the one with all the lists

(alternatively titled: i should be studying.)

I have been feeling really overwhelmed lately. 

We sat down with a financial planner a few weeks ago, and realized that while we’re in no bad place financially, it would be a good idea to find ways to bring in more income if we want to start putting more money towards retirement, emergency savings, and building for our goals (such as finishing the basement, buying a tent/travel trailer for camping, and going to Europe (that one’s a loooooooong way off).  We also decided to do a ‘no spend’ April, meaning that we wouldn’t be buying any stuff this month, other than groceries.  Of course this is the month that all of the things I want are on sale!\

Anyways, since Craig already works full time and is often going up North for weeks at a time, and I am a stay at home mom, the burden to bring in some more income has fallen to me.  I already do some daycare out of our home and sell Avon, but it’s not consistent enough to put it under income in the budget and to be able to add expenses on the flip side.

As a result, we’ve decided for me to start training/working as a financial planner with Primerica (which is actually a good fit for me if you’ve being around her for a while and seen all of the financial/budget posts I’ve done (and loved doing!)), so I’ve been studying for the first half of my life insurance course this weekend (AND taking care of the daycare boys, AND spending most of the night up with Emily since she’s getting her eye teeth and teething for her means constant waking at night).  I pray for anybody who has 2 year old twins and a 3.5 year old, because that’s basically how I spend many of my days when other people’s kids are here (Emily is included in that), and maybe it’s just the pregnancy, but it exhausts me.

So anyways, here is everything we have to get done before the baby comes at the beginning of August (I’m 24 weeks tomorrow people!):

Baby stuff:
-Paint nursery
-Set up crib and change station
-Hang curtains and decorate
-Track down some boy clothes hand-me-downs from friends and family

House stuff:
-Paint living room and upper/lower hallways, kitchen, etc. (painted swatches have been up since January, yikes!)
-Paint/build benches for foyer/stairwell area and hang hooks for little coats
-Paint main floor bathroom (wallpaper removed in December)
-Finish upholstering our bed frame (since it’s currently bare wood and Craig finished it in December)
-Put up a fence around yard to contain our wild child
-Go through the sea of boxes in basement and start getting ready for our first yardsale!
-Fix deck out back
-Paint all trim in the house
-Paint/decorate Emily’s big girl room
-Buy bed frame for Em’s new mattress

Work Stuff:
-Complete life insurance course next two weekends and get over 80% on exam next weekend
-Take provincial exam following week
-Continue meeting with families in the evening to complete my field observation and start workign on my own
-Take mutual funds course after insurance course is out of the way, then start the exam/application process with the province

Meanwhile, I’m still going to be taking care of the boys and Emily, and Craig is away for chunks of time in May and June (and probably July for a few weeks).  So most of that indoor house stuff is on me to finish up.  yay.

I seriously just want to fast forward to August and have this baby here already.  I am still LOVING being pregnant again, it’s moreso that I want all of the preparations stuff to just be over with.  Despite Emily being fussy every evening in her infancy, I loved the newborn stage.  Newborn stage with a toddler around might not be as fun, so remind me of my love for it in August when I’m complaining!

Lastly, ever since (most) of my energy came back with the 2nd trimester, I’ve been trying to be a better housekeeper and to start taking more time for me (especially when it comes to getting ready in the morning and not just spending the day in pj’s or with no makeup and a mom bun).  I’m hoping I can keep those things up through these next few months as well as they’ve been making everything a bit easier since a clean house and feeling fresh and ready for the day make a huge difference in my productivity!

Please bear with me as I’m getting through these next few months!  Luckily we’ve got some vacations and time with family and friends on the horizon too, to make life a little bit easier.

i want, i want, i want!

I would consider myself a logical person.  I research the heck out of things before taking the plunge so that I can get the best deal, and own practically a shelf (many gifted) of pregnancy and parenting books, just so I can be prepared.

The past few months though, I have been getting increasingly annoyed at our small condo.  All of the extra stuff that comes along with having a baby has got me feeling crowded in this 790 sq ft love nest we bought when we got married.  Needless to say, I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time skimming the MLS for a good deal.

