Debt Free Kid

Yep, I almost did it. I almost pulled the trigger on a couple of sites today. I had stuff in the carts, but I closed the tabs before I pulled out the credit card. The first cart contained a couple of "ugly christmas sweaters" for Bean and I, and they weren't even that ugly. The one for me was pretty cute, and since it was pink and black, I could wear it year round. I knew Bean would get a kick out of the one I picked out for him. The second cart was for skincare, my most favourite thing to splurge on. I'm almost out of my $55 serum, and I saw an email for some sample primers at a great price. I needed to add only $2 more to get bonus points, so I picked out a new face wash. I scrutinized my purchases a few times, and read a couple of reviews of the primers. I needed to make sure the cosmetics company was cruelty-free. And then I clicked "x," twice. And went to heat up my ramen noodles for lunch. I also figured out how to file a dispute with amazo...

I get paid on the 28th of each month, and sometimes, like this past January, it feels like weeks between payday and the beginning of the next month. I have about three months worth of pay saved up so I'm never quite short on funds, but I do try to make each current pay last till the end of the month (the 30th or 31st, rather than the 28th), Since February has only 28 days (normally) it is a nice feeling to head right into March with a full paycheque. This month, to make it even sweeter, I have declared it "no spend month." This means that all non-essential spending (groceries and gas excluded of course) is to be delayed for four short weeks. And I am not allowing myself to cheat by using a credit card and paying it off next month. Half of my January pay went towards a hefty credit card bill from December spending, even though I had a christmas savings account set up. Still, it is nice to check my credit card statements and see that zero balance. Since I am single agai...

All the Personal Finance blogs tell us not to buy a new car. I never planned to myself, but when I could not find what I wanted used, I took the plunge and made the splurge. I bought a 2014 Hyundai Accent in April 2014. Not only do I feel safe and secure in my new car, after years of driving hazardous beaters, but I am also in the best financial shape I have ever been, ever. Before I bought the car I scrutinized my budget spreadsheet for weeks. If you know how often I do this (at least once a day), you would know that this is a big deal, since I had the spreadsheet open for hours each day, moving numbers around. The only way I could afford the payment was to be radical with each category, to make room for the new purchase. Once I became comfortable with the changes, I bought the car. Since my intention was to pay it off in 3.5 years instead of 7, I stopped spending everywhere else. I still put money in the grocery account, and the gift account (for christmas and birthdays), but I...

This morning Bean had a very serious look on his face as he told me that he wished he had kept a friend's birthday gift for himself. As I noticed the hurt look I thought of the friend mentioned, and realized that the gift purchased and given was BACK IN DECEMBER. 2013. It was a Lego set of a type that Bean has recently become quite fanatical about, especially since there is a tie-in cartoon of the Lego series now on Netflix. He has been watching it every day when we get home from work and day camp, while I am making dinner. I try not to get annoyed but I can't help it. The friend who received the toy in question is the kid who seems to have everything. I really like his mom and I always wonder how she gets by as a single mom, with two kids, a mortgage, and under-employment. Every time my kid gets excited about a new toy trend it is because this kid, and a couple of others, brought the toy to school and made it the next big thing. All of these kids have single moms, and I don...

... or maybe this should be filed under stupid spending mistakes? Read on ... I knew I shouldn't have, but I clicked on the link from Paypal offering me a $25.00 credit from shop.ca. I have never used shop.ca, so I took a look. The selection was overwhelming, so I went to my two favourite lurking categories: wristwatches and handbags. I wasn't thinking when I selected one of each for my cart. The minimum purchase was $75, so I picked a $25 bag and a $50 Timex watch. I clicked through ... order went through ... no $25 credit added. Oh great, now what have I done? I mindlessly bought two things I don't need, and didn't even get the discount that brought me to the site in the first place. I clicked help, and saw that the order could be cancelled within two hours. So I cancelled it. Goodbye new bag, goodbye new wristwatch. It was a short fling. Emails came through confirming first the purchase, then the refund. Then an email from Paypal: here is the $25.00 credit! Wha...

I mentioned  in my previous post that I won a gift certificate from Squirrelers' Thanksgiving contest. It was for $20 at Amazon.com. I normally order from Amazon.ca but xmas was arriving quickly and I thought I'd redeem it for something for someone I love. I had a harder time than I thought I would. Shipping from the U.S. is expensive and since I had left it so late, nothing I chose would be here in time for xmas. A couple of toys I had picked out for my son would not ship to Canada at all. I finally chose a backpack for my bro-friend but before I hit the switch I decided to check locally. I found the same pack for the same price at a shop in town and avoided shipping altogether. Last week I decided to buy a book with it. The book cost $10 and the shipping was $11! I couldn't bear to spend more on postage than on the book itself, so I went with my original plan and offered the gift certificate to a friend in the U.S. Since I had carelessly applied it to my own account ...

