February No Spend Challenge

After overspending a bit in January, I suggested to my husband that we try a no spend challenge in February. He laughed at me.  He actually laughed. He thought that I was joking - I wasn't.  I don't blame him for thinking I was joking, I hardly believe it myself.  A week I could do, maybe, but a whole month?  I'm nervous and it hasn't even started!

I like to go out. I like to eat out. I like to go for car rides. I like to buy things for the house.  For the month of February (notice how I chose the shortest month), I am going to give up all of that.  Hubby has agreed to do the challenge with me; he likes the idea, but I don't think I have sold him on the fact that I actually plan to do it for the whole month!

Here are the rules that I have set for us to follow:


1. Spending only on necessary items including groceries, gas and pet supplies.

Pet food is something I obviously can't "cutback" on, or feed them random things from the freezer/cupboard (don't want any upset stomachs!).  Our pets won't have any new toys for the month though. I also can save money by making sure that I use coupons or buy pet food on sale!


2. Making home cooked meals; using what we have in the pantry/freezer and avoid eating out.

This means both my husband and I have to commit to eating at home and packing our lunches.  Sorry Dear, no Timmies runs this month! For me, eating out is a really bad habit and I determined to conquer it this month; just in time for the 10 Pound Challenge. This month will we be eating whatever lies in the back of our cupboards and freezer, and spending minimally on groceries.

3. Stretching our fuel costs by spending more time at home and less time out and about driving.

I love to go driving and window shopping.  I am going to have to really cut back on driving by combining the errands I do and making less trips.  It is a 64km round trip to work everyday, so I usually do go through a tank of gas in a week, but every km I save is money I didn't spend in gas.

4. Finding inexpensive things to do for fun.

My husband and I both have a lot of schoolwork we need to do in February.  That should help decrease the time we spend out helping us not spend money.  We still need to go out, so I will look for free things we can do.  It will be interesting to find something to do for Valentine's Day!

I will be starting this challenge on February 1st and will be updating all month on how I am doing. This will be a month for me to prove to myself that I can get by without eating out, and for us to save some extra money for when hubby goes to school in April.


Photo Credit

Just Ordered Amazon Gift Cards With Swagbucks

I just ordered a few $5 Amazon gift cards with Swagbucks!  I have enough points to order 5 gifts cards ($25 worth) but you can only order 2 a day, so it will take me a few days to order them.

$25 is not bad for a few months of searching the internet with Swagbucks search engine.  To be honest, I haven't even used it that much.  I still prefer Google.

I ordered amazon.ca gift cards because I live in Canada.  They don't have nearly the selection of things that amazon.com does but I've been eyeing a few things for birthday and Christmas presents this year!

Have you joined Swagbucks?  Have you cashed in your points for any prizes yet?

$5000 Extra Income Goal - Update

It's been awhile since I did an update on our $5000 Extra Income Goal, so I thought I would do another update.  It's been a pretty quiet month. We did get a little bit of money for Christmas, but most of our extra income has been from my second part time job.

My part time job went from working 9-12 hours a week in November/December down to working 1-6 hours from now on.  My job has changed, but I am able to work from home and have freed up more time.  I work a full 40-hour work week as well.

I am hoping to create extra income by sorting through our basement and selling things we don't need anymore.

This money has gone directly to paying off debts faster.

To date: $1245/$5000

How Pets Can Help You Save Money

My husband and I have a full household with two dogs and two cats, and while we love them to bits, the reality is they do cost money. An important decision to make before you adopt a pet is if you can afford the food, toys, vet bills, licensing fees and any unforeseen expenses due to things like a medical problem.  While it is very important to make sure you can afford the expenses that come with being a pet owner, I would like to share some of the ways that our pets actually help us reduce some of our expenses, here is how:

Exercise: Our dogs keep us on our toes! They also hold us responsible for making sure we all get enough exercise.  As affectionate and loving as our dogs are, they do not care if we had a long day at work or if we are tired; they just want to go for a run.  We don't have a treadmill or a gym membership because we don't need them.  Instead of buying a gym membership, driving to the gym using gas and hanging out with a bunch of sweaty strangers (can you tell the gym is not in my top ten favourite places to be?), my husband and I get to relax with a nice walk and it also give us time to talk!  Treadmill: $800 - $1000, Gym membership: $30 a month, two dog leashes: $20.  I'm sure you can see how it's a bargain!  For those days that are too cold/snowy/rainy for long walk, we have lots of fun playing with toys in the house.  Since the cats aren't too big on the outdoors walk, we opt to play with them indoors as well.

