Please don’t be alarmed. I’m splitting the original blog into two parts as I had originally intended with one site for The Budgeting Tool and the other for the Blog itself.

I’ve FINALLY (after a year and a few months) found the perfect name to describe my blog.

It hit me like a thunderbolt:

Save. Spend. Splurge.

• Save your money first.
• Spend it on what you need.
• Splurge on what you love.

It sounds like a YOLO blog right? Not really.

I’m advocating the idea (as I always have) to save your money to spend it where you NEED to spend it, and then where you really WANT to spend it.

Or to not spend it at all if what you want to do is basically never have to work again.

Anyway, expect a blog overhaul coming up. I’m excited!!

I’m sorry, but better late than never (especially if I start building a cache of thousands of posts).

I will start posting over at Save. Spend. Splurge. but this blog will continue to be archived and I will re-direct all permalink posts and relevant pages to the other blog.

New RSS Feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SaveSpendSplurge

I should have ported everything over correctly by Wednesday. *fingers crossed*

Posts will resume on Wednesday.

This domain will continue to serve as The Budgeting Tool but will no longer have the blog.

Thanks for your patience & understanding!!!

-Mochimac

As promised!

Selling my stuff. Hopefully for the last time.

Please peruse and contact me if you want to buy anything.

Each image can be clicked on and SHOULD go to their own separate pages.

I spent the last 2 days doing this, so please forgive me if anything seems off or isn’t linking correctly (and let me know!!).

I’m a bit cross-eyed right now.. and very tired.

SHIPPING & OTHER DETAILS

CONTACT ME HERE

• No returns or exchanges, I’m not a retail store. Final sale.
• All items are in very good condition or brand new, unless otherwise noted in the photos or description. I take really good care of the things I love.
• Please ask any and all questions BEFORE purchasing. CONTACT ME HERE
• I will ship anywhere in the world.
• I will only charge EXACT shipping, so once you want to buy it, I’ll give you a rough shipping estimate based on where it’s going, and if it costs or more less, I’ll refund you (or request for) any difference above or below $2 in shipping.
• Therefore if you buy multiple items, shipping WILL be cheaper because I charge exact shipping.
• Note: Anything heavier than a top like that Mackage jacket, will obviously cost more money to ship. If you are unsure as to how much it might cost, give me your country and I can try to give you an estimate.
• Generally, I find for SHIPPING in North America, most tops ship for about $5 – $7, jackets are $15 – $30, and shoes are $15 – $25.
• It will be cheaper to ship to the U.S. than to Canada (I know, crazy right?)
• Overseas of course will cost more money so please add an extra $10 – $15 in your estimates (or just contact me with everything you want to buy.)
• All payments will be made in USD using Paypal
• Coming from a Pet-free, smoke-free, allergy-free home.

ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU BUY!!

If you want to invest in index mutual funds or index ETFs, and you want to track how much you are paying as well as your own personal investing strategy or allocations in each fund, I suggest making the following chart, and updating it once or 4 times a year, each time you decide to rebalance.

Read: What does re-balancing a portfolio mean?

EXAMPLE OF A MUTUAL FUND PORTFOLIO / CHART

IN DETAIL

Name of Index Mutual Fund or ETF

Pretty self-explanatory. It can be redundant for people who have memorized the symbol or ticker, but I like having a name put to it.

Symbol/Ticker

This is helpful so that you know WHICH one you’re buying. There may be variations of the same mutual fund, held in different currencies (e.g. CAD versus USD), or have a slight twist to them (e.g. being currency neutral).

This lets you know exactly which one it is.

Portfolio %

This is your personal allocation to each index mutual fund or ETF.

I put these generic averages up there, but you might want to put less in International, and more in your own country, etc etc.

Listed MER %

You can find this on the website, of what the Listed MER % is for the fund or ETF you are buying. Just look for something that says “MER”, and that percentage is what you should enter.

Weighted MER %

This is the Listed MER % multiplied by your portfolio %, and it lets you know how much you’re really paying, no matter what the listed MER says.

Note: It is tricky to figure out MERs because they may change on a daily basis, and you need to do a rather complicated calculation of the assets of the fund each day, multiplied by the MER, and then trickling down to what you actually have to pay as an investor. This is why I like having a rough idea of what I’ll pay, but it may not necessarily be very accurate.

More details can be read here: What makes up an MER?

Effective MER %

This tells you how much you are paying in dollars (a rough amount), based on where your portfolio is allocated, and how much MER is being charged.

You can get to the same number without having to break it down by each mutual fund, but I like seeing more detail than is necessary.

I’d like to give a big thanks to Canadian Couch Potato for having made many charts similar to this one, which I have since used as my model, with a very small tweak.

THE CHART’S FORMULAS IN DETAIL

STEPS AND CALCULATIONS THAT WENT INTO THE CHART

( 1 ) CREATE YOUR PORTFOLIO PERCENTAGE

Choose your strategy of where you want your money to be, this is the most time-consuming part because you have to do your research to find ALL the index funds offered by your bank/brokerage, and then choose which ones you want to buy.

I really suggest not putting all your eggs into any one basket.

Few things to consider:

• Stick to holding either all index mutual funds at a bank, or all ETFs; to have an efficient portfolio
• Invest in your own country (mine is Canada, hence the Canadian Index fund)
• Invest in another stable trading market and/or major trading partner (U.S. is a global benchmark)
• Don’t forget the world – Europe is an international index to consider
• International indexes can also be emerging markets (BRIC*) but are considered riskier
• Allocation of bonds depends on age and how close you are to retirement.

*BRIC = Brazil, Russia, India, China; all generally considered “emerging markets”, that aren’t quite stable for various reasons, but have a strong potential for future growth.

