CHRISTMAS DOESN'T HAVE TO BREAK THE BANK - Make it a no-fuss season

	Source: JOANNE RICHARD, Sun Media, 24 Hours Section: News Page: 16

   The holiday season can wreak havoc on your bank account if you're not careful so, this Christmas, it's time to buff up your negotiating muscles, get savvy about deal spotting and practice your frugal intelligence.
    "It's about getting more for less, but being smart about it," says money maven Kelley Keehn.
    Don't equate frugality with cheapness or stinginess. Money matters and frugality's all about seeing value in keeping as much of your hard-earned cash as you can, and being creative while reducing spending, especially during the holiday season, says the Edmonton-based speaker and author of eight books.
    First of all, make it a no-fuss, no-muss season. Ask yourself and your family precisely what you gave and received from each other over the past few years. "If you can't recall the gift within moments, it just shows you that all the stress, fuss and expense was soon forgotten.
    "So should you really do the same this year? Or pare down your lists (and) help others in need to put Christmas in context," says Keehn, of kelleykeehn.com. 

 

Read the full article here.

My Mortgage Renewal Secrets (from today's Marilyn Denis show)

 

Five smart money tips you may not know

By Brenda Spiering, Editor, BrighterLife.ca

For 12 years as a financial professional – and more recently as host of “Burn my mortgage” on the W Network – Kelley Keehn witnessed first-hand the problems so many of her clients had with money. She also admits to having a few of her own.

“By my mid-20s, I had amassed more consumer debt than I was comfortable with and my credit was less than great,” Keehn told me in an interview last week. “I vowed to clean up both. And today, I appreciate being intelligently frugal.”

Keehn shares her simple strategies for success in her latest book on personal finance, The Money Book for everyone else. It’s a simple, engaging read filled with real-life stories that covers all of the basics Canadians need to know about credit, debt and investing.

The book provides much-needed advice. It points out that today, “Canadians are saddled with over 1.4 trillion dollars in consumer debt and less that 75% have three months’ savings in an emergency account.”
But the book is also filled with nuggets of valuable information that even the most financially astute may be unaware of, such as:

Catch the full article here:  http://brighterlife.ca/2012/05/09/five-smart-money-tips-you-may-not-know/

Managing Your Money Throughout the Years from the Marilyn Denis Show

Financial expert Kelley Keehn gives a viewer a "financial timeline" on how to prioritize her money.

Five things you may not know about TFSAs

By Denise Barrett

After taking more than three years to get acquainted, Canadians still don’t know the tax-free savings account (TFSA) as well as they should. The TFSA lets you stash extra cash for just about anything – rainy-day savings, a new house or retirement – without paying any tax on the growth within the account or on withdrawals.

Still, since the TFSA was introduced in 2009, less than one-third of Canadians have opened one. Here are five of the most common misunderstandings about the TFSA.

1. It’s called a savings account, but can hold just about anything.

From our earliest days, a “savings account” was where our pennies went when they came out of the piggy bank. The name suggests deposits, safety and low rates. But almost any investment you can hold in a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) can also go into your TFSA: bonds, stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, options, etc.

Personal finance expert and author Kelley Keehn is among those who wish the government had chosen a different name for the TFSA. “Many banks and financial institutions advertise a set percentage for their cash TFSAs and it’s very low,” she says. “Canadians see the 2% and think ‘those TFSAs don’t pay much.’ In reality, the TFSA is a savings shelter like an RRSP and you need to choose the investment that goes within it.”

catch the full article here: http://brighterlife.ca/2012/03/30/five-things-you-may-not-know-about-tfsas/?category-ref=money

Think Yourself Richer

When it comes to improving our finances we could all learn a few lessons from the world’s wealthy, says Iwona Tokc-Wilde

Financial independence can mean many things: being able to buy exactly what you want; living debt-free; being able to take a sabbatical from work. But, at its core, it means pretty much the same to all of us: complete freedom from financial worry.

So why do so few people attain it? It’s time to find out which of these psychological barriers is stopping you…

You don’t know the real value of money

A recent study shows that although 50 per cent of us have a savings account, more than a third don’t know what interest rate they’re currently earning. But it pays to pay attention to these details, says Kelley Keehn, personal finance expert and author of The Money Book For Everyone Else:

“The wealthy enjoy spending their money but they also respect it and know how to keep it – they read their credit card and bank statements, negotiate rates, ask for discounts and read their restaurant bill before paying. Billionaire Warren Buffet still drives his old Ford pick-up truck.”

Read the full article here: http://nwsense.com/think-yourself-richer.html

From Sense Magazine in the UK

Interest Rates Hit a New All Time Low - Why You Should Care

We Canadians have been pretty spoiled with relatively low rates for some time. But as of yesterday, The Bank of Montreal announced it is lowering its rate on five-year fixed mortgages to 2.99 per cent, an all-time record low in Canada.

This recent announcement is likely to spur competition with our rival banks according to a recent Huffington Post article.

The question is, why should you care?

Read the full article here: http://www.walletpop.ca/blog/2012/01/13/interest-rates-hit-a-new-all-time-low-why-you-should-care/

Kelley Keehn’s Top 5 Money Resolutions for 2012 - The Marilyn Denis Show

Click on the picture to view the video.

Kelley Keehn’s Top 5 Money Resolutions for 2012 - The Marilyn Denis Show (and a few more that weren't covered in the show)

1. Just say NO - no new consumer debt. Create a detailed family "needs"
and "wants" list for the year ahead.

2. Know when to reward yourself, but set the rules up to win. PLAN your spending as much as your savings.

3. Be smart about your rewards cards and read the fine print. Are you paying more in annual fees than your rewards are worth?

4. Spend less and save more. Start a RRSP or monthly forced savings now. Or, increase your mortgage payment by $50 a month.

5. Track your spending twice a year for a month with a friend and analyze each other's spending. Reserve judgment but offer and be open to constructive feedback.

6. Start a money club. Meet quarterly and talk all things money - books, resources and more.

7. Set your family's financial goals and create visuals like goal thermometers and incentives for each family member sticking to and reaching their goals.

8. Vow to flex your financial self-esteem muscles - negotiate, ask for a discount, track deals

9. Do a complete financial audit once a year - review areas such as insurance, phone, cable, cell bills, credit card interest rates and annual fees, etc. and see where you can trim the fat

10. Get organized - know the facts and figures of YOUR financial situation (what did your RRSP portfolio return last year? when does your mortgage renew and what's your rate?)