Million Dollar JourneyMillion Dollar JourneyThe Making of a Millionaire - A Canadian Personal Finance Story. Come follow the story of a 20 something year old Canadian on this journey to 1 million in net worth by the age of 35. Daily topics include personal finance, investing, taxes, and frug Articles
Jan 2008 Net Worth Update (+1.04%)
2008-01-31 12:30:00 Time for the first net worth update for 2008 ! January was ANOTHER volatile month in the markets and my portfolio was hit hard. Even though my non-registered portfolio is mostly cash right now (for the upcoming house and Smith Manoeuvre), my RRSP account took a beating. This month, I took the advice of the readers and took ... More About: Update , Net worth , Worth
Book Giveaway: Retire Rich from Real Estate
2008-01-30 11:30:00 Sphinx Publishing and Dr. Marc Andersen have agreed to give away a copy of their book "Retire Rich from Real Estate " to a lucky reader of Million Dollar Journey. Earlier, I wrote a glowing review of the real estate investing book. Here is a snippet: ..Although the book is based on investing in the U.S, the ... More About: Real Estate , Book
Book Review: Retire Rich from Real Estate
2008-01-29 11:30:00 Sphinx Publishing contacted and provided me with a free copy of the new book "Retire Rich from Real Estate " by Dr. Marc Andersen for review. It came at the right time as I'm contemplating putting more of my money in hard real estate assets. Although the book is based on investing in the U.S, the lessons ... More About: Real Estate , Book Review , Review
Save Money Online with Great Canadian Rebates
2008-01-28 11:30:00 I was surfing the web for some online coupons last week and came across a site called Great Canadian Rebates. As it turns out, this site allows their members to get CASH BACK rebates (and coupons) when doing their online shopping through specific vendors… with no membership cost. Yes.. free. No, this is not a sponsored post. With ... More About: Money , Save Money , Online
Contest Winner, Rate Cut, and Other Good Reads - Jan 25, 2008
2008-01-25 11:30:00 Contest Winner This past week we had a book giveaway with the prize being a free copy of "A Million Bucks by 30" by Alan Cory. All entries were entered into a spreadsheet and a random number was generated. Drumroll please… and the winner is: Brenna! Congrats Brenna, I will be contacting you shortly for your shipping address. Interest ... More About: Contest , Good , Rate , 2008
Prepaid Wireless Plan Comparison
2008-01-24 11:30:00 For those of you who don't use a cell phone very often, or simply for emergencies, the prepaid wireless option that some providers offer can be the most cost effective solution. There really isn't one provider that will suit everyone as they both market their products towards a specific group of people. Some plans offer ... More About: Wireless , Comparison , Prepaid , Plan , Prep
Finding Passive/Alternative Income Streams
2008-01-23 11:30:00 Even though this site is all about my million dollar net worth journey, I personally consider passive/alternative income to be more important. Why? As I've mentioned before, I would consider myself financially free the day that I no longer need my 9-5 job to cover our expenses. Imagine the day that you don't "need" to ... More About: Alternative , Income , Passive , Alterna
A Car that Runs on Air?
