How Low Can We Go? - Pilot to Reduce Electricity Consumption

 

Image by daveknapik

Since moving from a condo a few months ago (where our utility bills were buried in a high monthly maintenance fee), we are much more aware of our electricity use.  Lately, we've been considering how we could further reduce our monthly bill - we come up with an interesting pilot that we're employing for the next month.  Here are the details;

Operate in the off-peak hours 

We've adjusted our schedules to cook and clean in the off-peak hours. After examining how we measure up to the energy consumption of our neighbours (our utility company provides online access to plethora of charts) we've decided to try to lower our standing from the average category to below average.

Use timers 

Timers are nifty little devices that plug into your lamp & outlet and control when the lights go on and off. Not only are they convenient, but they also allow you to change exactly when you want them to be activated.

Boycott the oven

After some research, we found a typical electric oven uses about 5,000 watts! We decided to purchase a convection toaster oven that would allow us to bake many meals (even rotisserie chicken!) and avoid using the oven as much as possible. The toaster oven we chose uses only 1,500 watts, and takes the same amount of time to cook similar dishes - and we got it for half off!  In the end, we will cut our electricity usage by more than one third when it comes to baking - something we do a lot of. 

Stay tuned, we'll provide you with all the details on how we did. 

If you have any tips for us, please send em' our way!

Confessions of Grocery Bargain Hunters - 5 Essential Tips

In the past, I remember telling my partner that food is food and bargain hunting at the grocery store wouldn't impact our spending enough to make it worthwhile. Now that we've been shopping at the stores with the best sales and keeping track of our grocery bills, I know I was wrong. We've listed out the following tips that will help you save money without compromising on the foods you love.

1. Make a date with your flyers
Grab an international coffee moment and dig through those flyers before the sales start (Friday or Sat early AM). It's worth planning out some early morning shopping to a couple of stores in order to catch the best sales.

Grocery Bargain Hunter Confession - we fight to the death Sat AM to see who can take advantage of those door crasher specials before inventory runs out. 

2. Make room for the good stuff
Make sure to have room in your fridge or freezer for the sale items so that you can purchase in bulk.  In fact, consider buying a freezer to store and save any extra products you may not be able to use all at once. You might think this isn't worth the investment, but buying a freezer will save you money in the long run.

Grocery Bargain Hunter Confession - we once bought 15 chickens because they were 1/2 price. Sure, the cashier asked us how many kids we had because we filled the entire cart with chickens ;)

3. Check the unit price
Don't just compare price tags when you're shopping, since products are often sold in varying sizes. Always check the unit price (such as the price per 100 grams) - this information is usually listed on the shelf tag. It's the only way to know which product is actually the best deal - this applies to single products and mega sizes.

Grocery Bargain Hunter Confession - we bought a restaurant size jar of pickles in the past because of the fabulous savings - we obviously love pickles! 

4. Reconsider what brands you buy
We've recently started buying the store brand products and found that we often like these products more than national brands.

Grocery Bargain Hunter Confession - we love the local grocery store brand of frozen raspberries so much that we filled our freezer with them the last time they went on sale.

5. Make a list
It sounds like an old cliché, but it's true - make a list of the things you need and stick to it. There are far too many tempting items in the store to just meander down the aisles, picking up anything that looks good. When making your list, think about major meals and try to plan around sales. 

Grocery Bargain Hunter Confession - Everytime we've gone shopping without a list, not only do we forget the basics, we come home with nothing but junk food. 

Groceries are things we buy regularly and often.  Changing your buying habits can have a huge impact on your household budget.  Just remember, don't buy sale items for the sake of saving - make sure you still purchase the foods you like and will use.  A wasted food item is money down the drain.

Dumb Stuff We Bought

Image by litherland

I thought it might be worthwhile to publish an entry on all the crap we've purchased in the last few years. Recently, the both of us decided to work as contractors - this gives us a HUGE amount of freedom but means we have to stick to our household budget until we both generate steady income.

