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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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My Alarm Clock, My Lunch, and My Favorite Day of the Week

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alarm clockHappy Friday DINKS! I hope you had a great week.  If there is one thing that I hate about waking up in the morning it is waking up to the sound of my alarm clock. However, I absolutely love waking up on Friday mornings because I know that my weekend is starting in approximately 8 hours. My work on Fridays seems to be a bit easier and the day seems to pass by a lot faster because I am looking forward to the weekend.

I also love Fridays because they are my Financially Free Days. On Fridays I eat out for lunch at work, every Friday I spend a max of $10 on my lunch.  I bring my homemade lunch to work every other day of the week, so on Friday it’s nice to just wake up and get going without having to make my lunch.

Do you have a regular Friday routine?

On Fridays I try to spend some money on myself, if I want to I buy something that is just for me, something that is not for our apartment and not for daily couple living.  On Fridays I buy something that I have wanted all week long that is just for me. The reason I do this is to avoid impulse purchases.

If I see something on Monday and if I still want it by Friday then I buy it.  If I haven’t talked myself out of the purchase with reasons why I don’t need the item then it was meant to be.  A week delay also allows time for my item to go on sale.  Last Monday I saw a new beige business suit on my lunch hour, and when I went back on Friday to buy it the suit was half price.  I just saved $125 by waiting a week to buy my suit because the suit was on sale for half price from $250.  Any day that I can save $125 is a good day in my financial books.

What are you doing this weekend?

Here are some posts from around the web about how other Personal Finance Bloggers will be spending their weekend:

Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget is a website about living a fabulous life in Brooklyn on a low budget.  They often discuss inexpensive local restaurant hot spots as well as do it yourself cheap recipes for cooking and eating at home.  They start their weekend with a Weekend Wish List.  This week it includes having drinks with friends and shopping for thank you notes.

Canadian Finance Blog tells us to save money doing the things we love and eliminating the things we don’t love.  Very often we spend money to be social on activities that we don’t really want to do.

Photo by Alan Clevar

Get a Discount on Your Investments

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investment, discounts on investments, investment tips

Some of us invest in Real Estate and some of invest in Mutual Funds.  However, some of us DINKS love to buy individual Stocks of small companies and big corporations.  If you like to research, trade, buy and sell your own investments then it is a smart financial idea to open a Discount Brokerage Account.

Most financial institutions and investment firms offer a Discount Brokerage Service for self serve investors. A Discount Broker Account is a cost efficient way to buy currencies, precious metals, stocks, and bonds for investors who prefer to place their own trades by internet or by telephone.

Discount Brokerage Accounts allow us to purchase bonds directly on the market, as well as exchange our money directly into foreign currencies as well as purchase shares of stock in a company.  One thing that we should never buy in our Discount Broker Account is Mutual Funds.

It is not a good idea to buy Mutual Funds in a Discount Brokerage Account because of the additional transaction costs associated with Discount Brokers.  Financial Institutions offer Mutual Funds with No Loads.  This means they do not charge a Front End Load when we purchase our Mutual Funds, or a Back End Load when we sell our Mutual Funds.  Both Front End and Back End Loads are usually 2% of the total amount of our transaction.  Sometimes Back End Loads, also known as Trailer Fees, can be a progressive percentage that decreases over time with no Back End Load being charged if we hold our Mutual Funds for 7 years.

New Investors and Knowledgeable Investors usually choose to invest in Discount Broker Accounts because the transaction fees are lower than Full Service Broker Accounts. When we invest in a Full Service Broker Account our Investment Broker trades on our behalf and actively manages our money.  Investment Brokers are paid by their clients, and therefore they charge each client 1% to 4% of their total investment portfolio in annual account fees.

We have to be aware of trading fees and annual fees associated with Discount Broker Accounts. Discount Brokerage Services are less expensive than Full Service Brokerage Services, but there are still fees involved.  We may have an annual fee in our Discount Broker Account if our total investment holdings are less than a certain amount, usually $25,000.  Each transaction in our Discount Broker Account can cost $19.99 to $24.99.  The great thing about Discount Brokerage Account is the more we trade, the more we save.  For active traders transaction fees can be as low as $6.99.

