Grocery Saving Challenge. Day 1

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

I find the best way to learn how to do anything  is to just do it and see how you make out. Sometimes I’ve had great success and pretty much on accident. Today’s effort is to start a challenge and to keep up with it. Saving money on groceries really just means better planning on how you spend on food. Easy is fast and I’m a big fan of easy but it’s not healthy or cheap. A latte is fun, but it’s not a need and five bucks is five bucks, which is how I got into this mess in the first place..five bucks here and there add up.

My Goal is to spend less than $750 (last month’s numbers)  on food and drugs/toiletries. I’m including stuff like shampoo and TP in this as it’s what you need to live. You need to eat and be clean..add housing and you have a trinity of what you need pretty much to get by. Everything else is gravy. The gravy might make your life easier or smoother but it’s still gravy all the same.

I had thought of  having a clear goal in mind but I think that’s too limiting. The trick is to just use your brain and do the best you can when trying to save money on the stuff you need every day. Everybody has different values of what a good deal is anyway.. A year ago I wouldn’t have thought of using  a coupon but if it means I spend less money on things that aren’t really important enough to me and allows me to spend more on the things that are (hello, debt freedom) than that’s a pretty good goal I’d say.

I’d like to tell you a month from now I’m in the $100/week area but I dunno…it’s awful pricey here in  the big city especially where I am in downtown Toronto.

So how did I do on day 1? well….not so hot. It was awfully nice out here in the big city so I went for a walk as it’s free entertainment and I brought my camera along with me too. But I had so much fun that I lost track of time and ended up splurging on a bag of chips and a water.

Which brings me to the next question:  Where does frugal cross the line into just being a cheap bastard?  It was a lovely summer day here in downtown TO by the lake and I made some fun photos, got some exercise and some sun and even made it back home for a bit of an afternoon nap. :)  I had a late breakfast thinking that would do me but when you’re out and about walking in the sun you get to feel the need for refreshment.

What’s a guy to do? I hit a variety store and sprung for $3.75 for a drink and a bag of chips. If I’ve decided to budget $100 a week for groceries,there’s five percent of my food budget for the week on a snack so probably not the best spend of my grocery dollar.

I could argue that  heck 3 bucks  is pretty cheap entertainment in downtown Toronto and I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. But with some planning I could have tossed a backpack on my back  with some peanuts or something and had a healthier snack that would have been cheaper by a bit and healthier too.

The good news is I made a home made dinner with ingredients I already had on hand and were bought before the start of the month so I’m not including these in the total yet.

Today (the 2nd) isn’t going to be a banner day as it’s a holiday and there’s not a whole lot in the fridge. The goal is to not eat out for the month. It’s easy but expensive.

If nothing else this will give me something to write about this month.

Today’s Spend; $3.75

Total Spend: $3.75

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Darling, it’s not how you feel but how you look

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

Well we’re still carrying the same old debt load and there hasn’t been any great strides with the debt freedom plan but at least we can look better, don’t you agree?

With this new look I hope to accomplish a few things:

1. Easier to read. BIG type for my aging readership and yes I include myself in this category. The grey text  on the previous look was  pretty hard to read. And I don’t want you to miss any of my pearls of wisdom.

2. Like the photo? It’s mine. As in: I made it. I figure I might as put my schooling to good use. It’s kindof an odd size so I guess I’ll be shooting lots of  wide horizontals. I’ve been wanting to make a photo a day project for some time but was lazy and uninspired. There’s a big bad world out there just wanting to be photographed.. and I’ve got a few favorites in the can too I want to share. Think of  it as being forced to view my holiday photos but because I can’t afford a holiday I’ll just go out for coffee or a walk and bring my camera.  This is easy for me to commit to when it’s the middle of summer, but I’m getting better with the daily posts here on the debt freedom blog so maybe.. it’s always fun to go back and go “oh yeah…..”. Stuff that could have been overlooked so easily in our daily lives. That sunset and train station were there every day at the same time but when you make the effort to ‘see’  the extra ordinary in everyday then photography is worth the cost in time, gear and effort. No promises but we’re going to start waving the camera around a bit more and now I have a venue to share.

My Grocery Challenge.

