Laundry Detergent

So, I recently read in a Consumer Reports magazine that basically the powder detergent was just as good as liquid detergent. 

Recently I ran out of my liquid detergent (which I switched to a few years ago due to white detergent spots) and since the liquid was more expensive per load, I decided to give the powdered detergent a try again.  Well, it's been going well.  I think so far I have had one load with white detergent spots and I've probably done between 5-10 loads of laundry with it.

Pregnancy Spending to Date

So, I'm pretty sure that you all know that I am pregnant.  I have just over two months to go.  So, I thought I'd go through my budget book and add up all the spending so far on the kid for you.

The first thing we bought was for $3 at a garage sale for a nursing pillow.
$1 at a garage sale for a front baby carrier
$20 for a crib from friends that came with the mattress, some blankets, and a girly bedding set we aren't going to use
$274.38 for a jogging stroller/infant car seat combo and $136 for a starter set of 6 cloth diapers, a cloth diaper bag, and a girly outfit that we received a cheque from my husbands parents for.
$7.08 for nail clippers and disposable nursing pads
$13.48 for a pair of neutral cords and 3 boys tops from a consignment store.
$75 for prenatal classes

As gifts from my husbands parents we have also received some towels, blankets, bibs, etc. and my husbands change table and dresser from when he was a kid.

As gifts from my parents we have/will recieve the bedding set, rocker, baby bath tub, various clothes, play pen, etc.

On holidays this year for fun we purchased a towel and a nursery calendar.

So, that is most of our nursery items...  I feel like we most of the items we need but that we have spent very little on them.

Truck Insurance

In a prior post I wrote about how we were thinking of cancelling the insurance on our truck for the winter.  Well, we did it last week.   We got all our firewood in and no Christmas tree yet but we got about half the money back on the insurance so I'm sure we can figure out how to get a Christmas tree home some other way.  In addition to the insurance savings, I do not have to budget for about a tank of gas a month on the truck.

If we absolutely do need to use the truck, we will put temporary insurance on it but that should not cost the amount that we got back in insurance.

Bank Accounts

Let me start with the basics to me. The first thing that I recommend is that you know what kind of main account you have, and therefore, the related fees, transaction limits, etc. Then find out the same thing on your other accounts (savings, etc.). This will help you to not spend any more than is necessary on banking fees.

The second thing for you to know is that in Canada, any savings that is linked to your chequing should be free. If you are paying something for it, well, then you are either making debit card purchases or something else to incur fees on the account.

OK, so you think those things are pretty basic. Good news! Then you are at where my husband and I are at. We have the appropriate type account for the amount of transactions, etc that we do a month, however, we can't figure out why we should have to pay fees on our bank account. So, we have two options that we see. Option one is to change to an account and reduce our transactions to an account that is cheaper/could be free. We are not sure that we want to do this. Option two is to change banks to an account that will allow us to do what we do and charge us less/not charge us anything. This does exist but we haven't made up our mind yet. I will let you know.

Hosting a Dinner Party

Hosting a Dinner Party – October 18, 11

So, a couple of Saturdays ago I hosted a dinner party at our house.   Now, I am not going to write that it is the cheapest thing to host but there are some ways to keep costs lower.  Here is what I did.

The weekend before the party was Thanksgiving and even though I did not have the menu, etc planned at that time there were certain things that I knew I would need for the party regardless and they were on sale for Thanksgiving.  This was items like sparkling grape juice, pop and juices to make punch, and fancy pickles and olives.

When I planned the party it was a fall themed party so accordingly the menu followed suit.  This helped me save costs by being able to purchase some in season menu items.   I planned a boneless skinless chicken breast main course.  Expensive, yes, but less expensive that some other cuts of meat.

Also, when I went shopping for the menu items I wrote a list of the items that I would need to buy and on certain of the specialty items I put quantities.  This helped me to buy the exact amount needed for the dish.

