I had a realization this week, as I was trying to get home from the Lower Mainland area (which is for the record, against traffic).  Usually it takes me 45 minutes to get home but instead it took me an hour and 30 minutes because of an accident.  Earlier in the week, I was late 15 minutes because of an accident as well clogging up the highways.  This is despite leaving the house with 20 minutes to spare.  It’s so unpredictable and it really puts a dent in the day.  I realized that if I cannot commute for more than 20 to 30 minutes a day.  I just can’t.  It drains my energy, makes me irritable, it takes up my time, it wastes my gas, and it makes my car feel even older by racking on the mileage.

I know that in many circumstances, there is no choice but to commute, but I think if I had to commute such a long duration to and from work, I would rather take public transportation because the commute would be a productive commute (reading, writing, thinking about life, instead of driving).

Thankfully, reading these PF blog love blog posts really calmed me down and I hope they can help you destress this weekend too.

Readers, what is the maximum tolerable number of minutes or hours that you can commute for?

PF Blog Love

• Prairie Eco-Thrifter’s staff writer talks about how she traded labor for cookies to do her renovations (good ROI if you ask me!)
• Retire by 40 analyzes how much he spends in comparison to the average American on coffee, pets, beer, electricity, gas.. etc.
• Shawanda shares 10 Things we Love to buy but hate to use (I do love my blender though and I like using it )
• My Broken Coin shares 39 things you didn’t know about her
• Roshawn Watson talks about why we seek security versus freedom (the great education vs entrepreneurship debate)
• Financial Samurai finally gives us a glimpse into his monthly spending
• My University Money tells us that grad school isn’t the answer, especially if you’re afraid of life and getting into the real world (He’s not talking about me.. I hope)
• Boomer and Echo’s Boomer talk about how much we spend on our pets 
• Financial Uproar is heading to V-E-G-A-S!
• The Passive Income Earner breaks down how to assess if the Smith Manoeuvre is for you

Comment on this post »

As you probably noticed, this blog has gotten a huge facelift.  It’s brighter, less saggy, and more professional looking.  I was getting sick of looking at the old theme, and there were so many issues with it (like not being able to see threaded comments or have threaded comments), the code on the pages became visible after I upgraded the wordpress editions, and the sidebars were too narrow and things often got cut off.  It was just frustrating, sometimes I would spend HOURS (and days) trying to fix something and studying the CSS or whatnot to try and adjust things a bit.  Now I learned my lesson and I won’t touch anything lol or else it might screw up the theme/ appearance of the blog.

It was about time I invested in this blog, and I’m loving the design and the look of it so far.  It was great working with The Dividend Ninja who was basically the mastermind behind this entire design.  He even got me to give up the old yellow-green apples on my header and replaced them with juicier, less stale looking apples.   It was great to be able to meet up with him and describe what I wanted to see.

So my dear readers, thanks for putting up with the wonkiness of my website the past few weeks (the right sidebar completely disappeared one day- it was good timing because I was already starting to work on the new site with The Dividend Ninja!).

What do you think of the new look?

PF Blog Love

This week’s link love has a lot of girl power! (With the exception of the boys, TDN, PIE, and RB40, of course).  Have a great weekend!

• Gotta give a shoutout to the designer of this new facelift The Dividend Ninja lists part 2 of the 2012 Canadian Stock Picks
• The Passive Income Earner updates us with his first 2012 dividend income update.  His goal is to get $7000 income in dividend stocks for 2012.
• Also gotta give a shoutout to Give Me Back My Five Bucks who will be leaving for Germany very soon!
• Retire By 40 asks if you are falling down the frugality rabbit hole.  Is minimalism the new black?
• Thirty Six Months shares some great tips on how to use tools to help you pay your bills online and save money
• Yes I am Cheap also got a facelift and looks almost as good as me (just kidding Sandy!) She’s also celebrating her 3 year blogiversary!
• Aloysa from the Broken Coin gives us a few things you really should be cheap about
• Prairie Eco Thrifter shares the Top 20 Foods that increase your brain power.  I think I’ll need all 20, please.
• Little House explains why she’s not stepping on the gas pedal to buy a home yet
• Lindy Mint has a great guest post on how you can work from home.. and make money!

Have a great weekend guys!

Comment on this post »

Tk was quite eventful in terms of blogger activity!

I met up with the bloggers from Give Me Back my Five Bucks, Dividend Ninja, Preet Banerjee, Squawkfox, and Bryan Borzykowski a journalist who writes for Money Sense, Canadian Business, and The Globe and Mail.  It was like a mini-Canadian personal finance meetup.

Needless to say, I was star struck   It was great meeting the people behind the blogs.  Although I “know” what they look like because they all have profiles attached to their blogs/ writing, it was still really cool to meet everyone in person.  Everyone was even more amazing IN person compared to the personality expressed on their blogs and in their writing.

What was also really cool was that The Consumerist picked up my dual posts on How to Rent out your Basement Suite.  If you haven’t read it yet, here is part I and part II.

The only thing viral in real life and not blog life that happened was me getting a cold after my boyfriend ended up catching a viral pneumonia.  He’s doing much better now but I feel a little guilty giving him heck for catching one of his “man colds”.

 PF Blog Love

• Squawkfox shares her top 10 blog posts of 2011 ( I loved the wedding post, myself)
• Dividend Ninja updates us on how his blog is doing
• Preet Banerjee has a great post detailing the impact of mutual fund fees over a period of 25 years.  One word. Ouch!
• Krystal from Give Me Back my Five Bucks shares her 2012 goals as she embarks on freelancing
• Bryan Borzkowski asks you really Yuan To Make Money.
• Retire by 40 asks you what your motivation is to earn more
• Boomer and Echo help you decide whether or not to keep your company pension or take the commuted value
• My Own Advisor asks us to think about making a STOP doing list instead of a TO DO list for 2012.  Now that’s a novel idea…!
• Sandy from Yes I am Cheap thinks that we’re all going to rock 2012.  Yeaaaah!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

Readers, I’m curious to know wat are your plans?

