- Home suddenly seems to be your favourite place to hang out. Nights out on the town – and out on the plastic – no longer draw you like they once did. You get reacquainted (or perhaps even acquainted for the first time?) with your neighbours, and weekends are spent grilling with friends or even working together on household projects.
- Weekend road trips now involve a cooler, tent and sleeping bag. It’s now much easier to actually “see” new places and meet new people this way. When you’re on a budget, and operating on cash, vacations take on a new look. You discover all the free attractions towns have to offer, or all the city, state and national parks ready and waiting for you to picnic, hike and explore.
- Your whole family takes on temporary odd jobs, just to help with the cash flow. Budgeting makes the cash flow easier, but those little odd jobs provide a sweet satisfaction you’ve not experienced before. Those odd jobs could come with unexpected perks of their own, too. (A neighbour hired a friend to rake leaves, and when she paid him, she also gave him a basket of fresh produce she’d just picked up at the market. Another friend took a part time job as an usher at the local theatre and was regularly given tickets to events in the city, along with his paycheck.)
- You have an unquenchable desire to become a gourmet chef – in your own home. You seek out prime ingredients on sale, and treat your family once a week to a dinner that rivals any 5-star restaurant. After glowing reviews, you experience a little pride that the meal for four, with a bottle of local wine, cost less than what you used to pay for two of you to dine out casually with mediocre food.
- Who said cars were no good after 175,000 km? You’re hitting almost 300,000 on yours and it’s still running like a top. Besides, all that newfangled technology stuff on new cars breaks all the time anyway, and is expensive to repair, right? Besides, how will my kids learn how to change their own oil?
- Your kids work for their stuff. They appreciate the value of each dollar spent, treasure each dollar saved and recognize that instant gratification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
- You start pulling out art and craft supplies in July, determined to get a jump on Christmas this year. Homemade gifts mean more for both the recipient and the giver.
- Movie night now consists of a Netflix marathon, buckets of popcorn popped on your stove top, and lots of cuddling and laughter. Can’t do all that in a movie theatre, right?
- Savings is more tangible, more visible than ever before. Whether you’re all saving collectively in an olive jar on the hearth, or individually in piggy banks and mayonnaise jars, you’re all saving extra pennies for whatever reason – vacation, clothes, splurges – knowing you’ll appreciate it more once you’ve saved for it than if you’d spent years paying off the debt from it.
- Memories are the biggest sign you’re no longer in debt. You now take the time to savour experiences a little more, make the time to be with family and friends because you finally realized they’re more important than keeping up with the Joneses. Life is indeed much sweeter.
If you’re ready to discover the relief of living debt free, contact a consumer proposal administrator today for a free personal debt options consultation!
