Canadian Budget Binder

Do summer foods cost you more money? : The Grocery Game Challenge #4 July 21-27, 2014

July 22, 2014 By Mr. CBB 9 Comments

PICK YOUR OWN EAT IT FRESH Summer foods are fresh, in-season and in some cases can drive up your grocery budget if you’re not careful. For the most part Mrs.CBB and I have a standard grocery list that we use every week along with sale items that come up in the flyers. In the summer our grocery list seems to grow. With such growth we really need to focus on how much money we are spending at the grocery store so we don’t overspend causing us to carry over these expenses to the next month. This is what we did for the month of July as you will notice we were over budget by $18.24. The reason for this is because we are trying to catch up for going over budget the month previous. It only seems to happen in the summer but come winter, things change. I know you might suggest giving ourselves a larger budget but it does seem to work out in the end. If by the end of 2014 we notice we need to make an increase then that is what we will do. We won’t deprive ourselves and not buy what we need when […]

Filed Under: The Grocery Game Tagged With: Farmers' market, grocery budget, grocery list, Grocery Shopping, healthy dinner ideas, standard grocery list, summer, summer bbq food, summer food ideas, summer foods, summer party food, summer recipes

What or who do you rely on to earn an income?

July 21, 2014 By Mr. CBB 12 Comments

YOU ARE YOUR INCOME SOURCE We all need to earn an income to survive in this crazy world. Many people jump in their vehicle or rely on other community services in the morning to go to work. Typical day… maybe. What would happen if there was no more bus service or our vehicle stopped running? I never gave much thought about who or what I rely on to earn an income until this past week. I think plenty of people worry more about whether they will keep their job over how they will get to their job and other so-called slight factors that would cause an impeding problem to their income. To call them slight would be a huge mistake. Many of us live life similar to everyone else who gets up in the morning, eats breakfast, showers, sorts the family out and is off to work. Of course depending on your work schedule that might not be the way it rolls in your household but you know what I mean. I remember posting that when my wife and I bought a house we bought it on one income so we had almost a free income to work with […]

Filed Under: Employment and HR Tagged With: bike, bus services, car pool, community services, compensation, critical illness, Daycare, disability, Employment Insurance, freelance job, lock-out, online job, retirement, social services, strike, subway, train, transit, union, union worker, unions, Welfare

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

July 20, 2014 By Nicola Don 4 Comments

FOR THE CHOCOLATE LOVERS I’m a big fan of truffles and chocolate but when you combine peanut butter with chocolate, even better. When you make this easy 4 ingredient chocolate peanut butter truffle recipe the people who sample these treats will be begging for the recipe. I’ve made truffles for a while now and although they are easy many people tend to shy away from them because the name “truffle” sounds posh and must mean they are difficult to make. Hardly the truth as you will find out today. If you are in a pinch and need an easy treat to bring to a gathering you can whip up some truffles in no time. Even dipping the truffles in chocolate is not that time-consuming. You can use the same chocolate dipping process as Mr.CBB does for his peanut butter balls. Easy dessert recipes Most people unless they are passionate about baking don’t want to spend any more time in the kitchen baking than they have to. Creating simple recipes is part of what I do because although I love to bake there are times when simple is best. You will see with this truffle recipe that it’s […]

Filed Under: Desserts/Treats Tagged With: 4 ingredient truffles, Chocolate, chocolate peanut butter truffles, easy treats, easy truffle recipe, homemade, no bake truffles, Oreos, Peanut butter, truffle recipe, truffles

Leaving children alone when you can’t afford a babysitter: The Saturday Weekend Review #81

July 19, 2014 By Mr. CBB 14 Comments

The Saturday Weekend Review Orange Lily Babysitter edition

DECISIONS PARENTS FACE… I’m not going to talk about the movie Home Alone today, don’t fret. What I want to discuss is what parents do when they can’t afford a babysitter? Later in this post you will read about one parent in the USA who was recently jailed for dropping her child off at the park while she worked. If you have the money in your budget you can easily hire a nanny who might also double as your housekeeper, gardener etc. She/He takes care of the children and the home when you are gone to work or are out on business. If you can’t afford having the live-in or out nanny status you would likely hire a family member to babysit, a friend or search out a babysitter to take care of your child (ren). When your child is a baby or toddler you either stay home and don’t work or you send them off to a babysitter or daycare facility. Most parents these days complain they can’t get their children out of the house because they are glued to the computer, TV or video games. Back in the day we were always outside playing but my mum […]