As promised I’ve added up where the money went for the month of July and I spent $750.00 or so at the grocery store,  starbucks and the drug store combined.

Holy Smokes!

But now we know how bad it gets. And  there’s only about 3 lattes this month too.. Oy.

Some of this is just lazy. When you cook for 1 it’s hard sometimes and  it seems as cheap to just pop over and get a stir fry or something at 8 bucks. and then you have a coffee on the way home and you’ve burned through ten bucks. But no more. Hello PB+J sandwiches for  breakfast, lunch and dinner.  :)

Now to be fair that number includes any and all pocket money on coffees and subway and god knows what else…but wow eh? It also includes a few trips to the drug store this month and it seems I was there a lot. I needed drugs which were about forty bucks and I know I bought some cleaner supplies. That number also includes about 6 pounds of coffee at $18 bucks a pop. I’m willing to give up the lattes but I still get to drink coffee from home.

The next question  is : How low can I go?  :)  I’d love to be able to eat on a dollar a day but I don’t think that’s possible. I’m limited in part to my grocery shopping to what’s close and I can only carry so much but let’s budget $500 for the month.  I won’t eat out for an entire month and just cook at home. Not only will I eat better but I’ll also learn how to cook too which can’t hurt.  So here goes.  $500 or bust. If I can do it I just saved $250 a month. That’s a good chuck of change. $750 bucks a month on food. Wow.  There’s my shocker of  the month.

On the income front, we’re not rolling in the dough but between all my efforts I managed to squeeze out about $500 this month on new or continued projects this month. I know that this works out to an hourly wage of something like 57 cents. But I look at it this way: I’m getting paid to learn. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’m essentially getting paid to learn how to work harder and smarter. And this is July too . Not exactly a season known for  high retail sales. Everybody’s on holidays. Things are looking up. Here’s hoping I can make some more money in August.  I have a few plans and ideas. :)

Lastly, my hubpages challenge. I started and got about 20 hubs written and what happned was this: I stopped and started to wait and watch for progress which is the death of productivity. It’s so easy to get caught up in reading and testing and tweaking that you forget to actually produce the work. Experience has shown to just create the data and then keep on trucking. This really is a numbers game.  Create lots of content for the web and then sit back and count the money. :) At least that’s the plan. So far, the hubs I have created are in the basement and have made absolutely nothing.

I also picked debt for those twenty or so topics to write about and boy oh boy it’s competitive out there on the internets. No wonder the banks are rich. I’m think I’m going to lower my sights and go for the lower hanging fruit to write about. I hear there’s a big market in pink kitty litter boxes.

So, that’s July. How about you? Did you make any progress in your debt freedom plan?

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What’s the Best Way To Get Out of Debt?

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

The best way to get out of debt is to make more money.

It doesn’t matter whether you make money online in your underwear or slug furniture, sit in an office or dig ditches all day but every time I have been in debt the only way I made any progress was when I applied myself and worked more, or worked harder or smarter – or sometimes all three and landed a better  job.

The easiest way to get out debt one might argue would be with bankruptcy – but that depends what your idea of  getting out of debt easily is. Bankruptcy sucks. There’s lawyers and trustees and courts and procedures and you end up having to hurt somebody you owe that could really use the money.

Let’s say you owe thousands on your credit cards and then maybe you list your landlord as you’re a few months behind, and then maybe you owe I don’t know – your accontant. The banks don’t really care. True, the recent recession has shown that if everybody goes bankrupt at the same time then companies cut back and then it’s quite possible you could affect somebody with a job. But for the most part for most banks and big credit card companies, they have factored in for a percentage of the people that they loan the funds to will never pay it back – for a multitude of reasons, and the banks will  keep on humming along.

But it’s the little guy that you owe the small amount to, that got hit with your bankruptcy too.  And  the small (relatively) amount that you owe him really does make a difference he or she really could use that payment and it’s quite possible that when you went bankrupt you also affected somebody else either directly or indirectly.

And that’s why I don’t like bankruptcy as a method to use for getting out of debt. Because you could hurt somebody else too. One could argue that ‘business is business’ and it’s all a cost of doing business but that’s besides the point. The result of your poor fiscal choices could not only hurt yourself, but somebody else too.

