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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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Friday Roundup: Savings, Summer, and Your Money

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Good Morning Dinks and Happy Friday. Congratulations to DC @ Young Adult Money who is our book giveaway winner.   DC contact us by email and we will mail out your book asap.  Be sure to keep reading Dinks Finance over the next few weeks for some other great product giveaways from friends that we met at BlogHer.

I had a very busy week and I am glad to say that I have absolutely no plans this weekend, except to sleep a lot and to go and see the new movie in the Borne series.  This week I had to give an oral presentation in my Industry Standard Editing Practices class and I also had to complete my employee evaluation since the third fiscal quarter finished at the end of July.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before but I returned to school to study Journalism.  It has been almost five years since I last went to school and let me tell you that college life has a whole new meaning now that I am in my thirties.  I absolutely enjoy studying Journalism but working full time and studying is a lot more difficult the second time around.  However I am sure that it will all be worth it in the end.

What are your plans this weekend?

I hope you all enjoy your two days off, I know that I will.  Enjoy these great posts from around the web:

Passive Income Now – One Harsh Truth About Passive Income You Must Understand

Adaptu – Financial Struggles in a Relationship – Facing the Music

Careful Cents – Enjoy a Fantastic Summer With Some Easy Ways to Save

Dough Roller – 5 Tips to Invest Wisely in a Second Home

Get Rich Slowly – Saving for a Big Purchase

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What is a Good Credit Score?

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good credit score, credit score tips, building your credit

american express cardGood Morning DINKS.  One of the major factors that people try to improve on or better in their financial lives is their personal credit score. 

A good credit score can make both our personal and our financial lives a lot easier.  Having a good credit score can help us get a discount on our home and auto insurance, it can help us get our dream job, and it can also help us be approved for a mortgage loan or a credit card.  Many people know that a good credit score is a good thing to have because a good credit score can help people get the things that they want in life.  However, many people don’t know how to obtain, increase, and/or maintain a good credit score.

A good credit score is a number between 300 and 850 that evaluates your credit worthiness for potential creditors.  Of course there are other factors that potential creditors consider when we apply for credit products such as our personal income, our personal savings, as well as our other debt repayment commitments.  However, one of the major factors that potential creditors look for when we apply for credit products is our numeric credit score.

There are several factors that can help us build a good credit score and it’s important to know what they are so that we can make smart financial decisions.  It is a smart idea to start our financial lives with a good credit score instead of making financial mistakes and trying to rebuild our credit score later in life.  Applying for a credit card at a young age and using it responsibly is the key to building a good credit score. Using our debt responsibly means making purchases on our credit cards and paying off our credit card balances every month; these little tips will help you build a good credit score.

Just in case your credit score is not so great you can always make changes in your financial habits to help increase your credit score.  Some main reasons why someone’s credit score could decline is because they are accumulating a lot of debt, they are making only monthly payments, and they have made late payments on their credit products in the past. If you start to change your financial habits you can start seeing an increase in your credit score within 12-months.  It may seem like a long time, but it is definitely worth it because having a good credit score opens many financial doors.

Realizing that your credit score is less than desirable and making the conscious decision to make changes in your daily financial habits is the first step towards improving your credit score.  Setting up regular automatic payments onto your debts that coincide with your pay check is the easiest way to start repaying your debts.  If you are paid on a biweekly basis then you should also be making payments onto your debts on a biweekly basis.

If your credit score is low because you have accumulated too much debt then you should stop accumulating debt.  Many people make large debt payments each month but then they don’t have enough money to live. If you continue using your credit to live and pay your daily expenses you will continue accumulating more debt. Not using our debt and not accumulating any more debt will help us get out of debt sooner.  Making payments that we can afford and setting a target debt free date will also help us become debt free.

Photo by imagesofmoney

My Side Hustle is Sexy!

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side hustle, part time job, extra income

victoria's secret

Good Morning DINKS.  Today we are discussing different ways that people can earn a secondary income.  As you may know I work 9 to 5 in personal finance and you may know that I also work as a freelance business and financial writer.  However, you may not know that I also work part-time at Victoria’s Secret; that’s right my secondary income side hustle is a sexy little secret.  Today’s post is inspired by my friend J. Money over at Budgets Are Sexy, he features a “Side Hustle Series” and it inspired me to tell you about my own side hustle.

Why I have a 2nd (actually a 3rd) Job:

I started working at McDonald’s when I was 15-years old. I have actually been working (at least) two jobs since I was 17-years old.  When my parents announced their divorce and my mother moved out of our house I wanted to spend the least amount of time that I could at home.