( 2 ) FIND ALL THE LISTED MERS FOR YOUR CHOSEN FUNDS

Now that you’ve chosen your funds and what percentages you want them to be, go to their pages, read through them thoroughly and find the MER %.

It is usually on the first page of most mutual fund or ETF pages, and may be pictured in a box that looks like this:

Or sometimes on each individual fund, it looks like this:

If you are using Excel, do not make the mistake of typing in “.33″, and expecting it to be a percentage.

To be accurate, you have to format the cell as a % first with the Excel % button, and then type in “0.33″ in the cell.

( 3 ) WEIGHTED MER & ( 6 ) TOTAL WEIGHTED MER

For each mutual fund, multiply the numbers from ( 1 ) Portfolio % x ( 2 ) Listed MER %

Calculations from the above chart:

• TD Canadian Index e-: 30% x 0.33% = 0.10%
• TD U.S. Index -e: 30% x 0.35% = 0.11%
• TD International Index -e: 30% x 0.51% = 0.15%
• TD Canadian Bond Index -e: 10% x 0.05% = 0.01%

The total weighted MER is just a sum of each individual weighted MER.

( 4 ) INDIVIDUAL PORTFOLIO AMOUNT & ( 7 ) TOTAL PORTFOLIO AMOUNT

I do this backwards, going from the total up to the individual.

Instead of going from each mutual fund down to the total, I enter a ( 7 ) Total Portfolio Amount at the bottom (e.g. $10,000), and then do a formula for each mutual fund by multiplying it with the ( 4 ) Portfolio %

( 5 ) EFFECTIVE MER %

Another simple multiplication of : ( 2 ) Listed MER  x ( 4 ) Individual Portfolio Amount.

DO NOT FORGET TO ADD IN THE COST OF TRADES PER YEAR

If you have to pay for buying ETFs, or you have a no load mutual fund, it will cost you money to buy and sell each fund.

(Questrade, I might add, does not charge you commissions for buying ETFs, but they charge you for selling them.)

Add that trading cost to your total MER cost, and you will have a rough idea of how much it costs to hold your portfolio in index funds.

COPY METHOD A. COPY AND PASTE THIS CHART (NO FORMULAS ENTERED)

You can also try and copy and paste this example Excel chart, and put in the formulas listed above (might make things easier).

1. Highlight this entire table.
2. Right-Click and Copy
3. Go into Excel and open any blank sheet
4. Right-Click and Paste as Special
5. Select Text

You will see the values appear in their proper columns.

Aside from customizing it for yourself, and you will need to adjust the following columns to add in the multiplication formulas listed above:

• Weighted MER %
• Portfolio Total and Portfolio Amounts
• Effective MER

Still too much work?

Here’s the laziest way possible:

COPY METHOD B. COPY AND PASTE THIS CHART (FORMULAS ALREADY ENTERED)

Copy and paste this table with the formulas in it, into cell A1:

Note: May be a bit tricky to get your cursor right to the edge of the last bottom-right cell.

So I suggest going backwards, and trying to highlight it from the bottom-right cell (just before the X) up to the beginning of Name in the top-right corner.

INSTRUCTIONS

You can copy this table with the formulas in them by highlight the entire table above from my blog post as pictured below:

Now right-click on the highlighted section and select Copy.

Now go into Excel, and right-click in the cell A1 (the first upper-left column), and select Paste Special.

Select Text, or else the columns, spacing and formulas won’t work properly, like so:

It should look like this in your Excel when you’re done.

POST-COPYING CLEANUP REQUIRED

1. You may decide you want to format the cells with $ or % formulas (note how the weighted MER is at 0.00099 instead of 0.10%)

(When you do the above for percentages, it will look like 0% because they’re fractions of a percentage. Use the little blue arrows to the left and right to increase or decrease decimal points)

2. You will have to delete out the “.” in the bottom row one they’re in there and the “X” (if you copied it by accident), I only needed them as column/text spacers so it would be easier to copy.

3. You will also have to adjust the columns out to fit the words (just double-click on the column lines up by the A, B, C, D, E sections, and it’ll do it automatically.)

4. [Optional] Beautify it with some colours and borders (I’m a freak for pretty charts).

OTHER NOTES

If you buy ETFs, or are not buying no-load mutual funds, don’t forget to add the cost of trading to your final “Effective MER” total, to get the full picture.

Anything that is a flat or static number without any formulas in it, you can change/touch, e.g.:

• Portfolio %
• Listed MER %
• TOTAL Portfolio Amount (at the bottom, the $10,000)

Enjoy!

(I hear you on that, my necessities include boxes of macarons.)

There are a 3 ways you can trim your monthly budget: Trim, Chop and Shave.

They all work only if you’ve already done the best you can with your debt as in:

1. You are currently making payments on your debt
2. You haven’t accumulated MORE debt
3. You have called your debtors and asked for a lower interest rate or else you’ll default
4. You are slowly paying down the debt with the HIGHEST interest rate first
5. You are not also saving money aside for some fancy vacation you can’t afford to take

The following tips are for people who are in debt and really think that they can’t find anywhere to chop in their budget.

You don’t have to chop everywhere all at once, but slowly reducing one category one month, and another the next, might just be the way to get ‘er done.

LEVEL 1: TRIM THE BUDGET

This is the easiest level because you just have to go through your truly frivolous variable expenses and trim them down.

Follow or don’t follow the advice, but hopefully it’ll get you thinking about it.

