Accepting Minimalism

Hey y'all,

It has been one long and exhausting week for me, with many decisions I had to thoroughly think about before executing them. One most important step was where my life is going to go in the next few years. I've done things that I never thought I would do- travel to different parts of the world, work in a restaurant and the biggest thing of all- was quit school.

As I sit back in my office chair and think back to where I was even less than a few months ago, I will say I have definitely come a long way. It is always hard to know where your life might lead you when you aren't in school anymore and decide to work fulltime to pay off your debts.

I've always been about being able to make more money, in a short amount of time. This is where I started working at restaurants and slowly making my way up to being a waitress. I'll be sharing my experience in that field in another post- but to keep things short: it was very demanding, tiring and was in no way good for my health.

A few months ago, I decided to make one of the biggest decision in my life and quit all the jobs I had. I decided it was important for myself to really step back and look at the bigger picture- that it isn't ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY.

It's funny when I think about that seeing as when you are in debt- your world pretty much revolves  around making money to pay off those existing debts. I think the biggest indicator that I had to quit my jobs was because of my health- and that I wasn't happy.

It was just too stressful for myself and was pulling alot of tension into my relationship with my S/O. I knew I deserved more even if it meant I wouldn't be making as much as I used to.

FAST FORWARD A FEW MONTHS LATER...

I managed to secure a full time job at a pretty reputable company and love working with my coworkers everyday. Not going to lie but trying to get up at 7:15AM every morning instead of 11AM is still pretty hard to do... however it gives me time to spend time with my family/friends in the evenings and on the weekends- which I appreciate.

With this on my belt now- comes the next big step.. was to decide what to do with my schooling career. I know alot say that it isn't always about getting that 'diploma', but rather the experience you bring.. however I will say with lack of experience AND a degree, only makes it harder to try and find a good job.

I've been contemplating going back for Pharmacy- however it seems like its a long road for me.....time AND financial wise. However- I decided to bite the bullet and apply for school anyways given the fact that it is important for me to go back and also set a good example for my sibling.I'll keep you guys updated on that later...

Final thing was to finally attempt the massive SPRING CLEANING I've been meaning to do since my last big one. I had one around 3-4 months ago in which I threw away ALOT of unused junk and just splurged and got new furniture while I was at it. It was definitely alot of help however I think I need to step it up even more..

I'm trying to shrink my wardrobe down and keep the essentials. Things I can see myself mixing and matching for years to come. Out with the unnecessary and in with the more space. I'm starting off with my handbags which will be quite difficult to do.. I have 20+ handbags to get rid of and it is not going to be fun.

I know I don't NEED all these things to make me happy so I'm not too upset to be parting ways with them. I know it will go to a good home rather than being tucked away in my messy closet.

More on that later....

What are your guilty pleasures?

As you can probably tell from the title... the topic of this post is on guilty pleasures! I know as much as many of us have developed (or in the process of) good spending habits, there's always going to be that one odd time where you feel like you're at that breaking point, "Its just ONE PAIR OF SHOES! THEY'RE ON SALE TOO!"  or better yet.. "I'm hungry but I'm too lazy to make food, wanna just go out for some food?" Do any of those sound familiar to you?

I've been on this journey for a very long time now. I don't know if this happens with anyone else, but I'm the type that can change my decision/likes very quickly. However, once that decision has set- it'll be hard for me to change it. The same applies with my "guilty" pleasures, a few months ago- it was purses.. I HAD to have all these purses I saw online. I thought I could justify the purchase because 1) it was used so I didn't feel as bad. 2) it was more than 1/2 off retail price! Those two reasons alone gave me the push to make my impulsive purses purchases.

I can definitely say that alot of these purses or planners have went back up for sale and have went to good homes since then. It was a brief yet scary phase because a few were LV's which ARENT cheap, even used. They say the biggest obstacle you really have to cross- is your conscience when it comes to deciding on what you want.

There are two sides in my head, one is Miss A; other is Miss B. Miss A is on one shoulder yelling, "ITS TORY BURCH AND ITS ONLY 100 DOLLARS? BUY BUY BUY! YOU CAN ALWAYS REPAY THAT LATER"  and then you have Miss B on the other side going, "Do you really need ANOTHER black purse? That makes...let's see..1,2...think that's your 7th black purse you've bought. Think of the money you could have saved!"

