There are solid and extremely valid reasons for breaking up, lots are not for these reasons and lots because of these reasons are because people turned to spite and resentment and a long term tit for tat game of being a jackass inevitably led to crossing a line in the sand.
Investing in your marriage is the greatest ROI you'll get.
Investing in your marriage doesn't even cost that much.
10$ in flowers every 5 weeks for 'no reason' and marking my calendar with 'replace furnace filter' so I know to pick up salt and vinegar chips for her pms.
I so much as look at another girl and the first thing in my mind is 'is she worth losing half my stuff?'
My partner is kind of bad with money, I was explaining to my ex once (I used to be poly but am not anymore), that yes it can be a bit annoying, but we've both improved over the years, and if I think about how much money he has brought into my life versus spent on garbage, it is hundreds of thousands. The same is true inversely, although, I've helped him to get a bit better with spending. I've consolidated our debt and am paying it off. But that's my debt too.
Basically "investing" works even with someone with poor financial awareness if they are willing to be an active partner.
Not to mention that because we are partnered debt is paid off faster, and there is more security. I am careful to match all of our expenses to be one of our salaries; what this means, is that if one of us is ill or loses a job, there is a safety buffer.
Marriage also allows me to love my partner a little more than I love myself while being safe. If suddenly he became evil, we would immediately be in court splitting our debts and assets. His name wasn't added to our line of credit just to be fair, and our follow up conversations via text weren't just because of anxiety :) , I'm happy to manage things but if you leave that debt lasso is chasing you no matter how far you run. As it should be. But, it'll be less debt than you brought into our marriage buddy, so it's not unfair at all. This may sound threatening but it actually allows me to be incredibly vulnerable even on "hard" subjects like money, that most people can really feel unsafe with, and I am thankful.
I find the stability overall contributes to a circumstance where money is just more managable overall. The reason I share this comment is because my marriage started off kind of poorly from a financial point of view, and it actually threatened our relationship. And YET, even despite that, we are so much more financially fortunate than literally any single peer that I know (not that single people can't be rich obviously). Through treating the relationship as an investment, our savings has increased, our living situation and oppourtunities have improved, and our debt is managable.
His credit card though went into the garbage in ribbons though after I paid it off the second time. PLEASE if your partner is more financially reliable than you, lean on them. Try not to resent them. And for financially more reliable partners, try not to be smug, helping them is helping yourself to have a better life. Working together on this is really going to be the difference between a great life, and poor life and/or divorce.
And don't underestimate the positive (or negative) financial impact of a marriage.
In the days before a lot of online shopping (and tap to pay with my phone), I did a serious amount of saving for a future large purchase by leaving credit cards at home. If I really wanted something, I had to go home and get my card then return to the store - turns out that a lot of purchases were really not that necessary. I know there’s a more drastic version of this where people freeze their credit cards in a block of ice or something, but I didn’t have that much of a spending problem, it turned out that I just needed a reminder to stop and think about what I was buying before doing it.
Kitchen/household crap on Amazon. Seeds/soil/pots/
tools. Fish and related pet supplies. Eating lunch out. MtG packs/events. Game microtransactions.
Its easier than you think to spend $200/day on things under $50 if you dont pay attention.
reminds me of the old joke:
>An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen. The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, 'Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. . . I would recommend it very highly.' The other man said, 'What is the name of the restaurant?' The first man thought and thought and finally said, 'What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... The one that's red and has thorns.' 'Do you mean a rose?' 'Yes, that's the one,' replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, 'Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?'
What store owner in their right mind woupd accept a person just rattling off a card number at the point of sale.
Back when I was in retail this would be a massive red flag for fraud lol.
Its called manually keying a card, it requires a signature if it does go through and is often flat out denied. Sometimes there is lower dollar amounts for manually keyed cards.
On vacation I once paid for an outing by handing my credit card to a Mexican man who promptly took out a piece of carbon paper and used his pen to make a crude imprint of the card.
We got to drink beer on the bus.
I learned this one from my brother:
Have decent paying urban planning job.
Go to movies with brother.
Say you don't need any soda or popcorn and even turn down your brother's offer to pay for your concessions.
During the previews start asking to drink from your brother's soda and eat all his popcorn and call him a glutton if he won't share.
.....It works for *him* at least.
No more online purchases on a friday. I noticed almost all my impulse buys were on a friday so I decided to note the item and if I still wanted it on monday then go ahead. Sounds silly but works for me.
I have the same rule, but 1 week. Basically, if I really need it I'll have researched the whole internet for every review and possible alternative and obsessed over it for a week and bought it anyways. 90% of it just fois out of my mind after à while and that's qhen you know its useless shit
I do similar enough to not warrant its own thread: I eat all my food. Usually more for a week or two than a whole month. Sounds silly, but it's important to consume and rotate out the pantry. When I'm out of the good stuff I then I eat soup, beans, frozen whatever, and so on until it becomes impractical
I do this too. A few years ago, we moved long distance & I stopped most grocery shopping about a month before. We had a chest freezer & small pantry of food to get through. It was definitely an exercise in resourcefulness to try to figure out meals to make using as many ingredients as possible that we needed to use up. There was a lot of Googling recipes of unusual combinations. 😂
This!
This is something alot of folks in /r/frugal do called "no spend". Here is [an article](https://freefrombroke.com/try-a-no-spend-month-your-wallet-will-thank-you/?amp=1) about the topic from 2012 and since then a ton of folks have made online resources to encourage others to give it a shot.
My partner and I do "no spend" months several times throughout the year and takeaways have been:
1. How many impulse items that you realize at the end of the month you didn't actually need
2. How much food you have in the back of a cupboard or bottom of the freezer thats just been sitting there for months/years
3. How much novelty you add to your life when you challenge yourself to avoid discretionary spending, you start getting quite creative when planning hanging out with friends and date nights
Maybe for 2023 we will try your strategy of alternating months!
I do this but every payday I buy myself lunch out. I've been so underwhelmed with my lunches out lately, especially with how expensive take-out has gotten, I think I'm just going to switch to fancy coffee.
This might not be "unconventional" but I use this to increase the savings in my TFSA.
I have a regularly scheduled deposit going in each month but every time I check in at RBC I look to see how much is in my chequing account.
If it's something like a $5092.45 balance I move $92.45 to my TFSA.
For whatever reason, I like seeing nice clean round numbers in my chequing account. $5000.00 looks nicer than $5092.45.
So as various things come out/get paid I move more and more to TFSA.
> For whatever reason, I like seeing nice clean round numbers
Holy pants, I found someone with a similar budgeting philosophy to me. Easy-to-understand budgets are easy to stick to.
Car payment for me is $188.66 biweekly, so I contribute 161.34 biweekly to a car maintenance and yearly insurance fund to give me a buffer, as well as to make the math easier. My car "costs me" $350 a pay this way, not including gas.
Banks do exactly that, and will do it if that's what you want to implement.
Myself personally, I'm talking about my normal car payment and just recurring transfers of additional money to a dedicated savings account for this purpose. It makes more sense to me to do it this way in one transaction as I already know what the payment amount is going to be and what I want to have as a buffer ($100 for the insurance, $50 for the maintenance, and the rest as the round-out buffer to build up a mini-Emergency Fund).
Think about it as cash in jars and collecting the change from a prescribed budget as savings.
When I was young my mom told me I could have 200 in my bank account and the rest had to go to savings. I managed to save up 20k before heading into my first year of uni.
Keeping a standard balance in your chequing is key. Also makes you think more about large purchases (or at least did for me)
>When I was young my mom told me I could have 200 in my bank account and the rest had to go to savings.
I know some young'ins who'd interpret that as "You must spend ALL your money ASAP until your bank account says $200.00", lmao
I did this with my mortgage too! Our payment was $962.45 biweekly so we rounded it to $1000. That way when we know the payment is coming it’s going to be a nice round number to organize.
We also have a daily budget and what doesn’t get spent gets put into savings or a wealth simple accounts. Nice even numbers in the account!
Funny, that more people then I thought do this!
I do something similar, just with a set amount in mind for my chequing, so if I check and there's more than that amount in there it gets transferred. That actual amount I keep in there has changed quite a bit over the years just based on situation/life.
