Debt Consolidation Vancouver

Serious about reducing your debt? Start cutting out all the tiny purchases you don’t need. Here’s a list of some of the worst smalltime offenders:

1. Gossip Mags – They’re there at the checkout, you’re bored, the cashier just went on break and J.Lo has a new man. The perfect storm. But resist! If you need to have the latest celebrity scoop, wait till you get home and read it online. Or we can tell you – she’s dating one of her dancers (again…).

2. Lottery tickets – You’re not gonna win. EVER!

3. Adding a Combo / Upsizing – Fries are the furthest thing from a healthy side dish. They can hardly be considered a vegetable by the time they are added to your sandwich or burger.

4. Water Bottles – Water is free and clean in this country. In most places… Take advantage of this fact and fill up your reusable bottle at home, work and while you’re out-and-about.

5. Oil Light – When the little light comes on, spend a few dollars and buy a few litres. Don’t let it linger like a solitary Christmas decoration you forgot to take down. An engine overhaul could cost you thousands.

The Usual Suspects

For the first couple of months after I called Full Circle and finally got my debt under control, I was walking on eggshells. I was so worried about falling back to my old habits of overspending and underpaying that I would avoid social situations almost altogether. I knew that if I went out with my girlfriends to the mall, I’d be itching the whole time to splurge and I knew that if I did, after my prolonged period of saving, I would end up binge buying. And if I went out for a casual dinner with my coworkers, I would end up dropping at least $50 – I mean, if I’m going to dine out, I’m going to dine well). I even stopped wanting to go out on date nights with Mark anymore, and subjected him to many of my home-cooked meals.

Before long, Mark called me out on my hermit-status and convinced me that staying home all day was no way to live, even if I was living free of debt stress. So slowly but surely, I started to go out again, with my friends and with Mark. And sure, I slipped up a couple times and ended up buying something I shouldn’t have, but I was buying less, and buying less often. But I really should have give myself a little more credit – after all, I was doing pretty well for a recovering spendaholic.

One of my favorite $aving tips of the day is, “Buy in bulk – and invest in a vacuum sealer”. It’s something my mother taught me, just from tagging along with her whenever she went shopping at my all-time favorite store, Costco. I would insist on sitting in the cart (despite my age and size) while my mom pushed me through the store. The smell of samples hot out of the toaster ovens, the garish fleece jackets piled in cardboard bins, and the seemingly endless array of candy lining the warehouse shelves were feast to all my senses. The experience was, at the same time, fascinating and intoxicating to my 8-year-old self. In that 6000 square metre concrete warehouse, the world was full of possibilities.

Needless to say, the addiction continued into adulthood. Whenever we need something in the house, whether it be toilet paper or some eggs, I jump at the opportunity. Not only because I love Costco, but also because we save a lot of money getting things like meat, seafood, and cheese there. Throw in a basic at-home vacuum sealer, and you’re looking at a packed freezer and a boatload of savings. And even though I don’t get to sit in the cart anymore when I go to Costco (I had to relinquish my seat to my son), I get to be a kid again.

I’ll never forget the first time I was approved for a credit card, if you can call it that. I was a studying at Emily Carr at the time, with little to no credit to my name. But since I was enrolled in a university, I qualified for a student credit card. The limit was something like $500, which seemed like the king’s bounty at the time considering the fact that my allowance up to that point was measly 20 bucks per week.  So with my newfound wealth, I spent like a high roller buying fancy art supplies, splurging on pricey meals, and buying tickets to concerts.

Needless to say, what seemed like a lot of money at first turned into what-can-I-really-buy-with-five-hundred-dollars. That changed again when I got the first statement in the mail, this time to holy-sh#!-where-the-heck-am-I-gonna-get-five-hundred-big-ones? So I had no choice but to go with the minimum payment and get charged an insane interest on the rest.  And that, ladies and gentlemen is when my debt started piling up.

Where was this sign when I signed up for that darned credit card?