Debt
Credit cards are essential for many Canadians. However, if you’re not responsible with your spending, you could easily go into debt. Credit cards act like an interest free loan which is great, but once your bill arrives, you need to pay it on time and in full or you could end up paying 20%+ interest.…
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After being following strict guidelines over the last few months, many people are starting to get the travel itch. Many Canadians have started to travel within their own province, while domestic travel has likely seen more interest. As the airline and hotel industries try to recover, we’re starting to see some serious deals. I saw…
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According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian household-debt-to-income ratio was an astonishing 176.9 per cent in Q1 of 2020. That means on average, Canadian households owe $1.77 or every dollar they bring in. That’s an increase from 175.6 per cent which was previously reported in Q4 of 2019. Clearly a global pandemic has wrecked our finances.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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If you didn’t know, payday loans are the worst! The amount of interest you’ll end up paying is insane – think 500%+. Yes, you read that right, you could end up paying FIVE HUNDRED percent interest. That makes your credit card interest look like a steal. With the cost of a loan being so much,…
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Let’s be clear, if you owe thousands of dollars on multiple credit cards, there’s no way to get out of debt fast. If you see a company claiming they can clear your debt or fix your credit score for a small fee, the odds are they’re a scam. If you want to get out of…
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In case you missed it, Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced an $18.4-billion deficit in February. That’s a far cry from their original plan to keep the annual deficit at under $10 billion. This shouldn’t be terribly surprising considering how the Canadian economy has been doing as of late, but it does show how quickly…
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A few weeks ago I was watching the movie Fight Club. In one of the scenes, Brad Pitt’s character Tyler Durden was explaining the 8 rules of fight club. If you wanted to be part of the club, you had to follow the rules. It was pretty simple and didn’t need much more explaining, but…
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