Debt

When Should You Consider Using the Services of a Licensed Insolvency Trustee?

Unfortunately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about bankruptcy and consumer proposals as of late. With debt at an all-time high, people are just looking at their options and hoping for a new start. To help you navigate the decision to seek professional help, I reached out to Linda Stern, a licensed insolvency trustee…

How to Redeem Travel Points for Gift Cards or a Statement Credit

With most of the best travel rewards programs, redeeming your points for a gift card or statement credit is one of the worst things you can do since they offer low value compared to travel rewards. Generally speaking (and depending on the program), using your points for anything besides travel will devalue your points by…

6 Ways Chasing Travel Rewards Can Hurt You

I love to collect travel rewards points. It’s almost become an obsession. I’ve signed up for over a dozen credit cards in the last two years and I write about the topic here on my blog all the time. The reason I love travel rewards is that I get to go to some pretty amazing…

Are you in Debt? You’re not Alone

Manulife Bank just released the results from their Spring Debt Survey and they found that more than half of Canadians (53%) have at least some non-mortgage related debt. Although there’s been a decline in credit card debt (which is good news), debt has increased on personal loans, home lines of credit and other types of…

How to Plan a Vacation Without Going Into Debt

**This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Alterna Bank. All opinions are my own. Planning vacations are one of the best things to do. Honestly, there’s nothing quite like looking up all the awesome things you can see, do, and eat while you’re travelling. The problem is, when you’re doing all…

Why You Shouldn’t Fund Your Travels on Credit

Hands up if you need a vacation? Okay, put your hand down, people are going to think you’re crazy if you’re putting your hands up wherever you’re reading this. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of us could use a vacation right now. Heck, quite often I need a vacation from my…

5 Financial Resolutions for the New Year

**This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own and are not the opinions of TransUnion. With the New Year just quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about those resolutions. Most people tend to make New Year resolutions at the last minute which usually means they end up being broken by the end…

Dealing With Gambling Addiction

**This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the National Film Board of Canada. All opinions are my own. As you can imagine, I read a lot of articles about personal finance. Even though I don’t need any advice on how to manage money, I do like to read the stories that…

3 Steps to get Your Finances Back on Track

**This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of President’s Choice Financial®. All opinions are my own. Did you know that November is Financial Literacy Month? The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada came up with the idea to encourage Canadians to take control of their finances. Private, public, and non-profit organizations all get…

What to do if you Have too Much Debt

What to do if you have too much debt? It’s a question I hope you never have to ask. But with Canadians having record debt levels, some of us need to start taking our finances a bit more seriously. If you’re starting to worry about your debt, try to think about the positives. You know…