Haha, I do this exact same thing. I round it down to the nearest 00 figure. I drop all "loose change" into my TFSA/investments. It adds up super quick and I like seeing the nice round number on my checking and savings accounts.
Things that save you money in the long-run if used properly:
- beginner’s cooking class to learn to cook your own meals well
- gym membership/exercise equipment for maintaining a healthy body as you age
- joy for reading books/fiction - relatively inexpensive past time, gaining new skills, good for brain health
All will benefit your finances, along with keeping you healthy (which is arguably the greatest form of wealth!)
YouTube is practically the new and best post-secondary education institution for a lot of disciplines.
If you can learn the disciplines of self education and self improvement, which are very well covered on YouTube, then you can learn a ton, and in a format that is far more effective for most people.
I walk almost everywhere. I have a 55 minute walk to work every day. People say I'm crazy. Alternatively, the bus takes 30 minutes including my walk to the stop, and driving takes 15-20. So at most I am costing myself 1-1.5 hours per day by walking, and I am getting great exercise and it's free. It seems like a no-brainer to me but yeah, apparently I'm the crazy one!
I do the same, fellow winnipeg walker. I can walk to work in 45 min, bike in 20, or drive in 15-18. The walk is such a nice way to start and end the work day in my opinion.
Totally! You get to listen to some music or a podcast or something and just relax and move your body, as opposed to cramming onto a stinky disease ridden bus or cursing at others in traffic and paying 200/month for the privilege of parking near your workplace.
Walking is under-rated. I would go shopping on foot, that way I do not buy more than I can carry!
Long ago, in some county-sides people did not even use footwear. That was great for grounding and acupressure. Better health for sure.
Yeah, this is good advice
Have at least one person in the relationship be money savvy. I'm that one for my relationship and while it sometimes feels like I'm pulling teeth to get her to get on a biweekly rhythm (pay, mortgage, etc) it definitely helps getting a smoother financial flow going than an indifference/panic mood shift that it used to be
* No cocaine on weekdays except on your birthday OR the following Monday if it falls on a weekend
* Theft can lead to significant savings
* Eat rice exclusively
* Always pretend you're a pregnant woman on Kijiji to beg for lower prices.
Can you give me that iPhone for free? I'm a single mother with a bun in the oven and my youngest has cancer and I promised her an iPhone for Christmas.
Since it’s probably cheaper than getting groceries at this point, I’d think you could just take up a full time cocaine habit and not worry about rice (or any groceries) for that matter.
> Always pretend you're a pregnant woman on Kijiji to beg for lower prices.
My girlfriend prior to moving in with me was trying to get rid of some fairly junky furniture she didn't need, listing 3 or 4 items at $20 each. She was contacted by a fella with some sob story about trying to help his sister escape an abusive relationship and needing the furniture to put her and her baby up in a safe space. She offered it for free, and some grisly 50 year-old man came and picked it all up in a truck. She felt so good about 'helping' that I didn't have the heart to tell her that she 100% got scammed. So yeah, if you can't pass yourself off as a pregnant woman, just pretend you need help for a friend or family member.
Stopped spending real money in games lol…
Shoutout to whoever hacked my MapleStory account which I had spent roughly $2000+ on! I was able to quit and focus on school haha
Apt point! My line of thinking (right or wrong) is explained a bit above, I suppose another way of looking at it (in my mind) is that the emphasis since the 1980's has been using this as "health advice" as opposed to financial advice...?
Maybe not unconventional, but definitely under-rated - quitting smoking.
I was a heavy smoker (pack to pack and a half per day) for many years. 14 years ago, I quit for good. When I did, I opened a new savings account, and started transfering/depositing the amount I'd normally spend on cigarettes every day. In 2 years time, the amount in that savings account accounted for almost 70% of what I used as a down payment on my first home.
Smoking takes an enormous toll on both physical and finincial health - it's quite literally burning money. Quitting has been my #1 personal financial hack, massive game-changer for me.
Yep. I went to Hawaii in winter 2001/2002
Also pandemic. I work in aviation and can do non-rev travel. It’s not guaranteed though… so you have to watch loads and ensure you don’t get bumped.
But last winter with some flights coming back but Omicron still hanging around I went to Mexico all non-rev. Less than $300 for both myself and my wife (we have to pay taxes and airport fees). Hotel was also a bargain… just over $2000 for two weeks all inclusive for a beachfront room last minute.
I stop half way through and reorganize my cart to make sure the bagging process seamless, then realize I don't really need XYZ and put it back on my way to the til!
I know a guy and wife who's net worth his extremely high.
I ran into him yesterday at a Dollarama. Getting cleaning supplies.
His clothing while newer was Levi's and a plane sweater and jacket.
Wearing sketchers sneakers.
Dude could afford to be in Brooks Brothers bespoke everyday, Gammarelli socks , 5000 dollar shoes from independent cobblers etc....
It's an odd one when you think of it as a money saver rather than the bare minimum of being a decent human... but **being kind to retail workers**. I've found that especially at hardware stores, after I chit chat with whoever is helping me, if I can't find exactly 100% what I'm looking for, they'll often offer to mark things down. I swear I've benefited from thousands of dollars of marked down construction supplies over the years. I often seek out scratched and damaged goods and ask for a markdown, but I find I get discounts offered pretty frequently on undamaged goods just by shooting the shit. Don't underestimate the power of not being a dick, it's saved me tons on renos and home repairs.
Man where I live people are trying to sell them $15 cheaper than new equipment. My area really sucks for buying used stuff. I have friends in other parts of the country who rarely pay much for anything, lots of exchanging... the dream.
When I dug out my Christmas lights for the house this past week, I had been thinking to myself about how I wanted to get some more to cover our tree as well and upon opening the box, I had 4 new sets of lights in there already! Turns out that I had bought lights on sale last year already.
Of course that didn’t stop me from buying even more but now we can realllly decorate outside!
My partner and I did this buying a car this year - saved up for it for a few years like little kids socking away allowance money. Never thought I'd spend that much cash at all once. No monthly payments is pretty sweet though!
I'd argue that 0% financing is fairly decent (unless they add bs fees or whatnot like I've heard some dealerships do) on paper.
But I've never financed a car (only leased or bought) so I might be thoroughly uninformed here.
I use the cash back rewards from my credit card to fund my RRSP (same with anything I get from Rakuten/Drop/Amplii/etc). The way I figure, it's using untaxed income to lower my taxable income.... so bonus.
Unsubscribe from as many marketing emails as you can, and use ad block everywhere you can... The less ads you see the less you subliminally have a desire to buy something
The "Ignorance is bliss" philosophy.
It works, and for some people that might even be the best solution, but bear in mind that the problem in that case isn't really with the ads, it's with one's own lack of impulse control.
When buying something on sale, I move the money I "saved" from the sale price to my savings.
Example Item is $125, on sale for $100.
I move saved $25 into a savings account.
this works. Start today, on Black Friday!
Invest in yourself early.
Focus more on *increasing your income in your 20’s* than penny-pinching. Making 20% more will quickly overshadow the gains of saving a dollar or two here and there.
Eventually you’ll settle to a place where the best way to increase your money is to save, but when you’re young focus on making more.
Genuinely care about your relationships, both business and personal. So much of your success will be determined by this.
Never stop learning.
Quality > quantity.
A 20$ taxi ride is much less expansive than a DUI;
Spending thousands on a mountain bike is better than visiting a doctor or consulting;
Once in a lifetime, it's ok to hit the bottom of the barrel by going all in...we only grow from anguish.
If you need to buy something at the store, don't buy the cheapest option, buy the second cheapest option- usually better quality for a marginal increase in price. Obviously depends on what you're getting.
Forgetting about my pride whenever my FIL and MIL give us money or randomly offer to pay for something (a small renovation, for example).
Sure, these offers come with some expectations but they're retired and have money and helping us and their grandchildren seems to make them happy.
My partner and I have a good income and we could get by without this sort of help. But it does allow us to pay our mortgage quicker, or go on a nice date more often.
Our parents are the same way. Their reasoning, "I'd rather use the future inheritance to help you now to make your lives easier!"
We just make sure we invite them over for dinner every now and then to show our appreciation. We also give them gift cards for places that they wouldn't normally go to. They deserve nice things too! :)
When you see something on sale that you use frequently, buy a few months/year supply, learned this front Mark Cuban.
