Happy Friday DINKS! Or should I say Happy 2nd Friday of Fall Everyone. I personally love Fall. It is definitely my favourite season. I love Fall because my birthday is in October, I love Fall because the air is fresh but not too cold, and I love Fall because I love wearing sweaters and boots. I also love the smell of Fall, nothing says Fall more than Fresh Baked Goods, Apple and Cinnamon. I am not sure if I love the smell of Apple and Cinnamon because it smells good or I love it because it is comforting and reminds me of my childhood home before my parents divorce. What is your favourite season?
Check Out these other posts from around the web about all things that these Personal Finance Bloggers love about Fall:
Kelly@ The Centsible Life discusses her new wardrobe in the post 10 Essential Fall Wardrobe Builders For Less. As the seasons change so do our wardrobe needs and sometimes a girl needs a little upgrade.
Elle @ Couple Money shares her TV Guide in the post Weekly Round Up: Fall TV Season is Starting. This is another reason why I love fall; all of the great new TV shows premier, and the new seasons of my old favourite shows begin. This Fall I will be watching the CBS oldie but goodie The Good Wife and the new CBS comedy series Two Broke Girls. I may also get into Prime Suspect on NBC. What will you be watching on TV this Fall?
Shannyn @ Frugal Beautiful talks about her hobbies in the post Geek Craft Fall Projects. I couldn’t agree more with Shannyn. Fall makes me want to get outside, go apple picking, and bake something. I also can’t wait to carve my pumpkin for Halloween!
Carrie @ Careful Cents notes that Fall marks the last season before the end of the year and it is the homestretch to reach our personal goals for 2011. She gives encouragement to people whose personal goal was to pay off their debts in 2011 in the post Staying Encouraged and Positive While Paying Off Debt.
Good Morning DINKS. It’s time for the next post in our Stock Market Showdown series. Today we are discussing a topic that may be an ongoing battle between friends, co-workers, relatives and people of all kinds. Today we are discussing the choice to own either a Blackberry or an iPhone, and the choice to buy the stock of either Research in Motion (RIM) or Apple. Research in Motion is the company that produces Blackberry cell phones. The technology war between Microsoft and Apple has been ongoing for many years, but recently Apple has engaged in a cell phone war with RIM.
Not too long ago it was rumored that Apple will soon release the iPhone 5, and this rumor was recently confirmed. The iPhone 5 will be released on October 4, 2011 and this is sure to make Apple stocks rise. The stock value of RIM has declined since they cut over 2000 jobs in the summer; however people still continue to buy Blackberry cell phones. Apple Corporation recently lost their main front man Steve Jobs; but people continue to buy iPhones.
The question is…do more people choose to buy a Blackberry cell phone rather than an iPhone? Let me ask you, which do you have (if any)? I personally don’t have either; I have an Android phone, but my boyfriend Nick is a huge Apple fan. Actually let me clarify that statement, my boyfriend Nick is a huge fan of Apple for their techno gadgets such as his iPhod and iPhone; but he has always been an HP consumer for his personal computer. However, HP recently announced that they will stop producing personal computers. Needless to say this was devastating news for Nick, as I am sure it was for many HP PC users worldwide.
If you have an iPhone do you also own stocks of Apple? If you would buy a Blackberry cell phone would you also buy stocks of Research in Motion? As you may know from previous posts in our Stock Market Showdown series I am a firm believer in purchasing stocks of companies whose products we use in our daily lives. If products are in demand by the masses the company’s stock should continue to be profitable. Of course corporate accounting also has a role to play in the sustainability of a company. But, with the right management and a general consumer demand a company should be profitable.
How much of a company’s professional image influences your decision to buy their stock? I feel that the young image of Apple appeals to many people from teenagers to young professionals. The Apple commercials with actor Justin Long clearly compare the young, hip, easygoing stamina of Apple’s Mac computers versus the complicated, boring, old, and tired image of a PC. Now with PC getting out of the picture I am excited to see how Apple will compare them self with RIM, more specifically how Apple will compare the iPhone to Blackberry.
