Too Much Want

Excessive.

Can you enjoy the simpler things in life, or do you need everything to be in excess? There is no questioning that we here in North America have it really freaking good with access to everything that we want at our fingertips. It’s really easy for us to get caught up in a world where we buy things that we really don’t need, and that really don’t add any value to our lives.

The best examples of excess that I can think of in my life are the knickknacks that I buy at home décor stores. There really is no burning need to buy another bird shaped decoration or pretty clock (most often shaped like a bird), but for some reason I get easily suckered into paying upwards of $40 (who am I kidding, more than that) for these sorts of things and they don’t leave me feeling as fulfilled as a concert or a skate on the canal. 

I’m sitting at my dining room table right now, looking at what I like to call, “my cabinet of fun but unnecessary.” In this cabinet you can see that I have about 100 records, 2 dozen board games, a dozen almost finished bottles of obscure alcohols that have probably been there for a good year, and the thing is surrounded by 3 of my 30+ plants and of course, the creepy mannequin head with a Lady Gaga wig and pilot’s hat, just like everyone else has in their homes to keep up with the most trendy hipsters in all existence.

This is the wig, eat your hearts out little monsters. 

These things all have or continue to add some simple joys to my life, but the reality is, if there ever were a fire, I would easily be able to go on living my life as if nothing had happened. Mind you, I would stand out like a sore thumb at the next Lady Gaga themed party, but that’s really not the point. If you are sitting at your computer and reading this and thinking about your own debt and wondering how you can get to the point that I am in a fast time span, this should be a bit of a punch to the junk to tell you that the answer is right in front of you sometimes.

It’s all about reassessing what we have and asking what we can give up in order to get ahead. For me, the hard things to give up were: buying music, buying new clothes, eating out, and going to concerts. These things took up a lot of my budget, but I really felt like I was entitled to have everything that I wanted, but I looked at these things as needs, but wants. I needed to go to that concert so that I could spend time with my friends, I needed to buy that album so that I could support my favourite artists (like they would go out of business if I didn’t), I needed to have new clothes so that I could maintain my sense of style that friends and family raved about. There are so many stories that I could tell myself to justify just about any expense.

My best story was, well, “it’s vintage, so I’m not paying as much as everyone else”, or “it’s on sale”. It doesn’t matter if that t-shirt is on sale, it doesn’t change that fact that you have 50 more in a drawer at home. When you’re on a budget you need to identify these excessive items in your life. If you’re someone who is always wanting to get the latest and greatest music, stop following all of the music blogs, unsubscribe to the music blogs, and learn to dust off that Lauren Hill CD and ride it out until you’re financially stable again. Set limits for the amount that you are allowed to buy as well. Limit yourself to one album per month, and ask for the other albums you want for birthdays or holidays. The same can apply to clothes. Are you hooked on fashion blogs and already stocking up on the latest cool shades of green since orange is so last season? Stop following these trends and start setting your own trends. Learn to embrace what you already have.

The reality is that most people who are in debt, already have everything they need and then some, so giving up these types of things should not be difficult to do. As I approach the end of my debt, the things that I had to give up are getting welcomed back into my life, and the purchases I make are smarter ones. It may seem crazy at the time to stop going to your favourite restaurant every week, but when you’re out of debt in 2 years, you’re going to look like a freaking financial genius.

I used to go for brunch every single Sunday before my debt repayment process. Well today I went to my friends Kate and Caitlin’s place and had a fantastic brunch, stimulating conversation, and a great time with people that I love, which I have come to realize from this process, is worth more than any of the excessive wants that I had filled my home with.  Take some time, figure out what really matters to you, and the rest will all just fall into place. 

Can you believe I have less than $4,000 to go?! Wowsa!

I Be Trippin'

I wrote this while I was on the plane a few weeks ago and completely forgot about it! I will be making more of an effort to write on here, especially since my readership is soaring! Anyway, enjoy! If you think of a topic that you want me to write about, leave me a comment below!

Another trip means another kick to the financial nutsack and yet, here I am going on another trip home at a random time of the year with no real reason. Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true since I was originally heading back to visit my family for a birthday celebration, but that has fallen through so now I get to go and be selfish for a change. I do look forward to meeting my new niece too! My family sure knows how to make cute babies! This will be the first time in over 10 months since I have visited my family and I am sure there are many of us who understand that when you live away from everyone, the costs can add up when you want to go back for a visit. Even if you only live a few hours away, there is so much to factor in especially the travel costs.

Arguably, the time with loved ones can’t be measured in money, but what do you do to prepare for a family visit while staying on budget? The purpose of this blog entry is to teach you some of the skills that I put into place when I am going for a visit while trying to stay on track.

We all know that when we are on vacation, we need to do things that we don’t do in our everyday life to really make it feel like a vacation. I’m talking about going out to restaurants more often, maybe seeing a show or two, and with my family, we do a lot of socializing, which usually involves a couple bottles of booze. All of this is important for me in order to really disconnect from the busy life that I have back home, but it can still be done sensibly.

My first point should be fairly obvious: make a budget for while you’re on vacation. In a normal week, I can get by on $140, and since I am going to another Canadian city (that isn’t in the North - have you seen their prices on groceries?!) I should be able to stay thrifty.  At the same time, as I mentioned, this isn’t going to be a typical week, so it’s important that I plan well in advance to have a bigger budget in order to have some fun!

Your travel budget should be made at least 3-6 months in advance so that you can start squirreling away some money to spend on the flight, food, and fun. I realize that making a budget isn’t always simple to do when you’re on vacation, but a good strategy that I find works for me is to simply set a money limit. I like to give myself $500 for a week of vacation time. That will get me a few delicious meals, maybe a few cases of beer, and maybe even a couple shows here and there. There’s no shame being cheap on vacation, especially when you write a preachy financial blog about how thrifty you are, all over the Internet.

Once you know how much money you plan to spend, incorporate savings into your budget for the vacation and get crack-a-lackin’! If your trip is going to cost you $1,000, that’s only $250 per month over 4 months that you need to save. I did this by working some overtime at my one job, and getting a second job. This may be overkill for most of us, so maybe you can look for more ways to cut corners in your current budget. The main idea is that you should never have to go into debt to travel.

When you reach your destination, stick to your guns! Leave the credit card in the hotel safe, or wherever you’re staying. If you have a limit of only $100 per day, then make sure that’s all you bring with you! The best part about only carrying your cash budget for the travel day with you is that you cannot overspend. You also don’t have to worry about replacing your cards if you get pickpocked! This is a foolproof trick that I use in my daily life. Let me give you an example of what happens when I don’t do this.

