By 2 Cents on September 30th, 2011 | Category: BJ News |  Everything in moderation, including moderation.
~Author Unknown
A couple of months ago the editors at Thrift Culture Now contacted me for an interview. I normally don’t mind doing this type of thing, especially if it’s in writing. I agreed to do it and they agreed to send over a set of questions for me to answer.
I expected to receive an email containing some generic personal finance or investing questions. Instead, I was treated to some really thoughtful inquiries that showed a real recognition of what Balance Junkie is all about. I was impressed.
Unfortunately, the interview questions arrived just as I was about to move. I started on some replies, but it soon became apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to give the interview the attention it deserved until after we settled in. The editors said “no problem” and very patiently waited for my replies.
[...]
Read on and enjoy … Thrift Culture Now: Balance Junkie Interview
By 2 Cents on September 29th, 2011 | Category: Economics |  Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
~Edward Abbey
Although I visit the grocery store at least once a week, lately I’ve had the feeling that I’m in a different place – and that’s not just because we recently moved. I sometimes can’t believe the prices I’m seeing on staples like milk, cheese, or sugar and I can’t help but notice that my cart doesn’t have to be very full in order to rack up a pretty big bill.
My shopping trips highlight several economic trends I’ve been noticing over the past few years. These trends are having a direct effect on our finances, and I’m curious to know whether others are finding the same thing. Here are 5 of the most salient trends that seem to be affecting our personal finances:
1. Less for More
Not only [...]
Read on and enjoy … 5 Economic Trends Affecting Your Money
By 2 Cents on September 26th, 2011 | Category: Economics |  Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
~David Star Jordan
It’s funny how rather complex issues can sometimes become a little more clear by accident. One of the spelling riddles I sometimes come across when I’m writing is the difference between principal and principle. Unlike other words like favourite and favorite, this is not simply a matter of unique international spelling conventions. Principal and principle actually have completely different meanings.
Principal vs. Principle: What’s the Difference?
According to my trusty dictionary, principal can refer to:
a school administrator something or someone of first rank or importance capital bearing interest
Principle, on the other hand, is:
a fundamental truth, or doctrine on which others are based rules of conduct or ethical behaviour Who Cares?
I’m sure some of you can already see where I’m going with this. It’s not about spelling [...]
Read on and enjoy … Too Much Principal and Not Enough Principle
By 2 Cents on September 22nd, 2011 | Category: Life Balance |  The following is a guest post from Barbara Friedberg. She endured a much more arduous moving ordeal than I did this summer. Check out the 5 lessons she learned and then head over to Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance to read more. While you’re there, download her free 20 Minute Guide to Investing. Thanks Barb!
5 Things I Learned From My Cross Country Move
As Kim from Balance Junkie and I each moved this summer, we decided to share our “lessons learned”. Although she moved 3 hours away, and I moved about 10 times that, the process is the same! Please check out her 5 Lessons Learned from Moving at my site after you’re done reading.
Graduate school and job changes have led to 6 moves during our married life. Initially, I’m nervous and scared about moving. After getting used to the [...]
Read on and enjoy … Moving Stinks! And I Never Want to Do It Again!
By 2 Cents on September 19th, 2011 | Category: Saving |  Starting today, there’s a new financial resource for Canadians out there. It’s called Finizi. Basically, Finizi is a free online service that allows financial institutions to compete for your business. At this time they are only offering GICs, but there are plans in the works to offer competitive bidding on rates for car loans and mortgages as well.
How It Works
Basically, you just need to go to finizi.com and:
1. Request a GIC rate
Select the type of GIC you want and specify the amount you’d like to invest.
2. Financial Institutions Bid for Your Money
Review your bids in a live auction environment. Financial institutions bidding for your business may include credit unions, trust companies or chartered banks. So far, they have about 5 institutions on board, but many have said that they would [...]
Read on and enjoy … Introducing Finizi: A New Financial Tool for Canadians
By 2 Cents on September 16th, 2011 | Category: Investing | The following is a guest post by Rob Bennett. Thanks for sharing your views Rob!
I am a critic of Buy-and-Hold and an advocate of Valuation-Informed Indexing. The one difference between the two strategies is that Buy-and-Holders say that it is not necessary to time the market while Valuation-Informed Indexers believe it is imperative to change your stock allocation in response to big valuation shifts so as to keep your risk profile roughly constant over time. I wrote two earlier guest blogs here describing the practicalities of Valuation-Informed Indexing (The How to of Valuation-Informed Indexing: Part One and The How-To of Valuation-Informed Indexing: Part Two).
The purpose of this post is to describe and comment on Vanguard Founder John Bogle’s views on Valuation-Informed Indexing. Bogle is widely [...]
Read on and enjoy … What Bogle Says About Valuation-Informed Indexing
By 2 Cents on September 14th, 2011 | Category: Collections |  The good news is that Kevin from Invest It Wisely was kind enough to nominate Balance Junkie to participate in the 7 Links Project. The bad news is that he did so on the very date of our move. Needless to say, I’ve been more than a little tardy with my response.
I actually did a similar 7 Link Challenge last August. It was started by Darren Rowse at Problogger, but the topics for the 7 links were slightly different. The current 7 link project has a few different choices and asks that we nominate 5 other bloggers to take the challenge. So here we go with 7 links from Balance Junkie:
1. Most Beautiful Post
Beautiful? Really? For a finance blog? I’m not sure whether I’ve written anything that qualifies as beautiful, but one post that just might make it [...]
Read on and enjoy … 7 Links Project: Balance Junkie Version 2.0
By 2 Cents on September 12th, 2011 | Category: Life Balance |  Oh, would that my mind could let fall its dead ideas, as the tree does its withered leaves!
~Andre Gide
Have you ever felt like you were in a rut? No matter how hard you try to shake things up, start fresh or come up with innovative solutions to what’s bugging you, you just seem to end up right back where you started. I’m sure most of us have felt this way at one time or another about one or more parts of our lives.
In my experience, it’s hard to engineer an epiphany. It’s like trying to catch a pesky fly. Just when you’re certain you’ve got it in your sights it flits away, eluding your grasp anew. Sometimes new perspectives incubate best at a simmering pace rather than a pressure cooker intensity.
To instigate behavioural, intellectual or emotional change we sometimes need to make some [...]
Read on and enjoy … Climate Change Can Be Positive for Your Life
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