Owner: Cheap Canuck URL:http://cheapcanuck.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:47:42 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Not everyone has a six figure salary, but many of those of us in the lower income brackets still have a dream of retiring early, and spending our days kicking back in the Caribbean with a six pack and a fishing pole. It's possible, but will require d Site statistics:Click here
Friday's Frugal Feast - March 7/08 Edition 2008-03-07 10:18:00 Today's recipe is a recent creation of mine, but it super easy, very cheap, and quite tasty as well, so I anticipate it being a staple of my diet in the years ahead. Hope you try it and enjoy it.CHILI LIME TUNA FRIED RICEINGREDIENTS- 1 tin flaked light tuna (drained) - 1.5 cups white rice - 1 tsp chili powder- 1 tbsp lime juice- 3/4 cup chopped celery- 3/4 cup chopped red peppersDIRECTIONSCook rice in pot or rice cooker and let stand.Drain tuna and spoon into small dish. Stir in lime juice and chili powder.Saute celery and red peppers in canola oil.Once veggies are browned add rice and stir to mix. Continue to fry rice/veggie mixture at medium heat, stirring constantly.Add tuna mixture and stir to mix. Continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes.Remove from heat and serve. Season with sal Read more:Friday
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Frugal Living Tip # 11 - Save as a Group 2008-03-06 10:03:00 Friends are a blessing. Everyone knows just what their friendships mean to them, and what an important role these people play in helping us enjoy a happy, fulfilling life. But for anyone struggling with debt, or simply trying to save extra money, those friendships can also be a burden, and may be your greatest obstacle in trying to get ahead financially.What do I mean by this? Consider your spending habits, and how much discretionary money you spend to nurture and maintain these friendships. Maybe the gang is going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and you don't want to miss out. Maybe it's Ron's birthday and you've got to buy him a present. Maybe everyone is heading off to Vegas for the long weekend to blow off a little steam, and you're definitely not staying behind for that trip! Not Read more:Frugal
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0% APR Credit Card is Here 2008-03-05 10:07:00 As I posted a while back, I applied for one of the two available 0% introductory APR credit cards available to us here in Canada. Well, the card showed up on Friday, and I've started to put my plan to save some mortgage interest into action.Activating the card and initiating a balance transfer is as simple as a phone call. MBNA customer service was quick and helpful. Since I did not have any outstanding from credit card debt I did not have any other outstanding balance to transfer, so I instead had them credit the money to my chequing account, to have the money available for whatever I need it for. This transfer process was very straightforward. I merely had to read out the series of numbers at the bottom of one of my cheques to allow them to make the transfer. After that there was a wai
Dipping my Toes - My First Dividend Stock! 2008-03-04 10:05:00 Well, I finally took the plunge today. After months of reading about the wonderful world of dividend investing I decided to join the ranks and purchased my first individual dividend paying stock today (all my other investment money is in index funds in my RRSP.)With the recent market downturn there are a plethora of quality Canadian companies that have seen their share price drop, and subsequently their dividend yield increase. There are no shortage of tempting buying opportunities out there right now. However, since this is my first purchase I decided that I wanted to buy in a sector that has been a backbone of the Canadian economy, and a steady dividend payer: Canadian banks. With the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, bank stocks here in Canada have taken a beating in the last while. A Read more:First
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Frugal Living Tip # 10 - Let's Talk Turkey 2008-02-29 10:09:00 Sorry folks. No frugal feast recipe today. Been pretty busy the past couple of days (note the lack of updates this week - sorry 'bout that), and haven't had time to put together a good recipe. Still, I figured I'd keep with the food theme, so the topic on the table today is turkey.Thanksgiving and Christmas are times for friends and family to get together, have some drinks, play some games, exchange some gifts, and most importantly, eat some turkey! Just the thought of moist turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, all drenched in gravy, has my mouth watering, and it's only 8:15 AM! Not only is it delicious the first time around, but for the week following the "big meal" we enjoy left-overs in many forms, and despite eating it twice a day we never seem to get sick of it. Yes, we do love our Read more:Frugal
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Rent or Buy? How Much Discipline Do you Have? 2008-02-26 10:10:00 There are few, if any, topics in the world of personal finance that are more hotly debated than the question of whether it is financially healthier to rent or to buy a home.The reason for this? For the vast majority of us housing represents the largest expenditure we will face over the course of our lives. The amount of money on the line is what engenders such passion in those in both camps. Another reason the argument continues to rage is because there is really no clear answer. As in everything in the financial world, the numbers tell the story, and depending what the numbers are in your location, in your situation, at the time of your decision, the story can be quite different.The moral of this? Don't listen to either side! So many factors go into the numbers - from location, to family Read more:Discipline