I will definitely say that it's still a struggle on a daily basis with these two always horsing around on my shoulders. However, it definitely makes me think a bit more before suddenly deciding to purchase something.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Weekly Update

I thought that providing a weekly update would be good for me just to see how I'm progressing throughout the month. :) May has been an interesting month for me because it was the time that I earned the least amount of money but also had the highest expenses to date. The cherry on top goes to myself getting into a car accident almost two weeks ago. It was my first actual accident and boy was I afraid that insurance wasn't going to side with me. Thankfully they did but unfortunately, I still had to take off two days of work because of this whole ordeal... Luckily- things are in the clear and I can start fresh in the month of June!

How are my savings doing? My TFSA is still doing okay, I haven't contributed any money because my expenses were higher than my income last month.

Debt Update? I think I may have mentioned I have 2 personal loans + 3 other loans I need to pay off as well as financing my car and paying rent. I'm almost at halfway with my first personal loan and hope to pay it off aggressively in the next 2 months and move onto the next one! ($2900 left on that)

Health? Because of my accident, I started suffering bad whiplash on my right side and think I might have to see the doctor for that. Started not sleeping well again so I may attempt the whole no electronics after 8PM thing again.

The best money I spent was definitely buying my much needed black tank top! You know how you have that one item you only have ONE of, and don't realize how much you actually wear it till it starts ripping? That's my black tank top for me. I use it for everything, layering, just by itself... I've been trying to justify the $7.80 purchase for 8 months now and finally bought it!

How was everyone else's week going?

Update...from......2015.

Hi y'all!

It seems like ages since I've last updated this blog. Lets just say life has gotten really busy, bad decisions were made and unnecessary trips were booked. Since I've last posted- I made the financial decision for myself to finally move back home (away from all the temptations and bad influences).

It was definitely a headache trying to explain to my parents WHY exactly I had to move back home and not live on my own anymore. Thankfully, they have been very understanding (whether or not they know my situation is now the question) and has been really helpful towards my budget to not spend extra on rent + hydro + food.

Unfortunately I ran into some trouble with my housing company and ended up having to pay what I owed in rent for these next few months which really blows into my budget (Extra $700 gone) however this teaches me a lesson in who I rent from next time.

You think since my last post I would have gotten the idea and started budgeting and paying off my debts already........but NOPE- it only got worse! I think I tried to escape by going on trips over the whole month of January which didn't help, it only made my budgeting worse and also slowly chipped away at my savings.

I came back in February with a mountain of debt, and no money to cover any of my expenses that soon needed paying. Fast forward to now- I have gotten a established job and started paying back my debts one by one. I am excited to know that I will be finished paying off Debt #1 in less than 5 months and then tackling the next one! (BTW, I have 3 big debts in total and the little ones are just to myself).

I was toying with the fact of getting a second job.... but am afraid I can't handle it.. (I have had two fulltime jobs at the same time in the past)

My question to everyone is: What are your thoughts on having a second job and if you already have one- how are you handling it?

- average girl

August 2014 Budget & Goals.

Its taken a lot of thinking and looking around for the right budget template, however I found a fantastic one at www.blondeonabudget.com and I just finished my monthly budget for August 2014. A mistake I've made in the past 2 months was overspending what I didn't have even moreso than I usually do and now I'm ready to crack down and defeat this debt monster.

Since I last quit my last job around 5 months ago, I have stopped putting payments to the BOMAD (Mom & Dad) for my rent and cell phone bills- so from now until September is the time I can really try to work more and put more money towards my debt repayment. I'm currently in the process of finding another job so I calculated how my budget would be very loosely on my current income which is min. $1000-1300 monthly.

I probably shouldn't really be eating out at ALL given my current situation.. but seeing as I usually work quite early and am frankly too exhausted to cook at times- I did allocate myself a bit of freedom in that department because I have an obsession with Starbucks Coffee and takeout food.

As you can see, I didn't put anything aside for my Personal Loan #2 because that one is a bit more flexible in terms of repayment and is also interest free. Before I start attacking that monster, I should focus on the other more important repayments first with the money I am currently making ATM versus money I think I will be earning in the next few weeks. (Which is still an eh right now.)

As for my August 2014 Goals...

1) Decluttering my clothes, make up and just STUFF.

2) Attempting to read the "Art of Juicing" and one other cookbook I bought eons ago.

