Canadian Budget Binder

12 Practical Ways To Afford Expensive Food For Less : The Grocery Game Challenge 2016 #4 Sept 26-Oct 3

September 27, 2016 By Mr. CBB 5 Comments

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The most expensive meal you will ever eat is the one you can’t afford. When you crave the most expensive steak but your budget can’t afford it there are ways to get what you want but the key is, patience. Luxury food differs from person to person depending on their grocery budget but it is possible to splurge without paying the price. Most frugal consumers read the flyers and create their grocery list based on that alone. If you really want something that you just can’t afford it’s important to be mindful when you grocery shop. By that I mean scanning for prices. You may not be able to buy it at that moment but eventually you’ll get what you want. We get a bit happy in the grocery store if we find 50% off packages of bacon or other expensive food that we would never buy full-price unless we had to. Even then we may never buy some of the more expensive food on sale because it’s not practical for our family. Over the years we’ve experienced just about every way possible to purchase expensive food that we wouldn’t typically try for less. You may buy a fattier […]

Filed Under: The Grocery Game Tagged With: Canada, Enfamil, expensive food, expensive food products, expensive meal, expensive steak, grocery budget, Grocery store, PC Elite MasterCard, President's Choice, SCOP, zehrs

Warm Spiced Apple Pear Sauce

September 25, 2016 By Mr. CBB 3 Comments

HARVEST THE SCENT OF FALL AND LET SIMPLE FLAVOURS FIND THEIR WAY INTO YOUR HOME. Enjoy this warm spiced apple pear sauce to finish off a meal for an Autumn dessert. The relaxing aroma will fill you house with Fall festival smells that will linger throughout the day. If you’re anything like my wife she has to smell every spiced candle on the market when the Autumn season say GO. I say forget the candle and fill your home with love starting in your kitchen. Let me show you what we’ve done in less than 30 minutes. Trying to create recipes for fresh pears and apples this time of year is fairly simple if you stick to basic Fall Harvest recipes that have been served up for decades. In our fruit basket we had 2 Bosc pears and 2 Royal Gala apples that needed using up so in less than 30 minutes I had a small kettle filled with spiced apple pear sauce. Related: Magically Moist Apple Cake with Butter Rum Raisin Glaze The apple sauce has very little sugar added since apples and pears naturally have sugar. You don’t want to overpower the fresh organic flavours of your […]

Filed Under: Desserts/Treats Tagged With: apple and pear recipes, apple pear, apple pear sauce, applesauce, bosc pears, Orange Pippin, pear recipes, pear sauce, recipes with pears, Royal Gala apples, spiced apple

Makeup And My Beauty Routine Is Going To Bankrupt Me : The Saturday Weekend Review #191

September 24, 2016 By Mr. CBB 7 Comments

BEAUTY IS A BIG INDUSTRY THAT CAN SWALLOW YOUR MONEY WITH DESIGNER PROMISES My wife was talking to her sister on Skype while she was getting ready for work yesterday morning. She was in the bathroom straightening her hair and said she had been up since 5:30am and she was running behind as it was 7am. I’m in the kitchen prepping the pumpkin spice coffee into the coffee pot that was graciously gifted to us by our neighbour for watching his cat while they went on holidays. In the midst of pouring the water in the back of the worst coffee pot ever I’m trying NOT to listen to them chat but it’s hard not to when the topic is about Money. You have to understand something about my wife’s sister, she’s a Hollywood beauty enthusiast and loves everything to do with make-up, body lotions, creams and perfume. Her closet is an entirely different situation but let’s just say in the past 3 weeks she’s donated over 4 garbage bags full and she’s still not done purging at the advice of her mother. When she was younger there was no hiding that she had debt because she was spending […]

Filed Under: The Saturday Weekly Review Tagged With: 20x Optimum Points, Beauty, beauty budget, Beauty Routine, Budget, Chewtown, Chris McMillan, Classy Career Girl, Clinique, ESI Money, Halloween, Halloween crafts, Hope and Cents, IHeart Crafty Things, Kim Kardashian West, L'Oreal, MAC makeup, Make-Up, messy bun, shoppers drug mart, Spider Plate, value-village, walmart

Fixed Income Seniors Struggle To Learn How To Budget

September 22, 2016 By Mr. CBB 6 Comments

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DON’T LEAVE YOUR FINANCIAL DREAMS SCATTERED ON THE GROUND Learning how to budget after never using one has caused two seniors we know anxiety over their financial future. If they could do it all over again they would change so much about the way they managed their money. They know they can’t turn back the clock and must face the reality of living on a fixed income with little to no retirement savings and lots of grandchildren. They are not alone as many Canadians on a fixed income struggle to make ends meet and must juggle their money to balance their budget, if they use one. Living on a fixed income is a big deal especially for seniors or individuals who rely on money from sources other than from an employer. Cost-of-living increases can cripple those who live on a fixed income especially if they have no other sources of extra money to take from. People are talking about finance and income so much these days particularly in Ontario because most people are struggling with soaring utility costs and high debt loads. Comparing a Hydro bill to a mortgage payment is not unusual for some homeowners these days. If […]