The best thing about a dinner party, of course, is the leftover food.  YUM. YUM.  Of course, that saves money as why would you want to eat out when you have this fancy, yummy food sitting at home that only needs to be reheated?

Wood Stove

Our house has natural gas heat as well as a wood stove.  We enjoy the wood heat very much and in the winter there are few things better than sitting in front of the nice warm heat on a cold day. 

It's not winter yet, only fall.  Let's not rush things here!  The reason for this post is that these days it is around 10'C so not to cold but definitely a chill in the air.  Now we could just turn our furnace up and have it come on occasionally but we have the wood stove.  So, we take advantage of the “free” heat and keep our house as warm as we want too!

However, there are other ways to take advantage of the wood heat.   You may tell me it's heating my house, saving me money on my heat bills; isn't that enough?  Maybe for you but I think there is at least a couple of other ways to take advantage of that heat.

The first is dry your clothes with it.  It's pretty cheap to buy a clothes rack or an indoor clothes line and put it up right next to your wood stove.  It's going to save you money in the long run and if you are like me you are used to hanging your clothes to dry on the line in the summer anyway.  The best part, no clothespins.

The second way is to cook your meals on it.  WHAT?!?!? Now I am not talking all your meals or anything like that, unless, of course, you want too.  However, in the winter with company we will often hang out in the wood stove room (downstairs in our house) as it is very warm there.  So, I bring my kettle down and heat up the tea there.  It's just as easy and we aren't in a hurry.   Also, if you are making turkey soup, chili or something else like that that has to sit on the stove for a long time on low heat and needs to be checked on every now and then.  You can do it on your wood stove.  You have to add fuel to your wood stove anyway every now and then so just check/stir your food while you are at it.

Holiday Update

We went on the driving holiday to Yellowstone National Park and it looks like it came in for costs right around the $2,000 mark so right on our budget in the end.  Not only did it come in on budget is also scored well on the fun holiday quota.  What could be better?

As to how the plan from above worked, one thing that really helped us was that whenever we spent something I would write it down in a notebook.   About every page of spending I added it up.  This helped us to know where our spending was and if we could afford to splurge or if we needed to cut back.  In our case, it enabled us to splurge and not feel like we couldn't afford it.

Specifics on the plan:

Meals:

For breakfasts we bought muffins from the grocery store when we purchased our dinner food.  

Lunch was a sandwich out or a sandwich from the grocery store.  

For snacks we often did items we had picked up from the grocery store; fruit, cheese strings, cookies or granola bars. 

Dinner was a frozen dinner that could be cooked in a frying pan, deli food (fried chicken, etc), or pre-seasoned meat and vegetables.  We had very little trouble finding reasonably healthy, yummy dinner food when we had a whole grocery store to pick from and a camp stove.  We also borrowed a cooler that had a fan to keep the food cool when you plugged it into a cigarette lighter.

We enjoyed the food and felt we had variety, etc. 

Pre-Trip Library Sign Outs:

We took Lonely Planet USA and Lonely Planet Yellowstone (both of which I signed out from the library).  Both of those helped us to plan our trip (since we didn't go on the trip with a detailed plan (just a destination)) to see the cities/towns we felt would be interesting, to find good value places for lunch, to know what we were seeing in Yellowstone, to know what to expect, etc.  In the end, those two books enhanced our trip and, therefore, saved us money.

We also signed out from the library several books on CD.  We only ended up listening to Charlotte's Web but in the end it helped to make some of the long hot drives more bearable and enjoyable.

Places to Sleep:

We had no problem finding campsites.  We did have a bit of a problem finding campsites that weren't next to train tracks or the highway or, yes, BOTH.  We also found some great campsites with swimming pools, free showers, or other amenities.  So, I guess we took the good with the bad. 

One thing that helped us to enjoy almost two weeks in a tent was that we bought a $75 air mattress that pumped up using the cigarette lighter in our car.  It paid for itself several times over. 

