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Author Archives: Kristina Tahnyak

Avatar photo About Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.

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Giveaways and Free Stuff Galore!

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Good Morning Dinks and Merry Christmas Eve.  You may have noticed that we have started including giveaway websites in our weekly Friday roundups; this is because I have recently discovered the world of online giveaways. Now each and every Friday we will share some great posts from our favourite bloggers around the web and we will also be sharing some great giveaways that we find while surfing around the web.

I admit that in the past I have visited coupon websites in order to print out coupons for my favourite products and I have shopped online with cash back rewards websites but I have never actually participated in online giveaway and sweepstakes websites until now. I have to admit that I am a big fan!

Enter for your chance to win with giveaways

If you are new to the world of online giveaways and the concept of getting something for nothing is still foreign to you (as it is to me) then let me help you out with a little explanation:

Giveaway websites such as Take Our Stuff are websites that are absolutely free of charge for everyone.  All you have to do is sign up to their email list and you will receive a notice directly into your inbox each and every time a new giveaway has launched.  Some of the items that they have already given away include a time capsule, a Star Wars bundle and even an old-school Nintendo package.

Take Our Stuff is currently giving away an amazing blown-glass heart to remind everyone of all the love out in the world. Visit Take Our Stuff and enter for your chance to win.

Why give away something for nothing?

There are several other blogs and giveaway websites around the web that either host their own individual reviews and giveaways or that serve as a directory of current contests and giveaways. So why do people and websites give something away for free? The answer is simple, because they have some stuff that they want to get rid of or because they receive products from companies who wish to host a review and giveaway in order to promote their products.

Online giveaways and reviews are a great way for companies to promote their products, services and website.  It doesn’t cost them anything except for a few product samples (which they probably write off anyways). The online world is a new form of cost efficient marketing for companies. Bloggers are active on social media outlets and a simple review or giveaway on a blog can reach thousands of potential clients for the exact same cost as if it was going to reach only one person.

If you have a product, a service or a new book coming out I suggest that you tap into the online world of marketing because it’s a great way to spread the word about you, your website and your products.

Photo by caitlinator

Friday Roundup: More Giveaways, Antiques and Counseling

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(This is a picture of Beacon Hill from my road trip to Boston)

Hello Dinks and Happy Friday. Only 4 days before Christmas, is your holiday shopping all complete? I am looking forward to this weekend because I am going to pick up the stocking stuffers for my boyfriend Nick’s stocking and then it’s going to be 4 days of good food, lots of sweets, cups of hot chocolate and days of movies.

What are you hoping is stuffed into your stocking or wrapped under the tree this year?

Enjoy these great giveaways and great posts that we found around the web.  Happy Holidays Everyone!

GIVEAWAYS:

My Diary Entry – is giving away a Balanced Life Planner from Julie Morgenstern ($80 value)

Beautiful Giveaways – is giving away a January Seasons Box full of fun and delicious treats ($35 value)

Dinks Finance – we are giving away a signed copy of Todd Tresidder’s book “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?”

Take Our Stuff – an amazing glass-blown heart

GREAT POSTS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

How’s Married Life – The Stigma of Counseling

Smart Money Chicks – Five Sensible Tips for Creating a Nest Egg

See Debt Run – Five Ways to Drastically Improve Your Cash Flow Today

Money Crashers – How to Prepare for a Stree-Free Christmas Holiday Season

Budgets Are Sexy – The Biggest Savings Tip at Antique Malls

Get Rich Slowly – Resisting the holiday spending trap

PT Money – Quick Money Tips: Ready for the End of the Year?

 

What are the holidays without gifts?

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holiday season, holidays, holiday gifts

holiday season, holidays, holiday gifts

Good Morning Dinks.  Let me ask you a serious question…how are you spending the holidays? Every family has their own traditions; some of us spend the holidays eating dinner with family and friends, some of us exchange gifts in front of a warm fireplace and some others bare the cold weather and tour their neighbourhood singing Christmas carols. What are your holiday traditions?

Something Different This Holiday Season

For many of us we spend the holidays with family and good friends as we exchange gifts.  The pressure to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list can be both a stressful and a financial burden.  This year my mother’s family decided not to exchange gifts because I have an aunt who is going through a personal bankruptcy.

