2010

I know you are all still Christmas shopping and it's hard to think about next year already.
But now would be a good time to sit down as a couple, family or just yourself and look at your overall 2010 budget.
I personally write out a monthly budget, which includes all my groceries, gas, bills, etc. This budget looks pretty similar from month to month since most of my bills are monthly.
But, I find there are a lot of things that come up in a year that I am not always ready for that seem more like "extras." So I create a separate list for the bigger things that I want/need for the year.

For example, in our house, the "extras" for 2010 will include:
-Soccer x 2
-Baseball
-Hockey (that's a big one)
-Swimming lessons
-Piano
-Summer holiday up north
-Christmas Presents


On your list, you might add items like:
-winter vacation
-saving up for new car
-renovation project for the house
-mini-vacations every other month
-skiing
-kids class trip
-new mattress
-new fireplace
-Etc.

With these extra, you can just add them to your monthly budget, when they come due.
I personally find it a bit confusing since every month would be a different amount.
So, I add up all the things that I'm anticipating for the year and look at the total amount.
For the sake of this example, let's say those expenses added up to $6000.00 for the year. That would mean that I would have to save $500 a month extra, on top of my budget, so I can afford all the things on my list for the year. If I can't afford to add this amount to my budget, that means I can't afford all the things on my list and I have to prioritize what I really want from that list.
I actually choose to use my tax refund for my extras so I still need to save monthly to make up the difference, but not as high as an amount.

The problem I see when people budget is that they generally know how much they spend every month because their bills stay the same from month to month. And for the most part, everyone's income stays the same from month to month too.
What happens to throw people off is when their child's class trip comes up and they owe $450 or the hockey registration is due this month and they can't even believe what the bill is.
Even, at Christmas. Everyone knows when Christmas is and yet every year too many people go in debt over presents.
I would rather see people anticipate expenses for the year and find a system that works for them. That's why I'm telling you what I do - save monthly for these extra expenses. You might choose to do something differently.
Whatever system you use, do something, so that these extra expenses don't surprise you when they happen.
I hope you have a great Christmas and I will talk to you again in the new year!

An Enouragment to all you Christmas Budgeters out there!

Well, Christmas is coming! And that means the end of the year is quickly approaching. It always seems hard to believe when you see those first Christmas lights go up that it’s this time of year again.

I’m enjoying Christmas shopping more than usual this year. For starters, I made a list of everyone I’m buying gifts for and I have the amount I’m spending beside each person on my list. I have saved up this money already, so that takes the stress out of Christmas shopping. Of course, I’ve already had to start shuffling around amounts – borrowing money from different people’s columns because I’ve overspent on some gifts already!
I’m also enjoying Christmas shopping this year because my kids are getting older and it has been fun to think of things that aren’t necessarily on their lists but that I know they’d love regardless. I mean, after all, their lists are hilarious and ridiculous. The kids range in age from ten to six and each list has a cell phone, laptop, iPod, TV, etc. on it. I seem to remember circling toys in the “Sears Wish Book” at their age – not asking for every possible electronic device out there (Although, I did get a sweet Sony Walkman with the cassette option one year. It even had a belt clip, if I recall, which made it even more awesome. Imagine clipping that huge thing on your belt nowadays? I found a picture of one online and showed my kids. They weren’t impressed).

I also remember the time I got my own phone for my room (no, not the wireless kind!). I told my kids this and they didn’t understand because they’ve never even seen one of those spirally phone cords that limited our movement to a six-foot radius around the phone.

I actually shopped online more than usual this year for Christmas – I even took advantage of some “black Friday” deals and had three items shipped to a postal box in the States. I have never done that before, so we’ll see how that goes when it’s all said and done.

I just wanted to take this time to encourage you in your budgeting. Having a budget doesn't mean that you are cheap or that you are always looking for or finding the best deals. To me, it just means you know where your money has gone and where it is going to go. It means that you are trying to spend less or the same as you make and not go into debt.

