The Clock's Ticking

As the old adage goes, time is money. So it goes without saying that money is time. Did I confuse anybody with that? I'm kind of hoping it did because it will make me feel clever (I know, I'm a bit strange). Anyways, since they are interchangeable, try this little thought experiment next time you go shopping. When considering whether or not to buy something, rather than thinking in terms of how much money it would cost you, think in terms of how much time it would cost you.

Splurging on those "Time to Time" Moments

Today I read an article in the Globe and Mail that talks about those little splurges. You know the ones. The extra money you're willing to pay when you buy something that you don't often buy (ex. a new television or car or even a birthday gift). Midway through the article, I realized that I was one of these consumers. I justified paying more on certain things by reassuring myself that it was "something that doesn't happen often so it's okay to spend more money". Going out with my family to restaurants, and buying gifts for people are the main culprits of my splurging. The truth is, I don't go out with my family often. We all have our own busy schedules and barely see each other at home, let alone go out and have a meal together. It's in light of this fact that I'm willing to spend money to go out with my family; it only happens every couple months.

However, after reading this article, I realize that extra spending does in fact add up. Now I'm going to think long and hard to determine if it is in fact worth it for me to be splurging on something. Father's Day was last Sunday and my siblings all got my dad something. I didn't come up with a gift so I offered to take everyone out for dinner. To me, I think that the time we spend as a family is worth it but I'll take what I read to heart. We're going out today because we can get half price wings at one of my favourite wing joints. I believe that I should spend money and enjoy life from time to time (although it seems like those "time to time" moments are coming up more often nowadays), but it doesn't have to cost me an arm and a leg to do it.

-the Paperboy

Financial Goals for 2012

Time has been flying by for me these past couple of days. We are already past the half way mark for January. My portfolio has been recovering nicely since we rang in the new year. While this is good news, I've been having difficulty deploying funds because I can't find attractive entry points. The issue is that a mere couple months ago, all the stocks that I keep an eye on were much cheaper. It can be argued that some of them are still at a nice valuation but I'm going to take a page out of my girlfriend's book on shopping, I just saw them on sale - there's no way I'm going to buy them for more than I know I can get them for.

Now that 2012 is in full swing, I'm sitting on some cash that I transferred from my TFSA savings account to my TFSA margin account and waiting for the right time to pounce. I guess that's how it goes sometimes, when you want to invest, there's not enough money and when you have some cash, there's nowhere to put it. Along with investing in my TFSA margin account, I have some other goals for the year that I'll hopefully be able to accomplish.

Tax-Free Saving Accounts

Awhile back I talked about which vehicles I would use for certain investments. One of the key accounts to my plan is the Tax Free Saving Account (TFSA). We all hate paying taxes so today I want to go into a little more detail about TFSAs and why you should take advantage of them.

Riding the Rocket: Part 2

The cost of commuting is a huge expense for me and this is what I had to say about it last time.

So we talked about determining whether a monthly pass was a better option than paying for bus tokens. Unfortunately we're not done for the year. We actually have to calculate it for each month. Some months have holidays and February is short a couple days as well (this could make a difference depending on which days the month falls on). This requires good foresight in terms of what you have to do in the coming month.

Brand Name Threads

Back in high school, everybody was into brand name clothing. We would buy shirts with huge logos on them letting the world know where we bought our garments from. It would let people know how well off we were and indicated status. If you had the right threads then you were the coolest. I remember buying 4 t-shirts for about $100 when they were on sale. I made out like a bandit.

Riding the Rocket: Part 1

When I first started this blog, I wanted to keep where I was from a secret. I've come to the realization that it would be pretty difficult to keep that under wraps. Besides, I wanted to talk about our transit system. So guess where I'm located. I'll give you a hint if the huge picture of one of our streetcars didn't give it away. I'm a Leafs fan. Okay, now that that intriguing mystery is solved, let's talk about the Rocket, also known as the Toronto Transit Commission.

Feed the Piggy

Alright so let's get started. There's a couple ways to accomplish the goal of graduating without debt. Method one is to make more money. Method two is to spend less money. The latter is sometimes known as "saving". I know that term is unfamiliar to some of you but that's okay, I never really understood it either.