The town where we live is a resort town and often one where the big city folk retire to, so prices can be a bit inflated.  Back when we were getting married, we knew we wanted to purchase a home on Craig’s income alone, and had a specific amount we wanted to pay per month.  In essence we were trying to maximize how much equity we had built up by the time we were ready to upgrade (i.e. less mortgage amount with same payment and interest amount means more in principle being paid down each month). 

Now, 2.5 years later, we have $26,000 in equity in our small, $130,000 condo (part of which is due to purchasing it as an estate sale for well below value). 

I’m ready to move, we have the money for a down payment, and we’ve found a house we both really like, so what’s holding us back?

Well after Craig is finished his paid leave at the end of February, there is no guarantee that he has a job to go back to where he was working before.  He’s currently exploring other job possibilities to fall back on, so I’m not overly concerned, but it does throw a BIG wrench in my moving dreams when there’s not a 100% guarantee that his income will be reliable.

What can I say, I’m a logical girl. But still, I WANT!!

Here’s the house we’ve been drooling over.  It’s nothing amazing to look at, but it has all of our criteria for a house we can grow in to, and it has loads of potential for renovations and making it our own.

MLS Listing

It has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms (one of them an ensuite), 2 living spaces, a garage and a nice big backyard.

What would you do?

budget bootcamp week 6: save on groceries

Now that we’ve set up a basic budget, creating sinking funds and a jar system, started repaying debts, and saving for the future, it’s time to start looking at the ways we can get more of the things we want, for less.

Groceries are a great area to start.  I could keep this post simple and tell you to shop only the outer perimeter of the store; it’ll save you money and help you lose weight at the same time! Food found in the outer perimeter of the store is typically fresh and unprocessed, while the foods in the aisles are more convenience based.  If you have the time, creating meals from scratch with fresh foods is much better for your family and CAN BE cheaper on your wallet.  In the resources at the bottom of the post, find links to great recipes to substitute for your favourite convenience foods.  Post your own favourites in the comments to share!

Grocery shopping and menu planning can be a lot more complicated that simply shopping in certain areas of the grocery store.  There’s a lot to be understood about how stores price items, use displays, and provide coupons, and I’ll discuss a little below (with links to people who know much more than I!).

Pricing:

Often you’ll be browsing through the store and see signs claiming ‘lowest price’ or ‘big savings’, however it can be difficult while standing in the aisle to know whether an item is actually a good deal or not.  For this reason, it is a good idea to create a price book for the items you purchase regularly.  Keeping a small notebook in your purse with small charts listing prices can help you keep your grocery budget to a minimum by using the premise of stockpiling.  Typically, stores work on a 12 week cycle for sales so when your price book tells you that at item is at it’s lowest price, you would buy as much of it as you would need for the next 12 weeks.  Tracking grocery prices could quickly become overwhelming if you were tracking the prices of every item in the store, but if you limit it to the items you purchase on a regular basis AND that you have the capability to store bulk quantities of it without spoilage, it can save you a lot of money in the long run.  Often, Christmas baking staples such as flour and sugar are priced as loss leaders (at or below cost) to get you in the door for the great deal, while the rest of the items on your Christmas cookie shopping list are at regular price (or inflated!).  For this reason, it’s a good idea to document when season-specific items go on sale at your grocery store each year so you can snatch those special cookie ingredients up at rock bottom prices for all of your Christmas baking.

Displays:

Grocery stores often make use of the end caps (ends of the aisles) to display popular or attractive items, however these items are rarely on sale or will be used to display a sale item alongside a ‘neccessary’ accompaniment which is not on sale.

Did you know that grocery stores will place the most expensive items at eye level to increase the likelihood that you will purchase these items on impulse?  Just knowing facts like this can help you to keep your grocery costs down, as you’ll (hopefully) pause to consider before you pick up that unneeded item that’s charming you from the shelf!

Coupons

I am no expert on coupons, in fact I rarely use them unless they provide savings on something I use constantly (and I’ll hold onto them until the item goes on sale) or I’ll use the “buy 2 of X, get 1 of Y free” coupons if I was already planning on purchasing X item (make sense?).  Grocery stores will display manufacturer coupons on the shelf when the item is not on sale to increase their profits as they will be reimbursed for the coupon’s value; if they displayed the coupon during a sale they would lose out on it’s appeal because they’re item is priced for less profit.  Knowing this, if you’re shopping and you see coupons available for items you purchase regularly, grab some and use them that day if you need the items, or save them for when the item goes on sale.  Watch your expiry dates though and throw away any expired coupons!!

