Easy ways to save money in your everyday life on a tight pushy budget

I simply don't believe this! After my Johnny, France Gall, its now Dolores O'Riordan who left too early this earth for I hope a better a place. She was only 46! I was born in 1980 and during my teenage years, Dolores O'Riordan was the girl you just dream to be. Her voice make it easy to listen to any of the Cranberries songs.

I think this one if my all time Cranberries song:

I think it was just a year or so ago that the Cranberries were supposed to play in Montreal, but it got cancel, if I remember.

Are those good songs or what? I didn't listen to any of those in a really long time.

Is there a way to preserve the artists we love from actually dying? Just so sad.

Live go on, but its quite of a shit hole... especially when... I didn't wrote about this, but I actually invested in Aphria Inc. (APH) at its almost highest peak. And than, it went down... I didn't wrote about this because I felt awful.


And of course, when you suffer, you become a quiet wolf, you don't make that much don't you. There's a lot volatility in APH, I knew I was going to go back up. Actually, I didn't give a damn. If APH wanted to do its job on me, FINE. I taught I got what I deserved, that I am a really bad person for investing on margin, etc etc etc... It didn't took long for my APH to go back in high. My relation with Aphria Inc. (APH) is far from being simple, but I am under the impression I am on the road for gold. I am just going to hold my stocks for now. Especially now that APH announced the acquisition of a business for a couple millions. Its just super great thing for APH to go even higher.

Anyhow, now, everything is smoother, APH is what I expected it to be: a super rough boyfriend, but still manageable, because I AM the bitch here.

Now that you know everything, let's continue on a little post that I began to wrote this weekend. These days, I don't have too much times on my hand, and its really for no reason. Not only that are getting best free investment advice ever, but you also get to learn some super AWESOME tips on how to save money.

I made a few mistakes while trying to establish my budget and expenses for 2018.

First, in my monthly budget, I forgot to calculate my weekend money $20 x 4 weeks, so its what my current monthly budget look like:

Grocery: $280 ($70 per week)

Coffee: $60 ($15 per week)

Rent: $665

Internet: $45.34

Cell: $40.24

Weekend money: $20 x 4 weeks: $80

Gym membership: $14.38

TOTAL: $1 184.96

$14 219.52 for 1 year. However, its possible to cut down on those basic monthly expenses.

1-Tip number 1 on how to save money on a tight budget: cut in the existing butter

I like this budget because its realistic - that being for one glamorous unfortunately single woman. What I like is that I have a bit of space to cut down some expenses. For example, I usually spend less than $20 per weekend. I have a little routine of my own like if I would be a veryyyy olddddd ladyyy. On Saturday, I usually go at a coffee shop before going to the gym and I buy a double espresso, at $2.50 and I something buy a bagel or a sandwich like I did this past Saturday. Both items cost me $8.75 - and its the only money I spend over the weekend - as weekend money. 

In result, I will probably save around $48.75 per month. Not much, but it allow to cover for extra expenses...

I haven't been a good girl all week long I spent $99.54 in one single evening as I went out this past Thursday. I also purchased a cute lamp online at Walmart because my existing one was standing right anymore, and a super cute little spices rack for my little kitchen, for a total of $91.45. I also bought a new rug for my entrance, $31.03... Those are extra expenses that are not include in my budget.

This week, I spent $373.63. But surprise, I return a Christmas gift that wasn't wanted, and I got back $128.13, which reduce by miracle my weekly expense at $245.50.

I am looking forward to purchase a kitchen cart, this IKEA bookcase, and a few decoration items for my tiny little apartment.

2-Tip number 2 on how to save money on a tight budget: take advantage of the super great Pharmaprix Optimum points program

The Pharmaprix Optimum is a reward program offer in any Pharmaprix and Shoppers store. Each time I purchase something in a Pharmaprix store, I show my card and received reward points base on my purchases. You can exchange those points to pay off products purchased at the store.

Also, Pharmaprix has special offer, like today, it was possible to exchange points for products, and you where receiving a little extra while doing so. I took advantage of the offer, I exchange 50 000 points and I was able to get a $105 off, which was extra of $20, normally 50 000 points give you $85 of free stuff. I bought for $136.76, and only paid $28.76. I bought vitamins, calcium, sunscreen lotion (for my trip to Cuba) and a bunch of other things.