Instead of trying to spend time outside of our house with friends and also in an attempt to try and stay out of trouble as a teenager I decided to find a second part time job.  In addition to working at McDonald’s I decided to start working in retail sales at the local shopping mall in my hometown.

It was difficult to manage going to school and working two jobs while being a teenager, but the money was definitely worth it. As a 17-year old I had two jobs and absolutely no monthly expenses. I still work multiple jobs today because I am just used to always being busy. I work one day a week at Victoria’s Secret.  My boyfriend Nick watches sports on Sundays and having a second job in retail sales gives me something to do, some extra money in my pocket, and it also gives me a great discount on clothes.

Why I chose to work in Retail Sales:

It is said that if you work at McDonald’s you can work anywhere in the world, this is also said about The Walt Disney Corporation.  I enjoyed working at McDonald’s but it was much “cooler” for a teenager to work in the mall. I started working at Victoria’s Secret because they were hiring at the time and because when I was 17 years old it seemed like a good idea to work in a store that gave me a discount on pyjamas. I came home from working at Victoria’s Secret smelling a lot better than I did when I came home from working at McDonald’s.

I like working in retail sales because it gives me a break from my normal corporate routine in personal finance.  Money brings out the worst qualities in people and working in retail sales gives me a chance to see the good side of the human race.  When people are shopping they are generally in good moods.  I like working in a stress free environment where I can interact with clients, but where I don’t have to actively manage client relationships like I do in my 9 to 5 day job.

Why I love working at Victoria’s Secret:

I know that working in retail sales doesn’t pay a lot of money, but the extra benefits are absolutely worth the work.  I receive a discount on all Victoria’s Secret products such as lingerie, cosmetics and perfumes, business attire, yoga clothes, and shoes.  By working at Victoria’s Secret I receive discounts on all of the other necessities that I need in life and I also earn some extra cash to pay for it all.

Photo by Amanda Cabral

You May Be Rich If…

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personal finance, financial tips, money advice

fine gold barsGood Morning Dinks.  Today we are discussing the financial fulfillment that we get out of life.

Different people strive for different things in life and we may all consider personal happiness to have a different meaning.  The things in life that make me happy may not make you happy, and vice versa.  My definition of rich may not be your definition of rich, and vice versa.

One of the main things that people want out of life is to be rich, but what does that really mean?

How much money will make you rich?

You have enough money to buy whatever you want.  Some people may think that the definition of being rich is defined as having enough money to buy all of the things in life that you want to buy.  If this is your definition of being rich it is obviously relative to your personal lifestyle.  If you don’t want a lot of things in life then you won’t need a lot of money to buy all of those things.

You have a specific dollar amount. I remember when I was a child and I threw a penny into a Wishing Well I would always wish for $1 million. When I was a child I thought that having $1 million means that you are rich. But today a person who has $1 million may not be considered as being rich.  Of course we have to consider the cost of inflation from 1980 to 2012, but $1 million is still a lot of money.  I guess the question is if $1 million is enough money to make you rich.

You have personal freedom.  Some people may think that being rich is having the freedom not to have to rely on money. You may be rich if you have the freedom to call in sick and miss a day of work because you don’t necessarily need the money. Personal freedom can mean that you aren’t dependant on money.  Maybe your definition of being rich means that you can book a last minute vacation and travel whenever or wherever in the world that you want to travel.

You have more money than other people have. Unfortunately some people consider themselves to be rich if they have more money than other people have.  For some reason people like to compare their personal net worth with the net worth’s of their family, friends, and co-workers.  However if you consider being rich as a personal trait, it really shouldn’t matter how much money other people have (or don’t have).

You don’t live pay check to pay check. Some people consider being rich as having the personal peace of mind that they have a safety cushion of money in the bank. Some people feel that being rich is having enough money and savings to not have to worry about paying your bills, saving for retirement, and running out of money.  For some people being rich means that they don’t have to live pay check to pay check. Some people think that being rich means they have no personal stress related to their personal finances.

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Can You Save More?

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save more, save money, saving tips

beaker moneyGood Morning Dinks.  Today we are discussing how much money we are saving on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.  It seems like over the past 30-days I have spent a lot of money.

I travelled to New York City for the women’s blogging conference BlogHer’12 and I finally booked my airplane ticket and hotel room for the financial blogger conference FinCon’12.  Lately it seems like everywhere I turn I am paying a bill in some form or another.

Let me ask you a question Dinks…How much money did you spend yesterday? Now ask yourself how much of that money could you have saved?