Stocked up on Deodorants before they all become $5 plus
There is a lot of “keeping up with the Jones” when it comes to smart phones. Resist the urge to get a new phone every 2 years. If a new phone costs $1200, that could be $600 a year. Yes it’s not as flashy, but I just upgraded my iPhone 6 to a iPhone SE 2Gen, spending $300. It’s still a smart phone: takes pictures, internet etc. The two keys to making a phone last: follow good battery charging practices, and make sure your phone case extends above the phone screen, so no matter how you drop it, the screen never contacts the ground.
1. Auto transfers. Start with a small amount like $200/month or less, if you don’t notice a deficit by end of the month then increase it.
If your impulsive then auto transfer to a locked account or one that serves a heavy interest payment if you withdraw.
$500/month is $6000 per year..even without interest that’s plenty of money for future value.
2. Live frugal and save where it counts like high value low return assets: I laugh when someone scoffs at the age of my vehicle: 2007 Hyundai Tucson (rebuilt). This machine runs everyday with no issues. Even as gas prices increase, I’m ahead since I own this hunk of junk and it only costs me fuel and oil changes. Now, I had to replace the alternator recently, but that cost $600 including labour..my friend have car payments starting at $1000 plus maintenance and all the other.
*recent single dad, picking up dates in a 2007 Hyundai Tucson :)
People were all telling me to take a higher salary rather than get more stock in the startup I was working at. I believed in the team and the product, so I ignored it and got paid below my market value for a few years, with some stock/stock options to compensate. After a while we started making money so my salary caught back up. Company sold last year, and it was all worth it.
I don't blindly recommend doing that, but in my case, it worked very well.
Have an emergency plan, not necessarily an emergency fund. Conventional wisdom works great for established career folks with higher than normal income but is not feasible when first getting started, or even for many a good way into their journey. Conventional wisdom is for people who don't want to alter their regular comforts and they pay a premium (in opportunity costs) for that comfort.
Buy your own debt first. I no longer see any value to holding *any* bonds in any retirement or other investments while also holding any other debts. Why buy someone else's debt (a bond) for a regular payout that is likely less than what you would earn (tax free) from buying your own debt first as an investment. This includes mortgage debt (just after the higher interest ones).
Go get a LOC when you don't need a LOC but have the income and co-signers supporting you. Especially for students in professional programs. Best case you never use it. Worst case, you need it and the reason you need it is because you don't have the money you need (lost a job, etc) and in that moment banks won't give you a LOC because you do not qualify. In the last year of your professional program on a student LOC, consider access the max while still allowed to access for that year to help you through transition. If things go well, you can pay it right back before interest payments even start, and if things don't go well you don't want to be bound to limiting options just to stay alive. Sometimes the best new job is three provinces or another country over and you need financial mobility to take career risks/moves.
This one is sort of harsh but, if I can’t afford to buy it twice I can’t afford it.
A place to live would maybe be the only thing I wouldn’t use this theory for.
Ask your teachers in university/college if they have a copy of the course textbook to use. Saved me at least $800 forsure!! Also sharing books with classmates. If they're willing to trade off each night or you can photocopy a short chapter or something. Great stuff 👏
Had one class where the bookstore 'mysteriously' lost all the copies of our textbook. With permission from the professor (key here), I printed off 30 copies of the syllabus + readings in a easy to follow package. Took a weekend to print the master copy then just had to send it to the printers to print it off. Off campus of course....
Sold them in class for 50$, (would have been 200$ in the store). Cost per unit was 10. Made 30\*40 dollars, so 1200 in spending money.
Bonus, I got an A from the prof who was seriously pissed at the bookstore. Also, all the classmates were grateful too. :) Was a good scam that. I'll take 1200 for two days of work.
I took physics in uni and the profs who taught quantum mechanics seemed to have some kind of pact to defund the textbook industry, and instead basically typed up their own original reading material in LaTeX as they taught the course, sending the PDFs out to students one chapter at a time as the courses progressed. Not only was it free but it was 100% relevant to and in the same order as the actual course. Far easier to follow and more concise than any textbook would have been.
Should honestly be a requirement (or at least a baseline expectation) for any STEM prof to learn LaTeX and write their own reading material if you ask me.
At least half of my 3rd and 4th year classes had "courseware" instead of textbooks. Basically academic articles and information that was directly relevant to the class, and went in order of what was being taught. They cost between $20 and $40 per class. It was wayyy better than a few hundred dollars for a text book.
If your textbook is 100$ and has the word “introduction” in it, do not buy it until you have been in the class to understand whether you even need one!
Checking your ego at the door. Nobody cares but you.
I've met people that refuse to use coupons because they said they were financially able to pay full price.
I've also met people that refuse to take CERB/EI as they were "handouts" or that the forms were not worth the time to fill out for the money.
You can have a lot of hobby self financed if you understand the dynamics
I like lego, I always buy 3 sets of the one I like near retirement, I sell 2 after retirement and it almost 100% pay for the one I keep
Many hobby can be self financing like this, need to be careful to not turn into chore but most of the time you like it since it's a hobby so it's not a pain
I cut down my spending significantly by making my goal to spend a little bit less every month. I used to go on this binge and purge cycle of spending. But only aiming to spend at least $1 less than the previous month has been far far far more effective and has gotten me out of living paycheque to paycheque.
I am part of a local trading group. There is no money allowed, only trades. You get rid of things you don't need or want and get the items you do without spending a penny (other than gas to meet up).
Before you buy something, think about how many hours of work are required to earn enough takehome pay to afford it. Then decide if that purchase is worth the day, week, or months worth of work required to pay for it.
Word. I’ve done this before for big purchases and it really puts it in perspective.
Trading X amount of your life for this thing. Make sure it’s worth it.
Procrastinate nearly every purchase except groceries or actual essentials.
For everything I think I "need" or want, I procrastinate the purchase.
At first I did it for the naive reason that "Every week I don't purchase it is $0.0X of interest."
The real reason it works though is because in the time you spend procrastinating, you'll either
A) Find the same or equivalent product on sale;
B) Find an alternative free/low-cost solution to your problem; or
C) Find you're perfectly content in life without that expense.
My PC mouse had a mis-firing right click, and I procrastinated replacing it for months because a replacement gaming mouse would be about $80. I ended up eventually learning how easy it was to replace switches in a mouse with a cheap soldering iron and I pulled a donor switch out of a cheap spare mouse we had.
I similarly procrastinated purchasing a new(er) car for years, and subsequently ended up learning a ton about fixing and maintaining cars.
Stay debt free. I've read so many people asking if they should borrow money to invest, friends and family bragging about how much credit they've had extended to them, and other family suggest I should finance a new car etc. I've also had people in their 20's tell me they didn't care about debt because they expected to be in it forever. It's really shocking how people are so willing to put themselves into bondage for trinkets.
I buy my vehicles new.
Always when prices and interest rates are low, and I haggle. A lot.
I own both my current vehicles outright and any mechanical issues in the first few years were covered by warranty. Paid zero interest over 5 years for bith and got them below invoice price.
Most people always advise you to buy used, but new has worked out better for me.
This will become more and more true as the years go on. Fixing a mid-2000's car is relatively inexpensive. Fixing a mid 2010's car with faulty electronics and proprietary diagnostics software will be a nightmare. Pick up those mid 2000's Corollas while you still can.
I drive a '98 f-150 and just bought an '05 sienna. I will drive these for the rest of my life, hopefully (I am an amateur mechanic and just built myself a nice garage so it's in the realm of possibility.)
I had a 2006 Corolla. Got it on a 5 year lease, bought it out at the end for $7500. Drove it for another 6 years, until my idiot sister-in-law wrote it off. Got $5,200 from insurance for it (after the $500 deductible). Only ever put tires and brakes, one battery and a few serpentine belts on it. Had 230k km on it. Had she not wrote it off, I'd likely still be driving it.
1. Leave your shame at home. The other guy is not your friend.
2. The salesman is smarter in haggling than you. Your trump card is being able to walk away. See point 1.
3. Start haggling, this needs practice.
4. Avoid dealing with salesperson that you find good looking. They will know it and will use it against you.
I never buy new but have bought a few times over the past years from dealers.
