Shopping Shocker!

I didn't buy a single thing I am wearing!

It sure is nice to get four days in a row off work - paid no less! Now before you all leap across your computer screens and strangle me for being one of those fortunate people who gets this Monday off, stop and reflect about how you all benefit from my time off by getting to read this wonderful blog post! The past 4 days have been relatively spend-free which is largely in part of the generous sharing of delicious food (and booze) by friends and family. Thank you Derek for the delicious chicken and veggies that you made on Friday, and thank you Kim and Tim for the decadent feast yesterday (and leftover chocolate pie today) - it sure is a treat for a man on a budget!

It has been a long time since I was back here writing something for you all to read about so I think that I should start you off with a bit of a recap on what has been going on with me in the past couple weeks. Right after preaching to everyone about how I have weaknesses for buying certain things such as clothes, I went to Montreal to help my friend Andy find some new outfits to wear for work with the caveat that I would not be shopping for me. Well it had been a long time since I had been to Montreal so as soon as I got there, I was reminded of how much I love being in that city and how many good deals on clothes that they have so I broke down and spent! Needless to say that I was a little bit silly with my spending and I purchased more than a couple items. The good news is that I got some amazing deals and still managed to spend less than Andy did!

For $306.41, I managed to pick up quite the collection of clothes, including: 1 pair of sunglasses, a blazer, 3 pairs of pants, a t-shirt, a bow-tie, 3 dress shirts, and a sassy new hat! Not too shabby for that kind of coin. The key part is that I managed to buy what I actually really needed, which was some dress clothes for work and only one (beautiful) t-shirt. I was starting to get in desperate need of some new pants for work and play because I have somehow been able to slowly wear out the crotch in a couple pairs of my pants (feel free to draw your own conclusions here). Not only did I avoid buying a bunch of t-shirts that I didn't need, I left a lot of things behind that I liked, but didn't love.

Shockingly I didn't buy anything here either!

If you want to be a successful clothing shopper such as myself, here are some handy dandy tips. Start off in the stores that you know are usually more expensive and grab anything and everything that you love and try it on. When I was in the stores, I put on so many different outfits and you can ask Andy, sometimes it seemed a little ridiculous. Next, make a mental note of the items that make you feel fantastic, not just the ones that look good on you, but the ones that you really really really love on you. After that, look at the price tag. If the article is something you love and the price is incredible (like my $35 blazer), then buy all means (see what I did there) buy it! If it is out of your potential price range or budget for the day, then set it to the side and spend the rest of your day shopping in the cheaper stores looking for comparable items. If you really like the item and spend the rest of the day thinking about it, then you should probably go for it and buy it when you get back to that store. In the meantime, if you see something like a sassy hat for $75 and think, hmm, I love this hat, it looks really good on me, I love it, then spend the rest of the day trying on similar hats, you will probably find one that looks just as sassy and you will spend a fraction of the cost (in my case, $12.95 = huge savings).  

Now you might be asking, "what if you really love a bunch of things that you try on and then you're way out of budget." First of all, don't even think about your credit card! Step away for the money muncher and think about being debt free. Next, think about all the clothes you already have at home. Will the new item that you selected really fit into your current wardrobe? Will the pink grapefruit colour shirt really match your earthy toned outfits? If you need to buy more articles of clothing just to wear one article of clothing, it's probably not a good idea. Next start checking in to see if this article of clothing is too similar to something you already own. How many shades of blue t-shirts does one person need? Are you only buying this shirt because it's yellow or has a bird on it? Maybe it's time to put down the shirt and start actually looking at birds in nature instead of on shirts...

If you can stick to some of these basic principles, you can really save a lot of money and still look pretty darn fabulous. Remember that there is no shame in going to the sale rack either. Some of the stuff in the sale racks is total garbage, but sometimes there are incredible items that you'll find for delightful deals (like my half price classic black trench coat). Phew, ok, so that's how to shop like John, well, new and reformed John.

After my trip to Montreal, I have been diligent in paying down my debt. My regular line of credit is on track to be completely paid off by May which means that after that is gone, I will have nothing but "student debt". I think it's funny though that we call only the debt that has "student" in the title our student debt. I accumulated all of my debt while I was in school, so it's hard not to think of it all as student debt. I would like to believe that if I were never in school that I would have managed to get out of debt years ago. Mind you I might not be able to have the kind of job that I do without a degree, but my debt would be a lot less.

Sassy new hat!

One thing that I have really noticed is that after paying off my MasterCard, the rest of the debt seems to disappear much quicker. It's also really nice to not have to remember to pay 4 different creditors and be able to focus on only one 3 of them now. As soon as I get this line of credit paid off, I am going to close the account for good. I don't want any more temptation and I want to help out my credit by not having so much accessible potential debt as I do now.

Other than that, everything else is going well. I'm going to spend the rest of my day enjoying some time off and maybe reading my book club book. I might even head on down to a consignment shop and see about selling some of my old vintage clothes. I'm also overdue for a spring cleaning and getting rid of some of the crap that I have acquired over the years so maybe I'll get a start on that. Oh yeah, and then there's those freaking income taxes to do! Maybe my melancholy Monday could be pretty busy after all...

