Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 26 Dec 2011 02:00 AM PST

Business

Money Cone at Money Cone presents Political Contributions of Banks and Credit Unions, saying “Banks, and credit unions to a certain extent, spend a massive amount of money lobbying. Yes that's your money, that these organizations use for lobbying. Here are some very curious statistics I gathered!”

Miranda Marquit at Planting Money Seeds presents Tax Deduction: Home Office, saying “If you own a home business, one of the deductions you are eligible for is the home office tax deduction. The IRS terms this business use of your home.”

Career

Kevin at Thousandaire presents College Kids Need Skills, Not Good Grades, saying “Get a skill like accounting or engineering in college. It’s way more valuable than getting a high GPA without any real skills.”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Get Your Accomplishments Noticed, saying “It’s tough at work these days, companies are trying to do more with fewer employees. Employees are struggling to meet increased workloads without ruining their personal lives. Most are probably just making it through the critical, must do, tasks each day. In this kind of environment, it is sometimes hard to make sure that you Get Your Accomplishment Noticed”

Kay Lynn at Bucksome Boomer presents Have You Ever Seen an Ugly CEO, saying “I have been actively working in a few different corporate headquarters over the past 3 years, and there is one thing that I have recently noticed: ugly people don't often get promoted.”

Philip at PT Money Personal Finance presents How to Make $10,000 a Month from Online Advertising Management and Blogging: Crystal Stemberger's Success Story, saying “An interview with Crystal Stemberger reveals how she turned something that was her hobby into a $10,000/month career.”

Debt and Credit

A Blinkin at Funancials presents How To Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers, saying “This article will show you how to stop receiving credit card offers and junk mail.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents Choice Rewards Program: How It Works, saying “Choice Rewards is a pretty neat loyalty program for credit unions, and the points actually go pretty far.”

Extra Income

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Follow Up on Bloggers Making $1000 per Month, saying “I developed an idea for a new blog and contacted the one that I felt inspired me to step up my game and make it all happen, Derek from Life and My Finances. Together with Melissa from Mom's Plans, the three of us will be working to provide our readers with a weekly idea for making an extra $1000 per month on a part-time basis. These will not only be online ventures but offline as well in case someone is not computer savvy or has no real interest in internet income.”

Frugality

Julie at The Family CEO presents Pets: The Gift That Keeps on Eating, saying “Just imagine the look on your child’s face when, from underneath the Christmas tree, comes a Golden Retriever puppy. The unbridled joy, unconditional love, but let’s take a look at the other side of the fence: ownership costs!”

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Bah Humbug! Presents Make No Economic Cents, saying “Christmas has turned into a holiday of commerce, and we don’t agree with it.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents Skip the Gym: Sweat at Home Part 5, saying “Just like saving money and investing in our financial future, we need to put that same effort into investing in our health. Eating well and being active are the keys to a long healthy life. So without further adieu, get your comfy clothes and you sneakers on and get ready to sweat.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents How to Save Money on Internet Service, saying “This guide will show you how you can reduce your internet costs, upgrade your service for less, and increase or eliminate your bandwidth caps.”

John at Passive Family Income presents Healthy Food That Is Cheap: Kale, saying “One healthy food that is cheap that my wife and I recently discovered is kale. We have added this low cost (and healthy) vegetable to our weekly meal planning. Not only is it very good for you, but it is darn right cheap compared to other food options.”

Investing

Neal Frankle at Wealth Pilgirm presents Your 8-Step Small Business Continuity Plan, saying “Small business owners tend not to think about continuation, but that's often a mistake. If your business generates any profit, it's worth something. Sometimes it's worth a great deal. It makes perfect sense to spend a little time to protect your enterprise with a small business continuity plan. A side benefit is that the same ingredients of this plan will help you make your business more successful.”

Doctor Stock at Invest in the Markets presents Applying Risk Management to Investing in the Stock Market, saying “Risk Management is a crucial component to successful investing. This article explore practical and specific ways investors can develop and apply risk management techniques in order to preserve capital, minimize risk, and maximize returns.”

Don at Money Reasons presents Dividends Paying Expenses – My Thoughts, saying “This is why I think dividends paying expenses is a great idea. See if you agree…”

Echo at Boomer & Echo presents How To Reduce Mutual Fund Fees And Expenses, saying “This post reviews a very helpful personal investing book titled Low Cost Mutual Funds and ETFs. This book focuses on the most important problem facing many investors today: investing costs that are excessive and unwarranted.”

Investor Junkie at Investor Junkie presents 2012 Dividend Aristocrats, saying “The 2012 S &P 500 Dividend Aristocrats list is 51 companies that have increased dividends (not just remained the same) for 25 years straight. For 2012 a total of 10 companies were added from the list, and only one was removed.”

Mike Collins at Saving Money Today presents The Power of Compund Interest, saying “Albert Einstein once said that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Learn how to use it to boost your savings and investments.”

Lifestyle

Kanwal Sarai at Simply Investing presents What Are Dividends? Why Should You Care?, saying “Dividend investing is a great way to give yourself a consistent stream of positive cash flow as an investor, and is a very useful way to screen out stocks that are too risky. They hold up very well during recessionary periods (like the present one) because their dividend payouts are so attractive to investors that need immediate money from their investments, and the capital gains they experience during a bull market provide a nice overall return for patient investors as well.”

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Five Financial Conversations to Have Before You Get Married, saying “Here are five financial conservations you should have before you get married.”

