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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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What if You Had Billions and Lost it All?

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losing billions, lost money, losing money


We all work for our money. Some of us work to accumulate money and build our net worth, some of us work to save our money for personal goals such as retirement or buying a home and some of us chose to work and spend our money to enjoy our lives each and every day.

If you are working to save your money how to you decide how much to save and how much money to spend each month? Some money experts feel that you should save between 10-20% of your pay check; however we know some personal finance bloggers who live comfortably on only 50% of their pay check.  I guess how much money you decide to save each month depends on your financial priorities.  If your main financial priority is to save money then you will live on less to save more money.  However, if your main financial priority is to enjoy your life you will focus on spending your money and your secondary priority of saving money will take a back seat.

Are you saving money to build your net worth or are you saving for a specific goal? We always hear stories about how successful people have built fortunes from nothing; it’s the classic rags to riches story.  If you are working to save money and you eventually build a personal fortune wouldn’t you cherish it forever? I know that I would.  However the reality is that one bad business deal or one bad investment can wipe out a fortune that took an entire lifetime to build.

MSN recently published an article about successful business people who lost their fortunes.  If you lost your fortune would you be able to recover? Maybe you would wallow in your loss or maybe you would start building your fortune all over again.

What would you do if you lost your fortune?

– David Siegel is a real estate mogul who at one time ran the most successful time share resort company in the world.  However with the market crash in 2008 Siegel lost almost $300 million.  Siegel chose not to wallow; he restructured his business and started to rebuild his empire.  The Siegel Family story was made into a documentary.

– Robert L. Johnson is a television mogul who co-founded Black Entertainment Television with his wife Sheila.  Media giant Viacom bought BET and made Johnson the first African-American billionaire.  However after their divorce Johnson lost almost half of his billion dollar fortune.

– Barbara Davis was a wife who quickly lost both her husband and her fortune due to bad money management.  After Davis’ husband passed away she decided to focus on philanthropically activities and left the fortune of Davis Petroleum to be managed by her children.  The company’s fortune quickly dropped which also caused a rift amongst family members.

– Sanjiv Sidhu is a tech-genius who built his own company i2 Technologies at a rapidly fast rate. However with the tech burst in 2001 Sidhu lost $9 billion of his $10 billion fortune.  Today i2 Technologies still exists but Sidhu only owns a mere $100 million in the company.

What have you learned from these million dollar mistakes? The morale of the story is trust the people in whose hands you put your money and don’t keep all of your eggs in one basket.

Photo by Maestro

Is Your Job Safe?

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work hazard, job precaution, job safety

Good Morning Dinks, today we are discussing our careers and our passions for what we do.

After working in personal finance for over a decade I am in the middle of making a career change.  I decided to go back to school to study journalism and pursue my dreams of being an author.  My first book is set to be finished December 31; next year I will start promoting my book as much as possible around the web and in person at local venues.

Most people, including my family and friends, are very supportive of my decision to leave the corporate world of personal finance to follow my dreams and pursue my passion for writing.  However there are also some skeptics who feel that my decision is irresponsible and a big mistake.  The world of publishing is changing and books are becoming digitally based instead of paper objects.  I personally love the smell of book stores, I could spend all day in Barnes and Noble. I don’t like reading books online because I like the flexibility to take my book wherever I want to. But maybe that is just me.

Are you thinking of making a career change? If so will your new career be your passion or will it be in an industry that is currently booming?  It’s easy to get a job in a demanding industry, but booming industries are only a trend, when the trend changes you could find yourself without a job.  If you are thinking of making a career change my advice is to find a job that you love because industries will be forever changing and trends can become outdated.

According to MSN Money here is a list of “safe” jobs:

10. Financial Advisor

9. Paralegal

8. Dental Hygienist

7. Petroleum Engineer

6. Computer/IT Analyst

5. Skilled Tradesperson

4. Registered Nurse

3. Human Resources Specialist

2. Specialized Physician

1. Pharmacist

Did you notice a trend here? Most of the jobs that are considered to be safe are in the health care field.  What does this mean? It means that if you are looking to make a career change you should chose to work in a field or industry that is always in demand because this guarantees your job security. Regardless of where you work within a specific industry, as long as that industry is always in demand so is your job.

