Brown Eyed Girl and Money

RESP for Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 30 May 2015 20:56:00 +0000

Before Baby was born we already research how we are going to invest for her. We had money from our wedding and we decided to invest that for baby (although we have to hold it in Trust for her until she's older and pay the taxes on the gains as well).

Also, we research RESP investment options. Originally we thought about setting up a RESP account at BMO so that we can ask everyone to put money towards her education instead of buying her gifts. BMO doesn't have a minimum limit like a lot of RESP accounts do. Then grandpa said he was going to give her $100 every month towards her RESP. And we were going to get $100 a month from Universal Child Benefit. With these two regular monthly amounts, we thought we set up a regular RESP contribution for her through our insurance company's RESP programs.

Through this program, they apply for the government matches, invest the money, and match our contributions by 15%. This will be a nice little sum for her to add to our other investments for her for her education when she's older.

Resources for Landlord

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 05:59:00 +0000

As mentioned Real Estate is part of my investment portfolio and Rentals are a sub group of that. Recently I learnt a lot from a crazy tenant and thought that I'd share one of the most important thing I learnt - where to go to for information.

If you have questions regarding your rights and what you can do as a landlord you can go to Service Alberta's Landlord/Tenants website for information, forms, common questions etc. If you find this a lot to read you can also called the Service Alberta number (1-877-427-4088) and ask your questions to a live service representative.

When I was dealing with my tenant I dreaded having to dig and navigate my way through Alberta's Landlords/Tenants Legislation. The website and the Service Alberta number really helped make things clear.

My Investment Strategy Part 3 of 3 - Private Equity

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 22:12:00 +0000

This part of my investment strategy kind of happened by accident. I had felt that there was something missing in my portfolio. As a small shareholder in publicly traded companies I have very little control over what happened in the company. Real estate investment means a huge chunk of money invested in a small number of properties in one type of investment. I found out about the opportunity to invest in private equity when I went along with my sister to meet her investment advisor. It seem to fit in between my equity and real estate investment.

I can participate in a small/medium sized company in lines of business I wouldn't be able to do myself such as factoring or flow through shares. Also through my investment advisor and his firm, we have a lot more visibility over the company's decisions and strategies.

My Investment Strategy Part 2 of 3 - Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 02:53:00 +0000

No big surprise that part of my investment strategy is in Real Estate. I invest in Real Estate mainly through rental properties with Sis. Currently we have three properties in Calgary and one property in Edmonton. We have two criteria when we evaluate a property for purchase:

Appreciation potential:

Is this property priced right or under/over priced?
What is the price we can likely negotiate?
How long do we expect to keep this house for? What kind of appreciation can we expect when we sell?
Are there any improvement costs we will need to invest immediately to bring this property up to par for renting?
Are there any improvement costs we will need to invest over time to up keep or prepare the property for selling?

Cash Flow:

Will this property be cash flow positive? i.e. we want the income to cover expenses so we don't have to inject money into the rental monthly.

This is the primary way we invest in Real Estate. Then we also put a small budget aside for investment in the occasional property flips, and land investment through private companies.

RBC Statement Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:56:00 +0000

I heard about this RBC Statement Challenge awhile back. You take your statement from another bank to an RBC adviser, have them tell you how your can save your money, and get a $50 Visa Gift card. I didn't pay too much attention buecase I assume this is a campagin to get new clients and I'm already a client via the iPad give away.

I was in RBC to do an RRSP investment today and my advisor said it applies to existing clients as well. So I have an appoitment to see her again tomorrow. If you are interested, hurry! Offer ends February 2, 2015.

Calgary Co-op Free Product Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 04:58:00 +0000

I happen to glance at an email this week from the Calgary Co-op highlighting something called "Free Product Friday".

Not sure if this is every Friday but I downloaded the Co-op App and got a 3 Roll pack of Viva Vantage Towels ($4.99) for free today. Check it out for next Friday.

Making a Budget & Sticking to it

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:56:00 +0000

As I posted a little previously Beau and I are making a budget as our family income is taking a hit due to maternity. We finished the budget part last weekend. Now we are on the sticking to budget part.