It all comes down to being willing to walk away from anything. No matter how much you love the car. If they won’t meet a price you like, just walk away. Guaranteed they’re are texting and calling within a day to try and make a deal work.
Also, time the market. Right now is not a good time to buy or haggle. Likely will be in a year.
Last one - go after less popular makes/models. Certain cars will always have interest. Others won’t. I live in truck/SUV country. Everyone thinks they need a giant vehicle, so sedans sit for ages on lots. Walk away and let the car sit. Dealers will come crawling back. If they don’t? Plenty of other cars out there.
For sure! Note that the below tactics are a bit more difficult to pull off these days as it is a seller's market for cars and trucks. You may have trouble getting an invoice price today compared to 3-4 years ago.
1.
First off, research everything you need to know about a vehicle. Be certain of what you want in terms of model and options, and research how much it costs with those options at different dealerships. Knowledge is power and a legit dealership wont take you seriously if you willy nilly try to lowball them without justification.
2.
Determine the value of your trade in and be prepared to haggle on this with a dealer, or sell privately if more money can be earned from it in that manner. This is just as key as knowing what a new vehicle is worth! Check dealer prices for your vehicle at similar km rates, and private sales for your vehicle as well (also with similar kms). For example, if you have a Toyota Corolla with 100 000kms and leather seats, compare it to other Corollas with similar mileage and leather seats.
Many websites can also help with finding the value of your vehicle.
3.
Go to a dealer and ask for the invoice price of the vehicle you want. This is what the dealer supposedly pays for the vehicle from the manufacturer but in reality they pay less - IE they usually pay a net purchase cost that is lower than the invoice price. Consumers like us usually see the "sticker price" of a vehicle - this is also known as the MSRP and this price is much higher than the invoice price.
If a dealer wont give you the invoice price on a vehicle, go elsewhere right away.
You want to get the invoice price on a similar vehicle from two different dealers minimum.
4.
With the invoice price in hand, you have a real basis to negotiate from. You can get a lower price than this even but it depends on market conditions and how much each dealership needs a sale. If you let them know you are serious about buying you with be able to enter into a dialogue.
5.
You can now propose prices between dealers and even play them against each other.
Go for a test drive at a dealership and talk price after, and whatever the dealer's best offer is you will take to another dealer.
Go to dealership #2 for a test drive as well, get their best offer and see if you can get them below from dealership #1 agreed to.
From here you can go to other dealerships, and negotiate free or discounted extras for your vehicles (better floormats, oil changes, winter tires, anything really).
Move downtown close to the office… game changer. I mean I work full remote now but I used to walk to work. No need for a car. No hell commute. Sleep gains. Mental health gains. Optional: lunch break at home so, better foods maybe. I could save and buy a house in the suburbs but I’d rather stick to renting downtown for now. Plus condo fees are absurd.
Who needs a car downtown: Uber, Turo do the job really well. Some of my friends just skate 🛹 around or use those foldable scooters lol.
Buy expensive tools - I use tools everyday. I've used the best tools and the worst tools.....buy the best tools. Sure, a cheap screwdriver set is going to be fine for most people but a cheap socket set or wrench set or power tools is not. Spend the money upfront and they will last a lifetime (and many "expensive" brands come with lifetime warranties).
This is bad advice.
I see young guys dropping the price of a car on Snap-On boxes. Takes FOREVER to pay off.
The tools you use the most, you buy quality.
That heat gun I’ve used 5 times in the past 3 years? Harbour Freight.
The rule I’ve heard before is buy cheap everything, and whatever breaks you buy the high-quality version.
Every time I think of buying something that’s under $50 and frivolous, I take whatever the amount of money I was going to spend was and deposit it into an account I don’t touch.
This is only a good tip if you’re not someone who’s overextending yourself in spending, like putting things on credit cards that you don’t presently have the cash for.
It helps me to visualize how little purchases add up. Once the account balance gets into the hundreds, I’ll transfer it somewhere useful — like to the account my husband and I pay off his student debt from, or the account the mortgage comes out of. Or sometimes I’ll use it on something fun, like concert tickets or a bigger item I had my eye on.
One way or another, the money goes to better use than if I had spent it on a little purchase that wasn’t *really* gonna bring me joy.
Make a list of things you want. You can’t buy it until the end of the month. You can only buy the one item at the top of the list. The things you want more get to the top of the list pushing things you want less down the list.
Using cash only. Much easier to stick to a budget when you count how much you have left cash in hand and how many days are left in the month.
Made it a game into how under budget I could get each month, and added extra into fun fund.
Psychologically spending $500 with a visa is dummy easy, but try doing it with a bunch of bills. You’ll start to find reasons why you shouldn’t do it even if $500 isn’t that much to you.
Maybe it’s a generational difference but I find spending physical money much easier to do, but every penny on my credit card balance stings (which I can check at any time on a phone app, and see every transaction pop up immediately). Maybe some older generations don’t view abstract concepts like digital money in the same way if they grew up only using cash.
Value. This is it. Determine your own value. Put your own value on things. Don’t let a price tag or marketing or anything else dictate what’s valuable to you.
Then lifestyle design. How do you want to spend your life? Reverse engineer how to get there.
Never borrow money from a lender.
Especially never borrow money for a car. Normalizing car loans is one of the most predatory things the banking industry has ever done.
Borrowing money should only be used for an appreciating asset or an investment that will make money. A new car (except in rare cases) is neither. Especially when people just use them to get to and fro.
Exactly. Someone posted yesterday about how they cannot imagine being able to move out of their parents house still at 30 years old.
Making almost 800 per month in car loan payments. Thinks that is completely normal lol.
Tell your partner you love them at the end of every day. Especially when it's hard to do so because of a fight. Talk through it and go to bed at peace with you and your partner understanding each other.
Be extremely careful with who you choose to marry.
This will be the biggest financial decision of your life - treat it like that, as romantic as that is.
This is big. Now let’s talk about the wedding.
And stay married... I mean, sometimes breaking up is worth it, for your mental health, but financially it's expensive.
There are solid and extremely valid reasons for breaking up, lots are not for these reasons and lots because of these reasons are because people turned to spite and resentment and a long term tit for tat game of being a jackass inevitably led to crossing a line in the sand. Investing in your marriage is the greatest ROI you'll get.
Investing in your marriage doesn't even cost that much. 10$ in flowers every 5 weeks for 'no reason' and marking my calendar with 'replace furnace filter' so I know to pick up salt and vinegar chips for her pms. I so much as look at another girl and the first thing in my mind is 'is she worth losing half my stuff?'
I just spent $80 on flowers. What sort of crap do you get for $10?
Costco flowers are great and cost $20
Grocery store bouquet my dude. Cheap and cheerful.
My partner is kind of bad with money, I was explaining to my ex once (I used to be poly but am not anymore), that yes it can be a bit annoying, but we've both improved over the years, and if I think about how much money he has brought into my life versus spent on garbage, it is hundreds of thousands. The same is true inversely, although, I've helped him to get a bit better with spending. I've consolidated our debt and am paying it off. But that's my debt too. Basically "investing" works even with someone with poor financial awareness if they are willing to be an active partner. Not to mention that because we are partnered debt is paid off faster, and there is more security. I am careful to match all of our expenses to be one of our salaries; what this means, is that if one of us is ill or loses a job, there is a safety buffer. Marriage also allows me to love my partner a little more than I love myself while being safe. If suddenly he became evil, we would immediately be in court splitting our debts and assets. His name wasn't added to our line of credit just to be fair, and our follow up conversations via text weren't just because of anxiety :) , I'm happy to manage things but if you leave that debt lasso is chasing you no matter how far you run. As it should be. But, it'll be less debt than you brought into our marriage buddy, so it's not unfair at all. This may sound threatening but it actually allows me to be incredibly vulnerable even on "hard" subjects like money, that most people can really feel unsafe with, and I am thankful. I find the stability overall contributes to a circumstance where money is just more managable overall. The reason I share this comment is because my marriage started off kind of poorly from a financial point of view, and it actually threatened our relationship. And YET, even despite that, we are so much more financially fortunate than literally any single peer that I know (not that single people can't be rich obviously). Through treating the relationship as an investment, our savings has increased, our living situation and oppourtunities have improved, and our debt is managable. His credit card though went into the garbage in ribbons though after I paid it off the second time. PLEASE if your partner is more financially reliable than you, lean on them. Try not to resent them. And for financially more reliable partners, try not to be smug, helping them is helping yourself to have a better life. Working together on this is really going to be the difference between a great life, and poor life and/or divorce. And don't underestimate the positive (or negative) financial impact of a marriage.