And that’s why  I’m a  fan of  making more money to get out of debt. You can only save so much money . Yes, it’s true that coupons are a good thing and that you should save as much money as you can to get out of debt fast but making more money is also a good way  and that’s why I’m still here inside plunking away on  a keyboard to make more money online so that I can pay my debt off faster and be out of debt and sipping  a drink with an umbrella someday.

Hard work is the answer. If you work hard now you see the results later. Some days might just be a waste of time – you went to  an interview where nobody calls you back or you make a website that hardly gets any visits ( I could write a book).  But if you keep at it, you will get out of debt. It might require some uncomfortable living situations for a bit and long hours where really you’d like to enjoy that drink with the umbrella right now but that’s now how this works.

The best way to get out of debt is to work hard now, so you can play hard later.

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How To Get Out Of Debt Sooner Than Later

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

That’s the goal, right? At least it is to me.  I want to get out of debt today, or get out of debt sooner rather than later.I hope to be out of debt in four and half years. I’ve had about a year where I’ve piddled around with my debt but to really apply myself with my debt freedom program I have to stick things in high gear so I can get out of debt soon.

When I’m out of debt  I have one thing that I don’t have now and that’s choice. When I have choice I can choose to do whatever I want with my money. I can choose to take the bus or take a train. Or live on a boat.(that would be the day). But I have choices. I can live in a cheaper apartment and spend the money I save with rent and use it for a down payment on a bigger house or use the difference  between buying and renting to save for a dream property. Maybe it’s  a time share although I doubt it as I like variety and novelty a whole lot. I value  learning and adventure on one hand but on the other it’s sure good to have a place to call home that’s your own – even if it does require a wee bit of lawn maintenance.

And with debt freedom and some hard work the world truly is my oyster. I can do whatever I like becuause I would owe no man or woman any money. The best part would be to tell the bank to chase themselves, but we all need a bank of some kind  so I’d probably stick with the Royal Bank of Canada. I’ve been there a while (20 yerars) but I have no real relationship with any one banker. I guess that’s the price you  pay for debit cards and ATMs, and that’s the fact that personal banking isn’t all that personal any more, at least I find.

I notice that TD Canada Trust  is offering a $250 reward if you switch banks. It’s tempting to switch but I have no history with TD Canada Trust and there’s something to be said for that. I offer value to the Royal Bank. Not much right now granted but I’ve still got  20 years with them and if they and I both work together we could both very well benefit from another 20 years or more. That’s not something I want to give up for  a free ipod or $250 buyout.

I’ve done it again and rambled away here about banks in Canada when I really wanted to talk about how to get out of debt as soon as possible regarless of where you live or who you bank with and here’s how.

Spend Less Money

Make More Money

Apply the difference to Debt

This my friends is the magic formula to getting out of debt. You don’t need to buy books,or ‘get out of debt systems‘  or  anything that’s being pitched on late night TV even if it does come with a free snow shovel. The only thing you need to dig yourself out of debt is you.

We all have circumstances that led us to being in debt –  myself included and we all can get out  of debt the same way we got into debt but just do it in reverse: When you got into debt you borrowed money you did not have to buy something. It could be a house, a car, a business a new sweater – the particulars aren’t important here. All that matters is you stop spending and start saving and putting that savings to debt.

Do you have $20? Were you planning on going to the movies or out for dinner, or spending that $20? You were?! When you are in debt? Take that $20 and then apply it to your debt. Do it again next week. Want to know what happens a year from now? You’ve got $1000  (actually a bit more) to that debt by saving $20 a week!

But But But…I have a date need to see the latest iron man movie. Well..not really.  Not if  you want to get out  of debt as soon as possible you don’t. You need to get out of debt, and the sooner the better because you can then go to out for dinner constantly because you will have the positive cash flow to do so. And what if you could find $40 a week? That’s 2 large a year from now. For $40 a week.  Stay home and barbecue your own steak instead of going out and dining on food you can’t afford.