Thanks for continuing to read everyone!

xo

John 

Off Track

Off Track!

Following last week, I have gotten lots of texts and calls from friends and family reconnecting with me which I must admit, has felt pretty good! I feel like I am more connected than ever to those who I love and clearly, this means that lots of people are reading my blog and they love me. I already knew that they loved me, but this just goes to show the power of the internet to bring people together.

I am always surprised by how many people are actually reading all my financial rants! Not only that, their friends and family (especially the moms - hello all of my friends' moms) are reading my blog. What a wonderful thing to know that others are just as interested in getting their debt back on track and that I am not alone in this crazy pursuit. When I started this process, I never imagined that I would get my debt paid off as rapidly as I am today. I was just gunning through all this debt at the beginning  but this year I really have not been as good as I wanted to. The truth behind me not posting as much is that I have kind of been effing up my finances these past couple weeks and I have been a little embarrassed to admit that I have been dipping into my savings account to go out for beers with friends. I guess it's better than taking out money from my line of credit, or even worse, my evil MasterCard!

I ♥ your mom. 

But these are the sorts of things that happen, right? It's tough to always put your social life on hold because you have debt to pay off and the general attitude out there is "everyone is in debt anyway, so why worry?" which I totally get, but I also know what the stress feels like when you have $40,000 of consumer debt and you don't even have a permanent job so I sometimes feel the need to shake some sense into these people. What it really takes is a culture and attitude change to start convincing others to stop spending and finding other ways to find joy in things that require no spending. In one of the exercises that we did at my yoga "off the mat" challenge, we talked about the ability to give up buying "stuff". I have several kryptonites such as music (the latest thing is records), clothing, home decor, and all sorts of other "stuff". What makes my need to shop so stupid is the fact that I don't even need any of this stuff. If one of the things that I mentioned is resonating with you, let me break it down for you:

Music

LOVE THE BALCONIES!

As a firm supporter of artists/musicians I have a hard time just downloading something I love for free and never sending a penny to the artists themselves, but I also was buying 2-3 albums per week, which translates to about $60 which is more than $3,000 each year on music. That doesn't even include the concerts that I go to! What makes this so stupid is that I have albums where I only listen to one or two tracks that I love and never get through the whole thing. To add to it all, I have a record player, but it's not portable so I only get to listen to one of the 100+ albums I have per week  on average. So it's clear to me that this is a habit that I need to get under control. So what I have decided to do is dedicate at least a week to listening to the whole album online before deciding to purchase it. If I really feel that the album is something that is mindblowingly amazing, then I will buy it, but otherwise, I will move on and listen to something else. Don't worry the Balconies, I will ALWAYS buy your music! Oh and you even have an amazing new EP on iTunes? Well I better put a link to that then!

Clothing

This is an underwear ad, a very sexy underwear ad. 

By far one of the most unnecessary things that I buy. I have dozens of t-shirts, dress shirts, pants, shoes, jackets, underwear, and the list goes on. I have zero need for more clothes but yet I still see things that I like and purchase them anyway. I found the best way to kick this habit was to avoid malls and my favourite stores altogether. If I do wander into a store, I look at the item on the rack and then I think about how many other articles of clothing just like it that I have and that usually convinces me to not buy it. If I still feel the urge to buy it, I leave the store and come back in 2 weeks if I am still thinking about buying it. That way if I forget about it, it's clearly not something that I wanted all that bad in the first place. This rule usually applies to everything that I want and it has proven to be pretty darn effective!

Home Decor

Are you cluttering your home with too much stuff?

Now I know that we all like to  have the coolest and most comfortable place on the block, but how comfortable is a place that is filled to the rafters with stuff? There comes a point when all the home decor stuff we buy creates discomfort because it is all just so overwhelming. When you want to create a space that is homey, stick to the principle that less truly is more. When you're more concerned with whether someone is going to break that new knick-knack that you bought than whether they feel safe enough to fart without getting thrown out the window, you may need to evaluate your need obsession with stuff.

Phew, that feels good to get out. It's much easier to get back to practicing what I preach when I have it all down on paper. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't shop at all, but I'm say that you should focus on smarter shopping. Buy things that you need first and then get one of the things that you want afterward. If you don't know what a need is, ask yourself if you will die if you don't have it. I think I can survive without the latest record or spandex yoga shorts. One more thing, as I have said a bazillion times before, leave your credit behind and pay with YOUR money, not someone else's!

All in all though, my spending has not been in check and I am feeling the effects! Last week I had to do some major dipping into my savings more than once for things like eating out, birthday presents, medicine (don't panic, I had a cold), and other things that I feel that I should be a little more prepared for. It's not like it's a big deal or anything, but there really is no excuse since most of the things that I had show up were things that I could have planned for so I guess it gets on my nerves a little bit that I am not as aggressive with my debt as I want to be. Not to say that all this socializing is negative, I'm spending money on things that I enjoy such as hanging out with friends for their birthdays or farewell parties which I feel are important things to do because you can't really put a price tag on friendships (unless they're an escort). But I am really going to try to get it together again and set a goal to get my line of credit completely paid off by the 15th of May!

