Spring Clean Your Household Finances With Host Kelley Keehn

Production Heats Up On RTR Media's Burn My Mortgage For Corus Entertainment's W Network

Spring Clean Your Household Finances With Host Kelley Keehn's Top Tips

Producers Casting For Families in the GTA

TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - Burn My Mortgage is a high-energy, action-packed, half-hour television series about making your hard-earned money go further. Hosted by Kelley Keehn, one of the country's most respected and widely-quoted financial experts and authors (CBC and CNBC contributor, quoted in Oprah magazine), the series is set to debut in fall 2010 on W Network.

"The series is best described as "home finance' meets the "Amazing Race", explains executive producer Kit Redmond. "Kelley Keehn and sidekick Chad Bisch lead the featured family through a series of entertaining challenges. Families discover how to knock years off their mortgages and save hundreds of thousands of dollars on interest payments."

Producers RTR Media are currently casting for families located in the GTA. Visit www.wnetwork.com/BeOnTV. Each family that follows the rules and successfully completes the challenges receives a head start savings reward of up to $5000.

Host Kelley Keehn, author of six books including She Inc., The Woman's Guide to Money and The Prosperity Factor for Kids, offers up her top three tips to effectively "spring clean" household finances:

1) As with dieting, tracking your finances is the most important first step to a fiscally refreshed spring! Try my 30-day "Anti Budget". Track every dollar your family spends and at the end of the month, see where you can trim the fat. No need to forgo the lattes or weekend cocktails, but what about the $100 a month magazine subscription or the $50 in ATM fees? A library card is a great way to get the kids involved while still being able to access the latest DVDs and CDs for free!

2) Check credit card and bank statements regularly. Go online; it's a safe and effective way to check your purchases. Make a record of when each statement generally arrives. This could be a red flag that someone is redirecting your mail and possibly committing identity theft. Don't recognize that insignificant purchase on your credit card statement? Give the company a call - that too could be an early sign that your information has been stolen.

3) Seeing double digits? Take a look at your credit cards and if you're not consistently paying them off each month, call the credit card company to negotiate a better rate. Points cards are a great tool to get rewards fast, but not if you're carrying a balance. Generally these have a high annual fee and steep interest rates. Consider the lower rate, no frills cards that most banks offer if you're not paying your cards off each month.