Great Scott ... now I'm revisiting my own personal obsession with personal finance blogs LOL!! Actually blogging can be rewarding for just that reason. I can credit other bloggers with sending me links to see if those sites have information that resonate with me and my life. It's probably because many of us bloggers are from the same generation that we often do share the same interests.

Click here to see how rich YOU are...

At any rate I really enjoyed reading Give Me My Five Bucks Back. She had some good tips on saving money and really dedicating yourself to getting out of debt. I've been interested in selling my cars for oh... a year. I know that this is the only financial vehicle (pun intended) I have to drive the debt down (again, intended!). My question is whether to LEASE or BUY when I get into another car, since of course I still need transportation to and from work. Luckily my work is only 4km away. (In theory I could walk or bike in the summer although doing so would require me to walk on the side of a freeway both ways -not so safe). I am actually leaning towards leasing because (a) monthly payments are lower, (b) I will be well within the allotted 20,000 kilometres you are allowed annually lest you pay for mileage at the end of your lease and (c) at the end of the one or two year lease I can trade up to another new car as opposed to owning and paying for a depreciating-now-used-car. I cannot say I have loyalty to a make or model nor do I feel an attachment to owning a vehicle, or any liquid asset (including real estate). I feel these are merely things we invest in. I can't say I know any cars that appreciate or hold their value (are there?) or I would invest in them. I dare say renting a car at low monthly lease payment seems more logical. No, you don't own anything in the end but you are not pouring your money into owning a depreciating asset. Your thoughts??

One great tip that I read on a finance blog a while back is about zero interest cards. So I immediately went out and got some. I transferred all my debt (okay, most of it) to zero interest cards. Obviously these are short term offers (one card is 12 months and the other 18 months zero interest) however this still saves thousands in interest over this amount of time and lowers the monthly payments. I have it noted when I have to transfer the remaining balance from each card to save an unwelcome lump at the end when the zero interest offer runs out. In addition, once my debt is paid you can then use these zero interest cards to BORROW and INVEST with. Withdraw money from the zero interest card and put it into RRSP, then repay your zero interest loan back to your zero interest credit card. Free RRSP loan! How intelligent! I also switched to no-fee banking, got a good savings account, maxed out my rrsp and pension contributions and at the very least: I have a plan.
Still lots to do, but there's still a plan.