https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2 by Chris Smedley en-us 2018-04-16 22:25:16 UTC 2023-06-06 01:08:33 UTC hello@padlet.com chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252360925 by Chris Smedley]]> 2018-04-16 22:29:27 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252360925 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252361060 In this Padlet I'll be investigating the most common spending habits of Canadians and which of those expenses are needs or wants. The intent of this wall is to help readers identify some of their bad spending habits and ultimately lead to better budgeting skills in the future. After reading this you should be able to identify whether a purchase is a need or a want, and whether it's really worth it when being the latter.]]> 2018-04-16 22:30:28 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252361060 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252361696 Here is a link to the Government of Canada's website. The section is called "Reduce unnecessary spending" and is part of an online budgeting strategy they have published. It lists some unnecessary expenses that may completely slip our minds such as buying bottled water or spa days. The website also includes a built in calculator with tonnes of ideas of things to cut down on. This is a great resource as it gives you a real number to see that you could easily be saving.]]> 2018-04-16 22:35:19 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252361696 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252362470 This article highlights the actual numbers relating to how much we Canadians spend on eating out, ordering takeout and other unnecessary food. An alarming 72 percent of Canadians admitted to eating out several times per month, and 71 percent of Canadians ordering takeout several times monthly as well. The majority of this is being done by Millennials, and when asked about it we said that it was more about convenience than to treat ourselves. Over half of Canadians are spending over $50 per month on eating out which is a huge expense that could easily be removed.]]> 2018-04-16 22:41:57 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252362470 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252363210 Here is an article listing ten great ways to reduce your monthly expenses by cutting out bills you might not even need. It highlights a lot of monthly subscriptions that may seem like habit to have but are just not that important in modern times. These include cable, home phone and magazine subscriptions. There are so many TV streaming apps online now like Netflix that it doesn't make sense to pay $60+ per month for cable, and with most people having a cell phone it seems unnecessary to have a separate phone number just for at home. The savings from these could combine to something huge.]]> 2018-04-16 22:49:14 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252363210 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252364302 Coffee has got to be one of the easiest ways to overspend without realising it. I chose a Tim Hortons cup as my picture because as Canadians, it's our trademark coffee and easily the most common choice for a quick cup due to its familiarity. Many people may see this as a small expense, seeing as one coffee is around $2, it's so insignificant that you'll never notice the money is gone. The reality is quite the opposite. For example an avid coffee enthusiast may buy a coffee on the way to work, on break, and on the way home. Lets assume a standard fifty weeks per year worked, five days a week, at three visits a day. $2 X 3 visits X 5 days X 50 weeks = $1500 in one year, just on coffee at work. Think of the things you could do with an extra $1500!]]> 2018-04-16 22:59:05 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252364302 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252365094 This one might come as a surprise to some as we've all had our home phones for as long as we remember. Just ten years ago home phones were an absolute necessity, with cell phones having expensive calling rates and most of the teenage community not having a cell phone it made sense. Cell phones used to uncommon and an "in case of emergency" item. These days even kids have cell phones. In a lifestyle where having a cellphone is the norm. (most of which include unlimited calling) It really doesn't make sense to shell out up to $60 per month extra on a home phone that has less functionality and only works in a fixed location. The picture below shows how old landline phone technology is. If you haven't cut your home phone provider already, it may be the time to do so if you like saving money.]]> 2018-04-16 23:06:53 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252365094 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252366517 In this era of technology it seems a lot of us are opting to have the best of the best when it comes to internet, cellular data and TV packages. The new Gigabit internet package pictured below is a great example of this, many young people are thrilled about this and shelling out upwards of $150 per month to have the obscene download speed of one Gigabit per second. While this is a really impressive number to say, it's seriously unlikely that you'll ever use it to its capacity or anywhere close. While already spending this huge amount of money on internet, people are spending equally as much on massive data plans for their phones. Why have so much data when you can just connect to the WiFi that's seemingly everywhere these days for free? A great way to save here is to go with a more basic package and perhaps if you're feeling brave, put down the cell phone and go interact with other people in a non-digital environment. It's free!]]> 2018-04-16 23:18:26 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252366517 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252368788 Here's a video about how much Canadians are spending on Valentines day. The numbers were pretty shocking at an average of $164 per person, with the males at an average of over $200. This is a huge unnecessary expense as a lot of people's significant others will agree that a well thought out gesture is much more meaningful than how much you spent on that necklace. Putting some thought into a nice card and a home cooked meal could not only win you a more pleased reaction on this holiday, but save you some money as well.]]> 2018-04-16 23:36:07 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252368788 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252369724 Here's a video where the cost of living in Toronto is discussed. It suggests that to buy even a basic condo in the city demands a six figure income, not an easy feat for a new grad! A large portion of those who live in the Greater Toronto Area work in the big city. Living a short walk from work can be convenient, but at the current housing rates in Toronto it seems almost unobtainable to purchase property in the city on a standard income. An easy solution here is to secure a property further out of the city and commute. Paying so much more to live conveniently close to Toronto is very unnecessary when it's a quick train ride into the city, and you can have a much nicer property for much less money if you choose to live even just half an hour away.]]> 2018-04-16 23:44:45 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252369724 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252371868 This video really shocked me. It's a family in the worst case scenario for the unnecessary expense of eating out. They eat out for literally every meal, ever day. The video shows that they'd been spending $1000 per week on food. That's absolutely insane! Their reasoning for this was convenience, a pretty common explanation amongst people guilty of the most common waste of money. With some help they were able to start buying groceries and home cooking every meal for a cost of $303 per week, which is still on the expensive side of things. This netted them a savings around $700 per week,  thats $36,400 per year that they're now saving! This really goes to show how much money it's possible to waste on our number one unnecessary expense, eating out.
 ]]> 2018-04-17 00:02:38 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252371868 chrissmedley https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252374867 2018-04-17 00:21:54 UTC https://padlet.com/chrissmedley/MoneyMattersASG2/wish/252374867