 

Now that you’ve learned some of the strategies grocery stores use to trick consumers into purchasing high cost items, here are a few strategies to help you to maximize your grocery shopping budget.

Grocery Shopping Strategies:

1.  Create a list before hitting the stores.

2.  Never shop on an empty stomach – increases the likelihood of impulse shopping!

3. Use your flyers to create your menu plans

4. Create a price book to keep track of what a ‘good deal’ is

5.  Don’t be afraid to visit multiple stores to complete your list (within reason)

6. Take cash – you’ll be more disciplined in buying only the items you need!

7. Talk with the butcher, baker and produce manager to see when markdowns occur, and where they are displayed – then make use of your freezer!

8. Stockpile when prices are low; that way you can ‘shop’ your stockpile when you’re creating a menu plan instead of the high mid-cycle prices at the grocery store!

How do I shop?

Around here, the flyers come out on Wednesday or Thursday and start on Friday morning.  I usually sit down on Thursday morning to create my menu plans for the week.  Why do I do it mid week?  If I menu plan on Thursday, I can make use of both the current week’s sales and the next week’s sales.  I may have to shop both Thursday and Friday, but I can capture both sales cycles and have the groceries I need to last until the following Thursday.

Here are the steps I use for menu planning:

1.  Check what’s in the freezer and pantry and see what needs to be used up.

2.  Check the flyers for sales on meat and produce.

3.  Pick recipes based around expiring or sales items, with other sales items as the accompaniments.

4. Find appropriate recipes in cookbooks or online and input into the Plan to Eat site

5.  Print out shopping list from the Plan to Eat site, and hit the stores!

 

Some great online resources!

The Grocery Game

If you’re living in the US or Western Canada, consider joining The Grocery Game for a time.  The program involves some guided coupon clipping, but does all the matching up of lowest price sales to valid coupons.  Membership is $1 a week, with a 4 week free trial.  You can participate in the program indefinitely or learn from how they track sales and start implementing it yourself (although $4-5 a month isn’t bad for someone else doing the work for you!).

Plan to Eat

I’ve mentioned this website before while planning a freezer cooking week.  The Plan to Eat website allows you to add in your favourite recipes from around the web and in your cookbooks, and you can add them to the weekly calendar in the order you would like.  There is a shopping list and pantry function that makes it easy to create a list of what you’ll need for the upcoming week’s menu.  My favourite features of this site are the easy ‘bulk input’ functions of the recipe file (just copy and paste ingredients) and the ability to click and drag recipes around the calendar and ingredients in and out of the pantry.  Get 30 days free for signing up!

Coupon Clipping/Grocery Saving Blogs:

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Money Saving Mom

 

 

Recipes:

Taco Seasoning
Baking Mix
Artisan Bread
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Shake n’ Bake
Muffin Mix
Vanilla Extract

budget bootcamp week 5: simple savings

So how did it go last week?  If you’re new to the challenge, last week we were looking at how effective it can be to make your savings and payments automatic.  It’s about prioritizing our goals and future and understanding how much of an impact the choices we’re making now have. 

I have a confession to make.  I haven’t been very diligent lately in keeping myself accountable to our budget.  With Craig away and myself and Emily home day and night, I’ve being doing a lot more shopping and eating out than I want, simply for something to do outside of the house.  Trust me when I say that all of these little expenses can add up to a big leak in our budget.

My biggest indulgence is hitting up Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, and at around $4 a pop, and a twice a week visit, it’s a $400 a year habit!
$4 x 2 = $8 x 52weeks = $416
(And let’s not ignore the 310 calories for a Grande.  That adds up too!)

I don’t smoke, but if you’re a pack a day smoker, your stealing more than just years off your life; you’re giving away more than $2900 a year. Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it.  If your 25 and instead invested that money in even a money market account, you’d have almost $300,000 by the time you retire!  Add on to that the fact that many health organizations claim that each pack actually costs you (and the government) $150 when you factor in healthcare needs, you’ve got an expensive habit!