Is pricing a factor in your buying decisions? Whether we are referring to the stock unit price of Apple Corporation versus Research in Motion or the price of buying an iPhone versus a Blackberry, is the price a factor in your decision? Past performance may influence our decision to buy one stock over the other, but future predictions should also be a factor. Neither past performance or future forecasts can predict what is going to happen in the Economy and they can’t predict how a Stock will perform, this is why personal preference should be the main consideration when choosing to buy one stock over another.
There is no better time than the present to review our Personal Retirement Portfolios. The end of the third quarter is quickly approaching and we will soon be receiving our September 30th account statements in the mail.
We have always said that Investing is a personal decision. You don’t have to be a Personal Finance Professional to know what you want when it comes to your Retirement Portfolios; no one knows what we want better than us. I recently had a conversation with my Mother regarding her Retirement Portfolio. My Mother is concerned because she has seen a significant loss in her Retirement Portfolio and she feels that she will never be able to afford retirement.
In the past when my Mother has asked me for Investment Advice I have politely avoided the subject for two reasons; first, I don’t like to mix my professional life with my personal life and second, I live in a state (well actually a province) different from My Mother and I am not licensed to give investment advice outside of my geographical region. I also really hate it when people come to see me as a Financial Planner with tips from friends and neighbours. It really bothers me because they are seeking my advice as a Professional Financial Planner, but they don’t trust me as much as they trust their family member or neighbour, who is not a Professional. I don’t know what came over me during this particular conversation with my Mother, but I decided to give her investment advice. Well actually I just asked the right questions so that she could take her own advice.
What is Your Risk Tolerance?
My Mother is currently invested in Stocks. She has a Stock Broker who buys and sells Stocks on her behalf while charging her an annual as well as a per transaction fee. When she told me about the losses in her Retirement Portfolio I asked her Why she is invested in Stocks? What does my Mother know about investing in the Stock Market? Without hesitation my Mother replied “Absolutely Nothing.” This is the first rule of investing; never invest in something that we don’t understand. My Mother is uncomfortable with the risks associated with investing in Stocks; upon realizing this she decided that she wants to start investing more conservatively.
When reviewing our Retirement Portfolios we should never look at our losses in dollar amounts; we should always view our losses as a percentage rate of the entire portfolio. The reason is because $5000 may be a big loss to me, but it may not be a big loss to someone who has over $1 million in their Retirement Portfolio. If you are not comfortable losing up to 15% of the value in your Retirement Portfolio, then don’t invest in something that risky. Portfolio Diversification is the percentage of each asset mix (liquidity’s, fixed income, domestic equity, foreign equity) that we have in our Retirement Portfolios. If we aren’t comfortable with the risks associated with owning individual Stocks then we shouldn’t have a Stock Broker.
What is Your Investment Objective?
If picking, choosing and researching different Stocks, Bonds, and ETFs is not your thing, then don’t do it. Investors can simplify their Retirement Portfolios by investing in Mutual Funds. Mutual Funds are an already well diversified investment because one Mutual Fund can hold several different investments (Stocks and Bonds). My Mother told me that she was investing in Stocks because she wanted her investment portfolio to grow, however she didn’t think about the potential losses. My Mother made the decision that she no longer wants to have stocks because she is no longer looking for growth; my Mother now wants stability in her Retirement Portfolio.
Since My Mother’s Retirement Portfolio is currently at a loss (the Cost Base is higher than the Market Value) it is not the right time to sell her investments. Since she no longer needs the “assistance” of a Stock Broker but she still has to hold the Stocks I advised her to transfer all of her accounts (there are 4 in total) to a Self Directed Brokerage Firm. This will allow her to hold the Stocks in her Retirement Portfolio until the value increases and she can sell them to reinvest in more conservative investments. It will also save her money in the form of the quarterly and transactional fees that were being charged by her Personal Stock Broker.
What is Your Time Horizon?
My Mother is 55 years old and she plans to retire at 65. Currently my Mother’s losses are only “on paper”. As frustrating as it is to see the value of our Retirement Portfolio decline, it really doesn’t cost us anything because we haven’t physically taken the loss. If my Mother acted on her emotions and sold all of her investments (which she wanted to do) she would have actually realized this ” paper loss” and that would have been bad. A big mistake that Investors make is investing emotionally. We have to remember that investing is business, it’s not personal.