I’ve found a funny thing starts to happen that’s a bonus when you do this: Not only do you save  $20 or more a week but you start to eat healthier and not only that (and here’s the part that blows my mind). You start to get to be a pretty good cook! You start to watch Julia Child  because you’re interested in cooking. You start to lust over le crueset and good knives and a real cutting board and oh my –  wouldn’t an island in the kitchen be nice? But you can eat well at home, save money with nothing more than the IKEA starter kit for the most part so don’t get sucked into the I need the toys so I can do this. You don’t need the best golf clubs to be the best golfer and you don’t  need the best cooking utensils to be the best cook.

What you do need –  and all that really matters is to get out of debt soon.

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Education and Choices

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

There’s two things I regret about my debt:

1.Bad choices. I chose fun and emotions to be my fiscal guide at times when it came to money.  I always have and there’s always been that little voice back there that says: As much fun as you’re having now financially this is a bad move. Listen to your intuition or gut. It usually knows best. Get out of the store think about more than the 3 weeks that new purchase is going to be new. New stuff becomes old stuff. Except now you have the monthly statement for the ‘new’, but you’r stuck with the used.

2. I wasn’t taught otherwise or at very least I was out of class that day when the classes about fiscal responsibility and long term goals were being  taught. In fact I don’t recall being taught at all on how to budget or save. I was taught  to get a job, spend it, keep working and retire.

It’s my opinion we missed a great opportunity here and that’s education about credit and how the choices you make today can effect tomorrow so much more. The days are long but  the years are short.

or, in my language: shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Credit is so easily available from so many sources it’s no wonder that everything these days is just  a monthly payment. Nobody thought about the big picture and  they don’t look  past the end of their nose.  And that’s me included. Not  too long ago at all I would joke that another $100 spent on my already high credit card balance wouldn’t make a difference. But it does and it will for some time. At 18 percent! I can remember the ‘joke’ sadly but I can’t remember what the $100 was for. Gas in the SUV or some other thing that I didn’t need to go into debt over.

Perhaps I’m looking through rose colored glasses here but I don’t recall everything being just a monthly payment. If you wanted a car maybe as they can be expensive. And a house too was financed usually but that was it.

For everything else: If you had the cash you’d spend it. If you didn’t have it you didn’t spend it. The End.

A house you could argue that you have to live somwhere and you can do the math to show that buying a house is a good deal over time and you can also fudge the numbers that rent might be the better deal. But somewhere along the line we lost our grip on reality with the credit for the rest of the stuff.

It doesn’t help that the banks keep handing it out like candy either and they’re  to blame too. It’s like a loaded gun and they just hand over the credit SO easily. Last year the limit on my mastercard was about 10k. And then one day last year they’ve decided to almost double the credit.  So what happens? I don’t change my spending habits quick enough and sure enough despite my best efforts and some stupidity  on my part the balances raise and raise over time.  I wonder how far the rabbit hole goes?   I have a friend who bought a cottage a few years ago with his american express. You can buy cars and property with nothing more than half a thought and a swipe of a card.

Two things need to happen to get out of debt: You need to be ready to do it. Tomorrow never comes and if you have a goal of debt freedom there’s a lot of overtime or crappy jobs or or late nights or selling your toys to get there. It’s taken me far too long to get my head wrapped around this but you have to stop spending on credit.  If you can’t pay for it when the bill comes in you can’t afford it. Period.

And the banks need to just stop this non stop lending too. I noticed that there’s some small print and new legislation for credit cards coming in place and my September bill will show me how many months or years it will take me to pay off the credit card if I keep making minimums over time. If that isn’t a good wakeup call I don’t know what is.

Spending has become too easy with credit too.  Want a new TV? swipe it! $5 cup of coffee? swipe away!  What if you had to live with cash? What if you only could spend what you have and not a penny more?  What if they returned to lineups at your bank where you had to fill out forms and wait to get to your money?  40 years ago, the bank machine arrived. Even cash is so accessible.  What if you lived JUST with cash? No plastic.  It seems almost like living with flinstones, doesn’t it? Today if you want a mortgage the bank comes to you!  You don’t have to talk to a manager or sit with somebody at a desk with a calculator. Now somebody shows up at your door and you’re pre-approved. No deposit? no problem!

