Canadians Are Confident But Keeping Eggs Safe

Keep Your Eggs Safe

First Published Date: Nov 13, 2009

In easier times, livestock and land managed ones wealth. An old saying “not to count your chickens before they hatch” has remained with us over the years and is still used widely today. In today’s financial turmoil it may appear that, the Global Economy is on a steady up swing yet we are still hesitant to take that deep sigh of relief.

It is fair knowledge in the financial world that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has recorded that our global recovery is succeeding at an accelerated gain, yet perhaps not as well as some may have hoped. With the unemployment rates, still climbing the up swing can be accounted by the government aid and stimulus packages, which were implemented to stimulate the market. Although overall, our gains are increasing hope in the financial market but on an individual level, many are still in crisis.

Canadians are Confident

With the current economic concerns, it appears that Canadian residents are still maintaining hopeful outlooks towards the financial future and after several months of polls is still on the rise. Canada is also rising in the competitiveness field of Global Banking as surveyed by the World Economic Forum. It is to wonder as to their rise if it is due to their supported confidence. The US remains at the 2nd spot on the compositeness Global Banking Reports even though their confidence has been reported to be much lower than Canada which was ranked as 9th, a definite climb for Canada from 13th place in 2007.

Moreover, one should consider that several polls based on consumer confidence vary widely in terms of questions and statistics but overall Canadian consumers are still more aggressive in the retail markets. Their knowledge to boost the market by spending and maintaining their over all confidence has been noted by several reports. They are the first to step out of the recession and appear to be going strong in the right direction. While their neighbours are more guarded they may be realizing that their border partners may be leading the path to recovery successfully and follow suit.

Other contenders for speedy recovery have been spotlighted with Brazil definitely on the heels of the US and Canadian Markets. Their success can also be measured by the steps taken by the Brazilian Government to aid and boost the economy safely and effectively.

It is still a hazy road at best for most and ways to boost the economy and confidence in spending are being targeted. It is useful knowledge to follow these updates and reports to find we have dodged a very dangerous economic down turn and we are in control of how we manage this swing in the right direction. Safety is key and keeping your egg basket close on the home hearth seems to be the overall advantage in some countries. Many are still skeptical as to how the road to recovery will continue. It is important that the Governments keep maintaining their stimulus support for sometime to ensure the confidence that the World Economy so definitely needs to remain hopeful in this time of such economic uncertainty.

What to Do When Your Income Decreases

Facing A Reduction of Income or Wage Cut

First Published Date: December 19, 2015

When you are made redundant, there is usually some form of remuneration payment and the prospect, no matter how bleak it may appear at the time of further and new employment. For some, the lucky few, there is the encouragement of being told that your employment is secure, and that there is also the possibility of a pay rise or promotion further down the track. However, there are some who have been given an assurance of ongoing employment, only at cost of having to work reduced hours and for a reduced pay check at the end of each week.

Meeting the challenge of a reduction in pay is something that can bring out resourcefulness in many different ways.

The first thing that should be done is to make a complete list of what income is actually spent on each month. Often, by the simple process of listing and setting out in writing what each expenditure is, it will immediately be seen which are essentials and which, consistent with maintaining a reasonable standard living can be cut out, or pruned back.

Compare the total of this list with your total after tax income and you will have a precise amount, the deficit that you will have each month if expenditure remains at the same level.

Part of the expenditure will be fixed, in the form of loan or debt repayment. You can look at taking advantage of new lower interest rates by considering a debt consolidation loan, converting all your monthly debt repayments into one, lower interest rate, debt servicing repayment, against which you may be able to offset the interest charge even more by having the repayments made weekly instead of monthly, which can save years of repayments in terms of a home mortgage debt.

Charges for Utilities, and rates are often able to be paid on a weekly repayment arrangement if you make contact with the relevant authorities and inform them of your situation, rather than having to meet the entire cost of pre-payment in one lump sum.

Expenses associated with motor vehicles can be drastically reduced, and give you the possibility of a much needed capital sum, if you consider selling one of two motor vehicles and making use of public transport and  sharing the use of the remaining vehicle. For some, using public transport might mean that a private car is no longer needed.

Look at your savings – it is a good idea to keep some on call funds for possible emergencies – but there is no point in having funds in a savings account, earning little interest if you have high interest debts that you could use this money to repay, and so reduce your monthly outgoings.

Every voluntary expense can be looked at to see what can be discarded, and which will need to be reduced. Subscriptions can be cancelled. It is often tempting to reduce expenditure on food, but this can often be a mistake, as you will need to keep healthy and fit, and to have a lot of spare energy to survive a financial crisis

Do Canadians Pay More?

Canadians Still Paying More . But Not Much More

First Published Date: Aug 2, 2009

Canadian shoppers are used to something of a price difference between shopping domestically and journeying south of the border to pick up some purchases. For various reasons, the dollar goes further in the States even when taking into account the exchange rate, and this has been known to drive some Canadians to visit family in the States, just happening to do a lot of high-value shopping while there. But just recently this price gap has leveled considerably, according to a study carried out recently. It has not closed entirely by any means, but to see it narrowing is positive both for shoppers and for stores.

Of course, as with any financial story it isn’t just a matter of saying “things have improved to some extent” and leaving the statement there. There is considerably more to it, not least the fact that the findings of the study are contentious, having been opposed by the Consumers Association of Canada. The report itself was unveiled by Doug Porter, Deputy Chief Economist at BMO Capital Markets. In their study last year, BMO found an average price difference between selected products that stood in favor of the US shopper to the tune of eighteen per cent. This year, with the American economy having suffered severe blows, that gap has receded to 6.8 per cent.