The exact same thing can be said for a Paralegal or a Human Resources Specialist.  If you are a practicing Paralegal you can work at any firm that specializes in any particular field of law.  If you are a Human Resources Specialist you can work in the Human Resources department of any company in any industry. Whether you are a Human Resources Specialist at a law firm, at a finance company, in a hospital or at a university the basic principles of human resources practices still apply. Visit this website for more information on earning a masters in human resources management online.

What industry do you work in? If you could make a career change and work in any industry which industry would it be?

Photo by dddaag

Make Money Giveaway and Book Review

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How I Make Money Blogging

Good Morning Dinks. Today we have a special treat for you. I say that it’s a special treat because today we are hosting a book giveaway and review from one of our very own fellow bloggers; this is very exciting. Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff recently wrote a book titled “How I Make Money Blogging” and she was generous enough to share a copy with Dinks Finance for a review and giveaway.

Some of our Dinks readers are couples without children, some of our readers are fellow personal finance bloggers, and some of our Dinks readers are both. So which one are you?

If you have a blog or if you are thinking of starting a blog then Crystal’s book “How I Make Money Blogging” is a great resource to help you get started and make money blogging. If blogging isn’t your thing but you are ambitious and you want to start your own online business this book can be a helpful motivator to get you started and keep you going.

Crystal’s story is truly inspiring.  She is not a business major and she doesn’t have a degree in management, Crystal is a creative young woman who had an idea and turned it into her full time job.  No one said that being your own boss and starting a business was easy, but once you get going Crystal confirms that you will always want to reach the next level because “success is addictive.”

How to Make Money Blogging

I am not going to spoil the book for you because one lucky reader will win a copy of the book “How I Make Money Blogging” but Crystal’s method of how to make money is very simple, hard work + a lot of dedication + a good idea = money.

No one is going to earn $10,000 in their first month of starting a blog or an online business, but you can definitely earn $100. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to start an online business and therefore your profit doesn’t need to be very large in order to cover your costs at the beginning.

Crystal set specific monetary goals for herself and she did everything that she could to make sure that she achieved them.  Building her blog through guest posts, leaving comments and making direct contacts with more experienced bloggers all helped Crystal grow her blog Budgeting in the Fun Stuff and start making money online.

Book Giveaway to one Lucky Reader

Now it’s time to give away a copy of the book “How to Make Money Blogging”. Click on the Rafflecopter link below and enter for your chance to win.  Rafflecopter is a third-party program that Dinks is using to track the giveaway entries.

You can enter from Monday October 29 to Sunday November 4, 2012.

There are several different ways that you can enter our “Make Money Contest” through Rafflecopter:

You can Tweet about our contest or you can leave a comment on the blog via Rafflecopter. Please note that only entries made via Rafflecopter will be accepted and entered into the contest.

Good luck to everyone who enters. Please share this giveaway with your blog readers. The winner will be announced Friday November 9, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekly Roundup: Small Caps, Small Business and Free Stuff

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Happy Halloween weekend Dinks. This weekend will be full of fun costume parties because next Thursday is Halloween. Are you giving out candy on October 31?

Speaking of candy let’s talk about it for a moment. Halloween is my favourite time of the year because it is the first in many special occasions and holidays that incorporate the goodness of chocolate and candy. After Halloween there is American Thanksgiving then there is Christmas followed by Valentine’s Day and finally Easter in the spring. All I have to say is bring on the chocolate and candy!

Did you know that people spend an average of over $250 on Halloween including their costumes, decorations and chocolate for the kids who come around to trick or treat? My boyfriend Nick and I personally don’t give out any chocolate on Halloween because we live in an apartment building that has no kids.  However if we lived in a house on a family friendly street I would definitely give out chocolate to kids, even though we don’t actually have any kids of our own.

Are you giving out chocolate or candy on Halloween even though you don’t have kids? In general I love most types of candy and chocolate, except for black licorice; I definitely don’t like black licorice.  I love Twizzlers strawberry licorice and I absolutely love Reese Peanut Butter Cups. There is something about the combination of chocolate and peanut butter that I absolutely can’t resist.

What is your favorite chocolate or candy?

Have a great weekend Dinks and enjoy these great posts from around the web:

– Young Adult Finances – All Cap, Small Cap, Mid Cap, HUT!

– Wise Bread – Are You Getting These 5 Things for Free?