Eating at home: Our dogs and cats all eat and go to the bathroom.  The cats, being the independent species they are, don't really care how often we come home as long as we are there when they need their food and water filled and their litter boxes cleaned.  The dogs on the other hand have to wait for us to get home from work before they get supper and get let outside to do their business. This means either my husband or I always have to come straight home after work to take care of them.  Even though I say that eating out is by far our worst habit, it at least gives us the time to think about what we are having for dinner.  There is no "we aren't going home after work so let's just grab something".  This has actually helped us to reduce our eating out by a lot over the last couple of years!  Our biggest down fall down is we grab food when we are out for other things, such as groceries.

Heating: This may seem like a really silly point, but I still feel it's important.  There is no better way to go to bed then when you get into bed and it's nice and warm because the cat or dog was just laying there. It sounds silly, but I think fellow pet owners will agree with me.  My cat knows just when to come lie on my lap, or occasionally on my chest in the middle of the night.  He keeps me warm! My animals are the reason I don't own an electric blanket.  Have you ever noticed how much warmer a cold night is when there is a dog curled up to you in bed?

In the summer, we like to spend lots of time outside with the dogs.  We are not inside so we rarely turn on the air conditioning.  We have a kiddie pool in the back yard to help our dogs keep cool, and occasionally we stick our feet in to cool down. Not having the air conditioning on is the big one though, that saves a lot!

Vacation: Sometimes pets are added expenses to vacations, whether you're boarding them or flying with them.  We try and plan a vacation, like camping, where we can take our dogs with us.  If you're doing this you have to be careful as it's not fair to leave your dog in a hot car while you're in an air conditioned restaurant. Make sure you do your research ahead of time where dogs are allowed to be.

If you cannot take your dog with you, why not start a pet sitting circle?  If you have a couple of close friends that have animals, perhaps you can take turns looking after each others. We did this with a friend of ours who would bring his dog and stay at our house while we were away.  It gave the dogs a chance to play and him a chance to be without roommates for awhile. Then when he went away, he left his dog at our house.  Our dogs were getting lots of exercise and play dates, and it wasn't costing us anything.

Inspiration for a Second Income: I have met many people over the last few years who have taken their love for their animals to a whole new level.  They let the opportunities of having a pet create a part time income for them; whether it's dog walking, sitting or training.  Perhaps you have a special toy you make,  accessories you sew, or a recipe for a special pet treat you sell online.  Maybe you even have a blog to share your stories and tips about your furry friends. Whatever it is, there are lots of opportunities to let your pet inspire you financially.

These are a few of the ways that our pets have helped or inspired us to save money.  More importantly, the love they give outweighs their expenses.  Coming home to a pet can quickly turn around a bad day. They always seem to know when you're feeling down, and are there in a heart beat to cheer you up.       

Credit: (Photo)

The Importance of Self Care

Working in the Social Services, I see a lot of people around me leave due to burn out.  Burn out is one of the biggest reasons people in my field leave their job.  Luckily, the specific company I work for takes burnout very seriously and works really hard to make sure their employees have the resources they need in order to avoid burnout.

I never really thought about what I do for me to relieve stress and relax before I started at this job.  In fact, I used to get teased that I didn't know how to relax - and it's true.  I'm slowly learning how to relax but along the way I've learned some bad, expensive relaxing habits.

Who says that self care and relaxation have to be expensive?  It seems advertising and TV make you picture relaxation as a day at the spa, or on a warm tropical island.  Yes, I admit, I would love to fly off to somewhere warm every time I get stressed out, but that really isn't an option.  In early 2011 I was having a difficult time and I was really starting to reach burnout.  I convinced my hubby that we should go on a vacation to a warm destination, and we did.  It was amazing and very relaxing, but I think it would have been a lot more relaxing if we didn't have to spend the next 6 months paying off our credit card when we came home!

While that once in awhile vacation is nice to take, it just doesn't happen as often as we like. We can't afford to go away every year, especially while hubby is in school.  My other comfort is food, I love to eat out when I am stressed.  I like the atmosphere of most restaurants and I just find it relaxing. It gives hubby and I time to talk, and to get away a little bit, at least until the bill comes.

