NEVER RUSH YOUR FINANCES! Online banking is a no-brainer for most people these days even though a percentage of people still opt to mail in bill payments or even go into the bank. What would you do if you wiped out your bank account because of your own error? That’s right if you aren’t careful with your fingers you can easily do what Marla did below or like I almost did earlier this year. If you are a fan of online banking I suggest you take a moment to make sure you are protecting your bank account from costly errors. Online Banking is not for everyone A couple of weeks back I was telling you about my mother-in-law who is one of those people who wants nothing to do with online-banking because she’s scared to have her personal information online. She is comfortable with putting a stamp on an envelope and mailing a cheque to the bank so the bills get paid. Even though my wife and I tried to assure her that online banking to pay the bills and that her money would be protected up to $100,000 (assuming she’d never given her banking passwords info […]
We almost made this huge online banking error : The Saturday Weekend Review #102
Net Worth Update March 2013 + 1.61% Mortgage Pre-Payment Update
The full pre-payment on our 5 year term mortgage for the 2012-2013 year has been completed to the tune of $37,000 just this past week. I know if you were following our Net Worth updates this past year you were cringing because of all the money we kept in our high interest savings account at 2%. I received emails and comments asking us why we did that and we did it for ease of liquidity and the ability to just pay off our mortgage. Some of you are seasoned professionals when it comes to investing but for a couple like us we are not. So when something looks easy to you it’s much more difficult to us. I appreciate all the help I get from my on-line friends who continue to motivate and educate me about investing along with my research. Just like anyone else we need to learn about investing from the bottom up so it’s better to be informed than to jump in head first without any knowledge just because someone doesn’t agree with how we manage our money from an investment stand point. Maybe we did lose out on a bit had we had taken our money and […]
Killing Your Mortgage In 3 Easy Steps
Killing your mortgage in 3 easy steps I was honoured when Mr. CBB invited me to share some mortgage tips on CBB. It’s evident that he really values his readers so this is a real honour. I’m speaking from experience. Derek and I became mortgage free at 28 (we purchased our first home at 23, and built a new, bigger home when we were 25.) These are the 3 most important actions we took in killing our mortgage early. In the interest of full disclosure our current home is worth between $280,000 and $300,000. It’s a lovely home, but the bank would prefer us in something bigger and more expensive. Pay your mortgage first and last. We’ve all heard the concept that you should pay yourself first. If you’ve been living under a rock, avoiding any personal financial advice, this means that you should set aside your savings as soon as you’re paid before you spend a dime. The story goes that if you never have access to the savings you won’t miss it, and you’ll be forced to live within your means. This works unless you’re a credit addict, then cut up your cards and return to step one. Decide how much […]
How To Get The Best Car Leasing Deal
Leasing a car rather than purchasing one can prove to be much more cost-effective and is an option being chosen by a growing number of people. Some people like to change their cars every so often and others use them for their business. Some chose to purchase the car at the end of the lease as an option. However, there a few ways to make sure that you get the very best car leasing deal for you: Commit To The Right Lease Length, Longer Can Be Cheaper Lease companies will offer you their lease cars for specific amounts of time. Over commit and you could be left with a car that you don’t want, under commit and you could be handing your car back before you are ready. Car leasing tends to vary around two years to five years although different terms are available. Make sure that you commit to the amount of time best for you but do keep in mind that in general, the longer you keep the car, the more cost-effective it will be. Because an advanced payment will be required, the longer you keep the lease car, the further that initial payment will stretch. For example, if […]
The In’s and Out’s Of A Debt Reduction Plan!
Photo Credit According to Statistics Canada the ratio of household debt to personal disposable income in 2011 was 150% up from 66% in 1980. Did you know that in 2009 two-thirds of Canadian households had outstanding debt that averaged $114,400. Is a debt repayment plan right for you? Do you need to think about credit card debt consolidation? If you have debt, then the answer is YES to a debt repayment plan more importantly if you are struggling to pay back debt to potentially consolidate. If you are struggling it is very important to let the people you owe money to know that you are working on paying them back. Let them know you have a plan of action. Creditors want to know they will get their money so communicate with them and tell them. If you don’t they may sell your debt to another company who may charge you a bigger interest rate. Some creditors would rather make something than nothing but the third-party will stop at nothing to get it out of you. It’s also a good time to mention that at least once a year you should order your free Canadian credit report so you have it in front of […]
