Debt Free Kid

Originally written in 2009: I was going to wait a few days to think about this some more, but I changed my mind and decided to jump into the topic of parental contributions to my financial views and life practices. Fabulously Broke and Debt Chronicles did it, among others, and I will too. Like always, I am going to try to focus on the positive (it's gonna be a challenge though). As a young child I remember having it all. Both my parents worked and we had a house and a nice car and lots of toys, food and music. My parents liked to have a good time and I spent a lot of time at my (maternal) grandparents', who also lived comfortably and free from want. During the recession of the early 1980s my dad made some investment mistakes and lost our house. My mom left him for this and other reasons and moved us into an apartment near her parents' place. We left our lower-middle class, multi-cultural neighbourhood for one that was primarily white and upper-middle class. I felt...

How did I pay off $20 000 in 2.5 years? - Started tracking my spending (I use Excel). - Took advantage of balance transfers to lower-interest cards and line of credit. - Moved into a small apartment, shared a bedroom with my son (the first year). - Stopped buying coffee and a muffin each morning, and a cola each afternoon. - Stopped shopping online and in stores for clothes and other distractions. - Used a subsidized food box program once a month. - Kept my appointments with social services for a child care subsidy. Also kept to their guidelines to keep the subsidy. - Bought used car. Tried to keep up with repairs, but when it became too costly, parked it and took the bus. - Let my sweetheart at the time pay for my outings (as a feminist, this was really hard for me, but it was the only way I could do anything that cost anything). Why didn't I start riding a bike to work? - I don't know how to ride a bike. - But if I did know how, I would have to put my son in one ...

I've been maintaining this blog for (close to? more than?) two years. I'm obviously not keeping track of time. The blog is not exactly what I thought it would be, but it's been an amazing tool for tracking my progress and that's the most important thing. It keeps me honest and accountable. It probably keeps you asleep - if you even read it anymore. I don't care really, I stopped watching the stats almost immediately. And I've come up with a few rules and here's three: 1. Stop clicking on free stuff. Maybe even stop following blogs that offer free stuff. Thanks to a couple of thoughtless keystrokes I now get a spam phone call each night, and at least a couple of spam snail-mails each week. Good thing I'll be moving and leaving my landline in the spring but in the meantime ... 2. I've stopped following almost all blogs that don't offer a full blog post in their feed. I follow way too many blogs now and rarely click on them individually unles...

I did it. I said I wouldn't, but I pulled the trigger. I bought a netbook. Actually, more than a netbook. About $300 more. I put in some overtime hours and instead of putting the extra money onto my debt I used it to buy myself an early birthday present. A $600 early birthday present. A little laptop, that had all the specs I had been researching for the past six months. I tried to wait another month to see if the price would drop for xmas, but I gave in. It's an Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T. I'm going to write a proper review for the Future Shop site and I'll copy it here too. So far, a fun little toy. Please don't judge me :) Seriously, Karissa PS: I also bought a new winter coat for $89. It's goose-down. Hopefully it lasts the season. It has been years since I bought a proper winter coat. PAID OFF. PPS: I also bought a gym membership for $40 a month. So far I've been going to yoga twice a week and it's totally worth the money spent. Dedu...

I opened my first savings account when I was six years old. My mom was a bank teller and she set my sister and I both up with Calculator accounts at the Royal Bank. I loved playing with my passbook, pretending to push the little buttons on the cover. I loved rolling up pennies and giving them to my mom to deposit, watching the typed numbers increase in the passbook. I always had a little bit of cash, even as a little girl. I got an allowance of $2 a week and I liked to spend it on books (usually Judy Blume). I remember coming up with extra chores lists, and would charge my parents 25 cents for anything above and beyond my usual chores. My sister always spent her money right away and would come to me to "borrow" my money because she knew I always had some. I had an ATM card when I was twelve, and used it wisely. I knew how to write a cheque. I took a business class in high school, with a component in personal finance and did very well. I took business math and marketing an...

... with spending money I don't have. This past week I have created wishlists all over the Net. I customized a Dell Mini and looked at yoga toys. I have at least twenty listings in MyEbay. The BBC Canada Store contacted me to add a link - which I have, below - and now I have all nine or so seasons of Red Dwarf in a wishlist on their site. I went to Winners last week, looking for panda bear slippers for my son. I walked out with two dresses and a jumper, a pair of (non-orthotic) wedge sandals and a toy purple dragon. Over $130 spent that I managed to work into my budget spreadsheet without catastrophe, but those funds SHOULD be going toward the $9000 on the MC. A visit to the dollar store yesterday had me spending just over $30 and this didn't cover all the items on my shopping list. Something is up in my psyche and I'm not sure what or why. Is it just spring fever? Or have my spending issues returned to cause problems? Seriously, Karissa

