By Sheryl Smolkin

Maybe it’s because I’m a Mom and not a Dad, but coming up with creative gifts for the men in my life has always been a challenge. When my husband and I were first married he loved the gourmet picnic basket I put together. And years later he said the cordless drill I got him was the best gift ever. But these flashes of brilliance have been few and far between.

So in order to write this blog I used my trusty friend Google to help me come up with a list of frugal Father’s Day gifts that doesn’t include ties, socks or underwear. With thanks to fellow bloggers who are more innovative than I am, here are some ideas.

1. Car detailing: A car wash with inside and outside detailing can cost $100 or more. If you play your cards right, you can charm your kids into providing the labour while you manage the project.
2. Garage cleanup: Does the division of labour in your home dictate that Dad is responsible for spring and fall garage cleanup? Give him a break. Take a few hours to get rid of accumulated junk and make more space for the bikes and gardening supplies that resurface every spring.
3. Barbecue: Sticking with the cleanup theme, think about vacuuming, de-greasing and even painting the barbecue to give it a new lease on life. You can also up the ante by buying a new set of inexpensive barbecue tools.
4. Gadgets: My guy loves to cook and he loves gadgets. His latest purchase was mini muffin tins with a small ice cream scoop to fill them. Look for small inexpensive gadgets related to your husband or father’s hobbies.
5. A shopping trip: I consider shopping for clothes as retail therapy. Many men view shopping for themselves as a necessary evil. Make the time to accompany your husband or father to the mall and help him select an attractive item he might never purchase himself.
6. Special treats: Even the youngest children can help bake and ice a cake or cookies with “Dad” spelled out in chocolate chips or raisins. If they last long enough, special treats can be tucked into his lunch bag along with notes or original art work for days after.
7. Tickets: For sports mad Dads, an outing to a hockey or football game may be just the ticket. While major league games can be very expensive, there are many local teams and tournaments that are great entertainment for the low price of admission.
8. Framed photos: Some Dads are the family photographers, so they rarely appear in group pictures. Arrange a family photo shoot with a professional or a talented friend. Frame one or more pictures for his desk.
9. Chores: Whether it is walking the dog, taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn, children of appropriate ages can make coupons for Dad to take over some of his chores.
10. Memories: If your father has passed away, take some time to share memories with grandchildren and other relatives who didn’t know him or may no longer remember him. It may be a great time to start a family tree online to build and preserve memories for future generations.

Do you have ideas for frugal Father’s Day gifts? Send an email to so*********@sa*********.com and share your ideas with us. If your story is posted, your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

20-Jun	Graduation	How to use social media to find a job
27-Jun	Summer activities	Inexpensive summer activities for kids
4-Jul	Summer vacation	Visit Canada. Take a road trip.

By Sheryl Smolkin

After two weeks away, my inbox is chock full of great new blogs.

For sheer entertainment, you can’t beat Kerry K. Taylor’s account of how she got evicted from WalMart while taking pictures for her latest Squawkfox blog Target vs. Walmart: Where’s the best deal?

It turns out the answer depends on what you are buying, but Kerry preferred the shopping experience at Target including designer-style fashions and Starbucks coffee on tap.

If you are working hard to save for an early retirement, check out Tim Stobbs’ blog Know Thyself on Canadian Dream: Free at 45 to find out what personality traits may help you to meet your financial goals.

Many people believe downsizing in retirement will free up capital needed for travel and everyday living expenses. However, on Brighter Life, Dave Dineen explains why downsizing in retirement doesn’t always work.

Other financial decisions like taking on a super-sized mortgage, a second job or going out of your way for a bargain also may not make good financial sense, according to Boomer.

And if you do have savings but you don’t like the investment returns you are getting, on RetireHappy.ca Jim Yih shares some ideas on how to be a better investor.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere. Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

When my daughter was born almost 34 years ago, a wise aunt told me that “babies bring their own love with them.” But they also bring sleepless nights, less family income while on maternity leave and lots of other bills like daycare when parents go back to work.

If you are planning a family, you can accumulate money in a tax free savings account for a year or more before you get pregnant. Funds you withdraw can be put back into the account in the next year or subsequent years without penalty.

