real life with (very) real debt
How would I spent a stimulus cheque?
Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about the American government’s economic stimulus package. Both in the blog world and on social media, I’ve read a lot of different accounts from individuals about how they’ve spent or plan to spend the money.
Reading these accounts made me wonder: what would I do with an extra $1,200?
After spending some time thinking about it, here’s what I can up with.
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How can I help our community right now?
I’ll be honest: I didn’t think too much about that at the start of the COVID-19 response efforts.
Due to my job, I felt the impact of the response a little sooner than some of the folks around me. It hit the department I work in about a week or so before things really started changing. That time period, for me, was very much a fight or flight kind of thing.
But the deeper we moved into response efforts, I found myself thinking more about this question.
Over the last few weeks, we have been taking some steps to, well…try to help.
They are admittedly small things, so much so that I debated whether I should write about them at all. But after reading a few posts by others about what they’re doing, I decided…well, why not? Doing something small is still doing something. It all counts.
So here’s a snapshot of some of the things we’re doing to try to help our community right now.
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I wasn’t going to write about COVID-19.
It’s hard to believe how much has changed in a short period of time. Things feel heavy and uncertain right now and if I am honest, I wasn’t sure if I had anything to contribute.
I’m still not sure if I do. But the only thing that felt stranger than writing about it was not writing about it and pretending things are still business as usual.
That’s just not the case.
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I love the holiday season.
I don’t just mean Christmas Day — in fact, I find the actual day makes me feel a bit blue.
I’m talking about everything that happens in the lead up to the day.
The decorations. The holiday drinks. The music. The fact that sparkles are suddenly considered neutral.
And, of course, the traditions.
If you celebrate, there’s a good chance you have established some traditions of your own. We certainly do. These don’t need to be big things — and they absolutely don’t need to be expensive.
Looking for fun, frugal holiday traditions to try? Here are some of my favourites.
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I went through my first income tax audit last year.
The letter arrived months after we received our return. I assumed the review was triggered because I claimed some of my husband’s education credits for the first time.
I was half correct.
They wanted the paperwork for the credits, but they also wanted something else: our charitable giving receipts.
Canada offers a very generous tax credit to those who give money to charity. For us, this has huge implications for our taxes, often playing a key role in the end result: a return.
But while the tax benefits are a nice bonus, that’s not why we give.