3-Tip number 3 on how to save money on a tight budget: take control of your other expenses

Personally, I have a monthly minimum budget, and on top of it I add all other expenses, that include everything - excluding vacation - that I am probably going to spend money on in the year to come.

Other expenses:

HAIR CUT: 5 4 times this year @ $40: $200 $160

I decided to have a hair cut 4 times a year instead of 5. Will see how it goes.

CLOTHES: $1 200 - $300 per season, not much, but I already have plenty of clothes…

CLEANING PRODUCTS: I always buy them at Dollorama. To clean my apartment, and floor, I like to use Pine-Sol, it’s at $2.50 at Dollarama. I never calculated how long a bottle last me, same thing for dish soap, windex or cleaning products for the bath room. I estimate 2 products at $3 each per 2 months and 1 product at $3 per month: $72

I already have a good supply of some cleaning products, so I can easily deduct $38.50 of the amount: 

$33.50

TOILET PAPERS: $10 per 2 months (let say...): $60

LAUNDRY TICKETS FOR CLOTHES: $6 per week: $312   

LAUNDRY TICKETS FOR SHEETS: $6 per 2 weeks : $144

LAUNDRY SOAP: $10 per 2 months: $60 

$3.99 for 2: $7.98 

Laundry soap can be really expensive if you buy it at regular price. I bought two new bottles at $3.99 - which cover me for the year, since I already had some left in supply.

VITAMINS:

Jamieson 100% Complete Multivitamin for Women: $16 per 2 months: $96  

$8.69 

I previously had 3 bottle of 90 vitamin pills, I only got to purchase a new bottle to cover the year.

Caltrate with Vitamin D3 Soft Chews Chocolate, Bone Health Supplement, 600 mg Calcium: $102

9.79 x 4: 39.16

Jamieson Magnesium: $56

I decided to cut on the magnesium pills. - not quite sure about that right now...

ADVIL: $54

F PADS: $144 (can't cut on that one for SURE).

BODY SOAP: $27

I go with the cheapest and perfume free, which is Ivory.

DENTIST: $87.80 x 2 visits: $175.60

Other expenses you need to take into account:

OPTOMETRIST: ?

TOOTHBRUSH: $2

TOOTHPASTE

DEODORANT: let say 1 per month @ $5: $60

SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER: $144

MAKEUP: $480

DRIVER LICENCE RENEWAL: $91.33

Total of the OTHER EXPENSES:

$2 910.26 (About)

When you get through all of those numbers, you quickly realize that life is expensive, saving money is easy, but the good being of humanity, we all need a minimum salary of $15 per hour, at least in Canada.

Loblaw $25 gangsta compensation for bread price conspiration is cheap shot

I write this post about a week ago, but I guess I forgot to publish it...

After Johnny Hallyday, France Gall is no more. It's heartbreaking. She hasn't the greatest voice, but she certainly has a flare of her own. And more importantly, she has her very unique signature voice, no one could copy her. I like this song, probably her greatest hit from the 80s. I remember listening to that song when I was a little girl, and it always remain like a somewhat fascination.

YouTube is the PLACE to listen to good old songs, but its also a fun place to discover bands that otherwise, you might never listen to. One of my newest find is a cool wicked band of the name of Roosevelt. They have an electric groove of their own and their tunes are all really nice, which you can listen too while reading this very fantastic blog.

Roosevelt even has a cool song title Montreal:

This one is also good.

Now, you are intoxicated for good. Roosevelt is your new love, after me of course.

Its the strangest thing ever, but Loblaw admitted that they have conspired to fix the price of bread since 2001??!!!! And now, to compensate us, poor consumers, Loblaw is now offering a $25 card. The offer started today, you can click here to register and get a $25 card available to spend in any Loblaw/Provigo store. You'll received the card withing 6 to 12 weeks. If you choose to register in any lawsuit, you'll be able to, but Loblaw warns, the $25 that you received within 6 to 12 weeks will be deduct of any new amount that you may received. Formal lawsuits haven't been launched yet, but I hope it did. If so, it could take a while, but each and single consumers who had bought bread between 2001 and today could received $100, maybe $200. Such amount would be better than just a $25. Or at least a $50. Anyhow, I happily register to get my hand on a free $25, especially now that I am dealing with a super compress budget for the next 12 months. Its going to be rough and tough.