If you like to buy stocks and you don’t need the advice of an investment professional then get a discount on your investments and open a Discount Brokerage Account.

 

The Royal Cost of a Royal Wedding

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cost of the royal wedding, wedding costs, wedding expenses

white wedding dressLast week millions of people watched while Prince William married his long time girlfriend Kate Middleton in a ceremony that cost millions of dollars. Kate Middleton is now officially royalty…whatever that means.

Would you like to have a Royal Wedding?

For some women their wedding day is the happiest day of their lives, and they want the fantasy fairytale wedding with the big dress and the big cake with the big guest list.  But for some other women their wedding day is about spending the rest of their lives with the person they love; it’s about the ceremony, not the spectacle.  If having a big Royal Wedding is your dream, you have to keep in mind that money often comes with strings attached.

The Royal Wedding was definitely not Kate and William’s day.  They were told where to stand, what to wear, and when to wave.  Although my mother did tell me that Kate was “allowed” to design her own dress, I’m sure that her Majesty the Queen had the final say.

The cost of a Royal Wedding

Everyone from MSN to CNN reported on the glamour and glitz of the royal wedding.  I personally find the cost of the royal wedding to be totally outrageous.  Just because we have money, doesn’t mean that we have to spend it.  I also don’t think it’s a good financial idea to spend a lot of money on something that isn’t even what we want.  The Royal family spent money on a Royal Wedding only because they are the “Royals”.  It is also important to note that the British people indirectly paid for the Royal Wedding through their taxes.  I am sure that tax payer money could have been spent on better amenities such as health care and other public services.

CNN reported that the British Royal Wedding ceremony cost $32 million.  This was compared with the US “Royal” Wedding of Chelsea Clinton which cost (only) $3.3 million.  The average US Wedding costs approximately $27,000.  We know from previous DINKS Finance posts that bridal shower gifts can be expensive; but most of us spent a lot less than $27,000 on our own weddings.

Let’s look at some of the other costs of the British Royal Wedding and Chelsea Clintons wedding compared to the average cost of a Wedding in the United States:

 

BRITISH ROYALS     CHELSEA CLINTON        AVERAGE US WEDDING

Wedding Cake            $80,000                       $11,000                              $540

Bridal Dress                $434,000                     $25,000                              $1000

Flowers                       $800,000                     $500,000                            $2000

 

What do you give as a gift at a Royal Wedding?

With a guest list full of celebrities, politicians, and world leaders I am curious to know what the young royal couple received as gifts at their Royal Wedding.  I would like to know if they received envelopes full of British pounds and other currencies from around the world. Usually wedding gifts are given to a young couple to help them start their life together off on the right financial foot.  But what do you give as a wedding gift to a young royal couple who doesn’t need anything, and who needs money even less than that?

What can you give to a young royal couple who is living in Buckingham Palace? While we are discussing the royal couples living arrangements, I personally could not imagine being married into a family and the same day moving in with my father and grandmother in law.  What a nightmare!

I would not want my grandmother in law to be the Queen of England. She would always be telling me to wear my hat like this and drink my tea like that…no thank you! I wouldn’t do it for all of the crowns in the world.

Would you like to have a Royal Wedding? If you were a guest at the Royal Wedding what would you give to the young royal couple as a wedding gift?

Photo by Video4Net

Are We Financially Irresponsible?

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financial tips, financial advice, debt tips

Many of us may have the financial goal to pay off our personal debits.  We may have accumulated debt from attending college, getting married, buying a home, or purchasing a new car.  We may also have accumulated debt from a major purchase or excessive spending.  Regardless of how we accumulated our personal debt, does having debt make us financially irresponsible?

Some finance professionals agree that accumulating debt is a sign of financial irresponsibility, but it all depends on how we accumulated that debt.  If we accumulated thousands of dollars in debt because of excessive spending on material goods and other unnecessary items then we are financially irresponsible.  I disagree with this theory.  Sometimes excessive spending is a sign of financial irresponsibility, but sometimes it is because we lack the financial knowledge to know any better.

