Remember the tape deck: a lesson in delayed gratification

When I was a kid, one of my favourite pastimes was browsing the Consumers Distributing catalogue. The pages of this catalogue were always teeming with unimaginable treasures, from the latest G.I. Joe action figures and assault vehicles, to sporting equipment, to keyboard synthesizers and children's drum sets. Every November, my brother and I would gather around the catalogue to put together our wishlists for Christmas, which invariably took the form "CD page 72, item Q; CD page 89, items L-P..."

Just after I turned 12 years old, I spotted an item in the electronics section of the catalogue that I just had to have: a Panasonic dual cassette deck. Feast your eyes on this list of features, and tell me you can get through another day without owning this bad boy:

• One-touch, high-speed dubbing


• Cushion eject


• Auto reverse on recording deck


• Auto stop on playback deck


• AM/FM radio with telescoping antenna


• Built-in condenser microphone

The tape deck had everything I could possibly want. Unfortunately, it also came with a hefty price tag: $99.99.

I asked my parents to buy the tape deck for me, but they balked at the price. They agreed to give me extra chores around the house to earn some extra money, and said that I could buy it once I had saved up the purchase price. I was a bit downcast at the monumental task put before me, but I decided to soldier on and earn my way to my all cushion ejecting, all high-speed dubbing prize.

For the next several months, I cleaned bathrooms, dusted and vacuumed the house, helped paint the garage, and babysat neighbourhood children, and little by little, my pile of savings grew. I jumped at any opportunity to earn some extra cash, and I clamped down on my spending, because every quarter that I spent on candy or arcade games was a step away from my goal of kicking back and listening to my freshly dubbed cassettes.

After months of saving, the day finally came, when I had $114 ($100 plus taxes) in cash in my hot little hands. My mother drove me to Consumers, and I excitedly filled out the catalogue slip to request the tape deck. The cashier brought the box out to the counter, and I proudly handed over five twenties, a ten, and four ones (this was in the days before the Loonie had completely replaced the dollar bill). The transaction complete, we got back in the car and headed home with my spoils.

I loved that tape deck. Over the next few years, I spent many an evening basking in the dulcet chipmunk tones of high-speed dubbing, as I put together countless mix tapes. I felt a sense of pride every time I looked at it, knowing that I had earned it through hard work and careful planning. When it finally kicked the bucket in my third year of university, it was like saying goodbye to an old friend.

These days, when I'm suffering from a bout of technolust, I think back to the day I bought that tape deck, to the intense pride I felt being able to pay in cash, and to the years of use that I got out of my purchase. If I can't pay cash, I either move on, or save up until I can. The lesson of the tape deck is a powerful one: delaying gratification can make it much sweeter, with the feeling that you've unequivocally earned your new toy.

My thousands of dollars of consumer debt are a constant reminder that I've strayed from the path of delayed gratification in the past.

I'm glad I've found it again.

Wrestling the Costco beast

Whereas February began with a trip to Costco to replenish our non-edible household items, yesterday's expedition had us stocking up on food staples. From flatbread, cheese and breakfast cereal, to peanut butter, olive oil and milk, we seemed to buy something from just about every aisle. Add to that the cost of our membership renewal, and you've got one impressive Costco bill.

We stuck to our list, but the sheer bulk of our purchases translated to a very hefty bill. The membership fee comes out of an already accumulated balance in the Freedom Account, but even so, it was a painful bill to pay.

Yesterday was an hour shorter than most Sundays, and very nearly found us short of funds, as well. We need to get ahead of the curve on grocery spending; I think I may finally have identified a starting point for my chequing cushion. If I can set aside one pay period's grocery budget as a cushion, then I'll be better equipped to absorb these periodic overages.

If I don't roll up the rim, who will?!

