Savings account | Canadian Budget Binder

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Bust Our Budget- April 2013 CBB Budget Update #4

It’s time for us to Bust our Budget and see how we made out for the month of April and set the ground rules for May. Managing personal finances in April has proven to be a bit tricky for our budget mainly because of the spike in the grocery budget which I spoke about in the last grocery game challenge update for April.

Budget mistakes this month didn’t seem as bad as they should have been but we knew that we would be stocking up buying products for the wife’s new GI diet. Looking at our overall budget goals for the month I’d say we reached them all although we really wanted to tie up loose ends with the mortgage and get the next mortgage pre-payment set up and paid.

I spoke with our mortgage company and the pre-payment allowable doesn’t re-set until May 3rd. I’ll transfer the funds now and get the ball rolling so we can pay the final $37,000 before we break the mortgage. In the meantime while we are working on getting the money sorted with the mortgage we are allowed to increase our weekly payments which I will start to do immediately. I don’t know the actual figure just yet but I will make that adjustment in the budget as soon as I get that number.

Spring Cleaning

I’ve been hard at work around the house cleaning the windows, screens, garage, vehicles and the women up the road left me a hardwood barrel for free. I re-finished the barrel and brought it back to life saving us some money for our front landscaping which is a plus for us. That’s probably why I didn’t end up getting my personal finance book from the library but I can’t do it all and I understand that. I hope to get to the book at some point and will continue to keep that as a goal.

My blog goals for the month went pretty smooth thanks to all my fans who helped me spread the word about Canadian Budget Binder by sharing posts and participating on my Social Media accounts mainly Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. We made it to 5000 Facebook fans in April which blasted our yearly goal so now I’ve set that for 6000 Fans for 2013.

Our income tax returns arrived safe and sound to Revenue Canada and a cheque arrived in my name for just over $200 and the wife owed nothing which made me happy. We work hard to make sure we don’t owe money for income taxes but we also try to make sure we aren’t paying more than we need to into taxes over the course of the year.

It wasn’t the income tax refund cheque that made me happy it was the fact that I took the initiative to research about preparing our own income tax returns. That enabled us to get rid of our income tax category in the budget and put that money to use somewhere else. You never know unless you try.

How We Budget Our Monthly Expenses

I often have fans ask me how to budget money and what we do in order to save so much money but the reply is that it’s not about the money it’s about the process involved. Budgeting and saving money is like a marriage of many variables but stay together with a dedication to learn, grow and work together towards budget goals.

Sometimes fans email and ask me if setting up a budget in Canada is any different living in other countries and to be honest I’m going to say, probably not. If I still lived in the UK I could use this exact budget to meet all of my needs. Below are links to the budgeting series which I wrote while designing our spreadsheet.

I’m not a financial planner/advisor so I can’t tell you how you should budget but I can show you how we budget. I’m just a regular guy just like everyone else, some might call me a budget nerd. I love seeing money grow and where it has gone. Please take the time to read through the budgeting series and I hope you take something away from the information.

How We Designed Our Budget Step 1- Gathering All the information
How We Designed Our Budget Step 2- Categories
How We Designed Our Budget Step 3- Tracking Receipts
How We Designed Our Budget Step 4- Note-taking
How We Designed Our Budget Step 5- 5S Organization
How We Designed Our Budget Step 6- Who Does What and When?
How We Designed Our Budget Step 7- Balancing Our Budget
How We Designed Our Budget Step 8- Knowing our Coupon Savings
How We Designed Our Budget Step 9- Reading Our Bills
How We Designed Our Budget Step 10- Projected Expenses

Screenshot Of Our Canadian Budget Binder Spreadsheet

Changes to The Budget This Month

As I explained above you will no longer see our income tax category as I have removed it since I will prepare our own income taxes. I’ve taken out my summer vehicle which means a bit of a spike with our insurance company so that budgeted amount had a slight increase.

The good thing is that my vehicle doesn’t use half as much gas as the winter guzzler so hopefully we can save a bit there. You can already see from the April figures that we only used $113 in gas instead of the $170 we had originally budgeted.

