Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Hey All,

I have been living in Canada for a few years now and I am wondering if people could share are tips or advice they have gathered over their years in Canada. I live in BC specifically.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

1. Stay married to the same person

2. If you're going to have children do it before 35

3. Choose a career you can imagine doing for 35 years and stick with it.

4. Secure a job with a defined benefit pension, ideally one with a union that protects you from a topsy-turvy job market.

5. Find a financial adviser you can trust. Or spend the time and energy learning how to invest wisely on your own.

6. Buy the best house you afford, in a neighbourhood you adore. Stay there.

7. Years before your retire, develop long-standing interests that are not outrageously costly and that don't depend on your job or your family.

8. Never buy a new car.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Absolutely. Advice I read the other day stated that the maximum you should pay for a car is 10% of your income, and thinking back this is good advice
On a personal level, I bought one new car in the late 70's when I was still young and stupid. I kept it until it fell apart. I calculated that had I invested the purchase price it would have grown 5 fold over the bull market period, this was the true price of the car. Thereafter I bought cheap high mileage cars from auction. even one from ebay. Only one turned out to be a lemon, but the loss was small, all others were winners.
Not throwing money away, like buying new cars, allowed me to complete my mortgage early and to retire early.
Remember the old maxim, a fool and his money are soon parted.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Oops.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Easier said then done and certainly becoming harder in certain areas for the typical income earner, but I would say try to avoid renting long term, in the end it just sucks money, and you have no stability in your housing and hard to plan for the future when you don't even know where you might live in 2-3 years down the road or how much rent will be.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Some years ago a wife left me. "I need cheering up" I thought, "perhaps I should get a new car". A daughter and I toddled off down the Ford dealership and I ordered a Mustang with all the options I liked. Another daughter was just finishing high school so I said to her "this car needs running in, wanna go to California and drive in the surf?". She said she would like to do that and off we went. It was a wonderful trip and along the way I acquired a replacement for the departed wife. That new car was arguably the best investment I ever made.

Domestic stability is, I accept, one key to affluence. Another tip is to stay away from disabled children. Once you're supporting one of those the price of a car or another horse is neither here nor there in the household budget.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Don't live beyond your means and save as much money as you can each month - you never know when you might need it for an emergency (to be fair I was doing this in the UK)

Accept that cheese and booze is expensive and deal with it - lol

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Dont buy cheese, bacon or booze and you will be able to retire early, with a healthy heart and bank balance.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Do work that pays well and don't do too much blow

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Cook from scratch, don't buy pre packaged goods unless it's something that you can't make... and if you do buy them try to buy when they are on sale only.

For canned and many dry goods, buying the generic brand rather than one of the expensive named brands can save money... more often than not the same manufacturer produces both - but you pay a lot more for one. Stock up (if you have spare cash and space) when stuff is on sale .. when you walk around the store, keep a close eye on prices!

Try to have a savings account of some type. What I do at the end of the month when I get paid is put any money that is left from the previous month (sometimes none, sometimes a little) into my savings account.. it adds up over time, handy for those unexpected expenses and saves having to use a visa card, for instance.

Get thermal darkening curtains for rooms you don't use, they retain heat in winter, cut down the sunlight in summer, reducing the heat. Shut or partially block any heating / air con vents in rooms you don't use, saving the heat / cool for rooms you do.. and reducing the costs a little.
:)

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Don't spend more on tech or subscriptions than you absolutely have to.

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

Re: Biggest Money Lessons from Living in Canada
 

+1
I found that it was all too easy to throw money away for little or no benefit when I was young, but it was then that a little saving would yielded most fruit. Fortunately we grew up and came to our senses before we became too old to benefit.
It's not rocket science, if you have a few bucks then think hard before you lose it forever, once gone it won't be coming back.
It's a truism that money makes money although it used to make a little more than it does now.
People will queue up to separate you from the hard earned. Only once did I succumb to the siren voice of a financial advisor, never again. They all do very nicely so it pays to ask who pays their salaries, that's right it's you.
I remember sitting in my lounge being serenaded by two advisors. They told me my money could do this and it could do that. I wasn't greedy and told them if they could guarantee a return just half of what they were tempting me with then they had a deal. They left without one.
We're our own advisors and we haven't done too badly, just being careful. I keep our cars on average 10-15 years, I mend things if I can and always look for bargains, so much so that it's a poor day when I pay full price for anything. It becomes a way of life. I keep old screws and reuse nails as my father did. My main hobbies of making model ships, playing chess and genealogy uses time and costs little.
As the old maxim goes, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.