July 4

Say NO!!!
This is the most unglamorous part of becoming Debt Free.  It sucks to say no to things. 
Many people won't understand why you are trying to save money.  Before we began this path we used to go to dinner on the weekends, go to the movies and spend money like crazy!  Doing these fun activities with our other couple friends was part of our social life.

We started to say NO to events that cost more money than what was in the budget.
HOWEVER, we always suggested FRUGAL things as an alternative to events.  Saying NO! to suggested events but yes to others helps cut back on your finances.  For example, instead of going to the movies and spending $30 for admission and popcorn we started to ask friends over to watch movies.
Another huge perk... once I began to say no, I started to feel better mentally.

It pays to be frugal.  On Amazon check out my Ebooks A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid and A Guide to Collecting Air Miles in Canada.  

July 3

 I used to spend a lot of money on groceries.  I would go to the grocery store and buy a few items and then would come home only to find out that I had the items in my pantry already. OOPS!
I went to Zellers one day to buy baskets and containers to organize my pantry.  Yep, it was that long ago that there was a Zellers!
I was about to purchase all the containers when I realized it was a lot of money for containers. I  went home and thought about how I could organize on the cheap.  I am a teacher and had a bunch of plastic fish tubes in the basement. (Grocery stores sell them for $1 with the lid) I grabbed a bunch of them and lined one shelf with them.
I wanted a container that was a bit higher and bought dish bins at the Dollarama and lined them up on my second shelf.
One day I was at my mom's and noticed she had 2 pop cases out for the recyclables and thought it was genius for soup cans.
When I took a look at the pantry it was all mismatched and wished that I had something to look uniform.  I went back to the Dollarama and picked up thick tape in a bold pattern and applied it all over the front of the containers.  There wasn't any point to do the back and sides since they can't be seen. Another bonus frugal tip.
I also picked up 2 canvas shoe racks and use those for snacks and spices.
I love that each bin has a theme when I organize it.  Not only were the containers cheap, but I save a lot of money at the grocery store since I know what is actually in my pantry and it cuts down on the grocery shopping bill.

It pays to be frugal.  On Amazon check out my Ebooks A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid and A Guide to Collecting Air Miles.

July 2

It is summer which means we are all hot and thirsty!
We mostly drink water, and avoid pop and juice. Not to say we don't have other beverages, but water is the choice most of the day. 
When we go to Disney World I always have a Brita Water Bottle in my bag, with a built in filter. There are water fountains everywhere, and no way will I ever drink out of water fountain!  So, this style of water bottle is the go to.
But now I am thinking I will be throwing this in the car and anytime we are on the go this summer we will have 300 free water bottles before needing to replace the filter. At Disney World a bottle of water is around $4, and around here at a store usually $2.  Go out everyone and buy one of these money saving items!

It pays be frugal.  Go on Amazon.ca and purchase my books A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid and A Guide to Collecting Air Miles in Canada

July 1

I love coffee.  When I am home I always have a mug of coffee on the go.  I would say I drink between 4-6 large coffee mugs a day.  McDonald's coffee costs $1.91 a cup for my preferred size. I know many people leave their homes to buy coffee and come home to drink it!
If I bought my coffee out that would cost me about $11.46 a day!  I can't even imagine that!
I brew my coffee at home  This is a picture of when I had my K Cup coffee maker.  This is cheaper then purchasing your coffee daily, and is a great start to saving money.  I sold mine and now only use the French Press.
I buy a large container of Folgers when I have coupons and match it up with a sale.   When I leave the house I brew a mug for my to go mug on the go.
I now only buy coffee about twice a week.  If I am out with my husband we buy one extra large and share it, its cheaper and sort of counts as a date.

It pays to be frugal.  On Amazon check out my Ebooks A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid, and a Guide to Collecting Air Miles in Canada

Disney on a budget Part 2...Packing

Shopping in Disney World is expensive, and it is also in American currency which comes at an extra charge.  When I pack to go to Disney World there are things I always pack to help out my budget.

