After all our hard work with The Show to learn about financial management and managing our money properly, well, we've let ourselves slip. Oh, I don't mean we've gone crazy and started spending money everywhere, it's just that we have instead decided to relax about the whole thing.
The Show gave us the tools we needed to help our situation, and they gave us lots of advice on best routes to achieving our goals, most of which we've taken quite to heart. Through the process, Aden and I also learned to be very open about our money and our spending and it's really helped unify us on that front. So what do I mean when I say we've "relaxed"?
Well, for starters, we are not being diligent about tracking our spending.... actually, we're not tracking it at all. Let's just say the previous three months of keeping on top of recording every little expenditure gave us a pretty good idea of how we spend our money. One of the things Alison said on The Show was we should buy things using our debit cards so we can track purchases easily and only take, max, $60 a week out in cash. So, we're doing that instead. Some weeks we don't even take that $60 out, and we tend to pay for everything on debit anyway, what little we actually buy now. I think the initial months of paring back on our expenses, like eating out and pop-culture consumption (especially for me) was a little difficult, and we had to break the habit that we were into, but now, we're really coasting well, and we don't need to be too rigid about monitoring things. I've allocated the money every month to go towards debt, so anything left over after the bills I pay is mine to spend (what very little it is, however). Aden's doing a good job of paying for most things and still banking a hefty sum in her chequing account, so whenever she wants to splurge a little on herself, like a new pair of shoes or a stylin' yellow jacket, well, it's certainly within her budget to do so.
The credit cards are all but dried out and brittle from non-use. We both still haven't cancelled our extraneous $0 balance cards yet, but we'll get to it. One card has been used, maybe twice in the past two months (for groceries, and even then only to collect points) and that we pay off in full every month now without problem. Of the two lines of credit, one is kaput and will too be cancelled, while the other is our(my) only source of debt, which makes it very convenient for paying things off. That puppy is still slated for the big payoff in full in July (expected bonuses and tax returns dependant) and after that, it'll be time to take stock of our finances and make the big push towards home ownership.
That last push involves some heavy investing in RRSPs and our house fund, while managing bills, life expenses, (hopefully) vacation(s), and RESP contributions. So even though we're not tracking daily how much we spend, we will still need our monthly account reports to see where our money is going so that, when the time comes, we can plan our money accordingly.
So even though we're not spending as much time stewing over financial matters as we were in January or February, I think we're both very comfortable with where we are today and where we're going. It's a lot of work (and even a little stressful) to be constantly monitoring your money, and I really think that it shouldn't have to have such a hold over us, especially given how not-bad-shape we are in. I mean, even when we're out of debt, we have our second goal of saving for the house to think about, so I'm sure for a month or two then we're going to have to return to watching things closely and getting comfortable with our situation once more before returning to coasting mode.
The Show gave us the tools we needed to help our situation, and they gave us lots of advice on best routes to achieving our goals, most of which we've taken quite to heart. Through the process, Aden and I also learned to be very open about our money and our spending and it's really helped unify us on that front. So what do I mean when I say we've "relaxed"?
Well, for starters, we are not being diligent about tracking our spending.... actually, we're not tracking it at all. Let's just say the previous three months of keeping on top of recording every little expenditure gave us a pretty good idea of how we spend our money. One of the things Alison said on The Show was we should buy things using our debit cards so we can track purchases easily and only take, max, $60 a week out in cash. So, we're doing that instead. Some weeks we don't even take that $60 out, and we tend to pay for everything on debit anyway, what little we actually buy now. I think the initial months of paring back on our expenses, like eating out and pop-culture consumption (especially for me) was a little difficult, and we had to break the habit that we were into, but now, we're really coasting well, and we don't need to be too rigid about monitoring things. I've allocated the money every month to go towards debt, so anything left over after the bills I pay is mine to spend (what very little it is, however). Aden's doing a good job of paying for most things and still banking a hefty sum in her chequing account, so whenever she wants to splurge a little on herself, like a new pair of shoes or a stylin' yellow jacket, well, it's certainly within her budget to do so.
The credit cards are all but dried out and brittle from non-use. We both still haven't cancelled our extraneous $0 balance cards yet, but we'll get to it. One card has been used, maybe twice in the past two months (for groceries, and even then only to collect points) and that we pay off in full every month now without problem. Of the two lines of credit, one is kaput and will too be cancelled, while the other is our(my) only source of debt, which makes it very convenient for paying things off. That puppy is still slated for the big payoff in full in July (expected bonuses and tax returns dependant) and after that, it'll be time to take stock of our finances and make the big push towards home ownership.
That last push involves some heavy investing in RRSPs and our house fund, while managing bills, life expenses, (hopefully) vacation(s), and RESP contributions. So even though we're not tracking daily how much we spend, we will still need our monthly account reports to see where our money is going so that, when the time comes, we can plan our money accordingly.
So even though we're not spending as much time stewing over financial matters as we were in January or February, I think we're both very comfortable with where we are today and where we're going. It's a lot of work (and even a little stressful) to be constantly monitoring your money, and I really think that it shouldn't have to have such a hold over us, especially given how not-bad-shape we are in. I mean, even when we're out of debt, we have our second goal of saving for the house to think about, so I'm sure for a month or two then we're going to have to return to watching things closely and getting comfortable with our situation once more before returning to coasting mode.