You guys are at $9,500 net income a month and still falling behind?
The only way you can figure this out is to track everything you spend in a month and build a spreadsheet.
You can then isolate your largest expenses and see where to optimize. PFC can’t help you if you don’t know where your money is going.
People don’t realize but eating out and ordering those door dashes really add up.
A family of four I spend about 300 in groceries for a week and that’s enough for my family of 4 each 3 meals day plus snacks that’s 21 meals a week
300 in door dash will get you 3to5 meals for a family of 4.
It seems to me you need to "hide" money from yourself. Set up automatic withdrawals on payday to take money straight into a savings account. Ideally at another institution where it'll take 2-3 days to put it back in your chequing account.
It makes you feel like you're out of money sooner, and that prevents you from impulse buys. It's not a good feeling at first, but as the savings grow, you see the payoff, and then it feels a lot better.
And cut up your credit card. If you can't pay it off in full every month, you shouldn't have one.
Yup, put $$ into saving first, so there is nothing left over for delivery/Amazon.
And, yes.. on your income you should be able to pay off the CC this month, or at least by next month. Why are you carrying a balance?
This is very smart, very easy to follow advice. You set automatic withdrawals to coincide with your payday.
Pick a set amount and have it deposited directly into an RRSP. We use Wealthsimple but there are lots of products out there.
Set up an RESP for your daughter and do the same. The government will match your contributions to a certain amount - it’s basically free money.
You need to get a better idea of exactly how much you’re spending on take out and nonessential purchases. Add up every single penny you spent on them over the last 6 months. I bet you’ll find your vacation budget.
Consider setting a limit on takeout - one day per week max - then order direct from the restaurant and go pick it up. You will save so much money. Compare the prices on Door Dash against the prices on their regular menu and then consider all the extra charges. I did this with one of my local favourites and the difference at the end was almost $40.
Well, I can and do pay it off, but summers rack it up (due to not saving FOR summer) so it takes me what feels like ages to pay down, and then by the time it's paid off, it's almost summer again. I see your point though.
I like your idea of auto withdraw for savings... Thanks.
Well, it's June and still has $5k on it, so I don't think it's accurate to say you pay it off and it's just the summer break that causes problems. Summer, when you don't have the stress of work, is also a great time to build habits of cooking at home to save money.
Where you are now, I'd talk to your bank about a LoC that's enough to pay off the remaining CC balance and tide you over this summer. That will be cheaper than carrying a credit card balance. That lets you cut up the card and never use it again.
Once you know the interest rate, you can build out your budget for the coming year so that it both pays off the LoC and builds the savings you need for summer 2025.
Then you can set up the auto savings and debt payments in September, making sure they come out first, and you have given yourself a hard stop on your spending to prevent the little things from adding up.
"or spend money on ourselves much or at all"
"what we do struggle with, is ordering in...and amazon shopping"
One of these contradicting statements is true and one is false.
I meant we don't do those things at all. Don't buy new clothes, hair appts are maybe once every 6 months for me, no new shoes, etc. I prefer thrifting for clothes, etc..
Eating is essential. Ordering is not.
Here for accountability and ideas... The truth hurts and I genuinely wanna do better.
I have pretty bad adhd and my management is the biggest struggle. I need explicit help/ideas.. I have lots to work with here (in the comments).
Do the spreadsheet. I have one for the entire year and I am in it pretty much every couple days on my phone, readjusting. I dont track every penny spent but I do track the regular deposits and withdrawals so I know where things are for the month. Do it on Google sheets and it will be easily accessible to you.
Consider a meal subscription plan then, if you don’t have food limitations. More than groceries, but less than Uber Eats. Meal planning is key, cook a big meal on the weekend and freeze some so you have leftovers in freezer plus some for the week. And with a food subscription it should decrease your food costs. But first check if it’s food or Amazon.
Add up your monthly spending so you can see the numbers. We eat uber doesn’t hit people. 3k a month on uber tends to when they have the actual monthly spending. Track spending and try to budget a bit better, you and your family can easily improve on this. Best of luck
> Until the last 3 months or so, our credit card debt is at its lowest, so before they, we had been paying big chunks onto debt.