* GLOW STICKS. I take enough for each night we are there. I take various styles such as bracelets, necklaces, princess themes and I purchase them at the Dollarama

*BRITA WATER BOTTLE. I take one for our packed book bag at the park. There are water fountains everywhere but I enjoy it being filtered and it’s free

* ZIPLOCK BAGS.   I use these when packing to put in each of our daily outfits so they are ready to go with ease.   I also put our dirty clothes back in them. I also use them to store my snacks in or divvy the snacks up when we re at the parks.  They can also be used to store things you don’t want to get wet when you are on water rides at the parks

*PONCHOS. I bought plastic disposable ponchos at the Dollarama for our trips. This time I purchased the  old fashion wind breakers that zip into a small pocket from a thrift shop. It rains a lot in the summer but for the sake of convenience reusable is the way to go

*FAN. I have bought a water bottle at Giant Tiger with a fan at the top.  I fill it up at water fountains or in the bathroom and spray it when we get hot.  I managed to find one that’s Disney World theme at Frenchy’s

*SUNTAN LOTION. I check one bottle with my checked luggage and put some in small 100 ml bottles and put them in my carry on bag.  I purchased silicone containers at the Dollarama a few months ago, and wash them out and refill.  The silicone containers cost a bit more (one silicone for the price of 3 plastic) but are much easier to reuse. 

*MICROWAVE POPCORN. Everywhere in Disney smells like popcorn.  Hotel lobbies have restaurants but also include microwaves for guests to use.  I pop a bag in the morning when I am getting my coffee and then divvy up the snacks in Ziplock bags.

*INSTANT OATMEAL  The hotel restaurants have a hot water tea dispenser.  With our dining plan we get 1 quick serve meal and one sit down meal a day and receive a free mug with this plan.  Some days we don't get breakfast and make it instead.

*BAGS OF CEREAL I take a bag of Cheerios with us and put it in Ziplock bags once we arrive at the hotel.  I take a bag with us in our back pack to eat on the bus in the morning or as a quick snack to tie us over.

*BABY WIPES  Disney World is clean, but I still like to have baby wipes on hand to clean up spills from the yummy Pineapple Doles.  Often times there is a wait for a Quick Serve table and I use the wipe to clean up the table quickly after I poach the table from another family

*HAND SANITIZER  All those people, all those germs, self explanatory

*EXTERNAL PHONE CHARGER  You will burn through your battery with taking pictures and also updating your Fast Passes.

*LAUNDRY PODS  I take 2 laundry pods with us to do laundry during our vacation. I get these free from time to time at Costco or in my Smart Source Box.   I love this cost saving tip for a few reasons.  If you do laundry you don't need to bring as many clothes and can bring all your items in a carry on luggage. This avoids the fee for checked luggage.

*TEA BAGS  I am a coffee addict.  I get coffee in the hotel lobby in the  mornings for free. StarBucks is everywhere at Disney, and I buy one a day, but it is close to $5. I always have my refil mug on me, and ask for hot water at some of the Quick Service restaurants.  I always have green tea bags in my Disney backpack, this saves me $5 a few times, and I still get my caffeine kick.

*MISTING FAN  It can get very hot in Disney World.   I picked up misting fans for $5 at Giant Tiger, and then I found a Disney World one at Frenchy's for $1.75!  I will take this with us and fill it up at all the water fountains through the park.  Cooling down will help our moods and keep us going.  PRICELESS

*BUBBLES  Who doesn't love bubbles? I have enough for the kids to have a bottle a day.  They blow them during parades, and while waiting in lines to pass the time.

*FIRST AID SUPPLIES  The first aid stations are amazing at Disney World.  Our first trip my daughter was sick and needed to go to a clinic.  They transported us for free to the off site clinic and picked us up a few hours later.  Once on a family trip my cousin had an asthma attack and went by ambulance to the hospital.  Disney gave her a stuffed animal and a book to help calm her down.  I have also used the First Aid stations for band aids and Tylenol.