Rooting through some past purchases, I noticed that we used to buy A LOT of junk. Honestly, we have bought clothing, make up, shoes and food that we never even used, just for the sake of shopping. It was like we were afraid to leave the store without anything! It's really sad to think about all the wasted money.

In the past couple of weeks we've stopped doubling up on items that are not on sale, like groceries, and have challenged ourselves on all purchases. This has resulted in less spoiled food and smarter purchases - as an aside, I shopped around for a sale on dress shoes and ended up buying a pair of Rudsak boots (originally $275) for $115!

Our secret, ask yourself 1 question each time you shop Do I want to spend my hard-earned money on this? You'll find it interesting how many times you'll answer no.

Here's a reader challenge - Tell us about some of the bad purchases you've made. For each comment we receive, we'll post a write up and picture of something dumb we bought :)

Why Wal-Mart Doesn't Save Us Money

I imagine most money-conscious households shop at Wal-Mart. All those price roll-backs and affordable products, who could resist? WE CAN! I can't tell you how many times we've gone to Wal-Mart, gotten excited over a lower priced product and brought it home, only to be shocked at the poor quality. I am not exaggerating when I say we have yet to keep a single item purchased at this store. Every single thing we've bought at Wal-Mart has been promptly returned. After the last experience, which was a small bathroom cabinet that assembled so that the doors couldn't even open, we swore to one another we would never return.

I'm happy to say we've kept this promise, and feel good about our decision. Saving money is great, until you sacrifice quality or product enjoyment. Even a penny spent on a poor product is a penny wasted. We have learned it's better to spend a bit more and have something that will last.

What do you think? Any good experiences shopping at this store? We want to know!

Saving on Beauty - Tip #1

Image by ♥ Unlimited

Ever wonder where make up artists shop? Wonder no more - every week I'll be giving you the serious deets on where you should save, and where you should splurge.

Mascara - Never shop at the department store for this item. I know, I do love Dior Show and all the rest, but honestly, at almost $30 a pop, no way! Why spend when most of the ingredients in mascara are similar from brand to brand - the only difference is the brush. In my expert opinion (I am a make up artist), all you need is a great eyelash curler. Try experimenting with some drugstore brands. My faves include Loreal Voluminous Mascara or Cover Girl Last Blast. Both of these suggestions come at a much more affordable price - about $8. Hello, savings of 22 bucks!

Why We Love Loyalty Programs

It wasn't long ago that I wasn't interested in loyalty programs.  I didn't want to fill out another form or carry another card - until I got the bug - the loyalty bug.  As soon as I realized what I was missing out on by not participating, I decided to give it a go to see if it was really worth my while.  So, I selected a few, choice rewards programs and used them as much as I could.  My picks were Air Miles and PC Points - both of which I still enjoy very much.

Both my partner and I collect as many PC points as possible.  We do this by using our President's Choice MasterCards often, but we never carry a balance.  As soon as we receive our monthly statements, the balance is paid in full.  This means we collect PC points without any penalty whatsoever.  We choose to use our PC points against grocery purchases at any PC store.  I wish I had tracked the amount of free groceries I have collected over the years, because I know you would be amazed.  Using the credit cards wisely means we accumulate points fairly quickly - and applying the points to food purchase means we often get our bills cut in half, if not better.

My other favourite loyalty program is Air Miles.  Although these points are not as widely awarded, over the years, we have still managed to cash in for some great merchandise.  I used to put my Air Miles points towards movie tickets - these seemed to offer the most value for the points.  Given the high cost of movie admission, we felt like bandits, seeing what we wanted for free!  Most recently, I allowed my points to grow until I managed to redeem for some heftier household items.  I was able to cash in for an awesome Muskoka chair, and a great microwave - with not a single dime out of pocket.
  

For the information you provide to these programs, the rewards they offer make it worth the exchange.  The producst we have received as a result are all things we would have otherwise had to pay for, so in our eyes, loyalty programs have helped us have more without spending more.

Which loyalty programs do you like?  Which pay more for every dollar you spend?  Please share your ideas with us and our readers by posting a comment on this blog.

