I know we have, many times and then we finally did something about it.<\/p>\n
There are four things you need to consider in order to save up money<\/strong>.<\/p>\n First of all, to save up money means that you are;<\/strong><\/p>\n To save up means that you are stashing money away to use for a need or to invest for the future.<\/p>\n For example, Monica needed to save up money to go on her holiday to Spain.<\/p>\n Why do we buy things we don’t need?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, it’s likely a mix of emotions which can be happiness and sadness to reach fulfilment.<\/p>\n When you want to save up money there is a process that needs to happen like clock-work and it involves budgeting.<\/p>\n I know that there are people who “stress spend” to fill a void in their lives and this kind of impulse shopping is dangerous.<\/p>\n I’m going to say that just about everyone has been in this position at one point in their lives.<\/p>\n Perhaps a relationship fails and you begin spending money to look and feel better and it gets out of control.<\/p>\n Maybe you’re addicted to grocery shopping and can’t pass up a deal which causes your grocery budget to explode.<\/p>\n Whatever the case may be behind your emotion shopping that causes shoppers remorse to take a step back before you swipe at the cashier.<\/p>\n Ask yourself, Do I really need to buy this or do I just want it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shopping just because you are sad or struggle with a shopping addiction is like eating a bucket of ice-cream and not sure why you did it.<\/p>\n The idea here is to balance your plate with a budget and to tighten the reigns so you aren’t spending crazy amounts of money when you should be saving.<\/p>\n What’s causing your void?<\/strong><\/p>\n Often times writing out what you are feeling helps a person come up with goals.<\/p>\n Use your time doing things you enjoy instead of spending money that you don’t have.<\/p>\n It’s better to be involved with local clubs, groups or organizations or even learning something about a topic that interests you.<\/p>\n Saving up money is great but sometimes a faster way to build your bank account is to:<\/p>\n Investing your money for long-term retirement goals is a no-brainer especially the way costs for seniors are far beyond expensive.<\/p>\n When you get older having a savings account beyond emergency savings is critical to living your best retirement life and making sure your health needs are met.<\/p>\n Another way you can spend money to make money is to invest in something that gives you a return such as advertising for this blog or your business or buying and reselling items.<\/p>\n I’m sure there are many other ways to bulk up your savings and investments but I’m putting the idea out there that it’s possible and you should do it.<\/p>\n Donating is fantastic but if you are short on meeting financial goals consider selling what you can and using the money to pay for debt or invest in your future.<\/p>\n Have you ever felt like you needed to wear something new to work, events or gatherings each time?<\/p>\n The thought of anyone seeing you wear the same thing twice is not uncommon and an expensive mindset to carry.<\/p>\n Fashion trends and shopping for new clothes can eat up your clothing budget with one or two items.<\/p>\n What I always do before buying new clothes is to picture where I would wear the item.<\/p>\n This helps me decide whether it’s a piece that I can use in my wardrobe or it’s something that just looks good.<\/p>\n We quit buying new clothes many years ago and have opted to shop at second-hand stores exclusively.<\/p>\n In the event we can’t find what we need then we will buy brand new but it’s always used first, new second.<\/p>\n The savings are HUGE especially if you shop for used clothes on discount days.<\/p>\n A great tip is to shop ahead by season for used clothing as often times the clothing is cheaper.<\/p>\n Buying gadgets and home decor is the biggest waste of money when you don’t need it.<\/p>\n Mrs. CBB always used to say she could find a spot for something she’d buy or even get free.<\/p>\n Over the past 2 years, she’s been selling the stuff to save up even more money even though we are debt-free<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n First of all, you probably don’t need the gadget or home decor you are buying because less is more.<\/p>\n Consider if that new clock to replace the old one is needed or whether you need the latest smartphone when yours works perfectly fine.<\/p>\n If you want to save up money then stop buying stuff you don’t need.