Thursday, November 26, 2009

Money Saving Ways

There are many words that my friends use to describe me. Punctual, kind and friendly are ones that come to mind but recently I've been getting a new title, "cheap". Now I'm sure when they say that I am cheap they don't mean that I stand on the corner of Hammond and 5th concession waiting for cars to drive by but I prefer to be called "frugal".


My frugal ways came about in University. Through the school you get a meal plan card that has a certain limit on it and once it's maxed out you have to pay with cash. I was worried during my second semester that I would run out of meal plan points so I decided to cut back on a few things. For example, in the mornings I loved to go get a tea from Tim Horton's but I determined that if I just got hot water then I wouldn't have to sacrifice any points.


One of the greatest tools my parents ever gave me was the knowledge of how to save, budget and spend money properly. I have my monthly expenses calculated, what I need in my bank account weekly to pay them off and how much I have to spend freely with. Here's a little example:
Groceries-$400.00/ month $100.00/week
Vacation Fund- $80.00/month $20.00/week


I find writing everything down has really helped with being able to see where my money is going. I have a little red book where I write down all of my spending and at the end of the month I calculate it all up to determine if I overspend/underspent and on what.


Groceries have become a big part of my budget planning. My boyfriend and I buy the groceries and share them, even though we don't live together. Here is an example of one of the weeks of our 6 week meal plan:

Week 3
Sunday- Roast Beef (or chicken), mashed potatoes/fixings Cooking: Ryan/Lindsay
Monday- Sheppard's Pie Cooking: Ryan
Tuesday- Beef Tortilla's Cooking: Ryan
Wednesday- Chicken Carbonara Cooking: Lindsay
Thursday- BBQ Pork Chops, roasted Potatoes Cooking: Lindsay




** Every Friday is Pizza night and Saturday's are the day off ****


With this meal plan (there's 6 weeks of planned meals in total) plus lunch and breakfast items we are able to spend $100.00 a week on groceries. I follow a grocery list very carefully. As I cross an item off the list I put the price beside it and then at the end I take out my handy-dandy calculator and add it all up. If it's over $100.00 then I take something out I really don't need and if it's under I can get a treat.
(Yes, I'm that loser in the grocery store with a calculator, ha ha)



I know having a meal plan and tight budget might not seem very exciting to some people but I like being organized and I love seeing my savings and RRSP's grow with the extra money that I am saving. The extra money that I am making at my second job has allowed me to renovate the house that I grew up in, that I know call my own. I know it doesn't sound like I'm a young, unmarried 22 year old but I think living a little strick right now will really pay off down the road.


I will be posting $10 dollar meal recipes in the future. So keep checking back for money saving meals!
xo

14 comments:

  1. I figured it out - haha!
    Glad you can come up with money saving plans - maybe you should manage my money and make me some meal plans!

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  2. ha ha! Well there is tricks to come! If you want I have my meal plan on my computer and I can e-mail it to you. Just change it with some of your recipes. I keep mine in a duotang. Let me know :-)

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