Week 4: Teaching Children About Money Can Mean Better Financial Literacy for the Whole Family

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Life presents lots of opportunities to hone your own financial literacy skills and to help your children develop theirs. Deciding that you will share as much as possible with your kids can help you to be disciplined in making decisions and dealing with the impacts on you before you share with them, and that can be a good thing for the whole family.

Week 2: How To Live Beholden To No One

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Calvin Coolidge once said, “There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.”  I like to think what he meant by this is that when you live within your means, you can hold your head high because you are beholden to no one. 

The Cost of Keeping Up With the Jones

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We often see families putting themselves in difficult financial situations because they make purchase decisions based on emotions rather than considering the total cost.  Sometimes, we have to take a step back and ask ourselves a few questions: what are these material things going to add to my overall quality of life?  How are we going to pay for these purchases and what is the overall cost?

The Real Cost of Vehicle Ownership

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Think about the cost of ownership before you buy and then think about the cost of use and think ahead to consolidate trips, skip the trip, or car pool with friends and co-workers.  The cost of vehicle ownership also needs to be considered when you choose where you live.  While the cost of housing may be cheaper here in rural New Brunswick, the cost of the travel can offset the housing cost savings.