Tuesday, May 22, 2012 9:06 AM EDT
Living frugally in your 20s: Five tips
Shelley White
By now we’ve all heard that being a twentysomething today is no financial picnic. Higher tuition costs (and higher debt loads), higher housing prices, and poorer job prospects – as Rob Carrick wrote recently, young people really do have it harder than he did.
But lately I’ve been wondering if these difficult financial times might create some sort of “new frugality” movement within the younger generations. Instead of heading into their 30s saddled with debt, throwing everything on credit and taking out mortgages on houses they can’t afford, perhaps people in their 20s will rebel by embracing previously uncool concepts like budgeting, penny-pinching and saving for a rainy day.
Meet Jaime Woo, the 29-year-old co-founder of Gamercamp, a videogame conference in Toronto that is entering its fourth year. He’s fulfilling his dream of owning his own business - and he hasn’t gone into the hole to do so.
Mr. Woo self-funded his business, due in large part to the financial literacy and discipline he’s been exercising since he was a teenager. Mr. Woo got his first credit card at 14 and his first part-time job at 15. His mother and aunt worked for banks and taught him about money very young.
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012 8:26 AM EDT
Got the credit card that’s right for you?
Shelley White
I’ve had the same credit card since I was 20 years old.
As a university student, I was approached by a nice-looking young guy in the university community centre who wanted to know if I would like to apply for a credit card with my school emblazoned on it. I was quite impressed by both the guy and the card, so I went for it.
In the 20 years since, I ditched the university branding but stayed with the credit card company. Frankly, I haven’t given it too much thought since – as far as I’m concerned, as long as my card works - and there’s not too much racked up on it - I’m happy. But in an age when there are dozens, even hundreds of different cards, programs and features available, I wonder if I need to take a look at whether I’ve got the best card for my lifestyle.
Monday, April 30, 2012 2:45 PM EDT
The age of easy credit gives rise to ‘grandpa debtor’
Shelley White
For many of us, the promise of retirement means rest, relaxation and some time to smell the roses. But for an increasing number of older Canadians, retirement means serious debt trouble.
According to a recent study by Hoyes Michalos & Associates in Ontario, 16 per cent of debtors who filed a bankruptcy or consumer proposal were “grandpa debtors” – over the age of 55, an increase from 12.5 per cent in 2008.
It’s a trend that Blake Elyea sees happening in British Columbia as well. Mr. Elyea is senior vice-president of Sands & Associates, Proposal Administrators and Trustees in Bankruptcy, with 10 offices in the province.
“We’re seeing a growing number of older people that are carrying debt right into retirement, and a lot of the time it’s credit card debt,” Mr. Elyea said.
Monday, April 30, 2012 8:47 AM EDT
Five reasons you should give up TV bills – plus five reasons you shouldn't
Dianne Nice
Hi, I’m Dianne, and I’m a recovering TV bill payer. It’s been almost a year since I last paid a TV bill.
My husband and I had become fed up with paying $85 a month for our satellite package, which brought hundreds of channels into our home but offered few shows that we actually wanted to watch. So last spring, we signed up for an $8-a-month Netflix subscription and told our TV company to shove off.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:18 PM EDT
Ten total rip-offs that drive us mad
Dianne Nice
Did you know that if you carefully wash and dry expensive razor blade cartridges, they can last for six months?
Better yet, switch to the old-fashioned, double-sided razor blades your father used for just pennies a blade. Add a $2 bar of shaving soap and it’ll last for months, compared with pricey cans of foam.
These are a few of the tips I learned from Globe and Mail readers, who turned the comments section into a soapbox after reading an article about the nine biggest rip-offs out there.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 8:14 AM EDT
Is your donation getting the best bang for its buck at the checkout?
Shelley White
Let me first say that I’m a big believer in donating to charity. In fact, I think it’s essential for any successful society to have citizens who are willing to help those that are less fortunate than they are.
I make this assertion lest someone reads what is to follow and determines that I’m a Scrooge of the highest order – a tight-fisted meanie who cares more about her tax situation than she does about making a difference. So, once again, please know that I’m a big fan of supporting charitable organizations.
However... I’ve noticed recently that everybody wants my dollar. Purchase something at the grocery store, the pharmacy, the toy store, and you’ll be asked, “Would you like to donate a dollar to X charity?”