On Saturday, I went to Montreal, and if you read this blog, you know that city is my financial nemesis. My credit card came along for the ride while I was out suit shopping for my friends Isha and Sam’s wedding. I’m the MC so I have to look seksi, but I don’t have to worry about upstaging them because they are one of the most ridiculously beautiful couples I know. Now, while was in Montreal, as per usual, I went overboard. If would have planned properly and only brought the cash I intended to spend, I wouldn’t have reached into my wallet and grabbed my enemy – my MasterCard. In the end, my intention to spend $200 on a suit, turned into a $560 shopping spree. Yes, I got myself the suit, but I also got 2 sweaters, a dress shirt, a t-shirt, and 3 pairs of pants…  and 5 pairs of socks. You see? If I didn’t have that stupid card with me, I would have had to stay on budget because the access to the credit has really become my problem. 

If you’re staying with friends or family, you have a real advantage to save a lot of money, but make sure that you repay the favour! Opt for a dinner at home where you cook it, grab a bottle of wine instead of going out to a pub. Isn’t the point of staying with friends and family to spend time with them? Why not teach some of the financial lessons that you learned by directly applying them while staying with them? Go do a shared grocery run and plan a meal together, rent a movie, play a board game, go for a walk, check out what kinds of free events are taking place while you’re in town. Be creative and have some affordable fun.  And remember, just because you are a guest in someone’s home doesn’t mean that you are entitled to eat whatever you want or use up all their expensive shampoos.

Now, I know that I have friends out there who are going to argue with me that the experiences are worth the debt, but I have to rebut with the question: How can you relax when you know that you are just piling on more stress with debt? Isn’t a vacation supposed to be about escaping? Doesn’t piling on more debt to travel seem like you’re simply reinforcing the locks in a debt prison? I have friends who have really done the travel thing the right way. They got to a point in their lives where they were saving for a down payment on a home, and came to the quick realization that they would be much happier with a trip around the world for a year and used those savings to get away. I would have gone with them if I had some kind of grip on my debt. Their trip was a real wake-up call for me when they left. I was the same age (ok maybe a couple years older) as them, but I had no savings to even be spoken of (which is arguably the same situation I am in right now). It really ignited the fire under my a$$ to get my debt together. 

Shopping Day!

Nice Package!

I woke up today to a loud bang followed by a shaking feeling thinking that a bomb had gone off, which I think was my body’s way of putting me into flight mode. Why? Because today was my big Christmas spending shopping day! Without giving away too many details, I think I may have gone a little bit overboard, but I did pretty damn good too! It’s not really a big deal that I overspent in my mind though, because I still managed to pay down a huge chunk of debt and maintain a certain level of sanity at the same time (always a plus in my book). Overall the shopping experience wasn’t too bad with a few exceptions of ridiculous shoppers and obnoxious sales staff. I do have to sympathize for people who work at a mall during the holiday season though. Usually it’s a bunch of students who are already stressed out with exams and projects to finish on top of having to be friendly with stressed out people at the same time so I wasn’t surprised when I got into a discussion about whether the colour of the item I was looking at was not black but rather a navy blue, to which she tried to tell me that navy blue is just another form of black. You’re not pulling a fast one on me girlfriend, okay?

In terms of the budget for my family get-togethers, I have done well so far. The first gift is perfect, but I’m worried that it won’t be something that everyone wants. I guess that is what makes a Secret Santa without names a little difficult. I don’t want to buy something that only the girls will like, and I don’t want to buy something that only the boys will like either. Decisions, decisions! All I have left to find is another $25 gift. I saw a few things that I know will be good, but now I need to decide which will be the best of them.  There were some other things that I wanted to get but I knew that I would be able to find them cheaper online, so I have been sleuthing around the internet and I think I found the perfect thing for the perfect price. Now it’s just a matter of whether or not I can get the item to my place in time before I leave! I hope I’ll figure it out before Christmas!

Aka, Negative Nancy

I am being faced with another little problem though. My mom emailed me and asked what my boyfriend wants for Christmas and now I feel like I need to buy something for my parents, which is not something I had planned. I don’t like being hit with unexpected surprises in my budget, but I guess that’s why Gail is always stressing that I have an emergency fund! So if I end up buying something for my parents, that’s going to add (give or take) another $100 to my spending for the holidays. Realistically that isn’t so bad, but I would rather have the money to be able to go out for dinner with my parents instead of getting them something they won’t use or remember, or even worse, return it for a god awful baby-blue-and-neon-pink sweater. Seriously, I did not approve that purchase Mom! If I do decide to go out and spend on my parents, then I will make sure to keep it smart, unlike the person I overheard at the mall saying that he had to spend at least $100 on a pair of gloves. Are you effing kidding me? I can’t believe that I used to be that person. I remember spending almost $300 on a sweater. I love that sweater to death and get complimented on it every time I wear it, but man I would gladly trade it for 6 equally nice $50 sweaters right about now.

Umm... Boney M?

Now without sounding like Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer, I am getting really excited for the holidays! There are so many frustrating moments leading up to the holidays, but maybe the past couple Christmas parties I have attended are getting me in the mood to celebrate. All I need is a little Boney M Christmas and some Christmas drinks and I am good to go. It also helps that my family has started to message me and tell me how happy they are that I am coming back to visit. A big part of me really wants to just let go of my budget while I am on vacation, and I think that I will simply because I have achieved so much over this past year. I will still stay away from credit, but I will maybe put a little less toward my debt repayment and a little more on myself. I know, I know, it’s not the best thing to do, but at this point it just feels right. Alright, I only have 4-5 more Christmas celebrations to go now! Wish me luck everyone, and see you next week!

Birthday on a Dime

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Holey Moley, I have turned 29 and what a fun week it has been! Every year I am always beyond impressed by all of the outpouring of love and kindness I get from my friends and family. If I could have a birthday every week, I would not need this budget at all, because let me tell you, I was a spoiled brat and I barely had to spend a thing! All my cash would be going right to the debt! 

My birthday started out the day before the big day with an amazing dinner paid for by my in-laws. When you don’t go out for dinner regularly you forget how special going out for dinner can be. You know those nights when you go out, have a nice conversation with someone you haven’t seen in a while and just shoot the $hit, it really doesn’t get any better. What adds to the delight of it all is that the service was good, the food was delicious, the company was humorous, and my bill was PAID for! Those of you who go out for dinner all the time, I challenge you to give it up for a month and only go out for a special occasion, because it really does make the evening so much more wonderful and your pocketbook will thank you tremendously! Thank you again for wonderful evening T, K & S!

