How We Created An Anti Bucket list: February 2021 Budget

Be Mindful Of What You Want and Don’t Want To Do Again In Your Lifetime

Creating a bucket list is not something everyone does but it does come with benefits as does an anti bucket list.

To be completely transparent both Mrs. CBB and I have never created a bucket list up until now.

However, it was the anti bucket list that we came up with where we found challenges.

It’s easy to write what you want to do in your life but even harder to consider what you won’t do again.

I’m sure you’ve all heard someone talk about their bucket list and thought they were a tiny bit, over the top.

That may be true for you but for someone who wants to conquer their dreams a bucket list is worth its weight in gold.

From my experience creating a bucket list I found the process to be uplifting and motivational.

Below I want to talk about how to create a bucket list and also why an anti bucket list is just as important.

The Bucket List vs. Anti-Bucket List

What is a bucket list? I’ll give you a hint and tell you there is no bucket involved. haha!

It really is a great question for those of you who are not familiar with a bucket list.

A bucket list is a list that one would create of specific goals they want to achieve in their life.

It’s deemed the before I die list of things I want to do just to simplify it further.

Bucket List Examples

A few examples of what would be on a bucket list:

• Travel destinations
• Kiss a Dolphin
• Ride a Horse
• Donate Blood
• Writing and Publishing a Book
• Creating and Monetizing a Blog
• Meeting an actor, actress or musician
• Swimming in the Ocean
• Get Baptized
• Reach a goal weight
• Go back to school to learn something new
• Learning a second or third language
• Become a Millionaire
• Paying a mortgage off early
• Professional Goals
• Get Married
• Work with a Famous Chef, Dancer, Musician
• Create a Budget and Debt Freedom
• Entertainment or Sports
• Buying new furniture for home or apartment
• Purchasing a vehicle
• Learning to ride a motorcycle

Importance Of A Bucket List

That’s just a few ideas of what might be on a bucket list but I’m sure as you read the list ideas popped into your head.

In all reality, that’s exactly what should happen because a bucket list is about things that make you happy.

My bucket list and your bucket list will be completely different so nothing has to be the same.

For some people a bucket list is what keeps them motivated day after day.

As I was scrolling through my personal Facebook page an advertisement came up that caught my attention.

All I remember hearing is something about why a bucket list is important.

Immediately asked Mrs. CBB if she had ever created a bucketlist in her life and she said no.

At this point I was intrigued about the bucket list and why so many people were jumping on the bandwagon.

Bucket List Creation

A bucket list also known as a life bucket list does not need to include a variety of goals.

Although keep in mind that your bucket list and anti bucket list will continue to change based on life experience.

Related: 4 Easy Steps To Setting Your Life Goals

The cool part is creating more than one bucket list based on what’s important to you.

• Life Bucket List
• Travel Bucket List
• Family Bucket List (I like this idea which we did)
• Birthday Bucket List
• Healthy Living Bucket List
• Bucket List based on age (creating a list of things you want to do before you turn 20)

Creating A Seasonal Bucket List

Coincidentally, a friend of ours posted on Instagram that she had crossed off another hike.

She’s participating in a 52 hike challenge across Ontario as part of nature therapy during Covid-19.

This is also could be considered a destination bucket list which gets you outside of your home.

With Covid-19 travelling is something we are asked to avoid unless necessary.

The idea of creating a bucket list of outdoor destinations is probably one of the best.

Also, when creating an outdoor bucket list consider seasons and popular destinations.

• Summer Bucket List
• Winter Bucket List
• Spring Bucket List
• Fall Bucket List

Bucket List Goals That Are Attainable

The complexity of a bucket list doesn’t have to be overwhelming either.

Stick to destinations or areas in your community or drive to the places on your list.

Other outdoor bucket list places to visit examples:

• Hike all of the Walking trails in your city
• Waterfalls across Ontario
• Walk down every street in your city
• Beach destinations across Canada
• National Parks Canada destination visits

The Anti Bucket List

Some of you may be scratching your head wondering what the heck an anti bucket list is.