When it first started happening, my response was always, “Sure.” It’s an effective way to get people to donate: Make it an amount that they’re never going to miss, especially if they’ve dropped $50 or $100 already, possibly on things they don’t really need. The technique worked on me quite handily.
Thursday, April 19, 2012 10:05 AM EDT
Tales from the trenches of the sizzling real estate market
Dianne Nice
This spring, The Globe and Mail’s Personal Finance site is launching a special Home Buying series exploring the financial side of what, for many Canadians, is the biggest purchase they will ever make.
To add some depth to our coverage, we’d like our readers to give us a hand. We’re looking for several house hunters to help us chronicle what it’s really like to be in the trenches of major urban real estate markets, where bidding wars push prices high above asking and homes are listed and sold within days.
If you’re about to start searching for a home, have a couple of hours a week to do some blogging and are willing to share your house-hunting exploits with our readers, we’d love to hear from you.
Monday, April 16, 2012 9:32 AM EDT
Why your budget may actually make you spend more
Katherine Scarrow
If you’re planning to buy a king-sized mattress or sleek new smartphone, you might want to think twice before setting a budget. Research released by two U.S. universities suggests that imposing a price limit on a purchase can actually increase the amount you would otherwise spend.
Researchers came to this conclusion after running a series of experiments involving setting targets and maximum prices for various items, including laptops, Blu-ray players and pens.
In one particular test, participants were asked how much they would spend on a 32-inch high-definition television set. Next they were offered the choice of buying a “higher quality” set for $18 above their target price or a “lower quality” set priced $18 below.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:27 AM EDT
Seven tax surprises that trap Canadians of all ages
DIANNE NICE
The birth of my first child came with so many surprises. Who knew such a tiny person could bring so much joy, so much laundry – and such a wallop at tax time?
Just as there’s no instruction manual for a baby, no one warns new parents that Service Canada often does not withhold enough tax from employment insurance (EI) benefits. That means many women on maternity leave end up owing money at tax time when they are out of work and can least afford it. Surprise!
I got another tax surprise with the birth of my second child in 2006. The federal government had just introduced the Universal Child Care Benefit, a $100-a-month benefit for every child under the age of six. I should have guessed that I would be taxed on this benefit, but with the amount of sleep I was getting, I wasn’t paying much attention to taxation issues.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:28 AM EDT
Five tax tips for new Canadians
Shelley White
If you’re a newcomer to Canada, there are plenty of important things that will likely be at the top of your priority list: finding a place to live, a job, transportation, a school for your kids.
Filing your income taxes? That's not likely to be a priority.
However, even if you only entered the country in the last few months of the calendar year, you are required to file income tax, most commonly classified as a “part-year resident.” Cleo Hamel, H&R Block’s senior tax pro and spokesperson, offers up these tax tips for new Canadians, to help maximize your returns and reduce complications down the road:
Home Cents Contributors
Roma Luciw
Roma Luciw began her reporting career at the Victoria Times Colonist. In 2001, she started writing and editing business news at the fledgling globeandmail.com site. In May of 2009, she became the web editor of the Globe Investor personal finance site.
Dianne Nice
Dianne Nice is the Report on Business community editor and can be reached through Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Previously, she was the Globe's online editor for Careers and Personal Finance and has written about these topics for Report on Business and Globe Investor.
Katherine Scarrow
Katherine Scarrow is a web editor for Report on Business. Before joining The Globe, she worked at Yahoo! Canada, where she helped cover the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Ms. Scarrow holds a graduate degree from the University of British Columbia and interned at the CBC and the United Nations.
Dawn Walton
Dawn Walton has been based in Calgary for The Globe and Mail since 2000. Before leaving Toronto to head West, she won a National Newspaper Award and was twice nominated for the Michener Award for her work with the Report on Business. She’s still bitter that her stint as auto industry reporter didn’t involve test drives.
Shelley White
Shelley White is a freelance writer, editor, television producer and full-time mom to preschool-aged twins. Before taking the plunge into the wild world of freelance work, she produced educational programming at TVO, explored digital culture at the late lamented Shift magazine and entertained young minds at MuchMusic.
