Getting By on the Budget Life
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Something that people from the Baby Boomer generation love to say is: “Work hard and save money!”
Ok, Boomer.
If you are reading this, you probably know the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck. What it’s like when one slip-up can leave you on the wrong side of poverty. Working hard is what you do and you know that it’s not as simple as “saving money.”
I’m hoping I can give you a little bit of advice that helped me stretch that paycheck just a little further.
Kaching on that Kijiji
Kijiji and, more recently, the Facebook Marketplace has saved my life.
If you don't know, Kijiji is a popular buy and sell website where people can post free advertisements for second-hand items. You can find a range of items, from furniture to electronics, pets to dinner plates and can be filtered to your location.
Facebook Marketplace is the same, but run by Facebook and built right into their interface.
There are more sites like this but these two are the ones I’m more familiar with.
You can find many little gems at heavily discounted rates. This can help you get a little more out of your paycheck. If there’s something that you need, you can save money by getting it used. You can even add to your paycheck by selling any items you don’t need!
Check out Kijiji here.
Holla for that Dolla(rama)
Honestly, Dollarama (and other dollar stores) have such a bad rep for being cheap, but isn’t that the point?
You can get a lot of small household items or even perishables much cheaper then you can elsewhere. To me, that’s not a bad thing. Some kitchen essentials can be found in their food aisles for a dollar or less.
Not to mention the variety of other items you can get there, like toiletries or cleaning products, can make it a one-stop shop for several of your necessities.
Don’t knock it because it’s less than a dollar, revel in it!
Say no to pride…
…and say yes to other things like a family member offering you canned food they no longer use, or your weird Aunt Muriel (that’s not actually your aunt) offering you hand-me-down clothes.
Don’t be too proud to accept charity. Your bank will thank you.
The day you run out of Mr. Noodles and only have a can of beans that your parents gave you, you will thank them (and me).
Even if the hand-me-downs from your “Aunt Muriel” were outdated 20 years before you were born, you can find uses for the clothes. Maybe you can cut some of the shirts into rags or keep a wacky dress for a Halloween costume.
Sell yourself
I mean sell your time and skills.
You have an extra Friday night off and don’t mind taking care of the devil spawn of some of your family or friends? Offer to babysit.
Know how to make some weird craft, that takes very little time or money? Sell it on Etsy.
There are plenty of little things that you can do to help bring in some extra money. A site that I find quite useful for this is Fiverr.
If you have some sort of marketable skill, sell it. Fiverr allows you to sell your skills and you make $5. If you can type fast, you can offer to dictate. Know a different language, offer to translate. There’s plenty you can do if you can do it fast.
Check out Fiverr here.
Take breaks
The most important advice I can give you is: don’t work yourself into the ground. Work hard, but please take breaks.
If your mental health breaks down because you spend too much time stressing about money, it can bring everything crashing down with it.
You’re the foundation to your life and if you break, everything can—and will—crush you.
Kurt is a second-year student at Algonquin College. At 24, he aspires to be many things, but most notably, not broke. He likes long walks on the beach at sunset and pina-coladas in the rain. He also likes cliches, puns, and bad jokes. In reality, he hopes to be an editor, or do anything working with books.
