Weekly Review: Spending
I overspent this week by $30.00 by purchasing a Wii video game. While the amount itself is not world-ending, it’s going in the opposite direction of my goal to reduce impulse spending. Everything else was business as usual.
Weekly Review: Life Under Construction & More Spending
We had Canada Day last week so it was a short work week. The husband and I saw a couple movies last weekend just so we could spend a couple hours in air-conditioned bliss – the movies were pretty good too (true story). We both bank at Scotiabank and participate in the Scene points programs so the movie tickets were free. These points and other cost-saving measures help us to get the most out of our entertainment budgets.
Our renter will be moving into our basement suite in a few weeks and we still need to purchase a small fridge and a few other things. This extra $800 in income over the next year will go far in reducing our debt and creating a larger positive gap between our incoming money and outgoing expenses.
The big concern I have for this plan is that expenses keep coming up – as they do – that require our attention in the moment. For instance, husband’s car requires new tires to the tune of $700 which will be coming out of September’s rent.
Why didn’t we have money set aside for this stuff? Because our outgoing expenses are stupid and we’re still fixing everything. Anyone know a good way to offload a cell phone contract without paying a million dollars in cancellation fees?
All I have to say is never again, boys and girls. If I ever make the dumb mistake of signing a dotted line for the privilege of using a phone for three years, someone needs to fly out here and slap me upside the head. It’s costing me close to $200 to run two different cell phones and an Ipad data plan (don’t ask, it’s shameful). I’m cancelling the Ipad data plan and this will save me some cash. This cash can then be funneled towards more important things – like not owing my soul to creditors.
So, seriously, does anyone know of a good way to offload a cell phone contract without paying a million dollars in cancellation fees?
I am not aware of any contract against cancellation. But good to know you are analyzing your spending’s and ready to cover your debts. Also impulse buying must be avoided as it adds the unexpected expenditure and mess your monthly budget if you are running tight
Yes, you’re more than right about the impulse spending, Rita. I’ve gotten a lot better but there is still room for improvement.
I think I’m going to keep researching options for cancelling my cell phone contract but I might have to bite the bullet. Thanks for stopping by!
Where do you get Wii games for $30? Most of them around here are closer to $70!
Nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as you learn from them. $30 isn’t that bad in the short term but don’t let it creep. We learn the hard way about things like car tires and tunes up popping up. Had to make a move and adjust our budget to include saving for situations as such. It makes life a little bit easier not having to stress out. An extra $800 is great how did you manage to find a renter?
Ugh, hate those cell phones! We’ve been on the pay-as-you-go plan for several years now and LOVE it. We usually don’t spend more than $200 a year for our cell phone. That, for us, is an over $500 savings!
Oh, that’s awesome! I used to be on Koodo which was sixty bucks a month – for an extremely generous plan – and it worked like a charm! Once I sort out this mess, there will be no going back for me! Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Laurie.
If you find out about how to cancel a cell phone plan with no (or less) fees, I’d love to read about it. I’m in the process of trying myself, and I’ll make sure you let you know what I come up with. My husband is reluctant to cancel our plan because of his job (he basically has to be connected to his phone all the time), so my goal is to get a prepaid phone for myself and show him it’s all the same thing. 🙂
Hey Alexandra, that’s excellent! Two brains are definitely better than one. Yes, I’m going to research this more and if I find anything, I will definitely write about it. I know what you mean about getting the husband on board – sometimes it’s just a work in progress. 🙂
We’re looking at cancelling our phone contract as well. It will cost us about $150, but that will be made up by the cheaper plan in just a couple of months.
Hey, good for you for finding a cheaper phone plan. Sometimes it’s taking the bigger picture view ($150 loss will be made up for by cheaper plan in XX months) that allows us to make the decisions that will change our future way of doing things. Forty bucks there and thirty bucks here and before you know it, you’ve saved a grand. Nicely done.
That’s not too bad I don’t think. I’ve never cancelled a cell phone contract because I love my iPhone. I feel ya on the car thing…I’ve spent so much money on mine in the last year. 🙁
Hey Tonya! I love my Iphone too! I’m not looking to cancel my phone – it’s my daughters. I made the mistake of getting my daughter a shiny new Samsung Galaxy SIII and a three year contract for Christmas. That was not the brightest bunny in the forest moment that I’ve ever had – she ended up putting the phone through the washer within two months of getting the phone. F word.
