Money Tip Monday - Grocery shop with cash!

Happy Monday to you all. I hope that everyone had a great weekend & feels recharged for the week ahead.

Here is today's Money Tip:

 

"Use cash to pay for groceries. You will stay on budget, avoid bad purchases & check out faster from the store"

 

My husband and I have loved shopping with cash at the grocery store. You really do stay on track & you carefully select items. We have found that shopping with cash keeps you focused on your grocery list so that you don't add random items to your cart & you don't overspend.

 

Do you grocery shop with cash? Feel free to comment below!

 

 



Frugal Friday Tip - Stay home and watch a movie!

Welcome to today's Frugal Friday Post. I hope that everyone has been having a wonderful week & enjoying our nicer Spring like weather finally. Here is today's Frugal Friday Tip:

"Sign out DVDs/Blue Ray's at the library & create your own movie theater experience at home. Make popcorn, turn down the lights & silent all electronic devices."

We have done this a lot and love it. Now that our son is starting to enjoy & sit through movies, we do this with him often. The best thing about signing out movies at the library and watching them at home is that it doesn't cost you a thing. You can't beat that!

Happy Friday All :)

Money Tip Monday - Just say NO!

Welcome to our Money Tip Monday segment. Firstly, I hope that you've all had a wonderful weekend & you were able to find some rest & enjoy some quality time with family or friends.

Today's money tip is about saying a two letter word....NO!

"Always say NO when being offered a store credit card. Don't give in to save an extra 10%."

Rachel Cruze explains it so well in her vlog about "What's So Bad About Store Credit Cards?"

I can tell you from experience as well that these "store credit cards" are just awful. I am happy that I no longer have one nor do I have a desire to ever get one again. When I think about the money I've wasted, it makes me sad and sick at the same time.  Thankfully that is all behind me and I have moved on. If you currently do have a store credit card do yourself a favour and pay it off quickly & cancel it. In fact, I would even go a step further and say cut it up now...like this second. Store credit cards are not your friend. Trust me!

I hope that today's tip was helpful for you. Don't be afraid to say no when these various stores ask you at the check out or approach you while your shopping in the store to sign up for one. Remember, you are the one in control and always say NO!

photo image: monsterpiggybank.com

Frugal Friday Tip - Use your crockpot!

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday on the blog. We are so happy to have you stop by for today's frugal tip.

 

"Use your crockpot often. Did you know that using it saves on electricity? It also saves you time in the kitchen."

 

I personally love the crockpot and think it's the greatest invention ever. You just dump the ingredients in and let it cook for you. Brilliant!  If you don't have one, I strongly encourage you to consider getting one. Or if you want to try it out first before making the purchase, I'm pretty sure you can ask to borrow one from a friend who may not be using it. There are tons of great recipes online too if you are new to the crockpot world. I hope that this little tip not only saves you time in the kitchen, but saves you money in the long run.

 

Have a great weekend and be sure to visit us again on Monday for our money tip Monday segment.

 

Do you have any frugal tips that you implement to save you

money? Comments below are welcomed!

 

 

photo image above: shopperstrategy.com





Money Tip Monday - Avoid banking fees!

 

Welcome to Money Tip Monday on the blog. Today's tip is about avoiding banking fees. My husband and I switched banks about 3 years ago and have saved greatly by not paying banking fees. Over time it is insane how much those bank fees add up. When we left our former bank we were paying $13.95 a month. In a year that adds up to $167.40. For some that's not a lot of money, but for us it just didn't make sense to continue paying this when we could fully be banking for free. Yes, for free. 

 

We love our new bank. We haven't had to pay any fees and we just love saving the money and using it towards other important things like paying off some left over debt!

 

Below is today's money tip:

 

 

"Canadians stop paying monthly bank fees. Don't think that exists? Check out this review & switch;

http://www.nofeebanking.ca/forum/content.php?185-Best-No-Fee-Savings-Accounts-for-Canadians&s=e6520b8760e83c05f0ec198c021e4dcd "

 

I hope that this money tip will at least inspire you to do a little research for yourself to see if you could save some money too in the area of banking. Switching was very simple and not as complicated as one may think.