We also got one hotel before Yellowstone and one hotel on the way home.   Both were a nice break from the tent. 

For costs, our cheapest tent site was $10 and our most expensive campsite was $40 to give you an idea on actuals.  Also, one thing that helped us a bit was we stayed at a KOA campsite one night and there we got a free book on all the KOA campsites.  This helped us for peace of mind and finding a campsite one night.

Summary:

In the end our holiday was lots of fun, very relaxing, etc.  Exactly what a holiday should be.  Here's a couple of pictures to prove it.

The 6 man tent we borrowed for the trip.

 Me cooking dinner in Yellowstone. This dinner was pre-seasoned chicken, rice-a-roni, a package of prefrozen asparagus and milk to drink.

 The token picture of Old Faithful.  Yellowstone is so much more...

Blender and Stove Update

I mentioned a while ago that we bought a new part for our blender rather than buying a new blender.  Well, the part did not work and it looks like we have to buy a new blender.  It was a $20 part including shipping so not that bad for something that did not end up working.

Also, our new stove has arrived and it works great.

Holiday Costs

So, I know this post is probably a little late in the year as most of you have probably gone on holidays but as we have not yet, here is how I expect the money to work on our holidays.

I wanted to go a big holiday this year but not too major and not too expensive.  My husband was more on the not too expensive side but he also definitely wanted to go on a holiday. 

The first possibility that  both my husband and I wanted to do was a 7 night cruise out of New York, to Halifax, NS, and St. Johns, NB and a couple other stops.  Sounds fun.  I thought so, but here are the costs.

$1,300 – Cruise

$1,100 – Flights out of Seattle

$80 – 2 tanks of gas to get us to Seattle and back

$50 – Hotel in Seattle (which would have included parking for the car)

$100 – Meals not on the cruise (2 days worth)

$75 – Dog Sitting for our dog

$300 – Estimated for trip insurance

$3,005 TOTAL

Now that was very close to our total budget for the trip and did not include any optional excursions or spending.  So, we went back to the drawing board.

Our second idea was to go to Yellowstone National Park for two weeks.  It would be a driving holiday where we tented.  It is quite a long drive for us but being that we are taking two weeks it is doable.  Here are the costs.

$450 – 9 tanks of gas

$350 – 14 nights of camping

$70 – 14 days of Breakfasts

$140 – 14 days of Lunches

$210 – 14 days of dinners

(Our plan to keep the cost of meals down is to pack granola bars, etc for breakfasts, stop at grocery stores for sandwiches for lunches and while we are there get food to put in our cooler that can be cooked on a campstove for dinner.)

$140 – 14 days of dog sitting

$1,360 TOTAL

Now that cost does not include spending or admission into attractions but since our budget was less than $3,000 and ideally less than $2,000, that still gives us lots of room to stay in a hotel a night or two if we get tired of sleeping in the tent, do fun excursions, etc... 

So, since this holiday better matched the budget this is the holiday we have picked to go on and we are leaving in less than two weeks,

So, there is our holiday plans, hopefully yours were/are going to be just as fun and within budget.

Appliances

Remember that post about the unexpected bills.  Well, we are having one of those take place.  In the last month our stove has started coming up with an error message.  When we looked it up on the internet it meant that the control panel was going.  This error message isn't that bad except that it makes the stove beep and that you can't turn on the oven when the error message is up.  OK, so maybe it is bad... 

According to the internet a replacement control panel would cost about $150.  When we took off the back of the stove to check things out, we discovered we would also need to hire a repair person to replace the control panel.  Considering the fact that our stove is six years old and appliances are expected to have a 7 – 10 year life these days, we decided to replace our stove.

So, two weeks ago we went looking at new stoves.  We found one we like in town at a price that was decent but decided not to buy it yet and see how often the error message was actually going to happen.

Well, last week we decided the stove was not going to get better on its own so we went back to that store to buy the stove, they were having an even better sale and when it actually came down to ordering the one we wanted we saved about $90 off the original sale price.  Happy for us. 

