EVERYTHING BECOMES MAGICAL WHEN YOU BELIEVE- EVEN YOUR FINANCES Every so often I get an email from a CBB fan which sparks a conversation which then turns into sharing their budget journey on Canadian Budget Binder. I absolutely love sharing fan stories because they are real and all of us can relate to them in one form or another. In today’s blog post you’ll learn how one couple goes from two incomes to one and managed to turn some glass jars into magical budget jars. If you don’t take your finances seriously someone else will but that someone else won’t be on your side. Each of these budget stories inspire others including myself to continue to believe in the power of positivity and not giving up when the going gets tough. There is a financial solution out there for everyone whether they choose to believe it or not. It may not what you want it to be but in the end it’s likely for the best. SEEMINGLY EMPTY TO MAGICAL JARS Hello Mr. CBB, Here is our budget story …. When my husband and I met we were both struggling from breakups leaving us with less money […]
How A Life Changing Illness Shaped Our Financial Future
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS GOING WELL YOU’RE HIT WITH AN ILLNESS THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I’ve been writing about money for much of the past decade but I didn’t always have my act together, financial speaking. In fact, I spent most of my twenties deep in debt, and it took a big, scary, life-changing event for me to have my financial awakening. I’ll never forget the day when my world changed. It was 2008, and my wife had complained of a headache – a pain behind her right eye, to be exact. She was in excruciating pain and nearly went blind, temporarily, seeing only red spots out of her affected eye. An ophthalmologist confirmed it was optic neuritis, an inflammation that affects the optic nerve. After prescribing an incredibly high dose of prednisone to bring down the inflammation, the doctor referred my wife to a neurologist who diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis. We were devastated. At the time, we didn’t know much about MS and how this disease would impact our lives. All we knew was that each flare-up of the disease caused nerve damage, which would gradually get worse over time and lead to […]
How Should Couples Split Household Bills?
WHEN YOU MOVE IN WITH SOMEONE YOU SHOULD NEVER EXPECT TO PAY LESS OR MORE BASED ON YOUR INCOME LEVEL. Moving in together is a big step for couples and with that comes an entirely new set of financial rules mainly called, splitting. When should you talk about money in relationships? Whenever it is right for the both of you but certainly before moving is ideal. Don’t be afraid to pull out the money card because if you’re thinking it then it is important to you as it should be. Living together may be economical especially if you are spending every day with someone you care deeply about however there is much to discover before you take that step. Some couples just end up moving in together without even knowing it. A shirt here, pants there and before you know it your bathroom counter shares his and her health and beauty products. What in the world just happened? You moved in together and with that comes financial responsibility. Unless you plan to fork over all the money for your partner who now lives with you, talking about splitting household bills is a good idea. Generally doing this before-hand is […]
Fixed Income Seniors Struggle To Learn How To Budget
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 […]
Family Sacrifices For Financial Freedom Pays Off
BEING ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT WITHOUT DEBT WORRY FOR YOUR FAMILY IS ONE OF THE BEST FEELINGS IN THE FINANCIAL WORLD I want to earn money fast, I want to earn money now, I want financial freedom so I don’t have to worry about money down the road. There are people who constantly strive to set goals, budget, work long hours at home or away from home to make sure their retirement years are golden. What this means is that the family will make sacrifices to achieve such financial goals sometimes at an unbalanced cost. Is it really worth being away from your family for 6 or 7 days a week? For the past 2 years I’ve been that guy who is working 6-7 days a week at two full-time jobs. One is my dream job that is currently contract and the other is full-time in my field of expertise but on a different playing field. What keeps me going is my family and the fact that I can retire early if I want to and with a defined benefits package, investments and no mortgage. That fuels the frugal fire. Related: How to retire early- A Beginners Guide […]
Buy the least expensive house in the most expensive neighbourhood
BE PICKY WHEN HOUSE SHOPPING Typically we like to buy quality when we shop which included shopping for our home. This is why we scoured every available neighbourhood around our city for the best deal. The only thing we don’t like is paying full-price which meant we had our work cut out for us. Thankfully, it worked out in our favour. When buying a house you want to make sure that if you are buying a $400,000 house that the neighbourhood matches the price tag or you might struggle to sell as fast as you’d like down the road. This is why we hear over and over not to over-renovate but then again a smaller house in a bigger neighbourhood might have more luck finding a buyer than a house that costs far more than smaller surrounding homes. Today I have an email from a guy who is a first-time home-buyer with his wife and wants to know if they should spend the money and get the biggest house they can or a smaller house but in a more expensive area. Note: If you have a question for me please send me a detailed email similar to below so […]
Parents downsize to $400,000 small house and kids are embarrassed
LIFESTYLE CHANGE IS NOT EASY Downsizing to a small home can be a struggle from finding the right home to selling what you no longer need. You might also find there is opposition from others that live in the house about moving to a not as “posh” area as we will learn today from one couple. Downsizing is an interchangeable word where it can be to sell a large home to buy a smaller one or simply to get rid of something or stuff that you no longer need. My parents did just that but it was after I moved to Canada. They were living in a 3 bedroom home in the UK and once my parents were near retirement they decided to rent out the home, downsize and buy a caravan. The caravan is custom trailer that looks just like a home on the inside with all the amenities minus all the maintenance. There is a bit of work to do but not near as much as my parents had in the past. My mum and dad took all the belongings they didn’t need any longer and sold them at a car boot sale (a.k.a garage sale). The […]
Savings competitions helped couple save $20k to buy a house
MONEY COMPETITIONS CAN BE FUN I’ll admit that I was always the competitive type growing up because I wanted to be successful at whatever I did. When I did participate in something I did it to the best of my ability and tried to surpass any goals that I set for myself. I could easily say money is a big part of my life in the sense that we need it to survive so I compete to keep earning it while building my career. I don’t challenge myself to earn a certain amount of money although we do set financial goals for ourselves. If it happens, it happens but we do live a frugal lifestyle and use a budget to help the process along. If I didn’t push myself to live each day to the max my life would be boring. My wife would never be surprised with the special things I do for her to make her day easier. Our son would not have the dad that goes above and beyond for him if I didn’t have some form of competitive nature in me. I want the best for my family so I work hard for them every […]
