One Week Shed: Review & Results

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I recently went away for a week sans kids and husband. It was soon after I finished doing the 30 Day Shred again and I wanted to keep my work out habit going and build on the momentum of my success with it.

I was originally inspired to do the 30 Day Shred after reading Nurse Love’s Farmer’s post about it and I remembered that she also did a post about doing Jillian Michael’s One Week Shred.

I didn’t have an event I needed to be “shredded” for coming up in a week, but I was curious to see what effect this program would have, especially since Jillian claims that you can lose up to seven pounds over the course of the seven days. However, this requires following her eating plan and not only do I refuse to diet, even if I wanted to I couldn’t because I was in a hotel with limited cooking ability. But I did try and stay mindful of my food choices because I do want to lose a couple more dress sizes from where I am. And since I was going to be away for seven days, wanted to keep working out, enjoyed the 30 Day Shred and would have the time to do it, I thought, why not?

Overview

The One Week Shred is supposed to be a “crash” workout program to get you into shape in just one week before a special event, like a wedding or vacation, where you want to look good. You have to do two 30 minute workouts a day – a strength workout in the morning and a cardio workout in the evening. According to Jillian, she separates the workouts to get “double the calorie after-burn”.

The strength workout is broken down into a warm up, fours rotations (each done twice) and a cool down. The cardio workout is broken down into three rotations (also done twice) and a cool down. The only equipment you need is a couple hand weights. Jillian uses 3lbs weights but I used 3kg (about 6.6lbs), which worked for me.

My thoughts

Honestly, I did not like this program. Its a major pain to have to do two separate workouts. Even though I had the time, I wasn’t on vacation so I still resented the extra time required getting changed into and out of workout gear twice, the two showers, two post-work out recoveries etc more than I anticipated.

I was tempted to just throw in the towel after Day 3 – in fact, I only did the strength workout on Day 4 because I had a bad night’s sleep and just did not have the energy to do it in the morning. I did it in the evening with the plan of doing the programs back-to-back, but I ended up choosing sleep over cardio in the end.

However, I kept going the next day. I did pay for it (I hate buying something and not using it) and I knew I wouldn’t get an opportunity to do it again because there is no way I’d find the time and energy to attempt this in my normal life. And Jillian does keep reminding you “its just for a week” and “you can do anything for a week”, so I stuck with it.

What was disappointing though is that I didn’t like a lot of the actual exercises. There were some repeats of the ones from the 30 Day Shred, but in this one Jillian tries to add awkward move combinations together in many of the exercises and I found that I would have to stop and watch the screen a lot, trying to figure out what the heck I need to do. It wrecked the flow of the work out and I can see people getting injured attempting some of these or just doing them wrong and not getting the intended benefit from them. Or maybe I’m just not that coordinated. Its a shame because I did like most of the exercises in the 30 Day Shred and was hoping this would be more of the same.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that I started to do more of the modified versions of the exercises as the week went on, whereas with the 30 Day Shred I started with the some modified and moved on to do all the advance moves. I think its because the exercises are so intense that they shouldn’t be done for seven days in a row – my body clearly needed a break but instead of taking one, I ended up “phoning it in” on some of the exercises that normally I wouldn’t have.

Results

On to the results.  When I got home, I was surprised to learn that I actually *gained* about 2lbs! I’m not sure if its because other than the workouts, I wasn’t as active as I am normally and the calories just got to me or if its added muscle (I suspect a combo of the two) or if its just normal weight fluctuations (I retain more water during certain times of my cycle) but when I look at the pictures, I think it goes to show that you can still get thinner without losing weight.

So on to the photographic analysis. The “Before” shots are on the left with the pink sports bra, that are actually the “After” photos after completing the 30 Day Shred again. The new “After” after photos are on the right with the black one.

Overall, I do feel like I *look* a teeny bit more toned in the “After” photos. That said, I’m not sure if its due to the lighting, as the photos were taken in different rooms at different times of day.

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Not sure if its the lighting, but I feel like my tummy does look more toned in the “After” pic.

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Now from the side. 

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Now a close-up en face.

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Profile close up. Abs look better to me!

Final Recommendations

Even though you could argue that I do *look* a bit more toned in the “After” photos, I would still not recommend this program. I don’t think it will get you the results you are hoping for if you truly are looking for a one week solution to get ready for an important event, even if you stick to the eating plan. I know I personally will not be doing either of the workouts again and will definitely not be doing the week-long program.

Also, if you are a postpartum mom and were hoping to do this program to “jump start” your post-baby fitness or weight loss, I REALLY do not recommend it. Most of the exercises are bad if your pelvic floor isn’t properly healed after birth and I guarantee you will injure yourself. Please get checked out by a pelvic floor physiotherapist before doing this or any other type of intense exercise after giving birth – even if you’ve been given the green light to workout by your doctor or midwife.

Like I discuss in my second time doing the 30 Day Shred, I’d recommend doing a post-partum pelvic floor rehab program like the one you can find at Healthy Habits for Happy Moms. Its not cheap but honestly worth every penny.

Up next for me fitness wise? I’ve downloaded an App called “Sweat” which gives you three strength and three cardio programs to do during the week. I’m also doing the Walk This Way Challenge – going for a 30 minute walk every day for the month of May (this seems easy, but its actually much harder than you think to actually do it – I challenge you to try!) and hope the weather will finally cooperate so I can start running again.

30 Day Shred – Shredded again

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Shortly after completing the 30 Day Shred just over two years ago and getting into great shape, I became pregnant with my third child. Long story short, I gained a LOT of weight during this last pregnancy and this time around its taking me even longer to lose it than last time. So given my success last time around and because I already had this program (i.e. I’ve already paid for it), I decided to do the 30 Day Shred again.