I’m tempted to try the cash only diet. Figure out what I need to live for 30 days and  then go to the bank, withdraw the cash, and only spend what you have. Gail Vaz Oxlade is a big proponent of using jars for budgeting and others have suggested envelopes and others use binders and spreadsheets and I think it’s a great idea as you get to see where you money goes.

How many times have you yanked out some money from the ATM on a Saturday morning and then you go out for the day, pick up the dry cleaning and a few other items and all your money is gone. And you look at your empty wallet  and try to figure out where the money  went. I used to do that at an alarming rate, and I think that’s what the jars and other stuff does. It makes you pay attention to your spending.  And once that happens you start to think about swiping that debit card.

Getting out of debt takes so long because habits take too long to change. It’s so tempting to go back to starbucks for that latte. You went yesterday so why not go again today?  But if you can change that habit to bring your coffee or even do without you start to change your mindset from how much you can spend to how much you save.

The  jars or envelopes let you see that. If you budget for your coffees it’s quite possible you will overspend. But  you can’t with the jars. If you over spend with the jar system you’re screwed because eventually  the jar will become empty. And for the first month or so that  might very well happen. But over time you get used to having a certain amount budgeted for spending and you get in the habit  of at very least staying within your budget.   And when that happens then you can start to save. Save for debt and when the debt’s gone then you can just save for the sake of saving and that’s where the magic happens. Get off the hedonistic treadmill and get on with the rest of your life. Your latte doesn’t bring long term happiness. But debt freedom will .

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Is the WestJet MasterCard worth it?

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

I got asked this question the other day, so I thought I might investiate further:

As you may know, I have written about the WestJet Mastercard from Royal Bank of Canada before when it first came out and even back then I thought it was a great deal. I mean hello? Free flights from WestJet - just for using your mastercard when you buy stuff you were going to buy anyway. I think it’s a no brainer of a deal. I don’t know about you but I like flights. I like free flights even better (hello? Wesjet? are you listening?)

And I also like  to get out of debt so one must be prudent when both applying for and using the WestJet Mastercard, or any other card for that matter: A credit card is only good if you use the card responsibly. let me repeat that again: use a credit card wisely – mastercard from westjet or any other brand doesn’t really matter and you’ll live a happy life full of free trips around the globe courtesy of Wesjet.

If you don’t use the Mastercard wisely and buy a whole bunch of stuff you don’t need you’ll regret it and all the free trips in the world won’t make up for the fact that you’re in debt.

Here’s my plan to use the WestJet Mastercard wisely:

1. Apply for the Westjet Mastercard.

2. Buy stuff with it. (My favorite part)

3. Pay off the mastercard when you get the bill (this part, I’m not so good at yet)

4. Enjoy your free westjet  trip. I suggest a beach somewhere where others bring you little  drinks with umbrellas, but you might prefer something else – maybe a trip to visit family I don’t know. But if you do steps 1 to 3 above, you can get free trips in Canada, the US and some tourist destinations too.

The kicker is you have to follow this debt freedom plan exactly.  1 and 2 aren’t too hard but study up on item 3 – the part about paying off your debts in full each month.  This is the step that a lot of us seem to trip up on but the best part is if you keep on applying yourself to become debt free you can then run through these steps over and over  again – as long as your budget allows – and get free trips.

Now the folks at Royal Bank aren’t stupid. They’ve teamed up with the folks at Westjet as they know a lot of you will be like  me and carry a credit  card balance. Once you start to carry a balance, you’re screwed. Your free trip isn’t free. You’re now paying interest on that trip and  then you can  kiss your  free trip goodbye . And the folks  at the Royal Bank will looooove you as you’re now paying interest for you supposedly free trip.

Don’t be dumb and when you buy anything with your WestJet MasterCard – pay it off at the end of the month. You’ll get free trip after free trip after free trip.  and all you had to do was to use your credit card responsibly.

Is the WestJet Mastercard worth it? You bet.  But you have to not keep a balance. If you do your trip is far from free..being in debt is the most expensive trip you could ever go on.

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How Much Time Do You Spend Managing Your Money?

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

Lord knows we work hard enough for it. Money, that is.

There’s other things we work hard for too that might actually tie into money too,but for the sake of this article, let’s just concentrate on the money.