Many people feel that they should save a certain percentage of their after-tax income; a general rule of thumb is that we should be saving 20-per cent of our annual after-tax income. If this is your personal savings strategy it doesn’t really matter whether you choose to save on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis.  All that matters is how much money you have saved at the end of the year.  What percentage of your income do you save each year?

Some people don’t include their personal savings into their monthly budget because some people can’t afford to save money on a regular basis. If your budget is tight and you are earning just enough money to make sure that your bills are paid on time saving money on a regular basis may just not fit your lifestyle.  Some people choose not to save money on a regular basis throughout the year, but instead they save their annual bonus once a year.  If you received an annual bonus last year did you spend or save it?

I don’t know about you but sometimes my daily personal spending can get very out of control.  I am the queen of impulse purchases.  Sometimes I will buy a snack just because I feel like it, not because I am actually hungry. Sometimes I buy my lunch because I am craving a particular food, even though I brought my lunch to work that day.  Sometimes I stop by a bookstore and I buy a magazine or a new book just because I am in the mood to go shopping.  Every Friday I add up all of my personal spending purchases and although I would love to say that I always stay within my budget of $20 per week, I honestly can’t say that it happens a lot.  I guess it’s time for some self control.  What was your last impulse purchase?

Some people don’t save a pre-determined amount of money; some people just save whatever money they have left over after all of their bills are paid.  As a financial professional this particular savings strategy makes me cringe, but on the other hand I always say that some savings are better than no savings at all.  The problem with saving leftover money is that there is always something else we can buy; therefore people who chose to spend their leftover money from each pay check can often find themselves with nothing left over.  Do you have money left over after each pay check? If so, what dodo you do with it?

Photo by beigephotos

What Is On Your Bucket List?

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bucket list, creating a bucket list, things to do in life

bucketGood Morning DINKS.  Today we are discussing a fun topic that can also have a morbid undertone.  Today we are discussing all of the things that we want to do before we die.

Do you have a personal bucket list, or as I prefer to call it a personal life list? Do you have a list of all the places you want to see and all of the things that you want to do before you die?

Before I die (which will hopefully not happen for a very long time) there are several things that I want to do and several places that I want to visit.  I want to learn how to surf, travel to Italy, jump off a cliff into the water in Greece, and be a contestant on a game show.

MSN recently published a list of ten amazing places that people should put on their bucket list as places to visit before they die.

What is on your bucket list?

– The Pyramids in Egypt – The Great Pyramids of Egypt are located in Cairo.  They are also one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World with a lifetime spanning over 3800 years.  The Pyramids are guarded by the Great Sphinx which is also another great site to see in Egypt.

– The Great Wall of China – The Great Wall of China expands for a total of 21,196 kilometers which is twice the size of the entire country of Canada. Tourists can enjoy a variety of activities when visiting The Great Wall of China such as taking a cable car ride as well as riding a zip line.

– The Angel Falls in Venezuela – The Angel Falls are located in Canaima National Park in Venezuela which is the sixth-largest nature preserve in the world.  The Angel Falls are 807-meters tall and the view appears to be absolutely breath-taking.

– Manhattan New York City – The history of New York City is enough of a reason for people to want to visit.  The ancient buildings, the gorgeous skyline, and the extreme diverse experience are all just added bonuses of visiting New York City.  If you are looking for a great place to spend your next vacation you may want to book a trip to Manhattan; you won’t even have to exchange your currency.

– Serengeti National Park in Tanzania – The Serengeti in Tanzania is a nature preserve which is the size of the state of Connecticut.  It is a vacation place to see lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffalos in their natural habitat.  If you want to go on a safari for your next vacation then you should check out the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

– Machu Picchu, Peru – Machu Picchu is home to the Andes Mountains and the Ancient Inca Ruins.  If you are looking for breathtaking views and a piece of history for your next vacation then Machu Picchu, Peru may be your next destination.

– The Great Barrier Reef in Australia – The Great Barrier Reef is the Earth’s largest display of marine life and the world’s largest coral reef system.  It has 2,900 reefs and 900 islands which spans for more than 2,600 kilometers.

Photo by marc faraldeau

Are you a Competitive Person?

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competition, competitiveness, healthy competition

It seems like everywhere we turn these days we are competing with someone over something. We may be competing with a sibling for the affection of our parents, we may be competing with a co-worker for a promotion, or we may be competing with ourselves in order to improve on our own personal skills.  How would you feel if I told you that your competitive nature is a direct result of the city where you live?