Happy New Year everyone. I have been working on my budget for 2011 and I am confident that I will have the last of the credit card debt gone by the end of the coming year. I can't say I will be debt-free because I will then have the $30 000+ student loan debt to tackle, however I am feeling pretty ecstatic to see the end of the credit card era of my life. It was nice to receive my paycheque on the 28th of December and be able to allocate it entirely into my new budget. I didn't have any credit card bills to pay since I managed to use some savings for all my xmas gift purchases. I also bought way less this year than in previous years. My sister and I agreed to buy nothing for each other and instead got together on xmas eve for a nice visit. I also didn't buy for any of my step-siblings' kids (of which there are now 6) because they keep multiplying while I responsibly keep my number of offspring to just one :) I kept my traveling to a minimum this xmas and when I di...

The health food store near our apartment has a customer appreciation day on the last Tuesday of the month: 10% off all purchases. I try to get a list going and when I direly need something I'll try to time it to make it over on this special day. Last Tuesday I noticed I was running low on Vitamin D. I take Vit. D, a multi-vitamin, and fish oils every morning. I was also feeling a little under the weather, so I thought I'd pick up a natural cold remedy while I was in there picking up the Vitamin D. When I got to the store I noticed the "Customer Appreciation" sign wasn't up on the door but I decided to go in anyways. You know where this is going. I walked out with Vit. D, echinacea, (EDIT: AND more fish oils), a bottle of Floradix (liquid iron supplement), two bags of organic cereal, a bottle of shampoo, a box of rice milk, and a bottle of China Cola. I spent almost $80.00. When I got out to my car with my bag of stuff, I remembered that customer appreciation...

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...

Canadian Saver asked me why I want a Dell mini and it made me think. Besides the fact that it's cute, why do I need this new toy? So I thought I'd make a pros/cons list: Pros: - small size will make it nice for my weekend jaunts - 160 or 250 gbs for storage - I can keep more pics, music and maybe a movie or two for travel - I can get one with a purple top! Cons: - my son will think it's his, because it's small and purple (his fave colour) - I want the OS to be WinXP, and this is available only with a 3-cell battery (a 6-cell battery on its own is $170 extra) - adding purple adds $30 to the cost, plus I'll probably buy a sleeve (compound spending) - I read somewhere that the sound and video don't actually work well on the Mini - I'm supposed to be paying off my entire credit card debt this year, so I must stop spending money I don't have! Seriously, Karissa

... 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

The Canadian dollar is almost at par with the U.S. bill, and because of this I have found myself browsing both ebay and ebags. I have a serious addiction to leSportsac - especially the leopard print styles - and I usually buy a new item each year. I skipped last year because I was so serious about debt reduction. I am trying not to let myself believe that I "deserve" a new bag. I am grappling with the issue of entitlement in all kinds of areas. I used to justify the expensive leSportsac purchase by acknowledging that the bags were Made in USA, but I know that they haven't been for a few years now. The quality of the Made in Asia bags appear to be the same, but the guilt of potentially buying from a sweatshop does not make me feel good. Maybe I want a reward for being so good at debt repayment, but I don't want to compromise my values. But oh, there are some cute bags out there. Seriously, Karissa

You have to imagine my surprise when I received a voice mail from the cable company offering me free digital TV, high-speed internet, and telephone with the purchase of my new home. I returned the call to confirm and as it turns out, with my new lease I will be receiving all three services FOR FREE for twelve months. I was told that I would receive cable with the new apartment, but I assumed I would have to pick one service. I had decided on telephone because I still hate Telus so much. Nope. All three. It has been years since I watched cable TV, and over a year since I canceled my cable internet. I feel like I'm back in the 2000s. I just might gain twenty pounds being a couch potato in the next twelve months. Seriously, Karissa

It's such a graphic term, but lately I feel like I am hemorrhaging money. The Bean's daycare has a United Way campaign that has nickle and dimed me to the tune of about $60 in the past couple of weeks. The battery on my cell finally gave up and a replacement was $90. I bought two pairs of shoes (one was $71 and the other was $389 - orthopedic!!) but returned them both because they just didn't feel right. I'm still wearing the same orthopedic sandals that I overspent $269 on back in August. You know you're a mom when you don't care anymore if you wear socks and sandals. I bought two pairs of "skinny" jeans because I have gone up a size and am bloating out of my old pants. I paid $26 for the two pairs, but another $22 or so on alterations (I am way short for them). I've been invited to a wedding for this Saturday, and so far I have spent $8 on a second-hand dress. The alterations will be another $12 or so. Total spent on alterations will be just over...

