It’s time to look at your numbers. How many times are you going to say I wish? I wish I could do what you do with your money. I wish I knew how to pay off my debt quicker. I wish I knew how vital investing in my future could be. So here is a good piece of advice: STOP WISHING and start making moves. Hoping for something doesn't make it happen any sooner than it would if you completely forgot about it. These days it's all wishing and no planning. So many of us have become accustomed to settling for how things are because we don't want to fear failure. We have put off our dreams, goals, and eve ..read more

Choosing a credit card today can feel overwhelming I ask my followers which financial brands or institutions they’re most interested in learning about each year. This time around, Neo Financial was the most common response. So, because I never offer information about products or services until I’ve used them myself, I figured it was time to do my research on their credit card and savings accounts. Since the pandemic, I did a lot of reassessing what credit cards made sense to have given the *gestures everywhere* current state of the world. For example, I had a travel card that became useless a ..read more

You don’t have to be a seasoned CPA to file your own taxes The final deadline to file your taxes is quickly approaching, and our new regular contributor, Sarah, is here to share her experience filing her taxes for the first time. Sarah graduated from the Wilfrid Laurier University business program with a concentration in Finance in 2018. She now works as an Investment Representative in the financial planning industry. Alongside Financial Advisors, she helps manage the money of clients. Through her own experiences, Sarah writes about things pertaining to recent grads, women in finance, and ov ..read more

Your credit score does matter If it were a sport, a credit score of 650 would get you in the game. 800 would get you on the starting lineup and 850+ would make you an all-star. Your credit score can impact your life in a variety of ways. Whether it’s to obtain a mortgage, score a new rental unit or gain approval for your choice credit card — having a good score is important. Personally, I didn’t realize how important it really was until it impacted accomplishing a financial goal that mattered to me.  In 2019, myself and my not-so-pretty credit score walked into a car dealership. After ne ..read more

“Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become” My favourite book I read in 2021 was undoubtedly Atomic Habits by James Clear.  I’ve leaned on its contents before in previous posts and at this rate, I might be doing so every other post, but by golly what a masterpiece! Every single one of the concepts in this post has been influenced by concepts from Clear’s book. So while this isn’t a review, it is hopefully a testament to the type of quality content that resides within those pages. I have taken the concepts from Atomic Habits and infused them into my own life, and w ..read more

Money is emotional As the book's title suggests, "The Psychology of Money" does not take the crunching approach to finance education and instead focuses on a study of what happens between the ears. As Housel so eloquently reminds us, "You're not a spreadsheet. You're a person. A screwed up, emotional person." Instead of giving you a playbook describing the do's and don'ts of money management, this book gracefully introduces concepts of personal bias, emotional factors, and the psychological shortcomings we all fall victim to. In addition, its pages are filled with telling anecd ..read more

Finding new ways to earn more is key Building passive income can be a great way to increase your household income. Learning how to build passive income as you go through life can set up your family for a more prosperous future. The practices in this article will help you learn more about passive income along with some of the best ways to do so while making the most of your time and resources.  Why Passive Income is Valuable Did you know passive income can help you change your financial future? It’s great if you’re trying to save for a down payment on a house, a new car, or to pay off stu ..read more

It might seem like you're the only person in the world who is struggling to manage their money Talking about money can be intimidating if you're dipping your toes into personal finance for the first time. It can be even more intimidating if you have to speak to a financial professional or someone at the bank to ask about your accounts or figure out what you can do to improve your situation. But, one thing I like to remind people is that nine out of ten times, the person you're speaking to at the bank isn't going to be able to talk to you about your financial situation. Instead, they can speak ..read more

You might think you need big money to invest in real estate It's no secret that one of the oldest ways to invest in real estate is through buying actual property. But what if you don't want to sell your kidney to compete in a bidding war in today's market?  Aside from this, maybe you aren't interested in owning, don't want to become a landlord, or you're looking for a new way to invest in real estate entirely.  In today's post, we'll look at alternatives to the typical real estate investing methods. We'll cover everything from crowdfunding & REITs to executing a live and flip.&n ..read more

So many of us unknowingly deal with money based on how we are raised Spending guilt is something that many people experience when it comes to their money. According to a 2019 survey, consumers say they feel guilty about every one in five purchases they make. They spend around $89 every week that they feel guilty for, which totals $277,680 over their lifetime.  No one needs to carry around that kind of burden. But, for the majority of people, the feeling is inevitable. Truthfully, most of us feel a sense of financial guilt because of a scarcity mindset.  A scarcity mindset ..read more