{"id":20315,"date":"2015-02-26T09:28:22","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T14:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=20315"},"modified":"2025-01-28T10:06:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T10:06:01","slug":"financial-problems-become-a-hobby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2015\/02\/26\/financial-problems-become-a-hobby\/","title":{"rendered":"How one guys financial problems became his hobby"},"content":{"rendered":"

THERE’S NO PERFECT FINANCIAL MODEL<\/span><\/h2>\n

Let’s face it, if you owe money to people you have financial problems that need to be addressed and attacked with a plan. <\/em><\/p>\n

Your money issues might not necessarily be problems that will cause you financial stress.<\/p>\n

On the other hand if your debt keeps growing you may want to re-think how certain events might affect your stress levels.<\/p>\n

Finances are for life not just until you are debt free because financial problems never really go away they just get masked with dreams.<\/p>\n

Financial problems may be considered consumer debt, facing bankruptcy, creditors calling, owing money to family and friends, no money to pay bills and even the unknown. The list is endless BUT<\/strong> people with little to no money aren’t the only people with financial problems.<\/p>\n

When you are in debt that can easily change if you lose your job <\/a>and can’t pay the money you owe.<\/p>\n

Can you see how that might be a problem?<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The birth of Canadian Budget Binder was created to share a journey of inspiration, new life and financial problems.<\/p>\n

I’m that “guy” Mr.CBB A.K.A (MO), welcome to my blogging hobby!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since the first blog post at CBB our budgeting journey sure has changed as expected. I thought I might tackle chatting a bit about living debt free, blogging and life changes.<\/p>\n

You might think just because I moved to Canada with some money in my pocket meant that I shouldn’t have had any financial problems, think again.<\/p>\n

Having a University degree and many years of working experience behind me in the UK I struggled to get a job in Canada. No one would hire me without Canadian experience. I would be lying if I didn’t say I could feel the stress mounting up.<\/p>\n

Not only was I living in a new country where I thought it would be reasonably easy to find a job but my career seeking journey turned out to be a disaster. All sorts of things were running through my mind, mainly about financial security and my new wife.<\/p>\n

My wife had a decent job but this was all about me. I was the one who was responsible for my career and I was faced with finding a job, using my savings or returning to school. Once I had my University degree swapped over and credits applied, off to school I went.<\/p>\n

My financial problems weren’t over by a long shot. There was no way I was getting OSAP<\/a> or any type of loan so the financial burden of my education was all on me.<\/p>\n

When I started looking for a job in Canada the most I could get paid was minimum wage<\/a>. It was disheartening knowing the education I had behind me but not a shock knowing what I know today. Most educated students struggle to find a job in Canada that eventually pays well.<\/p>\n

There is such a misconception when moving to the USA or Canada to “live the dream”. Sure circumstances may be different in terms of economy but jobs are scarce no matter where you live.<\/p>\n

Living Simple<\/span><\/h2>\n

Back in the UK where I bought my first house at 21<\/a> and my second at 24 I was always living simple. I knew that financial problems were only a step away if something were to happen to my career.<\/p>\n

I don’t think many people give much thought to what they would do in the event they do lose their job as opposed to trying to be a good employee. Working hard, experience and a few bucks in the bank will only get you so far and I knew that.<\/p>\n

I was always looking for a deal because living frugal meant I could pay my bills, mortgage and still have a few dollars left over to invest in my pension plan at work.<\/p>\n

I don’t think looking back that I ever dreamed that finance would be such a huge part of my life today nor that I would be writing about it.<\/p>\n

It’s amazing to see finance related posts I’ve written shared at The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and on some well-known financial websites.<\/p>\n

Financial problems never end<\/span><\/h2>\n

It’s true just because you are debt free that doesn’t mean that your financial problems are over, far from it. Unless you have money in the bank that will carry you until you are buried in the ground then you have financial problems in your path.<\/p>\n

So many people think that they will be fine come their retiring years relying on the government and the sale of their home but I don’t trust that for a minute.<\/p>\n

Anything could happen and that’s similar to putting all of your eggs in one basket although some people only have this system to rely on.<\/p>\n

Rely on your own savings and investments not that of which is apparently coming your way.<\/p>\n

Where would we be if…<\/span><\/h2>\n

When I found my first job after my Canadian graduation it was then that I started to really get a grip on living in Canada<\/a> and our finances. I had no idea about the cost-of-living until I had actually spent a good year here.<\/p>\n

We weren’t using a budget<\/a> yet but money was always a topic for the wife and I because we were starting our lives together and we knew we didn’t want debt to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

I often wonder where we would be today had I have not had the career luck over the years. I certainly don’t think we would be mortgage free. Although it wouldn’t have been the end of the world because the mortgage typically is the longest debt held by a homeowner. Most don’t rush to pay it off as fast as we chose to do.<\/p>\n

I possibly would be making less money than I do today which means that we likely wouldn’t be living in the house we have or doing the renovations that I’m doing.<\/p>\n

I’ve since come to realize that no matter if you live in a house or an apartment that your financial problems never really go away.<\/p>\n

Debt free doesn’t mean you’re done<\/span><\/h2>\n

That’s right just because you have no debt doesn’t mean that you get to live life for free or on easy street. When one door closes another opens especially in the financial world.<\/p>\n

Our net worth may have gone up and is going up but since closing the door on our mortgage we welcomed our baby boy into the family. That means that we have baby financial problems to address with our budget.<\/p>\n

The best part is those financial problems make it all worth it because he’s such a joy in our lives. Parenting is far from easy or cheap to do but very rewarding.<\/p>\n

Paying for diapers and even his education savings put a dent in our pretty budget savings every month. Remember that door closing that I was just talking about… nothing lasts forever.<\/p>\n

We are to the point where most of our net income is spent, if not now but very soon we will be living on a tight(er) budget. It’s not the end of the world for us because we could stop payments on certain things to liquify cash and life would go on.<\/p>\n

My point is that with every level of financial freedom comes a new set of financial problems.<\/p>\n

Once we moved out of our rental we were able to buy our first house together. It was then that money really took front seat in our financial conversations.<\/p>\n

Fear of losing our home or not being able to pay bills set in and with that we were documenting our numbers on paper. It wasn’t long after this that we started to budget which was certainly different for us but boy did it open our eyes to the expenses we had and money we spent.<\/p>\n

That’s why I started this blog. I needed a place to document our financial problems and share how we were going to combat them one by one.<\/p>\n

I’ve since realized that we are far from alone in this budgeting journey. Many of you that read CBB are now budgeting and have come to realize just how important a budget truly is.<\/p>\n

The fans want to know…<\/span><\/h2>\n

I get lots of reader mail here at CBB and I wrote this post today because I wanted to share with all of you about common questions we get from fans.<\/p>\n