We should always learn from our mistakes because insanity is often described as performing the same action and expecting a different result.  If we accumulated unnecessary debt when we were younger we will learn from our mistakes and better manage our money when we are older.  This doesn’t make us financially irresponsible because it was a learning experience.

Some people agree that being financially irresponsible is spending and living beyond our financial means.  If our expenses outweigh our income we may be financially irresponsible, or we may be mismanaging our money.  Anytime that we spend money we don’t have I believe that we are being financially irresponsible.  We must learn to cut expenses and live within our fixed income.  If we have a fixed monthly income, then we should also have fixed monthly expenses.

My Dad always says that how we got ourselves into a bad situation is not important because it is in the past.  What is important is how we get ourselves out of the situation, because that will determine our future.  I think that learning how we got into a bad (financial) situation is important so we don’t let it happen again.  However, effectively managing our money and creating a budget along with a financial plan to improve our situation is far more important.  Fixing a bad situation shows financial responsibility.

Think about your financial goals for 2011.  Is one of them to pay off your debt? Now think about why paying off debt is so important to you.  Is it because paying interest on our debt is expensive, or is it because you think that having debt makes you financially irresponsible?

Let’s answer these 4 questions to determine if we think that having debt makes us financially irresponsible:

  1. People who are in debt are usually ______________
  2. I will never go into debt for _____________
  3. I ____________ my debt
  4. I don’t have debt because ____________

The Financial Loss of a Life

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financial loss, drafting a will, unexpected events

Last Monday I lost my step brother in a tragic and fatal car accident, he was only 34 years old.   It was my step brother’s turn to go out and pick up lunch for his co workers; he was killed in a car accident on his way back to work from his lunch break.  I am sure that when my step brother ate breakfast on Monday morning, he never thought that it would be his last meal.  When my Mom told me the news I couldn’t help but think about what I was doing on Monday during my lunch break.  Although we do our best to plan for unforeseen emergencies, sometimes we just can’t be fully prepared for the unpredictable.

In the world of finance we always want to protect our assets, accumulate our wealth, and provide for our families.  However, we have to realise that death is not only a financial loss; it’s the loss of a life. I am sure that my step brother didn’t expect his drive to the local lunch spot on Monday to be his last lunch break for the rest of his life.  I am also sure that his wife and two daughters never predicted that their husband and father wouldn’t be home for dinner on Monday night.

We can do our best to provide an income for our loved ones after we are gone with life insurance, and we can do our best to leave our final legacy behind by drafting a Will and keeping it up to date; but we can never fully be prepared for the unexpected loss of a life.  Think about someone you know with a family; are they financially prepared if they suddenly lost their primary source of income?

It is easy to be prepared for the financial loss that occurs with a death, we can draft a Will and keep it up to date, and we can ensure our assets are protected with insurance.  What we cannot be prepared for is the tragedy and sorrow that comes with the loss of a life.

My step brother’s wife will now be mortgage free thanks to their homeowners life insurance policy, and his two daughters will now be able to attend college debt free thanks to his life insurance proceeds.  However, I am sure that his wife would rather make a mortgage payment and sleep next to her husband every night.  I am sure that his daughters would give back their college tuition to have their father at their college graduation.

I know that it may seem morbid to talk about our last wishes, funeral arrangements, and financial legacy upon death; however, it has to be done. My mother and step father made funeral arrangements based on what they thought my step brother would want.  But the truth is, they were not one hundred percent sure.

Surviving family members are so preoccupied while grieving the loss of a life that funeral arrangements and flower arrangements are the last thing on their minds.  However the truth is that both funeral arrangements and financial arrangements have to be made.

We can make the tragedy a little bit easier on our surviving family members if we take precautions and prepare our final funeral arrangements. The cost of a funeral including burial or cremation as well as transportation of the body is approximately$10,000.  I have clients who have already prepaid for their funeral as well as their headstone to lighten the financial burden on their family upon death.