Porter puts a lot of this narrowing down to the strengthening in the loonie, which has comparatively thrived while the US dollar has struggled. As the value of the loonie rises against its Southern counterpart, Canadians have comparably more buying power, and it is normal for prices to fall so that business does not go South.

Nonetheless it still depends very much on what your planned purchases are. For example, if you want to drop into Starbucks and enjoy a latte (tall, nonfat) then for the first time it is cheaper to do so on this side of the border. If you are buying a camera, expect to pay slightly more than your Southern neighbor, but only to the tune of about 2%, which is considerably less than once it was. However if you have your heart set on a chainsaw, you might be well advised to check import costs, as they are still 25% more expensive in Canada. Going to the US and bringing it back across the border might have its own problems, too.

Porter insists that this is a sign that Canada’s stronger anti-recession policies have made things better for the Canadian consumer. The Canadian consumer, represented by the Consumers Association of Canada for the purposes of this article, disagrees. Its president Bruce Cran states that there are huge disparities on a number of other products, not least magazines, which differ in price by a massive 28 per cent – double what the report says. The Association argues that as things stand, Canadian retailers are failing to pass on savings they have made importing US-made products to their customers. Nonetheless, the BMO posits that this will always be the case due to institutional differences, but that the gap is narrowing.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 2, 2009.

Are We Returning To Good Old Paper Money?

Cash Isn’t Dead

First Published Date: Aug 9, 2009

The past few years have seen a major change in the way we do things financially. More and more, we are seeing an economy that works away from the traditional methods. It used to be the case that shoppers would pay for smaller purchases with cash, and for larger ones with either cash or check, and as time went on with credit cards. As time has passed, however, there are many people who do not bother carrying cash with them and the check is now about as fashionable as velour flares. More and more, we are becoming a society of people who pay with plastic. Our weekly shopping is paid for by handing over a small rectangle of plastic and the funds are taken from our account directly.

This is a system that has taken off in no small part due to its convenience. Don’t have time to get to the ATM and withdraw cash on your shopping trip? Just hand over the plastic. Not sure how much you need to withdraw? Plastic means that the only money to leave the account will be the money you spend in the store. It’s convenient and saves on thinking. Initially it seems that it is the perfect way to do things. But this system does have its drawbacks, and people are becoming more and more aware of these and returning to good old paper money. If anyone out there is  hoping for the day when cash is entirely replaced by plastic, they probably have some time to wait. Checks may be playing less and less of a part in personal finance, but notes are still going to be used for a while yet.

The reason for this is that cash does allow you to take far more of a pro-active role in managing your money. One thing that has made paying by plastic problematic for people is that it makes it altogether too easy to spend money without really noticing. When the wages hit your account on pay day, you have a certain amount of money for the rest of the month. Paying your bills cuts away a fair section of that money. After other necessities are taken care of, you have your disposable income. Now, you wouldn’t be cavalier with the bills and necessary payments – but paying by plastic makes it all too easy to spend your disposable income, and that has to last for the rest of the month.

By withdrawing your disposable income in cash it becomes a lot easier to keep an eye on how much you are spending. Sure, you want your money to earn interest, so open a savings account and put some money in there. The rest of your disposable income can be kept somewhere safe and accessed whenever you need it. If you are keen to stick to a budget, it becomes much easier when you can physically see what you have for spending. Your plastic does not show you a running total as you use it, so the benefits of cash are surely clear. No, cash isn’t dead. Not by a long shot.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 9, 2009.

Brand Names Not Worth The Money?

Is Brand Name Losing Its Cool?

First Published Date: Aug 25, 2009

That brand names cost more than own-brand or budget ranges is not news to anyone. That this discrepancy can sometimes be quite marked is no more of a shock to anyone who is paying attention. And yet there still seems to be a thirst for the big names among shoppers. However it seems that in the new world which has been born out of the global financial crisis, the numbers of people voting with their wallets and choosing the cheaper option are increasing. Are we finally coming to terms with the idea that all those brand names amount to very little in terms of tangible quality? Or are people simply deciding to tighten their belts temporarily?

Go to any supermarket today and you will see that people are spending longer in the aisles looking for the extra few cents’ saving than ever before. These same people two years ago may well have instantly picked up the recognisable brand name and dropped it in their trolley without so much as looking. What is going on? Obviously we are in a recession, but this time it feels very different. Almost without noticing, we have suddenly become thrifty. It seems strange to say it, but it has almost become cool to be careful.

It must be said that there are some cases where compromising on quality for the sake of price is less well-advised than in others. We can all think of a few ourselves, but suffice it to say that thrifty shopping can become a false economy when we buy the cheapest line possible and end up throwing it out because it was inedible or made us need to go to the bathroom non-stop for a day. Such a strategy is almost doomed to fail and can sour a person on the whole concept of economising. However, there are cases where dropping from top-of-the-range to mid-range constitutes very little difference.

It is no myth that in blind taste tests we will often see a mid-price item out-performing its more illustrious rivals. Perhaps more often the big name will win out, but this is to be expected. After all, reputations are built over time. The better ingredients cost more, and in cases where the mid price item is more or less copied from the bigger name, they can never get it absolutely right. As a result, the consumer will often pay for the name.

If, however, you are making a concerted effort to leave aside the added expense of buying brand names all the time, it cannot have escaped your attention that sometimes the supposed “lesser brands” can be a bargain. Sometimes too, there is so little difference between the big brand and the little one in terms of taste that it is only social conditioning making us buy the big names. It may not be for everyone, but next time you are at the supermarket throwing in the brands you have always bought, why not go downmarket? You might find that sometimes the bargain buys are very much to your taste.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 25, 2009.