I’m not necessarily looking to get the best deal, and I know that there are a lot of times when I could have gotten a better price on certain items. Even with my Christmas shopping, I have a specific amount of money allocated for each of my kids and, since I have the money budgeted and saved already for their gifts, I don’t necessarily need to search for a deal on their items. If I do happen to find a good deal on some items, then I can buy them more things; however, we feel that more certainly doesn’t mean better.

I just wanted to encourage you that you are ahead of most people if you are trying to budget or trying to live within your means. We all fail from time to time and we all make stupid purchases and spend too much sometimes.

Just keep trying to live within your means and still enjoy your life in the meantime!

Happy Christmas Shopping!

Christmas Budgeting Tips

According to the statistics out there, every Canadian consumer spends, on average around $800 at Christmas time. There’s nothing wrong with spending the money, if you have it, but there’s also nothing wrong with having a plan for your Christmas spending.

Here are some tips from my house to yours this holiday season...

1. Decide on a budget for your Christmas gifts. Write down how much you are going to spend on each person on your list and stick to that amount.
I am always surprised when I write it out (including teachers, coaches, stocking gifts, etc) and find out how much I actually spend on Christmas.
According to a MasterCard survey of 1,501 adults, nearly 60 per cent of Canadians are hitting the malls with no budget in mind, while 13 per cent of those who set limits on their spending admit they don't stick to them.

2. When you have decided how much you are going to spend on everyone, take out the cash (put it in envelopes if you want) so you are not tempted to over-spend.

3. Buy gifts online to save time and money. If you are Canadian and you find a really good deal in the states, you can have your item shipped to a PO Box in the States for $6 a package. Go on the website www.cbiusa.com and find one close to the border near where you live.

4. If you are mailing a lot of packages, save on postage by mailing gift cards instead. You can even send e-gift cards from a lot of stores such as walmart and toys rus that will be sent directly to your recipients email accounts. These cards can then be used for online purchases. You can also order gift cards online that will be shipped right to the recipient’s door.

5. Make your own wrapping paper this year. Get a big roll of brown paper and have your kids decorate it with stickers and drawings.

6. Get creative with gifts. Most people would be happy if they were given a thoughtful gift, rather than an expensive one.

7. If you have a lot of friends or family, do a gift exchange instead of buying for everyone.

8. Set a fixed limit on gifts with friends and family so that the gift giving doesn’t get out of hand.

Holiday Entertaining Budgeting Tips

According to one website, the average person spends $325 on holiday entertaining.
Here are some great tips from ivillage.com to decrease the amount of money you spend on entertaining.

1. Downsize. Stop making so many appetizers and desserts. Serve one type of punch and just serve a few crowd-pleasing snacks and desserts.

2. Potluck. Have everyone pitch in and bring something to the party.

3. Let your decorations do double-duty. There’s no need to buy fancy decorations. Put lemons, limes or clementines in a glass bowl for a festive centerpiece. You can use these lemons/limes as needed for cocktails and guests can eat the clementines.
Use leftover branches from a trimmed Christmas tree as decoration around the house.

4. Leftovers. Use your leftovers from the party the day after. Use broken tortilla chip in soups and chili the next day or make a Mexican casserole.
If you have extra cheese, make grilled cheese the next day. You get the idea…

After using some of these tips, you’ve saved some money. Now what?
How about we give more this Christmas.
IMAGINE… that you took a portion of what you saved at Christmas and stood up to consumerism by giving life to others.

Did you know… Canadians spend 35 Billion dollars on Christmas, yet it would only cost 13 Billion to help provide clean water for most of the world?

