financial independence, investing, expat living and travel, motivation for personal success
If you only had 24 hours to show off your hometown and on a perfect summer day, what would that look like? My American friend from Singapore was visiting me in Toronto a few years ago. Although she was American, this was going to her first visit north of the border.
Continue reading “A Perfect Day in Toronto”Hong Kong was my first overseas posting and I have very fond memories of it. Rewind to 2006, my last day in Hong Kong and how I felt back then…
As I sit at my desk typing, I glance at the wooden picture frame on my desk. The captured photograph is an urban night scene in one of the most vibrant cities of the world – Hong Kong. The night sky is illuminated with the bright lights from towering skyscrapers. Office lights bounce off the mirror windows alongside the glare of neon signage. What you can’t see by looking at the picture is where I took the photo from. Not captured by my camera lens are the green trees that frame this cityscape high above the city. Unseen by my lens is the wistfulness I felt, the turbulent emotions I was experiencing knowing this was the last night I was to spend in the city I had called home for four years.
Continue reading “A Perfect Day in Hong Kong”Every new country I move to, there are new discoveries to be made. There are places to go, things to do and new food to try that provide a unique connection to that country. So in this post I talk about my perfect weekend escape in my current country of abode!
Continue reading “A Perfect Day in Kobe”
TRUST. Who can you trust to talk about the nitties gritties of your financial health? I have a healthy distrust with financial advisors, especially after reading Andrew Hallman’s book. Some financial planners may be looking after their own financial interests rather than yours.
However, I really wanted to talk to someone about my investment plan! Someone to see if I was on the right track based on my goals, expat situation and current financial situation. But this also would require disclosure of some sensitive information. Hmmm……….
Continue reading “Financial Advisors”
My friend M was telling me how she tracks her spending in her notebook. By doing this she could analyze where her money was going on a monthly basis. M, what kinds of patterns did you notice in your spending? Did you decide to take any kind of action after tracking your expenses?
This made sense to me. If I’m going to set a financial goal for retirement, I need to know how much to budget for and see if there are any areas I can reduce my expenses. Alongside that I have some personal goals, and I hope my spending aligns with those goals. My goals are to:
So, for the past few months I have been using the Easy Spending app. This app is easy to use and quite intuitive. You can create your own expense categories and even add your income. It creates weekly or monthly reports (pie charts) on your spending. One of favorite features is its foreign currencies capabilities. So I can track expenses when I’m at home in Canada for a few months and track my Japanese expenses!
My goal in the next 6 months is to see if I can see any patterns in my spending and to see where I can cut unnecessary expenses.
I’ve lived in four different countries as an international teacher and moving my money in a foreign country back to my home country Canada can sometimes be simple or at times very tricky.
Growing up in Toronto, I’ve always had a TD Canada Trust account. For awhile this has been where I kept my savings. I’ll share with you how I moved my money from the 4 places I’ve lived in.
Continue reading “Moving your money!”
So what is FIRE? No don’t call the fire department! Fire stands for Financial Independence Retire Early!
I first encountered this term on Kristy’s and Bryce’s blog Millennial Revolution. They did an amazing job of explaining this concept and I see a strong connection on what I want for my future.
Continue reading “FIRE!”
My relationship with money began when I was a youngster in Canada. My parents were my biggest influence and made a point to save as much as they could. They were frugal. Along the way they made some money mistakes and shared them with me so I could learn too. For example, they once gave about $10 000 to a financial advisor recommended by a friend, and lost all their money.
Continue reading “A’s Journey”
I was like a squirrel… I had retirement in multiple accounts, didn’t really have a plan of how to put it all together, what to do to build wealth for financial freedom (or what financial freedom meant) and had forgotten some of the places that I had my financial nuts… This was probably a nutty way to approach finances, but I didn’t know any better.
Continue reading “M’s Nutty Path”My friend M and I have been talking about personal finance and struggling to find a place that we felt connected to our path as singles living abroad. We decided that we needed a place to gather and reflect on financial resources and our learning journey. Mistakes and new connections will be made as we muddle our way through financial independence. So poof here is our blog!
Continue reading “Hello to the beginning of something!”
Money Musings 
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