Declutter...and Make Some Money

**this is a picture of what we gathered up yesterday, take note of our hamper repaired with duct tape that saved us a few bucks lol

 

Declutter

We took on a HUGE endeavor, purging our house.  This took ONE WHOLE YEAR! It took this long because we have touched every item we have.

Today is a great day to start. I am doing a re-visit today.  Before the Christmas items get put away, I will decide if all the holiday things truly bring me joy.  There are some ornaments on our tree that no  longer bring me joy, and I plan to get rid of them. 

To make room on my bookshelves, all of our knick knacks were packed away. As I put them out to their year long spots, I will see if they bring me joy. 

I don’t know about you, but I was guilty of buying a few gifts that just weren’t necessary. My husband really doesn’t want the Toronto Maple Leafs gumball machine.  We will sell it.  Ask your kids if they received anything that they don’t think that they will play with. My kids got a few things that they don’t think they will use, and I returned them to the store a few days ago.  

 To some of you reading this post, you may think this is harsh. We try really hard to use the things we have.  We don’t want to be tripping over items or moving things to clean that we don’t even like. We have all been there, by March the kids have so many toys they don’t even play.

As you put away laundry, take a check on how many pairs of PJS you have, or sets of sheets etc.  I noticed that one of my kid’s had 4 sets of sheets. THAT’S CRAZY! This is after I thought we purged everything! 

Take a laundry basket and go through your house and challenge yourself to fill it up.

I was extremely motivated to do this by the possibility of financial gains.  I had a goal to sell $5 of items a day. Do the math, that’s $1825 a year!  That is more than one month’s mortgage payment as an extra payment. The goal was achieved and then some! I tracked how much money was in the jar in my day planner.  Less stuff to move when cleaning was a fringe benefit. 

As I touched each item, I asked myself if the item serves a purpose, or brings me joy.  If the answer to these questions was yes, it stayed, and if not, away it went.

This is a great way to build up your Emergency Fund or make some extra payments to pay down debt.

No item was safe. There is a great documentary I recommend if you need a little motivation on Netflix

http://www.theminimalists.com/netflix/  

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

A few Apps to Save you money

Yesterday we talked about Cash Back Apps with Caddle.  Thank you to all of those that signed up from me.   In case you missed it https://caddle.ca/signup/referral/57f933eb86129

Another great place I get deals is from Groupon.  If you haven't joined up from Groupon yet, here is my referral code

https://www.groupon.com/visitor_referral/h/df0fa8a6-b2c8-4be9-a70a-e644e50d2b72

This time of year until the end of February is when I find the best Groupon deals. 

I love Groupon. Before I make a purchase for a restaurant, activity or hotel I search Groupon first. The best part of a budget, is that there is money for fun, it just has to be planned. 

Our favorite restaurant in Halifax offers a Groupon twice a year for an incredible discount.  I am all over this, for a night out after Valentine's Day.

Subscribe to Groupon emails for your area.  When you register you get a code to use for money off of your first purchase (sadly, not applicable for all deals) and also you receive discount codes from time to time.  I have registered for Groupon on more than one email to receive the discount.

Groupon is already a great deal, but there is MORE!!!!!

When you receive your code, and email offer that you like, log in to airmilesshops.ca  and search Groupon or Ebates.ca (Ebates link is at the bottom) This will help you collect air miles on your purchase. Now you will receive AIRMILES or cash back and the amazing deal.

In the Spring I was searching out a hotel room for Niagara Falls.  I found a hotel that I liked and a price I was comfortable paying.   Just before I clicked to buy I logged in New York as my home city by accident.   The same offer for the hotel I was just about to purchase was much cheaper in American dollars.   I bought it, even with paying the exchange rate I saved $120 Canadian from my original price I was willing to pay!  My air miles were also awarded.

Ebates

Meghan Savings thought you would be interested in checking out Ebates.ca!

Check out Ebates.ca! It's a great website that actually pays you Cash Back every time you shop online and it's free to join! Ebates.ca works with over 750 stores that ship to Canada including Indigo.ca, Amazon.ca, eBay, Sears, Old Navy, Forever21 and Groupon.

Why wait? Click here to sign up today:

https://www.ebates.ca/referrer?referrerid=dmI00Ysp2yY%3D

Checkout 51- There is a Cash Back App that I use weekly, CheckOut 51.  You can download the app on your phone.   You can have more than one account per household, which helps for the really good deals! There are limits on how many offers you can claim. Multiple accounts allow you to claim multiple times. If you are claiming on multiple accounts you need to purchase your items on separate transactions.

The concept is simple.  Once a week (Thursday morning) you will get an update of new fresh offers. Scroll it and make notes of the offers. Check and try to match coupons to the offers. There are offers for things from toiletries to produce, to cleaning supplies.  The best part of it is, they send you a cheque once you have hit a credit of $20.  Now, some people like to save it and cash out when the number is high, and a certain time of year.  I am a natural born pessimist, always believing when things are too good to be true, they may not be real or last.  THIS IS REAL, but cash out every $20 credit. They mail you a cheque and deposit into your bank account, and voila, that simple.

Some offers are really good, and I upload the receipt when I get to the car as offers are limited in quantity.

At the bottom of the App you will see a green camera and it says Upload Receipt.  Click.

From there step by step directions help you to line up the camera to your receipt and claim your offers.

This is a great app for those that don't like to use coupons, or as a way to make extra cash. Put the $20 on your mortgage at each cash out.

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

Create a Budget

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 lol.  

We have an envelope for the following categories:

1.                   Date Night

2.                   Kid Activities

3.                   Power Bill

4.                   Frenchies/Clothes

5.                   Car (gas, repairs 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

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

16.               Gifts

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 money is 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.

Groceries envelope, at month 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.

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

For a challenge we had an empty envelope purposely for month end. The last day of the month we would 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. 

If you are saving for something special, say a vacation or a new purse, have an envelope. 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

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.

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

 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