This afternoon, I had a moment of weakness, and went down to the Tim Hortons in the food court to get a half-coffee/half-hot chocolate (a café mocha without the whipped cream). Much to my surprise, I was handed a Roll Up The Rim To Win cup. It turns out, this year's iteration of the annual promotion/sweepstakes has been running for over a week.

A year ago, I would have known about this within hours, not days. I guess I really have changed some habits in the past year. Without really noticing myself doing it, I've ditched my daily Tim Hortons habit, and turned their coffee into a once-in-a-while treat.

For those of you who just can't get enough of rolling those R's, you can track one blogger's adventures at this new website.

I haven't finished my coffee yet, but I'll let you know if I win the Bayliner bowrider or the Toyota Matrix.

Happy rrrolling...

Managing your finances: pretend you're a corporation

I work in the marketing department of a large Canadian corporation. In my day-to-day job, I'm constantly dealing with different departments and business units and their individual business objectives and budgetary constraints. However, the scale of it all makes the actual dollars and cents seem very abstract; it's often hard to look at a multi-million dollar advertising budget and see it in terms of real money.

A couple of weeks ago, Ms. Loonie and I attended our condominium corporation's annual general meeting. We live in a building with about 100 units, and approximately 30 units were represented at the meeting. This was my first time attending such an event, and it was very interesting. Somehow, the smaller scale of this corporation's financial picture made it much more tangible, and I was really geeked out to go over the financial report. There are a lot of things from the way a small corporation like a condominium operates, that you can apply to your own finances:

• Reserve Fund - A big part of our common element assessment every month goes toward building the condominium reserve fund. This is the fund that is used to cover any "out-of-budget" expenses. Need to replace your boiler? Use the reserve fund. Need to fix leaks in the parking structure? Use the reserve fund. It's essentially the corporation's Emergency Fund, just on a much larger scale. I was interested to learn that the Condominium Act requires that a reserve fund be held in an interest-bearing savings account, just like your personal Emergency Fund should be.


• Operating Budget - Much of the rest of the common element fees help to cover things like keeping the lights on, paying the maintenance staff, and heating the building. These are all planned expenses, and the corporation takes pains to stick to this budget in order to maintain a positive cash flow. It sounds simple, but corporations need to do this just as much as individuals need to stick to their own budgets.


• Reserve Fund Study - This was the item I found most fascinating. The condominium commissions a study on a periodic basis to determine the general status of its assets and infrastructure. A team of engineers conducts a very thorough review of the building, and determines the amount that the corporation should set aside to pay to fix or replace elements when they eventually fail. This really makes the reserve fund a combination of the Emergency Fund and Freedom Account concepts; it's where we keep our "rainy day" emergency cushion, but it's also where we save up for periodic major expenses, like re-paving the driveway every 10 years, or replacing the heating system every 20 years.

It's not exactly a new idea to think of yourself as a corporation; lots of bloggers have written about how we're all essentially self-employed (even if you work "for the man", you're essentially a service provider, and your employer is your only client). It helps, however, to shake up your way of thinking about your finances. I know this meeting was an eye-opener for me, and I think I learned a lot.

Interesting study of Canadians' spending habits

I received an e-mail yesterday regarding a recent study by Mackenzie Investments into the spending habits of Canadians. Not surprisingly, the study found trends of overspending, particulary among younger Canadians. The study used a "Burn Rate" questionnaire to determine the respondents' level of overspending. The questionnaire consists of ten questions, each of which is in the form "have you [INSERT IRRESPONSIBLE SPENDING HABIT]?"

I took the test myself, and came up as an "Overspender". The main reason for this, however, is the "have you..." form of the questions. It would be nice if there were some questions along the lines of "how long has it been since you..." or "how many times in the past six months have you..." to gauge your current behaviour. I took the test again, this time interpreting each question in a "do you..." context, and came up as a "Controlled Spender". That's a big difference. I understand that past behaviour can be indicative of underlying attitudes and personality, but the questionnaire seems a bit simplistic.

Still, the results of the study do show an alarming prevalence of irresponsible spending among Canadians.

