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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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Who is Competing in the Personal Finance Olympics? OH that would be DINKS!

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personal finance olympics, personal finance, personal finance bloggers

 

personal finance olympics, personal finance, personal finance bloggers

It’s official, we are Olympians. Thanks to our great friends at Go Banking Rates, Dinks Finance is becoming an Olympian without ever having to run a step, take a jump, or swim a lap.  This summer we are joining financial athletes all around the web as we compete against each other (for votes) in the Personal Finance Olympics.

The Personal Finance Olympics is a friendly competition among Personal Financial Bloggers who wish to compete for reader votes in one of four different personal finance categories. Bloggers submitted articles in one or more of the following categories listed below; readers and fans will vote for their favourite article and the article with the most votes will win a great prize.

The gold metal winner will be awarded a $1000 American Express gift card courtesy of Go Banking Rates. The silver metal winner will win a $250 American Express gift card and the bronze metal winner will receive a $100 American Express gift card from Go Banking Rates.  All of the winners will be announced at The Financial Blogger Conference .  In case you haven’t yet booked your ticket yet, The Financial Blogger Conference (aka #FINCON12) is being held in Denver Colorado from September 6th to 9th.

If you love personal finance, if you love reading our blog and if you want to support DINKS Finance  in The Personal Finance Olympics please vote for are articles in each of the four categories.  The Personal Finance Olympics are a great way for bloggers to gain exposure for their blog and also compete with the best of the best in personal finance for a chance to win some great prizes.

Let the Games begin!

Personal Financial Bloggers from all around the web submitted blog posts in the following categories for the Financial Olympics; I am very proud to say that Dinks Finance has entered one post in each of the four categories.  Please Vote For Us and help Dinks Finance become the Gold Medalist in The Personal Financial Olympics.

Approaches to Building and Using Credit.  This is a great category because many people don’t fully understand how to responsibly use their credit cards and how to increase their credit score. If we know what factors affect our credit score we can take the necessary steps towards building and improving a great credit score.  Click Here to vote!

Strategies for Getting out of Debt.  Many Americans are in debt and they are currently trying to get out of it.  Reading about successful strategies that have helped other people get out of debt can definitely be an inspiration to help us improve our own personal finances.  Click Here to vote!

Best Ways to Earn and Save Money.  As a financial professional I love this category, but saving money is easier said than done. Just because people have extra money doesn’t necessarily mean that they save it.  However saving money is very important for our financial sustainability.  Click Here to vote!

Cutting-Edge Banking Technology.  I am a child of the 80’s and although I like to think that I am pretty much up to date with the latest trends, I admit that I am admittedly not the most tech-savvy person on the planet.  To be honest I do use online banking very often, but I rarely use mobile apps for my banking needs.  I have three mobile banking apps on my cell phone, but I rarely consult them.  Click Here to vote!

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7 Tips to Help You Save Money when Starting a Business

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starting a business, business tips, business advice

empire state buildingGood Morning DINKS. Today we are discussing helpful tips to help you start or grow your small business.  I recently made the decision to stop talking about what I want to do in life and actually start doing something about it.  A few years ago my creative writing hobby combined with my formal education in finance became my secondary form of income when I decided to start freelance writing in the financial sector.

Now I am finally making the decision to turn the source of my secondary income into my full time profession.  I am not quitting my day job, but I am taking the necessary steps to take my freelance writing to the next level.  I am finally pursuing my dream of becoming an author. I have enrolled in the journalism program at our local university and I start my first class in July.  Just in case it doesn’t work out for me as an author at least I can say that I have no regrets because at least I tried.  But don’t worry I won’t put my new found education to waste, if being an author isn’t in my life plans I am also considering a career as a book agent or as a book editor in the financial or young adult fiction niche.

Here are some helpful tips to help you save money with your small business:

1. Use your connections. Everyone knows someone. I have a friend whose personal motto is “I Know a Guy.” If your friends know a guy (or girl) who have a talent that can help with your project you then you can know him too. Get involved in the existing community of your business niche, more experienced people will be happy to mentor you. Everyone starts somewhere.

2. Do it yourself.  Starting a business and being in business for your self is a learning process. I have been a freelance financial writer and blogger for over four years and I have definitely learned that doing as much as we can ourselves helps us learn and it also saves us a lot of money.  If you don’t exactly know how to do something then start the process yourself and ask for help when needed.

3. Spend money where it counts. Spending money before we make money is a big mistake, but we have to spend some money in order to start our own business. Try to save money on the day to day operations and spend money on growing the business and on professional advisors or consultants such as a really good accountant.