Lots of love!

John

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!

Scare Tactics

Scare tactics are effective on the elderly

One of the most remarkable things about writing a financial blog is how open people become when talking to me about their own financial struggles. Listening to other people’s challenges and successes gives me a lot of reassurance as well as tons of hope that I can continue to get ahead with this process. A common theme in the discussions I have with people who still carry debt is that most don’t have any idea how they can get their debt paid off. Fortunately I have tons of ideas to help them out. The part that usually baffles me though is how long people are willing to wait to pay off their debt in full.

For example, when I look at my current “repayment plan” for my student loans, my lender projects that I still have another 89 months (7 years and 5 months) of minimum payments to go before I will pay this off entirely. Not only that, the amount of interest I will end up paying is $1,837.78. I hate dumping any of my hard earned money onto interest payments so when I hear about people being comfortable with paying off a small amount of debt over such a long amount of time, I want to smack them over the head and tell them to wake up. I get it, we all feel entitled to the best of the best, and since we work hard, we should be rewarded. The problem is that if you keep resorting to credit to buy everything you want, you could end up with nothing when the debt gets quickly out of control.

If you were like I was, teetering on the brink of financial disaster, you need to stop and take control of your situation before it gets unmanageable. There are some major signs that you should be weary of such as: not being able to make more than the minimum payments on your bills; not knowing how much debt you have; living paycheck to paycheck; having no savings; creditors constantly call you for payments; you remortgage your house every other year; and the list goes on. I recently read an article (I’m sorry I can’t remember where) where most financial advisors said they wished that people would have come and seen them sooner to deal with their finances rather than later because most of the time, they are too far gone to be helped and they have to file for bankruptcy. This couldn’t be any truer. If you are like I was with my money, look for something that will motivate or inspire you to get your debt repaid. For me, I can think of a lot of things I would rather do with $1,800 other than use it for interest (like a mini vacation), and not to mention how less stressed I get as the debt numbers go down. Debt repayment is work, but when you build a strong support system like I have, it is completely possible to do.

  

Canada's Debt Clock!

Ok, so you may be wondering what is with the scare tactics/pep talk? In one of the conversations I had recently with someone who I don’t even really know, she told me about Canada’s debt clock at debtclock.ca. This site has a scary tracker of Canada’s ever-rising debt total. The site claims that by March, 2012, Canada’s debt will have skyrocketed to over $585 BILLION dollars. According to the site, “That’s $61,454 per minute, $3.7-million per hour, or $88.5-million every day!” Right now that means that on average, every Canadian is carrying $16,000 of debt. Now, with spending projections this holiday season, we can only expect this increase to rise even further.

But what can we do to reduce this number, right? We can’t be responsible for other people’s neglectful spending, but we can certainly do our part to encourage others to start spending money smarter, especially over the holidays. In a country where we buy everything we want on credit, I find it surprising that people have anything left to buy for each other at Christmas that they don’t already have! Just like last year, I want to emphasize that there are so many ways that you can save money this year during the holidays.

Make a shopping list like Santa!!

When you are out shopping, be like Santa and make a list. Making a list when you shop will help keep you on track with what you want to buy for your loved ones. Try to keep the list as specific as possible, and write down the items that you want to buy even for the stores where you know what you want to buy and put a price limit on how much you want to spend. If you want to go the extra mile, look for deals online for items that you want to buy and save yourself even more money (as long as the shipping isn’t ridiculous). If you can stick to a list, you will have an easier time staying on budget.

Leave the credit card at home. This is a general rule for me everyday, but it’s even better to put into practice during the holidays. You shouldn’t have to go into debt just to buy everyone you know a gift, and nor should they. Don’t ever feel bad about giving a friend a card or simply asking your family to do a gift exchange instead of buying each of them a gift. And if you’re doing a gift exchange with friends, think doing what my friend Gigi does and have everyone re-gift something that they don’t use! This idea is not only a great way to recycle, but it is also a hilarious way to spend time with your friends during the holidays!

Be thoughtful with your gift giving. Can you think back to 5 Christmases ago and remember everything you got? Even better, can you remember all the things that you bought for your loved ones? I find that the gifts I remember the most are the ones that were made by someone.  I remember one year when my brother blew up a picture of us as kids working with my Dad. He was so moved by that photo, which it really made the whole day a wonderful and memorable experience for us all (and no, it wasn’t even Christmas day). I can’t tell you what I got for the past few years other than maybe some money but I don’t even remember the amounts. What I do remember are the fun times that I had with my family which I guess is why I go back home year after year.

The holidays can be the most stressful time of the year, or they can be the most exciting and memorable. With the debt counter climbing higher, take time to stop and think of ways that you can contribute to reducing your debt instead of augmenting it this season. The holidays will become less stressful if you plan ahead and use your own money, not the banks’. If you’re reading this and thinking, “well $hit John, it’s too late now”, then perhaps you should make it your new year’s resolution to put $25 a week into a special “Christmas Savings” account and by this time next year, you will have $1,200 to spend ‘til your heart’s content.