youngandthrifty.ca was recently tagged by Echo from Boomer and Echo (Thanks Echo!) to participate in the “My 7 Links Project”.  This project got started by Katie from Trip Base.  The purpose of it is to get the blogger to reflect upon some posts (aka dig up posts from the past) so they can see the light of day again.  Then the blogger is to nominate 5 other bloggers to participate.  The good deed is then carried forward

So without further delay here are the posts that come to mind when I think of these seven categories.  Rambling and Ruminations at its best!

Your Most Beautiful Post

Personal finance isn’t really beautiful, unfortunately.  The most beautiful post that comes to mind wasn’t even really my post, but a video within a post of mine.  It was in one of my Weekend Ramblings and PF Blog love posts: the Finding Balance Edition.  I can’t stop looking at the video- every time I look at the video, I feel at peace with myself and become content with the world.  I attribute this feeling to the HD graphics in the video.

Your Most Popular Post

Just like Boomer and Echo, I’m not sure if they define the most popular post as is the most number of comments, or most popular as in most traffic.  If it is asking for the post with the most traffic, that would be my post on the daily deals websites (like Groupon, Living Social, Yippit etc.). I guess in blogging terminology, you could call this a “pillar post”?  I enjoy seeing all the spammy type comments at the end of people sharing their newest daily deals website they have created.  There are definitely more and more daily deals websites- it’s certainly hard to keep up.  I was reading in the Globe and Mail the other day that they even have a website where you can SELL your daily deals coupons that leave you with buyers remorse.  I wonder what’s next….

Your Most Controversial Post

My most controversial post to date is undoubtly the post where I shared that I was putting an end to home envy and taking the plunge to buy real estate in Vancouver.  It got everybody’s panties in a bunch.  There were 65 comments and everyone was all fired up.  I even found that this blog page was referenced on the ultimate trolling/”no way jose” to Canadian real estate website, The Greater Fool, where they were blatantly criticizing and judging my decision to purchase real estate over there.  It certainly wasn’t a good feeling- it felt as if i was being gossiped about on another blog.  On the other hand, some great fellow bloggers told me to buck up and realize that if my blog was peanuts and garbage, no one would be talking about me. Ha! So did I have the last laugh??

Your Most Helpful Post

I’d like to think that most of my posts are helpful (right??? right??).  However, I think that my most favourite “how to” post is the post on how to negotiate your cell phone contract (namely with the big three, Rogers, Bell and Telus).  I think this was one of the posts that inspired me to create this blog in the first place.  I actually referenced it myself a few times to look for the numbers to call in order to negotiate.  I hope I’ve saved some people some money on their contracts!

A Post Whose Success Surprised You

A post that people actually like reading and thought was unique (unique enough to land it in the Globe and Mail reader by Rob Carrick!) was my post on How Yoga Relates to Personal Finance.  I wrote that post after spending a month doing some intensive yoga (I used a daily deal “groupon” of course) and felt some creative juices flowing.  Some people of course, did not see the parallel with personal finance or yoga, or saw the parallel with many different activities which do not necessarily include yoga, which is understandable.

A Post you Feel Didn’t Get the Attention it Deserved

Hmm how about all the posts I wrote in my first six months of blogging?   If I had to pick one, it would be the post on why, in my opinion, Generation Y isn’t saving any money.  I even spent the time to draw a piggy bank on microsoft Paint (I think that in itself makes this post worthwhile, that I spent the time to actually attempt to draw on the computer and make my own picture).  It had 1 comment (from Studenomics who I linked to in the post).  I thought it was insightful and poignant, relating the reason us 20-somethings are so broke to instant gratification and our “now now now” culture.  But I’m sure others beg to differ.

The Post that You are Most Proud of

I would say I am proud of most of my posts (who wouldn’t be if they spend hours writing a post, I suppose).  I think the posts that I am most proud of are the financial cleanse series that I wrote.  I felt that I was being clever using the word “financial” and “cleanse” together.  Like a personal finance detox!  The Financial Cleanse series consists of the three aspects of personal finance I think everyone should start with.  These are 1) write down what you spend your money on 2) making your savings automatic and of course 3) getting rid of junk.

Umm….Tag, you’re it!

Part of the rules of the My 7 Links project is to tag 5 other bloggers that you think should share some links.

Here are the blogs that I nominate- should you choose to accept, I would love to read your links!:

1. Krystal from Give Me Back My Five Bucks
2. Nelson Smith from Financial Uproar
3. Sam from Financial Samurai (hmm I think it would be hard to decide which of your posts is the Most Controversial, Sam!)
4. RB 40 from Retireby40
5. Sandy from Yes I am Cheap

Readers, thank you so so so so much for reading.  You don’t know how much I appreciate it.  Thanks for the inspiration and please feel free to comment on any posts you would be interested in to read on youngandthrifty.ca in the future.  Give me more inspiration, folks!

