Breakthrough Coaching

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵
With companies and organizations mandating employees back to work whether part-time or full-time, you may be wondering (or a little scared) about what going back into the office will cost you financially (and timewise).

Working from home has afforded many people a few opportunities to save money--certainly, it has cut most people’s need for public transit or parking costs as well as coffee and eating out. Furthermore, with interest rates having risen eight times in the past 12 months, many people are feeling the pinch of budgetary constraints.

Almost two years ago, I decided to make some financial changes in my life and increase my financial literacy. I read through several personal finance books, started saving in a TFSA and RRSP, created an emergency fund, paid off all my debt, and started a side hustle. Still, as prices increase around me, I’m also feeling the pinch, and so I thought I would share a few tips on how you can save money and make the most of it.

𝗕𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. Instead of buying a bus pass or paying for parking, consider riding your bike to work. Let’s say you’re mandated to go into the office twice a week, and parking runs you $15 a day. That comes to $30 per week for let’s say 48 weeks, for five years, which is 240 weeks. If you invest that money in a 7% interest-yielding low-cost index fund, riding your bike will accumulate you $9,307.08. If you are going into the office three days a week, your investment will come to $13,960.62. Not a bad return on parking, and getting in shape.

𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵. I love coffee, but buying coffee on the outside is a liability, because I like good coffee, and if I’m without, I’ll likely splurge for a four-shot long espresso, which’ll run me $5-6. Lunch is easily $15, which makes a two-day in-office cost $21. If we put that money in our index fund, the figure comes to $13,029.91 over five years. If you are in the office three days a week, that figure is $19,544.86 invested in the same index fund.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. Maybe the pandemic has increased your alcohol consumption, and you’re spending $100 a week on drinks. Given recent studies on the harmful effects of alcohol, let’s say you quit drinking alcohol in the house and only treat yourself to a glass of wine when you go out, so I’m not completely ruining your buzz. If you put that $100 in the same investment vehicle as above, your return on investment for not drinking would come to $31,023.59 over five years.

All together, in a two-day in-the-office scenario, by cycling into work, bringing your own coffee and lunch, and not drinking at home, in five years you could accumulate $53,360.58. In a three-day in-the-office scenario, that figure comes to $64,529.07.

That’s a new car, a significant chunk to add to your mortgage or a pretty decent "fun” fund, considering that a trip around the world goes for about $30K. I realize that the scenario I portrayed is not for everyone. You can cut this strategy into a different size that’s right for you.

There’s many different ways to cut costs and save (and make) a little extra money. Here is a list of resources to help you save money or make extra with a side hustle.

- https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency.html. The FCAC is Canada’s federal agency that “works to keep Canada’s financial system safe and strong,” and they offer a lot of resources free of charge to help Canadians be more financially literate.

- https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ Mr. Money Mustache (MMM) is a well-versed finance enthusiast, whose blog and website provides a wide range of advice on what books to read, what credit cards are the best for savings or traveling, which phone plans to subscribe to, etc. He’s been keeping a regular blog for several years and has lots of resources on how to save money. What I appreciate about MMM is how he sometimes makes his points by doing the math for us, as I did above.

- https://g.co/kgs/h7CTFa Optimal Finance Daily is an audio blog that reads financial articles to you from various other finance blogs across the internet. What I like about this is that the articles are short, on point, offer a wide variety of topics, and I can do the dishes as I increase my financial IQ.

- https://radicalfire.com/ Radical FIRE, like MMM, provides a lot of ideas on how to make extra money, how to save, what books to read and how to reach financial freedom. Though the Optimal Finance Daily podcast recommends this site, I prefer MMM mostly because it’s not overrun by ads.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲: 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮 - 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 𝗼𝗳 𝟯

Today, I share the final part of my chat on marriage with Jake and Amelia.

Enjoy!

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𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗴 (𝗖𝗚): 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿?

Jake (J): Nothing. I overshare with her.

Amelia (A): Hmm. I think my feelings of, you know, wanting some alone time.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲.

A: Yeah. Making it appear like I have it all together when I’m freaking out inside. There’s a lot of depression in my family. I don’t get depressed. I get anxious. I would go into a store and I’d spiral. I couldn’t pull it together. But now with all the tools out there, like, I do tapping, I have crystals, so I find I won’t overshare what’s really going on inside my head, but he always picks up on it. Like, I’ll start freaking out over why the shoes are in a certain place.

J: Oh my God.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗢𝗵 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

A: Ya. I find that reading your articles helps me. I’m a big fan of Mel Robbins. At the end of the day, I’m a big fan of having lists. [laughs]

J: You’re very organized.

A: I’m very organized, but crazy. I wish I could be just a little more chill. Like, he’s very chill. He’s calming to me. I wouldn’t say I am chill at all.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲?

A: So, years ago, we were so intertwined in debt, I realized that debt held us together. Even if I’d wanted to, I thought to myself, we can’t afford to leave this thing.

J: She wanted nothing to do with me.

A: You know what it was, though? He was working such crazy hours that I had the boys figured out for school feeding them, activities… I didn’t need him. Whereas I left for a week on vacation once and I came back and he was like, “You can never leave again!” Whereas, if he left for a week, I don't even think I would have noticed. We were living in the same marriage but not the same realities.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗜 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲.

J: We weren’t even in the same book. I still wanted her, though.

A: We saw my sister leave an unhappy marriage with no money, and she had the balls to do it. And I suppose we could have sold the big house and gotten two townhomes, but it just never came to that. I didn’t have the balls to do it.

J: I never wanted to leave you, though.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿?

J: You probably have an answer for that.

A: OK, I have to tell Greg. This is years later when things were better. This guy calls me at work and tells me that his wife was after Jake and that he had a private investigator follow them. I’m thinking this is kinda hilarious that he got a P.I. He called me another time and reported that “they kissed!” It didn’t break us, though, because when I got the call we had gone through the storm already. Had I got it when things were rough, it may have been the end of it. But I find that because I didn’t want him then, I couldn’t blame him if somebody tried to kiss him because I wasn't kissing him. I didn’t want him then, so I couldn’t blame him. I felt I was at fault as well. Like, I wasn’t being the wife this guy signed up for, and I felt like we had betrayed each other. Like not that I had anyone, because I wanted no one. The guy on the phone wanted me to be so mad.

𝗖𝗚 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽? 𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱?

J: Yes.

A: The fact that I don’t remember the names or the story makes things good. Like, people can bring the past up constantly and it will eat away at their marriage. So we dealt with it and moved on, but I remember thinking that if that guy on the phone had called two years earlier, it may have ended our marriage.

𝗖𝗚: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲?

A: I think it’s little things. Like you know, prepping his coffee. He makes our shakes in the morning.

J: I know what buttons to push if I want but why do that? I want to be happy. There’s nothing to gain by that being a jerk. We know what makes each other happy, so why wouldn’t we keep pursuing that?

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Has your marriage survived some important trials? How did you get past them? Leave a comment!