Fall is a great time of year to enjoy hearty meals that warm your belly and your home but not by breaking the food budget. I recently read in a book that the number of servings that a hotel restaurant plans for from an average size turkey is 15. Now, the book was written in […]

Our kids are at the age where there opinions are becoming more and more defined. Particularly when it comes to what they prefer for presents and while I think it’s great for family (grandparents, aunties and uncles) taking the kids to chose what they would like or giving an ‘experience’, I’m sure I’m not the […]

Common sense tells us that keeping in good health is the right thing to do but sometimes, you can’t control what happens. Last Friday I had knee surgery to reconstruct my ACL (due to a soccer injury) and I consider myself very lucky. Granted, going in for surgery provokes anxiety and the rehabilitation process is […]

This is a great time of year to start saving because summer is over and it’s ahead of the holiday season. How much is enough? That is the question. For many of us, we assume we are limited by what’s left over at the end of the month. How about approaching it a different way? […]

The squirrels are busy, busy this time of year. The chestnuts hardly hit the ground and they’re gathering them up and stashing them away. How about you? Are you setting aside for your future? It’s not easy to do with all the competing demands on our pay checks but if we don’t save for our […]

It can be easy to lose track of what you’re spending on Back to School stuff. Supplies, books, clothes, courses, sports, lunches and getting set up in a new place. Here are a few very simple tips to spend a little less and save some money and they are keeping in theme with Reduce, Reuse […]

Well, I did it! Made my own Peach Rosemary Jam. Made from fresh Okanagan peaches (4 lbs for $5), some sugar, lemons and rosemary. It made about 10 jars and it tastes yummy. I would say it took about 2 hours hands on time and 4 hours marinading time. It didn’t turn out quite as […]

Mortgage rates were 9 to 12% when I started working at the bank in the early 90’s! They went up slightly before coming down and they’ve been so low for so long, I cringe at the thought of what higher rates will do to mortgage payments. Depending how much of a mortgage you have, an increase […]

I am often bewildered when I receive our credit card bill each month. Why is it so high? Why are we not on or under budget (ha ha!)? In reality, I know I’ve done a good job with our financial plan and budget and the only category that we have trouble with is ‘entertainment and […]

This may well be the case but before you think about setting a new one, ask yourself a couple questions. When was the last time you did your budget? When was the last time you looked at it? Do you compare your actual income and expenses to the ones in your budget? Have you experienced […]