Since this crazy pandemic began, it really started to open the eyes of many people (including ourselves!), on how much unnecessary fees we’ve all been paying that we don’t really need! So here are 3 TOTALLY UNNECESSARY fees we cut in 2021!
1. Storage Locker Fees
This was a BIG one for us! Because we downsized our home a few years ago, we decided to store some of the extra things we had at our old home, at a storage locker nearby. When we visited this place late last year to get our Christmas decorations out, we just took a good hard look at the things we were trying to hang on to! I mean besides the Christmas decorations, we haven’t really found the need to use the other items in that locker!
Moreover, what really pushed us over the edge was that the storage locker company decided to mail us a notification letter late last year saying there will be a 10% raise to our locker starting January 2021 of this year! TEN PERCENT!! That’s huge!! We were already paying $105/month! So it was really first unbelievable that they can just tack on 10% on top of that — and secondly, it was even more unbelievable that we had NOT found the need to use the other miscellaneous items in our storage!
Think about it this way — if you have a storage locker that stores your old items in it, that means you’re paying an extra monthly fee just to keep them! You know those old ice skates that you bought on sale at Sportchek before?!? …guess what? You just lost the money that you saved that day you bought them! Those dollars are now in the pockets of the Storage Locker company! And to make matters worse, you still keep paying them, turning those ice skates into one VERY EXPENSIVE pair of winter shoes collecting rust & dust at that locker!
2. Bank Trading Fees
We have been trading with TD Direct Invest since forever. Never really switched out of our main bank… until this year! The game changer — Wealthsimple Trade. They currently offer a $0 COMMISSION on ALL trades! Isn’t this super awesome?!! Now of course, they have some limitations in their current platform, since Wealthsimple is quite new, relative to TD Direct Invest. The biggest limitation for us is the fact that they don’t have U.S. dollar trading accounts. All they have are Canadian currency accounts. So basically, if you buy & sell a U.S. stock like McDonald’s, then you’ll be paying foreign exchange fees to buy the stock and you’ll be paying foreign exchange fees when you sell it. This is precisely how Wealthsimple makes money. They even scream it out loud on their website!
So the solution was to have our entire TFSA accounts ported over to Wealthsimple, since we only hold Canadian stocks inside our TFSA! We then left our RRSP trading account with TD Direct Invest since we hold all our American stocks in U.S. dollars in there. This would then mean that we would be trading all Canadian stocks 100% free of commission moving forward!
To sweeten the deal…
Wealthsimple does this all for you FOR FREE (if you’re transferring a portfolio that is $5000 or more). Most banks charge fees when doing this, but Wealthsimple really takes all the pain away! I just love their no-frills approach on everything they do!
My wife and I paid a combined total of $250 for trading fees last year! As much as we both love banking with TD, why would we continue this with them if we can trade for free at Wealthsimple and keep more of our money? In fact, the money saved in fees could be used to purchase us more stocks! Really — a NO-BRAINER decision for us! 😉
If you’re interested, Young&Thrifty made an in-depth review on Wealthsimple Trade and they also share a $50 cash bonus promo when you use their private link on their page!
3. Website Hosting Fees
Okay well this one, I realize is a little bit more unique to ourselves and might not apply to you necessarily. We currently have 3 websites that we manage — yes, three! Our family travel website (onourlist.com), my wedding photography website (capturedpieces.com), and of course my very own personal financial blog here at timerichcanadian.com. We used to have all 3 separated into 3 hosting plans, but have recently consolidated everything into ONE hosting server instead — all with BLUEHOST now!
Yes, we paid a little bit more on Bluehost to have all 3 websites sit in one spot, but all in all, because we consolidated everything in one, we saved a total of $150 USD per year! — which represents about 28% OFF our entire website hosting bill! Quite a significant difference, as this all adds up!
QUICK TIP: Again, while this third one on having website(s) might not relate to you at all… you can also look at other unnecessary bills you’re currently paying for such as that dreaded ol’ Cable TV service! Let’s face it, streaming services are the new wave of the future and the traditional Cable TV service is a dying breed. We actually cut Cable TV off our lives back in 2016… and it was bliss ever since then!
Or what about that 6GB data plan on your cellphone? Do you really need that? Why not downgrade to 1GB since WIFI is practically EVERYWHERE these days!! 😉
The bottom line…
A grand savings total of $1844 a year!!
Now isn’t that CRAZY? We’re even kicking ourselves and are wondering WHY we didn’t do this much sooner! The point is, everything adds up!! If you can just figure out how to declutter all the unnecessary things in your life today, you can be one step closer to financial freedom!
