Hey everyone! We're back with a budget update, and I (Steph!) plan to do more of them over the next few months. Let us know if there's anything specific you want to see. 😊
You should also see Caleb Hammer. He interrogates/Audits peoples finances. His most recent one just makes you want to scream and shake some sense into the guest.
Thank you for being so transparent and honest! Love these budgeting videos as it also keeps me in check but reassures me that’s it’s okay to go over budget sometimes 😅
I knew i was pronouncing Guelph wrong for a while now so thabks for that clarification 😅😅 Also watching this 2 years later (coz I'm obsessed with the way you budget!!) so Happy 7th Anniversary to you and Den!! May you continue to grow in love, and gonfrom strength to strength!! And thanks for always taking time out to educate us!😃 ILY❤️
I always get lost with tracking everything. So I just set one solid amount every two weeks and not go over that. But really love how detailed you guys are. Lots of people will benefit from your content !! I even got a Neo through your code :)
Most of it is pretty fair to be honest. At the end of the day, if you’re spending some money on yourself whether its eating out or maybe buying personal stuff, I feel it keeps you motivated and gives that sense of purpose to doing all this.
Thank you for these videos and being transparent but also educating us. You are a beautiful and pure person and I only hope for the best for you guys and also I'm glad you could quit your jobs and focus on more for a passion :) keep it up.
This is almost exactly how I budget! Except I use the app Mint to categorize my transactions to let me know how much I've spent on what and what I have remaining per category. I find I check this way too often (bit neurotically) to make sure I don't overspend in categories. Although just like you I have a buffer in my chequing account in case I do. I also try to forecast all my known irregular expenses in a year (things like new tires, yoga punch passes, oil changes) and divide the sum of those by 12 and set that amount into a separate account per month that I draw on when those expenses occur. I could use my chequing account buffer for these but for some reason my brain prefers the money is in a separate account.
Great video, you two! Trying to catch up on your videos again, as I've been a bit MIA. Was working two jobs up until recently but I plan on working a second job again. Anyhow, the transparency is always so great. It's cool to see we have a similar budget, but I think my overall expenses are much lower since my cost of rent isn't as high, especially when splitting it with family members. I save a bit over 1k a month which is nice. I recently bought a few shares for some banks and insurance companies, I think my goal is start using a portion of my savings to constantly invest in the stocks i've picked out. Hope it works. I was going to invest in VOO, then realized it's an American index fund and I don't want complications with tax + fees, exchange rates, and other nonsense that comes with investing in US stocks. Gonna try and use your spreadsheet once in for all! It's time I see where I can cut back on things, but I think I'm mostly good with my money. :)
Love these videos! And thank you for the transparency and honesty Steph! In regards to groceries, me and partner have cut our cost substantially lower to around 300-350 per person by doing a grocery run twice a month and then in in between we do stock up on essentials (produce and diary) from a local family owned shop that has very decent prices in downtown Toronto! It really helped us and its actually fun as well. If you have something similar around your neighborhood that might help as well
My husband is about to go to law school so we’re going to be going more lean on spending and it’s definitely daunting!! But we plan to assess how much we use the things we already pay for (subscriptions to netflix/amazon/apple/gyms,etc) and then try to utilize free events for dates. We want to lower our random spending at restaurants and fast food/ice cream/ etc
That's exciting! But definitely a big change, too - it sounds like you have a great plan (especially with focusing on free events for dates!). Good luck and have fun with it 🙌🏿🙌🏻
Unsure if Den uses Spotify too, but if you switch to a Spotify Duo account it'll come up to $14.68 and cost you $7.34 each, saving you $3.95 each per month. Recently made the change myself and it costs nothing to switch, both users keep their original accounts too.
@@stephandden I think one of the coolest things for me to see was how you dealt with uncertain and varying income from different sources. Setting a hard number yourself to make planning easier sounds smart.
Love this breakdown Steph! Love it! Is there a way you can share a link to download your budgeting calculator excel sheet? I would like to follow on your footsteps as well?
I may have forgotten to comment when I first took a look, but I'd suggest Spotify Duo if you're able, it can save quite a bit each month compared to the regular plan! Best thing I could do since losing the student plan discount.
