Ted's Guest Blog-Part Two: Limited Spending

Part Two: Limited Spending

Ted's here to finish his thoughts on building a budget. His current focus is the struggle that I have pinpointed as my weakness with money: not spending. I think I grasp fairly well the need to spend less, or spend wisely, but the perspective of truly limited spending is still a work in progress. I am endlessly grateful for Ted's vision and structure, as he keeps me within clear and marked guidelines. Here's hubby:

One aspect of macro budgeting is to focus on the idea of limiting spending. The one thing I see most people do is that they spend as much as they have (and occasionally a bit more). And when you don't know how much you have, you get into trouble. No one ever has enough – “if only I could earn a bit more, all would be well”. Hands up if this applies to you. The flipside of the coin is to spend less.

There are tricks to limiting your spending. For instance, we give ourselves only $400 for food and gas and clothing (which I still think is a bit high). While we'll likely spend all of it, we also won't spend more. Another trick was withdrawing cash. These function to limit our access to more cash than we've decided we need. Gail recommends paying yourself first, because then what's left is all you can spend. The most important advice I can give is that getting a great price or bargain hunting is NOT mutually exclusive with limiting spending. Go ahead and get all the great prices you can, so long as at the end of the week, you haven't spent more than $200. The only person you have to convince that you don't NEED that widget on sale this week is yourself.

Another critical component of macro budgeting is the time scale. I'm talking about planning long-term. For instance, when I found out that I'd be going overseas and making more than we had expected to make during this period, the thought wasn't about increasing the monthly budget or getting lots of toys, but about what happens when the earnings are saved up over a longer period with a specific goal in mind. But what goals can we chose from? Do we redo the kitchen, go on vacation, upgrade one of our cars to a van or SUV, buy matching iPhones 5 or pay down our mortgage?

Given these choices, we decided to split our income between the mortgage and the kitchen and these are the choices which will pay off the most. The kitchen, in 2 years when we sell (and really for the two years we live with it), is the medium term investment. The mortgage pay-down alone will give us nearly 100% return on investment over the 25 years of the mortgage. The vacation will probably happen too. Happy wife…

Price Matching

I know a lot of you wise shoppers out there frequently take advantage of price matching policies, but I am new to the practice and want to highlight how AWESOMELY EASY it is to save money on groceries.

I was struck with a sudden and annoying case of insomnia, so I used the time to read up on advice from a facebook couponing queen. (Her page is Canadian Coupons and Freebies, and I HIGHLY recommend 'liking' it on facebook). She does so much of the hard work of couponing for me, reading all the flyers, and linking up sale prices in the flyers to coupons that have recently come out, allowing her fans to get some really excellent deals. My favourite deal this week took advantage of a coupon deal, as well as a price match policy. I read about this deal at 5am, and knowing I was going to save the next day somehow made the not sleeping a little more bearable.

If you are headed to Walmart for groceries, but Shoppers Drug Mart has a sale on that you want, for me at least with a one year old, it is rarely worth my time to make the second stop. That involves 2x finding parking spots, carts, unbuckling car seats, squirming toddler, and just general headaches. So you take your Shoppers flyer with you on your shop, make sure to grab the exact product (if, for example, you are buying Gain laundry detergent, the corresponding load count has to match up) and head to the cashier. Show the sale price while checking out and they will adjust to their competitors prices! One stop, multiple sales; SO COOL! There is a certain amount of time invested in looking for the products you want at other stores, and remembering to take the evidence with you. This policy though is so handy when the stars align and coupons and sales are out at the same time.

My score of the week was a bottle of Motrin, regular price at Walmart was $7.47. Shoppers had it on sale this week for $5.99. However Shoppers does not take internet coupons, which I had, and as we discussed, with the squirming toddler I don't like to make multiple stops. So I took my flyer and $5 off coupon to Walmart, and scored a bottle of 100 tablets for $.99! I did other price matches on cereal (not nearly as sweet as the Motrin, but around 40% off), as well as used a couple coupons for soy milk and Pampers.

I know that the time invested to study the flyers and carefully match products will pay for itself in deals scored and shopper satisfaction!

A list of price matching grocery stores:

Walmart, Zellers, Canadian Tire, Future Shop (I believe they also have a 10% price beating policy), London Drugs, Toys 'R Us, Sears, Save on Foods, and Real Canadian Superstore (front page items only)

Happy shopping!

Garage Sale Season

It's one of my favourite summer activities: hitting garage sales. (or car-boot sales for my British family members) I have vivid memories from when I was a kid of taking home a $40 kitchen table with chairs that served our family for over a decade. I remember getting things from stuffed animals, to additions to my heart collection, to books, SO MANY books! At a quarter a piece or less my tight-budget family was able to feed my addiction as a kid to books and learning.