What is your fix?  If you did the math on it, how much are your spending per year to keep it up?

What Does it All Mean?

Budget is a bad word to a lot of people.  If you’re like my husband, it makes you feel restricted and too much time on a budget may make your impulse shop.  If you’re like me, budgets, and the savings and financial security that come with them, help you feel more in control of your life.

I’ve said it before that I truly think that budgeting and successful financial planning is about priorities, so it is important to sit down (with your significant other if you have one) and decide on some sort of plan for your life.  It doesn’t have to be a strict ‘5 year plan’, but just the basics of what you would like to accomplish.  Do you want to be mortgage free before retirement?  Is travelling important?  What about paying for your kids education?  Each of these questions require action from you today. 

You won’t be mortgage free at 65 if you’re not working to get your other debts paid off and then turning your focus towards accelerating your mortgage pay down.  Travelling can be expensive, so it’s important to begin setting money aside in your sinking funds now for those trips you’d like to plan down the road.  And that education fund?  Don’t forget that compound interest means that the earlier you start, the less you have to invest in the long run.

Budgeting is not about restricting your spending or focussing so much on saving money that you lose sight of enjoying life.  It’s about taking ownership of the income that comes into your home and giving every dollar a job.  If you’ve set up a successful budget, it will not only be moving you towards financial freedom and reaching the financial goals you have in mind, it will also give you the emotional freedom to enjoy your life today.  You don’t have to spend time worrying about how to pay the bills each month if you’re living within your means and setting aside money for those emergencies.  You can do fun and memorable things with your kids while they’re still small because you’ve set up a sinking fund for family outings or an annual zoo membership.

 

This Week’s Challenge

Take one final look at the budget you’ve been creating and see if there are any areas you would like to change.  Any categories higher than you’d like?  Any lower?  If you would like to up your savings or debt repayments, you know it needs to come from somewhere else. 

Once you’ve identified those areas that can use some downsizing, come back next week for a tips and tricks for getting the best bang for your buck in the areas of grocery shopping, bills, personal care, and finally two weeks of GIFT GIVING!  We’ll be ending on December 3rd, so I’ll do a round up of my favourite gift projects both here at Canadian Rhapsody and around the blogosphere, so check back!

Psst!:I already started one gift project: DIY Vanilla Extract!!  It needs 8 weeks to fully age, so get started!

 

In case you were wondering, in response to the Starbucks problem, I’ve switched to cider when I’m there (much cheaper!) and have found an at home pumpkin spice latte recipe that takes the cake!

budget bootcamp week 4: make it automatic

*Sorry this didn’t post on Friday.  I guess auto post didn’t work*

Last week we discussed debt repayment methods and I challenged you to take a look at your own debts and the ways that you could supplement your payoff plan to speed things up.

This week I quickly wanted to look at the benefits of making your savings and debt repayments automatic.'

The Why

I don’t know about you, but when I check my bank account balance at the end of the month, it’s almost always less than I expected to see.  I forget sometimes how the small amounts I spend here and there can add up to some big costs.  If I wait until the end of the month to pay our debts or put money into savings, chances are my intended amounts will have been eaten up by, well, life!

Priorities

At the end of the day (or the creation of the budget!) it comes down to what your priorities are.  Would you rather be spending your money on 5 dollar thrills that add up to a whole lot of nothing, or would you rather be paying off debts and building your savings?  If your attitude is tuned towards your long term financial goals, it would make sense to consider saving and debt repayment as one of your first expenses, behind things like your mortgage, electricity/heat and transportation and perhaps sacrificing your less important expenses to give you a head start.  Cell phone plans, cable and internet are all non-essential home expenses that you could consider scaling back or cutting out altogether for a season.  Our cable/internet bill is around $150 a month; if we cut those services and instead banked that money, it would mean $146000 in savings at retirement if we just left it in our savings account (3.25%) and contributed only the $150.

How it works

David Bach, the author of The Automatic Millionaire and the Finish Rich series, told a story about a couple who never made more than $50000 their entire working lives, yet somehow managed to own two homes (simultaneously), pay for all of their kids college education, and have a net worth of over a million dollars.  How did they do it?  They made it automatic. 

