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Monthly Archives: November 2010

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DINKs Can Play With Toys Too

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playing with toys, toys, adults being kids again

If you are in your 30’s like me then you may be a product of the 1980’s.  Some people hate on the 80’s, but I loved it.  Life was much simpler when I was under 10 years old. My parents were together and I loved my sister.  We didn’t yet encounter any complications that would later in life tear our family apart.

My sister, Tara, and I had a great childhood; we had every toy on the market.  I would come to learn later in life that my boyfriend Nick and his younger sister had a very similar childhood. This may be the reason that Nick and I still want to have all of the latest adult toys available.  Yes, DINKS you know what I’m talking about.  Some of the latest adult toys include the New IPhone and the Xbox Kinect.  I ask you DINKs, what have you bought lately?

I decided to write about the adult toy craze because this week a client called me from Los Angeles in a panic when his credit card was declined at the Apple Store in downtown LA.  He was trying to purchase over $5000 of electronics with only $3000 of available credit on his credit card.  He wanted a temporary limit increase, or needed to make an emergency payment so he could purchase adult toys for personal use…not even computers for his office.

I admit that Nick and I have both a Nintendo Wii as well as a Playstation 3. I enjoy the Nintendo because I can play the old school Super Mario Brothers and Super Mario Brothers 3; I was never a big fan of Super Mario Brothers 2. The buttons and the levels are exactly as I remember them from my childhood, although the graphics have improved.  There is also a new version of my favourite childhood video game called Super Mario Galaxy which I don’t particularly like.  My video game philosophy is classic with a twist.

I enjoy the simplicity of Super Mario Brothers 3 combined with the new age technology, where I don’t have to blow into my Nintendo box every fifteen minutes when it freezes.  Every time there is a newer version of something we like, Nick and I have to buy it.  This can become very expensive.  I believe that the original Super Nintendo costs about $100 in the late 80s and early 90’s.  Our new Nintendo Wii cost close to $300.

The night before the Playstation 3 was released to the public my boyfriend Nick waited outside in line all night for the store to open. Of course he was on the waiting list and already made a deposit to guarantee his purchase. However, the store took 100 deposits and later found out that they were only receiving 75 Playstation 3 units.  This Playstation 3 cost $750 plus one sleepless night, and a mad dash through the store once it opened.  Luckily no one got physically injured at this location.

Xbox Kinect is the newest video game craze.  Luckily Nick and I have not yet jumped on this band wagon.  Let us also not forget the Apple craze.  It seems that these days Apple can market anything and people will continue rushing to purchase I pods, I pads, and Mac Books.  Of course I love my I pod but electronics can be costly.  I consider these to be adult toys, not living necessities.  Of course I love listening to music on my IPod but I could definitely live without it.

Photo By GoodRob

Why Do You Work?

Posted on by 7
career, career advice, working

I really like my job. Of course I would prefer not to work, but everyone says that.  Over the last weekend I thought to myself…Why do I enjoy the weekends so much? I enjoy them because they are a break from my work week, but what if I didn’t have a work week to break away from.

I recently met someone at Starbucks who doesn’t work.  He lives, eats, and bathes on a daily basis; but he has no income.  Regan is a 30 something year old man who lives entirely on the barter system.  He doesn’t earn a monthly income and he leads a simple, very happy, and non materialistic life.

Of course as a financial services employee with a monthly disposable income to spend anyway I want, I don’t understand this concept. So I sat down with Regan (at Starbucks) to discuss his moneyless lifestyle.  Regan was at Starbucks for the free WiFi internet access.  He wasn’t drinking or eating anything; he declined my offer to buy him a Tall Caramel Latte with Whipped Cream.

I have occasionally seen Regan at my local Starbucks over the last few months. He always sits in the same spot with his laptop, and we occasionally exchange a smile as I wait for my Latte. Last week I decided to say hello to Regan and ask what he was working on.  I expected him to say the world’s next great novel. But he didn’t. He uses the free Wi-Fi internet access at Starbucks because he volunteers as a remote technical support analyst for a start up internet provider.

“You will be much happier when I teach you how to live in a world that is not ruled by money”. Regan used to work as a chartered accountant, but the stress on young professionals combined with the pressure of corporate accounting led Regan to leave his 9-5.  He has lived in the same apartment for over 10 years, so when he decided to leave his plus $80,000 a year accounting job his landlord was very understanding.

Regan now lives rent free in exchange for various handy work chores and home repairs.  He even eats one meal a day with his landlord.  Regan is not lazy and he does not live carefree. Actually, he lives a very structured life.  He volunteers for the start up internet provider 5 days a week. In his spare time he repairs computers for extra cash to buy basic goods such as soap and groceries.

