “Mortgage Extras” jug already. All of the other envelopes (and the mayonnaise jar) got $5 - $10 worth of seed money to start the year with. I put the gift cards (Starbucks/Aveda/Sephora/Holts/Save-On-Foods) in their respective categories. I think I may actually put their points cards in the envelopes too; no point in hauling them around when the money I’d be spending is sitting at home.

That reminds me, I should check to see if there is a cheaper chequing account option for my new spending patterns. I want to cut down on unnecessary fees.

I feel like I’m putting the right foot forward this year, I’m looking forward to meeting my goals. How about you guys? What steps are you going to take to make your goals reality this year?

  

Stuffing Envelopes

I mentioned recently that one of my goals for the New Year was to use a cash envelope system for budgeting. I’ve used the system before, with great results. MP Dunleavey wrote an article about living on cash rather than credit back in March 2009. I quite enjoyed the article, though it can be summed up in a few short words:

If you don’t have the money you can’t spend it.

I’d still recommend it as a good starter for going back to cash after a plastic addiction, as it talks about expectations and adjusting our mind set.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/CreditCardSmarts/3-steps-back-to-the-sanity-of-cash.aspx

When I was waiting tables in my early university days I’d save my pay checks in my bank account, and live off my tips. I didn’t have nearly the expenses to look after that I do now (housing, utilities and phone were all paid for, I only looked after food, fuel, etc… ), but I never had to worry about going over budget or into debt. I’m a very visual person, and having that stash of cash in an envelope showed me quite tangibly how much money I had to spend, and whether or not I needed to tighten my belt.

Quite simply: It worked.

For some reason or another I quit using the system when I stopped waiting tables. I picked it up again for short periods of time here and there, but sadly I never did it as faithfully as I did before. So, I’m going to change that.

Through the year of 2011, I am going to use cash. Just cash. Bills that are deducted automatically (mortgage, car, insurance) or paid online (power, water, credit card) will continue being paid that way. Everything else (food, fuel, clothing, gifts, etc…) will be paid for using cold hard cash. This is how I’m going to break it down:

Food

This is exactly what it sounds like; if I ingest it (with the exception of medication), it gets paid for here. Food, Alcohol, Eating Out, etc…

Personal Care

Largely toiletries, with a few extras. Feminine products, soap, shampoo, makeup, hair cuts, massages, etc… The massages are reimbursable through work, so some of the money that gets spent in this category will be coming back and can be used again.

House

I’m fixing my place up, and sadly that’s not free. Home care and renovation supplies will come out of this category. Flooring, mortar, lighting, paint rollers, gardening, etc…

Gas

Thankfully quite a small category. Fuel for my car. It’s been averaging under $50 a month if I don’t drive somewhere out of the city, such as too my parent’s house.

Medical

I’m a little ticked that this category has gotten large enough to warrant its own envelope, but it is what it is. Acne medications, antihistamines, asthma medication, etc… Again, some of the items in here are reimbursable through work, so the money will return to the category and can be reused.

Clothing

A largely self explanatory category: clothes, shoes and accessories. Do I need more clothes? No. My body is covered, and the level of coverage can be varied depending on the weather. That being said, this category also provides a certain level of personal enjoyment. I really enjoy fashion. I read about it with great interest, and put a lot of effort into finding things that fit me well. I’m working on building a work wardrobe, and if it’s properly budgeted it won’t contribute to my debt levels.

Gifts

Christmas, birthdays, work gatherings… All require gifts, usually aren’t budgeted. I’m also going to throw Thank You cards in this category, because I’ve been sending them out to people as of late as well.

Entertainment

Books, magazines, movies, sports, dating… You get the idea.

Oh Shit!

Literally anything that would make you say that. Blown tire, roof leak, broken window…

Mortgage Extras

This is all of the spare change I’m going to collect to put towards my mortgage.

Money will be separated into the various envelopes on pay day. If I find myself running short in one category I can pinch some from another category, but it means that category is now smaller. All of the categories are going to be stuffed in labeled envelopes with the exception of “Oh Shit!” and “Mortgage Extras”. As I mentioned above, I’m a very visual person, I do not want to see the money in these categories. I want to pretend it doesn’t exist so it just builds up in there while I remain oblivious to it. The holding containers for these will be a little different; I’m going to take old jars, paint the insides so they’re opaque, and then glue their lids on so that all I can do is put money in the slot at the top.

 Basically, it’s a cheap piggy bank that you have to break to get the money out. I’m not very often inclined to break things, so this should work well.

So, that’s the plan for goal number 1. Does anyone else out there use the money envelope system for their day to day finances? If so, how do you break it down? Do you do anything differently? I’d love to hear it!