I spend the same on groceries per month as a single person. I'm in PEI and it's not cheap. I'm trying to get my groceries for the month to $375-400 avg/mth. I welcome all the tips/guidance. I price shop, bulk shop, etc.
Yes! I don’t have anyone to do a family plan with right now (everyone I know had it before me and are already in plans with someone), but it is a good way to bring the costs down 😊
Great video. You should definitely have the business pay for part or all of the internet connection. It is for business use unless you have a dedicated connection for just the UA-cam channel
@@stephandden Once your business grows a bit bigger you can sign up for a Health Spending Account for your team as well. Something to look into to offset that massage expense.
This may sound silly but where does the $1000 to invest come from? If this is excess cash from when you still worked corporate, why not just invest it in one lumpsum?
Hey Cindy! I talk about it briefly around minute 13:00 - I've been transferring $1,000 from my savings account to my investment account each month (ie. dollar cost averaging in) as I had around $25,000 saved at the beginning of the year and felt like I'd rather be investing some of that money than holding onto it in savings!
@@stephandden Thanks for the clarification! Was confused about if this was a separate savings account as I know you've said previously that you use a HISA for emergency funds
I’m kinda embarrassed to say that but I haven’t ever use a credit card and I was wondering why would I need to? I’ve always found it safer to use my debit card with money already in it so is there a huge advantage to make me use credit card instead while risking going way over what I can pay back?!
Not embarrassing at all - everyone uses one for the first time at some point! The biggest advantage to having a credit card is to build a strong credit score - it can help you with buying a house, and other times where a credit check may be run. You can also get cash back and/or travel rewards depending on the card. The best way to use a credit card is by making sure you're paying off your balance on time (there's a payment due date every month) and in full (not just the minimum balance, pay the entire amount you spent) every time. We hope that helps. 😊
You do realize of course you could have a side-hustle helping people do their budgets. Dave Ramsey became a multi-millionaire doing essentially that. You're very good.
Hi, fellow Canadian here! I see you are paying around $60 ish for utilities, how? Tell me everything! My bill is around $80-90 for July-August. I'm in PEI. Thanks!
Hey Doris! Good question - I think a lot of it has to do with our small place and fairly new / efficient appliances (plus new windows). The only specific things we do is we try to use water during off-peak hours (ie. doing laundry at night, for example) and being selective about when we use our heating / cooling. 😊
It was about $100 for the haircut, $64 for my eyebrows and tips! But yes, still higher than it could be! I keep going back to the same place I love to go to in my home town
My phone plan is 3GB for $35 a month at Public Mobile (owned by Telus). What I love about them is that for every year you stay with them they give you a dollar discount! Fido, Chatr, and Koodo also offer comparable prices. I was also considering getting a family plan with friends and family anf split the monthly price. Just some ideas!
This seems to be a huge problem for the us citizens rn! I believe everyone should Live below their means" adjust your lifest, be frugal, budget, save and invest. This helped me out as a 6 figure earner. I've grown over a million in retirement savings with this method
that's rather confusing as you pay yourself $2036 but also put $1000 in investments/savings. That would come under income. Unless the $1000 would be health/retirement investments/payments that would come out of a paycheck before it reaches your account when your an employee so gross/net income.
Yo change ur phone bill already LOL. $100+ per month is wayyy too much. Pretty sure you can get that down to under $50/month if u can find a good deal/switch carriers. You can save about $600+/year in savings. Do it now!
@@stephandden seeing the $100 for phone bill hurts me too! Hopefully that includes payment for a phone? If not that’s insane! There are a lot of back to school deals out right now. Recently switched to Virgin $45 for 20GB per month. So if you don’t need a new device, I’d recommend it :) you can get the plan easily from their chat since it’s an online exclusive… no need to leave your desk haha.
The haircut itself was about $100 - I cut off about 6-7 inches and my hairs thick so it takes a good hour and a half 😊 the rest of the cost included getting my eyebrows waxed ($11) + tips!
