QUBER User Profile: Stephanie
If you’re trying to improve the way you manage your money, hearing from the people around you can be extremely helpful. We sat down with Stephanie, a QUBER user who won our $5000 Save to Win grand prize in January, to ask her a bit about her journey with personal finance. We think you’ll find her advice to be really helpful!
Hi Stephanie! Thanks so much for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello, I am an easy going 39 year old single mom of 3 children working as a Nurse Practitioner in Moncton, NB. I’ve always tried to watch my spending habits since a young age.
How would you describe your relationship with personal finance throughout your life?
I would say that my relationship with personal finance throughout my life has always been 2nd nature to me. I always seemed to watch my pennies since a very young age. I first started with a piggy bank with tooth fairy money, then eventually graduated to debit/credit during my teenage years that then progressed into investments in my early twenties.
I’d say that for the most part, I was mainly always a saver & a modest spender. I was never really one for brand names and always looked to find anything I wanted at a cheaper cost or often repurposed various items. I would often limit myself in buying only what I needed & rarely what I wanted. I did however go through occasional impulse buys in my younger years when I first began my career. I always felt a sense of pride when I paid for something cash or was able to maintain my credit at $zero & graduated without a student loan. Major changes I’ve since made is investing into RRSPs/TFSA. I’ve seen first hand how money can grow in this things.
If you could teach your younger self one lesson in personal finance, what would it be?
Pay yourself first. Get used to taking an automatic 10-15% off of each & every pay check and throw it into some sort of investment/savings & don’t touch it. Get used to doing this until it becomes automatic to the point you don’t even miss the money and watch it grow. Also, if you have both cash & credit card, pay for something using the credit card, then pay it off immediately with the cash all the while collecting points. Pay stuff off- you don’t always need new of everything all the time.
The lovely Stephanie with her children 😊
What are you saving for these days, and what keeps you motivated?
Currently, I’m mainly saving for mega home renovations/remodeling/landscaping. I’m also saving for a big trip I’d like to make once current world events settle. Seeing my money grow through investments and finally arriving in a financial spot where I’m beginning to pay things off (car, camper, etc..)is what’s keeping me motivated. I’m diverting saved payments towards other payments and getting things paid off more & more.
You were our grand prize winner for our 2020 Save to Win series and took home our $5000 prize. How was that experience, and has it encouraged you to save more?
I actually didn’t believe I had won & actually questioned whether it was a scam. Haha. I was reluctant to believe I had won such an amount- it’s usually some stranger that wins these sorts things, not me! Haha.
But when I saw the amount deposited into my ‘landscaping jar’ it did actually encourage me to save more because I saw that I was a little bit closer to my goal amount.
Is there anything else that you’d love to share with someone who’s trying to get their finances in check?
In a world where nothing is free, my advice is to nonetheless find fun free things to do in order to keep busy & stay off the internet as much as possible (it is indeed possible). It’s so tempting to e-shop when we’re bored, especially during these times. Keeping busy will help this. If you do e-shop, put your selected items in the ‘cart’ and then leave them there for 24 hours before making that final transaction. You’d be surprised how many items leave that cart the next day. I also strongly recommend taking the time to cook meals at home as opposed to ordering in/out. The savings will add up quickly. If you do need to spend, try to limit purchases to necessities only and then reward yourself from time to time with a ‘want’.