*CRAFTS  I always pick up a Disney theme craft from Dollarama or Michael's to decorate the hotel windows.  This seems silly, but some people go all out with decorating and its fun to look at the decorations when walking to the bus.  It also gives the kids something to do on the airplane to pass the time.

*DISNEY THEM CLOTHES  I buy our shirts and accessories at Walmart and Frenchy's before we go away.  $4 here for a piece of Disney theme clothes vs $20 in Disney World.  We do purchase a Disney World hat though and have the kid's names on them when we are in Disney World they are an amazing souvenir and in my opinion worth the  money. 

On Amazon.ca check out my Ebooks A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid and A Guide to Collecting Air Miles in Canada

Gas

Rising Price of Gas

The price of gas is one of those things that will always be a thorn in our side.  Let's be honest we spend a lot of money at the pump. There are some things that you can do to make the price a bit more easily to handle.

I buy gift cards at Sobeys when they have the promotion buy $200 in gift cards and receive 95 or 100 Bonus Air Miles. 

Sobeys gift cards can be used directly at Shell locations that have a Needs.

I try to fill up on Thursdays, as gas changes during the night Thursday. 

I watch the trend to see if going up or down.  

Shell gives a free hot beverage with 20 L of gas, I like to splurge and get a cappuccino.

I tend to fill up in the morning.

I use cruise control.  I have been watching the econo gas gauge and notice that with cruise control turned on I get better gas mileage.

I drive our smaller car for most of my town running around and it’s a standard.

I put my car in neutral a lot when driving and coast.

I unplug the phone charger when I am not using it.

I keep the sunroof open and windows open vs the air conditioner for in town driving, unless its unbearable, I'm cheap but not that cheap!

I try to plan my outings to do them all in one trip. I really suck at this though, and need a lot of work on it.

I keep my car serviced for the regular maintenance.

My husband checks the tire pressure regularly.

 Find a loyalty card and make it work for you. 

Canadian Tire has a program to collect cash back in their store. Each receipt has a survey code and after it’s completed you earn 2 cents off a litre with your next fill up.

Irving does air miles. If I am going to Irving I get gift cards at Lawtons and Sobeys and pay with my Sobeys gift card. This process collects your air miles twice. 

Petro Canada has Petro Points. Points can be redeemed for 5 cents off a litre cards or money off of a purchase.

Esso has Aeroplan Miles and soon to be PC Optimium

Ultramer has their own fuel program ( I don't know anything about this program)

Sobeys Fuel locations Air Miles, and a coupon to use at Sobeys AND sometimes free coffee

The trick is find a gas station near your house with a loyalty program you like and start collecting.

 It pays to be frugal.

Budget

Budgets are a living document. They aren’t something to create once and set it for life.  Gas is on the rise and projected to be $1.50 by the end of summer, plan accordingly.  August budgets can be larger if you have school supplies to prepare for, and with summer your kid activities may be lower than the school year.   It takess a few months to get a budget going, and we still have things pop up, don’t let it turn you off of budgets.

Everyone has different categories in their budget. A great place to start is to go through your credit card bills and debit transactions and average out how much money you have spent in 3 months on each category.  Don’t worry, it takes a few months to work out the kinks of a budget, don’t give up.
Write down every source of income you have, salary, child tax benefits, and Kijiji or online sales.

You may feel that it is restrictive to be on a budget. We actually felt that way when we started too. Very quickly though we felt like it gave us permission to spend money.  When we started to get out of debt it was 10 years ago, and I was on a maternity leave and my husband was just starting his massage business and was self employed. We never would have spent money on ourselves, but the budget gave us permission to spend money on a movie rental. Yes, that’s how long we have been doing this when there was still a Blockbuster!

Before deciding how much money goes into each envelope look at the calendar and see what events are coming up for the month.
For us, June has our daughter’s birthday, Father’s Day, 2 teacher gifts, bus driver gift, and treats for dance, gymnastics, brownies and guides leaders as year end thank yous. We also have som extravehicular expenses that will be in our entertainment budget.   Look at your calendar and try to foresee any upcoming events.   