So, our new stove is on order and yesterday I made gingersnaps in the toaster oven...

More on Renovations

Today I was getting quotes on a renovation project that we are probably going to do and I was thinking that when I was working that we wouldn't have a time to do this.  So, in this short little post, my advice is do your internet research and get your quotes.  You could save a lot of money.

Ex: $20 for a new blender part vs. $50plus for a new blender....  or getting a $200 cheaper quote for a nicer front door....

Yes, those are two recent examples that I have been looking up.

Home Renovation - Edited to fix percentages

Those who know me know that I like to upgrade our house...  Well, obviously that's a bit harder to do on one income than it is on two. 

My first piece of advice comes from Gail Vaz-Oxlade (I like her advice for the most part) who has said that you should plan to put about 8% - 10% of your home's value into it every year.   So, take the value of your house, divide it by 10% (because it's easy), then divide it by 12.   (I was watching her show the other day and it's actually 3% - 5%,  (OOOPS!) so divide your 10% amount by two.  ) There's your monthly budget.  I like this advice because my husband is at the stage in his career where we could be moving within the next “however-many” years.  So, that 10% will keep our house looking decently updated and therefore if we do have to sell, it should sell for it's appropriate value and if we don't have to sell, well, then we have a nice looking house.  Also, that 10% should pay for the regular maintenance on our house.  

Just because you have figured out a monthly budget doesn't mean you have to spend it every month...  You may spend 3 months budget in one month and nothing the next 2 months... If you want to spend something the next 2 months, it should be absolutely necessary, not an “I want” item.

My second piece of advice is one that I have learned/am learning the hard way....  That is when you decide to do a renovation project, you (and, especially I, as the writer of these steps) should follow these steps:

Step 1.  Prioritize if you have more than one project that you want to do.  One project at a time here.

Step 2.  Figure out the cost of what you want and write it down. This is where you go dreaming to the store with a notepad...  Try not to buy anything this trip.  It's also a good idea to bring measurements.  If you are going to change it, measure it and, preferably draw a sketch to go with the measurements.  That way if you are lost you can show it to the sales person and they can figure out the details you didn't know you were supposed to measure/know.

Step 3.  Write all the costs you have collected down so you can see how long it will take to save up for this project – Hint – Include taxes and a contigency for the random little supplies.  This is also the time to start thinking what can I do without, downgrade/upgrade, etc.

Step 4.  Wait for things to go on sale and buy them at that point in time -  The first three steps but especially this step is where my husband and I have gone wrong in the past.  We decide we want to do a project so we go out and buy all the supplies.  BAD IDEA!  I have estimated we have spend 10%, maybe more, extra money on a project for not thinking and planning. 

Step 5.  Start and complete the project.   The complete is the big thing....  Don't start it until you know you have time to complete the project.

Now let me tell you how we are putting these steps into process.  We have decided that we want to replace our tub in our main bathroom, and, also renovate our downstairs bathroom.  So, two projects.  First we prioritized.  We want to do our main bathroom tub first.  But what about the horrible downstairs bathroom and that we have a temporary boarder coming to live with us...  Well, we took some upstairs bathroom paint (from a previous renovation project) and painted, changed some lightbulbs, took a spare shower curtain and rug and put it in.  Ta da.  A facelift for zero dollars...  No not permanent, but it will work.

So, back to the main bathroom and following the steps (or not). 

Step 2: We decided we wanted a white tub (rather than the beige that is there now).  Did you know that tubs come in porcelain and enamel?  I didn't before but while doing research I learned that and the price difference between the two.  We decided to tile the tub surround, rather than put in a new 5 piece insert.    So, what kind of tiles...  If you ever look at photos of bathrooms you know the options are many.  After looking and comparing prices we decided on big white ones with a small accent border. 

