Happy New Year! and it is indeed a new year. If you’re interested in adopting some new, do-able habits for 2008 - guaranteed to yield great results - here’s a Grab N’ Go of ideas. Take what appeals to you; leave the rest for another year.

 1. Befriend your money. Spend time with it. Get to know it. Find out what your doing with it - you’ll be surprised at the both good and less kind ways you handle your cash flow.

2. Start Saving. Now. Not when you think you can afford it. Not when your cash flow feels better. Start saving now, even if it’s $10 a paycheque. Test me on this - see if you don’t discover it IS possible. See if within 6 months you aren’t thrilled to have started. See if you don’t start to feel an inner sense of esteem that comes with having savings. Yes, you may need to dip into it from time to time. That’s OK. With time, you’ll become increasingly adept at finding alternatives to dipping into your savings.

You should hang on to any record that could be used to determine your taxes payable for a period of six years from the date of your Notice of Assessment. Additionally, you are required to keep these documents in your home unless you have special permission from the Canada Revenue Agency to store them elsewhere.

There are a few exceptions to the six-year rule -- documents that you should keep indefinitely. Examples of these include purchase and sale agreements related to the purchase of a property. You will need these if you eventually sell the property.

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Have an accounting question? Submit it as a comment so it can be answered in a future “Ask an Accountant” entry.

According to the Retail Council of Canada, for Holiday 2007, 94% of Canadians plan to give gifts to others, spending an average of $733. Furthermore, we'll spend an additional $714 on travel, decorations, eating out etc. And a word to the wise: according to Moneris (the people who produce the machines we all swipe our cards on) this Friday (Dec. 21) between 2-3 pm is going to be the height of shopping.

 December is a critical month for retailers in Canada. That got me thinking.

Some terrific freebies this week:
1. will donate $1 to the foodbank for each gingerbread e-card you decorate and send. Fun for adults; even more fun for the kids. Try it!
 2. The Pacific Baroque Orchestra is donating a free concert ('Twas the night before Christmas) to the downtown eastside,

My bank, Citizens Bank of Canada, is adding $30 to anyone who opens their Ultimate Savings Account, which pays 3.8% (and is typically, though not always, the highest-interest-paying savings account).  The initial deposit needs to be $500 and you need to leave it there 6 months (ie. not open an account, grab the $30 and leave!).  $30 on $500 plus the 3.8% = nearly 10%!

I'm pretty passionate about the bank (yes, really) - it's owned by VanCity, is all over csr, and gives 30% of its pre-tax profit back to the community -- and has innovative products like term deposits where the funds are used in micro-credit lending.

Offer closes this weekend, so if you want a referral (must be referred by current member) contact me at ngzca at yahoo (the commercial one).

My money coaching practice has no room in it for judgement. Many of my clients do enough of that for themselves - frustrated, embarrassed, referring to themselves as "no good with money" and "irresponsible". The fact is, we all screw up in various areas of our lives. Some of us repeatedly get into lousy relationships. Some of us can't get along on the job. Some of us chronically drink a little too much booze. Etc. And some of us have dropped the ball regarding our finances for reasons ranging from pure exhaustion (managing our money is one more demand on our time) to hopelessness (so why bother). Over the past four years of access to privileged information - how people handle their money, their worries, the foibles - I've learned that it's rarely as simple as, "well, here's the smart thing to do, so just do it already!" This has expanded to macro economics, and my politics.

Citizens Bank of Canada - totally into CSR, a virtual bank owned by VanCity, needs a web designer who can work with drupal.  I work there part-time and thought I'd pass the info along - ideal person would be really jazzed about working at a bank with progressive ideals.

In all the shopping hype across the border, a quiet revolution may go un-noticed. November 23 is Buy Nothing Day!

It's begun: the holiday season. First up? The delightful Santa Clause Parade, this Sunday (Nov 25) at 1pm.






And if wicked clothing/shoe sales are more to your liking, Wear Else is having their Biggest Warehouse Sale Ever!
28 West 7th Avenue (between Ontario and Manitoba)
Thursday November 22nd from 10am to 6pm
Friday November 23rd from 10am to 6pm
Saturday November 24th from 10am to

Like many Canadians, I muse about the future of the Cdn dollar relative to the USD.

Four years ago, Warren Buffet gave his opinion - prescient, per usual. If you haven't yet read him, this is a wonderful introduction. The reading really gets going when he starts describing Squanderville and Thriftville, as illustrative of economies.

Imagine Thriftville and Squanderville as two islands, he says. They have very simple economies - consuming only exactly what they produce. Each resident works 8 hours a day to produce, and consumes 8 hours/day worth of items.