 

Do you currently pay banking fees or have you gone the no banking fee route? 

 

photo credit above from: monsterpiggybank.com

 

 

 





 



Frugal Friday Tip!

 

 Life nowadays seems to be getting more and more expensive as the years go by. I'm always looking for ways to save and to do things that really don't "break the bank." Not everything that is "fun" has to cost loads of money.

On twitter I've started recently tweeting about frugal tips on Friday. The hashtag I use is #FrugalFridayTip. Hopefully the tips can help you out & save you money.

Here's today's Frugal Friday Tip:

"Stop buying bottled water & use your free tap water. Don't like the taste of tap water? Boil the water, let it cool, then refrigerate."


What are some Frugal tips that you do to save you money?

photo image above: shopperstrategy.com



Money Tip Mondays

I recently started tweeting about money saving tips on Mondays.The hashtag I use is #MoneyTipMonday. I love to save money & pass along little tips I've learned along the way. Even if just one person picks up a new tip that is helpful, this makes me incredibly happy. Enjoy today's tip below:

photo from: monsterpiggybank.com

"Here's an easy way to save money that doesn't eat away at your budget. Try this simple challenge; http://militarymoneychica.com/the-52-week-savings-challenge/"

I can testify and say that the hubby and I are currently doing this. I started back on my birthday last year and I have to say that it is growing beautifully. We opened separate TSFA's to add even more to the savings. We are really excited as this grows week by week.

Do you have any money saving tips? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Tis the Season to..... Start saving now for Christmas!!!!

I know we just finished the Christmas season and for many only now are those holiday bills being paid off. The last thing people want to think about is Christmas 2014 but let’s be realistic, like last Christmas the season will be upon us before you know it. Actually by September, I guarantee you will see decorations making an appearance in stores (Dollarama had stuff out this past September, I kid you not).

Wouldn’t it be great to be prepared in advance so that you are not overwhelmed when Christmas rolls around this year? I don’t know about you, but I want that more than anything.

Here are my top 3 reasons why you should start saving today:

     1. Time is on your side!

• By starting today to save, you have months to put money away and watch it grow. It’s much easier to save little by little verses trying to save huge amounts of money in a very short time period.

      2.  Less Stress!

• If you only start thinking about Christmas in December & you have a lot of people to buy for & you didn’t save for it, chances are you will become overwhelmed, stressed out, frustrated & will spend more money than you can afford.

    
        3. You will create a “smart” habit!

• Once you start doing this new smart habit of saving up for Christmas, you will begin to see how easy it was to do. You may start to realize that you can actually save up for other purchases to pay for in cash. Example – saving up for a vacation, a computer, TV, car, etc..

I hope this gets you a little excited or even inspires you to start thinking ahead for the most wonderful/busiest/expensive time of the year. I know today Christmas seems so far away, but if you stay ahead of the game now you will be in good shape & dare I say be less stressed & financially prepared for when the Christmas season rolls around.

Tis the season to start saving now for Christmas!

Do you save up for the Christmas season early or do you wait until November/December to start saving or planning for Christmas?

It's a New Year, Be Happy!

It's a New Year, be Happy!

This is my way of saying "Happy New Year" which I'm sure you've all heard over the past couple of days now from various family and friends.

So indeed it is a new year. There is always such excitement and great joy with the turn of a new calendar year. Perhaps because it means new possibilities, new careers & new goals to accomplish for many. I too love the new year & the freshness that January brings. I had started to compose a long list of things that I had wanted to do this year, but then I had to stop myself. Realistically my life is dictated these days by my 5 month old daughter & toddler son. In my mind I would love to do about 100 things, but that would mean sacrificing important things to me which is mothering these two precious gifts of God. Instead of focussing on many things, I am choosing to continue on with my priorities and "strive" to do even better with God's help & strength. Here are some of the things which I'll be focussing on once again;

1. Placing God 1st!
*I like to start my day off by praying and reading God's word giving Him my full attention*
(side note, there are many days when I do this while the children are awake. I would rather do this before they wake up, but it doesn't always work out that way. Plus I don't mind them seeing me read or pray. How else will they learn to do this?)