Regan doesn’t indulge in anything.  His life is about personal fulfillment rather than financial assets and his personal net worth.  “More Money. More Problems” and according to Regan “No Money, No Problems.”  He doesn’t need or want material goods in his life, and he doesn’t live in a world ruled by money.  Could you? Think about why you love money and how you spend it.

Ask yourself these questions to see if you could live in a moneyless world like Regan.

If I didn’t work every day I would ________

I would feel ________ if I didn’t have money

My current financial priority is ________

If I didn’t have money I would ________

Retirement Savings Plan Update…It’s Time to Smile.

Posted on by 3
retirement savings plan, retirement plans, retirement plans

It is the beginning of the month and it’s time for an update on the market value of one of my Retirement Savings Plans.  October 31 marked the end of the “bank year” and now we are into a new fiscal year.  We are going to take a look at the changes I have made in my Retirement Savings Plan since I transferred it from my old financial institution to my new personal banker.

I don’t believe in paying for something that I can do myself. I don’t believe in paying an annual fee or a per transaction fee for the services of an Investment Broker.  With a little time and research (along with a subscription to the right personal finance blog) anyone can learn about investment management and personal finance.  I prefer to hold mutual fund because the cost is lower.

Of course mutual funds have an annual Management Expense Ratio (MER) that covers the fund manager’s salary, as well as any administration costs.  However, those fees are removed before the rates of return are ever published.  It is important to know the MER of a Mutual Fund, although it is not extremely important information.

An average MER can range from 1.5% to 2.5% of the total mutual fund holdings. Mutual Funds that have an MER below 1.0% are usually Money Market Funds and Index Funds They are both passively managed Mutual Funds and therefore do not require a lot of work from the fund manager.

Money Market Mutual Funds are short term Mutual Funds that invest in short term fixed income investments, with maturities less than a year.  There is not a lot of research involved as the investment options are usually limited to banker’s acceptances, treasury bills, commercial papers, and bank deposits.

The performance of Index Mutual Funds is based on a specific market index as opposed to individual stock and bond investments. The MER is generally lower with Index Mutual Funds because they are also not actively managed.  There performance is based by tracking the performance of a market index.

An entire quarter has passed by since our last Retirement Savings Plan update back in July. Within the last 3 months my little Retirement Savings Plan has made some good progress.  Although I would like to think that I had something to do with it since I chose and changed my investment options. Here is a current overview of my Retirement Savings Plan:

Book Value July 2010                    November 2010                      Change

$13,560.09                  $ 14,066.46                            +$506.37

Market Value July 2010                    November 2010                      Change

$13,617.51                  $ 14,724.85                             +$1107.34

Mutual FundsAvg. Unit CostUnitsPriceTotal Value
Canadian Bond Index11.720252.83911.72132,963.60
Emerging Markets Bond9.771307.7499.74983,000.49
Canadian Index22.543177.43824.27214,306.79
Canadian Equity Income20.187199.91022.27994,453.97

Photo By Faramarz

Our Rainy Day Savings Account

Posted on by 1
rainy day savings account, rainy day money advice, money tips

I used to think that a rainy day savings account was for spending on a rainy day when it was literally raining.  On rainy days I would go shopping because there is nothing else to do in the rain.  That is was when I was younger, now my rainy day savings account is my emergency fund.

What is your definition of a financial emergency?

I don’t spend the money unless I have a financial emergency which includes death, jail, and family members.  Other than that I no longer dip into my rainy day account for miscellaneous reasons which includes being bored during the week, taking a road trip because I have nothing else to do on the weekend, or booking a last minute trip just because it’s a good deal.

Do you have a goal for your rainy day savings account or is it indefinite savings until you need it?

If you are saving indefinitely then the investments should be low risk and accessible at all times in case of an emergency.  However we still want to earn some form of interest on our investments in case we don’t use it.  A rainy day account has to be the perfect balance between the flexibly of a bank account and the rate of return of an investment account.

Here are some good investment options for our rainy day savings accounts:

– Money Market Mutual Funds are very low risk and therefore our money is stable. The rates of return vary each day because the assets in Money Market Mutual Funds are spread out among several short term investments.  Interest is paid out on a monthly basis. It can take up to 24 to 48 hours for the money from selling Mutual Funds to be deposited into our bank account.

– High Interest Savings Accounts are a great investment option because they are usually offered by our Financial Institution; this gives us access to our money instantly when we transfer from our savings to our checking accounts.  However, if we choose to open a High Interest Savings Account with another company such as Ally or ING it could take up to 5 business days for the deposit into our primary financial institution checking account.

What investment options are in your rainy day savings account?

My rainy day savings account holds a mixture of cash, short term fixed income through a Money Market Mutual Fund, as well as a Short Term Bond Mutual Fund that holds mostly provincial and federal bonds.  I am holding a Short Term Bond Mutual Fund so I can earn a higher rate of return on the money that I don’t use.  If ever I need to withdraw money from my rainy day savings account I use my cash first because it is not earning any interest and because I can access it instantly.  Then I withdraw from my Money Market Mutual Fund, I withdraw from my Short Term Bond Mutual Fund only as a last resort because it is currently earning the most interest.

