Credit Card Hobbies

I was recently thinking about my interests and hobbies and how much they are present in my life at the moment. When I was younger, basically all my time was spent on hobbies. Now, as an adult, my free time is much more valuable and therefore I look forward to doing things I love. Have you ever met people, whereby their hobbies were basically putting them into debt? I have! For example; I know a few guys who really love paintballing. Being unaware myself of paintball, I thought you could go, pay $15 and have a good time. Well I quickly found out that you had to buy equipment, guns, the paint, and the memberships….all of which was like $700. I guess I can’t pass any judgement, but I would rather spend my free time stress free, without worrying about money. Of course, there are some people who can easily afford this, and that is great, but in my opinion if you have to pay for your hobbies on your credit card, there is an issue.

My hobbies may be plain, but it’s what I enjoy:

 

As you can see these are some of my hobbies. The list is pretty basic, but it really keeps me in touch with myself, my loved ones, and allows me to really enjoy something extravagant when it happens. For example: Giuliano and I just recently went to Montreal. to some…it might seem small, boring, redundant. But to us, it was just nice to get away, to a new city, and since we don’t usually do stuff like that very often it provides more satisfaction.

Having reasonable expectations and goals allows me the ability to save ($) more than expected. If I constantly wanted something more, better, bigger, I wouldn’t have the sense of financial independence I have at such a young age.

 

Work Life Balance: Does it exist, or are we dreaming?

Everyone jumped on the Work-life balance phenomena when it was first introduced. We all know what makes us happy and satisfied in life, (family, healthy, money, and career success) but are we living up to our expectations? Or can Humans even be satisfied?

On the Company side of it, workplaces now offer more “friendly” atmospheres for employees to benefit. With the implementation of strong Human Resources practices, workplaces feel they are meeting their employees’ needs. Some examples of programs that have been implemented to create workplace balance:

 

With all of these (and more) programs being implemented and moulded to meet the needs of employees, is it enough? Personally, the main thing that any workplace could offer me is freedom. All these programs essentially make you spend more time at the workplace (even if your not doing work), or you feel like you have to be more committed to them. For example: having an on site gym. Sure it’s great to be able to go the gym early in the morning, or after work, but essentially the minute you walk in, you are at work.

Personally, I haven’t reached a sense of work life balance as of yet. My current work is geared towards my skill level, however I do find myself staying late 15 minutes each day, or going home with a few tasks. My time is valuable. I feel that my time is more valuable than what I am currently paid per hour. The only possible way that I could reach a sense of work/life balance is to find something that I truly love and feel passionate about, and do that with a sense of freedom (So essentially, creating my own business). It is not about being lazy. I would be willing and able to put 12 hours a day into something that I love, compared to my current situation of 8 hours per day, doing something that I might like a few days out of the week. I am lucky enough to know a few people in my life that have followed their path and are doing work that they love. These people give me the motivation and inspiration that anything is possible, with hard work, determination and passion.

Quite quickly I have realized that no matter the job, it is still only a job. Sometimes it seems as if we are slaves to the company. In reality most of us are underpaid when you take into consideration the profits of the company, or the pay of the more senior people. In the end, most of us will not become financially wealthy with a job. Passive Income, alternative income, home based part time business, or investing is where you will earn your financial wealth.

In my honest opinion, work/life balance does not exist for the general population, nor will it ever. Work today, is just too much time away from things that really matter in life. The even more depressing factor is the more money you make at a job, the less work/life balance you will feel. So, essentially this is the most satisfied I will be in a job.

 

Update: Business Within the Family

I recently blogged about how a close family member wanted me to loan him money. I really had to think about it because this money was what I have been able to save over the past 9 months.

Update: I have decided to go ahead and loan him the money. How could I not really? It’s a favour for him, and in the end it will be a favour for me as well. This is really my first time loaning anyone money. I made a few mental notes for myself to follow to ensure that everything is done properly.

1. Evaluate: I had to evaluation my situation. Can I survive without this money? If there were an emergency, could I pay for the situation in advance? Also, I have to evaluate his situation. He is a reliable, professional person, and truly only asks for money for serious issues, not leisure or wasteful reasons. For example: Without any offensive feelings, I would not be loaning money to anyone if the money were going to such things as drugs, alcohol, or any other addictions.

2. Same expectations: Going into this we both have to want the same expectations. For example: Same interest return rate, same initial amount of money to be loaned. We both have to understand when he needs to money exactly, and when I will receive the money back. Having different expectations will only lead to tension, and bad feelings.

3. Writing: Always, always, always make sure that everything is in writing. Not only do I follow this in my personal life, but I follow this in my work life as well. I document everything, and ensure that proper processes are followed. For this situation, he and I signed off on paper agreements, which is essentially a business agreement.

All in all, I feel happy that I am able to help family and friends. Sometimes we have to look at our situation, and realize that in the big scheme of things, most of us are pretty comfortable and have a wonderful standard of living.