I promise I’m not talking gibberish because as you will learn how valuable this tool may be.

Quite simply the anti bucket list is the opposite of a bucket list.

The anti bucket list idea is straightforward, things you never want to do in your lifetime again.

What I like about the idea is that by creating a bucket list of things you never want to do again is important.

I believe by being mindful of what you no longer want is a great motivational idea to get what you want.

Create A Personal Anti Bucket List

Note: To print or save our budget binder printables see the information at the bottom of this post.

Just as you would with a happy bucket list you follow the same idea by writing it down.

I also find by writing a bucket list or anti bucket list on paper to be more effective for us.

That’s why we created a budget binder printable that we could update as we go along.

What To Include On An Anti Bucket List

Examples of an Anti Bucket List:

Remember these are things you never want to do again and they are only examples.

• Never visit a certain destination again
• Join a food eating challenge
• Decline all credit card increase offers
• Stop spending money that I don’t have
• Discontinue being around toxic people
• Get married
• Avoid paying full-price for products
• Go skydiving
• Get on a Plane
• Date using a mobile app dating service

The anti bucket list is a very personal list that details parts of your life that you may have learned from experience.

Start your anti bucket list as a draft and from there pick out the most important.

Final Thoughts

Most often you’ll find that being mindful of such activities or events in your life allows you to seek your goals.

Allow yourself the time to create a list with your family or by yourself to improve self-awareness, self-goals and self-love.

As well, try your hand at the anti bucket list as you may be shocked at how often you do things you never want to do again. Ex: Overspend

Don’t forget to subscribe so you get access to all of the Canadian Budget Binder Free Printables including both bucket lists.

Discussion: Have you ever created a bucket list or anti bucket list before?

Get Your Free Budget Binder Printables including the Bucket List and Anti Bucket List subscribe to the blog and head to the Free Finance Budget Binder Printable Page.

Leave your comments below and I’ll be responding to them all.

CBB Family Income Report February 2021

Hi CBB Friends,

As you can see we had a great month for our total net worth and finally put away more money into emergency savings.

Since we don’t shop much these days it has been helping us to stash more money.

We were tinkering with investing more of our savings into our non-registered account but still unsure.

Any thoughts on investing at this time would be greatly appreciated.

Comment below.

Mr.CBB

Family Budget Percentages

Our savings of include investments as well as any savings for this month based on the net income of $12,100.95

We save money in our projected expenses for things that need to be paid for in the coming months such as Christmas.

All of the categories took 100% of our income which shows that we accounted for all of the income in February 2021.

This type of budget is a zero-based budget where all of the money has a home.

MONTHLY HOME BUDGET EXPENSES

Below is a breakdown of our expenses which helps us to understand where all of our money goes.

1. Chequing– This is the bank account where all of our debt gets paid from. We use Simplii Financial, TD Canada Trust, and Tangerine Bank.
2. Emergency Savings Account– This is a high-interest savings account.
3. Regular Savings Account– This is a savings account that holds our projected expenses.
4. Monthly Budgeted Total: $6545.80
5. Monthly Net Income Total: $12,100.95
6. (Check out our Ultimate Grocery Guide to see where our grocery money goes)
7. Projected Expenses: These are expenses we know we will pay for throughout the year = $915
8. Total Expenses Paid Out: $5630.34
9. Total Expenses Paid Out: Calculated is $12,100.95 (total net monthly income) – $915 (projected expenses) – $5555.61 (savings to emergency fund) = $5630.34
10. Actual Cash Savings going into Emergency Savings: Calculated is $12,100.95 (total monthly net income) – $5630.34 (actual expenses paid out for the month) – $915 (projected expenses) = $5555.61

MONTHLY BUDGET AND ACTUAL BUDGET

Below you will see two tables, one is our monthly budget and the other is our actual budget.