Save money while you can: precious money, precious saving

A new year always welcome new dreams – in my case it’s to hit the 300k net worth by the end of the year 2018. It’s doable, but only in a good stock market environment. 2017 had been so chaotic, it’s quite difficult to predict if 2018 will be a good year or not, especially since the status of NAFTA is not clarify by our “friends” in the USA. Overall, 2017 had been a good year for my investments.

I had spent a good two weeks away from Montreal, which was really awesome. Now that I am hitting back in my regular days, my 2018 resolution is to spend less. I always been a good saver, but in some occasions, I spent more than I should, especially for clothes, make-up and hair products. Hair products is my ultimate weakness, as well as make-up, lipsticks…… Being a girl involved much more spending than just being a simple guy. From the moment we are born, girls face many challenge.

Knowing I closed the year 2017 with a net worth of 221k – I am just so close of the 300k, it would be just very stupid of me if I wouldn’t be trying to save all the money I possibly can in the year ahead. The half million could be all mine by the time I turn 40 – but at probably the only condition that I hit on the 300k this year. Nothing is impossible. There’s no magic trick, saving money is super hard, but I am a natural at it, as I know exactly what are my weaknesses. And ever since my salary start growing, I had become more and more of a spender. It’s something really normal, anyone goes through such things. My 221k is more than I ever taught I could ever have, so why pushing more?

Well for many reasons: the more money you have, the better, 221k is not that much, and I don’t have too much in term of cold cash saving in the bank. And I would like to have a real $300 000 of my own. So why not?

Just the fact that I stop coloring my hair is helping a lot. Visit to the hair dresser and products for color hair are just very expensive. My natural color is showing more and more. After all those years, I had forgot what it was looking like. And it’s not ugly. For my part, I am really done coloring my hair. It’s just too much time and money consuming.

Once I get myself into something, I am getting in completely. And it should be the same for you. Some expose the art of saving money very simply: make your own coffee, bring your lunch to work… Good tips, but to be really efficient, you need to go much deeper than that. That’s why I am writing the following post. We are going to explore some very personal ways that your favorite Dividend Girl has to save money.

1 – Establish your monthly budget

Establish a sharp – but not too sharp budget – this means, establish a realistic budget, that include all of your needs. To do so, you need to know where your money go every month. And after that, try to spend less than plan every weeks.

First, establish your monthly basic budget:

MONTHLY BUDGET

Grocery: $280 - $70 per week

Coffee: $60 - $15 per week

Rent: $665

Internet: $45.34

Cell: $40.24

Weekend money: $20

Gym membership: $14.38

TOTAL : $1 124.96

$13 499.52 for 1 year: very basic fix needs

Your monthly budget should include all your fix charges, like cable if you have it, cell phone, rent, etc…. In my case, the fix charges are limited to a few things. The less you have to pay out the better. This is for the basic expenses. As you doubt, other expenses need to be taking into consideration. But let’s talk money first.

2 - How much do you normally earn in a year

INCOME

In this section, you need to include all your sources of income: job (but only after taxes), online income if you have any and of course, dividend earnings.

Job (after taxes): $35 300

Online: 500 $

Dividend: 7 980 $ (approximately, I didn’t have time t update my dividend income yet)

TOTAL: $43 780

For 2018, I estimate my income to be of $43 780.

Let see how money I will have to play around and to invest:

$43 780 (income) – $13 499.52 (very basic needs): 30 280.48 $

This means I have left $30 280.48 to do whatever I want with it.

I have calculate my very basic needs, but that’s not exactly realist to what I will be spending in a year. Because other than my basic needs, I have other sphere of expensive. In other to track them, you need to know yourself. Do you know how you spend your money? I do. And it’s how it goes for me:

3 - Money spend on vacations

VACATION:

Cuba: $1 370                                                                                        

Easter vacation: $350

Summer vacation: $3 000

Extra spending during the summer: $200

October vacation: $350

Christmas: $820

TOTAL for vacations: $6 090

Establish a budget for your vacations is really essential.

3 - Other regular living expenses

And now, you need to write down all of the other expenses that you’ll be doing in the year ahead.