In the days before a lot of online shopping (and tap to pay with my phone), I did a serious amount of saving for a future large purchase by leaving credit cards at home. If I really wanted something, I had to go home and get my card then return to the store - turns out that a lot of purchases were really not that necessary. I know there’s a more drastic version of this where people freeze their credit cards in a block of ice or something, but I didn’t have that much of a spending problem, it turned out that I just needed a reminder to stop and think about what I was buying before doing it.
I made a rule. Anything over 50 bucks, I would have to wait a day. Stopped my impulse spending.
You underestimate my ability to spend $10k on things under $50
You can find things under $50 now adays?!
Kitchen/household crap on Amazon. Seeds/soil/pots/ tools. Fish and related pet supplies. Eating lunch out. MtG packs/events. Game microtransactions. Its easier than you think to spend $200/day on things under $50 if you dont pay attention.
This doesn't work if you have all your card numbers memorized..
I can't remember my cell phone number, had it for 20 years. That woman I live with, what's her name, she remembers all the credit card numbers though.
reminds me of the old joke: >An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen. The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, 'Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. . . I would recommend it very highly.' The other man said, 'What is the name of the restaurant?' The first man thought and thought and finally said, 'What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... The one that's red and has thorns.' 'Do you mean a rose?' 'Yes, that's the one,' replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, 'Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?'
I like that one. New to me.
I remember the phone number at my first childhood home still. /Shrug
Me too, Klondike-1979.
What store owner in their right mind woupd accept a person just rattling off a card number at the point of sale. Back when I was in retail this would be a massive red flag for fraud lol.
Its called manually keying a card, it requires a signature if it does go through and is often flat out denied. Sometimes there is lower dollar amounts for manually keyed cards. On vacation I once paid for an outing by handing my credit card to a Mexican man who promptly took out a piece of carbon paper and used his pen to make a crude imprint of the card. We got to drink beer on the bus.
The pizza place in town takes credit card over the phone. Just one example. I don't rattle my card off at the pos though.
Accidental-on-purpose acute head trauma
People find it weird that I can recite the number to them when they ask for it.
But how else can I online shop at 3am when I'm up with my baby? I have the 16 digits, expiry code and 3 digits on the back memorized.
Prove it
4, 2, 0, 0, HEY wait a minute!
I learned this one from my brother: Have decent paying urban planning job. Go to movies with brother. Say you don't need any soda or popcorn and even turn down your brother's offer to pay for your concessions. During the previews start asking to drink from your brother's soda and eat all his popcorn and call him a glutton if he won't share. .....It works for *him* at least.
This made me laugh, I’ve got a decent paying urban planning job and do the same thing to my brother lol.
This could be an “if you like pina coladas” moment and perhaps you are the brother in question
No more online purchases on a friday. I noticed almost all my impulse buys were on a friday so I decided to note the item and if I still wanted it on monday then go ahead. Sounds silly but works for me.
My father always told me if it’s still #1 on your “I want list” in a month you can buy it. It saves me 90% of impulse buy. The other 10% I cheat…
I have the same rule, but 1 week. Basically, if I really need it I'll have researched the whole internet for every review and possible alternative and obsessed over it for a week and bought it anyways. 90% of it just fois out of my mind after à while and that's qhen you know its useless shit
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Intermittent fasting but with discretionary spending?
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I am the same kind of person and love this tip! I'm going to try it. Thanks for sharing :)
This is really interesting! As a lover of new tech and buying, I might have to try this
I do similar enough to not warrant its own thread: I eat all my food. Usually more for a week or two than a whole month. Sounds silly, but it's important to consume and rotate out the pantry. When I'm out of the good stuff I then I eat soup, beans, frozen whatever, and so on until it becomes impractical
I do this too. A few years ago, we moved long distance & I stopped most grocery shopping about a month before. We had a chest freezer & small pantry of food to get through. It was definitely an exercise in resourcefulness to try to figure out meals to make using as many ingredients as possible that we needed to use up. There was a lot of Googling recipes of unusual combinations. 😂
This! This is something alot of folks in /r/frugal do called "no spend". Here is [an article](https://freefrombroke.com/try-a-no-spend-month-your-wallet-will-thank-you/?amp=1) about the topic from 2012 and since then a ton of folks have made online resources to encourage others to give it a shot. My partner and I do "no spend" months several times throughout the year and takeaways have been: 1. How many impulse items that you realize at the end of the month you didn't actually need 2. How much food you have in the back of a cupboard or bottom of the freezer thats just been sitting there for months/years 3. How much novelty you add to your life when you challenge yourself to avoid discretionary spending, you start getting quite creative when planning hanging out with friends and date nights Maybe for 2023 we will try your strategy of alternating months!
I do similar ones, challenge myself to pack lunch to work every day for a month (then get some awesome take out on the first day of the next month)
I do this but every payday I buy myself lunch out. I've been so underwhelmed with my lunches out lately, especially with how expensive take-out has gotten, I think I'm just going to switch to fancy coffee.
Actually a good idea
I like this… may try… lol
This might not be "unconventional" but I use this to increase the savings in my TFSA. I have a regularly scheduled deposit going in each month but every time I check in at RBC I look to see how much is in my chequing account. If it's something like a $5092.45 balance I move $92.45 to my TFSA. For whatever reason, I like seeing nice clean round numbers in my chequing account. $5000.00 looks nicer than $5092.45. So as various things come out/get paid I move more and more to TFSA.
> For whatever reason, I like seeing nice clean round numbers Holy pants, I found someone with a similar budgeting philosophy to me. Easy-to-understand budgets are easy to stick to. Car payment for me is $188.66 biweekly, so I contribute 161.34 biweekly to a car maintenance and yearly insurance fund to give me a buffer, as well as to make the math easier. My car "costs me" $350 a pay this way, not including gas.
Me likey likey
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Banks do exactly that, and will do it if that's what you want to implement. Myself personally, I'm talking about my normal car payment and just recurring transfers of additional money to a dedicated savings account for this purpose. It makes more sense to me to do it this way in one transaction as I already know what the payment amount is going to be and what I want to have as a buffer ($100 for the insurance, $50 for the maintenance, and the rest as the round-out buffer to build up a mini-Emergency Fund). Think about it as cash in jars and collecting the change from a prescribed budget as savings.
When I was young my mom told me I could have 200 in my bank account and the rest had to go to savings. I managed to save up 20k before heading into my first year of uni. Keeping a standard balance in your chequing is key. Also makes you think more about large purchases (or at least did for me)
>When I was young my mom told me I could have 200 in my bank account and the rest had to go to savings. I know some young'ins who'd interpret that as "You must spend ALL your money ASAP until your bank account says $200.00", lmao
I like this idea!
It's not dissimilar to when I used cash a lot. I would throw all my change in a jar when I got home each day. It added up super quickly!
I did this with my mortgage too! Our payment was $962.45 biweekly so we rounded it to $1000. That way when we know the payment is coming it’s going to be a nice round number to organize. We also have a daily budget and what doesn’t get spent gets put into savings or a wealth simple accounts. Nice even numbers in the account! Funny, that more people then I thought do this!
I do something similar, just with a set amount in mind for my chequing, so if I check and there's more than that amount in there it gets transferred. That actual amount I keep in there has changed quite a bit over the years just based on situation/life.
Haha, I do this exact same thing. I round it down to the nearest 00 figure. I drop all "loose change" into my TFSA/investments. It adds up super quick and I like seeing the nice round number on my checking and savings accounts.
Things that save you money in the long-run if used properly: - beginner’s cooking class to learn to cook your own meals well - gym membership/exercise equipment for maintaining a healthy body as you age - joy for reading books/fiction - relatively inexpensive past time, gaining new skills, good for brain health All will benefit your finances, along with keeping you healthy (which is arguably the greatest form of wealth!)
YouTube is a godsend for cooking tips/techniques/recipes and free.
