LIVE LIKE YOU OWN THE HOUSE BEFORE YOU BUYING Think about the above statement for a moment and ask yourself how that may have changed your past or current budget before buying your home. You may find that had you created a test budget before that purchase you may have noticed that you shouldn’t have spent so much. Typically you wouldn’t hear me say anything about using a test budget because a budget is a budget, however there are times when pretending to budget comes in handy. Forget about the word pretend for a moment and consider the reasons why you would want to prepare a test budget and how it would benefit you as a potential homeowner. Can I afford the house Can I afford the house Can I afford the house Start Young Finish Free I often like to believe that anyone who starts learning about finance from a young age will have basic knowledge to make financial decisions that may not impact their lives the way someone who did not. This is why I urge parents to teach themselves about finance FIRST and pass that knowledge on to their kids. Even then there are […]
How To Test Budget A Mortgage Before Buying A Home : The Saturday Weekend Review #250
Magical Budget Jars Change This Couples Life Forever
EVERYTHING BECOMES MAGICAL WHEN YOU BELIEVE- EVEN YOUR FINANCES Every so often I get an email from a CBB fan which sparks a conversation which then turns into sharing their budget journey on Canadian Budget Binder. I absolutely love sharing fan stories because they are real and all of us can relate to them in one form or another. In today’s blog post you’ll learn how one couple goes from two incomes to one and managed to turn some glass jars into magical budget jars. If you don’t take your finances seriously someone else will but that someone else won’t be on your side. Each of these budget stories inspire others including myself to continue to believe in the power of positivity and not giving up when the going gets tough. There is a financial solution out there for everyone whether they choose to believe it or not. It may not what you want it to be but in the end it’s likely for the best. SEEMINGLY EMPTY TO MAGICAL JARS Hello Mr. CBB, Here is our budget story …. When my husband and I met we were both struggling from breakups leaving us with less money […]
Property Theft And How To Stay Protected
FOR THOSE LOOKING TO MAKE FAST MONEY ILLEGALLY STOLEN PROPERTY GETS THE JOB DONE BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE. I’m certain that I’m not the only one who has noticed an influx of property theft, personal theft, employment theft, bank robberies, retail theft and pharmacy break-in’s the past year. For those people who turn to theft they have to be at the bottom of the barrel to want to get their butt slammed in jail or even worse, killed. Related: Property Crimes Common in Western Canada A 2007 report by Statistics Canada suggested that property crimes are far more likely to occur in cities and towns than they are in rural communities. However, farms can be easy targets, especially when the owners are not present. That’s the simple truth. The hard truth is why is this happening and what are we doing as a community or government to help control the situation. Mental illness has long been shoved under the carpet but has now been the spotlight of many incidents across Canada that involve violence, theft, robberies and even death. Depression and addictions along with other illnesses can take hold of anyone. What is property theft? From […]
Should We Bother Renovating Before Selling Our Home?
EMOTIONALLY INVESTING IN YOUR HOME RENOVATIONS IF YOU PLAN TO MOVE WILL COST YOU MORE THAN YOU NEED TO SPEND. Lately I’ve been quite impressed with the house prices in our area but at the same time know that if we sell the cost to renovate and buy weigh heavily on our minds. Not only that but the real estate market in Canada might be hot right now but if you have renovating to complete that might set you back with missed money opportunities. The top 3 questions next to time-frame that you need to answer before putting your house up for sale are; Should we renovate our home to get better return? How much will our renovation budget be? Do we want to upgrade or downsize buying a new house? On our street for 2017 we’ve had 5 houses up for sale all of which sold in and around a week or less. That might sound impressive and it is because houses don’t last long living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). With no more than 100 houses on our street that’s a huge number of nosey neighbour radars going off. That’s us ^^^^, we admit it. Who […]
5 Inexpensive Gadgets All New Parents Should Own : The Saturday Weekend Review #220
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A BABY SHOWER GIFT THESE GOODIES HAVE BEEN THE BEST PARENTING INVESTMENTS YET. I’m sure many parents reading this can think back to some baby gadgets or products which made their new role as parents a bit easier. Hands up if you’re one of those parents who bought too much useless baby stuff just because you thought you’d need it. Yes, that was us. >>>Both hands in the air. Now that our son is almost 3 years-old (wow where did the time go) Mrs. CBB and I have gone through boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of baby clothes (I know, right?) and piles of stuff we never used. The biggest problem was that we read too much, believed too much and fell into the “new parent syndrome” mode making sure we were fully stocked with what we needed. Related: How having a baby affected our monthly budget I will admit that we have boxes of baby diapers that haven’t been opened yet, clothes that still have the tags and other crazy things that have never come out of the box. We have a formula mixer that we bought just in case our son […]
Top 6 Retirement Mistakes To Avoid [$1000 Give Away!] : The Saturday Weekend Review #214
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STEER CLEAR OF THESE 6 RETIREMENT MISTAKES THAT CAN THROW OFF YOUR PLAN TO RETIRE COMFORTABLY. We all hope that by carefully planning for retirement we will not have to worry about anything in the future. While making a plan does make you more comfortable and prepared, there are still ways that cause your retirement plan to derail. Getting divorced No one plans on getting a divorce, but life happens. Divorce is something that can have a lasting impact on your finances and subsequently on your quality of life. Even if divorce is amicable, legal fees can quickly spiral out of control in dividing the family assets. You probably saved money and made a retirement plan based on the assumption that there will be two people enjoying the family nest egg in the golden years. However, in divorce the savings will end up being divided among two households, which means less money for both of you. Marriage and Common-law partnerships needs to be looked after and time need to be spent nurturing the relationship and taking care of each other. Since at the end of the day it is both a romantic and a business relationship. This […]
Why Personal Touch Matters When Selling Your House : The Saturday Weekend Review #174
CREATE A HOUSE LISTING THAT TALKS AND A HOME THAT SURPRISES POTENTIAL BUYERS WITH VISUAL CHARM Personal touch is going beyond house staging when you’re trying to sell your house fast and for top dollar, it’s about appeal and capturing your audience. Everyone has tips for selling your house and for the most part they are likely good tips to follow but not everyone is trying to find a home that smells like roses. Before even considering putting your house on the market take care of curb appeal and personal appeal surrounding the inside and outside of your home. Related: Staging empty expensive homes with families for cheap rent when selling a house Today, I’m going to talk about the personal allure that will capture your buying audience from the inside of your home. From low-lit rooms, soft music playing in the background to pleasant smells you’re on your way to signing paperwork that will get your house SOLD! The very first thing that will drive traffic to your upcoming property for sale or open house will be your house listing. It’s imperative that you dress your listing with all the essentials but leave some unanswered questions to draw […]
Bidding Wars Net Homeowner $60,000 Over Asking Price Before Open House : The Saturday Weekend Review #172
COMING SOON: MULTIPLE OFFERS, BIDDING WARS AND A BULLY OFFER I suppose selling your house the second time around can be financially rewarding as it was for friends of ours who finally sold their house after having multiple offers which caused bidding wars and all before the first open house. The quiet sought-after area in the Greater Toronto Area where they live rarely has houses come up for sale but that doesn’t mean they WILL sell when they do as our friends found out last year. After a failed attempt at selling their house in early 2015 they gave it another shot this past month to see what would happen. This time around though they took the advice from the potential home buyers who came to their open house when they tried to sell in 2015 for $400,000 with no offers in sight. The house was certainly not over-priced however it needed some work doing to spruce it up more than they already had. Their real estate agent didn’t do the job they expected so this time around they hired a woman who came highly recommended to them. Before they signed any legal and binding papers with her they […]
