Can your budget handle the 2015 TFSA annual limit change? : The Saturday Weekend Review #118

STASH MORE CASH IN A TFSA

 

Ottawa has confirmed that we don’t need to wait for the 2015 budget to pass to take advantage of the new TFSA annual limit for 2015.

 

TFSA Annual Increase

 

Saving may have gotten easier but you must have the cash if you want to take advantage of this 82% TFSA annual increase.

The new TFSA increase means the lifetime contribution room is now $41,000 up from $36,500 and you can pack away up to $10,000 a year up from $5,500. That means if you’ve already made your 2015 lump sum contribution for the year you now have room for an additional $4,500.

Not many people have a spare $4,500 or even the max $10k kicking around so don’t get too worried if your budget can’t handle the extra TFSA contribution room. If you have it, you have it, if you don’t you don’t. No sense stressing over what you can’t change. Unless of course you are able to work more hours to earn more or find getting a second job worth it.

There were plenty of years I wished I could max out my RRSP and couldn’t because our budget just didn’t have the funds. Now I’m behind with lots of catch up room.

I was talking to my neighbour who still has a mortgage with her husband, 50’s and one child at home 17 and another 21 who just finished school and they can’t compete with this TFSA increase.

She told me they can’t even max out the $5,500 TFSA limit. They are not alone so for many Canadians the TFSA annual increase may come to them as no big deal.

The CRA website has made note of the increase as well:

I often say that our family budget is reviewed monthly because there always seems to be something that comes up that changes our finances.

We thought our budget would be fine for at least the rest of the year as we had just finished sorting out our new communications bill with Rogers the past week. Guess we were wrong.

I’d take the TFSA annual increase budget review any day over having to negotiate a new monthly deal with Rogers.

The good news is we did come under budget with Rogers although we had to scrap our VIP Cable which was fine. This left a few extra bucks in our budget anyways which is good because extra money can always find a home.

 

Our TFSA investments

 

Currently my wife invests the max amount into her TFSA every year since the Tax Free Savings Account began in 2009. It was back in 2012 when we saw the last TFSA annual increase from $5000 to $5500 and investors jumped right in on that one. It was also when we last did a budget review for our TFSA category.

We knew back then there were talks of the increase but never thought it would actually happen. Now we are eating our words but it’s great as long as you have the extra cash to stash away.

Since we’ve just had a baby in 2014 and are contributing to his Registered Education Savings Plan this has taken a chunk of money from our net income.

I won’t be increasing my TFSA as I have RRSP room that I need to use up first although I’ll continue to contribute monthly.

The end of April is near which is perfect timing for the TFSA annual increase because my wife and I can go through our budget and see if we can afford the full $10,000 each year for her and my retirement savings plan increase.

Since I’m working a second job, the mortgage is paid and we have no other debt I’m going to say we can likely afford to do this. We still can’t just guess so I’ll run the numbers and see if our budget can afford the increase.

 

TFSA age limit

 

If you want to take advantage of this you must reach the TFSA age limit of 18 and have a social insurance number according to the CRA website. The good news is if you turn 18 in May 2015 you can contribute the new TFSA annual limit of $10,000 or $833 a month.

Will you be contributing the max amount with the new TFSA annual limit increase to $10,000?

 

CBB Week At A Glance

 

Hey everyone! Thanks for dropping by this week again.

At home it’s been an emotional week as an immediate family member has had serious health issues. Most of our time has been focused on this.

I had 1 day off this week which will be the norm for the next few weeks as I wrap up my second job for the summer months. I decided to take a few months to hang out with my family and travel. (More to come on that)

The good news is my parents are due to land in Canada from the UK at the end of May for a few weeks. Since I won’t be working I can spend time travelling with my entire family. I haven’t seen my parents in so many years. I’m pretty excited to see them so I’m working on an agenda for their arrival.

Other than that we went swimming this week with the boy then over to Loblaws to check out the deals. We did manage to find some Easter colouring kits reduced to $0.50 which we will use next year and some Pam cooking spray and Fontina Cheese all with pink stickers.

May will certainly call for some strict grocery shopping.

The blog has done very well this week so big thanks to all the fans and bloggers who have linked up or shared a CBB post this week.

How was your week?

 

Published This Week

 

Just in case you’ve missed any of my blog posts this week I will share them all below.

If you have a question that you would like to ask Mr.CBB fill out the Contact Mr.CBB form on the Home Page and send in your questions. If you want to share a story please ensure that there is minimum 500-1000 words and details… we love details!

Mr.CBB (that’s me) will look in his mailbag weekly and pick a question to answer on the blog.