Maybe you didn’t get that last promotion because you were competing with the best of the best in the job market, and maybe you didn’t have the best score the last time you played a round of golf because you were playing in a foursome with three other great golf players.  Our own personal achievements are definitely a reflection of our own personal attributes, but at the same time our own personal success also depends on the abilities of our competitors.  It is definitely a great achievement to become the best of the best, but would you also take pride in your success if you were the best of the worst?

MSN recently published a list of the most competitive cities in the world.

Where do you live?

9. Chicago.  It’s no surprise that the hometown of The Oprah Winfrey Show is one of the most competitive cities in the world.  When you live in a town that produced one of the richest women in the world it is only obvious that there will be some competition.

8. Washington D.C. In a town that is full of politicians who are competing for citizen votes it is only normal that the competitive spirit spills over onto the city’s residents. Washington D.C. is the nation’s capital and the residents of Washington D.C. are known for being very well educated.  Entrepreneurship instincts are also very high among residents of Washington D.C.

7. Zurich, Switzerland. When you live in a city that is known as the most popular location for international banking you are bound to have a competitive spirit.  When you are surrounded by wealth it makes you want to be wealthy, when you are used to seeing people who live with life’s luxuries it makes you want to have nice things too. Being surrounded by people who have nice things automatically makes us compete to have those things for ourselves.

6. Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo is a very popular destination where people want to travel and also where people want to live.  Living in an overpopulated busy city definitely increases a person’s competitive spirit.

5. Paris, France. The city of love is known for romance, but it is also known for the financial stability of its residents as well as the country’s economic stability.

4. Hong Kong. Hong Kong is known for its economic growth and its financial stability as a country thanks to its many residents and many exports.  Hong Kong is innovative and the competition to find the next big thing is fierce.

3. Singapore. This city is the most competitive city in Asia.  It has global appeal which attracts both tourists and residents. Singapore is on my personal list of places to travel.

2. London, England. London is known as being the most competitive city in Europe and it is said to be the most appealing city in the world (although that may be because it will be hosting this year’s Olympic Games).

1. New York City.  It is absolutely no surprise that New York City is the most competitive city in the world. If you can make it here then you can make it anywhere.  I personally hope to make it there someday very soon! I want to be living in New York City by December 2013 at the very latest.

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Benefits vs. Costs of Attending a Blogging Conference

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blogging conference, costs of blogging conference, benefits of blogging conference

bloggerLast week I made a last minute to decision to travel to New York City and attend BlogHer’12.  BlogHer is an organization that promotes, influences, and encourages women in the blogging business.  They host several conferences throughout the year including BlogHer Food and BlogHer Entrepreneurs, along with their main annual conference BlogHer.

BlogHer is a three-day event where women and men come together to share their own experiences about blogging and learn about the business of blogging from blogging professionals.

Why I went to BlogHer

My relationship with blogging is unique in the sense that blogging is my most recent career endeavour.  I have been a financial planner and a professional in the financial services industry for many years and I have always enjoyed creative writing.  When the market crashed a few years ago I needed to start supplementing my income so I started working as a freelance financial writer.

I started booking contracts to write product brochures and web content for financial institutions and insurance companies; however this work was all contract based.  I needed a more steady income stream and that is why I started applying for blogging jobs, because it is continuous work. Over the past three years I have been writing for various financial blogs and I started my own personal blog just over a year ago.

I went to BlogHer to make business contacts in blogging and financial industries as well as to promote my personal writing services. But more importantly, I went to BlogHer because I wanted to learn how to make my blogging jobs work for me.  I wanted to know how my blogging can help me achieve my personal career goals, I want my personal blogging experience to be more than just a creative outlet, I want it to help advance my career as a writer.  It was an added benefit that BlogHer was being held in New York City this year, if you are a regular Dinks reader you know that I absolutely love NYC.

My BlogHer experience

To say that my BlogHer experience was overwhelming would be an understatement.  I was among 3000 other bloggers who, just like myself, were there to learn how to follow your dreams, start your own business, and brand yourself as a professional blogger.

I attended several information sessions and panels at BlogHer which included Pro Tips: Branding and Blogging Professionally, When It’s Time to Spend Money to Market Your Work, and How to Price and Value Your Services.  Some of the Keynote Speakers included Martha Stewart and Katie Couric

I absolutely loved my first BlogHer experience and I am looking forward to attending the conference next year in Chicago. I discovered several great new products and services at BlogHer which we will be giving away to our Dinks readers, so stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for some great giveaways.

