In a city like Toronto where the cost of living is so high, working multiple jobs has become the new normal for millennials. The gig economy isn’t just an optional opportunity for those who want to make some extra cash on the side, but rather the side hustle movement is the only way some people can afford to live comfortably.
Just because the clock strikes five doesn’t mean it’s quitting time. For those working multiple jobs, it’s only a brief break before one has to refocus and go to their second job for the rest of the night. And when he or she finally gets to bed around midnight or later, they only have a few short hours of rest before it is time to wake up and start the entire process all over again.
While working multiple jobs isn’t uncommon, people do it for a variety of reasons like saving money, paying off debt or gaining further experience in an industry — precarious employment isn’t necessarily easy. Between the early mornings, late nights and the overwhelming amount of responsibilities to keep track of, it’s difficult to find a balance between fulfilling your commitments to those jobs and still maintain your sanity.
With that in mind, here are a few pro tips for helping those juggling multiple jobs.
Find dissimilar jobs.
If you’re going to work multiple jobs, it makes sense to have each one different from the other. Whether it’s a different industry entirely or a slight shift in role responsibilities, working dissimilar jobs is ideal because it mixes up your routine.
When you aren’t doing the exact same thing at every job, you’ll find you’re less bored and have more energy as you transition between your gigs. Even if you work both jobs in the same day, you’ll likely have much more energy if your side hustles vary. Sometimes the mix of a physical job with a desk job is just the right combination people need in order to effectively work so many hours in a day.
Try to simplify life tasks.
When work life takes over, sometimes living a healthy, balanced life can become more of an afterthought. So find ways to simplify everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and working out.
Don’t have time to cook each day? Meal prep. Don’t have time to go to the gym? Try using a condensed workout app that’s sensitive of your time constraint. There are little ways to simplify everyday tasks that will make your schedule run much more smoothly. Staying active and filling your body with good fuel will keep you energized as you move from job to job.
Plan ahead.
If you don’t have your work schedule meticulously organized, unexpected events can easily pop up and ruin your productivity. So to help keep your priorities straight and your sanity intact, take a few moments each weekend to plan for the week ahead. For example, maybe there’s a happy hour you want to attend Wednesday night, so you’ll need to be aware of that so you can shift the majority of your evening workload to Monday and Tuesday.
Once you have your workload evenly distributed throughout the week, you’ll be able to schedule your social life accordingly and make smart decisions should anything unexpected pop up. You’ll be able to get your work done more efficiently and still maintain time for the fun stuff.
Give yourself some time off.
With working multiple jobs you’ll often hear advice to take at least one full day off during the week. And if you have that flexibility and the schedule to do so then you most definitely should! However, not everyone in precarious employment has that luxury.
Working two or more jobs may not guarantee a solid day off every week, and even if you try to, you may not be able to shake that guilty feeling that comes up when you aren’t doing something job-related. You might not be able to block out an entire day for yourself, but you should at least give yourself a couple hours off at some point during the week. Most importantly, you need to take the time to let your mind relax.
With jumping from job to job, it’s easy to forget the value of a little R&R so when you’re not working, don’t think about work. Taking regular breaks (or at least one) will leave you feeling refreshed and make for easier transitions between work.
Remain focused on your long-term goals.
Let’s face it, working multiple jobs can sometimes be a real drag. Working 100 plus hours each week is exhausting and a lack of a social life can get to a person, but keeping one’s long-term goals in sight will help to push through.
Whether you’re working precariously because you’re trying to pay off student loans or saving for a down payment on a house or working on starting your own company — whatever your reason may be, all the extra jobs are getting you a little closer to that goal. So when you’re entrenched in the mundane day-to-day routines of your multiple jobs, it’s important to keep that end goal in mind, and remember that it will all be worth it in the end.
Featured image: Instagram/ @beproductive
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This year Santa brought you everything on your list and then some – you’re engaged! As many as 40% of all engagements happen between November and February. First of all, congratulations! Celebrating your relationship with your friends and family can be the greatest party of your life, but planning a wedding typically comes with an expensive price tag.
Whether you’re planning intimate summer nuptials or a grand affair, how you’re going to pay for it is the first thing you need to figure out.
Create your wedding budget
Websites like WeddingWire provide awesome wedding planning tools, including a budget template. Not only will this help you identify what costs you need to think about, these online resources also show you the average spending in each category so you can compare your spending to see if its within reason.
One of the most important things to consider when making your wedding budget is who’s paying for what. Gone are the days when the bride’s family footed the entire wedding bill. Now it’s not uncommon for both sets of parents to contribute, or for the bride and groom to manage the costs alone. Never assume anyone is paying for your wedding but you. You don’t want to plan a $50,000 event under the guise that someone else will pick up the tab, only to end up with the final bill yourself! Knowing who’s paying for what right from the start determines how much your budget is and will save you many headaches down the road.
