We’re Relocating!

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It’s been quiet on the blogging front lately. I have not been creating any new posts lately, and have been plotting my course on how best to blog. I decided to broaden my perspective a bit, and expand my writing. I contribute frequently to the website Technorati where I write about a variety of topics including health, social media, technology, sports and women’s issues. My interests are quite broad, and I think that my writing reflects that.

So, with that in mind, I am going to relocate and change my blog. I have already purchased the domain name, and I am in the beginning stages of designing the website and adding content. I am going to be writing about a variety of subjects, mostly reflecting my experiences as a working mother and health professional.

I am not abandoning my interest in personal finance. My own financial situation is still far from perfect, and I am still mired in debt. I have made a couple small steps forward, by paying off my student loans and my car this week. However, there are still two huge personal loans to tackle, so there is much more work to do. My interest in how best to manage my finances is unabated. I am also continuing to search out good deals, coupons, freebies, samples and bargains. Part of my new blog will be dedicated to these topics.

Another portion of my blog will be dedicated to publishing my articles that I have written for other sites, including Technorati. As you can see, my new blog will be a bit more eclectic and diverse in subject and tone. I am really excited about it, and hope you are too. When I have the site ready, I will let you know about it, and hopefully you’ll follow me over. Cheers!

 

 

Debt Consolidation: What You Need to Know

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The following is a guest post by Jenney Roberts.

Jenney Roberts is a  writer for various finance related Communities including Debt Consolidation Care. She is a financial writer by profession and has specialization in dealing with financial problems and its solutions.  She is well equipped to write articles on debt consolidation, savings, planning, frugality, debt settlement etc.
Can debt consolidation leave a mark against you on your credit report?

For Americans, debt has become a part of their everyday life and once you become habituated with the phenomenon of being in debt, you may fall in danger in the long run. Nothing can be worse than unattended debts. If you’ve been refraining from getting help of your creditors as you’re ashamed of telling them your present financial state of them, you’re grossly mistaken. You should always discuss your financial problems with your seniors and those who are experienced so that you don’t have to suffer later. A debt consolidation program will take care of your spiraling consumer debt level by helping you repay the entire balance in small and affordable monthly payments. Here are some facts that you should know about a consolidation program.

How does a debt consolidation program work?

When you enroll yourself in a debt consolidation program, your debt consultant will take on the responsibility of negotiating with your creditors and reducing the interest rates on the credit card accounts. They will talk to your creditors and tell them about the financial hardship that you’re going through and this is the reason the creditors most often agree to reduce the interest rates. As the deal is done with the creditors, you have to make a single monthly payment to the debt consolidation company and this will be disbursed off to your creditors in due time, thereby making you debt free. Your multiple payments will be replaced with a single monthly payment and you have to stop worrying about the multiple due dates while repaying the loan.

Does debt consolidation have an adverse impact on your credit score?

Well, when most debtors get help from a debt consolidation company, they worry about the impact on their credit score. As most debt relief options take a hit on the debtor’s credit score, they want to take the best decision so that they don’t become unworthy of getting new lines of credit at an affordable rate. When you decide that you’ll repay your entire debt burden through debt consolidation, this will slightly hurt your credit score but the extent will be limited. Soon as you start making the monthly payments, your score improves with time. Therefore, you can repay your debts and also boost your credit score in the long run.

So, when you’re knee deep in credit card debt and you feel that there is no hope for improving this distressed financial state, you should get help from a debt consolidation company so that you may enroll yourself in the debt consolidation program and repay your debts in small and affordable payments. Manage your finances and make sure that you make timely payments towards the program so as to avoid any cancellation of the deal.

Contesting Fun in 2012

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I Like -- by Anne

As I mentioned in a previous post, 2011 was my first year where I really got serious about contesting. Before that, I would enter the odd contest here and there, but nothing big. I won the odd small prize here and there, but again, it was very hit and miss.