The benefits of attending a blogging conference

Attending a blogging conference is a great way to meet industry professionals, interact with fellow bloggers, and learn about blogging as a business.  This was my first official BlogHer conference experience and I am so glad that I went.  I met some great people, I made some excellent contacts, and I came home with a new perspective on turning my freelance activities into my full time career.

I know that attending a conference can be very expensive with the event ticket cost, the travelling and transportation costs, as well as the cost of staying in a hotel for several days; but trust me when I say that the knowledge gained and the personal or professional experience is definitely worth the cost.

  • Hotel Room: $157.08 – thanks to my favourite discount travel website Priceline.com
  • BlogHer’12 Ticket: $153.72 – for the Saturday conference only
  • Bus Ticket to NYC: $139 – this was the cheapest way to travel in a short time period

Total Cost to attend BlogHer’12: $449.80

(Experience Gained: Priceless)

With that being said I look forward to meeting you all in the next few weeks at FinCon in Denver.

Photo by Anastassia

It’s Not About The Stuff

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stuff, things, clutter

stuffOne of the main reasons why people get into debt, other than buying a home, purchasing a car, or going to school, is because people spend more money than they need to on things that they don’t need.

Living beyond our means is a main reason why people get into debt, when people spend more money than they make they are forced to live on credit.  This can be a dangerous financial habit and it can also be a very hard habit to break. Buying stuff may make us feel a sense of self worth, it may be a way for people to determine their self status, or it may be a way for us to spend time while shopping. Therefore I ask you DINKS…What is it about “stuff” that we love so much?

My father has recently let his girlfriend talk him into downsizing their current multi bedroom home into a small apartment.  In the next two weeks my father and his girlfriend will be selling their home, giving away all of their stuff, and taking only the essentials to their new smaller apartment.  I always knew that my father was a “pack-rat” but I never actually realized how much stuff my father has until he started giving it away.

Maybe people love stuff because accumulating stuff makes us feel self worthy.  Some people (such as my father) did not have a lot of stuff while they were growing up; therefore they accumulate a lot of stuff in their adult lives.  My personal theory is that my father never gets rid of anything he owns because he never wants to be without anything ever again.  Even though my father lives in only a two-person household he has several of the same items (such as televisions) in his home which are not being used. I believe that my father enjoys looking at all of the stuff in his house because it is a symbol of his success in life; it is also a symbol of how far he has come from his youth.

Maybe people love stuff because it is a status comparison between ourselves with our family, friends, and coworkers.  Think about the last time that you purchased a new car, did you purchase a luxury car for the status that comes along with it, or did you purchase an economically friendly and cost efficient car because it was a good deal?  Many people buy stuff because they enjoy the status that comes along with it as well as the bragging rights that come along with having expensive stuff.

Maybe it’s not the actual stuff that people love so much, maybe it’s the art of accumulating stuff (i.e. shopping) that people are so attracted to.  I know that I very often use shopping as an activity to celebrate something good that has happened or to drown my sorrows when I am sad because something bad happened. Shopping is an activity that I enjoy, although accumulating stuff that I don’t have room for, and spending money on stuff that I don’t need are not things that I enjoy; unfortunately the two sometimes go hand in hand.

How much stuff do you have stuff in your house?

Photo by buzzfarmers

Friday Roundup: Summer Vacations, Savings, and Hobbies

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flip flops in sand

Good Morning DINKS and Happy 1st Friday of August.  There is one more month left in summer and we want to know about your summer vacation plans.  What did you do for your summer vacation this year or what are you planning to do for your summer vacation over the next month?

I took a week off in June and just stayed close to home, my boyfriend Nick and I are planning a mini four-day vacation to Niagara Falls in the next few weeks.  My final week of vacation this year is in November; I am deciding whether I should just stay home and enjoy the Fall or take a week-long vacation to Portugal.  Any suggestions?

This weekend I am planning to be in New York City for The BlogHer ’12 Conference.  It is the first time that I will be attending BlogHer and I am very excited.

We have rounded up some great posts this week from some of our favourite personal finance bloggers.

Enjoy these posts and have a great weekend DINKS.

– Blog Her – Selling Your House: Don’t Be a Reality Show Douche

– 50 Plus Finance – Are Timeshares and Vacation Clubs A Good Deal?

– Adaptu – Financial Struggles in a Relationship: Managing Your Money as a Couple

– The Simple Dollar – Master the Concept of Cost Per Use

– Budgets Are Sexy – 8 Awesomely Frugal Date Ideas For The Weekend

– Clever Dude – What are my hobbies? Where do I spend my “disposable income”?

 

Photo by Kiearchos Kapoutsis

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