As I suspected, we already have a pretty lean budget to begin with. More than 50% of our budget is fixed costs like house, car, insurance etc. The only place we could cut our expenses is food and entertainment. Food is one of our indulgences. We love our regular restaurants and trying new ones. Also, one of our bad habits, where a lot of our groceries goes to waste because we just forget to eat them on time. This year we are going to cut back on this part of the budget by keeping the eating out to special occasions or outing with friends/family. This also means we will do more meal planning and hopefully cut down on the food waste at home.

I don't want to spend too much time on tracking our spending. I already keep books for my rentals, Beau's business, and my small business so I don't want another set of accounts to keep. So I'm trying out Mint.com. The first glitch with mint.com happened today when it didn't work with my MBNA Mastercard. I submitted a ticket so hopefully they will have it resolved soon.

Updating Car Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 18:55:00 +0000

Beau and I are making a budget, because being on maternity means a more than 50% pay cut as I have wrote about before. As we were making the budget it reminded me that I no longer drive to work everyday, this should decrease my budget.

A call to my insurance company confirmed it. After updating my insurance I saved $300 per year. Not a whole lot, but not bad either.

Actually this happened when I moved as well. I saved like $50 because apparently my new area of the city meant cheaper insurance compared to my old area.

So if you have any changes to your driving habits be sure to update your car insurance company and see if you get any savings.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 05:37:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

The posts have not been happening lately because of our little addition to the family who arrived early.

In November, on a beautiful dry afternoon we got rear ended by the car beside us. Luckily, we were all stopped to begin with so it was low impact. Why this man decided to gas it when the light was still red we don't know. That night my water broke and baby came the a day later. Are these two things related? None of us could really know for sure.

Since then it has been day s filled with feedings, sleeping, crying, and diapers. We are getting to know our little girl and her particular schedule. Hopefully this means I will find more time to blog.

Netflix over Traditional TV

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 03:20:00 +0000

We have not had traditional subscription TV for awhile now. Beau and I have been using our Apple Tv & Netflix.

So this week, while we are house sitting for his mother we thought we would enjoy having TV. But in actuality, it didn't make a difference. The evening News was the only thing we actually watched. Everything else was not so interesting, and the commercials were just getting on my nerves.

Engagement Rings

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 04:20:00 +0000

One of my co-workers is planning on proposing to his girlfriend. We are super excited for him. He approached me on advice regarding diamonds. He is torn about what to get her for the budget he set. Should he get a bigger diamond or a better quality diamond?

I told him about the two things that I took away from my engagement ring.

There is a significant jump in price at the one carat threshold. i.e. 0.9 carat is much cheaper compared to 1 carat. But to the inexperienced eye it's hard to tell the difference.
What people notice the most and talk about the most is the carat. Not color. Not clarity. Not cut. To be honest, I cannot tell you what my diamond is without looking at the appraisal and it hasn't even been a year.

My advice? If you are buying for investment then go for the 4 C's and quality. If you are buying something to look nice on her finger go for size. As for the other C's choose something reasonable and middle of the road.

Maternity Leave Benefits

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 04:20:00 +0000

With the baby coming, it’s no surprise it’s a topic of conversation for a lot of our friends. It surprised me how many people have misconceptions about what kind of EI benefits they will be receiving. Most people think it 55% of your income. However, did not realize that there is a maximum.

So no. If you make $100,000 a year, it does not mean you get $55,000 during maternity. It’s quite a bit less and you need to plan for that.

The amount is reviewed and changed each year. But as of right now, the latest information I see on the Service Canada website is that the maximum weekly benefit $514. This means if you yearly income is $48,600 or below you receive 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings. But if your income is greater than that there is no more from EI benefits. You may receive a top up from your company, which you will need to look into eligibility and rules with your HR.

My company provides a top up to 70% of my income for the first 20 weeks. It’s part of my benefits plan which I am responsible for paying the premiums for. Also, if I don’t work a full 6 months after maternity, I have to return the top up. I expect to be coming back, however, to be safe Beau and I are planning on saving the Top Up portion, invest it in something safe. After 6 months of being back at the job, we will put it towards to investment for baby.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 11:10:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone!

I am suffering a little insomnia, but at least it gives me plenty of time to prepare stuff for the three Thanksgiving dinners this weekend. Thankful for lovely friends and family, and Beau and baby this year.

