Another Informative Cracked Article-5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor

Man, I just love browsing Cracked and my most favorite thing of all on the site is the lists. I just posted one of their lists a while ago but I came across this one written by the same person titled "The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor" and I can honestly say that from my personal experience that every point he brought up is true, at least in my case.
I grew up very poor even though my parents made decent money. Where did it all go? Money just seemed to be piddled away due to lack of foresight, impulse purchases, restaurant food, lack of budgeting, etc. When I moved out on my own I started living the same way, it never even occurred to me to do it any other way because that was how I grew up, I was working 50-60 hours a week and only paying $300 a month for my apartment but still never seemed to have any money left at the end of the month. I didn't even have a savings account! If only I knew the things then that I know now. I cringe to even think of how much money just went to waste on disposable items, food and entertainment. Thankfully all of that changed or I wouldn't be writing this blog!

Here's a summary of the 5 points as well as my comments but really just go check out the actual article, the guy is hilarious, he approaches bleak topics with a very dark humor that I just love!

An Update

I thought an update post would be in order since I've only been posting a recipe or DIY post once a week. I also didn't have anything ready to post last night/early this morning.

So here's what we've been up to:

• Our debt repayment schedule is still on track and we're looking to be debt free this spring hopefully
• We're done getting Christmas presents and I have renamed my savings account "The House Fund". It only has $150 at the moment but it's a start. If I go back to work we should be able to have a decent downpayment in a year or so.
• We've decided that we cannot deal with the renting situation for much longer and would like to buy a house. There is too much noise from neighboring apartments, people are smoking in our building, there was dog poo just outside the elevator for an entire day which is strange considering our lease said we weren't allowed to have a cat or dog, repairs are still not done after nearly a year and a half and our rent will be going up again in June. Why not use that money towards a mortgage payment and have something to show for it? We're just in the beginning plans of this but hope to be out of here in a year, we would have to upgrade by then to a larger space anyway
• I'm working on updating my resume and will be out looking for a part-time job probably later this week. We need the extra income to save up for a house and I would like some adult interaction. Jon works from home and makes his own hours so he can hang out with Alice while I'm gone for a few hours a couple times a week. Alice is just now starting to eat a lot more solids and use her sippy cups, so she is finally able to go for more than 2 hours without nursing.
• With the exception of maybe once a week Alice is asleep by 8pm and stays asleep for 3 hours. She still wakes me up a lot at night but it's slowly getting better.
• I'm nearly consistently getting up around 8am now. Alice gets out of bed and plays until she needs her diaper changed and then she comes to wake me up, usually by putting a diaper on my face and yelling and patting at me. It's super cute. We let Jon sleep in a bit since he stays up late working most nights.
• I haven't managed to go out jogging since the initial failed attempt from a while ago but I'm still hopeful that I can start again at some point. I would like to try to get up a bit earlier to accomplish this.
• The basil and tomato plants have finally died off. I now have a renewable source of fresh green onions in my windowsill nearly ready to use. I have a couple of avocado pits that I'm soaking in water just to see if they will sprout. It's a fun project that doesn't cost anything and takes almost no effort.
• We've done takeout just a couple of times and done a fair bit of shopping but nothing we feel guilty about. We don't spend a lot, we don't buy impulse items anymore, most of what we get is stuff we actually need.
• Jon did a bunch of studio upgrading since a lot of software was on sale for very good prices, he can write everything off as work expenses on his taxes
• I picked up a small Ikea high chair from a seller on Craigslist, it takes up about a third of the space the old one did. Now I just have to give the old one a quick cleanup and we should be able to resell it.
• I'm doing even more decluttering. I've decided that I don't need the 3 pairs of high heels I have. There is very little chance I will wear them. They were all fairly pricey so I should be able to get a decent amount of money for them on Craigslist. I love them but I will sacrifice them for the house fund. Same goes for the couple of nice dresses I own, I only really wear dresses in the summer and then it's the same 2 or 3 sundresses.
• Alice has a lot of toys and shoes that have been outgrown so those are all being sold as well. All of the toys that will be left are all things that she should be able to play with for the next 2 or 3 years. She also has a few Christmas presents that will replace the things that we are getting rid of. 
• I have a lot of household projects on the go that I intend to post here on the blog, I'm going to try to post more often. I have to make laundry soap this week so that post will be coming up soon
• Jon made me a little shelf for over my baking/sewing table. It makes it easier to quickly grab ingredients needed for dinner and baking and makes my kitchen look more organized
• The meal plan is a bit different now. I no longer plan a month of meals in advance, I found I was constantly going out to the store to pick up more meat or special ingredients. We've been placing a meat order with the butcher, they have set orders for set prices and we've also been picking up anything canned, frozen and bulk that we need early in the month. Now we just pick up fruit, veg and dairy once a week. We still have a ton of meat left and it's nearly the end of the month so we shouldn't need another meat order until halfway through December. We're also not sticking strictly to the $250 food budget. Last week I only had $20 left which was enough for the fruit, veg and dairy for the rest of the month but we were low on cereal and it was on sale for a very good price so I took out an extra $20 and bought 3 boxes as well as tooth paste and some other items.

I think that's about it for what's been going on around here, we plan on having Christmas at home by ourselves this year so I have to think of a menu for that.

What to do if you can't pay rent

Rent is one of the biggest expenses for most people, for a freelancer like me it could be from 40% to 110% of my monthly income depending on how busy I've been. If you take a look around the blog, you can see we've already cut costs to a minimum wherever possible. Rent is a fixed monthly expense. Or is it?

If you can't pay rent there are a few things you can do:

• Make more money - HA HA ! If only it was so easy!
• I have 11 revenue sources and work in an industry that expects everything for free
• Go further into debt - Use a cash advance on your CC. BAD IDEA!
• Get assistance - Your Province/State may have a similar program.
• I just got my approval for the BC Rental Assistance Program to get $325 back each month based on a laughably low 2010 income and current rent of $880
• You have to fax or mail a ton of documents, I think it was 60 sheets including:
• complete tax return for each person
• bank statements for previous month for all accounts and each person (I used screenshots from online banking)
• Social Insurance Numbers
• Photocopy of birth certificates
• Notice of Rent Increase
• Mailing this stuff was really making me nervous about the risk of identity theft.
• It took 7 weeks to get a reply and that was the approval letter.
• Ask to have it lowered - Each year the landlord is allowed to increase the rent by a small percent. It wouldn't hurt to negotiate to keep it the same. 
• This was my Plan B, since: 
• A) The apartment and utilities did not improve throughout the past year
• B) They have not done any of the repairs I've requested other than changing lightbulbs one time
• C) It would cost them more to find a new tenant, do all the paper work, clean & paint the apartment (which wasn't done when we moved in !?)
• D) There's a good chance I'm the only one in the building that even gave it a second thought/would have the balls to ask
• Basically they cash in on you being too lazy to move again. After a certain point it becomes cheaper to move. When an $800 apartment costs $950 after a few years without increasing in value, what's the point?
• Sublet - Subletting is when a tenant leases all or part of the property to someone. If you have an extra room and don't mind sharing the space this can be a good way to save on rent. It wouldn't work for us but could work for a single guy or girl or couple with no kids but lots of space. This requires a lot of trust.
• Finding a good room mate might require an extensive interview process.
• Your landlord may be allowed to increase your rent based on increased occupants, if it is allowed at all. 
• You will have to inform your landlord or property manager of the details for the room mate.