12 easy ways to cut down on daily expenses

Spending money on small expenses might seem insignificant, but in fact they are slowly draining bank accounts and racking up credit card bills. If a $10 a day latte habit seems minor, consider the expense of more than $3,600 per year.  Making small, relatively painless changes can yield big savings. Here are a dozen ways to […]

Single retirees: The power of one

Are you single? Then retirement planning is tougher for you than it is for couples. The cost of singlehood Single retiree should count on spending about $30,000 to $50,000 a year including taxes, assuming you own your home and have no debt. This compares with my spending estimate of $42,000 to $72,000 for retired couples […]

Fancy Pants or Millions? A Modern Parable:

Once upon a time there were two ladies. They both needed to buy some new undies and asked me along for a day of girl shopping. Mrs Spendy steered us to the fanciest store in town. She found a gorgeous pair of panties and a bra in red silk and lace which cost $155 and […]

Money and Love

The Family Law Act has been revised. “Under the revised act, couples that have lived together in a “marriage-like relationship” for two years are treated the same as married couples when it comes to property-division rules. This means common-law couples, like married couples, will generally share the property that accrues during the course of their relationship.” […]

Living Paycheque to Paycheque? An Interesting Option…

Do you feel you are living paycheque to paycheque and struggling just to make ends meet?  Vancouver was recently ranked as the world’s second most unaffordable city to live in according to Demographia’s yearly International Housing Affordability Survey. Trying to save money to build your financial future can seem nearly impossible while living in Vancouver. […]

The Price of Love

Here is a good article for the single Leading Ladies. “If you have clients who are single or dating, let them know that impressing and marrying that special someone can cost more than $50,000…For the third year, the website crunched the costs that are typically associated with a one-year dating period, a one-year engagement and […]

5% down payment now or wait and save up 20%? Is it worth the wait?

Many people have asked me if it they should buy today, with 5% down and pay the premium or wait until they have enough for the 20% down payment and avoid paying the premium altogether. To answer this, let’s look at an example, if you want to purchase a $400,000 house and you have enough […]

So, how much are we earning? The average Canadian salaries by industry and region

Wanna know how much money we’re making at the start of 2014? Statistics Canada has just released its latest report on the salaries that Canadians are earning. And it turns out that we’re taking home a little more than we were a year earlier. The average wage for Canadian employees is currently $928 per week […]