Common Cents Mom

Monetizing Mommyhood and a Soundbite from Me

January 4, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Back in October, some of you will remember I went to Blissdom Canada, thanks to Annie Urban offering me her ticket after she was asked to speak. I had the chance while I was there, to speak with CBC’s Ira Basen about my blog, sponsorships, and working with brands. It was a cool conversation that happened as I was with Mom Central Canada applying to be on the expanded Fisher Price Mom Panel. He even got my pitch to Fisher Price on tape. I did not get selected to be a Fisher Price Mom, after all I am not the mom of a small one, but I am a ECE of many years, and many young moms do ask me what brands I use.

Well to sum it up you can tune in this Sunday to CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition to see how it all turned out. Here’s the aperçue from the Sunday Edition web site:

There are four million mommy bloggers in North America, women sharing with other women the trials and tribulations of bringing up babies and making more and more money at the same time.

In the past decade, social media for mommies has gone from a nurturing, supportive, chat-across-the-back-fence virtual village to a massive marketing vehicle for everyone from toy companies to the makers of minivans.

On the CBC site there is even a brief promo. Thanks to Judy Gombita on Google+, here’s a list of some of the others featured in the documentary:

Postcards from the Mothership – Danielle Donders http://danigirl.ca/blog/
PhD In Parenting – Annie Urban http://www.phdinparenting.com/
5 Minutes for Mom – Janice Croze http://www.5minutesformom.com/
Common Cents Mom – Hollie Pollard http://commoncentsmom.com/
Crib Chronicles – Bonnie Stewart http://cribchronicles.com/
Mom Central Canada – Cora Brady http://www.momcentralcanada.com/
Fisher Price play panel http://www.fisherpriceplay.ca/moms/
Child’s Play Communications –Stephanie Azzarone http://childsplaypr.com/
Blissdom Canada http://blissdomcanada.com/

When I saw the list of bloggers that were interviewed I am the small blog in the mix, these other women are among the goddesses of blogging Canada and if you want a new blog to read I recommend any of them and all of them.

Now the show is scheduled to start at 9:13 all depending on what is going on in the news world. So tune in and see what is said about mom and blogging and advertising. You can even stream it online.

Category: Social Media / Tags: Blissdom Canada, blogging, monetizing

Let’s Get Cracking Contest

January 3, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / 51 comments

Do you love eggs as much as I do? and do you love getting that perfect egg? I do. Here at our house we love using eggs in our recipes. Did you know there is an APP that can help you get that perfect egg each and every time? You can preview it on Facebook

I love the Egg Timer App not only because it helps me get that great egg every time but it also is filled with good recipes and great tips. My favorite recipe is for french toast, one of my favorite foods since childhood.

Now Common Cents Mom and The Egg Farmers of Canada have partnered with a giveaway to help promote the new app.

You can download the FREE Egg Timer app (on itunes here or Android here). Got to love a free tool that will help you in the kitchen.

Now for the contest part:

You can win this:

The baskets include:

• Get Cracking Apron

• Eggs Cookbook

o The Perfect Egg Cookbook, by Alex Barker

• Microwave Egg Cooker

• Spiced French Toast Mix

• Get Cracking Egg Turner (spatula)

For a value of $50

I will be using Rafflecopter for all my contests and giveaways this year so you can enter here there will be 4 winners!

Category: Uncategorized /

Saveland Celebrates I Don’t Know How She Does It Release with Contest

January 2, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Saveland.ca is celebrating the January 3rd release of I Don’t Know How She Does It with a giveaway. They are giving away a $500 Molly Maid card to help out that juggling mom.

I Don’t Know How She Does it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Bronson, and Greg Kinnear. Kate (Sarah) and her husband Richard (Greg) juggle work, life and kids in this comedy. This movie with its adult humor is great for a girls night in as it looks and plays at all the juggling a working mom does. I really liked the cast of characters so was glad to preview an advance copy of the DVD.

Haven’t we all heard I don’t know how she does it? Moms juggle, it is simply what we do. We buy the pie, or stay up way too late baking cookies needed the next day, we know when and where every member of the family needs to be. Moms are amazing folk. Trust me we do not need to feel the guilt seen in this movie, it is ok to take the time to breathe and know it is all going to be ok.

