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

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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!!! 

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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

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It’s That Time of Year Again

Yeah, it’s Christmas and the holidays, but it’s also year end, where it’s the time to tie up loose ends for your 2011 tax season!  I enjoy this time of year almost as much as I enjoy Christmas and the holidays, frankly.

This is my “to do list” to prepare for year end:

• Go over my receipts for expenses and add them up (I really enjoy this and I am not sure why)
• Go over my charitable donations and make sure I have more than $200 (so I can get deduct 29% and not 15%).  If you need to donate, why not donate to your favourite cause AND guest post on my blog? Deadline is Dec 16! Email me!
• Go over my non-registered and see what I can see/ move into my TFSA investment account to offset the capital loss I have for this year
• Make sure I max out my extended health benefits (acupuncture here I come!)

So in addition to reading my own post on how to save more money on your taxes (yes, I tend to be egocentric like that, look at my own reference articles) and my post on 16 last minute tax tips for Tiger Woods/ and his number of mistresses (yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking when I created that blog post title- don’t ask!).

Liz from H&R Block sent me some other tips that might help (and I thought they were quite useful, so I’m re-posting them in point form here)

• Do a rough calculation of your taxable income (this is important so you know what to expect!)
• Donate shares that would gain capital gains to charities
• Pool medical expenses (If you have an expensive trip to the dentist coming up, you may want to consult a calendar. Medical expenses can be claimed in any 12-month period ending in 2011 so it could be beneficial to try to fit known medical expenses into the same 12-month period in order to maximize your claim. You don’t actually have to go to the dentist but if you have an outstanding amount, try to pay the bill by the end of the year. Remember, medical expenses are reduced by a percentage of your income. So the greater their dollar value, the likelier it will be that you can make a claim

PF blog Love

• Retire by 40 gives us an update on hour four-plex rental investment
• Invest it Wisely has a great guest post on how he relearns a valuable lesson to not fall for the hype when it comes to the stock market (and we relearn and relearn again- or at least I do!)
• Dividend Ninja has a great post with and update on income trusts (remember them? They were the bees knees!)
• My Own Advisor has a Million Teacher book giveaway!  I am planning/hoping to read Andrew’s book this weekend and have a giveaway for you next week too!
• Boomer from Boomer and Echo has a great post on how to avoid identity theft 
• Crystal over at Budgeting the Fun Stuff updates her monthly income for last month.  $10,000- yes you read that right!! She is on F-I-R-E! GOOOO Crystal!
• If you haven’t yet entered Sustainable Personal Finance‘s first blogiversary giveaway of an iPad, do so now.
• Prairie Eco Thrifter discusses some eco friendly home improvements that reap great returns.
• Little House in the Valley has a great guest post on the five steps to buying a home
• Krystal from GMBMFB reviews and rebalances her investment portfolio with the help of a fee based advisor
• I was included in Lindy Mint’s DIY Friday (check out her DIY xmas decorations- they are awesome!)
• And Kevin from Invest it Wisely is giving away $300+ just in time for the holidays! Go enter to win!

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My good PF blogging friend Boomer and Echo (who heard of the idea from Mark Goodfield, from The Blunt Bean Counter) asked if I would be interested in participating in Bloggers for Charity benefiting the United Way.  What a brilliant idea!  Needless to say, I jumped at the chance and I hope you will too!

Bloggers for Charity

Many Canadian bloggers are auctioning off the opportunity to guest post on their blogs (yes, even the big wig PF blogs like Canadian Capitalist, Canadian Finance Blog, and Retire Happy Blog) with a donation to charity of the winning poster’s choice.  The guest post will air on January 17, 2012.

Any Canadian blogger is welcome to join in (the project is not limited to financial bloggers) but they’ll need to encourage their fellow blogger friends to join the Bloggers for Charity initiative 

Here are the contest rules:

1. We are auctioning off the opportunity to write a guest post on this blog.

2. All bids are made in confidence to young- at- youngandthrifty- dot- ca

3. The auction will close on December 16th, 2011 and the winning bidder will be contacted by email.

4. The winning bidder will be required to send us a copy of a donation receipt between December 17th and December 31st (personal information can be blacked-out) to confirm the donation has been made.  (This donation will be tax deductible to the winning bidder as long as the donation is made to a registered charity).

5. All of the Bloggers for Charity guest posts will be published on January 17th, 2012.

6. The winner is welcome to write about any topic, though it would be great if the post is about a charity or charitable experience, but that is not mandatory.  The guest post cannot be a marketing piece, but the author can provide a brief bio that will be used in the introduction.  Alternatively, the author can remain anonymous.

7. All bloggers who participate are asked to email Lynda at Lynda at cunninghamca dot com to note their participation and then contact Lynda with their winning bid so that Mark can tally the donations received.  All individual donation totals will be kept confidential.

The winning charity will thank you!  A chance to donate (and get your tax deduction before year’s end of course) AND be featured on my blog in January (haha that’s a win win situation if you ask me!!).

PF Blog Love

• Krystal over at Give Me Back My Five Bucks has a $500 giveaway, sponsored by Life Insurance Finder, the life insurance experts where you could win $500 towards your financial bucket list.  My financial bucket list is to make my emergency fund to >$5000, increase my networth to >$150,000 by June 2012, and ensure I have enough money for my tuition haha!
• Mark at My Own Advisor reviews the MBNA Smart Cash credit card (Sounds like I’m not really being smart for not opting for this cashback credit card, but I just find travel cards so much more fun!)
• Miss T at Prairie Eco-Thrifter gives some tips on how to save water at home
• Avrom at the Dividend Ninja explains all about the balance sheet
• My University Money looks at the Rate My Prof website (I remember using that back in my undergraduate days!)
• Punch Debt in the Face wants to punch hipsters in the face.  LOL.  Vancouver is full of hipsters!  Does that mean he wants to punch Vancouver in the face?
• Retire by 40 sounds like he is going to be having a great Thanksgiving and he even thanked lil’ ol’ me!  I admit, I was a bit tearful.  Then again, I do cry at the drop of a hat
• Sunny, The Dividend Girl, is not one bit phased by the recent market downturn and she takes this opportunity to slap the TSX in the face.
• Invest it Wisely has a post on the Yakezie about outsourcing the tedious parts of blogging (which is a great idea!)
• Financial Samurai shares his shopping list for Black Friday (socks, socks, baby)
• Sustainable Personal Finance tops the giveaways by giving away the equivalent of $1200 !!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY US FRIENDS!

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