Now, before I get into the program and my progress, there are some things I want to mention:

POSTPARTUM MOMS

If you are newly post-partum OR have noticed any issues such as incontinence or diastasis recti, DO NOT DO THIS PROGRAM! There are a lot of jumping exercises in this program and if you aren’t properly healed, you will do damage to your body. I would strongly advise you to see a pelvic floor physiotherapist to get the green-light to work out. Your doctor’s or midwife’s six-week post-partum clearance is NOT THE SAME THING! I started running soon after the birth of my second son and then did the 30 Day Shred program and I ended up doing a lot of damage to my pelvic floor, to the point where I was suffering from pretty bad incontinence. At the time I thought it was normal (and while its very common, its NOT normal) so I ignored it.  I understand wanting to get back into shape, however before you embark on ANY fitness regime postpartum, please, please, please do a pelvic floor rehab program first and get cleared to exercise by a pelvic floor physiotherapist. I highly recommend the Healthy Habits Happy Moms post-natal workout series. It can be started as early as a couple days after birth or as late as several years after birth.

HEALTHY HABITS 

If you want to lose weight (i.e. fat) and your goal is to drop dress sizes, you will most likely also have to adjust your eating in addition to working out. I’ve been following this awesome blogger, Mama Lion Strong and her company, Healthy Habits for Happy Moms, for about two years now and I realized that I’m done with dieting. I just don’t have the energy or desire to remove a food (or food group), drink expensive shakes, fast or follow a strict meal plan to lose weight. I’m over the disappointment of”falling off the wagon” and seeing weeks of loss wiped out because of a few stressful weeks where I can’t follow some strict plan to a T.

However, I know that to lose weight you need to create a sustainable calorie deficit and I decided to do this by a creating healthy habits and mindful eating. Doing the 30 Day Shred was a good way to start the habit of working out consistently.

Next I started to track my food using an app called My Fitness Pal – not to obsess about calories but mostly to help me be mindful. I did not deprive myself of ANYTHING I wanted to eat (during this past month and a bit, I’ve eaten pizza weekly, been through the drive though more times than I’d like to admit, eaten chocolate and eaten cake in addition to eating traditionally healthy foods) and I tracked it and focused on moderation. I also don’t track every day but I do try to most days, just to keep me aware. I also tweaked some of my not so great eating habits. For one, I stopped drinking wine during the weekdays and limit myself to just Fridays and Saturdays. I realized when I have a glass of wine (or two) I totally stop caring about what I’m eating and develop a “fuck it!” attitude towards food. It was quite difficult at first – I have three kids and they have the tendency to stress me out at times (read: daily) and my end-of-day sauvignon blanc was my way to relax and unwind. But other than that, it wasn’t doing me any favours in the calorie department and I didn’t want something that should be enjoyed to become medicinal. That being said, I have a new appreciation for TGIF, haha!

And thats it for now. In Healthy Habits for Happy Moms, the founders really stress the importance of not trying to change too much too fast and to focus on one healthy habit at a time to increase your likelihood of success, so that is what I am doing. I will continue to do workouts (there are some awesome ones on the HHHM’s website I want to try) but will probably also do another Jillian Michaels plan because I do like the format and the fact they are so quick.  I will continue to limit my alcohol intake to just Fridays and Saturdays.

OK, so here are my results from doing the 30 Day Shred again!

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So as you can see, I definitely had some good results again! I can feel (and see) my stomach has gotten tighter as well as my legs (though the pictures don’t really show progress there), and my muffin top is smaller. Also my shoulders have more definition to them now. Overall, very happy with where I am!

DIFFERENCES FROM MY SECOND TIME AROUND

Even though I was fatter starting off the program this time around, I was actually in better shape, strength and cardio wise. I had been going to a personal trainer for a while before starting this program and so my strength level was very higher than when I did it the first time. To be honest, some of the strength exercises were too easy for me, even when I used my heaviest weights (5kg) – that said, I used a combination of 3kg and 5kg weights depending on the exercise.

I was also able to do all the exercises at the advanced level from Day 1. Yes, I do proper push ups and it makes a HUGE difference. I’d really recommend at least attempting to do proper push ups and only switching to knee-push ups when you literally can’t do the proper ones any more.

It took me almost two months to get this complete this time. My middle son got very sick part of the way through (contracted a rotavirus-like bug and then developed a double ear infection) and I also ended up with strep-throat and was forced to rest. I found that I was able to do the workouts about four times a week on average and to be honest, I’m happy with that. It works for me. But I did it!

With three kids now, I appreciate my time to workout more than ever and I make it a priority. I still love how quick these workouts are and will aim for similar ones.

So that’s it! I’m happy with my progress and excited about what I’ll do next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Savvy Real Estate Series – Part 1: Should you sell your house yourself?

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Many money management blogs will focus on ways to save money by doing little things over a long period of time – things like meal prep, not buying coffee every day, budgeting for the holidays, shopping around for savings etc. And while those things are certainly important, I think its also important to consider areas where you can save a LOT of money in a short amount of time.

One of those things is by selling your home yourself and not using an agent to avoid having to fork over the commission.

This is something I’ve now done several times –  I’ve sold two homes and leased/rent several properties without using an agent and each time I’ve managed to do better than realtors had told me I’d get. So I decided to make a series of posts on this topic. I’ll start with this one – helping you determine if selling your house yourself is something you should do – and I’ll follow it with tips on selling your house as well as how to choose the best agent, if you decide selling your house yourself isn’t for you.