This isn’t to make you feel guilty, just to make you think about what you’re spending.If you want some suggestions for giving to charity this Christmas season, here they are:

1. Give to the charity you choose in the name of a person that is on your Christmas list.

2. Shop through the World Vision catalogue and buy something that someone really needs! www.worldvision.ca/gifts

3. If you want to give of your time, instead of your money, how about volunteering to sort food at your local community care/food bank. Here is the St. Catharines website:
http://www.90for90.ca/page/home

4. Think about volunteering to cook or serve a meal at a Shelter. In St. Catharines, here is the information for the Southridge Shelter: http://www.southridgechurch.ca/help/C55/

I hope some of these ideas are useful to you this holiday season

Grocery Saving Tips

I saw an article recently about a grocery budgeting coach. This coach has a mission, which is to help families buy nutritious food while saving themselves up to $400 a month on food bills.
Obviously, some of her ideas are ones that you already use. But, maybe there will be something new for you.
Here are her ideas:

• Use coupons.
• Don’t buy fresh, cold juice – buy the 1L tetra packs.
• Buy frozen meats and vegetables (rather than fresh). She says you don’t lose any nutrient value and they’re often cheaper.
• Instead of bread, buy tortilla wraps. You can get 12 sandwiches out of one package that will cost you between $2.00-$2.50.
• Instead of buying real lemons – buy lemon juice.
• Use margarine instead of butter for baking.
  

Here are some more grocery saving tips, from myself and others: (even though we’re not grocery budget coaches!)

• Know grocery prices. Not everything advertised in the flyers are actually "deals", know what a good price is and you won't be ripped off.
• Make a grocery list of all the things you need before you head out to the grocery stores. This way, you can just quickly pick up the groceries on your list and head right out. The longer you stay in the store, the higher the chance that you'll be buying more than what you came for. Also remember to stick to your list!
• Ask for rain checks if the item is sold out. Rain checks allow you to take advantage of the sale price at a later date even after the sale has ended.
• Do not grocery shop on an empty stomach. When you're hungry, you will probably buy more and make impulse purchases because everything looks so appetizing.
  
• Always check unit prices. Don't assume that the larger sizes are a better deal. Check the unit price on the package when comparing products.
  
• Walmart will match all advertised prices. If Food Basics is having their $1 days and No frills have some items on sale, before you go to 3 or 4 stores just bring the flyers with you to Walmart and they will honour the advertised price. This will save you gas and time and you can stock up on all the items you need in one store.
• Don’t be loyal to certain brand names.
• Decide your weekly dinner menu based on what’s on sale at the store you shop at.
• Look at the flyers when they come to your house and decide which one has the most items that you need and then only shop there (okay maybe two stores total). The more stores you go to, the more you’ll spend and then the more you will buy things that you really don’t need.
• Use up what’s in your cupboard already.
• Decide how much you are spending before you go shopping and then take out cash for your grocery shopping trip. This way you are not tempted to spend more than you had planned on.
• Sometimes stores put their fresh meat on sale first thing in the morning or in the evening. You can call your usual grocery store and ask them if they do this. Usually it’s 50% off and it doesn’t expire for another day or two so I just bring it home and freeze it. In St. Catharines, I’ve gone to Metro (formerly A&P) and Zehrs and they have their meat reduced between 8:00 and 9:00am.
• Buy fruit when it’s “in season.”
  

If you have any other grocery tips, let me know!
Happy shopping!

Setting Financial Goals

Having goals for our finances helps us to measure our success and also will hopefully motivate us more with our financial planning.

For me, since I am an avid budgeter, I love setting goals because it’s something more exciting than just writing out your budget and following it.

Here is how you would go about writing your goals:

1.Make a list of five to ten goals you might have, either as an individual or as a couple.
These goals could be anything from paying off debt, buying a new lawnmower or saving for retirement. Think about short and long term goals. When you write down your goals think positively (I want to save for a vacation) rather than negatively (I wish I could stop spending so much money.)

Don’t spend time analyzing these goals at this time, just write them down.