Step 3:  You know that temporary boarder I mentioned.  Well, that is what is paying for the renovation, so now we have a way to afford it outside of the 10% yearly home renovation money I mentioned. Also, we decided not to replace the tub faucet, lever, and shower head.  It seems like a lot of money for very little benefit, especially when they seem to work fine.  This is also where the contingency could come in if it turns out we do have to replace them(but apparently I don't follow my own advice and we don't have a contingency...). 

Step 4:  Just recently there was a sale on tubs, so I spoke to my parents who assured us that it was a good price, so we bought the tub.  Again, I spoke to my parents about the tile (which I know doesn't really go on sale) and they knew a place that had good priced tile so we went there and got the tile and only 2 expensive accent tiles.  This is where the calculations/measurements come in handy, as those two tiles will do one border 3 tiles wide around our tub.  We purchased these tiles on the looking trip when we probably would have been wiser to wait a month or two until we had the money in hand.  It turned out fine but still not wise.

Step 5:  This project is not even started yet as we will not have time, nor do we want to take the time to do it until the fall.

Hopefully, those steps will help make your renovation dreaming come to life.

Fruits

So, this post is actually going to include some prices which is rare for me but I think these are useful.  They are Canadian and I think they're fairly good for across western Canada.  So anyway...  A good general rule, that I have found, is less than  $1/lb for most fruit, but for berries less than $2/lb.  Fruit is best when it's cheapest and in season, which I think is super great.

Here is what I see is good prices for specific fruits:

Cherries (in season about now) - 1.99/lb
Peaches/Apricots/Plums (in season later in the summer) - the closer to .99/lb the better, if you can get them for less even better
Apples (fall) - less than $.99/lb, but the closer to $.49/lb you can get the better price they are
Grapefruits (in season in winter) - $.49/lb
Oranges  - Same as grapefruit
Strawberries (just out of season) - 1.49/lb at their cheapest, but I start buying them at $1.99/lb

Now, I know that isn't every fruit but that should give you a good starting point.

Also, last year cherries came closer to .99/lb.  It doesn't happen every year but last year, I'm pretty sure, was a bumper crop so they were in the stores longer and were cheaper than they usually are.

So, enjoy your healthy (cheap) fruit.

Unexpected Bills

For some preamble:  You may or may not know but only the last couple of months have we gone to a single income and I've become a housewife.  Now I will let you know that my husband and I have been planning since we got married just over 2 years ago that we would eventually live on one income.  Also, I like my savings accounts (I think we have about 5 plus a chequeing account.)

So, earlier this month I was thinking about something which is that in the last year or so we have had to put new all season tires on my car (approx $600) and we ended up replacing our patio door (approx $500).  Both of these expenses were paid out of my cheques when I was still working more full time.  So, now that's really not much of an option and I know that our appliances will likely need replacing sometime in the next couple of years and who knows what else.  That's where the unexpected bills account comes in.

This is a small amount (ours is $150/paycheque) that we put in it's own savings account.  This is to cover those things that we just can't cover on a paycheque to paycheque basis.   It's not meant to be dipped into every cheque, nor is it our emergency fund, nor is it for paying things like car insurance and property taxes.  These should have their own accounts.  It's for those things that aren't part of the emergency fund but still don't happen every month.  Things that I view this fund for are emergency repairs on the house and car repairs (outside of regular maintenance), other items like that.  “We want” items don't necessarily qualify. 

So, obviously this account won't be used all the time.... Hopefully, only once or twice a year.   By next summer I am hoping there will be enough money in that account that we can take a vacation with that money.  Yes, I know I should probably technically have a separate account for that but, I don't. Instead, this is the way I have chosen to do it.  Leave at least $1,000 to $1,500 in the account and then use the rest for a vacation or a “we want” item.  Peace of mind and a vacation on a single income, how much better can that get. 