Some Me Time

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:15:00 +0000

It was a hard decision and there was a lot of flip flopping, but Beau and I both agreed that I go on maternity 6 weeks before my due date.

That may not seem like a big decision to many but for someone like me it is. Because first I'm not good with being idle. Second, taking maternity early means going back to work early equals less time with baby. Third, that is 6 weeks of getting a full time pay check I'd be giving up.

But given my work load and the stress at work, we thought it would be best for baby and me to take some mommy time. Example of how crazy it is at work, I'm a week away from leaving and I've just been given 2 new top priority projects on top of my ongoing projects. We are getting 3 new hires to replace me, and only one of them started this week. Another one will start next week. The third one my boss is writing an offer for so I won't even be here when he starts. I had to schedule water breaks so I don't get dehydrated (cause of my 3 last kidney stone attacks - kind of a funny story which I'd like to blog about when I have the free time :)

Also, I don't intend to be sitting around doing nothing during this mommy time. First thing I will do (after I catch up on sleeping) is to plan my days and some projects. Stay tuned

Sobey's Baby be Healthy Program

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 01:13:00 +0000

One of the ladies in my pregnancy class mentioned that Sobey's has a program that gives you free prenatal Vitamins for a year. Since prenatal vitamins are something you should be taking if you are planning to get pregnant, and even for a few months after the baby is born, I thought it's worth doing a quick Google search.

It is called the Baby Be Healthy Program. You can sign up online or sign up in store. However, the 1 year supply of prenatal vitamin is only available to in store participants so I dropped by my closes Sobey's store to sign up.

The process did not take take too long. I was asked for my health care card, and some information. Then it took some time for the pharmacy assistant to fill out the rest of the information. Then I was given a welcome package with the following:

a Compliments shopping bag
a 30 day supply for prenatal vitamins which they will call me to refill on a monthly basis
1 small jar of diaper rash cream
1 small pack of 24 new born diapers
a various pamphlets on folic acid, breastfeeding, etc.

Since they didn't mention the other items only the vitamins, I'm guessing these freebies may vary depending on store?

The vitamins have the exact same composition as my Kirkland brand of Prenatal vitamins, actually by the same manufacturer. I kind of expected that they want you to come back regularly for the refills, probably in hopes that they can win your prescription business. It works for me since we have a Sobey's close by and I'm almost out of my original vitamins.

Babies R Us Registry

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 23:13:00 +0000

Now that I've finished my exam, it's time to focus on preparing for the baby's arrival. This weekend we headed down to Babies R Us to create a baby registry (something we've been asked many times but haven't gotten around to).

We are still a little lite on the items on the registry but at least we have it started. We also got a bag of goodies for signing up for the registry.

PMP - Passed!

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 05:10:00 +0000

I passed! The few minutes the blank screen was there while my exam was being scored never seem so long!

I was nervous because the first few questions seem so different than what I practiced. But after a little bit I calmed down and just applied what I know. Yes! No pregnancy brain impact here. Well, I think I used up all my brain power preparing and writing this exam. Because Beau says I've been kind of slow processing other stuff. Yesterday, I grabbed my vitamins instead of my car keys :)

PMP Certification Preparations

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 16:22:00 +0000

A month seems like a long time until you have an exam to prepare for. I've been putting lots of hours of studying,, and as a little break I thought I would blog about my exam preparation and the cost of it.

I signed up for a Project Management Institute (PMI) membership, and it has saved me quite a bit of money and time in preparing for the exam.

First off, there is a different cost for the exam for members than non-members of PMI. So I already made my PMI membership dues back in terms of discount for the exam.

Secondly, with the PMI membership I get a digital copy of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). This saves me $40-$70 depending on where you buy the book from. The great thing about it is that I can load it onto my iPad and read whenever I have a free moment. And I can search/look up any topic quickly.

Thirdly, with the PMI membership I have access I have access to the E-reads and Reference section of the website, where there are great books I can use for free. While I have lots of books marked for reading later, the ones most useful to me are the Exam Prep and Sample questions.

