Mortgage free in our 30s!

We finished 2020 with a huge moment for our family and it passed without any fanfare.  We paid off and discharged our mortgage!  It's unreal to think about the fact that we now officially have zero debt.  

Often our zero debt declaration has been accompanied by, "except our mortgage" which is seen as "good" debt and almost inevitable if you want to pursue home ownership.  But now, it's just full stop.  Zero debt.

Talking about money with kids

What are your thoughts on talking about money with kids?  Do you ignore the subject?  Are they involved in budgeting, saving, spending?  Do you wish your parents had shared more or less about money?  

We are generally pretty open about most subjects with our kids, and have tried many approaches including chore charts, weekly allowances, and so on.  I shared a bit about our favourite app to help with this earlier on and how that simplified chores, spending money and teaching to save.

New Year Reflections

I hardly know where to start in reflecting back on 2021.  We couldn't have predicted the way last year would play out.  I was joking the other day that I remember when we thought March break would only be one week and how ridiculous that sounds looking back.  While there have been many jokes about the
dumpster fire of a year we had, there was so much good in our world amidst the chaos.

We made some major changes as a family.  In October, Justin left his 15-year career in favour of owning a small business, Molten Creations Inc..  This has been a dream of his since before I knew him!  We also celebrated ending 2020 with discharging our mortgage!!  I can hardly believe, still in our 30s, hubby owning his own small business and me continuing on part time have been able to discharge our mortgage.  

In the Kitchen: Buying in Bulk and Unit Pricing

One of my favourite ways to save on food is buying in bulk (when it makes sense) and by looking at unit pricing.  I am not a stockpiler, I don't even have a deep freeze for my family of 4... However, certain things I know we will use up within a reasonable amount of time are always purchased in the most economical quantity!

Unit pricing is when you can look at the cost per unit (could be 100g, 1 item, etc.) so that you can more easily compare multiple products of different sizes.  For example, one package of raisins might cost $4.29 for 350 g.  Another might be $8.49 for 900g.  It's easy to look at it and think $8.49 is more expensive when in fact, for the quantity it's quite a bit cheaper.

Sunshine Blogger Award!

I was surprised and delighted to learn that I was nominated for my first-ever Sunshine Blogger Award! It's possible you've come across it on other blogs, but I'll share a little background info here in case you haven't.

What’s the Sunshine Blogger Award?

Sunshine blogger awards are a peer-given award.  They are awarded from blogger to blogger to recognize content creators who are sharing positive, inspiring stories, information and spreading sunshine within the blogging community.  It's a great way to find and explore some other blogs, and share the love in your blogging community!!  You can get to know each other better and may find some new favourites!