Posts Tagged ‘Personal Finance’

I spent a lot of time in my late teens and twenties waiting for my financial life to improve. Buried in debt and not making a lot of money, I’d visualize how much better off I’d be if I could just hold out until my next paycheque, or until I got my next raise. I’d picture paying…

Your twenties are exciting years, full of big changes and all kinds of opportunities – finishing university or college, starting a full-time job, seeing a regular paycheque for the first time. Maybe you’re moving into your own place. Or, perhaps you’ve been working for a while and you’re ready to start setting some financial goals.…

Having a child is a life-changing event that few of us can ever truly be prepared for. The enormous responsibility of having a little one completely and solely dependent upon you, as well as the absolute joy this little being will bring, can be overwhelming. You can plan as much as you want, but most…

There’s an ‘a ha’ moment for many people when they decide to get serious about their finances. It may come after years of drowning in debt or after reaching a milestone like marriage or having children. If now is your moment, here are five ways to take control of your money: Get going:  Step one…

We all like to compare ourselves with others when it comes to our financial affairs to see how we are doing. The most recent Statistics Canada compilation of how Canadians spend their money shows an average spending pattern. Figures are from 2013 – so a bit dated considering economics in the past year – but…

The plight of Gen Y is a hot topic around the personal finance blogosphere these days, and for good reason. Millennials continue to face strong headwinds from an economy that has been stuck in neutral since the global financial crisis of 2008. Meanwhile, the cost of higher education is soaring and new graduates are entering a…

When I was about thirteen, I started earning extra money by babysitting the neighbourhood kids. My 35-cents-an-hour earnings were then promptly spent – probably on chocolate. Teens are a lot savvier these days. Younger teens are babysitting, dog walking, doing yard work, setting-up computers and software (for people like me) and the like. Older teens…

It’s okay to spend money on life’s indulgences once in a while. If a daily latte or weekly visit to the spa floats your boat, I say go for it. When you design your budget around the things that are important to you – while cutting out the things that aren’t – then your splurging actually…

We’re not getting married as much any more. Of people 30 to 44 years old, only 60% were married in 2008. In 1970, 84% were married. Also, the age of people getting married for the first time is rising. In the 1970’s it was roughly 23 for women and 25 for men. In 2008 it…

A small business, as defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency, has an annual revenue stream between $30,000 and $5 Million. Of all the individual Canadians that filed tax returns more than 99.98% fell into that same income bracket. However, unlike individuals, small businesses account for their income and expenditures on a consistent and regular basis.…