Go through the following budget categories:

• Eating Out — Always a money sucker; you have to become more organized and meal plan!
• Lunches Out — It’s too easy to nip down to the local subway shop, so make your own lunch
• Alcohol — You can always cut down on this budget somehow; Drink less and your liver will smile
• Clothes — Unless you’re a super minimalist with a 10-piece wardrobe, you may not need more
• Makeup — Ditto. Basic makeup should do for now, and I’m fairly sure you already have enough
• Tea/Coffee — You have probably heard this one to death, but a $3/day coffee is $90/month
• ATM fees — Taking money out of a third-party ATM because you’re too lazy is unacceptable
• Candy/Snacks — Going to the convenience store to pick up some chips almost nightly is a waste
• Fancy Vacations — Think about not taking one this year and save the cash instead
• Books/Magazines — Know where your nearest library is? No? Find out where it is & get a card
• Gifts — Nice to have a big heart, but you have to take care of yourself before you can help others
• Charitable Contributions — See above; How can you help others when you’re in $$ trouble?

YOU CAN STILL HAVE FUN, BUT IN MODERATION

I am not saying to not have ANY fun at all, but if you can’t make your budget balance to the point where you have a comfortable amount that you’re saving in addition to covering your bills, then you do need to:

1. make a sacrifice and/or
2. make more money

Sacrifices include not taking a vacation, buying less clothes, and in general, less luxuries.

If you say to me: But what will I do if I DON’T go out and party all weekend? I’ll be SO BORED!

Get a part-time job.

An extra job will cure that boredom because it makes you tired, you don’t want to go out after putting in long hours at your regular job and your part-time job. You’ll want to stay in.

Any free time you have, you’ll want to spend it buying groceries, running errands, napping and cleaning your place.

On the plus side, you get more money to clear that debt faster.

TREAT THOSE ABOVE CATEGORIES LIKE LUXURIES

They’re little, daily luxuries.

Treat them as such because once you get used to them, they stop being luxuries and turn into habits.

So until you get to the point where you really don’t need to freak out about spending $3/day at Starbucks, you really can’t afford to be frittering money away like that.

Get out of debt first, have a safe financial cushion in your retirement accounts, and then you can enjoy your money, stress-free.

Photograph I took in London, England (2011) of a typical English day

WHY DO YOU SAY NO FANCY VACATIONS!?

Because you’re in debt.

Want another reason? Because you wanted to get out of debt quicker, no?

Note: What you consider “debt” is up for debate. If you have a house and a mortgage, but are otherwise financially responsible, by all means, save for that vacation.

If you’re paying 30% interest rates on your credit card debt, and desperately want to be free of those plastic shackles, yet you feel like you deserve a $2000 vacation then you simply have to accept that you will take longer to clear your debt, pay more interest in doing so, and you aren’t allowed to whine.

Another point I will bring up is that vacations are a wonderful escape from reality. I myself, escape from reality when I go on vacations.

Read: Why do I budget so carefully and then spend so recklessly on vacations?

It is really a downer if you go on a great escape to another dream life for only 2 weeks, only to have reality smack you hard in the face 50 weeks of the year with 30% interest to boot.

I’m putting my money where my mouth is because until I was out of debt, I didn’t take a single vacation, and I was a lot happier to be out of debt sooner versus going to Paris.

I wanted to enjoy my vacation, not go there, rack up more debt (how can you NOT shop in Paris!?) and then come back only to face a bigger pile of debt.

Granted, I’ve always been more of a “work now, play later” sort of person, but this ”treating yourself” business or that you “deserve a break for working so hard” can be a slippery slope to justifying things you can’t afford. (I know of what I speak of. )

Think of your being debt-free as the vacation, the break, and the reward from financial stress which will drag on your mood more than you know.

LEVEL 2: CHOP THE BUDGET

These areas are a lot harder to trim because it takes a little effort, perhaps on the phone and/or in-person:

• Banking Fees — You better not be paying any bank fees but if you are, you should switch banks
• Cellphone — Consider lowering down your data plan, or getting a very low-cost phone altogether
• TV — Eliminate those fancy channels except the ones you actually watch; or stick to basics!
• High-Speed Internet — You can probably go down to the lowest tier in terms of High-Speedy-ness
• Telephone – If you have a Home phone, why have a Cellphone? Or vice versa?
• Groceries — About $200/person is considered reasonable to most folks; otherwise, it’s chop time!
• Life Insurance — If you don’t have any dependents (kids), you’re basically wasting your money
• Utilities — Start turning off the lights; shutting down laptops and using less of everything

LOOK FOR BUNDLING OPPORTUNITIES

Look for a competitive provider in your area, and give your provider a call every 3-6 months to threaten to switch. They’ll generally give you a pretty good rate to try and get you to stay.

This probably only works in big cities, so use with caution.

BANKING FEES

There are so many no-fee options out there! Why are you still paying an account fee?

Consider at least keeping the minimum in your bank account so that you can have that fee waived.

CELLPHONE VERSUS TELEPHONE

BF and I use a cellphone between us. We treat it like a portable home phone. It works out great because he doesn’t need a cellphone for his personal life, and frankly, neither do I.

We’re just more organized as a result, and we make plans ahead of time.

As a result, we don’t have a home telephone. If we had an apartment for more than a year, I’d consider getting a home telephone and scrapping the cellphone.

For us, it’s one or the other. We’re currently with Virgin Mobile and we pay $21 a month for the whole bill, or about $10.50 each.

GROCERIES

I don’t like chopping Groceries because I value good food a lot, but most people find that $200/month is sufficient for a single person.

For fancier foods, we spend about $300/month each, going up to $400/month if you include the alcohol that goes into cooking it, or other fancy treats.

As a result of our fancier budget, we don’t eat out as much.

In fact, it’s near $0 in Eating Out between the two of us as a couple.

I only eat out if I am out with friends for a meal, and that is not a weekly, let alone monthly expense.