<\/p>\n Buying a new vehicle means you’re purchasing something that depreciates the minute you drive it off the lot.<\/p>\n Opting for used or slightly used vehicles is the best route to go for your money especially if you have the cash upfront.<\/p>\n We purchased a 2017 showroom truck that had 5000kms on it for $46,000 everything included far less than MRP of $79,500 plus taxes etc.<\/p>\n Although we paid cash for the truck if you must get a loan find a vehicle that won’t make you go broke.<\/p>\n Consider the costs of repairs and if you don’t know call a mechanic and ask them for advice on the make and model you want to purchase.<\/p>\n Back when we started our budgeting journey just shortly after we married we ate out once in a while.<\/p>\n The problem was that we knew to make the food at home ourselves was far cheaper.<\/p>\n Besides, we hated leaving tips and that’s the honest truth.<\/p>\n It’s not because we don’t want to tip but we believe the owner should be paying employees a proper wage and get rid of tipping.<\/p>\n There’s no reason customers should be paying for restaurant food and the employee’s wage. Not a bad business if you ask me.<\/p>\n Now we have an entertainment budget<\/strong><\/a> and allowance<\/strong> <\/a>that we can spend as needed where before we just went out to eat.<\/p>\n A big lesson we learned living a frugal lifestyle is that if you buy something that is cheap, you get what you pay for.<\/p>\n If you want to buy something that you’d like to have around for a long time it’s better to save for quality over the lowest possible price.<\/p>\n Just recently we bought a washer and dryer which I researched to death online.<\/p>\n The price was fairly high for both and I waited for a sale plus received the government grants along with rewards points.<\/p>\n I didn’t rush out to buy the set but waited for the right time.<\/p>\n If our machines were no longer working I’d head to the laundry mat until I found a price for a quality set that was with-in our budget.<\/p>\n Just because the price is less doesn’t mean you’ll get the life you want from an item.<\/p>\n Candles are a huge waste of money and something we used to buy quite often from stores like Zellers, Shoppers Drug Mart or shops in the mall.<\/p>\n To be fair we spent minimal money on a massive stockpile of Glade and Febreeze candles using coupons between 2010-2012.<\/p>\n Even though we spent small amounts of money after coupon we can safely say it was still a waste of money.<\/p>\n If you really need to burn candles consider going to a second-hand shop where they have loads of candles for pretty cheap.<\/p>\n What other ways can you light up your environment candle free?<\/p>\n One of the worst purchases you can make is buying new books from book stores or online sites like Amazon.<\/p>\n Not only are you blowing money on something you might not ever read again but it’s going to be a dust collector.<\/p>\n Books are clutter in a house and unless you plan on reading it over and over its money wasted.<\/p>\n Visit your local library and see if you can take it out for free and then save up money you would have spent in your savings.<\/p>\n Perhaps the book you want to read is not at the library just yet, then wait for it.<\/p>\n Patience gets you further when you want to save up money than does wanting stuff now.<\/p>\n Optional cheaper ways to buy books is at second-hand shops, free from other people online and garage sales.<\/p>\n If you want to save up money and get your budget back on track so you can pay off debt than quit buying stuff you don’t need.<\/p>\n However, once you are debt-free<\/strong><\/a> you can start to introduce eating out at restaurants or buying coffee outside of the home.<\/p>\n Whatever choices you make will dictate how fast you save up and win this debt game once and for all.<\/p>\n Related: Debt Free Mom Shopoholic Comes Clean<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Discussion: What have you quit buying to help you save up money? Leave me your comments below as I’d love feedback on this post.<\/p>\n Love to you all,<\/p>\n Mr.CBB<\/p>\n You’re probably wondering why we had such a large expense in our Health and Beauty section aren’t you?<\/p>\n Well, you should talk to Mrs. CBB about that, haha!<\/p>\n She has been getting her body de-fuzzed, lol.<\/p>\n For years she has had issues with in-grown hairs but she has solved the problem by getting laser hair removal.<\/p>\n Yes, it is costly but we had to save up money before she could proceed.<\/p>\n Yes, it is painful but the results are amazing.<\/p>\n She no longer has to shave…and she loves it.<\/p>\n I’ll be doing a blog post all about the process, costs and outcome of her laser hair removal journey.