Thanks again to Boomer and Echo for nominating me!

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Money 411 is a personal finance blog provided free from AccountNow prepaid credit cards. Money 411 offers information and advice on credit repair, saving money, banking alternatives and more. To read
more articles from Money 411, visit AccountNow at www.accountnow.com.

Chexsytems is a database that tracks individuals’ banking habits. Banks add information and check the system before approving new accounts. In this economy, banks are stricter than ever about approving accounts. If a report shows that you have overdrawn accounts or some other negative banking history,
that person will probably be denied for new accounts.

Avoid getting a negative Chexsytems report by being a smart consumer. It is important never to write checks for money that is not yet in the bank. Checks today can be submitted electronically and cleared immediately and your deposit may be held for several days before it is available.

The best tip to avoid overdrafts is to keep track of your deposits and spending on a checkbook register.  Remember that your balance online or at the ATM may not reflect all outstanding charges or deposits. For those who prefer not to track every purchase, one possibility is to keep a buffer of extra
money in the checking account to cover accidental overspending. Another option is to transfer set
amount money onto a prepaid debit card. The prepaid debit card can be used for daily spending without
needing to keep track of a checking account balance.

Avoiding Chexstems is important in order to maintain a bank account for direct deposit and free check
cashing as well as to have a place to safely put savings. By being cautious about your bank account, you
won’t just avoid problems down the road, but also avoid unnecessary bank fees.

Youngandthrifty’s Take: Wow, I didn’t even know what a ChexSystem was until this guest post.  Apparently 80% of banks in the United States and Canada use ChexSystems.  So if you have ever been denied when opening up a bank account, then you know that there was a ChexSystem report done on you.  It seems that not only do you have to worry about your credit card spending, you have to worry about your debit card spending!  Life ain’t always easy, is it?  I think that Money411′s example of accidentally writing a cheque for money that isn’t in the bank account happens more often than we think (I think I’ve done it in the past and kicked myself for being so silly to do such a thing)- you have to pay for a bounced cheque AND you get ChexSystem’s elephant-memory laced tentacles on you.  One way to avoid this is to keep a minimum balance in your bank account.  In order for my bank not to charge me $8.50 per month for bank fees, I have to keep a minimum of $2000 in my chequing account.  I think this helps me keep a buffer in case I were to accidentally write a cheque and have it bounce.  Although having $2000 sit there and look pretty (whilst earning 0.05% interest) isn’t ideal because you’re not really saving any money, it is better than not having any money in chequing for fast access at all…and later on pay the price of not being approved to open a bank account!

How about you, readers? Have you had the experience of accidentally writing a cheque when there wasn’t enough money in the bank account?  What are your ways to prevent this from happening?

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Thanks to this blog, I’m learning more and more about the wild wild world of financial products which I previously knew very little about.  One of these is the concept of “structured settlement”.  A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement in which you get paid over a period of time instead of getting paid as a lump sum…think: “Set for Life” scratch-and-win lottery ticket where you get $1000 a week for the next 25 years vs. winning the lotto max lottery where you get a lump sum instead.  Or it would be like regularly harvesting a small money tree plant every year or deciding to harvest a field of money tree plants only once.  Because a structured settlement is technically your money, you can decide to sell your structured settlement and cash it out to get a lump sum.  The following is a guest post by Jason, from JG Wentworth which pays people cash now for money that was meant to be paid over a long period of time.  They are known for their really funny commercial with that catchy tune.  Jason gives some tips on how to take the emotion out of structured settlement decisions.

Selling months or years of your structured settlement income into one huge lump-sum payoff doesn’t have to cause stress or anxiety. When mixing money with emotions, a clear head is achieved by having a positive picture as to what a new home, paid off debt or funding another’s education can do to improve your financial life and the loved ones that surround you. Here’s how to feel more secure when selling your structured settlement:

Keep your business cap on. You might have a passion for fashion. Thorough research over what it takes to run a clothing boutique will make you all the more confident about using your lump-sum settlement cash as seed money. Keeping a strong mix of raw data and big dreams close to your heart creates the kind of confidence needed when expanding your capital.

Prioritize your financial needs. If you have accounted for how your direst financial responsibilities – or the bills – will be paid into a workable monthly budget, you can avoid a lot of financial mystery when mobilizing your structured settlement. Your time can then be better spent distributing exactly where and how you’d like your lump-sum payout to be used.

