A Week of Stories
Posted by Gail | Filed under This & That
On June 18th I asked you to submit your stories (150-350 words) about your experience with money for a chance to win free copies of The Gail Way and a free copy of a Gail book. This week from Monday to Thursday, I’ll be posting the stories I received for you to read and vote on. Whoever gets the most votes each day will win a free copy of The Gail Way. Tell your friends and family to come read your stories and vote for you. Tweet the contest. Put it on your Facebook page. Remember, whoever gets the most number of votes wins The Gail Way package and a chance to be entered for the book. On Monday July 16 I’ll repost the most popular stories and the person who gets the most votes will win a copy of a Gail book, winner’s choice.
Wednesday’s Stories
#13 Jaclyn O:
After my dad made some really bad decisions, my parents separated and my mom filed for bankruptcy when I was very young. She then vowed to teach me all about money so I never had to do the same. And what a great job she did! Starting at age 7, she taught me all about bills, budgets, paychecks, taxes, RRSPs etc and how to run the family money. We would sit at the kitchen table with all the paperwork and a calculator twice a month, and I still remember these nights!! She had me get a job and pay rent (small amounts) so I learned to manage my money in my own way. She also taught me to do my own taxes by hand so I never have to waste my money and pay someone to do them for me 
Thanks to her, I’m proud to say I’m a 24 yr old university graduate with no debt; I paid my way through school by working and getting scholarships, and travelled to about 10 different countries along the way. I live on my own, have my own car and manage my money very well. I know that budgets are great but that they change almost as often as the weather because life is unpredictable! I have perfect credit and am now starting to save to buy a house!! I’m also proud to say that my mom was a great example; she bought her first house just 8 years after filing bankruptcy!
#14 Joy P:
No one at the bank told me how much I would need to make to actually pay back my student loan. Oh if I only could go back in time and tell eighteen year old me how things really work. I’d tell me to open a saving account and to plan for repayment the day I signed the papers. Instead I spent what was left over after tuition book & board, got suckered in to the $500 credit card and not understanding how that worked I would cash advance my payment on that credit card. Money slipped through my fingers in the form of pizza and nights out at the pub. I still owe on that credit card due to a reduced income and using it to fill in the gaps with medical expenses. I am staring down the barrel of bankruptcy. I worked my butt of paying off all the other debts over the past 10 years. I am burnt out and facing a decrease in salary due to cut backs.
When I discovered this “down to earth”, “tell it like it is” woman on Slice I paid much more attention to my money. I started a rule of transferring 10% of every deposit made in my chequing account to my savings. I was far from making this a retirement fund, it was more of a band aid fund to prevent using debt. I worked on my budget and increased my debt payments, just rounding it up to the nearest hundred. This made a significant difference in the interest I was paying. A pleasant surprise came this year when my husband actually got a tax refund (it has been shuffled off to Student Loan for years so we got used to never having it) We promptly paid off our loans saving us $500 a month.
We are now working on savings, I opened RESP accounts for my kids and an RRSP for myself as well as a TFSA. I use my regular saving account for short term savings and the TFSA for larger goals.
#15 Megan P:
My husband and I really related to the Baby Edition of “Til Debt Do Us Part.” We were just starting to plan for having kids and wanted to be sure we were in a strong financial position before I went on maternity leave. We had a good plan, we were putting away extra money, and we were finding inexpensive ways to source the things we needed. Unfortunately, not all pregnancies go according to plan. I had a miscarriage and suddenly was off on medical leave much sooner than we had anticipated. Our financial plan had not taken into account what would happen if I stopped receiving a full paycheck almost four months sooner than anticipated.
We struggled through and made a very emotional decision to try again for a child only a few months after I went back at work. We didn’t really review our financial plan – we were still putting money aside for when I would be off, but hadn’t dealt with coming up short from going off early. Again, things don’t always go according to plan and after being back at work for only seven months, I was off on medical leave again. Needless to say, our finances hit a reef.
There is a silver lining. We have now worked out a plan to compensate for all the time I missed at full pay. We know how long it will take us to pay off that accumulated debt, while still saving something towards having a family. We were able to put aside our emotional preferences and realize that waiting to try again when we were in good financial shape would be much less stressful than trying to juggle debt and a new pregnancy. We now have a plan for if I have to stop working very early. We now know that when we do have kids, we’re going to be able to afford the change in lifestyle.
#16 Michelle S:
My experience with money started fairly typically, I grew up in a working class family. We had what we ‘needed’ and my parents saved for what we ‘wanted’. We were occasionally allowed to pick a treat at the grocery store, but more often than not, we knew not to ask. Report card day was my favorite day! Better than my birthday or sometimes even Christmas because I knew that there was cold, hard cash coming my way. My mom always said “it’s your money, you can do what you want with it” and *that* is how I learned to spend!
