Keep Calm and Build Savings

So, there has been much more talk around the office yesterday about what may or may not happen, all in response to the effects of those US Tariffs.

Our business model is to design products, have them built in China, and then sell them throughout Canada and the US. 

According to the current US Administration, that is a no-no, and so anything we bring in from China is slapped with not only a duty (as it always had been) but punitive tariffs.

On the outset, this wouldn’t be so bad, but while we, a Canadian company are hit with tariffs based on the retail price (what we charge our customer). 

Our US competitors are only hit with the punitive tariffs on the cost of the goods they bring in to the US . . . as in what they buy it for. 

This further skews an already uneven playing field further away from us. Then again, this current US Administration is all about helping the US and only the US.

All of that aside (regardless of how you feel about what the current US Administration is doing) what this means to us and our company is that it looks like we will pull out of the US Market as it is becoming too expensive for us to compete in. 

This means that what was once 80% of our business, yet now shrunk to 60%, is going to go bye-bye, through no fault of our own.

So, there are some jittered nerves around work these days as we all wonder what is going to happen. 

Most likely is that the company will retool and move in another direction. Yet I don’t see pay raises coming, only pay cuts with an absence of direct website sales.

As for me, I will keep doing what I always do: keep clomping on forward. 

I will keep building up my savings for as long as I can. I will focus on savings as much as possible and eliminate all unnecessary spending, as anything could happen.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Fear is in The Air

How lovely, the bills have started to come in, and the effects of the tariffs from the US have started to be felt. 

This has started to make everyone in the office a little edgy, starting with and emanating from, Boss.

As we all know, Sh*t rolls downhill, so too does Fear. Yet with Fear, as it rolls downhill it picks up Intimidation along the way.

While it is in early stages of Boss feeling the pinch of these Tariffs, I am anticipating more grouchiness with a few ‘dead weight’ insinuations along the way. 

I do my job and I know how to do it well (I should after all these years). 

I am always looking for an order to process and get out the door. I make it a policy that if I can process and order today, I will do so and get it out the door today.

Can I really be blamed of the orders have dropped off? I am: where I am supposed to be, when I am supposed to be, and ready willing and able to do what I am supposed to do. 

I don’t create orders, I process them . . . so give me an order to process and we’ll both be happy.

I know Boss is stressed and rightfully so, I would also be stressed if I were in Boss’s shoes. 

I know that taking it out on your subordinates, helps nothing. We’re not the problem.

As I said, it is early days yet, and I only saw the first indications of fear on Boss yesterday. So there has been no intimidation or insults (yet).

I simply take comfort that I have paid my debts off and I am a few paycheques away from having that two year’s worth of living expenses cushion in tucked away in my savings.

Yet, I like my job and I like the company I work for and yeah I like Boss. I just don’t need to hear the tales of “Saint Entrepreneur” as I am told that I “have no problems as an employee.”

I at least know that life is complicated and that nobody has it perfect, and yeah, everybody’s got a story that can break your heart. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Grand Savings Update

Okay, so it is that time again, when I update how my progress is going on my “Grand Savings Plan!” 

Okay, so let’s see how I did . . . 

  

For review, here is how things looked from last payday . . .

   

And this is how things look like, after the dust settled on this payday’s budget . . . 

   

That’s right things jumped up to 10.1% of my savings target. That means I put away 0.9% of my total Savings Target this payday. 

I do need to pause and reflect on the fact that even though I put a toe over the line, I have indeed crossed over the 10% of my savings target. That bottom row is now fully crossed off!

As with my Last Payday, I put away less than 1% of my target. This is frustrating, but it is what it is and I do hope to make up a bit of lost ground with the next 4 paydays.

You see these next four paydays should be larger due to the fact that much fewer deductions are taken off. So this will increase my take home pay, even though my gross doesn’t go up.

Even if I don’t get a bump, and if I just keep plugging away at my savings as it is, that’s okay. I will still get there, eventually. 

Even if some large life event comes my way and I have to abandon my Grand Savings Plan, any savings is better than no savings. 

As always; Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Total Debt Freedom Day (1st Anniversary)

Yes, yes, my friends it is now officially one year since I have become Totally Debt Free! It has been a bit of a rocky start to the year, but all in all, I have done well. 

First of all I have remained Totally Debt Free, and that is something. I have had my challenges and run up a credit card a bit over the past year, but all in all I am okay.

All credit cards are paid off and I continue with my practice of paying off all outstanding balances in full each and every payday.