Our Retirement Portfolio should be diversified based on our Time Horizon, we always have to keep our target date in mind. Short term fluctuations are normal in the market, and that is ok if we are investing for the long term. If our target retirement date is two years from now then we should have investments with the same time horizon. Someone who is retiring in ten years should never have the same investments as someone who is retiring in two years.
In recent years we have all lived through some tough economic times; in more recent weeks we have seen the downgrade of the United States credit rating as well as the downgrade of two other major French Banks.
Being downgraded for a small business can be extremely devastating to their future sustainability, but is the downgrade of a big country as big of a deal? If a country is downgraded it will not stop running and the residents will not stop living their. However, being downgraded can definitely hurt a country’s foreign trade. Being downgraded is like being demoted, it means that our personal worth is no longer valued or that it is less valued. How would you feel if you (or your contributions) were no longer valued at home or at work?
I have personally never been demoted at work but I have seen it happen several times throughout my career. When a company downgrades their employees it usually means that they want to let them gobecause their contribution is no longer valued in the workplace, but they don’t have enough of a reason to fire them. Being demoted is personal because it is harmful to our ego and our personal self worth. Some people do not accept the option of a demotion very well, and therefore they quit their job. In this day and age I personally think that it is better to have a lower level job than have no job at all.
I like the idea that my contributions both at work and at home are valued. However, I am not totally naive; I understand that I am replaceable at work. In my personal life I like to think that my DINK household could not run efficiently without my individual contribution. In a partnership there are always two people who contribute to the relationship, but if 1 person stops contributing their share, what happens to the couple?
A downgrade means that people see us as less of an asset, but it also diminishes our credit worthiness. Our own personal credit score determines the level of risk that Financial Institutions are taking when they choose to lend us money. If our personal credit score is low we are deemed to be a high risk and the Financial Institution could decline our credit application. If our personal credit score is high we are deemed to be a low risk for the Financial Instituion and we could end up being approved for more credit than we need. If our personal credit score is high we could also receive other financial benefits such as lower interest rates.
Our credit worthiness is determined by paying our bills on time and not accumulating more debt than we can afford to pay off. If we are financially responsible we are assumed to be very credit worthy. If you have ever been declined for a loan, a credit card, or a mortgage how did you feel? Our credit worthiness is a business decision for the Financial Institution, but it definitely has a personal impact on our self worth.
How we are viewed by others is very important to some people. If your friend asked you for money and you knew they probably wouldn’t or couldn’t pay you back, would you still lend them money? What if you asked your friend for money and they would not lend it to you, even though they could afford it, how would you feel? I know that my feelings would be hurt because not only did my friend not help me out in my time of financial need, they also didn’t feel that I was worthy enough to lend money. This is definitely a personal decision, it is not business.
This week at my bank branch we had a major case of Identity Theft. Thank goodness the loss was only minimal, but unfortunately the lost money can never be recovered. This is the scariest thing about Identity Theft, the person who has stolen someones identity doesn’t actually exist because they have assumed the identity of someone else. The other really scarey thing about Identity Theft, or any type of theft, is that we only catch and recover a very small percentage of everyday thefts. And yes, I believe that everyday personal theft and identity theft occurs, we just may not know about it.
Identity Theft can be extremely damaging to our short term and long term personal financial situation, it could also cost us thousands of dollars. In my bank branch the fraud client came in to get a new debit card claiming that he misplaced his own debit card over the weekend. Of course we had no idea at the time that he was a fraud client. The teller asked to see two pieces of identification which where his Drivers License and his Social Security Number. The client gave the teller both pieces of id; the Drivers License number matched the number that we had in the clients file on our bank system. He also confirmed the Social Security Number and the address on file. Since the photo id matched our records the teller gave the client a new debit card along with his up to date account balances. The client withdrew $2500 in cash and ordered another $10,000 for pick up in 3 days. We gave the client his money and he was on his way.