UTILITIES

You know, little things like shutting down your computer, turning lights off and not leaving the water running while you’re doing something, using your dishwasher on off peak hours… it actually all makes a difference.

We did an experiment when we were living in an apartment, and we had $20 for utilities every month.

Not much, right?

Well we started turning everything off (the microwave was on a switch, we turned it on, only to use it), we unplugged every electronic device or put it on a power bar, and lo and behold, our utilities budget came in at $10 the next month!!

$5 of that was service fees (we couldn’t avoid paying the flat charge), and the other $5 was our usage, down from $15/month.

Now it sounds like small potatoes, but this was in a small studio. Can you imagine the savings if you’re living in a 2000 square foot house?

You don’t need to go to extremes as we did in our experiment, but just remembering to turn off the lights, or being conscious of your usage can make a difference.

LEVEL 3: SHAVE THAT BUDGET

This is when you really want to get serious.

You’re thinking: I have done all of those levels, and I AM STILL in need of a budget boost somehow.

Aside from going out and just earning more money at a part-time job, I only have two areas that tend to eat a lot of money:

• Rent — Sell & move to a cheaper and/or smaller apartment farther away; Or get a roommate
• Car — Sell it altogether and save on gas, car insurance, maintenance; Take public transportation

HOUSING

People spend about 35% of their budget on Housing. It’s the biggest part of your expenses, and no one wants to move, let alone have to go through all that work of finding a new place to live.

That said, maybe you bought a house that is simply too big for you.

Or you’re living in a shoebox, paying sky-hight rent prices, when if you just commuted about 15 minutes to half an hour a day, you could cut that in half.

CAR

Sell the car if you can’t afford to maintain it. You’ll save on gas, car insurance, maintenance and accessories, not to mention parking, tolls and other things that come with the convenience of the car.

Frankly, we only use our car for groceries because it’s a lot to carry and there’s no direct bus to the grocery store.

For that, we could actually just rent a car for the day or use a car-sharing program where we can rent it by the hour, and not have to worry about paying for a full-time car.

Figure out how much your car is costing you, and make the decision. I know it isn’t easy in some cities, but mid-sized cities and larger, tend to have a public transportation system of some kind, even if it isn’t convenient and easy.

IT’S YOUR LIFE AND YOUR MONEY

Some of these decisions can’t be taken lightly, because it means an upheaval of your life, but once you make the change, you can start seeing the money roll in.

Start slow, and make it happen.

Find a place to cut each month (perhaps making your lunch every day?), and get used to that change before embarking on another.

If you try and do all of these changes at once, you’ll feel overwhelmed, upset and probably abandon this (valuable) exercise altogether.

Sacrifices may have to be made, and it’s up to you to choose which ones to take — do you want to sacrifice your time, or your expenses to clear your debt quicker?

Good luck!

I always cringe when I see girls in their leggings, a shirt that barely covers their bum or stomach, and/or wearing these awful boots with 50 straps that they take forever to remove at the security checkpoints.

Even wearing heels at the airport is not a good idea.

When I go straight to the airport from a client’s site, I take the time to at least change my trousers and my footwear, but I never try to wear heels when I’m at the airport, lugging my carryon and (perhaps) having to sprint for the gate.

Men aren’t so much better in terms of being able to be comfortable and organized either, with their laced boots and not understanding that “EMPTY YOUR POCKETS” is not an idle request made on a whim.

Here’s my go-to travel outfit:

Comfort is key. I don’t like wearing anything too tight, too loose, or too short.

I also want to look somewhat chic, because you’d be surprised how many people I run into at the airport when I least expect to see them.

Besides, looking nice should always be a bare minimum requirement before you leave your home!!

 Other Tips for Traveling:

• If I wear jewellery, I always remove it & store it while I am in line for the security check
• I wear layers, so I can remove one when it gets too warm or add one if it gets cold
• I always put my liquids in the sealed bag before I get to the airport
• …and the liquids in the sealed bag are in an easy to reach pocket, or in my purse
• My laptop is also in my purse, not packed away (iPad doesn’t need to be removed)
• I try not to wear my winter coat — I pack it away instead & rely on the cashmere wrap
• I never check in any bags unless I absolutely have to; carry-ons only!

If you want some celebrity inspiration, WhoWhatWear had a few travel outfits featured.

I picked out my favourite:

Via WhoWhatWear (go there for more pictures)

Ashley Olsen’s look is the closest to my ‘ideal’ traveling outfit. Flat shoes, a warm comfortable coat, and a big enough bag to hold your in-flight entertainment.

One thing I will point out is that they all seem to have sunglasses on. This is to hide their tired, red eyes that everyone gets when they travel.

 What do you wear when you travel?

(Unless you really love doing that, then by all means….. would you mind sending me a cheque? )

You have to enjoy the job you are doing as well, seeing as you spend 40+ hours a week at it.

There is no point in having all of that money in retirement if you suffered, and felt miserable through the majority of your life to get it.

Be happy with your lot, or change and find something that may pay less, but will make you 10X happier.

This is why Harvard Business Review’s Top Five Career Regrets struck such a chord with me. I’ve taken quotes from each regret:

Career Regret #1: I wish I hadn’t taken the job for the money

Lamented one investment banker, “I dream of quitting every day, but I have too many commitments.” Another consultant said, “I’d love to leave the stress behind, but I don’t think I’d be good at anything else.” Via

Career Regret #2: I wish I had quit earlier

Said one sales executive, “Those years could have been spent working on problems that mattered to me. You can’t ever get those years back.” Via

Via

Career Regret #3: I wish I had the confidence to start my own business

Even Fortune 500 CEOs dream of entrepreneurial freedom.