Frugal Living Tip # 9 - Sell to Buy 2008-02-25 10:04:00 Happy Monday everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend.Today's frugal living tip might seem a bit radical to some readers, but it is a money saving strategy I've been employing for the past few years, and I have found it to be quite successful.The basic premise behind this method is simple: Whenever you plan to purchase something that can be clearly defined as a want you will need to sell some of your possessions to finance the purchase. For example, if you've got your heart set on a Nintendo Wii you might have to sell your Playstation 2 with 30 games to afford the purchase.Adhering to this method will accomplish a couple of things:1) It will force you to evaluate just how badly you really want the item. Are you willing to give up that PS2, or your golf clubs? It is yet another impulse ch Read more:Frugal
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Friday's Frugal Feast - Feb 22/08 Edition 2008-02-22 10:00:00 Well, it's Friday
again. Wow, that week really flew by. Spending too much time working on this blog I guess :) Anyways, if you are looking for a cheap, tasty meal for the family this weekend, here is one my all-time favorite recipes. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.TO DIE FOR SLOW-COOKED BARON OF BEEFINGREDIENTS- 1 Three pound beef roast - 1/2 cup warm water- 1 dry pkg brown gravy mix- 1 dry pkg Italian dressing mix- 1 dry pkg ranch dressing mix- 6-8 Hoagie rollsDIRECTIONSMix gravy, Italian, and ranch dressings together in a small dish.Cut roast into quarters and put it in the crock pot.Sprinkle powder mixture (gravy,ranch,Italian) overtop of roast.Add the 1/2 cup warm water.Cook on low in crock pot for 8 hours.After 8 hours take the four beef chunks out of the crock pot. Put the beef in Read more:Frugal
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Frugal Living Tip # 8 - Buy Used. Always. 2008-02-21 10:07:00 Reading the title of this edition of frugal living tips you are probably thinking to yourself, Thank-you Captain Obvious. Well, while the notion of saving money by purchasing used is not exactly groundbreaking, I'm here to remind you that the majority of us don't take this powerful saving tool far enough.What do I mean by this? Start by taking stock of some of the possessions in your house. Sure, you got that sofa by replying to an ad in the local classifieds, that table lamp came from a garage sale, and those jeans came from a thrift store. But what about your TV, dishes, tennis rackets, winter parka? What about your car, or your house? Odds are the majority of the items in your household were probably bought new at the store. But just about every material good you own, regardless of how Read more:Frugal
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MBNA 0% Credit Card on the Way 2008-02-20 10:14:00 After reading all the buzz about these credit cards with 0% Introductory APR on balance transfers I decided to take the plunge and apply for one. I guess these offers are pretty common in the US, but there are only a couple of options available to us (so far) here in Canada: MBNA and CitiBank. Using a code I acquired from the friendly folks at the forums of RedFlagDeals, I decided to go with the MBNA card. They offer 0% on balance transfers for 12 months. Not only that, but they also send you a limited number of cash advance cheques with the same 0% introductory APR. You can write a cheque directly to yourself, and then use the money to invest, pay down mortgage, or for whatever else you wish.A couple of caveats regarding these cards:First of all, there is a 1% up front fee for any balance Read more:Credit Card
Frugal Living Tip # 7 - Maintain a Detailed Spending Log 2008-02-19 11:25:00 Today's frugal living tip doesn't deal with one particular method of saving money. Instead I want to introduce a strategy you can use to help control your overall spending habits.It's a simple concept really. The first step is to get yourself a pocket-sized notepad and pencil, and, beginning today, record every penny you spend and where you spent it. Whether it is your mortgage payment, or a quarter dropped in a gumball machine, write it down! Though admittedly somewhat tedious, if you give this strategy a try, I think you will find the small inconvenience will be heavily outweighed by what you learn about just where your money goes. At the end of the day, transfer the data you've gathered to a spreadsheet to allow for easier record keeping over a long period of time.The benefits of this r Read more:Frugal
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Frugal Living Tip # 6 - 'Tap' Into Our Planet's Most Valuable Resource 2008-02-18 10:01:00 Today's frugal living tip has been one of the most consistent money saving methods for me over the past several years, yet I hardly know anyone else who takes advantage of it. It's healthy, it's virtually free, it's environmentally friendly, and acquiring it requires no more effort than a twist of your wrist. You guessed it - it's tap water.Right now, some of you reading this are screwing up your faces in disgust, insisting that water is bland and tastes of chlorine. Well, if you have been drinking pop, juice, milk, coffee and Perrier then tap water obviously isn't going jolt your taste-buds in the same way. But, it all comes down to what your body is used to. Water is clear, cool and refreshing. Sure there is a bit of a chlorine aftertaste if you drink it immediately after pouring, but le Read more:Frugal