This budget represents 2 adults and a 6-year-old son, plus retirement investments.

Budget colour chart: If highlighted in blue that means it is a projected expense.   

Since May 2014 we’ve been mortgage-free so much of our money will be directed at savings, investments, and renovations.

I appreciate that you enjoy this budget update each month but I do hope you view this as an educational tool rather than comparing your financial numbers as our situations are all unique.

Spending less than we earn and budgeting has been the easiest way for us to pay down debt and save money.

Monthly Budgeted Amounts 2021

Actual February Budget

That’s a wrap on our family February 2021 monthly budget so check back in April to see how March turned out.

Currently we have 6 Budget Challengers for 2021. Let’s see who can keep up for the entire year and who drops out of the challenge.

Feel free to comment about any of the challengers budget report in the comment section by using their Budget Participant Number.

Budget Participant #1

February is my least favorite month of the year…the weather is wet and miserable plus it feels like spring is never going to arrive. 

It doesn’t help that I have a significant chest infection and am struggling to simply breathe without panting and wheezing.

My month was off to a miserable start on Feb 1st! It kicked off with finding a deposit in our TD bank account that we didn’t make.

I initiated an investigation before 7:00 AM my time. The bank argued with me that it belonged to us. Jeez, Louise…I don’t sit on hold for an hour to report things for no good reason.

It turns out a little old lady in Ontario reversed two numbers on her deposit slip on Saturday. She was insistent that she didn’t make a mistake but the teller explained very patiently to her that a lady in BC had called to say that she had received the deposit.

It’s a good thing I am honest. That missing deposit could have really hurt a fixed-income senior. As well, my blood pressure was off to the races trying to deal with the issue and the multiple phone calls from TD Bank.

Roof Leaks

Secondly, that same afternoon hubby spotted 2 leaks in the roof of the garage. Immediately called our roofers immediately and they came out the next afternoon.

We had the entire roof replaced in May 2003 and we fixed a small tear caused by a raccoon in 2018. We’ll fix this leak but our roofer said the shingles have “granulated” and the entire roof needs to be replaced after only 18 years on a 30-year warranty.

My hubby will be dealing with TAVES Roofing and GAF Shingles to find out how they are going to honour the warranty.

I’ll keep you posted. I certainly don’t need a $15,000 roof replacement BUT we will get it done no matter what the warranty situation ends up like. We have to protect our largest investment!

Tax Declaration Forms

Our 2021 Speculation and Vacancy Tax Declaration forms for the Province of British Columbia arrived in the mail on Feb 2nd and I e-filed our declarations another task I can tick off my “To-Do List” for another year.

Our home is our primary residence all year long therefore the Speculation and Vacancy Tax does not apply to us. 

Thank God! Property taxes are high enough as it is without adding additional taxes!

Investment Fees

I sent off our annual RRSP and TFSA fees to our brokers. That adds up to $525.00 for all the accounts but at least we are good to go for another year.

Now, I just need to save up our accounting fees to be able to pay those in April.

Unfortunately, one of the broker’s back offices screwed up the RRSP FEE deposits and recorded them as CONTRIBUTIONS.

I caught the errors and had the entries corrected and the erroneous RRSP Contribution tax receipts cancelled.

I will make our TFSA contributions for 2021 on May 3^rd with a partial transfer of some maturing funds in our joint investment account.

They won’t be new savings but at least moving the funds from taxable to non-taxable is better than nothing.

I won’t mail our 2021 RRSP contributions until after the 2020 income tax returns have been prepared and assessed so that I have the EXACT 2021 maximum RRSP contribution figures for both hubby and myself. 

Tax time is marching right along though I downloaded a bunch of T-5’s this week and still have one T-4 and three T-5’s to obtain for my return that come in the mail.

My hubby is waiting for his extended medical refund cheque so that I can finish his 2020 medical expense claim schedule.