– My Personal Finance Journey  – Going Back To School is Different the Second Time Around

– Young Adult Money – Working for a Large Corporation vs. Working for a Small Business

– Passive Income Now – How To Spot And Prevent ATM Skimming

Photo by Juushika

The Most Expensive Cities in the World

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most expensive cities, expensive lifestyle, expensive living

Good Morning Dinks.  Not too long ago we published a post titled “The Cheapest Cities to Live in the World” and it caused quite a stir of comments on both Dinks Finance as well as on Business Insider.  Today we are following up with a post that features the most expensive cities to live in around the world.

There is always a trade off when discussing the cost of living in a particular city, town or region. Costly cities usually offer better housing, better amenities and a generally better quality of life. Whereas cheaper cities can have lower standards of living and possibly higher crime or poverty rates. So in the end you have to ask your self…is it better to be rich in a poor city or to be poor in a very rich city?

I feel that your cost of living is what you make it and it completely depends on your standard of living.  As you know I want to live in New York City which is considered to be one of the most expensive cities in the entire world.  The cost of living (for me) is worth the opportunities that living in New York City will bring to my career and my personal life.

I would personally not want to live in a cheaper city and not have access to all of the great amenities that New York City has to offer.  I would also not like to live in a rural area which doesn’t have the benefits of living in a big city just because the cost of living is cheaper.  However if my personal goal was to live a low key life and save money then I would absolutely move to a rural area for some quiet time and also to save some money.

How expensive is your city?

Here is a list of the most expensive cities in the world according to MSN Money:

10. London, England.  Yes if you want to live with royalty then you will be charged a pretty penny.

9. Caracas, Venezuela. Hugo Chavez was recently re-elected into government and it doesn’t look like the cost of living will be declining anytime soon.

8. Stockholm, Sweeden.  If you are willing to pay to live in a city with picturesque views and old European charm then Stockholm may just be the city for you.

7. Luxembourg.  Beautiful greenery, breathtaking views, and the Duke and Dutchess await for you in Luxembourg.

6. New York City.  Living in a city that has it all come with a price, but for some people (like myself) living in a big city is worth the cost.

5. Copenhagen, Denmark.  It’s all blue water and blue skies in Copenhagen, but living in a beautiful fairytale has a price.

4. Geneva, Switzerland.  It is no surprise that a city in a country known for its international banking is on the top end of this list.

3. Tokyo, Japan.  Technology, nightlife and a dense population are all benefits that you pay for when you live in Tokyo.

2. Zurich, Switerland. The second Swiss city on the list offers a variety of career and personal amenities for it’s residents.

1. Oslo, Norway.  This is the most expensive city in the world where it costs over $23 to take a 5 kilometer taxi ride.  How much does it cost to take the bus in your city? In Oslo, Norway it costs over $5 per trip.

Photo by toastyken

What do you do with your money?

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money tips, money advice, financial tips

We work and we make money, so let me ask you Dinks, what do you do with your money?

Some of us make just enough money to support our lifestyle and therefore we spend our money each month and pay our bills.  Some of us like to see the number value of our net worth increase on a monthly basis and therefore we save our money.  Some others chose to invest our money for our future. So Dinks, how do you spend your money each month?

– Spend it.  Spending our money is a very common because we all have bills to pay, debts to pay off and expenses to take care of each and every month.  Some people spend all of their money each month because they only make enough money to cover their basic costs of living and some people spend all of their money each month because they spend their money recklessly and they have very little self control.  Which one are you?

– Save it. Saving money may be a natural habit for many of us, especially for those of us who are in the business of personal finance or financial blogging.  We may live a very simple lifestyle in order to keep our monthly expense to a minimum to that we can save the maximum amount of money each and every month.  Saving money can have a variety of different meanings for many different people.  Saving money can mean saving a percentage of your income for retirement, it can mean saving a fixed dollar amount of cash into an emergency savings fund or it can be as plain and simple as saving your money each month because you don’t need to spend it. What are you saving for?

– Invest in yourself.  If you don’t spend your money on your monthly expenses and you don’t save your money then what do you do with it?  Some people choose to invest in themselves by bettering themselves for the future. This is actually how I spend a large percentage of my disposable monthly income.  I recently went back to school and I am currently studying journalism in order to pursue my career goal of working in publishing or media.  I really want to be an author and my first book is scheduled to be finished on December 31. Do you invest in yourself?

