Should Working, Adult Children Who Live at Home Pay Rent? By Kevin SunThere are many reasons why it’s a bad idea to financially bail out your adult children when they’re already working, but things are a bit more complicated when it comes to living at home rent-free....

How to Pay Off Debt and Bills Quickly in Canada By Julie JaggernathHave you hit a brick wall trying to find the best or fast way how to pay off debt quickly? Rather than getting more and more frustrated, take bold steps that will get you moving towards your goal...

Great Ways to Conserve Electricity and Save Money at Home Guest post by Mike BrasovanShuddering at the sight of your latest electric bill? As the weather continues to fluctuate throughout the seasons, costs can soar during the hot summer months and the chillier winter...

3 Tips for Solving Money and Family Budget Arguments Just as it’s normal to love your family, it’s normal to argue with them about money. An APA survey reported that 31% of couples said money was a big source of conflict in their relationship. Especially during tough...

How to Cut Costs for an Emergency Budget When your income suddenly drops, your spending may have to as well. Many Canadians don’t have an emergency fund to help weather financial storms. Without that, cutting costs is the next option to consider. Tracking your...

Your Finances During the Coronavirus Outbreak, Is Your Emergency Budget Prepared? Is your budget prepared for the potential economic impact of a pandemic illness? As rates of the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) continue to spread around the world, school and...

How to Get Through Holiday Spending When You’re Tackling Debt Repayment With the Christmas season comes shopping lists, holiday spending, dinner party meals, and other costly festivities. For Canadians grappling with credit card debt and debt repayment, it’s a tricky...

Practical Tips to Avoid Debt During the Holiday Season With a week to go before the big day, you’ve got the big bushy Christmas tree, the perfectly wrapped presents, the festive turkey with all the fixings, and all of the other details that come with the holidays....

What Does It Mean to Set SMART Financial Goals? Whether your aim is to pay off your credit card debt, save for retirement, or work on another money goal, learning how to set SMART financial goals can ensure you achieve your objectives. What is a SMART goal and how do...

Is the Rising Cost of Living Stressing You Out? Tips and Solutions By Julie Jaggernath It's hard not to notice the rising cost of living. Most obvious these days is the price at the pump, and as businesses pay extra costs for the delivery of goods and services,...

How to Make a Personal Expense Tracker Work for You by Stacy Yanchuk Oleksy Before diving in to showing you how to make a personal expense tracker work for you, let’s take a quick step back and look at the bigger picture to make sure we understand why we need one....

Stop Living Pay Cheque to Pay Cheque – Break the Cycle with These 3 Steps By Julie Jaggernath When you want to stop living pay cheque to pay cheque, before you create a budget, you need to take steps to break the cycle so that you can create a fresh start. A divorce...

Ways to Save Money for a Financial Goal in 5 Steps That Everyone Can Do By Julie Jaggernath Is there something you’d like to buy but can’t afford right now? Maybe you want to take a trip, do some home renovations or are anticipating a large expense. If thinking about...

How to Budget Your Money: Budgeting Tips to Help You Save By Debra Pangestu When it comes to knowing how to budget your money, it’s all about creating a realistic spending plan with budgeting tips to help you save and manage money better. Charles Dickens was right...

This Free Budget Calculator Spreadsheet Teaches You How to Budget and Get Out of Debt By Christi Posner As both a Credit Counsellor and a personal budgeter, hear me when I say that this free budget calculator spreadsheet will teach you not only how to budget, but also...

“Throwback Thursday” and Paying Off Debt - What Can the Social Media Game and Web Trend Reveal? By Julie Jaggernath You might have seen or played a recent social media game known as #ThrowbackThursday (#TBT). It has become the nostalgic web...

How to Prepare for Unexpected Expenses With a Budget & Money Management Plan By Julie Jaggernath Winter came in with a vengeance this year. It didn’t just leave its destruction in many people’s yards and neighbourhoods, but it also wrecked havoc on their budgets...

3 Lessons from a Leprechaun About Saving, Using Credit Wisely and Being Debt Free By Julie Jaggernath If you could trap a tricky little leprechaun, what would you ask him about being debt free? March 17 is a day when many people wonder what riches or treasures might...

3 Ways to Create a Personal Budget Plan with Irregular Income by Julie JaggernathWhen you're a student with a student loan, a self-employed entrepreneur or someone who depends heavily on commission or seasonal income, you might be tired of hearing everyone tell you...

Does Being Organized with Money and Finances Really Matter? by Julie Jaggernath Being organized with money and finances is about more than just paying bills on time and having some cash to spend. While you might look at those around you and think that you’re doing...

Managing Money and a Line of Credit When You're Self-Employed Q: I was at the bank with my wife trying to get pre-approved for a new mortgage, and they turned us down because of what we owe on our line of credit. We contacted another lender and were turned down again....