No Mortgage or Debt

The saving grace for us financially is that we have no mortgage or outstanding debts.  We do use our credit cards but we pay them in full every month.

All of our cards have a zero balance at month-end. Basically, if we don’t have the cash already sitting in the bank to pay off a charge immediately then we don’t use a card & we wait until we do!

Using Points For Gift Cards

We will not be travelling again this year, thanks to covid, so I converted 2,460,000 of our Marriott points into gift cards.

I got gift cards for Canadian Tire, Petro Canada, Home Depot, Costco, Staples and Esso. That’ll certainly help with making our budget stretch.

I’ll also be converting our timeshare options into Marriott points come September to replenish 711,150 of the 2,460,000 Marriott points that we just redeemed.

The good part of the gift cards is that for at least 2021 we won’t have to put out any cash for gasoline, tires, home and garden materials, office supplies or electronics.

All the funds that are budgeted, but won’t be used this year, can go into replenishing our savings for the roof replacement.

Grocery Expenses

This month our entire grocery budget went to my medical expenses & prescription refills…all $100.00 of it.

I expect that we will have the same situation occur again in March when hubby tackles his medical expenses & prescription renewals. 

It’s a good thing we can eat from the pantry for a couple of months!

I stocked up hubby’s lunch materials back in December before this super tight budget got started. 

Unexpected Purchases

As well, I also had to replace my dead-as-a-doormat Blood Pressure Monitor that died on the Feb 7^th.

Ever noticed that it never rains but it pours?

I guess it didn’t owe me anything though as it was more than 10 years old. It’s just another $100 that I had to try and scrounge up but I did it!

We have empty bottles in the garage that we can return to the bottle depot to cover the cost of a few loaves of bread each month for my hubby.

He is waiting for a sale on his English muffins and has switched to eating a couple of packages of instant oatmeal for breakfast each morning until he finds a good deal.

He’s never buys anything full price!

With money running so tight this year, hubby asked if we’d be doing a garden.

I said no we simply have no cash in the budget for either plants or seeds. 

Maybe I can scrimp together a few spare dollars over the course of 2021 so that we can plant again in 2022.

Loss Of Income Stream

This year we just didn’t have enough forewarning that we were facing the loss of our primary income stream.

If I can’t save any extra, at least we will have gift cards that we can use next year in the garden centres of Canadian Tire, Home Depot and Costco!

What I should say is that I am absolutely determined to make sure we live within our means. That means not spending even a single penny more than we have budgeted. 

Yes, we have an Emergency Savings Account but neither our “day-to-day living” nor our “wants” qualify as an emergency. 

Those funds are to carry us in case just in case hubby’s employment is eliminated with this pandemic too.

Staying On Budget

This tight-fisted little penny pincher is absolutely resolute about keeping us on budget…no matter what we have to do without.

On a more pleasant note, we celebrated both our Family Day Long Weekend and Valentines Day at home.

We exchanged FREE e-cards to mark both occasions.

I had planned to do something special meals but I with feeling so unwell this month it seemed prudent to save our treats for Easter.

Mr. CBB Says…

May I ask how much in gift cards that amount of points gave you? Yes, it’s been a bad year a bit now with no warning at all.

I have no doubt that you will splash through 2021 and come through as you always do.

You certainly inspire both Mrs. CBB and I when it comes to financial management.

Budget Participant #2

Hello Mr CBB and all, Not much outside of the norm to report for February.

I have decided to make March the dreaded “spend spend spend” month.

As well I have a lot of things I need to get taken care of so I decided to give myself one more month to put aside money.

I have to pay off my power bill, buy CAA, pay for my yearly gym membership and buy at least one set of tires (my winters are on their last legs and I have no all season.

I’m hoping I can buy the all season and then in October buy the winters but we’ll have to see what happens).

My mom is also looking at moving so I plan to pay for her moving rental that will depend on when the house sells but I’m banking in March or April.

