Something we were introduced to as a result of the show is the concept of tracking our spending. We were given various tools (most of which can be foundhere) through the show, including some software, but the most useful has been the small and portable booklet they provided us with from Credit Canada. Maxed Out has replicated it with the Daily Expense Booklet, and I would highly recommend challenging yourself to track your spending for a month. I think it's amazing to realize how much one spends, and how often.
For Aden and I, we had already started to cut back before we started with the show, but now we're much more aware of how we spend our money and where. It's also interesting to see patterns in spending. What we realized is that in the first week of the month we spend a lot more, mainly it's bills and rent, but each subsequent week what we spend becomes less and less. By the fourth week our grid is pretty much empty, and it's not because we're out of money, but because the main expenses are done with. It might also be that we're just getting used to the idea of spending less over this past month as well, and maybe we'll see in the first weeks of February less spending than in January.
Aside from the biggest expenses - rent, RRSP payments, day care and debt repayment - our biggest expense for the month were groceries. We've severely cut back on eating out, this month only five times over four weeks, at about a total of $150, taking up the bulk of our entertainment budget. 3 were lunches, 2 dinners, which is quite a change from, well, every lunch being an eat out lunch (at a total, of, we estimated, $100 per week, or a little over $400 for the month). To make up for it, obviously our food bill has increased to cover lunches, but that $250+ difference in eating out has meant only about a $50 increase in groceries. That's a couple hundred bucks in our pocket... nice.
Our transportation bill for the month was $193, spent on tokens and the odd family weekend pass, and even though it is cheaper than buying two monthly passes for Aden and I at $218, I realized doing taxes this year that we "can claim the full amount paid for a public transit pass".
The little guy's birthday is coming up so we've bought his birthday presents to the tune of $110, which is a little excessive (but I found the gift I wanted to get him just after I bought him something else), so obviously that's not a routine monthly expense, and a couple hundred dollars in medical expenses, most of which actually comes back to me when I claim them through my heath coverage, so no biggie there.
Overall, we're doing very well, spending well below our capacity and putting the remaining money where it's best served. Our savings are growing, my debt is depleting, and it's all good. Operation maxed out: phase one is at a close.
For Aden and I, we had already started to cut back before we started with the show, but now we're much more aware of how we spend our money and where. It's also interesting to see patterns in spending. What we realized is that in the first week of the month we spend a lot more, mainly it's bills and rent, but each subsequent week what we spend becomes less and less. By the fourth week our grid is pretty much empty, and it's not because we're out of money, but because the main expenses are done with. It might also be that we're just getting used to the idea of spending less over this past month as well, and maybe we'll see in the first weeks of February less spending than in January.
Aside from the biggest expenses - rent, RRSP payments, day care and debt repayment - our biggest expense for the month were groceries. We've severely cut back on eating out, this month only five times over four weeks, at about a total of $150, taking up the bulk of our entertainment budget. 3 were lunches, 2 dinners, which is quite a change from, well, every lunch being an eat out lunch (at a total, of, we estimated, $100 per week, or a little over $400 for the month). To make up for it, obviously our food bill has increased to cover lunches, but that $250+ difference in eating out has meant only about a $50 increase in groceries. That's a couple hundred bucks in our pocket... nice.
Our transportation bill for the month was $193, spent on tokens and the odd family weekend pass, and even though it is cheaper than buying two monthly passes for Aden and I at $218, I realized doing taxes this year that we "can claim the full amount paid for a public transit pass".
The little guy's birthday is coming up so we've bought his birthday presents to the tune of $110, which is a little excessive (but I found the gift I wanted to get him just after I bought him something else), so obviously that's not a routine monthly expense, and a couple hundred dollars in medical expenses, most of which actually comes back to me when I claim them through my heath coverage, so no biggie there.
Overall, we're doing very well, spending well below our capacity and putting the remaining money where it's best served. Our savings are growing, my debt is depleting, and it's all good. Operation maxed out: phase one is at a close.