Feeling Full of Fail

Ok so I feel a bit like a failure.

Not for saving money on groceries. No, our July bill averaged $130 which is $120 less than it was last year. So when it comes to shopping cheap for food I think I'm winning - those numbers even include pharmacy items.

Where I fail is spending everywhere else. I mean we've cut the internet bill, and the TV bill. Our heating isn't so much as we've worked hard over the years to insulate and repair the building envelope.

But....if I am going to admit it, I'm a spendaholic. If I don't want to emotionally eat, then I emotionally spend.

My Husband and I have a pact. I don't do money at home as I do it at work, and he doesn't answer the phones at home because he does it at work....and it works for us.

Except I become oblivious to where we are with money, and I am doing most of the spending. If he says it's ok, I assume it's because he's checked the budget.

Well for the last 2 months....neither of us have been keeping an eye on the budget...and we may have gone a little over.

Now, a couple of the items were medical tests that aren't covered by OHIP, but we also went all out in updating the backyard so we would actually spend time out there....and it worked really. We find ourselves (him more than me, but I have allergies) outside working on models or suntanning and it's been great.

But, this over expenditure means that we cannot do the renovations we had planned. It means that we have to cut down on all shopping, and there is pretty much no entertainment from here on out.

But when brings to real home to me, is that my spending (going to be honest...I bought 3 pairs of shoes in 2 weeks...granted 2 were from Payless and 1 from Winners...but still, it's mostly my over spending) has potentially cost us to hold off on another treatment. This is the only post I am going to mention this in as I don't want to......I guess define myself by it, but we are doing fertility treatments. Up until now our budget has had it so that we have been able to do so without going into debt. But at the same time we weren't doing anything "fun". So after being married for 5 years we finally went on our honeymoon in March. We did an treatment in May and it didn't work. Initially we may have been able to do another by year end...but my spending means that if we want to do one and remain out of debt for it...we're looking at end of next year....possibly sooner. It depends on how well we do over the next few months.

I thought about leaving my cards at home so I wouldn't be tempted, but that doesn't work as I do grocery shopping on the way home some nights, and I should keep a credit card in case of emergencies. I've been very stern with myself in my head...but I think it will take time to get over some of my spending habits.

I decided today that I will use this handy coinpurse my sister got me in the shape of a frog head. If I go out at lunch (which is when most of my spending happens), I will put exactly X amount for lunch only in the coinpurse, and leave everything else behind (keeping in mind we give eachother an allowance each week...my overspending is above and beyond that money).

From now on I am going to really question whether I really need or just want...any item. This afternoon I was thinking about how great it would be to lay in bed with a down comforter all snuggled with cool fall air. Then I thought..oh we should get a cover for our comforter, and I started to think about what colour we should get and where I could get one...without even realizing what I was doing. I finally had to shake myself and scold myself for thinking of something so trivial. Something that I really don't need and shouldn't be thinking about buying.

So here I am writing a blog about saving money, when I am over spending it. I feel like that chick from the Shopoholics series, except I only have the one credit card and very little to no debt...and I want to keep it that way!

I thought maybe I could think of some ways to make money on the side. I'm not creative really...I'm not good enough at any craft to sell anything. I'm too busy with work and school to think about doing anything part-time and my Husband wouldn't let me because it's not like we are broke...we are just needing to tighten the purse strings.

So the next few months are going to be a test of retraint for me. I am really going to do my best not to spend anything unless a) it's totally necessary or b) I've consulted with my Husband and the money is there to be spent.

It's going to be hard. It really is...all the Tokidoki stuff I would like...the Hello Kitty Doc Martens...going out to movies with my Husband or out to dinner, getting my hair done....lots of stuff I need to put out of my head.

But I will remain strong. I can do this....and I feel by writing it down here will help. It just gives me the added boost of confidence.

So. Who wants to go out for coffee? Just kidding.

Blogger you are tormenting me.

Trying to reply to epi-lj....not working so I am just going to post my reply here...because I can...because it's my blog.

So here....lol

Epi, sorry I took so long to reply.
Yeah we watch netflix for the TV shows. Lots of BBC on there which has been awesome. It is a lot cheaper using it currently for us then it is to do pay-per-view. We really hope by looking into getting satillite soon we can eliminate the TV and still get some channels with some shows we like to watch.
I also have no problem with torrents, but that messes with your internet bill (though not with tekksavvy as we have their unlimited plan, and our downloads since moving have been amazingly fast).
Odd it won't let me reply as me...
Thanks for replying!

Pooork

It's amusing to me this whole buying bulk concept. I mean yes it's simple, but man do some people take it to extremes.