I’ve also been smacked with a professional association licence so now I’ll be saving for that every month which is reflected in the budget. I think it’s a big crock but what can you do when they feel you need a voice to watch over you.

You will notice that my allowance has gone up for the summer as I tend to like my beer and my BBQ. I don’t go out to eat or drink in the pubs often so after all my hard work I deserve my one case of beer a month. The case usually runs around $34 which means it will leave me with $1.00 of fun money.

I had also renegotiated with Rogers for new 2013 promotions so you will also see a spike in our payment for April but it will even out in May with a payment for just over $90. I’ve left in the extra mortgage payment this month but you will see that dissapear in May as it will no longer be relevant to our budget.

April Household Budget Percentages

Our savings of 37.27% includes savings and investments. I’ve also went ahead and added in our projected expenses this month at 16.68% which brings the total April 2013 Household Budget percentages to 100%.

April Budget Expenses Breakdown

Chequing- This is where all the bills get paid from.
Emergency Savings Account- This is a high interest savings account.
Regular Savings Account- This a savings account that holds our projected expenses money.
Monthly Budget Total: $4231.62
Monthly Net Income Total: $7735.03
Total Coupons Used (includes points redeemed, big box store coupons, not just grocery coupons:=$75.26
Projected Expenses: These are expenses we know we will pay for throughout year and save monthly for = $1290.40
Total Expenses Actually Paid Out: $4440.62
Total Expenses Actually Paid Out Calculated is $7735.03 (total net monthly income) –$2004.01 (total monthly savings)–Projected expenses $1290.40 = $4440.62
Actual Cash Savings Going Into Emergency Savings Funds: $2004.01
Calculated is $7735.03 (total monthly net income) – $4440.62 (actual expenses paid out for the month)–$1290.40 (projected expenses) = $2004.01

What are Projected Expenses?

PE= A Projected Expense is money which is automatically saved each month ready for when the bill comes in or for when you need it as in the example below. We go over our projected expenses at the beginning of the year to set up our yearly budget and adjust as we go along if a new projected expense arises and needs to be added to the budget.

This has happened on many occasions but it’s bound to happen as we can’t predict everything we have to pay for over the course of the year. The important part for us is that we are saving for the expense and we no longer have to stress about taking money from our savings to pay for them. To learn more about projected expenses read Step 10 in my budgeting series.

Projected Expense Example: Clothing we budget $50 per month. If we don’t spend it we move it to the projected expenses account. This means we should have $600.00 per year for clothing to spend. We have to track that expense as we spend it.

Below is our Budgeted Amount for April-Money that we budgeted to spend minus the savings as that gets added once we see what is left for the month.

Below is our Actual Budget Expenses for the month of April-What we actually spent plus our emergency savings

April 2013 Goals

Pre-Pay another 20% off the mortgage-Fail we are allowed to do this as of May 3
Pay the mortgage in full after we pre-pay but will see how this all comes together- Fail
Order a personal finance book from the library and actually start reading it-Fail
Reach 5000 Facebook Followers (lofty goal but I’ll try)-PASS
Reach 1575 Twitter Followers-PASS
Reach 920 Blog Subscribers –PASS
Work out the final touches on the new blog design with my designer-FAIL Still working on them
Clean out the garage-PASS
Guest Post for an awesome personal finance blog (if you want me, email me)-PASS
Take the winter tires off and store the winter beater to bring out my hot rod (not really but I like my set of wheels)-PASS
Clean out the inside of the vehicles-PASS (and a hand wax)
Start sanding down the deck-Fail (Starting it May 1)
Get the indoor plants out-FAIL (soon it’s still a bit too cold)
Clean the windows inside and out around the house- PASS and I did the screens
Scrub the front porch-PASS

May 2013 Goals

Pre-Pay another 20% off the mortgage
Pay the mortgage in full after we pre-pay but will see how this all comes together
Order a personal finance book from the library and actually start reading it
Reach 5120 Facebook Followers
Reach 1600 Twitter Followers
Reach 975 Blog Subscribers
Work out the final touches on the new blog design with my designer
Start Planting our seedlings
Guest Post for an awesome personal finance blog (if you want me, email me)
Finish sanding/Protecting and sealing the deck
Get the indoor plants out
Seal the drive
Re-caulk Garage Window
Design plans for landscaping
Put our summer furniture outside
Roll the back lawn
Clean up the back gardens

Our Year To Date Percentages 2013

How did you make out with your budget in April? Make sure to pop back in May to find out what we got ourselves into this month.

