Over the past ten years our family has moved three times to three different communities. Now, being back where our family started, back where we planted our roots, it’s given me some time to reflect and think about how far we’ve come, what we’ve accomplished, and the goals I have for myself and our family.
We are at a good place in life, after all these years, but certainly not as carefree or “rich” as my tween calls it, as we’d like (are you ever at a point where you’re like, “I’m good with earning this much,”?) We’re able to save for the items or experiences we want, and are working hard to pay off our debt.
We, like many young couples starting a family, fell into debt quicker than we anticipated especially after purchasing our first house and having our first child. Credit can be a necessary component to life, and there are many advantages and times when using a credit card or line of credit is warranted. Looking back, I wish we had been more frugal with our spending back then, because it certainly would have made our debt-reduction task easier now!
Hindsight is always 20/20, so when talking with friends or family who are going off to university, getting married or purchasing their first house, I wince when they mention their great new credit card limit because we all know how easy it is to overspend. I’ve realized that having that talk about responsible spending should start much earlier than that, we should be talking about it with our kids while they’re still under our roof.
The video above, from Interac*, is a great example of why saving for something and earning it can make you grow leaps and bounds. While using credit to purchase items may give you immediate gratification, it doesn’t compare with the pride of using your own money. We all know that friend that appears to own the newest designer handbags and has dinner out four nights a week, when in actuality it’s all on credit and it’s all about smoke and mirrors (yes, even in our thirties this happens!)
You can learn more about Interac* through their social channels here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interac
Twitter: https://twitter.com/interac
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interac/
*Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation
We pretty much live on credit. Need to find some ways of cutting back…
We dont own our own home (we just rent) and we are finding out right now about how we need to boost our credit because we simply dont have anything that we needed the bank for. Especially now what we are thinking about buying a house.
Great reminders! Thankful that my parents instilled moneny management skills in me. As a result, we may not be rich but I’m 32 with 5 years left on my mortgage and no other debt besides a small business start up on our line of credit. Very thankful.
It’s great to teach responsible spending and money matters when the kids are young, and it’s great to have the money to buy what you want without the need of a credit card, credit cards got me into a lot of trouble about 10 years ago and it wasn’t good!!
Interac is definitely a better option than using credit. You can’t spend more than you have!
Thanks for sharing – will check out the above links for interac!
We do own our home but have a mortgage. We paid off our first home, bought another one, sold it, bought this house and now looking to buy another home again. We must be crazy but this house is too small and our neighbours are mental cases so its time to move on. Its really the only bill we have other than normal household bills so I guess we aren’t too bad.
Responsible spending is so important,our home as been paided off you over 15 years now,we built it ourselves with some help from family and friends
Responsible spending is so very important.
I was brought up to purchase items only if I had the money except of course for home buying, cars etc.
My husband and I paid our house off early and we are adamant about saving. We collect points and I use coupons so we can save as much as possible.
I tend to restrict credit to big purchases and Interac for smaller ones. Seems to work for me.
I regret having gotten a credit card. Every time i put some money on it, it is used again and I am back to where I was…owing
I try to mindful of spending on every purchase I make.
i have a young adult son who is just starting our working and we have had many talks of Responsible spending . He has a good head on his shoulders and hope one day he may be able to buy a home.. but I worry with high soaring home prices !
I should be looking forward to retirement, but I seem to be stuck in a dead-end job. And I’m in a large urban centre where mortgage prices are so ridiculous, I’ll be working till I’m 90 to get enough savings to retire on (no pension plan where I work).
I try to stick to the rule that if I don’t have my own cash for it, then it has to wait. Credit is for absolute necessities, or emergencies.
Great read and a topic I think that needs to be dicussed, these price of everything seems to be on the rise , without the wage increase to go with it
These are great reminders and I think children should learn about the values of
good credit and also how hard it is to pay debt off.I think it’s important to teach
them these values as soon as they start earning some of their own money.
There definitely is huge reward in working hard and seeing the fruits of your labor! I am 100% not happy with my income and wish there was more money to go around, but at the same time I am happy with what I have and am blessed to have a new car, a safe, comfortable roof over my head and some money to spend on things like travel!
I definitely agree with the reward of saving up and being able to make a big purchase — it feels great when you can do it.
Sometes you need to delay gratification. I rarely use my credit cards. Interac all the way.
It really is important to save and have an emergency account for emergencies.
Love the video. We are a few years away from paying off our mortgage. When that happens, we are going to be so happy. I can’t wait.
we live from paychq to paychq except my husbands last work place went bankrupt and he’s still awaiting on his pay from the end of may, his holiday pay and all those banked hrs…doesnt look very good for him and there’s no recourse it seems