You can read the press release or take the test yourself.

Costco carnage

Last week, the Loonie household ran out of several household staples simultaneously. We suddenly found ourselves with no sandwich bags, coffee filters, facial tissues, or toothpaste. So yesterday morning, with a short list in hand, we braved the crowds at Costco to do some bulk buying.

As always happens when we go to Costco, several "extra" items somehow found their way into our cart. We always find ourselves drawn in by the fantastic price of their salmon filets ($20 for ten servings' worth), and their pharmacy has a great discount on our allergy medicine.

Overall, our bill came to $172.71, which, although money well spent, kind of takes a bite out of our grocery budget. I think I need to take Jaimie's advice to think long-term about my grocery spending.

When I put $172.71 in terms of getting a few months' worth of staples, I feel good about planning ahead and buying in bulk.

When I put it in terms of riding out the days until Thursday's paycheque... ouch.

Perhaps my Freedom Account should acquire a "bulk" category...

Fitness on the brain

JD at Get Rich Slowly has a great post on the shady marketing practices of athletic clubs. This post resonated with me, as Ms. Loonie and I recently checked out a local gym based on a promotional flyer we had received. The flyer basically claimed to offer "$15 per month" to the first 50 new customers, but when we went over the details after taking a tour of the club (which was, admittedly, a very nice facility), we found out that only the $15 applies only to the first two months, after which you are subject to their regular rates. The cheapest option was for us to use the corporate discounts available to our respective employers, and even that would come out to more than $50 per month per person.

Needless to say, we left without signing anything. There just isn't $100 extra in the budget at this point, especially when we already have some basic fitness facilities available to us through our condo.

We've since looked at the flyer that initially piqued our curiosity, and there is some minuscule type that lays out the "first two months" terms, but the advertising still seems quite disingenuous.

We were probably hopelessly naïve to expect a gym membership for $15 per month, but those were the only terms under which we were ready to commit to an ongoing membership. At the very least, we want to make sure that we're able to commit to using our current facilities before making a significant financial commitment.

Staying on top of the Freedom Account

I've written several times about my use of a Freedom Account to budget for less frequent expenses. This piece of my personal finance arsenal has been invaluable in keeping me on track with my debt reduction. I've recently set up an improved spreadsheet to track the funding of my Freedom Account, specifically to track the balances in the individual categories. This has helped me to stop plundering the account whenever something comes up; I now have a clear picture of exactly how much is available in each category, and I can see where I have the ability to "borrow" from myself if something unexpected comes up.

The start of the new year has brought with it a number of subscription renewals and annual fees, and I'm easily able to cover these, thanks to the "Subscriptions" category in my Freedom Account. I'm able to fork over $87 for my passport renewal without batting an eye, because I've saved up for it. I was recently able to buy a new toner cartridge for our printer because I'd saved up for it. A recent bout of preventive maintenance on the Looniemobile was easily managed because I'd saved up for it. All of this is done as part of my regular bi-weekly budget, by paying myself first and diverting funds into the appropriate savings accounts.

I've created my own spreadsheet to track the categories in the account, and this suits my needs perfectly. If you're not inclined to build your own, however, you can check out the resources available at Money Musings. This site has some great spreadsheets available, both for free and for a small price. I recommend checking it out.

A not-so-frugal weekend

A friend of ours gave us tickets to Friday's Raptors game for Christmas. We had a great time at the game, and the Raptors beat the Bucks 106 to 75. In addition to being a 31-point lead, this score meant a free slice of pizza for everyone in the audience (if the Raptors score more than 100 points, then you can redeem your game ticket for a free pepperoni slice at Pizza Pizza).

The tickets, being a gift, were free, but Ms. Loonie and I shared four beers and an order of popcorn at the game, which set us back $48. We then met up afterwards with the friend who gave us the tickets, and treated her to drinks, for another $47. Ms. Loonie and I then went out for a nice sushi dinner on Saturday night, which added $200 to the toll.

