Dishwasher Meta: Rinse Aid vs. Heated Dry

I’ve always been the guy who obsesses over utility bills — and I’m embracing it. So when a friend mentioned they use the heated‑dry setting instead of rinse aid, I hooked an energy monitor to our old GE Profile dishwasher to see if the idea held water (pun

My First Year with a Heat Pump: Expectations vs. Reality

When I decided to install a heat pump last year, I had high hopes for energy savings and environmental benefits. Now, after a full year of use, I’m ready to share my experiences, insights, and a few surprising discoveries. The Numbers: Prediction vs. Actual Using the calculator I built

How to save money planning a wedding...

After 10 years with my SO we decided it was time to tie the proverbial knot and through this process we learned a lot about the wedding industry and (hopefully) we will never need to go through this process again. Wedding prices can range drastically so I’m not going

Dual Fuel vs Electric heat

A common argument online is that heating with electricity is expensive and the better option is almost always combining a heat pump with a natural gas furnace, I would like to argue that this is not the case and that duel fuel is actually the worst option available for a

Security Cameras on a Budget

You don’t need a monthly subscription, a polished app, or a $1000 cloud-connected camera fleet to feel safe at home. The real win? A security setup that puts you in control — of your footage, your privacy, and your budget. I run a fully local system: ANNKE PoE cameras piped

Tiered rates vs Time of use

This may not be applicable to every province but I live in Ontario where 96% of people are on time-of-use (TOU) even though tiered pricing has been offered for the last 20 years. I just assumed (probably like everyone else) that TOU was best but just over a year ago

My mom was wrong about hydro (and yours probably was too)

I have vivid memories of my mom absolutely livid that I ran the dryer before 7pm and these were not infrequent encounters. Growing up I was constantly reminded about how I must not keep the fridge open for longer then necessary, always do laundry or run the dishwasher overnight, and

Guide to a net zero home

Two years ago my partner and I became home owners and moved into our first (and hopefully last) home. As our plans to start a family get closer we want to prepare of home for little ones, in laws, future proofing, and maybe even save some money along the way

3 Steps to saving simply!

Many of my clients know they should be saving more but traditional canadian banks can actively work against them; high banking fees, low interest rates, and expensive mutual funds all add up and will cost you tens of thousands of dollars in the long run. Here is a simple strategy

What if you never buy a house?

As a money coach I have many clients that believe owning a home is a prerequisite to retiring, either to live in "rent free" or to eventually downsize and use the profit to support your lifestyle. For the many people who feel priced out of the housing market

Considerations for Retirement

As I transitioned from simply managing my own finances to helping other with their financial planning I have had the opportunity to see finances through the eyes of many people. While I am a ways from retirement I have observed some common misconceptions or oversights that people have. Getting a

optimization

Considering Opportunity Cost

My goal in life is to be happy and money is one of many tools that allows me and my family to do the things that bring us happiness. I am going to go over some of the many things you can do today that will set you up for

rrsp

RRSP is a TFSA in disguise

The RRSP seems like this complex investment vehicle with all these rules and restrictions but with a couple caviets it offers essentially the same tax free growth that a TFSA does albeit with a couple gotchas. How the TFSA and RRSP work. Before I can explain how a RRSP is

guide

How to manage an emergency fund

An emergency fund is an amount of money that you have immediately available for  large unexpected costs and/or unexpected periods of reduced income. Many folks consider emergency cash a vital piece of anybodies portfolio and while that may be true there is also a cost to consider! For a

guide

TFSA or RRSP or Unregistered Investing

Not everyone can max out their registered accounts every year but with record high savings rates during COVID Canadas average savings rate is between 5-15%, so which accounts should you prioritize? tldr; If any of the following apply you may want to prioritize your TFSA * You are nervous about using

guide

Self-directed Investing in 5 steps

DIY is one of the best ways to save money, changing your own oil, bagged lunches, mowing your lawn, shoveling your laneway; but self directed investing will save more than pretty much any of these things combined. A few hours of work can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars

review

Lifecycle Investing: Leveraged Passive Investing

As I was researching how you could use leverage with a passive investing strategy I found the book "Lifecycle Investing"  by Ian Aryes and Barry Nalebuff. It details how using leverage can actually reduce your portfolio risk while improving your chance of retiring successfully. I read through it

optimization

Avoid minimum balances

Most big banks have fees but the reality is that many will waive those fees if you keep a minimum balance in the account, while this sounds like a deal you may be better off paying the fee! For a free $20 sign-up bonus and the best HISA in Cananda

guide

Get your tax refund early

Getting a big tax refund means you paid too much money to the government, these funds could have been in your investment account growing but weren’t. Big refunds can cost you 10's of thousands in the long run but thankfully there is a simple way you can

rrsp

Reduce fees on index funds

"All-in-one" index funds (AIO) have become extremely popular recently as they make it dead simple to have a globally diversified portfolio that matches your needs for an affordable price. But for those interested in working a little bit you can save thousands or even tens of thousands of

Mortgage

What is the First Time Home Buyers Incentive

The "First time home buyers incentive" (FTHBI) is often confused with the "Home Buyers Plan" (HBP) but they could not be more different. To find out about the HBP check out this. What is the Home Buyers PlanThere is alot of confusion on what incentives are

Mortgage

What is the Home Buyers Plan

There is alot of confusion on what incentives are available to home buyers. One of the most powerful tools for Canadians is the "Home Buyers Plan" (HBP). What is it? The HBP allows eligible Canadians who are buying a home the option to loan yourself up to $35,

guide

What to do when you fill your RRSP and TFSA

So your have been a diligent Canadian and have worked hard and saved agressively to max out your registered accounts, now what do you do? 1. Unregistered investment account Start an unregistered investment account which will allow you to continue to invest and take advantage of things like "Tax

guide

What is an RRSP?

If you Canadian the “Registered Retirement Savings Plan” RRSP is a vital investment vehicle, while it may not be quite as valuable as your TFSA it can reduce the amount of taxes you pay and increase your savings in retirement if used properly. Why use an RRSP? The RRSP allows

guide

How to make $500,000 with your TFSA

I make no exaggeration in saying that the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) will be the single most valuable savings tool for many Canadians. If used properly it can generate you nearly $500,000 in tax free investment returns and provide you $45,000/year over a 25 year retirement