2. Once you’ve written down these financial goals, think about and discuss what they actually mean. For each goal, ask yourself these questions:

• If you have a partner, do we both agree on this goal? If not, how can we compromise?
• When do I want to achieve this goal?
• How am I going to start working on this goal?
• Do I need help from anyone?
• What are some obstacles that need to be overcome before starting this goal?

There was a study done in 1979 of 1000 graduating Harvard students. Of these students, 84% of them had no defined goals. About 13% of the students had goals, but not in writing. These 13% of students earned twice as much on average as the students without a plan. Then there were 3% who had written goals and these students earned, on average, 10 times more than the other 97% without any written goals.

To have effective goals, use the following to help you: (SMART goals)

Specific: You might have a goal of “traveling” or maybe you want to “retire comfortably.” The question you have to ask yourself is “Where do you want to travel?” “How much will it cost you to travel?” As far as retiring comfortably, “How much money do you need by the time you retire?”

Measurable: It’s easier to achieve goals if you attach a money goal to it. That way you can keep track of how you are doing with your desired goal.

Attainable: This means that you know your goals can be reached.

Realistic: Your goals may be attainable, but are they realistic? For instance, becoming a millionaire is attainable, but if you are working from nothing, becoming one next week isn’t realistic.

Time-specific: Set a specific date for each of your goals. This could be one month, one year or even a day.

3.Next, you need to develop a plan. Keep in mind what you learned about SMART goals when writing in this next part. You need to decide exactly how you are going to reach your goals. For example, if you goal is to buy a home next year, your objectives might be to improve your credit scores and to save $7000 for a down payment.

Or if your goal was to start a savings account for your kid’s college education, your objective might be to find $100 a month in your budget and open up an account where they automatically withdraw this amount.

So – go to it. Write a plan.

Practically, I would make a table with there headings - Goal, Objectives and Key Dates.
For example, in my short term goal table it would look like this:
Goal: buy a new lawnmower
Objective: Save $35 a month
Key Date: Purchase a lawnmower in April 2010 (I would have $245.00)

Obviously your goals will change because you will go through different stages of life and also because you will reach some of your goals and want to set new ones.

The main thing is to have something tangible to work towards.

Have Fun!

Luxuries

Is anyone else feeling like we spend too much money on things we don’t even need?
We have to renew our cell phones soon and this has caused me to look at how much we’ve been spending on our current cell phone plan. Have you ever added up how much you spend on your cell phone plan in a year? How about TV? Internet? When added up yearly, it’s a big number.
For us, all three of those combined equal $1620 a year.
These are all luxuries that I know I didn’t grow up with. Somehow these have all become normal expenses now. How did that happen? Isn’t technology supposed to make our lives easier?
Why does it seem to make it more complicated and expensive?
I have friends who choose not to have cell phones and some who choose to use “rabbit ears.” (at least before the new regulations.)
But, for the most part, we just see these as expenses that are fixed on our budget sheet.
My suggestion isn’t that we cancel all these items but rather that we take a look at those bills and see if we need every option that we are paying for. Do we need all 3 million channels or can we get by with 1 million? Do we need the fastest internet connection possible, or can we stand to wait for a couple of seconds?
Do we need all those minutes and texting on our cell phones? We might use them currently, but do we actually need them?
Do you know what I got my first cell phone for? Emergencies.
That’s a joke- I don’t think most of my calls and texts have been about an emergency. Can we scale back on the options on our phones? Seriously, do we need to have caller ID? What happens if we don’t know who’s calling us? (I believe this is how most of us lived most of our lives – when the phone rang, we had no clue who it would be on the other end.) How about call waiting? Can someone not just leave a message and we’ll call them back, if we happen to be on the other line?
Is anyone else tired of paying for all these items that have become commonplace in our society?
I know I am guilty of paying for a lot of luxuries I certainly don’t need.
I think we’ve lost sight on what we “need” and what we “want.”

Not A Good Deal!