Now I have an extra phone (I bought a basic one to put on the contract) and two and a half years left on the contract. Not ideal. 🙁 I feel ya about the car.
Great work on getting the renter! I am sure that will be a very welcomed source of some additional income. I don’t think going over by $30 is too bad at all – especially if you know about it and keep it to a low amount…assuming it doesn’t creep on you.
Hi John, it’s been important to us to both diversify our income streams and to bring in the additional funds to pay down our debt. I feel more confident in our financial position because we don’t have all our proverbial “eggs in one basket”. We still would be totally screwed if one of us lost our jobs – especially Phil (my husband) – but we’re in a slightly less bad position with the extra income.
I’ll keep working on the impulse spending: if I slip up by thirty dollars every two weeks (not a large amount, you’re right), that’s over $700 a year that could have gone towards something productive. Keeping this big picture figure in my mind helps me stay more accountable.
There is a local cell phone plan around where I live called NTelos wireless. Supposedly they are offering to pay the cancellation fee of your current carrier and don’t have a contract plan. Maybe there are others that offer the same?
Ooooh! That’s exciting! Thanks for the tip, I’ll start researching other mobility carriers to see if they offer anything similar. You’re awesome, Greg.
I do not know of a good way to offload your cell phone, unfortunately :/ I don’t know if Walmart is offering it in Canada yet, but in the United States there is a new cell plan that is $40 a month, no contract, unlimited everything! I’m writing a post about it for Thursday (and wrote one about a month ago as well when I first started trying it out). It’s cool you have a basement renter, as we have one too. We have a new one moving in mid-August. The extra income is definitely worth the “hassle” of having a renter in your house, imo.
I don’t know of any way you get out of a contract w/out paying an ETF… but if you figure it out, let me know! I’m ready to ditch Fido.
$200/month seems like a lot for cell service…even for multiple phones. I hope that you figure something out!
Hey Holly, it absolutely is – there’s no two ways about that!
If I remember correctly (and I’m not promising that I am), Catherine at Plunged In Debt was able to get her cell phone company to let her out of the contract – I think. I definitely know she had cell phone issues but I can’t remember if it was her contract or phone. Sorry to be forgetful. It’s a blonde moment! 🙂 It definitely takes time to get finances in order and squash old habits, but keep being persistent and you’ll make fewer and fewer impulse buys. It’s great that you have a renter coming onboard as the extra money will definitely be useful! Have a good week, my friend!
Oooh! I like it, I think I will email Catherine and see what she has to say – I’m really open to anything at this point!
The renter is going to save our bacon and accelerate what we’re able to put down on debt. Phil (husband) is not super enthusiastic at the idea of sharing our home with a tenant (we’ll share an entrance way) but I think the money will outweigh hassle once he sees the money coming in.
I can’t wait to get out of my current contract. I have awhile to go so lesson learned! The $30 video doesn’t seem too bad, just try, try, try again.
I am with you, Michelle. I have another year and a half on my first phone and two and a half years left on the second – I bought the second phone plus phone plan for my daughter and she put it through a wash cycle within two months of owning the damn thing. Needless to say, I will never buy her anything like that again. Soooo dumb.
I can definitely relate to impulse spending when it comes to video games. They are a weakness of mine but I tend to come out way ahead in terms of hours of entertainment per dollar spent. So I usually don’t fret about it too much.
There is only one way I know of to get out of a phone contract without paying the cancellation fee and it involves a bit of luck. You need the provider to increase/decrease the price of one of the items you signed a contract for (talk, text, data). Doing this violates the terms of the original agreement and would leave you eligible to terminate the contract. I fell your pain though. I only recently was able to get switched over to a no contract phone.
You are totally right for entertainment value with video games. I usually play mine over and over again – hundreds of hours!
…Maybe I should branch out a bit. 🙂
I’m going to have to go through my contract and see what the fine print says – that would be genius! Thanks for the tip!