QUBER User Profile: Kimberly

If you’ve just started managing your personal finances carefully for the first time, it can be tough to know where to start. Chances are, you’re getting serious because you’re tired of perpetuating the same cycle of financial stress over and over, or you have a big financial goal in mind, but you probably don’t know what steps you need to be taking to ensure you’re on track. In situations such as these, or if you find you keep hitting roadblocks as you try to achieve your financial goals, it helps to hear from others who have been exactly where you are and get some advice on how to push past obstacles along the way. With that in mind, we sat down with one of our long-time users, Kimberly, to ask her about herself, her personal experiences with money management and how she was able to completely change her financial habits after years of carefree spending.

[Alina] Hi Kimberly! Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

[Kimberly] I am 30 Years old; doggy mom.
Solo home owner now.  
I enjoy music and quiet nights at home; 
Recently discovered the joys of gardening.

How would you describe your financial habits over the course of your life?

I would say they were terrible.
Never had any savings; living paycheck to paycheck with cars and ATV's and payments I honestly couldn’t afford.. I was " house poor”. Spent my entire adult life (21 -28) married. We had terrible spending habits; .. both of us. 
Always behind on bills; never catching up.

I worked 2 jobs from the age of 19 until just recently at 30.

When did you start taking money management more seriously, and why?

In 2018 myself and my Husband separated; 
I wanted to keep the house. I needed to figure out a way to manage my money and budget to be able to handle it alone. It was " do or die". I was working 3 jobs to pay for lawyers and renovations that needed to be done. QUBER is what changed it ALL for me. 

What are you saving for these days, and what keeps you motivated to keep going?

Living a "normal" and not so stressed life as before... I now always have a few bucks left from my paycheck... just by getting ahead on bills.. this app has given me the "cushion" I needed to QUIT my Part time job.. I now only work 1 full time job.. Its wonderful .. 

I have 4 different savings jar .. One is to pay of my Credit Card ..I will be cashing out 1000$ November 1st . 
Saving for christmas possibly.. or maybe to keep a few bucks for unexpected bills..  I always want to keep 200-300$ available in the app .. as an extra safety net .. 
BUT ; I recently opened the 5K in 52 weeks challenge .. I want to pay off a Bathroom Renovation I did this year.. in 2 years instead of 6 ... I am on the right track already ! 
Last year I paid off my new steel roof for my garage ... so this year I wanted more ....

   <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0c7bd7d4370a12c0c75a06/1602594942656-Y4866QQZE6R6YVW7IO23/User+profile%3A+Kim?format=original" class="kg-image" alt=" The lovely Kim 🙂 " loading="lazy"><figcaption>The lovely Kim 🙂</figcaption></figure> 

Do you have any good tips for people when they experience setbacks with reaching their saving goals?

DO NOT GIVE UP; 
Even if you are only putting 20$ a week... and you feel like you aren’t saving... Think about it… after 1 year you have over 1000$ saved! 
ANYTHING is saving more than you were... Little goals and little bills to pay off or purchases. 
I used to lose my cellphone and power yearly and never have ANY money to get things I wanted.
I now have used this app to LEARN how to budget... and cut off some certain expenses that I realized I didn’t need..when I could just put that extra change aside instead ! 

I used 300$ that I saved up last year with QUBER to Pay my Rogers bill and my NB Power bill... " 1 month ahead" .. so now I have the flexibility still to pay my whole bills..or only half for a month when some unexpected stuff comes up..
Its the best little flexibility I could give myself to budget . 

Has COVID had a major impact in the way you’re managing your money?

I was lucky .. very lucky that my job was not directly affected.. the company I work for was and still is affected . But my position is unaffected until now.. 
So I have kept saving .. but I may leave 1 savings jar untouched incase things get worst..

Is there anything else you want to share with other people trying to take control of their finances?

Never give up .. It really does get better ; small amounts add up ; 1 bill at a time ; 1 payment at a time.. 
Print a calendar .. colour code what comes in..and what goes out.. see what little extras you can set aside to pay something off faster ! 
I started with nothing but debt and desperation in 2018 ; ... I started saving in baby steps 10$ per week plus a few spare dollars .. to adjust and to understand I had 'extra' money I was bleeding out and didn’t realize .. adding to the savings jar is addictive ..seeing your savings increase weekly .. makes the small changes or sacrifices to worth it !! 
I now Save 193$ Bi-weekly .. to get 5000$ in 52 weeks 
I NEVER THOUGHT I had that " extra" money .. But i did .. by saving little by little..and cutting spending in baby steps (less takeout, less Drive thrus in the AM).
I found a balance to make this large savings account... Happy Savings! 

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0c7bd7d4370a12c0c75a06/1602597741051-LT5WBGY30L10069NZ7LO/Motivation+to+keep+saving?format=original" alt>

We hope that reading some of Kimberly’s story will help you remember that you can turn a tough situation around if you take a long-term perspective and put the work into fixing it. Money can be a tough thing for many people to talk about, but if you think about it, you interact with countless others who are dealing with (or who have dealt with) the same financial experiences on a daily basis. There is a lot to be learned from each other if we share the details of our stories, like Kim has for us here. Kim shared a great tip when she mentioned that she started very small, saving just over $10 a week, to help herself get used to the process and to help identify what she could cut out before moving on to the larger amounts she saves now. So, if you’re trying to make improvements to your financial habits after a period of volatility, it’s important to remember to start with small changes if you really want to be able to stick with your plan on a long-term basis; you wouldn’t walk into a gym and try to lift 300 pounds as an amateur weightlifter, so you shouldn’t take a similar approach to money management. Ultimately, Kim said it best when she said “never give up”. Turning around a tough financial situation will take time, work and perseverance (particularly when things doesn’t seem to be going your way), but it is entirely possible and is absolutely worth the effort.

Thank you so much for taking the time to participate Kim, we really appreciate it!

Has Kim’s story inspired you to change the way you manage your money? Click here to download QUBER and start managing your money mindfully today.

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Have a suggestion for something you’d like us to write about? Shoot us a message at contactus@quber.ca and we’ll get to work.