The next day we received a call from our real client who wanted to know why $2500 was withdrawn from his account. He tried to check his account balances through online banking but he was unable to log in with his debit card. This is normal because we had cancelled his debit card and replaced it with the new debit card that we gave to the fraud client the day before. We reminded him that we replaced his debit card yesterday, and he advised us that he didn’t come to our bank branch yesterday. This was red flag for us and we immediately froze his accounts and cancelled the order of $10,000.
As a formality we asked the real client to come in for an interview with additional pieces of identification including his passport; we also asked him to bring in a utility bill which will confirm his name and address. After meeting the client and getting all of his accounts in order we once again cancelled the previous debit card and issued a new debit card to our real client. Now that our real client was satisfied and the immediate financial mess was cleaned up we could only hope that the fraud client would return in two days to pick up his $10,000 and we could catch him; needless to say the fraud client never came back to our bank branch.
Even though the short term situation was fixed, the long term effects that Identity Theft could have on our personal financial situation could be never ending. We advised our real client to sign up for a Credit Alert service with the 3 Credit Bureaus so that he will be altered any time someone checks his credit. This is helpful to clients because they can verify that they actually applied for credit with the companies who are verifying their Credit Bureau. I signed up for this service after my wallet was stolen. When I was younger and I first moved away from home I was naive and financially irresponsible. I carried all of my personal identification and bank information in my wallet. When my wallet was stolen my whole life was stolen along with it from my credit card to my birth certificate.
There is no way to know how frauders obtain our personal information, maybe they have a friend who works at the bank or maybe they have a friend who works for the Internal Revenue Service. However, most often frauders steel our wallets or our mail to obtain all of our personal information. A common way that frauders use our personal information is to apply for new credit cards in our name and then max out the card to the limit. It is very difficult to prove that we didn’t apply for the credit card, but if the credit card was sent to an alternate address it could help our case.
Although we can never prevent the possibility of Identity Fraud, we can try to take precautions. It is a good idea to keep our credit cards at home; this prevents the possibility that they will be stolen or cloned, it also eliminates the temptation of spending money that we don’t have. We should only keep one piece of identification in our wallet such as our drivers license; this eliminates the loss of all our identification if our wallet is stolen and it protects our identity. Having our monthly bills delivered electronically prevents the possibility of our mail being stolen or lost in transit. We should also order a copy of our Credit Bureau at least once a year to make sure that all of our information is up to date and that our open credit products are actually products that we applied for.
Happy Friday DINKS. Today we have assembled a Potpourri of great posts from around the web for your reading pleasure. Keep reading as we discuss every aspect about personal finance from our jobs and unemployment, the truth about the reality of our own personal finances, the benefits of having a supplementary income, and (constantly) lending money to friends in need.
Financial Samurai rants about the unemployment rate (amongst other things) in his post ” An Optimists Outlook: Why Not “Unemployment Day” Instead? Financial Samurai is never one to be afraid to share his opinions so check out this post as he gets a few things off his chest. You can follow Financial Samurai on Twitter @financialsamura
Enemy of Debt tells us to take a look in the mirror in his post “Take a Step Back…Put your Financial Behavior in Check”. No one knows us better than our selves and sometimes we have to face the harsh truth about our spending, our debt accumulation, and our savings strategies. Grab a glass of wine and have a heart to heart conversation with Your Finances while reading this post. Follow him on Twitter @enemyofdebt
Punch Debt in the Face coined a new phrase and out did us DINKS in the post “TRINKS (triple income no kids) For The Win”. If you think that having a DINKS lifestyle is great, think about having a third income. You can follow Punch Debt in the Face on Twitter @punchdebt
Donna Freedman follows up on short term lending and lending money to friends in the post “An update on payday lending” Donna has a friend who continues to ask for money in order to hold her over until the next pay day. Donna advised that her friend has bigger problems than just her cash flow. Follow Donna on Twitter @DLFreedman
Credit card fraud has been a enormous problem since the credit card was first introduced in the 1950’s. Before the internet, the main way that this type of theft was committed was by stealing and using the physical card.
Today, this type of theft has grown to become much more sophisticated. Organized hacking groups attack websites specifically to steal personal and credit card information. Illegal websites that are hosted in foreign countries, are used sell this data to the highest bidder all over in the world. These activities generate huge profits for those committing theft and huge headaches for those that have their information stolen.