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New Look & URL 2008-02-17 17:52:00 Hey everyone. Traffic is starting to build slowly but surely, so I thought I'd register a proper .com domain for this little blog of mine to make it easier to remember. As you can see I am still hosted on Blogger though (The price is right!) While I was at it I decided to give the template a bit of a spit-shine. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new design. Thanks, and enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Rebalancing Your Portfolio - Give Your Assets a Yearly Checkup to Keep Yourself In Good Financial Health! 2008-02-16 10:27:00 When it comes to investing, people like winners. Friends will brag about how they doubled their money in just a year on a certain hot stock. Emboldened by their success you might free up some money and pour it into the stock, hoping to cash in on the meteoric ride as well. Unfortunately, in most cases this is the worst thing you can do. Stocks do not go up forever. They are cyclical in nature, and anything that has been on a tear for a while is more than likely due for a correction. Sure if you invest in that hot stock you might see it continue to go up for a while. But, if you jump on just before a correction you might see half your money gone as other investors take profits and the once high-flier drops back down to a price level that more accurately reflects its fundamental value as a c Read more:Portfolio
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Frugal Living Tip # 5 - Both a Borrower and a Lender Be 2008-02-15 14:15:00 I know it goes against the age-old adage, but this tip will not only save you a ton of money, it will also reduce the clutter in your household. Beneficial any way you slice it.We are a society of collectors. Whether it is DVDs, books, or miniature purple unicorns, we hoard our treasures as jealously as old Smaug did before Bard's arrow knocked him out of the sky. We line our belongings up in orderly rows, making sure to polish them to a pearlescent gleam, all the better to impress friends and family who come to visit and look upon the glory that is our DVD/book/purple unicorn collection. And when we, in turn, visit their homes we are likewise awed by the sheer volume of goods they've managed to accumulate.The greatest irony of this unhealthy mutual admiration? Well, since, in social circl Read more:Frugal
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Friday's Frugal Feast - Feb 15/08 Edition 2008-02-15 09:55:00 Hi everyone. Today I'm introducing a new feature here at Cheap Canuck. Every Friday
I will be posting a cheap yet tasty recipe for my readers to try out. This week I'm featuring one of my own recipes, but I hope that readers will contribute their own creations as well. Recipes used will be credited to the contributor, and a link to their blog/website will be included in the article if they so choose. If you want to send me a recipe contact me HERE with the subject line Frugal
Recipe, and the recipe, along with the link to your blog or website in the body of the message.So, without further ado, here is this week's recipe:CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI ALFREDOINGREDIENTS- 250 grams (1/2 lb) uncooked fettucine- 2 cups broccoli- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil- 1 large (approx 450 grams or one lb) skinless, bonele Read more:Feast
, Edition
DRiPing - An old Investment Strategy with New Life 2008-02-14 12:44:00 When you see the acronym DRiP, probably the last thing that comes to mind is a wealth building investment strategy with minimal fees and favorable taxation, but that is exactly what it is.DRIPs or Dividend Reinvestment Plans have been around for a long time, but have seem to have always flown under the radar of the mainstream investment community. Here in Canada, at least, this old investment idea is gaining new traction.The reasons for this are two-fold:One - Derek Foster, the self-proclaimed "Youngest retiree in Canada" has recently released a popular new book that references the DRiP strategy. This has led to some fairly strong buzz on many of Canada's financial discussion boards, and has brought DRiPing into the limelight. Two - New taxation law has recently been introduced that makes Read more:Strategy
, New Life
Happy Valentine's Day! 2008-02-14 10:12:00 Happy Valentine
's Day everyone. There are several frugal tips I could offer for saving money on Valentine's Day, but I think I will leave this one to your discretion. While some of you may have a spouse or significant other that will appreciate your creative efforts to be romantic while trying to save money, others might get themselves in a great deal of hot water if they don't break the bank to spoil the one they love. You know your spouse better than anyone so use your common sense on this one. If in doubt, err on the side of spoiling them :) Relationship stress can be much much worse than financial stress...Check back a bit later today. I will be posting an article on DRIPping - an alternative investment strategy that is recently gaining traction, especially here in Canada.