On the day of my birthday I threw a potluck to celebrate with my friends and it was a blast! I never thought that I would have so many people be able to attend on a Thursday night - the turnout was fantastic. There was food galore and so many amazing food creations that I got to chow down on like a dog at a bacon convention! Seriously, I think I filled my plate (and my gullet) 3 times! And the wine, oh my, was there ever an outpouring of wine – and beers! I’m not even going to lie, when I started writing that line, I was reminded that I had some leftover wine in the fridge to drink, which is the equivalent to writer’s gold! 

Get this game! It's amazing AND affordable!

At the end of my potluck we got to play a few rounds of my favourite game, Werewolves (which I’m sure you could make for about 10 cents). Grosso modo (French for all-in-all) it was a great evening and it cost everyone about half of what they would have spent in a restaurant, and I actually got to chat with everyone who attended instead of having to yell across the table in a noisy restaurant. For me, when it comes to big birthday gatherings, parties at a home will outweigh the restaurant if you want to be a bit more social. The best part about going hosting a potluck is the leftovers! I was able to take all the leftover food with me on a 2 day camping trip to the Gatineau hills. It is such a beautiful place to go at any time of the year if you’re looking for something fun and affordable, look no further! 

That’s right folks, the party didn’t stop there! After a long week of work, my coworkers took me out for a nice lunch on them! Talk about a good way to stay on budget! Thanks to my birthday I got 3 meals gifted to me. By the time that this lunch came around, I was feeling like the luckiest boy in town. My budget was right on track and I was getting to have guilt-free meals – amazing!

When I finished up my work for the day, I was off to the big country for some camping! Now let me tell you, I hadn’t been camping in years so I didn’t know what to expect when I went out there, but I knew that as long as I approached it with the right attitude and a great group of friends that I would have a blast and sure enough, I did! The first night we got there (after a couple trips back to my friend’s place because we seemed to keep forgetting something there) we set up the tents, played some card games, and got to relax by the fire with good tunes and great company! It was an epic night of good times and we didn’t even manage to pi$$ off any of the other campers with all of our laughing! Seriously, I think we all loved every minute of it!

Seriously, The Decent is horrifying!!

On day two, the camping journey continued to impress! The weather was perfect. It was hot, but not unbearable, so we went for a little hike to go cave spelunking! I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit afraid of enclosed spaces, not to the point where I can say I’m entirely claustrophobic, but after seeing The Decent, I am a little afraid that some kind of cave monster is going to come and eat me in the dark. Seriously, that movie scared the $hit out of me! After that it was lots of time spent at the beach, some bocce ball, swimming, splashing, throwing sand and seaweed at each other, you know; all the things a 5 year old would do.

That evening we did the traditional weenie roast and made delicious s’mores followed by the most terrific thunderstorm I have ever experienced outdoors. You couldn’t hear anything but the rain pummeling the tent. Fortunately for me, the inside of my tent stayed nice and dry, but the outside, well not so much. And there were other campers whom I’m sure had their tents washed away in a puddle of rain! It was really intense (pun intended). At the end of the whole camping trip, I only had to spend $87 for all my food, gas, lodging, and entertainment! You can’t even stay for one night at a hotel for that kind of a bargain! The best part is that all of my birthday money more than covered all of the costs which made the camping trip that much more sweet.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, you can have a birthday that is not over the top, affordable, and lots of fun on a budget! The key is to plan well in advance, have LOTS of amazing friends who love you, and learn to live with less. Now the next step is just to hit that 33% goal by the end of October, which I think I can do since I only have $952.08 of debt to pay until I get there! 

On a side tangent, I read in someone else’s blog that they like to set out all of their goals at the beginning of the year with dollar amounts and a timeline for when they want to have all the money saved up by. For me, I think that the things that I want to save for next are: A trip home for Christmas (about $1,500) followed by a new iPhone (about $750) and then a new computer (about $2,000). I realize that the Apple products are a bit over the top for someone on a budget like mine, but really, this past month has taught me that I do need to reward myself from time to time to avoid from going crazy and to reward myself for all the hard work I have done – the catch is to pay cash for it! I’m thinking of trying this out once I get to October when I am starting another year of debt repayment. What do you think? 


Thanks again to everyone for the gifts, calls, cards, hugs, messages, and love! 


xoxo 


John

Overboard

Man Overboard!! 

Where do I begin? Lately I feel like I’m springing off of a diving board and while I’m midair realizing that my head is going right into the shallow end, and the pool isn’t filled with water, but rather a huge pile of $hit. On the other hand, I feel like I am the first one sprinting out of the heat and right on track to having the new record for getting all of my debt paid off on time. Part of me keeps hoping that Gail is going to pop up and surprise me to either tell me that I am doing really well and give me a cheque for $5,000 or that she is going to tell me to get my $hit together and stop spending like an idiot. I think it’s going to be the latter in this case. Either way, I would get to meet Gail Vaz-Oxlade!

Now Gail would be on my case because starting out the week, I took out my $140 that I was going to use for spending money on life (food mainly), and I ended up spending $110 in a matter of 2 days! This is why carrying cash is so important, because you see right away that you’ve spent all the money you have and get a harsh wake-up call that you don’t have as much control of your cash as you think you do. The mistakes I made were beyond obvious to me, but yet I still went out and effed it all up! The first thing I did when I got my cheque was go out to a goodbye lunch for a colleague who I worked with for maybe 3 weeks. I’d see her around the office, but I didn’t really know her and quite frankly I don’t think she would have given 2 $hits if I were there or not, but yet I still went – and ORGANIZED the freaking lunch. It kind of goes with the territory for my new job, but still, it seems so pointless to spend money on a lunch out with someone who I don’t really know. That lunch cost me $29; that doesn’t seem like much at all doesn’t it? But look at my budget after one lunch, now I only have $101 to get me through the week for food and any other random expense that comes up.

We all make mstakes

My new job is going well, but it’s making me recognize challenges that I forgot that I faced in a busy office environment – spending! When you have little time for yourself to take breaks, you go for what is convenient; whether it’s the $1.40 that I spend on a coffee every afternoon or the $8.00 I spend on lunch pretty much every day or even the $5.00 I spend on breakfast every morning, it all adds up! If I were able to stick to my guns and only spend money like that at lunch time, then I would still be on budget, but when I get home, I order a pizza, or something like that instead of just going to the grocery store and making myself something to eat from scratch I end up going overboard. I increased my spending limit for the week and yet every week for the past month, I have been going well over the limit for spending. It’s not just the weekly stuff that I am spending too much on either, my phone bill has been over $100 for the last couple months and as much as I love my iPhone, I really feel like Rogers has me bent over the counter each and every month with this extravagant expense.

