It is high time I start writing on this blog again. I have been chatting with my husband about how much I wanted to get started but felt like no one would relate to what we are going through. You see, we currently live in a city and we have come to a big realization that we no longer want to be here. After my surgery in April, Mark and I started our deliberations on where to plant roots. We have been living in the city for eight years now and even though it is what we thought we wanted at the time, we have ended up with a different dream. One of solitude rather than the chaos of traffic and high mortgages. We do not want to live our lives in a duplex in a suburb until we die and we realized that that would be our reality.
Of course that means things really need to change - our lifestyles, finances, and general behaviour and attitude towards material goods and money. We have always been quite modest with our spending, or at least we thought we were. But some months our grocery bills were outrageous, I bought my lunch every day, and we had three streaming services because of course, one needs so much choice. We barely buy any clothing and we weren't material in the typical sense of the word, but we were still living beyond our means. All our bills were getting paid, but we were not saving as much as we could. Our trip to New York this spring cost us so much as our AirBnb was a disaster. We thought we had planned enough, paid off our trip and saved enough for our spending money, and ended coming home with loads of credit card debt due to needing emergency hotels and well, hotels are expensive in Manhattan.
So all of this to say that we are starting anew. My husband and I are essentially following Dave Ramsay's plan except we are saving a bit on the side as well. We have started with a monthly written budget, have a savings account for our home buying fund (downpayment, legal fees, moving expenses), and are paying down our debts as fast as possible. We also have an emergency fund of course (life is too unpredictable). We have also included a small "fun money" budget so that we are able to travel a bit around the province or go out for a coffee, but otherwise we are living on basics. I purchased this budget book in June to get us started and we have been loving it - it keeps everything in one place.
Another big part of our plan is to shop local and eat seasonally. We noticed how much we were spending on items that were not currently in season but we wanted anyway and that is no longer an option. We now purchase mostly from local farmers and our meat from a local butcher. It has been an adjustment changing to "buy whatever we want" mentality to buying what grows in our local area, but it has been worth it. The only exception is that we do buy some frozen veg. We are hopeful that once we settle somewhere, we will be able to grow the majority of our produce and preserve/freeze it.
I have also been packing my lunches which is a big money saver and we have been making all our food except for the occasional treat out (which we choose cheap places like Tim Hortons for a snack or light meal).
I used to make all our own preserves years ago, but stopped due to the heat in our apartment and being "too busy". This year we picked our strawberries ($1.50 a box) and made lots of jam for the winter months. I have made strawberry and strawberry rhubarb so far. I will be making rhubarb ginger, peach, and blueberry before summer is over. Jam also makes nice gifts, so it was worth the work in the July heat. It is also nice to rekindle old skills.
I am feeling confident about our plans for our new life. We had unexpected car expenses in July and did not even have to touch the emergency fund - we somehow made room for the extra $200 in our budget. It feels really good to see where everything is going and even better to see how far money can go if you plan correctly.
I look forward to sharing our journey with you.
Jacqueline
Of course that means things really need to change - our lifestyles, finances, and general behaviour and attitude towards material goods and money. We have always been quite modest with our spending, or at least we thought we were. But some months our grocery bills were outrageous, I bought my lunch every day, and we had three streaming services because of course, one needs so much choice. We barely buy any clothing and we weren't material in the typical sense of the word, but we were still living beyond our means. All our bills were getting paid, but we were not saving as much as we could. Our trip to New York this spring cost us so much as our AirBnb was a disaster. We thought we had planned enough, paid off our trip and saved enough for our spending money, and ended coming home with loads of credit card debt due to needing emergency hotels and well, hotels are expensive in Manhattan.
So all of this to say that we are starting anew. My husband and I are essentially following Dave Ramsay's plan except we are saving a bit on the side as well. We have started with a monthly written budget, have a savings account for our home buying fund (downpayment, legal fees, moving expenses), and are paying down our debts as fast as possible. We also have an emergency fund of course (life is too unpredictable). We have also included a small "fun money" budget so that we are able to travel a bit around the province or go out for a coffee, but otherwise we are living on basics. I purchased this budget book in June to get us started and we have been loving it - it keeps everything in one place.
Another big part of our plan is to shop local and eat seasonally. We noticed how much we were spending on items that were not currently in season but we wanted anyway and that is no longer an option. We now purchase mostly from local farmers and our meat from a local butcher. It has been an adjustment changing to "buy whatever we want" mentality to buying what grows in our local area, but it has been worth it. The only exception is that we do buy some frozen veg. We are hopeful that once we settle somewhere, we will be able to grow the majority of our produce and preserve/freeze it.
I have also been packing my lunches which is a big money saver and we have been making all our food except for the occasional treat out (which we choose cheap places like Tim Hortons for a snack or light meal).
I used to make all our own preserves years ago, but stopped due to the heat in our apartment and being "too busy". This year we picked our strawberries ($1.50 a box) and made lots of jam for the winter months. I have made strawberry and strawberry rhubarb so far. I will be making rhubarb ginger, peach, and blueberry before summer is over. Jam also makes nice gifts, so it was worth the work in the July heat. It is also nice to rekindle old skills.
I am feeling confident about our plans for our new life. We had unexpected car expenses in July and did not even have to touch the emergency fund - we somehow made room for the extra $200 in our budget. It feels really good to see where everything is going and even better to see how far money can go if you plan correctly.
I look forward to sharing our journey with you.
Jacqueline