Filed Under: All About Budgets, From the Readers Tagged With: Autumn, Canada, emergency savings, Fall, fixed income, Hydro costs, Hydro rates, injury, Insurance, limited income, low-income, Ontario, Ontario Hydro Rates, retirement, Seniors, WSIB

10 Champion Foods And Beverages To Consume When Feeling ILL : The Grocery Game Challenge 2016 #3 Sept 19-25

September 20, 2016 By Mr. CBB 14 Comments

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GET BACK TO YOUR NORMAL SELF FAST WITH THESE HEALING SUPER-FOODS When you’re feeling ill a quick recovery is important especially if your employer doesn’t offer sick days. Losing valuable income when you are off sick from work will put a dent in your monthly budget so take care of yourself first and fast. Just about every country has a special way to treat themselves when feeling ill and with that comes a host of recipes and miracle cures that might just do the trick. Simple foods and drinks are what have been successful when feeling ill for decades and continue to end up on grocery lists as an alternative to modern medicine. Just because you are ill with the cold, flu, nausea or other seasonal health related illness you don’t have to jump to the medicine cabinet right away. Talk to your doctor or naturopath for recommendations about first steps to take when you are feeling ill. With the winter months ahead of us many of us will catch a cold or the flu which means knowing what you can and can’t eat or drink is important. When I have a cold I tend to eliminate dairy, spicy […]

Filed Under: The Grocery Game Tagged With: bland food, BRAT diet, Caddle, Care2, cold and flu, cold and flu rememdies, Diclectin, feeling ill, Homemade lozengers, jello, naturopath, Pastina

Warm Cauliflower Bacon Salad with a Buttery Hot Apple-Cider Vinaigrette

September 18, 2016 By Mr. CBB Leave a Comment

There are recipes with cauliflower but not like this Warm Cauliflower Bacon Salad topped with a luscious buttery hot apple cider vinaigrette. This cauliflower salad IS the best cauliflower salad recipe for the upcoming seasons and we’re sharing the recipe with you today. This warm cauliflower salad is so good that my wife ate the entire dish before touching her meal. She said it was just so hard to stop eating it because the cauliflower and bacon pair up so nice together. It’s true. Finally cauliflower is reasonably priced. Cauliflower has dropped in price from $8.00 a head to $0.88 on sale at grocery stores and farmers markets across Canada. The winter will bring a spike in price for cauliflower and other imported vegetables because of the Ontario climate but don’t be afraid to add it to your grocery list. Cauliflower is very nutritious. This cauliflower bacon salad is perfect for Autumn and Winter or even serve it at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner as a side-dish. My wife enjoys a low-carb lifestyle which means our son and I also enjoy the odd recipes with her because they are that delicious. I’m not a huge fan of raw cauliflower […]

Filed Under: Low Carb Dishes, Soups/Salads/Sandwiches Tagged With: Atkins, Bacon, Canada, Cauliflower, cauliflower bacon salad, cauliflower recipe, cauliflower salad, cauliflower salad bacon, cauliflower side-dish, easy side-dish, eatfatlosefat, fried cauliflower, how to make the best bacon, low carb high fat, low-carb, raw cauliflower, season cauliflower

7 Reasons People Think You’re Flat Broke When You’re Not : The Saturday Weekend Review #190

September 17, 2016 By Mr. CBB 4 Comments

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DON’T GO FLAT BROKE TRYING TO LOOK RICH WHEN YOU’RE NOT. You’re not looking for sympathy or hand-outs when people think you’re flat broke when you’re not. It’s their perception and not your influence that guides their belief and how they choose to act around you in regards to financial status. This isn’t a bad thing if you don’t want people to know about your oversized bank account and investment portfolio. One thing we don’t typically do is talk about our finances with family, friends, employer, co-workers or strangers. They don’t need to know how much money we earn, where we’re spending it and how much we’ve managed to accumulate in the bank. Have you ever heard of people who become rich because someone in the family passes away and leaves them part of a fortune in their Will which no one knew about? It happens because not everyone shares their success with the world and not everyone values money the same either. Then there are hopeful people who think they are going to become rich because Grandma Suzie was loaded only to find out she was skint and left them a family heirloom instead of money. Money […]

Filed Under: The Saturday Weekly Review Tagged With: Bakers chocolate, broke, Dancing Lawn Ghosts, flat broke, Frys Cocoa, Halloween DIY, highend cheapskate, Kimberly Haydn, Listotic, Natasha's Kitchen, perception, rich, soft chocolate chip cookies, Station Seven, wealthy