So as you can see, up until the middle of last year, my relaxation techniques were expensive and also causing me more stress because I was sometimes spending money I didn't have.   I put myself into a vicious circle.  The last 6 months have been full of new ways, and cheaper ways to relax, here are a few suggestions:

1. Movie at home: I love to cuddle up with a movie and turn off my brain for a few hours.  It's perfect after "one of those days" at work.  Sometimes turning off my brain is all I want to do, and it's ok for a few hours, as long as I'm not spending money.  But seriously, it easily can cost the two of us $30 to go to a movie theater and get a snack. At home is much cheaper, plus I can bring my blanket and wear my pajamas!

2. At home spa: I know this idea has been done again and again but it's so simple and it works!  There are so many options, you can find whatever speaks to you.  Perhaps a candle lit bath, pedicure or just spending time to try a different hairstyle or makeup.  It can really pick up your mood.

3. Candle lit dinner:  Just as cheesy as above but my husband and I actually really like cooking for each other.  We take turns whipping up something special for the other one to try - and it's not expensive because the challenge usually is to create from what is in the cupboards. It's an easy way for us to do something nice for each other and sometimes we find a recipe we really like.

4. Partner Massage: I would normally not be the first person to say massage.  I didn't like massages, still really not the biggest fan.  My husband is a big fan though, so for his birthday I signed up us for a couples massage class. I honestly didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but it was excellent and we learned a lot of techniques and tip to make massages easier on the massager and better for the massagee.  I went to the class worried it was going to be awkward, and left more relaxed than I have been in ages!

5. Curling up with a good book (or blog!): Sometimes I like to curl up in bed with a book, or even my laptop I'll admit and just read. I used to feel guilty about wasting time but I'm learning now to see relaxation as self care and not a waste of time.

Whatever makes you feel relaxed, make sure you spend some time for you.  In the end, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.

What do you do for relaxation and self care?

Credit: (Photo)

Free Ebook: Organized Simplicity

I just wanted to share an eBook I came across at amazon.com.  Right now this eBook, Organized Simplicity, is free but that could change any anytime.  This eBook is written by the owner of the blog Simple Mom. I have just started reading this eBook, downloaded onto my Kindle for PC (also available for free at amazon.com) and so far it's great!  I think it is really going to help me get organized this year!

How I Budget

Over the last two years I have redone our budget about a dozen different times trying to find a practical one that works for us.  In October, I found my magical budget system!  For the first time we've been able to stick to our budget and make it really work for us.

Why did all the other ones not work?

Problem Budget #1: Spend Now, Save Later
From the title I'm sure you have an idea why this didn't work for us.  This "budget" was the earliest theory I used, I earned an income, paid my bills, bought my food, gas and entertainment and would save what was left.  Problem was, there was nothing left at the end. If the money was there, it usually got spent. Strange concept??

Problem Budget #2: The Monthly Budget
The first several times I did a budget, I did a monthly budget.  It was the kind you get as a free template and you put in your income and then you put in your expenses and it tells you how much money you have left over or how much you you've spent over.  Some of them, like Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Budget Template, even tell you if you are spending the "right" amount in each category. The problem for me was the numbers never added up. I finally realized that because we get paid bi-weekly and pay our car payments and mortgage also come out biweekly, it didn't add to to a monthly payment, some months we'd make 3 payments instead of 2 and some months we would get paid 3 times.

Problem Budget #3: The Cash
When I put us on a fairly strict budget, I decided to do what I had read about over and over again and I started to use a cash budget.  On payday we would go to the bank and pull out our money and put it into envelopes to use for the next week. The problem with the cash really boiled down to we were too used to using debt and having a joint account.  I liked to use debit, I didn't have to keep receipts because I was able to view all of my transactions online.  The second thing we found was some weeks, like Thanksgiving, we spent more on food, and other weeks we spent more on things like gas for our vehicles - we were able to "steal" from other jars, but that made it even harder to keep track of what we were spending where.  If you lost a receipt, you really didn't know. The third and biggest problem was that it wasn't convenient. My hubby would stop on the way home for milk or something small, would forget to take the cash or would end up stopping unexpectedly. We also could only take $20's out of the ATM so it made us have to budget our envelopes in 20's, which for some categories didn't seem to work out to well. Lastly we were missing out on the points we got with our debit and credit cards! Needless to say, the cash system only latest two or three weeks in our house.

