It is as simple as don’t spend more than you earn, right? Sure, but you could still be living paycheque to paycheque. When we first tried the Gail Vaz-Oxlade method of budgeting using cash jars/envelopes, we were badly overspending. We were all too fond of putting it on our credit card and worrying about it later. I remember filling out the form on her website and wondering what we were spending another $1000 a month on – now we know exactly where we spend our money so if we do need to cut back, we know where we can cut first.
Expenses: Gail Vaz-Oxlade recommends that of your total income, 35% goes to housing, 15% to transportation, 25% on “life” (everything from groceries, pets, kids etc), 15% to debt and 10% to savings. If you walk most places or have no debt, obviously these will change – but savings in your budget should go to savings, not just be spent because you have it.
Budget what you can afford to spend based on your income (budget worksheet here). You will be amazed how much you need to spend compared to how much you actually do spend. If you have no idea what you spend on “life”, spend January following the tips on SmartCanucks and tracking your spending then fill in the budget sheet.
Once you have your numbers, setup your jars or envelopes. You will need
- Transportation (above fixed costs)
- Groceries/Personal Care
- Entertainment
- Clothes & Gifts
- Everything Else
You will have a monthly allowance that goes into each of those jars, you can add a percentage of the budget weekly, bi-weekly or monthly – however you get paid. Remember that some money in the jar is for costs that month and some are meant to accumulate. Keep the money from each jar in that jar for upcoming expenses. If you run out of grocery money, cut the entertainment or an optional ‘everything else’ expense for that week and use it for food – but make sure it is coming from optional spending, not accumulated surplus for say a dentist visit or oil change.
Keep a notebook and track all spending, then enter it into your tracking sheets, which are as simple as this:
Get a receipt for everything, even that coffee from Tim Hortons to remind you of what you are spending. I put my receipts in my jars until the end of the week so we both can see where money is being spent, and so we can make sure it gets tracked.
Most importantly, give yourself some non tracking allowance for each week, it doesn’t have to be big but the freedom will help you stay on track with the other jars. If it fits in the other jars, use that money but if you want something frivolous, use the allowance.
You will be amazed how much you save living just on the money in those envelopes, set up a high interest savings account and put a portion of your newly unspent money towards savings, another portion in a curveball/rainy day fund and use the rest to pay down your debts.
If you are reading this because you have debts, start by calling them – ignoring the calls will not help. Tell them that you now have say $100 per month in your budget for them, ask if they can lower your interest rate to help you pay it off. Try going to the bank to consolidate the debts with one payment with a lower interest rate. If that doesn’t work – start with the largest interest rate, its costing you more in the long term. Pay the minimum on the others and pay down what is costing you the most. For some people, this may be a really annoying debt collector, but not your biggest bill – but if it is getting you down and costing you emotionally, pay it first.
Let us know how you are doing using this system
This blog is part of our New to SmartCanucks series, click here to read more blog posts in the series
Burnbrae Farms (the makers of Egg Creations) are promising a giveaway of 650 coupons tomorrow evening to celebrate a year on facebook. You can also enter their contest to win a $50 prize pack. It is not clear if this is first come first served or a contest for the coupons.
Click here to visit their facebook page
Giveaway link
This promotion is actually a chance to win these mitts (and bigger prizes) but many members are saying that they won today. There is a limited number available so try for yours soon.
Thanks sdddmd for a UPC: 058496812324
Enter here for your chance to win
Cineplex are offering Family Favourites movies on Saturday mornings at 11 for just $2.50/person.
- January 5th – Charlotte’s Web
- January 12th – Flushed Away
- January 19th – Looney Tunes Back in Action
- January 26th – Johnny English
- February 2nd – Racing Stripes
- February 9th – The Borrowers
- February 16th – Elmo in Grouchland
- February 23 – Scooby Doo
- March 2nd – Shrek 2
- March 9th – Happy Feet
- March 16th – Indian in the Cupboard
- March 23th – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- March 30th – Spy Kids
Click here for more information
Burnbrae held their giveaway early, but if you missed it, they have 5000 coupons for buy one get one free on Egg Creations available on Facebook.
This is not a renewed coupon from the last one, so if you got one recently you can get another and you do not need to add extra coupons to your save.ca basket to checkout with this coupon.
Click here to get this coupon
Update: Fans, we are planning another giveaway this evening (650 coupons) for those who didn’t get a coupon this afternoon. (Limit of one per day.)
A new printable coupon for $1 off the purchase of Arctic Gardens frozen vegetables is available through the Canadian Living website. Click here to print yours. The coupon will appear on the right hand side of the page, under “Connect With Us.”
The Bath and Body Works Canada Semi Annual Sale continues this week with select Signature Collection body care now at 3 for $10! Complete the survey at the bottom of your previous receipt for your code to save an additional $10 on a $30 purchase. If you don’t have a receipt check out their Facebook page for additional coupons.