Filed Under: The Saturday Weekly Review Tagged With: babysitter, babysitter ad, babysitter checklist, babysitter job description, babysitter rates, babysitter resume, babysitter wanted, babysutter course, Childcare, home alone, housekeeper, jail, McDonald's, nanny, Red Cross, The joy of Simple, YMCA babysitting course

House staging empty posh homes with a family for cheap rent: PF Weekly Grab a brew #81

July 18, 2014 By Mr. CBB 4 Comments

DOES ANYONE REALLY LIVE HERE? I thought I had heard it all when it came to house selling tips including house staging. Nope, I was wrong because now if your home is empty due to divorce, moving suddenly or living out of country or province you can rent your home to real people for cheap. There is a catch though….. read on. Remember that a big house doesn’t make you happy nor does renting one just because you can. It’s a temporary high that many people dive into because they think it will make situations better. That’s not always the case unless you have some serious cash to back up that mortgage. Everyone knows that when it comes time to sell your house potential buyers snoop around. They want to know a bit about the buyers and they want to know why they are selling the house. Although agents are not supposed to say anything we all know many do. It’s about selling the house as fast as possible which means leaking valuable info could lead to a quick sale. I’m not making this up either because it’s happened to us many times when we have went to open […]

Filed Under: PF Weekly Grab a Brew Tagged With: for sale by owner, home staging company, house managers, house staging, human stagers, marketing campaign, staging a house for sale, Tampa Florida, The Mullers, type of advertising

How to tackle financial fears so you have no regrets

July 17, 2014 By Mr. CBB 9 Comments

CONQUER YOUR FEARS TODAY Some people have a fear of needles and others have a fear of driving but many people have financial fears and although it may not seem as dangerous it can turn someone’s life upside down. Have you ever wondered why a child might not have as much fear as an adult? It’s because they have a curiosity that we as adults should adopt in order to surpass what we fear the most, risk. Recently I took to my Facebook page to chat to my fans about financial fears. I wanted to know what their financial fears were so I could see just where people were at with-in my community of fans. Not everyone lives in a financial la la land but they do have fears and they are legitimate fears that are common to you and me. I was not shocked at the results even though I had just over 40 women comment and no men. I held a contest giving away a box of hair dye hence the abundance of women that commented but my intentions were not to write a blog post around the results. I had a coupon I wanted to see […]

Filed Under: Debt Tagged With: behaviour, children, courage, fear of driving, fear of needles, fears, financial fears, how to overcome fears, overcoming fear

Do you spend more or less when grocery shopping alone? : The grocery game challenge #3 July 14-20, 2014

July 15, 2014 By Mr. CBB 22 Comments

YOU AND THE GROCERY BASKET Grocery shopping alone for some people is like a holiday away from the hectic life they lead at home and in the workplace. Would you agree or disagree with the above statement? Not everyone enjoys to shop alone but if you are one of them you might find you spend less than if you have your spouse, partner, friends or the troops alongside you. I’m one of those who grocery shop with my wife although there are times where I have to go grocery shopping on my own because she is busy doing something else. I don’t mind shopping alone but what I did notice is that when I shop alone we spend less money. The only reason I thought about this was because when I went shopping alone this week three things happened. I was in and out of the store faster even though I still took my time I didn’t deviate from the list nor was I thinking about it I spent less because we didn’t try and convince each other that we needed a certain product I find when we shop together we start talking about food and recipes and conversations […]

Filed Under: The Grocery Game Tagged With: grocery budget, grocery list, Grocery store, meal plan, shop along, shopping alone

Young adult teaches us about being house poor in 15 minutes

July 14, 2014 By Mr. CBB 21 Comments

DON’T GET CAUGHT SINKING YOUR SHIP Being house poor doesn’t necessarily mean that you simply have no money but it can mean that you have too much house you can’t afford. House poor can also mean you have too much stuff, no money and/or piles of consumer debt that you are struggling financially to make ends meet. The term “poor” means so many things to everyone that the only way to describe it from a financial perspective would be lack of money. Some people may not consider themselves poor until starvation kicks in and they have to go to the food bank or when they reach the point of bankruptcy. Others may take on a different view but no matter what poor means to you it’s not a place that people “dream” of. House poor is not easy living You might consider yourself house poor when you can’t pay your mortgage which could be for a variety of reasons. There are also plenty of poor people living in the ritzy part of town who are struggling to take control of their financial situation. I think there are many misconceptions of the word poor and the only person […]