Last year, for whatever reason, I decided to start pursuing it seriously. A while back an acquaintance of mine told me about her sister, who was a seriously intense contester. This person listed me some of the swag her sister won, and I was intrigued. Could I be one of those folks, even on a slightly less intense scale? I started entering online draws in the spring of 2011. By the summer, I had devised my own system for doing my daily entries. It didn’t take long before I started winning some prizes. Most were small, but a couple were on the larger side. Anyway, I was hooked!

I started off 2012 on the slow side, trying to recover from post-holiday hangover. I also got slammed with a whole pile of shifts of work, and am trying to fit in some contesting while being totally exhausted half the time. Still haven’t really hit peak intensity this past month, which may be reflected in my small-ish wins this month. It’s ok, it’s all good!

January 2012 Wins– A pack of Trident Layers gum from the Win a Sweet Vacation contest; A Diane Lai skin care set (ARV $90) from a Facebook contest; $50 Chapters gift card from Saveland; Several food prizes and $5 off coupon in the East Side Mario’s Budda Boom Budda Ching contest;

February 2012 Wins– Two Diane Lai Skin CareProducts of my Choice from the Bits and Bites with Tina Blog. $50 Gift Card to Beyond the Rack from Fabulous Savings. $50 Novica Gift Card from Maple Leaf Mommy Blog.

March 2012 Win– $50 Subway gift card from Saveland. $10 Tim Horton’s/Cold Stone Creamery gift card from Mom vs. the Boys Blog; 3-song download from Huggies Do the Potty Dance contest; $25 Total Rewards credit from the “Escape to Total Rewards” contest; Nicole by OPI nail polish gift pack from “The Life of a Canadian Angel” blog;

Chasing Away the Winter Blues with Essie!

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Essie's Peach Daiquiri on my nails

It’s a bit depressing sometimes, winters in Canada. Even though it’s been a relatively mild winter by our standards, it’s still seems like FOREVER until spring arrives. It’s not so much the cold temperatures (which are nasty!) but the lack of sunlight which makes winter so interminable.

I wish I could say that I’m among the fortunate ones who is travelling to Bermuda, or St. Lucia, or Turks and Caicos this winter. But alas, my financial situation does not allow for such trips, so no winter getaway to the Caribbean! You have to be creative when cash is tight, trying to find ways to chase away the winter blues.

I was feeling sort of glum this week, so I decided to lighten things up by painting my nails. It’s nothing major, but it never fails to lift my spirits. A small bottle of nail polish is less than $10, and so in my mind, it’s a cheap indulgence. In this case, I already owned the polish (actually bought with a gift card I won in a contest last year). So no money was spent in pursuit of my winter indulgence!

I used Essie “Peach Daiquiri” nail polish. I love Essie nail polish, it’s my definite favorite among all the polish brands. It goes on super smooth, and the colors are fabulous. I use their “Good to Go” topcoat, which dries the polish in seconds. I use two layers of color, then one layer of topcoat, and my color looks great for about 5-7 days. And every time I look at my nails when I’m having a tough day at work, it makes me happy!

Note: All the opinions in this article are my own. I did not receive any compensation from Essie for writing this post. – Jennifer

Coupon Quest 2012

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Blue Coupons courtesy of Stuart Caie

I have always used coupons. Even back in university, I would use them at the grocery store. Now that I have a mortgage, line of credit, and a mountain of bills, coupons are more important than ever. I clip them religiously, and download them when I can. I keep an accordion file of them in my purse so I can always find what I need at the store.

I have always wondered exactly how much I have saved using coupons, so this year, 2012 is the that I keep track. I want to know exactly how much I am saving. Keep in mind, I only use coupons on the stuff we actually use–I don’t just buy random stuff just because I have a coupon for it. Occasionally, if I have a really high value coupon, and it’s for something I don’t use, I’ll buy it and donate it to the local food bank.

This year, I’ll keep a running tally, starting in January. Each month I’ll do a subtotal, and then at the end of 2012, I’ll find out the exact value of all the coupons I used.