Do you have any friends who are suckers for a good deal?
We are all guilty of bragging about our good deals from time to time. I know I definitely am. I have bought a skirt for $1.99 before. But, I’ve only worn it once in my whole life. I’ve gotten the kids their number 3 and 4 bathing suit for only $5 when all they needed was one (okay maybe two) bathing suits.
Guess what? I didn’t need that skirt and I didn’t need those extra bathing suits. We are such suckers.
A good deal really only counts if it was for something we actually needed (notice I said needed not wanted), it happened to be a good price and we could actually afford it. If we added up all the items we have bought but didn’t need, and used that money towards something crazy like savings, giving to charity or buying something we really did need, now that would be a good deal!
What about people who put their “good deals” on their credit cards? If you are paying interest for your purchase, it is definitely not a good deal.
So, let’s stop it. Let’s stop looking for good deals, unless we really need something and it happens to be a good price and let’s stop bragging about our good deals on the things we didn’t even need in the first place.
I am the biggest sucker for a good deal, but unless it’s something I actually need, I’m going to stop buying things, just because it’s a good price.
If you don’t have the money for something or you don’t need something and you buy it anyways, then (say it with me now) it is definitely NOT A GOOD DEAL!

How much are you really making at your job?

I’ve been reading this book lately, called “Your Money or Your Life.” The basic premise of the book is that you can have both – your money and your life. He talks about people “making a dying” rather than “making a living.” If we were all going to work to make a living, wouldn’t we come home more energized?
The part of the book that stood out for me, especially as it pertains to budgeting, was a part where he talks about figuring out what you are actually making an hour. This was helpful for me as I was offered a job this week and I was trying to decide whether or not to take it. He said to decide what you make hourly, after taxes and then subtract any expenses that you incur because of the job. This might be daycare, clothes (or uniform), phone, gas, car (would you drive a different one if you weren’t working there?) and put a figure on all those expenses. Then figure out what your actual hourly wage is.
For example:
Salary $45 000 (based on a 40 hour work week)
After taxes/deductions:
$31 500 Hourly: $16.40
Expenses because of this particular job:
Daycare:$200 a month Hourly:$1.25
Gas to get to and from work: $200 a month Hourly: $1.25
Clothes for work: $100 a month Hourly: $0.63
Phone (have to have a blackberry because of work): $65 a month Hourly: $0.41
Lunches once a week at work , Tim Horton’s every morning: $20 a week Hourly:$0.50
Take out once a week: $30 a week Hourly:$0.75

After expenses, my hourly would be: Hourly:$11.61

So, in this example, I would be making $11.61 an hour after the expenses I incur because I’m working.
I’m not saying it’s bad or good to make $11.61 an hour (specifically for this case). I’m just saying sometimes it’s worth knowing how much you’re actually making.
This helps you when you’re figuring out if you are going to change jobs but it also helps you when you are planning on buying things. For example, if you want a new pair of shoes and they are $50. You might be thinking,” I make good money, I’m going to buy those shoes.” Now, you would think – I have to work 5 hours for those shoes, do I really need them?

Obviously there is way more to working than the money we make at our job – it has to be fulfilling. Often people choose a job for the satisfaction of the job and sacrifice being compensated well financially for it. I hope this just gives you something to think about for this week.
It definitely helped me figure out whether I was going to take that job offered to me or not.

Ways to Save

Let's get practical today.
Here are some ways that people save money monthly:
(I'm not saying I do all of these things - this is a combination of what people have told me they do as well as some of my own stuff)

Bills:
-switch to no fee banking (PC financial does this, I'm not sure who else does). They have no monthly fees and you can use any CIBC bank or PC kiosk for deposits and withdrawals.

-switch your phone to talk broadband (primus and vonage have this). This is a phone that is connected through your internet. It doesn't have as good of reception but the price is good - only $20 a month including call waiting, call display and call answer.

-shop around for insurance

-reduce your cell phone bill

-reduce your cable bill (do you really need all those channels?) We actually called star choice and completely shut ours off for the month of August this year. Not only are we saving some money, the kids are actually playing outside!

