Mid-Year Money Check-In: How Much We've Saved, Spent & Invested In 2024

We're officially halfway through 2024, which means that it's time for our Q2 budget update!
Every quarter, we're reflecting on how much money we spent, and saved, over the past three months, and comparing those results to our budgeted goals. In this video we'll cover April, May and June.
Grab your popcorn and/or beverage of choice and let's dive into it - oh, and tell us how much money you spent (and saved) over the past few months, too! 🍿☕️
0:00 We're officially halfway through 2024!
1:35 How much money we've spent in Q2 2024
9:59 How we're tracking against our budget goals
➡️ Simplii Financial - Our No Fee Chequing Account (up to $400 bonus) - api.fintelconnect.com/t/l/65a...
➡️ EQ Bank - Our High Interest Savings Account - click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/...
➡️ Wealthsimple Invest - Our Robo-Advisor Investment Platform ($25 bonus) - wealthsimple.sjv.io/vnkndW
➡️ Wealthsimple Trade - Our Favourite Stock Trading Platform ($25 bonus) - wealthsimple.sjv.io/yRARNB
➡️ American Express Cobalt - Our Travel Rewards Credit Card (up to 22,000 points) - www.americanexpress.com/en-ca...
➡️ Neo Financial - Our Cash Back Credit Card - neo.cc/refer/N8U6K3S9
➡️ Questrade - Low Fee Investment Platform Canada ($50 in commission free trades) - questrade.sjv.io/AWa9jo
➡️ Borrowell - Free Credit Score Check - api.fintelconnect.com/t/l/612...
The links above are affiliate and/or referral links that provide us compensation when you use them to sign up. Thank you for supporting our channel!
Website - stephandden.com
Instagram - @stephandden
TikTok - @stephandden
➡️ KZbin Filming Equipment - amzn.to/3HrWA4i
➡️ KZbin Editing Equipment - amzn.to/3RXBsri
The links above are affiliate links - Steph & Den are Amazon Associates and we earn from qualifying purchases.
Disclaimer - This content is for education and entertainment purposes only. Steph & Den do not provide tax or investment advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.

[@stephandden]

What has your biggest expense been so far this year? Let us know! 👀

[@therichbuddha3277]

Incredibly healthy food. Organic, non gmo, no additives etc etc.

[@stephandden]

Amazing 👏🏿👏🏻

[@FebruaryFlower176]

Travel! I went to Puerto Rico and Peru earlier this year

[@stephandden]

That sounds great? How were your trips? 😊

[@N.M.N.]

Ours is always groceries because we impulse buy but we also put all our cleaning supplies, toiletries and pet food, diapers etc. it’s just easier because we buy all of it at the grocery store. That being said we usually eat out once or twice a week, buy gas and go grocery shopping. But when we start spending on other things it starts a snowball affect and we go crazy then we settle and back to just groceries, gas and some eating out.

[@investingtoast]

I recently binged all of your 385 videos and I wanted to thank you for sharing your investing journey. Your Canadian content is fantastic and very relatable as a fellow GTA Millennial. In fact, I will recommend your channel to anyone in my network that wants to start investing/budgeting. There are good nuggets from your CDIC series and the journey from active investing, robo advisors to diversified low cost global index funds.

[@ttjjsnwosnws]

Damn girl, 385 vids

[@stephandden]

Wow, thank you so much! We really appreciate this comment 🙏🏿🙏🏻

[@CayceAnne]

My biggest expense so far this year was travelling to Fiji for my sisters wedding 🥰

[@stephandden]

We hope that you had a great time! 😊

[@morethanyourbasics]

I was with a real estate agent looking for places in Toronto when I saw you both walking together. I almost considered stopping you both and acknowledging your youtube, but I decided against it because I didn't have anything to say and was headed the opposite direction. You both look exactly, and I mean exactly, like how you look online, haha. Same haircut, same clothes, same demeanour-it's consistent. Anyway, I thought that was a nice tidbit to share. Love the financial knowledge you share with Canadians because there lacks a lot of representation in that area.

[@stephandden]

No way! Definitely say hi next time if you see us again 😊 and thank you!

[@HouseOfBurgz]

Another great video. Thank you for sharing. I love staying on track with my budget even when I have unexpected expenses along with some months going over my budget. With that being said it’s important to stay the course and we are already half way through the year. Keeping records of spending habits helps with seeing where your money is being spent. I love the way you break down each spending criteria. I hope everyone continues to reach their financial goals this year, next year and years to come. Keep going! Aye aye aye aye! 🍊

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 😊 Agreed - it's easy to want to stop being on top of things when you have a set back, but it's the most important time to stay the course.

[@kierasegler6581]

First time seeing your videos! Great job…and I luv the way you both smile and support each other ! Have a great life🎉

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much 😊 we're glad that you found our videos!