You can also make an RRSP contribution, get back the tax return and put that money in your “baby fund.” Another option is to withdraw money from your RRSP in the year you and/or your spouse are off work and earning less income. However, think this option over carefully because once you withdraw funds from an RRSP, the contribution room is lost forever.

A birth mother who plans on nursing her baby may need to be the primary caregiver for most of the first year. Nevertheless, if the other parent has a generous Employment Insurance top-up for some period of time, it may make more economic sense for the other spouse to take a good chunk of the available parental leave.

Regardless of how you plan to split up the leave, speak to your HR department and make sure you fully understand both the Employment Insurance rules and provincial labour laws so you are in the best position to take full advantage of the available benefits and protected leave period.

For example:

• You are eligible to receive EI maternity or parental benefits if you have paid premiums; your normal weekly earnings are reduced by at least 40%; and, you have worked at least 600 hours in the qualifying period (generally the previous 52 weeks).
• Only a birth mother is entitled to 15 weeks of maternity benefits after a two week waiting period. However, parents can share the 35 weeks of parental benefits.
• EI benefits are taxable income so federal and provincial income tax will be deducted from your benefits.
• You will go back to your previous job or a similar job with the at least the same wages and benefits.
• If you work while receiving EI maternity benefits, the entire amount you earn dollar for dollar will be deducted from your benefits.
• Under the new EI while working on claim pilot project, when you or your spouse are on parental leave you will be able to keep 50 cents of your EI benefits for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings used to calculate your EI benefit amount.
• To be eligible for job-protected adoption, maternity or parental leave in  Saskatchewan, you have to work 20 of the 52 previous weeks. Leave eligibility varies between provinces.
• You must give your employer four weeks written notice prior to returning to work. An employer does not have to allow you to return until this notice is received.
• You will continue to earn credits toward length of employment, length of service, vacation and seniority during periods of maternity and paternity leave.

When it comes to buying baby furniture, strollers, clothes and toys, take a deep breath and don’t rush. You will get generous unexpected gifts from everyone including the gang at the office. Also, babies outgrow things very quickly and their parents are usually thrilled to pass on gently used items to the next family who needs them.

Before our granddaughter was born, a friend of a friend brought over a huge box of sleepers and adorable outfits that allowed multiple changes a day for the first six months. At one point my daughter lulled the baby to sleep in an old fashioned wind up swing that had been making the rounds from family to family since the 1980s.

The only items you will probably need to buy are car seats of various sizes as the safety rules are constantly evolving. All car seats sold have an expiry or useful date on them and Transport Canada says they must be discarded after that date. Also, a car seat or booster seat made before January 1, 2012 may not meet the current standards set out by Health Canada.

Finally, ask other new parents for a list of things they actually found useful. While every baby is different, my daughter discovered that when all else failed, “baby wearing” was a foolproof way of getting the baby to sleep. She used various wraps and front/back carriers that changed with the age and size of the baby.

She also swears by a white noise machine that drowns out street sounds in their urban Ottawa neighbourhood.

No matter how well you plan, nothing can prepare you for the joy and the sheer terror of becoming a parent. But if you put some thought into how you will manage financially when your family grows, hopefully the only thing that will keep you up at night is the 2 AM feeding.

How did you plan financially for a new addition to your family? Send an email to so*********@sa*********.com and share your ideas with us. If your story is posted, your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

13-Jun	Father’s Day	Frugal gifts your father will love
20-Jun	Graduation	How to use social media to find a job
27-Jun	Summer activities	Inexpensive summer activities for kids

By Sheryl Smolkin

Reality TV has turned me into a “wedding voyeur.” It’s a good day at the gym when I can watch “Four Weddings,” “Say Yes to the Dress” or even “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.” Seeing the different ways people choose to celebrate their special day and the exorbitant amounts they spend makes me temporarily forget how much I hate doing cardio.

But the one thing these programs never seem to talk about is the financial impact of weddings on friends and family, particularly if you are in the wedding party. Gifts for an engagement party, a shower and the wedding can really add up. Also you may have to travel to another city, stay in a hotel and buy a bridesmaid’s dress or rent a tux.