As a grown up I'm glad that they only happen one day of the week, because I think that they could become an addiction if I'm not careful. There's an added spark to the addiction fire in that you KNOW you are getting things at a bargain price, and an added excitement stumbling on the one gem in the midst of junk.

The most important piece of yard-sale advice I can give is go with a list. It may not have to be written down, it may not be all that specific, but if you give yourself permission to take home every good deal you find, you'll come home with way more than you need. Week to week I have an idea of the things I am allowed to come home with. If it's not in my head, I don't get to bring it home. I know there are a few kitchen pieces I need (who keeps taking all my platters?!) and a few items of clothing Sam needs (who keeps taking my kid's socks?!) and taking the time before we leave to brainstorm on the few items will keep me focused in my hunt. I know a family that prays with their kids for their family's specific needs before they go.

My favourite find so far this season (a garage sale post is not complete without a brag) is the big ticket toys we have picked up for Sam. I had been looking at play structures for outdoors and indoors, but they are so expensive to buy brand new. We bought an outdoor slide, and an indoor kitchen, and at $30 a piece, they took up a lot of my garage sale budget for a few weeks. This was made up for by the fact we got Sam a water table, and ride on car totally free at the side of the road. He now has an excellent collection of backyard toys, and when it's raining, he can enjoy cooking and creating on our new-to-us play kitchen.

Canadian Coupon Websites

Just wanted to let everyone know the websites our family uses for coupons.

save.ca
brandsaver.ca

These websites do NOT require a printer. Browse your coupons, pick which ones you want, and hit send. They will mail you your coupons within 5-10 business days. These coupons are for products I use regularly like Head and Shoulders, Pampers, So Good, and a ton more. Save a few bucks at the store next shop-give them a try!

Travelling on a Budget

My husband and I love to travel and explore, but finding ways to travel on a budget can be incredibly challenging. We both brainstormed on our last few trips, and found that we could experience a ton without spending a ton.


Research, Research, Research


When travelling during peak seasons (ie: Christmas or March Break) start planning flights and excursions EARLY, and take the time to find deals. We researched flights online and found an amazing deal out of Boston. Even after paying for the gas, meals, hotel, and parking we saved $1000, compared to flying out of our home town. That left us some money to spend on touristy stuff. It's so pricey, but it's the stuff you remember. Talk to attractions companies and see if there's a slow day/time that they will give you a deal on. Before you leave for your trip and get caught up in all the stuff there is to experience, pick the activities you're most interested in, and stick with them!


Travel off season

Ted and I discovered we wanted to see Ile de la Madeline, a tiny island off of PEI that is part of Quebec. We love road trips, and seeing places completely new to us. We looked into B&Bs, restaurants, and were able to plan most of what we wanted to see ahead of time. Peak season is the end of May to the beginning of September, so we travelled in April. The price of the ferry, and our accommodations were about half price of what they would have been just a month later. Another bonus is that we got to interact with more of the locals, because there were very few tourists around.
One downside of travelling this way is that certain attractions will be closed until peak tourist season. If you're into the touristy stuff it might be best to hold off until the season picks up. An advantage of that is they you'll have a better chance at great weather, and all restaurants will be up and running.

Watch your food budget

Spending money on food wisely will help you get the most out of your trip. We usually pack our food for travelling, that way it's healthy and inexpensive. Invest in a travel cooler so you can munch on sandwiches and veggies, and have nice cold drinks on hand. Food at rest stops is usually overpriced and not very tasty, so save that money for when it's worth your while.
We booked a B&B with a shared kitchen purposely, so that we could eat at least one meal in per day. We did our best to incorporate some local food into the meals we ate (since it was a french island we snacked on pate and cheese curds), and then made it count when we went out for meals. You can also eat lunch out, which is usually cheaper than dinner, and enjoy a private dinner in, when it'll be quiet, because everyone else is out!

It's easy to get creative with your vacations, and get the most bang for your buck when travelling. Planning really is the key, and using all the resources available, like expedia and trip advisor. Also B&B owners are usually a super good resource, ask their recommendations for food, sights, and experiences.

Coupon Clipper

So, I've found a pet peeve about being a Canadian. A (very) small one in comparison to all the upsides, but in my money saving quest it is a thorn in my side. On American budget savvy blogs a lot of people share freebies, coupons, and favourite deals of the week. It's hard reading a lot of great deals, and not being able to really use any of them!

I therefore was overjoyed, when I found a great coupon site for CANADIANS. save.ca posts coupons that change all the time, for items usually on a weekly shopping list. You pick which coupons you like and they mail them to you the next business day.
New favourite!