There is never a good time to be going through financial struggles, but it’s especially hard during the holidays.  My aunt is in the process of losing her personal assets as well as her business due to some bad investments and some not so great business decisions.

My mother’s family decided not to add to her financial stress and this year we decided to have a family dinner aka a family get together in the afternoon to enjoy some good food, lots of eggnog and great music – there is always dancing at my family gatherings.  No gifts were exchanged and everyone still had a great time.

Christmas Without Gifts

I personally appreciated the fact that we were not exchanging gifts during the holidays this year because it saves a lot of time and a lot of stress.  I love the way a Christmas tree looks when it is fully decorated with tons of wrapped gifts underneath it but honestly what does that say about me? Does it mean that I am superficial or does it just mean that I love me a cute Christmas decoration?

I live 5 hours away from my closest family member and therefore I don’t get to see my family very often during the year. I do enjoy seeing my family members throughout the year but seeing all 25 members of my family at the same time in the same place can be a little bit overwhelming.  Not exchanging gifts cuts down the family gathering time from 8 hours to 4 hours and it also gives out-of-towners the option to drive home instead of staying overnight. I think that this was appreciated by all family members who had to travel.

Save Money as a Family

If you are looking to start a new Christmas tradition and not exchange gifts this year try to think about other fun activities that don’t involve spending hundreds of dollars on gifts for everyone on your list.

Host a secret Santa gift exchange with a maximum dollar limit.  This means that everyone buys one gift with a $40 value and everyone picks a gift from under the tree. This eliminates the need to buy a gift for everyone on your list.

Make a donation to charity.  If you are hosting a Christmas dinner you can ask all of your guests to bring a non perishable food item or an unwrapped toy and then you can donate all of the gifts to a family who is less fortunate.

Go out to a restaurant. If the thought of having 25 people in your house and then having to clean up after them is not appealing skip the family dinner and go out to a restaurant.  It saves time and money but you still get to enjoy quality time with your family.

Photo by lizmarie

Save Money on Your Mortgage with these 5 Tips

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mortgage tips, save money on mortgage, mortgage

Good morning Dinks.  If you have a mortgage then you are probably trying to pay it off as quickly as possible in order to save on interest costs.  Having a mortgage can be a very expensive asset; therefore Dinks Finance and our friends at Go Banking Rates are here to help you save money on your mortgage.  Whether you just purchased your first home or if you having been paying off your mortgage loan for quite some years these tips can help you save money on interest costs and pay off your mortgage quicker.

Use these 5 tips to help save money on your mortgage:

1. Buy your home sooner rather than later.  Many people have a personal goal to retire mortgage free and the only way to do this is to purchase your home as soon as possible and focus on paying off your mortgage loan balance as quickly as possible.  If you are contemplating the purchase of a home but are nervous about the financial commitment, think of it as an investment. Of course a mortgage loan is a huge debt, but a home is a huge asset.  Purchase your home sooner rather than later in order to help pay off your mortgage loan quicker.

2. Double-up your payments. Many banks and finance companies offer the option to double up your mortgage payments.  A double-up mortgage payment means that your regular mortgage payment amount will be doubled and the extra money will be applied to your capital mortgage loan. This helps save money on interest costs because it reduces your original mortgage loan amount.

3. Yearly prepayments. Every year your bank may allow you to make a prepayment on your mortgage without paying any prepayment penalties. Usually if you pay off your mortgage before the maturity date you will incur a penalty equal to some or all of the interest costs. However each year home owners may be allowed to prepay a portion of your original mortgage loan amount (usually 10%) without any prepayment penalties. Check your mortgage contract or ask your mortgage representative for details before making any prepayments.

4. Set up biweekly payments.  The quicker you pay off your mortgage loan the more interest you will save. Setting up biweekly and accelerated mortgage payments will help you save on interest costs and pay off your mortgage sooner.  Biweekly payments are a good idea if your pay frequency is also biweekly because it lowers the amount of each mortgage payment which makes it easier to budget your mortgage into your expenses.