Credit card and I.D. theft has become a billion dollar per year problem that law enforcement, credit card companies, and consumer groups can not seem to get a handle on. It is extremely common for consumers to have experienced this type of theft, often multiple times in their life. Theft can cause loss to finances, reduction in good credit score numbers, and stress from dealing with a difficult situation. Fraudulent charges are usually taken care of by credit card issuers fairly quickly, but consumers always end up paying for them in the end with higher fees.
How Do Frauders Get Your Credit Card Information?
One way that credit card thieves can get personal information is through a process called phishing. Frauders and identity thieves send out millions of spam emails under the guise they are from a bank or credit card company. The emails make a consumer believe that their is “trouble with their account”. They are then prompted to enter their C.C. number, pin, and/or social security number. Sometimes a link in these phishing emails will redirect users to a site that replicates the exact look of their bank or credit card company. The purpose of these “fake” sites is solely to collect usernames and passwords. If you believe that you have accidentally entered your username and password into a site that is not legitimate, your should contact the fraud department immediately.
It can be very confusing when banks and credit card companies send out legitimate emails. So how can you tell the difference between a “phishing” site and the real site? One way that you can tell a fake site, is to check the root of the domain.
For example, the legitimate domain for American Express is www.americanexpress.com. A phishing site trying to steal your data might look like this: americanexpress.xyz.com.
Notice that the root domain for the fraudulent site is “xyz.com”, not “americanexpress.com”.
Another indicator that you are on the real site, is that the url should start with “https://, not http://”. HTTPS means that the site has a security seal. Phishing sites will most likely not have a valid security seal. Most browsers will also show a “green lock” to the left of the url, showing that you are on a secure site. (visit americanexpress.com, for an example)
Another way that hackers can get passwords and credit card data is through computer viruses. Viruses called “keyloggers” track the keystrokes entered into infected computers. If a computer is infected by this type of virus, passwords and credit card information are recorded and transmitted to a perpetrators via the internet. To prevent keyloggers or other types of malware from infecting a computer, it is important to regularly run anti-virus software. You should also try to avoid infection by not downloading (or executing) email attachments from unknown senders.
How to Spot Fraud or Theft
If fraud is caught in its early stages, major problems and damages can mostly be avoided. Monitoring bank and credit card statements closely can help you catch any fraudulent charges that you did not make. If you see payments you do not recognize, contact your company’s fraud department immediately.
Another important thing you should do is keep close tabs on your credit history. You can monitor this history by ordering a credit report yearly from AnnualCreditReport.com. This website is run by the 3 main credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) in order to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This act allows all consumers to have access to their credit information absolutely free, once each year. By visiting this site, you can check your reports at all 3 bureaus and make sure no fraudulent accounts have been opened under you name. Checking this information at least once per year is recommended to watch for fraud.
Another service that might help you watch your credit, is a credit monitoring service. This service will alert you by phone or email every time a new credit card or loan is taken out in your name. Some programs will also insure you in case i.d. theft is committed while enrolled in this program. The amount of insurance depends on the program and the teir of service you apply for. Prices for a credit monitoring services vary, but usually range between $5-$20 per month.
As credit card and identity theft become more commonplace, it becomes necessary to take proactive steps to prevent it. Regular monitoring of financial information is important to stop fraud before it causes serious damage. If not handled properly, this theft can affect your credit rating and cause you to be denied for loans or credit cards. All credit card companies have fraud departments and will work with you to handle fraud, but preventing it is always the best course of action.
————– Ross has taken a life long interest in personal finance and runs the website GreatCreditScore.org. This site focuses on providing free information to consumers about credit, debt, and investing.
Good Morning DINKS. Today we are discussing the cost of having a car. You may remember from a previous post that buying my car was my biggest financial regret. Besides the actual cost of buying a car and the maintenance that is required there are so many other costs associated with owing a car such as registration and license fees as well as insurance costs and upkeep.