Every month or pay check a designated amount of money is transferred from your chequing account into your savings or investment accounts and towards your various debtors (with minimums being paid on all except one).  Don’t contribute so much that you end up running out of money for other things, but don’t be afraid to cut back on a few things to boost your savings either.  A little bit in the beginning can mean a lot of savings in the end!

Consider this example:  Assuming a 6.5% return (middle of the road in terms of risk/return) and a $300 a month deposit into savings.

Starting Age        Total at Age 65
25                           $674,890
35                           $327,849
45                           $145,729

Saving $300 a month for 10 years only contributes $36000, but the compounding interest means an extra $350000 if you start saving at 25 instead of 35.

Worried because you didn’t start saving early?  Let it go and do what you can to start now.  Every month that goes by is an opportunity lost to cash in on that interest earned.  Start today!

 

This Week’s Challenge:

How important is savings and debt repayment to you?  If you don’t intentionally make these things priorities in your budget, your money won’t be making as much of an impact on your financial future.  This week look into savings accounts at your bank or check out ING Direct.  If you’re in Canada, now is a good time to open a TFSA.  Come January 1st, you’ll have room to save $15000 tax free.  Once you’ve figured out how much you’d like to put away each month, look at a calculator like this one and see how much you’ll have saved by the time you plan on retiring.

 

Next week is the final budget planning challenge before we begin 5 weeks of budget stretching tips.  Check back next week for some final budget tips and a look at how it all ties into your financial future.

budget bootcamp week 3: debt repayment and the 10-10-80 system

Last week we were looking at how we can create a jar system and sinking funds.  How did you do?  I’ve been doing envelopes for groceries and gas for a little while now, but I needed some accountability for household and dining out categories (what can I say, shopping and eating out make stay at home mom’s to newborns lives easier and a little more fun!), so I made up a few more jars.  We get paid tomorrow so we’ll see how much of a difference it’s made!

One thing that I probably should have mentioned earlier in the series is the 10-10-80 system.  I wrote about it before in a post for couples called Money Management for Couples, and this week’s bootcamp will mostly be a repost and will review some of what we’ve learned the last two weeks.

Mary Hunt's Debt Proof Living philosophy is in many ways similar to Dave Ramsey, with 2 big exceptions: 1. the Contingency Fund (emergency fund) is funded throughout the entire debt repayment process, designating the typical 10% of your income to this purpose, instead of just building up to $1000 and then stopping; 2. a Freedom Account needs to be set up in a separate chequeing account into which monthly installments are made to cover the cost of abnormal expenses such as car repairs or appliance replacement, again throughout the entire debt repayment process and into the future.

A Quick Debt-Proof Living Snapshot

10-10-80

Give 10%; Save 10%; Live on the remaining 80%. It's as easy as that. Out of the 80% comes your sinking fund (Freedom Account according to Debt Proof Living) contributions, as well as your Rapid Debt Repayment Plan funds.

Give

Giving, whether through tithing or donations to various charities or research funds, helps to instill in us a degree of humility and awareness of what it is to be without.

Contingency Fund

Build up a minimum 3 months worth of living expenses in a separate account. Fund this with the 10% of your income that should be going to savings. A better idea would be to save 6 months to a year to be on the safe side. If you have extra monies coming in (i.e. tax returns, cash gifts, or bonuses at work), throw it in here first. This is what will keep you back from the 'edge' and ensure that you won't erase all of your hard work if you are temporarily out of work, have a medical emergency, or have major repairs to cover before insurance kicks in.

The 10% that is designated for savings can be moved around a little bit once you've gotten a fully funded Contingency Fund ready for any emergencies. Once your contingency fund has been topped up to your desired amount, boost your contributions to your Freedom Account so that you have a year's worth of coverage in each of the sub accounts. Next, focus on your Rapid Debt Repayment Plan, and add in your extra 10% so that you accelerate the whole cycle. Finally, begin building an investment portfolio, including paying off your mortgage or saving up a sizeable (conventional mortgages only people!) down payment, funding various retirement and education funds, and add in any 'dream' sub-accounts you may have, to your Freedom Account to begin saving for things like snowmobiles, extended vacations, and additions or renovations to your house!