Im sorry but not one person that ever watched or watch this video should listen to you. YOUR RENT IS 45% OF YOUR BUDGET. YOU SHOULD NOT BE INVESTING ANYTHING AND SAVING TO PUT MONEY DOWN ON A PROPERTY AND GET A MORTAGAGE(so you own something). Which then would most likely be less than 30% of your budget (slap forehead emoji)
Hey! You should go back and watch my previous budget videos for more context 😊 we are self employed, and we only pay ourselves out enough money to cover our expenses (so technically 100% of my ‘budget’ is for expenses, in general). On top of investing $1,000 per month last year, we were able to pay ourselves additional money at the end of the year that went straight to our investments, as well. You can check out the video we posted at the beginning of January for an update on that!
Hey everyone! We're back with a budget update, and I (Steph!) plan to do more of them over the next few months. Let us know if there's anything specific you want to see. 😊
Hi, can I get template of your budget. It will be great for me to create mine instead of building from scratch. Thank you!
Hi, I’m wondering if you can share the template for budgeting as well!
I don't know if am the only one who finds finance and budgeting videos oddly satisfying. They are💯💯🤗i love this
Glad you liked it! 😊
You should also see Caleb Hammer.
He interrogates/Audits peoples finances. His most recent one just makes you want to scream and shake some sense into the guest.
Thank you for being so transparent and honest! Love these budgeting videos as it also keeps me in check but reassures me that’s it’s okay to go over budget sometimes 😅
Ha, love that - a bit of both! 😅
More of budgeting videos. I would love to see Dan's as well. Congrats for no debt!!
Thanks, Bertha! 😊
Awesome video! I am excited to see more of these budget videos more often. Thanks for being so transparent Steph!
Thanks, Brenda! More coming up soon 😊
i love your voice, it is so calming!!
Thank you! 😊
I knew i was pronouncing Guelph wrong for a while now so thabks for that clarification 😅😅
Also watching this 2 years later (coz I'm obsessed with the way you budget!!) so Happy 7th Anniversary to you and Den!! May you continue to grow in love, and gonfrom strength to strength!! And thanks for always taking time out to educate us!😃 ILY❤️
$50/month on restaurants/takeout is so hard to stick to in Toronto lol. Thanks for being so honest in your videos!!
Thanks for watching! 😊
I love the budgeting videos, motivates me to keep up with my monthly budget. Thanks for sharing and being so realistic (and honest)!
Thanks, Kate! 😊
Same!! It helps quite a bit. :D
I've adopted you two as my personal finance advisors. I'm in post-bankruptcy and hoping your guidance will help me get my financial life back.
You guys are doing great! Being accountable is the most important thing with sticking to a budget. Let’s see den’s monthly budget!
Thanks so much! 😊 yes to that!
great video! and congrats on the 5 year anniversary
Thanks so much!
I always get lost with tracking everything. So I just set one solid amount every two weeks and not go over that. But really love how detailed you guys are. Lots of people will benefit from your content !! I even got a Neo through your code :)
Whatever works for you and is the simplest is great! 😊 also thank you + love hearing that you checked out Neo!
Most of it is pretty fair to be honest. At the end of the day, if you’re spending some money on yourself whether its eating out or maybe buying personal stuff, I feel it keeps you motivated and gives that sense of purpose to doing all this.
Great point 😊 thank you!
Thanks for the openness and honesty, Steph! keep up with the great content!
Thanks, Jack! 😊
Loved this video & the transparency, Steph !
I agree
Thanks, Delesha! 😊
Loved this, nice to see when other people with high ambitions also overspend, makes me feel a bit better. ;)Would love to see Dan's too!
Ha, love it 😂 we'll have Den do one soon!
Thank you for these videos and being transparent but also educating us. You are a beautiful and pure person and I only hope for the best for you guys and also I'm glad you could quit your jobs and focus on more for a passion :) keep it up.
This is almost exactly how I budget! Except I use the app Mint to categorize my transactions to let me know how much I've spent on what and what I have remaining per category. I find I check this way too often (bit neurotically) to make sure I don't overspend in categories. Although just like you I have a buffer in my chequing account in case I do.