The key for me and anyone else on a budget is that when you overboard, you need to identify why you are making the mistakes that you are making and figure out you’re going to get back on the boat and sailing toward your goal again. When I am off track, I can’t help but notice where I am making mistakes in my life. The number one thing that has got me concerned lately is my health. When I am stressed out, I eat garbage foods that don’t benefit me in the least and my waistline reflects that. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to go out and buy new clothes with my budget, and there’s nothing more stupid to me than having to buy new clothes because you’ve been eating nothing but unhealthy foods. For me, my expanding waistline is a sign that something is not going well right now. Some of you are thinking, “Oh shut up John, you’re the last person who should be thinking about your weight” but it’s not about my weight, it’s about the fact that I am not doing enough lately to manage my stress and take care of my health.

Stress also influences my spending – if I want something to make me feel better, I go for something that makes me feel better about myself, but it’s always only temporary. Take yesterday for example, I was dropped off at a bus station next to a mall for me to get home after a day with friends, but I ended up going to buy a pot at Winners, and then walking out with the pot and two yoga towels instead of just getting on the bus and going home. I don’t need any of this stuff, but it’s been on the “want” list for a while. I felt good about the purchases because they were really cheap (the pot was only $7 and the towels were $20 each and they normally cost $40-50) but then later I felt like a$$ because that’s $50 toward my debt that I could have paid off.

Danielle For the Win!!

A key problem to my financial failure in the past couple weeks has been my demanding schedule. I’m putting in 12 hours of French classes every week on top of a 40 hour work week and then add in my 4 hour yoga volunteering and my time is stretched pretty thin. It’s not necessarily that I am finding this to be impossible to do, but I have found that I have not been in the mood to come home and cook something when I put in 11 hour days. I would rather just sit back and turn my brain off while watching Big Brother – seriously, I am in love with that show, it’s a guilty pleasure for sure – go Dani! My schedule has gotten to the point where it is taking away time from doing yoga. I used to do yoga 4 times a week and now I am lucky if I can get in more than 2 times. Yoga has been instrumental in helping me stay focused on my goals because it gives me the time where I can take a pause from my busy day, relax, and reflect on all the good work that I have been doing for the past 10½ months. I really am not taking advantage of the free yoga deal I have and I really think that that has been a major influence in why I am losing my focus.

August has added further complications to my spending because I am receiving three paychecks. Yes, it is wonderful that I have all this income coming in, but it has enabled me to keep in the back of my mind that little voice telling me “don’t worry John, you have 1.5 times more money than usual, so go ahead and indulge in some extra spending this month.” That attitude does not get my debt paid off any faster. It’s funny that when you have more, you want to spend more! It’s no wonder that you hear about all these lottery winners who end up broke after a year. That would be the ultimate fail for me. If I won the lottery I would like to think that I wouldn’t be broke for the rest of my life!

Alright now, I am being pretty harsh on myself though considering the excellent progress I have made on my debt repayment. I have now hit the 30% mark ($11,390.56 – OMG) and my goal of paying off 33% in 12 months is definitely going to happen if I can keep this pace up – and that is so exciting! Now I am going to buckle down and focus, focus, focus. This can continue to be possible as long as I remember that I am the one who got me into this mess, and no one else. Thanks for still following my blog, even if it has been pretty lackluster lately. I’m getting so close to getting my MasterCard paid off and when I do, there will be quite the party!!  

A Challenge within a Challenge

When I left off in my last blog, I mentioned that I was going to do a little challenge for myself, not to spend any money for a week. Well I'm very proud to say that I almost did it. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I effed it up. There was nothing I wanted more than to write you another success story about how I had achieved greatness and like every god awful family movie, have yet another happy ending to share with you. But life isn't some sappy movie where everything just goes smoothly. If you want a movie to be great, you need some failure, some passion, and for fox snakes, some drama! So here I am again, sitting in the airport waiting for my flight which is now 2 hours and 45 minutes delayed (3 hours is their golden number for free $hit) writing you my blog entry on what worked in my anti-spending spree and what completely effed me over. 

The week started off just like any other. I woke up on Monday morning, bright and early and hit the snooze button on my iPhone 2 times (seriously, even my alarm clock has been rendered obsolete thanks to iPhone). I got myself all showered up and ready to start my week, but I did two fundamentally different things on this particular morning. The first thing was to pack a big tupperware full of carrots and celery sticks. It took me all of 5 minutes to peel and cut up all those yummy veggies and I was out the door. But wait, what about the second ever-so-important thing did you do John? I think it's the smartest thing I did all week; I left my wallet at home! I'm talking debit, credit, and even ID. You would be surprised how easy it is to still get money without your debit and credit cards. As long you have ID, that money is still readily accessible which is why I couldn't risk it. I saw someone pull this trick on Gail's show and letmetellya, Gail was NOT impressed. 

Out in the real world, it was a lot easier to avoid spending when I literally had nothing to spend. Of course I would have been able to simply go home and grab my wallet at anytime, but I didn't because I'm pretty bad-a$$. I showed more restraint than a comedian at a Star Wars convention. My Monday seemed to be rather effortless. I went home for lunch and ate some leftovers, certainly a success and since I had brought snacks and coffee is free at my office, I was able to keep myself happy and not hungry. 

Tuesday was a whole mess of the same old crap, with the exception that I wasn't able to go home for lunch. Leftovers can look good and smell good, but many times they end up tasting like some half too hot, half too cold pile of horse feces. This was the case for my first attempt in a long time to bring a lunch to work. I did the reheated pasta thing which can work pretty well but today, not so much. You know when the pasta gets all rubbery and dried out? Yeah. Anyway, I still ate that garbage and went to my lunchtime class de français. Il c'était bien. 

Then there was Wednesday. Again, I brought a lunch and met up with my friend Derek for a little gossip/bit€h session. Again with the pasta, but this time I jazzed it up with some zucchini which adds some moisture and made it not taste like a$$. I left the wallet at home again and had some more veggies to snack on, but when I hit hour 11 of my work/after work French class day, I knew that the following couple of days were going to suck the big one. I was freaking tired and hungry. Normally I would have left at the break to grab a coffee and a chocolate pecan square (it's like flavors are having sex in my mouth), but since I didn't have any money, I was rendered powerless. This just goes to show that I know myself too well and that I did the right thing by leaving the money at home. 

