TFSA – What is it?

27 Dec
I remember when I was 19 years old, and walking into my local CIBC branch to buy my first RRSP.  Feels like ages ago.
 
 I had absolutely no idea what “it” was but I had heard if I wanted to retire it was important to buy one.  Being frugal with my money I did not want to buy without a full explanation, obviously, but unfortunately the branch contact did not want, or did not know, how to correctly explain RRSP’s.  She only wanted to push me to buy, without actually helping me understand RRSP’s.  After 30 minutes of asking questions I left CIBC without buying.   I ended up going to BMO where they sat with me in front of a computer and we watched a short ‘educational movie’.  I can’t say it explained everything, but I was more inclined to give them my money – although I put it into an uber-conservative MM fund. 
 
Fast forward 15 years, and many investments on my part, and the government has decided to launch a new investment vehicle – the TFSA.  I want you to understand that the TFSA is as good, and in some cases better than your RRSP, and I will try to give your a better explanation than my CIBC experience. 

Early boxing day shopping

22 Dec

Are you thinking about going shopping on Boxing Day? Do you have your eye on a particular store or item? But do you really want to wake up early after your Christmas dinner hangover and trudge out to the mall to wait in line for the 7am opening? Well you may not have to.
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All-In Ticket Prices

19 Dec

The federal government has declared that  advertised airfares, for flights originating in Canada, must include all taxes and fees so the travelling public can easily understand the total cost.  The new all-in ticket prices will be a welcome change from some of the current advertisements which show you an ultra low price, but when you go to book they tack on fee’s and taxes that double the advertised price. Continue reading →

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Canada Post 2012 Christmas Suggested Mailing Deadline

3 Dec

Are you thinking of sending out Christmas cards or presents via Canada Post this year?  If so, Canada Post has posted their 2012 holiday season suggested mailing deadline on their website.  They provide these dates as the suggested latest cut off date to mail the card/package to ensure it arrives at the destination on time.

Canada

Holiday Cards Send as late as
Local Delivery December 19
Within Province December 18
Outside Province December 17
Holiday Packages Send as late as
Priority™ (Rush) December 20
Xpresspost™ (Fast) December 19
Regular Parcel™ (Most Economical) December 10
 

New Twitter Feed

9 Nov

I know, I know, I have not been adding much lately.   The wedding planning took up my time, but I am back now.

I keep seeing good deals, but they are short lived and not worth a full blog post, so I have decided to link my twitter account to the blog,  so I can post the deals on the fly.  So if you want to keep in touch with the warehouse sales, friends and family events or coupon deals then follow me at @isitcheap on the Twitter.

The feed can be found on the right hand side column of my site.

Cheers!

The not so cheap…

12 Sep

I thought this one a little amusing so I thought I would share. It is the not so cheap deal.

 Over the weekend I was shopping at the Sunny Chinese supermarket and noticed this sale sign.  I do not know about you but a sale price of $23.99 for a regular price $1.29 of Knor Chicken Broth sounds like a really bad deal.

Business cards

5 Sep

I thought I would drop a note in regards to cheap business cards.  Well I guess since they are free they would be considered really cheap. 🙂 

Yup, at www.vistaprint.ca you can get yourself 250 free business cards.   All you need to pay is around $8 in shipping.  If that is too much for you then you can sign up for their promotions email and you may be lucky enough to catch a free shipping weekend.  I would actually sign up for the promotions email anyway as they tend to offer good deals and I even saw where they offered shirts, notepads and business brochers all free.  You just need to wait and watch.

The ‘free’ business cards are from a list of 30 stock designs, but the text is custom, so you can include whatever you wish.  If you have a small business, or you are tired of begging work for business cards or you just want a “call me baby” pick up card, then you may not mind buying the stock card.  Free.  Did I say free?

Happy shopping.

 

Toronto TTC Metropass or Tokens

24 Jul

If you are frugal like me, and you take the TTC, you probably have wondered if it was cheaper to buy a monthly TTC Metropass or buy tokens to use for your daily trips.  You have probably counted the working days in a year, subtracted your vacation and planned sick days, and came up with the number of trips you take in a year.  Then you pulled out the calculator, added in the tax advantage of using the Metropass and determined which would be cheaper.
 
Well if you did not do all of that, it’s okay, I am going to do it all for you right here.  I have not run the numbers yet, but I am guessing for the average commuter the tokens are cheaper, and for those who also ride outside of work the Metropass cheaper.
 
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Target Stores

12 Jul

Target stores are coming to Canada.   As a blog about cheap deals I know you want to know where they are opening the new Target (or the more commonly know moniker Tarje), and I would be remiss if I did not pass along this newly released information.

OPENING MARCH/APRIL 2013

Ontario

  • Ajax – Durham Centre
  • Aurora – Aurora Shopping Centre

 

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Saving Money

6 Jul

 Saving Money

Okay, this seems pretty obvious to me, but evidently after a conversation I had today it is not.  People occasionally ask about saving money or how to save money, and I don’t give out investment advice as mine is as bad as everyone else’s, but I do say “what do you eat for lunch and where do you buy your coffee?”.
 

 

 

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