Be sure to check it out as you can get it on DVD as of tomorrow.

and don’t forget to enter the Saveland contest.

Category: Reviews and Giveaways / Tags: I Dont Know How She Does It, Saveland

Money Goals for 2012? Resources to Help You Achieve Them

January 1, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Are you like me and have some money resolutions or goals for 2012?

In 2010 I decided the only way for me to get a handle on my finances was to declare bankruptcy. I wrote about it as a guest series on Where Does All My Money Go. I could see no way out from that burden. Last year I cleared my bankruptcy. So what does that mean? It means I have a second chance but it also means rebuilding a basis for credit.

Three things are major money goals for me in 2012.

1. Get a credit card. I have been using a wonderful debit Mastercard from BMO for the last 2 years. I love it but I also think it is time to reestablish my credit worthiness so I will go after getting my first credit card this year.

2. I have NO emergency fund. This is a HUGE no no. I have learned anything can happen in a moment so I will make this my number one priority.I plan on having 5% of my annual income by the end of the year in this account.

3. I want to learn more about RRSP’s, mutual funds, TFSA, index investing and so much more. I need to round out my financial knowledge. I will have a plan in place to invest. I will start with just a small amount $100 a month. But that $100 a month can turn into much more by the time I retire. It is a start. I will also invest my GST, and tax returns starting this year into long-term savings.

So how am I going to find the $ to fund these when I have been living pay cheque to pay cheque? I had to go over my bills and figure out where I was overspending, what I could cut and make a dream board of what I really want. That will give me the incentive to stick to my plan.

There are also a number of great resources and tools I will be using to keep myself on track. I am also eliminating some very bad habits.

1. Opened an ING account, really they do offer the best interest rates and the lowest fees I can find right now. I decided to go with a tax free savings account to start me off. I will also have a separate fee free account for that emergency fund I am building.

2. Cut soda and Timmy runs. I realized I was spending over $50 a month on junk! Junk that I was taking into my body and since one of my goals is to create a healthier me this one is a no brainer. This $50 is going straight into long-term savings. Do you know if you smoke and quit you could literally save thousands?

3. Download @Shopcatch unto my smartphone so when I am looking to buy something I can find the best deal.

4. Continue to utilize sites like Wag Jag, and The Deal Pages to get good deals on things I need or for gifts.

5. Continue to use Mint.com for my budgeting. Years ago I worked for the parent company Intuit selling the software to small businesses

6. Continue tweeting and planning conversations on Twitter on important money topics. The #cdnmoney chat helps me to learn and grow.

7. Utilize the calculators found on the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada site. By using the calculators I can estimate investments, etc so I can better plan my future. This site has alot of great resources for Canadians and I recommend utilizing it.

8. I will read alot so I can learn more about money, investing and financial planning. I think I have the frugal lifestyle down pat, what I really need to know now is how to make my money work for me.

For me the resources and tools will help keep me on track as I plan for my financial goals.

May they help you as well.

Category: Opinion, Uncategorized / Tags: money, Resolutions

New Year, Creating, Connecting, Cultivating

December 31, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / One comment

With the end of 2011, we welcome a new year into our lives. To be honest I am glad to see this year close, yes there were many great blessings that came my way, and many a highlight on the ride, but for every highlight there was a low time as well. I can definitely describe 2012 as nothing but a rollercoaster ride.

As I look ahead I want to embrace the New Yer. I want to take into my hand with joy and optimism.

I was over on Chris Brogan’s blog as I often am and he shared his 3 words. After reading his and tons of others in the comment section and on Twitter I thought what a great Idea.

Last Year, in 2010, at Blissdom Canada people were asked to come up with one word . I came up with undaunted.Persitance, patience, persevering are all part in parcel with being undaunted. I kept that word in 2011 and I did have to persist, and persevere and boy did I ever need patience. So I will keep undaunted in my back pocket.

But as I go forward I need change, I need to do more than just be patient and persevere. I need to CREATE, CONNECT, and CULTIVATE.

Create- I want to create a healthier me, a better writer, a stronger woman

Connect- I want to connect more, get out to events, engage more, share more, have real conversations that help others

Cultivate- I want to cultivate the relationships that I have just begun with my fellow bloggers, with the online community, with brands, and with opportunities that might come my way.