I think I have come up with a strategy that works for paying off the debt as well as contributing a little to my savings. The debt payment system seems a tad strange, but will make sense to people with OCD :) As soon as I receive an email statement I check to see how much interest was added for the month. I pay that amount immediately. This keeps the balance at a nice round number, to which I apply $50 or $100 payments throughout the month as I can afford them. I was concerned that I wasn't padding my TFSA sufficiently, so I came up with a snowflaking plan that does not make me feel as though I am taking priority away from the debt repayments. What I have decided to do is snowflake the odd amounts from my pay, child tax credit, and GST. For instance, my GST rebate is $156.50 every three months, so I put $1.50 into the TFSA. I added up all the snowflake amounts year-to-date and just deposited $35.40 into my TFSA account. It isn't much but if I keep doing this each month it will ...

This week I will be visiting Rexall (Pharma Plus) drug store for the third time in two weeks to purchase Huggies. We use the diapers for night time and the Pull Ups at daycare. The Huggies Pull Ups are far superior to Pampers or store brands (this is not a sponsored post). Both the diapers and the Pull Ups are in the flyer for $14.99 until this Friday. Plus, I am armed with $2.00 coupons for the diapers that I found in the blue box in my building, and $2.50 coupons that were on the shelf of Price Choppers - I have been taking one each time I go into the grocery store to buy food. So the diapers are only $12.99 and the Pull Ups are $12.49. Much better than $17 or even $19.99 for a little pack of 40! So, I may go over-budget by about $100 this month, but we should be stocked up on diapers and Pull Ups for the most of the summer. Hopefully Bean potty-learns by September :) Seriously, Karissa

On Saturday morning I woke up child-free and took advantage of that by laying in my bed dozing and daydreaming for a couple hours. When I finally got up I had a serious case of the "buys" and I thought about heading out immediately to some stores to see if anything struck my fancy. I managed to wait it out a bit by making myself a home-coffee and settling onto the couch to catch up on my blog reader. The urge to shop was still there but I had loads and loads of laundry to do and the laundry facilities were all clear. I did three loads and washed up most of the dishes and by then it was late-lunchtime and nap time. Then my mom called and we talked for over an hour and by then it was time to jump in the shower and get ready for a late dinner date with an old friend. Shopping urge averted for another day. On Sunday I had the urge to make banana bread with all the bananas living in the freezer but I discovered that I didn't have enough sugar. So off the the bulk barn where I ...

It is 6:30 am, still dark out. Not a sound except a few brave morning birds singing in anticipation of spring. Stealthily I make my way into the living room to my laptop computer, eager to have a half hour or so to myself to check my email and blog, and to play with my budget spreadsheet. I find myself on a site called ebag.com, looking at my favourite line of purses. I click through the site's recommendations, just for me , and tempted by the one-day only sale , feel my brain click into purchasing mode. They take the paypal, so I don't have to move to find my wallet and credit card. I have a moment where I think, "I could be using this quiet time to stretch and meditate and contemplate on being human ..." as I click back and forth between the red bag, the olive bag, and the standard black. I'm about to make a decision when I hear the stomping of little feet, and my son comes running in, upset that I am not in bed with him. I tell him to go back to bed, looking lo...

I am so pleased with my cordless power screwdriver. Without it, putting together our new bookshelf would have taken hours and generated sweat, blisters, and probably some cursing. Because of it I wouldn't have to wait for one of my man-friends to come over and put the six-foot shelf together for me. I had it in one piece within an hour. When I discovered that I had screwed in two of the shelves upside down, I merely chuckled and picked up my new best friend and reversed-screwed them out again. Easy peasy. Frugal tip: if you are planning to buy any kind of tool-anything from the hardware store, especially one of the big ones (I go to Canadian Tire), try to plan to go after father's day. I got my mechanical buddy there for about sixty percent off just a couple days after father's day. I guess they overstock this stuff for gifts and when it doesn't sell, it gets drastically reduced to make space for junk for Canada Day. Seriously, Karissa Dee