Budget Planning for Kids & Teens Getting Their First Pay Cheques by Julie Jaggernath Do you have a teen who is starting to get their first real pay cheques? Helping them learn how to manage their pay cheques teaches them skills that last a lifetime. We get...

Help a Senior Parent Budget & Manage Money Q: My Mom is ready to sell the family home and move into an apartment following the passing of my Dad 4 years ago. She’s 76, in good health - a true pillar of strength for our family, but she is worried that she...

How to Help Your Teenager Learn to Budget & Save Q: My teenager has been working for several months but seems to spend his money as fast as he can earn it. I'm worried that he's blowing everything on useless items. What can I suggest to him so that he learns how...

How to Build New Year's Goals & Plans Q: Another year has gone by and my wife and I are frustrated that we can’t seem to get ahead financially. I have to admit that the thought of living ultra-frugally for the next 30 years so we can retire comfortably, is not...

Saving Face & Avoiding a Financial Crisis - Money Management & Personal Budgeting Q: On a whim a few months ago, we agreed to go away over New Years with two other couples. The deposit is now due on the cabin and we have no idea where to get the money. Our...

The Cost of Convenience Q: Our life seems to have gotten very busy. Not only are our kids back in school, but now that they’re older, my wife went back to work full time. Between both of us working, shuttling kids from pillar to post and to various activities,...

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Do | Home Renovations Q: We bought our first home about 5 years ago. Our money was tight initially, but we’ve been careful and now feel good about managing all of our expenses, as well as planning for our future.  Part of our plans...

How to Decide if You Can Afford Larger Payments in Your Budget or Not Q: A few years ago, both my husband and I were casualties of the world wide economic crisis. We lost our jobs and had to make some drastic changes to our lifestyle to keep affording our housing...

How to Have an Affordable & Budget Conscious Summer Q: Between our vacation, friends visiting from out of town and a family wedding, I already know this summer will be expensive for us. In the past we’ve put the extras on plastic and then spent the rest of the...

How to Give When Money's Tight Q: We value the work of charities and believe very strongly in giving to good causes. Our income is down this year and we wonder if you have any suggestions on how we can keep giving even though we have less income?   A: Canadians...

How to Plan a Vacation on a Budget Q: Our two weeks of summer vacation time are fast approaching and we haven’t planned a thing. While we can’t afford to spend a lot of money this year, we’d like to still do something special without blowing our budget. What can you...

What a Teen Needs to Know Before Buying Their First Car Q: My son is 17 and has recently gotten his driver’s license. He works part-time while going to school and wants to buy a new car to impress his friends. Without killing his dream, how can I convince him that...

Line of Credit Rates - Why Save When Borrowing is Cheap? Q: A friend of mine was giving me a hard time the other day. I wanted to delay my travel plans until I had saved up most of the money I needed, rather than use my line of credit to finance our vacation. His...

Saving Money - What Would Your Community do with an Extra Million Dollars? A major TV network is looking at producing a reality TV show that aims to help people get out of debt, save money, build a stronger community and liver their best life. We support initiative...

Could You Survive Missing a Paycheque? A new survey says 60% of Canadians couldn't Last week the Canadian Payroll Association released a survey which showed that 6 out of 10 Canadians would be unable to meet their financial obligations if they only missed one...

Avoid Technology's Traps: How to put the need for the latest gadgets into perspective Q: It's really expensive keeping up with technology these days. My kids say that my cellphone and laptop are lame compared with the new smart phones and mini netbooks available...

How to Maximize Your Back-to-School Budget Kids will soon be headed back to school, and for many families this represents one of the year’s largest one time expenses for the kids. Buying new school supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes, shoes, clothing and electronics can...

Are Canadians Reckless Spenders? A new study says we are A new study from the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada shows that Canadians “are among the most reckless spenders in the developed world.” Recently many Canadians have thought that Canada is...

Entitled to Live Beyond Your Means When we help people with their debts we always ask them what they think caused their debt problem. People provide us with many different reasons, but the most common reasons include things like excessive use of credit, living on...

3 Ways to Protect Yourself from Events like the Iceland Volcano For the last 5 days, a cloud of volcanic ash from a volcano in Iceland has covered much of Europe. Because this ash is so dangerous to jets, air travel across Northern Europe has virtually ground to a...

Don't turn your bad hair day into a budget holiday! by Julie Jaggernath What Does Having a Bad Hair Day Really Mean? We’ve all heard the expression of someone “having a bad hair day.” But what does it really mean? I think it’s safe to say that for most, it means more...

How to You Can Save 50% on Everything You Purchase If you are buying stuff, putting it on credit, and then not paying it off right away, you can probably save 50% on everything you buy. Many people believe that they can buy what ever they want now and pay for it...