 

Business within the Family

So how often do business deals within a family go wrong? In my experiences, almost always. However, one of my close family members has just given me a thought to consider. Essentially he wants me to loan him a substantial amount of money, and he pay the money back + interest, around August 2010. I am completely fine with loaning him money, because he is very professional and everything will be done in an official manner.  However, this is the money I have been saving to start some serious investing.

Currently I save money within my joint account for our down payment; I have automatic withdrawals biweekly to 2 different investments, and my own personal savings which I might be loaning out now. If I do loan this money:

          1. My net worth will take a steep decrease
          2. I will feel broke
          3. I will have to put off serious investing for a another few months

On the other hand, come August 2010 when he pays me back, I will feel an automatic increase in net worth again. Another factor, I don’t know if I can say no to him, and I know he would be there for me if I needed him.

It is a tough decision, and I am going to have to really think this over in the next few days.

 

Live now, or Save now?

I always go back and forth. Should I:

           a)Save really hard now and then enjoy my life later on
                                             OR 
           b)Should I enjoy my time now more so than I do, and save all throughout?

Honestly, it is a really tough decision. One could say, you can save all the money in the world right now, but you never know what tomorrow can bring (death, sickness, and life changing events). Or, you can enjoy your time now; doing things you love (vacations, expensive hobbies, fine dining consistently, etc.) and work your entire life maintaining this lifestyle.

So…what is better? I honestly just don’t have an answer for that. I tend to live the Save now mentality. Whereby, I save a lot of my earned money now, for hopes of an extra early retirement, and enjoy life thereafter. One graph can really outline my current life. Illustrated below is the allocation of money saved, expenses, and money spent each month.

Money saved: refers to all money saved in any account, whether it is savings, RRSP, investments, or our joint account.

Expenses: refers to all living expenses, such as gas, food, transportation. (I am lucky enough to still live at home; therefore my expenses are quite low each month)

Money Spent: refers to money that I spend for leisure, so clothing, gifts, going to restaurants, movies, coffees etc. As you can tell, it is not very expensive.

As you can see from the graph, my savings far outweigh all other factors. I am really proud of myself for the commitment that I have made to saving and trying to provide a better life for myself and my family. However, there are some days where I think to myself, am I doing the right thing? What happens if I wake up tomorrow and experience a life changing event that makes me regret the fact I haven’t done anything extravagant for myself?

With that being said, since I do stick to my budget, I feel that I will be able to retire at a much younger age than ever expected and finally have a sense of freedom.

What approach do you take to living life? Do you save for the future, or do you live big now?

 

Modern Day Wedding on a budget

 Ever since I was young I have always dreamed of my wedding day. The only day that is about you, personalized by you to meet your expectations, and there probably won’t be another day in your life that is only about you on that scale. What other day would 160 people come to celebrate you, give you gifts, praise you, and pass along their well wishes? I can’t think of any.

The problem is, now that I am near that point I realize how expensive everything is. I am almost positive that weddings did not cost nearly as much as they do now even when you take inflation into consideration. So when and why did it change? Well, my own personal theories are that people (newlyweds) wanted a grand event and people were slowly earning more and more money which allowed them the finer things. Secondly, wedding items such as flowers, cakes, dresses, venues, photographers, DJ’s noticed that people could now afford these such things and started to raise their prices to make more profit. Vicious cycle in my opinion. However, all the services that these companies/people provide are in fact beautiful and magical, but some people just don’t have that kind of money to spend on one day. My wedding will not be as grand as I once imagined, but I am more than ok with that.

I will be having a somewhat Budget Wedding! In our opinion, there are 4 main sticking points with a wedding that we are willing to spend a little extra on.

Ceremony: Of course, the ceremony. Usually this is not an expensive item, and it wont be in our case. But what is a wedding without the actual ceremony?

Reception: The reception, the next more important factor. The food, the location, the style, the drinks…the place where all the fun and memories are made. We are willing to spend a little more on the reception venue because we value all of the aspects it brings to our wedding.

DJ: How can you celebrate without good music? People will always remember the good time they had at a party if there is good entertainment and music!

Photography: Pictures tell a thousand words? Pictures last a lifetime! Of course photos are so important as they hold the visual memories to this one special day.

The rest…we are willing to be frugal with. I have created a budget for our entire wedding of which I have included most of the details below. Although it seems like we are handing over a lot of money for this one day, we have taken into consideration the memories, once in a lifetime event, entire family in one place and the fact that it will be the beginning to our new life.

Below are 2 graphs that I have created:
1. The overall expenses of each factor within our wedding, and how the amount compares to each other. 

2. General Budget for our wedding.

Hopefully, we can come well under budget. I am really aiming for $25,000.00!

 

Food Cost- Analysis of the past 6 months

In order to be successful at saving money and creating wealth you have to plan, analyze and revise. Things change, nothing remains constant and therefore it is important to always be aware of your current decisions and any future decisions.