Creating a Household Spending Budget

One of the most important components of managing your money is planning how you spend it.  Spending has to be proportionate to your income, or you'll never find yourself ahead.  Understanding what you spend will reveal areas you can cut back on, to maximize savings and overall financial health.

This year is the first year my partner and I will create a household budget.  We want to be methodical and thoughtful about it, because the more accurate our budget is, the more value we will get out of it.  We thought we would start by identifying some spending categories.  Once we're satisfied we've captured everything, we will begin putting some estimated numbers in each category, aiming to stay within our estimates for the year wherever possible.

• Home expenses - this can have sub-categories for heat, electricity, hot water heater rental and gas.  This category should include things like home maintenance, improvements, and repairs.
• Food - will include weekly groceries and the occasional morning coffees.
• Automobile - this can be sub-categorized into gasoline, maintenance and repairs.
• Clothing.
• Grooming - this will include haircuts and beauty products, such as shampoos, cleansers, creams, and the like.
• Health - we need to account for any expenses not covered by any healthcare insurance we have.  This may include partial costs for any medications, massages and other similar items.
• Travel and entertainment - the will be a combined category to capture leisure travel and other fun things, such as the odd movie.
• Pet - we have a dog who needs food, toys, grooming and vet visits.
  
• Incidentals - this should really only include small items that may not fall into any other category.
  

Once we have assigned a dollar value to each category, there will be money left over, which we will have to put towards savings and investments, and the mortgage.  While we like to make as many additional payments towards the mortgage as possible, we also feel better when we're able to have money stashed away in savings accounts, just in case we have an unexpected expense arise.

It will be interesting to see how accurate our budget turns out to be by the end of this year.  We will use actual receipts from this past year to estimate our future spending.

A great resource for learning more about all aspects of everyday finance is GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca.  This site has a section dedicated to budgeting, which is very helpful.

If you've created a household budget before, what were your most underestimated categories? We want to know, so leave your comments here.

Chop That Wardrobe Budget!

Photo by Sean's Camera

Lately we've been thinking about how much moola we used to spend on clothing. Everytime we shelled-out $30 for a t-shirt, or $150-200 for jeans we couldn't help but feel anxious for weeks. We tried so hard to justify the cost but we just couldn't cope with basically flushing that money down the toilet. Think about it, an extra $200 toward the mortgage IS money better spent!

So with that, we've come up with a quick list of stores that offer some fantastic basics that won't have you compromising on style or quality.

• Old Navy - Solid inexpensive t-shirts (approx. $10-12) - think about pairing them with blazers in your wardrobe.
• American Eagle - wonderful jeans (approx. $50), scarves and belts ($15-25) - they have various fits and washes... don't knock it till you've tried a pair on! We've actually stopped buying expensive designer jeans because we like these better. Now we can afford about 3-4 pairs for what we were previously spending on one. We also realized that buying one pair for now and waiting for new washes or styles gave us more variety in our wardrobe. American Eagle also has a loyalty program. We recommend joining their Facebook page for information on sales and discounts.
  
• Mexx - when they have a sale... it's a serious sale. 
• Club Monaco - for evening wear or special occasions. Investing in their basics will prep your wardrobe for further mixing an matching - ultimately saving $ in the future.

With all these savings, we've been finding ourselves making more incremental payments toward the principle of our mortgage. Really we have the best of both worlds now - money in the bank and a healthy wardrobe. 

Please share your favorite shopping spots with us!

Hello World! Here We Go!

My partner and I are average people – both working very hard to make enough money, doing well so far, but wondering how we can keep up this pace for the next 30+ years until that golden age of 65, when most plan to retire.

We’ve decided there must be a better way – to be smarter about how we spend and what we save. So we’re starting down a path of less spending and more saving, maybe even some investing. We want to make more out of what we have, and we’ve discussed some very real and ambitious goals to help us achieve this plan.

We have agreed we will begin budgeting and measuring our goals with actual numbers. We want to understand where our money goes, and make a conscious effort to see our savings grow. Join us as we share our learnings, our insights, our tips and even our mistakes as we embark on our journey for early retirement.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!