Guest Blog: Barbi's Story (Part 1)

The A, B, Cs of Money: J & K Guest Blog: Barbi's Story (Part 2)

Guest Blog: Barbi's Story (Part 1)

Y'know, every now and then I get a letter from someone who makes me see just how sensible some young'uns can be. When I got a letter from Barbi Lynn, I thought to myself, "Now there's someone who has the kind of focus it takes to keep everything in balance." So I asked her to tell her story so I could share it with you. Today (and tomorrow) I offer you a guest blog from Barbi Lynn who tells how she's managed to come to terms with money and have a great life too. Here's Barbi:

Before I start getting self-righteous and telling you how easy and simple it is to be financially stable in your twenties, let me start off by saying I know I've been very lucky. I've been raised since day one to be organized and to be a planner. It's ingrained in my personality and is reflected not just in how I manage my finances, but in all aspects of my life. I also lived at home during university, so I graduated and moved out on my own with no student loans or debt to pay off, and could start putting aside savings right away. My partner and I were also fortunate to move in together soon after graduating. We were showered with graduation gifts – whether purchased or hand-me-downs — from relatives, which helped us furnish our new home together on a dime, again allowing us to start putting any extra income we had to savings right away.

That being said, I'd still like to give ourselves a bit of credit for the fact that at the age of 26 and after having been on our own for just over two years, we've got an established emergency fund, no debt, established vacation savings that allow for 1-2 nice trips each year, and plenty saved for a down payment on a home. On top of that we max out our RRSPs and TFSAs each year.

So how do we do it? Or more importantly, how can you do it? How can you stay focused on managing your finances, saving some money for the future and still enjoy life in the here and now?

If I could give one overarching piece of advice, no matter what your personality or how far you want to take your budgeting process, it's to have pride and confidence in the fact that you manage your finances well and that it's a priority for you. Don't be ashamed to do things that you might think make you look "cheap" or "uptight". Just like on Gail's shows, we track everything we spend, and I mean everything. That means that when I pay for a loaf of bread that costs me $2.75 and there's a line of people behind me, I ask for a receipt. Sure, it feels embarrassing sometimes but I don't give a damn. I ask for it anyways because it's easier for me to get home with all my receipts than to sit down and try to remember each place I stopped at and how much I spent. It also means that if a friend asks us to go out for dinner when we've already spent all the money in our budget for dining out that month, I say, "We can't next week, but why don't we make a date for sometime in February?" Do what works for you and do it without apology.

But how did we even get to this point where we have this budget set and we sit down routinely and track our spending? It's very simple actually: We read books, asked questions, and took advice. Really, there are people who do these sorts of things professionally for a reason. Once again, this relates back to taking pride in engaging in the topic and not being ashamed to ask for help. My partner and I are big fans of 'Til Debt Do Us Part, and we learned a lot from there. But before we even moved out of our parents' homes, we read books on saving, investing and budgeting, and we took the advice they offered. We simply followed their instructions, which were, well, simple. Set up a budget. Pay yourself first by putting aside savings each month. Take advantage of RRSPs. Think about investing to grow your savings.

We took advice not only from the experts, but also from relatives with their own unique experiences. We knew we wanted to adopt pets once we were settled in, so we included a pet category in our budget. But it wasn't arbitrary. I asked my mom how much she spent annually, on average, on vet bills and food for our family dog, Heidi, and we divided that number by 12 and used that as a starting point. I knew that my uncle was also responsible in managing his finances and kept a budget, so I asked him to send me his so that I could see the various budget categories he had.

Tomorrow: Part Two of Barbi's Story