Photo by Duncan

Same Job. Different Money.

Posted on by 2
personal finance, financial situation, financial tips

Everyone one of us is an individual and we all have different financial situations and personal living arrangements. This is why finance is personal and different for everyone.  As you may recall I previously told you about two of my colleagues who started dating and married men with money.  Of course I would like to think that my colleagues Tamara and Jane do actually love those men, but based on their behaviour I just don’t believe it.  If my two colleagues really did love their men and not the money they would not expect or demand their spouses to spend it on them.

We recently hired a new teller in my bank branch.  Her name is Mary and she also has an unusual living situation for someone in their mid twenties.  Mary lives with her boyfriend and two other people in a 3 bedroom apartment.  She only works part time and she lives on $70 per week.  Mary’s 24 hour work week was her choice.  This is how much she needs to live. She has no aspirations for her life or career beyond paying her monthly bills and living one day at a time.

Mary is the complete opposite of Tamara and Jane.  Tamara knows that she does not have money but she does expect her successful boyfriend to shower her with gifts.  Jane expects her husband to spend his family’s money on her.  Since she is now a part of the family, she expects to have a right to the money…even though she didn’t work for it.

Tamara, Jane, and Mary all work in the same bank branch that I do, but we all have very different money personalities and money management styles.  Take the test and find out if your money personality is a match to Tamara, Jane, Mary, or myself. Can you tell how each woman answered?

Think about last month and how you spent your money in October

How many times do you splurge in a week?

  1. As often as I want as long as someone else is paying
  2. I splurge everyday because I deserve it
  3. I never splurge because bills need to be paid
  4. Splurge…what does that mean?

When was your last vacation?

  1. This summer we took a surprise vacation to a private island
  2. Twice this summer we travelled throughout Europe for some shopping
  3. Last year we took a family vacation to a European destination
  4. Last summer I travelled to Sweden for a 3 month work exchange paid by the company

How should extra monthly income be spent?

  1. I would hope he spent it on me, but it’s his decision
  2. It will be spent on me of course.
  3. I will have to check what the household needs
  4. There is no extra money, all income is accounted for

Money + Relationship – Kids = DINKS

Posted on by 3
DINKs equation, DINKs priorities, money talk

This formula makes up the perfect DINKS equation.  Our lifestyles consist of two employed people earning a salary, in a relationship, without children.

I for one love the life I have chosen; and yes it was a choice. My boyfriend Nick used to want children when we were younger, but I think that everyone wanted children when we were younger.  It is supposed to be the thing to do…go to university, get married, and have children.

But, as we get older, life becomes more complicated and other priorities take focus. My current priority is growing my new business Madam Creative Services . We offer professional freelance creative services such as graphic designers, web site developers, bloggers, copy editors, and resume writers.

My second priority is my regular 9-5 bank job, even though it is my primary source of income. I say that it is my second priority because I have been in finance for over 10 years.  Although it is always changing, I pretty much have the hang of things.  Of course I also have my side hustles which include working part time in a lingerie store and blogging about love, life, and personal finance.  As you can see my lifestyle just doesn’t have the variable option of children.

I love personal finance, but I could live without the office politics. Although I am proud to admit that I have (now in my 30s) become an extremely manipulative player in the intelligent game of office politics.  Any type of professional and/or office environment always comes with some strings attached.  This is why I am working towards being self employed; not because I enjoy politics, because I enjoy making business deals.  The art of business fascinates me, and in my opinion, the ultimate strategic move in life is to become self employed. Most people become self employed because they may have a problem with authority that is not me. I just like to prove that I am smarter and more strategic than others.

The second variable of the dinks formula is our relationship. I have been with my boyfriend Nick for the last 11 years.  Just as in any relationship, of course we have experienced our ups and downs throughout the years. I’m sure there have been times throughout our relationship when we have both wanted to walk away, but we didn’t.  We both play our part financially and emotionally in our relationship.  We have grown up together from living together in a studio apartment where the kitchen was also the living room, to living in a luxury penthouse one bedroom apartment with a view.

It is normal that people change as they grow up and since we have been together since we were 19, of course we have both changed a lot over the last 11 years. We have lived through many great experiences together including vacations around the world, job promotions, and university graduations…just to name a few.  We have also stood by each other’s side through darker times such as deaths in our families, sudden changes, and divorce.  However, we have stayed together and now we are enjoying our jobs and our relationship.

All of this Minus the kids equals the Perfect Dink Equation.
Is your DINK Equation balanced?