This week on Canadian Budget Binder:

1. Why you don’t have to be budget poor to live a frugal life
2. Ultimate Grocery list and tips for the Frugal Shopper
3. Is your savings account and indication of your wealth?
4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

 

Budget Brags

 

Submit your Deal or Brag:

Saving money while grocery shopping is essential in the CBB family and that’s why we share our grocery shops every week in The Grocery Game Challenge 2015.

What I love the most is when my fans share their amazing shops with me whether it be groceries or other deals they find at a garage sale, online or freebies!!!

If you have a brag that you want me to share email me at canadianbudgetbinder (@) [yahoo] [.ca] or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.

This week we welcome Jen back with her first garage sale deals of the season!! Jen is a super saver who worked her way into our Free CBB Budget and is now on track to paying off their debts and saving for their future.

Hi Mr.CBB and Fans!
Here are my deals from my first garage sale of 2015.

Today’s finds:

• Large cooler bag $1
• Jenga – free!

 

Making A Difference (MAD)

 

Note: If you are a personal finance blogger (anywhere around the world) and would like your blog to be MAD featured simply drop me an email and I’ll explain the process to you.

This is my way of giving back to the personal finance community through networking and sharing knowledge with my fans. Today I’d like to welcome Jon from The Wealth Brick Road.

Hey Mr. CBB and Fans!

The Wealth Brick Road is my creative outlet as a number crunching, nerd accountant. I share my own financial journey and in the process provide tax advice, financial tips, lifestyle outlooks and some modest/sad attempts at humour. My main goal is to interact with my readers and provide them with professional advice in a laid back forum.

As a professional accountant (CPA, CA) with over 10+ years of personal and corporate finance I’ve come to learn money means something different to everyone: For some it may be a measuring stick of success, a ticket to freedom or an evil necessity.

My personal view on money is that you only need so much; anything else is excessive and restrictive to your overall happiness. Identifying “how much is enough?” is a personal question with a unique answer for each individual.

The fun of any trip is not in the destination, but the journey. I originally set the blog up not really knowing what to expect and even a bit hesitant to share my personal information. However, the positive responses I have received from my readers has made all the difference and fuelled my desire to keep going.

Moving forward I’m hoping to grow my reader base by continuing to offer relevant finance and lifestyle content, as well as continuing to interact with each and every reader that reaches out.

I love it when readers share their own insights on money and lifestyle because their journey not only provides great stories but also provides me with motivation when striving for my own goals. Swing by my blog and let me know what’s up, I’d love to hear from you!

 

Top Recipe

 

Food  and grocery shopping is a BIG part of CBB because food is a large part of the budget which people struggle the most with.

If you are someone who would rather buy convenience meals or products consider cooking homemade meals or baking from scratch.

Not only will you save money but you will be proud of what you accomplished and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.

If you don’t already know I have a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot where I share recipes from other Food Bloggers from around the world.

I created this second Facebook page because I love food so much and I wanted to showcase only food 24/7 and this is where I do it.

I also share recipes on CBB once a week on Sundays either made by me or my in-house home blog cook Nicola Don!

This week our Top Recipe Pick goes to Carrian who blogs at ‘Oh Sweet Basil‘ for her Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Don’t they just look delicious!

 

Editor’s Pick

 

Every week I will pick a blog post of the week from around the web that I found interesting and want to share with you and an Editor’s top blog post pick.

Editor’s blog post this week goes to my blogger friend Stephen over at How To Save Money where he shares his Eating out at Restaurants: The Ultimate Guide to Spending Less.

 

Google search terms

 

Every week I get thousands of people visit Canadian Budget Binder because they did a search online and found my blog. Keep in mind any spelling errors below are because I share with you the exact way they typed their search engine query to land on my blog.

1. If I have a monitored bank account can my parents see if I get cash back?- Oh, um ya probably.
2. Is it easy to steal from Food Basics?– I’m hoping it’s management looking to see if there is any info online about their stores. Stealing gets you nowhere. There are other options if you are in need of food.
3. Smoking in grocery stores– I think you may have been able to do that back in the 80’s.
4. I hate cleaning the house– You’re not alone.
5. 2015 Budget Ottawa- I often get traffic from people looking for the government budget. Sadly, this is the wrong stop for them.

Thanks for reading The Saturday Weekend Review and Welcome to 2015 on Canadian Budget Binder!!

-Mr.CBB

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• The Saturday Weekend Review #114: Mom wants limited Easter Chocolate and Healthier Baskets for the kids
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• The Saturday Weekend Review #116: At what age should your child get a cell phone?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #117: How getting rid of junk will make you happier and richer

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