Food:
-stop buying pre-packaged foods (make more of your own)

-plan your weekly menu based on the sales at the grocery store where you shop.

-make home-made salsa when tomatoes are in season (this is just an example, you can also grill and chop green peppers when they're in season and then freeze to use in casseroles. Another idea is slicing peaches when they're in season and freezing them for smoothies or desserts to use in the winter. The possibilities are endless!)



Work:
-make coffee at home and bring it to work rather than stopping by at Tim Horton's

-pack a lunch for work instead of eating out all the time

-carpool

Entertainment:
-meet friends for dessert or drinks in a restaurant instead of dinner


Other:
-get books from the library instead of buying them (you can request the ones you want online and they will have them waiting for you behind the desk so you don't have to look for them all over the library)

These are just a few ideas. If you have some of your own, let's hear them!

Happy Budgeting

Thanks to everyone who did the grocery spending poll. It seems like most people who read my posts are pretty budget-savvy. The average Canadian family spends $668.00 (statistics Canada) per month on groceries and restaurant meals.
I don’t think living on a budget means that you’re constantly trying to save money around every corner. To me, it just means living within your means and having a plan for your money.
It doesn’t matter if someone spends $1000 a month on groceries or $400 a month. The person who spends $400 a month isn’t necessarily better at being on a budget – it’s the person who has decided on an amount and sticks to it.
I was on vacation this past week and talked to some people on the beach about their budget (not your typical vacation topic!) This one couple seemed to have a lot of money (expensive cars, ate out all the time, expensive boat toys) but they said every year they go in debt over their vacation. They said it always took the enjoyment out of the vacation, having to worry about how to pay for it afterwards.
This past year, someone got them on a budget and now they have their accommodations paid for before they get there and they bring along cash for their spending money. They said it is amazing to have a plan for your money. They still have all the nice things they had before, but they are much happier people.

How much are you spending?

I have gotten quite a few questions about how much people are spending on groceries a month. This is tricky of course because what is included in groceries? I want to take a poll (see the poll on my blog?) and tell us how much you spend - nobody will know who spends what. I'm going to include household supplies, baby stuff (diapers, formula, etc.) but not eating out. There is a second poll on my blog to tell us how much you are spending on eating out (this includes tim hortons, fast food and restaurants, per month.
After you’ve selected what you think you spend on groceries and eating out, I challenge you to keep your receipts for one month (August is starting soon) and see how much you actually spend.

Websites

Thanks for some of your great feedback. Some of you have emailed them to me, some have sent them on the comment form on the bottom of the blog. You can also just click on the link that says “comments” right at the bottom of this blog and post it for everyone to see.
Check out the websites on the side of this post if you want some budgeting help. For example, I use kijiji.ca or craigslist.ca if I have something that I want to sell that I really don’t need. We’ve done this a number of times, especially if we needed money for something. I’ve sold a pool slide, bar stools, guitar amp, bike, and many other items. How about you? Any great stories of something you’ve sold?
Also, someone suggested going on flyerland.ca to look at our grocery stores flyer and plan their menu for the week based on what's on sale. Or, for coupons, going to save.ca because they mail the coupons right to your door.Priceline.com and hotwire.com are great sites if you want to get away to a hotel for a night – we’ve stayed in Toronto at a 4+ star for $35 a night using priceline before. You name your price and then they tell you after which hotel you get.
When I go to a restaurant or amusement park, I’ll usually check out smartcanucks.sa or redflagdeals.com because they often have printable coupons or tell you where and how you can get a discount.
These are just some of the websites out there for helping you with your budget.
Hope you have fun checking them out!

What have you done?

