No Debt Journey

As I mentioned from a couple of posts ago, the pandemic has changed my money mindset to a different level. A level where I wonder things such as “What if I suddenly can’t work?” or “What if I get sick?”, among other questions. So I made some changes.

These fears made me not want to spend money…at all. Where I live, we had all non-essential businesses (malls, restaurants, etc.) shut down for awhile, and things were strict with going out, etc. Unless you shopped online, which I didn’t, there weren’t many places to spend money. However, my mindset had shifted, and I didn’t want to spend money anyway.

Now, I’m a single mom of two, so when it comes to my debt payoff, it is a challenge, but when all you’re really doing is sitting at home and going to work, it becomes a tad easier. I realized that I was starting to save money more than before, without struggling. I wasn’t living paycheck to paycheck which was a pretty great feeling.

I then found out about a deal going on with an online bank account, called Tangerine. They were offering a higher interest savings account for several months. My boyfriend has had an account with them for years now, and was able to vouch for them, as I was a bit sketchy about such a good deal. They are also a sister company to a much larger well-known bank, Scotiabank, which helped to instill confidence in them.

So I signed up for both a chequing and savings account with them two months ago, and the interest from the savings account has been great!

Another thing I looked at was my internet bill. Wow, how it had skyrocketed throughout time. I even talked with a couple of friends who agree that that was a high amount. So, I got on the phone with my internet company and asked them to lower it. They gave me a six month deal which is now saving me $35.00 per month. I will call back in six months to see what else they can do for me once that goes back up again.

I also went through my online banking for this year so far, and looked at what I had been spending money on and how much. I realized I could definitely cut back on some things. It’s funny when you take a look at what you’ve been spending and realize how you don’t notice the little things that really add up!

One of the things that I noticed was higher than I thought was my grocery spending. I’ve become more conscious of that now. Also, where I shop, they have this points system where certain food items in the store get you points if you buy them. They differ every week and show you the deals on their app, which I have. Once you get a certain amount, you can use them as “money” to help pay for your groceries. So, I now have really started paying attention to what these deals are each shopping trip and plan my meals around these items. I have definitely noticed a difference on how quickly my points add up now! It’s become somewhat of a game to me to see how many points I can get each week.

I think that about covers the majority of how my mindset has shifted in regards to how I’m spending, or rather not spending, my money these days. Do you find a difference in your mindset with money since COVID-19 has begun? Or maybe it shifted for another reason? I’d love to hear your stories.

Hello! I know that we are all going through a stressful time right now, whether it be fear of you or your loved ones contracting the coronavirus, changes in your community, cancelled events, closed establishments or job loss.

I am fortunate to still have a job, but I haven’t been working for the past two weeks due to a minor sore throat. I would normally not stay home because of a sore throat, but have had to due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, you may be completely out of a job at the moment, either due to COVID-19, or maybe another reason. Either way, I have done some research to come up with some companies that are hiring right now. Yes, during the pandemic! So, I am hoping to help you out by sharing this list with you. There are over 60 (yes, 60+!) companies hiring several workers right now. Without further ado, here is the link to the list:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/heres-whos-hiring-right-now-andrew-seaman/

I truly wish you the best in your search. Stay safe everyone!

Hey you! I hope you are staying safe in these tough times. If there were ever a time where we all needed to work together as a team, it’s now. Speaking of work, I started getting a sore throat almost two weeks ago now (13 days ago to be precise). I was told by my health authority where I live that I should self-isolate just until my symptom goes away (as a sore throat isn’t one of the major symptoms of COVID-19). So, I’ve been at home since then; no work, no income.

So, I’m on day 13 and my sore throat is still present. I’ve done all that I can to try and get rid of it, talked to 3 different doctors, had testing done, been on 2 different prescriptions, and followed suggestions from the doctors on different things to try. Nothing has worked so far.

So, in my time at home, twiddling my thumbs, I have had no income coming in, as I mentioned. I have applied for unemployment funds from my government, but of course that will take time for me to actually receive.

I decided to make at least a bit of income, at the advice of my boyfriend, and do what he does in his spare time just for a bit of extra coin in the pocket. Surveys for money.

Surveys will by no means make you rich, or even replace your full-time income, but if you’re stuck at home by yourself, with no income at the moment, you might as well do something to make some extra money.