2. Loving & Respecting my husband.
(This will be pretty easy because I really do have a wonderful, caring, loving husband. Seriously :)

3.Spending time on the floor with the kids.
(These two are playful little souls & Missy is getting quite active now with reaching out & rolling around. Plus my toddler boy is 3....enough said, haha)

4. Having dinner ready, or at least started by the time the hubby gets home.
(Hello Crockpot :)

5. Having a clean kitchen before heading off to bed.
(I love going into a clean kitchen in the morning. Truth be told it doesn't happen often enough, but were working on it)

I know that everyday will bring about its new challenges & perhaps nothing will get done, but as long as I strive to do the very best that I can with the time I've been giving each day, I will be happy. It's all about trying and striving for this mamma.

I would like to take this time to wish you all the very best as we journey on in 2014. Good things are on the way for you. Just believe, trust God & stay focussed.

It's a New Year, be Happy!

Maternity Leave has begun!

This week I officially started my maternity leave and I still can't believe it! Prior to this day arriving, it seemed like forever mainly because I was slowing down...big time. For good reason too. My baby is currently at the 82 percentile for weight already. At about 33 weeks the baby was already measuring at about just over 6 pounds...insane! Isaiah was a BIG boy and his weight also spiked around 32 weeks. This explains why I was extra tired. I'm pretty much carrying a full term weight baby inside.  Other than the minor discomforts that I've had, all in all I really can't complain. Lately I've been realizing more and more that it is a blessing and gift from God to be able to first of all get pregnant and then carry the baby through to full term status and then delivering the baby. There are so many woman who would give anything to have a baby. In fact I knew of a few who are still waiting patiently. So I am reminded that God has blessed me with this gift and instead of complaining about the discomforts, I should be thankful for them. I mean the physical discomforts of pregnancy do go away once you have the baby. It isn't forever thankfully :)

So now it's the "waiting game" as some call it. I've enjoyed my week so far getting in rest when I can, but at the same time trying to keep up with my busy little tot. We decided to take him out of daycare. I am so happy to have him around. He's so much fun these days, plus really who wants to pay the high daycare costs when you know you don't have too? Not me!  We live in an area that has lots of fun and free activities that we can go to, plus I have a ton of friends who are stay at home moms so lets just say we'll be spending time with them.

I'm excited for this new chapter to begin when baby finally arrives, but at the same time I'm soaking in these last few weeks with my little man. It feels so great to be off with him again. I am one happy momma :)

First blog of 2013.....better late than never :)

My last blog entry was back in October 2012 which was many moons ago.  I can't believe that so much time has passed since my last entry and a new year has begun. I hope that 2013 is going well so far and that if you've made any goals your sticking to it. If not and you've fallen off track, just know that you still have so much time to get back on board. Start fresh today or even tomorrow. There's still time to accomplish your goals and move forward in your plans. Have the right mindset and attitude and you will be amazed at what can be accomplished.

A little change has occurred since my last blog entry in October. The happy little change is that I am pregnant again. I found out the happy news back on December 8th. Once again I was in shock as the results changed on the pregnancy test clearly indicating a very positive YES. This time around I only took 1 pregnancy test from Dollarama. Oh yes Dollarama sells pregnancy test & the results are accurate just like the other expensive ones. The first time I was pregnant I took about 3 tests, lol. I am very excited that a new life will be joining our family in the coming months.We are most likely not going to find out the gender. We love the element of surprise. We didn't find out with our first pregnancy (but deep down from day 1 knew it was a boy...just what I wanted :)  This time around, especially in the very beginning it was hard for me to figure it out. But I'm going to boldly say that we think its a girl. I say this because this pregnancy has been way harder on me. I've been sick with nausea (which I didn't have with Isaiah). That carried on till about 15 weeks on and off. Either way we are going to be so happy with the gender because we will be having exactly what were suppose to have. This pregnancy has also been harder this time around because we have a busy toddler. I can't just lay around. I have to be active to some degree with him. There are times when I will rest on the couch as he plays around me. I love those moments when I can just relax for a bit. But for the most part, the little man wants your full attention and he wants to play with you. He's constantly saying "get up mommy" and in turn I have to muster up the energy to do so or I'll say in a minute to buy some time before the oh so famous toddler meltdown, haha!