By 13, I was a babysitting Czar, I had enough money to fund a small island nation. I spent money as fast as it came in. I had clothes, CDs, make-up, jewelry and more clothes. At 14, I got my first part time job and entered the workforce. I continued to spend and shop this way until University. I had very little money actually saved for University, but I was able to pay my tuition and books easily with the money I was making at my part-time job. My parents paid my rent and I was responsible for living expenses. I quickly learned what it was like to be BROKE. One nice thing about University campuses, there are “free credit cards” everywhere! I remember applying for my first credit card and telling them I didn’t really have any money and doubted I would qualify. I distinctly remember them telling me it didn’t matter because my parents had jobs and it would be ok. Sure enough, that beautiful piece of plastic arrived in the mail a short time later.
I promised myself that I would only use it for emergencies. Soon, emergencies meant ordering pizza and going out for dinner with friends. I justified it, saying that I was still working and I could easily pay it off when I got my paycheque next week. Of course that never happened, and I even remember one time actually taking money out of the bank machine on my credit card, only to put it in an envelope and put it back in, in order to make the required payment.
This spending behaviour continued throughout university. At 22, I married someone with a similar spending pattern. We filled our apartment with “buy now, pay later” furniture and electronics, never really giving much thought to saving. Shortly after marriage, we decided to start a family, and unfortunately despite costly fertility treatments (that we put on credit) we were never able to conceive. Ultimately we decided to adopt. Adoption was a blessing to our family, but it can be very expensive. Over the next 5 or 6 years we easily spent $80,000 on our adoption journey.
Flash forward 2 years, my children are 6 and 2 and my husband decides he wants out of the marriage. I can’t really say I blame him, the fights about money were ongoing, it caused stress, and I had my head in the sand about bill-paying. Often bills were paid late as we juggled money from account to account. We looked like we had it together, but we were struggling to keep afloat.
I remember as a child, my mom telling me to make sure that I had some money that my husband didn’t know about it. I watched her leave a marriage where she had spent 17 years being as a “Mrs” appendage to my dad’s name. She had no credit history, good or bad and at nearly 40 had to ask her father to co-sign for a car and house so she could take care of us.
Now, here I was a single mom with two small children of my own, in a giant house I can’t afford. It was really the first time I had to get real with myself and figure out what I was going to do. The children depended on me, and I although I knew my parents would help if I was really stuck, I wanted to face my new life with my head up and priorities straight. I took that tiny bit of money that had in hidden my drawer and went to the bank. I opened an account in my name with almost $400 and I knew that no matter what, I would be ok.
I started to follow Gail’s strategies and watching every episode of every one of her shows. At first I would justify it and say “Oh, my problem isn’t that bad”. But, suddenly I had to figure out where my money was going. I realized how much I wasted. I learned to make a budget and to pay my bills on time. I’ve learned to save some and determined what my spending priorities are. I was actually so excited this morning when I opened my Mastercard bill and for the first time in a long time (since University?) I actually have a zero balance! I know my spending habits aren’t perfect and I’m still making some mistakes. I’ve enlisted the help of a financial advisor and have started to set up some RRSPs for my future. For the first time in over 20 years, I am aware of what I’m spending and what I’m saving. I can give you my bank balance almost to the penny and I have a really focused plan moving forward.
Gail, I cannot thank you enough for your tips and strategies. Without knowing it, you’ve been like a friend to me for the past 3 years. I hear your voice in my head when I’m making financial decisions, I’ve heard and seen and read your opinions and I carry that information with me. When I am unsure of something now, I go to your Blog and my answer is usually there. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
#17 Louise V:
Both my husband and I were over indulgent in our 20’s accruing a lot of debt. When we first started dating we watched Till Debt Do Us Part every week and even spent our first Valentine’s Day at the Royal York at a lecture with Gail. We decided to clean up our own messes before getting married and then work together to create our best life. In a year we paid off $20,000 in credit card debt. In the 5 years following that we have gotten married, bought a home, paid off our car, saved $50,000 in RRSP’s and tucked away a small emergency fund. Our goal was to retire early and live well.
On February 1st we welcomed our sweet little boy Aidan into the world after 2 years of trying to conceive. We have been living on ¼ of our income and it has made us see that even though we were doing “all the right things”, we were still living a life of excess. Our priorities have shifted to our little boy and come January my husband will be leaving his job to be a stay at home Dad. Our income will take a hit but to us it is a worthy sacrifice. We will remain debt free; we will still save for retirement and we will still have a life. We won’t be buying a second car; a bigger home or a boat but that is ok. We choose to live on less money to be able to give our son more TIME.
#18: Sandra C:
It is said that people have a ‘relationship’ with money. If money were my boyfriend people would gasp when we walked by, hand in hand, and whisper things like, ‘So, when did they get back together?’ My neighbours would complain about our loud fights and my Facebook friends would be highly entertained by my relationship status updates.
