Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 06 Nov 2011 02:00 AM PST

Budgeting

Corey at 20′s Finances presents How My Gas Was Shut off Because of My Neighbor, saying “Paying your bill on time can keep you from having your utilities shut off, but sometimes it is unavoidable. Find out how my neighbor prevented me from having gas for days.”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents Create Your Own Layaway Plan, saying “While layaway was not offered in stores for years, it is making a comeback due to the current economy. You can choose to use layaway or not this year, though it is certainly a better option than financing gifts on credit cards, but why not also start your own layaway program?”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents 3 Reasons Why We Kissed Budgeting Goodbye, saying “We stopped budgeting! Learn why.”

Business

Sunil from the Extra Money Blog at Extra Money Blog presents Keyword Research Is Critical to Your Success with Niche Sites, saying “When it comes to niche websites, the keyword research you conduct will usually dictate your success as the website evolves.”

Andreea at Create Hype presents How to Tell the Story of Your Business, saying “The way you tell the story of your business will change the way both you and your customers think about your company.”

Career

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents 5 Eco-Friendly Tips for the Workplace, saying “Saving money in the workplace and by making a conscious effort to implement eco-friendly options is an option that more employers are undertaking each day, internationally. Spending wisely and reevaluating your commute or work habits can save enough to allow you to plan for a vacation, or save more for retirement.”

Mr. Harvey at My University Money presents Should I Pursue a Co-op Education?, saying “A down to earth outline to what I see as the advantages and disadvantages of a cooperative education, and to argue that one doesn't need take a cooperative education to be successful.”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehoue presents A College Degree or a Trade School Diploma. Which Will You Choose?, saying “Which option will you choose?”

Debt and Credit

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents University Student Loans – Gonzo, saying “In mid July, Mrs. SPF and I looked at our savings, our emergency fund, our projected personal finances and decided – let's make this university student loan gonzo! Get rid of this BIG interest debt. Pay it off prior to lil' SPF's arrival. Free up almost $300 a month.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents Scotia Momentum Visa Review, saying “The Scotiabank Momentum Visa was recently named one of the best cash back credit cards on the market.”

Extra Income

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents Is Mystery Shopping Legit?, saying “Over the last few months I've been taking on some side hustles to earn extra income and see if they're legitimate ways for our listeners to earn some extra cash. Today I unwrap the mystery behind mystery shopping and discuss whether it's really worth your time.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents MonaVie’s Money-Losing Scheme to Solve the Recession/Layoffs, saying “If you are involved in MonaVie, thinking of getting involved, you owe it to yourself to read the complaint. If you know someone involved, I hope you will forward this post to them before it’s too late. “

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents Do You Want to Blog Full-Time? Here's a Reality Check That Nobody Else Will Give You, saying “The reality of trying to become a full time blogger.”

Frugality

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Save Money On Your Groceries: “Money in Your Pocket” Review, saying “Cassie Howard, the well-known Canadian blogger behind MrsJanuary.com, has recently released a brand new eBook called Money In Your Pocket: A Canadian Guide to Coupons, Stockpiling, and More. It's a very worthwhile read, and it is my pleasure to review it and let you know what you can expect if you decide to read it yourself.”

Big Cajun Man at THE Canadian Personal Finance Site presents Cost Gas: Now this is Interesting, saying “Costco is starting to sell gas in Ottawa, and this may change where I buy gas.”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents How We Found Over $600 to Snowflake on Our Debt in 7 Days , saying “How this author was able to find over $600 to help fund her debt snowball. See where the money came from and how easy it is for you to find more money to pay your debt.”

Investing

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Investing in the Dogs of the Dow, saying “There is an investing technique that attempts to take advantage of the highest yielding dividend stocks in the Dow as a means of buying low and selling high. It was popular in the 1990?s but I hadn't heard much about it recently although in the current environment, I am wondering if it is worth a look.”

Mike Holman at Money Smarts Blog presents If You Could Buy A Gold-Plated Government Pension, Would You?, saying “Annuities can be used to partially replicate a solid defined benefit pension plan. But a lot of retirees don’t like them.”