Received my T4 at the end of February and immediately filed online. Received my income tax refund by direct deposit today and PAID OFF MY MASTERCARD. Looky at the pretty sidebars. I moved up the debt bar because I'm so proud. People have been asking me how I cleared $11 000 worth of debt in 15 months and to be honest, I'm not quite sure how I did it. I'm making a mental list and hope to type it out and post it soon. Hope you're having a great weekend. Mine just got that much better :) Seriously, Karissa

I'm proud. Hell, I'm bragging. In fifteen months I have paid off 50% of my credit card debt. Over ten thousand dollars. I don't know how I did it. I didn't take a second job and I didn't sell anything online. I still have a social life and a car. I even paid off a huge car repair bill ($1400+) and bought two pairs of orthopedic shoes ($500). I bought a crappy new cell phone ($300 with all the bells and whistles). And still, I managed to pay HALF my debt in just over a year. I'm psyched I tell ya. If I can keep this up, I'll be paying off my student loans in no time, and then I can start saving up for a bigger and better life for my son and I. Seriously, Karissa

A couple of weeks ago I decided to pilfer my TFSA in 2010, and apply the $1130 or so to my $3500 credit card balance. I want this card paid OFF, ASAP. I know I'll be losing out on compound interest but I think I'm making the right decision. I will continue to snowflake back into it with each paycheque, but I probably won't get it back up to $1000 by the end of 2010. That's ok, because I desperately want to have the CC and LOC paid off in 2011. I have my 2010 budget spreadsheet all ready to go, with all the modifications I could think of based on spending in 2009. Reaching the final column of the 2009 spreadsheet has been a relief, and a real achievement, because I made through the entire year tracking my expenses and debt payments. Here's a bit of a postmortem: After-tax income, including pay, child tax credit, child support, GST rebates, and gifts and miscellaneous sales $35 841 Rent and Food $11 496 Debt re-payments, including interest charges $8209 Car, including...

I have known for the past few weeks that I was feeling low. Every time I thought of something to post on this blog I decided it was too negative, or whiny, or not grateful enough. Like, the old me. I was snapping at my son A LOT. And freaking out on his dad TOO MUCH (well, the doofus did play a mean trick with money in April, but I didn't want to react the way I did). I was spending A LOT of time at work trying to wrap up the semester, and trying to get to my weekly Al-Anon meeting each Tuesday afternoon. I spent a weekend with my mom, which turned out pretty well, for maybe the first time ever. I was stressing a lot about a potential new relationship. And then I got sick. Disgustingly, embarrassingly sick. I couldn't keep water down and what I thought was a spider bite on my back migrated to my front. I writhed and itched and thought I might be dying. After a whole weekend of suffering, I went to the doctor. Diagnosis: SHINGLES. Yes, the same shingles that my grandmother gets....

Grace mentioned me in her blog last week, while talking about debt burnout and the need to take a holiday from frugal fretting for a day or so. I had been thinking of taking a day off from laundry and brooding to spend a day in the big city with good friends and nice weather, and Grace's mention gave me the kick in the butt I needed to just go and do it. I spent about $100 in total for my day of silliness in the city. That included 24-hour parking, some drinks, and cab fare. I also got a much-needed haircut and bought a couple of things for my kitchen that I had been eyeing up for awhile. My partner-in-crime for the day covered meals and some drinks, which was a nice treat. It's a busy week for me, with our final program meeting until September scheduled for tomorrow, a lunch planned for Wednesday for a friend and co-worker who is going on maternity leave in only a few days, and then on Thursday it is Bean's third birthday! Today I must get to the store to find a cake mix ...

I no longer have access to someone's wireless connection at home, and I've been WAY too busy at work to blog from there. And I have lost my focus. I have to remember why I started this blog in the first place. Before I started here I enjoyed reading three kinds of blogs: self-help, single moms, and personal finance. The plethora of these blogs got me through some seriously dark days and some really lonely weekends. When I found myself ready and willing to start posting my own, I wanted to come up with a combination of the three. With a fourth element, the Canadian bias. Mostly, I was tired of trying to find inspiration in PF blogs written by one half of a couple. I don't have a problem with couples, but I can't tell you how many told me in their blogs, "WE paid off a $20 000 debt in just TWO years!" I'm on my own here, and no one is going to help me pay off my debt. As well I can't work more for extra income because I'm a single mom to a three-year...

Reading this post by Frugal Dad today reminded me of how grateful I am to have done it my way, against all odds, despite all criticism. I was thirty years old when I found myself pregnant by my ex. We had reconciled briefly, but I was in the process of getting rid of all my stuff and moving to Thailand for eight months or longer. I had already arranged a leave of absence from a position I despised at the university, and was looking for a geographical cure for my misery. I was already thirty, with a B.A. in International Development and no overseas experience under my belt. It was time to go. But there were other plans in store for me. Under my belt was a little sprawn, who would inspire me to stop smoking, stop living by my four credit cards, and get real about life. I mean, GET REAL. I found out I was pregnant a week before I left for Thailand. I felt it was too late to change my plans, my job was given out on contract and my apartment was already rented to new tenants. Trying to arr...