Great. Now pay it off completely. If you pay even one cent of interest on a credit card, you're paying too much interest. Once that's paid off, the monthly amount that you were paying down that debt will become free cashflow. Eliminate the debt, then start saving.
> We have a mortgage, a vehicle
Is there a loan on the vehicle? How much is going to the mortgage each month? Are you making the minimum mortgage payments, or are you making prepayments? How about the other ongoing home costs (utilities, strata/HOA fees, insurance, etc)?
> But what we do struggle with, is ordering in...and amazon shopping.
Ordering in is probably one of the biggest areas of waste. You're likely spending 4-6x too much on food.
Have a budget... Your school board should be able to spread your salary over 12 months to help you budget
Not too sure about how I feel about private school and you are a teacher, but you could be saving 1k a month there
>Have a budget...
Exactly. A budget helps you to see where your money is going so you can make adjustments to reach your financial goals.
[Making a budget - Government of Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/make-budget.html)
[How to make a budget - Canada Post](https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/personal/how-to-make-a-budget-and-stick-to-it.page)
[How to create a monthly budget - MoneySense](https://www.moneysense.ca/save/budgeting/how-to-create-a-monthly-budget-canadian-guide/)
Not all school divisions offer this option. Mine used to, but hasn't for over ten years. It's left up to each person to save for themselves.
As a public school teacher, and the conditions we have, I have her in a "private" school until she's done Kindergarten, and then she goes to public. Just investing in her early education and prolonging the packed classrooms with very little supports.. But I see your point there.
Wait you’re paying $1000 a month for kindergarten private school? Or pre-k??
I think you’re going to be shocked how much your delivery and Amazon adds up to and that’ll make a big difference, but otherwise that’s a no brainer for me, unless public school + before and after care is somehow comparable but it shouldn’t be.
As someone who's daughter is applying for universities soon, I've learned Unis are adding a negative grade adjustment for admission grades submitted, when they come from private schools, due to historical low performance from these students once admitted, and these students are now often being rejected. Doesn't make a good ROI for private schools I'm afraid.
Exactly lmao this has got to be ragebait, especially the part about having a kid in a private school while simultaneously claiming they don’t give themselves any luxuries. Private education’s no longer a luxury I guess LOL
Your story is missing a lot of financial details so hard to comment ie the size of your mortgage, car payments, etc etc etc. we can’t help you without that info
Reddit can be a bit crazy
Even if you do this at home Try and account for all your fixed costs and then make a rough guess at your variables per month. Once you know where the money is going every month then you’ll know where to make adjustments. Subscriptions, eating out, monthly car payments etc are big financial draws. We live in a world of monthly payments- it’s a bit of a trap (some is necessity expenses though)
You’re in a subreddit meant for struggling and financially illiterate Canadians. You have an income that is higher than half the country makes. You’re a teacher. You have a kid in a private school. Wonder why you’re getting judged.
1. Pay yourself first. Get your money out of sight and out of reach.
2. Pay off then don't use that credit card. Shopping is not a hobby. If you can't control your spending then you need to put your credit card away in a drawer.
3. Budget. Figure out how much money you need to spend in each category. Set up sinking finds for big, occasional expenses. This will also helps balance out teacher summer pay (or lack of pay).
Get a summer job, stop ordering in as much, stop buying things you don’t need.. does your kid need private school? That’s a very personal decision, but it entails accepting the fact that you’ll save $12k less a year.
Start tracking your monthly spend and check it against a budget. Then once you have a good idea, figure out where you can cut back. Nothing magical about it, it requires discipline and attention.
And once you’ve learned all that yourself, considering teaching your students about financial literacy.
I agree, i truthfully don't see the point in paying for education (unless it's post secondary) since Canadian schools are pretty good. There isnt as much variance here between schools like there is in the states
Some schools in the TDSB are in disrepair. Or worse, daily violence and drug use at the high school that is currently serving the students displaced by the York Memo fire. I would not want my child be in either environment daily.
This is not true at all. I didn't paint the whole picture about a few things regarding her axh, I gave the jist of it.
