From the category archives:

Couples and Money

Haggling is fun, but it is not for me.

August 25, 2010

Off on our routine 40-minute walk to our favourite coffee shop last Saturday morning, 15 minutes in and my husband says, ‘Wait a minute, let’s check out this big yard sale’. Uh-oh, what can I say, but, ‘OK, let’s go’.
He was checking out a fascinating item – a little pewter collectible.  He asked, ‘How much is this doggie [...]

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Here’s your financial tool kit

August 4, 2010

For many of us, it’s not January but September that qualifies as the start of the new year in Canada. Come the end of the Labour Day weekend, there’s a feeling the whole world is getting back into gear. Schoolrooms, boardrooms and businesses come alive; social and cultural events start ramping up; hockey season gets [...]

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Coupon collecting hobby resurrected

June 30, 2010

I am one of those who clip and collect store coupons thinking, ‘I could save money’. At times, I would spend a half-hour cutting out coupons and piling them up in my ‘coupon box’. But I never used them- my collection became a hobby.
One day as I was cutting out some, a light goes off [...]

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Love has no price tag.

June 15, 2010

Appropriately, I’ve been thinking about love in relation to money.
Recently, I did some window shopping. My journey took me to Toronto’s Yonge Street just north of Davenport where I happened upon a little store called Belle Epoque. Here I discovered a wonderful hodge-podge of modern furnishings, appliances, art and knick-knacks that lightened up my day. [...]

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National Post: The new face of debt

June 14, 2010

I came across an interesting article by Andrew Allentuck in today’s National Post that is worthy of sharing.  We all need to be aware of how our golden years of retirement can be very stressful when debt is a part of the plan.
For James Kennedy, a federal civil servant before he retired, and his wife, [...]

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How about, “My big fat, cheap wedding.”

May 28, 2010

As I write these words, a glorious golden sun is setting over Ontario’s horizon. The brilliant orb is slipping into a pale orange mist beneath big, baby blue skies that are fading into the beautiful navy of night. A slight breeze brings whispers from nearby trees and a flower garden where a few birds chatter [...]

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Money-savvy kids. Money-savvy parents.

April 14, 2010

Rules of the allowance game.
I’ve got three simple words of wisdom for gainfully employed parents who include kids’ allowances on their list of money problems.
Break the cycle.
Most of the time, the financial problems adults face directly relate to the financial illiteracy of their own parents. Like father, like son. Like mother, like daughter. Bad habits [...]

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Money, Men and Women

March 3, 2010

A peace plan for the financial war of the sexes
The artillery sounds from the shores of the Atlantic to the beaches of the Pacific. But it is not the boom of cannons that can be heard across the continent; it is instead cries of frustration and anger between couples – married and unmarried alike – [...]

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Books about Doing the Books

February 2, 2010

Words to the wise on personal money management.
To everyone out there who is anxious about money and credit, let me say this: invest in a little knowledge and you will be surprised by how quickly you can leave your worries behind.
A first big step in this process is to do a little reading – or [...]

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Thank Heaven for Guardian Angels

December 14, 2009

Come the holiday season, I can’t help but think about George Bailey of Bedford Falls. Otherwise known as actor Jimmy Stewart, George and his townsfolk have become a staple of Christmas viewing as TV and cable networks air what the American Film Institute has labeled the most inspiring film of all time, “It’s a Wonderful [...]

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