5. Refinance your mortgage. Refinancing your mortgage can help you save thousands of dollars on interest costs because a mortgage refinance lets you negotiate a new mortgage term as well as a new interest rate on the remaining balance of your mortgage loan.  Refinancing is not in everyone’s benefit, we suggest that you visit your local bank branch and ask your mortgage representative to run a scenario to see if a mortgage refinance will actually reduce your interest costs and lower your mortgage payments.  

Photo by ebmorse

How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?

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how much to retire, retirement planning, retirement savings

How Much Money Do I Need to Retire? (60 Minute Financial Solutions)

Good Morning Dinks.  If you are like me (in your early 30s) you may have between 25 and 30 years left to work before you retire; but that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning for retirement right now. We work for our entire lives in order to be able to afford the things that we want to buy; we also work to save our money in order to eventually stop working one day when we retire. So let me ask you a question Dinks, what are your plans for retirement?

Planning Your Retirement with Todd Tresidder

Financial Mentor Todd Tresidder helps people plan their retirement as he asks them personal and economic questions to help make sure that their current savings will be sustainable during their future retirement.

Do you know how much money you need to retire? Maybe you are saving as much as you can in order to retire early, maybe you are counting on an employee pension plan to fund your retirement or maybe you are saving any extra money that you have leftover every month in hopes of someday retiring.

There are many decisions that have to be made when you are planning for retirement such as when you are planning to retire, where you are going to retire as well as how much money you will need when you retire.  Some people plan to retire at 55 years old and some people plan on working until they are 65.  Some people are going to retire in warmer climates or relocate to downsize their home and some other people may plan to stay where they are during retirement.  Regardless of when and where you plan to retire all retirement plans require money.

Todd Tresidder’s 60 Minute Financial Solutions

In his new book “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?” author Todd Tresidder helps everyday people from entrepreneurs to 9 to 5-ers plan their retirement step by step with an easy to use guide. You don’t need to be a financial guru to plan your retirement, you just need a plan. If you plan to retire someday let Todd Tresidder guide you with his new book.

The step by step guide in Tresidder’s book “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?” will help you determine how much money you need to retire in order to finance the (realistic) lifestyle that you want to have when you leave the working world.  If you have questions about social security, lifestyle planning and retirement myths then this book is for you.

“How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?” by Todd Tresidder is not a long in depth book, but it is detailed and it is also a very helpful resource for anyone who wants to plan their retirement.  If you would like to purchase this book in paperback or as an e-book please visit Amazon.

The Giveaway: Win Your Own Copy of Todd Tresidder’s book

One lucky reader will win a personalized and autographed copy of Todd Tresidder’s book “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?”

Retirement planning should be easy and therefore so is our giveaway.  To enter for your chance to win a copy of Todd Tresidder’s book just leave a blog post comment below and tell us something about how you are planning for your retirement. You can tell us where or when you plan to retire or you can tell us how much money you are planning to have in retirement. Tell us anything about your retirement planning and you will be entered to win a copy of “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?” by Todd Tresidder.

Good Luck to everyone who enters.  The winner will be announced on Friday during our weekly roundup.

 

Photo by Amazon

 

Weekly Roundup: The Holidays, Giveaways & Health Insurance

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Good morning Dinks and Happy Friday. I hope that your holiday shopping is well under way.  I for one am looking forward to having a few days off from work over the holidays. I am also excited for the new year to come because within 15 days my first book will be finished and I can’t wait for that!

What are your plans for the holidays?

We have searched the web to find some great giveaways and great posts for you, so enjoy and have a good weekend.

GIVEAWAYS

My Diary Entry – Is giving away a $100 Amex Gift Card

Take Our Stuff – Is giving away a “guilty pleasures” gift box each for a guy and a girl.

Momma in Flip Flops 2 – Is giving away a pair of shoes from Livie & Luca.

Beautiful Giveaways – Is giving away a Paula Deen Anti-Fatigue Kitchen Mat

GREAT POSTS

My Personal Finance Journey – My Personal Investment Journey

Well Heeled Blog – When to Pitch In For Long Distance Dating?

Young Adult Money – Will Young Adults opt-out of Health Insurance?

Financial Uproar – Would You Buy A House Someone Died In?