Going Away on a “Quick” Day/Overnight Trip

You know those.  The ones you “have” to go to or the ones you decide you want to go to and are committed to but in the end you've been away so much you don't want to go so you make it quick.  Our situation was the second this weekend.  It was a wedding about four hours away from where we live.  The wedding did not start until 3pm so we drove down in the morning.  This is my first cost saving trip.  Can you leave in the morning?  The second and obvious cost saving tip is eat breakfast before you go or pack it with you to eat on the road, also pack your tea/coffee, etc.

Writing of food, that can be a huge expense on any trip, especially a quick trip.  Ways that my husband and I often minimize that is that we pack snacks, like juice boxes, fruit snacks, fruit, etc.  As you can see they are usually healthy “munchy” type snacks, which helps in the eating healthy on trips and on the frivolous snack spending.  

The other food thing we do is that before we go I often make a pan of granola or snack bars (there are lots of recipes on the internet – pick one that looks good).  I pack the pan and a sharp knife to cut them with.  VERY SIMPLE.  My husband and I both like to eat breakfast fairly soon after we get up and it is annoying to have to find a breakfast place so we eat the granola bars for breakfast right after we get up.  We also eat them for a sweet snack during the day.  Granola/snack bars are fairly clean to eat too when you are worried about a disaster in your vehicle..... 

The other thing that my husband and I did this trip is that we stayed overnight...  Oooh, expensive you say... Well, we didn't stay in a hotel.  We camped.  Yes, you read that right camped.  It cost a whole $20 plus tax for the night and all it required for packing was sleeping bags, our tent, foamies, and our pillows (don't forget the pillows!).  Very simple.  Easy to pack, easy to crash when you get to the campsite and are tired, simple all around. 

One thing that we did is that we stayed halfway between our house and the wedding.  So, we were going to come back after the wedding and check into our campsite then.  Instead, and this worked out to be a great stress reliever, we stopped by our campsite on the way down, checked in and put up our tent.  Then it was even easier when we came back after the wedding as the tent was already set up.

In the morning we got up, packed up and I will confess that we didn't pack a pan of snack bars for this trip so we stopped at a bakery for scones.  YUMMY and still cheaper than fast food.  Then we drove home.  Quick overnight trip done for hopefully a little less money.

Libraries

Let me just put this short and sweet, use them. 

Ok, now that I've told you that, let me tell you why I like them so much.  I want to research a topic...  I like to look at a book, rather than the internet.  Yes, I'm old fashioned!  So, I go to the library, sign out two or three books on the topic, come home.  Read the books, keep the one I like for the full time or if I really like it I'll even renew it.  Now I've researched my topic for free....  Book clubs and libraries get along well together.  You're not sure you'll enjoy all the books, so sign them out, read them and then return them.  If you really, really like one of them, buy it.  At least you'll, know it will be a book you enjoy.

The other thing I sometimes do is sign out a book on, for example a home renovation project, months before I plan to do it.  Then when I actually plan to do it, I'll sign out the book again.  The library doesn't care that I've signed the same book out twice or three times...

I am a reader.  I enjoy reading, especially novels.  However, I own almost no novels.  Why?  Well, mostly because I don't like the clutter and reading can distract me from what I really need to do.  So, I use the library.  I also take advantage of friend's libraries.  These are even better than the public library as there is no 3 week or 6 week (if you renew it) limit on keeping the book.  Make sure you DO return the book though.  Also, if a friend has read it and enjoyed it they can recommend the book or help you expand your horizons.  They also will often like the same books that I do, so unlike the public library I know I can trust the books from my friends.

What about the fines?  I see it this way.  I usually end up paying about $2 a year in fines.  The way I see it $2 is a whole lot cheaper than even one book.  So, you pay a few fines, first try and return your books on time (take advantage of email notifications, etc.), however, it's still a whole lot cheaper than buying all those books brand new.  Also, I feel like I am supporting the library buying more books for me (and others) to enjoy.