Why you should always look into selling your house yourself

In most countries, real estate agents charge a commission – i.e. a percentage of the sale price of your home – as their compensation for selling your house. In Canada, the buying and selling agent will typically charge 2.5% each – or 5% total. In New Zealand (where I’m currently living), only the selling agents get commission, and its typically 4.5% + GST.

Now this can amount to be a HUGE chunk of change. The average home in Canada now sells for about $475,000. This means that when you sell your house, you will have to pay the realtors $23,750 in commissions alone . Also, if the house you sell is your primary home, this money would also be free from capital gains tax, so it would be ALL yours to use as you please. That money could be used to pay off debt, beef up savings or a down payment for another home (so you don’t have to get as high a mortgage). And that is just the average – this number gets higher the more you sell your home for.

This leads me to another reason – many agents are just not that good, and in my opinion don’t really earn that generous commission. But it doesn’t take an idiot to do the math above and realize that if they are able to sell just a few houses in a year, it can effectively replace a 50 week, 9-5 salary – for significantly less work.

Granted, realtors don’t get to keep the entire commission (some goes to the brokerage, overhead costs, taxes etc) but in a hot market like we are currently experiencing where houses often sell within days of being listed, for ridiculous sums of money and no conditions, its no wonder that the number of real-estate agents is at an all time high. In what other profession can you take a quick course, have no post-secondary education and be licensed to work within a year, getting paid upwards of $20,000 per sale? Its no wonder that in Toronto alone, the number of licensed agents has doubled over the past ten years. As a result, there are a ton of inexperienced agents out there that really don’t know what they are doing any more than you do.

Another main driver for me was the fact that selling your home is work to you regardless if you use an agent or not. In most cases, YOU have to clean/tidy your home before showings or open homes, YOU need to organize your family to be elsewhere when these showings take place, YOU need to pay for staging, YOU choose who to sell to and where to compromise and YOU have to pay for a lawyer to deal with the legal stuff.

You should also some market research to know what to expect what your home will sell for – sometimes agents will low-ball a house just so they can sell it faster. For every $10,000 the agent gets $500 extra – it might not be worth the extra effort to a realtor to market a house for $10,000 or $20,000 more for a few hundred dollars but to the seller, that is a lot of money, especially if that is what it is worth and could sell for. So whether or not you use an agent, YOU should still know approximately what your home is worth. In sum, a lot of it is on you anyway, so shouldn’t YOU get some compensation for that?

However, selling your house yourself is still work – don’t kid yourself – there is a reason that there is a whole profession dedicated to selling houses. So I’ve developed a guideline to follow for  when it would make sense to do it yourself.

When to sell your house yourself:

  • You have time and are flexible. This is one of the main reasons I do it myself. I am a work-at-home mom and I was available to show my house at any time, on any day of the week. I’ve even had people ring the doorbell and asking to have a look because they knew they’d be dealing with the seller directly anyway and I was able to show it. No need to worry about a busy agent showing another client’s house or personal time and potentially losing a sale.
  • In a seller’s market. This is when house prices are on the rise and supply of houses is low. Basically, the situation right now in many big cities like Toronto or Vancouver or Auckland. Buyers have to be less picky and can’t put as many (or any) conditions on purchase, which pretty much guarantees you the sale if your home is in the location they want.
  • Your house is in an excellent location. There is a reason that “location, location, location” is the dogma of real estate. If your house is in a good location, even if its the worst house on the block, it will sell. And in a market like this? It will pretty much sell itself and will sell very quickly.
  • You aren’t easily offended. Look, buying real estate is a big deal for most people, so purchasers will be critical (in order to not seem too keen, because its easy to criticize when its not your home, people have different tastes etc) and it may be hard to hear someone mutter about the hideous curtains/wall colour you lovingly chose, renovations you’ve done etc. You can’t let it discourage you.
  • You have some business savvy/confidence and be a bit of a risk taker. A home sale is a business transaction at the end of the day. You need to know how to market your home, stage it and understand the market well enough to be able to negotiate effectively (I will do a post on tips to sell your home soon).
  • You are and can afford to be patient. Selling your home yourself will probably take longer than with an agent. Selling agents may avoid showing your house to potential clients (since they don’t get any commission), buyers themselves may not want to deal without agents and in general you will not be able to reach the same number of potential buyers that an agent can. It can get discouraging when you put in all this effort to get it ready only to have no or little interest after your first open home. But if you are able to give it some time, selling yourself may be a good idea. Remember, you can only have one buyer at the end of the day and chances are that if you are in a sought after area, you will have no problem finding interested buyers.

That all said, there are times when I would recommend using an agent.

When to use an agent:

  • You are just too busy and don’t have the flexibility to show the home whenever a potential buyer is interested, it really is in your best interest to use an agent.
  • In a buyer’s market. This is when there may be an abundance of houses or the market has cooled off for whatever reason and a realtor will potentially be better able to reach  a bigger network of interested buyers and be better able to help you negotiate. This is where an experienced agent is key.
  • Your property is very unique or difficult to sell. The easiest houses to sell are those that appeal to a larger group of people – that also means they are pretty conventional and in popular locatoins. But if your property is very unique – for example, its a luxury property, or has some unique features, or is in a less than desirable location – a good agent that specializes in that type of real estate would be good to use to make sure you are getting the best price.
  • You are not a natural negotiator and/or don’t like conflict. There are some people who are born sales people or negotiators and there are some who aren’t. The latter are the people who will mess up selling their own home and will be the horror stories that realtors will tell potential clients with glee. Like I mentioned before, selling by yourself is work and its not as easy as it looks.
  • You need to sell ASAP. If you have to move quickly, I’d recommend using an agent for sure. My approach to selling on my own involves having a timeline of how long I am willing to list without an agent before giving in and getting an agent and still making the timeline I want to have my house sold. If you don’t have the luxury to wait it out selling yourself, don’t do it.