How did you do in April with your budget?

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January 2013 Budget Update #1 (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
February 2013 Budget Update #2 Big Ticket Expenses Hurt (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
March 2013 CBB Budget Update #3- A Quiet Month With The Budget (canadianbudgetbinder.com)

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Family Finances: Somebody Is Watching You

Posted: March 25, 2013 in Debt, Parenting
Tags: children, credit card, Credit card debt, debt, family budget, family finance, family finances, Finance, Marriage, Money Management, money problems, Parent, Personal finance, Savings account

When it comes to family finances, somebody is watching you especially when you have children in your life. My name is Laurie and I’m married with 4 kids, 3 girls and a boy. We live in the upper Midwest and have recently begun a journey to achieve financial sanity for our family. Welcome to a glimpse into the life of a formerly financially irresponsible couple who have vowed to make changes to the way they handle their money.

Our Family Finances

After 16 + years of marriage, we finally “got the picture” and began managing our family finances in a responsible manner. Three months into our “journey to debt free” things are going slow, but they are indeed moving in the right direction. Part of our journey to financial responsibility has been to assess how we came about making such a mess of our money in the first place. When we took a look back at the interesting ways our parents handled money, it gave us an eye-opening look as to part of the reason we were never very good at handling our finances.

Somebody is Watching You

You see, your kids, they’re always watching you, for better or for worse. This is why setting a good example for them is a pertinent part of raising responsible children. Whereas most of us do our best to behave well at work, we often think we can “let our hair down” at home, and be lackadaisical in how we treat our family, or in the habits we partake in. But the kids are always watching, whether they let on to this or not, and the things they learn from their parents will likely carry on into adulthood, in one way or another.

As my husband and I worked to figure out exactly where we got the idea that we could be financially irresponsible with our money, one road pointed back to our parents and how they handled their money.

Lessons About Money Taught By Our Parents

Money is for spending, not managing- My husband and I have wonderful, loving, supportive parents. However, neither my husband nor I can remember much in the way of responsible financial decisions from our parents when we were kids. There were no savings accounts, and every dime (and more) that came in, promptly went out on whatever it was that our parents wanted to have. Not that they never said “no”, it’s just that the goal of having money was to spend it and to accumulate “stuff”.
Money is a private matter- Even though none of our parents believed in letting the kids in on the financial order of their homes, enough “discussions” were overheard that we both knew that the money situations weren’t good. Because our parents didn’t believe in discussing money matters with children, we had no idea how to avoid the mistakes our parents had made.
Money is to be feared- Along with the money troubles that plagued our families growing up, we learned that there was never enough money, nor would there ever be enough money. That’s simply how it was in our families. There was an unspoken rule that although some people were “lucky” enough to have what they needed and more in terms of money, that this wasn’t the case with our families, and we got the message that there wasn’t anything that could be done about it. Thus, fear of having money, not having money, and not being able to buy what we needed (or wanted) to buy gave us both an incorrect view of money in general.

Obviously, the above statements about money are false, but they were the only truths we knew in our world, and belief in those truths led to a mess of a situation with our own family finances.

Handling Fear of Money

Ironically, we both handled our misunderstanding about finances in different ways. My goal with money was to make sure that I had the ability to buy whatever I thought I needed or wanted. I learned quickly that the “have nots” were not as popular or accepted as the “haves”, so I purposed to become one of the “haves”, with little or no regard to the impact it had on my finances. Living pay-check to-pay-check and having credit card payments were a regular and normal part of life, and I was OK with that, as it allowed me to have the appearance of being one of the “haves”.