I once read somewhere of an interview of a money mogul…it was a long time ago, and I can’t recall the person or the publication but  the interview stated that this gentleman got up at 4am, read the paper (wall street journal, I think) so that he would be ready for the work day when the markets opened. The  interviewer reacted that wow, that must be hard to do and I remember the gentleman’s reply: “If everbody spent as much time managing their money as they do spending it, they would have no money worries”.

And that really stuck with me. It rattled around in my noodle for far too many years, but when you think about it he has a very good point. How many hours did you research your latest house purchase, or even the last piece of furniture you bought. Probably more time was spent researching the purchase than making sure you can maximize the dollars you earn in the first place.

It dawned on me  that  I’ve been working in some fashion for over 25 years and due to some very very crappy money management I’m pretty much where I was the day I made $62 my first week of work back in 1982. In fact, some weeks my 1982 income exceeds my 2010 income.

And that is about to change.  I have got the  plan, the will power, the gumption, the mojo – whatever you want to call it. I AM managing my money. I’m looking for opportunities to save more, spend less and just as important: make more. I’m making lists and plans and goals. I’m comparing interest rates and loans and financing and anything and everything I can so  I maximize my earnings.

A man (or woman) who has no debt is a rich man indeed. I’ve tasted the sweet nectar of debt freedom and I plan to again. I fell of the wagon for  a while with the spending and frankly some poor decisions overall when it came to my spending.  But that was yesterday.  Now i clip coupons, or shop only when it’s on sale.  Now I also make every effort to make more money, as that’s the other half of the equation too.

So if I have  to get  up  at 4am to do so, then that’s what it takes. I’ve always been of the school that life should be little bursts of mini retirements along the way, but now’s the time to get rockin’ and get some work done and some debt erased. And  part of that is just paying attention to where you spend your money.  I’ve been doing it for July just for groceries and  it’s a real eye opener. Goodbye potato chips and lattes and hello fruit that’s in season and on sale and  black coffee at home.  Not only has my waistline shrunk (not many calories in a  banana) so has my spending  on unneccesary and unhealthy food. Not only  am I saving money but I am healthier for it.

I’m paying attention to my debt. It’s no longer just some number back there that I wish would just disappear. I’m working on repayment . I have what is starting to look like a bit of an emergency fund. I am going to to do this. And it all started with paying attention to my money both input and output as they are both important factors in financial management.

I’m working on getting out of debt one day at a time. I can’t manage it any better than that.

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What’s Your Debt Freedom Date? Day 251

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

Do you know the day you will be out of debt?

You should.

A specific date gives you a specific goal. It’s not some wishy washy goal about getting out of debt. If you have a specific guideline to help you see that there’s only so much time and so much work to do you’ll be more inclined to start doing it today.

A good goal: I’m going to be debt free by September 2012. Come hell or high water, I am working towards that goal. I have 749 days to get to that goal. If I don’t work today on doing something that gets me closer to that goal, then I’ll only have 748 days if I slack off and do nothing. I writing another article here in the hopes  of helping you see that you need to start to get out of debt today, and it’s going to be a long haul but  do something. Realize now that today could be the day that starts your debt free life.

A bad goal: I’m going to be debt free someday. The problem with  this goal is that someday never comes. ever. Believe me, I know. It’s only the work you do today that counts for what happens tomorrow. Think about it: all the good stuff in your life didn’t happen overnight. You got  an entry level job, then one that’s a bit better and so on  and so on. Or you started college and day 1 was nothing more than fun but you had to buckle down, go to the classes you loved and the ones you hated too and then before you know it the years went by and you had a diploma, and the reason you had a diploma is that you had a plan. And you need one for debt freedom too. You need a debt freedom plan.

But don’t think that this plan of yours will happen overnight. Nope, it starts out small and somedays it might just be that you resisted one cup of coffee from starbucks and that lousy two bucks can go to the debt. It won’ be much when you total today up but if you did that every day you’d have over $700 saved . Even if you failed and only managed  half of the time to resist the coffee impulse you will have more and more money and more debt paid off over time than if you didn’t.

