Budget Musings

Archive for April, 2008

I have never heard of the term freegan until today. My husband pointed me to this site http://freegan.info/ that outlined some of the practices of a freegan. My basic translation is that a freegan does all they can to live life paying for little and where possible nothing. Being able to live without the need for much money. Thus it allows them to have a job with little income (low wage/low hours). This helps reduce stress levels and the feeling that you have to work more to pay for life’s expenses. Thus you have more time to do as you want, more importantly you have more time to be with your family. Read the rest of this entry »

I had my car for a few months and was informed of a recall for a common/known problem with the head gasket on the engine. I brought it into the local repair shop/dealership for my make of car. While replacing the head gasket they had to take the engine out and ended up breaking another couple gaskets (they’re not very thick and so would break very easily). When I picked up my car they told me it would cost $62. I didn’t like that but wasn’t sure what to say so I went home to think about it. I figured that I really shouldn’t have paid the $62 so I called them back to see what they could do for me. I ended up speaking with the manager and told her that I didn’t think I should have to pay for what they broke while doing the recall repair. They said it wasn’t part of the recall and so they don’t cover the cost on that. I told her I understood what she was saying and so wouldn’t be fair for her location to pay for a mistake that was really originally caused by the manufacturer. So I asked who was next up from her to talk to at the manufacturer to have them fix the problem. She asked me to hold on that thought and that she would call me back again. When she called back she said that her location would pay for the repair.

Sometimes it takes a great deal of courage to open your mouth and let a business know nicely of a mistake that they made that needs to be taken care of. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand what the expense is, what the breakdown of the expense is, or why you are paying for it (especially if it’s their mistake).

When have you inquired further and saved on your expenses?

I was recently reading an entry in the Thrifty Mommy blog where she knew the right question to ask to get much needed airline tickets for the next day at a discount price. The entry tells of her savings (others comments on savings they’ve had) by asking for bereavement fares. So she was able to attend to the family loss with the expense being minimized.

Here are some other questions that may help you save on your purchases: Read the rest of this entry »

Eager to join the work force and skip the post-secondary education to have money in your pocket?

According to census data compiled by HighBeam Research, They say “Get educated. A college education always pays for itself and more. In 2004, bachelor’s degree holders earned an average of $51,206 per year, while high school graduates earned only $27,915″ Read the rest of this entry »

Having a great amount of money for a tax return is nice to have. More money can be put onto debts/savings/purchasing wish list items. “But why is the government taking so much money from my paycheck in the first place, only to give me such a large sum back for a tax return?”

After speaking with our financial adviser, my husband and I saw that we could have more money to put onto debts/savings/wish list during the year. She told us of a form called “Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source T1213″ (for Canada). Using this form would make it so less taxes are taken off each paycheck and thus leave more money in our pocket each paycheck instead of receiving a larger lump sum Tax Return. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s so thrilling to see the assessment of how much of your hard earned money you’re going to get back from the government on your Tax Return. The question is what to do with the money?

Well I know what I want to do (a big shopping spree for house renovations, new computer, vacation, plus some other items on the wish list), but then I know that’s not really what I should do. Read the rest of this entry »

Click here for the full sized image .

“I’ve worked hard performing my job, I don’t want to work hard making my lunch too.”

“Eating out or buying from the work cafeteria is so much easier to do.”

The question is, how much do I actually spend in a month for the convenience of not making and bringing my own lunch from home?

Tracking your spending and knowing how much you REALLY spend on a category like “work lunch out” in a month can be quite tedious. Maybe you have a check book where you can record each of your expenses. At the end of the month you can take the time to sit down with a calculator and tally them. Then you will have the full picture for that category for the month. There has to be a much easier and less tedious way. Read the rest of this entry »

Four years ago my husband came home with this cool new gadget from a major big box electronic store, a projector (allows us to watch movies on our wall almost life size). The great thing was that it was on sale for a very decent price. The only real downfall now to having it, is that since the major electronic store doesn’t sell the replacement bulbs themselves we have to order them from another small company online (at about $400 a piece).

The first bulb lasted a couple years before we had to replace it. The second bulb went in the middle of watching a movie after using it for about only 15% of the expected time it should have lasted. I was not satisfied with what I figured was a faulty product. I phoned the company we got it from and they said they couldn’t do anything for us, but we should contact the manufacturer of the projector. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever find an unexplained expense on your credit card or in your checquing account? My budget is updated at least once a week, so I know every expense that should be coming out of my account. On the rare occasion I do find an unexplained expense and so discuss it with my husband to see if it was a purchase he made (I’m the one who makes most of the purchases in the house). Read the rest of this entry »