Budgeting is the first step to saving money Toronto Star

23.01.12

Aileen Kung was in high school when her parents relocated the family from their native Taiwan to Toronto. As she puts it, her parents were immigrants with “no house, no job and no Western education.” So they pinched pennies for food, clothing and shelter. And, as they did, their children absorbed valuable lessons on how to save their hard-earned cash.

Thanks to that early intervention, Kung and her siblings are all living comfortably with good jobs, cottages and the ability to travel the world.

Kung, who works out of her home as an information technology specialist for a telecommunication company, deposits her paycheque directly into a savings account and only taps into it for holidays, sports and special occasions.

Her husband’s salary goes to all fixed expenses such as insurance and utilities.

They have one car, walk whenever they can, and always look for grocery specials. They try not to use their credit cards, because “paying interest on your after-tax dollar is not worth the sale,” says Kung. Every January, they examine what money they have left over, and, together, decide how much to tuck into their RRSPs, RESPs and savings, or what new investments to make. Being so frugal, they don’t have a mortgage.

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