February Budget

In February as mentioned was pretty typical:

• Fast food/groceries: 358.23
• Entertainment/Gifts: 44.98
• Car and house insurance: 161.92
• Internet/Phone: 151.99
• Pets: 44.83
• Gas and vehicle repair: 74.22
• Short-term savings: 200

Reducing Grocery Expenses and Eliminating Eating Out

I feel I do well with spending and I definitely stick within my budget, although I would like to see me tighten up the food budget and reduce costs.

Eating out kills my budget but as mentioned in other posts, I hate cooking.

I have gotten better about having snacks around my office and making bigger meals at supper that I can take leftovers for lunch.

I’m still a work in progress but I’m hoping to continuously get better.

Currently, I’m saving for the things mentioned above as the next few months are going to be tight.

Saving For Holidays

As well, I am also trying to save for a trip to Atlanta for September if it is doable.

I’m not willing to drop any money now though, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

If I can’t do this, I would like to save for a special trip for next year for my 40th birthday, but I don’t know where I would want to go.

I have managed to save a lot of Air Miles in the last 4 years though.

However, I think I have about $1500 between cash and reward miles so that will help.

My goal for next month – not really a “savings” one, but to get all my tax paperwork together, and to try to find deals on all of the things I have to purchase.

Here’s hoping there are some great promos on!

Mr. CBB Says…

I like how you turn your reports into goals which are so important. As for your tires and other needs have you considered the projected expenses account? We use it successfully.

Budget Participant #3

Happy February budget-minded people! Instead of being as detailed as I was the last budget. I figured I would condense my report his month.

Let’s just say this was a good month in some ways, a not so good one in others. 

Budget Breakdown

Now for the down and dirty:

Household expenses when down by $500 this month and my mortgage is done with the February payment. 

That’s the fantastic news for the month. 

The sad news is the mortgage was paid to my MIL until her death and she passed away in February. 

With the borders still closed we didn’t get to see her but spoke on the phone as much as possible. 

Utility Expenses

Our utility expenses were up: I did not get my cable subscription cancelled this month (it was on my to-do list but didn’t get handled, see above for reasons).

This month our propane bill was high, $212 dollars!

I’ve had to fill my propane tank twice since moving five years ago. 

My hubby ran all the propane out heating his garage in January and February. 

This became a major problem since this runs my stove. 

Trust me that it won’t happen again : )

As well, I’m thinking of changing Cell Phone providers, I had a great offer across my desk at work this past week. I’ll be checking it out to see if there are further savings.

Debt Repayment

Hit the Debt Payments (Soul Suckers) hard this month. 

I made a large payment on the Motorcycle loan with plans to pay it off since I’m no longer financing my MIL’s retirement. This should take five months then hitting the Car Loan. 

The car loan is now under $10,000 so I’m excited about that! Paid off two credit cards with income from side gigs. 

Total Debt owed when from over $37000 to just over $31000. 

Totally excited about that! (I never figured the money we paid as a “mortgage” in my debt)

Retirement Savings

Didn’t add my 401K last month. Total for Retirement so far: $109,427. 

All in all not too bad when you consider I never had a retirement account before 5 years ago. 

I will be bumping up the amount I put in another $5 or $10 this month.

Hope you all had a fantastic February and here’s hoping the weather in March gets better.

Mr. CBB Says…

I love how you incorporated side-gigs to pay off your credit card. Smart lady.

Some people will have no retirement funds apart from what the government offers.

I’d be very proud as you seem to be that you’ve accumulated over $100,000 as you should. Great work.

As for utilities we got rid of our cable which was near $100 a month and we don’t miss it.

I finally got a smartphone and found Freedom Mobile to be the best suited for our budget. Cheap. haha.

Well done.

Budget Participant #4

The month of February went by so fast. I know I need to change drastically my grocery and takeout.

However, I made changes to budget categories such as birthday, Christmas and my Tax-free savings account.

I also went ahead and closed our joint checking account. 

As well, I cancelled my Amazon prime account, that was 13 dollars a month. 