– Give it away.  Some of us choose to donate a part of our disposable monthly income towards helping others.  You may remember that I chose to volunteer my time towards charitable causes instead of donate money.  Good causes that I support and volunteer for are The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers, The Children’s Hospital and Girl Guides.  I like to donate my time towards causes that are dear to my heart.  As a female I can technically be diagnosed with breast cancer, ovarian cancer or any other type of cancer at any time throughout my life and this is why I volunteer for The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers.  I was born 6 weeks early and I lived the first few weeks of my life in the hospital and this is why I support The Children’s Hospital. I was a brownie and a girl guide when I was younger and therefore that cause is also dear to my heart. Do you support a charity?

Photo by amagill

Deals Just For Dinks

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deals website, dinks, promos

Good Morning Dinks.  Today we are discussing some great products that are specifically designed for Dinks.  Our good friends at Dink Life have recently launched Dink Deals, which lists deals for Dinks in a variety of local cities from Abbotsford, British Columbia to Wichita, Kansas.

Dink Life is a website; actually it’s more like a community forum that was designed just for Dinks. You can search for a job, read about Dink-trends, chat with other childless couples, and even go to Dink meet-ups in your local area and socialize with other Dink couples.

I personally love the idea of someone providing me with the option of taking a no-kids vacation or having dinner at a non-kid-friendly restaurant because to me the sound of screaming kids is like scraping nails down a chalkboard. If my boyfriend Nick and I ever do decide to have kids we will need to have some type of guarantee that our kids will be quiet and clean. Does that exist?

Dink Deals is a daily source for local deals on a variety of activities from rock climbing and hot air balloon rides to travel deals and adventure excursions. With Dink Deals you can save on a variety of products and services, you can save 48% off of your next movie ticket or you can save 63% off of a bike tour through Boulder Mountain, and at the end of a day who doesn’t love a good deal?

3 Reasons to Love a Good Deal:

1. You will try new experiences.  Signing up for with a daily deals website allows you to learn about new products and services in your local area.  Signing up for daily deals with websites such as Coupon Cabin, Dink Deals, Groupon, Dealfind, or Living Social lets you try new experiences at discount prices, so if you hate it at least it’s not a total loss.  I discovered a new spa and a new restaurant with Dealfind.

2. You will save money.  Everyone likes to save money, right? Signing up with a deals website will help you discover new products and services in your local area, but it will also help you save money on items that you already love.  I have purchased two hair cuts at discount prices from a deals website, I got a normally $65 haircut for only $29.  In my opinion that’s a great deal. Yes male-dinks women pay $65 for a haircut.

3. It’s easy to sign up.  Sometimes I don’t sign up for services or product websites because the sign up process is long and tedious.  If a service is easy to join then more people will sign up…facebook anyone? I also don’t like to join services that I have to pay for; this is why I am not a member at Costco. I don’t feel that I should have to pay to get a deal or discount, if a company wants my business they will sell me their product or service at a discount, I shouldn’t have to pay for it.

What is your favourite deals website?

Photo by stevendepolo

Friday Roundup: Dating, Down Payments and Tips For Success

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Good Morning Dinks and Happy Friday.

As the crispy fall weather continues it is making me think that winter is quickly approaching, it’s also making me wish that I lived in a warmer climate.  Don’t get me wrong I love the four seasons of the chilly northeast but sometimes I wish that I lived in sunny California.

It is my personal philosophy that people in California are so creative because they work in the sunshine all year round.  There is no sadness because of the dull and grey weather and in my opinion that makes people in a better mood, more creative and more productive.

Enjoy these great posts from around the web:

– Clever Dude – 30 Uses For Vinegar! (And How The Stinky Stuff Saves You Money)

– Budgets Are Sexy – Girls Care About Money, Guys Care About Looks. Here’s Why Girls Get Screwed On Dating Sites.

– Money Crashers – 6 Ways to Get Money for a Down Payment on a House

– Ready For Zero – How to Get Your Finances in Orders as a Couple

– Credit Sesame – Save $20 a Day in 4 Easy Steps

– Enemy of Debt – Lending Money – Tips for Success

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DINKS Reality: Lessons Learned From 2 Broke Girls

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reality tv lessons, 2 broke girls, money advice

Good Morning Dinks. I admittedly watch a lot of television. I mostly watch reality TV, but every now and then when a great TV series comes along I get hooked and I become a loyal watcher.

I am extremely addicted to the hit CBS television series 2 Broke Girls.