Freedom Account (Sinking Funds)

Certain things in life are guaranteed. The tax man will come; people will get older, get married, and have babies; cars will break down, so will appliances and toilets; vacations will be needed and our life, auto and health insurance will need to be paid (even if they are charging too much!). If these things don't need to be paid on a monthly basis, most of us forget to budget for them, and very few of us put that money away for when the bill comes due.

Take a look at all of your irregular or abnormal expenses, including car and home repairs and upgrades, gifts, vacations, personal spending, property taxes, auto insurance, and more, and decide on a figure that represents how much you spend (or think you will spend) on these things each year. Then divide that number by how many pay cheques you get each year. Each month, put that money aside in a separate chequeing account, and whenever an expense comes up, write a cheque for it using that account. Keep a ledger documenting each of your debits and credits to the account.

Check out how I keep track on mine here, and download the excel document to get started on yours!

Rapid Debt Repayment Plan

Basically, order your debts from shortest pay-off to longest pay-off, and pay the minimums on everything but the first one, dumping everything extra you can into it. Then, when that debt is paid off, redirect all of that extra money into the next debt. She recommends ordering your debts in order of interest rate (highest to lowest), but says that in our 'instant gratification' society, some may need to see single creditors paid off sooner, so they should stick with the shortest to longest method.

On her website she has a RDRP Manager that you can use to track your debts and your payments and it will show you how many payments you have left and your final pay-off date. I like seeing the reminder, so I joined with the monthly membership, which also gives me access to all sorts of calculators, newsletters, and great tips for saving money.

That is perhaps the biggest thing that (in my mind) separates the Dave Ramsey and Debt-Proof Living methods. Even for non-members, you can join the free Everyday Cheapskate daily column and receive great tips by email on ways to save money. She really teaches frugal living, and shows how you can find that extra money in your income to have your debts paid off sooner.

This Week’s Challenge:

If you have consumer debt you’re working towards paying off, consider using the below calculator or spreadsheet to create a payment schedule and see how tweaking your payments and the order of payoff can save you THOUSANDS of dollars in interest.

Once you’ve compared paying off high interest to smallest amount first, and seen how adding even $100 extra each month can make a BIG difference, start thinking about the ways you can start cutting your spending to help generate that extra cash.

 

Next week we will be discussing some ways you can make small changes in your spending that will have big impact.

 

Resources:

Debt Reduction Calculator Spreadsheet (recommended by Canadian Debt Girl)
Online Debt Calculator

budget bootcamp week 2: jars and sinking funds

Last week, I challenged myself (and anyone interested) to create or reconsider my budget and start thinking about the categories we can begin trimming down.  Additionally, I wanted to look at my discretionary spending and using an envelope or jar system to keep us on track.

This week we’re going to be looking at the jars in more depth, as well as introducing the idea of ‘sinking funds’ (or a Freedom Account with Debt Proof Living) to help us prepare for future expenses.

Jar/Envelope Spending Plans

The biggest benefit of a jar or envelope system is that it helps us tangibly see how much we are spending in each category, and if we are diligent, keep us to our budgeted amounts.  Often when we are using debit cards for our spending (or worse yet, credit cards) it’s not until we check our online balance or get the statement at the end of the month that we see how all of the little expenses add up and we’ve somehow found ourselves over budget (and into the overdraft!).

How do you best start creating a system like this?  The two systems are very similar, but we’ll look at the jar system in this post because it is more of a visual reminder and we can make pretty labels for the jars. :)

Remember that budget you worked on last week?  What were the amounts that you budgeted for based on your monthly averages?  Discretionary spending includes expenses such as groceries, gas for your car or transportation, entertainment and dining, and personal care (haircuts, manicures, etc.).   Print off some of the labels below on label paper (Avery 5162), or print it on plain paper, cut out and tape to mason jars (or attach to the front of envelopes if you’re going that route!).  You can also make your own labels for the jars if you’d like.

There’s space on the labels for you to write the category and the monthly amount.  Save and print off new labels whenever you’ve adjusted your budget!

Next, you need to figure out how you’re going to track your spending in each of the categories.  If you live on your own you could just put the receipts in the jar and spend until the money is gone, but if you are budgeting with a spouse or partner and need to share the money in the jar, some sort of tracking system is necessary.  It is also helpful for accountability and to see that you spent most of your grocery budget at Starbucks on Pumpkin Spice Lattes (almost a forgivable offense!).