I started my budget in January 2009 and I have really noticed a difference both in my spending habits and my ability to save money. One area that everyone can relate to is: Food. Everyone needs food, 99% of people buy food. In January when I created my budget, I allocated $60 per week for food, for 3 people. I am happy to say that there have been maybe 3 or 4 times that I have gone over budget. You may think that $60 per week for 3 people is a lot of money just for food. Add that up, and it is $3120 per year. Generally, I try to buy healthy foods, non-packaged foods, sometimes organic, and a lot of fresh fruit and veggies—sadly these are all the more expensive items it seems. One thing that has really cut my food expense is the fact that 2 out of the 3 people do not eat meat (I do not eat meat).

So, I created my budget, planned for my expenses and now I am ready to analyze a good 6 month period ( Jan to June) to notice any trends or revise my budget. I have created a graph to show what I spent on food each month. Like I said before, I do spend a weekly amount, therefore I added the weeks in the month to get the monthly total. I had a rough month of March, but ever since then I am on the decline.

I am proud of myself for the fact that before the budget, I would buy a lot of pre-packaged foods and could easily spend $40 a few times per week. Now, that I am on track with my budget, I am able to increase my savings and have stronger goals.

Tip: really look at your food expenses. If they are not watched closely, it is so easy to spend too much money. Grocery chains know that we have to buy food, so they can almost get away with very expensive items. For more helpful information, refer to my previous entry about Grocery Shopping Tips.

 

Can a home gym compete?

The average annual gym membership is $600 (50.00 * 12). Of course some may be less, and some are definitely more. Add that up over 5 years and you have paid out $3000 on the gym membership alone.

Here are my Pro’s and Con’s of working out at home:

Pro’s	Con’s
Work out when you want	Tends to be less motivation
Privacy	It can be better to work out with 1 close person
Save your money	You won’t have the same quality equip.

I signed a contract for a gym membership last September and I am about to end it I think. The fact that I have handed over so much of my money, to use their facilities, along with the other 300+ people daily does not sit well with me. Instead, I can run outside and do my weights at home and gradually work up to a nicer home gym. In the mean time I do have the basic equipment at home and I can save the $45.00 I pay out each month.

I did sign a contract, but I am hopeful that they will cooperate once the renewal period comes. Fitness Centres are famous for continuing the direct withdrawal even after you notify them you are leaving. So by September, I should be able to eliminate a fixed expense of $45.00 per month.

Is it really worth it? Can a home gym compete? I am a fan of health and fitness, but I am also a fan of being frugal and smart.

 

Finding your Career Path

Choosing a career is a very serious decision and something that should take a lot of time and effort. However, according to the U.S Department of Labour, the average person will change their career path 3-5 times throughout their life. So there is good news, if you make the wrong decision the first time, there is definitely hope that you will find your calling. More good news comes to people who have been recently laid off, who are able to take part in what is known as Second Career.

Second Career, is a government run program within Ontario that enables people who have recently been laid off, the ability to train for a new career while receiving financial support. For example: if you were an automotive employee and were laid off, you can now be enrolled in Second career and finally get the training to become a graphic designer.

I made the mistake. I jumped into a career path that wasn’t really suited for me. Currently I am still stuck in the same career; however I keep all of my options open and continue to grow as a person. It is not to say that what I do each day is not enjoyable, but I definitely know it is not my true calling.

If you are currently looking to make a career jump, or just interested in what is out there, I have compiled a lot of information for your use.

1. I have compiled a graph to indicate the National Salary Average for 10 common job titles. This salary information was collected from careerbuilder.com. It is important to remember that the wages of a certain job should not be the deciding factor. Many aspects come into play when choosing a career.

            *Is this job in demand, and will it be in demand in the future?
            *Is this a job where I can wake up 5 days a week and be happy going to work?
            *Is their employment within the career path, within my geographical area?
            *Do I have the personality traits to succeed within this career?
            *Overall, will I have a sense of personal satisfaction?
            *Are the wages sufficient enough for my current lifestyle?

2. The second drawing illustrates jobs in demand. Of course, different geographical locations will provide different jobs in demand, but generally these following jobs are in demand at this point in time. Being aware of employment trends makes you more knowledgeable and better  prepared for situations.

 

Gift Giving

I recently bought Giuliano Planet Earth DVD series for our 6 year anniversary this past week. I have 3 serious passions in life: 

               1. Animals
               2. Saving Money
               3. Spending time with family

Therefore, it only seemed right that I would finally buy him this DVD that he had been asking for since its release date, and I know I would benefit from it too! Animals are my true love. You know how some people carry around family portraits or pictures of their first car in their wallet; well I carry around a picture of my Smokey.  I try to help out in every way I can to make a better life for all animals, whether it is through donations or time spent. Along with the Planet Earth DVD, I also adopted a Tiger through WWF for Giuliano as well. He loves Tigers and what better way to support his love than through a donation.

So far, I have only seen the first DVD of this series and I am just in awe of this planet. There is just so much that in really unknown in terms of scenery and animals that it really puts me into a trance. We, as humans should be happy and satisfied with what we have and try not to strive to reach the impossible. Life is more than just money, its about making a difference, and spending your time doing what you love.

My Smokey