I want 2012 to be a great year of creating, connecting and cultivating and I wish the same for each of you my readers as well.

If I was dreaming BIG for 2012:

I would see me as a great community manager somewhere, or as a digital sales/ customer service rep

Speaking at the State of Now conference in June in NYC

Helping Canadians to have real conversations about money here and on Twitter with the #cdnmoney chat

Travel: NYC, Europe, Morocco are all dreams

So what are you dreaming of? and what are your words or goals?

Category: PERSONAL / Tags: 3 words, goals, New Year's Day, Resolutions

For 2012: 30 Canadian Money Blogs to Read to be Money Smart

December 29, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / 4 comments

Three years ago in 2009 I wrote a list of Canadian Bloggers that help you be money smart. Well that post is my most read post each and every year.It is also on the front page of Google when you search for Canadian money blogs or Canadian frugal blogs. With that said I decided since there have been many new entrants since I wrote this list in June 2009 I would list who I read now. These bloggers help me be money smart. I have learned from each of them. Each of them offers a different take. Some are investment bloggers, some deal with Mortgages, some are frugal bloggers, some know a great deal. All of them are worth reading and knowing. They say here in Canada, 2012 will be another hard year for many a Canadian family so I wanted you my reader to prepared by giving you a great list of bloggers who can help you chart your financial course.

These bloggers are shared in no particular order. Some are moms just like me, some work with money day in day out, some are bankers, some are investors, and all are money smart. If you are like me and always wanting to make the most of your dollar here is a list of great reads that will help with that:

1. Gail Vazoxlade- We all know Gail from her hit TV Show Princesses, but her blog gives us a regular dose of money medicine. I have been blessed to had dinner with Gail and a gang of other bloggers this year. Getting to know her a bit better has only made me want to read her blog more.

2. Sqwakfox-Kerry is one of those old time (meaning she has been blogging for years) personal finance bloggers. Her blog is on a number of best read lists. She is practical which is why I love her.

3. Marcy Berg -Marcy is a mortgage broker, and the owner of Mortgages for Women, I first met her in person, then started following her blog, she is smart and knows her stuff, and great woman to read.

4. Fabulously Broke in the City- is another older personal finance blog. She has gone from being broke to now have a net value of a cool $250,000 all in just a few years. She also lives simply and has another blog that talks about that.

5. Simply Frugal- Taya started her blog about the same time I started mine, so we are both almost 4 years old. She posts deals, money saving tips and even some great recipes.

6. Give Me Back My 5 Bucks. I love Krystal and her blog. She has been debt free since 2007. She also writes for Moneyville and you can even find her talking money quite frequently with me on the #cdmoney chat stream.

7. Where Does All My Money Go Preet is an investment guy. He knows his stuff and has even won a spot as The W Network’s money expert. He also let me guest post over on his blog last year so a good guy in my books.

8. Money Smarts- This blog used to be Four Pillars and then Mike started this one. Its focus is on personal finance with an emphasis on investing topics. Another long time blogger who knows his stuff.

9.Canadian Dream:Free at 45- Tim started this blog as he dreamed of retiring at 45. Well I am there now and no where near retiring. One can dream though, but this guy is showing how it can be done.

10. Ellen Roseman- is a columnist with the Toronto Star, and one of the writers on their Moneyville blog, as is Krystal. She has been writing about money for years.

11. Moneyville- The Toronto Star started this blog just over a year ago and it has some great writers who I have read all before they came to Moneyville.

12.Peter Aceto- as CEO of ING Direct, he is a voice in the banking industry that I read and listen too.

13. The Canadian Personal Finance Blog- Big Cajun Man has been blogging as well for years and simply put he talks about everything money. I love how personal he is in some of his posts.

14.Canadian Couch Potato-Dan is a journalist who knows investing. If you want to know about index investing this blog is a must read.

15. Retire Happy Blog-Jim has been talking and teaching money for 20 years. He offers money talk that is timeless.

16. Boomer and Echo is a fairly new find of mine. They are mother and son team who want we all want to retire knowing we can manage. Really I am enjoying discovering this new read to me.

17. The Asian Pear- Is a young woman I love to read, she writes about day to day what she is doing to save, and lives in a very practical way.