So how much should you spend on a wedding gift?

Wedding gifts are typically cash or specific items the couple need or want to start their life together. Often they “register” at one or more stores where you can select from a list of items at various price points.

Whether you give cash or buy a gift, the dollar value will depend on many things. If you are a student or recent graduate, $50-$75 a person or even less is sufficient. Nobody expects you to break the bank. If you can only afford to spend a nominal amount, consider getting together with several other friends in a similar situation to buy a group gift.

Another option if you are on a tight budget is to bring a gift that is not listed on the Wedding Registry. You may be able to get a lovely item on sale so your present is worth way more than the sticker price. However, include a gift receipt so the item can be returned if it is unsuitable.

Otherwise , depending on the size of the wedding and local customs, an average of about $100/person attending seems to be the going rate. However, close family members may want to give a higher amount.

Where you are included in multiple events associated with a wedding, The Knot suggests that you come up with a total expenditure that feels right to you and portion out the total amount by event.

For example:

• 20% of your total on the engagement present
• 20% of your total on the shower gift
• 60% of your total on the wedding gift

If you are invited to a destination wedding where you have to pay to travel to an exotic location, many couples understand that your presence is their present. But if this doesn’t feel right, have a conversation with your hosts or bring a gift card or small money gift.

What if you are invited but can’t attend the wedding? You may still wish to send a token gift, depending on your relationship and budget.

But whatever you decide to give as a wedding gift, remember that it is the thought that counts. I have been married for 36 years and I can still look around my house and point out wedding gifts and who they came from. I have no idea how much they cost, nor do I care.

The important thing is that friends and family, many of whom are no longer with us, were all together in one place to help us celebrate our special day.

How much do you usually spend on wedding gifts? Send an email to so*********@sa*********.com and share your ideas with us. If your story is posted, your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

6-June	Bringing home baby	How to prepare financially for a new baby
13-Jun	Fathers Day	Frugal gifts your father will love
20-Jun	Graduation	How to use social media to find a job

By Sheryl Smolkin

This week we catch up with some bloggers who share stories and ideas about spending.

Million Dollar Journey suggests 7 smart ways to spend your tax return.

The Blunt Bean Counter shelled out for an well-deserved vacation, but he says  Air Canada lost his luggage when he went to Dominican Republic at the end of tax season.

On boomer & echo, boomer considers how to pick a perfect mortgage.

Pete the Planner thinks giving yourself an allowance when you are in debt is stupid.

And Gail Vaz-Oxlade reminds us that “keeping up” with others can keep you from saving.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?”  Send us an email with the information to so*********@sa*********.com and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Think of a realistic budget as the GPS that will help you reach your financial objectives. Unless you know how much money you have available and make a plan to spend less than you earn, paying off debt, saving for a down payment on a house or getting ready for retirement may seem like insurmountable goals.

Budgeting is not rocket science, but it requires discipline. Where you have a partner, both of you should participate in the process. Any children should also be involved to a more limited extent, depending on their ages. If the whole family understands and agrees to budget priorities established by the group, it is more likely that they will follow the roadmap. 

Keys to successful budgeting: 

Some keys to successfully budgeting are:

1. Understand how much net income your family has every month.
2. Identify your fixed and variable expenses.
3. Build debt repayment and savings into your budget.
4. Establish family priorities.
5. Develop a plan to control costs as required.
6. Record all expenditures to help you stay on plan.

Two techniques for staying on plan that money maven Gail Vax Oxlade uses successfully with couples on her television program “Til Debt Do Us Part” are:

• Cut up debit and credit cards and spend only cash.
• Allocate the amounts you have available to spend for each category like food, clothes, rent etc. into a series of “jars” for every pay period. 

Getting started

First of all, gather up all your payslips, bills and credit card statements so you have the information you need all in one place. There are lots of online tools that will allow you to enter your data and play around with the numbers until they add up to something that will work for your family.

For example, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada offers an online budget calculator.  Vaz Oxlade has a no-cost guide to building a budget and an interactive online spread sheet available on her website.