So here is my big secret after all these attempts, my magical budget system consists of a spreadsheet. Just a spreadsheet, I didn't even use a template because none of them worked for us. I use a spreadsheet that is broken down into weeks, the first day of the week is pay day.   This is an example of how it looks:

We chose to do it by week because since I started a new job in October, hubby and I get paid opposite weeks, which is really really nice to budget with! I use each week to put in my income and my bills, savings and debt repayment.  Even though I "schedule" my payments all through the week, I always come home pay day and go through the weeks budget and pay anything that needs to be paid right away.  I also should mention, things like our mortgage, car loan and savings are set up to come out automatically on pay day. Once a line is completed, I use strikethrough to cross it off. Once everything is paid, and savings is saved, the balance is our weekly money.

We've stopped setting weekly limits on how much to spend on fuel, food and entertainment.  Our rule is if we have $100 left over, we can spend it on anything (mutually agreeable of course, I wouldn't go empty our bank account on a pair of shoes).  If we spend all the money eating out, then we don't get to buy gas, if we spend the money on new clothes, then we don't get to eat for a week.  This way, when the money is gone it's gone, but we don't have to worry about counting pennies. This budget plan is set up so we have all our bills paid, savings saved in 10 minutes and then we don't have to worry about it.

Right now, my budget is laid out until April, which is when hubby will be going to school so it will change a bit. So far it is working really well but we may make some more changes along the way as things in our life change.

10 Pound Challenge

I joined the 10-pound Challenge hosted by Newlyweds on a Budget. Lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks, win $$$. Are you in?


I started a new job in October and since then have managed to gain weight even while trying to keep it off!  I've made some changes to my diet and have been coming up with more fun ways to get my physical activity in.  Now, I have joined this challenge and I think it is exactly what I need to give myself a big push!  10 pounds will put me back in my healthy weight range.

I know I can do this, I got married in August 2010.  When my wedding dress arrived in February 2010, it came too small! They had taken my measurements and I hadn't gained any weight but still, the back was not able to close by about 3 inches.  I was told that the dress could be taken out that much but if I gained any weight I'd be out of luck.  I took that as my personal challenge to lose some weight and fit into my dress without alterations!  In the 6 months before my wedding, I ate healthy and did a lot of walking and some hiking.  My soon-to-be husband went to the gym with  me and showed me how to use the weight machines. I lost nearly 20 pounds and ended up having my dress taken in!  Not to mention, I firmed up my arms and back and looked pretty good in my strapless dress!

Now, I have a big secret goal that I want to run a 5k.  Currently, I am not a runner, but I have been thinking about trying the couch to 5k program.  Maybe 2012 will be the big year for me to run a 5k?

The biggest challenges for me will be finding free/inexpensive activities and balancing a healthy grocery list with a healthy budget.  Another challenge will be cutting back on eating out, which is ongoing challenge.  Not eating out means saving money and being more healthy, it's a win win!

Good luck to everyone and thanks to Newlyweds on a Budget for hosting this challenge!

Debt Update

We have made progress with our debt and both of out credit cards are paid off! My goal was to have the credit cards paid off by the end of 2011. We were close and made the last payment in the first week of January. We are happy and my Hubby in particular was very excited to make his last payment on his credit card. Here is a look at our debt now:

Credit Card #1: $0
Credit Card #2: $0
Line of Credit: $11 093

It would be nice to pay off our debts this year but with hubby going back to school, I don't think it will be possible. My goal is to have everything paid off by the time he graduates in early 2014. That will include our current debt and his tuition of $15 000!

December Savings Goal - Update

Here is an update on how we did with our December goals!

• $350 for gas for both vehicles: We spend $385.50 on gas this month. So we went over a bit.
• $300 for groceries and eating out: We spent $465 on groceries and eating out.  Going to have to really watch this one!
• Renew animal licenses - $80.  Turns out I only had to renew one license and it cost $46.
• $200 Christmas gift budget: We decided to do a lot of baking this year as gifts and only spent about $50.
• Buy winter tires:  Winter tires were bought for just under $800 and added on to the credit card balance.  We are thankful we bought them, they have made a world of difference!
• Pay off the last credit card:  After having added the extra $800 for winter tires and more for oil change and changing the tires on the other vechile, we have $450 left to pay, which should be paid in the next two weeks!
• Set up automatic savings: Set up and started!

There are a few goals we could have done better on. Particularly not eating out as much.  That is always my downfall!