4. Decide when you need help.  We cannot be an expert in everything. I am a personal finance expert and a certified financial planner, but I am not a marketing executive.  I want to use my creativity and financial knowledge to write a “how to” series of financial books to help others. However I need a lot of help with promoting and marketing.

5. Make Lists. I am crazy about making lists and my obsession has finally paid off. I started making lists a long time ago because it helped me calm down and see things clearly whenever my life started to get out of control or whenever I had a new project that I was working on. Now I make lists because I can’t remember anything for more than a few minutes.  Making lists in business acts as an organization tool to make sure that we get all tasks accomplished but it also as an informal business plan.

6. Don’t get ahead of yourself. This was one of the biggest mistakes that I made when I first started earning a http://www.dinksfinance.com/2012/05/would-you-quit-your-job-without-any-prospects/ from freelance writing. I was ready to quit my day job and get a 1-800 telephone number but I had only booked one contract and one regular gig. Business is done in steps and we have to take one step at a time. I thought that if I build my business the clients would come but unfortunately that was a big financial mistake.  If you are good at what you do and if there is a demand for your service then your business will build itself.

7. Don’t Give Up. Sometimes being in business for our self can be hard. When you have bad days remember that you are living your dream and working towards achieving your personal goals. Just hang in there.

Photo by Bernt Rostad

If You Needed $100k How Would You Get It?

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money tips, money advice, money ideas

Good Morning DINKS. I was recently watching the movie John Q starring Denzel Washington. As I watched this movie about a man who takes desperate measures in order to save his child I started to think about the types of extreme actions that people would take if they desperately needed money to help out a family member.  Just in case you haven’t seen the movie John Q it tells the story of a father who takes desperate measures to save his child when the child needs a life saving surgery. John Q races against time to try and save his child’s life; he is willing to do anything and everything possible in order to save his sick child.

If you needed $100,000 in order to help out a family member would you do anything and everything to get the money? Regardless of the reason, whatever it is for medical bills, to pay off debt, to help your family member achieve their dreams, or if you needed $100,000 in order to save someone’s life, what would you do get the money?

What would you do if you needed $100,000 in order to help a family member?

– Steal It.  If you had no chance of getting caught and if there was absolutely no possibility of having any consequences for your actions, would you steal the $100,000? More importantly could you steal the money knowing that you didn’t earn it and knowing that it honestly wasn’t yours? Stealing the money may seem like the easiest option because you would get the $100,000 quickly with a minimal effort, but it is definitely not the morally correct choice. Now if there was a chance that you could get caught and go to jail for theft would you still steal the money?

– Earn It. If you needed $100,000 to help out a family member, regardless of the reason, would you get a second or a third job and put your blood sweat and tears into earning the money? Or would you take drastic measures and earn the money with illegal activities in order to earn the money in order to help out your family member in need?

– Borrow It. If your family member desperately needed $100,000 would you borrow it from a bank or from another person in order to get the money for them? Some people don’t like to have debt, but maybe your family member wasn’t approved for a $100,000 loan, would you co-sign or go into debt in order to help them out?

– Save It. Maybe stealing the money isn’t an option for you and maybe you don’t have enough free time everyday to find another job; so maybe over time you would save the money  in order to help out a family member. If your family member needed $100,000 but it wasn’t a life or death situation would you make the effort to save your own money and help them out? Would you save the money a little bit at a time while maintaining your current lifestyle and with your current income but cutting down on your monthly expenses in order to help out a family member?

What would you do to get the money?

Photo by Orange County Archives

How Do You Manage Your Monthly Couple’s Budget?

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couples budget, financial advice, couples finances

Many couples choose to merge their single finances after they get married and some couples choose to keep their money in separate bank accounts even after they say “I Do”. We have learned from my own personal experiences that a committed couple doesn’t necessarily mean marriage.  Therefore committed couples everywhere, both married and unmarried, have to decide how they are going to manage their couple’s budget.

The decision to make all accounts joint

For some people managing a couples budget means that we have to merge all bank accounts.  It may be easier for couples to manage their monthly couple’s budget if all of their money goes into and comes out of the same bank account.  But how do you manage your monthly couple’s budget if your incomes are not equal? It may be easier to manage a couple’s budget with a joint account because it is a lot easier to keep track of all transactions in only one account rather than in several different accounts.

Keeping accounts separate

After the rice is thrown, all of the cake is eaten and the honeymoon is over couples have to sit down and discuss their couple’s budget.  Some couples may decide to keep their bank accounts separate and this has nothing to do with the fact that they don’t trust their spouse. It is simply a question of money management. Some couples find it easier to split all of the monthly expenses in two and pay their bills individually. This way each spouse can manage their own income with their own share of expenses.