My husband handled his fear of money completely the opposite way. He hoarded money like crazy. When Rick and I first started dating, he had just moved from his $6 an hour job to a $12 or so an hour job, yet he had a savings account that amounted to more than $20,000. Now, that’s some serious hoarding.

After we got married though, Rick, who’d had a poor role model with his abusive alcoholic father, wanted me to manage the family finances. For my part, that was fine with me. I didn’t want to be left with nothing as my mother was left after her divorce. I needed to be “in charge” of things.

Unfortunately, though, “in charge” meant a lifestyle of continuously spending beyond our means. Although Rick didn’t agree with my means of financial management, his father’s tirades had left him fearful of confrontation, and he avoided arguments whenever possible.

Money Fights and Money Problems

Suffice to say, though, that our improper ways of handling our marriage and our family finances led to the mess we’re in now. We’ve never borrowed money from family or friends, but relied solely on credit cards. Yes, we did consider bankruptcy, but we wanted to give responsible money management a serious try first. We fought about money for years. The stress of a ton of debt and no relief in sight really does take its toll on a marriage, but we were and are committed to keeping our family together. And now that we’ve got a plan and are on the same financial path, we are happier than ever.

This may lead you to wonder: Do kids who come from homes with poorly managed finances always repeat the cycle, and if so, why or why not?

In questioning family and friends on this subject, I received a myriad of answers. It seems that everyone has a different of opinions about whether or not how they handle their finances is a result of what they learned at home.

Where does the responsibility lie? So, who is responsible for teaching our kids about money? Should we leave it up to the parents? Should the education system play a role?

I believe strongly that the education system has a responsibility to teach our children about proper finance management, both at the elementary and secondary levels, as well as post-secondary levels. The basics of how to create and live on a budget, use a cheque book and avoid debt are easily taught by the right teacher. And we all know that many parents don’t teach kids about finances, so if in a particular family money isn’t talked about, at least the school system would be there to teach children the basics.

We also teach the kids a more responsible way of handling finances by giving them a weekly list of chores, and then paying them at the end of each week. The requirements in our household are that they put 10% of each week’s pay into a savings account, and 10% into a giving account, and then manage the other 80% as they please. Also, our current stringent budget means very little entertainment money, so it’s been fun to watch as the kids save their money so that they can partake in fun activities that aren’t currently in our budget. And the kids get excited about money as they watch their savings grow and as they earn money on their own to do the fun stuff that we can’t afford right now.

Managing Family Finances Today

My husband and I, through much education about family finance management and a lot of hard work are finally on the same page regarding money. His fear of money is slowing dissipating, in large part due to the fact that I’ve come to face my own money mistakes and the reasons for them.

Today we manage our finances frugally by budgeting, tracking our spending, and meal planning, which helps us to feed our family of six on under $450 a month. We don’t use much in the way of coupons because we don’t eat alot of processed food, but instead grow and preserve many of our own veggies, and make most stuff from scratch.

We are happily living a super-frugal lifestyle, with the common goals of reaching financial independence and focusing on value-based spending. Value-based spending, which is simply making spending decisions based on what’s most important to our family, helps us to curb wasteful spending and make sure our money goes towards the things that matter most to the well-being of our family.

Sometimes it’s tough, on an emotional level, to not spend on “fun” things, but we know we’ll be doing our marriage and our family a great service in the long run if we simply buckle down for a few years.No matter what the influences are that may have caused you to manage money irresponsibly, you can overcome them and create a better financial life for yourself, so start today.

Post contribution by: Laurie B. I practice frugality with my husband, 4 children, 2 horses and 3 cats on a 7-plus acre hobby farm in the Midwest. Here we are learning to be self-sufficient and to achieve the financial peace that comes with being debt free. I also blog about money and about life on the farm at The Frugal Farmer.

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Both Photos Courtesy of Ambro/freedigitalphotos.net

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