Admitted one: “My biggest regret is that I’m a ‘wantrepreneur.’ I never got to prove myself by starting something from scratch.” Via

Career Regret #4: I wish I had used my time at school more productively

A biology researcher recounted her college experience as being “in a ridiculous hurry to complete what in hindsight were the best and most delightfully unstructured years of my life.” Via

Career Regret #5: I wish I had acted on my career hunches

In 2005, an investment banker was asked to lead a small team in (now) rapidly growing Latin America. Sensing that the move might be an upward step, he still declined. Crushingly, the individual brave enough to accept the offer was promoted shortly to division head, then to CEO. Via

Via Harvard Business Review: Read the entire Top Five Career Regrets in detail here.

Pretty powerful, no?

Here’s my take:

DON’T JUST LOOK AT THE INCOME

Instead of focusing your energy on getting more income, why not focus it on seeing how LITTLE you can spend for a comfortable life, so you can have a wider range of career possibilities?

If you spend a lot of money, like $80,000 a year because you have a house, 2 cars, and all the trappings of a middle-class existence, then you will be forced to stay in that job forever.

But if you change your spending habits and only spend about $30,000 net a year, you only need to make about $48,000 gross.

What jobs and careers open up for you then?

BEING YOUR OWN BOSS IS NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER

Not everyone wants to do it, so don’t focus on it being the solution if deep down, you know you don’t want to be on your own.

It is NOT an easy life to be your own boss, to own your own shop or business and to be the only person accountable for every damn thing including making sure you have enough money to survive through the tough years.

It is a Feast or Famine lifestyle.

I know at least 2 freelancers who became their own boss, rather liked it for the money at the time, but then re-joined a company at the end of it all for various reasons:

1. Had no idea how to create a budget and stick to it
2. Had no savings & spent every penny they earned & when the famine hit, they starved into debt
3. Preferred a stable career with a manager, a structure, colleagues and the whole 9 yards
4. Didn’t want to be a Lone Wolf (many freelancers are fiercely independent Lone Wolves…a hard life)

NEVER SAY NEVER

I can safely say that I’ve avoided turning all of the above Career Regrets into Lifetime Woes.

Hit all of them.

At school, I didn’t work THAT hard once I got into business school, partly because I was working 2 full-time jobs to stem the pain of student debt, so I sort of enjoyed those years (Avoided Regret #4).

Then I literally took the best-paying job for the money to clear my loans (Avoided Regret #1), and by luck, ended up loving it.

I couldn’t take dealing with managers any more, so I quit after a few years (Avoided Regret #2), and found my own way in the industry by starting my own business (Avoided Regret #3) by acting on my career hunch (Avoided Regret #5).

It is never too late to change, but it will always be too late for regrets.

In the 1930s, there was a basic wardrobe list that every woman could follow, and every year would have cost approximately $191.81 for clothing and $46.21 for upkeep and personal care.

If we add inflation to today’s 2012 dollar*, it would mean: $2516.55 for clothes and $606.27 for personal care, which I am assuming includes haircuts, and spa-anything.

*$1.00 in 1930 had the same buying power as $13.12 in 2012. Annual inflation over this period was 3.19%.

That means you could expect to spend about $209.71 for clothes per month, and $50.52 for personal care.

That actually sounds quite reasonable. More reasonable than MY spending, anyway.

A BASIC WOMEN’S WORKING WARDROBE IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1937

(Source: ‘Clothing’ (Latzke and Quinlan, 1940))

Note: This wardrobe would have been updated each year, so 8 dresses would turn into a bit more every year if the dresses didn’t fray or wear out.

Medium quality fur-trimmed coat, every third year

Wool spring coat, every other year

4 felt hats, two heavy, two light

8 dresses

• 2 cotton, for summer street wear
• 4 rayon, 3 fair quality, one inexpensive
• 1 wool dress, medium
• 1 rayon party dress

1 wool skirt

1 sweater, every other year

1 blouse

1 smock (I put an apron here)

Underwear

• 2 undervests (rayon) (Used tank tops instead)
• 3 knit rayon bloomers
• 2 panties, 1 rayon, 1 silk
• 4 slips, 3 rayon, 1 silk
• 2 corsets or girdles
• 3 brassières
• 3 nightgowns, 1 cotton, 1 rayon, 1 cotton flannel

Flannel bathrobe (every 3 yrs.)

Rayon kimono, every other year

20 pairs medium silk stockings (I didn’t put all 20 in here)

Handkerchiefs, $1.50

Shoes

• 2 pairs medium quality street shoes
• 1 pair medium quality dress shoes
• 1 pair evening slippers, every other year
• 1 pair inexpensive white shoes

Rubbers 1 pair every other year

Overshoes 1 pair every other year (I took some liberty here, not knowing what overshoes are…)

House slippers 1 pair every other year

Umbrella, every other year

Raincoat, every 3 years

3 pairs gloves, 1 leather, 1 fabric

3 handbags at $1 each (or fewer and better)

Via shared by reader ES

MODERN TIMES HAVE CHANGED FOR A FEW THINGS

I don’t think anyone owns or wears bloomers, or stockings to require 20 pairs of medium silk stockings, nor do we wear corsets, girdles on a regular basis.

We also do more than just take dictation or calls as secretaries these days. Women are in what were traditionally men’s roles in the past.

Wardrobe basics I see missing for me in there are:

• 1 suit — Just for the rare interview to be pulled out and dusted off
• Jeans — Skinny, bootcut
• Pants — Cropped legs (just an inch or two above the ankle)
• Work pants
• More work shoes — At least one other pair
• Work blouses
• At least another sweater or two

My basic minimalist wardrobe would look more like this, if I had to pick 20-items:

Minimalist Capsule Wardrobes for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter

Images above all created via Polyvore

What do you think? Anything missing in there for you?

