New Favorite Old Show

So, I don't have a TV and hence am behind the times on shows.

I've probably blogged about my hoarder show issue.  Well, I found a healthier way to satisfy my yen for thinking others are more messed up than me.

"Til Debt Do Us Part" which I am watching on youtube with a mobile wifi hotspot I checked out from the library for free.

This is a Canadian reality show.  The Canadians are generally more realistic in their reality shows than the 'Mericans are.  This one features a financial advisor who goes to a family with financial woes and works with them for 1 month.  If they behave well, have a good attitude, and demonstrate major life/money changes, they get $5000.00 (Canadian presumably).  Not the huge pay off that 'Mericans would expect.  Like much of Canada, it's toned down and more modest.

Each week there are the predictable plot points which I love in reality TV.  The genre reminds me of the old Batman series in reruns during my childhood.  If it was 5 minutes in to the show, you KNEW the villain would show up, half way and the dynamic duo is trapped in a ridiculously easy to escape predicament, and then it all resolves nicely.

In this show, the premise is that money is a mystery to most people.  Corollary premises (premia?) are that talking about money is taboo, people are unaware of what they spend, that people estimate income based on gross (ignore taxes and other deductions), and outgo based on net (ignore interest paid on credit cards and loans and the expense of ownership for things like vehicles and pets and kids and homes).  The advisor states that the primary reason for divorce or break up is money.  So, facing money issues and being open and solving them together sorts out the relationship as well as the debt problem.

The couples in each show discuss what they THINK is going on.  Some are realistic, most are NOT.  Most also blame each other for the issue.  The advisor goes through months of expenses and tells them what is actually happening.  She includes how much more they spend each month than they bring home.  She shows them where they will be in 5 years if they don't change.   It's a good point.  Not so distant in time that people think they can sort it out late, but not so overwhelming that they give up before they start.

Then, Gail, advisor,she cuts up cards (credit and debit).  She shows them a budget that will work for them each month.  Then she puts money in jars, cash money, for area of expense and they have to make it through the month on that.   That's week 1/day 1.

Each week for the month they have an assignment.  The first week is usually dealing with debt.  Some call credit card companies to get lower interest, some have to get a consolidation loan put on their mortgage to get rid of the credit card debt.

The next week they generally have to show how they can cut expenses more and/or bring home more money.

During relationship assignment week they have to usually talk to each other about money. Sometimes they get to do research like how much it would cost for a stay at home parent to go back to work vs what that work will bring in NET (not gross).  Often, with 2 or more kids, they can save more with a stay at home parent cooking and maybe taking in a kid to babysit, they come out ahead of a full time job.  Sometimes, turns out the spouse has to go to work.

In the end Advisor Gail gives them $5000 or less.  If they are turds or think they could do better than her and hence don't do their tasks, they get less.  One couple that I've seen so far, got bupkis.  Nada. Zero.  Zip.  Zilch.  They did nothing and were snotty little twerps.  It's like the one time Batman and Robin didn't defeat the villain and you knew that one was still out there...haunting.

I am surprised EVERY EPISODE (like 40 so far) that people are SOOO unrealistic about their $$.  Of course, I'm single and thrifty as crap.   There are things in my life that I don't want to face (we won't be blogging about those so bite me), but money isn't one of them.

Most couples, or at least one of the pair, just can't be honest with themselves about their money and where it goes or how much there is.  Geez!  It's like the hoarders who can't see the hoard or the folks on "My 600lb Life" (another of my favorite shows to binge watch), who can't see that they are eating enough to support 600lbs...must be glandular?  The money must be evaporating?  The hoard is "good stuff" that is useful in the immediate future...etc.

I think it's rewarding for me to watch because I have work3ed on most of the issue presented already in the past or don't have a tendency toward those particular vices.
It's nice to see what I already do or know that the advisor points out.  I also get some validation on things I've advocated but not done, and encouragement to keep following my own money choices even if something else MIGHT be more profitable.  I'm doing fine, I don't have to be rich.  I pay my own freight and am prepared for the occasional mid level crisis cost.  It also shows me the stress I no longer have since the debt is gone.  Zero.  Zilch. Nada.  Nil. Bupkis.

So, things I do that got validated:

1) Write down what I spend on a daily basis.  I do that MOST days.  Once in a while I miss a day or forget to bring a receipt home to record.  I try to write down 10-15% more than I guesstimate the costs to be.  Most people underestimate spending (and calorie intake) so I bump it up just in case.

2) Have a planned monthly budget.  It fluctuates and since expenses are fluctuating with construction and life...I write up a target for each category each month.  I "WRITE" with pencil on graph paper.  That works for me.  I don't want to turn on an electronic device to track my money.  It isn't "in the cloud" and when the computer or whatever device craps out, I still have all my information.

3) Each month I try to shave down an area that is creeping up in costs. Last month I spent too much on food in all categories:  Groceries (which is just food, not TP or soap or etc), dinner out, work lunches out, and coffee out.  I suspect I will be able to cut groceries but with visitors and lots of work trips, will probably not be able to cut the dining out.  So, I cut the grocery $$ and made a list of what I have on hand and a few things I could make with what I have.  I left the dining out lines high this month because being realistic makes for better success than being in fantasy land.

4) I plan for income interruptions or decreases.  It's happened in the past and could happen again.  Best to live on less than I bring in and get used to it.

5) I do NOT borrow to invest.  CRIPES!  I can't believe people do that but apparently it is common.  Actually, right now I don't borrow for anything.

6) I live mostly on cash.  She makes people live entirely on cash and I have done that.  Right now I use the credit card for gas, travel, storage unit bill, and a few other things that I may choose to buy online.  Otherwise, cash (or check) and immediately put it on the budget sheet.  I pay the credit card off weekly and I never buy material rewards, I just wait until I can get a credit put on the card.  Thus, I do not pay interest (ANY interest at this moment) and instead I take that 1% credit card points deal and put it back on the card.  That's 1% off my gas and storage bills.   I don't put those cash back things in the budget sheet.  I also don't put savings interest on the income on the budget sheet.  The total of those two is under 400$/year most years.  If times get tight, I will put those things on the sheet and track even more closely.

7) I track my income on the budget sheet.  When I get paid at work, get a tax refund, or a windfall, it goes on the sheet.  I leave off the stuff noted in #6 for now.   At the end of the month I total up the income and the outgo on the same sheet of paper and see the difference.

These last three the advisor hasn't recommended in the episodes I've seen, but I them and they work for me:

8) I not only track the monthly totals, I do a daily running total and a daily average.


9) Each month I have a target for the number of "no spend" days.  Those are days with zero money going out.  It makes me remember to gas up on days I'm already doing errands...and it makes me skip the occasional trip to town if it means a fuel up on a day that is otherwise "no spend."  I can usually get 10 no spends.  With more focus, I can get it up to 15.

10)  I get a real paycheck and deposit it. I just had someone tsk at me for doing that and I lashed out a tad.  She said something about my living in 1989 for not having direct deposit.  I said something about being the only one in the general vicinity with no debt and no current financial woes, hence I will just keep doing what works for me.