Jim R. at Free By 50 presents Tips for Better Investing, saying “There is never a bad time to start investing, and there is no better time to start investing than in a market that is down from its highs. If you were to follow a few simple rules of investing in stocks you will see your investment grow more time than you will see it fail.”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Choosing Between An Annuity And A Dividend Portfolio, saying “Which investment do you choose?”

Md at Studenomics presents How Does The Stock Market Work?, saying “The stock market is explained for all young investors.”

Lifestyle

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Top 5 Ideas to Raise Charity Money Online, saying “The single largest expense for a charity is the cost of actual fundraising. Creating websites, links, social media accounts and other electronic communications not only saves time, but also provides easy access to consumers for information and donations.”

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Stealing Motivation, saying “I've spent hundreds of hours per year, over 10 years building my yard full of one-of-a-kind props, and someone felt it was acceptable to tear down a section of my skull fence, come into my yard, and steal a little piece of my life. Motivation has been difficult this year”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents 5 Money Mistakes College Students Make, saying “For students who have never to deal with money without adult supervision, college can end up being a series of mistakes on the path the financial freedom and maturity. Here are five of the most common money mistakes that college student make—and how to deal with them.”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Set Your Financial Life to Automatic, saying “Consider these ways to automate your savings and bring order to your financial life:”

Wallet Watcher at Wallet Watcher presents Four Tips for Saving on Transportation Costs, saying “Driving a car has never been cheap, but it seems especially bad for drivers who have to foot the entire cost of petrol, maintenance, registration, and other costs all by themselves. For people who have places to go but don't want to spend an arm and a leg to maintain a car, there are several great alternatives to traveling alone in your car:”

Janet at Credit, Eh presents Want More Travel Rewards? Use Your Credit Card, saying ” While you don’t want to run up your credit card just to get the rewards, there are some things you can do to improve your chances of truly benefiting — especially if you want more travel rewards.”

Philip at PT Money Personal Finance presents Be Happy and Build Wealth, saying “Does happiness lead to being rich (i.e. does it improve your ability to hold on to money)?”

Glen at Parenting Family Money presents A Beginner's Guide to Once a Month Freezer Cooking , saying “Once a month freezer cooking can help you save money as well as save time (very important when you are raising a family). Read more about OAMC.”

Real Estate

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Loan Modification Options, saying “If you've had a mortgage for a while and have fallen on hard times, you may want to know about loan modification options.”

MD at Passive Income Now presents What You Need to Know Before Buying a Rental Property, saying “Important tips to consider before you buy your next property.”

Retirement

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgirm presents What is Per Stirpes and Why You Must Know, saying “"Per Stirpes" is a very important term to you if you own retirement accounts. So what is "Per Stirpes"? IRA custodians never explain it but the term "Per Stirpes" come from Latin and it means "per branch". These two words can mean success or failure when it comes to your retirement account beneficiary designations and estate plan.”

Mr. Money at What Are Required Minimum Distributions presents What Are Required Minimum Distributions?, saying “One of the realities of tax-deferred retirement accounts is the required minimum distribution (RMD). The RMD is the amount that you have to withdraw from your tax-deferred traditional IRA, 401k or other account each year. “

Money Cone at Money Cone presents How to Do a 401k Rollover Correctly, saying “It isn't really that hard to do a 401K rollover. There are multiple options when deciding what to do with your 401K money, when you leave behind your old job.”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Registered Retirement Income Fund: What Is A RRIF?, saying “A Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) is a product that allows you to continue to defer taxes owing on your saving until the money is withdrawn.”

Saving

Miranda at Personal Dividends presents Before You Switch to an Online Bank: What to Expect, saying “One of the results of the interest in moving money to new banks has been an increased interest in online banking. Could an online bank be right for you?”

Other

Crystal at Stupid Cents presents Is Funeral Insurance Necessary?, saying “I have been looking into funeral insurance for the first time this past week. Here are the pros and cons of a funeral insurance policy.”

Jim Yih at Retire Happy Blog presents The ABC's of Financial Success, saying “Financial literacy Week is not only about creating more awareness but also to help people take control of their finances and implement good changes.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #61 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on November 6, 2011.