The Money Writers

Great Canadian Rebates $25 Amazon/Chapters Gift Certificate Winner
When I first wrote about Great Canadian Rebates, I promised readers who joined under my referral that they would have an opportunity to win a $25 gift certificate from Amazon/Chapters.  As keeping with the promotion, we have drawn the newest winner..  Patricia from Toronto!  Congrats!  The next 100 [...]

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Hope you enjoy these articles:

Don’t know how to determine the asset allocation of your portfolio? The Dividend Guy says you probably can get some ideas from asset allocations of pension funds. Another place I can suggest is the portfolios of lifecycle funds (or target-date funds) which adjust their holdings [...]

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
I reviewed SmartyPig a couple of days ago. Though in general the concept presented by SmartyPig, social+savings, is good, my biggest concern is the cost of letting others contribute to my saving goal. Paying $4.95 each time to make a $50 contribution doesn’t make a whole lot sense.
Then yesterday, [...]

Money can bring you a lot and get you far, but it can never buy one of the most important things in life. You can’t buy love. You can buy a lot of imitations — but never the real thing! So don’t waste money, years, or even moments trying.
Know this: Real love is [...]

As you know by now, many taxpayers will be receiving a rebate later this year. The purpose of this rebate was to help the struggling economy, but there are fears that this stimulus package will have little impact. Many people are struggling and find money is tight, and the $600 or $1,200 they may receive [...]

JKLasser, the company that puts out an annual tax guide, sent me the following information about the rebate checks that will be going out to some people. From the looks of things, we should get back $1500.  It will be a nice little boost for our vacation fund but I’m sure it won’t help the [...]

Remember the good old days of 1998? The Internet was going to change everything. Analysts predicted that we were going to buy our books, music, pet supplies, and groceries over the Internet. It’s ten years later and the analysts were right about the first two and wrong about the last two. (Sure you can buy pet supplies and groceries over the Internet, but do you know anyone who actually does?) Over the last two years, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has taken off. I’ve written extensively about Prosper and Lending Club. Though I initially wrote [...]

We’ve been focusing on reducing our energy bill lately. For example, my husband has been looking into switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
In addition, our energy company is very proactive in sending us monthly mailers with tips and tricks to reducing energy consumption. See previous articles Ten Easy Energy Savings Tips and Energy Savings [...]

This is a pretty common question asked during tax season.  What exactly is the difference between a non-refundable tax credit and a tax deduction?
Tax Deduction
A tax deduction reduces your income for the year which can potentially mean that you've over paid on your taxes.  Come tax return season, you'll get a refund on your [...]

Green acres is the place for me.
Farm livin’ is the life for me.
Land spreadin’ out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.
from “Green Acres” by Vic Mizzy

This past weekend I took the Brip Blap crew (myself, Bubelah, Little Buddy and almost-out-and-about baby #2) on a drive over to Queens to a birthday [...]

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Last week, I wrote about my experience with Scottrade when I was trying to place an order of Visa (V) when the markets opened. The day after that post was published, I got an email from Chris, Chief Marketing Officer of Scottrade, who expressed concern why I had to [...]

Mid-Week Personal Finance Articles

Brip Blap: Like many of you, I feel that time flies way too fast, with my days feeling much shorter than 24 hours. So this great productivity post marks the spot; it tell us how to make the most out of our days.

Million Dollar Journey: True, if you upgrade your housing, [...]

Who knew the Brits had more debt than the Yanks? This article from the Times was disturbing, particularly so since it seems to indicate that although much of the debt incurred in the Colonies is mortgage-related, the Queen’s subjects have been racking up credit card debt to pay for fox hunting gear or Pop [...]

Every year the Internal Revenue Service provides a list of “tax schemes and scams” that they’re on the lookout for, the list for this year was just released two weeks ago.  Here are a few of the items to watch out for.
Phishing for Financial InformationMost of you probably already know that phishing is the practice [...]

After I wrote how to start an investment club, readers wanted to know more about the details. With the permission from the club members, here is what our portfolio and returns look like, in addition to more information about how the club works.
Our Returns

MITBeta: So how has that worked out for you?
Well you can see [...]

Have you ever made a goal and resolution only to fall short? Come on, admit it, we all have. I’m way behind on my goal to complete a Personal MBA this year. Motivation is the main reason why we don’t finish what we start. In my case, I am struggling with sitting and reading anything longer than a web page - a requirement to complete the Personal MBA. I lack the motivation.
Now I have a solution. A website called StickK allows you to “put a contract on yourself.” Here’s how it works…
You set [...]

This is a lesson that I'm in the process of learning.  If you plan on living a frugal life, it's much harder when building/buying a brand new house or upgrading your housing in general.  
The Building Process
We had every intention to keeping our house simple and even hoping to keep our expenses below the [...]

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary

The government today updated its outlook on Social Security and Medicare and there’s no good news for folks who will retire in 10 years from now. According to the annual trustee reports released by The Department of Treasury, the Social Security Trust Fund will run into negative cash [...]

Are we in a recession? That’s the consensus right now. But we won’t know that until the economic numbers are in telling us what we already know and feel. Here’s what some of the more bearish economists are saying:
David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch expects home prices will decline 15 percent in 2008 [...]

I came across an interesting article from ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) that discusses the current housing crisis and breaks down what type of person or family is affected the most. Their focus is more on the affordability of housing and rent and not so much on the declining real estate prices here [...]

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
How do you like the idea of letting other people, family members and friends, help you reach your saving goal?
If that, letting others help you reach your saving goal, is what you are looking for, then SmartyPig could the answer.
How it works
The concept of SmartyPig is quite simple: You [...]

When you grow up in Boston, you are predestined to be a Red Sox fan. For the first 27 years of my life, it was a miserable experience - the Red Sox lost every big game in every imaginable way. The tide has turned the last four baseball seasons. Their two World Series victories since then paved the way for them being an international success. To capitalize on that success, Major League Baseball had the brilliant idea to have the Red Sox open the season in Japan against the Oakland Athletics.
That’s why my alarm clock went [...]

Welcome to the Festival of Frugality #118. We’re busy focusing on learning how to spell at our house right now… so what better way to celebrate the festival than with a focus on letters? There are 57 great frugal articles in the ABC edition of the festival.

Photography by: greefus groink
Editor’s Picks
No Credit Needed presents Beware [...]

Do you know anyone who runs their own business and is always struggling to find new customers or make enough money?  Wouldn’t it have been easier if they would have done more research about the competitiveness and viability of their business before launching it?
Mid Life CrisisOne of my co-workers is having a quarter life [...]

Regular reader and commentator DAvid has taken the time to share his thoughts on sustainability and financial health.  I thought that this topic would be refreshing as MDJ doesn't touch on the topic of green living very often.  
The greening of our world has become a topic of importance to the Canadian public. The [...]