I also try to forecast all my known irregular expenses in a year (things like new tires, yoga punch passes, oil changes) and divide the sum of those by 12 and set that amount into a separate account per month that I draw on when those expenses occur. I could use my chequing account buffer for these but for some reason my brain prefers the money is in a separate account.
Great video, you two! Trying to catch up on your videos again, as I've been a bit MIA. Was working two jobs up until recently but I plan on working a second job again. Anyhow, the transparency is always so great. It's cool to see we have a similar budget, but I think my overall expenses are much lower since my cost of rent isn't as high, especially when splitting it with family members. I save a bit over 1k a month which is nice. I recently bought a few shares for some banks and insurance companies, I think my goal is start using a portion of my savings to constantly invest in the stocks i've picked out. Hope it works. I was going to invest in VOO, then realized it's an American index fund and I don't want complications with tax + fees, exchange rates, and other nonsense that comes with investing in US stocks. Gonna try and use your spreadsheet once in for all! It's time I see where I can cut back on things, but I think I'm mostly good with my money. :)
Thanks, Jaden! Love to hear it - it sounds like you're hustling and saving your money 🙏🏿🙏🏻 we hope you like the spreadsheet, too 😊
Loved this budgeting video and looking forward to more! I'd be interested in seeing Den's as well!
Thanks Cynthia! We’ll have to get him on here with his too 😊
Awesome video and even more amazing due to the transparency. Thank you!
Thanks so much! 😊
Love these videos! And thank you for the transparency and honesty Steph! In regards to groceries, me and partner have cut our cost substantially lower to around 300-350 per person by doing a grocery run twice a month and then in in between we do stock up on essentials (produce and diary) from a local family owned shop that has very decent prices in downtown Toronto! It really helped us and its actually fun as well. If you have something similar around your neighborhood that might help as well
Thanks, Hana! And thanks for sharing - that's definitely helpful! 😊
My husband is about to go to law school so we’re going to be going more lean on spending and it’s definitely daunting!! But we plan to assess how much we use the things we already pay for (subscriptions to netflix/amazon/apple/gyms,etc) and then try to utilize free events for dates. We want to lower our random spending at restaurants and fast food/ice cream/ etc
That's exciting! But definitely a big change, too - it sounds like you have a great plan (especially with focusing on free events for dates!). Good luck and have fun with it 🙌🏿🙌🏻
Unsure if Den uses Spotify too, but if you switch to a Spotify Duo account it'll come up to $14.68 and cost you $7.34 each, saving you $3.95 each per month. Recently made the change myself and it costs nothing to switch, both users keep their original accounts too.
Thanks for the suggestion! 😊
You're motivating me to track my own expenses. Definitely haven't been doing that. LOL
Ha! It's so easy to not look into them, but usually helpful when you do! 😊
@@stephandden I think one of the coolest things for me to see was how you dealt with uncertain and varying income from different sources. Setting a hard number yourself to make planning easier sounds smart.
Love this breakdown Steph! Love it! Is there a way you can share a link to download your budgeting calculator excel sheet? I would like to follow on your footsteps as well?
Thank you! We have it up on our website (stephandden.com) 😊
@@stephandden - Thank you. Keep rocking!
I deleted uber eats & all food apps and unsubscribed to the emails lol. That's helped!
Super helpful! I deleted the apps too, out of sight out of mind!
@@stephandden especially so easy to slack off & go over budget on those toronto winter days!
Back to school this month but was able to find kid gymshoes for $20! I got 3 pair for future sizes....but supplies add up 📚
That’s great 👏🏿👏🏻 happy back to school time!
I may have forgotten to comment when I first took a look, but I'd suggest Spotify Duo if you're able, it can save quite a bit each month compared to the regular plan! Best thing I could do since losing the student plan discount.
Thanks for the suggestion! I only signed up for Spotify for the first time this year (so late to the game!), but I'll definitely look into that 😊
Chef's plate might help scratch your Restaurant wants and lower your grocery? We are keen to come back to it since they usually give out discounts!
That's a good suggestion, if you're using it to lower your costs vs bring them up! Thank you 😊
How do you budget/save for tax season since self-employed income doesn't have it deducted automatically?
