I ’ve read more personal finance books than I care to admit. I’ve had more conversations about money with people than I’ve had about most other subjects. I enjoy getting a new perspective on money. There always seems to be something new to learn. Recently I found out about a side of banking I’d never heard about before. I…

A couple I know recently welcomed their first child. The husband, an engineer by profession, was the sole breadwinner. He lost his job in this economic downturn and has been unemployed for the last few months. So? There are probably hundreds of thousands of people in a similar situation i.e., single income families, with a baby to boot, searching…

T his is an article by Jayne Steele, a 30 something financially independent woman. She is a potential staff writer here on MDJ. I hope that you guys enjoy hearing about success stories as much as I do! Let me know what you think. I’m an average Canadian woman from the West Coast of BC who became financially independent…

A Christmas Carol is one of my favourite redemption stories. Charles Dickens introduces Ebenezer Scrooge as a wealthy but miserly man whose quest to save money hurts himself and others around him. In the end, he is a changed man. Scrooge gets a bad reputation because we tend tend to focus on who he was before his transformation rather…

Normally i’m not a fan of generic strategies as I don’t think they really lead to a sustainable advantage. IMHO most strategies should take such good use of your organizations talents, capabilities and resources that it should be virtually impossible to copy your strategy. In other words if you are worried about sharing your strategy with people because you…

Michael Porter popularized the idea and proposed generic strategies for organizations like Cost Leadership and Differentiation . Normally i’m not a fan of generic strategies as I don’t think they really lead to a sustainable advantage. IMHO most strategies should take such good use of your organizations talents, capabilities and resources that it should be virtually impossible to copy…

I n early November Kirby and Marie Fontaine, each without the other’s knowledge, bought a Lotto Max ticket. Both in their 30s, two kids at home, living in a mobile home they were down to their last few dollars. She worked in a care home. He had to give up his position in security because of a stroke months…

W e’ve all got pet peeves, you know those little things that drive you crazy in life. I have a few. Lately I started thinking about some of my financial pet peeves. These are my top three. 1. Sales tax on used items When someone buys a new car they pay sales tax on it. It often works out…

H ave you ever lost your wallet or purse? If not, have you ever imagined what you would do if you did? So it’s Friday afternoon and I’m lined up (with my family) to get the H1N1 vaccine for the toddler. After the 5.5 hour wait (yes hours), I decided to drop my family off at home and run…

W hen my son was a year and a half, we did a 3 month work term in the Philippines. We were working on a community development project on one of the remote islands for one week of our time there. It was an 18 hour ferry ride from the nearest port. While we were there my son got…