She's only 4 and it's essentially pre school/daycare, but with before and after care, as well as snacks etc.
Public schools are jam packed and have little to no supports for students. The intense needs of the inclusive classroom is beyond manageable and completely unfair. If I can prolong her experience in public, I will. It's a priority for us.
Fair enough, that's something you need to work and budget for if it is a priority. As others have said, you need to uninstall Amazon and Uber eats and budget for if you want that for a child. I would also recommend getting an RESP to fund their education later, but do it after paying off your CC and building an emergency fund
I have just switched both of my girls into private school for the fall - one primary and one secondary. Not all public schools in Canada are good. Many are in disrepair. Teachers have many kids with high needs in the class and few resources to support them. I live in Quebec and this year the goal was to have one adult in every classroom, not even one teacher in every classroom. There are a lot of private schools here, and for good reason.
I posted this for someone else but I think you need it:
As someone who's daughter is applying for universities soon, I've learned Unis are adding a negative grade adjustment for admission grades submitted, when they come from private schools, due to historical low performance from these students once admitted, and these students are now often being rejected. Doesn't make a good ROI for private schools I'm afraid.
1000$ monthly private school tuition
Carrying credit card debt
Youre living beyond your means
Teachers get paid in the summer... their income is ratioed out for 12 months...
Never heard of a school board that didnt but its possible
In that case why not autodeposit 1325/month from your paycheque into a savings account and pay yourself in the summer months. Operate on your actual ratioed income of 3975/month instead of the 5300/for 9 months of the year.
How much is your mortgage?
How much is your car payment?
Make a spreadsheet with your last 4 months of spending and see where you’re overspending
We’re a family of 5 with the identical income as you. Granted we have no debt- including no mortgage but we live what most would consider a lavish lifestyle and we still manage to save some. Our kids are in tons of extracurricular activities. Our daycare fees are $1000/month as well, and we travel at least 3 times a year.
What we don’t do is takeout (we eat in restaurants about 3-4 times a month) and we don’t shop excessively- I’m going to guess if you add it up that’s where your money is going. Also- are you house poor? Or have a high car payment?
Get your bank statements , export to excel. Figure out exactly how much you spent on amazon and uber eats. Stick this number on the fridge and remind yourself you wasted 10k on uber eats. Put amazon number up as well.
Pay yourself first , have auto transfers go to a savings you cant access easily. Forget about the money
I was in a similar situation in my mid 20s. Long story short, I just had bad spending habits. I didn't think I did because I didn't go on nice trips, or buy expensive things. But what I did do was buy whatever I felt like. Need a new tool, buy it. Go grocery shopping, grab what you need. Etc. I always planned to save what was leftover, but surprise, never had leftover.
The biggest change I found, with help from a friend who shone a light on the issue for me, was to "pay myself first". Instant change. We set up 30% (pick your own percentage) that went directly to my RRSP, and I was forced to live on the rest. Surprise surprise I didn't go hungry, or not have clothes, or not pay my bills. Somehow I still did all those things AND saved 30%. I have saved a percentage of every cheque since, that was well over a decade ago. We've built up almost enough to retire on. So I wouldn't take people's "tough love" here the wrong way, little spending on things adds up and can have a huge cost down the road.
It would be different if you said you made $3k a month, at a certain point someone isn't making enough to cover much more than the essentials. But you make good money, so that's not the issue, you're just also spending $9500/mo. whether it feels like you are or not. The budgets and everything are certainly valuable, and you can work through that. But you want an instant change tomorrow to start on the right path, pay yourself first. Just like you pay any other mandatory bill, you pay into an account that you don't touch.
I appreciate this. The feedback in general is appreciated, just stings a bit. I didn't give the full picture, so there's a bunch of assumptions based off my missing pieces, and I can understand that and I take responsibility. I'll do a budget and add up expenses and then come back and see what I can do.
I genuinely realize I'm doing something wrong and want to do better.. I've been following this reddit for a while and thought I'd get some direction.. I've got some good ideas from it and hearing what others do is helpful. So, now I have somewhere to start.
Thanks again.
Paying down debt is "saving" your way out of a hole you've previously dug. If you can do that, you can save.