So, I joined 3 survey websites. Then I joined 5 more. I’ve been working on these for the time being. I have decided to start logging my progress on them as of a couple days ago so I can share with you the best ones out of those.

Hey all! Wow, it’s been a long, long, loooong time since I’ve posted! I will start by saying that since my last post, my debt has been a bit of a roller coaster but I’m getting back on track now. It’s a good feeling. So, here is where I’m at with my debt from the beginning (comparing from my very first blog post):

First Post (July 6, 2018):

Mastercard #1 – $723.56

Mastercard #2 – $3693.92

Bed Loan – $1432.32

Car Loan – $6188.07

Mom – $6700

Current (March 15, 2020):

Mastercard #1 – $921.60

Mastercard #2 – $5787.75

Bed Loan – PAID OFF!

Car Loan – PAID OFF!

Mom – $6700 (she doesn’t want it back, but I insist)

So, there are obviously positives and negatives to my debt progress. My credit cards are what I need to work on, and I have started to. Because I no longer have my car loan, I have started putting that extra money towards my credit card debt. I have also started to look into apps that can give me a bit of cash back for different things. I will keep you posted on what I find out…

Hey everyone! I have some exciting news; I paid off one of my Mastercards. Woo hoo! It was my smallest debt, but it still feels great. Next, will be my “don’t pay for a year” bed loan. I will have it paid off before that year is up so I am not having to sell a kidney just to pay the high interest rates they’ll surely gouge me with. That would obviously not be good for the whole becoming debt free thing either.

I also bought two more books I wanted to read on personal finance. I’m not sure if I mentioned in a previous post or not, but I finished reading one that I bought before too. I wanted to read a few just to get different views and ideas on what others have done to become debt free. I will be starting to read one of them tonight.
Side Note: I bought all three books with an old gift card I hadn’t fully used yet, so no moula out of my pocket.

Another thing I’m now learning about is investing. I have a TFSA and an RRSP, but I want to look more into investing in stocks on my own. I am going to learn everything I can on investing and once I am confident and comfortable with it, I will invest. It will take awhile, but it is definitely on my debt free journey “To Do” list.

So, due to my youngest daughter’s recent birthday and Halloween (costumes for both kids), I got a tad low on funds until my next payday so I used some of my grocery store points ($50.00 worth) to help pay for my groceries, so I’ll be working hard on building those points back up. I like to use them for times like these. Saves me some money. Every little bit counts!

So, that’s about it for my little debt free journey update. I will keep adding updates and posts on any information that could be helpful for you all out there too. Thanks for reading!

Hey all. In my previous post (yesterday), I mentioned that I kind of “fell off the wagon” with how well I was doing with my money. The reason for it is hard for me to talk about, as it really put me in a depressed state. I am just starting to recover from it now, but I still have my hard days.

I received some very bad news a month and a half ago. Someone I was close to passed away. He committed suicide. I had only known him for a year, but in that year, we had grown close. I loved him very much. He had had a rough time throughout the year, which I tried so hard to help him through. He also had support from two loving family members, but in the end, none of us could help him. The depression from the mental illness just overtook him.

This hit me hard. I had only ever dealt with grandparents and a cat dying up until now, and they all died at old ages so it’s something you expect. Of course they were all very sad deaths, but it was different.

So, I went into a very depressed state. There were a whole range of emotions that I was feeling. It was overwhelming actually. I had a lot of support from family and friends but none of it felt like enough. I just couldn’t handle the way I was feeling. I did seek counselling but once I started looking into it, I suddenly had a shift in moods and began to feel better. It was really strange actually.

Anyway, one of the many emotions I was feeling was that, other than my amazing kids, I didn’t care about anything else. I didn’t want to go to work. I didn’t want to go anywhere, other than home. It was a hard mood to deal with, and even harder to admit on here, but it was the truth. So, I stopped caring about saving money. I didn’t go overboard with spending but I wasn’t careful either and spent money on certain things that I didn’t actually need.

I’m doing better now than I was. Time heals all wounds, right? So, I am now back on track and ready to get back into tackling this debt. I didn’t write this post as an excuse for my bad spending. I shouldn’t have gotten off track with it, period. But, it is amazing how a horrible event can affect your thinking on things.

So I guess the moral of the story here is, if you have a “hiccup” in your debt-free plan because of a bad day, or a bad event, etc., forgive yourself and try to get back on the right track as soon as you can. We are all human and we all have to deal with hard times sometimes. Until next time…