A) stay home (I honestl think that BF and I are getting old.  I hope he feels better soon

B) Go out to a dedicated NYE party

C) Go to a house party

Comment on this post »

I just want to say, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanks for reading my blog and I’m very very thankful for all your PF blogger friendship over the years, and for all the great posts fellow PF bloggers write for me to read, and last but not LEAST I’m also thankful for all the readers who regularly read this blog.

I hope everyone has a relaxing, restful, and invigorating (hey, short bread cookies, biscotti, and egg nog are invigorating, IMO) Christmas spent with loved ones.

I am also thankful for stores that open past 9pm and I’m thankful for the ABILITY to last minute shop for Christmas presents (if stores all closed at 6pm I wouldn’t know what to do).

This year, I spent about $400 on Christmas gifts and I bought gifts for my mom, sisters, brother, boyfriend, boyfriend’s family, and 8 close girlfriends.  It was still higher than I’d like, but better than if I didn’t do any secret santa gift exchanges or homemade gifts, if I didn’t do these, I would guess my gift total would be closer to $500 or even $600.

Readers, how much did you spend on your Christmas gifts this year? (I know, I know, I’m nosy.. but that’s what personal finance is about.. isnt’ it?)

PF Blog Love:

• Invest it Wisely has a great guest post about getting out of student debt (very relevant for me right now as I’m trying to avoid this at all cost)
• Krystal from GMBMFB has huge news to share! She’s quitting her job and moving to Germany!  Great way to follow your dream and incorporate some adventure
• Little House in the Valley has a guest post talking about saving up for a down payment
• Financial Samurai shares his encounter with a beautiful, smart, but single dentistry student
• Money Smarts Blog has some super last minute Christmas gift ideas (ahem, GUYS, you may want to read this )
• The Financial Blogger is giving away $500 in cold, hard, cash (via paypal lol).  All you have to do is confess your biggest financial sin of 2011.
  
• My Own Advisor has a really cute poem incorporating all of the Canadian personal finance bloggers.  Go check it out- it’ll put a smile on your face, I know it did for me!
• Retire by 40 updates us on his New Years resolutions of 2011.  And YAY! He survived 2011!  Now he has to survive 2012, which is the big one we need to worry about
• Prairie Eco Thrifter shares some tips on baking cheap holiday cookies and breads
  
• Boomer and Echo talk about the important risks involved in having joint accounts. (this is important for all us cohabitators out there!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and thanks for reading!!! 

Comment on this post »

I finally got to enjoy myself last weekend, by going for a weekend trip up to Whistler.  It was nice not to have to worry about school or work.  The views were fantastic- panoramic and blue, crisp sky.  Unfortunately that also means icy conditions too.  Since I haven’t gone snowboarding for about two years or so, I felt a bit rusty and had the little voice in my head tell me “what if you fall? You’re going to bruise your tailbone on that ice!”  Nonetheless, I was still able to enjoy myself despite the icy conditions- the views were amazing.  I caught my board a few times and looked like an idiot doing a few face-plants in the snow, but I think I provided some good entertainment for bystanders at least.

The picture you see is a view from 7th Heaven, on top of Blackcomb mountain at Whistler.  I can see why people have cabins and chalets here!  It can be almost hypnotic, looking at a view like that day in, day out.

Another thing that was great that happened this week was that youngandthrifty.ca was featured in Glow magazine (the Holiday 2011 edition).  My 2011 resolutions were mentioned in the “We Hereby Resolve… to make our 2012 resolutions a reality!” article.  If you haven’t heard of Glow Magazine, it’s the magazine that was created by Shoppers Drug Mart (and its Canadian, eh?).  When it first came out, I remember I liked the fact that they included style tips (make up, beauty, shopping) AND health/balanced lifestyle tips.  I liked the balance and found it to be one of my favourite beauty magazines.

Here’s the magazine:

Oh and PS, I bought an issue!  Even though it cost $4.99 seeing my blog mentioned in a magazine is priceless!  Sorry, the fame whore inside me won over the frugal and practical side of me

Well, enough about me- here’s some great PF blog reads to tie you over the weekend:

PF Blog Love

• Aloysa from My Broken Coin talks about the pitfalls of thrift store shopping
• Boomer and Echo asks if a long commute is destroying your job satisfaction? (I know it would eat into my soul if I were driving- a 20-30 minute commute already does for me)
• Simple Rich Living believes that gift giving is overrated.  Do you think so?
• Prairie Eco-Thrifter talks about some important things you need to consider before buying a house
• Retire by Forty had a great guest post on his website about why you shouldn’t buy a house for the mortgage deduction (not that we get one here in Canada anyway)
• My Journey to Millions talks about Early Retirement Extreme’s end of retirement
• Sustainable Personal Finance gives us an update on their 1st year of their blog
• Canadian Personal Finance says Christmas is Cancelled (THANKS Nelson for ruining Christmas!)
• Free from Broke gives some tips for holiday tipping
• Yes I am Cheap also has a post about pitfalls to avoid as a first time home buyer
• Oh and Brighter Life is hosting this giveaway for $1000 (x3) every week until early January.  You just have to “like” them on facebook to enter.

Have a great weekend guys!

Have you found this holiday season particularly busy, or is it just me?

Oh and PS The winner of the Book Giveaway of the Millionaire Teacher is Jeff Delion!  Congrats!  Please send me your address so I can send you the book

Comment on this post »