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Frugal Living Tip # 4 - Don't be an Early Adopter! 2008-02-12 13:54:00 I'm a gadget nut. I'll admit it. When I turn on my computer in the morning my first web stops are inevitably Engadget and Gizmodo, to see what wonderful new technology has come down the pipeline in the eight hours since my head hit the pillow the night before. The internet is a two-edged sword. While it is a wonderful tool for honing our knowledge, and for spreading our own "wisdom" to others, it opens up a world of temptations that represents one of the greatest threats to those attempting to save their money and live a frugal lifestyle.Not only are we tempted by these shiny new toys while making the morning blog rounds, but when we get to work our co-workers reinforce these desires even further, talking about the newest gizmo they picked up over the weekend. Now, an even more insidious c Read more:Frugal
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Okay, You've Maxed Out Your RRSP Contribution Room - Now What? 2008-02-12 10:04:00 Hold on, wait a minute. Maxed out my RRSP contribution room? How am I supposed to do that on a low wage? Well, it's not easy, that's for sure. But don't forget, contribution room is based on 18% of your gross income for the year, so the lower the income, the less contribution room you have before you are maxed out (unless you have unused contribution room from past years that you can carry forward). So, if you earned $30,000 then you can contribute $5,400 to your RRSP. Still not an easy figure to reach, but by living below your means, and by employing some of the frugal living tips I've been writing about here, it is certainly an attainable goal.So now that you've reached that goal and you have some extra money just sitting there doing nothing for you, how are you going to put it to work?# Read more:Contribution
Frugal Living Tip # 3 - Drop That 2nd Car Like the Bad Habit it is 2008-02-11 16:44:00 Out of all the frugal living tips that I plan to post in this series, none will be more effective, and have a greater impact on savings than this one. We North Americans love our cars. From an early age we are taught that cars represent freedom, popularity, and fun. At age 14 we watch with envy as all the cool older kids at our high school rip around in their rusted out Tercels, Rangers, and Omnis, and we eagerly count the days until we can get a driver's license and a sweet ride of our own. At age 16, after a stressful period of anti-bonding with our parents as they teach us to drive, we finally manage to obtain the golden ticket: our driver's license. One problem though: No way in hell they are letting us borrow the Audi so we can chauffeur our fast-food munching, drink spilling buddies Read more:Frugal
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Looming Recession and Nerve-Shattering Volatility - Stay the Course 2008-02-11 11:23:00 The past six months or so have been especially hard on the constitutions of all classes of investors. With the subprime mortgage mess in the US wreaking havoc on the global markets investors have watched the value of their portfolios dip 10-20%. It has been scientifically demonstrated that the human response to loss is twice as high as that of gain, so it biologically natural for us to have an emotional reaction to what is happening in the markets.Emotion is the nemesis of the long-term investor. Remember that. It can prompt us to make irrational short-term decisions based on fear that can do terrible damage to our long-term savings goals. As hard as it will be, you must detach yourself from what is happening in the markets. You can't control it, and if you try you will do more harm than g Read more:Looming
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Hockey Player Richard Zednik's Throat Cut by Skate 2008-02-11 10:04:00 I know this is off topic as far as this blog goes, but I am a huge hockey fan, so now and again you I will be throwing in a post with news from the fastest game on ice. Unfortunately this particular post deals not with goals or flashy plays, but with a near-tragic accident that rocked the hockey world last night.Richard
Zednik of the Florida Panthers was involved in a freak accident where his throat was cut by the skate of fellow teammate Olli Jokinen. Despite the ghastly wound, Zednik somehow had the presence of mind to stay on his feet and skate to the bench, leaving a blood trail behind him as team trainers rushed to help him. This instinct, in all likelihood, saved his life. At the rate he was losing blood, had he fallen and lain on the ice he might never have made it to the hospital a Read more:Skate
Frugal Living Tip # 2 - Your Favorite Stuff on Sale? Load Up! 2008-02-10 19:30:00 The vast majority of us look for bargains when we go to the grocery store. We clip coupons, we compare prices between stores, some of us even bring calculators to check the price per gram when comparing individual items! All of these things are common sense measures we take to make sure we stretch our dollars as far as possible. However, we can take this desire to save one step further, and make an investment of sorts that will save us even more money in the long run. Every now and then I'll be wandering the store with my wife and I'll come across a food item that is being blown out at a bargain basement price. Whether the store is clearing inventory, or their supplier cut them a great deal, for whatever reason the price is well below what even the average sale price for that item normally Read more:Frugal
