Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 07 Oct 2011 02:00 AM PDT

This past weekend I attended the Financial Blogger Conference. It was a great experience and I’m already looking forward to the next one!

I was also honoured to get to co-host the Plutus Awards with Flexo from Consumerism Commentary. Speaking of Plutus Awards, I’m excited to announce that Canadian Finance Blog won in the Best Canadian Personal Finance Blog category!

With the holidays approaching, it’s time to consider how to budget and pay for all those gifts you have your eye on. Michael James delves into the newest trend started by Sears: Sears Financial Makes A “No Interest With Minimum Payments” Offer.
This week Financial Highway shared 3 Way to Improve Your Credit Score Fast. These are all simple steps that can really boost your score.
Boomer and Echo did a quick round-up of tips this week that covers the Rules of Thumb for Money. Everything you NEED to know is covered here.
If you’re house hunting, you may want to consider dual agency after reading Young and Thrifty’s post on House Hunting Tips: Dual Agency Realtor.
With the economy as it is, it can be difficult to know when to buy. This week Balance Junkie discusses the effects of Another Bear Market: Is It Time To Buy?
Halloween is just around the corner and that costumes and candy. Thankfully Get Rich Slowly shows how to keep your budget in check with their post, Halloween Spending: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.
How well do you know your credit card insurance policies? Wealth Pilgrim wrote about What Credit Card Insurance Protection Doesn’t Cover this week in a very insightful article.
This week the Dividend Growth Investor looked in-depth at How To Choose Between Dividend Stocks.
Most of us have at least one reward card but how much are you really getting from it? Moolanomy wrote a great piece that shows you How To Get The Most From Your Rewards Cards.
Investment clubs have been around for a while but not many people know about them. This week Five Cent Nickel explains the dynamics of investment clubs and Why You Should Join An Investment Club.

How To Improve Your Credit Score
Why Debt-Free Living Doesn’t Help Your Credit Score
Insurance You Can Do Without – Rental Car Insurance

Friday Links originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on October 7, 2011.

Canadian Finance Carnival #56

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 02:00 AM PDT

Budgeting

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgirm presents Liability Insurance Claims – What To Do, What To Avoid, saying “Do you think that just because you have liability insurance, you are covered if there is a problem or accident you might be held responsible for? Liability insurance claims are very tricky. It's true that the insurance is meant to protect you from lawsuits. But you might think you have coverage when you really don't. It often depends on what you do once the claim is made.First, what is personal liability insurance?”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents Funny Money Magic Tricks: The Hand Is Quicker than the Eye, saying “Real money management and debt reduction isn't magic. There are no magic pills,potions,tricks or other gimmicks that will ever make you rich. “

Business

Mike at Experiglot presents Networking on a Budget, saying “We share how you can network when your wallet is empty.”

Debt and Credit

MainstreamMom at Mainstream Mom presents Get Out of Debt with the Help of Debt Eye, saying “I had a chance to check out a new program called Debteye. I wanted to find out more about how their program worked, and how it's different from other debt relief companies out there. I had a chance to speak with Kevin Yu, who is one of the co-founders of Debteye.”

DJ at The Family Wallet presents Top 10 Tips to Aggressively Reduce Your Debt, saying “If you want to get rid of the debt once and for all, you may want to use some of these ten tips for aggressive debt reduction.”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents The Simplicity and Complexity of Debt, saying “It’s easy to get out of debt, but it’s really hard.”

Economy

David Leonhardt at The Solar Ontario Blog presents Solar, the Emerging Power, saying “So don't look for solar to knock off other forms of electricity generation. But it has taken its seat at the table as a major player and it still has room for growth and might even one day generate the majority of our electrical needs.”

Extra Income

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents 1 Hour Extra For Your Day Job Or To Create A Better Future?, saying “Do you put your extra time towards a side business?”

Frugality

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents The Big List of Little Savings That Go a Long Way, saying “Small savings with big results. Can you add a few?”

Investing

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents This Investment Pays 100:1 – Timing is the Issue, saying “Here’s the investment of a lifetime if you live in any country with a currency market – low risk and a 100:1 return. The question is whether you can time it right.”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents Dividend Growth Index, saying “The launch of something great from dividend growth investors.”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents 10 Ways To Stay Calm In These Crazy Markets, saying “A few practical ways you can stay sane in this economy.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents optionsXpress Promotional Code, saying “optionsXpress currently has multiple bonuses (see optionsXpress review), but their primary promotion is getting $100 when you sign up.”

Lifestyle

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Apple Picking, saying “Apple picking can illustrate three important life and financial lessons.”

David Leonhardt at Bar Whiz Blog presents What Kind Of Tipper Are You?, saying “The moment you belly up to the bar, the bartender is wondering what kind of tipper you'll be. Are you a Big Tipper, a Stingy Tipper, or are you like Mr. Pink, from Reservoir Dogs, the dreaded No Tipper?”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Honey, The Kids Are Moving Back Home!, saying “It can be quite an adjustment to have your grown college student living back in your house. This leads to the question of how can you make the process of living together again less of an imposition? Here are some ideas and tips to get you started when you find out that your college kid is moving back home:”

Big Cajun Man at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents September Month of Exasperation, saying “If another person begging for money comes to my door, someone is going to get an ear full!”

Savings

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents How to Save for a Car, saying “Are you in the market for a new (or even used) vehicle? If you are, then you may be wondering how to save for a car? The truth is there are an endless number of ways to begin saving for your next automobile purchase. You just need to find the option that is best for you and begin developing a savings plan.”

Taxes

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Simplifying the Tax Code, saying “Band aid solutions are never good, and they shouldn’t be used on our tax codes.”

Other

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents 11 Steps To Financial Freedom: Determine Your Net Worth, saying “I hope to develop a complete financial plan through these 11 steps to financial freedom. Step 2 is to determine your net worth.”