January 2012: 2nd, $4.54; 7th,$2.00; 14th $5.00; 20th $7.98; 30th $5.72. Total January savings– $25.24

January has been a notoriously slow month for me with the coupons. Two reasons—firstly, I cleaned out all the expired coupons from the end of 2011, leaving my stash a bit depleted. Secondly, I have been spending way less this month after the Christmas gift buying frenzy in December.

February 2012: 6th $6.99; 8th $4.00; 14th $2.00; 23rd $1.59; 25th $1.50; 29th $2.00; Total February savings– $18.58

February was another slow month for coupons. The money situation is still really tight here, so not shopping as much. Did one big grocery shop in the US, and had no coupons on hand for that trip.

March 2012  4th $7.00;

Changes Ahead for Air Miles Collectors

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Air Miles Coupons by Vlad Litvinov

Air Miles collectors should be aware of new changes which may affect the way they save and spend their reward miles. According to information released December 29th by the company which issues Air Miles, all miles will have a date stamp of five years. As of Dec 31st, 2011, the miles which Air Miles collectors have in their account will have to be spent by Dec 31st, 2016. Any miles accumulated as of Jan 1st, 2012 and beyond will have the same 5-year date stamp.

Another change to the program is the “cash back” option. Essentially, at participating retailers, you will be able to redeem Air Miles at the checkout for cash off the purchase price. For example, at Shell, you can redeem 95 Air Miles for $10 off your total gasoline purchase. You have to “opt in” to this part of the program by going onto the Air Miles website and indicating that this is your preference.

I checked out the Air Miles Facebook page shortly after the announcement was made, and read dozens and dozens of angry messages by collectors on their Wall.

One angry message by a gentleman read ” Bad idea Airmiles. I’ve been collecting for years and have never redeemed. Yet I have been using an RBC Avion card for a year and was able to take my wife and I to the Dominican Republic. It won’t be a tough decision for me what card I use. Bye Airmiles!”

Another collector commented ” I too have been collecting since 1996. We have cashed in some over the years to pick up a couple of small items. We really want to save for a trip to Nova Scotia. Now you`re making that next to impossible. What`s the point of collecting them if I can`t collect enough to do something decent. Reconsider please. I will use up my points and cut up my card if this is the way you want to go.”

Yet another Air Miles collector made this astute remark regarding the cash back option: “at 1 mile per 20$ spent, you get 95 airmiles for 1900$ spent. 95 airmiles = 10$ cash = 0.52% cash back(half a percent). Seriously people don’t be dumb and fall for this.”

Personally, I have never been a big collector of Air Miles. I have had a card for over ten years, and redeemed for one short haul flight (i.e. within Canada), and I redeemed last year for a couple small iTunes gift cards, and a Motorola phone. I don’t go out of my way to visit Air Miles retailers, but I will use my card if I happen to be patronizing one of these businesses. I doubt that the aforementioned changes will have much effect on my spending habits, and my use of their card. However, I feel that the changes by Air Miles are NOT consumer friendly.

If you earn Air Miles in the most conventional way, you receive 1 mile per $20 spent at participating retailers. I went onto their website today, to see how many miles would be required for a trip from Toronto to Madrid. The answer? Over 5000 miles for low season and over 7000 miles for high season, PER PERSON. Obviously, trying to save Air Miles for a “dream vacation” within a five year time frame will be nearly impossible for most people. If you use an Air Miles credit card, you can accumulate miles a bit faster, but you still have to spend a lot of money to save enough miles for a vacation for 2 (never mind for a family!).

If you want to use rewards miles or points to save for a dream vacation, Air Miles is definitely not the way to go. There are plenty of programs out there that will allow to save your points for a vacation in much less time. For an overview of these programs, check out Rewards Canada .

 

 

 

 

Christmas and the Competitive Holiday Phenomenon

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Christmas 2007 image by Christina Rutz

 

There are some people that I know all too well, really nice people actually, who get a bit crazy this time of year. I’m not sure how it starts, or why it persists, but Christmas is starting to become a competitive sport.

