A new year – 2025 – is upon us. Traditionally, it’s a time for making resolutions – maybe to hit the gym more often, to finally quit smoking, and so on.

Save with SPP, often with money on the mind, took a look around to see what sort of resolutions people are considering making when it comes to saving money.

The folks at the GoBankingRates blog have a few ideas; the first is to bump up your retirement savings by one per cent.

“One simple way to improve your long-term finances with minimal effort is to bump up your retirement plan contributions in small increments,” the blog explains. Let’s say you are earning $50,000 and contributing five per cent towards a retirement savings account. In Canada, that could be a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), a Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP account) or any other savings vehicle where you control how much goes in.

Bumping that up by just one per cent means “you’ll be kicking in an extra $41.67 per month,” the blog explains. “That’s a money-saving resolution you could easily keep,” the blog continues.

Other ideas in this article include starting an emergency fund and the golden rule of “eat all the food in your house” to avoid food waste.

“Having an emergency fund is essential for keeping yourself out of debt when you face unexpected expenses,” the blog advises. Start small – maybe put away $100 a month. “Within a year, you’ll have $1,200…. enough to cover most short-term emergencies you’ll face.”

“If you want to save money… simply check your refrigerator every day for what you have and what might be going bad soon and eat that instead of picking up something new from the grocery store or a restaurant,” the blog advises. This “eat all the food in your house” rule is one our mother used to swear by; we would “use up” the food in the fridge before going out to buy more groceries, avoiding waste.

The Positively Frugal blog over in the UK offers up a few more ideas.

Getting out of debt is the blog’s number one resolution.

“Without a doubt, one of the absolute best financial goals to make this year is to get rid of your debt once and for all! I am a huge proponent of being debt free — not only is it good for your finances, but it’s good for your psyche,” the blog tells us.

“This year, challenge yourself to lose the burden of some of your debt. If you want to take it up a notch and brave the task of setting one of the best long-term financial goals, set a resolution to become completely debt free,” the blog advises.

Other suggestions – in the New Year, start paying off your credit cards in full each month (if you haven’t already begun doing this). “The amount you will save in interest and fees can add up to a nice little pile of cash, which can be used to kick start a savings account,” the blog suggests.

Another money-saving resolution offered up by the blog is to try and eat out less.

“If there is one area where most people can shape up their finances, it’s on the amount they spend eating out,” the blog notes. “You don’t have to completely eliminate eating out, but you can make a money resolution this year to spend less on the meals you eat at restaurants,” the blog adds.

Finally, the gang at Nerdwallet provide us with a few retirement-related savings resolutions.

First, the blog recommends, you should set a “goal retirement age.”

Figuring out when you want to retire will help you to estimate how much money you’ll need to have saved up by the time that day rolls around,” the blog tells us.

“Let’s say you’re 30 years old now and you want to retire by age 65. That gives you 35 years in which to save. So how much money will you need to retire at age 65,” the blog continues.

“A common rule of thumb is to aim to save at least 70 per cent of your annual pre-retirement income. Then, multiply this number by 25. Why? Because another rule of thumb says it’s a good idea to plan for 25 years of life after retirement — perhaps more if you retire early. Finally, you’ll want to subtract any pension income you plan to receive,” the blog states.

The blog also suggests that you automate your retirement savings.

“Once your (retirement saving) plan’s in place and accounts picked out, your next step should be to automate contributions. This ‘set it and forget it’ way to save ensures you’re constantly putting money towards your retirement plan with no little effort required on your part. It’s perfect for those who might be forgetful or be tempted to spend extra funds if they’re not allocated immediately,” the blog advises.

“Automating contributions to your retirement accounts should be easy, with financial institutions allowing you to set it up online. You can choose how much you want to contribute and at what frequency,” the blog adds.

Final word from Nerdwallet is to get started – today!

“It’s never too early to start thinking about retirement. The sooner you start, the more time you’ll have to save, and maximize those savings through registered plans, investments and tax-free accounts,” the blog concludes.