Get out a calendar, pick out a date you want to be debt free and figure out what you have to do to get there. If you owed $500o on credit cards and you’ve decided that that’s enough. Do the math and figure out what you have to do to get rid of the $5000 debt. If you worked one day on the weekend extra at a part time job and made $50 for  your efforts after taxes, that’s $200 a month.  If you applied the $200 a month to your debts for two years that debt would be gone, or real close.  Everything that’s good costs in some way. For you to be  out of debt in 2 years you need to find $50 a week extra. Then every day you wake up you’re one day closer to becoming debt free.

That’s it. Thats’ all you have to do. Pick a date and figure out what you have to do to get there, and stick to it.

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What’s Your Five Year Plan? Day 250

Posted on July 25, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

I touched base on this yesterday a bit when I mentioned that living without a car just requires a bit more planning – and now that I think about it a whole lot of stuff applies to having a plan. Becoming debt free is just another plan. So is eating better too. If you have a meal plan you already know what you’re eating for dinner and you don’t  have to stop on the way home to buy food or order in when you get home because in the morning you tossed something in the slow cooker. You had a plan, and tonight it’s pot roast.

Becoming better at anything requires a plan. Whether you want to pay down your visa bill, eat better, lose weight, whatever  you have to have a plan and stick to it . Showing up consistently and regularly is more than half the battle  in life. A lot of times we try to be perfect when good enough will do just fine. We want to run and lose weight, but we don’t want to endure the first week of running where it seems impossible. We’d much prefer to wake up with abs of steel and have to buy new ‘skinny clothes’ instantly.

But as I firmly grasp onto the rungs of middle age I have discovered a few truths and seeing how today I am  1/4  of the way through to my goal of becoming debt free I thought I would share with you what I think it is:

Do something every day. Work  at your goal every day. Farting around and humming and hawing and studying and learning  are all good but eventually you need to pick up the hammer and just start swinging. But before you go swinging around it’s a good idea to have a plan. Do you hav e nails? What are you building with your hammer?  How much time will it take? These are all very important questions to ask and plan for.

A goal comes in handy, I’m finding. About this time last year I was making a meager payment on my Royal Bank Visa when I realized that I’ve been spending and spending. Not a full out  spend myself silly with new TV’s and stuff  - but a lot of times I had convinced myself that the future would be better so for the time being: “I’ll just put it on the card” I would say. Gas, christmas presents, fifty bucks here, and fifty bucks there.. it all went on the credit cards. Then I’d pay a bit and  my balance would go down and then slowly it would creep right back up to where I was a few months ago, and it’s because I didn’t have any sort of plan or notion to get out of debt. Someday will better I thought and kept telling myself.   But you have to make those some days happen. The phone’s not going to ring all by itself. You have to do the work so that you’re ready for the call and almost expecting it to come.

Five years is a good time frame. Now, if you’re twenty and you’re reading this I know it seems like  five years must seem like a million. But for the rest of us five years 0r even less is very good goal. It’s doable.  When I started  photography school in my 20′s I went to the college  to ask what camera to buy on day 1. Two years later  I graduated and had my photos published in popular daily newspapers and even the national enquirer. But those two years of studying and planning for those days to happen meant driving crappy cars where you had to change the spark plugs weekly and sleeping in little basement apartments that was just a corner of a room. Lots of all nighters and  lots of crappy photos were made too along the way . But I had a plan. I wanted  to be a news photographer. And for a very short time, I was (turns out my skill is with a mouse, not a camera, but that’s a story for another day). And all the cold winters outside shooting bad photos and making prints all night ( I’m older than digital)  was worth it because I had a plan and I stuck to it.

So now I need a new plan. The first is to become debt free in the next 750 days.  I’m not certain I’ll make it but I want to spend more time on this site and start to add some value. The first 250 days so far for this site have been learning. Learning how to write and learning that pink kitty litter is easy to get on the front page of google. I’ve also slacked off with this site too . There were days where there was no consistency and I would go days without updating it and then when I did  I would write about my new haircut . Not  a whole lot of value with posts about haircuts don’t you agree?