Wednesday, oh Wednesday. This day, I kind of effed up, but I'll let you be the judge. So far the people I talked to about this day have all agreed that I didn't screw up, but boy let me tell you, I was positive this would have been my downfall. After my 11 hour day, I got home and made 3 dishes, my supper, my lunch for the next day, and my snacks (leftovers, pasta, and hard boiled eggs respectively). I was feeling good about myself and how well I had done with the challenge thus far, but then I remembered that I still needed to pick up my book club book for my flight home. I had gotten $50 worth of gift cards for Chapters (the Wal-Mart of book stores) so I figured it's not spending money since I'm using a gift to pay for it. Now, you know you're doing good at avoiding spending when you walk into a store and it's completely different from the last time you've been in it. That was a moment where I just got a stupid grin on my face because I really did feel good about not going shopping for so long. But at the same time, I had lots of money in gift cards with me (you should note I also had another $25 I found that I had kept for years with me as well) so I was really tempted to buy much more than what I came into the store to buy. I picked up all sorts of things and managed to say no to them all, including a brand new Settlers of Catan game and even another book by Gail!! I don't know what Gail would say about that one... At the end of the ordeal with the store, I managed to get the book I came in for, A Tale of Two Cities AND I got it for only $5.50! Stupid Oprah's book club version was $25!! It's the same freaking book! Even though I did spend $5.50 I still feel like I did a tremendous job by not buying. 

When I got to Thursday, I was a total spoiled brat. My partner cheated for me (not on me) by making me a meal fit for a king. There was shrimp curry and red AND white wine, and chocolate for dessert. That was such an awesome treat and I certainly felt good to be spoiled. I guess it goes to show that good things will come to you when you do good things for yourself. I really am a lucky duck. 

Which now takes me to today/Friday. The day where I spent. There is only one way to explain why I effed up today - poor planning. Truth be told, I knew this was coming on Monday when I was thinking about my flight. I forgot to factor in that I needed to get to the airport! The one expense that I never budget for decided to show up and $hit on my parade (it's the saying you love, but made new for 2011). That's right ladies and gentlemen, I spent $5.20 on bus tickets and I have lost my challenge. The funny part, I probably could have just got a ride to the airport because my flight is so delayed and wouldn't have spent a thing. 

Now I face my extra challenge for the week, sitting in an airport for 4 hours without anything to eat but a roll of Mentos (I suck on them on the plane to release the pressure on my ears). I am so hungry and ready to hit up the Tim Horton's (I know, I'm THAT hungry) and getting an ice Capp and some kind of sandwich. I guess technically I would have been on the flight anyway with food in my belly, and I do have a couple of plums to eat, but I don't think it's wise to go another 6 hours without food. So, it looks like I'm going to go all out and get me a beer, start my book, eat some rapingly high priced airport food, and let my challenge have its way with me. 

This challenge had certainly been worth every moment though. I needed to remind myself that I am capable of living on less and I lived for 5 days on spending $40 total, and that's pretty spectacular. I learned that you can always rely on loved ones to encourage and support you. Wish me luck in Saskatoon. I spend like a mofo when I'm on vacay so I hope come back with more wonderful budgeting tales of yore to share. 

Love always, 

John

P.S. I also bought two 5-cent candies when I got my bus tickets. I'm such a liar!! 

P.P.S. they just announced yet another delay so I got a meal voucher worth $10! Things are looking up! 

$10,000 Paid off in Less than 10 Months!!

$10,000 used to be a big deal!

Can you believe it?! It’s not even been 10 months and I already have paid off more than $10,000 of my debt! What a great feeling to know that I am doing this process right. I just imagine all the wonderful things that I could do with $10,000 and I want to kick myself for not doing something about all my debt sooner! $10,000 would put me so much closer to having a nice down payment on a condo, I would have a new computer, and I could take a trip to just about anywhere in the world for $10,000. Imagine how I’ll be feeling when I have $37,810.51 (I have this number memorized) paid off! Just imagine what I could do with that kind of money. That dream is closer and closer to coming true and does it ever keep me inspired to push on with this process, only $27,694.78 to go!

I’m also happy to report that I have been staying on track with my New Year’s resolution to write a blog entry each week and the response has been overwhelming! I now have over 5000 hits on my little blog and from what I’ve heard this is a pretty big deal for someone who doesn’t advertise anywhere. Soon enough Gail will admit that she’s an avid reader and we will finally get a chance to meet and she’ll bring me along on all 3 of her shows as her sassy sidekick! Oh I can dream…

Now, sometimes I get some stupid and some smart comments, on my blog and I never realize it until many weeks later. The latter is the case of a comment from my friend Andy who is currently travelling the world like a madman and still having time to write about it! He writes: “Hey John! I love that you're only spending 1% of your income on transportation. If only we could convince the rest of the world! I'm confused about your new spending breakdown and how it affects your every day spending. You say you went from 19% to 21.5% for 'life', but from 20% to 18% for rent. This tells me that you already factored in the raise. Can you put the breakdown in dollars again? If only just the every day stuff? Like, what is the breakdown for food and clothes and entertainment. That was my biggest interest before (mostly because I thought it wasn't sustainable, and when you did it, I was inspired!) How much are you cheating by adding money to 'life'? :P xoxo Andy”

Now let’s keep in mind that Andy is travelling the world and has been able to budget to spend $1 a day to stay in a beach resort so we’re kind of in different budgeting situations, so the fact that he still reads my blog at all is a feat in itself, but nevertheless, what a marvelous comment Mr. Andy. His comment gave me an idea about what to write this blog post on, and believe me, some days I am stretching for ideas as I am sure you can tell from some of my past more questionable entries.  

First of all, I haven’t readjusted my budget to reflect my future income, I’ve simply reworked it because I noticed that my average income has become stable now that I am a permanent employee and I’m not doing contract work anymore. For instance, before I was averaging about $150 less per check than I am currently bringing in. Yes that’s right, I’m bringing home more bacon, or tofu bacon for you veggies out there. In a week from now, I’ll be bringing home even more moolah! Talk about sweet! The only downside is that I’ll need to rework the budget again. So there’s that Andy, it’s not a projected budget, it’s just a reworking of what I am currently bringing in and spending.

Gail would be putting on the celebratory tiara!

