money

Anna’s Budget Tips-Budget Friendly Gardening

May 2, 2013 by Kathryn 4 Comments

The much anticipated arrival of Spring means it’s a great time to get some seeds in the ground and watch them grow into flowers, veggies, berries, herbs and more! Growing your own produce may seem like an ideal way to cut back on food costs, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.

You imagine strolling through rows of lush plants, laden with ripe red tomatoes, plump strawberries and lovely squash…without having to spend a penny! But a costly trip to the garden centre for tools, seeds, plants, soil, pots and compost, followed by a few weeks of weeding only to find that some things never grew and others were devoured by bugs, birds, rabbits or other critters can cause some serious frustration.

garden

So, what to do? How can you increase the chances for a satisfying experience where you reap the rewards (both financial and emotional!) of your garden, and decrease the chances of it becoming a money pit? Get started with these budget friendly gardening tips: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anna's Budget Tips, Features, Guest Post Tagged With: anna platz, budget, budget tip, budget-friendly, friendly, garden, garden tips, gardening, gardening tips, money, save money, tip

Outfitting Two Children for Summer at Walmart Canada #WalmartFrugalHeroes

May 2, 2013 by Kathryn 5 Comments

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Today Walmart Canada asked shoppers across the country to take part in a frugal shopping challenge and I was very excited when I was asked to be a part of it. What made this campaign so fun was that I got to choose from an assortment of challenges to find the one that best fit my family. I was very tempted to attempt to redecorate a room in my home for $100 since I’ve been doing a lot of spring cleaning lately, but with our trip to Disneyland just a few weeks away, I decided to undertake the challenge of outfitting two children for summer for $100.

I’ve mentioned before that when it comes to clothes, my boys are not the type of kids that will just wear whatever they have. They love clothes, recognize stylish clothes and like to be involved in the shopping experience whenever possible. So I took the two of them into the store so that they could help me choose their summer wardrobe.

boys summer wardrobe walmart [Read more...]

Filed Under: Reviews, Reviews and Giveaways Tagged With: cahallenge, frugal, frugal hero challenge, hero, heroes, money, save, saving, savings, summer, walmart, walmart frugal heroes, walmartfrugalheroes, wardrobe

Helping Your Child Discover the Basics of Money Management

March 18, 2013 by Kathryn Leave a Comment

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It doesn’t take long for your little ones to realize that the green paper in your wallet has a special ability to get them things. Before long, they start wondering what it is and how it works. If you want to help your kid out in a big way, teaching them the basics of how to manage money at an early age is critical. Here are a few tips to try out when you want to help your child in this area.

1. Let Them Earn It

From an early age, you should associate money with doing something to earn it. Let your children do odd jobs around the house to earn $.50 or $1. Once they get older, you could let them mow the neighbours’ yard or do other miscellaneous jobs. You don’t have to just let them trade work for money either. For example, you might want to let them set up a lemonade stand or sell something else. Help them foster the spirit of being an entrepreneur as much as possible.

2. Encourage Them to Give Back

One of the most important lessons that most people learn is to give some of their money back to charity. Whether that’s giving money to a local church or giving it to a special cause, it can make a big difference for those who need it. Show your child how to take a percentage of each paycheck and give it to a charity. This will not only help them make a difference now, but it will also give them some nice tax breaks in the future. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Money, Parenting Tagged With: allowance, budget, child, children, children money, education, kid, kids, learn, learn about money, management, money, money management

Anna’s Budget Tips-Spring Break on a Budget

March 1, 2013 by Kathryn Leave a Comment

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School-aged children around the country are eagerly anticipating the long awaited Spring Break or Spring Vacation. Most districts put school on pause for a week or even two some time in March or April giving students (and their teachers!) some much needed R&R. This time of year can also be a cause for concern among families on a budget – you know…those of us who can’t hop on a jet bound for the Maldives for a week of fun in the sun!

