Archive for July, 2007
Canadian interest rates recently went up again, and are expected to go up again next quarter. Studies show that people are living so tight with their money, that if interest rates went up 1 full percent, 25% of people would lose their home. That is a scary thought and makes me wonder how close I am to that outcome; how close is my extended family. Will they expect help from me if their personal finances go downhill and if so, what strain will that put on me and my family?
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We all do it, so lets stop thinking about this as being cheap. Its simply a fact of life. At some point you are bound to get a duplicate gift or a gift you don’t need (or want).
From Lendingtree.com –> http://youtube.com/watch?v=hn5EP9StlVA
This is the mantra I expect most people with really large houses and new vehicles would be singing if the truth were told.
Consumer culture is killing us. I refer everyone to a previous post on Living within your means.
I came across this video today which outlines the importance of saving for retirement. In Canada, a 401K is called an RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan). Presumably other similar tax-sheltered savings plans exist in other countries.
Scenario: We were recently married (and naive), and invited to a “seminar” about vacation packages. We would get a voucher at the end of the seminar for $250 to use at a vacation resort. Sounds great! We can sit through a seminar, no problem. It will be the easiest $250 ever!
Reality: The seminar is a pressure sales situation. The “seminar” part of it lasts only 30 minutes, then they are 1 on 1 with us trying to convince us how great their product is and get us to buy into it. We resist. They start to become a little rude, and lay down guilt trips. Why did we come if we weren’t interested? How did our names get on the list? Why are we wasting this salesman’s time if we’re not going to buy?
Having watched the DVD “The Secret” with my wife, and agreeing on most of the points made therein, we now often joke about their example of “getting a check in the mail”. For example, if we had budgetted $150 for our electricity bill and the bill comes in at only $130, to us, this is a $20 check in the mail. We’ve found that we can celebrate these little things by using the plans from our budget. Of course we are looking for ways to continuously save money and become more efficient, but these little celebrations really help!
These mini celebrations help keep our attitudes positive and our minds on the goal of becoming financially independent. Now, paying our bills is less of a burden, because we’re excited to see if a bill is actually a “check in the mail”.