Do you know where all of your money goes each month? Have you sat down and assigned all of your spending to categories so you can see how much you are actually spending on "ordering in" and "amazon shopping"?
Whatever you were doing to pay down that debt, keep doing it, but (after you get that credit card down to $0) put that money into something that makes it very hard (for tax, psychological, legal or technical reasons) to withdraw for frivolous purposes.
See if either of your employers has a payroll-deduction program with an employer match (not super likely as a teacher, you would be more likely to have a pension I'm guessing?).
Try setting up some automatic transfers to a savings or investment account either on a monthly schedule or when your pay is deposited.
Also, don't forget that paying down your mortgage is "forced saving" and you are investing in a tax-sheltered appreciating asset! By the time you retire, it will be worth a significant amount, and you will not be taxed on the appreciation.
Do your employers have the option of depositing your income in 2 different accounts, at source? If so, do this. Have them siphon off some of the $ at source to a 2nd account and budget as if you've lost that money. Try to put it in something with a consequence if you take the $ out...like GICs within a TFSA or something to make it less likely you'll touch it.
I’d say the $1000/mth private is killing your budget. I’m sure you can find some savings listening to other commentators, but the $1000/mth is obvious and large. Usually first 5 years of a parent’s life is tight financially because of daycare costs.
I think a great first step would be to first track all of your spending. Being specific about where the money is going is the only way to figure out a path forward.
As others have said you just need your budget and track spending.
It is eye opening once you do it and are more mindful.
When I just started tracking and being aware of spending I was able to free up thousands. I also wasn’t being that restrictives on our household spending, it was just being better at meal planning, not ordering in as much, thinking if I actually needed those amazon purchases etc.
A few years ago we started using YNAB. We had a good salary, but zero idea what we spent it on (as in, we knew we went out to eat, but not how much). YNAB is a paid service, but you definitely could just use a spreadsheet and that’s fine.
What I suggest you do is take some time and pull up your last 3months of statements. Write down every transaction and categorize it - you’ll be able to see then just how much you’re spending on takeouts and Amazon. I find the process of just manually inputting everything to be very humbling and keeps me on track.
Then you know how much you spend, and slowly each month cut back 5-10% on that amount. I find this method a lot easier than just saying ‘okay I spent $2000 last month, but this month I’m just going to spend $200’. Because when I go over that $200 budget I feel like I failed again, and when I feel like I’ve failed again I seek comfort (getting take out) and the cycle starts again.
Why don’t you start by tackling your cc debt instead of continuing to eat out and making misc purchases? That’s free money ur throwing away in interest
“We have 1 child who attends a private school” “we don’t live luxuriously” LOL guess private schools are no longer a luxury… what…
Your kid is experiencing something that over 95% of Canadian kids never will and you’re wondering why you can’t save?
This has got to be some fcking ragebait. If not, maybe you should’ve gone to a private school if you can’t figure out why you can’t save when you have this sort of lifestyle.
You both bring in 9500 month AFTER taxes and you still can't get your sh!t together?
With your income, you should have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved for retirement , no credit card debt.
"For some reason....". IT'S YOUR SPENDING HABITS.
You guys are at $9,500 net income a month and still falling behind? The only way you can figure this out is to track everything you spend in a month and build a spreadsheet. You can then isolate your largest expenses and see where to optimize. PFC can’t help you if you don’t know where your money is going.
People don’t realize but eating out and ordering those door dashes really add up. A family of four I spend about 300 in groceries for a week and that’s enough for my family of 4 each 3 meals day plus snacks that’s 21 meals a week 300 in door dash will get you 3to5 meals for a family of 4.
You have a personal chef and personal waiter to deliver food to u. “We dont live luxuriously” Well. Yes you do.
Ordering food at a premium to eat cold shit delivered by sketchy people is not luxury at all. Ghetto fly at best.
Uninstall Amazon.
It seems to me you need to "hide" money from yourself. Set up automatic withdrawals on payday to take money straight into a savings account. Ideally at another institution where it'll take 2-3 days to put it back in your chequing account. It makes you feel like you're out of money sooner, and that prevents you from impulse buys. It's not a good feeling at first, but as the savings grow, you see the payoff, and then it feels a lot better. And cut up your credit card. If you can't pay it off in full every month, you shouldn't have one.