We’ve been talking about living on a budget and about ways that we can reduce our budget.
Just this morning I was listening to a program where they were talking about little things like bringing coffee to work instead of buying it on the way, or bringing leftovers, instead of going out to eat every day for lunch. I don’t think everyone needs to live on a tight budget and never go out but there’s a lot of people who are living way beyond their means, and there’s simple things that can be done to reduce some of the financial stress.
I feel like I talk to a lot of people about their budgets and everyone’s looking for a magic pill – an easy answer to how to get out of debt or how to buy whatever they want. I compare it to people who want to lose weight – we all want that easy answer – that magic answer that’s going to make our problems go away and it doesn’t work like that. We can’t lose weight without discipline and a plan and we can’t get out of debt or get our spending in control without discipline and a plan.
So, let’s talk about things we can do to get our spending in control. The reason I don’t want to be in debt and the reason I want to live below my means is not only to live a more content life but also to be able to give generously. Wouldn’t be great to be in a position where we weren’t living “pay check to pay check” and we could actually help people around us who really need help –whether people in our own city or beyond. That’s my ultimate goal.
I’ve posted some books on here – some I’ve read and some others have recommended. Let me know if there are any books out there that you think are great that talk about money. Also, I posted some websites that I’ve used for getting some good deals. Again, talk to me. What websites are you using?
I had a great idea from one of you today (Peggy). Here’s what they’ve done to simplify their budget:
Something we did many years ago was create a separate account just for paying bills. We averaged out our monthly bill costs and every pay check, we automatically transfer the money we need for our monthly bills from our chequing account into our "bills" account. This way you never have to worry whether or not the $$ will be there for the bills. When the bill comes in the mail, pay it right away out of the bills account! It has really worked for us.
So, post your comments and ideas right on the blog, so we can all read them.Also, many of you have filled out the form to get the blog sent directly to your inbox. One thing I didn’t realize is that it would be great if you can sign up as a follower on my actual blog as well. Thanks. I think I’ll figure out this blogging eventually….

The nasty four letter word - DEBT

Okay, so we know it’s bad. There’s a lot of debt and money problems out there. So, what do we do?
If we have debt, then we need to re-work our budget so we are spending less than we make and we need to be focusing on paying off that debt. I’m not talking about reasonable mortgage debt; I’m talking about credit card debt, leon’s “don’t pay a cent event “debt, line of credit, etc.
What else can we do if we’re in debt?

Here are some ideas:
· Cut up credit cards so we’re not tempted to use them.
· Call credit card companies to try and get a lower interest rate.
· Use envelope system or cash-only for budget items. For example, I can pay all my bills and whatever is left gets divided into envelopes (groceries, entertainment, household supplies, etc.) This forces us to spend within our budget and when the money’s gone, it’s gone.
· Stop going to the mall (this is only if we’re in debt –otherwise I say, go for it!)
· Sell stuff on kijiji and craigslist that we don’t need and use that money to pay off debt.
· Reduce stuff on our budget.
· Work more.

What other ideas do you guys have if we’re in debt and we’re trying to get out of debt?
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback.

Welcome to my blog

Well, here is my first blog ever folks. I've decided to dedicate a blog to budgeting tips and general money information and stats. As some of you may know, I have lived on a budget for as long as I can remember. I thought that this was quite common, but the more I talk to people, I realize that I am feeling pretty alone in my obsessive budgeting. I work at a counseling centre where I personally see a lot of people who have financial problems. I have set budgets for so many people and I am amazed how people live. Why is it so hard to live below our means? Where did we get the idea that we could spend whatever we wanted.
So, I challenge you. If you are not on a budget, set one up. Write down everything you earn and then everything you spend. It really is that simple. It's easy to write down what you spend on utilities because those bills are pretty constant. You will probably guess what you spend on groceries and entertainment and in my experience, you will probably guess wrong. Keep your receipts for one month and then write an accurate budget sheet. See if you spend more than you make. If you do, no big deal. Just start cutting things from your budget until you make more than you spend.
Good luck.
If you need a budget template, just email me and I will send you one.
Let me know how it goes.