Living in a quiet suburb comes with its pros and cons. When you don't live next door to a coffee shop, library, gym, or any stores at all, and you need a car to go absolutely everywhere, life can sometimes be miserable. I am currently spending the long winter weeks in New Brunswick, living in such a suburb, in a small quiet community where not much is happening. However, don't get me wrong; I like spending time with my old folks in New Brunswick, but spending very long periods of time here, especially during the winter, can be a bit hard for me. I cannot go to the gym very easily, and I cannot go to a coffee shop for an espresso during my lunch break for the simple reason that we don't have any around here. It sometimes gets a bit boring, but at the same time, it gives me the opportunity to save a lot of money.
Here's a perfect example of boredom in little New Brunswick: yesterday, my mom asked me, "What would you like to do? How about going to Walmart?" (That's my mom trying to get creative and figure out what to do just to please me). I politely refused the invitation for the simple and good reason that if I stepped into a Walmart, I would come out with certainly an invoice of $50 - and maybe more, and the fact is, I wasn't in need of anything. I really didn't want to get into spending more when I am trying to save money.
Just to make things worse, the weather has been very cold lately in New Brunswick. I am not enjoying the outdoors very much these days. It makes it hard to exercise. I usually take some daily walks, but not these days. There are many good YouTubers that make easy-to-follow exercise videos, walking videos, etc. I plan to do some to get in better shape. Actually, I am planning to start this evening. It's something that I had in mind for the new year, but I haven't moved forward so far. When it comes to exercising, I prefer going to a gym rather than doing exercises at home. For the next couple of weeks, I won't be able to access a gym as easily as I would like. I plan to go back to Montreal mid-March. It's my father's birthday in February, and after that, it's my mom's in March, so I plan to leave the week following her birthday - if the weather allows it. The months of January, February, and March are birthday months in my family. I am the only one who has her birthday in summer, more exactly in August.
What I wanted to share in this post is the following: when it comes to saving money, try to concentrate more on your needs rather than your wants. It's easier said than done, but you need to establish a state of mind where saving money becomes your priority. Avoid any shopping trips that are not necessary and eat your meals at home. Before leaving Montreal for New Brunswick, I ate out a few times, and most of the time, it wasn't even on fancy things, but even "regular" eating out had become more expensive. I remember one time eating out, and I got a salmon bagel, a soup, a coffee, and a bottle of water, and it cost me over $30... You can still enjoy city life if you eat at home or bring a little sandwich and snacks while going out. This is something that I will work on once I go back to Montreal.
On those good words, I need to go and do my exercise videos... This is day one.
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