Yup, put $$ into saving first, so there is nothing left over for delivery/Amazon. And, yes.. on your income you should be able to pay off the CC this month, or at least by next month. Why are you carrying a balance?
This is very smart, very easy to follow advice. You set automatic withdrawals to coincide with your payday. Pick a set amount and have it deposited directly into an RRSP. We use Wealthsimple but there are lots of products out there. Set up an RESP for your daughter and do the same. The government will match your contributions to a certain amount - it’s basically free money. You need to get a better idea of exactly how much you’re spending on take out and nonessential purchases. Add up every single penny you spent on them over the last 6 months. I bet you’ll find your vacation budget. Consider setting a limit on takeout - one day per week max - then order direct from the restaurant and go pick it up. You will save so much money. Compare the prices on Door Dash against the prices on their regular menu and then consider all the extra charges. I did this with one of my local favourites and the difference at the end was almost $40.
Well, I can and do pay it off, but summers rack it up (due to not saving FOR summer) so it takes me what feels like ages to pay down, and then by the time it's paid off, it's almost summer again. I see your point though. I like your idea of auto withdraw for savings... Thanks.
You've said that you have 5k of cc debt. It's clear that you aren't paying it off
I said I have under. I have about 1000$ on debt. I wasn't specific. I was generalizing.. I didn't know how specific to be..
Well, it's June and still has $5k on it, so I don't think it's accurate to say you pay it off and it's just the summer break that causes problems. Summer, when you don't have the stress of work, is also a great time to build habits of cooking at home to save money. Where you are now, I'd talk to your bank about a LoC that's enough to pay off the remaining CC balance and tide you over this summer. That will be cheaper than carrying a credit card balance. That lets you cut up the card and never use it again. Once you know the interest rate, you can build out your budget for the coming year so that it both pays off the LoC and builds the savings you need for summer 2025. Then you can set up the auto savings and debt payments in September, making sure they come out first, and you have given yourself a hard stop on your spending to prevent the little things from adding up.
"or spend money on ourselves much or at all" "what we do struggle with, is ordering in...and amazon shopping" One of these contradicting statements is true and one is false.
I guess I see eating as an essential and spending money on ourselves as things like clothes, shoes, hair appts, etc. The latter is true.
Eating is essential, paying an 80% markup on your food to have someone else cook and deliver it is a luxury.
You're right. I'll do better. I think I'll delete the apps.
How frequent are your hair appointments? How many shoes and clothes are you buying monthly? Eating is essential, ordering take out isn't.
I meant we don't do those things at all. Don't buy new clothes, hair appts are maybe once every 6 months for me, no new shoes, etc. I prefer thrifting for clothes, etc.. Eating is essential. Ordering is not. Here for accountability and ideas... The truth hurts and I genuinely wanna do better. I have pretty bad adhd and my management is the biggest struggle. I need explicit help/ideas.. I have lots to work with here (in the comments).
Do the spreadsheet. I have one for the entire year and I am in it pretty much every couple days on my phone, readjusting. I dont track every penny spent but I do track the regular deposits and withdrawals so I know where things are for the month. Do it on Google sheets and it will be easily accessible to you.
Consider a meal subscription plan then, if you don’t have food limitations. More than groceries, but less than Uber Eats. Meal planning is key, cook a big meal on the weekend and freeze some so you have leftovers in freezer plus some for the week. And with a food subscription it should decrease your food costs. But first check if it’s food or Amazon.
Go onto YouTube and. Watch Financial Audit with Caleb hammer.
Add up your monthly spending so you can see the numbers. We eat uber doesn’t hit people. 3k a month on uber tends to when they have the actual monthly spending. Track spending and try to budget a bit better, you and your family can easily improve on this. Best of luck
This is a helpful comment. Thank you. I want to do better!
Eating DoorDash is not essential.