WHAT I LIKE TO CARRY WHEN I TRAVEL

As little as possible so I adhere pretty strictly to the rules of the airline:

• 1 carryon
• 1 purse or camera bag (I bring the camera bag because it’s what I use)

I love packing lightly because:

1. I don’t have to check anything in
2. I don’t have to carry a lot
3. I can wheel all of it
4. I have to really consider the space in my suitcase before buying anything mindlessly

When I am traveling, I turn into the kind of girl who can live for a month without changing her outfit constantly, and I turn into one of those extreme minimalists.

When I am at home, I feel the urge to change twice a day if I am going out twice (afternoon & night).

Don’t ask me why, but wearing different clothes gives me a serious high especially if I have to come home and go back out again.

HOW I NORMALLY GET TO AIRPORTS AND ALL AROUND THE CITY

I take the subway, bus and metro.

No taxicabs AT ALL.

It would be even easier if I took cabs because I’d just cab to the airport and back, no need to stand outside in the cold to wait for any bus, although I’d probably wear the same amount of clothing/layers.

However if you want to go cheap and cheerful like I do (saving money, and I just don’t like cabs), this is how I do it when going in between temperatures.

GOING ON A TRIP WITH MULTIPLE TEMPERATURES

The problem with traveling in between temperatures is that either you pack for the temperature you are departing from, the temperature you are going to, and/or the temperature you are supposed to return to.

All of this can be one big fat headache if you are going from winter to summer, and back again.

Photo I took in Montreal, Canada

My situation:

Before I left for Hong Kong, it was starting to get cold in Canada. We’re talking a light jacket and some boots would be acceptable, but upon my return, it would be snowing lightly and at least 0 degrees Celsius.

However in Hong Kong, I knew it would be hotter, and I wouldn’t need a winter jacket or boots, in fact, skirts, sandals, and a t-shirt would be the kind of weather I’d be facing.

What did I do?

I packed stuff that I would use in the hotel room anyway that could do double-duty.

I’ve used everything below, and although I was a bit cold, I am always cold even when bundled up, and I could take it for the short period of time (waiting outside for the bus at the airport terminal), and walking home.

KEY DOUBLE-DUTY ITEMS TO BRING

Disclaimer: The following will be warm enough to make it through the cold from the airport to the bus stop, walking through the streets for a short period of time (half an hour to an hour), but not to stay out for a long time, and especially not in very cold, freezing temperatures like let’s say the Arctic.

Please dress warmly if you are going to the Arctic. Don’t skimp, and bring a bigger suitcase.

Also, don’t try and do anything silly by wearing only this in the winter to save money, or to dress lightly.

1. T-Shirts – First layer of the substitute winter jacket
2. Cashmere sweater – Second layer of the substitute winter jacket
3. Massive cashmere pashmina wrap – Third layer wrap of the substitute winter jacket
4. Lightweight windbreaker – Last layer of substitute winter jacket
5. Tights – First layer of substitute winter bottoms
6. Jersey Leggings – Second layer of substitute winter bottoms
7. Long lightweight pants – Third layer of the substitute winter bottoms
8. Wool socks 
9. Umbrella
10.  Mittens/Gloves

TOPS

Via

1. LAYER #1: T-SHIRTS

They’re practical and multi-functional. Great for layering underneath for colder weathers, or wearing alone in hotter ones.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

I use these as the base of my winter layer by wearing all of them underneath.

2. LAYER #2: A CASHMERE SWEATER

I am continually surprised at how comfortable, soft, and lightweight these sweaters are. Compared to a cotton or a wool sweater, cashmere in colder weather beats out everyone and everything.

It would be great if you could find this in a cashmere hoodie that is super thick and warm. Alas, I am still looking, because all the options I’ve found so far, are too thin and meant for fashion.

Good quality cashmere is hard to find. I wish I could tell you that you can spend hundreds of dollars and be guaranteed a great sweater, but this is not the case.

My best cashmere finds have been in thrift stores, because I am able to try them on and feel them on my bare skin.

I have eczema, so the slightest bit of itch makes my skin inflamed and crazy, which is why I cannot buy anything cashmere online without knowing what it feels like on my skin beforehand.

GOOD CASHMERE IS HARD TO FIND:

White and Warren is a great brand for pashminas and scarves, but when I bought a sweater of theirs, it was just the tiniest bit too itchy, which made me extremely disappointed.

J. Crew sweaters were also a bit too itchy, no matter what they say about “quality Italian cashmere” as their material — it simply isn’t itch-free enough for me.

Surprisingly, my favourite consignment cashmere sweaters have been brands from these retailers:

• Neiman Marcus
• Lord & Taylor (2-ply cashmere)
• Ralph Lauren

But I’ve also tried on those house brands in other consignment sweaters and felt they were itchy. It is truly a HIT and MISS.

Otherwise, I tend to stay away from any other kind of retailer that sells cashmere:

• Ann Taylor (not for sweaters)
• J. Crew (I think for their scarves they are fine, but not for sweaters)
•  White & Warren (great for pashminas and scarves, not for sweaters)
• Uniqlo (cheap, but not warm enough or thick enough)
• Kirkland (Costco brand)

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

This is worn over my shirts, and with a cashmere pashmina shawl wrapped around me, it is just as warm as a wool winter coat.

As I mentioned, it’s great if you could find this in a super thick and warm cashmere hoodie, but I am still looking for this. All the cashmere hoodies I’ve found are very light and thin.

