Renting

Before we embark on the all mighty mortgage rent is a part of our lives. A chance to be get away from the parents and the freedom to move back in. The endless parties, movie poster inspired decorations and gourmet pizza dinners really make you feel like you have made it. The one thing we all hate to think about is the fact we have to pay something to be there. Since my blog is about my financial freedom , I thought it was important to find ways to make this cheaper. 

I am going to talk about Vancouver because that is the market I am in. Most important thing is to know your area. Saving on rent is more than just the rent payment. It could make it cheaper if you have transit close or other forms of transportation. Next avoid craigslist it is pointless and the easy way out. Yes you will find places that are over priced and wanted by a couple hundred people. But you will pay a lot. The best thing to do is walk around or bike the area you want to live. The buildings all have information about vacancies and usually are much more reasonable. Once you found a place roommates obviously make it cheaper too.

Hope this helps a bit. Let me know if you have any other tips.

Running Saves Money

Through this financial journey I have embarked on, I have thought very hard on how to get there fast. Fast and financial freedom don’t usually come in the same sentence. Unless of course you win the lottery or get some big inheritance. Some people say there’s nothing to do for fun that doesn’t cost money. I felt the same way somewhat but there is tons of things to do. One of them of course is running. You feel like a million bucks after and it only takes creativity. You have the freedom to go where you want, as fast as you want and for how long you want. It is absolutely great. They say you have to replace an addiction with another addiction. That is the only way if you have one of these personalities. Instead of not going out as much spending money being bored at home. You must replace it with something, which for me is running. I have saved so much money focusing on this sport. It gives me a positive replacement that similar to my running goals that I want to reach. I have my financial goals as well. It becomes quite motivating. Try it out or at least find something to replace frivolous spending. Sports are great!

Top Ten Ways to Save

It seems like the world has been built on top ten lists and I felt it was important to contribute at least one of them. Mine is a bit more liberal and not as formal as most. But I figured this way it will be a lot  more entertaining.

My Top ten list is titled. ” Top Ten Ways to Save On Dating”. Some girls may think this a way for guys to be cheap, but i truly believe you don’t need to spend a million bucks to have a good time. If that’s what the girl wants she is not the girl for you. Unless your 60 and you are trying to be Heffner. Anyways here is the list. It pertains mainly to students or guys starting out in their careers.

Top Ten

10. Go for a walk with the girl on the beach or any where else remotely romantic.

9.Take her for sushi. All chicks love sushi and it might make you look cultured.

8.Check out the latest flick. This can be tricky however. It could add up once you hit the food stand. Analyze the girl first, if she seems like she eats popcorn and wants a five dollar pop. Just rent a movie.

7. Make her dinner at your place. If your place is ghetto then take her for a picnic.

6. Go for a late date, I’m talking after 9:00pm when she already may have eaten. All you will have to spend is money on drinks. Probably looking at around $50.

5. Go play frisbee or volleyball at the beach. It’s great to go for activities on dates and it takes a lot of the nervousness out of the date.

4. Comedy shows are a great date with girls. Lots of laughs, just admission fee and a few drinks.

3.Take a girl hiking. Great views all round and lots of good energy. Doesn’t take anything but a little sweat equity.

2. Aquarium or Zoo are great places to take girls. Lots of fun and we all know they love animals.

1.Volunteer with her at a charity. You will look like a hero and sensitive, while helping out the less fortunate. Doesn’t cost anything and you will get brownie points. Unless shes high maintenance and you might end up sippin soup with herbert the homeless bum.

These aren’t designed to be a cheap skate. They are just creative ways to take girls out on interesting dates without breaking the bank. The goal is to save and become financially free. Personality and  a little effort go a long way.

“you miss a 100% of the shots you don’t take”

Paying Off Debt

Well my first weekend went great. I came a little over budget but only by 10$ which is very reasonable for my first go. I can only improve from here.

