E053 Jill Melanson on Household Budgeting
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 53
Date: January 31, 2023
Participants: John Webster, Sammy Damaren, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Jill Melanson
Start times and Segment Segments:
[0:00:34] What’s On Your Mind: Your frame of mind affects the way you approach experiences. We talk about changing the “what if’s” from anticipating something negative, to imagining something positive.
[0:11:50] Expanding Minds Interview: [Economic Wellness] Budgeting is a fundamental and common sense approach to financial wellness. It’s extremely important for a household. It got John and Sheila through their early days as students with two children and a modest income. Our guest, Jill Melanson, chats about strategies to help in the process, such as where to look for the information you need, and ensuring you give yourself time. Budgeting provides us with information that helps sort wants from needs. It allows us to find ways to cut back on some items, to make it possible to obtain others.
[0:27:41] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron gives us highlights from his trip to Quebec City with his school friend and fellow musician, Jacy James Anderson. The city was amazing and they had a fun experience at a jazz club.
Spotify link to Jacy James Anderson’s Album: Blackout Poetry
[0:31:25] Move That Body: We talk about an article on enhancing chances of making “smart” New Year’s resolutions to exercise more – ones that we can stick to: “Resolved to work out more in 2023? What science says about sticking to it”, by Stephanie Dubois, CBC News.
[0:38:15] Running Popup: Over the past year, John experienced visceral reminders that his mental health suffers when he does not keep aerobic exercise a part of his everyday life.
[0:42:00] Flipside of the Coin: We reminisce about an awkward twist at our wedding. It’s a good lesson that it's best to keep the couple in the loop about wedding planning.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Jill – There are two ways of looking at budgeting. One sense is writing on paper or a spreadsheet to breakdown your monthly spending. The other type is using automatic payments coming out when you get paid to cover things like mortgage payments, car loan payments, loans and that sort of thing. [Our discussion today focuses on the first sense of budgeting.]
Jill – Budgeting is extremely important for a household. You want to know where everything is allotted to. It is a scary thing to go through sometimes.
Jill – A good point to start when you are making a budget is going through your bank account statements and your credit card statements. All the numbers will be there. I recommend doing a two-month average of your statements for things like groceries.
Jill – Give yourself time when you sit down for a budgeting session. It’s a lengthier process than you realize, if you open up the bank account statements and credit card statements.
Jill – Seeing the automatic payments coming out automatically provides an opportunity to consider them, things like TV streaming services, gym memberships, all these little things. If you haven’t been to the gym in a while, or you haven’t watched one of the streaming services, you could see them or other areas as ones you can scale back on.
Jill – You have to prioritize the needs over the wants.
Jill – A friend of mine told me about a “30-day Plan” for bigger items, not necessarily TVs or things like that. If you want something bad enough, then wait 30 days and see if you still want it or need it.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by John: Ooohh, Mr. Rich Guy, he can afford lettuce.
Guest Information: Jill Melanson is a licensed Mortgage Agent who works with Invis, a large and respected Canadian mortgage brokerage. Jill guides her clients through the mortgage process and helps them make informed choices, including after a mortgage closes, providing tips and strategies to build long-term wealth. Jill spent most of her career with TD Canada Trust as a Financial Advisor. She also worked at RBC as a Financial Advisor in a more remote role. She completed her Canadian Securities Course among other investment courses throughout her tenure in banking. Jill has been married for 10 years and has two beautiful kids. Her contact information:
Jill Melanson – Mortgage Agent with Invis (Kitchener, Ontario office)
Website: https://jillmelanson.ca/
email: jillmelanson@invis.ca
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila and Julie