I was shopping at No Frills this weekend and they had this half back pork sirloin on sale. I got this HUGE hunk of meat for $11. I noticed that the freezer has a big yellow sign stating 8 per family. I just stared at it for a second and then back at the meat in my hand. I tried to picture taking home 8 of these things. It's an assload of meat.

Ok perhaps if I had a large family, or was having a big party, I might take 8 of them home. The same sign was also on toilet paper that was on sale (and cleaned out might I add. 30 rolls (extra rolls so it was really 60) for $8.99....now we still have some left from the last sale so I didn't grab any...not that there was any to grab...but still  I pictured someone taking 8 of these suckers home. Are they preparing for the apocolipse??? Did they anticipate a lot of Mexican food in their future (no offence, I myself like a mean taco).

I have heard of people with their storage cellars filled with enough product to last them months. I started this blog in April and we are still working through a lot of the stuff we stocked up on. But I mean there is a limit.

I took that hunk of meat home and I looked it up on the internet to see how you cook it (again not big pork eaters in my house). Turns out it's just like a steak. So my Husband sharpened his knives and started cutting.

...and cutting....and cutting.....17 steaks. 17! And some of them we both agree are too big and could be cut in half. So lets assume someone bought 8 of these packages and cut them up into steaks...that's 136 steaks!!!!!!!!!! 136!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a lot of pork. I feel porky just thinking about it all.

We've slid back a bit into our old routine (ok I have), and our bills have been going up a touch. I feel like such a failure. But to be honest coupon cutting was exhausting. I mean I can still just order the coupons and have them sent, but keeping track of what's what, which expires when and limits...it's nuts. And while coupon swapping is a great idea, it just takes up sooo much effort. Perhaps I am lazy...but I have a finance course to be working above and beyond my everyday job, but house work and upgrades....I just don't have the time.

I will get back on the boat again. Maybe I just need to take it back to basics, slow down a touch...not go too big too fast like I was doing. I am still checking sales (wicked sale of berries at No Frills this week too), and trying to get more bang for my buck, but I really could be doing more.

With medical treatments on hold, and the need to save up money so we can try again, I have great incentive to save up. I just need to get over my inner child who whines about having to go to more than one grocery store at a time.

Anyway rant over...happy shopping!

So it's been awhile

I've missed you all. But life got in the way. I did a medical procedure...it didn't work...but there is always next time. Just means more opportunities to find ways to save money.

So I've done a lot of talking about saving money on groceries in Toronto, let me now venture into another area...media.

Up until recently we were paying well over $200 a month for cable and internet. INSANE. We had all the fancy channels, the movie networks....we were doing a lot of downloading on our computers (yay itunes) etc etc....

We'd done a lot of complaining about the costs and how it's too much, but we never did anything about it until recently.

A month back we switched our internet to Tekksavvy which allowed us more speed, less clogging of our computers and smoother game play all at the same time. The price was a real savings (we were spending aournd $100 before, now we are about $50) as well. It also uses our Rogers line so we only had to switch our modem. YAY!

We also got rid of all the movie networks, HBO and the like which was $20+ a month and switched to Netflicks. Netflicks is like $8 a month and can work through your xbox, ps3 or you can purchase a system that will allow  you to use it. Currently the selection isn't all that and a bag of apples, but that is due to licensing issues with Rogers not wanting to give them up. But we hope soon they will offer more selection, even still there is a lot of different flicks. OMG the BBC selection, wicked.

For our everyday TV viewing we have stuck with our regular package, but are considering on switching to using bunny ears. Only now you can put a dish on your roof to transmit the signal. If you don't know already, the closer you live to the CN Tower the more channels, and quailty of channels, you will recieve and for free! How can you beat that! Now this is mostly for casual watchers. But that's why you have your tekksavvy internet....lots of channels are starting to put full shows available on their website. So go view them there...might be a day after airing, but who cares!

So there you have it, some simple and easy ways to save more money at home! Enjoy!

Tis the season for Farmer's Markets

Ahhhh summer. I love it. Everything is green and ripe and just.....fresh.

One of the things I love about this season is all the farmers markets in the city.

Nothing but fresh produce grown locally, hopefully organically, and readily available.

The best way to save the most money here is to shop for items in season. You will be getting the freshest items that way. It's great to support local farmers. But also note that like grocery stores, depending on the area that the market is happening, the price will also adjust. Well that's my expirence as it were.

I've also noticed that there are a lot of booths with items that are not necessarily local, they just have someone who will sell the product locally.

When going to the farmers market, talk to the people beind the booth. Take a moment to learn about their farm, where they are located and what their practises are with growing food. Appreciate what these people do to get the food to your table.

http://tfmn.ca/ has a list of the different farmers markets in the city.