Convinced yet? If so, stay tuned for my next post which will include tips on how to sell your home yourself!

Quinoa Guacamole Bowl

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I *may* have an obsession with avocados. I buy 2-3 every time I go grocery shopping, even when I have no specific plan for them, even when they cost a small fortune (in New Zealand, where I currently live, avocados cost as much as $4 for just ONE in the winter).

So I try to be mindful to use them up when they ripen. One of my favorite recipes for using avocados is The Barefoot Contessa’s Guacamole Salad and I make it often, with some small tweaks.

But I wanted to take this favorite side dish and up the ante a bit by making it into a meal. And what better way to make it a meal than by adding quinoa to it?

I’ve loved quinoa ever since a friend’s mom introduced me to it eons ago (before it was popular) and still love it, even though it’s no longer the most popular “superfood” in town. While I don’t buy the “superfood” premise, I do love the high protein content, the yummy nutty flavour and texture that quinoa has and I like to incorporate it where I can.

But I digress…here is the recipe!

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Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of sweet corn

2 tomatoes, medium diced

1 pepper, medium diced (any colour, but I find orange makes the salad look prettiest)

2-3 tbsp small diced fresh or pickled jalapeno pepper

1 bunch coriander/cilantro, chopped (optional – I adore cilantro but I know that not everyone does – still a yummy meal even if you opt to not use it).

1/4 cup olive oil

Zest of one lime

Juice of 1-2 limes

Cayenne pepper sauce to taste (I like to use Frank’s Red Hot – and usually put 3+ Tbsp of it, but we like it pretty spicy! 1 – 2 Tbsp is enough for most people who like just a little kick)

2 Haas avocados, large diced

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions

  1. Combine quinoa and stock in a small pot, cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.
  2. While quinoa is cooking, combine beans, corn, tomatoes and peppers in a medium bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl (or glass jar), combine olive oil, lime zest, lime juice and cayenne pepper sauce.
  4. Once quinoa is ready, add to the veggies and toss with the dressing. Fold in avocado and add salt and pepper.

Makes about 2-3 dinner sized servings.

This dish is yummy served while quinoa is warm but is also excellent chilled. I’ll often double the recipe just to make sure I have left-overs for lunch the next day.

Marital Money Counselling – 4 Financial Issues that all couples need to be aware of

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A friend of my sister’s, who is a newlywed, recently told me she really loves this blog (thanks!) and asked me to do a post on financial issues for newlyweds.

Given that money problems are the #1 cause of stress in a relationship and the #1 cause of divorce/relationship breakdown, this is definitely an issue that couples should tackle right away. To be honest, I think talks about money issues should happen before taking the walk down the aisle, however I do believe that there are always going to be disagreements about money – and it’s good to have a strategy in place to deal with them as they come up.

Here are some financial issues that I believe that all couples – whether getting married or already so, should discuss:

  1. Financial background

Especially if you are older and have supported yourself, disclosing your financial background to each other is a must. Do you have any debts your partner isn’t aware of? How much have you saved, how much have you invested? Have you ever declared bankruptcy? Coming clean about where you stand financially is incredibly important, just like coming clean about your sexual past and medical history are.

Next you need to come up with a way to pay off any debt you have. And if you have a problem with taking on your partner’s debt and incorporating it into your lifestyle, this is a red flag that you shouldn’t be getting married, or at least not yet. If your spouse has a lot of debt – for whatever reason – you need to be able to let go of any resentment from the beginning, because otherwise it will kill your relationship.

2. Financial administration

Do you plan to pool your finances or keep them separate? Personally, I think once a couple makes a commitment to one another, whether it’s through marriage or starting a family or whatever, I really feel that pooling your finances and treating all money as “ours” (vs. “mine” and “theirs”) is the way to go. Even if you start off earning the same amount, this WILL change over time.  It would be a red flag to me if my partner was possessive over the money he makes. Because what happens if one of you loses their job? What if one of you gets a huge raise? Gets sick and can’t work? Takes a step back in their career to care for children, or elderly parent? It can get very complicated and create a weird power struggle too. I hope if you get married, you plan to be so for life and I can’t see a situation where each partner has to “pay their own way” through it will work in the long run.

In my opinion, once you decide to marry/start a family you are in an equal partnership. Who earns what is not important – it becomes what the family earns and what the family spends and both partners should have equal say. A great place to start this is by checking out my budget guide.

Now, I’m not saying that couples shouldn’t have any of their “own” money – some people like to have their own account and have an agreed upon amount set aside for them to spend on whatever they want (whether its for being able to surprise their partner with a gift or buy themselves something frivolous without feeling guilty). As long as this is fair (just because the husband “earns” the money doesn’t mean he should get $1,000 per month “blow money” while the stay at home mom gets $20) and that both agree on it and revise it periodically to make sure it is still working for the family situation.

I do recommend one person being “in charge” of managing the finances but making sure they touch base with the other person on a regular basis to keep them up to date.

The ONE exception to this is if you marry a person/start a family and realize later that they have a problem with money (gambling, excessive spending etc) and you need to separate your finances to protect the family. But this is a huge red flag and should be dealt with with the same seriousness  as an alcohol addiction or drug addiction would be.

3. Financial support of other family members

I think it’s really important to discuss who you, as a family, are willing to provide (and accept!) financial support from. For example, some people strongly believe that parents should pay for their kids post-secondary education while others believe kids should make their own way.