2008-01-22 12:30:00 I was surfing around some popular articles around the web yesterday and came across an article about a new "air car" that I thought would be an interesting topic to share as it relates to potential big savings. What is the Air Car? It's a car with brand new technology, developed in France, that will allow ... More About: Technology , Runs
Book Giveaway: A Million Bucks by 30
2008-01-21 11:30:00 Alan Corey has graciously agreed to giveaway a copy of his new book to a lucky reader! If you haven't already, check out my book review of "A Million Bucks by 30". … He told me about his story/book where he set a big financial goal at the age of 22 to become a millionaire ... More About: Book
Leveraged Dividend Investing for the Cash Flow
2008-01-21 08:30:00 After reading "The Brainwashing of an American Investor", my mind has been on the subject of investing for cash flow. As the author states, a big fat portfolio is nice, but having a portfolio that pays for steaks is better. I'm also a believer in cash flow. As I've stated many times before, the day ... More About: Investing , Cash , Flow , Dividend
Site Issues, Carnivals and Weekend Reading - Jan 18, 2008
2008-01-18 11:30:00 This week was a technically challenging week for MDJ as I botched an upgrade thus making various parts of the site a little buggy. One thing I noticed was that the post schedule was a little wonky, so thanks for being so patient while I'm working things out. As per the messed up scheduling, I ... More About: Reading , Carnivals , Issues , Site , Weekend
Shopping for a Newborn II - Summary and Tips
2008-01-17 11:30:00 As you might have read from a previous post on Shopping for a Newborn - The List, buying everything brand new can be quite expensive. However, there are some ways to reduce your costs, which is what I'm all about. Make sure to shop around. Walmart and Toys R Us had the same brand names, but Toys R Us prices were about 10-15% higher. Note that if you are on a budget, then look at your local classifieds for used items (kijiji and craigslist come to mind). You can sometimes find baby items in good shape and for a fraction of the cost. At our local classifieds, we found a lady selling baby clothes, the baby bjorn carrier, and some other toys for about 30% the retail cost. We even found a high end used baby crib for a great price, but the baby's grandparents insists on buying new (they're paying). Wait for the sales. A trick that I've found is that Walmart seems to sell their baby stuff at clearance prices at the end of the year or... More About: Tips , Summary
Shopping for a Newborn I - The List
2008-01-16 11:53:00 We spent the past weekend shopping around for things that we'll need for the newborn when he/she arrives. I must say that there is a LOT of stuff that you need to buy and none of it is cheap. From what we've learned, here is a run down of the must buy big ticket items and what to look out for. Car Seats There are 3 types of car seats, all go by the weight of the child. There is the infant car seat which will typically support 5-22lbs, the toddler 22-40lbs, and the booster 40-80lbs. The infant car seat is a must have as the infant will need to be transported from the hospital to home in safe manner. Infant car seats are all rear facing to help protect the infants neck in case of an accident. Look for an infant car seat with a removable base. That way, the base can conveniently stay in the car should you decide to carry the baby around in the seat. You can find 3 in 1 systems that can switch between infant, toddler and booster. Alas,... More About: Shopping , List , The List
Book Review - A Million Bucks by 30
2008-01-15 10:30:00 Alan Corey, young author and millionaire, contacted me after visiting MDJ one day. He told me about his story/book where he set a big financial goal at the age of 22 to become a millionaire before the age of 30. Not only did he reach his goal on average income (below average in NYC), he ... More About: Book Review , Book Reviews , Review , Book , Bucks
Questrade USD RRSP and Referral Promotion
2008-01-14 08:30:00 We've all complained about those extra FOREX fees when buying US stock within an RRSP, but none of the big brokerages have done anything about it. Complain no more because Canadian Capitalist has broken the news that Questrade now offers the ability to hold U.S Dollars (USD) within their RRSP accounts! What does this mean? Cheaper to Invest ... More About: Promotion , Referral
Weekend Reading - Jan 11, 2008
2008-01-11 08:30:00 Patrick at Cash Money Life hosted this weeks Festival of Frugality. MDJ submitted the guest post on how to save money when buying a car. In addition, the article was selected as an editors choice! Tim from Canadian Dream posted a very informative article on what happens if you don't plan for retirement. The article explains ... More About: Reading , Weekend , 2008
Back in Business
2008-01-10 17:48:00 There's nothing like a fresh dose of panic first thing in the morning. To make a long story short, I really messed up the blog software update that made MDJ unreadable for a few hours. Thankfully, the feed wasn't affected. Everything seems to be working fine now, if you find do something broken, please let ... More About: Business , Back
Site Troubles
2008-01-10 12:16:00 Hi Guys, Sorry, having a few sites troubles today. Hopefully we'll be back up later on today. In the mean time, you can read todays post through the feed. More About: Site
Reader Mail: Babe in the Woods II
2008-01-10 08:30:00 Babe in the Woods has contacted me again with a bunch of questions. After the last response to her questions, she has gone out and read a couple personal finance books and now has more questions. So I've just finished reading The Wealthy Barber for the first time, and am pretty inspired. I'm starting to do ... More About: Mail , Reader , Babe , In the Woods
VISA IPO is going to be Huge!
