Give Me Back My Five Bucks

Now that I have broken up with American Express, I have been on the hunt for a new #1 credit card. While it doesn’t necessarily have to be a travel rewards card, it does have to do more than my American Express card did – and with no annual fee. Enter … the MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus MasterCard. It was love at first sight. This credit card is amazing. Seriously. Incredible. It’s not a travel rewards card like my Amex was, but the benefits it offers far surpasses the 1.25% in travel rewards points that I was receiving. Here … Continue reading →

I’ve mentioned a few times in the past couple of weeks that I’ve got a new freelancing gig – well now I can tell you that I’m a brand new personal finance writer for Canadian Living! For those who don’t know, Canadian Living is a monthly lifestyle magazine (and also available online), which focuses on food, fashion, crafts, health, family advice – and now personal finance. The topics that I will be covering are a bit different than on this blog, and on Moneyville. With Canadian Living, I’ll be discussing personal finance news, tax, real estate, government policy/law, history, book … Continue reading →

Monday 29th + $125 freelance/side income $209.60 business cards (1000) Tuesday 30th No Spend Day!  Wednesday 31st No Spend Day! Thursday 1st + $431.93 freelance/side income $147.84 Sephora (Skyn face cream  - yes it’s worth it) Friday 2nd – Vancouver Island $77.60 ferry $48.97 gas Saturday 3rd – Vancouver Island $31.16 Thrifty Foods $19.74 Eagle’s Nest Pub, Ucluelet $43.01 gas Sunday 4th – Vancouver Island $14 Noodle Box WEEKLY EXPENSES: - $591.92 WEEKLY SIDE INCOME *: + $556.93 TOTAL: - $34.99 Okay, before you start to think that I’ve lost my mind by buying business cards being super expensive, well, I think the cost is … Continue reading →

NOTE: I’m on vacation today, so the lovely authour of Well-Heeled Blog has offered to write a guest post for me. WHB was one of the very first PF blogs I ever read (and still one of my all-time favourites). I’m so glad that after so many years, she’s still around. :) When it comes to personal finances, I try to keep in mind that how much I can spend doesn’t have to dictate how much I should spend. That didn’t help me, though, when I first started looking for a photographer for my wedding. Even though I was surprised by how much … Continue reading →

I’ve been looking forward to September for a while now. Summer is officially over, and I can finally rein in my spending. A permanent change to my monthly budget is my mortgage amount. My mortgage payment is set at $1,098/month, but up until this month, I’ve been paying $600/bi-weekly. I am now going to increase my payments to approximately $660/bi-weekly, which represents the maximum 20% pre-payment I’m allowed to make. Another couple of expenses this month – Travel is at $375 to take into account my long weekend trip to Vancouver Island (which includes stops in Nanaimo, Tofino, and Victoria). Also, Personal … Continue reading →