Like most couples, my partner and I have the occasional squabble over our household finances. Usually, these arguments arise because of something else — a deadline at work, illness, a difficult commute — but they often open up the door for frank, and sometimes heated, discussions about money. So, how do my partner and I broach the ‘M‘ word without spiralling into an emotional rage?
Like any relationship that deals with money, or some form of it, you must be able to trust all of the people in your network. Trust between partners (theoretically) allows each person to make comments or suggestions about finances without being snapped at and gives people the opportunity to flesh out new ideas about your spending and saving patterns.
In our house, we do a number of things that help us make budget-related issues less stressful, with fewer arguments and better long-term money management emerging as a result of our actions. Our approach relies less on a tried-and-true formula and more on open communication and thoughtful spending (sort of!). It’s an adaptable system that allows us to meet changing short-term goals while pursuing our long range targets. Read the rest of this entry »
Every December my wife and I bundle up our daughter and we head out for a couple of days on the town, looking for Christmas gifts for friends and relatives and hoping that I don’t go crazy and start yelling at random people in the middle of a huge crowd. Holiday shopping for me is a rite of passage, a trial that I must endure in order to make it to the 25th of December, and part of the reason that I do it is to check out the pre-Boxing Day ’sales’ in the final few days before Christmas. They’re a fantastic opportunity for consumers to stock up on stuff whose retail prices have been slashed by retailers.
Holiday decorations
This season, we used Christmas sales to purchase holiday decorations for next year (but only on items that were between 60% and 70% off). For example, we picked up some wrapping paper and bows that were marked at $7.99 early in December for under $3.00, three days before Christmas. Similarly, we found some indoor / outdoor LED lights for about 40% off regular retail prices.
Cheap birthday presents
We use this strategy throughout the year, but the good sales are a perfect time to pick up presents for our daughter’s friends (January - April is a popular birthday season). Over the past week, we made a few purchases of select toys and books and they were marked down between 50% and 75% below retail. While we’ve found that similar discounts can be had at many online retailers, it’s sometimes very difficult to tell if this set of Pokemon cards is cooler than that stack of Pokemon cards. Take that Pikachu!
Spend that windfall? I don’t think so.
I’d love to say that I took the cash we saved on our purchases and rushed out to buy the Nintendo Wii that I… errr, I mean my daughter, has been clamouring for since September. Instead, our strategic buying helped us save over $400 in December, money that was put into our daughter’s tax-sheltered RESP. The government provides a grant that amounts to 25% of your deposit up to $2000 so, effectively, that $400 in savings is $500.
