Debt-Free Forever

This post has quotes from Gail Vaz-Oxlade's book "Debt-free Forever." She's the host of the TV show "'til debt do us part." I read her book recently and would recommend it.

All these are quotes by Gail.
When talking about who got you in this financial mess:
"It's your life and if it sucks, you may have had a little something to do with it."

Can't afford a vacation:
"You can still have loads of fun while you save tons of money if you opt for a staycation. That's when you stay at home and pretend you're on vacation. Pick a start and end date for your staycation to make it official. Declare a choratorium - no one has to make their beds, do the dishes or vacuum (consider hiring a cleaning service for midweek to whip the house back into shape.) And pack your schedule full of fun and fabulous things to do locally."

When encouraging her readers to track their expenses for one month before making their first budget sheet:
"This is the step that separates the responsible from the immature, the wannabes, the successes from the failures. Skip it and you might as well go shopping!

On goal setting:
"Once you've set a goal, it's a good idea to create a visual reminder of what you're working toward. Cut out a picture of the home you hope to own and stick it on your fridge. Or tape a small picture of a house to the back of your credit card so you remind yourself of what you're delaying when you go shopping."

According to Gail's life pie, you should be spending 35% of your income on housing, 15% on transportation, 25% on life, 15% on debt repayment and 10% on savings.

If you're giving to your church or charity, then you would have to adjust the percentages to account for that as well.

Gail is a big fan of using "magic jars." She suggests filling 5 jars (or envelopes).
The categories would be: groceries and personal care, transportation, entertainment, clothing and gifts, and other. Figure out your budget and how much you can afford for each of these and then fill the jars each week, bi-weekly or monthly(whatever works for you). When the money is gone, it's gone.

Some last words of advice from Gail:
"Start thinking of a budget as something that tells you what you can do with your money (not what you can't do) and you're seeing the positive side of things. Look at a budget as your plan for how you will spend your money on the things that matter to you the most and now you're fulfilling your dreams."

Bad Budget Ideas!

Here are some bad budgeting ideas for you to think about:

1. Make minimum payments on your credit card bill.
I have helped people figure out how much interest they are paying on an item that they only make the minimum payment for. It's crazy.

2. Spend more money than you make.

3. Get approved for a mortgage and then spend the maximum that they've approved you for.
This isn't always a bad budgeting idea but often the bank approves people for mortgages that they couldn't possibly afford.

4. Buy things in order to keep up with your friends and neighbours.

5. Don't put any money aside for emergencies.

6. Pay for a vacation after you've returned from that vacation.
A vacation is so much more enjoyable if it's all paid for before you leave.

7. Pay for bills late and then have to pay the penalties.

8. Not being on the "same page" as your spouse when it comes to budgeting.

9. Have no goals for your money.

10. Eliminate all fun.
People think that in order to budget well, that means you must eliminate all the fun you can have. That's not true. Fun and entertainment need to be included in your budget.

Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford Video