3) Declutter my laptop and phone.

4) Find a secondary job.

5) Go to the gym at least once every two weeks.

6) Make at least one green juice per week.

7) Only buy Starbucks once every two weeks.

Hopefully most of these will be conquered though I do expect a few slip ups for the next three months of beginning this journey of mine..

How were you guys in your first month of budgeting? Were you more successful than you thought?

-average girl.

So...I landed a job interview! :)

Just a short update on my current job situation. As you all may know.. I am currently working a part time position however I am looking for more a full time position. Usually it takes me around 2-3 weeks of applying before I even get a call for a job, however..today seemed like my lucky day! In a matter of 20 minutes of applying to 4 jobs, I got a call back from one of them and am going to an interview for it on Thursday! :)

I hope to have 2 part time jobs so I can have more hours and be able to rake in around $1000+ each week versus my current $250-300 per week. I will definitely keep you guys updated on what happens from here on out!

-average girl.

Knowing when you've hit rock bottom.

As a (used to be) frugal shopper, I always used to save more than 80% of my paycheques and put them towards my savings, only spend about 10% on myself..and the last 10% will usually go into my "Emergency Rainy Day" fund. However, as years have gone by.. I've found that as I started to go out more..whether it be a networking event, a friends birthday or even just a simple dinner out with my parents- that my income has slowly started depleting because I simply CHOSE not to work more and that my budget kept going up as the months rolled on by.

I remember when I first got my ever first RBC Visa Cashback Card at the young age of 19, I was ecstatic because who wouldn't be? I thought to myself, "Wow! That means I can finally shop online without having to ask my parents for their card, or buy a visa prepaid!"  BOY, was I ever wrong. Having a credit card with what seemed like endless amounts of "free" money, ($1000 limit but still.), was the start of something that would cost me a lot in the next few years. (To be fair, alot of the debt was from dentist visits costing me over $1000)

For the next few years, many purchases were made on this card..however no payments were ever really made even with every paycheque that went into my hands biweekly. Only minimum payments were made, more money was spent rather than saved and I slowly started going into debt.

I had thought I had hit rock bottom when I had NOT one, NOT two, but...had THREE credit cards all maxed out and a personal loan from my parents on me. At the time, I had decided to quit school to work on repaying my debt for 6 months. I moved back home and focused on finding a full time job.

Fast forward another year- and more debt has been added to the existing one. I actually had paid of all three cards with the help of the parents however... silly me- not cutting up my cards was the worse thing I could ever do. In less than 3 months after fully paying off my cards- I was maxed out again. On all THREE cards.

Lets fast forward another 6 months and then add a personal loan from a friend who had attempted to help me in that time. Thinking I had finally hit rock bottom with 2 personal loans, 3 maxed out credit cards and 1 student loan.. I thought I would get off my ass and decide to put 90% of my income towards debt repayment.

...... 8 weeks ago was when I had finally realized I had hit rock bottom. I had no job, no income, or any sort of money coming in yet I was still spending frivolously on my SO's money or on any money that was given from my parents. I had $0.10 in my chequing account, $0.23 in my TFSA account and more than $10, 000 in debt. I had no money for groceries, way to get to work or even money to pay hydro.

For two weeks, I just wanted to cry myself to sleep because I didn't know what to do. I had no job..have been going to every interview possible but still hadn't received a call and had minimum payments that were coming up. My personal loan was creeping on me as well and I started getting sick because of all the stress I had going on.

I had never felt this way before, like I had no control over what was going to happen in my life.. how things were going to look in the next few months with my lease ending.. how I was going to deal with my relationship..things were not looking good.

I think what really helped me get back up on my feet was definitely the support I got from my SO, being able to see that I'm not in this alone.. that other people have been in similar situations as I had, (Cait from www.blondeonabudget.ca) and etc. With those people in mind, I started looking for a job.. and have currently found a part time for now.

I am really motivated to putting aside 90% of my income into debt repayment every month and hope you all can provide me some support as well. I will be starting a budget plan for the next 6 months and hope I will be able to achieve that. :) It can only go up from here and I only hope that I will be able to repay everyone in the next year, be debt free and have a giant weight off my shoulders..and finally be able to enjoy just not owing ANYONE any money.

Have any of you hit so rock bottom that you don't know what you're going to do? What did you do to deal with it?

-average girl.