What does it mean to have good financial literacy? Being financially literate means having the knowledge to make decisions that will positively impact your financial health. As noted in the Relation between Financial Literacy, Financial Wellbeing and Financial Concerns, “the higher your financial literacy the greater your financial well-being.” Tracking spending, budgeting, saving, and borrowing…
Ladies, it is very important that you try not to get into personal debt when you are building your business. Unless of course you know what you’re doing and are prepared for the potential consequences. While it is true that all businesses require money to get started it is important that you not put yourself in…
Picture this scenario – you receive a phone call from your bank asking if you purchased something for $215.63 from an online retailer yesterday. You confirm that no, you did not. Your bank tells you that it appears as if you have been the victim of fraud and identity theft and that they will reverse…
THE JONES DON’T COUNT Far too often wants are driven by the desire to have what others have. This desire is referred to as keeping up with the Joneses. Whomever, the Joneses, are should have little or no influence on your spending. What others do and have should not control or even influence what you…
Before Shopping, Consider Stopping; SHOP TILL YOU DROP Shopping has become one of Canada’s favorite pastimes but is also a massive contributor to debt and financial difficulty. Fortunes are spent, unneeded items are bought, and cash registers continue to ring. Canadians seem to have an unquenchable desire for more things. When a charge card…
At Women and Money Inc. we recommend the following: Money is an emotional subject it either makes us happy, sad or fearful. Try to think about money as your friend, not your enemy. Track your spending every week make time to go over your finances and understand where your money is going. It will help you…
In Canada, you are innocent until you’re proven guilty. It would appear that our banking system has forgotten this simple fact. Lyndsay Passmore (http://www.theprovince.com/Woman+issues+warning+after+thieves+ring+thousands+credit+cards+bank+says/11333047/story.html) had 4 credit cards stolen. When she noticed them missing, she contacted the appropriate banks. In the interim between the cards being taken and her reporting them stolen, the thieves had…
Nothing like waking up on a Friday morning to find out that the Bank of Canada governor says house prices are overvalued by 30 %. As reported in the Vancouver Sun, Stephen Poloz, the Bank of Canada Governor said, “The vulnerability associated with household indebtedness is edging higher and the overall risk to financial stability…
Today there is good and bad news. The good news came from a StatsCan report about all of the household debt in Canada that many experts have been complaining about – how Canadians have been accused of being bad money managers but guess what? This report confirms that we are not broke and precariously dangling…
A good friend of mine knows all about phishing and never to visit unknown websites – or to open unexpected attachments. Even so, last Friday night at 11:30pm he received a file he was expecting from a known colleague. The files were big and were sent through Sendspace. When he got it he clicked on…
At the start of a New Year, many of us feel the urge to create resolutions. But, as you might have heard, the average New Year’s resolution is abandoned a few weeks into January. If we know how often we fail our resolutions, why do we create them in the first place? Most people feel…
By Courtney @ Women & Money Inc. The other night I received $20 worth of coupons to use at a local restaurant, with no restrictions. We had never been to this restaurant before so I checked out the website to read the menu, which had a variety of tasty sounding dishes as well as kid’s…
Are the credit card bills piling up from your holiday spending? If you won’t be able to pay them off for a while, you’re probably resigned to the fact that debt is just a part of life. Debt comes, and it may go, but more will come. Debt will always be a part of your…
Recently I met with a couple to do their bankruptcy counselling, and as we were talking the wife asked me a very interesting question. She asked my opinion on joining a “gifting circle” after being invited to do so by a close friend. The buy-in was $5000, and the promised reward was $40,000. Sounds too…
If you’re a new entrepreneur facing the big decision – should you work from home or rent an office – there are some important points to consider to make the right decision. As you think about the pros and cons of each, remember that the details of your particular business as well as your own…
Doing It My Way: How to Organize Your Affairs, Clarify your Wishes and Leave a Lasting Legacy By Margaret H. Johnson When my dad passed away very suddenly, his financial affairs were well organized, but we didn’t know what any of his last personal wishes were. My mom, siblings and I had to make difficult…
A fresh new year is a motivating time for change; you want to move closer to your financial goals, you want to gain new habits; you want things to be different this year. This is how most of us feel this time of year — it’s in our nature. But you’re not quite sure how…
By Margaret H. Johnson It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – now that I pulled myself away from the internet and escaped to Vancouver Island to pick up my mother. 2014 has been such a busy and fulfilling year for me, for my staff and all the programs we have worked so hard…
A good friend of mine, Michael Gillette, a renowned guitarist and teacher, gave me a great Christmas CD of traditional music with a delicious new flavour. Only two instruments play – a flute and acoustic guitar – that reinvigorate the classics with lively nuances and brilliant flurries. An added feature to their vivacious touch makes…
We conjured up our best Posts of Christmas Past so you can revel in all this Women and Money and Christmas goodness!