I am building up my savings and have maintained my Personal Overdraft in my Main Account. 

I have built up my Personal Line of Credit to my reasonable personal emergency fund. 

The best thing of all is that as of today, I will be activating my Long Term Account and putting my savings into it (until my TFSA is maxed out).

In the beginning of the year I did spend, but mainly on things that I should have done before. Such as repairs to Wanda, a new mattress (fantastic). 

Yet there was also the new computer that I probably shouldn’t have. I find that if it is not a laptop, with its own internal battery, that it is not a practical computer for me to have. 

Anyways, I digress, but the main thing is that the financial lessons and tools that got me debt free, are still being employed to help me build my savings. 

I am also proud to say that as of today, I will be at 10% of my overall savings target on my Grand Savings Plan!

I do not say these things to brag, as that is not my style. Rather, I say all this to show that it is possible to not only get debt free but stay debt free, all while still working your regular 9-5 job (no extra income required).

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Alls Quiet Before Payday

So, this Monday is my payday and it is a special one. This is because it is the payday when I actually activate my Long Term Account (again).

I now have, or will come payday, to put the minimum balance that the bank will start to pay interest (their whopping 1.1%).

So, that is what I am going to do, start putting cash into my Long Term Account (as in my TFSA). 

It is yet another start and yet another step forward on my journey towards having the land and starting the town. 

Yet, here I am on the weekend before payday and I am doing my darndest to stop all spending so I can do this.

I do take the time to mark these milestones, not to brag but to show myself that I am making progress and to keep doing what I am doing, because it is working. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

Accepting a Missed Target

So, here I am five paydays (including Monday) away from the end of the year. I have a goal of reaching 16.7% of my savings Target before the year is out. 

As it stands, unless there is a sudden and unprecedented rush between now and the end of the year (unlikely), I will fall short of that target. 

As it stands, I will, most likely hit 14.6% (at best). 

Now, while missing a target is frustrating, it is not the end of the world. I have to remind myself that I still have more money in savings than I did a year ago.

Add to that, that this money in savings is mine and it is not earmarked for some debt relief. I can do what I want with it, and that is a good feeling.

I will make my savings target of 100% . . . eventually. I just have to remember that it will not happen in a day. 

Slow and steady wins the savings race, and even though I have had setbacks and I will continue to have setbacks, I need to remember that any movement forward is still movement forward. 

Celebrate your successes and don’t worry so much if you miss your target or goal. You are still further ahead than you were when you set that goal.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!Accepting a Missed Target

So, here I am five paydays (including Monday) away from the end of the year. I have a goal of reaching 16.7% of my savings Target before the year is out. 

As it stands, unless there is a sudden and unprecedented rush between now and the end of the year (unlikely), I will fall short of that target. 

As it stands, I will, most likely hit 14.6% (at best). 

Now, while missing a target is frustrating, it is not the end of the world. I have to remind myself that I still have more money in savings than I did a year ago.

Add to that, that this money in savings is mine and it is not earmarked for some debt relief. I can do what I want with it, and that is a good feeling.

I will make my savings target of 100% . . . eventually. I just have to remember that it will not happen in a day. 

Slow and steady wins the savings race, and even though I have had setbacks and I will continue to have setbacks, I need to remember that any movement forward is still movement forward. 

Celebrate your successes and don’t worry so much if you miss your target or goal. You are still further ahead than you were when you set that goal.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

The Unexpected Ding

So, there I was, checking my Banking App, as I do every morning, and there I saw it . . . the unexpected ding. Rather, the ‘Premature Ding.’

What happened was that the place where I have my mailbox at charged me (yesterday apparently) for my yearly fee.

Now, usually (or at least last year) I paid for it in person, and . . . you know . . . was asked. 

This was just dinged to my card (the whole year in advance) as per usual without at least calling me to let me know this was happening. 

Now, I am an organized guy and I had put it in the budget for the Nov 7 Pay Period, as I expected to pay for it in the store again at that time.

This is not a disaster, as I don’t run a balance on any credit card (life is simpler that way)  I will still hit 10% of my savings target this payday (on Monday) anyways.

Yet, whilst I knew that this charge was coming, and yes they do have my card on file, I wasn’t expecting this. 

Now, technically I can call my credit card company and claim fraud and have the charge reversed. 

Yet, to me, that seems like a kinda jerkish thing to do when I am going to pay it in a few weeks anyways. 

All in all, just a friendly note to those of you in retail, just ask first before dinging.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!