tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post1988982234274037197..comments2024-03-13T04:34:25.047-07:00Comments on Living Rich On The Cheap: Paying the big billsCheapchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-34753173613801628102014-07-21T03:56:57.319-07:002014-07-21T03:56:57.319-07:00May I ask (and this is simply out of ignorance on ...May I ask (and this is simply out of ignorance on my part) why is it better to keep monthly expenses as low as possible? Isn't it still the same amount of money in the end? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15489293238327777245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-10973906868342518202014-06-07T09:41:42.658-07:002014-06-07T09:41:42.658-07:00I do the same thing! One savings account that hol...I do the same thing! One savings account that holds all our funds, Christmas, travel and big bills. Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-34421317047630026392014-06-01T04:37:42.173-07:002014-06-01T04:37:42.173-07:00I like to pay my big bills yearly too. So every mo...I like to pay my big bills yearly too. So every month I pretend minus 1/12th of the amount of the house insurance, car insurance, house taxes, even heating oil and add it to my "slush accounts" for those items onto a ledger I keep on a piece of graph paper inside of my checkbook. <br />So while the money remains in my checking account it's not seen in my available balance in my check register. This might seem silly for a lot of people but I have done this for years and years and it works well. We always have the money to pay the big bills when they come in. <br /><br />Debra<br /><br />56stepshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06714155300369089630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-5156318328047640842014-05-31T09:58:58.335-07:002014-05-31T09:58:58.335-07:00I like the idea of your fluid emergency fund. Kin...I like the idea of your fluid emergency fund. Kind of like our line of credit if need be.Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-6451390363148321682014-05-31T09:58:15.076-07:002014-05-31T09:58:15.076-07:00I would too if we weren't self employed, we ha...I would too if we weren't self employed, we have to try and keep our monthly expenses low so try and get the big bills out of the way. Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-3163683005992397692014-05-31T09:57:43.262-07:002014-05-31T09:57:43.262-07:00A pretend mortgage is a great idea, even if you ca...A pretend mortgage is a great idea, even if you can't do the full $500 a month. Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-54442480279485059622014-05-31T09:56:59.660-07:002014-05-31T09:56:59.660-07:00I didn't used to be the kind of saver I am tod...I didn't used to be the kind of saver I am today but every paycheck I cut off a chunk into savings. Your way is good though, forced savings then you have money for thingsCheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-3899849387645981372014-05-31T09:55:00.022-07:002014-05-31T09:55:00.022-07:00We could go monthly on the insurance but I like to...We could go monthly on the insurance but I like to get them out of the way to keep our monthly expenses low as possible, easier with self-employment. Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-79078738397783903682014-05-31T09:53:13.178-07:002014-05-31T09:53:13.178-07:00We keep a spreadsheet too but I am not always on t...We keep a spreadsheet too but I am not always on top of it. We are in charge of how much we pay ourselves and are always trying to balance bills with paychecks. Cheers!Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-37946707616234549782014-05-31T09:51:53.120-07:002014-05-31T09:51:53.120-07:00Yes, cars definitely eat away at money. They say ...Yes, cars definitely eat away at money. They say we spend more on our cars now than ever before. Cheers!Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-76276744987242101332014-05-31T09:45:02.411-07:002014-05-31T09:45:02.411-07:00I try to squirrel away as much as possible for whe...I try to squirrel away as much as possible for when big stuff comes out of left field. But I live in an apartment split with a roomie so big stuff is an a minimal, they're always car emergencies if anything.Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00445764937751339633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-5797417284054773382014-05-29T14:27:58.850-07:002014-05-29T14:27:58.850-07:00We keep a spreadsheet of our monthly expenses but ...We keep a spreadsheet of our monthly expenses but we also have a separate one for any large bills that we need to save for. Our property taxes come out of our account each month and I like that as it's no different than paying it annually and it's one thing that is budgeted but paid each month. With 2 properties, just easier for us for now. Other big things like winter tires or a trip, we have separate savings accounts for. Right now, our travel account is healthy and we both have TFSA's as well which is more new house money and then it will flip to be our retirement savings (beyond our current RRSP's). Our big expenses/emergency fund account is fine and we flip money in to it each week as well. I did empty it at the beginning of the year as we had nothing coming up and we didn't see any major crisis looming. But then started to build it again as we had maxed out our TFSA's. Works fine for us now. Always re-evaluating to make sure and we'd definitely make changes if needed. Thanks for sharing how you manage the big bills!Chyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09612160129616190092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-77358780111924847002014-05-29T04:35:21.609-07:002014-05-29T04:35:21.609-07:00In London my property tax is billed monthly over 1...In London my property tax is billed monthly over 10 months giving me a free month in Nov. and Dec. which is lovely. In PEI I make 3 payments per year for property taxes and one payment for home insurance. My car insurance is monthly. All of which means pretty much everything is part of my monthly budget which is the way I like it!Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02803104035204416080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-74981388422412445342014-05-28T07:52:21.277-07:002014-05-28T07:52:21.277-07:00Good question!!!
Den has extra money taken out eac...Good question!!!<br />Den has extra money taken out each week and put towards our taxes. That way we get a large chunk of money in Feb/March. I slowly use it throughout the year. It helps so much doing it this way. I have a hard time save xxx amount each week. Sonya Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01985227040902078422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-73816336096086786492014-05-28T02:05:35.455-07:002014-05-28T02:05:35.455-07:00I used to use an envelope system and it worked rea...I used to use an envelope system and it worked really well. I have to get back into that habit. I think I should pretend we have a mortgage and start paying it to a fund so that when we get our own house, we'll already be used to making that payment. I just have to figure out where to get $500 a month. :-/Lorrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15328674280714013955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-25285291328799973752014-05-27T19:09:53.547-07:002014-05-27T19:09:53.547-07:00Most all of our bigger bills (property tax, home a...Most all of our bigger bills (property tax, home and auto insurance) are all witndrawn on a monthly basis from our account. I really like it this way!Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06272811081912620854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2302691153455448442.post-48871090012093446232014-05-27T15:25:47.752-07:002014-05-27T15:25:47.752-07:00We save up monthly like you do. For any differenc...We save up monthly like you do. For any differences, we do keep an emergency fund, but it is fluid, meaning we take and give more than we should.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02863887265545701157noreply@blogger.com