Give Me Back My Five Bucks

I came across an old post from Kiplinger that I had bookmarked: 10 Financial Commandments for your 20′s. And as I close in on another birthday, I decided to take a look at the list to see what I have accomplished so far, and what I still need to do. Here is my review of  the first 5 commandments: 1. Plan ahead. To get where you want to go in life, you need goals and a plan to reach them. Having neither is like driving a car without a steering wheel — with your eyes closed. Start by asking yourself what you want … Continue reading →

NOTE: This is a guest post by my good friend, the wonderful and sassy Money Rabbit. :) She is a young 20-something professional living in Toronto. You can also find her on Twitter @TheMoneyRabbit. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines an Enabler as: “One that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior.” Relationships, both friendly and intimate, form crucial foundations of happiness and success. Your friends are there to support you in your … Continue reading →

I have been really inspired lately by the personal finance world. After reading other blogs, I’ve been inspired to take more photos for GMBMFB, and after seeing everyone hop on the vlogging bandwagon, I’ve also been inspired to start attempt to try my own vlog. I’ve been unsuccessful so far, but it’s all a work-in-progress. :) New article ideas keep coming to me, and I remain happy and positive, despite a packed schedule. Anyway, here are two personal finance events that I’m really excited about: Financial Blogger Conference It seems like it just a few weeks ago that the Financial Blogger … Continue reading →

One of my August goals was to increase my accelerated bi-weekly mortgage payments to the 20% prepayment maximum. Well, I never got around to it, but earlier this week I was reminded of it by @RateSupermarket who tweeted about 3 easy ways to save $65,541 on your mortgage. So I finally stopped being lazy, and called to speak to someone at Vancity. My minimum mortgage payments are $1,098/month ($13,176/year). When I signed my mortgage paperwork back in May, I agreed to a 10% increase to $600/accelerated bi-weekly ($15,600/year). Now, my mortgage payments will be approximately $660/accelerated bi-weekly ($17,160/year). You can … Continue reading →

Note: this is a post brought to you by Genworth Financial. We are living longer lives. Life expectancy has risen almost ten years beyond what it was in 1960. So with the cost of living increasing beyond the rate of inflation, budgeting for life post-retirement is so important. To complicate matters further, at least 70% of people over age 65 will require some long-term care and 40% of people under age 65 already require long-term care. So we should also be factoring the cost of long-term care into our long-life plans. But then long-term care becomes yet another expense that … Continue reading →