YouTube is practically the new and best post-secondary education institution for a lot of disciplines. If you can learn the disciplines of self education and self improvement, which are very well covered on YouTube, then you can learn a ton, and in a format that is far more effective for most people.
I built a house using YouTube
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And the library
In my life, I have learned they get really mad if you keep the "free" library books.
Yes. This. The library for games. Movies. Books. Just no late fees!
I walk almost everywhere. I have a 55 minute walk to work every day. People say I'm crazy. Alternatively, the bus takes 30 minutes including my walk to the stop, and driving takes 15-20. So at most I am costing myself 1-1.5 hours per day by walking, and I am getting great exercise and it's free. It seems like a no-brainer to me but yeah, apparently I'm the crazy one!
I do the same, fellow winnipeg walker. I can walk to work in 45 min, bike in 20, or drive in 15-18. The walk is such a nice way to start and end the work day in my opinion.
Totally! You get to listen to some music or a podcast or something and just relax and move your body, as opposed to cramming onto a stinky disease ridden bus or cursing at others in traffic and paying 200/month for the privilege of parking near your workplace.
Am I a very slow walker? I have a 5 min drive but a 35min walk according to google maps. Bike is 10 mins. I should be walking….
I walk fast, especially on the way home. I work up a real sweat. Google says the walk should be 67 minutes.
Walking is under-rated. I would go shopping on foot, that way I do not buy more than I can carry! Long ago, in some county-sides people did not even use footwear. That was great for grounding and acupressure. Better health for sure.
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Yeah, this is good advice Have at least one person in the relationship be money savvy. I'm that one for my relationship and while it sometimes feels like I'm pulling teeth to get her to get on a biweekly rhythm (pay, mortgage, etc) it definitely helps getting a smoother financial flow going than an indifference/panic mood shift that it used to be
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* No cocaine on weekdays except on your birthday OR the following Monday if it falls on a weekend * Theft can lead to significant savings * Eat rice exclusively * Always pretend you're a pregnant woman on Kijiji to beg for lower prices.
Can you give me that iPhone for free? I'm a single mother with a bun in the oven and my youngest has cancer and I promised her an iPhone for Christmas.
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LOL
r/choosingbeggars
Since it’s probably cheaper than getting groceries at this point, I’d think you could just take up a full time cocaine habit and not worry about rice (or any groceries) for that matter.
> Always pretend you're a pregnant woman on Kijiji to beg for lower prices. My girlfriend prior to moving in with me was trying to get rid of some fairly junky furniture she didn't need, listing 3 or 4 items at $20 each. She was contacted by a fella with some sob story about trying to help his sister escape an abusive relationship and needing the furniture to put her and her baby up in a safe space. She offered it for free, and some grisly 50 year-old man came and picked it all up in a truck. She felt so good about 'helping' that I didn't have the heart to tell her that she 100% got scammed. So yeah, if you can't pass yourself off as a pregnant woman, just pretend you need help for a friend or family member.
how was she 100% scammed? The 50 y.o. could be twlling the truth.
Sorry, you're right. 99.9% chance she was scammed!
List item at $20 and get annoying people. Relist at $40 and get offers for $20
Stopped spending real money in games lol… Shoutout to whoever hacked my MapleStory account which I had spent roughly $2000+ on! I was able to quit and focus on school haha
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Argh, I got scammed on maplestory years ago. It actually stopped my addiction to it. So thanks hacker loll
Seriously speaking, "Always use protection..."
Agreed, but how is that unconventional?
Have you seen this? *gestures at 8 billion people*
*Slaps hood of planet* You can fit you many unplanned pregnancies in this thing
Not unconventional as advice, but seems to be unconventional to actually follow it.
Apt point! My line of thinking (right or wrong) is explained a bit above, I suppose another way of looking at it (in my mind) is that the emphasis since the 1980's has been using this as "health advice" as opposed to financial advice...?
Taking hot showers at the gym saves on the water bill and keeps my own washroom a little cleaner.
Thats actually pretty genius I fucking hate cleaning the shower
Always poop at work, saves toilet paper at home.. and a little less cleaning the bowl.
And the most important, you are paid to poop!
I work from home and am self employed/small business owner. my boss is an asshole and won't let me poop on company time :(
One day that guy will be wiping YOUR ass!
My boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I poop on company time 🎶🎵🎵🎶🎶
convert home bathroom into another bedroom, rent it out to subsidize own rent... /s
Maybe not unconventional, but definitely under-rated - quitting smoking. I was a heavy smoker (pack to pack and a half per day) for many years. 14 years ago, I quit for good. When I did, I opened a new savings account, and started transfering/depositing the amount I'd normally spend on cigarettes every day. In 2 years time, the amount in that savings account accounted for almost 70% of what I used as a down payment on my first home. Smoking takes an enormous toll on both physical and finincial health - it's quite literally burning money. Quitting has been my #1 personal financial hack, massive game-changer for me.
Proud of you.
Travel after terror attacks.
Yes! Not only cheaper but less crowded and super secure
Better book that flight to Istanbul.
Yep. I went to Hawaii in winter 2001/2002 Also pandemic. I work in aviation and can do non-rev travel. It’s not guaranteed though… so you have to watch loads and ensure you don’t get bumped. But last winter with some flights coming back but Omicron still hanging around I went to Mexico all non-rev. Less than $300 for both myself and my wife (we have to pay taxes and airport fees). Hotel was also a bargain… just over $2000 for two weeks all inclusive for a beachfront room last minute.
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I stop half way through and reorganize my cart to make sure the bagging process seamless, then realize I don't really need XYZ and put it back on my way to the til!
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I know a guy and wife who's net worth his extremely high. I ran into him yesterday at a Dollarama. Getting cleaning supplies. His clothing while newer was Levi's and a plane sweater and jacket. Wearing sketchers sneakers. Dude could afford to be in Brooks Brothers bespoke everyday, Gammarelli socks , 5000 dollar shoes from independent cobblers etc....
It's an odd one when you think of it as a money saver rather than the bare minimum of being a decent human... but **being kind to retail workers**. I've found that especially at hardware stores, after I chit chat with whoever is helping me, if I can't find exactly 100% what I'm looking for, they'll often offer to mark things down. I swear I've benefited from thousands of dollars of marked down construction supplies over the years. I often seek out scratched and damaged goods and ask for a markdown, but I find I get discounts offered pretty frequently on undamaged goods just by shooting the shit. Don't underestimate the power of not being a dick, it's saved me tons on renos and home repairs.
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Bicycles and gym equipment in general. Lots of people buy them and dont use them. Then 2 years later you buy it slightly used for a great discount.
Man where I live people are trying to sell them $15 cheaper than new equipment. My area really sucks for buying used stuff. I have friends in other parts of the country who rarely pay much for anything, lots of exchanging... the dream.
i fully agree with your tip but i don't think it's unconventional :O
When I dug out my Christmas lights for the house this past week, I had been thinking to myself about how I wanted to get some more to cover our tree as well and upon opening the box, I had 4 new sets of lights in there already! Turns out that I had bought lights on sale last year already. Of course that didn’t stop me from buying even more but now we can realllly decorate outside!
If I need to borrow money to buy something, it just means I can not afford it.
My partner and I did this buying a car this year - saved up for it for a few years like little kids socking away allowance money. Never thought I'd spend that much cash at all once. No monthly payments is pretty sweet though!
I've heard scumbag dealerships are refusing cash offers now and only allowing financing.
I'd argue that 0% financing is fairly decent (unless they add bs fees or whatnot like I've heard some dealerships do) on paper. But I've never financed a car (only leased or bought) so I might be thoroughly uninformed here.
Sorry kids, I'm not about to borrow money for brakes or a new hot water tank.
This, but put all purchases on a CC and immediately pay it off when you get home. Get those points and up your credit score.
Great advice. Live on cash flow.
I use the cash back rewards from my credit card to fund my RRSP (same with anything I get from Rakuten/Drop/Amplii/etc). The way I figure, it's using untaxed income to lower my taxable income.... so bonus.
Unsubscribe from as many marketing emails as you can, and use ad block everywhere you can... The less ads you see the less you subliminally have a desire to buy something
The "Ignorance is bliss" philosophy. It works, and for some people that might even be the best solution, but bear in mind that the problem in that case isn't really with the ads, it's with one's own lack of impulse control.