The cost of parking in a city and the fines for forgetting to feed the meter can become very costly. I got a $52 parking ticket for an expired meter while I was parked on the street. I think that it is important to note that cost of a ticket for an expired meter in my city has jumped from $37 to $52 in the past three or four years, this is totally outrageous. To make a long story short, I forgot to pay my ticket and less than a year later my $52 ticket was $215.
There is a reality show on television called Parking Wars that chronicles a day in the life of various parking authority jobs from ticket agents and booting cars to workers at the impound lot. I love watching this show because people get so upset about the fines they have to pay, even though it was clearly their own fault. I even watched an episode of Parking Wars where an angry car owner pulled out a gun on the parking authority agent who tried to tow his car. Originally the show was based in Philadelphia but it has since expanded to Detroit.
There was a couple on Parking Wars whose car was booted and then towed because they owed over $1500 in parking tickets; now that is a lot of money. I can think of at least 10 other things that I would rather do with $1500 other than pay parking tickets. However, I can also think of several other things that I would rather do with the $215 that I paid for my own (unattended to) parking ticket.
I learned some interesting facts about the profit that cities make from people paying car related fines and the cost of parking tickets. Philly earns $50,000 per day from coins in Parking Meters and over $12.5 million per year from the costs of Parking Tickets. Those figures don’t even include car towing fees. Philadelphia tows 175 cars per day. The cost of a ticket in my city for having our car towed is $72 plus the cost of holding and storage fees at the impound lot.
Don’t Let Your Car Cost You Extra Money
Pay Your Tickets on Time. Don’t be a dummy like me, please learn from my mistake.
Buy a Car from a Car Dealership. They will run an ownership history check on the car to make sure that the previous owners do not have any outstanding parking tickets or moving violations on the car. When we buy a car we inherit all of the previous infractions associated with that VIN (vehicle identification number).
Sell a Car Privately. This allows us to set our own purchase price and make a profit on the sale. I sold my car privately for $13,500 and my Honda dealership only offered me $9000. I gained $4500 by selling my car privately and waiting to find the right buyer.
Don’t keep excess items in your car. If we don’t keep excess items in our car we will not be forced to be without them or lose them if our car is booted, towed, or stolen.
Run an ownership search. This makes sure that the person we are buying the car from is in fact the registered owner. There could be a big problem if it turns out that we just bought a stolen car.
Tips To Save Money on Parking Tickets
Put Money In The Meter….constantly if needed.
Watch Your Watch and Check The Time. Don’t let the time in our meter run out.
Read the Street Signs. Just because a parking spot is open does not mean it is available.
Just Pay for a Parking Lot. If you can’t find a street parking meter just park your car in a parking lot. It may be more expensive than paying for a parking meter, but it is a lot cheaper than having our car towed or ticketed.
Save Your Receipt. When you pay for a parking meter save your receipt as proof of payment just in case you are wrongfully ticketed.
Good Morning DINKS. Summer is now officially over, so let’s talk about our summer vacations. I personally love to take time of during summer, but I hate taking summer vacations. I enjoy being off work and enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. However, I rarely travel during the summer. So many people take vacations during the summer because the weather is (usually) nice, although this year has been an exception with the storms and the rain. People like to be outdoors when the weather is nice and the sunshine usually makes people happy. I personally would never travel in the winter because the cold weather makes me angry and extremely unpleasent to be around. I like to take vacations in May or in September because the weather is still warm, but tourist season is over and prices are cheaper. I don’t mind spending money on a really good vacation as long as my personal experience is worth the cost.
How much does it (or should it) cost to take a really good vacation?
Can we even put a price tag on taking a summer vacation? When I travel I like to find the best deal possible for my travel and accommodations, but I will definitely pay to have a great once in a lifetime experience. I personally hate spending more than I have to on flights and hotels. The actual experience of travelling is so similar among airlines that there is no need to have a personal preference, unless we are collecting reward miles. I definitely don’t mind paying for nice hotel accommodations because I don’t want to be sleeping with roaches and bed bugs. However, extravagant hotels are never in my budget. The actual amount of time that we spend in our hotel room is so insignificant that it is not worth the cost.
What is Your Dream Vacation?