This becomes an especially tricky subject when one family is in a worse financial situation then the other (say your family are super-duper wealthy, but your in-laws are barely scraping by).

What about helping parents who are in a worse financial situation? Siblings? What kind of help are you willing to provide? A one-time loan? A lump sum gift? An allowance? Obligation to pay for a specific bill for a specific period of time (or indefinitely)?

Look, you don’t have to agree right away but you will need to compromise at some point. Maybe you agree to help your kids by paying their tuition but they need to come up with living costs on living. Maybe you agree to pay your parent’s medical insurance or for their utilities but not give them a lump sum to pay off their mortgage. Maybe you pay for your brother-in-law to fly over for Christmas but you don’t offer to pay off his credit card (even if you can afford it).

Whatever you decide though, you need to remember that you and your spouse have to come first and that you need to be able to afford the help you are providing. Under NO circumstances should YOU be going into debt to pay for your child’s university or to pay off your sister’s car loan or paying your mother-in-laws mortgage. You should not be sacrificing your savings or retirement to pay for your daughter’s wedding.

In any case, whenever you are faced with a family member in need, you both need to sit down and come up with a plan that you are both ok with and you need to stick to it.

4. Financial personalities and importance of communication

Remember that at the beginning especially, there may be some conflict and coming to terms terms with your partner’s money personality. That’s ok! But hopefully the person you are with has similar values and goals so you shouldn’t be too different when it comes to being responsible with money.

There will often be one person who is more of a “spender” and one more of a “saver” (if you are both “spenders” it is that much more important you both learn to stick to a budget). It may also be hard on someone who has been managing their money themselves for a long time to share that power and suddenly need to have to discuss purchases they wouldn’t have thought about in the past.

So I highly recommend sitting down periodically and discussing things that are important to each of you and make sure you work them  into your budget.

If you want to travel and your husband loves having a new car every few years, figure out how much you can realistically afford and if it meets your overall long term goals. Do you want to buy a house? Retire at a certain age? Pay for your kids university? You may have to compromise on things that you want and you both need to be on the same page about what those compromises will be.

 

 

 

6 things worth going into debt for when you have a family – and 3 things that AREN’T

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First of all – apologies for not updating this blog for such a long time! I’ve had some major life changes (moved from Canada to New Zealand, pregnant with my 3rd baby, enrolled in a university course…) so it’s taken a while to find my footing again.

Anyway, I was talking about financial priorities with a friend recently and we were debating whether there are any purchases worth going into debt for. My first instinct was NO, there is NOTHING. I don’t like debt as a general rule.

But then I started thinking – I do have some debt (mortgage) and that’s worth it (more below). And I also know that there are somethings that really are more important than money. So, are there some things worth buying, even if they mean going into debt? Yes and here is my list:

  1. Life/Disability Insurance

Even if you are struggling to make ends meet, I really think that having adequate life and disability insurance is a MUST for someone who has a family. In my opinion, families should have life insurance coverage that would cover living and housing costs for 10 years at the very least.

If you earn a lot of money, you should also consider how much money your family would be missing out on if you died or became disabled. For some professions, the disability portion maybe even more important to look into. For example, if you are say, a dentist, you need your hands to be functional to make a living, so even a minor accident can devastate you if you are no longer able to perform your job.

Tip: The younger/healthier you are when you get it, the cheaper your premiums for a long time.

2. Health Insurance

If you live in a country like Canada, where there is universal health care coverage (i.e. paid for by the government), then additional health insurance is gravy – usually something that covers dental care, vision care, massages etc – and is something many employers provide. If you don’t get this extra health insurance, it’s not that big of a deal but still worth looking into.

But if you live somewhere where the isn’t universal health care, like the US, please, please get health insurance. Put it as a priority even above life insurance. Put your monthly premiums on your credit card if you have to. Because medical bills are the #1 reason people go bankrupt in the US. Just one adverse medical problem can devastate a family overnight.  And I’m not talking about a cancer or a major disease diagnosis, but normal life things like birth or accidents can end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, even insurance is no guarantee that you won’t be faced with high deductibles or some out of pocket expenses, however hopefully the brunt of it will be taken care of by the insurance.

If you live in a country that has a two-tier system, like New Zealand, I’d still consider getting additional health insurance especially after seeing the benefits of having it with a family member who was diagnosed with cancer recently.

3. Marital/Relationship Counselling

Divorce/separation is expensive – not just the actual cost of divorcing (legal fees etc), but the aftermath as well. Going from two incomes to one income to support pretty much the same sized family is tough (or having one income support double the living expenses). Not to mention the emotional cost and psychological cost that a divorce has on the children.

As such, I highly recommend that couples seek counselling prior to officially separating and really trying to work on the issues the counsellor identifies. This may take more than one or two sessions so it is important to be patient. But you married/started a family with that person for a reason and it was likely very legitimate! Hopefully a bit of guidance can help you get back to the way you were.

Even if you still choose to separate afterwards, I think that attempting counselling can be good for closure (you tried everything) and you may get tips on how best to go forward to minimize the negative effects on your family (which can have a huge effect on your financial situation).

Counselling doesn’t have to cost a lot either – there may even be great free options at a church or community center.

Of course there are certain situations where divorce is really the best option. But I believe only extreme cases warrant a divorce without an attempt at fixing what is broken.