18. Bargainista- I love Eden. She doesn’t write a lot about money, but she does know how to find a great deal, and is actually very money smart as I can attest because I know her in real life now too.

19.Smart Canucks is another blog that helps you find a great deal, or freebie, for me it helps me to be frugal.

20. Canadian Mortgage Trends is a blog all about the Canadian Mortgage industry. If you need to know what is happening and how it can effect your mortgage this is a blog to follow.

21. Canadian Capitalist is a blogger with Moneysense. Ram has been writing about about money for years and is well worth reading, he truly knows Canadian money.

22. The Wealthy Boomer is a blogger and writer with The Financial Post. He is also an author of get this a a financial romance. That alone is reason to read what he writes.

23.Million Dollar Journey-also writes about investing, he is a young man on a journey and on the way he shares everything from best credit card to have in your wallet, to index investing.

24. Thicken My Wallet- This blog written by the president of an investment company offers much in the way of personal finance talk and investing.

25. Bank Nerd Need to know anything about banking, then this is the blog you want to be following.

26. Financial Uproar Nelson is young, just starting out, but I love his wit, and for a young man he is very smart.

27. Mrs. January is another frugal mom like me, who is trying to be money smart. She shares deals and some great practical posts on saving money.

28. Sustainable Personal Finance-this blog written by a couple shares the story of meeting money goals while being eco friendly and green.

29. Nickel by Nickel- Another new find of mine, an east coast gal who wants to keep track of her money nickel by nickel

30.Common Cents Mom- Of course I want you to come here and learn, and grow with me as I move forward. For me this blog will be about having real money conversations and sharing things that help me day to day, whether it be frugal, or finance I will continue to share my journey here.

And don’t forget you can connect with many a Canadian money blogger on Wednesday nights on Twitter 7-8pm EST for the #cdnmoney chat. Come and join the conversation and may you get the insights you need to be money smart.

Category: Money, Opinion / Tags: bloggers, blogs, frugal, Investing, money, Personal Finance

What If A Bank Was Actually Listening to You?

December 27, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Piggy bank © by RambergMediaImages

Ever feel like you are getting shafted by you local bank? Ever feel like it might just be better to have your money in your piggy bank? Sometimes I feel that way. When I have to pay fees each and every month just to keep an account open I cringe, and what about the fees every time you need to do an unique transaction.

When I was in high school I opened my first savings account. It wasn’t with a bank though it was with a credit union. My mom had just married my step father and well my new uncle managed a local credit union in Manitoba. I learned about being a shareholder in my banking experience.For many years I had a credit union account because it made sense and I had a say. You see with credit unions every member has a say, something we do not have when we bank with the big banks. I attended many a shareholders meeting over the years and it was nice to know I could voice my opinion, that I had a say, and that they were actually listening to me.

My family has dealt with the big banks, and credit unions over the years and sometimes I just don’t understand why the bigger banks have such outrageous fees, and policies, over the years sometimes they have confounded me, but I have never felt that way with my credit union account. My sister’s mortgage is at a credit union, and so are others in my family, you see when it came time to get their mortgage it made the best sense.

One of the things I like best about being at a credit union they actually really listen to the customer. They engage their shareholders and care about what we say after all we own the bank. So what would you say if you owned your bank? One credit union really wants to know the answer to that question right now. So what if you owned your bank? What do you want them to know and know this your comments will be read, and heard. So I want to know here what would you tell them? and I want you to actually tell them at My Own Bank.

So what would you do if you owned your own bank?

* This post is sponsored by My Own Bank but my opinions and thoughts on the matter are mine so I really want to know what you think.

Category: Money / Tags: . My Own Bank, Bank, Credit Union, money

Scanning Code of Practice Defined

December 22, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Here is Canada did you know that if a retailer who uses a system that scans your item for pricing purposes and it scans the wrong amount, you may qualify for a discount on that item? Sometimes the store may give the item to you free simply because they made a mistake.

Most major retailers in Canada follow a voluntary rule that’s called the Scanning Code of Practice. Here is the Rule:

If an item is scanned for a price higher than what is displayed in the store, or advertised by the store the lower price will be honored.

AND

a)if the correct price of the product is $10 or less, the retailer will give the product to the customer free of charge; or

B)if the correct price of the product is higher than $10, the retailer will give the customer a discount of $10 off the corrected price.