Saturday's dinner was a planned expense, as a sort of belated Christmas gift to each other. The food was delicious, and it's the first extravagant meal that we've had in months. We really enjoyed the meal, and had specifically saved up for it, so I have no regrets about that.

Friday's incidental costs, on the other hand, have me feeling a little sheepish. It's amazing just how quickly and easily you can blow through $100 when you're not looking.

Annual benefits enrolment

Today was our deadline to enrol for employee benefits. My employer offers a pretty good health plan, and I've kept my coverage at the same level as last year.

This is one of those "hidden" spending areas, where I make annual choices regarding my level of coverage, and then have the corresponding amount deducted from my paycheque for the rest of the year. It's easy to forget that my bi-weekly benefit deductions represent actual spending on my part, and it's even easier to forget that my employer's contribution to my benefits represents part of my annual compensation.

Our "benefits year" runs from March to February, so starting on March 1, I'm planning to track all of our health-related expenses and reimbursements, in order to determine what sort of value we're getting from our coverage. I suspect that, between our prescriptions, massage therapy and vision care, we're getting more out of the plan than we put in, but I'd like to be sure.

Home Show temptation

Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Loonie and I went to the Metro Home Show. We had some coupons for $3 off the cost of admission, so we thought we'd go check out the exhibits. I've never been to the Home Show before, so I wasn't quite prepared for the level of temptation to which I was about to expose myself.

From granite countertops, to hand-made furniture, to state-of-the-art bathroom fixtures, there was no end to the stuff we simply had to buy.

So we bought some crêpes.

We left the show with a book full of business cards for various kitchen and closet installation outfits, and with lots of ideas in our heads for improvements to make to our condo, but we avoided the temptation to make any major impulse purchases.

The costs for the outing:

$18.00 for 2 tickets
$8.90 for 2 crêpes

$26.90 total

That's not too shabby, considering we could easily have spent hundreds of dollars on furniture.

Now, let's see if we can avoid diving head-first into an expensive renovation...

The joys of merging finances

I'm currently on a kick of improving the level of communication between myself and Ms. Loonie regarding personal finance. As part of this, we're looking at combining our finances. Currently, we hold a joint chequing account, our mortgage is a joint account, and Ms. Loonie is an authorized user on one of my credit cards. Aside from that, however, we have separate accounts.

I don't believe that a couple should only hold joint accounts. It's nice, for example, to be able to use our respective credit cards to shop for gifts for each other, without giving away the surprise. However, I absolutely believe that a couple needs to have transparency around their finances. To have one partner hiding debt from the other is a recipe for disaster.

Ms. Loonie and I have decent communication in this area, but it tends to be mostly in the form of short "did you pay the bill?" conversations, just to make sure we're keeping on top of things. Beyond these basic checkpoints, we don't often discuss our respective budgets.

One thing has come up in our renewed discussions around finances: the two of us have different approaches to paying our credit card bills. Although neither of us carries a revolving balance on our cards*, she uses each month's income to pay off the previous month's bill. I, on the other hand, set aside cash every time I make a credit card purchase, and use this accumulated cash to pay the bill when I receive it.

From what I've read, the ideal approach to budgeting is to use last month's income to cover this month's spending. Neither of us is at this point yet; I'm using this month's income, and she's using next month's income. This poses a problem for developing a consolidated budget, and I'm not sure exactly how to tackle this.

One solution, building on yesterday's post, is to build up a cushion of one month's worth of Ms. Loonie's discretionary income, and use this to get "ahead" on her credit card. It won't get us to the one-month-ahead ideal, but it will at least get us in sync with each other. I think we'll try to go this route. Until we get there, I'm not sure how we can put together an effective household budget.

Do any of you have experience with this?

* I currently have most of my revolving debt on a 0% credit card, and the rest is on my line of credit. Our regular-use credit cards are paid in full at the end of the month.