Even if someone has very little financial assets, it is still important to draft a Will and keep it up to date.  Last wishes and funeral arrangements are an important part of our last Will and testament.  A funeral leaves a personal legacy the same way that a Will leaves a financial legacy.  We will always be remembered by our funeral because that is the last time our family will ever see us.

Free Money, Minimalism, and a Giveaway Extravaganza

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Happy Friday DINKS. I hope you all had a great week.  As you may know last week marked our one year anniversary together.  Last year we held two contests where our winners didn’t contact us to claim their prizes.  So today we are going to (once again) give away the two prizes.  The first prize is $25 via Pay Pal, and the second prize is a copy of the personal finance book The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton.

To enter yourself into the contest to win $25 via Pay Pal leave a comment on this post and tell us the best or worst anniversary gift that you ever received or gave to someone.  To enter yourself into the contest to win a copy of the book The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton leave a comment and let us know the most outrageous thing you have ever done for money or with your money.  It may a purchase that you regret, or it may be an awful job that you once had.

It is important to read about the financial success and failures of other people because we can learn a lot about ourselves and our financial mentalities, personalities, and habits. Wherever you are right now whether you are in your office, in your kitchen, or in your bedroom, look around. What do you see? Do you see clutter or clean shelves? When you think about all of your personal possessions are they necessities for daily living or unnecessary impulse purchases?

Here are some other great posts from around the web about minimalists, saving, and being frugal:

  • Yes I am Cheap discusses when minimalism becomes an obsession in her post Go Green: Minimalism, How Low Can You Go.  We all want to live a more frugal life but when is it enough?  How little is too little for basic living?
  • Money Crush takes being a minimalist to the extreme and cuts out spending all together on her No Spend Days.  Peoples spending patterns may be habits not necessity.  We spend money because we have it.  Money Crush discusses the money we can save each day in the post The Value of No Spend Days.  Do you have a No Spend Day or a No Spend Month?
  • Frugal Dad talks about the unnecessary things that we purchase in a world ruled by consumerism and consumption in his post 15 Things Our Grandparents Lived Without.
  • Everyday Minimalist discusses the process of becoming a minimalist and cleaning out your closet in the post How Do You Decide If Something Is Worth Keeping?

Have a great weekend DINKS. We will announce the winner of the $25 via PayPal and a copy of The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton next Friday.

When Business Relationships Become Personal

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business tips, business advice, business relationship

The black and white area of our financial relationships may become grey as we develop personal relationships within our professional lives.

If you have a financial advisor, when does your professional relationship about your finances become personal?

I have been a financial planner for almost six years and I have received some pretty outrageous requests from clients over the years.  People often trust their personal financial advisor just as much as (and sometimes more than) they trust their own family.  It is normal for two people who spend time together to form a personal bond over the years, but to what extent should our professional relationships become personal?

My financial institution offers mobile personal financial advisor services.  This means that as your personal financial advisor I can visit you at your home or office for our business meetings.  As people’s lives become more hectic, banks are trying to accommodate the lives of their busy clients.  Therefore we offer mobile banking services for our client’s convenience.  However, sometimes the business lines are crossed with  personal requests.

One day last fall I went to visit a client at his home to have him sign some papers and also to pick up a cheque for deposit.  Once our business meeting was over the client handed me a list and asked me to do his grocery shopping. Last spring as I prepared for a personal 4 day vacation to New York City I called some of my (more demanding) clients to inform them that I would be out of the office for a few days. One of my clients called me back and asked me to pick up his wife and drive her to New York City.  She had plans to visit her children in New York the exact same weekend. Instead of booking a flight, my client asked if his wife could drive along with me.

Some of the requests that I have received from business clients do not stop at personal favours.  I had one client ask if I could accompany his son to an upcoming family wedding as his date. It is hard for some clients to accept that I am unmarried even though I am a young professional who lives with her long time boyfriend.  Some clients don’t understand the DINKS generation of being unmarried and childless with a focus on our career.  Do you let your personal values influence your business relationships?

