From the category archives:

Budgeting

A close look at invisible spending.

September 8, 2011

September is a time to buck up. And by that I don’t mean it’s time to start throwing bucks around. I mean exactly the opposite. It’s time to gird financially for what to most of us is the real new year. The kids are back at school. Work places are vibrating with plans and new [...]

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Financial Diary of a 20something – My Debt Story.

August 25, 2011

Four years ago, I was 25 years old, living on my own, working my first “real” career-type job and had a commercial debt of over $11,000. This included $8,000 worth of credit card debt, $3,000 of overdraft, plus a few bills that were months past due. I knew I was at a financial rock bottom [...]

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Back to school. How would you brand your teenager?

August 23, 2011

A mass migration is about to occur in Canada involving well over two million citizens. Well, teenagers, actually. Call them Millennials, Echo Boomers, or Generation Y if you like. They are 13 to19-year-olds who are preparing to leave the carefree days of summer behind and march back to school. It is a momentous occasion not only [...]

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What has your bank done for you lately? Consider this.

July 21, 2011

You gotta love TheStar.com’s Moneyville section. Week by week, day by day, it offers a wealth of wisdom about intelligent ways to deal with your money and save. Great columnists and writers with oodles of financial smarts highlight the section, which features interesting themes of practical use to all Canadians.   Take Moneyville’s “Free Stuff Week”, [...]

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Yes, it’s a word that comes in handy now and then: No.

June 28, 2011

Around the office, I’m known as a stern and frugal manager concerning cash outlays. If certain parties, say business suppliers, don’t have a thoroughly convincing case for why they want me to give them more money for some reason or other, I don’t hesitate to say no. Period. So why is it that I sometimes [...]

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RESPect.

June 21, 2011

What about them Bruins, eh? When my nephew first started playing little league hockey his team was called the Canucks. It was all very cute and miniature but there was a kid on his team whom I freaking hated with a fiery passion. Let’s call him number twenty two because that was his number. At [...]

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Its raining deals

June 7, 2011

Rain rain go away, little Roxanne wants to socialize! After feeling trapped inside my house for two weeks my bestie Tacha and I decided that the beautiful sunny weather meant some well deserved socializing. I, being the genius that I am, suggested we try out a new Thai restaurant downtown for some good food and [...]

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Smart kid. Smart money. Kayla’s story.

June 2, 2011

Consider a teenager who for the sake of today’s discussion I will call her Kayla. She is 14 years old, and she is a living, breathing example of a savvy money manager. In fact, she started demonstrating personal money management skills at age three. Does that make her a child prodigy like Pablo Picasso, who [...]

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Forget the beer goggles, beware of the beer tab.

May 31, 2011

President Obama drinks a pint of Guinness, thinks it’s 2008. Emma Rogers drinks a shot of Tequila, thinks it’s 1999. Recently I found myself in the club district of Toronto for a stagette party.  It was my first time back after a long hiatus, due mainly to losing the skirt length battle with the twenty something crowd. There [...]

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Financial Smarts: Everyone’s a winner.

May 24, 2011

Winning may not be everything, but it sure feels good. Just ask anyone who has put their finances back on track and who is sticking to a budget. There is no official award for that. But there are tons of rewards. Like not having to stew about the weight of your piggy bank every single [...]

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