I have been to the one by City Hall downtown which I find tends to be a bit pricey, and sometimes less farmers, more artists. I'm not saying that, that is a bad thing...just be prepared to maybe not find what it is you want.

I've also been to the one at Metro Hall. This one has a honey vendor there every year. If you ask him if his honey is organic be prepared for an interesting lesson. He will tell you how no real honey is "organic" and I know some of you might be rolling your eyes, but he has a point. He says that he does not use any pesticides or chemicals on the hives, but he cannot say for sure that his bees have not travelled to a neighbouring farm or home which has used pesticides. Point taken. But that he does not use pesticides won me over, even if I don't know what those bees have been up to.

There is a flower booth there every year, and I would say probably only 4 or 5 farmers, and the prices don't vary too much but some items do so it's good to walk around. There is another booth that carries some of the most yummy and interesting jams, and the best tarts ever. Seriously if you ever want to treat me to something  yummy, I'll take some tarts please...the ones with the chocolate.
Beside that both will be their truck and they sell some fresh cut flowers there. Across are 2 vendors. One selling breads (which I have never bought from before), the other selling meats (again I find them pricey and haven't tred them yet). There is seating and bands playing at lunch.

Be aware of a couple of things though. This market is in the heart of a bunch of commercial buildings, and one whole area is just restaurants selling quick and easy fare for lunch. So long line-ups and very busy during lunch.

If you are there and are hot hot hot, try out the lemonade shack in the back. It's a little booth that sells fresh made lemonades and some curry fare. Very very yummy.

Another farmers market I go to and enjoy a lot is the East Lynns Park market. It happens on Thursdays and they block off one end of Woodmount for the people to walk around and for the trucks of the farmers. I've had great bread there (zuccini bread yummm), awesome veggies and you really get close to the community. It's small, but there are still about 7 or 8 vendors.

Now if you have a car, I would suggest making a day trip outside of Toronto.Visit farms that allow the public to come to directly to buy products. Walk around, check it out. A lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into having a farm and show the farmer that you really appreciate it. It's a great outing for children as well.

So happy shopping. If you have a favourite market that you like to go to in Toronto, tell me I always like to check out new places.

I'm still here!!!

I've been away for awhile. Been doing some medical stuff behind the scenes and it's had me feelin' icky.

But I haven't forgotten!

We spent all of $22 last week on groceries. How...I'm not sure. I know we've worked hard on building up a stock pile of stuff when it's on sale, so that's helped.

But we have ordered which we've spent out of our allowances which doesn't get counted in the grocery bill...cheating? Not sure.

I hope to have a longer post with some more tips soon...I have a few other things up my sleeve, and I might actually make my first Costco trip....scary.

Take care people!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

So my first month of saving is complete.

My Husband ran all the numbers and checked and re-checked.

At the end of our first month on this journey, including cab rides from the grocery store, take out and pharmacy items...we saved.....

30% of what we would have spent on our monthly grocery bill!

Now there is still much saving to do. This is just the beginning.

I went to my first coupon swap meet. It was a lot of fun. There was a half dozen of us, and if you had posted the coupons you were looking for, people passed envelopes with goodies already picked out. Otherwise we just sat chatting, passing around all our extra coupons for everyone else to pick from, and picking from others stashes. I came out with a $25 card for Sears which I used for pillows...that was awesome.

I have a TON of coupons for different eczema lotions and skin care...which is great...I just hope they come on sale between now and when the coupon expires so I can save more. It's expensive stuff.

I did my weekend check of all the fliers this morning. I did a late grocery shopping and was armed with coupons and fliers. I think I mentioned this before, but if I haven't, No Frills price matches. So they are cheaper on a lot of things, but it's always good to check fliers for other places that have items you want on sale.

For instance, my Husband and I were saying that to cut down on any take-out we do, we should stock some frozen pizza's in the new freezer. Well wouldn't you know, Fresh Co. had McCain's premium pizza on sale for $2.99! It's like anywhere from $4+ savings.

I went to grab some and the guy that worked at the No Frills pointed out that their pizza that was on sale for $4 was in the freezer. I was like...thanks..and kept getting the premium pizzas. When I got to the cashier I gave her the flier and she called the floor manager to confirm it was good...and less than 5 minutes later, I walked out with 5 pizza for only $2.99 a piece. Pretty sweet. Great if you are a student.

This weekend I am thinking of making another trip to Kensington. I'm not 100% sold as yet.

Next up: I'm going to start doing some (not a lot) stock piling. Just buying things (we need and will use) in bulk when they are cheaper. The cost is large at first, but pays off in the long run. We'll see how that goes. But first: I go in for minor dental surgery tomorrow...so I might have to be drinking nothing but liquids for the week.