Money Dates: Putting the sexy in savings Light some candles, put on the music, pour a couple glasses of wine and fire up that spreadsheet…wait, what? You thought date night could only be dinner and a movie? Do I have news for you! If you want to reinvigorate your relationship, there’s an even better way to build up trust and intimacy. Marriage.com says that after infidelity, the top causes of divorce are: Money, Lack of Communication, and Constant Arguing. How about constant arguing and communication breakdowns over money? To me they all fall into the same camp and luckily, they can be solved with the Money Date. In all seriousness, I’ve regularly poured a glass of wine, and gotten cozy with
"Oh no, it's Susan's birthday today and I have nothing and we need to be at the party in an hour!" Wendy and John finished getting ready and jumped in their car. Fifteen minutes later they pull into the drug store parking lot and Wendy runs inside. She scans the lines of cards for five minutes until one pops out. She fails to notice the $11.99 price tag. The meager gift rack is no more forgiving. Wendy settles on a set of costume jewelry, and grabs a gift bag on her way out to the checkout. "How much did it all come to?" asked John when Wendy returned to the car. Wendy's face went red and she said quietly, "Fifty dollars." John groaned while his eyes flitted over the gas gauge. Quart
Budgets, dieting and exercise have a lot in common. The same mindset required to sustain a healthy diet or a regular exercise regime is applied to maintaining a better budget. Slipping up and having that extra slice of pizza is not any different than putting those on sale extra houseware items in your Loblaws cart even though you only set out to buy groceries. Sleeping in through your morning routine is the same as not putting together that crock pot meal and having to buy takeout while in a rush between your kids' extra curriculars. If you are trying a new budget it's important to be realistic. If it doesn't include any room for fun, it's going to fail. Think of it like a bungee cord. I
You get paid bi-weekly, why wouldn’t you set your regular mortgage payment to come out on the same frequency? Simple right! And look at how much faster that mortgage is being paid off. Who wouldn’t want that? As a former personal banking officer, this was a common conversation with my clients, and almost all of them went this route. But over time I’ve discovered that accelerated mortgage payments aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Let’s start with the advantages: Over a twenty-five-year amortization, bi-weekly mortgage payments result in two extra payments per year (26 total), and result in you paying off your mortgage 3 years early depending on interest rates versus someone who made semi-