Click here for the most comprehensive list of coupon and flyer match ups across Canada!
You know how it is, you get home, you are tired and still have housework to do and order a pizza or Chinese or you start making your favourite recipe only to find you are missing a key ingredient. Meal planning can save you both time a money.
Personally, I am not into one day cooking, but it works for lots of SmartCanucks members. We do use leftovers from dinner for lunches the next day to save on cooking a second time or buying additional food.
Meal planning can help you save in several ways
- You buy less at expensive prices
- You waste less
- You eat out / eat convenience foods less (healthier too!)
- You spend less time deciding what to cook
How to plan your meals
First, see what food items you have. If you already have chicken in the freezer, why pay more for it this week, wait for it to go on sale. Make a list to see what you have and think about what meals/recipes match them and what other items you will need to make those meals.
Then it is time to get out those flyers. See what is cheap this week. If pork tenderloins or packs of ground chicken are on sale – plan your meals around those and buy extras to freeze for weeks when meat is expensive. SmartCanucks makes this easy with our weekly ‘Produce & Grocery Staples Deals’ thread)
Make a list of meals with the ingredients beside them. I keep my favourite recipes on index cards and just pull out 6 for the week (we always factor in going out or getting a pizza). If I know it will be a busy week, I include something like frozen pizza depending on what is on sale that week. It is just the two of us, so when I cook, I cook for 6 – we eat that night, have a lunch portion for the fridge and another dinner portion for the freezer. If we eat out one night, we can use those dinner portions for lunches.
Write (or print) your meal plan. How often have you been on your way home and realised that you forgot to take something out of the freezer. Having a copy on your fridge will remind you to get that meal ready.
Write out your shopping list. I price match many of my groceries at Walmart, FreshCo or No Frills rather than going store to store. That way I can get the best deals without spending too much time to save the extra money. We will be covering price-matching in a future blog.
Go Shopping. Stick to your list but have another meal in your head in case something is not in stock or if there is a store special for a great deal.
It is a good idea to research budget recipes before planning, some good sites to start with are:
AllRecipes – Simply Recipes – Canadian Living – Eating Well – SkinnyTaste
There are lots of different meal planners online, but feel free to use mine here pdf
This blog is part of our New to SmartCanucks series, click here to read more blog posts in the series
Pepsi/Tostitos has a mail in rebate for a coupon booklet of $20 in coupons when you spend $20 on selected products.
Purchase any combination of the following products for a total of $20 or more (before taxes) at participating retailers across Canada:
- Lay’s* potato chips, (180g – 420g/any flavour)
- Doritos* tortilla chips, (180g – 420g/any flavour)
- Tostitos* tortilla chips, (180g – 420g/any flavour)
- Ruffles* potato chips, (180g – 420g/any flavour)
- Tostitos* or Ruffles* salsa/dips (394mL – 645mL/425g – 432g/any flavour/variety),
- Pepsi*, Mountain Dew*, Mug*, 7UP*, Dr Pepper**, Crush**, Schweppes** soft drinks, Brisk® beverages, Gatorade* and G2* beverages (any size/variety/flavour).
Download your rebate form for a coupon booklet here
The Canadian Tire flyer for the upcoming week shows the three piece Anchor measuring cup set on sale for $6.99. Watch for a $10 coupon booklet inside containing the following coupons:
Save $0.75 off Keebler ready crust
Save $0.75 off black diamond cheese
Save $0.75 off lactantia butter
Save $0.75 off conrad foods roasted potato seasoning mix
Save $0.50 reynolds stay brite baking cups
Save $2 off finish quantum
Save $1 off sponge towel ultra 6
Save $8 off canadian living
Click here to view the Canadian Tire flyer.
Shoppers Drug Mart have added lots of bonus point offers, mostly for skincare or beauty. They are valid January 5th – 18th unless specified.
These offers are valid Jan 5th – 25th
- Get 1500 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you purchase any 3 participating Aveeno® products.
- Get 10x the Shoppers Optimum Points®* when you purchase any participating Jergens Moisturizer 480mL.
- Get 10x the Shoppers Optimum Points®* when you purchase any participating NIVEA Body Lotion.
- Get 1000 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you purchase any participating Olay Regenerist product.
- Get 1000 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you purchase any (2) participating Vaseline products.
- Get 10x the Shoppers Optimum Points®* when you purchase any NIP + FAB products.
- Get 3000 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you buy any 2 participating Soap & Glory products.
- Get 500 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you purchase any 2 Balea face, hand or body products.
- Get 1500 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points®* when you purchase any 3 participating TYLENOL®, LISTERINE®, or JOHNSON’S® products (valid now-Jan 25th)
and saving the best til last, there is a VIB printable coupon for 8000 bonus points when you spend $40 or more on baby products valid until January 31st.
Download the coupon for the VIB offer here