I’ve created some pages for you to print out and put in a half size binder.  You could also just print and cut a stack of them and staple them together.  Do whatever ensures that you will use it!

Below is an example of how to write down your expenses on each sheet.  Create one sheet for each category of spending and be sure to use them weekly at first.  After you’ve gotten used to it, you can change it to correspond to your pay period (more forms to come!).

Expense: Groceries		Weekly $: 75.00
			$75.00
1-Oct	Metro	$11.15	$63.85
1-Oct	Tim Hortons	$1.45	$62.40
2-Oct	Loblaws	$33.47	$28.93
4-Oct	Metro	$26.82	$2.11
4-Oct	Tim Hortons	$1.45	$.66

Think you can make that work?  Give it a try!

 

Sinking Funds

Next, is the concept of sinking funds, which are basically monies saved up to cover the inevitable expenses incurred when you need to buy a new washer or stove, go on vacation, buy gifts for Christmas, birthdays or weddings, or simply just to save up for all of your home decor projects.  The idea is two-fold.  First, we live in an instant gratification society and we’ve developed the attitude that if we see something we want, we should buy it right away, even if we don’t have the funds to cover it.  Sinking funds require patience; each paycheque you put more and more aside and slowly build up towards your idea balances.  Second, instead of putting sudden expenses on a credit card, we have our own savings to use in its place.

What kind of expenses are most typical for sinking funds?  For our own funds, we are at various times, funding accounts for: auto expenses, home expenses, gifts, vacations, and baby expenses.  Consider everything in a year that you KNOW will come up, but that aren’t necessarily monthly expenses.  Oil changes, chimney sweeping, weekend getaways and a gift for your cousin’s wedding are all things you probably know quite in advance that you’ll need to pay for, but often we leave it to the last minute and have to pull money from somewhere else to cover it.

Steps to creating sinking funds:

1. Decide how much you need yearly to cover your expenses in each of the categories.  The amounts in the spreadsheet below are the amounts Craig and I have assigned to each category, but it should be based on the kinds of expenses you’ve paid in the past. 
2.  Divide that yearly amount by the number of pays you have per year, and this is the amount you need to be setting aside each time to help cover your expenses.
3.  Open an account to cover these expenses.  No fee bank accounts such as ING are great for this purpose; you can even open an account for each category, although I would find that more complicating.
4.  Make it automatic.  Set up an automatic transfer that takes place after you’ve been paid each time so that you don’t even have to think about it.
5.  Starting using the accounts to cover your abnormal expenses.  You won’t be able to buy that washer or stove right away, but you’ve been buying things on credit for years, this kind of savings takes time!

Here’s the document that I use to track our sinking funds.  We have a single bank account to hold all of the funds, set as ‘savings’ on our debit cards so that we can access the funds if we need to at the store.

  Screen capture of the main page.

Important to consider:

- You’re probably never going to have the total yearly amounts in the accounts, but that’s the idea.  It is a sinking fund because the funds are constantly in use.
-If the accounts do reach their maximum (say you haven’t used the gift or vacation accounts for a while), you can stop funding them until they dip below their maximum again.  Similar to a debt snowball (more next week), redirecting the funds will help fund them all faster and move you towards other savings goals.
- If you have a major windfall and have a. paid of debts, and b. fully funded an emergency fund, fully funding your sinking funds can be a great investment so that you can move the funds into your retirement savings or generous giving until you’ve needed to use some of the sinking fund money.
- Create new accounts for all of your goals.  Want a new boat or car?  Create an account and assign a monthly or yearly amount to start saving!

This week’s challenge:

Perfect your jar or envelope system (try it for a month and see if it makes a difference in the amount you’re spending and your ability to follow the budget) and set up a sinking funds account at your bank of choice.  Use the document I provided or your own creation to begin tracking the debits and credits of each individual account.

 

budget bootcamp week 1: budgeting basics

Welcome to week one of the budget boot camp!  We’re starting simple and working on learning the tenets of an effective budget and creating a draft budget that we will tweak and perfect over the next nine weeks.  

More importantly, we’re going to be making the decisions about where our money is going instead of wondering where it went when we come up short at the end of the month.