Beating Broke at Beating Broke presents Is Your Stuff Owning You? How to Break Free, saying “I'm the worst person to go shopping with now. I second guess every purchase. If I do end up buying something, I ask myself, "what will I get rid of now?" You know, the one in and one out policy. I don't like to fill up my place with stuff, I would rather experience more.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Turn Around Your Finances, saying “People often find themselves with a bad credit score due to poor financial choices in the past. The sooner the credit score is repaired the better. It is a good idea to put aside money every month to cover any emergencies that may arise.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Who Spends More UK or US Parents: Average Family Christmas Gift Spending Per Child 2011, saying “How similar are UK and US family spending on Christmas gifts in 2011? Do parents in both nations spoil their children the same?”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents How to Use a Gap Year to Make Some Extra Cash, saying “An increasing number of upcoming college students are using their gap year to work and earn money. But that doesn't necessarily mean they have to keep the job they had during high school. There are lots of ways that they can make money and gain valuable life and/or job experience. Here are some ways to accomplish that.”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents Is There Such a Thing as Giving Too Much? Finding Balance in Giving and Saving, saying “The questions I have for you today though are: is there such a thing as giving too much? And, can giving be a detriment to your life?”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents My Husband Hired a Personal Trainer, saying “What this boils down to though is that my husband is now paying about $150 a month for a personal trainer. So far he loves it though.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents 5 Purchases to Wait on This Holiday Season, saying “If you are one of my fellow procrastinators then do yourself a favor and hold off on these these purchases until 2012. In fact, start your Christmas 2012 shopping next month, you will be amazed at how much you can save!”

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents 10 Christian Personal Finance Blogs that Rock!, saying “There are many personal finance blogs out on the web, but which blogs are worth your time if you're a Christian? No need to go out and research because I have hand picked ten top notch Bible based personal finance blogs. Each of these blogs have epic content that you won't want to miss.”

Ashley at Money Talks Coaching presents Support Is Important When Trying to Make a Change, saying “Having supportive people in your life is critical to making lasting changes.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents 5 Tips for Keeping Your Pets and Your Budget, saying “There's no way around the fact that pets are expensive, but there are ways to save. Here are our 5 favourite money saving ideas for pet care:”

Kelsey at Money Mum presents Can’t Make Ends Meet? Time to Get Creative, saying “Perhaps you recently lost a job, you have a large number of unexpected medical bills, or you're trying to pay for university tuition. Instead of letting stress get the best of you, be proactive and consider bringing in some extra cash in a new, creative way.”

Miranda at Personal Dividends presents Reducing Financial Stress in Your Life, saying “Reducing financial stress in your life won't happen overnight. However, there are some things you can do to take steps to make money less stressful in the future.”

Real Estate

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents almost Live from Sao Paulo – random notes, saying “Notes about my trip to Sao Paulo, another fascinating place!”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Save Money with HARP-Refinance on an Investment Property with PMI , saying “Having lived in Chumpsville long enough, I decided to call up my lender and see what they could do for me. I came to them as almost a perfect example of who shouldn’t get their interest lowered. I had three things going against me:”

Retirement

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents IRA Contribution Income Limits Should Be Based on Tax Rates, saying “When taxes rise there is less disposable income, so contribution limits should rise, but they don’t.”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents 401k Is Not Enough: Alternatives to Your Retirement Planning, saying “Nowadays, it’s disconcerting to realize how employee retirement plans just don’t seem to be enough to cover one’s retirement.”

Matt at Living in Financial Excellence presents How Much Do You Need to Retire?, saying “Today I welcome special guest Pam Otten, financial adviser and host of the "Intelligent Investing with Pamela Otten" radio show. Together we discuss how to determine the right nest egg size for your retirement.”

Saving

Mike at Stupid Cents presents Money Saving New Year's Resolutions, saying “Here are a few money saving New Year's resolutions. The new year is a fresh slate where you can eliminate your bad habits and start forming good ones.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Tips to Stop Spending and Start Saving, saying “It can be difficult to curb your spending habits in favor of saving money. The first thing to realize is that your current spending habits have been established for some time and it will take some changes in your lifestyle to get you back on track. Changing your ways is very possible and before you know it you will be planning for tomorrow, today.”

Jim Yih at Retire Happy Blog presents How would you like to learn from a Millionaire Teacher?, saying “Andrew Hallam is a self-made millionaire. In this well written book, The Millionaire Teacher, Hallam shares his 9 rules to become a millionaire.”

Taxes

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Donating Land for Significant Tax Breaks, saying “The government of Canada uses tax provisions to encourage charitable giving. If you own a piece of ecologically valuable land, giving it to future generations is well worth considering.”

Other

Hank at Money Q&A presents One Time Is Too Many With Identity Theft, saying “How do you protect yourself from identity theft? What are the warning signs of identity theft? One incident is too many when it comes to protecting your identity.”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Christmas Gift Guide For Your New Relationship, saying “This gift can say the world about you or it can become a ticking time bomb, especially if you’re in a new relationship.There are no rules per se when it comes to gift giving, ultimately you place the final value on the gift. Buying too much, too early in the relationship can be a disaster too.”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Rich and single or Poor and In Love?, saying “Do finances affect the way you look at potential mates? Should financed play such an important role in marriage and relationships?”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Five Things Everyone Should Know About Twitter, saying “I’ve recently learned the value of twitter! Read these 5 things that everybody should know about twitter too!”

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Owning Blogs vs. Staff Writing, saying “To earn money online, you can do one of two things. Find out what is the best way to make money online.”

Canadian Finance Carnival #68 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on December 26, 2011.