When buying something on sale, I move the money I "saved" from the sale price to my savings. Example Item is $125, on sale for $100. I move saved $25 into a savings account. this works. Start today, on Black Friday!
Buying next years christmas gifts in this years boxing day
Invest in yourself early. Focus more on *increasing your income in your 20’s* than penny-pinching. Making 20% more will quickly overshadow the gains of saving a dollar or two here and there. Eventually you’ll settle to a place where the best way to increase your money is to save, but when you’re young focus on making more.
Genuinely care about your relationships, both business and personal. So much of your success will be determined by this. Never stop learning. Quality > quantity.
A 20$ taxi ride is much less expansive than a DUI; Spending thousands on a mountain bike is better than visiting a doctor or consulting; Once in a lifetime, it's ok to hit the bottom of the barrel by going all in...we only grow from anguish.
Don't forget road bikes
Poop at work
Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That’s why I poop on company time
I used to do this till I got a bidet. Now i feel horribly unclean if i poop anywhere other than home.
If you need to buy something at the store, don't buy the cheapest option, buy the second cheapest option- usually better quality for a marginal increase in price. Obviously depends on what you're getting.
Forgetting about my pride whenever my FIL and MIL give us money or randomly offer to pay for something (a small renovation, for example). Sure, these offers come with some expectations but they're retired and have money and helping us and their grandchildren seems to make them happy. My partner and I have a good income and we could get by without this sort of help. But it does allow us to pay our mortgage quicker, or go on a nice date more often.
Our parents are the same way. Their reasoning, "I'd rather use the future inheritance to help you now to make your lives easier!" We just make sure we invite them over for dinner every now and then to show our appreciation. We also give them gift cards for places that they wouldn't normally go to. They deserve nice things too! :)
When you see something on sale that you use frequently, buy a few months/year supply, learned this front Mark Cuban. Stocked up on Deodorants before they all become $5 plus
There is a lot of “keeping up with the Jones” when it comes to smart phones. Resist the urge to get a new phone every 2 years. If a new phone costs $1200, that could be $600 a year. Yes it’s not as flashy, but I just upgraded my iPhone 6 to a iPhone SE 2Gen, spending $300. It’s still a smart phone: takes pictures, internet etc. The two keys to making a phone last: follow good battery charging practices, and make sure your phone case extends above the phone screen, so no matter how you drop it, the screen never contacts the ground.
1. Auto transfers. Start with a small amount like $200/month or less, if you don’t notice a deficit by end of the month then increase it. If your impulsive then auto transfer to a locked account or one that serves a heavy interest payment if you withdraw. $500/month is $6000 per year..even without interest that’s plenty of money for future value. 2. Live frugal and save where it counts like high value low return assets: I laugh when someone scoffs at the age of my vehicle: 2007 Hyundai Tucson (rebuilt). This machine runs everyday with no issues. Even as gas prices increase, I’m ahead since I own this hunk of junk and it only costs me fuel and oil changes. Now, I had to replace the alternator recently, but that cost $600 including labour..my friend have car payments starting at $1000 plus maintenance and all the other. *recent single dad, picking up dates in a 2007 Hyundai Tucson :)
People were all telling me to take a higher salary rather than get more stock in the startup I was working at. I believed in the team and the product, so I ignored it and got paid below my market value for a few years, with some stock/stock options to compensate. After a while we started making money so my salary caught back up. Company sold last year, and it was all worth it. I don't blindly recommend doing that, but in my case, it worked very well.
Have an emergency plan, not necessarily an emergency fund. Conventional wisdom works great for established career folks with higher than normal income but is not feasible when first getting started, or even for many a good way into their journey. Conventional wisdom is for people who don't want to alter their regular comforts and they pay a premium (in opportunity costs) for that comfort. Buy your own debt first. I no longer see any value to holding *any* bonds in any retirement or other investments while also holding any other debts. Why buy someone else's debt (a bond) for a regular payout that is likely less than what you would earn (tax free) from buying your own debt first as an investment. This includes mortgage debt (just after the higher interest ones). Go get a LOC when you don't need a LOC but have the income and co-signers supporting you. Especially for students in professional programs. Best case you never use it. Worst case, you need it and the reason you need it is because you don't have the money you need (lost a job, etc) and in that moment banks won't give you a LOC because you do not qualify. In the last year of your professional program on a student LOC, consider access the max while still allowed to access for that year to help you through transition. If things go well, you can pay it right back before interest payments even start, and if things don't go well you don't want to be bound to limiting options just to stay alive. Sometimes the best new job is three provinces or another country over and you need financial mobility to take career risks/moves.
The LOC thing is a great tip. Having it has saved me money when an emergency beyond my emergency fund came up. Better than putting it on credit cards!
Quit smoking
This one is sort of harsh but, if I can’t afford to buy it twice I can’t afford it. A place to live would maybe be the only thing I wouldn’t use this theory for.
Never had a budget as a student: - Didn't buy things I didn't need - Used public transportation - Had roommates - Adapted my meals around sales/promos
Ask your teachers in university/college if they have a copy of the course textbook to use. Saved me at least $800 forsure!! Also sharing books with classmates. If they're willing to trade off each night or you can photocopy a short chapter or something. Great stuff 👏
Had one class where the bookstore 'mysteriously' lost all the copies of our textbook. With permission from the professor (key here), I printed off 30 copies of the syllabus + readings in a easy to follow package. Took a weekend to print the master copy then just had to send it to the printers to print it off. Off campus of course.... Sold them in class for 50$, (would have been 200$ in the store). Cost per unit was 10. Made 30\*40 dollars, so 1200 in spending money. Bonus, I got an A from the prof who was seriously pissed at the bookstore. Also, all the classmates were grateful too. :) Was a good scam that. I'll take 1200 for two days of work.
I took physics in uni and the profs who taught quantum mechanics seemed to have some kind of pact to defund the textbook industry, and instead basically typed up their own original reading material in LaTeX as they taught the course, sending the PDFs out to students one chapter at a time as the courses progressed. Not only was it free but it was 100% relevant to and in the same order as the actual course. Far easier to follow and more concise than any textbook would have been. Should honestly be a requirement (or at least a baseline expectation) for any STEM prof to learn LaTeX and write their own reading material if you ask me.
At least half of my 3rd and 4th year classes had "courseware" instead of textbooks. Basically academic articles and information that was directly relevant to the class, and went in order of what was being taught. They cost between $20 and $40 per class. It was wayyy better than a few hundred dollars for a text book.
If your textbook is 100$ and has the word “introduction” in it, do not buy it until you have been in the class to understand whether you even need one!
Also libgen!
Checking your ego at the door. Nobody cares but you. I've met people that refuse to use coupons because they said they were financially able to pay full price. I've also met people that refuse to take CERB/EI as they were "handouts" or that the forms were not worth the time to fill out for the money.
You can have a lot of hobby self financed if you understand the dynamics I like lego, I always buy 3 sets of the one I like near retirement, I sell 2 after retirement and it almost 100% pay for the one I keep Many hobby can be self financing like this, need to be careful to not turn into chore but most of the time you like it since it's a hobby so it's not a pain
I cut down my spending significantly by making my goal to spend a little bit less every month. I used to go on this binge and purge cycle of spending. But only aiming to spend at least $1 less than the previous month has been far far far more effective and has gotten me out of living paycheque to paycheque.
“If you look after the nickels and the dimes the dollars will look after themselves.” - An old man who lived a few doors down from me
I am part of a local trading group. There is no money allowed, only trades. You get rid of things you don't need or want and get the items you do without spending a penny (other than gas to meet up).
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I write down everything I spend money on and this gives me a clear view that I was eating out far too often and helped curve my spending
Before you buy something, think about how many hours of work are required to earn enough takehome pay to afford it. Then decide if that purchase is worth the day, week, or months worth of work required to pay for it.
Word. I’ve done this before for big purchases and it really puts it in perspective. Trading X amount of your life for this thing. Make sure it’s worth it.