Start saving now
The best thing my husband and I decided to do for our wedding (besides commit to spend the rest of our lives together, obviously) was begin saving as soon as we were engaged. We calculated our wedding budget, and then worked backwards to determine how much we would each have to save every month in order to afford it. We opened a joint savings account, and automatically transferred a few hundred dollars from each of our paycheques into the account every month up until our wedding. After a year of saving, we had more than enough to pay for our big day!
If your wedding is six months or more away, you might choose to stash your cash in a GIC. GICs typically provide higher interest rates than high-interest savings accounts, and locking your money up for a fixed term will discourage you from dipping into it before your wedding day.
Pay as you go
While the bulk of your wedding spending will be due on your big day, a lot of little costs and deposits can be taken care of beforehand. Try to absorb low-cost items, like your hair and makeup or your wedding stationery in your regular spending rather than taking these small amounts from your wedding savings. This will allow your savings account to grow so you can better afford higher-cost items, such as event rentals or dinner.
No matter what, remember that spending more on your wedding doesn’t make you more married! Your goal with setting a budget and saving for your big day is to have the wedding of your dreams without a bill from your nightmares.
By Bridget Eastgaard for Ratehub.ca
RateHub.ca is a website that compares mortgage rates, credit cards and deposit rates with the goal to empower Canadians to search smarter and save money.
Featured image via
Most of my friends are as big into travelling as I am (some of them even more so). As I write this article, I’m sitting in my Airbnb in Weisbaden, Germany while here for my Oma’s 80th birthday. Travelling is an important part of my life, and it’s something that I try to do at least once a year. However, it can get expensive, and it’s something that definitely needs to be budgeted for. I’ve met a lot of travellers who end up stressing out during or after a trip because they’ve dug themselves so deep into debt.
At The Budget Babes, one of my personal goals is to help others create and manage their personal finances and budget for short and/or long-term goals. I’ve created a list of some handy tips to ensure that you have financially stress free travels.
Plan and Research
It’s always smart to have some kind of idea as to where you want to travel to so you can start looking into flights and accommodation. This will be the most expensive part of your trip. Sites like Google Flights, Kayak, Momondo, and Cheapoair will scrounge the Internet for the cheapest flights possible, while websites like Next Departure, YYZ Deals, and Hopper will alert you of last minute deals. And with so many great websites like Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline, and Hostelworld, it’s always great to give yourself enough time to find the cheapest accommodation available in parts of the city you want to explore. It’s also helpful to to read some travel bloggers who have recently travelled to your destination as they often discuss how much money they spent. On top of your flight and accommodation, don’t forget to budget enough money for your food and drink, daily excursions, transportation, and a small emergency fund in case anything goes wrong.
Budget
Just like your food, clothes, rent/mortgage, car etc., travel should be a line item in your budget. If it’s something that you foresee doing in the near future, add it into your annual budget and account for it from the get-go. That way you won’t be scrambling a few weeks/months before you leave, and you’ll have already had some money set aside.
Save, Save, Save
When I saved $20,000 for my trip to South America and Southeast Asia in 2015, I took 15% of my paycheques and put it into a high-interest savings account that I didn’t touch. If I had any money left over after all of my bills were paid and my fun was had, it went into a TFSA where I invested in Index Funds. These funds paid out a dividend and gave me between a 5-10% return for that particular year. It’s one thing to save, but investing your savings will help you make money even faster, getting you one step closer to take off.
Open a Separate Account
Once you have a rough idea as to how much money you’ll need, open up a separate bank account that’s out of sight, out of mind. A TFSA and/or high-interest savings account is great because it will accumulate interest faster than an everyday savings account. For those who don’t know the first thing about investing, Wealthsimple is a really great platform that makes saving and investing easy and effortless. And if you use the link above, Wealthsimple will waive the management fees for the first year when you sign up for your first account.
Be Flexible and Open
When I was in Brazil, I was complaining to this Irish girl that the flight from Chile to Thailand was $2300. She suggested that I try to be a little more flexible with my timing and not look for a direct flight, but rather create my own trip around the world and book different lags of the flight myself. At first, I was a little skeptical, but she helped me research some different itineraries and I booked 3 separate flights. Although it took me 48 hours to reach my final destination (I had lots of time, remember!), I ended up saving over $900. It’s definitely worth being flexible and having an open mind because you can find some really great deals if you just think outside of the box.
For those of you who are as adamant about seeing the world as I am, be sure to work hard so you can play hard when on the road. The worst thing that could happen is that you start to travel and realize that you don’t have enough money to do the things that you want to do. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most. Make sure you’re smart with your money before you takeoff so you can leave your financial stresses on the runway.
Do you have any other tips on how to save money for your next vacation? Share them in the comment section.
Featured image: Instagram/ @mvandersluis
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For those watching their budget, November is a surprisingly good time to save some funds.
Without any major holidays to prepare for, you don’t need to worry about travel expenses or last-minute Halloween costumes to buy. Nevertheless, with the holiday season right around the corner, you might want to take the time to squirrel away some extra dollars now so you’re not hit with a huge bill in the New Year.