We think that Isaiah is starting to get that a new person will be joining us because we try to talk about it. He will often on his own kiss my tummy and say wake up baby. It's sweet. I also have a toy doll that's the size of a newborn and he is protective of it for the most part. That's a good sign...right?!?! 
I know Isaiah will be a good big brother. He's starting to say more and more that he wants a baby sister, so we'll see what happens.

I have no idea what life with 2 children will be like. I've heard an array of stories from "it's not as crazy as you think," to "it's really hard." I love hearing the good, the bad and the ugly because in reality it's going to have it's challenges. I'm trying to not see so far into the future and take things day by day. We will not know what it's really like until our baby makes an appearance and our new life begins as a family of 4.

So in a nutshell that's been my life over the past couple of months.I've been growing a baby & getting over crazy nausea and sickness. I'm feeling much better these days and more like my old self. I'm also starting to feel the baby move. That by far has been the best feeling ever. Just a few more months to go until we meet this new little person & we couldn't be any happier :)

More sleep...yes please :)

Having a "good laugh" happens daily in the McKenley home....the long sleep however gets put to the back burner way too often these days & I really have no excuse. Isaiah sleeps through the night and has been doing so for months. We usually put him down around 7:30pm and he's out until we wake him up the next morning around 7:30am (on weekends we let him sleep in so that we can sleep in too :)

For some reason we just haven't been able to get ourselves into a good sleep routine. We've had hits and misses throughout the years, but as we are getting "older" sleep needs to become more of a priority (in my books at least). We have two friends in particular who are great at getting sleep. One friend of ours is a court officer and would always go to bed by 10pm. It never mattered if people were over visiting. He would politely get up and say "I'm heading to bed." It never came off as rude. In fact, we would always admire him for still getting his rest in even if people were over.

We did sleep training with Isaiah when he was 4 months with a sleep doula and it really paid off. He's a great sleeper & napper to this day. So now we are going to start "sleep training" ourselves. I know, sounds funny right? But I think this could be good. Instead of trying to be so ambitious and start out with some ridiculously early bed time like 9pm, we'll start out with a later time (11:30pm) and work our way down. I think the ideal bedtime for me personally would be 10:30pm.

I will keep you posted on how our "sleep training" goes. We all need at least 7 hours of sleep (at least that's what I read over and over again). So here's hoping for great sleep which in turn will result in more energy for the mornings :)

Well its official…..I am in the “Smartphone” World!

Goodbye Flip phone…..Hello Smartphone!

It all happened over the weekend. My cell phone which I inherited from my sweet hubby (after my older cell phone of 5 years died) finally stopped working for me. I could still text and make calls out, but I couldn’t hear the person on the receiving end at times even though they could hear me. Oh yes, pretty ghetto. I did enjoy my cell phone and was happy to not pay for data usage. As my phone got worse and worse I decided (with the help of Saj) to finally leap into the Smartphone world. My phone provider has been hounding me for years to upgrade and I would always pass, but this past Saturday I finally took the plunge. The great thing about the phone that I got (which is the HTC) is that I didn’t need to “upgrade” my current phone plan or get a data plan. I get to keep my “grandfather plan” as they phrase it. If I want to add data I can always do that at another time, but I really don’t think that I will need it (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). I have Wi-Fi at work, at home, and it’s available in so many places these days. 

 I am very glad that I waited this long before jumping in. In the very beginning (maybe 2-3 years ago) I definitely thought that I wanted a Blackberry. As time went on I realized that the Blackberry just wasn’t the phone for me personally. I lost interest in it (no offense Blackberry users). Probably about a year ago I started looking at the Androids. I didn’t see myself as an Android user at all, but then the more I started looking at the different ones out there plus trying them out, the more interested I became. Before you IPhone users jump down my throat, just know that I think that Apple has made a great product (my hubby has the IPhone 4S & loves it). I did strongly think about getting one, but after much thought it just wasn’t the phone for me. At the end of the day the HTC was my preference and it completely suits & exceeds my needs. Its very user friendly with a ton of free apps and a great camera/video recorder (you know how much I love to take pictures:) and it’s so fast. I honestly don’t think I will use this phone to its full capacity. There is so much you can do with it which I love.

