Long story short, in the past year, we built a house... which went overbudget as predicted, PLUS an extra 14K (which is what happens when you find springs in the middle of where the sceptic field needs to be... drainage, trucks, UGH, no facepunches, I've already taken care of it, thanks). Thank you line of credit at low interest rate... PLUS, the past year has been rough for my office (I was hired there as we started building the house, naturally), and so we're all working 4 days/week at 80% salary in an effort to avoid layoffs.
I've spent the past 6 months casually talking about frugal spending (not in a preachy way, just either "hey, there's this great deal on X at the grocery store, if you're interested I'll give you a recipe my family loves", or "this grocery shopping tool has saved me so much money and you're complaining about the cost of groceries, here, I'll send you a link", or "I made X thing this weekend for free, remember when we saw it at the store for 150$?" or "look, I fixed this thing myself! I love new skills!) Meanwhile, my colleagues are continually commenting about my lunches (which, to be fair, are pretty great), and complimenting my clothes/asking where I buy stuff (60% good quality and lasts forever, 5% Old Navy, 35% thrift or made myself, but I care about fashion so it's actually put-together and looks pretty good). Not to be preachy or convert, but because these are hobbies and things I enjoy, so when we chat, that's what I share.
At lunch yesterday, 2 of my colleagues start talking about how the year is super rough, their lines of credit are maxed out, they don't know how to get their budget under control, etc. And then:
CW1: What about you, Kitsune? With your house, that's gotta be rough...
Me: Oh, no, I mean, there was some debt (they knew the amounts, because I ranted about it in July when we found out that the 30K overbudget we had planned wouldn't cover it... ), but it'll all be paid off by the end of March. We're good. (Note: I didn't think twice of saying that, and was actually kind of ashamed at taking 7 months to pay off 14K in debt. I HAVE CLEARLY BEEN SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON THESE FORUMS.)
CW2: ... aren't you taking the same pay cut we are?
Me: Oh, yeah, but our budget is built on slightly more than one income, so we've still got enough to get things leveled out, plus this means I get to spend Fridays with my kid. I wonder if I can keep working 4 days/week when the workload gets back to normal? Do you think the boss would go for it?
CW1: But. You eat good food. You wear nice clothes. Your car is always clean.
Me: ... yes.... ?
CW1: How do you do it? Can you teach me? Can you help me build a budget?
Me: ... ... yeeesss?
CW2: Actually, you build a menu based on sales, right? And you have recipes?
Me: Yeeessssss?
CW2: Could you, like, send me that? Or teach me?
*third co-worker walks in*
CW1: Yes! Can you teach me too?
*They explain to CW3 that they are trying to get budgeting/cooking/household maintenance tips from me because I'm the only one who hasn't dug myself into a financial hole of doom in the past year*
CW3: Oh, man, me and CW4,5, and 6 could totally use that. I've been using *this grocery shopping sales-tracking tool I recommended*, and it's saved me so much money. Also that blog you linked me to - so helpful, I've been cooking at home this year. Could you do, like, a lunch seminar? You've been way more helpful than the financial advisor this year.
So, as of this morning, 6 of my colleagues have requested links/advice/budget reviews, due to me apparently, seriously, no joke, being the only one doing ok on 80% salary. (And you guys: we're in Canada. a 20% pay cut, after taxes, equals maybe 400$ less per month. For an extra 4.2 days to myself. I WILL TAKE THIS BARGAIN. And none of these people are paid less than me, and all have partners who make at least what they do. HOW. Like: we're all households making about 100K in a semi-ok COL area. If 400$/month less is enough to dig you into a hole, how are you manging your take-home pay???)