Give Me Back My Five Bucks

Sorry for the lack of posts (and comments on other blogs) for the past couple of days – the BF and I decided to go camping at the very last second, and all we really had time to do was pack a few bags before we hit the road. We camped at Henry Lake, which is only accessible by driving through logging roads. For those of you familiar with where I live, it was out by the Port Alberni/Mt. Arrowsmith area. We also went exploring a bit and found Peak Lake, which is where we want to go camping next … Continue reading →

Today I did some rough calculations, and because I’ll be working so much this year, I stand to make just shy of $68,000 in taxable income. According to my 2006 tax return, I am eligible to contribute up to $15,213 to my RRSP in the 2007 tax year. If I max out my RRSP with the money I’m saving for my condo down payment (and then utilize the First Time Home Buyer’s Plan when I decide to purchase), according to Morningstar.ca’s RRSP contribution calculator, I stand to get a refund back of over $4,000. That money would go straight back … Continue reading →

According to a recent article, only a third of Canadian baby boomers are saving enough to guarantee a comfortable retirement. How scary is that!? People born in the early to mid-1960′s who are counting on only one kind of savings to fund their retirement will either have to work past the age of 65, or increase their savings to avoid financial hardship. This article completely hits home because while my mom has a juicy pension plan, my dad doesn’t have much saved up at all. I remember glancing at his RRSP statement last year, and being completely SHOCKED at the … Continue reading →

Lately, I’ve been pondering what to do with saving up for my condo down payment. Currently, I plan to save $2,000/month towards my down payment. I’m investing half of that money towards the down payment in a non-registered mutual fund. The other half is going in a high interest savings account of 4%. I want to increase my RRSP contribution to $300/month in May. But, am I better off increasing my RRSP by a lot in order to put myself in the next lowest tax bracket (and get a huge tax refund next year)? I would sacrifice saving money towards … Continue reading →

This is along the lines of NIUiceprincess’ post. I know this person in my life. I would consider her to be one of my good friends, but I worry about her. She has no concept about finances and she is definitely not planning towards the future. She has nothing saved for retirement, no emergency fund, at least $15,000 worth of debt, and just bought a new car. Oh, and she’s unemployed. This frightens me, but I never want to talk about it with her, because she can get quite defensive. It makes me upset. I’ve been planting seeds, like Nancy … Continue reading →