Here are six great ways to save money in Toronto this November.
Take advantage of post-Halloween sales
With Halloween over, grocery stores will be looking to offload all of those pumpkins and you can reap the benefits. Look out for deep discounts on fall vegetables like pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and squash. Additionally, Halloween-related items will be on clearance so take the opportunity to stock up on Halloween decor and candy (which you can use for holiday baking — or for eating, we don’t judge).
Winterize your home and car
As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ If you start winterizing your home and car now, you could prevent the steep expenses of last-minute emergency mechanic visits or home repairs. Some things to add to your to-do list include changing furnace filters, turning your water heater down, and checking the belts and hoses on your car.
Keep an eye on warehouse and sample sales
October and November are big months for warehouse and sample sales, meaning there is definitely no shortage of deals to be had. This month you can find warehouse sales from TOMS, Esprit, Haight & Ashbury, and many more, all with savings of up to 90% off. It’s the perfect time to holiday shop for less. Check out a list of the best sales happening this month here.
Participate in “No Spend November”
While this may seem somewhat extreme, this saving challenge has been making the internet rounds for a few years now. While you will need to spend some money, the challenge is that you will only be paying for the essentials for a whole month. That means no dinners out or ordering in – only rent, bills, groceries, etc. The challenge also involves finding ways to make extra money so you don’t have to spend your take-home pay for the month. You can learn more about it here.
Check out holiday flea markets
When it comes to finding the perfect gift, there are a lot of extra costs to that many people don’t consider; whether it’s the gas spent driving all over the city for different items or paying high shipping fees for last-minute presents. Instead of spending your hard-earned cash at the big box stores, try hitting up a local flea market like the Trinity Bellwoods Flea or the Gladstone Flea Holiday Market. These one-stop shops will save you time and money – plus you’ll be supporting local businesses!
Trade late nights at bars for early morning adventures
Autumn is undoubtedly the most beautiful time of year to get outside. Let crisp air fill your lungs while you explore everything that nature has to offer. There are plenty of incredible hiking trails within hours of the city where you can get in some steps and take in the changing colours of fall. Best part yet? Hiking is free!
Do you have any other suggestions of how to save money this November? Share them in the comment section.
Featured Image: Dundas Falls via Instagram/@janessacrimi
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If you had a chance to read my article on how I managed to save $20,000 in one year while living in the city of Toronto, then you’re probably aware of the fact that I’m big into budgeting. So big in fact that I started a personal finance blog called The Budget Babes where I teach 18-40 year olds the concepts surrounding finance that we should have been taught in school. I wasn’t taught how to budget while growing up, and didn’t become financially savvy until moving to Toronto in my mid 20’s; money wasn’t something that was consciously top of mind. I had to teach myself to think differently. The following apps are great tools that can help you manage your money and track your spending so that you too can start saving for the future.
I wanted to share a few of my favourite budgeting apps with you in case you’re finally ready to grab the bull by the horns and take control of your finances.
Mint.com
As one of the most popular FREE budgeting apps out there, Mint.com seems to do it all. It has an easy to use budgeting tool that links up with your debit and credit cards (automatically inputting each transactions for you), provides you with a free credit score, tracks your bills and investments, sets financial goals, and tracks your savings.
I was considering using Mint.com but didn’t want to link my banking information to a third-party app. On top of that, if you find you have a bit of a spending problem, Mint.com may not be the best budgeting app for you. By having your cards automatically linked to the app, it takes away from using your brain to see where all of your money is going (which I think you should manually track for a month when first starting out).
Visual Budget
This is my favourite app that I’ve been using for over 5 years. It costs $7 after your first 10 transactions but is worth every penny. The design is sleek, and the overview of your income vs. expenses on both a monthly and yearly basis is a great feature to track your overall spending. It takes a little bit of time to organize your expenses when you first download it, but once you’ve customized it to fit your lifestyle, you’re off to the races. Another great thing about this app is that you have to input each transaction manually. Although some would see this as annoying, it’s a great feature for those who are just starting out and need to rewire their brain to understand where all of the money is going. Spending a few dollars here and there can add up quickly when you don’t think about it, and this app forces you to think about it. You can learn more about it on their website.
Other reputable budgeting apps
You Need a Budget (YNAB): $50/Year
Wally: Free
Level Money: Free
BUDGT: $1.99 (IPhone Only)
There are so many more apps out there and you really have to do a bit of research to find which one works best for you. Some of them cost money, while others take more time to manage. But if you’re serious about getting your finances on track, I highly recommend making the jump and using something to track your daily/monthly/yearly spending. You’ll notice that you’ll think differently once you start, and you’ll be able to reduce your mindless spending so you can begin to start saving for that emergency fund or any future financial goals you may have.
Did we miss any of the best budgeting apps? Share them in the comment section.
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