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Low Income Earners - It might be time to get those dividends rolling in 2008-02-10 13:09:00 If you are in the lowest tax bracket, there are many who argue you should be investing outside an RRSP because the tax-sheltering of the RRSP is far less beneficial for people at their income level. While I believe RRSP contributions will be beneficial for individuals at any income level, there may be investment options that are more beneficial depending on the individual's situation.One of these options is dividend investing. One of the strongest arguments in favor of RRSP investing has to do with double taxation that you face if investing outside an RRSP. For example, if you purchase a stock or a mutual fund outside of an RRSP, you will be purchasing it with after-tax dollars. When you sell that investment you are subject to a capital gains tax (assuming your investment went up in value) Read more:Income
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Frugal Living Tip # 12 - Goin' Old School 2008-03-12 17:27:00 Technology is wonderful. Ever since the invention of the transistor in 1947 the pace of technological advancement in our society has been truly mind-blowing. These advances have been a boon to us, freeing up valuable time and energy for us to enjoy more of our favorite leisure activities.However, the same technology that has gifted us with so much extra time has also come at a dollar cost. All these appliances we take for granted in our daily lives naturally require some form of energy to make them run. Whether it is electricity, gasoline, or propane, we are opening our wallet every time we flick on the switch.For many people the convenience of these devices make the cost a non-factor. Time is a valuable commodity, and for those with hectic lives that never seem to have a spare moment thes Read more:Frugal
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Early Retirement? How About Really Early Semi-Retirement? 2008-03-10 10:11:00 I have to admit, I've always been a little baffled about the path to early retirement. Unless you really love your job (and admittedly many do), to spend 49 weeks a year, grinding away, only escaping for a small vacation each year before repeating the process seems like the very definition of insanity. All this hard work does yield a reward though. At 55 years old we can finally walk out those doors for the last time, finally free and ready to fulfill all those dreams that kept us going while we were slaving away at our nine to five. Admittedly, we're not as spry as we once were, but lots of us will still have enough fuel in the tank, and be healthy enough to enjoy most of the activities we always wanted to try. So, we spend the next couple of years checking off our laundry list of these t Read more:Early
Frugal Living Tip # 13 - No-Name Doesn't Mean No-Flavor 2008-03-18 12:49:00 We've got to eat. No way around it. No matter how many things we cut out of our lives to try to save money one unavoidable cost is food. Sure, we can reduce the number of times we eat out, clip coupons, shop on sale etc. These simple techniques will go a long way to reducing our monthly grocery bill. Still, we can do more, and as the old saying goes: Every little bit helps.Every grocery store has its house or no-name brands, usually identified by its graphic-free, uni-color packaging. Despite the deep discount these house brands offer (often as much as 50%!) against equivalent name brand products, many of disdain the no-name variety, assuming they are cheap for one very simple reason: They don't taste as good.Granted, in some cases this assumption is quite correct. Some of these copycat br Read more:Frugal
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Canadian Banks - Have They Bounced Off The Bottom? 2008-03-24 12:40:00 A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the purchase of my first dividend stock. Dipping My Toes - My First Dividend Stock. Since it was my first individual stock purchase I decided to go with a Canadian
bank (BMO). At the time its dividend yield was an astonishing 6%. Over the next couple of weeks I saw the share price sink almost 20% further, until the yield was at 7.2%! It didn't seem to matter if the other Canadian banks were up or down on a given day, BMO continued to sink like a stone.Was I bothered by this? Well, I'd be lying if I said it had no effect on me whatsoever. We all experience a strong emotional reaction to loss, and I'm just as human as anyone else, so seeing stock down 20% two weeks after I bought it did leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. However, since my time horizo Read more:Bottom
Frugal Living Tip # 15 - Eat Less Meat 2008-03-27 12:47:00 I love a good barbecue. There are few things that beat sitting on the back patio with friends, drinking a few beers while the steaks sizzle on the grill. When it comes to saving money we have to draw the line somewhere, and this is one thing that I refuse to give up.However, while barbecues are great for social gatherings (and cheap compared to meeting friends at pubs or restaurants), they can eat into your savings if you start to incorporate them into your daily meal.Whether it is a steak, a chicken breast, or a salmon fillet you are going to be paying dearly for that daily dose of protein - a dose much higher than our bodies really need.Instead of grilling up that 12 ounce steak, and slapping a few potatoes on the side for filler, make the 'filler' the main part of the meal. Add some cor Read more:Frugal
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