There are many other calculators and specialized spreadsheets available online, but I’m a big fan of googledrive. This free application allows you to create an online spreadsheet and give other family members access from different devices.

While you may choose to have only one person enter or delete data, if each person can record money spent on an ongoing basis, anytime someone is contemplating an expenditure, he/she can get a clear picture of the state of the family’s finances. 

Fixed expenses

There are certain unavoidable family expenses that recur on a regular basis. These may include rent or mortgage payments, house insurance, property taxes, utilities, car payments, gas, car insurance, other transportation life insurance etc. You get the picture.

While you could move to less expensive accommodations or take the bus instead of driving if you have to, these expenses cannot be easily reduced in the short term. Therefore, make sure you account for them carefully up front when you are developing your budget.

Food, clothing

Food and clothing are important components of your budget. If you use a credit or debit card for most purchases, it should be fairly easy to track these expenditures over the course of several months. If you use cash, you may have to make a conscious effort to record how much the family spends over a specific period to gain a good understanding of the family’s spending patterns.

Perhaps you eat out frequently and bring home fast food several times a week. This is an area where you may be able to control your costs and at the same time provide more nutritious meals for your family.

Adults can often declare a moratorium on buying clothes for a considerable period. Where growing children need bigger sizes in clothing and shoes, consider clothing swaps of gently used items with family and friends. They are very easy to arrange online. 

Technology 

Land lines, smartphones, internet, cable TV, electronic games, tablets and laptops. You may be shocked to discover how much you spend on technology and connectivity. Contact your service provider and ask for a better deal or a better bundle. Consider getting rid of cable TV and subscribing to Netflix for $7.99/month. Resolve to keep your current technology for longer. And resist the temptation to buy the latest new gadget on the market.

Entertainment/Travel 

Add up how much you spent on entertainment last year. By attending community events instead of buying more expensive tickets to professional theatre or big name sports teams, you can save a bundle and still have a lot of fun.

Rather than spending thousands of dollars on international travel, plan a “staycation” or a long weekend at a local tourist attraction you have been meaning to check out but never got around to visiting. 

Savings 

The money you save for your children’s education or your retirement should not be left to chance if you happen to have enough money around at the end of the month. Build RESP, Saskatchewan Pension Plan, RRSP and TFSA contributions into your budget and “pay yourself” first every time your paycheque is deposited.

Are there free or low cost budget tools that work for you? Have you recently turned your finances around? Send us an email to so*********@sa*********.com and share your ideas with us. If your story is posted, your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

30-May	Wedding	How much should you spend on a wedding gift?
6-June	Bringing home baby	How to prepare financially for a new baby
13-Jun	Fathers Day	Frugal gifts your father will love

SPP posted a return of 0.68 to the balanced fund (BF) and 0.05 to the short-term fund (STF). The year to date return in the BF is 5.36% and in the STF is 0.16%.

Market index returns for April 2013 were:

Index	Apr 2013 return (%)
S&P/TSX Composite (Canadian equities)	-2.07
S&P 500 (C$) (US equities)	0.91
MSCI EAFE (C$) (Non-north American equities)	4.16
DEX Universe Bond (Canadian bonds)	1.14
DEX 91 day T-bill	0.08

Click here for a complete list of returns.

A comprehensive investment update to the end of the first quarter is available on our website at saskpension.com.

By Sheryl Smolkin

This week we bring you blogs that focus on some things you need to know if you are getting ready for retirement.

On Retirehappy.ca Jim Yih asks whether or not we need a debt course and exam before we take on more debt.

Riscario Insider discusses why you should have a financial Plan “B” and not purchase all of your wealth management services (i.e. banking, financial planning, investments and insurance) from one place.

Rob Engen explains on boomer & echo why David Chilton’s rule of thumb that you should save 10% of your income for retirement may no longer be enough.

In contrast, on Canadian Dream: Free at 45 Dave says that he is a constant saver, and when he retires he’ll have to figure out how to start spending more of his income.