There is also another rule. If say you go to the register with 3 of the exact same item, and they all scan wrong, then you would get 1 free, and the other 2 the price would be adjusted to the lower price.

Remember it is a voluntary rule and here is a list of stores I found that practice, and abide by the rule:

The Groupe Jean Coutu (NB and Ont only)
Lawton Drug Stores
London Drugs
Lovell Drugs
Pharma-save (BC and Sask)
Pharma Plus
Canada Safeway Limited
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company of Canada Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited
Sobeys Inc.
Metro Inc.
Thrifty Foods
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
Co-op Atlantic
Federated Co-operatives Limited
RCC Supporting Companies:
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
The Home Depot Canada
Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.
Toys r Us
Rona
Wal*Mart Canada Corp.
Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.
The North West Company
Best Buy/Future Shop
2 Home Hardware franchisees
Thrifty Foods
Overwaitea Food Group
The Harry Watson Group
Longos Brothers Fruit Markets
+ 1374 independent locations

So when you are at your favorite retailer on the list be sure to watch the monitor as you may be able to get it discounted or free, or price adjusted. Another thing to note you should always check the monitor and you receipt as mistakes often happen and many times they do not favor you. You will have to ask for the discount so make sure you do, and who knows when you will get your next free item or save $10. I have saved hundreds over the years using it.

Category: Frugal Tips, Uncategorized / Tags: canada, pricing, scanning code of practice, SCOP

Wordless Wednesday: A Picture Perfect Year

December 21, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

I love taking photos of all life’s events and here is our year in pictures.

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Rachel as Mother Goose in the Pink Lemonad

Rachel made a great Mother Goose in the Pink Lemonade, a class play.

251504 10150254900815907 527920906 9138947 7374048 n 300x225 Wordless Wednesday: A Picture Perfect Year

Winning at the Fun Fair

Rachel won a wonderful gift basket of art supplies at her school fun fair.

I stood in line overnight to say goodbye to my old MP and the Leader of the Opposition in Canada, Jack Layton

Rachel loved when I was picked to be a brand ambassador for Kinder. She loved me being a #kindermom. She loved Egging our friends and her classmates.

Rachel loved getting to go to TIFF this year and checking out how The Flying Machine came to film. She had so many questions about animation after this.

Rachel took weeks to come up with her gothic feeling bat queen costume.

The unfortuantely in Nov I lost my Iphone and then my camera, so we only have 10 months of pictures this year.

Category: Uncategorized /

My Christmas Gift to You : 6 Apps that Help Canadians Save

December 20, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / No comments

Tis the time of year for this mom to share.

It is time that I give you some presents.

How about Apps that can help you save money?

I have done the research to bring my readers some of the best Apps there are to help to you save.

Do you drive a car? Then Gas Buddy is for you. Why pay more than you have to? You can find the cheapest gas prices, and more with this excellent app for every driver.This really is the App every driver should have.

Want to find a hot spot? The nearest one? so you don’t eat into your data plan. Then you want WiFi Finder. Make sure you never go over your data plan again with this nifty app. This application searches for all the free Wifi hotspots near you. It claims to cover 465,000 free hotspots over 140 countries.

Like to save money on your shopping? Then Shopcatch is for you. It lets you know where the closest deals are to you. There are also mobile coupons and you can even get alerted to deals at your favorite store as they happen.

Another app that lets you save on your shopping is the Red Flag Deals app.It is for the iPhone and iPod Touch and it makes it easy to stay on top of the latest Canadian deals,coupons, and freebies from wherever you are. Take it shopping with you.

Are you like me a coupon loving mom? Then Clip mobile is perfect for you and for us Canadians it is the coupon app to have. Clip Mobile allows Canucks to search, save and redeem special offers from their favourite stores and restaurants from their local area. The coupons are listed directly by businesses, rather than aggregated from newspaper inserts or direct mailers. Just show the cashier the coupon on your mobile device and you save.

Want to know what that saved money is worth in the future or have a money goal then Money Talk might just be for you.

These are 6 great apps to have and I hope they help you save in the year ahead. By the way each and every one of them is a FREE download.

Category: Frugal Tips, Money / Tags: Applications, Apps, money, save

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