3. LAYER #3: A MASSIVE CASHMERE PASHMINA WRAP

I bought this wrap from White & Warren for a lot of money, even though I scored it on sale.

Why?

Because I can’t find this in secondhand stores (who in their right mind would give this thing up for sale?), and it is the best quality cashmere in a pashmina that I’ve felt for the price.

It’s surprisingly lightweight, cosy and very comfortable.

Not itchy at all; I own a White & Warren scarf as well which is of the same quality, but oddly enough their sweaters are a teeny bit itchy.

I use it every time I travel as:

1. A blanket on the plane
2. A blanket in the hotel room
3. Scarf when the temperature dips unexpectedly
4. A jacket for in between temperatures

I can’t tell you how many times this wrap has saved me from a freezing cold, drafty hotel room (this pashmina used as a blanket underneath my wool jacket is an incredibly warm combination).

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

I wrap this over whatever I am wearing, wrapped pretty tightly (I look like a human burrito who escaped from an insane asylum).

Over a cashmere sweater, this does a serious double-whammy of lightweight, but super soft and warm protectiveness to double as a winter jacket.

You can also bring up the back section a bit to wrap around your ears if you are clever enough. No need for earmuffs.

4. LAYER #4: WINDBREAKER

Something light and waterproof works. It’s great to use when it rains, or just to keep the wind off you.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

I wear this over my cashmere sweater, and my pashmina wrapped around me.

It completes my “winter jacket” of 4 layers, and keeps the wind from getting in between the cashmere.

BOTTOMS

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5. BOTTOM LAYER #1: TIGHTS

They are small, easy to squish into a corner of a suitcase, and will block out a LOT of cold.

I sometimes wear these under actual pants, and they act like legging windbreakers.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

This is the first of 3 layers of “pants”.

I start the winter layering at the last airport before I fly back into North America.

I don’t like getting changed in the airplane bathroom (too tight, smelly), so I do it in the airport before I board the plane.

6. BOTTOM LAYER #2: JERSEY LEGGINGS

I wear these to sleep when I travel. I don’t wear them as pants.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

This is the second of 3 layers of “pants”.

7. BOTTOM LAYER #3: LONG LIGHTWEIGHT PANTS

Seeing as the weather was hot in Hong Kong, I needed light pants (I hate shorts, and skirts don’t go with the kind of walking boots I have).

I always go to my Lululemon Dance Pants that have a good thick waistband with a drawstring, and loose legs to let air circulate in hot weather.

Alone, they are too thin in winter.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

This is the final layer of my “pants”, and they’re worn over my jersey leggings and my tights, like a windbreaker for my legs.

ACCESSORIES

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8. WOOL SOCKS

You just need them. I actually still wear them even in summer because I need the extra cushiony factor in my hiking boots when I walk.

I bring about 4 pairs when I travel, I wear 2 pairs a day (changing once, mid-day), and washing them at night to dry for the next day.

9. UMBRELLA

Not just for rain, it’s also for SNOW!

I don’t bring earmuffs or a hat, and this acts like my hat. My earmuffs are the cashmere pashmina that I bring up slightly around my ears.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

The thing about winter, is you are going to get wet if you let the snow fall on you, and melt into water on contact with your warm skin.

This causes you to feel cold (just as sweating during winter would cause you to feel cold), and your face and body starts to freeze otherwise.

This is why having an umbrella is great, it will keep the snow off you, and act like a waterproof hat

10. MITTENS/GLOVES

Can’t get around this because you need your hands to hold the umbrella. You need to bring something, even a super lightweight pair.

Cashmere is great, but I’ve found even a thin layer in cotton is still better than nothing to protect your bare skin in the winter.

DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE USE:

Only meant for when it’s cold or when you return and it’s in the midst of winter.

FINAL SUMMARY OF ITEMS TO BRING

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Hope that helped! If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments below.

I’m always looking for ways to improve my packing list.

All images above were used in Polyvore. Click here for item links.

It’s an extension (which is like an app) that you can install onto your web browser and bypass country restrictions.

You basically click on Install Now and install the extension in Chrome, Firefox, or any other browser you use.

Enjoy!

VANGUARD IS NOW IN CANADA!

So I’m pretty excited to tell you that Vanguard is NOW IN CANADA!

Not only that, their Management Expense Ratios (MERs) for their ETFs are at about half of TD E-Series Index Mutual Funds, and significantly lower than iShares ETFs.

COMPARISON BETWEEN TD E-SERIES, ISHARES AND VANGUARD FOR INDEX FUND INVESTING IN CANADA

(In case you’re wondering, a mutual fund is the same as an ETF, the only difference is in the way it’s bought, priced, and sold. More on that topic is available in my Investing Series.)

You can click to make it larger:

NOTE: This chart is valid as of February 1st 2013.

Buying ETFs on Questrade is now commission-free. You will only pay commissions on selling them. Other fees not related to commissions, still apply in buying or selling.

(Scroll down further to read more about buying ETFs commission-free.)

Now the savings with Vanguard at $248 a year may not seem like a big deal to you, but over the course of 30 years, and with a portfolio that will only continue to grow in size, the savings will be enough to want to make a change today, when it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.

I mean, why would you waste money on fees when you can just do a little work ONCE a year and save?

AT WHAT AMOUNT SAVED DOES THIS MAKE SENSE FOR ME TO SWITCH?

Before, you had to have about $120,000 saved before it became interesting or worth your while to switch over to index fund ETFs rather than an index mutual fund at a bank.

Now, you only need about $60,000 before it becomes interesting.

At $60,000 invested in TD E-Series Mutual Index Funds, the cost is about $244.80.

This is equivalent to Vanguard Index ETFs, being rebalanced once a year (buying ETFs only, not selling any in this rebalancing), costing about $241.60.