Now the second thing that’s changed is how much my rent is. There was a month when I started doing my new budget that I was paying an inflated rent of $825 instead of my usual $556 which skewed the average amount I was paying for rent rather considerably. I was short a roommate that month so instead of splitting the money 3 ways, I was splitting it 2 ways. Therefore my percentage of my income going to rent was much higher and I was uncertain how much my rent would work out to be so I kept it budgeted rather high. But now, in comparison with the money I am bringing in, I found that my rent only works out to 18.5% of my budget since these days I bring in about $3,000 a month ($4,500 on the triple check months like the one coming up in August – whoo!). This figure is well below Gail’s recommended spending on housing so I’m pretty happy about that!

Now to be fair, I should be factoring my hydro bill into my rent, but I don’t. Hydro is really cheap here since we’re all pretty good about not leaving lights on or running a lot of electricity on the non-peak time so each of us only pays about $10 per month each for hydro. I could also add in another $21.75 a month for my internet bill (yes that’s for each of us, we use a lot of internet) and then there’s my phone bill from Rogers who likes to bend me over and have it’s way with me for $90 each month – really Rogers, how do you sleep at night? Anyway, enough talking about all the figures, why don’t I just break it down for you here:

Income: $3,000

Breakdown:

Savings: 15% = $450

Debt: 45% = $1,350

Transportation: 1% = $30

Life: 20.5% = $615

Housing: 18.5% = $555

I always squish my Transportation and Life costs together because it just makes more sense to me. So my life expenses now become $645 or about $21 per day for life. Now, that doesn’t mean that I am out spending that money on eating out at restaurants or betting on the strippers, but I could if I wanted to budget for it. Now taking that $645 that I have each month to live on, I take out my regular expenses ($21.75 for internet, $90 for phone, $10 for hydro) and I am left with $523.25. Now, I take that and divide it by the weeks in the month and I am left with about $130 for the rest of my life. That’s broken down like this:

Life: $130.00

Life Weekly Breakdown:

Groceries and Personal Care: $70

Clothing and Gifts: $10 (almost never use this)

Transportation: $10 (almost never use this)

Entertainment: $40

Want to save money on transpo?
Get a bike like Jake here, AND stay in shape!

Now, I bring in a little more than $3,000 per month and so everything just seems to balance out. I found that because I was working out more that I needed to eat more food since I was burning off so much energy, so it only made sense to me that I spend more money there. If I end up with leftover money, I spend it on the things I want to spend it on or simply just move the money to my debt or to my savings account. It always seems to work out just fine every month and it’s clearly better than the clusterfudge that my spending was when I started this process. Keep in mind that I was spending about $100 a week before on life so having $130 is making a world of difference. Nowadays I really want to just get this debt destroyed so that I can start spending my money on the things I want again. I can’t wait for that day! Good luck to you all on the debt destruction journeys you are all on! Imagine, if you only have $10,000 of debt, you could get rid of it all in less than a year! How cool is that?!?

Attitude Adjustment

Mittens pees in everything

You know when you get in one of those $hitty moods where the people around you start thinking that you woke up to someone peeing in your corn flakes? Well that’s sort of the way that I am feeling today. I know, I know, how does Mr. Smileypants get into a funk on a perfect sunny long weekend with no clouds in site? Honestly, I think it might be due to the fun overload I have had over the past couple days! It was Canada Day on Friday and there is no other day that is more fun than this day here in the nation’s capital. I got to sleep in, wake up late, and get out and enjoy all the festivities with my friends while keeping my budget in check! I can’t believe I only spent $40 on Canada Day, especially when the drinks were $6.50 for crappy domestic beer! I guess it helps that I was working the merch table for my friends’ band for the day so it kept me away from other more pricey items! The next day I got to spend an amazing day with my friend’s family at their pool, playing ping pong and croquet, eating delicious food and feeling incredibly spoiled by some of the kindest people I know. I think that’s what my little funk is about, it made me miss my family and all the wonderful times I have with them; that and maybe the sunburn that I got from 6 hours in the sun despite the SPF 45! I’m telling you, I went from snow white to lobster red! All my freckles (or melanoma) are out in full force now!

Open wide indeed!

Those of you who read my blog regularly may have noticed that I really try to stay focused on my goals and don’t really spend much time complaining about the things that I have the power to fix. Lately I am finding that I am just complaining for the sake of complaining about the most insignificant things like a lousy coworker or general frustrations, but what is that helping other than spreading my negativity and wearing my friends out with incessant whining? Just going back and reading my first paragraph, I can’t help but notice that I really don’t have any reason to be upset about anything, but yet here I am in a stupid mood wasting time feeling like an a$$hole and for what? This blog entry was going to be about how I was managing my money after having to pay over $500 at the dentist this week after a surprise triple filling (which was supposed to be one filling and $170) but I think that blog entry would be kind of a cop out. Most of you know that I would resort to my savings account to help cover the shortfall then reevaluate my budget to get myself back on track. So, instead of weighing you down with a Complainy Complainerpants blog, I really feel that it’s important to highlight how the right attitude can really make or break you when working toward a goal.

Obtaining success with any major goal, i.e. saving up for your wedding, taking better care of your health, or paying off debt, you need to give yourself a little pat on the back for your hard work and remember that not everyone is going to constantly praise you for everything little thing you do. They might not even notice that you’re even doing it (and that’s okay). It’s imperative that you remember to thank yourself for all the hard work that you put in and not beat yourself up for the times when you feel like you have let yourself down. For example, in my goal to pay off debt, it took a lot of mental preparation and a ton of will power to keep me from spending my money on things that I didn’t need, but really wanted. I remember one day when I went shopping with one of my friends and there were all these great clothes that fit me so well on sale. After trying on a stack of clothes, I set them down on at that cash register and said I didn’t want any of them (because I knew I couldn’t afford them). My friend was really impressed with my transformation, and so was I, so I gave myself a little mental affirmation that I had done something positive toward achieving my goal. My ability to say no had left me with $200 more toward my debt repayment, so I took that money and put it all on my credit card. It felt amazing; kind of like a big F.U. to MasterCard. It feels good to be able to celebrate small victories so make sure that you do!

