Step 6 Now’s a good time to take a look at assets, debts and liabilities. List your assets including things like cars, retirement savings (RSP’s) and savings, estimating the value that someone else would pay you for it. What could you sell it for? List any money you owe and what payments you must make […]

Step 5 This may take slightly longer than 5 minutes but hopefully not too much longer. Write down your expenses starting with ‘must pay’ expenses or needs such as housing, food, utilities, transportation. Follow this with your discretionary expenses and note down what you typically spend on items such as entertainment or clothing. Some expenses […]

Step 4 – Money In January 8th and you’re already at Step 4! You’ll have a plan before you know it. Regular (or average) monthly net income (net = after tax & deductions) Other resources or irregular income such as bonuses, tax refunds or extra income Put the regular income on the sheet under income […]

Step 3 This is probably the easiest step! Using the form you downloaded or whatever you want, consider the following questions: What do you want? Retirement, repay debt or new car When would you like it? In 1 year, 2 years or 25 years How much will it cost? Estimate is ok Writing them down […]

Step 2 A good plan is worth writing down. Dear Piggy Bank has forms for you to use. Either excel or PDF format, whichever you prefer. Take a couple minutes to download one: Dear Piggy Bank Forms. If you have a couple more minutes, gather together some of your financial information including net pay, regular […]

Step 1 What will motivate you to start 2013 with a good plan to manage your finances? Understanding and acknowledging why you want to do something is a big step forward and can keep you moving in the right direction. Do you worry about day to day finances? Do you worry about your financial future? […]

Happy New Year! If you didn’t get around to sorting out your finances before or over the holidays, don’t worry, Dear Piggy Bank will catch you up. Start the new year with a plan that will make you feel like you have your finances under control and your money working for you. It’s easier than […]

2013 is just around the corner. The holiday season always goes so quickly and financial planning gets but a smidgeon of a thought. No one wants to spend their time crunching numbers and thinking about a budget but here are just a couple things on your list to do before the end of 2012 to […]

No matter how organized we plan to be, the holiday season has a habit of sneaking up on us and before you know it, there are events to attend and gifts to buy. A bit here and a bit there has a sneaky way of adding up and can be tricky to keep track of. […]

How are you doing? It’s almost impossible to become financially literate overnight but if you’ve taken the opportunity to put the basics in place, you’ll be well on your way. This doesn’t mean that it takes care of itself but I think you’ll find the amount of time you spend managing your financial affairs will […]