I do know when I finally wrap up this little project  I want to know that I helped just  one person. Just one. Maybe even if  it’s just that you realized that your own personal situation isn’t that bad after you’ve read about the hole I’ve dug myself into. That would be enough. Or maybe just a laugh or  a comment.

Once the debt is paid off,  I want to save a small down payment and have a small home  and if needed a small car. I  want to continue to make my income online  in some fashion as that’s what I do best. I find a need and fill it online. Lots and lots of misses, but a few hits along the way too. I also enjoy the challenge.

At almost  1000 words, I’ll wrap this up.  I have my eye on the prize and it’s this:  Debt Free with a  small home (and probably mortgage) I can call my home and enough income from online projects to keep me housed  fed and full of starbucks. :)  Five years and counting…

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How to Live Without a Car. Day 249

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Jim Fitzsimmons

A year ago today I woke up and realized that if I wanted  to get anywhere or go anywhere I was walking or taking the bus or a cab or even a plane but I sure as heck wouldn’t be driving anything, that’s for sure.

I’ve learned a few things over the year of being without a car so I thought I’d share:

1. Friends with cars are more than willing to drive you to and from the bus stop or train station. It takes some getting used to as there’s a lot of freedom and control or power that car ownership  offers. You feel as if you’re putting your friends and family out . Just because you chose to be carless to save on the money so you can pay debt faster doesn’t mean that your friends become chauffeurs. But they don’t seem to mind if you make the effort to meet them half way.

2. You have feet and legs. And for the first week or so they will complain about the lack of wheels. But after a while you’ll notice that your pants are a little baggier which means you are getting more fit than when you would drive to dairy queen. Exercise  is good. Do if often.

3. I can walk and take public transit faster than driving.  But  this is due to planning. I chose to live in downtown Toronto and within a four block radius I have access to trains, plains, buses, streetcars, taxis and I am sure  I am missing a few too. Bicycles too, but the toronto traffic with  bikes looks a little to hairy for my liking.  It really is true about walking faster than driving.  I have walked past many cars here stuck in traffic and walked faster to the next light than they’re ever going to get there in the mid day hustle and bustle. I do not miss traffic.

4. I do miss road trips. Unless you hitchhike, there’s some places you just can’t get to.  I have my motorbike, so that itch gets scratched in a way but there’s nothing better than a good road trip with good people, good music and a few timmy’s drive thrus on the way.

5. Groceries can be fussy, to say the least.  As I have lived near a grocery store since I’ve been without wheels I just go to store a lot. Lots of little trips, rather than one big expensive thing. Costco runs are out which actually saves you money as you don’t buy all the stuff you think you need because it’s such a good deal.

7. If you do need a car, you can rent. There’s zipcar here in town and for about ten bucks an hour I can rent any car from trucks to minis to hondas to mazdas and just walk to the corner –  grab the car and do my thing and drop it off again. If  I wanted to go somewhere else, I could rent a more traditional car at a more traditional car rental.  A weekend car rental can be had for about $100 if you’re not too fussy on models and don’t need a SUV or Minivan. It’s way cheaper to only use a car when you absolutely need to, rather than paying for one that just sits in your driveway

8. I don’t miss the $700 tuneups, or $350 in-cabin air filter changes every three months, or the $95 fillups or the over priced washes or parking tickets, or driving around the block six times to find a spot to grab a coffee only to come back to a $35 ticket. Nope, I don’t miss it one bit. There’s a lot to owning a car. More than the monthly payment.

9. I have lost no friends or  family members due to my car-lessness. The car does not make you a better person. You do.

1o. Cars are not evil. If you value a car, great. But they are not investments they are expenses. Cars are fun and I miss those late night drives home with the radio on and the traffic is nowhere to be found. It’s just you the lights of the city and your thoughts. It’s fun. But you can get the same thing walking on a path on the river on a warm summer’s eve too.  Want music?  bring your iPod. There’s an alternative to cars. Look down, they are your feet.

Will I have a car again? Maybe, when and if either my  financial, geographical or social situation changes than a car might be a welcome addition to my life. This  is not an anti-car article, but maybe I can get you to see that with some planning it is possible to live your life without a car. You might get cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but you’ll also get a lot more exercise just by default and the money savings can really help. I do not miss the $1000+ my car was costing me.

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