But don’t worry! It is entirely possible to create a fun-filled vacation without breaking the bank. Here are some tips and tricks to help, whether your plans involve being home with the little ones, some low cost travel or mom and dad working over the break.

tips for enjoying spring break on a budget [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anna's Budget Tips, Articles, Family, Features, Guest Post Tagged With: break, budget, home, money, money tips, save, save spring break, spring, spring break, spring break budget, spring break tips, tips, travel

3 Ways Mortgage Refinancing Can Help Canadian Families

February 20, 2013 by Kathryn Leave a Comment

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If you are like most busy parents, refinancing your mortgage is the last thing that you think about on a daily basis. Instead, you may be caught up in the details of day-to-day life, such as if your son will pass his math test or how much your daughter’s braces will cost. Of course, your family’s finances play a major role in many of the decisions that you make on a regular basis as well as on how you plan and prepare for the future. With how busy you are, however, if things aren’t broken, you may not consider taking the time to make an improvement. While this is understandable, the fact is that there are three key reasons why you should think about refinancing your mortgage today.

Taking Advantage of Low Interest Rates

Unless you only recently obtained your current mortgage, chances are that your interest rate is considerably higher than the rates currently available. Why does a low interest rate matter? Your interest rate will affect how much money you throw away in interest charges each month. A lower interest rate means that a greater percentage of your payments are applied toward principal, and this can help you to build more equity in your home. In addition, it can also lower your monthly payment. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Articles, Money Tagged With: budget, canadian, family, money, money management, mortgage, mortgage refinancing, refinancing

How Would You Spend the $50,000 Royale #GoldenKitten Grand Prize?

February 9, 2013 by Kathryn 28 Comments

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There’s nothing I love more than daydreaming about the things I would do with a sudden windfall of money. Whether I’m spending millions in imaginary lottery winnings or a smaller imaginary raffle prize, it’s always fun to plan out how I’d use the money if I won, so that “I’m ready just in case.” And right now, Royale is asking Canadians what they would do if they had $50,000 to spend!

Now while I love daydreaming, the truth is that I’m incredibly practical when it comes to money. So while I would be thrilled to come into such a large amount of money, I wouldn’t be running to the mall with it! Instead, my first priority would be on securing my family’s future by paying down our mortgage. A $20,000 payment would make a huge dent in the total amount of the mortgage and would mean paying it off a decade earlier.

Anna’s Budget Tips-Low Cost Cleaning

February 1, 2013 by Kathryn 18 Comments

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I am a sucker for fancy cleaning products. I am easily drawn in by pretty packaging, intriguing scents, and claims such as “all natural,” “eco-friendly” and “non-toxic.” Of course it’s not necessary to drop big bucks just to get your home sparkling clean. In fact, some of the most natural and environmentally friendly products are also the least expensive. Here are a few tips to keep your cleaning costs way down:

Make Your Own Cleaning Products

To make your own All Purpose Spray, mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. If you’d rather not have the strong vinegar smell try adding a few drops of essential oil. You can find essential oils at most health food stores – choose peppermint, orange, tea tree, or lavender. Use this spray to clean just about anything including counter tops, sinks, kids’ toys, and windows.

Need a little extra scrubbing power to accompany your elbow grease? Make a gentle scrub out of baking soda mixed with a little water and use to clean soap residue and hard water stains, polish metal fixtures and clean stubborn messes on counter tops. As an added bonus, baking soda also deodorizes while it cleans.

Clean a cast iron pan with kosher salt and a non-abrasive sponge. The salt will clean off food residue without removing the pan’s prized seasoning.

Kosher salt can also report for cleaning duty for your wooden cutting boards. Rub the salt over the boards with a cut lemon and then rinse off the lemon juice/salt mixture. The acidity of the lemon juice will disinfect and the abrasive salt rub will get the surface nice and clean. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anna's Budget Tips, Features, Guest Post Tagged With: budget, budget tips, chores, clean, cleaning, eco-friendly, eco-friendly cleaning, homemade cleaning, household, make cleaning supplies, money, reuse, save, save money, tips, tricks

Recovering from a Season of Overspending

January 10, 2013 by Kathryn

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gold party canada money Whereas December is all about family, celebrating, and resolutions, I find January a time for analysis and reflection on the previous year. Even the most disciplined of us find ourselves slipping during the holidays. Whether it’s in our diet, our fitness regime or our spending, it seems the entire world around us gives us a free pass in December.

In January we get that cold dose of reality. It might be an extra few pounds on the scale, feeling out of breath after walking up the stairs or a credit card bill that you’re sure belongs to someone with 18 children.

So let’s do a bit of reflecting about your financial situation and do everything we can do to minimize this kind of shock in January 2014. [Read more...]