Six years ago my husband and I were $34,826.00 in debt. I handle the bi-weekly bills. When I sat my husband down and showed him The Books, he was silent. Head in his hands, scary, silent. When he broke the silence we began our buckle down. We hit the jars! We have two boys and at the time they were really young (read: not as expensive as they are now).
My Dad and Step-Mom offered to help us out with a $15,000.00 interest free (!!!) loan. We’ll take it! Thanks guys!! We decided to honour their loan by writing up and signing a payback plan, a contract of sorts. It really helped to secure their faith in us to honour our debt and it kept us focused. Every year I wrote up a review of payments and outlined future payments to come. I sent this along with post-dated cheques.
Whenever I sat down to pay the bills I conjured up a mental image of myself with an ax, chipping away at our debt. Chip, chip, chip, for three years. At times it felt like forever. In retrospect, meh, not so bad.
In 2009 I went to my neighbours to buy a basketball net for my boys and she mentioned they were going to put their house on the market. We lived in a duplex and they lived in a detached bungalow. The perfect place to raise two teenage boys! I peered over her shoulder and said, ‘Oh, really?’ Oi, talk about impulse purchase! We sold our home on October 31 and the very last cheque to my parents was dated for November 30. It bounced. We were paying the lawyer and the bank fees and transferring money from another account and the cheque bounced. I sent them another cheque that also covered the bounced cheque fee.
Money and I are still trying to be compatible. For the first two years in our new home we went a little off track, $19,654.00 off track. We hit the envelopes, because we couldn’t afford jars, in January 2012. We are now $9200.00 away from being in the black AND we have a savings account…with money in it!! This time is for keeps, I can feel it.
Vote for your favourite story in the comments section by including the # and name for the post you enjoyed most on today’s blog. The story that gets the most votes will win a copy of The Gail Way and have their story entered into next Monday’s Vote-Off. Monday’s winner will receive a Gail book of their choice. Good luck everyone! I thoroughly enjoyed your wonderful stories.
July 11, 2012 at 5:57 am
#13 – Jaclyn O – All the way! Why – beacuse that’s how you have a good life, knowing about money from a good young age and taking care of business right from the start. (and lord doesn’t it help to have a strong, smart Mom….So this vote is for Jaclyn’s mom too)
The rest of the stories were interesting…but all somewhat along the lines of being a Princess and spending willy-nilly at first…only to have to work to get out of the hole. Which is VERY commendable – but I like the first message better.
July 11, 2012 at 7:17 am
I vote for #13 Jaclyn O.
How wise not to have gotten into a financial mess from which recovery was needed.
July 11, 2012 at 7:23 am
I vote for #13 Jaclyn O.
July 11, 2012 at 7:24 am
#16 Michelle S
July 11, 2012 at 7:45 am
#16 Michelle S – all stories were good – but this one wins for me
July 11, 2012 at 7:47 am
#16 Michelle S
July 11, 2012 at 7:57 am
I vote for #13 as well. Jaclyn should be rewarded for being smart and responsible.
July 11, 2012 at 8:04 am
Jaclyn all the way!
July 11, 2012 at 8:08 am
#18
July 11, 2012 at 8:14 am
#18 Sandra because it points out the dangrs of the impulse buy and the fact that we are all just human and can slide off track once in a while but we can always climb back on again.
July 11, 2012 at 8:14 am
#16 Michelle S. Best story so far in the whole series. By far! Period.
July 11, 2012 at 8:15 am
#13
July 11, 2012 at 8:17 am
I vote for lucky #13 and Jaclyn. She would make a good inspiration for other students and young adults!
July 11, 2012 at 8:19 am
My vote is for #16, Michelle S. She sounds like a fighter!
July 11, 2012 at 8:25 am
17. Hit close to home. We too sacrificed to keep one of us home with the kids without going into debt. Well done.
July 11, 2012 at 9:00 am
#16 Michelle S is getting my vote.
July 11, 2012 at 9:06 am
I’m liking #18: a good example of what 2 people who are on the same page can accomplish.
(Just a note: that’s not intended as a negative comment upon those who have had to go it alone. I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for those folks.)
July 11, 2012 at 9:13 am
#16, Michelle S
July 11, 2012 at 9:19 am
#16 – Michelle S.
July 11, 2012 at 9:52 am
#13, Jaclyn
July 11, 2012 at 9:53 am
#13 Jaclyn O
July 11, 2012 at 10:02 am
#13
July 11, 2012 at 10:04 am
#16 – Michelle S.