And those of you who wonder whether you need life insurance in retirement should check out this post on FreefromBroke.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?”  Send us an email with the information to so*********@sa*********.com and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Do you buy new clothes every season and then realize you already have a similar item in your closet? When you are trying a new recipe, do you check the cupboard first to see if you have all the necessary ingredients or do you automatically add them to your shopping list? Are toys your children have outgrown still cluttering up the house?

Cleaning closets and purging are no fun. But every now and then you can no longer avoid the inevitable. And it’s worth it, because you will be able to “reclaim” expensive real estate in your home, save yourself time in the future and even save some money.

However, the biggest problem is often what to do with all the stuff you have excavated from your closets or your basement. Here are some ideas:

1. Sidewalk recycling: One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. In our neighbourhood if you put something on the curb, it will disappear in a few hours. This occurred when we recently got rid of a broken TV and a baby carriage with flat tires.
2. Recycle Saskatchewan: This website tells you what items can be recycled, where you can take them and gives lots of ideas how items that are still in good condition can be re-used. Also check out the Saskatchewan section of freecycle.org.
3. Clothing swap: If you have gently used clothing you or your children have grown out of, arrange a family or neighbourhood clothing swap. Everyone brings items they can no longer use and returns home with “new” items to enhance their wardrobe.
4. Jewelry: If you have gold jewelry you don’t like and you don’t wear, consider cashing it in. The price of gold when I wrote this blog on April 9^th was $1611.24 per ounce so depending on what you have it could be a real windfall. I sold some jewelry several years ago and gave the diamond chips to my daughter for her wedding band.
5. Old cell phones: Donated cell phones are helping to protect battered women in Saskatchewan, thanks to a program called “Phones for a Fresh Start.” So long as the phones are in working order, they can be a valuable lifeline in an emergency.
6. A garage sale: One sign of spring is the proliferation of garage sales on beautiful weekends. You can put up fliers in the neighbourhood, announce your sale on social media, or post to craigslist or Kijiji.
7. Sell online: Depending on the nature of the items you want to get rid of, consider selling them online. Here are some great hints about how to sell your items in 24 hours or less on craigslist.
8. Donate to a charity: Various charities are happy to receive donations. In some cases you may get a charitable receipt. For example, the Saskatchewan Institute of Community Living is a non-profit organization that collects donated clothing and other household items throughout Saskatchewan. All proceeds from the items you donate support individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Have you recently done a massive cleanup in your closets or your basement? How did you get rid of your old stuff and make some extra cash? Send us an email to so*********@sa*********.com and share your ideas with us. If your story is posted, your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

23-May	Budgeting	How to set up a budget and why
30-May	Wedding	How much should you spend on a wedding gift?
6-June	Bringing home baby	How to prepare financially for a new baby

By Sheryl Smolkin

The May 4^th article Not your grandfather’s financial website: The new, fresh face of money sites in the Financial Post by Melissa Leong highlights a new wave of bloggers and personal finance gurus who are shaking up how young people get information about money.

She says some of the sites get millions of hits on any given month, embracing readers’ voyeuristic penchant for personal stories and catering to their  anxiety about money and hunger for information. We follow many of these bloggers already and we will follow more of them in future.

Consistent with this theme, today’s Best from the blogosphere draws your attention to some blogs that may be of interest to both parents and their offspring.

On Youth and Work lawyer Andrew Langille focuses on workplace law issues relating to young people, including his major area of interest which is illegal, unpaid internships. While he primarily focuses on Ontario law, his provocative ideas cross provincial boundaries.

One of the major problems that face Canadians approaching retirement is that they are often still supporting unemployed or underemployed offspring. On boomer & echo Boomer comments on Lending Money To Friends And Family.

For young people managing their own money for the first time, on BrighterLife.ca Brenda Spiering writes New grad? Four money tips you need to know.

If your kids are a little younger, you still have time to enhance their financial literacy. On retirehappy.ca, Sarah Yetkiner discusses Setting Kids Up For Financial Success.

And finally, from the mainstream media, check out this press release, Boomers risk straining finances to support boomerang kids: TD poll.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?”  Send us an email with the information to so*********@sa*********.com and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.