This is currently how my boyfriend and I manage our monthly couple’s budget. We don’t each pay half of every single bill, instead we divide the monthly expenses in half and then we each pay approximately the same amount of money each month onto different bills. It is easier for us to manage our money this way because when we were younger (with less income) it was hard to keep track of the money in our joint bank account when two of us were spending money from the same account.

Managing a joint budget without joint money

Couples can still manage their budget together even if their bank accounts are not joint. Just because couples chose not to merge their bank accounts into one joint account doesn’t mean that couples have to keep everything in their life separate, it just means that some people prefer to manage their money alone instead of together.

Couples can still save for joint goals, manage a couple’s budget, and pay down joint debts while maintaining individual bank accounts. It’s not the saving that has to be joint in a relationship, it is the spending. As long as spouses are equally contributing to monthly expenses or contributing an equal percentage proportionate to their income you can effectively manage a couple’s budget.  Additional savings for retirement can be individual, but contributing equally to your joint couple’s lifestyle is what really counts.

How do you and your spouse manage your monthly couple’s budget?

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Friday the 13th Roundup: Savings, Marriage, and Wedding Rings

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Happy Friday the 13th DINKS. I hope that you all have good luck today and I hope that nothing bad happens to anyone or to anyone who you know. Some people think that Friday the 13th is full of superstitions and bad luck, but some people think that the number 13 is actually luck and they hope for only good things to happen on Friday the 13th.

I am always cautious on Friday the 13th but I always hope for good things to happen.  In the past I have never really done anything on Friday the 13th such as take a trip by train, plane, or car, visiting my chiropractor, and getting my hair cut.

The one superstition that I never understood about the number 13 and bad luck is why there is never a 13th floor in office buildings, apartment buildings and hotels. I mean just because we don’t count it doesn’t mean that the 13th floor doesn’t exist.

Do you believe that Friday the 13th is bad luck or good luck?

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy these great posts from around the web.

– Credit Sesame – 5 Easy Ways to Make Yourself Contribute to Your Savings

– Adaptu – Financial Considerations Before You Say “I Do”

– Budgets Are Sexy – My Unfortunate Wedding Ring

– Clever Dude – A Father, A Teenager, and a Trip to the Zoo

– Financial Uproar – Communism? Or Good Government?

– Out of Debt Again – One Less Person at Home – Will Expenses Go Down?

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What Do You Wish You Were Doing at Work?

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dream job, job advice, career tips

Good Morning DINKS.  Not so long ago we published a post asking about what you really want to be in life whether it’s to be happy, or to be successful, to be rich, or to be famous.  Now we want to know about your career.  Some of us may be in a career that we studied for in university or college, some of us maybe in a career that we just happen to be good at, and some of us may be in a career that we just happen to fall into.

Let me ask you a question, is your career your passion or is it just something that helps pay your bills?  I do like my job in personal finance, but I am not sure if I want to do it forever.  There are so many other things that I want to do in life, there are some jobs that I wish I had, and there are also a few other careers that I would like to have.  I am only 31 years old and it’s never too late to start over and make changes…right?

Working from 9 to 5 at a “stable job” is some people’s personal dream whereas pursuing our personal dream may be some other people’s goal. However, being financially responsible and always doing the sensible thing may just take priority over following our dreams.  It is hard for some people to give up their stability to follow their dreams. But dreams and working towards personal goals are what make us get up in the morning and keep us going throughout the day.

Now let’s talk about the jobs that you wish you had in the past and the jobs that you wish you may have in the future.

What is it in life that you really want to do?

3 jobs that I wish I had

1. Starbucks Barista.  I love Starbucks and working there while smelling coffee all day long is definitely appealing.  We didn’t have Starbucks in Canada when I was younger so I worked at McDonalds for eleven months when I was a teenager.

2. Dolphin Trainer.  When I was younger I wanted to be a dolphin trainer and work at Sea World after watching the movie Jaws 3. It just seems like a really cool job and I really love the water.

3. Game Show Host.  I have always been a big fan of the game shows The Price Is Right and Let’s Make a Deal.  I also watch re-runs of Match Game on the Game Show Network.  I think it would be so much fun to be a Game Show Host.

3 jobs that I would like to have

1. Author.  It’s no secret that I want to be an author. I love writing and I love the stress relief of the creative process. I would love to publish a series of personal finance books for youth of all ages from preschoolers to teenagers.  I am currently working on a young adult fiction trilogy.