Something that I did 'splurge' on is Rita Mulcahy's PMP exam Prep book (~$100) and her FastTrack Program ($300). But I have heard great things about it, and so far I find reading this book a lot easier than the PMBOK. The PMBOK is more of the facts, where as this book is more of an explanation of why. The FastTrack is just lots of exam questions, which I can take in a simulated exam format and then review each answer with explanations.

All in all preparation is not cheap, but it will be worth it in the end. I'm going to save all the receipts and ask my accountant if there is anything I can write off for taxes. I think the membership dues yes, but not sure about the others. But it's good to save them now, rather than having to search for them next year.

2000 Shoppers Optimum Points for updating profile

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:04:00 +0000

In this week's flyer there is another promotion code for 2000 points when you update your profile at Shoppers.

Code is 1020 and expires September 25, 2014.

For Mommies at Thyme this Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 21:48:00 +0000

A couple of times I shopped at Thyme I've received samples/give away. So I thought I would sign up for their news letter.

This Saturday they are having a 'Baby Shower' where you get a goodie bag with any purchase. For the mommies out there if you are planning to shop at Thyme why not go this Saturday and get some free goodies.

Update:
I got my goodie bag!

Costco & Capital One Mastercard

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 00:33:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement for an American Express card offering 1.25% cash return, which is not bad. Especially since I shop at Costco and it only takes American Express and the True Earnings card I have with Costco is not as good for rewards. In my research for this card, I read that Coscto has stopped advertising the True Earnings card. Seems like everyone thought something is up, confirmed by today's news.

Costco is going to stop accepting American Express card after December 31. Instead they will be offering a Capital One card and start accepting Mastercard. This is great news to me. Because I have the Smart Cash card and the Capital One Aspire travel card which both give me better rewards from my Amex card.

Free Baby Safety Latch Kit from P&G

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 00:08:00 +0000

I signed up for this awhile back and was not sure if it would arrive because there was not a lot of information. But here it is!

To get this freebie sign up here.

Shoppers Very Important Baby Program

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Sat, 13 Sep 2014 00:32:00 +0000

Look at what arrived in the mail today. It's so much fun when these free samples arrive. Like opening a gift. Today's box is courtesy of Shopper's VIB program. You can join the program with your Optimum card here.

Inside the box there were samples of:

Pamper's Swaddler's Diaper for Newborn
A cute little pink terry cloth bib
La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume (Lipid-Replenishing Body Balm)
Mustela Cleansing Gel for Hair & Body
Aveeno Baby Daily Lotion
Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion
Johnson's head-to-toe baby wash
Coupon for 1500 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points when you spend $15 or more on baby products for you and a friend
Coupon book with Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points for purchase of products such as Huggies, Pampers, Mustela, Johnson's Baby, Aveeno, La Roche-Posay, Tylenol, and Life Brand

After the Summer Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 04:17:00 +0000

Today is a lovely day with sunshine and warm weather. But of course yesterday in Calgary, it was a completely different story. Three of our rentals had snow/tree related problems. For one, the branches fell due to the heavy snow and knocked out the power line. We have to call 911 and our utility company to get the power restored. Koodles to Enmax our utilities company. According to the news there were 30,000 homes without power, so we thought it would take some time before they can get to us. But they were there and had power restored by 5pm.

Then the other two also had branches that fell due to heavy snow. So today, Beau and his buddy were hard at work dealing with all the fallen branches. We have to budget for cutting down trees as a preventative measure, and for fixing the outside of the house because the downed power line ripped out stucco etc.

Looking forward to a nice and boring weekend.

Home Depot in the News

noreply@blogger.com (Esme) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 02:26:00 +0000

It’s been on the news that Home Depot confirmed a breach of their payment data system. Because of the rentals, and renos we have been doing, both Beau and I have used our credit cards multiple times since April.

They are offering identity protection services, through AllClear Pro in US, and Equifax for Canada. I’ve been trying to reach Equifax all day, but the phone has been busy. Finally I managed to get through after being on hold for 10 minutes.

On the phone the Customer Service Representative gave me a promotional code for 1 year of credit protection and walked me through how to set it up at http://myservices.equifax.ca/pplan/. Done. One year of protection. It says the plan automatically renews after 1 year, but I did not enter any credit card information so it probably don’t. Just in case I put a note in my calendar to check in 11 months from now.