Well tomorrow is Tuesday, and for the last 13 weeks we've been heading over the the west end of the city to lead our weekly Financial Peace University. Steve and I have really enjoyed leading the course and seeing other people start down a path of financial security like we have.
We had such a great group, a good mix of ages, genders, and from all stages of life. Some were married, some were single, some were engaged. Some were grandparents, some had babies. Some people owned their homes, some rented, and some were hoping to move from renting to owning soon. It was a great opportunity for us to show what we had learned and to help pass that on.
By the end of the course, we had about 10 households pay off, or save up over $50,000 all together. I was so proud!! Quite a few of the families had completely paid off their debts and were working to get their emergency funds in place. Some families even accomplished their fully funded emergency fund!! We were very excited to see the progress that each family made.
As for Steve and I, we are now giving our kitchen a facelift, and the selling the house! We will be looking for a great deal somewhere, as we have been for a couple of years now. Our real estate agent feels that January or February should bring along a few great deals, and we need to be ready to jump on those quickly! We may even take the chance and sell our house before we find a deal. I'm not too eager to do that, because it puts us in a place where we could be without a home for a little while. At that point in time, we'd be far more motivated to make purchase and may not have the patience to wait for a great deal.
We are excited though, it's been 5.5 years in this little duplex, and we are simply outgrowing it. We are both looking forward to moving on to our next investment, another home that we can live in and add value to.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Electricity Providers
After much research, we have finally decided to switch from Epcor to Enmax for electricity. In order to further our savings, we also switched our natural gas provider from Direct Energy to Enmax.
We locked in our electricity costs at a lower price than we've been paying for the last couple of months, and we kept a floating rate for natural gas. The natural gas costs will not be any higher or lower than the floating rate we were paying before.
After hearing the electricity prices were going to rise up to 40% in December, I decided that locking it into a non-contractual plan was the best option. With Enmax, I can switch in and out of the fixed rates at any time I choose. This means that there is virtually no risk involved, and if I don't end up saving money, or if it costs me more, I'll simply switch back to Epcor.
We won't get our first bill from Enmax until the first part of January, so we'll have to wait a bit to see if we will come out ahead, the same, or further back. I do expect to come out ahead... otherwise I never would have switched.
I'm not hoping for a miracle here, but if we can save a few dollars each month, it will be worth it!
We locked in our electricity costs at a lower price than we've been paying for the last couple of months, and we kept a floating rate for natural gas. The natural gas costs will not be any higher or lower than the floating rate we were paying before.
After hearing the electricity prices were going to rise up to 40% in December, I decided that locking it into a non-contractual plan was the best option. With Enmax, I can switch in and out of the fixed rates at any time I choose. This means that there is virtually no risk involved, and if I don't end up saving money, or if it costs me more, I'll simply switch back to Epcor.
We won't get our first bill from Enmax until the first part of January, so we'll have to wait a bit to see if we will come out ahead, the same, or further back. I do expect to come out ahead... otherwise I never would have switched.
I'm not hoping for a miracle here, but if we can save a few dollars each month, it will be worth it!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Couponing in Edmonton
So today I am officially setting up a coupon binder!! This is not going to become a blog about couponing because I believe there are already a lot of blogs out there that do the job just fine. Here are a few:
Canadian Coupon Mom
Money Saving Mom Canada
Extreme Couponing Mom
Mrs. January
Frugal Edmonton Mama
Any google search will reveal a thousand blogs about couponing in Edmonton (and Canada), so it's not too hard to find that info.
I would recommend that if you get the opportunity to take a couponing course, you do so. These are usually only a few dollars, but they really give you a lot of insight into couponing and how exactly it's done legally and responsibly here in Canada.
My personal belief is that couponing is excellent, as long as it has some boundaries. Those boundaries include staying within the store coupon policies, and not spending a bunch more money on things you don't need just because you have coupons. I believe in finding coupons for the things I use, can use, or can give away. If I can find free things, I grab them whether I use them or not, because I can always donate them to a shelter or give them away. I also believe in taking the coupons that you'll use, and not taking coupons that are on products that you are not purchasing.
Using coupons can be very rewarding when done correctly. I look forward to progressing in my coupon skills, and I also look forward to being able to give a bunch of stuff away, and save money all at once!
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about couponing, but I think you'll find all the info you could need on one or more of those blog websites I posted above.
Canadian Coupon Mom
Money Saving Mom Canada
Extreme Couponing Mom
Mrs. January
Frugal Edmonton Mama
Any google search will reveal a thousand blogs about couponing in Edmonton (and Canada), so it's not too hard to find that info.
I would recommend that if you get the opportunity to take a couponing course, you do so. These are usually only a few dollars, but they really give you a lot of insight into couponing and how exactly it's done legally and responsibly here in Canada.
My personal belief is that couponing is excellent, as long as it has some boundaries. Those boundaries include staying within the store coupon policies, and not spending a bunch more money on things you don't need just because you have coupons. I believe in finding coupons for the things I use, can use, or can give away. If I can find free things, I grab them whether I use them or not, because I can always donate them to a shelter or give them away. I also believe in taking the coupons that you'll use, and not taking coupons that are on products that you are not purchasing.
Using coupons can be very rewarding when done correctly. I look forward to progressing in my coupon skills, and I also look forward to being able to give a bunch of stuff away, and save money all at once!
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about couponing, but I think you'll find all the info you could need on one or more of those blog websites I posted above.
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