I would love to visit Africa from the North all the way down the West Coast to South Africa. My favourite movie is Jaws, and I am totally obsessed with Sharks. I would love to go Shark seeing in the Ivory Coast or South Africa. I may even get into a cage in the water in order to get a closer look, but I probably don’t think that I will have the courage to do so. I don’t know why, but I have always wanted to go to Morocco. It looks beautiful on TV and I have several friends who are Moroccan. My boyfriend Nick is actually from West Africa so we would also have to make a pit stop and spend some time with his family.
Other destinations that are on my list of places to travel are Portugal, Italy, and Greece. I am happy to say that I have plans to travel to Italy next September. My friends and I will be spending 10 days in Naples, and a day or two in Rome.
How Did You Book Your Last Vacation?
I have personally never used a Travel Agency to book any of my vacations. With the growing popularity of online self booking websites such as Travelocity and Expedia, and the price incentive of discount websites such as Hotwire and Priceline, I do not see the added value in booking my vacations through a Travel Agency. Travel Agents charge a booking fee or a commission, I would rather save that money and spend it on buying jewellery during my vacation. Almost all of my jewellery has been purchased outside of Canada. I love shopping in foreign countries because I know that no one else will have what I am wearing.
Before you start to book your vacation check to see if your employer has any discounts or privileges for travel. I recently learned that my employer is a member of The Last Minute Club and this is how I will book my vacation to Italy next year. I compared prices with Travelocity and I am going to save approximately $500 by booking my vacation to Italy with The Last Minute Club. I know that many companies also receive preferred discounts through Club Quarters Hotels. We do need a password to log in; but hint…it is usually your employers name.
As our lives get busier and our careers become more time consuming we may find ourselves with less and less time for what (or should I say who) really matters in our lives. Think about what you did yesterday, how much time did you spend with your spouse? For some of us we may not have even seen our spouse yesterday, I know that I didn’t.
Last night my boyfriend Nick had an after work function that started at 6 pm, this means that I came home to an empty house. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, not because he wasn’t home; just because I wouldn’t see him for an entire day. By the time Nick got home from his after work function I was asleep, and there you have it; a whole day passed by and I didn’t even see my boyfriend. Not seeing my boyfriend for 24 hours made me think about how nice it is to have someone to come home to and someone to talk with after work. So many times we focus on our careers that we may forget about the one person who really matters…our spouse.
I know three different couples who have introduced a Date Night into their relationship. For one night a week the couple turns off their cell phones, shuts down their computers, and they just hang out together. My boyfriend thinks that spending time together means that we are in the same place at the same time. I am sorry but my idea of spending time together does not include going grocery shopping. When was the last time that you and your spouse just hung out together? No household chores and no laundry…just the two of you spending time together doing nothing but enjoying spending time together.
Having a Couple’s Date Night doesn’t mean that our Couple is in trouble. It just means that we may need to take some time to relax from the chaos of our everyday lives. There is no one in the world that I would rather relax with than my boyfriend Nick. Sometimes we are so busy with friends, and work, and everyday life that we don’t realize how little quality time we actually get to spend with our spouse. Some people may say that DINKS don’t have kids so why can’t we find time to spend with our spouse. Well, the truth is that we have careers and we have other personal obligations that occupy our time.
A typical date has traditionally always been dinner and a movie, but when we factor in the cost of 2 people eating dinner at a nice restaurant and the cost to watch a movie in the move theatre our Date Night could cost us over $100. I know that spending time with our spouse is priceless, but would you like to spend over $100 each week on a Date Night? I know that I don not want to do that.
Inexpensive Date Night Ideas Under $100
Stay at home and Cook Dinner Together. Eat Together and Clean Up Together. (it’s actually kind of fun)
Take a Walk. Visit different neighbourhoods so if feels like you are doing something different. I love walking in Parks or near the Water.
Go Out for Dessert. Ice Cream, Pie, or Fruit Cups, whatever you like. Paying for Dessert is definitely cheaper than Paying for Dinner.
Pop some Pop Corn, Get Some Candy, and Turn Out the Lights. It’s like being at the movie theatre but in the comfort of your own home, and it’s a lot cheaper.
