Searching for some easy ways to save a few loonies

A friend once said that while it was all well and good to recommend saving for retirement, what money is ever left over to save?

It’s a valid point. The cost of living continues to rise – groceries that used to be $100 for four bags are now more like $100 per bag. We are happy when we find gas at the pump for under $1.90 – we paid below $1.20 mere months ago.

So how can we free up a few loonies for saving? Save with SPP investigated.

The MoneyLion blog via AOL starts us off with a few solid ideas.

Open a high-interest savings account, the blog advises. “Why work hard to save money just to park it in an account that generates close to nothing in interest? A high-yield savings account will supercharge the impact of all the other savings steps you take.”

Another bit of good advice from the blog is to “pack a lunch at least every other day” when you roll out for work. “Limiting lunches out to every other workday can be a simple way to save $5 to $15 per meal — easily $100 over the course of a month,” the blog suggests.

Finally, a classic idea – “make a list before heading to the grocery store,” MoneyLion suggests. “It’s amazing how planning a list of purchases before each weekly shopping trip will prevent you from coming home with an extra bag filled with potato chips, soda and frozen pizzas.” Keeping to your list will get you in and out of the store faster and having spent less.

Over at the Money Bliss blog, poster Kristy offers up some more ideas.

A unique one – bank every $5 bill you get.

“Every time you get a $5 bill, put it aside in a jar or an envelope and let it add up over time. This simple habit can turn small amounts into a bigger fund.”

Another slightly outside the box idea in this age of paying by tap is to use cash. Very old school.

“Paying with cash makes you think twice before buying something because you see the money leaving your hands,” writes Kristy. “It’s a great way to control impulse spending. When you stick to only using cash, it’s easier to track how much you have left and stick to your budget.”

A final good thought – “turn unexpected income, like bonuses and refunds, into immediate savings,” the blog suggests.

“Any extra money you weren’t planning on, like a bonus or a refund, should go straight into savings and investment accounts,” Kristy writes. “Since you didn’t expect to spend it, you won’t miss it.”

Let’s add in a few more from Reader’s Digest Canada.

Buy staples, such as pet food or meat, in bulk. “If you can afford the upfront cost, you may be able to save big by purchasing larger quantities of meat from a local butcher or a bulk grocery store and freezing it for later use,” the magazine advises.

Another tip is to build an emergency fund to help pay for future problematic expenses, like sudden home or car repairs.

“You can mitigate the impact of unexpected expenses by putting a small amount of money into an emergency fund each month. Talk to your bank about high-interest online savings accounts, which are typically free and also tend to offer higher rates compared to a regular savings account, making them perfect for rainy-day saving,” Reader’s Digest Canada tells us.

A final thought – your fridge should always be nearly empty, not jammed full. Huh?

“Empty the fridge before bringing in more food. That means keeping track of what’s already there, eating leftovers, coming up with creative recipes for leftover produce and not buying new condiments (i.e., finish one bottle of salad dressing before buying another). It’s made for almost zero food waste and approximately $50 each week in savings—that’s around $2,500 a year,” the article enthuses.

Two from us to finish the article. First – this one was featured in a book we reviewed a few years ago – was to simply live on 98 per cent of what you make, and to bank the other two per cent. Amazingly, this works, especially if you automatically whisk the two per cent into savings before you have a chance to spend it.

Second, we took all scratch card winnings, money from bottle returns, rebate money from eyewear, dental plan refunds, and even Visa gift cards and used it to contribute to our Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP) accounts. These little bits of money really added up over time.

Thanks to SPP’s low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund, our savings grew and we both enjoy a lifetime monthly annuity payment (with survivor benefits for each other) that arrives like clockwork each month.

See what SPP can do for your drive to save for retirement. Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Ontario “Golden Girls” team up to share costs of retirement living

A group of Ontario seniors have, according to Reader’s Digest Canada, come up with a unique way of beating the high cost of retirement living.

Like the Golden Girls of TV fame, the four women – all single seniors and friends – decided to move in together and split living costs.

The four had independently begun to realize living costs were going to be tough. All were either widowed or divorced and living in “empty, too-big suburban houses.”

They also did not want to move into an expensive retirement home and live amongst strangers, the article notes.

Quoted in the article, Louise Bardwich, one of the four, began to realize that “depending on the extent of care she might need one day, a spot in a seniors’ home could end up costing her between $2,000 and $6,000 a month on average, which would quickly eat up the money she’d saved working as a college administrator in Toronto and, later, as a management consultant,” the article states.

“I thought of myself 20 years out, did the calculations and realized it wasn’t in the cards,” states Bardswich, then a widow in her 60s, Reader’s Digest reports. “I was not going to be able to afford that,” she tells the magazine.

Reader’s Digest cites that fact that a 2020 survey conducted for Home Care Ontario found that 91 per cent of the province’s seniors “wanted to age in their own home, not an institution. They also didn’t want to burden their families, calling their children every time they needed the lawn mowed or driveway shovelled.”

So in 2016, the four chipped in $275,000 each to buy a large home in scenic Port Perry, Ont., northeast of Toronto.

Ah, you may ask, recalling days of sharing apartments during college or university, what if somebody won’t play ball on the bills?

“Before they moved in, the four women drafted and signed a lengthy legal agreement to solidify the details of their co-living arrangement. They’d each pay $1,700 a month to cover property taxes, home insurance, utilities, Internet, cable, maintenance, snow removal, weekly cleaning services and the cost of food and wine, both of which they share freely. The agreement also stipulated what would happen if one of them left the house (the other women could buy her out, or she could sell her share to an agreed-upon buyer). Later on, they also discussed what would happen if someone got a boyfriend (this would be okay, so long as everyone liked him and he helped around the house),” the article tells us.

Five years later, the Golden Girls – Ontario edition — are planning for future health concerns. “We don’t know what our lives are going to look like five years down the road,” states Beverly Brown, one of the four, in the article. “It’s nice to know that there are other people around. If I took a tumble down the stairs, I wouldn’t be lying on the floor for three days waiting for my kids to figure out that they hadn’t heard from Mom.”

The article goes on to list other examples of seniors moving in together to share costs, and even consultancies that have sprung up to help aid in the process.

There’s no question that innovation is key when it comes to making ends meet in retirement. The example of the Ontario “Golden Girls” shows that there doesn’t have to be a cookie cutter approach to senior living – new ideas can make things work, and can save hard-earned retirement dollars.

Their situation underscores the need for retirement saving now, while you are still working. No one can predict the future, other than to say it will almost certainly cost more than the present. That’s a reason why the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be a good option for you. The SPP will gather up the dollars you contribute, invest them professionally in a low-cost way with a stellar track record, and – when it’s time to see if you too will be a Golden Girl – will help you convert those savings into retirement income. Be sure to check out SPP today, as the plan marks its 35^th year in business.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!