OTHER EXPENSES:

HAIR CUT: 5 times this year @ $40: $200

CLOTHES: $1 200 - $300 per season, not much, but I already have plenty of clothes…

CLEANING PRODUCTS: I always buy them at Dollorama. To clean my apartment, and floor, I like to use Pine-Sol, it’s at $2.50 at Dollarama. I never calculated how long a bottle last me, same thing for dish soap, windex or cleaning products for the bath room. I estimate 2 products at $3 each per 2 months and 1 product at $3 per month: $72

TOILET PAPERS: $10 per 2 months (let say...): $60

LAUNDRY TICKETS FOR CLOTHES: $6 per week: $312   

LAUNDRY TICKETS FOR SHEETS: $6 per 2 weeks : $144

LAUNDRY SOAP: $10 per 2 months: $60

VITAMINS:

Jamieson 100% Complete Multivitamin for Women: $16 per 2 months: $96

Caltrate with Vitamin D3 Soft Chews Chocolate, Bone Health Supplement, 600 mg Calcium: $102

Jamieson Magnesium: $56

ADVIL: $54

F PADS: $144

BODY SOAP: $27

SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER: $144

MAKEUP: $480

DRIVER LICENCE RENEWAL: $91.33

Total of the OTHER EXPENSES: $2 042.33

Those are all the expenses I can possibly think of. Let see what is now left for investment purposes:

INCOME – BASIC MONTHLY NEEDS – VACATIONS – OTHER EXPENSES = MONEY LEFT TO INVEST AND SAVE

$43 780 – $13 499.52 – $2 042.33 : $22 148.15

In my current situation, I have the possibility to save approximately 22k this year – and even more if I get myself into it. I cannot cut anywhere in the vacations section, so I am looking forward to cut in the expenses.

Example of what I can do to save money – other than bringing your lunch to work:

For one week, let say that I don’t buy any coffees at work: I will save that way $15. Let’s plan a no coffee week once per month, I will save that way: $180

I had fix my grocery shopping at $70 per week. It will be difficult, but I can certainly lower that bill 2 weeks per month by certainly $10. Money save on a year: $240

In my monthly budget, I had put a $20 each week as weekend money. Let say that 2 weeks per month, I only spend $10 instead of $20. Money save on a year: $240

For the closing expenses, instead of spending $300 per season, let’s skip the spending for the winter season. Money save: $300

With all those below, I could save an extra $960 a year. It’s not 22k, but 23k that I could have at my disposal for investment.

The trick is to spend as less money possible, but reasonably, and to do so, you need to keep track of all of your expenses. Personally, I wrote them down inside my agenda.

One of the not easy point is grocery shopping. What I like to do before going, is to plan the recipes I will do for the week. And I only buy the items needed, to which I add a few things like the usual bread, milk, eggs, apples.

I hope all those tips will help you succeed at the difficult task of saving money!

F USA now responsible for cannabis stocks drop out: and what's next???

For a moment, I taught that nothing was going to stop our Canadian cannabis stocks from growing. Something happen with the US regarding the legislation of marijuana. But who care? I don't. Why our special pot stocks had to lose massive value in result? This is all so screw up. As you know, I took part in the cannabis game not too long ago by investing in Aphria Inc. (APH). I decided to sell APH just before leaving for my vacation. I was going home in New Brunswick for more than 2 weeks and I was feeling anxious because I wasn't going to have access to Internet everyday to check out on my precious stocks. Investment of the type of APH are super volatile. So I sold all of my APH stocks before leaving just to calm me down. And I was happy to have a few extra bucks to pay my bus ticket because I had spent a lot of money in the past few weeks. I also book a trip to Cuba in February, so I am now dealing with a super tight budget on EVERYTHING. 

I am just acting like a very good girl right now, not coloring my hair, and not purchasing any makeup or clothes and I am suffering, especially for the hair. The more my natural color is showing up, the more I want to disappear. I don't know if I will be able to stand it for really long. I am pushing down on the saving money button like a sexy freak. And my only excuse is the willingness to save over $20 000 this year and hit on the magic $300 000 net worth for 2018. Quite ambitious, but not impossible. I am planning on a little post on how to do a budget this weekend. My way is like no others, you'll learn how to stretch your dollars like a real saver. I think people underestimate the power of budgeting for the long run. January is the perfect month

On a day like today, the TSX is showing me all of its love to her very favorite investor and that's being me. Today, my non-registered portfolio closed the session at $185 737.08.

After investing for a couple of years, you get to know a certain feeling on what's good and what's bad for you. Personally, I cannot live long holding super volatile stock inside my portfolio. I felt that Aphria Inc. (APH) was just too volatile to remain in my portfolio while I am away.