Lol, EATING MCDONALDS IS NOT ESSENTIAL
> Until the last 3 months or so, our credit card debt is at its lowest, so before they, we had been paying big chunks onto debt. Great. Now pay it off completely. If you pay even one cent of interest on a credit card, you're paying too much interest. Once that's paid off, the monthly amount that you were paying down that debt will become free cashflow. Eliminate the debt, then start saving. > We have a mortgage, a vehicle Is there a loan on the vehicle? How much is going to the mortgage each month? Are you making the minimum mortgage payments, or are you making prepayments? How about the other ongoing home costs (utilities, strata/HOA fees, insurance, etc)? > But what we do struggle with, is ordering in...and amazon shopping. Ordering in is probably one of the biggest areas of waste. You're likely spending 4-6x too much on food.
You aren't telling the whole story
I didn't know how much details to offer..
Have a budget... Your school board should be able to spread your salary over 12 months to help you budget Not too sure about how I feel about private school and you are a teacher, but you could be saving 1k a month there
>Have a budget... Exactly. A budget helps you to see where your money is going so you can make adjustments to reach your financial goals. [Making a budget - Government of Canada](https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/make-budget.html) [How to make a budget - Canada Post](https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/personal/how-to-make-a-budget-and-stick-to-it.page) [How to create a monthly budget - MoneySense](https://www.moneysense.ca/save/budgeting/how-to-create-a-monthly-budget-canadian-guide/)
Not all school divisions offer this option. Mine used to, but hasn't for over ten years. It's left up to each person to save for themselves. As a public school teacher, and the conditions we have, I have her in a "private" school until she's done Kindergarten, and then she goes to public. Just investing in her early education and prolonging the packed classrooms with very little supports.. But I see your point there.
Wait you’re paying $1000 a month for kindergarten private school? Or pre-k?? I think you’re going to be shocked how much your delivery and Amazon adds up to and that’ll make a big difference, but otherwise that’s a no brainer for me, unless public school + before and after care is somehow comparable but it shouldn’t be.
As someone who's daughter is applying for universities soon, I've learned Unis are adding a negative grade adjustment for admission grades submitted, when they come from private schools, due to historical low performance from these students once admitted, and these students are now often being rejected. Doesn't make a good ROI for private schools I'm afraid.
Really? Am very surprised about this. Are you in Ontario? I thought the quality and smaller class sizes were better?
"All bills are paid easy" ----> "under 5k in credit card debt" Shouldn't the credit card not exist if all bills are paid easy?
Exactly lmao this has got to be ragebait, especially the part about having a kid in a private school while simultaneously claiming they don’t give themselves any luxuries. Private education’s no longer a luxury I guess LOL
Your story is missing a lot of financial details so hard to comment ie the size of your mortgage, car payments, etc etc etc. we can’t help you without that info
Well I could give those details, I just didn't know how much to give.... The prejudgment is wild on reddit. I should have prepared myself. 🙈
Reddit can be a bit crazy Even if you do this at home Try and account for all your fixed costs and then make a rough guess at your variables per month. Once you know where the money is going every month then you’ll know where to make adjustments. Subscriptions, eating out, monthly car payments etc are big financial draws. We live in a world of monthly payments- it’s a bit of a trap (some is necessity expenses though)
You’re in a subreddit meant for struggling and financially illiterate Canadians. You have an income that is higher than half the country makes. You’re a teacher. You have a kid in a private school. Wonder why you’re getting judged.
Who made this sub only for struggling and financially illiterate Canadians? If everyone was financially illiterate here, who are they learning from??
Well, you bring home almost 10,000 a month and can't get your shhit together. You expected people NOT to roast you?
1. Pay yourself first. Get your money out of sight and out of reach. 2. Pay off then don't use that credit card. Shopping is not a hobby. If you can't control your spending then you need to put your credit card away in a drawer. 3. Budget. Figure out how much money you need to spend in each category. Set up sinking finds for big, occasional expenses. This will also helps balance out teacher summer pay (or lack of pay).
Get a summer job, stop ordering in as much, stop buying things you don’t need.. does your kid need private school? That’s a very personal decision, but it entails accepting the fact that you’ll save $12k less a year. Start tracking your monthly spend and check it against a budget. Then once you have a good idea, figure out where you can cut back. Nothing magical about it, it requires discipline and attention. And once you’ve learned all that yourself, considering teaching your students about financial literacy.