Good question - we do all of that with our accountant and from our business account, but we can touch on this more in the future!
@@stephandden Are you incorporated? If so, how much does it cost to file each year?
Great video ! Do you have sinking funds or buckets for short term goals?
Thank you! I'll actually be talking about this in a budgeting video coming out next week 😊
This is great! Thank you for the transparency, looking forward to these monthly updates!
Thank you! More coming soon 🙌🏻🙌🏿
I love how you say “tomorrow” hahah ~ girl from California
Ha! We always laugh at how I say ‘about’ too 😂
Great video! As a single person who price shops, costco and superstore. I easily spend 400-450 per month on groceries. Food is not cheap :(
It’s really not, especially right now! And thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏿
I spend the same on groceries per month as a single person. I'm in PEI and it's not cheap. I'm trying to get my groceries for the month to $375-400 avg/mth. I welcome all the tips/guidance. I price shop, bulk shop, etc.
you can do family plan for spotify, it brings down the price overall.
Yes! I don’t have anyone to do a family plan with right now (everyone I know had it before me and are already in plans with someone), but it is a good way to bring the costs down 😊
Great video. You should definitely have the business pay for part or all of the internet connection. It is for business use unless you have a dedicated connection for just the UA-cam channel
That's very true, it is definitely used for the business!
@@stephandden Once your business grows a bit bigger you can sign up for a Health Spending Account for your team as well. Something to look into to offset that massage expense.
Yeah I’m in Alberta and my utilities and internet are about double yours, but groceries for me and my partner are about $550.
It's always interesting to see what costs are different based on location! We definitely plan on brining down our grocery costs a bit more though
101 for a phone bill I say get on one of those bring your own devices plan the max you will pay for those is at least 50-60
Thanks for the suggestion! 😊
Thankyou steff
I really wish your UA-cam revenue gets increase soon
Thank you 😊
Where did you find your budgeting template?
We made it! It's on our website 😊
This may sound silly but where does the $1000 to invest come from? If this is excess cash from when you still worked corporate, why not just invest it in one lumpsum?
It was from her 2k salary. It’s not excess cash.
Hey Cindy! I talk about it briefly around minute 13:00 - I've been transferring $1,000 from my savings account to my investment account each month (ie. dollar cost averaging in) as I had around $25,000 saved at the beginning of the year and felt like I'd rather be investing some of that money than holding onto it in savings!
@@callmegracey Rent is 945 so if it came from the 2k it would mean she has $55 for everything else which is not truw
@@stephandden Thanks for the clarification! Was confused about if this was a separate savings account as I know you've said previously that you use a HISA for emergency funds
You talk well on camera hope your channel grows.
Thanks, Keith! 😊
I’m kinda embarrassed to say that but I haven’t ever use a credit card and I was wondering why would I need to?
I’ve always found it safer to use my debit card with money already in it so is there a huge advantage to make me use credit card instead while risking going way over what I can pay back?!
Not embarrassing at all - everyone uses one for the first time at some point! The biggest advantage to having a credit card is to build a strong credit score - it can help you with buying a house, and other times where a credit check may be run. You can also get cash back and/or travel rewards depending on the card. The best way to use a credit card is by making sure you're paying off your balance on time (there's a payment due date every month) and in full (not just the minimum balance, pay the entire amount you spent) every time. We hope that helps. 😊
Another pro for using credit cards is for fraud-prevention
You do realize of course you could have a side-hustle helping people do their budgets. Dave Ramsey became a multi-millionaire doing essentially that. You're very good.
Ha, thank you! We appreciate that 😊
Why not a joint budget if married?
I'm not married!
Hi, fellow Canadian here! I see you are paying around $60 ish for utilities, how? Tell me everything! My bill is around $80-90 for July-August. I'm in PEI. Thanks!
Hey Doris! Good question - I think a lot of it has to do with our small place and fairly new / efficient appliances (plus new windows). The only specific things we do is we try to use water during off-peak hours (ie. doing laundry at night, for example) and being selective about when we use our heating / cooling. 😊
Please we want to see Dennnis. Even if it's just at the end with the "you know the vibes".