Now there will come a time when you will screw up and you’re going to want to kick yourself and get upset about losing focus on your goal; you’ve been on track for weeks and all of a sudden you muck up. I have done this on more than one occasion since I started the debt repayment process. At first I feel bad about spending money where I shouldn’t have but the important part is what I do next. I get in a mode where my brain punishes me for a small mistake, but this is where I focus on changing the way I think. It is entirely possible to do. When you make a mistake, start off by recognizing the error and then identify the reasons that you steered off course. For me, it’s usually because I was drunk, or brought too much money with me so I end up spending more than I wanted. Other times it’s simply because I entered a situation where I know that I am weak when it comes to spending like my favorite store, the pizza parlor, a prophylactics sale, you know, the usual stuff people are tempted by. Once I have identified what triggered my counteractive behaviour, I make a promise to myself that next time, I’ll put down the whatchamawhozit, and back my sweet a$$ out of there! When I actually do this, I feel really good about myself and give myself a reward of more me time, or a special treat at the grocery store.

Change your attitude, change your life

Getting to the point where you achieve your goals really does take a positive outlook. I’ve worked really hard to get to the point in my life where things are looking up, and my positive attitude has been instrumental in getting there. Teach yourself to find the positive things in your life. For example, I acknowledge that  my negative mood is just that – mine, and no one else’s. So I look ahead at the positive things that will keep me going forward.  I’m now only 2 weeks away from starting my new job, and another 4 weeks away from my vacation and seeing my family! And let’s not forget that I will be receiving 3 paychecks in August and more of my friends will be moving back here again, so things are looking on the up and up! Do you see how easy that is? If you can’t find anything positive, then make an active decision to do something about it. There’s one piece of advice that my friend told me years ago that I have never forgot and have kept with me ever since. If you don’t like something in your life, CHANGE IT. You hate your city? Move. You don’t like your school? Find another one. You can’t stand your job? Get a new one. YOU are the only one who can decide what is best for you. 

Promotion! Aka: Back to the Books!

If you're seeing this on your eye chart, there may
be something wrong with your eyes, or
you have an awesome optometrist!!

Oh boy. Let me start by saying that my budgeting skills have been on the decline lately. Summer has snuck in leaving me eating takeout (especially pizza), neglecting my yoga practice, drinking more ($80 bill at the pub the other night) and all around not planning for any of my expenses. For example, today I had an optometrist appointment which cost me $80 and I also had to order new contact lenses. They aren’t too expensive ($80 for a one year supply), but now I’ve left my self shortchanged for the essentials like rent! So silly. Now, I have a dentist appointment next week and I’m looking at another $120 for a teeth cleaning that will come out of my pocket. However, I finally have insurance! My benefits package kicked in this week which means I am going to get reimbursed for most of my costs so I guess you could say I planned it a little bit, but since we have a postage strike, my benefits package has not arrived (not to mention all the stolen contents of my wallet) and I’m left footing the bills in the interim. Yeah yeah Complainy Complainerson, what’s your freaking point? I'm getting to it! I promise this isn’t going to be one of those negative blogs again. All my $hitty preparation has left me thinking that it’s time to revisit my budget analysis worksheet and redo the math so that I am not completely screwing myself over when it comes to my day to day spending. But, there is one more variable that I am going to have to include in my new analysis…

Whoo! More money! Less Problems???

This blog post is coming to you later than usual this week because I wanted to write about some news that will affect my financial future greatly but it couldn’t be shared until now. Last week I was offered a promotion and I accepted it! I wasn’t even looking for a new job, this one just seems to have sniffed past all the bull$hit and found the wonderful rose in the garden which is moi! At my new job I will be receiving more money (whoo!) and I’ll be able to pay off my debt while being able to give myself a little spending boost as well. I’ve been learning to live on less for so long that I never even imagined that I would end up making more money to put toward my debt. Now I’m going to be getting almost a 10% increase in my salary – and it can only go up from there. My apologies for my outpouring of happiness during a time when finding work is proving to be more and more challenging for people, but I really did not expect something so wonderful to happen after losing my wallet and having my cards stolen. I suppose my optimism has been rejuvenated. Admittedly, I was already planning a ‘good news’ blog for this week since some of my past entries seem a little blasé.

Now this job is not going to be without its challenges. I have been getting rather comfortable with my routine of coming home at lunchtime and making myself something to eat, but I think I may have to start making my own lunches and bringing them to work which is something I despise doing. Why are most leftovers so nasty? This new position will definitely be more demanding on me and when I get stressed, I do the stupid things like eat take out. This week for example I’m doing the work of 4 people and I think I have eaten every single one of my meals as takeout because I don’t have any time to go home and make something! The worst part of all of this is that I’m not even enjoying the food that I am buying. Even that General Tao chicken I ranted and raved about early on in my blog has left me feeling not satisfied and it just tastes a lot like guilt.

Anyway, back to the budget. Lately, I’ve noticed that my paychecks were averaging out lower than when I first started my analysis and that my expenses have actually gone down since I started my Fight For Financial Freedom (see what I did there), however due to unexpected variables my average monthly salary is about $400 more than I was making last year (this doesn’t include that $hit month I had in January where my income was $0). While this may make no sense to anyone, The key to my increase has been that for the first time in seven years, my income is consistent so I had one month where I received 3 paychecks! What a spoiled bit¢h I am! Ok I should also point out that all my checks from January were delayed, but I remember putting a lot of that money back into savings.

Mmmmmm Number Crunching!

This is where I get all nerdy and start crunching numbers like I did back when I started the budget, so for those of you who don’t give a $hit about how I do my budget and only read my blog for the sheer pleasure of hearing my sexy blog voice, you may want to skip this part, but I assure you, humour will be coming to the party. My debt repayment is actually right on par with where it should be based on my old budget, the problem is that now I make more money that I did back when I first did so I really want to kick my debt when it’s down and show it what’s what. I did a comparison of my figures from October, 2010.

Here is what I was spending pre budget:

• Savings: 0%
• Debt: 25%
• Transportation: 1%
• Life: 87%
• Housing: 25%

Yes, that adds up to more than 100%, remember, I was financially handicapped so I overspent by 38% each month.

What I have been spending post budget:

• Savings: 10%
• Debt: 50%
• Transportation: 1%
• Life: 19%
• Housing: 20%

Not too shabby, but not too fun either.  

What I plan to start spending as of July:

• Savings: 15%
• Debt: 45%
• Transportation: 1%
• Life: 20.5%
• Housing: 18.5%

You may be asking, if my debt repayment strategy isn’t broken, then why mess with a good thing? Well the answer is pretty simple to me. I have been pushing myself so hard lately and I hit that seven month itch. If I were dating this budget plan, it would have probably dumped it’s cheap a$$ by now. This will still keep me right on track to paying off my debt in less than three years, but I will still be getting to enjoy some of the fun things with my cash when I’m young. There’s no reason for me to bend over and take it from my budget since I don’t have any major responsibilities like kids, a mortgage, medical problems, and so on. The key to this budget is to make me as aggressive with my savings as I am with my debt repayment. Now that I am going to be making more money, all these amounts will increase and I’ll get to enjoy a better quality of life. Yes, one and half percent added to my life spending might not seem like much, but having just a couple more bucks to enjoy a night out at a concert or buy a couple bottles of wine can make a huge difference in the life of a privileged Westerner who has deprived himself of minor bits of joy over the past few months. And hey, if this doesn’t work, then I can always come back and revisit my budget plan later. 