Coping with the January pay-cut

For Ms. Loonie and me, tomorrow is the first payday of the new year. In Canada, the year's first paycheque is often substantially smaller than the last pay of the previous year, since it marks the return of our good friends CPP and EI. For those who haven't had the pleasure, these payroll deductions are used to fund government-provided pension and unemployment insurance, respectively. For 2008, the deductions are as follows:

• CPP - 4.95% of annual earnings in excess of $3,500, to an annual maximum of $2,049.30


• EI - 1.73% of annual earnings, to an annual maximum of $711.03

Once you've reached the annual maximum, the deductions stop, so you effectively get a pay raise around half-way through the year. The problem is that, if you get used to this increased income, it's a bit of a shock to the system when the deductions start again in January. Even if you have a year-end raise, unless it's an increase of 15% or more, your January paycheque will be smaller than its December predecessor.

How to deal with this "pay cut"? Ideally, you would base your spending around this diminished income, and have the discipline to save the extra that you earn after maxing out the deductions. Then, when January rolls around again, you're already spending less than you earn, and have built up a substantial cushion of savings. This takes a lot of discipline, but it puts you in great financial shape.

As for us, we have some room for reductions in several budget categories, so I'm making small cuts here and there to make up the difference. Since the Emergency Fund is already above $1,000, I'm reducing the bi-weekly contributions to $10. Our (modest) budget for eating out is also being cut. The good news is that, after having a cash-only Christmas, we don't need to spend January playing catch-up. I am also receiving my year-end bonus tomorrow, so that helps to ease the pain of a diminished paycheque.

UPDATE - The January "pay cut" only applies to Canadians who earn more than $41,100 per year. I completely overlooked this point when I originally wrote this post, and I should apologize for that. File this "pay cut" under "problems I'm fortunate to have".

Working toward an active 2008

One of my goals for 2008 is to lose 25 pounds. I'm carrying around more weight than I should, and as I move into my mid thirties, taking care of my health will become more and more important. I'm currently trying to put together a plan that will help me meet (and hopefully exceed) my 25-pound goal this year.

Ms. Loonie and I live in a condo that has access to a small gym. The gym has a few cardio machines, a universal-type weight station (for leg curls/extensions, butterflies, rowing, bench/seated press and leg lifts), a cable-crossover machine, free-weights, and a number of stability balls. That's not a bad setup for "free" (obviously we're paying for this indirectly through our maintenance fees), and it's an easy option for me to take advantage of. The key is to make myself use it: I need to make an appointment with myself to get down to the gym at a particular time of day several times a week. I'll have to figure out whether this is a morning time, or an evening time.

Between the gym and our squash court, I certainly have the means to get myself in better shape; it's just a matter of discipline. Over the past several months, I've really improved my financial discipline, and now it's time to do the same with my fitness.

Let's see how I do.

The aftermath

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and we are now deep in the madness of "Boxing Week". For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and is observed in several countries (including Canada but not the U.S.) as a statutory holiday. Being the day after Christmas, it also kicks off a period of major discounts at most retailers. There's always extensive news coverage of how many people are storming the malls for Boxing Week sales, and just how much they're spending. Ms. Loonie and I are taking it easy, as neither of us is too keen on braving the crowds or spending much more money this month.

Santa was good to the Loonie household this year, and we gave some gifts that really went over well. Ms. Loonie's parents got the Canon PowerShot A460, and just loved it. I spent a good deal of time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day teaching Ms. Loonie's mother the basics of the camera. We have a couple of gift cards and cheques left to use to fill out our wardrobe and media collection, but basically we had a wonderful few days visiting with family and enjoying good food.

I've updated my goal bars and NCN Network chart with the effects of yesterday's paycheque. Thanks to this month's advertising income, it looks like I'm in good shape for my financial goals for the month. Most significant is the fact that all my gift purchases are paid in full, with no new debt. The blogging goals have gone less well, but I'll have a thorough post-mortem on December's goals next Wednesday.