Usually I am a strong believer that family and business don’t mix.  However, the exception to his rule is personal financial advice and choosing a personal financial advisor. It is ok to take recommendations about financial institutions and financial advisors from family members.  Even if you have the same financial advisor as another member of your family, all personal financial dealings are kept confidential between you and your financial advisor.

It is important to remember that our financial advisor is not our friend, our financial advisor works for us.  However, it is also important to remember that our financial advisor is a professional bank employee; they are not our personal employee.  Have you ever crossed the professional relationship line with a personal request?

(Photo by BareKnucle)

DINKS Reality: Extreme Couponing

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extreme couponing, couponing gone overboard, not saving money

Last week I saw this show on TLC called Extreme Couponing and I couldn’t believe it so I have to share.

Extreme couponing is a show about extreme shopping and extreme saving.  I was in awe about the amount of effort and energy that people will spend to save a dollar. I couldn’t help but think that if people put the same amount of energy into their career that they put into saving with coupons, they could afford to buy the items they want.

The first extreme coupon story was about a woman who collected 500 coupons per week. She recently relocated her family to a new town and moved 1000 lbs of food.  She had an entire separate house for her food.  Some of us would better use this space as a garage or a guest house, but this woman used it for her surplus of food.  I say that her food inventory is a surplus because they are a one child family; she does not need 1000 lbs of food to continuously feed only 3 people.

Every year in the US we throw away $37 million in coupons.  This woman didn’t feel that all of this free money should go to waste so she searches through dumpsters and other people’s garbage to find her treasure in the form of coupons.

At any given time she has a book of over 4000 coupons.  The book weighs 8 lbs and is divided into 36 categories.  As I was watching the crazy saving antics of Extreme Couponing I couldn’t help but realize that this woman is actually wasting money, not saving money.  When we buy in surplus we may be saving physical money but we are still spending money on things that we don’t need.  Are we really saving money if we are spending unnecessarily?

This woman started extreme couponing and stock piling when her husband lost his job. They didn’t have money to buy groceries so they had to live off of their reserve; the family soon found they hungry and starving for food. Now the woman shops for and stockpiles thousands of pounds of food in case she ever has the need to live off her reserve again.  I know that we should learn from our financial mistakes, but this takes learning to a whole new level, it becomes an obsession.

This extreme couponing woman says that an item comes on sale an average of every 3 months. Therefore she buys 3 months supply of any one item so that she doesn’t need to buy it again until it goes back on sale.  While they were grocery shopping the woman told her son that he couldn’t have Spiderman Candy because it wasn’t on sale. I found this heartbreaking to watch because a child should not have to sacrifice something due to their parent’s obsessive habits.

If this woman spent her days at work earning an annual income instead of dumpster diving for coupons she could afford to buy her son some candy.  I understand that everyone wants to save money but should saving become an obsession?

Extreme Couponing is not only a show about saving money with coupons.  This woman has an entire shopping strategy which includes using young male cashiers when she checks out because they are more understanding about her massive quantity of coupons.

In this episode of Extreme Couponing the original grocery bill was $638.64.   After the cashier deducted all of the coupons the woman had a total cost of only $2.64. She had a 98% savings thanks to coupons. Would you (could you) use coupons to save over $600?

(Photo by dmdonahoo)

The Financial Taste Test: Coke vs. Pepsi

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financial test, coke vs pepsi, financial taste test



Good Morning DINKS.  Today we are going to discuss two of the biggest beverage brands in the world, and determine if your personal preference is the same as your financial taste.  Finance is personal, which means that it is an individual choice for everyone.  Do you separate your financial life from your personal life?  We all choose which stocks we want to buy, and in which companies we want to invest.




If you really like a company as an individual consumer, would it influence your financial decision to buy stock in that company?  Your personal decision to buy individual stocks may be based solely on financial data; however it may also be based on personal preference.

According to a recent post on CNN the Coca Cola Company now holds the number one, and the number two spots of the most popular carbonated soft drinks.  Coke has always held the number one spot and until recently Pepsi held the number two spot.  However, with the emergence of Diet Coke into the number two spot, the Coca Cola Company now holds both the number one and the number two spots of the most carbonated soft drinks.

