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Fuel Up Your Savings and Portfolio!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dividend Investing, Financial Coaching, Income Investing, Investing, Personal Finance, Points, Saving Money, Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Jan 262011

Fuel is on its way up and I wanted to share my strategies to save on this necessity. Not only will it take the pinch out of the pumps but it’ll get your portfolio going. Vroom vroom!

1. Buy a car that is fuel efficient – this will be more important as fuel breaks $100 a barrel this year. I love cars but I also love my money so I got the most fuel efficient but performance driven car. I have an Audi A5 but with the turbo engine instead of the V6. Not only is it a driver’s car but I get really good fuel economy. That is smart for my pocket book and the environment.

2. Get a fuel cash back card and use it. There are many cards on the market. I use the BMO Mastercard and fill up at Shell getting 1.5% back on my fuel. Then I pay cash when I’m in the US because you save .10 a gallon. That is around $1.50 a fill up or $78 a year.

3. Find a cheap gas station a little out of the way and make a route to hit it once a week to fuel up. In Toronto my place is the Shell on Dupont between Lansdowne and Dufferin. It’s always $0.05 a litre cheaper and I get my cash back when I use my BMO Mastercard. In Silver Lake I use the stations at Melrose and Vermont. They are always $0.10- $0.20 cheaper a gallon than anywhere else in Hollywood.

4. Buy a basket of energy trusts and collect the dividends – not only will you get the stream of income, most of the time monthly, from the royalty or energy trusts you will get all of the upside. I have 30% of my portfolio in oil or gas stocks and as oil increases in price, it will offset the increase in gas prices. Oil is only going up from here until we move to a new resource – and I can’t see that happening for a good 20 or more years.

5. Walk or use transit whenever possible. It’s good for your body and wallet. You want to keep both firm and fully packed, right?!

Love your money by being smart with oil stocks and it’ll love you back with free gas and a pumped up nest egg,

Dave

2011 Money Resolutions Made Easy!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Saving Money, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jan 022011

I bet everyone has some new years’ money resolutions on their list, right Bellos and Bellas? I’m used to seeing these following money resolutions on goals lists:

Pay down debt

Increase my net worth

Track my spending

Spend less on junk

Save eight months of salary

Well I have a great tool to help you achieve all of these on day one of 2011! It’s called Mint.com. It’s the old Quicken.com and I’ve been using it religiously since I found Quicken.com. And the best part of this program is that it is FREE!

You add all of your bank accounts, investments, credit cards, loans, assets and mortgages and it tracks all of your spending, budgets, net worth and investment returns. What fun! You can add accounts from different banks, business and personal, and it even tracks my US Bank accounts for when I spend the winter down here. All in once place!

Mint.com is available as an iPhone App!

Mint.com has an amazing app that is password protected and allows me to scan all of my cash, credit cards, budget and net worth on the first page. You can scan your last transactions from any of your accounts, check credit card balances, and feel safe a check has gone through. If I had to do those things with all my accounts I would have to check with four separate companies. Instead it takes two touches on my iPhone.

Every transaction that goes through any account or card gets categorized by Mint as best as it can. If it doesn’t recognze someting it will keep it uncategorized and wait for you to assign it a category. While waiting for someone at a mall (my mom) I’m able to categorize my transactions with a big smile.

It Helps Me Love My Money More

Mint also flags you when a big payment has gone in or out of one of your accounts and when an account has a low balance. I had a friend coming to visit me in LA last month and Mint emailed me that I had a low balance in my US Bank Checking account. It flagged that a big check had come out early, so I was able to transfer more funds before the weekend. I would have never known that the check had come out early and I could have been out money.

Budgets Galore and More!

Another great plus for Mint is that it gives you great freedom to set budgets for the month. You can set them and it tracks how much you have spent for the month on all of your budgets on the very first page of the iPhone app. If you click on it it shows how all of your budgets are tracking. If you do happen to go over (and I know none of my money loving readers would go over) it will send you an email letting you know.

Mint also sends weekly updates to your email account to let you know how much you’ve spent the following week. It includes your net worth which comes in so very handy to keep you motivated to keep saving and making more money! Can I get a whoop whoop for making more money?

Keep loving your money with amazing tools like Mint.com and it’ll love you back with accomplished 2011 resolutions!