Clever Dude – Reviews the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid with Premium Package

Blonde & Balanced – A Brief Guide TO Business Banking

 

Photo by thisreidwrites

 

 

 

 

Dinks Holiday Gift Guide

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holiday gifts, holiday season, gift giving

The holidays can be a very exciting time of the year. However with the pressure to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list they can also be very stressful.  Shopping around malls and browsing through websites in order to find the perfect gift can be very time consuming.  Wouldn’t it be great if you could just visit one website that told you what gift to buy for everyone on your list? Well fret not my Dink friends, allow me to introduce the Dink Finance Holiday Gift Guide, we will help you find the perfect gift for everyone on your list:

For the Foodie:

A set of specialty olive oils.  My father loves to cook and he always appreciates a delicious olive oil.  Many food shops offer a trio of specialty/flavoured olive oils as a gift set during the holidays.  Olive oil is a staple in most recipes and therefore it is a very practical gift for all of the foodies on your list.

A crème brulée torch.  Any kitchen savvy person on your list would love to have a crème brulée torch to help them crisp-up (aka brulée) their dishes during this holiday season. Who knows, you may even get a delicious desert out of the gift.

For the Fashionable Female:

A pair of new shoes. Unlike clothes which we change every day the same pair of shoes can be worn several days of the week.  If you don’t particularly want to spend time in a shoe store or just in case you don’t know your fashionable females shoe style or size you can also pick up and gift wrap a gift card.

A shoe membership.  You may not even know that this exists, but it does. Offer the fashionable female in your life a membership to a shoe website. Popular shoe shopping websites include Heels.com, JustFab.com or ShoeDazzle.com.

For the Workout Woman:

The latest workout DVDs. Wrapping up a new Zumba, Dance Central for x-box, Wii Just Dance, Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl Workout or The Biggest Loser DVDs are all great gift ideas for the workout woman in your life.

Cute workout wear.  Online companies such as PV Body will send your workout woman a monthly box of quality workout wear at discounted prices. For only $49.99 per month your workout woman will receive a box of quality workout wear each and every month.  Free shipping is included.

For the Man in Your Life:

Electronics and Apple Products. Any electronics or the latest gadgets are always a big hit with men during the holidays.  My boyfriend Nick wants a new iPod, he would also love to receive the new iPad mini as a gift.

A New Electric Shaver.  Men have to shave almost every day so if you are looking for a practical gift for the man in your life why not gift wrap a new electric shaver.

For the Reader:

A new book or e-book.  I am a big fan of books and I love receiving books as gifts.  If the reader on your list prefers e-books over paperbacks or hard covers you can always get them a gift card to Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

Crime Fiction and Thrillers.  These are the types of books that I love to read.  I enjoy books by Joseph Finder and James Patterson.

What are you buying for everyone on your list this holiday season?

Photo by asenat29

Your Bank Account is Like a Storage Locker

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bank account, bank storage, saving money

Good morning Dinks.  It is no secret that I love the reality TV show Storage Wars.  I can spend hours and hours watching Storage Wars marathons on A&E TV.  I am not sure what makes me love Storage Wars so much, maybe it’s the different cast personalities, maybe it’s the thrill of spending money blindly in hopes of making a profit, or maybe it’s discovering the fact that an old gold leaf horse head is actually worth $2000. It appears that I love everything about the reality TV show Storage Wars, do you watch it? As I sit in my bedroom and watch yet another Storage Wars marathon I have come to realize that our money is a lot like a storage locker.

Use these tips from Storage Wars to help manage your money:

– Let it fill up and keep it safe.  Storage units are (usually) full from the floor to the ceiling with people’s most valuable assets.  This should also be true for your bank account.  Most people don’t furnish their home on the same day they move in and most people don’t save large amounts of money overnight.  It takes time to save money and accumulate personal assets.  You can force yourself to save money on a regular basis by setting up automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account on a frequency that coincides with your pay.

– Don’t pay fees. The only way that you can be guaranteed to save money is to spend less money than you make, so don’t spend money on unnecessary expenses such as bank fees.  I am always amazed at the fact that people pay hundreds of dollars in storage locker fees then they default on the payments and lose all of their personal belongings. Wouldn’t it just be easier to have a yard sale or sell your items on Craigslist? At least you would be making some money and hopefully be able to keep some of your personal belongings.  I personally don’t like to pay fees for anything unless it is absolutely necessary, so I would be very upset if I paid a fee for a storage locker and lost all of my personal items at the same time.