(Photo By Dan)

Weekly Recap: Christmas, Business & Networking

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Some great articles from over the week :)

A Financial Burden: Do Children Equal Debt?

Posted on by 14
debt, parenting tips, parenting advice

Did you know that it costs over a million dollars to raise a child over their entire lifetime? In the fabulous lifestyles of DINKS children are just not part of our perfect equation.  This estimate in excess of one million dollars is only the cost of the actual child including diapers, formula, clothing, extra curricular activities, and college.  I’m not sure about you, but I don’t have a million dollars just laying around with nothing better do than pop out a couple of children.  I, for one, am not willing to be in debt over children.

On top of the basic costs involved in raising a child, we also have to add on the associated costs in the changes of our lifestyle that come with having children. Along with two point three children the perfect family must also have a home in the suburbs equipped with a pool, a dog, and a stylish SUV.

The one million dollar estimate cost to raise a child does also not take into account the cost of our own time and effort that is involved in raising a child.  When we have a child we become financially responsible for them for the rest of their life or lives. Our mornings become about making breakfast for our children, our evenings become about soccer practices and dance lessons, and our sleepless nights become about potty training and nightmares.  Not only are we financial responsible for our children, but we are also not in control of our own time.

“I can take a nap when I get home from work if I want to and I can eat a bowl of cereal for dinner if I choose to.” I tried to explain my choice not to have children to my co-worker Max, but as a family man he doesn’t really understand my DINK lifestyle.  After my co worker missed his fifth day of work in two months due to his stay at home wife, their toddler, and his new born baby I was definitely thankful for my childless DINK lifestyle. “Yes but you will never have the joy of watching your Children take their first steps, or speak their first works, or experience the joy of watching them grow up.” Replied my co-worker.

Max misses a lot of work and often shows up late due to his family obligations (which are his priority).  I don’t feel that attendance exceptions should be made for employees with families. I am not a heartless tin man; but this isn’t personal…it’s just business.  I can guarantee that if I missed 5 days of work in 2 months I would definitely be spoken to by my direct manager. However, because he has a family and children, Max gets a get out of jail free attendance pass; and I get stuck picking up the slack when he misses work.

(Photo By The Ritters)

Bootylicious Bloggers

Posted on by 2
female bloggers, personal finance bloggers, female personal finance bloggers

With the great responses from our post in October titled Bust Out Bloggers I have decided to create a list of my top 3 favourite female blog sites in no particular order.  As I was surfing through all of your great suggestions and recommendations of Female Personal Finance Blogs I noticed a few very interesting facts.

I didn’t find any Female Personal Finance Blogs that were pink or draped in bright colours. I wasn’t expecting to discover Candy Land; but I definitely thought that I would encounter some bright bubble gum and baby pink websites.  I know that in general finance can be dry and boring.  I was impressed with the subtle use of colour splashes in the Female Personal Finance Blog layouts.

The girl power was very present. I found the community of Female Personal Finance Blogs to be like any other members only club.  Female Finance Bloggers recommend and often post comments on other Female Finance Blogs.  I thought that this was amazing.  They definitely show each other some love.

Female Personal Finance Blogs are more personal than some other blogs I have read. The daily posts are based on personal experiences instead of random information and financial facts. Also every Female Personal Finance Blogger posted their personal information such as name, locations, and relationship status.  This is great because it makes the blog more relatable to readers through a personal connection. Although, I have to admit that there is something mysteriously intriguing about the anonymous blogger.

My 3 Favourite Female Personal Finance Blogs are listed in no particular order:

Fabulously Broke is “Just a Girl Trying to Find a Balance Between Being a Shopaholic and a Save.  She discusses paying off debts and saving money based on her personal experiences, she is also a firm believer in budget tracking tools.  She does offer advertising opportunities on her website only because she likes money…not because she needs it.

Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget This is my all time favourite female personal finance blog layout.  These bitches just acquired another reader. The posts are not too long, and this is very important to me because I want to get the information without it dragging on for a thousand words.  These posts are just juicy enough to keep me reading, but not too long that I get bored. Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget is not only about Personal Finance; it’s about everything related to money including cheap recipes and Do It Yourself tips to save cash.

The Girl With The Red Balloon is the daily financial experiences of a young married student who shares her love and expenses with her husband…Mr. Red.  This blog is definitely personal and reads like a “Dear Diary” entry.  We can follow her through the ups and downs of inexpensive student living (including her NO SPEND DAYS) while she struggles to make her dreams come true.

I would like to give an Honorable Mention to SavvySugar. This website has a fun and colourful design that is professional and stands out just enough to grab our attention. I chose this as an honourable mention because Savvy Sugar is not actually a Female Personal Finance Blog like the others.  It is a general women’s site that also has a money section.  It talks about things that are important to women that may not be important to men such as “How to Buy $400 Shoes Without Feeling Guilty”

(Photo By Public Domain Photos )

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