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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Book Review: 397 Ways To Save Money

Over Christmas, I was given 397 Ways To Save Money by Kerry Taylor, a book from the creator of the blog Squawk Fox. From her site:

"Kerry K. Taylor is the creator of Squawkfox.com, a journalist, and a two-time Ironman triathlon finisher. She beat $17,000 in debt and saved a six-figure portfolio. Kerry lives on an organic farm in British Columbia with her husband, Carl, and their mutt, Pivo"

Her book is a collection of paragraphs on different ways to be frugal and save money on every day items. They are organized into fifteen chapters, and at the end of each paragraph there is a bold caption summarizing the annual cost savings. For example, when talking about dishwashers, "BOTTOM LINE: Start an open-door policy by air-drying dishes and save at least $20 a year on energy costs.

Overall, I was very happy with this book as there were several ideas that I had not thought of to save money around the house. Some of the ideas though leaned from "frugal" to "cheap" (watering down your shampoo to save $20 per year...come on!).

I'd recommend this book to pretty much anyone, but especially to those starting out and looking for ways to save money around the home, where her ideas were the best. At the end of the book, there is a month-by-month listing of household items to check. Things like "Clean air conditioning filters", and "check water and drainpipes for leaks". Obvious things to some, but a good idea of what to do on a regular basis to prevent large scale problems.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Net Worth Update - January 19th, 2010

Not a pretty two weeks...with a few small expenses here and there (going out for congratulations for the wedding, getting a new birth certificate (don't ask)) my numbers weren't great this week. Also not having an extra $150 per paycheque because of my tax deductions at the end of the year hurt as well.

Every time I get paid (every two weeks), I update my net worth. The idea behind this is that my goals are that my liabilities drop every two weeks, and by tracking them in this way, I am able to get a nice picture of where I stand financially. Its not a perfect balance sheet that I have (because of student loans I have a negative net worth), but the progress is what I am looking for.

ASSETS:
- up $139.36 from January 2nd, 2010
- up $7488.58 from January 16th, 2009(one year ago)

These assets include my house (I give it 1% appreciation each year in my appreciation), my RRSP and my TFSA. The market dropped slightly, but overall I am still in good shape.

LIABILITIES:
- better $143.36 from January 2nd, 2010
- better $15,922.17 from January 16th, 2009(one year ago)

These liabilities include my mortgage, student loans and a consolidation loan (mainly for my Masters Degree for teaching). I am now up to five tutoring jobs, where the extra money that I earn goes to paying off my liabilities. My Mastercard shot up this paycheque and that is what is causing the problems here.

NET WORTH:
- better $282.72from January 2nd, 2010
- better $23,410.75 from January 16th, 2010 (one year ago!)

Once again, automatic pilot means that things will be going in the right direction without major intervention on my part no matter what. We'll see if I can keep my nice streak going. My fiancee and I hope to combine our finances once we get married (February 14th!) so hopefully my cashflow in a month will slightly improve.

The last thing I am going to track is the value of the TSX. I have some asset allocation goals that are dependent on the value of the TSX.

TSX Graph
Current Value: 11,750.54
Highest Value in Last 2 Years: 15073.13 June 18th, 2008

Monday, January 18, 2010

Spousal RRSP

As I am getting married soon, we were talking about taxes the other day, and my fiance joked that "I had better be able to get her below the tax bracket so she gets her GST cheques this year". Then I started thinking, I am taxed at a higher bracket than she is, so deductions above the amounts to get her to that tax level are better given to me.

The option that I am thinking about is Spousal RRSPs. Because I am getting taxed at a higher marginal rate, the contributions will still be whatever we individually do, but the deductions would go to the higher income earner.

Here are some links (for myself for further reading)

Spousal RRSPs from TD
How Spousal RRSPs Work (from Million Dollar Journey)
Can RRSPs and Spousal RRSPs be rolled into one?"

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Net Worth Update - January 7th, 2010

I was a little slow with the update because my bank was a few days behind because my paycheque came out on a holiday. But my bank statements are now up to date and I can update finally!

Every time I get paid (every two weeks), I update my net worth. The idea behind this is that my goals are that my liabilities drop every two weeks, and by tracking them in this way, I am able to get a nice picture of where I stand financially. Its not a perfect balance sheet that I have (because of student loans I have a negative net worth), but the progress is what I am looking for.

ASSETS:
- up $532.16 from December 20th, 2009
- up $7523.36 from January 2nd, 2009(one year ago)

These assets include my house (I give it 1% appreciation each year in my appreciation), my RRSP and my TFSA. At the end of the year, distributions are up as well as stocks tend to rise so portfolio managers (in my opinion) can look better in a year to year comparison. (I don't know if that's true but it seems to be)

LIABILITIES:
- better $816.14 from December 20th, 2009
- better $15,171.80 from January 2nd, 2009(one year ago)

These liabilities include my mortgage, student loans and a consolidation loan (mainly for my Masters Degree for teaching). I am now up to five tutoring jobs, where the extra money that I earn goes to paying off my liabilities. I have a small Mastercard amount but once that is paid off these will continue to be tremendous amounts here!

NET WORTH:
- better $1,348.30 from December 20th, 2009
- better $22,695.16 from January 2nd, 2010 (one year ago!)

Once again, automatic pilot means that things will be going in the right direction without major intervention on my part no matter what. Technically, this was my three pay month so these numbers look great no matter what here.

The last thing I am going to track is the value of the TSX. I have some asset allocation goals that are dependent on the value of the TSX.

TSX Graph
Current Value: 11,944.54
Highest Value in Last 2 Years: 15073.13 June 18th, 2008