– Bet big to win big.  Very often the cast of Storage Wars (aka Jarrod, Brandi, Dave, Darryl and Barry) find old furniture, electronics and antique items in their abandoned storage lockers. Sometimes these items are very valuable and sometimes they are just old and dirty.  That is the gamble that people in the storage locker business must take on a daily basis.  I personally couldn’t (and wouldn’t) spend money if I didn’t know what I was buying, but every single day lots of people do it. I know that sometimes the reward is very big and I have seen episode of Storage Wars where the cast members tripled their money, but that is just not me.  They say that you have to bet big if you want to win big and this is why places like Las Vegas are so popular…the temptation of winning can be addicting.

Photo by dustydavidson

3 Things to Never Keep in Your Wallet

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never put in your wallet, what's in your wallet, wallet stuff

Good Morning Dinks.  Allow me to ask you a question, what makes you spend money? Some people spend money socially when they are with friends, some people spend money as a reason to have something to do when they are bored and some people spend money because they are tempted by free items, discounts and coupons.

I am personally guilty of spending money because I am tempted by a good deal.  If I am contemplating an item or I know that I will need a certain item very soon I will definitely choose to buy it sooner rather than later just to get a good deal.  I am not sure why but I always feel guilty whenever I pay full price for an item. I used to be guilty of spending money with friends and also as a past time but I am glad to say that I no longer do either of these.

MSN recently published an article that lists ten items that you should never have in your wallet because they make you spend money or they can end up costing you money.  This article may be true, but at the end of the day we all make the conscious choice to spend or not to spend money.

What’s in your wallet?

1. More than one credit card.  People can definitely be tempted to spend money when they have access to their credit cards.  It is also very tempting to want to spend money and make purchases with your credit card when you know that you can always pay it off later.

2. All of your personal identification.  It is never a good idea to carry all of your personal identification cards in your wallet because if your wallet is lost or stolen you will quickly find yourself without any proof of being.  The process to replace all of your personal identification is very long and it can be very expensive, trust me I know.  I learned my lesson the hard way when my wallet was stolen 5 years ago and I have never carried more than two pieces of id in my wallet ever since.

3. Too much cash.  There is a fine line between having enough cash and having too much cash in your wallet.  I may think that $20 a week is having enough cash in my wallet to spend on snacks and small purchases all week; however someone who lives on a lesser budget may feel that $20 is a lot of money to spend each week on snacks. I will always purchase something if I have the cash in my wallet; this is why I prefer to pay for my purchases with my debt card.  I will most likely not pay for $3 snacks with my debit card but I may be tempted to buy the snacks if I have cash in my wallet.

To read the entire list of all 10 items that you should not carry in wallet click here.

Photo by verypurpleperson

Weekly Roundup: Giveaways, Jenny Craig and Real Estate

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Happy Friday Dinks.  Well I am back from Boston and I had a great time.  I have attached some pictures.  For those of you who have never had the chance to go to Boston I definitely suggest that you do because it’s totally gorgeous.

I hope you all enjoyed the first week of December.  Today is Friday December 7 and that means there are less than 20 days until Christmas…isn’t that exciting? We are going to be featuring a shopping post with some money saving tips to help you survive the holidays, so stay tuned for that.

Enjoy these great posts and awesome giveaways from our blogging friends around the web and enjoy my pictures from Boston.  Have a great weekend!

Great Giveaways

– Beautiful Giveaways is giving away a Free 30 Day Membership to Jenny Craig. Cost of food not included.

– The Dollar Stretcher is giving away two Mary Hunt Financial Books.

Great Personal Finance Posts

– Ready For Zero – How to Celebrate Your Financial Success

– PT Money (aka Mr. FinCon himself) –  5 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score

– 50 Plus Finance – When to use a real estate agent

– Punch Debt in the Face – My friend is the 1%, but not the 1% you’re thinking of

– Free Money Finance – Creative Life Planning Solutions For Retirement, Part 1

– Credit Sesame – Tackle These Now to Cut Winter Costs and Start Saving for the Holidays!

Photo by taxcredit

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