It is a comedy series about a broke girl who has been living on her own and providing for herself since she was a teenager, she becomes friends with a former rich girl who has always been taken care of but who recently lost her fortune and her family. However through all of the funny characters (including a Ukrainian cook) and great one-liners there are actually a lot of money lessons (and life lessons) that can be learned from the CBS television show 2 Broke Girls.

Money Lessons from 2 Broke Girls:

– Money will not always be there.  Taking money for granted is one of the biggest mistakes that we can make in both our lives and in our finances. I know this first hand because I used to take money for granted when I was earning a six figure income. When I market crashed I had no idea what I was going to do, how I was going to maintain my lifestyle, and how I was going to survive.  I had to quickly come up with a plan and I learned that the key to financial success is to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

– We can start over. Sometimes things happen in life that we can’t predict and that we can’t control, however we can try and be as prepared as possible. When an unfortunate event happens such as we lose our job or if we lose our income the only thing that we can do is pick ourselves up off the floor, focus on a new plan to move forward, and never look back. Trying to move on from any personal for financial tragedy is definitely a struggle, but we can recover if we look into the future, make changes towards who we want to be, and learn from our mistakes in the past.

– We can still be fabulous without money.  So often in life we think that having money is what is going to make us happy; but that is absolutely not true. Of course money makes our lives just a little bit easier because if we have “enough” money each month to support the lifestyle that we want to live we won’t have the stress of not having enough money to pay the bills. Of course the definition of “enough” money is different for everyone, but basically it means having enough money each month to pay your bills, stay warm, and keep your belly full.

– Good Friends = A Good Time. 2 Broke Girls proves that life’s real treasures are our friends and our family members; we can have fun without money if we are having a good time with our family and our friends. Money can buy expensive jewellery, pay for luxurious vacations, and buy other nice things, but money can’t buy us happiness.

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Do You Have a Fixer-Upper Home?

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fixer-upper home, buying a home, renovating a home

Good Morning Dinks. Let me ask you a question; is your home exactly how you want it to be?

Not many of us can say that our house is perfect because I am sure that there is always something that you want to upgrade, remodel, or improve in your home.

I am redecorating my bedroom… again. I want to purchase a new kitchen table, I want to repaint my living room, and I would like to buy a second sofa.  Of course I don’t need any of these upgrades in my home, but I want them. I absolutely love shopping for home decor, I don’t know why but I do. I can spend hours every weekend browsing through Pier 1 and Bed Bath & Beyond.  I consider myself to be a very creative person, but when it comes to colour coordination I could definitely use a little help from Martha Stewart.

I am definitely not one of those people who could buy a house and fix it up, but I have a cousin who is currently on his second fixer-upper home. My cousin does not flip houses for a living; he has lived in both of his homes.  My cousin loves buying houses cheap and then spending a year or two fixing them up and customizing them just the way he wants them to be. I know that there are several TV shows, such as Flip This House and Flipped Off on A&E, about how to buy a house cheap, fix it up, and sell it for a profit; but just like colour coordination, fixing up and flipping houses is just not my thing.

The Financial Post recently published an article titled “The Pros and Cons of Buying a Fixer-Upper”.  Let me ask you another question Dinks, are any of you in the real estate business? I would love to know from real people in real life if the business of buying fixer-uppers and flipping houses is really a profitable business.

Here are some Pros and Cons of Buying a Fixer-Upper:

Pros:

– You can customize your home exactly as you want it. If visiting open house every Saturday and Sunday in order to find your perfect dream home seems exhausting to you then you may want to buy the next best thing and fix it up to your liking.

– You can afford a larger house.  If you are willing to do some of the home repairs then you can purchase a bigger house that needs some work for the same price or even cheaper than your ready-to-move-in perfect dream home.

– You can buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood.  The more work a house needs the cheaper you can buy it.

Cons:

– It’s very possible you will go over budget. On almost every single episode of every single flipping homes TV show that I watch the owners go over budget.  This can be a major problem, especially if you don’t have any extra money.

– You may not be able to sell it if you want to flip the house.  Just because you have a newly renovated home to sell doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is in the market to buy it. Monthly heating, lighting, and mortgage costs can quickly add up to be a major expense if your house sits on the market.

– Renting the house may not always be an option. If you can’t sell your newly renovated house right away you may want to rent it out.  However, being a landlord brings on a whole other set of potential problems.

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