Yay Promotion!!! 

Hold on to Your Butts…

Going off the rails!

There’s a storm a-brewing and it’s headed right for me. Many debt distractions are making their way to throw me off the rails of this crazy train. Although I am doing incredibly well with my debt repayment I am going to be encountering some may-jah changes to my regular schedule. The key over the next few weeks will be to focus, focus, and focus. What in the world is all this excitement John? What, oh what, could be your kryptonite? How is it possible that the latest and greatest debt detonator could ever face such perils that he will be taken so far off course from his debt repayments? Now that you’re on the edge of your seats with excitement, I encourage you to sit back, relax, and read along as to what variables are going to attack my spending. Oh boy, it looks like I may need to redo my budget again.

Do you remember a little while ago, back in March when I told y’all that I got a permanent job? The great news about all this is that I have benefits coming my way starting at the end of June. I’m talking about the whole shebang; dental, optical, rectal, you name it, I got it. Where the challenge begins is that now I have to pay things like death insurance, medical insurance, union dues, pension, and all that wonderful stuff that I’ll probably be stuck with paying until I’m 65. Yes, you heard it here first kids, I don’t think my generation is going to get that “freedom 55” ticket that our parents are getting. With added (but wonderfully exciting) expenses such as these, my gross pay is going down. Only by about $100 mind you, and since I got a raise anyway, the effects of this should all be minor.

If it’s so minor John, why even mention it? I’m getting to that part you guys, geez Louise! Because I worked for 7 years through various contracts with my current employer, I am now able to purchase back all that time that I put in. In other words, I can buy back all that pensionable time in order for me to get out of the workforce sooner, much much sooner. I have calculated how much time I can purchase and it works out to be about 723 working days or the equivalent of 3 years! These years come with a price tag of about $4,000-5,000 (or so I estimate) in order for me to purchase them back. Now I’m no fool, I am all over buying this time back, and it’s cheaper to do so now rather than when you’re making more money in the future. The added bonus is that I can retire 3 years earlier when I’m approaching retirement. Now with buybacks, you can opt to have this amount slowly paid for through deductions from your paychecks, and that’s what I’m going to do. The pickle that I’m in is that my gross pay is going to go down while I’m doing this, and those of you who have been reading along in the blog know that I am not one to run away from paying off debt anymore. I think the best approach will be to find out what the interest rate is on this repayment and then squeeze it in accordingly to my debt repayment process.

My kick-a$$ new helmet!!

There’s so much more to this storm of spending other than this new buyback option. Like a fool, I assumed that I was getting about $600 back in income tax from the Government. However, like Mom always said, when you assume, you make and A$$ out of U and ME (get it? – yes I know it’s a lame joke). Anyway, with this assumption in mind, I’ve been a little more liberal in my spending – not crazy, but a little bit of my alter ego, Spendy Spenderson came out. The things I did buy were justifiable though. Finally, after years of bike riding, I caved and bought myself a helmet (on sale!). My luck has certainly been pushed on this, so I think it was a smart move. My helmet is pretty freaking bad-a$$ too, if you saw it you’d agree. It has little skulls on it which totally means that I am hardcore. While getting my helmet though, I decided to get some new handlebar tape, and that set me back another 25 bones. Add to that my 3-year anniversary with my partner and the $120 meal I bought for us which I thought my refund would cover as well. Needless to say, my Government windfall never came through. In fact I owe them $79.40. All the more reason I should be putting my money into a tax-free savings account. So that little curve ball is nothing to sneeze at, but either way, it did throw off my game a little bit, however I think my “crazy” purchases were totally worth it.

Big change is coming its way for my schedule. I’m not going to lie, having a boring and routine schedule has really made it easy for me to stay on track with my spending. Every day I get to come home and prepare myself a fresh home cooked meal. I recommend this to everyone – not just for your budget, but for your health. Did you know that I can almost see my abs through my former beer belly? Talk about exciting; now I’ll even have a washboard to do my laundry for cheap! The curveball is that I’m going back to school. Yes, I’m going back to school yet again. It’s not university or college though, it’s French language training. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I’ll be spending 3 hours after work learning how to parler en Français. This is an incredible gift from my employer to spruce up my language competency; however it does throw off my schedule. After work, I usually enjoy an hour and a half of hot yoga and then I come home for dinner around 7:30. Now, I’m going to be doing French until 7:00, yoga until 9:00 and dinner around 9:30. I don’t think this is really sustainable, so I’m going to see if I can bring dinner to my French classes. I really hate making lunches in advance. I find that nothing ever tastes the same when it’s been sitting in a bag for 24 hours until the next time you eat it. I gets all soggy and tastes like plastic wrap, and then there’s that mess of lugging along those dirty containers – ew. I guess this will challenge me to go the distance on how I spend my food budget and we’ll see if I can resist the temptation to buy takeout.

Worst Place to go when you're in debt!!

Alright, now here comes the doozie - Vegas. Yes, in a mere 3 weeks I will be living it large and in charge in Las Vegas. I think that at this point, if I were on one of Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s shows she would slap me across the back of my head.  Why the H-E-double hockey sticks are I going to Vegas when I’m trying to pay down $38,000 worth of debt? Well, it’s for my brother’s stag party and I am in his wedding party, so I do feel obligated to go and I do have a bit of a game plan. Have you been watching my savings account climb ever higher? Have you also noticed that I have now paid of $5,000 on my credit card?! I’m so excited about that I could pee myself. I have made an executive decision to reward myself by taking $1,000 from my savings for spending to Vegas to cover me for the 3 days that I’m there. I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable for me to live on $1,000 for 3 days in Vegas. The real question is how much of the rest of my savings I can hold onto to pay for my trip to his Wedding in August!

So as you can clearly see, there is a storm a-brewing which will push my limits to crazy new levels. Will I survive the storm? Will I burn out from French and cave in to take out? Can any man only live on $1,000 for 3 days in Vegas? Stay tuned until next time kids on the next episode of John’s Fight for Financial Freedom!