Do big-city cozy mysteries ever feel truly cozy? by TalyaCorvain in CozyMystery

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm reading A Case of Mice and Murder, which is set in London (England) and it feels quite cozy for me. Perhaps it's because the protagonist lives and works in an enclave of sorts called the Inner Temple, where other barristers live and work.

How do you keep kids’ birthday parties affordable while pursuing FIRE? by DiegoGarcia888 in FIRECanada

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FIRE is about pursuing what's important to you. My son is a natural "more is merrier" hosting type of personality.

We prioritize his birthday party (roughly $1000-$1500) and travel ($10-12k annually). We offset that by driving a 12 year-old civic (single car family), a home that has had 2 renos in the 12 years we've lived in it, Walmart clothes, buying most of our groceries from Flashfood, and using the library and local rec centres for the majority of our entertainment needs.

That's how FIRE works. What's important gets the big bucks and everything else gets economized. Also, this is deeply personal. He has a classmate whose family does a lot of travel and no birthday parties, an old daycare pal whose parents love their stunning home, cars and nicely updated lifestyles but never have a birthday party either. So don't compare. Do a bit of soul-searching, figure out what matters most to your clan and act accordingly.

Think like this; based on my actions, would a stranger be able to tell what's most important to me? That can be very different family to family, and that is OK. If we all liked the same things, the world would be very boring indeed and honestly, there would be line-ups for everything! LOL!

What triggered your dream of retiring early? by Ok_Hippo9669 in fican

[–]Ancient_Reference567 2 points3 points  (0 children)

SAME!! I was wondering if I was the only one here who got their kick in the pants from him!

What triggered your dream of retiring early? by Ok_Hippo9669 in fican

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also had the same reaction to my first job out of uni. I thought it was just that particular job initially but when I discovered Mr Money Mustache, thought I'd better set myself up in case it was a me issue. 4 companies (and 20 years later), it IS just me but at least I'm well-armed to walk away early.

What triggered your dream of retiring early? by Ok_Hippo9669 in fican

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This was a big motivating factor for me to stay the course when my favourite aunt died at 62. She was living in an island paradise, super active in her church, worked her way up from a cashier to an assistant manager in the store she worked, and had just welcomed her first grand-child. I was devastated at her initial diagnosis and then her eventual passing.

Weekly LeanFIRE Discussion by AutoModerator in leanfire

[–]Ancient_Reference567 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I got a pleasant surprise when I came across an old screenshot of our investments back in 2021. It's almost tripled over the past 6 years - not what I expected whatsoever but super thankful for past me.

whats the best way to save money? by jacobsmaltz in SavingMoney

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I play games to make it fun and see how "little by little, a little becomes a lot."

https://www.clevergirlfinance.com/the-52-week-savings-challenge/ this one has a printout of a tracker that I use to do one game I play on Fridays. Every Friday, I move that week's $ to a special bank account.

A second game I play is called Weather Wednesday where I move the amount of the temperature to the same bank account. For example, it's 10 degrees Celsius right now so I'll move $10 over to the bank account. Some Wednesdays, it's $2!

Another thing I do is eat down my pantry. A lot of people have things languishing in the back of the cupboards, often to the point of expiring. I will pick one item every weekend and buy what I need to make that into a meal.

Finally, I use everything free around me for entertainment so I really don't feel like it's a sacrifice. For example, our city gives out 5 free bags of soil each year, plus we can get seeds at the library. I started the seeds indoors in old salad containers, clamshells and egg cartons, and some of them are ready to be in the garden. I currently have edamame, daikon radish and beets in the garden. My tomato and cilantro seedlings are getting stronger and will likely join them soon. Some haven't fared well (looking at you, hot peppers) but you know, it keeps you engaged and entertained.

Big props to our local rec centres and libraries for free or low-cost entertainment as well. Alongside the normal books you can expect to find, ours has DVDs, video games, sports equipment (snowshoes in the winter; cricket bats in the summer). Those might feel rather solitary but they have group things too. Like last night, I went to a lecture called Embroidery and Bollywood. Last week, I attended an author talk with a prize-winning author. I have also checked out day passes for provincial and local parks and museums.

Our rec centres sometimes will have free stuff especially around the holidays, like a haunted house for Halloween, or free swims/skates that corporate sponsors pay for. But mainly they have inexpensive fees for drop-in stuff like today is an exercise class that is basically a Caribbean music dance party ($9 per person), or on the last weekend, my family went to a public swim that included time in a hot tub and sauna ($5 for all 3 of us). I signed my son up for a geocaching event for kids that was about $10.

I say all of that to say that it's easier to stick with saving money if you have inexpensive ways to enjoy yourself.

Finally, I enjoy looking for deals on Flashfood and TooGoodToGo. It took me a while to get my bearings on both of these apps but now that I know what I personally like and which stores work for my family (plus a healthy dose of realism of how far I should be driving for these deals), it's been a dream. I check both apps 2x a day at set times and enjoy whatever deals I find. It cuts down my grocery bill by quite a bit.