Going to close my instacart account soon to save even more money.

I’m happy for saving my 34 dollars a month for my water heater due in July for a year.

I’m more determined than ever to have a better March budget. 

Mr. CBB Says…

I’ve always said to people who told me they couldn’t save that they can save provided the essentials are paid for.

Even then those can be pared down further such as groceries, the internet and other technology.

Often times we think we need something when we don’t. Congrats on the hype of your $34 savings.

That’s what I like to hear. Do you pay for parking at work? Keep at it. Well done.

Budget Participant #5

As my Financial story in motion continues there have been a few wins for the month of February but also a few mishaps. My wins consist of three NO spend weeks.

Well, I don’t consider buying birdseed for my feathered friends a needless spend.

I received a $50.00 GC and purchased a meat box for $100.00 and used the GC against it so cost me only $50.00.

Also, I spent time during this month checking on my investments.

I was quite shocked to the amount of $61,903.29 I could never contribute to any of these.

NO let me rephrase that statement I chose not to contribute to any of my investments. 

Within these investments, I found a DCPP with Sunlife that I never knew I had a whopping $19,364.00.

I’m pleased with what I have but in hindsight could have been substantially more if I contributed regularly.

Every year I tell myself the same lie that I am going to contribute regularly to these and I do not.

This year is my year to start taking serious steps to invest in my future.

I plan on rebuilding my EF $1000.00 at the moment due to furnace issues at the end of 2020 into 2021.

The furnace now running smoothly with new parts. Thank goodness the furnace was repaired before the cold polar vortex.

Grocery Expenses

Groceries are the real struggle.

Related: Costco Products We Buy To Save Grocery Money

My daughter is following the Keto lifestyle this in itself is expensive.

Related: Costco Canada Keto Products With Photos

Her two teenagers and I support her with a healthy lifestyle enjoying the many dishes she creates. 

Related: How much does the keto lifestyle cost?

My daughter does contribute to groceries and that is much appreciated.

Groceries here in Saskatchewan have gone up considerably. I will be looking forward to amending and recreating my backyard garden area for fresh eating.

Short-term Goals

I have two short-term goals one is to apply my tax return (unsure what it will be atm) to either my RBCLOC or RBCV.

The correct choice would be Visa as it has a higher interest rate at 12.99% than LOC at 7.92%.

But then again applying to the LOC could potentially get me closer to pay off.

Then allowing me to put that full $215.67 payment amount along with the Visa payment amount for a total of $415.00 to the RBCV debt.

Second is Fairstone (this is at NO interest) will be paid for completely at the end of June.

The long-term projection is in 5 years 2026 I anticipate that I will have the debt paid except my mortgage and SUV. 

These two will be down substantially as I stay focused and create my story.

New family tree. Snowballing. Never ever will I purchase a new vehicle again.

What is holding me more accoutable is manage my money daily, weekly ,monthly and yearly?

Check my bank account daily to track my expenditures and needless spending.

I love attaining my NO spend weeks.

Mr. CBB Says…

Right off the top, I must give you credit because we once tried a no-shop month and failed miserably.

I need some tips! As for your daughter, I linked some of our keto posts (there’s more) above as my wife has been keto for 4 and a bit years.

Perhaps it may help cut some costs. Well done.

Budget Overview

To be truthful I actually feel like a nerd to look at my bank account daily.

• Weekly overview of my budget and set – next week’s budget goal. Ex: prepare all food at home, no eating out or no just have to stop at the grocery store for. These are huge downfalls in my home.
• Set my monthly goals and these are different from my weekly goals. Ex: Budget for an upcoming bill like my SUV had a recall fixed(free) but also had yearly maintenance done. I allocated for this as they advised how much the cost is and I was able to pay cash. Not my VISA but cash. Well, my debit card. It felt absolutely empowering to do this because I always rely on to charge Visa card. Telling myself the old story I will transfer money over tomorrow or later tonight. Huge lie. This is why it has a large balance on it.
• Revisit my long-term goals and set my yearly budget for the next following year.