2. Teacher/Money Coach.  I would really love to teach personal financial basics to high school students because we learn many of our adult habits as teenagers. As a banking professional we have a lot of young clients who don’t understand how to make a budget, how to manage debt, or the importance of saving money. I want to teach young people good financial habits. I want to help them save money to make sure that everyone can afford to pursue their higher education if they choose to do so.

3. Literary Book Agent.   Recently I have been looking into this career as my next move. I want to help discover the world’s next great financial author.  On a personal level I know which money mistakes  I made as a teenager and as a young adult, and as a financial professional I know the importance of good financial habits and financial responsibility.

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Stock Market Showdown: How do you invest?

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investing strategy, investment tips, stock market advice

snow mountain

Good Morning DINKS.  Usually in our Stock Market Showdown series we compare the stocks of different companies in the same industry, but today we want to compare different stock investing strategies. If you invest in individual stocks we want to know what types of stocks you are buying in your personal investment portfolio. Some investors like to see constant growth through dividends, some investors bet on the underdog as they take a value approach to investing, and some others just invest in stocks of companies that they love.

What is your stock investing strategy?

– Investing in Growth Stocks.  One of the main reasons why people chose to invest in stocks is because they want to watch to watch their stock prices increase and their investments grow.  People who are looking for growth investments usually purchase stocks of large corporations in popular industries such as consumer staples.

Growth stocks are stocks of companies that have a history constant growth in the past such as Fortune 500 companies. These corporations have been around for a long time because they provide a product or service that people need or that they are accustom to. Large companies can survive a recession and they have long term sustainability. Examples include companies such as Coca Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and the Disney Corporation. These companies offer several different products in industries that people will always use such as beverages, children’s toys, media, and personal hygiene.

– Dividend Investing.  Many people chose to invest in stocks that pay regular dividends because they like having the constant rate of return in the form of a quarterly or annual dividend payout. Stocks that pay dividends are also usually stocks of big well established companies who have constant growth.  However instead of retaining their profits to obtain future resources or for research and development the company chooses to pay out their profits in the form of quarterly or annual dividends to their stock owners. The actual stock price does not usually increase by a significant amount like growth stocks, but investors can be comforted in the constant profits through dividend payouts. Buying the stocks of financial institutions is a common form of dividend investing.

– Value Investing in Stocks.  Purchasing value stocks is a very risky investment strategy because it is based only on projections and speculation.  Value stocks are stocks of companies that are currently perceived as being undervalued. This means that the price is not currently a reflection of the company’s worth and therefore investors should expect to see a huge increase on the price of their stock because eventually the industry will catch up and realize the true value of the stock.

– Stocks of Products You Love. This is my personal stock investment strategy.  I purchase stocks in companies that I love or whose products I use in my daily life.  My philosophy is that if I love the products or services then other people will too and therefore the company will always be around and the stocks will always make a profit. I do invest in bank stocks for their dividends but only in banks that I personally use or love.  Financial Analysts can be wrong and right, but I am just not willing to invest my own personal money based on the opinions of someone else.

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Can You Buy Another Home After a Foreclosure?

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buying a home, foreclosure advice, purchasing a home

Good Morning DINKS. Thanks to our good friends at Credit Karma today we are discussing losing our home and finding a new home afterwards.  Many of us have experienced some form of financial hardship over the last few years such as losing our job, taking a pay cut, or a decline in the value of our investment and retirement portfolios. Unfortunately some of us (and admittedly more than I would like to know of) have experienced extreme financial hardships because some of us experienced losing our home.

Losing our home can be devastating both personally and financially, but what’s important is that we do what we have to do to clean up our past and then we move into our future with hopes of making it better. One of the biggest questions that people ask when they lose their home is how long they have to wait to apply for another mortgage loan after declaring bankruptcy, foreclosing on a previous home, or having a short sale on your home.

Applying for a Mortgage Loan 

There can be a lot of confusion surrounding when you can apply for a mortgage loan after a bankruptcy, foreclosure or a short sale. The quick guide below was supplied by Credit karma with information from iLoan.com.  We can use the guide to help us answer any questions that we may have about applying for a mortgage loan after experiencing personal financial hardships.

Applying for a mortgage loan and being approved for a mortgage loan are two different things.  Just because you are able to apply for a mortgage loan doesn’t necessarily mean that you will automatically be approved.  Being approved for a mortgage loan depends on many factors such as your personal income, the amount of your savings, as well as your ability to repay the new mortgage loan. You have to take the necessary steps towards improving your personal finances, and being informed on the process of applying for a new mortgage loan after a bankruptcy, short sale, or foreclosure is a great first step.