We have an envelope for the following categories:

1.                   Date Night

2.                   Kid Activities

3.                   Power Bill

4.                   Frenchies/Clothes

5.                   Car (gas, repairs, insurance and if you have a payment or save for new car)

6.                   Groceries

7.                   Lottery

8.                   Miscellaneous

9.                   Insurance (pay annually for a discount, but continue to save monthly)

10.               Cell Phone

11.               Internet

12.               Toiletries

13.               Mortgage

14.               Entertainment ( vacations are included in this section)

15.               Property Taxes (this needs to be paid 2x a year)

16.               Gifts ( we buy gifts all year long and store in a tote) 

17.               RESP/RRSP/TFSA

At the start of each month we put cash in each envelope.  That's the money for the category.  When it's gone, it's gone. All the money that was left over and not put in envelopes we used to put on the mortgage as an extra payment.  You can use the extra to pay down other debt, or as a float the first few months when working out your budget. 

You can put your receipts in the envelope or jar if you want to.  If you are using an envelope you can write on the envelopes the amount and date you spent the money.

At the end of the month there are a few things you can do if there is money left over.  You can allow the money to carry over and build up in the category. For example, the Power Bill is due every other month, this one builds up.  

We allow the car budget to build up also.  We allow this to build up for new tires, and for a new car.  We purchased a new to us 2015 a few months ago, and have a 2013. We are hoping to make it to 2023 before we get a new car, but we will be prepared.

Groceries envelope, at month’s end you may realize you have some extra money to do build your stock pile. A stock pile is the extra food you have in your home.  Some months are better than others for coupons and sales for building on your stock pile. 

Clothing, and Date Night envelopes we don't let build up.

For a challenge we have an empty envelope purposely for month end. The last day of the month we dump any left over money into it to be the fun money. This was how we afforded a get-away in a neighouring city for a night, or a movie dinner date.

After a while it became a challenge for us, and all money left over went on the mortgage.  Sometimes we skipped a date night and had an at home date. Then the money that was left in the date envelope was slapped on the mortgage.  Now we use it for our dream vacation fund. 

If you are saving for something special, say a vacation or a new purse, have an envelope specially for that item. We used to keep our money in jars, but it got bulky and took up a lot of space. Jars are a good visual to be able to actually see the money, and how fast it is being spent. 

We have a page in our Home Economy Binder with each category of our budget written down.  We used to track what we thought we would spend, and the actual money spent in each category. It helped us to tweak out the budget. 

If you are looking for an app try Dave Ramsey EveryDollar.  It is free and user friendly. I am old fashion and like pen and paper. 

Here is a link to an online resource that we used when we were just starting out. http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/resources/interactive_budget_worksheet.html this website and budget sheet give shout the numbers you should spend on each category. 

You may remember Gail Vax Oxlade from the show Till Debt Do Us Part that aired on the Slice Network.

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS BUT TRY IT A MONTH AND YOU WILL SEE...Doing the envelope system makes us feel like we have more money.  It gives permission for us to spend money while keeping an eye on the prize. When we first started we used jars, so we could physically see the money, this is an option and may work for you.  We were stupid and went out and bought matching jars at the Dollarama lol.  I have quite the collection of mason jars and sauce jars any of those would be fine.  I also save all those pesky prepaid envelopes that come out in the mail, and use those as our budget envelopes.  

Give yourself a few months to work out the kinks.  Don’t beat yourself up about it, you are making progress!

It pays to be frugal. 

 Join Guess Who's Cheap on Facebook, and on Amazon A Penny Saved is a Mortgage Paid, and A Guide to Collecting Air Miles in Canada

 https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+penny+saved+is+a+mortgage+paid&sprefix=a+penny%2Caps%2C206&crid=R06CXF8JG0RF

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+guide+to+collecting+air+miles+in+canada&sprefix=a+guide+to+coll%2Caps%2C211&crid=2BS1C1GT9OM2G&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aa+guide+to+collecting+air+miles+in+canada