Truck Insurance and Eating Out

Renewing Our Truck Insurance

Today my husband renewed our truck insurance.  It is our second vehicle and because we are not sure if we can for sure go down to one vehicle we have decided to keep the insurance on it for at least for the summer.  Also, we have a wood stove and will need it to get our winter's wood supply.   This is the first conversation to have, do you actually need your second vehicle?  Yes, you can save all the money in the world on the insurance but if you don't need the insurance then it is not money saved.  For example, can you put temporary insurance on it when you need it or just insure it for part of the year or borrow a friends vehicle when you need the second vehicle?  In our case, we have decided, because our situation is not stable right now and we have the money saved up, to put insurance on it for the full year.  This, then, is how we saved money on the insurance. 

The first thing that my husband did is that he did not put the ability to drive back and forth to work on it.  This saved us about $100 and will work well for us. 

Another thing that we have with our truck insurance is that we have no comprehensive insurance on it.   Before you freak out, we still have the items required by law on the truck.  However, we do not have the optional item, which is that if we get in an accident caused by us, we will not get any money to help repair/replace the truck.   This could be a great money saving option that saves you a significant portion (up to 1/3,  possibly more) on your insurance if you chose to go this way and works the best with older vehicles.  Our truck is a 2000 and because if we were to get in an accident it would basically be worth almost nothing so it is worth it for us to take the risk to not put comprehensive insurance on it.

One thing that my husband learned while talking to the insurance agent is that if we decide to cancel our truck insurance part way through the year and put fire insurance on it instead, it will cost the same amount as just cancelling the truck insurance outright. Sounds like more value for our money to me.

Eating Out

One thing that my husband and I have found is that since I have been a housewife is that we eat out way less.  Due to me being home, I am able to think and plan out our meals, especially dinners.  I also see this as part of my job of me being a housewife. 

This isn't to write that we never want to eat out...  So, how do we save money when we do?

The first line of defense is to have your husband on the same page as you.  My husband and I generally don't like to eat fast food, we agree that it's expensive to eat out.  Also, we live in a small town so there are only so many places to eat out and even less that are decent “pub-style”, aka, “I don't feel like cooking” food.  So, once he is on the same page, if he doesn't feel like eating/want to eat out even though you don't want to cook, he may cook.  Bonus, at least in our house where my husband rarely cooks dinner.  He may also come up with an idea of something for dinner which often solves the not wanting to cook feeling.

 

The second thing that I do is keep some quick, easy, cheater foods in the freezer for those nights.  These could be things like microwave dinners, “throw-in-a-pot” prepackaged meals, boxed prepared sides (ex. Pasta salad, frozen heat and serve vegetables, etc.), hotdogs, preflavoured meat, etc...   These foods help me to a least make dinner quick.  Also, because we don't often eat this kind of food it is a treat and that is often one of the reasons I want to eat out.

Now, if that fails, the third thing that we sometimes do is go to the grocery store and find some food that's easy to eat and prepare (see above food, or a whole precooked chicken meal, or ...).  Again, this can be like a treat and is even more like eating out as you are even leaving the house and buying something.  This can be a more expensive option than fast food but is healthier and is still cheaper than eating out.

Another thing that good friends of ours and I do often, is that we phone the other person and see what's for dinner there and combine dinners where we both make part of the dinner....  We also eat at each others house quite often and sometimes those days fall on days when one of us doesn't feel like cooking.

If all else fails, eat out and try to make it a special occasion rather than a “quick, we need a dinner” type meal out.  It will be more enjoyable and you might think twice next time before you eat out.  As in, go out less but go all out when you go out.

An easy way to run your money.

If you are not that much into budgeting or find it too hard, this is a way to run your money that has worked for me for many years in the past...

When you get paid, take a piece of paper and write the amount of your paycheque at the top.   The happy part is done. Then deduct all the expenses that you know are going to come out before you get paid again. If you aren't sure what those are, take a look at last month on your internet bank account, during the same time period as this paycheque.  The remainder is spending.  So, income less bills = spending on everything else.