I have now been focusing on how to pay off my debt. I have certain avenues that need to be paid off including line of credit and credit cards. Recently I read an article in a money magazine about paying off debt and the advice I read was great. Instead of trying to pay everything off at once, try focus on one thing at a time. Of course I am going to focus on my credit card because it is at 18% interest vs. 5% on my line of credit. And of course I am not going to continue adding to my mutual fund with this high interest debt lingering.

Will power is ok to use if you really have self control. But it is just far to easy to type in a number and hit payment or even swipe the stripe. So I have decided to take the old method. The way to prevent emotional spending is to hinder your opportunity to use it. I took a glass from my cupboard and filled it with water. I then placed my credit card in it and stuck it in the freezer. I have no idea what my number is and cannot see it now through the ice surrounding it. If I need to access it I have to spend time melting it and thus giving me time to think about what I am about to do. This is a tried and tested method that works for many people. So far it has worked wonders, I haven’t even thought about it and have only been paying it off.

Try it out and remember pay down your high interest debt first!

“what wouldn’t you try if you knew you couldn’t fail?”

Cash

Heres a quick tip I have recently learned and will use this weekend.

CASH CASH CASH. When budgeting it is best to have cash in hand. Get rid of debit, credit and cheques. It is much more difficult to spend tangible cash vs. swiping a stripe. You will be able to see your budget diminish and will be able to keep track more easily. You can use weekly cash budgets which work great and break down your month. I don’t recommend month budgets because it is too much money and easy to get carried away.

Try it out. Let me know how it goes!

Budget

So here it is a day away from my first month to financial freedom. I have been prepping myself now for a couple weeks. I am a little nervous that it might be a bad time, being that it is summer and all. Beach, beers, parties,festival and the list goes on. There is just so much to do in Vancouver during the summer. But like anything else in life, the best time to start is now.

Budget $1500

Rent- $750

Bills- $240

Food- $200

Entertainment- $310 (roughly $78/week)

My first weekend is coming up and I have a friend visiting from Edmonton. This should be interesting on how I make the first $78 stretch. And yes I am now finished my non-drinking binge, so partying will be in the equation.

Alright I will check back after the long weekend, with an update. If you have any questions or want some money saving tips let me know. Each week I will update with one tip.

“if you think you can or can’t, your right!”

10 Day Non-Drinking Binge

 

I know I said I wasn’t going to start this process till the beginning of August. But I came across a great article in GQ magazine about non-drinking binges. It consists of a 10 day period of no drinking what so ever. It is not a detox or any of that fancy stuff it is simply not to have anything for the ten days. At the end of the 10 days it examines your hours of social life, money spent, work productivity, books read and movies watched.  I am at the tail end of the non drinking binge and I have seen some serious changes good and bad.

In 10 days of a normal life.                        10 days of non-drinking binge

$85 on food                                                       $45 on food ( ate mostly at home)

$200 on drinks                                                  $17.50 on non alcoholic drinks

Social Hours 45hrs                                            Social Hours  30hrs (no bar)

So there it is some obvious things we all knew would happen. The thing is though a single guy needs certain atmospheres to create social belonging. Just like the GQ article said anymore than ten days and you may not get anymore phone calls from drinking buddies or booty calls. I tell you though I feel great, I wake up early, I’m sharp but I get bored sometimes. I just recommend doing one of these every couple months its a nice wake up call.

Try it out and let me know how it goes!

D Day August 1st

August 1st will be that starting day of my journey . I will set out a budget for the month and make weekly goals on spending, saving, and strategies. Obviously you don’t need a blog to do this but I find if I make myself accountable I will get it done. Others can do the same by posting comments about their goals and I am more than happy to help out. By no means am I an expert in fact I am far from. But what I am is someone who wants to start of on the right track when it comes to debt. Through trial and error I will make my way to financial freedom. I was inspired by someone and I hope other people can find inspiration as well. Debt takes time and so does saving. This can be an enjoyable process if you make sure you have fun with it.

Alright I will check back this time next week!

“if you think you can or can’t, your right!”

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