4. Mortgage

A mortgage is debt – make NO mistake about this. And it can be bad debt if you buy a house that you can’t afford. But it can also be good debt. Good if your mortgage (and other home-ownership costs) can be managed comfortably in your budget (see here for my recommendation on how much of your budget should be allocated to your housing costs). Good if you buy at a time when prices are on their way up (thus creating equity). And good if owning a home is an important life goal for you (it isn’t for everyone, so for those people, buying a home may NOT be the best idea) and you are at a point in your life where you are up for the responsibility.

5. Car loan

A car loan is debt. For some reason, I’ve met many people who seem to think that their car payment doesn’t count. Sorry, but yes, if you have an obligation to pay for your car – whether it is to the dealership, a family member or the bank, it is debt. And yes, a lease is debt too!

However, in this day and age, having a car is pretty important – especially if they need it to get to work (and especially if public transportation options are not available, very limited or plain inconvenient). So I think going into debt to buy a car is usually totally acceptable. That said, I don’t think going into any amount of debt is justifiable – and I discuss how to determine what a reasonable amount for car ownership/lease is in greater detail here.

There were some other things that I considered and things that I’ve seen mentioned on Facebook or whatever as worth going into debt for.

But I disagree –  here are some of the things that did NOT make the cut:

  1. Travel to make memories

Sorry, but going into a lot of debt to “create memories” is not a good reason. You can make memories with your family by organizing a great “stay-cation” and exploring your home town, choosing cheaper activities (camping vs going to a resort), cheaper travel methods (driving vs flying) and my favorite, SAVING for trips. These are the best way to really give your family experiences and creating memories because you will be doing so without the stress and burden of debt.

In my mind, the only exception for going into debt for travel is for something like visiting a loved one who is sick or dying or perhaps attending a funeral.

2. Once-in-a-lifetime experiences

OMG – the Rolling Stones/[Insert your favorite band or singer] are coming to your city! Tickets are expensive but it’s their LAST TOUR.  You HAVE TO GO.

No, no you don’t. If you don’t have the money saved, don’t go into debt. Its not worth it. Unless you can squeeze it into your budget or take away from an unnecessary category (for example, taking from your vacation budget or forgoing going out for dinner for your next three date nights), then sure, go for it. But if you really don’t have the money to pay upfront for those tickets, it’s NOT justifiable.

3. AH-MAZING sale or offer

Recently I went to the jewellers to get a ring I have fixed. It had a design flaw and the stones on it were always loose – I even lost the centre stone one time (luckily found it) and I was worried it would happen again. I had avoided wearing it for fear of losing a stone again so when I noticed that the jewellery store had a policy where you can “upgrade” your jewellery by trading in your older piece for a new one, if the new one was more expensive, I decided to look into it.

At first, this seemed like a great deal. Not only could I use the value of my ring as credit towards my new item, the manager at the store offered me a further discount. I’d be getting a way bigger stone ring, worth $3,500 and would ONLY be out of pocket $900.

Except $900 is a lot of money. And even though we actually HAD the money was this really something worth doing? Did I NEED a more expensive ring? A ring that I didn’t even know existed until that day?

No. I didn’t. Other than the opportunity to get a nice piece of jewellery for a great price (it really was a great price), there was no benefit. Especially when I did the math and realized I’d have to lose and replace the loose stone of my original ring like 6 times before I’d be out of pocket $900.

This applies to everything – whether it’s a handbag you’ve been coveting, a great deal on an appliance or whatever, if you don’t have the money saved for it, it’s NOT WORTH going into debt for. Because at the end of the day, if you are paying interest on it, you aren’t *really* getting a deal. And remember, these deals come around again and again you will have plenty of opportunity to take advantage of them in the future. My advice? If you really, really, really want it, start making it a priority to save for it!

 

Green Bean Niçoise Salad

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In an effort to get healthier and lose some weight, my husband and I have really tried to cut way back on processed carbs, like bread, pasta, rice etc. We still eat carbs, just try to get them from whole foods more, like fruits and veggies and to be able to indulge in our favourite treats (for him, beer and for me, wine and chocolate). My husband has lost over 40 lbs and has kept it off for almost 6 months and counting! I was able to lose about 10 lbs and I’m finding it much easier to maintain so it has become our new lifestyle.

Tired of lettuce based salads I decided to do a take on the traditional Niçoise Salad. I love to make it for lunch for myself or even as a dinner for my husband and I (I just beef it up by adding an extra hard-boiled egg). This salad also is delicious as a left over, so I will often make a double portion to keep for the next day.

Niçoise salad

Ingredients

1 bunch of green beans (approximately 2 fist-fulls)

1 large tomato, medium diced

10-15 olives (I like using a mixture of green and black olives

1 can of tuna

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Sea salt & pepper

¼ C crumbled feta cheese

1-2 hard-boiled eggs , quartered

Serves two.

Directions

  1. Wash and trim green beans. Cook by throwing into boiling water or steam for 2 or 3 minutes, so that they are still firm and crispy. Drain and place into a medium sized mixing bowl.
  1. Add chopped tomatoes, olives, can of tuna (I like pole and line caught tuna). Toss.
  1. Pour over olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper, then toss again.
  1. Add crumbled feta and fold in gently.
  1. Plate the salad on to two plates and top with hard-boiled egg. I like to use a whole egg per person if I am serving this as a dinner and ½ an egg per person if serving it as a lunch.

Don’t fall for this small business tax trap – and tips on how to avoid it

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There are many benefits to owning your own business – you are the boss, your hours are more flexible (though on average, small business owner work more than regular employees) and you can often make more money.

The reason you can make more money or at least, running your small business can be positive financially, is because of the things that you can expense (read: reduce your profit and pay less tax) through your business that you can also use outside of your business.

However, some people take it too far and end up expensing way too much – and get caught with serious consequences.