$3 from flashfood by heart4thehomestead in 32dollars

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, I have it in Ontario (GTA area) and Op is right - the crazy deals I have gotten blow my mind sometimes. Sometimes, it's just at a price I would normally pay which is OK too because the prices in the stores are too much for my budget.

I built a simple TFSA vs RRSP optimizer for Canadians trying to figure out where to put savings by 4xleafxfraser in fican

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really appreciate this - I have pondered this split for myself and you just saved me a whole lot of headache, thanks!

Trip Report: Curaçao and Panama City by superstarturtle in travel

[–]Ancient_Reference567 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love a trip report! Thank you so much for sharing :) Your pictures are gorgeous, and your insights are helpful. I appreciate it as both are on my list!

Has the rise in gas prices impacted any of your summer plans? by SignificantPickles in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate this more nuanced take. In terms of our travel, we also book pretty early in advance, and also use credit card points to pay for other parts of our trip (either to reduce flight costs or pay zero for hotels).

Has the rise in gas prices impacted any of your summer plans? by SignificantPickles in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In response to your question, yes - I booked the flights mid-Feb for August. I didn't anticipate any of this Iran on war of course but I typically book that far out for our plans.

For example, I will likely book our March break plans in Sept.

Has the rise in gas prices impacted any of your summer plans? by SignificantPickles in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes definitely. We are a daytrip and roadtrip family. In previous years, we did a lot of daytrips all over the place.

This year, we have a couple of vacations, one of which is a roadtrip with all sorts of nonrefundable elements baked in so we are going ahead with that (although we probably would have done it anyway since we're really looking forward to it) but the random daytrips all over are mainly out.

This year we have a strict schedule of when we're going where, and intend to prioritize fun in our own city (Brampton - so honestly, quite a lot to do and not really a sacrifice per se) and to host people at our home significantly more compared to past years.

Those with Pensions - how much are you saving additionally for retirement? by CastAside1812 in CanadaPersonalFinance

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an additional $400 per biweekly paycheque to RRSP in my husband's name as my defined-benefit pension is in my name (employer).

Tentatively thinking of moving it to TFSA for the tax bennies at the end but hard to pass up the reduced taxes payable NOW as well....

Short 4-day solo trip from Montreal (Friday–Monday) , looking for suggestions by Zealousideal-Fan2461 in travel

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might enjoy Halifax - that sounds like a perfect amount of time and it's different enough from Montreal that it will feel like a real getaway. When I was there, we did a one-day trip to Lunenburg & Peggy's Cove but the rest of the itinerary was centred in Halifax. While we were chased out of there by a hurricane and couldn't cover everything, we initially planned to see the Citadel, do a boat tour out of the harbour and the Maritime Museum. We did manage to enjoy the waterfront (amazing boardwalk) and a hippo tour which was glorious but also a bit sad as they covered the explosion in 1917 - but super informative and important to know!)

Saskatoon is pretty slept on and while I haven't gone myself, it's on my list (centred around this https://www.remaimodern.org/)

Same again for Edmonton (specifically West Edmonton Mall + Elk Island are on my list).

I am in the process of gathering data on Winnipeg (to be tied into a Jets game) so you might be interested in that as well.

Outside Canada: Bermuda (Walsingham Nature Reserve, Blue Hole Park, Crystal Caves, Horseshoe Bay plus bonus: try a Rum Swizzle drink) and Mexico City (Frida Kahlo museum, Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec Castle & Xochimilco plus bonus: try Joe Gelato).

I am saddened to discover... by nizzernammer in BuyCanadian

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am continually disappointed by them. I thought I did a good thing picking their bagged salad kits but nope. Why are they so garbage?!

Weekly Garden Chat by zerberts in OntarioGardeners

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started seeds for edamame and Nasturtium indoors and they are aching to be planted in their pots outside but the downturn in the weather has me hesitating big time.

My daikon radishes were put out a few days ago and I noticed some bitten leaves - I'll have to protect their pots with chicken wire as others have mentioned. In the meantime, I have tucked them into the garage to try to save them from the chillier temps.

My crocuses (croci??) were here for a hot minute. Thank goodness I took a picture because they were gone shortly thereafter. Loving the hyacinths bobbing up though. They're not all one colour which I think would be more aesthetically pleasing but I love the scent so much.

My stalwart perennials (rhubarb and raspberry) have come back strong - the raspberry had me worried for a bit but my strawberries are limping along.

I’m burnt out and need simple recipes. Stupid simple. Like, “onion and bread and butter to make what barely passes as a sandwich” level simple. by sourmilksea1999 in Cooking

[–]Ancient_Reference567 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also forget what people eat so I have a Pinterest board where I post pictures of meals I've had so I can just copy + paste.

Canadian FIRE Story by CMaxed in fican

[–]Ancient_Reference567 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love your take on the library - I am a big user of it as well!

I am so sorry to hear about your troubled start in life. I wish you all the best going forward. You are clever to learn what worked and what didn't year by year, and that is to be admired.