2008-01-09 08:30:00 Just doing some finance reading today and came by an article about the much anticipated VISA Initial Public Offering (IPO). The reason that investors are excited? VISA is the largest credit card network in the U.S and they basically print money. VISA is hoping that their IPO will raise $10 billion which, if achieved, will be ... More About: Visa , Huge
Book Review: The Lazy Investor
2008-01-08 08:30:00 Since the success of the Canadian best seller Stop Working: Here's How You Can, Derek Foster has written another book called "The Lazy Investor ". I was excited to receive his latest book for review as I really enjoyed his first book. It's not surprising to see that Fosters dividend investment strategy is followed by many Canadian ... More About: Book Review , Review , Book
Building a Home Gym
2008-01-07 08:30:00 Another project that I'm evaluating with the upcoming new home is building a home gym in the basement instead of paying our monthly gym membership fees. What kind of equipment and materials are required to build a decent home gym? Here is what I am considering (from Spartan Athletic Products): Rubber Floor Mats: $65 (4'x6') x ... More About: Building , Home
Weekend Reading - New Year Edition 2008
2008-01-04 08:30:00 I have found some great articles to kick off the new year that cover the topics of mortgages, stock trading, personal finance and oil. Canadian Mortgage Trends writes about the Top 5 Mortgage Trends of 2007. Among them include how the down payment requirement for a conventional mortgage dropped from 25%->20% and the introduction of longer ... More About: New Year , Reading , Weekend , Edition , Year
Financial and Blog Goals for 2008
2008-01-03 08:30:00 It's the beginning of the year and time again to declare my personal and blog goals for 2008 . As indicated by yesterdays Financial Goals for 2007 Report Card, last year was a success in terms of the goals that I set and what I was able to achieve. This year, however, may be a bit more ... More About: Blog
Financial Goals 2007 Report Card
2008-01-02 08:30:00 It's the beginning of 2008 which means it's time to to look back at my financial goals for 2007 and see if my original financial goals for the year were met. It's report card time! Goal #1: Increase passive/alternative income to $500/mo (Grade: A+) Final Report : Our passive/alternative income well surpassed the $500/mo. What I consider ... More About: Card , Financial , Goals
Best of Million Dollar Journey: 2007 Edition
2008-01-01 08:30:00 Happy New Year! Looking back on 2007, MDJ has put up quite the few popular and controversial articles. Below are the top articles on MDJ for 2007 grouped by popularity, comments, and general favorites. Here are the top 10 articles of MDJ for the year of 2007: The Smith Manoeuvre - A Wealth Strategy Canadian Discount Brokerage Comparison Anti-Smith ... More About: Journey , Dollar , Million , Edition
Dec 2007 Net Worth Update (+2.35%)
2007-12-31 08:30:00 Time for the final installment of net worth updates for the year 2007. December was a volatile month for the markets, but better than November. A few readers commented in my November net worth post that insurance shouldn't be counted as a liability. Yes, technically, I can cancel my insurance anytime so it's not a real ... More About: Update , Net worth , Worth , Wort
Weekend Reading - Dec 28, 2007
2007-12-28 08:30:00 Even though this week was slower in terms of traffic and blog posts in the blog world, there have been some great links that I would like to share with you. The Digerati Life hosts the Christmas Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. MDJ submitted the post that compared the net worth of various PF bloggers and was chosen as an editors pick! CBC reports that over 5 million Canadians hit the stores during the boxing day sales. Were you one of them? I was! Thicken My Wallet answers the question "What does it feel like to own your own business?" Cash Money Life writes about 9 Financial Lessons. Canadian Capitalist clues up the DIY Smith Manoeuvre series with Part 4 - The Tax Element of the Smith Manoeuvre. Canadian Dream has a Christmas gift for us all in his spreadsheet giveaway that calculates the "Crossover point". This is basically where your investment income meets your living expenses. In other words, it calculates when you... More About: Reading , Weekend
Reader Mail: Relocating with Lots of Equity in my Home
2007-12-27 08:30:00 I received an email from Jimmy last week about his financial situation and he's wondering what I would do if I were in his shoes. The basic idea is that Jimmy is relocating in the near future with TONS of equity in his existing home. Should he buy a house in the new area or ... More About: Mail , Home , Reader , Equity , Loca
QCash on: Borrowing to Invest: My Exit Strategy?
More articles from this author:2007-12-26 08:30:00 QCash, the 37 year old retired millionaire, writes about his adventure in leveraged investing. I have never been a big fan of leveraged investing. Especially when I took early retirement and I don’t want to expose myself to any large risks that could thwart my plans. However, I have found myself embracing the ... More About: Strategy , Exit Strategy , Invest , Borrowing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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