I have officially entered into this new “Smartphone World” and I love it!

Dear blog world I am still alive...

The last time I blogged was back in May....I know, too long of a break right? Every time I've wanted to blog I just never got around to doing it.So here's hoping that I can actually start doing some more posts now and in the weeks to come.

 Since my last blog, Saj and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on June 7th. I can't believe how quickly its going by. It certainly doesn't feel like 9 years. Next year we hit the BIG 10 year mark. Double digits baby. A trip to Bora Bora would be my dream.....but I'm pretty sure that's not happening for our 10 year, lol. This may sound cheesy, but as long as we are together that's all I really care about. If it's a walk on Main street in Unionville & Starbucks, I'll take that. We are really about the simple things. Quality time is our love language.

 Summer has also come and gone way too quickly if you ask me. Now we have hit the cooler season which also happens to be one of my favourites...FALL. I love the changing colours and the freshness that the Fall always brings. I also love Fall even more-so now because that's when Isaiah was born. Its hard to believe that he is 2 now. So many people use to say to us "enjoy this time, it goes by so quickly." At the time I didn't really get it (due to lack of sleep, and trying to figure out things along the way) but now I do. Where in the world did those 2 years go? Just 2 short years ago Isaiah was only 10 days old and now he's walking, talking, running, climbing, dancing, eating lots and my list can go on. I enjoy him so much these days (except for those temper tantrums...that I can do without, lol).

Saj was also born in the Fall too (he just celebrate a milestone birthday this weekend....40, eek). It was a busy weekend for us and we didn't have the chance to properly celebrate. Saj was in a wedding for one of his good friends Nigel Maynard. The wedding was on his actual birthday (October 6). At the reception though, everyone sang happy birthday to Saj which was so sweet.

As for me, well I turned a year older back in July. I had a great day with my hubby and I was actually off on vacation during that time which was amazing. There are days when I feel like the pace of life needs to slow down. I often wish there were more hours in the day to do things, but what I'm realizing is that I need to prioritize better and just do what I can each day. I also want to start going to bed earlier. I'm realizing that I do need more sleep. I'm sure better sleep could do us all some good. I really enjoy my times with Isaiah. I love being outdoors with him as he explores the world from his view. He brings me such joy!

In a nutshell that's life. There is so much more that I could write, but I like to keep things short (even though this blog is a bit on the longer side today :)  I hope that you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with your loved ones and took the time to Thank God for all of His great blessings.  I am thankful for my crazy family. Life wouldn't be the same without you.

Mothers Day 2012 - The Highlights :)

sleeping in until 7:45am

beautiful tulips

a new book signed by the author

a wonderful message at church

hearing Saj sing

an afternoon nap

dinner out with my husband and son

eating popcorn...... 

that's how I spent my 2nd mothers day.... Just perfect!

Simple goals for the week - UPDATE

 
Last week I had posted about some simple goals that I was hoping to complete throughout the week. If you missed the post here it is: http://tricia-snippets.blogspot.com/2012/04/simple-goals-for-week.html
Truth be told, I only started on my list on Saturday morning. Yes, I can be a procrastinator too (something else I'm working on :)

Here are the results;

1. Clean off the piles of clothing on my chair and in my closet (sadly I can be a slob). Organize my closet and purge all clothing that I no longer wear! -

• Surprisingly, this didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. I turned on the radio in our room and worked away on this. I felt great getting it all finished. It probably took me about 40 minutes to get it all done.

2. Clean out the "kitchen junk drawer." Its gotten a bit out of hand. 

• Confession: my awesome husband did this task. He's so good at being organized (hence why I am also trying to be more organized). While I was working on my closet, he took on this project. I was so impressed at how clean he got it. It is no longer a junk drawer :)

3. Clean off the piles of paper on our table. At one point it was cleaned but then slowly it has become a bit of a dumping ground (my fault).

