When my credit card bill came in last month, I died a little inside. It was huge—way higher than usual—and I felt my stomach turn over slightly as I stared at the figure at the bottom of the page. Ugh, seriously? I hate bills and dealing with money and adult responsibility in general. The guttural … [Read more...]
Are Teenage Girls More Expensive Than Boys?
Being a parent of teenage girls, I always assumed that they were the more expensive gender to raise. With girls, there seem to be weekly expenses like fancy shampoo, nail polish remover, feminine products and twice as many grooming products as I use myself. Even though they have their own money, … [Read more...]
REVIEW: Kevin O’Leary’s Cold Hard Truth On Family, Kids & Money
Here's the truth. I wish someone had given me this advice years ago. I really found Kevin O'Leary's most recent book, The Cold Hard Truth on Family, Kids and Money, an eye opener. I'm planning on passing this onto my teenage son next. He's only 14 but the future is already on his mind. Questions … [Read more...]
Kids and Their Money!
Will got $105 for Christmas. He got a $100 bill from his great-grandfather, which he saw before I could snag it away. He also got a $5 bill from my sister. He earned that one for putting on a Christmas 'performance'. He charged her, ran up the stairs and put it in his piggy bank, all before we … [Read more...]
Dance Mom
This past week we started back into our fall routines; school, hockey (Cam), gymnastics (Cuyler) and dance (Eva). Our load is a bit heavier this year with Eva's dance. Last year she took jazz and acro and she absolutely loved it. She cried herself to sleep the night of her recital, when … [Read more...]
6 Year Anniversary
This past Sunday was my 6 year wedding anniversary. When you hit these mini milestones, like a wedding anniversary, it really makes you reflect back on your wedding day. I won’t go into detail about the wedding but it was a fun day: perfect weather, perfect guests, and most of all perfect bride (yep … [Read more...]
Summer Money
Aside from the kids heading back to school, September is kind of a crap month. That first month back to school is dedicated to filling out forms and writing cheques. I feel like it's September again. $175 each for outdoor soccer $100 for recital tickets for Eva's dance $250 for two weeks of … [Read more...]
Money Well Spent
The last few weeks of summer were filled with summer fun. My sister was visiting so I had been attempting to cram in every possible experience to make sure that once back-to-school hit we could look back and reassure ourselves that we did everything we could to maximize this time. And in the … [Read more...]
Cashing In.
I am a rewards collector. For years I resisted but once I started I dove right in. The problem is that I hardly ever redeem my points because it just doesn't seem worthwhile. I still have to pay taxes and fees on flights, the big ticket items are out of reach and the smaller things, although … [Read more...]
She called me a PRINCESS. Meeting Gail Vaz-Oxlade.
Uh-oh. She started yelling at me "What do you mean you don't know how to do your taxes?"I felt like a teenager all over again. I think of myself as being a relatively smart and reliable woman of today. I try to find "balance". I have interests outside of my daily shuffle with the kids and … [Read more...]