5 Reasons Why You Should Build Wealth From The Inside Out : August Net Worth Update (+0.95%)

September 15, 2016 By Mr. CBB Leave a Comment

BUILDING WEALTH FROM NOTHING IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE AND WORTH THE CHALLENGE You can’t be financially successful unless you’ve created a personal manual and mastered it which is why it’s very important to build wealth from the inside out. What does all this mean? It means you need to have a purpose before you can fulfill your financial dreams and the only way to achieve this starts with-in by writing a story. To build wealth you must do 3 things; Plan it, Master it, Live it. Build wealth without fear of failure 1. Investigate step by step the reasons why you want to be financially free. Once you have a clear view of your path or even an inkling of where you want to be it will help you take the first step. For example when Mrs. CBB and I decided to use a budget we talked about why we wanted to use one and wrote down some key points to make sure we were on the same page in the manual we were creating to build wealth. 2. Create a strategy and a sketch It’s great that you have ideas but you need action steps to […]

Filed Under: Our Net Worth Tagged With: build wealth, Canada, debt-free, financial freedom, mortgage free, net worth, wealth building

How To Hire The Right Caterer For Your Next Event : The Grocery Game Challenge 2016 #2 Sept 12-18

September 13, 2016 By Mr. CBB 11 Comments

THERE’S LOTS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN HIRING A CATERER. I’m a guy who loves to cook but for smaller crowds. If you asked me to cater an event there’s no way I’d keep up because I simply can’t handle the stress of knowing I might mess up. This is where hiring a caterer comes in handy. The catering business is a big business all over the world because food is love and when there is a special event the caterer is there to ease the stress of the day. Catering is a hard-core business with competition fighting for top spot to take charge of your event. Over the last month I’ve received 2 emails from fans asking me about budgets and catering events they were planning so I thought I would address how to hire the right caterer and some budgeting tips. There are two types of caterers In-house or On Premises Catering (Food is prepared in-house) Off-Premises Catering (Food is brought in) The only reason catering may not be an option for your event is because of a low-budget or availability. Catering comes with a price tag similar to getting restaurant service or fast-food. You get what you […]

Filed Under: The Grocery Game Tagged With: Australia, Birthday, brides.com, Budget, Canada, cater, caterer, caterer menu, christening, event, find a caterer, flavors catering Sydney, food catering, funeral, in-house caterer, negotiate, Party, Wedding

Best Low Carb Chocolate Frosted Zucchini Brownies

September 11, 2016 By Mr. CBB 3 Comments

INDULGE YOUR SWEET TOOTH WITH THESE MOIST ZUCCHINI BROWNIES If you’re anything like us you have a kitchen counter full of zucchini also called courgette and wondering what on earth you can do with it all. I have a sweet suggestion for you! You can make these outrageously moist low carb chocolate frosted zucchini brownies and no one will ever know they are healthy. Zucchini are a summer squash which can reach nearly a meter in length, but is usually harvested immature at 15–25 cm. In the British Isles, a fully grown zucchini is referred to as a marrow.- Source Wikipedia Zucchini The zucchini we used for this recipe were organic and full-grown so we removed all the skin which tends to be tough and grated it using a box grater. This is a simple way to make sure none of the mature seeds get into your zucchini brownies. The shredded zucchini gets lost in the chocolate brownie batter which is a cake-like consistency and no one will even know it’s there. You can’t even taste it. The main role of the zucchini is to keep cakes and brownies moist. What you’re left with is a healthier option for a […]

Filed Under: Desserts/Treats, Low Carb Desserts Tagged With: Atkins, best recipe, courgette brownies, Keto, Ketosis, low carb brownies, Low Carb Dessert, low carb zucchini brownies, Low-carb living, Paleo, sugar-free buttercream frosting, sugar-free chocoate icing, sugar-free chocolate buttercream frosting, zucchini cake

I Want To Be The Tooth Fairy When I Grow Up : The Saturday Weekend Review #189

September 10, 2016 By Mr. CBB 2 Comments

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A SAVINGS PLAN STARTS WITH A LOST TOOTH The real tooth fairy doesn’t necessarily have to be a girl in a pink fluffy dress with fairy wings and a wand. There are little boys out there just as fascinated with spreading cheer and wanting a job as the tooth fairy when they grow up, like our nephew. Talking about saving money is tough for some parents with their kids but a great place to start is when your child starts losing their teeth. Instead of spending money they get from the tooth fairy take the opportunity to explain to them about financial growth and how it may work in their favour. Not only did our nephew remind us that we have to add tooth fairy savings to our budget as our little guy gets older but that we have to prepare ourselves as parents for these times ahead. What exactly is the tooth fairy all about? The tooth fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood.The folklore states that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow and the tooth fairy will visit while they sleep, replacing the lost tooth with a […]