Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 04 Sep 2011 02:00 AM PDT

Just a reminder that we’re finalists in this year's Plutus Awards fot Best Canadian Personal Finance Blog, Best Personal Finance Blog: Multiple Authors, Best Multi-Part Personal Finance Series and Best Personal Finance Microblog. So if you have a moment to help support Canadian Finance Blog, please vote for us in those categories!

Business

John Persico at Vumero presents World's Top Tools for Learning – but where is Microsoft Excel?, saying “Many people in personal finance don’t always appreciate the transformative and powerful role played by Microsoft Excel. Here’s a look at why it still remains one of the most powerful business tools for investors and personal finance professionals around the world.”

Mike at Experiglot presents Murphy's Law When Starting a Business, saying “A few look at the mishaps of running your own business.”

Alicia at Create Hype presents Eco Tips to Save Money For Your Business, saying “Is it possible to make eco-friendly swaps while saving money at the same time for your business? Of course it is! “

Career

Teacher Man at My University Money presents What To Do With A Liberal Arts Degree?, saying “Is a B.A. a Good Idea? Teacher Man himself has one, and he asks the question to the readers.”

Group Benefits Guy at Group Benefits presents Finding work-life balance, saying “Finding work-life balance continues to be a challenge. Here is some of the results of a study published in Employee Benefits News magazine”

Debt and Credit

Janet at Credit, Eh presents Review of Two New Credit Cards Available at Credit Cards Canada: Capital one Aspire Cash, saying “Both of these cards offer cash back, and they are available to those with good credit. There are some subtle differences, though, between the Capital One Aspire Cash World MasterCard and the Capital One Aspire Cash Platinum MasterCard.”

Frugality

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Alternative College Housing Options to Save Money, saying “College tuition is already expensive. Then you have to consider the cost of housing. Here are a couple of alternative college housing options to help you save.”

Sally at Wallet Watcher presents Homemade Beauty Treats for Mum, saying “We all deserve a treat now and again but as a Mum, you're probably the one to miss out in that department if money is a bit tight. Rather than forgoing beauty treats altogether, why not try making your own? In most cases you won't need anything fancy and you'll probably find that you've got a lot of the ingredients at home already. Here are some ideas that you can try out next time you've got some 'me' time in the bathroom.”

Money Mum at Money Mum presents The Basics of Giving Haircuts from Home, saying “While you may not consider yourself a beautician, giving basic haircuts from home can actually be quite manageable. You can save a substantial amount of money by skipping out on pricy salons, especially if you have several children who need haircuts”

Philip Taylor at PT Money Personal Finance presents Complete Guide to Mobile Phone Coupons, saying “Mobile coupons save you money by giving you a discount on your purchases. However there are things that you can do to increase your savings.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Transportation Alternatives for One Car Families , saying “Do you know of any transportation alternatives for one car families? Here are some great ones so you can save by not buying a second car.”

Investing

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgirm presents "I Want to Make More Money" — Here's How You Can, saying “A buddy I know from the music scene called me up yesterday. After we exchanged a few pleasantries, he got down to brass tacks. "I want to make more money Neal. Tell me how." While I'm not the answer man, I did have a few ideas for my pal. And if you're looking for some serious extra cash, I have good news. You can make enough money on the side to get out of credit card debt fast, pay off your mortgage or make your retirement secure. The best way to do so is to start a side business rather than just get another job. It's a little harder to do and takes a bit longer to start kicking in. But in the long run, you're far better off.”

The Ghost at The Ghost presents Economy Bad, Market Up??? I feel Like I’m Taking Crazy Pills, saying “Why this rally is likely to be short-lived.”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents Dividend Gross-up and Dividend Tax Credit, saying “An insidious feature of the dividend tax credit is that the grossed-up dividend and not the actual dividend is used to determine your Old Age clawback, age credit, HST credit and property tax credit.”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents 2 Terrible Mistakes I Made That Will Haunt You For The Rest of Your Life if You Don't Wake Up, saying “Are you making these mistakes?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents When Will Mark Zuckerberg Become The Richest Man?, saying “When will the time come?”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents 3 Hidden Truths about Market Crashes – Why They Crash When They Are Handled By Professionals, saying “Are your aware of these truths?”

md at Studenomics presents Businesses to Start in College, saying “Valuable tips for college students.”

Lifestyle

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Vacation, Shmaycation, Staycation?, saying “Last week was our family vacation. This year, we decided to keep it cheap, since we raided our savings a few months ago to cover my son's vision therapy.”

Pam at Frugal Living presents Dealing with Divorce: Getting Back on Your Feet Financially, saying “Many women find themselves dealing with divorce at some point in their lives. Divorce is difficult on many levels, but financially it can be especially frightening and possibly even devastating”

md at PIN presents How You Can Go Broke When Making Millions of Dollars, saying “How you can make a fortune and end up with nothing.”

Briana at Stupid Cents presents How to Become a Minimalist, saying “Want to know how to become a minimalist? It’s easier to become a minimalist than you think. The minimalist lifestyle is envied by many but practised by few.”

Real Estate

The Family Wallet at The Family Wallet presents Pros and Cons of Buying Foreclosure Properties, saying “The foreclosure game is one that can get you properties for less. But if you're not careful, it's easy to get burned. Doing your homework is essential if you want to come out a winner.”

Outlaw at Outlaw Finance presents 4 Questions to Ask Yourself About Fire and Flood Insurance Coverage, saying “If you have taken out fire and flood insurance, either on your own or as part of an overall homeowner's policy, it is important to know exactly what such a policy covers. “

Retirement

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents How to Save for Retirement: Pay Yourself First, saying “Of the plethora of valuable advice in the children’s book, The Wealthy Barber, the first tenant to developing a personal financial plan and how to save for retirement is to pay yourself first.”

Jim Yih at Retire Happy Blog presents Using real vs nominal rates of return, saying “When it comes to inflation, there is a very important distinction between a real and nominal rate of return. Let's look at what these terms mean. “

Saving

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Time For Some Little Savings For Big Results, saying “Small ways you can save big bucks.”

Other

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Rest in Peace, Mr. Layton, saying “On Monday morning, I was shocked to hear that Jack Layton, leader of the NDP party of Canada, had died of prostate cancer.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #52 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on September 4, 2011.