• This was the first thing I tackled on Saturday morning. It literally took me about 12 minutes to complete this. I actually set a timer and worked away. Once our table was clean and wiped down, you have no idea how happy that made me. Finally I could eat on it again, LOL. We enjoyed breakfast around the table as a family (the way it should be :)

4. Clean out our magazine rack and recycle what we no longer need.

• I enjoyed this task and it was a quick one to complete. One thing I realized is that I have so many Kraft magazines. I didn't really throw them out as I love collecting them. What I did do was remove the ones that were out of season, and only kept the Spring/Summer issues out. The magazine rack is less cluttered and looks more appealing now.

5. Be in bed no later than 11pm (except for this Friday night. Were going to a dinner party :)

• This goal wasn't completely fulfilled. I technically wasn't in my actual bed by 11pm each night, but I did fall asleep multiple times on the couch watching TV (or as Saj would say, the TV watching me). I still need to work on this area. And sadly, our dinner party was postponed but we have set a new date and I am so looking forward to our gathering. 

All in all I would say that it has been a great week of getting little things done. I'm happy with the results, and I'm hoping to keep things orderly. Happy Monday everyone!

Simple goals for the week

This week I'm hoping to cross off a few things on my to-do list. They are very simple tasks, but its stuff that I've been avoiding (shame on me :). I'm hoping to tackle a little bit each night once I'm home from work, have eaten and Isaiah's in bed for the night. Here's my little list;

1. Clean off the piles of clothing on my chair and in my closet (sadly I can be a slob). Organize my closet and purge all clothing that I no longer wear!

2. Clean out the "kitchen junk drawer." Its gotten a bit out of hand.

3. Clean off the piles of paper on our table. At one point it was cleaned but then slowly it has become a bit of a dumping ground (my fault).

4. Clean out our magazine rack and recycle what we no longer need.

5. Be in bed no later than 11pm (except for this Friday night. Were going to a dinner party :)

I'll let you know how it goes at the end of the week. Here's hoping for success!

Brunch!

Nothing excites me more than having Brunch at The Walters. Its always great food, laughs and conversations. Today was one of those great days where we finally had the chance to get together and catch up and do brunch (which turned into dinner, dessert & lots of great coffee :)

We are looking forward to our next gathering. We are truly so thankful and blessed to have this amazing family in our lives. Thanks for being such a great example to us!

Happy Monday!

Happy and Monday are two words that you don't often hear in a given sentence. I have decided that I am going to try and start looking at Monday's more positively than negative. One of the things that I love about Monday mornings at work is getting together with my fellow co-workers and having a time of prayer. Its refreshing and a great way to kick off the work week. Now I realize that for many you may not have the opportunity to do this at your workplace, so I came up with 3 simple tips to starting off your Monday well:

1. When you wake up, thank God for allowing you to see another day - Life is too short. Each day is a blessing so rejoice and be glad that you are able to see a new day!

2. Have the right attitude - If you say its going to be a terrible day, then its going to be a terrible day. Having the right mindset can either make or break your day!

3. Eat breakfast - Yes I did say eat breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day and it will fuel you for the day ahead. Many people will argue that there is no time to eat breakfast in the morning, but I would encourage you to get up a bit earlier in the morning and get something into your system. My favourite go to breakfast in the morning consists of eating 2 omega 3 fried or scrambled eggs, with turkey bacon and slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. It takes about 7 minutes or so to prepare this, and its well worth it in my opinion!

I hope that your all having a great Monday already and that these tips are helpful to you if you struggle with the Monday Blues. Happy Monday Friends :)

New Year Resolutions & Goals - How's it going?

We are well into the new year now and you have either stuck to your new year resolutions/goals or you have flopped on them. I would love to say that I have stuck to my goals for the year, but sadly I have flopped. As always things start off pretty smoothly with excitement and joy, then slowly things get tossed to the side little by little that you can't even see your way back to reaching your goals (so we think).

Instead of giving up and allowing defeat to set in, I encourage you (myself included) to rise above the slump and get back on track. If one of your goals was to exercise and eat better, start implementing that change today. You can start slowly by increasing your water intake and cutting back on junk foods. You can do simple exercises at home or start taking walks (it is a form of exercise :)

Whatever was on your list of resolutions or goals for 2012 please know that there is still so much time left to accomplish many of them. Don't beat yourself up any more. Tackle your goals and start fresh today. That's what I plan on doing, and I encourage you to do the same!