If you wanted to sell an ETF, it would cost $9.95 each time you sell.

I TRADE ONLY ONCE A YEAR, WITH 4 INDEX FUNDS

You may be wondering why I only put 4 trades, it’s because I balance once a year. I either buy or sell once a year, but now with commission-free ETFs, I’m going to just be BUYING ETFs if I can help it.

Commission-Free Buying of ETF with Questrade starting Feburary 1st 2013, Selling ETFs will still cost you money

It is even CHEAPER now, you can do the trades with index fund ETFs COMMISSION-FREE with Questrade.

That means that if you buy ETFs with Questrade, you won’t pay their $4.95 – $9.99 commission fee (other fees may still apply, applicable by the government).

1. You’ll pay the ETF commission at the time of purchase, but we’ll rebate you in two business days
2. There are no minimum number of shares you have to buy. Hold them for as long as you’d like
3. Buying ETFs for free is only available if you’re trading on one of the Questrade IQ platforms
4. ECN fees or any other incidentals charged by the markets are your responsibility
5. Your standard commissions will apply when you sell an ETF

So basically, if you sell your ETFs, you WILL pay a fee or if there are ECN fees and so on, but you can use your $50 in free Trades because of my referral ID.

However, you can avoid fees altogether, if you buy ETFs every 3 months (or once a year), and rebalance your portfolio at the same time.

Read: What does rebalancing a portfolio mean?

Something along this strategy:

1. Put money into the ETFs you want in March (pay no commissions)
2. Check your portfolio in June to see where you need to rebalance
3. Put more money into ETFs to rebalance out the portfolio without selling any ETFs
4. Check your portfolio in September to see where you need to rebalance
5. Put more money into ETFs to rebalance the portfolio without selling any ETFs
6. Check your portfolio in December to see where you need to rebalance
7. Put more money into ETFs to rebalance the portfolio without selling any ETFs
8. Wash..rinse..repeat

Or, just do all of this rebalancing and buying (not selling, if you can help it) ONCE, at the end of the year (December).

You can basically not pay $20 – $40 a year, which is easy pickings, and adds up over time.

It’s also a great way to direct your paycheque towards investing and buying ETFs on a regular basis, especially if it’s commission-free with purchases at Questrade AND you pay lower MERs.

WHERE CAN I GET $9.95 PER TRADE AT A DISCOUNT BROKERAGE?

Questrade is where I’m at if you haven’t noticed.

I think they’re awesome, and have thought they were great since I started investing.

If you use my referral ID with Questrade, you can get up to $50 in free trades.

You can enter this code o0soehds when you open your new account.

After pressing “Enter”, it should immediately display what the deal is ($50 in free trades!!).

You can also hold RRSP and TFSA accounts in Questrade as well, and trade stocks or more ETFs in them. I personally use my TFSA contribution room for stocks.

The minimum is $4.95 a trade up to $9.95 as a maximum.

After the $4.95 charge, it is $0.01 (a penny) a stock as a fee.

So between $4.95 to $9.95, you can buy about 500-ish stocks (at a penny each), before the $9.95 charge always applies and it becomes the standard charge.

Oh, and I get $70 in cash if you do decide to go with them (don’t ask, I didn’t make up the rules.)

IF YOU GO WITH TD WATERHOUSE HERE ARE THEIR PRICES:

I emailed and got this:

Investors executing more than 150 trades per quarter will pay a flat rate of only $7.00 per Canadian or US equity trade.

Investors executing 30 – 149 trades per quarter will pay a flat rate of only $9.99 per Canadian or US equity trade.

No matter how often you trade.

Clients with household assets of $50,000 or more with TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage will pay a flat rate of $9.99 per Canadian or US equity trade.  You must also sign up for eServices to qualify for this rate.  

Trades for Canadian or US Options will be subject to the same flat rates plus $1.25 per contract.

It’s pretty expensive to pay about $7 – $9.99 PER trade, flat, not even depending on the number of shares you buy.

IT IS CHEAPER TO GO WITH VANGUARD AT THIS POINT, ESPECIALLY WITH QUESTRADE’S NO-COMMISSION ETFs

I mean if you just look at the near-$500 it costs to stay at TD e-series, it is cheaper to buy Vanguard Index ETFs by a long shot.

If I had a million dollars, the savings with Vanguard would be $2100 just in fees each year compared with TD E-Series Index Funds!

Sounds like small potatoes to you (what’s $2100 a year!?!?), but it’s actually $175 a month back into your pocket for pretty much the same index fund strategy.

Even if you sell ETFs let’s say 4 times in a year, that’s $40 out of the $2100 you’d be saving. It’s still $2060 in your pocket.

It’s like paying bank fees for nothing, I’d basically be burning my money out of sheer laziness.

They haven’t added all the funds in either, so the list is pretty slim right now, but I have total faith they’ll create something as robust as iShares, or as their U.S. ETFs.

A NOTE ON U.S.-BASED ETFS THAT PAY DIVIDENDS

Please note that if you do invest in U.S.-based ETFs and receive dividends, you WILL be indirectly taxed 15% on any dividend gains, that is, they take out the money in the U.S. for dividend taxes before you get them in your portfolio in Canada.

The only place where you won’t get the 15% dividend tax is if you hold index ETFs in your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) because it is recognized by the tax treaty between U.S. and Canada as being a tax-sheltered account, in which case, you can simply apply for a dividend tax refund when you do your taxes.

For Americans, Canada only recognizes 401Ks as a tax-sheltered account.

Finally, Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) are not under this tax treaty, and if we were in the U.S., the Roth IRAs would not be under this Canada-U.S.A. tax treaty either.