[@wds3222]

I can spend around 1500$ a month (including rent). My gym is only like 12$ a month. I cut my hair myself (since covid). Around 150$ per month on restaurant. 300 on grocery. 0$ in shopping. I work form home so 0$ on transportation. Electricity 25$ a month. 71$ in phone. etc etc etc

[@stephandden]

That sounds like a great budget - thank you for sharing! 😊 Working from home can save you a lot of money between transportation + eating out expenses (not that you have to eat out when you work in office, but so many people do!)

[@tommyngongo8024]

Y’all are the best💯 at this point I just want an invite to the wedding 😂❤️

[@caliorbustarika3310]

You guys should make a video on health insurance! I’m based in Toronto too and my employer doesn’t give me health insurance, so I’ve been debating whether I should get some myself or stick with OHIP. Honestly, would love it if you could reply to this comment to lmk how you guys handle it 😓

[@julianadeau6525]

+1!

[@stephandden]

Great suggestion - we can add this to our list! 😊

[@ttjjsnwosnws]

How do you go about deciding how much to pay yourself? Because you could literally pay yourself $0 or $20k if you wanted (the business wouldn't last too long tho lol) And is your salary the same every month for the year, and then adjusted up or down next year?

[@CanCricket12345]

How do you deal with going over budget in certain categories? I use a zero based budgeting system, so if I go over, I take some money from my savings account, an account that I specifically keep a small amount of money in for overages. Just wondering how other people deal with overages, as I find my system kind of annoying.

[@Jibril_Abdulkadir]

Most expensive for me this year so far has been a bit of travelling but it’s worth it 😂

[@stephandden]

Where did you travel to? 😊

[@larry6682]

Thanks for the video. What about rent, utilities, etc?

[@oluchinwagboso7996]

10:23

[@stephandden]

We talk about this in the video, around the 10:00 mark 😊

[@superpriya113]

When you say you invest $2000 every month, is that including non-registered accounts? (if you don't mind sharing)

[@leewong9]

Question… since you pay yourselves out through your corp, do you budget for personal taxes on a monthly basis or you just make that payment out of your savings when the times comes?

[@stephandden]

We’re employees of our corporation - so we don’t have personal taxes that we need to plan for. We’ve basically set it up in the same way that any other company would if you were working a regular job. There’s some nuances on the corporation side, but otherwise it’s pretty simple on the employee side. 😊

[@TradingwithAfzal]

How much do you guys make each month ? What is a healthy earn/spend ratio according to you? Thanks

[@tonyp9313]

Their total is $4459.91. Which isn't a lot actually for 2 people. Which is a bit less than 54k. You divide that by 2 if they equaly share that. So you are looking at a bit less than 28k a year.

[@stephandden]

The $4,459.91/month is each - so we make double that amount combined 😊

[@tonyp9313]

@@stephandden You didn't say that. You said this amount is paid to both of us. Anyways that's very good money you make 1 year around 54K each...How many hours a week do you 2 work on avg?

[@caterinaramirez8864]

How do you do separate grocery budgets, but it kind of sounds like you cook/eat together?

[@stephandden]

We don’t - we split groceries together 😊 Dennis just took a few extra small trips this past month (for the both of us) and we hadn’t split that yet

[@NigelT2023]

Why would you not budget an amount for dental work if you intend to use the services and actually have a timetable for same?

[@stephandden]

We don’t budget for the dentist on a monthly basis, because we only go two times per year - we leave a buffer amount of money in the ‘Other’ category that’s meant to cover expenses like that when they do come up 😊

[@lionness_simsima5941]

Hello 👋 how’s it going. Happy 🎉birthday

[@stephandden]

Thank you so much! 🥳

[@MFTW]

Which basketball league are you in? I'm trying to find one for Toronto

[@stephandden]

Jam Sports! It’s a great league 😊

[@MFTW]

@@stephandden thanks! On the waitlist now :)

[@fasteddy3336]

The sad part is the first quarter and the second quarter had the same number of days. 91 each.

[@stephandden]

I guess that’s because it’s a leap year! How was your Q2 vs Q1? 😊

[@fasteddy3336]

I don’t look at quarters generally, but I did this time, the first quarter was very big because we had some stock options that we sold. The second quarter was good, my wife got her yearly bonus. But I just try to make every month green and not red. On occasions things happen and you do have red months. I have three adult children that live with us so what we spend in food is a big number. I have three cars, maintenance and then can get very pricey. I have a house and you never know what’s gonna break. They can be pricey. Thank God for sinking funds.

[@imWillJ]

biggest expense this year is a portable AC/fan.

[@stephandden]

That sounds necessary for the summer months!

[@shynepo1196]

I only saved about 4k

[@stephandden]

That sounds great to us 👏🏿👏🏻 did you have a specific amount you wanted to save?

[@shynepo1196]

@@stephandden 10k

[@stephandden]

The good news is you still have 6 months left for the year to reset 😊 you’ve got this!

[@robertmarshall5982]

So when you getting married?

[@M_SC]

When you going to learn manners