<\/p>\n The rest of our month was pretty standard so we did a great job.<\/p>\n Next month we have another large expense so get ready for that surprise.<\/p>\n Don’t forget if you aren’t subscribed to the blog you won’t get my bi-weekly email newsletter with behind the scenes at the CBB house and Blog. Plus exclusive contests.<\/p>\n Sign up today!!<\/p>\n Have a great budgeting month everyone.<\/p>\n Our savings of 32.76% <\/strong>includes investments as well as any savings for this month based on the net income<\/strong> of $9307.37<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We save up money in our projected expenses for things that need to be paid for in the coming months.<\/p>\n All of the categories took 100%<\/strong> of our income which shows that we accounted for all of the income in February 2020.<\/p>\n This type of budget is a zero-based budget<\/strong><\/a> where all of the money has a home.<\/p>\n Below is a breakdown of our expenses which helps us to understand where all of our money goes.<\/p>\n Below you will see two tables, one is our monthly budget and the other is our actual budget.<\/strong><\/p>\n This budget represents 2 adults and a pre-schooler,<\/strong> plus retirement investments.<\/p>\n Budget colour chart: If highlighted in blue that means it is a projected expense. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Since May 2014 we\u2019ve been mortgage-free<\/strong><\/a> so much of our money will be directed at savings, investments, and renovations.<\/p>\n I appreciate that you enjoy this budget update each month but I do hope you view this as an educational tool rather than\u00a0comparing your financial numbers<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>as our situations are all unique.<\/p>\n Spending less than we earn and budgeting has been the easiest way for us to pay down debt and save money.<\/p>\n\n
Save Up By Avoiding Shoppers Remorse<\/h2>\n
Spend Money On Stuff That Makes You Money<\/h2>\n
\n
1. Save Up: Quit Buying Coffee<\/h2>\n
![\"quit-ordering-coffee-to-go-to-save-up-money-Tim-Hortons\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/quit-ordering-coffee-to-go-to-save-up-money-Tim-Hortons.webp\")
<\/p>\n2. Quit Buying New Clothes<\/h2>\n
3. Save Up: Quit Purchasing New Gadgets<\/h2>\n
![\"quit-buying-gadgets-to-save-up-money\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/quit-buying-gadgets-to-save-up-money.webp\")
<\/p>\n4. Save Up: Quit Buying New Vehicles<\/h2>\n
![\"toyota-tundra-white-truck\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/toyota-tundra-white-truck-.webp\")
<\/p>\n5. Save Up: Quit Eating Out At Restaurants<\/h2>\n
![\"quit-eating-out-fast-food-burger-to-save-up-money\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/quit-eating-out-fast-food-burger-to-save-up-money.webp\")
One of the first cuts we made to our budget was eating out at restaurants.<\/p>\n6. Quit Buying Baked Goods
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"Tim-Hortons-Timbits-Cruellers-and-Apple-Fritter-Donuts\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Tim-Hortons-Timbits-Cruellers-and-Apple-Fritter-Donuts.webp\")
<\/p>\n7. Quit Buying Cheap Stuff<\/h2>\n
8. Quit Buying Candles<\/h2>\n
![\"save-up-and-stop-buying-candles\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/save-up-and-stop-buying-candles.webp\")
<\/p>\n9. Quit Buying Books<\/h2>\n
![\"buying-book\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/buying-books-at-book-store.webp\")
<\/p>\nSummary<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nHome Budget Income Report Feb 2020<\/h2>\n
![\"February-2020-Month-Income-and-Expenses\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/February-2020-Month-Income-and-Expenses.webp\")
<\/p>\nWhere did the money go?<\/h2>\n
Home Budget Percentages<\/h2>\n
![\"February-2020-Month-Income-and-Expenses\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/February-2020-Household-Percentages.webp\")
<\/p>\nMonthly Home Budget Expenses<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong><\/li>\nMonthly Budget and Actual Budget<\/h2>\n
![\"February-2020-Monthly-Budgeted-Amounts\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/February-2020-Monthly-Budgeted-Amounts.webp\")
<\/p>\nMonthly Home Budget Actual Expenses<\/h2>\n
![\"February-2020-Actual-Monthly-Budget\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/February-2020-Actual-Monthly-Budget.webp\")
<\/p>\nCBB Home Budget Updates Month By Month<\/h2>\n
![\"2020-CBB-Budget-Challenge-2\"](\"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/2020-CBB-Budget-Challenge-2.webp\")
<\/p>\n