Applying for a Mortgage Loan After a Bankruptcy

If you filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy you will have to wait 4 years from the discharge date if you are applying for a conventional mortgage or for a mortgage with Fannie Mae. However if you have filed several Chapter 7 Bankruptcies in the past 7 years you will have to wait at least 5 years to apply for a new mortgage loan.  If you file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and you are applying for a mortgage loan with FHA you must wait at least 2 years from the discharge date.

If you Foreclosed on your previous home you will have to wait 5 years before applying for a new conventional mortgage loan.  You will have to wait for 7 years before applying for a new mortgage loan with Fannie Mae and 3 years from the completion date of your foreclosure if you are applying for a new mortgage loan through FHA.

If you have to wait five years after financial hardships before you can apply for another mortgage loan then you have five years to get your finances in order. Check the info graph below for details on how long you have to wait to apply for another mortgage loan after filing for bankruptcy, a short sale, or a foreclosure.

Photo by Images of Money

Friday Roundup: Anxiety, Viagra, and ING

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american flagHappy Friday DINKS and Happy 4th of July week.

How did you celebrate the 4th of July? Some of us may have watched the fireworks or went to a parade, some of us may have gone to the beach and worked on our tan, and some of us may have stayed at home and had a barbeque in our backyards.  I take advantage of any day off from work to catch up on my sleep and watch game shows for the better part of the morning.  I also really love watching Live with Kelly if I wake up early enough to catch it.

Enjoy this 4th of July week and enjoy these great posts from around the web this week.

– Wise Bread – How To Control Anxiety and Start Enjoying More

–  Money Crashers – Should I Pay off Debt or Save Money First?

– Go Banking Rates – Top 10 Stores with the Best Return Policies

– Free From Broke – ING Direct Financial Independence Days Sale 2012

– Financial Samurai – How Much Savings Is Too Much?

–  – The Viagra College Fund – A Social Security Secret

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What is a Fair Wage?

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fair wage, income, money earned

dollar bills

Good Morning DINKS. Today we are discussing the amount of wages that people earn in different career fields.  Do you feel that your career field earns fair wages and do you feel that you are making as much money as you deserve compared to the amount of work that you perform on a daily basis? For some jobs the income wage is based on the employee’s expertise and education, but for some other jobs the income wage is based on the amount of work involved.  Some people chose to be self employed or accept a lower annual income because their career choice is what they love to do. For some people their career choice may be their passion.

Our income wage is important because it controls both our financial as well as our emotional well being.  It is said that money can be the root of all evil, but I believe that money can also be the root of all stress. During financial hardships people may take desperate actions without fully considering the consequences of their actions.  If people just sat down to fully think about what is causing them stress they could focus on the steps that need to be taken in order to become stress free.  If you are in debt applying for more debt may not be the best long term option to become stress free, but it may seem like a smart short term solution. However, setting up a monthly debt repayment plan that fits into your personal budget can help you become both stress free and debt free.

Not earning a fair wage for the amount of work we provide could be the difference between just living our lives and enjoying or loving our lives.  It can also be the difference between being a resentful employee and a happy employee. Our wage determines the amount of money that we are able to save, the vacations that we are able to afford, and the daily luxuries that we can buy, in short (for some people) our wage determines our personal happiness.

If you felt that you were not earning a fair wage would you quit your job?

Some careers such as accountants, doctors, and engineers are considered professions and therefore they earn high wages because they are considered to be experts in their field.  These types of careers require many years of schooling and a higher education in order to earn their professional title; therefore they are paid a higher income wage.

Sometimes people who work the hardest don’t actually make a lot of money because their career is not deemed to be prestigious or revenue generating.  A prime example of this is people who work in customer service. Whether you work for a major fortune 500 company or in a local department store customer service is a very emotionally demanding job.  Customer service agents are not sales people and therefore they do not generate revenue for their company; however they do deal with the company’s clients on a daily basis and they may sustain the company’s revenues by ensuring that clients remain clients. Customer service jobs definitely do not earn a fair wage for the amount of work they do.

For some people their career choice is something that they love. They aren’t necessarily in it for the money; they may even get into particular careers knowing that the typical starting wages are not very high. However they choose the love of and passion for their career field over earning a high wage.

Here are three jobs that I personally do not feel earn a fair wage:

1. Teachers. For the amount of actual work involved, the required work outside of classroom ours, and the possibly of children bringing guns to school Teachers definitely don’t earn a fair wage.

2. Police. I am not a huge fan of authority or of people who carry guns, but if you put your life on the line every single day you should be earning a high wage.

3. Customer Service Positions. People who listen to other people complain all day definitely deserve to earn an above average wage.

Photo by MollyDG

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