He'll be back in the next one! 😊 I do always feel weird if I end it off because there's no 'you know the vibes' - but you'll hear it Sunday 🙌🏿🙌🏻
@@stephandden thank you. look forward to it.
Omgosh lol that’s a lot for a straight haircut… I pay no more than 60$ in Toronto
It was about $100 for the haircut, $64 for my eyebrows and tips! But yes, still higher than it could be! I keep going back to the same place I love to go to in my home town
nice vid !!!
Thank you! 😊
omg the way my jaw dropped when I found out you were from Guelph
Ha, yes!! Where my fam is 😊
Why do Ice Cream trips when you can get Haagen Dazs!!
Ha! We have the best, freshest ice cream shop near our place that's so good in the summer!
Nice video :)
Thank you! 😊
My phone plan is 3GB for $35 a month at Public Mobile (owned by Telus). What I love about them is that for every year you stay with them they give you a dollar discount! Fido, Chatr, and Koodo also offer comparable prices. I was also considering getting a family plan with friends and family anf split the monthly price. Just some ideas!
Den uses Public Mobile too! I really do need to make a switch soon - thanks for sharing 😊
This video was my sign to delete my Uber eats app lol
I feel this! But then again, went to the supermarket this week and I'm not even sure if I'm saving that much with these prices.
Love it 😂 out of sight out of mind for real
nice video. low audio
Thank you!
This seems to be a huge problem for the us citizens rn! I believe everyone should Live below their means" adjust your lifest, be frugal, budget, save and invest. This helped me out as a 6 figure earner. I've grown over a million in retirement savings with this method
that's rather confusing as you pay yourself $2036 but also put $1000 in investments/savings. That would come under income. Unless the $1000 would be health/retirement investments/payments that would come out of a paycheck before it reaches your account when your an employee so gross/net income.
I’m investing that money from a savings account - it’s not part of my monthly income or expenses 😊
She said "do-do"🤪
Omg 😂
Yo change ur phone bill already LOL. $100+ per month is wayyy too much. Pretty sure you can get that down to under $50/month if u can find a good deal/switch carriers. You can save about $600+/year in savings. Do it now!
I need this tough love 😂 I'll do it soon!!
@@stephandden seeing the $100 for phone bill hurts me too! Hopefully that includes payment for a phone? If not that’s insane! There are a lot of back to school deals out right now. Recently switched to Virgin $45 for 20GB per month. So if you don’t need a new device, I’d recommend it :) you can get the plan easily from their chat since it’s an online exclusive… no need to leave your desk haha.
Write down everything
Do help non beggars.
Steph is hot!!!! 🔥
where do you guys live? Your rent is cheap
Downtown Toronto! We split it in half 😊
I am lucky to be a dude- no 150 dollars hair cut
Ha, seriously! Although I only get it cut max once a year, so that’s nice at least
@@stephandden why so expensive though? it was just a trim of the ends, no layers or anything fancy. seems very wasteful.
The haircut itself was about $100 - I cut off about 6-7 inches and my hairs thick so it takes a good hour and a half 😊 the rest of the cost included getting my eyebrows waxed ($11) + tips!
I am long hair dude. it is still expensive
Really, you spent 160$ on your hair !!? But I didn’t notice a big difference. It was very nice before and nice after. So -160$ (to save) 😂😂😂
More budget videos !
More coming soon! 😊
Im sorry but not one person that ever watched or watch this video should listen to you. YOUR RENT IS 45% OF YOUR BUDGET. YOU SHOULD NOT BE INVESTING ANYTHING AND SAVING TO PUT MONEY DOWN ON A PROPERTY AND GET A MORTAGAGE(so you own something). Which then would most likely be less than 30% of your budget (slap forehead emoji)
Hey! You should go back and watch my previous budget videos for more context 😊 we are self employed, and we only pay ourselves out enough money to cover our expenses (so technically 100% of my ‘budget’ is for expenses, in general).
On top of investing $1,000 per month last year, we were able to pay ourselves additional money at the end of the year that went straight to our investments, as well. You can check out the video we posted at the beginning of January for an update on that!