July 11, 2012 at 10:11 am
# 16 – Michelle – Divorce sucks, been there, done that.
July 11, 2012 at 10:21 am
#16 Michelle wins my vote. I was impressed with #13 Jaclyn, but not impressed when family members declare bankruptcy because the mess is always someone else fault as long as your still breathing pay back your debts, so many excuses!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 11, 2012 at 10:30 am
In hate to get picky, but…Michelle S is way over the 150-350 word limit set by Gail (by my estimation around 900 words). It is a good story but some of the others may have been better, too, if they’d put in so much more detail than specified.
July 11, 2012 at 10:33 am
#13 Jaclyn O
But I think I’m really voting for her mom.
July 11, 2012 at 10:36 am
# 13 Jaclyn O. Awesome that her mom learned her lesson quickly and taught it to her young daughter who carried the lesson with her and uses it to this day.
Love the stories Gail!!
July 11, 2012 at 10:58 am
#16 Michelle S.
She’s suffered a lot of hardships but is strong and optimistic, and has her money finally under control.
July 11, 2012 at 11:26 am
I vote for Jaclyn O!
July 11, 2012 at 11:36 am
#16 Michelle S.
July 11, 2012 at 11:42 am
#17 Louise
July 11, 2012 at 11:44 am
I vote for #13 Jaclyn O!
July 11, 2012 at 11:55 am
#16 Michelle S.
Very emotional and truthful story
July 11, 2012 at 11:58 am
#13 and #17 were really strong entries. I loved Jacklyn O’s story because her Mom got through her tough times and didn’t hide it from her daughter, choosing instead to educate her early – at age 7 – it’s never too early. Loiuse V’s story’s strength lies in the fact that they nipped their overspending in the bud before making some big commitments, buckled down and prove that you can “have a life”, live within your means if you put your priorities in the right place – family + time. I’m voting for #17 Louise V in hopes that she and her husband continue with the next step which learning from Jacklyn’s story and educating their son about money as soon as they can.
July 11, 2012 at 12:13 pm
17 Louise v
July 11, 2012 at 12:14 pm
#16
July 11, 2012 at 12:21 pm
I relate most with #18.
July 11, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Michelle S
July 11, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Today’s vote goes to Sandra C #18.
I think it is the best writing I have seen so far this week. Well done!
July 11, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I vote for #13 – Jaclyn
July 11, 2012 at 1:15 pm
I vote for Michelle S #16
July 11, 2012 at 2:19 pm
#13 Jaclyn O. I like that your Mom learned from her mistakes and showed you. A good example of what parents can do for their children in terms of money education.
July 11, 2012 at 2:45 pm
# 13
July 11, 2012 at 2:48 pm
# 13 Jaclyn O.
July 11, 2012 at 2:56 pm
17 please
July 11, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Hi Gail, I cannot find another way to contact you. We are planning a financial literacy event and would like to book you as a speaker, as we cannot think of a better person! Could you please contact me?
July 11, 2012 at 3:30 pm
My vote goes to #13 Jaclyn. Way to take all those lessons you were taught to heart and sticking with it. You are sooo ahead of the curve as a result – congrats!
#16’s entry was also great but I agree that it’s longer than the set word limit. Other stories may have done better if they knew they could go into more detailed too – hence the vote for #13
Special mention to #18 Michelle for her humor! Very entertaining read.
July 11, 2012 at 3:41 pm
I vote for Michelle. All the stories were touching and amazing proof that with hard work and effort, debt free and financial security is possible.
July 11, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I vote for #13 – Jaclyn’s story.
July 11, 2012 at 5:20 pm
#19 Sandra C. I like that her story shows that even people with the best intention to pay off debt can slip and be tempted by out of budget purchases. It’s very human.
But I have to say I also liked Michelle’s story a lot.
July 11, 2012 at 5:52 pm
#16, Michelle S.
I just connected with her story…
July 11, 2012 at 6:16 pm
#16 Michelle S
July 11, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I agree with Grace. Michelle S. didn’t follow the guidelines and is way over the word allowance. Others with long stories may have declined to submit an entry because they couldn’t tell their story in the 150-350 word limit.
July 11, 2012 at 8:36 pm
I hate all of this.
July 11, 2012 at 9:37 pm
#17 Louise V.
July 12, 2012 at 12:34 am
#14 Joy
July 12, 2012 at 7:35 am
#13 Jaclyn O
July 12, 2012 at 8:29 am
#13 has my vote
July 12, 2012 at 11:25 am
#13 – way to go!
July 12, 2012 at 5:37 pm
I vote for 18.
July 12, 2012 at 5:39 pm
#18 Sandra C and we’re proud of you!
July 12, 2012 at 6:38 pm
#18 Congratulations San and hubby! I love successful battle stories against the out-of-control-debt-monster!
July 12, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Number 16
July 17, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I’m just reading these now – so don’t include me in the vote.
They’re all great and Michelle S. would have had my vote but Sandra C. really made me laugh. I like ‘So, when did they get back together?’ LOL!!