It can be exhilarating to know that as a small business owner you can legitimately expense things you need and use everyday anyway – things like your car, your cell phone and – if you work from home – even a portion of your mortgage interest. As these are things that you often need to run your business, they can be written off as a business expense.

But some people cross the line from grey to black. One friend, a successful small business owner, admitted to me that he and his two business partners had a very good year and realized that their company will need to pay a lot of tax. So they decided to buy some extremely expensive designer suits (at a cost of $10,000 a pop!) and expense them as “uniforms” to reduce the total profit to bump them down into a lower tax bracket. Sounds like a great idea, right? Except that the tax authority caught on right away and not only did they have to pay the tax, they were slapped with a fine – and they weren’t able to return the suits!

This is a trap that many small business owners fall for, and I think the worst offenders are people who run small businesses that are closer to hobbies or are part of a multi-level-marketing type business because they often don’t understand what is reasonable to expense and what isn’t.

Here are some expensing tips to avoid being audited and potentially hit with major fines.

1. Expense reasonable things.

Even if you don’t always or only use the items for your business, there are many expenses that we have that are considered reasonable to expense through a business.

These are things that a person would reasonably use for their business. For example, if you are a physiotherapist that does house calls, expensing your car payments and gas is reasonable even if you also use that car for personal reasons. Bought a bunch of stamps that you mostly used to mail Christmas cards to your family and friends? That’s ok too as having postage is a reasonable thing for any business to need (even if you mostly communicate with your clients via email). Expensing flights to Hawaii as a travel expense? Not reasonable because why would a physiotherapist need to go to Hawaii (unless maybe it was for a conference related to your field of work)?

2. Make sure the expense amount is reasonable. If you are a part-time real estate agent that sells two or three houses per year, its reasonable to expense four or five $200 bottle of champagne (even if you ended up drinking some of those yourself) as a marketing expense. It would not be reasonable to expense 50 bottles worth. Why? Because its reasonable for an agent to give a thank you gift to her clients and buying four or five bottles seems like a reasonable amount (you might want to give awesome clients two bottles for example). But if you only sell about two or three house it might be difficult to make the argument for why you needed so many bottles of champagne that year.

This also applies to how much of an expense you allocate to your business. Things like car payments, cell phones, home office expenses etc are reasonable to expense in full only if you use them mostly for your business. But if you sell Arbonne cosmetics on the side and do a couple shows per month, its not reasonable for you to expense 100% of your cell phone bill or your entire internet bill.

Look at your bills and try and gauge how much you use for your business. It doesn’t have to be exact (no one is going to throw you into jail if only 8% of your cell phone minutes were used calling customers but you expensed 10% of your cell phone bill). Another good way to determine reasonable allocation is based on the time you spend on your business. If you spend about 20% of your time working on your business (cold calling customers, following up on appointments, administration etc), then expensing everything that would be reasonable to spend on your business at 20% is fair.

3. Keep receipts for everything. In my books, if you don’t have the receipt, don’t claim the expense. If its a major expense (say you bought a new computer) and lost the receipt you can get away with potentially using a credit card statement as evidence (so a $1,500 charge on your credit card from the Apple store might be sufficient) if you are audited, but I would fall back on this as exception rather than a rule.

But keep receipts for the small ticket purchases too – people often get caught up in the big ticket items and forget that small legitimate expenses add up. For example, did you take a potential client out for coffee? Buy a thank you gift for that couple that recommended your services? These are legitimate expenses (though remember, food and entertainment can only be claimed at 50%) even if they are only $5 or $10 each.

4. Remember that there is an expectation of profit. Look, the government is aware that most small business owners will expense things that they will use personally and they will turn a blind eye if its reasonable because its not worth their time (or money) to verify, for example, that every cell phone conversation is related to your business and every item purchased at Staples is in your office cupboard. But you, as a small business owner, have to show that its worthwhile for you being in business and that you are making (or are close to making) a profit from your business. Generally, if you don’t start showing a profit after two or three years of business, you will be at much higher risk of being audited and having your expenses declined – even if they are legitimate.

Remember a good rule of thumb to follow is one that my dad (a CA and business owner) gave me.

It is that you can be a pig – but not a hog.

Why? Because pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered 🙂

Tomato Avocado Salad

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As a busy mom, I love having tasty recipes on hand that are quick and easy to throw together for lunch or dinner.

This is one that I love because it takes minutes to do and tastes delicious.

Tomato Avocado Salad

Ingredients:
2 – 3 large tomatoes (I like beefsteak tomatoes), large diced
2 large avocados, large diced
½ large white onion, medium diced
½ C sour cream or plain yogurt
Salt & pepper

Directions:
Combine tomatoes, avocados and onions into a large bowl.

Fold in sour cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve!

Tip: Use the most flavorful tomatoes you can find. Also, this salad does not keep too long, so it’s best to prepare right before eating and serve right away – which is no big deal since it’s so quick to make!

Stay at Home Jobs for Stay at Home Moms

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Having a parent stay at home with the kids is a decision that many families will contemplate. One of the main factors in the ultimate decision is often whether or not that family can afford for one parent to stay at home (which I did a post on here).

And sometimes, all it takes to make it work is a bit of extra money – whether to pay for essential expenses or just to have for extras. So I thought I’d list out some ideas for jobs that a parent can do while staying at home with their child or children.

But before you get too excited, its important to be realistic. These are great ideas to earn a bit of extra money. Unfortunately, none of these are going to make you rich or replace your salary, especially if you were in a professional, post-university level type job.