Credit card rewards can really pay off

I use a Mosaik MasterCard as my primary credit card. The Mosaik card is a "modular" product: you apply for the basic credit card, and you then select a card design and add features (like a rewards plan) à la carte. For my card, I have selected the "Gold" Air Miles reward plan, which gives me one Air Mile for every $15 that I spend on the card. Air Miles are redeemable for a wide variety of rewards, from travel purchases, to gift certificates, to electronics and kitchen gadgets. One Air Mile typically has a value of $0.12-$0.14, so with the Gold plan, this works out to the equivalent of about 0.9% cash back.

The rewards don't end there, however. With the Air Miles program, I also receive a free Air Miles collector card, which I present when I shop at Air Miles sponsors (including supermarkets, liquor stores, gas stations and several online merchants) to earn additional rewards. This earns me an additional Air Mile for every $20 that I spend at an Air Miles sponsor. By using my Air Miles MasterCard at an Air Miles sponsor, I'm actually "double-dipping" my rewards.

I was surprised to see how much these rewards actually add up. This year alone, I've redeemed Air Miles for the following rewards:

• $50 Chapters gift card


• $50 RONA gift card


• $300 in HBC gift cards


• $50 in Banana Republic gift cards

Obviously, Air Miles isn't the only reward program out there; there are several cards that offer cash back rewards. The point is that I've managed to use my rewards to purchase $350 in gifts ($150 of that for Christmas gifts), where I otherwise would have been out-of-pocket for this amount. If you're careful about how you use the card, and don't get caught up in the "I'm-getting-points-so-spend-spend-spend" mentality, then you can really make out like a bandit.

December surprises

I've written a couple of times about planning for holiday spending. In previous years, I always "planned" my holiday spending by working out how much my year-end bonus would come to after taxes, and ensuring that my total spending did not exceed this amount. While this approach technically adheres to the "spend less than you earn" commandment of personal finance, it isn't exactly the best way to stay in control of your finances.

This year, I've been saving up funds specifically earmarked for the holidays, with the goal of not needing my bonus to pay for any of my holiday expenses. If all goes according to plan, my holiday purchases will all be bought and paid for before my bonus even hits my chequing account. We've done a good chunk of our holiday shopping this weekend, and we look to be on track to keep things under budget this year. That is a great feeling.

This afternoon, we were at a birthday party for a friend's 1-year-old, and we were talking with one of Ms. Loonie's closest friends and her husband. After a little while, the subject suddenly turned to New Year's plans, and what we are planning for ringing in the new year.

When it comes to New Year's celebrations, Ms. Loonie and I generally have a nice dinner with friends (usually at a friend's house), and spend the evening chatting and listening to music. It's pretty low-key, but it can be a lot of fun. Well, Ms. Loonie's friend suddenly decided today that we should all go away somewhere for New Year's. The current proposal is Mont Tremblant (a ski resort in Québec).

Now, our plans for the holiday season have not made any allowances for taking a ski trip to Québec. We simply haven't budgeted for this, and we really can't afford it at this point. It's frustrating that this is being brought up now; if we had known a few months in advance, we might have been able to save up for it, but with less than a month's notice, there's not much we can do.

I think we'll be passing on the ski trip, unless we find a really spectacular deal that will let us do this on the cheap.

It's funny how full of surprises the holiday season always turns out to be.

Avoiding a financial free-for-all

Since I started this blog, Ms. Loonie and I have taken three vacations. One was a week-long trip to visit friends in Illinois, the second was a week spent at our family cottage, and the last was a long weekend spent in a small town in northern Michigan. For each of these trips, we tried to keep things as cost-effective as possible. We drove to Illinois, and stayed in our friends' parents' condo. At the cottage, we shared food costs with my parents and extended family. We also drove to Michigan, although we ended up staying in an historic hotel.