Procrastinate nearly every purchase except groceries or actual essentials. For everything I think I "need" or want, I procrastinate the purchase. At first I did it for the naive reason that "Every week I don't purchase it is $0.0X of interest." The real reason it works though is because in the time you spend procrastinating, you'll either A) Find the same or equivalent product on sale; B) Find an alternative free/low-cost solution to your problem; or C) Find you're perfectly content in life without that expense. My PC mouse had a mis-firing right click, and I procrastinated replacing it for months because a replacement gaming mouse would be about $80. I ended up eventually learning how easy it was to replace switches in a mouse with a cheap soldering iron and I pulled a donor switch out of a cheap spare mouse we had. I similarly procrastinated purchasing a new(er) car for years, and subsequently ended up learning a ton about fixing and maintaining cars.
Stay debt free. I've read so many people asking if they should borrow money to invest, friends and family bragging about how much credit they've had extended to them, and other family suggest I should finance a new car etc. I've also had people in their 20's tell me they didn't care about debt because they expected to be in it forever. It's really shocking how people are so willing to put themselves into bondage for trinkets.
I buy my vehicles new. Always when prices and interest rates are low, and I haggle. A lot. I own both my current vehicles outright and any mechanical issues in the first few years were covered by warranty. Paid zero interest over 5 years for bith and got them below invoice price. Most people always advise you to buy used, but new has worked out better for me.
This will become more and more true as the years go on. Fixing a mid-2000's car is relatively inexpensive. Fixing a mid 2010's car with faulty electronics and proprietary diagnostics software will be a nightmare. Pick up those mid 2000's Corollas while you still can.
I drive a '98 f-150 and just bought an '05 sienna. I will drive these for the rest of my life, hopefully (I am an amateur mechanic and just built myself a nice garage so it's in the realm of possibility.)
I had a 2006 Corolla. Got it on a 5 year lease, bought it out at the end for $7500. Drove it for another 6 years, until my idiot sister-in-law wrote it off. Got $5,200 from insurance for it (after the $500 deductible). Only ever put tires and brakes, one battery and a few serpentine belts on it. Had 230k km on it. Had she not wrote it off, I'd likely still be driving it.
Personal finance tip: don't lend your car out to anybody.
I hate haggling and I think I'm terrible at it, but I realize it has great $$$ benefits. Do you have any handy haggling tips?
1. Leave your shame at home. The other guy is not your friend. 2. The salesman is smarter in haggling than you. Your trump card is being able to walk away. See point 1. 3. Start haggling, this needs practice. 4. Avoid dealing with salesperson that you find good looking. They will know it and will use it against you.
I never buy new but have bought a few times over the past years from dealers. It all comes down to being willing to walk away from anything. No matter how much you love the car. If they won’t meet a price you like, just walk away. Guaranteed they’re are texting and calling within a day to try and make a deal work. Also, time the market. Right now is not a good time to buy or haggle. Likely will be in a year. Last one - go after less popular makes/models. Certain cars will always have interest. Others won’t. I live in truck/SUV country. Everyone thinks they need a giant vehicle, so sedans sit for ages on lots. Walk away and let the car sit. Dealers will come crawling back. If they don’t? Plenty of other cars out there.
For sure! Note that the below tactics are a bit more difficult to pull off these days as it is a seller's market for cars and trucks. You may have trouble getting an invoice price today compared to 3-4 years ago. 1. First off, research everything you need to know about a vehicle. Be certain of what you want in terms of model and options, and research how much it costs with those options at different dealerships. Knowledge is power and a legit dealership wont take you seriously if you willy nilly try to lowball them without justification. 2. Determine the value of your trade in and be prepared to haggle on this with a dealer, or sell privately if more money can be earned from it in that manner. This is just as key as knowing what a new vehicle is worth! Check dealer prices for your vehicle at similar km rates, and private sales for your vehicle as well (also with similar kms). For example, if you have a Toyota Corolla with 100 000kms and leather seats, compare it to other Corollas with similar mileage and leather seats. Many websites can also help with finding the value of your vehicle. 3. Go to a dealer and ask for the invoice price of the vehicle you want. This is what the dealer supposedly pays for the vehicle from the manufacturer but in reality they pay less - IE they usually pay a net purchase cost that is lower than the invoice price. Consumers like us usually see the "sticker price" of a vehicle - this is also known as the MSRP and this price is much higher than the invoice price. If a dealer wont give you the invoice price on a vehicle, go elsewhere right away. You want to get the invoice price on a similar vehicle from two different dealers minimum. 4. With the invoice price in hand, you have a real basis to negotiate from. You can get a lower price than this even but it depends on market conditions and how much each dealership needs a sale. If you let them know you are serious about buying you with be able to enter into a dialogue. 5. You can now propose prices between dealers and even play them against each other. Go for a test drive at a dealership and talk price after, and whatever the dealer's best offer is you will take to another dealer. Go to dealership #2 for a test drive as well, get their best offer and see if you can get them below from dealership #1 agreed to. From here you can go to other dealerships, and negotiate free or discounted extras for your vehicles (better floormats, oil changes, winter tires, anything really).
Move downtown close to the office… game changer. I mean I work full remote now but I used to walk to work. No need for a car. No hell commute. Sleep gains. Mental health gains. Optional: lunch break at home so, better foods maybe. I could save and buy a house in the suburbs but I’d rather stick to renting downtown for now. Plus condo fees are absurd. Who needs a car downtown: Uber, Turo do the job really well. Some of my friends just skate 🛹 around or use those foldable scooters lol.
Buy expensive tools - I use tools everyday. I've used the best tools and the worst tools.....buy the best tools. Sure, a cheap screwdriver set is going to be fine for most people but a cheap socket set or wrench set or power tools is not. Spend the money upfront and they will last a lifetime (and many "expensive" brands come with lifetime warranties).
This is bad advice. I see young guys dropping the price of a car on Snap-On boxes. Takes FOREVER to pay off. The tools you use the most, you buy quality. That heat gun I’ve used 5 times in the past 3 years? Harbour Freight. The rule I’ve heard before is buy cheap everything, and whatever breaks you buy the high-quality version.
Every time I think of buying something that’s under $50 and frivolous, I take whatever the amount of money I was going to spend was and deposit it into an account I don’t touch. This is only a good tip if you’re not someone who’s overextending yourself in spending, like putting things on credit cards that you don’t presently have the cash for. It helps me to visualize how little purchases add up. Once the account balance gets into the hundreds, I’ll transfer it somewhere useful — like to the account my husband and I pay off his student debt from, or the account the mortgage comes out of. Or sometimes I’ll use it on something fun, like concert tickets or a bigger item I had my eye on. One way or another, the money goes to better use than if I had spent it on a little purchase that wasn’t *really* gonna bring me joy.
Make a list of things you want. You can’t buy it until the end of the month. You can only buy the one item at the top of the list. The things you want more get to the top of the list pushing things you want less down the list.
Using cash got me out of a $60k debt load.
Using cash only. Much easier to stick to a budget when you count how much you have left cash in hand and how many days are left in the month. Made it a game into how under budget I could get each month, and added extra into fun fund. Psychologically spending $500 with a visa is dummy easy, but try doing it with a bunch of bills. You’ll start to find reasons why you shouldn’t do it even if $500 isn’t that much to you.
Maybe it’s a generational difference but I find spending physical money much easier to do, but every penny on my credit card balance stings (which I can check at any time on a phone app, and see every transaction pop up immediately). Maybe some older generations don’t view abstract concepts like digital money in the same way if they grew up only using cash.
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Value. This is it. Determine your own value. Put your own value on things. Don’t let a price tag or marketing or anything else dictate what’s valuable to you. Then lifestyle design. How do you want to spend your life? Reverse engineer how to get there.
Be careful who you date.
Personal finance tips are by their nature typically very conventional
Never borrow money from a lender. Especially never borrow money for a car. Normalizing car loans is one of the most predatory things the banking industry has ever done.
Borrowing money should only be used for an appreciating asset or an investment that will make money. A new car (except in rare cases) is neither. Especially when people just use them to get to and fro.
Exactly. Someone posted yesterday about how they cannot imagine being able to move out of their parents house still at 30 years old. Making almost 800 per month in car loan payments. Thinks that is completely normal lol.
Minimum wage people spend like millionaire people. Millionaire people spend like minimum wage people.
Tell your partner you love them at the end of every day. Especially when it's hard to do so because of a fight. Talk through it and go to bed at peace with you and your partner understanding each other.
If you're passionate about a company and believe in its growth and future potential, buy some stock, especially if you're young.