The reality is that if you want to earn that kind of money, you can’t also take care of a child full time at the same time. You just can’t – either your job or your child or (most likely) both will suffer. And anyone or job offer that claims you can make thousands of dollars with little effort, little  time and no skills all from home is 100% a scam.

Some of the ideas I list below could potentially make you a lot of money, but will require the type of time and focus that an out of the home, full time job demands and you would have to make a choice to get childcare or forgo that potential. However, they are also the type of jobs that you can do on a small scale to make that few hundred dollars a month to give your family budget some breathing room.

1. Multi-level marketing

One job that a stay-at-home mom can easily swing is a MLM (multi-level marketing) type job. This is a job selling a product (make-up, jewellery, supplements etc) to friends, family and later a group of customers directly. Its a growing industry with MLM companies Stella & Dot, Arbonne, Avon, Scentscy and many, many more gaining a lot of prominence and respect. However, while an MLM job can definitely make you some money to add to the family coffers, this is definitely not a job that is right for everyone. I did a post on this, check it out here.

PROS CONS
Very flexible Often involves a large start-up cost, and costs can get out of control
Can be a lot of fun if you are a social person Once you exhaust “low hanging fruit”, new customers may be hard to find
You can get great products for a good deal To make a lot of money, you need to treat it like a full-time job

2. Etsy

If you are crafty, Etsy can be a great way to make some money. The key is to pick a specialty (i.e., if you are a great knitter, instead of having a knitting shop, perhaps concentrate on just one or two things) and focus on being really good at it.

I found this great article that goes into more detail on how to make money on Etsy.

PROS CONS
Very flexible Often involves a large start-up cost
Can lead to a great small business Lots of competition
Creative outlet It can take a while to make money while you build your reputation

3. Photography

Pretty much anyone with a decent camera can be a photographer. Obviously, you can’t become a professional photographer overnight and charge $5,000 a shoot, but with the countless courses available both online and at various community centres, blogs and websites, I really think anyone can learn enough “tricks” to be a decent photographer and make some extra money doing family portraits for Christmas or to take pictures at birthday parties.

PROS CONS
Easy to get started if you have a decent camera Lots of competition, may take a while to build portfolio and referrals
Good creative outlet Not very steady or regular
Could potentially earn a lot if you build good reputation Good equipment is expensive

4. Home day care

Of all stay-at-home mom jobs, this one has the potential to make the most steady money. The trade off is that you have to be home (so a lot of the SAHM lifestyle that is the reason that many moms/dads want will need to be sacrificed) and you are pretty much working all day caring for other kids as well as your own. However there are ways to have both –  I know one mom, for example, who only does before and after school care – her own kids are school aged so she just walks all the kids in her care to school in the morning (she lives just a block away) and picks them up after, but has the school hours to herself.

PROS CONS
Can make a decent amount of money Can’t just hang out with your own kid – need to focus on caring for other children (which can be overwhelming)
Can expense a lot of stuff you buy for your kids Not very flexible
Your child has playmates during the day Lots of licencing and regulatory requirements that need to be met

5. Home Baker

If you love baking/cooking and have a signature dessert or dish, you may want to see if any local cafes or restaurants would like to buy your goods on a regular basis. You could easily prepare the batter or do prep like chopping or measuring of ingredients in the evening after the kids are in be and then preparing early in the morning. A local coffee shop that I frequent hires a university student to makes these amazing salted caramel brownies for them – she makes one large batch everyday and delivers them in the morning when they open. It probably doesn’t pay her tuition but maybe pays for books! Another option would be to have a home bakery business – all you need is a Facebook page – and offer to make goods for special events.

PROS CONS
Fairly small time commitment Early mornings may be required to have everything ready for delivery
Small start up costs Won’t make you too much money on a small scale
Fairly flexible Highly dependent on your location

6. Blogging

Ok, I’ll be honest, this is a very difficult way to make money. So far, I’ve made a whopping $1.54 from Amazon Affiliates sales but this blog costs me $26 a year to maintain so I’m actually in the red (ironically), so its a good thing my only intention with this blog was for me to have a creative outlet and not to make money.

However, for those interested, the way bloggers make money is from Amazon affiliate sales (you recommend items that can be bought at Amazon that are linked back to your blog account and you get a commission), advertising revenue (which is dependent on your site traffic) and if you get good enough that people or other sites pay for you to write for them. While its a bit of a long shot, if you are a great writer and have a unique perspective on a popular topic to really make yourself stand out, you may be very successful.

PROS CONS
No start-up costs Can take a long time to many any money
Very flexible Requires a large time investment
Great creative outlet May be hard to come up with content

7. Dog walker

While you have a baby you can wear in a sling or carrier, this might be a good option to get some exercise and make a few dollars as well. Depending on the area, you could make a good $50 a day walking dogs. It gets complicated when you have to push a stroller or have a toddler that naps during prime dog walking times, but its something that pretty much anyone can do and can do immediately.

PROS CONS
Small time commitment and very flexible Not easy once you have a child that can’t be worn
No start up costs Location dependent for how much you can charge
Get exercise You will cap out on how much money you can make very quickly

8. Consulting

This is another area where you can potentially make a lot of money with a small-ish time commitment, however you need to be a subject matter expert or professional whose expertise is in demand. Again, though, any project you take on will likely need several consecutive hours of commitment so you may need to have a sitter or family member who would be willing to help out during those times.

PROS CONS
Can be a great way to make a lot of money in a short time Need to be a subject matter expert or lots of experience
Can pick and choose when you want to work More like a part time job (will need to put in several consequtive hours in a row when on a job)
Keeps your skills sharp in the event you want to return to work full time May end up taking up more time than you want to devote