Managing your cost of living and spending

1. Managing your Cost of Living and
Spending

2. TOPICS
• Needs vs. Wants
• Fixed/Variable Expenses
• Finding your Money
• Budget Sample
• Savings

3. QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT…
• What is your earliest “Money Memory”?
“Your early experiences often shape your life more than most people think.”
- Unknown
• Where does your money go?
• What would happen if you do not know how to manage your money?

4. WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE?

5. The need is something you
cannot live without
• Food
• Shelter
• Clothing
• Education
• Anything else?

6. WANT
Something we would like to have. This makes our lives comfortable,
convenient or fun.

7. 1.1 NEED VS. WANTS WORKSHEET

8. PERSONAL REFLECTION
Review ALL the purchases and payments you made in the last two (2)
weeks. These may include, but are not limited to:
- Paying rent/mortgage
- Paying your bills
- Buying tea/coffee from Tim Hortons
- Online purchases
- Take out
- What else did you spend on?

9. PERSONAL
REFLECTION
Total of 62 transactions
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Transactions between November 14 - November 28

10. Of all these purchases and
payments, which ones are NEEDS
and WANTS?
NEEDS:
- Bills
- Groceries
- Savings
- Gas
- Personal Necessities
WANTS:
- Miscellaneous
- Take out
- Online Shopping
- Memberships
NEEDS/WANTS
Wants Needs

11. TYPES OF EXPENSES
Fixed expenses – A payment that will stay the same amount, every
time you pay.
Variable expenses – A payment that will change month to month.
This will depend on how use/consumption.
Other expenses – different expenses that happen every so often
(birthdays, holidays, seasonal items, extracurricular activities)

13. FINDING MONEY

14.  Do you know how
much money you can
FIND by calculating
what we spend on a
daily or weekly basis?

15. TIM
HORTONS
SCENARIO
Calculate Calculate how much these items cost
you in a month
Add Add the approximate cost
List Name an item that you spend daily
XL Steeped Tea – Tim Hortons
Once a day
5 times a week
What is the cost?

16. Daily Cost of Tim
Hortons
Product Cost Frequency Total Cost per Day
Xl Steeped tea $2.60 Once per day $2.60

17. Weekly Cost of
Tim Hortons
Product Cost Frequency Total Cost per Week
XL Steeped Tea $2.60 Five days a week $13.00/week

18. Monthly Cost of
Tim Hortons
Product Cost per Week Frequency Total Cost per Month
XL Steeped Tea $13.00 Multiply by 4.33 $56.29
That’s an expensive box of tea bags

19. REFLECTION
 How much money did you find?
 Are these items wants or needs?
 Are these impulse buys?
 Will you make changes on your spending habits?

20. WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE MONEY YOU FOUND?

21. THE “B” WORD
BUDGET

23. LIST YOUR INCOME
Income
Income from employment (wages) $ Other Income: $
Self-employment Income $ Other Income: $
Government Benefits (GST/HST Credit,
Ontario Trillium Benefit, Canada Child Benefit,
Ontario Works, etc.
$
TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME (A) $

24. LIST YOUR EXPENSES
Expenses
Housing Expenses Transportation Expenses
Rent/Mortgage $ Car payment $
Heat $ Gas $
Hydro $ Maintenance $
Cable/Internet $ Parking $
Phone/Cell phone $ Public Transit $
Other: $ Other: $
Living Expenses Personal Expenses
Food $ Entertainment $
Clothing/Laundry $ Dining Out $
Child Care $
Personal grooming and hygiene
(clothes, hair, shampoos, soaps, etc.)
$
Loan payment $ Gifts/Donations $
Credit Card payments $ Vacation/Travel
$
Other: $ Other:
$
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES (B) $

25. CALCULATION
Monthly
Income
Monthly
Expenses
Total
Available
Money
If you have a positive balance, this money could be allocated to savings.
If you have a negative balance, you will need to revise your budget!

26. 1.2 BUDGET WORKSHEET
Take a few minutes to review the budget worksheet.
Income:
Input all income items you receive within the month
Expenses:
Write out how much each expense costs related to your bills.
Overall:
How much money do you have left? Are you in the negative or is it a positive balance?

27. WHY SAVE MONEY?
To buy large
items
(vehicle/house)
Surprise Bills or
Emergencies
“Pandemics”
More Choices
(vacations, new
wardrobe)
Retirement
Help family
Children’s
Education
Less Stress

28. GOLDEN RULE
OF SAVING:
Pay yourself first!

29. SET GOALS

30. When you are planning for your goals, you need to make sure they are
achievable for your personal situation.
Sample SMART Goals include:
• I want a Registered Education Savings Plan for each of my kid’s post-secondary education.
• I want to have a 20% down payment for a house in 5 years.
• I want to save $10,000 for my start-up business in 4 years.
• I want to decrease my outstanding debts by $5,000 in the next 2 years.

31. When you are planning for a specific goal, you are
required to invest approximately 5 – 20 % cash.
 House: 5%-20% down payment
 Car: 5%-10% down payment
 Equity into the business:10%–15% at NADF

32. HOW TO START
Start small Try forced savings
technique
Don’t dip into savings
Think of what you want to save for and find a method of saving that will ensure
you will not touch your saved money.

33. • Keep your budget flexible
• Keep your budget simple
• Be honest and realistic
• Try keeping track of every dollar you spend for a
month…it may surprise you!
• Requires some trade-offs and sacrifices
• Budget for the unexpected
• Budget for large items that occur once a year
• Keep accurate records

34. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER
• Once your budget is complete and you can visually
see where your money is going, how you do feel?
• Are there areas in your budget where you can cut
back on your spending?
• What goals have you set for yourself to manage
your spending and savings?
• Do you need to adjust your cost of living in order to
achieve some of your goals?
• Are you willing to make short-term sacrifices in
order to reach your goals?

35. Questions?
Jamie Hunter, Community Economic Development Coordinator
NADF
Phone: 807-623-5397
Email: rjhunter@nadf.org