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Money Matters Word Document Reflection.docx

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Welcome to my page! Would you like to get better with saving your money? Well, you came to the right place!
My topic is going to be based on Financial Planning... and how important it is to have some savings aside as your safety net. This also ties in with the discussion on how necessary it is to budget, as it will help you save more. Stay tuned for videos and discussions of tips & tricks!

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https://www.thebalance.com/build-financial-safety-net-1289301

My comments: This website discusses about protecting your income-generating ability with things like long-term disability insurance and protecting your dependants (if you have any) with life insurance. These are a just a couple ways of securing your financial safety net and also, to start accumulating wealth! Considering long-term disability insurance is important, as it can help replace your income if you are no longer able to work due to an injury or any type of illness. We may think that it won't happen to us or that it's highly unlikely, but you just never know! and it's smarter to have this type of back-up plan (especially for when you get older). Disability insurance should be considered as a way to generate income. Ask yourself: Could you afford the expenses of heavy medical bills, along with not having a steady income? If your answer is NO, then considering this type of insurance should definitely be an option for you.
Life Insurance is a necessity for your financial safety net if you have dependants like children and a spouse who would suffer immensely if you were to pass away. This is great back up security, knowing that your family will have money to support and take care of themselves if you were no longer around. On the other hand, if you are single and don't have a family of your own yet, then maybe this would not be considered a necessary part of your financial safety net compared to other people.

One piece of information that I found useful within this website, was the whole idea of long-term disability. I never considered this because I am young and as mentioned above, I never really think to myself that an injury/illness would happen to me but you never know for certain. I would consider this because I am in school for nursing, and I currently work as a PSW and it is hard work on your body. I feel that over time, my career is the type of job that can slowly effect your body due to the fact I will always be on my feet, therefore long-term disability would definitely be beneficial to me in case something were to happen. Always expect the unexpected!

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http://money.cnn.com/pf/money-essentials-budget/index.html

My Comments: This link discusses ways to get a good grip on your spending the old fashioned way. It advises you to make a spread sheet of all your records from the last 12 months (1 yr). If you feel like your spending is getting a bit out of hand then creating a weekly journal for the next month, showing every cent you have spent. This journal will help show you keep track of how much you have spent, and show you areas where you will need to cut back your spending. If your spending exceeds your income then your #1 priority should be to cut back. Some tips to keep in mind, include: watching out for cash leakage, spending beyond your limit can be dangerous, and being aware of luxuries being dressed up as necessities.

One thing I found different from this website, was that it mentioned to not spend more than 90% of your income, and to use the remaining 10% for savings. I never thought of it that way, because 90% of your income spent, seems like a lot of money... but we tend to forget to even save that little amount (the 10%) and I think if we actually did abide by that rule, then we would have more money saved than we ever have.

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https://www.fastweb.com/personal-finance/articles/the-31-money-saving-tricks-for-students

My Comments: This website gives a variety of tips and tricks for how students specifically, can save money (seeing as I am a student I thought this was helpful/important to share). Saving money all starts from when you're a young adult and I think it's very important that us students are saving our money as much as we can because school is a huge expense as is, and if you are living on your own and going to school, it can be really hard to save your money. This website will help you to get on the road to saving every penny you can, so that you can then confidently contribute to your financial emergency fund/safety net!

Something on this website that I personally found informative and useful was to use your student ID as a means of getting a discount at certain stores. I've always heard that "students get discounts" for certain stores, but I have never taken the time to look into it. So, I researched online where us college students can receive a discount and I found this amazing link that I wanted to share. It shows a variety of stores that we receive discounts on, such as: the TTC, The AGO (art gallery of ontario) is actually FREE for students on wednesday nights, the Apple store, Canada's Wonderland, and much more!

https://www.narcity.com/ca/on/toronto/lifestyle/20-toronto-student-discounts-you-need-to-know

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https://www.creditloan.com/media/emergency-fund-sources-19.jpg
This picture shows that it's important to take whatever little money you can accumulate and put it into your savings, even if the money you get is only a few dollars from a prize... it all adds up! If we took the time to save all the extra change we had and maybe put it in a piggy bank, we would be shocked at all the money we would have after a prolonged period of time.

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https://www.google.ca/search?biw=1280&bih=634&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=btUnW8jiN4KAsQX0lKb4Dw&q=budgeting+tips&oq=budgeting+tips&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i30k1j0i5i30k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1l5.88415.90213.0.90556.14.12.0.2.2.0.136.944.8j3.11.0....0...1c.1.64.img..1.13.950...0i67k1.0.0y3b2xyRGyc#imgrc=XfPNTUYP-UYu9M:
This photo talks about different ways that cost us plenty of money on a yearly basis. It reveals that you can save $13,560 per year if you cut down on certain things like: eating out at restaurants, brewing your own coffee, getting rid of your basic TV cable, using public transportation instead of a car, and limiting your spending on clothes shopping. It's amazing at how high the numbers are in savings!