Dave

Give Your "Snookie" I (Heart) Money for the Holidays!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Dividend Investing, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Income Investing, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Points, Saving Money, Uncategorized No Responses »

Dec 012010

Hi Kids,

What is a better gift to give than the gift of financial success! It’s available at these fine retailers!

US Edition in book and Kindle format – amazon.com

Canadian Edition:

Book City

348 Danforth Ave, Toronto

1430 Yonge St, Toronto

1950 Queen Street East, Toronto

Nicholas Hoare

45 Front Steet East, Toronto

Ben Mcnally

366 Bay Street

Books For Business

120 Adelaide Street

Indigo / Chapters:

Montreal (St. Catherine St.)

Woodbridge

Yorkdale

Yonge and Eglinton

Bayview Village

Thornhill

Square One

California Savings!

Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Personal Finance, Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 082010

I’ve just arrived in LA for the winter to support my US version of I Heart Money. It’s available at amazon.com in hardcopy and in Kindle format! Shameless self promotion, I know. I’ll be writing more frequently to talk about my adventures here and how I’m saving and re-distributing my profits to invest in my life. Keep reading to find out how I racked up tons of savings while driving down route 66 from Chicago to LA. From travel tips, exchange rates, credit cards to house hunting and buying fuel. My fist contribution will be about how I saved over $500 on hotels over my trip. Read on.

When traveling, never accept the posted rates for the hotel. First check the web for deals on hotels.com, travelocity.com or whatever your favourite site is. If it is off peak travel time you could save even more money if you just roll into the hotel same day after searching for the rates online at a local Starbucks with free wi-fi. In Chicago I searched for cool boutique hotels, found the one that was in the best location for the best price and I searched hotels.com for the best price in their lobby using their wi-fi! I then went to the front desk and asked if they could beat the deal. I had found it for $138 – an amazing rate on it’s own for Chicago and they beat it at $79! Now that is a Highway 8 deal and I got to stay in a boutique hotel in a cool hood of Chicago. Win win!

My next tip for hotels is to find similar hotel prices, take the cheapest rate, and then get the cooler hotel to match the price. If they don’t go for it you try the same thing at the next cheapest hotel. In Tulsa, I rolled up to the Holiday Inn, which is quite nice in Tulsa, and then showed a much cheaper price for a similar hotel in the same area on Hotwire.com. I got the price down from $99 to &79, waved the $7 parking, got a bigger suite and because I had signed up for the Priority Club Rewards before I checked in I got free appies in the hotel restaurant. Sweet savings equal a sweet life.

In Vegas I went one block away from the strip and charmed my way (I can’t understate how important it is to be charming to all of the hotel staff) and I got the rate down from $120 to $71. They’ll ask if you have AAA and you say “no, but I could – what is your best rate for me?” with a wink. This got me the extra discount plus more at almost every hotel. The cheapest hotel on the strip was $150 at the Flamingo. That is more than a 50% location and the walk was an extra 5 mins. A walk I needed after being in the car for 4k kms.

Keep loving your money and checking in for my next blog on my travels to California on route 66!
Dave

Fat Pants Be Gone!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Personal Finance, Saving Money 2 Responses »

Oct 282010

I’m moving to California for a few months to support my US book launch and I’ve been purging things that I don’t need for the trip. I’ve been choosing just one of three pairs of sunglasses, just a handful of favorite tops, just my most flattering jeans, my coziest sweaters etc. The amazing thing that I’ve noticed is that my picks are just the the items that I wear day to day anyway. My favorite things are the items that make me feel the best, look the best and that I get the most wear out of. ”If I don’t do a bit of a strut in it – ditch it!” That was my battle cry.

Why have three pairs of sunglasses when I only really wear one pair? If I had saved the money on the other sunglasses, sweaters I don’t wear of jeans that sit in the corner of my closet, I’d be sitting on a nice pile of cash. If I only have one pair to look after, I won’t lose it either. Plus, I’m only getting any pleasure from the clothes that I wear. Clothes in the back of my closet don’t contribute to me feeling like a million bucks when I’m walking into a power meeting!

Purging feels amazing! I had friends go through them, I sold the hipster coveted items to the funky thrift store and the rest went to the Sally Ann! It feels awesome to be lean and mean stuff wise. I’ve still got the clothes that I feel amazing in and I even made some money and helped out some folk. What is more of a win win than that.