Relief is one emotion you want to feel. If you’re using your structured settlement money to pay off debt, the last thing you want to do is enter into another financial situation that makes you feel helpless. If credit cards were used to make ends meet because you were overburdened with medical bills or college costs, the one emotion you are encouraged to experience when paying them off is relief. Knowing your lump-sum payment for selling a structured settlement takes debt weight off your shoulders.

Unexpected issues cannot derail you. Uncontrollable challenges – from natural disasters to unforeseen college expenses – don’t have to cause roadblocks to your structured settlement investments. If you figure out ahead of time what you will do if things don’t go as planned and have alternative options in place, your inheritance won’t take a financial blow but instead, be a savior to the situation.

Think with wisdom, not with worry. To worry is natural, but there is no need to do too much of it if the company you are working with makes selling your structured settlement easy, stress-free and full of benefits – not constraints. Remind yourself with the above four steps to deal – and not just feel – where this next financial chapter of your life can take you.

Youngandthrifty’s thoughts: One common scenario where a structured settlement would exist is if you (knock on wood) were to be injured in a car accident.  The person who hurt you is ordered to pay you for the next 10 years $200 a month for your back pain.  You can decide whether you want the $200 a month tax free, or if you want sell it to a company like JG Wentworth for a lump sum instead.  The PROS of a structured settlement is that you can get tax free cash every month.  It would be a nice cash flow, especially if you’re one to have issues with managing your money.  The major CON of a structured settlement is that sometimes you need cash now and not later, because you’re in debt, want to go back to school, or want to put a large down payment on a house.  If you’re really good at investing and managing your money, a lump sum would be good for investing.  If you decide to sell your settlement, you should be aware that it is adjusted for inflation,  federal and state/provincial taxes, etc.  In the end, it is your money and you can choose what you want to do with it.

What do you think?  Have you ever had a structured settlement?  Would you choose to sell it and get a lump sum, or would you want to have regular payments for a period of time?

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Last weekend BF and I went to the PNE. The Pacific National Exhibition is this fair in Vancouver that runs for two weeks every year at the end of August. This year is the 100th anniversary celebration, so I suppose the line ups were extra long, but the cotton candy, candy apples, mini-donuts was extra delicious.  They even had the Beach Boys, Kevin Costner, and Bryan Adams  playing at the PNE this year.

I used a promo code (yes, I heart promo codes) I found online and saved us $5 each for admission (usually $20- prices have gone way up!), though if we got our butts together and left early in the morning, there was free admission from 9-12pm. But alas, that didn’t happen.  We decided against spending the extra cash to go on the rides this year- the extra long line ups aren’t worth it, IMO.

We checked out a pig race, some cows, a marketplace (which ended up being every infomercial you can imagine- but LIVE), and the carnival games.  Oh the carnival games.  They are so so good at suckering you in to plunk your money down and try again to no avail.  BF was so intent on winning something with the basketball hoop game and he tried a few times with no luck.  Then I stumbled on this post by John Chow.  Guess we weren’t the only ones who thought that game was ridiculously impossible.

Carnival games are like casinos, but instead of money, you get an ugly stuffed animal that you would likely never use.  They get them young.  Now I realize how much money I spent when I was a kid, trying so desperately to get those prizes.  I suppose there are some very good lessons parents can teach their children whilst letting them gamble at the carnival games.  Like: know your limit, stay within it.

PF Blog Love:

• Invest It Wisely gives a few tips on healthy living, eating, and exercise
• Boomer and Echo has 10 tips on saving money on auto insurance
• Tiny Potato has great tips on what NOT to do when opening a discount brokerage
• The Passive Income Earner asks what is a real estate bubble and how is it defined?
• Financial Samurai talks about how small business owners are encouraged to sack their employees before tax hikes
• Bucksome Boomer wonders whether we should be eating our eggs, given all the contamination scare
• Money Reasons shares with us how he supports his local community
• Monevator asks whether you consider yourself richer than  your kids, or poorer than your grandchildren
• My Journey to Millions asks whether Gen Y’ers follow stereotypes (I think we do)
• Canadian Finance Blog talks about my dream- retiring abroad

Readers, did you ever get suckered into playing the carnival games? Did you ever win something really good?

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Quick and short post:

The winner of the 2010 Miss Universe pageant is…

Oh sorry, I meant to say, the winner of the youngandthrifty Book Giveaway of Your Money Ratios (hardback cover by the way- more bang for your buck), is…

Little House!
There were 12 entries, and random.org generated #7, which happened to be Little House in my spreadsheet.

Congratulations!

I’ll be sending the book over today, once I get your address =)

Thanks to everyone for entering!

PS The heatwave here in Vancouver is friggin’ amaaaazing!  Taking advantage of the extremely good weather, but have a feeling I won’t be able to sleep these next few days due to the heat.  Hear that it’s 10x hotter out East.  Are y’all sleeping alright without the AC on?

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