Patricia’s emergencies.

March 6, 2012

Let me tell you about Patricia’s emergencies. Patricia is a single mom in Toronto. She works as a freelance writer/art director in marketing-communications, clearing on average $3,500 a month. Basically, since her deadbeat husband disappeared into the void three years ago, Patricia has been living pay cheque to pay cheque what with her condo payments, [...]

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Beware of free cookies.

March 1, 2012

The other night at the supermarket I was approached by a man with a clipboard. He offered me 40 dollars off my groceries and a bag of cookies. All I had to do was fill out an application for a credit card. I admit I was tempted by the cookies, and $40 off my groceries [...]

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Some old financial advice for the young.

February 28, 2012

Canada’s young adults – or for that matter all Canadian youngsters old enough to understand the value of money – had better listen up. Parents, too, of today’s youngsters ought to take note. Last week we learned that funding for old age security in this country is not exactly secure. I mean, it’s not on [...]

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I’ve been hacked.

February 23, 2012

I’d been told by one of my friends earlier in the day last week that my email account had been compromised. How did they know before I did? Probably because since I had only seen the person hours earlier and could not have become stranded in a foreign country begging for money hours later.  I [...]

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Personal finance apps. A pocketful of modern miracles.

February 16, 2012

You gotta love digital technology. These days, mobile apps are being created for all kinds of practical things, including personal money management. Now you can manage and track your money on the fly at the push of a button. If you do so diligently and wisely, you just might find you’ve got yourself a pocketful [...]

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Out of the doldrums, for cheap.

February 14, 2012

I’m thinking about the February blahs. There’s a joke that comes with a question: Q: What’s good about depression? A: You always have your funeral planned in advance. Sorry for having mentioned it. But this being Canada – and me being a Canadian who strongly promotes planning in all aspects of life – I fall [...]

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Lenders beware.

February 9, 2012

It can be so difficult to say no; whether it be a friend’s invitation when you are pooped from a long hard day, a favor from your work colleague when you just don’t have the time or that second giant helping of grandma’s lasagna when you are absolutely stuffed. Most of us try to please [...]

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Debt settlement spiders weave webs of grief.

February 7, 2012

A new type of creature has infested Ontario. I believe its scientific name in Latin is something like Horribili Reatu Sedes Aranea, which translates to horrible debt settlement spider. It’s a creepy animal, often getting inside TV sets or crawling across the face of things like outdoor posters where it weaves endless webs through mind-numbing [...]

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No minimum payment this month. That’s great! Or is it?

February 2, 2012

My recent credit card statement says, “To ease the strain of the holiday season; we will waive your minimum payment this month”. Isn’t that kind of the bank? They also state though, that interest would be added to my outstanding balance. As my minimum payment amount is 2% of my debts, this means the bank [...]

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Pet Smarts

January 31, 2012

Did you know that pet owners tend to be happier and more confident than their petless counterparts (according to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)? It’s true, little Fido or Fluffy offers as much emotional support as family members do (maybe even more so depending on the case!). We love our pets. And why [...]

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