I feel like having lots of stuff around makes me feel cumbersome in life. There is nothing better than feeling light and fancy free of things. Things really are just things. We load clothes with so many emotions. Rebound skirt, muscle shirt, break up jeans, or fat pants. They’re just clothes. And by ditching them that don’t make you feel 100% is like ditching all of those negative feelings you associate with them. Off you go weekend warrior baby-t.

Choose your favorite things and pitch the rest. You’ll feel like a million bucks everyday and streamlined.

Have an awesome week,

Dave

I (Heart) Money Last First Edition Books

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Dividend Investing, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Income Investing, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Points, Saving Money 5 Responses »

Oct 212010

Hey Everyone,

Since my first print run in May I’ve already almost sold out of my first edition! Thanks for everyone who has bought a copy. I really appreciate your support.

I’ve heard from the book store managers that the first print edition appreciates the most. So my advice this week is to run out and get one of the last copies for the holiday, friends, kids, Nana and Papa! There are very few left so grab a first edition and profit! :)

Here is where to still get a copy. The second print is coming in two weeks!

Book City

348 Danforth Ave, Toronto

1430 Yonge St, Toronto

1950 Queen Street East, Toronto

Nicholas Hoare

45 Front Steet East, Toronto

Ben Mcnally

366 Bay Street

Books For Business

120 Adelaide Street

Indigo / Chapters:

Montreal (St. Catherine St.)

Woodbridge

Yorkdale

Yonge and Eglinton

Bayview Village

Thornhill

Square One

I (Heart) Money Book Tour!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Dividend Investing, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Income Investing, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Points, Saving Money No Responses »

Aug 052010

I’m on a book tour and I’d love for you to come out to one of my event dates to meet me and talk money. I’ll be signing my new book I (Heart) Money at the following Chapter and Indigo locations. Hope to see you out and keep loving your money!

August 7th – 1pm -5pm

Chapters Bayview Village

2901 Bayview Ave Unit 132

North York, Ontario

M2K 1E6

August 21st 1pm-5pm

Chapters Woodbridge

East Woodbridge Centre, 3900 Hwy 7 West, Unit 1

Woodbridge, Ontario

L4L 1A6

(905)264-6401

August 28th 1pm – 5pm

Indigo Richmond Hill

8705 Yonge Street

Richmond Hill, Ontario

L4C 6Z1

(905)731-8771

September 25th 1pm-5pm

Chapters Woodbridge

East Woodbridge Centre, 3900 Hwy 7 West, Unit 1

Woodbridge, Ontario

L4L 1A6

(905)264-6401

Indigo Yonge and Eglinton – Coming Soon!

Chapters Square One – Coming Soon!

My Chosen Credit Card

Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Personal Finance, Points, Saving Money, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 272010

If you’ve been following my blogs you’ll know that I prefer to use cash when I can. I love hard currency for a number of reasons. For instance I find that you spend less, you have a natural spending ceiling (it’s gone when it’s gone), you get better prices for big purchases, and it is harder to part with than just swiping away.

I do however use credit cards when there is a financial benefit to me. I calculate all of my monthly expenses that can be charged to my card and have them come off automatically each month. This saves me time and service fees – I’ve made sure that I can never miss a payment now. All my gas is charged to the card and I also charge large payments like computers, hotels or airline flights to extend their warranties and add travel protection. My choice of credit card reward program is an annual fee free card that gives me some sort of points. If I charge $590 a month I used to get .5% cash back on everything and 1.5% back on my gas purchases, which would give me $59.40 back a year for free just from my monthly resources not including my big purchases like trips, furniture and electronics. Remember that I didn’t pay a yearly fee so that money is all gravy for me! I have found a new card that saves me even more which I have outlined after my expenses.

Monthly Charges:

Mobile Phone $60

Television/Internet $80

Electricity $40

Gym $50

Gas $200

Car Insurance $145

Home Insurance $15

Just recently I have found a no charge cash back card. It’s called the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard and it is no annual fee card that gives 3% on gas, 3% on groceries and pharmacies, and 1% on everything else. Based on my spending it dramatically increases my cash back at the end of the year! They even have a promotion right now where you can get 5% back on all purchases for 6 months. On the same purchases from above I’d get $118.80 a year before my large purchases. That equals some cool shoes that I can enjoy for free based on my financial prowess and saves me a ton of time not paying all of those bills independently. Time that I can be kickin’ back with my new free kicks.