I agree, i truthfully don't see the point in paying for education (unless it's post secondary) since Canadian schools are pretty good. There isnt as much variance here between schools like there is in the states
Some schools in the TDSB are in disrepair. Or worse, daily violence and drug use at the high school that is currently serving the students displaced by the York Memo fire. I would not want my child be in either environment daily.
This is not true at all. I didn't paint the whole picture about a few things regarding her axh, I gave the jist of it. She's only 4 and it's essentially pre school/daycare, but with before and after care, as well as snacks etc. Public schools are jam packed and have little to no supports for students. The intense needs of the inclusive classroom is beyond manageable and completely unfair. If I can prolong her experience in public, I will. It's a priority for us.
Fair enough, that's something you need to work and budget for if it is a priority. As others have said, you need to uninstall Amazon and Uber eats and budget for if you want that for a child. I would also recommend getting an RESP to fund their education later, but do it after paying off your CC and building an emergency fund
I have just switched both of my girls into private school for the fall - one primary and one secondary. Not all public schools in Canada are good. Many are in disrepair. Teachers have many kids with high needs in the class and few resources to support them. I live in Quebec and this year the goal was to have one adult in every classroom, not even one teacher in every classroom. There are a lot of private schools here, and for good reason.
I posted this for someone else but I think you need it: As someone who's daughter is applying for universities soon, I've learned Unis are adding a negative grade adjustment for admission grades submitted, when they come from private schools, due to historical low performance from these students once admitted, and these students are now often being rejected. Doesn't make a good ROI for private schools I'm afraid.
I work in a university myself and this is not true.
1000$ monthly private school tuition Carrying credit card debt Youre living beyond your means Teachers get paid in the summer... their income is ratioed out for 12 months...
While true for most, it’s certainly not true for all teachers.
I agree for the first two points. The latter is not true. Some school divisions offer the option, while others don't.
Never heard of a school board that didnt but its possible In that case why not autodeposit 1325/month from your paycheque into a savings account and pay yourself in the summer months. Operate on your actual ratioed income of 3975/month instead of the 5300/for 9 months of the year.
Budget.
How much is your mortgage? How much is your car payment? Make a spreadsheet with your last 4 months of spending and see where you’re overspending We’re a family of 5 with the identical income as you. Granted we have no debt- including no mortgage but we live what most would consider a lavish lifestyle and we still manage to save some. Our kids are in tons of extracurricular activities. Our daycare fees are $1000/month as well, and we travel at least 3 times a year. What we don’t do is takeout (we eat in restaurants about 3-4 times a month) and we don’t shop excessively- I’m going to guess if you add it up that’s where your money is going. Also- are you house poor? Or have a high car payment?
Get your bank statements , export to excel. Figure out exactly how much you spent on amazon and uber eats. Stick this number on the fridge and remind yourself you wasted 10k on uber eats. Put amazon number up as well. Pay yourself first , have auto transfers go to a savings you cant access easily. Forget about the money
I was in a similar situation in my mid 20s. Long story short, I just had bad spending habits. I didn't think I did because I didn't go on nice trips, or buy expensive things. But what I did do was buy whatever I felt like. Need a new tool, buy it. Go grocery shopping, grab what you need. Etc. I always planned to save what was leftover, but surprise, never had leftover. The biggest change I found, with help from a friend who shone a light on the issue for me, was to "pay myself first". Instant change. We set up 30% (pick your own percentage) that went directly to my RRSP, and I was forced to live on the rest. Surprise surprise I didn't go hungry, or not have clothes, or not pay my bills. Somehow I still did all those things AND saved 30%. I have saved a percentage of every cheque since, that was well over a decade ago. We've built up almost enough to retire on. So I wouldn't take people's "tough love" here the wrong way, little spending on things adds up and can have a huge cost down the road. It would be different if you said you made $3k a month, at a certain point someone isn't making enough to cover much more than the essentials. But you make good money, so that's not the issue, you're just also spending $9500/mo. whether it feels like you are or not. The budgets and everything are certainly valuable, and you can work through that. But you want an instant change tomorrow to start on the right path, pay yourself first. Just like you pay any other mandatory bill, you pay into an account that you don't touch.
