Comments on: What’s Your Excuse for Not Saving?

By: Rowan

Rowan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:01:37 +0000

Hi Gail,
I just stumbled across your blog today via a link from Fabulouslybroke.com. I have been entranced for an hour since. After paying off a large debt, I started saving regularly and managed to accumulate about 7k but recently decided that this money would be better used to pay off the old Credit Card in one lump. Now I am floating with little savings (until the next pay cheque) and it is a very uncomfortable feeling. I love shopping and daydreaming knowing I could afford $3000 for (x|y|x) but, (x|y|z) would not make me as happy as having the money and the choice. I can’t wait to build my savings back up to *happy happy choice choice security*

By: TK

TK — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:59:40 +0000

Meredith, yes I do have a savings in my name and I contribute to it monthly as well.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:30:08 +0000

Hi
I have been away from the computer for a couple of days but Saver Queen has described it perfectly. Fixed expenses are allowed on “no spend” days, they are meant to stop the mindless spending that add up all too quickly. I find it alters my mindset a little bit, I will make dinner with what I have in the cupboard rather than run to the grocery store to pick up just one thing, or not pick up a treat while out for a walk. Last night my husband and I were out for a walk and were feeling the need for a treat – before the no spend competition we might have stopped for an ice cream whereas last night we came home for fruit and yogurt!
It seems a little silly but if it works….

By: Carlen

Carlen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:06:56 +0000

Thanks for the reminder. I’m already on a tight tight budget, but I went into my online banking and set up automatic transfers of $50 from my chequing account to my high interest savings account. I did this for my next nine paychecks. (until the end of the year) I hope to boost my savings up to $200 once my credit cards are paid off, which will be November or December. Eventually that money will be sent to my ING TFSA. I just need to make the initial deposit and finish getting it set up.

Sometimes I get so caught up in paying off debt that I forget to save and I think in ten years I will regret not starting some sort of savings with compound interest. Even small amounts add up over time!

By: Saver Queen

Saver Queen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:32:20 +0000

*pol, I think the way “no spend days” are usually used are like “buy nothing days” – tracking your ability to stop shopping. They don’t refer to your cost of living – utilities, rent, food, insurance, etc. For everyone but those living in absolute poverty, we spend some money every day, at least on fixed costs. But we can cut back on spending on variables like entertainment, clothing & gifts, and various other expenses. No spend days are really tracking your ability to stay out of the stores completely!

By: Joanne

Joanne — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:37:13 +0000

http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/tag/resp

this is the link to gail’s info on RESPs – its worth a read …

By: Joanne

Joanne — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:32:21 +0000

oops “site”

By: Joanne

Joanne — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:30:47 +0000

Id;
I don’t believe that you have complete understanding on how a RESP works – although the money is tied to education – you get the grant from the government as well which helps with saving -the money is in trust for the children with you and your husband as “owners” of the account. However, in the event your child(ren) does not go to post secondary school – and the account can be left open until at least age 25 of the youngest child I believe (you’d have to double check that age) but if they don’t go to school you are able to transfer the funds into your and your husbands RSP (providing you have room in your contribution allowance) less any of the grant money from the government – but you keep all the interest earned/growth on the money provided from the government – they just get the principle/grant money back.

Search through Gail’s sight – she has info on RESPs which you may find helpful.

I suggest you look into RESPs a little further. My husband and I have a family account (since they will be likely attending univ/college at the same time it made sense for us) for our twins in the event they go to post secondary schooling there will be money in the account – however, since we are joint owners of the account we can transfer the funds to our RSP if the funds are not used for schooling. Our names are on the statements not our children’s – although we did have to provide their names and SINs to set up the RESP account as an RESP to get the government grant.

I had university paid for by my father, so did my sister. I paid for books, extras and my transportation to and from school. I worked harder at getting my degree because my father WAS paying for it – the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint him. Not all children are going to believe that it is a free ride – I certainly didn’t. If you teach your children the value of an education along with all the other things you plan to teach her you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:34:30 +0000

Michelle, your no-spend days are like the old “tv turnoff days”. I love it! I’ve had three “no spend” days already this week. I don’t count work-related expenses though. I am a freelancer working from home. Sometimes I just can’t delay mailing that parcel or getting those photocopies. All within reason, right?

By: id

id — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:20:09 +0000

I have a question for you all regarding saving for kids education.

I would like to put aside some money for my daughter’s university. It is still a long ways off as she is just turning 2.

In order for her to learn responsibility and accountability, we will be telling her that she will be responsible for her own cost of tuition, books, etc. However she will be able to live at home as long a she is going to school.

We are against putting this money in RESP because it is tied to post secondary education only, plus it is will technically be in her name. This creates a possible issue as we do not want her to rely on this money. We would like to keep it under our name, but then there is tax on the interest for that. We cannot put it into TFSA as we have already maxed out. We will not be telling her that we have set aside money for her education, as we really believe that kids appreciate and push themselves harder in school if they have to pay for it.

There is always the possibility that she will decide not to go to universit or any post secondary, another reason why we do not want to put it into RESP.

Once she can prove to us that she is can do this on her own, we will help her pay off her education (if there are any loans) or use this money essentially to help her get started once she is out of school.

PS>Before any one flames me, this does not mean that we will just let her drown if she runs into money problems, just get her to understand responsibility and accountability.

Thanks in advance.

By: *pol

*pol — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:43:20 +0000

I don’t quite understand no-spend days…. If I do a load of laundry, then I have spent some money on utilities… is it really a no-shopping day?

Automatic withdraws work well for us… Some goes to RRSPs (twice a month) and another smaller amount goes to the emergency fund every month. By treating as a “bill” I take it more seriously and pay ourselves first.

I make sure the kids are aware of my bill paying and our active saving efforts… life takes money, even the boring stuff.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:38:56 +0000

Thanks for the link ComputerHero. It’s a very pretty pie chart. I find it interesting that the percentages add up to 100%. Really? The average US consumer only spends 100% of their paycheque? The average US consumer doesn’t overspend? With all the personal debt that’s out there? After watching TDDUP, I’m sure there’s much more spending going on!

By: ComputerHero

ComputerHero — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:58:06 +0000

Totally unrelated, but this might be interesting for those who like to know.

http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-the-average-us-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

By: Derek

Derek — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:57:49 +0000

jolie,

Why only encourage your son to save 10%?
I think kids who still live at home should be saving 60-70%.
Think of the compounding benefits over 50 years!
My parents did this with me and threatened to charge me rent if I didn’t save that much. I thank them for it!

By: Risa

Risa — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:43:49 +0000

Thanks for the kick in the pants. While we’ve done a ton over the past few months after reading your blog and watching the show–disability insurance, creating a budget and tracking system like the jars, emergency fund in one the the new Tax-Free accounts–I haven’t yet set up the automatic savings program with our ING accounts. Our final car payment is next week, and then we are completely debt-free, other than the mortgage! Off to set up both “savings savings” and “planned spending savings” automatic transfers.

Oh, and yes Michelle, the no spend days work beautifully. We shop a maximum of 2 days per week now (mainly for for groceries) and we sure noticed having a LOT more money in our account at the end of the month. Another “trick” we’ve been using is making a budget based on monthly amounts (Gail’s worksheet), but putting the money in only on the 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd. It means at the end of each month we need to stretch for 2 or 3 extra days–but it works out to 2 weeks worth of expenses saved each year. And most of us can stretch a couple days here and there much more easily than saving up 2 weeks worth of expenses in one go. Woot!