However frugal we tried to be on these trips, we still seemed to fall into the "I'm on holidays" mental trap, and found ourselves splurging, whether on dining out, buying beer and wine, or stocking up on souvenirs to give to friends and family when we got home. I'm sure we're not alone in this vacation mindset, but it's frustrating to watch months' worth of savings evaporate during a week away from home.

As we head into the holiday season, I'm trying to avoid falling into the same trap. One thing I have going for me is that I've been socking money away in my Freedom Account to cover Christmas gift purchases; I should be in good shape to pay cash for most of my holiday shopping. The main thing I'm keeping an eye on, though, is the little Loonie devil that sits on my shoulder and whispers, "you can afford it... it's the holidays!" That guy is trouble.

The key here is to have an enjoyable and memorable holiday season without undermining my financial goals. I think I've got a plan that will work, but the next several weeks will determine whether I actually succeed.

'Tis the season...

It's that time of year again: stores everywhere are putting up their Christmas decorations. In many cases, this started even before Hallowe'en had come and gone. In downtown Toronto, the Bay already has its animated windows set up, with "seasonal" tableaus in all their animatronic glory.

I'm as much a fan of the Christmas season as the next guy, but it's always a shock just how early the retail season begins. Anyway, with the onset of holiday advertising, what better time to post some tips for enjoying the holidays without breaking the bank?

First off, if you haven't already done so, it's time to start saving for holiday gift shopping. Figure out how much you plan on spending on gifts, and split this amount into chunks that you will save up between now and Christmas. You have exactly seven weeks left between now and the big day, so that's some time to prepare. Ramit at I Will Teach You To Be Rich underlines this point in his post on planning for Christmas:

“But Ramit,” you might say, “It’s already November! I can’t do this now!” This is the Shrug Effect ... Would starting last month have been better? Yes. But starting now is better than not starting at all.

I contribute an amount from every paycheque to the gift compartment in my Freedom Account, and although I started late this year (I only started the account in May), I'm certainly better off than I would be if I were just hoping to have enough to buy gifts.

Grad Money Matters also recommends that you use a credit card for your purchases. The two advantages of doing this are

• easy record-keeping
• credit card rewards (cash-back, points, etc.)

Obviously, only follow this particular advice if you are paying your card balance in full every month; paying interest on your purchase would negate either of these benefits.

Finally, for those looking for ideas, Trent at The Simple Dollar posts a list of Consumer Reports' gift recommendations for 2007. It's a great list, and I am personally planning on giving the Canon PowerShot as a gift this year.

I've come a long way

I just got back from taking a late lunch break. Today, for lunch, I decided to head down to the food court. All this recent talk about McDonald's double cheeseburgers seems to have gotten to me, so I treated myself to one of these burgers ($1.47 with tax) and a Tim Hortons coffee ($1.43 with tax).

As I sat enjoying my heavily processed guilty pleasure ($2.90 total), I suddenly realized just how rarely I actually buy my lunch these days. Six months ago, I was buying my breakfast virtually every morning, and eating lunch in the food court at least twice a week. Fast-forward to today: I eat breakfast at home and brown-bag my lunch almost every day, and every morning, I walk into work with a travel mug of home-brewed coffee. I hadn't even really noticed that I had broken my old habit, let alone building this new, improved one.

Sad to say, it doesn't look like my new breakfast and lunch habit will let me retire at 35, but the important thing is that I do not miss the old habit. Preparing a lunch (anything from leftover pasta to a simple PB&J sandwich) at home has simply become part of my routine, and pouring myself a coffee before leaving for work is one of the little pleasures of my morning. True, I'm sometimes tempted by fast food options on the way to and from work, but the feeling of positive change I get is far more significant than any "sacrifices" I may be making.

Until now, I didn't realize just what creatures are habit we really are. Well, I believe it now, and you can be sure that I'll be looking for ways to use this concept in the months ahead.