I am a long time faithful drinker of Diet Coke, and my family has always been faithful to the Coca Cola Company.  I decided to visit both the Pepsi Cola Company Website as well as the Coca Cola Company Website; it was very evident that Pepsi is a business while Coca Cola is a brand.

Here are some facts about the Coca Cola Company:

The Coca Cola Company is an American Company that was established in Atlanta.  The first president acquired the Coca Cola Company in 1891 for approximately $2300.  They have been in business for over 125 years and Coca Cola is currently sold in 200 Countries.  There are over 1.7 billion Coca Cola products served each day.

Coca Cola has 49 consecutive years with increased dividends.  The Stock Ticker Symbol is KO.  Coca Cola currently offers 3500 products that include soft drinks including Fanta, bottled water, sports drinks, energy drinks such as Full Throttle, Juices such as Fuze as well as various teas and coffee.

Here are some facts about the Pepsi Cola Company:

The Pepsi Cola Company was founded in North Carolina in 1898.  The Pepsi website has a completely different approach than the Coca Cola Website.  Pepsi’s motto is “Something for Everyone.”  The website is focused towards a younger crowd.  It is fun and interactive with links to Twitter, Face Book, and You Tube. There is also a Pepsi Shop where visitors can purchase Pepsi clothing.

The Pepsi Cola Company has several beverage products that include waters, carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks that include Amp, dairy based drinks, and ready to drink teas and coffees which include SoBe, Lipton, and Starbucks

The rivalry between Coca Cola and Pepsi started many years ago.  In 1931 after its second bankruptcy the Pepsi Cola Company was sold to a man who was looking to end his current business relationship with Coca Cola but not alienate clients and loose business.

I didn’t like the format of Pepsi’s website. It was not user friendly as their Legacy timeline was in a PDF format as opposed to HTML. Coca Cola had its stock price and symbol on the website, corporate information was nowhere to be found on the Pepsi website.

It’s interesting to note that Pepsi Cola Company declared bankruptcy twice, and was sold during the dirty thirties while Coca Cola was expanding into different countries.  It is also interesting to know that both beverages were created by a pharmacist and both companies were founded by Americans.

Which stock would you buy?

Losing Our Personal Financial Priorities

Posted on by 3
financial priorities, financial tips, financial advice

Yesterday I was talking with my Dad on his way out to a dinner party; he was going to visit the new home of some family friends.  My Dad’s friends recently relocated to be closer to the husband’s place of employment so he wouldn’t have such a long commute into work every day.  This move advanced the career of the husband, but in the process the wife had to sell her self-owned business.  Would you give up your career to follow your spouse?

I asked my Dad what the wife is doing for work in their new town, and he said that the husband makes well over $100,000 per year and “they aren’t too worried about the wife working”.  I thought that the wife would just relocate her business, but instead she shut it down.  It may be nice to be retired, but what is the point of having spare time if you don’t have anyone to share it with.

People say that they would love to not have to go to work every day, but I wonder if that is really true.  We probably say that we would love not to work because we are only thinking about the spare time it would create, we aren’t thinking about the loss of income at it would also create.

When is enough money really enough money?  Maybe my Dad’s friends are happy with enough money to pay their mortgage and their bills and have a little bit in savings.  It is nice to have a household income of $125,000 but if your wife can bring in an additional $65,000, it would be nicer to have a household income of $190,000.

My sister is going through a similar situation.  She recently moved for the second time to follow her boyfriend towards another promotion.  My sister has been with her boyfriend for over 5 years, but she has only recently become a DINK for this past year.  Last February my sister’s boyfriend was transferred to another city and my sister chose to quit her job and relocate with him, so she became a DINK.  Last year she found a job in her new city, and now just over a year later she is relocating again, this time they are moving to a new state.

She has put her career on hold to advance her boyfriends career…twice.  When we are in a couple we can lose our personal financial priorities.  We have to remember that when we come into a couple, we are still an individual person.  This is why I have a problem with merging finances and joint bank accounts. Not to mention the messiness of dividing assets in a divorce.

(Photo by James Trosh)

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