Comments on: Use Your Money Well

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Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:46:26 +0000

[...] Gail Vaz-Oxlade has some excellent tips for spending money in a meaningful way. [...]

By: Bargain Junkie

Bargain Junkie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:48:49 +0000

I’m a thriftaholic and spend my life at yard sales, thrift shops, eBay and Craig’s List. I don’t need a $4000 bag to make me happy. I’m perfectly content with my silver Sportsac that I scored on eBay for 12 bucks. I do, however, splurge on things that feed me emotionally – like the occasional meal in a really great restaurant or tickets to a fabulous musical.

We all have our priorities!

By: Mommy Quit

Mommy Quit — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:56:23 +0000

After all these automatic transfers my husband and I set up we forgot to think about what happens to any extra we have lying around.

We decided since we have a vacation fund set up we won’t use the extra money for more travel (even though we love the idea of travelling more — like many others that have commented above!). Instead we are going to set up a once a month date day or a “family” day where we just get to spend whatever is left over or building memories — ie. a tobaggoning day, high tea at an upscale hotel etc.

Thanks for reminding us to enjoy life, Gail

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:35:21 +0000

Trying to take all of the extra money that is saved and used towards travel. Nothing large, maybe 2-3 days in Chicago, but since we did New York last year I caught the travel bug. Big time! Can’t wait to think about where and when to go this year, and the year after…..not on credit of course.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:18:27 +0000

Every month for the past few months , I’ve purchase another copy of Gail’s new book and give it to someone who I think would benefit. I think of it as a gift that keeps on giving, kinda like the Energiser Bunny!

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:04:26 +0000

My vacation is always to watch the Olympics – it brings me more than fun than anything. I just heard Clara Hughes today on the radio talking about the Olympics and her favourite charity – Right to Play which uses sport and play to help kids in war torn regions and just countries where the kids aren’t kids any more. I decided to use my extra money to donate $10 for every Olympic medal Canada wins. It will make cheering even more fun, support Clara Hughes who is my hero, support a very worthwhile organization and give me a great tax receipt for next year!

By: MP

MP — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:26:17 +0000

We now put money aside every pay for vacations. For the first time in 7 years we are heading for a nice warm Caribbean vacation this winter. And it’s all paid for before we even set foot on the plane and our spending money is also set aside.

My mother downsized into an apartment and I realized she did not need, nor did she want anymore stuff. In fact, she got rid of a lot of the stuff we gave her over the years when she moved (originally I was quite hurt by that then I realized it was just stuff…). So I now take her for a nice lunch or dinner and the theatre or a concert instead for those birthdays, christmas and mother’s day gifts. It actually costs me more money (because I pay for us both) so it means saving longer but she likes it so much better and we spend time with each other.

I also added another charity to my “sharing” envelope this year – a monthly donation to the Humane Society.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:11:03 +0000

Great to see so many have their ducks in a row..and ponder what to do with extra over and above the EF fund. Just entered the 30’s last year so maybe this is why we’re still lining the ducks up. Not sure if the other poster are 40+..but right now we are literally saving our pennies & workin’ off debt. Cheers to those enjoying the really good life!!
Def’ something to look forward to.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:45:44 +0000

This is a great reminder to cut yourself some slack and enjoy a few little treats when you’ve covered the big bases. I find you get so focused on cutting expenses, making frugal choices and keeping your eye on whatever end goal you’re working toward that you can forget to have a life in the meantime, or forget how to relax and spend on the fun stuff once the debt is gone.

My passion is travel. I’ve been known to scrimp and save to the point of ridiculous on virtually everything else and then spend a small fortune on a trip. It would be hard to justify to anyone who isn’t also mad about travelling.

We’re down to just the morgage, but still saving like mad people so we can pay that off and retire a little early. Sometimes my husband shakes his head and laughs at me having a mental struggle with whether or not to buy a second coffee in one week. Apparently I really need him to force me to take a reality check every now and then. I can justify spending the money on a trip, but a relaxing enough to enjoy a tiny little treat gives me fits. With me there’s no fear that one treat will lead to a massive spending spree, so I really do need to reevaluate a little. It would be awful to get successfully to our early retirement and then find myself unable to make myself relax the purse strings enough to enjoy it.

By: Leah

Leah — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:33:36 +0000

I always find it easier to save for something if I have a goal in mind. Travel is my weakness and I pretty much travel every year. I would give up all the shopping in the world to be able to travel! But only recently have I stopped putting fun stuff on credit cards and paying cash instead. It means I have to work a little harder, but my discipline in saving for the fun stuff has also helped me to be smarter when it comes to paying down the debt.

For those of us who aren’t quite there yet, I do think even having small bits of fun is important as long as debt isn’t incurred doing it. It helps push you farther in the long run – and you appreciate it more when you work hard for it.

By: Tara

Tara — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:36:48 +0000

Hmm, never thought of saving 20% a year in order to have an every-5-year sabbatical. I like it!

By: Diana

Diana — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:29:32 +0000

VJ..congrats on a year of milestones. Enjoy your celebrations!

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:12:19 +0000

@Robin You can save to have fun when you’re still paying off debt…so long as you don’t incur more debt to pay for it. With that much debt in front of you a binge might happen if you don’t give yourself something fun.

Just as a suggestion though, think about what you want – save up and get the most from it. I love to travel so saved up and went on a few small trips. I could have used that money to pay down debt but having a nice short term goal to save for helped to prevent me from shopping for things I didn’t need.

What ever you enjoy you should find a way to enjoy and maybe explore fun that is easy to do on the cheap

Great post Gail. I am getting to this point (car will be paid off in about 3 months) and then I just need to keep building my EF but really I have money that I can spend guilt free so maybe I just need to think more about what would give me real pleasure.

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:48:33 +0000

Robin:
Reminder: Gail always includes one entertainment jar!
It looks like you have a way to go before being done with your student loans (debt fatigue is annoying). If you want more fun money, get a second job and use the money exclusively for fun stuff. When you are at that job, remind yourself of the purpose.

By: VJ

VJ — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:57:58 +0000

I am forgoing a lot lot of small indulgences this year: dinners out, adult beverages, new clothes, stretching out getting my hair done (I look like a reverse pepi la peau), movies in theatre toward 3 very major goals this year (beides paying down my debt and saving of course). One is a cruise to celebrate our 40ths with my two best friends, two is a trip to Jasper with my family this Easter and three is a fancy smancy party to celebrate my fortieth, my Mom’s 65th and my 5 years cancer free. These are all things that will contribute greatly to my satisfaction and happines. All the more so because I am sacrificing the small things to get there.