Auntie's Advice

06/16/2026

Debt should be prioritized, but investing is also an important muscle that needs to be developed well. Start small, so you can see the numbers grow. It'll help you develop the habit and will give you more confidence when your debt is paid off and you have more income to invest.

06/02/2026

Understanding your worth extends beyond monetary value. It encompasses your potential to grow, learn and evolve.

You deserve abundance simply because you exist.

05/23/2026

Saving for senior year is one of the best things I ever did. :D

This is not a conversation about whether senior activities cost too much, most importantly prom, or whether senior activities are necessary, or whether parents should spend money on all of this in the first place.

It’s a conversation about strategy and preparedness.

At the end of the day, our kids’ senior year comes with expenses and this was one of the easiest ways for me to offset those costs without constantly having to pull from my regular income or credit cards every time something came up.

Also, saving for senior year expenses is not the absence of saving for college, investing, or teaching your child financial literacy. People always try to make these conversations one or the other when real life usually requires both.

Starting a small automatic transfer during freshman year genuinely made my son’s senior year so much easier on me financially.

Original post:

04/29/2026

Registered Accounts – a primer

Here are some terms that you should know.
1. Tax-deductible: able to be deducted from taxable income when calculating income tax due.
2. Tax-deferred: refers to instances where a taxpayer can delay paying taxes to some future period, usually when you take the money out.
3. Tax-free: usually not tax-deductible but there is no tax on the growth that occurs.

Registered accounts in Canada are government-approved plans for a specific purpose that offer tax advantages – such as tax-deferred growth or tax-free withdrawals – to encourage savings. Most of the registered accounts are really a designation; the actual account types can vary between standard savings accounts and can sometimes include investment accounts.
• Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) allows investments to grow tax free with tax free withdrawals at any time.
• First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is a hybrid account allowing tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals for first-time home purchases.
• Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is a designation for an account meant for retirement. Contributions are tax-deductible, reducing taxable income, with taxes deferred until withdrawal, which is usually in retirement.
• Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is designed for individuals with disabilities to save long-term and may be eligible for government grants and bonds based on family income. Not everyone qualifies for this type of account.
• Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) are used to save for post-secondary education with tax-sheltered growth and potential government grants.
• Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) are used to receive income from retirement savings, often converted from an RRSP.
• Registered Pension Plan (RPP) is an employer-sponsored retirement plan registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). It provides tax-deductible contributions for employees and employers, with investment growth that is tax-sheltered until retirement. Not everyone qualifies for this type of account.

02/05/2026

I will no longer say that I am bad with money. The truth is I wasn’t taught how to manage money and everything I have learned was done through trial and error (and there were many of them). I love myself enough to learn what I need to improve my financial situation.

02/02/2026

Paying for convenience on purpose (not by accident). Grocery delivery, pickup orders, or small time-saving services are often labeled “rich people behavior.”
But sometimes paying a small fee can prevent overspending, impulse shopping, or total burnout.
This is not always a luxury expense but actually using your money to protect time, energy, and focus when life is already busy AF!

02/02/2026

Reminder: It's ok if all you did last month was survive. I am proud of you.

02/01/2026

Welcome February!

It's a new month, and a new chance to improve your finance stability.

The beginning of this month is starting out rough for me as I am in overdraft in my account. A vehicle repair was needed this past week that I hadn't saved quite enough for yet. This will put me behind in all of my plans this month because I will have to make that money up somehow. My goal will be to have a positive balance in my account at the end of February.
When it happened, I was feeling really bad about it - who am I to give financial advice - and it took me some time to get out of that mindset. It wasn't as bad as it could have been because I did have some of that money saved in my car repair sinking fund. I didn't want to use the funds in my restarted Emergency Fund because it wasn't an emergency to me - I knew a large repair bill was imminent.
So my plan this month is to make up the difference in my bank account - about $650 to earn (in addition to my regular pay) to reduce in my monthly expenses.

$0/$650

01/31/2026

You don’t need to be wealthy to invest. You invest to build wealth.

01/19/2026

Setting goals doesn't have to be based on dollar amounts.