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https://www.google.ca/search?biw=1280&bih=634&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=ofonW6OjBo7aswWd0pKYDA&q=saving+money+tips&oq=saving+money+tips&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i30k1l4j0i8i30k1l4.2809.4856.0.4980.17.16.0.0.0.0.138.1224.14j1.15.0....0...1c.1.64.img..2.15.1222...0i67k1j35i39k1.0.MczNPJrscm8#imgrc=Kczkd8V383f6uM:

This picture shows a variety of money-saving tips including: not eating out, negotiating your bills, selling excess junk you have in your home, becoming a DIY (do it yourself) hero, making a grocery list, reviewing your insurance, switching to energy-friendly appliances, and "sleeping on it" (holding off on impulse purchasing). It goes a little bit into depth under each title on the best ways you can limit your spending in these areas!

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"3 Thing You Need to Know About an Emergency Fund"
link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlE7Pwx5Ehg

My comments:
The 3 things you need to know about an Emergency Fund are....
1. How much to save: it is estimated that you should be saving around 3-6 months worth of living expenses as your emergency fund, or (safety net). This may take a long time to reach this stage due to the fact that we all have different financial situations and of course, different occupations that pay different wages. Start today with what you can afford and save as much as you can, then slowly build from there. Consider using Automatic Deposits at your bank so that when your pay check comes in, it automatically puts away money into another account, which can be very useful!
2. Where to keep your money: To avoid impulse spending/temptation, make your emergency fund separate from your regular checking accounts that you use. Also, make sure that this account is one that will help you earn cash over time (tax-free savings account, GIC, etc).
3. What to use it for: It is advised to use your emergency fund for literally only EMERGENCIES! It is definitely hard not to spend when we want to, but using it for only true emergencies will help you in the long run. Think about if you have critical home and auto repairs that are more expensive and need to be fixed as a top priority... or even health expenses that can randomly occur. These are just a couple of the very many things that can come up in our day to day lives that we will need back up money for.

One piece of information that I found useful from the video was to put my emergency savings into an account that has "Automatic Deposit" set up. I have never considered doing this but I honestly believe that if I did, I wouldn't even notice the money being taken out of my checking account and being put into my savings. This would be good because my money would pile up over time and I wouldn't even notice!

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"How to Budget and Save Money - Adulting 101"
link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWIQzS4sJE

My comments: This video gives tips on how to budget your money properly. It begins with suggesting to figure out how much money you make on a monthly basis. Then you must map out your "musts" and "essentials". It is important to differentiate between your essentials and luxury items that you don't necessarily "need". 50% of your income (or less) should be spend on your essentials, as these are necessary for day to day living (ex. rent, food, housing, car, etc). You must be able to implement tiny steps towards saving your money properly by cutting down on things you don't "need", for example.. getting a cheaper phone plan instead of paying $100 a month for more data on your phone. Settin g up automatic payments for your bills through your bank is also very helpful as that takes care of your necessary bills without you having to worry/stress over not having money to pay them on time. 20% of what you make (or more) should go into your savings account, only AFTER you have payed for all your essentials (as these are more important!). Last but not least, 30% of what you make (or less) should go to personal expenses/spending. You should try your best to shrink this percentage down as much as you can because the less money you spend on yourself, you will then have more money to save!

A piece of information that I found useful from this video, was to actually use an app called "Checkout51" that the person who made the video, recommended to the audience. I downloaded it and it's really neat because it offers you a variety of coupons to use for grocery stores so you can save money on food, which will lead you to cook more at home and not spend so much on eating out!

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"7 Psychological Money Saving Tricks"
link to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_CdWmE5U70

My Comments: This video explains 7 Psychological tricks on how to save your money. #1 talks about carrying physical cash on you instead of credit/debit cards. We are less-inclined to spend our money when we physically have to hand it over, as opposed to tapping a card (Which makes us feel like we have no problem spending the money we have). Also, carrying 50 or 100 dollar bills can help with not spending money because you will look at them and think "Do i really want to break this large bill?". #2 talks about Automatic Deductions. Adding a percentage of your pay check into a separate savings account that you cannot withdraw from, will help you accumulate your money over time (especially if there is interest on the account). #3 talks about making a Monthly statement. "If you can't manage it, you can't measure it" and this is very true. Mapping out your spending on a balance sheet can help you see the patterns of your spending, and where you can be cutting back and saving. Write your expenses with the date they are deducted, write unpredictable expenses and write your income. You should add the total expenses and compare it with your income and see if you had a profit or a deficit. #4 talks about how to avoid advertising in the media. Marketing schemes may not always work out in your favour like how you see on the television. #5 talks about Now VS Later. It reminds you to think of the present moment when you are spending. So you may as yourself "Do I really need this item right now in my life?" It takes practice to prepare for delayed gratification, and it is something you have to train your brain into thinking about more frequently and then it will become a pattern. #6 talks about turning your prices into "hours". If you want to buy something like a $70 sweater.. think about how many hours it took you to make that money and how hard you worked for it too. This will really make you appreciate the VALUE of how hard you work for your money and will make you want to save it even more. #7 recommends to increase your income instead of reducing your expenses. Thinking of alternate ways on how to make more money will help you to have more money to buy the things you wanted, without having to be short of money for other things in your life.

One piece of information I found different from this video was the point of "Turning your prices into hours". This really makes you think about HOW you spend your money and if it's really WORTH it. Now that I am thinking of all the things that I've bought that I didn't necessarily need.. I'm comparing it to how much I had to work for those items and it is kind of a disappointment!