Have an awesome Tuesday,

Dave

How Do You Treat Your Money?

Coaching, Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Income Investing, Investing, Personal Finance, Saving Money No Responses »

Jun 162010

I find the psychology around money fascinating! The way that you treat your money reflects your underlying positive or negative feeling towards it. Naturally people who invest time and effort into their relationship will benefit just like if you invest time and love into a human relationship it will flourish. Treat your money like any other relationship you have in your life.

Here is a list of ways that you can enhance your money relationship. Ask your self how you can treat your money better to enhance your commitment to it?

1. Do you always get the highest level of interest from idle money? Making sure that your money is always getting the highest return is a way to treat it properly. If you have money sitting in an account and not making a good interest return search for the best premium rate savings account and transfer that money!

2. Are you being charged for having too many bank accounts? Do you go down a block to save other ATM fees? Do you pay a monthly fee when there is a way to keep a minimum deposit to save that amount? If you’re charged 8.95 a month in your bank account and it takes a minimum monthly balance of $1,500 a month to wave that fee – that is a $107.40 savigngs a year equivalent to a 7% return on $1,500.

3. Do you always scan your statements to make sure that you aren’t “dinged” any extra charges? I’ve saved hundreds of dollars by doing just this to every bill that comes through my door. It shows that you love your money if you’re always watching out for it.

4. Do you know what your net worth is right now? If you don’t add up all of your assets and minus your liabilities. Knowing how much you are worth will help you make big picture purchases and investments. It’ll help you keep moving towards your net worth goal!

5. How much interest are you paying on all of your debts? Can you lower your interest rates right now and save loads of money? Put in the time and call your credit card company, bank or loan company. See how much you can save by lowering your interest rates, increasing your payment amount or payment frequency. On mortgages these changes add up to a ton of cash. Treat your money like any other relationship and benefit!

Have a great week,

Dave

Financial Health Checkup

Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Dividend Investing, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Personal Finance, Saving Money No Responses »

May 252010

Financial health stems from the relationship you have with your money. Do you get warm shivers when you think of the great things money can get you or stabs of pain when you think of your debt? Do you avoid talking about money at all costs or welcome the conversation? How you answered those two questions can tell me how money healthy you are! See which of the below areas you need to “checkup” on?

1. Respect Your Money: This is the single most important lesson to be a savvy money manager. The ability to know exactly how much you have and how much you owe is crucial. The personal power that you gain by knowing where every dollar is going, how much you are paying in interest and how much you are making in any given investment is the first step. Understanding how money can be saved and made gives confidence. Confidence for you to go forth and make more money!

2. Know What Financial Success Looks Like: If you don’t know exactly where you want to end up you’ll always be lost. Figure out exactly what success looks like for you in detail. $1 Million in investable assets or more? Debt free? The freedom to travel at a whim? We all have a desired financial future and knowing what that is in detail is halfway to getting there. Dream it, then make it happen!

3. Invest Like You’re Already Wealthy: The best way to be rich is to emulate the rich. How do they invest? How do they save? How do they think about money? How do they live? Once you re-code your brain to ponder, play, and plan like they do you’ll get closer to your goal. Money is what money does.

4. Chuck Your Limiting Beliefs: What is keeping your from being wealthy right now? Do you you have negative associations towards wealth? Have you taken old beliefs from parents or social groups that aren’t true to your core beliefs? Once you know what they are and know that they no longer serve you, you can leave them behind and wade in the warm warm waters of wealth.

5. Determine What Money will REALLY Give Me: Money just for the sake of having money won’t make you happy. Fulfilling your life long dream to dive off the great barrier reef, spoil grand kids, take the entire family on trips, or have the freedom to live around the world really will. Money is just a means to something more. Decide up front what you will really have if you have this money – respect, freedom, creativity, achievement maybe? Remembering what value the money will bring you will motivate you to be the best investor you can at the same time it will encourage you to keep plugging when markets are lousy.

A healthy association with your money can bring so much to life. Hope you all have an awesome week,

Dave

Older Entries Newer Entries

Fuel Up Your Savings and Portfolio!

2011 Money Resolutions Made Easy!

Give Your "Snookie" I (Heart) Money for the Holidays!

California Savings!

Fat Pants Be Gone!

I (Heart) Money Last First Edition Books

I (Heart) Money Book Tour!

My Chosen Credit Card

How Do You Treat Your Money?

Financial Health Checkup

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