Give Me Back My Five Bucks

I’ve known Tim Stobbs over at Canadian Dream for quite a number of years. In fact, I really looked up to him (along with Mike Holman, Kerry Taylor, and a few other Canadian bloggers) when I first started my journey out of debt – and I still do today. So, earlier this year when I found out that he had written a book, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. Truthfully, I don’t know much about Tim, other than the snippets of his life that he decides to share with his readers on his popular blog. But after … Continue reading →

Well, after 161 days (or 5.5 months, 44% of the year), my Lunch Challenge has come to an end. If you’re new to this blog, I had challenged myself to go without buying coffee/snacks/lunch during the work week for the entire year. The only time I was able to break the rule was when I was traveling for work (and could expense the meal), or if I was given a gift card that I hadn’t purchased myself. I initially came up with the Lunch Challenge because I wanted to see how organized I could be. Lunch Challenge Fail A friend … Continue reading →

Monday 6th No Spend Day! Tuesday 7th No Spend Day! Wednesday 8th + $110 freelance/side income $1 parking (orthodontist appointment) $13 gift (contributed to group present) Thursday 9th No Spend Day! Friday 10th + $490 freelance/side income $49.18 Wal-Mart Saturday 11th No Spend Day! Sunday 12th $36.02 lunch WEEKLY EXPENSES: - $99.20 WEEKLY SIDE INCOME*: + $600 TOTAL: + $500.80 This was a good week for keeping my spending down. Because of my shorter commute, I don’t have to buy gas every week anymore, and (not that this is necessarily a positive thing) I was too busy to even go grocery shopping. But instead … Continue reading →

As most of you know, I’m a single gal (James Franco, are you reading this?). And if you’ve been with my blog since the beginning, you also probably know that I’ve been in long-term relationships for almost six years (2 years, 3.5 years). So I’m a little out of touch with dating etiquette. Specifically the use of coupons on the first date. Six years ago, I probably would have considered it a little tacky to use a coupon on the first date. But then again six years ago, I was in massive debt, and using coupons probably could have helped … Continue reading →

I recently wrote a post for Moneyville called My money mistake? Moving out too soon, where I talked about how I should have never moved out of my parents house before I finished school. Had I taken my parents’ advice and stayed at home, I would have come out of college with significantly less debt than I had. But it was my stubbornness and naive attitude that resulted in a disastrous 8 months of living independently, and ended with me eventually moving back home. Anyway, that post generated a lot of really interesting discussion, as well as a few e-mails that came my … Continue reading →