For Example:

Paycheque                   $2,000

MINUS:

Mortgage/Rent            $600

Vehicle Insurance        $200

2^nd Vehicle Insurance  $300

Cell Phone Bill            $50

Power Bill                   $75

Loans, Credit Cards    $200

Savings                        $100

TOTAL                      $1,525

REMAINING           $475    - This is your amount to spend before the next paycheque.   It covers everything else you have to buy, ex. Gas, groceries, personal care, fun stuff.

If you think this amount isn't big enough, you either need to make more money, find a way to lower those bills you must pay, or spend less.  These are the things that MUST be paid.  They are not optional. 

Pay all those bills right after you get your paycheque to make sure they get paid on time and so you know that the amount in your chequing is the amount you have to spend.

I find this a little easier (but less accurate) than budgeting for each category individually.

I did not put a heat bill in the list as this is only the amounts you knew at that paycheque, if you get paid biweekly, then when you get your heat bill pay it when you get your next cheque.  Same goes for home insurance and any other bills you didn't have at the time or that don't get automatically withdrawn until you get paid again.

I find this whole exercise takes about 5 minutes and an internet connection to look at your bank account. I stick it to the fridge. Mentally and by watching the bank account, I am able to make sure we are not spending more than we make. 

If you think you'll spend to much money withdraw that remainder amount in cash.  When the money runs out, the spending is done.

Washing Laundry

So, yesterday I was putting a load of laundry in the washer and I was thinking about one of the things I do that saves us a bit of money (I had also just read it in a book.).  

Now, it isn't the obvious thing of washing your clothes in cold water.  Oh No!  I don't quite wash my clothes all in cold water as it doesn't quite make total sense to me even though I have read in numerous places that it is a good energy, and therefore, money saving tip.  I have a top load washer, so to compromise, while I am filling up the washer, which usually takes me a couple of minutes, I turn my washer on to the setting of Warm/Cold.  Then when I am done filling and adding detergent I turn it to Cold/Cold.  Ta da!  Clothes washed mostly in cold water with some warm water for my peace of mind.

So, to my main tip which is on adding detergent and that is take a look at your bottle of laundry detergent.  If you're like me you buy your detergent based on the best cost/load.  Well, when you get home look at the measuring cap. Find the lines – usually there will be 1, 2 and the top of the cap which is way above the lines.  Then look at the bottle and find the small print that states what fill line the manufacturer used to estimate the number of loads.  Fill the cap to that line and you will use the right amount of laundry detergent and, theoretically, get the number of loads on the bottle.    Now if you were filling it to the top of the cap that is quite a significant savings. 

A non-money benefit of a single salary

Even though this is a money blog, I am going to start with a non-monetary reason for being a housewife.  That is that it gives my husband and I more time for each other.  Who doesn't want to have more quality time with their spouse?

Let me give you an example:  Today is Saturday.  My husband, ironically, is working for the 2nd Saturday this year.   OH NO!  You think!  We can't get all the pile of things that have to be done on a Saturday done!   Well, what did I do on a Saturday when I was working:  yardwork, cleaning the house, laundry, renovations, try to spend some quality time with my husband, walk our dog, etc..   Well, the first three things I can do during the week when he is working and I am not.  The renovation work I can help my husband with so that when he isn't working he is ready to go on our renovation.  The quality time with husband can actually happen which is what I would much rather do and walking our dog can be done while he is working on renovation work. So, less stressful, more time for each other, yes, less money to spend, but better all around.

About Me

I am married with no children and my husband has a good full time job but the pay is not glamorous.  We chose to have him keep this job to provide more time with myself (and hopefully a future family) and because the benefits and holiday pay are great.   He has had the option in the past to go to a better paying job but has chosen not to due to the hours required.

Lifestyle is quite important to us.  Since we have always planned on having kids but do not have them yet we have chosen to live off his salary.  This also enables me to be a 3/4 time housewife at this time even though it was not in the original plans.  However, we also must watch our money closely, hence, my reason for writing a blog.