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.