It’s obvious to point to gift giving, and in our material possessions obsessed society, there is an inherent need to give more, more, more, regardless of our ability to pay for these gifts. So begins the “credit card hangover” in January, where we sadly review our statements and vow never to spend that much again. But come November, the television adverts begin once again, tantalizing us to crack open our wallets and buy some shiny toys.

I would not call myself a thrifty person by any sense. My children have lots of clothes, and toys. At Christmas, I buy them what I consider a fair number of presents. But I don’t go crazy with it. I have not maxed out my credit cards this year buying presents. I remember last year that my oldest son finished opening his presents, and he said incredulously “Is that IT?” This from the mouth of a four year old, who was literally surrounded by a sea of toys, books and clothes. Unreal. I attended a Christmas gathering of an acquaintance of mine, and was absolutely floored by the sheer quantity of presents these children received from their parents. It vastly exceeded anything I had ever seen. As I considered their parents’ very, very middle class income I had to marvel at how much money all these things had to cost. I couldn’t fathom how they could have afforded it. (I certainly could not have afforded it!) I can only imagine how much credit was used to accumulate this mountain of toys, video games, books, and clothes. It blew my mind.

And yet, we want to be the “cool” parents, the “cool” aunts and uncles and siblings, the generous ones who always seem to buy the perfect present. It somehow elevates our status as humans, never mind the financial consequence. I find myself pulled in this direction each year, I see others falling into this same “competitive Christmas” trap. I have no idea how it can be avoided, or even minimized.

All I know is this—I am anticipating my son will once again say something to the effect of “Is that ALL I got, Mom? Don’t I get any more presents?”–to which I will say “NO, you don’t get any more presents. Look at all the wonderful things you got!” Sigh.

Making the Most of My Shoppers Optimum Redemption

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Shoppers Drug Mart, Vancouver

This past weekend, Shoppers Drug Mart had their biggest redemption event of the year. (Actually, I think it may have been the biggest redemption event ever!) I had been diligently saving my Optimum points over the last year, waiting for the big spend event. I got myself a Shoppers Optimum MBNA Mastercard this past year, so I have been racking up points faster than usual. I had 145 000 or so points going into this past weekend, ready to redeem for some great free stuff!

This past weekend (Dec 3rd and 4th) Shoppers had their big redemption event. If you had 95000 points (the top redemption level) you could redeem for $250 instead of $170. Wow, an extra $80! That was more than enough incentive to get me to redeem my points. As an extra incentive, if you had 50000 points, you could redeem for $125 instead of $80. So it was all set, I had a total of $325 to spend in one day!

With so much to spend, I knew I had to have a plan! I did not plan on making any large purchases like a television, or video game console. Everything I planned to purchase was relatively small, basically stocking up on groceries and everyday items that we use in our household. I started by looking at the Shoppers flyer, and seeing what was on sale. Then, I got out my coupon folder and started matching items on sale (items we use, and actually need) with coupons in my folder. I separated my shopping list into groups: Groceries, Cleaning Supplies, Cosmetics and Hair Products, Vitamins and OTC medications, and Kids Products. Then I put the items in each category that I planned to buy. I highlighted the items I had coupons for, and that was it!

In total, my bill came to $288.68–I had spent $251.18 (pre-tax) and redeemed $250.00 from my Optimum points, for a total bill of $38.68. I used $47.25 in coupons on this sale, so the actual value of the items I purchased was well over $300. Luckily, my cashier was not rude or snippy with me–nor did she go through my coupons with a fine toothed comb. I assured her that all the items in the coupons I actually bought (and I did) and none were expired (which they weren’t, I went through them last week.)

All in all it was a very successful shopping day. I bought about $500 worth of items total, and spent a very small amount of money, thanks to my Optimum points. I bought a variety of items including groceries, shampoo, vitamins, cosmetics, cleaning products, and Christmas gifts. We stocked up our linen closets with all the personal care items we need for the next several months. Mission accomplished!

My Wonderful Year of Contesting–2011 Edition!

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Coach Wristlet --- one the prizes I won in 2011

One of the great things I disccovered this year is how much I LOVE entering contests. I had entered contests here and there in the past, and won a couple odds and ends, nothing major. But this year, with disposable income at an all-time low, I decided to start get serious about contests. Who knows, I thought, what might happen?