This journey with you and the CBB family is my accountability for getting on track staying the course and changing my family tree one step at a time.

We are in week two of March and I had a small surplus of money to carry over from February. I focus this month on getting to a zero balance lol.

Mr.CBB Says…

Thank you for following CBB and finding it motivational and accountability.

I believe everyone has someone they admire and want to learn from them.

Managing bank accounts must be done consistently or it won’t get done.

This is something Mrs. CBB found out as she didn’t move our son’s monthly government money to his bank account.

That meant that last week she had to do a large transfer. We really don’t want to keep doing that as it’s so easy to start messing up a budget.

Well done, keep at it.

Budget Participant #6

February was a great month for us.

T (family member) got a raise at work which helped halfway through the month. It was a great experience overall doing the budget this month.

I used CCB’s budget sheet on my computer and I wasn’t paying any attention to the “money left over” category.

This month I really learned to think to myself, “do I really need this?” Which helped me control
my spending.

I did reach my goal of spending less on groceries by $50, yes it is small but worth
it. My other goal was to delete my credit card off of Amazon, but I couldn’t do it.

There are too many good deals (grocery-wise) that Amazon has that my tiny town does not, or it is extremely overpriced.

Things that I went over are my kids and clothing. Apparently, kids don’t stop growing.

We did end up saving a little over $1000 this month which is a great help in putting money in our emergency savings as well as on my line of credit to help pay it down faster.

Grocery Expenses

In March my goals are to continue to bring down my grocery bill, I should also add that in
groceries I include pets as well as household needs (cleaning supplies etc).

Hopefully, I can have a nice chunk cut down, or even a little like this month.

Also, since March break is pushed back in Ontario this year, I won’t need to find activities (yet) for them and spend more. Unfortunately, it is property tax month.

We do have a vacant lot that we own as well so already I know that this month won’t be as good as this month was.

That is a decent amount of money coming out at once, I am just thankful we do not have a mortgage on top of that.

On the other hand, I have done our taxes already so that will be great to get some money back.

We always never know what to do with the income tax return money that we get.

My mother always says to spend it on ourselves, but I like to “stash” it away.

Anyways, looking forward to having a great March both money-wise and life-wise.

Mr. CBB Says…

First off, I adore that you are using our free excel budget. 🙂 It seems you are on top of your finances but need to stay motivated to minimize expenses.

The great news is that you no longer have a mortgage. We roll any tax return to top up our TFSA or non-registered investments.

I agree with you about Amazon Prime but there is also Well.ca which we use too.

Do you have the Review: Rakuten Canada Is A Must-Have Cash Back App on your phone for online shopping? Cash Back apps rule!

Budget Participant #7

Two themes have emerged from February:

1) Wasted opportunity, new understandings

2) Over budget, month two.

For theme one, I am generally surprised at the money that we spend. I see these numbers and think back on the money that was wasted on spending habits.

However, the only control I have now is the future.

One positive aspect of February was tracking every dollar successfully as well as paying all the budget goals into our designated sinking funds. That feels fantastic.

It appears that we are over budget in groceries/personal.

I read last month in CCB’s post that one can be addicted to grocery shopping and, as such, can’t pass up a deal which causes the grocery budget to explode.

The root cause can be emotional shopping. This really has hit home.

As you can see from the picture, our variable expenditures are about 26% with groceries and personal care making up 51% of that.

Therefore, the March focus is on the grocery budget- wants vs. needs.

Mr. CBB Says…

You’re not alone with the emotional shopping especially during the pandemic.

I like how you were able to find two themes that you need to focus on.

Often times until someone uses a budget they have no idea how much money they actually spend.

It’s more of an estimate however the true number or percentage is astoundingly high.

As you mentioned tracking every dollar was fantastic because you were able to see areas to work on.

Keep at it. Well done.

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