The Basics:

Budgets are quite simply the total of your income minus the total of your expenses; if your income is insufficient to cover the cost of your bills and expenses each month, you’ll either be dipping into savings or credit by the end of the month, or be going without when the money runs out.  Income you should include in you monthly budget should include gifts and tax rebates, etc., however don’t include these items when you are planning your budget as they are not regular.  When considering expenses, you should be including your monthly bills, fluctuating expenses such as groceries and gas for your car, as well as savings, giving, and savings for abnormal expenses as well (to be discussed more next week).

A budget is a guideline to direct where your money is going each month, and it is up to you to make sure you are setting realistic amounts in your budget that your family can stick with.  If your family can’t living on $200 a month for groceries and you set that as your monthly amount, you’ll only end up going over and borrowing the money from somewhere else.  Chances are you’ve done that once or twice already and the result has been using the credit card a little more that month.

If you already have a budget, consider how well it’s been working so far.  Are you able to stick with the amounts you’ve written down?  Are you maximizing how much you put into savings each month without sacrificing the things you love?

Zero Balance Budgeting

Like I mentioned earlier, if you’re not designating where each dollar will go each month, chances are you’ll come to the end of the month scratching your head wondering how you’re in your overdraft and have nothing to show for it.

If you create a zero balance budget (exactly how it sounds; your expenses and income should be equal, resulting in a zero balance), you are giving a name to every dollar you make, giving you the power over your spending.  It also means that when you’ve run out of money in a certain category (for instance entertainment), you either need to go without until the next pay check (not ideal for categories like groceries), or ‘borrow’ money from another category.  Creative planning and LOTS of restraint will help the money to stretch further, and over time you can adjust the categories to better reflect your spending.

Steps to a better budget:

1.  If you have time, spend a few weeks or months tracking your spending.  If you need a budget immediately, use your bank statements and past bills to compile an average for your spending and break it down into categories.

2. Make a list of all of your bills and expenses (i.e. groceries, gas, personal needs, sports or fitness memberships, etc.).

3.  Using a budget worksheet (see below), write down all of the NECESSARY expenses first, such as mortgage payments, car insurance, and groceries, followed by your other expenses.

4.  Next, add in a line for savings.  Typically this should be at least 10% of your income, but designate whatever you can.

5.  Compare your total expenses to your total income.  Are they equal or do you have a surplus?  Great!  If not, you have two options:
               a.  Cut back on some of your expenses.
               b.  Generate more income

6.  Start by going through your expenses and figure out if there are any bills your can reduce or eliminate.  Maybe you can go without cable or change to a cheaper cell phone plan.  In the next few weeks we’ll go over more ways for you to reduce your spending and get creative about saving.

 

This weeks challenge:

Create a zero balance budget for your family using the above steps.  If you are married, include your spouse in this process as it’s a lot easier to stick to a budget if your partner is on the same page – especially since you can keep yourselves accountable!

Once you’ve done this or if you already have a budget, start considering the budget categories where you can make some immediate changes to to slash your spending and start directing more to debt reduction and savings.

 

Bonus challenge:

Create a jar or envelope system for your discretionary spending categories (see bottom of post).  For instance:

• Groceries   $200/month
• Transportation   $300/month
• Personal Care   $50/month
• Miscellaneous   $50/month
• Kids Allowances   $40/month
• Entertainment   $200/month

 

Next week we’ll focus more on budget envelopes and creating a system for tracking your spending throughout the month.

 

Budgeting Resources:
Budget Worksheets:
Online (Til Debt Do Us Part)
Paper (Dollartimes.com)

10 week budget bootcamp

 

With Christmas on the horizon and myself on maternity leave, our household needs to buckle down a over the next few months if we’d like to maintain our debt free status and continue saving for a new house.

Beginning on Friday, I will be posting weekly tips and challenges that I will be working on completing, and I’m inviting others to join me.  Even if your budget seems to be in top shape, maybe you’ll learn a tip or two that can help you save even more.

In the meantime, check out some of my favourite money management and frugal living sites:

Debt Proof Living
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Money Saving Mom
Frugal Dad

 

If you would be interested in providing a guest post about your own budgeting or debt payoff tips or stories, please leave a comment or send me an email.