Well, things have been pretty good on the contest front. I have won far more than I initially thought this year. It started off slowly, as I only really got serious about the contest entries in June of this year. But soon after I started entering, I began winning. I wouldn’t categorize myself as a lucky person in any way. However, I am very persistent, and I truly think that is the key. If you are not serious about putting in the entries, your winnings will be pretty paltry.

So here goes, these are things that I have won this year, 2011. Hopefully  I remember them all. I haven’t been keeping track, and as things have started rolling along, I realized that if I don’t try to list the winnings, I am going to forget how much I have won. Yes, it’s been that good of a year!

March 2011- $10 Tim Horton’s Gift card from Mom Central Canada–Baby Shopping Survey Winner.

May 2011- $25 Amazon Gift card, Coffee mug, and Fridge Magnet from Mom Einstein; A bottle of limited edition shade of Essie nail polish from a Facebook promotion.

July 2011- $50 Gift Card to Reitmans from Saveland

August 2011- Phillips Sonicare Flexcare Rechargeable Sonic Toothbrush (ARV $199) from Mom Central Canada

September 2011- Coach Wristlet (pictured above) from This Bird’s Day blog; A cooler jug from an in-store draw at No Frills.

October 2011- 2 Bounce dryer bars from a Facebook promotion;$50 Gift card from Reitmans from Saveland; A bottle of Klorane Magnolia Leave-In Finishing Spray from a Fashion Magazine October Promotion; $50 Gift Card from well.ca from a contest on the My Little Review Corner blog; 5 Air Miles from National Car Rental contest promotion; a bottle of Sunlight Laundry Soap from a instant win contest; 100 Air Miles from a BMO contest entitled “Share Your House Hunting Story”. 20 free Snapfish 4×6″ prints and 3 food prizes from the McDonald’s Monopoly game.

November 2011- $50 Reitmans Gift card from Saveland; $10 Gift Card from Mark’s Work Wearhouse in their Extraordinary Event Giveaway; EcoHandbag Wine Bottle Bag from Did You Know Canada?

December 2011- $50 Reitmans Gift Card from Saveland; L’Oreal Mini Elnett Hairspray from a Facebook contest; Lysol Gift Basket from Mom vs The Boys ; 2 movie passes to see The Artist from Saveland;

Not a bad haul for this year of 2011! Although I have not won what you would consider a “big prize”, I am not discouraged at all. I feel very content with what I’ve won this year, and anything else I win would be considered a bonus. I have only diligently been entering contests since the summer of 2011, which is reflected in the increased number of prizes in the latter half of the year. I slacked off in the latter half of December due to the obvious pressures of the holiday season, so the month of January and February of 2012 might be a bit slow. But no worries! I will keep on plugging away, and hopefully there will be lots of cool wins in the year to come.

Where in the World Have I Been?

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Lost Mine courtesy of Awesome Joolie

It’s been a long time (again!) since I blogged. No excuses, but I’ve been negligent. Many thoughts have been coursing through my brain, and several I’ve wanted to commit to the blog. However, I’ve been been plotting some big changes, so here goes.

I’ve been lost (seemingly) on this financial journey, but slowly am making progress.  Turtle-like progress, but just the same, at least the mountain of debt is not getting bigger. However, I have found myself a bit lost for content for this blog, and with lots of ideas for other things teeming through my brain, I began to ponder the notion of broadening my horizons a bit.

I am going to create a new blog with some more diverse content. I am still going to create content about personal finance, as that is something that constantly fascinates me. However, I also am a contributing writer for Technorati, where I write about health, media and sports, among other things. I also am an avid contester, and love hunting down bargains, freebies, and cool contests to enter.

So, the long and the short of it, is that the blog will be changing, and possibly relocating. I am going to be looking into inexpensive ways (of course!) to spruce up the design, and upgrade the content. In the meantime, if things seem a little sparse here, that’s the reason. Stay tuned!