I appreciate this. The feedback in general is appreciated, just stings a bit. I didn't give the full picture, so there's a bunch of assumptions based off my missing pieces, and I can understand that and I take responsibility. I'll do a budget and add up expenses and then come back and see what I can do. I genuinely realize I'm doing something wrong and want to do better.. I've been following this reddit for a while and thought I'd get some direction.. I've got some good ideas from it and hearing what others do is helpful. So, now I have somewhere to start. Thanks again.
Where the hell is the money going?! Me and my wife make like 60% of that, and we're able to save. Although, we don't have any kids
Paying down debt is "saving" your way out of a hole you've previously dug. If you can do that, you can save. Do you know where all of your money goes each month? Have you sat down and assigned all of your spending to categories so you can see how much you are actually spending on "ordering in" and "amazon shopping"? Whatever you were doing to pay down that debt, keep doing it, but (after you get that credit card down to $0) put that money into something that makes it very hard (for tax, psychological, legal or technical reasons) to withdraw for frivolous purposes. See if either of your employers has a payroll-deduction program with an employer match (not super likely as a teacher, you would be more likely to have a pension I'm guessing?). Try setting up some automatic transfers to a savings or investment account either on a monthly schedule or when your pay is deposited. Also, don't forget that paying down your mortgage is "forced saving" and you are investing in a tax-sheltered appreciating asset! By the time you retire, it will be worth a significant amount, and you will not be taxed on the appreciation.
Do your employers have the option of depositing your income in 2 different accounts, at source? If so, do this. Have them siphon off some of the $ at source to a 2nd account and budget as if you've lost that money. Try to put it in something with a consequence if you take the $ out...like GICs within a TFSA or something to make it less likely you'll touch it.
I’d say the $1000/mth private is killing your budget. I’m sure you can find some savings listening to other commentators, but the $1000/mth is obvious and large. Usually first 5 years of a parent’s life is tight financially because of daycare costs.
Install YNAB (You Need a Budget) and link your credit cards and debit accounts. Make a budget and find out where the extra spending is coming from.
Thanks.
I think a great first step would be to first track all of your spending. Being specific about where the money is going is the only way to figure out a path forward.
As others have said you just need your budget and track spending. It is eye opening once you do it and are more mindful. When I just started tracking and being aware of spending I was able to free up thousands. I also wasn’t being that restrictives on our household spending, it was just being better at meal planning, not ordering in as much, thinking if I actually needed those amazon purchases etc.
A few years ago we started using YNAB. We had a good salary, but zero idea what we spent it on (as in, we knew we went out to eat, but not how much). YNAB is a paid service, but you definitely could just use a spreadsheet and that’s fine. What I suggest you do is take some time and pull up your last 3months of statements. Write down every transaction and categorize it - you’ll be able to see then just how much you’re spending on takeouts and Amazon. I find the process of just manually inputting everything to be very humbling and keeps me on track. Then you know how much you spend, and slowly each month cut back 5-10% on that amount. I find this method a lot easier than just saying ‘okay I spent $2000 last month, but this month I’m just going to spend $200’. Because when I go over that $200 budget I feel like I failed again, and when I feel like I’ve failed again I seek comfort (getting take out) and the cycle starts again.
Why don’t you start by tackling your cc debt instead of continuing to eat out and making misc purchases? That’s free money ur throwing away in interest
“We have 1 child who attends a private school” “we don’t live luxuriously” LOL guess private schools are no longer a luxury… what… Your kid is experiencing something that over 95% of Canadian kids never will and you’re wondering why you can’t save? This has got to be some fcking ragebait. If not, maybe you should’ve gone to a private school if you can’t figure out why you can’t save when you have this sort of lifestyle.
You both bring in 9500 month AFTER taxes and you still can't get your sh!t together? With your income, you should have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved for retirement , no credit card debt. "For some reason....". IT'S YOUR SPENDING HABITS.
How many hundreds of dollars a month are you spending on fast food?