One savings tip we will add is one learned from one of the books reviewed for writing this blog. Let’s say you look at your existing budget, and find there is no room to save anything. The book suggested taking one per cent of your take-home pay off the top and putting it into savings, then managing the bills. Once you’ve managed that for a while, bump it up to two per cent, and so on. This one worked for us back when we were still grappling with a mortgage and debt.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is a defined contribution pension plan open to any Canadian with available RRSP room. Like an RRSP, your contributions to SPP are tax-deductible. SPP takes your savings and invests them in a low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. At retirement, SPP members can choose among such options as a monthly lifetime annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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You have been planning a wedding for months. The venue has been booked, invitations sent and the flowers selected. Then an immediate family member becomes very ill and the event has to be postponed. Or the banquet hall goes belly up and a hefty deposit is lost. These unfortunate events happen rarely, but when they do the extra expense can put a strain on an already tight budget.

According to an unscientific survey by Weddingbells magazine, there were 162,056 weddings across Canada in 2014, each with an average price tag of $31,685. Furthermore, a survey conducted in the same year by a Bank of Montreal subsidiary suggested that people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba planned to spend, on average, $27,200 on a future wedding. That figure was the highest in the country.

You insure your car, your home, your life and your health. But you may not be aware that you can also insure your wedding. Coverage may range from a wedding guest’s slip and fall to stolen wedding gifts to extreme weather on the day of the event that causes 50% of the guests to be unable to attend the wedding or reception. But there is a specific exclusion if a bride or groom gets cold feet and does not show at the last minute.

Pal Insurance Brokers Canada Ltd. is one company that offers Weddinguard insurance online. This insurance provides financial protection against many of those things that can go wrong with your wedding plans, subject to policy wording. You are eligible if you are getting married within 1 year and the reception date is at least three days in the future. You can see a pdf of the full policy and what it does and does not cover here.

You can get an online quote here. While researching this article I completed the online questionnaire for the four different levels of coverage and got the following pricing information, including up to $1 million of liability coverage.

Weddinguard Insurance

Potential reimbursement up to stated amount + premiums
	Silver package	Gold Package	Diamond Package	Platinum Package
Cancellation expenses	$4,000	$10,000	$30,000	$50,000
Honeymoon cancellation	$2,000	$2,500	$5,000	$5,000
Loss of Deposit	$2,000	$3,000	$5,000	$6,000
Wedding photos and video	$2,500	$5,000	$7,000	$7,500
Loss or damage to bridal attire	$2,500	$2,500	$5,000	$7,000
Wedding presents	$5,000	$5,000	$7,000	$8,000
Rings	$1,000	$1,500	$3,000	$5,000
Cake and flowers	$2,000	$2,500	$5,000	$6,000
Wedding stationery	$1,000	$1,500	$3,000	$4,000
Rented property	$1,000	$10,000	$15,000	$20,000
PREMIUM	$250	$400	$650	$950

For destination weddings, PAL says underwriters must manually review the request for coverage which can take three or four days. There is also a special exclusion for Florida, Georgia and Caribbean weddings due to hurricane force winds in August, September and October.

Matt Taylor, general manager for PAL Insurance company recently told The Canadian Press that PAL sells between 1,500 to 2,000 wedding policies each year. Front Row Insurance also offers wedding insurance with policies starting at $105 and up to $5,000,000 in General Liability Coverage to cover damage to the wedding venue and injury to third parties.

Lacie Glover who blogs at  nerdwallet offers the following tips for buying the right policy for your wedding:

• Look over your existing homeowners and renters insurance policies — or those of any relatives hosting or paying for the wedding — to see whether existing liability insurance will cover you.
• Check the deductible, which is the amount deducted from a claims check. If one vendor doesn’t show up, and the deductible is higher than the deposit for that vendor, you’ll swallow the cost for that lost deposit.
• Look at coverage limits. For cancellation coverage, you’ll want the limit to be close to your wedding budget, including the honeymoon.

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Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.