Welcome to the How To Save Money Radar!

This is where you will find a new approach to connecting you with some of the best quality articles on the internet about saving money and personal finance. Many bloggers publish links posts to share content written by other bloggers with their readers, but the focus is almost exclusively on new articles from the past week. My approach is to scour my favourite blogs and even ask the bloggers themselves for the absolute best content they have produced since their blog’s inception.

Why do this? Because many bloggers have the most passion in the early days of their blogs before they gain popularity but those articles quickly get buried in their archives never to be read or linked to again. Now I’m digging it all up so you guys get to read the best possible stuff that you never would have seen otherwise. Enjoy!

Great Articles You Should Read Now

• Mrs January made a practical guide to Canadian coupons so that you can learn how to become an extreme couponer in no time!
• Retire By Forty ironically wrote an article on how to retire by 40 and turns out it’s pretty good!
• Krant Cents suggests 10 changes you can make that could end up being worth millions of dollars.
• Frugal Under Forty wrote a nice piece on the importance of cash flow and how people often steal money from themselves without even realizing it.
• Daily Money Shot has come up with an amusing article on what watching Roseanne has taught them about money.

One Of My Own Articles You May Have Missed

In my last blog post in this series I want to debunk the myths around mortgage brokers. Now, in ANY other industry, adding a middle man to any purchasing process usually means that YOU pay more. (Think of travel for example...we all now know that booking flights ourselves saves us some serious dough.)

BUT - did you know that getting a mortgage broker can literally save you thousands of dollars? So - why is it when it comes to making the biggest money decision in your life, that it will actually save you money to add a middle man? Here’s why...a mortgage broker is someone who is trained to represent YOU - not the bank when you’re shopping for a mortgage. Plus...

#1. Mortgage Brokers are FREE

Let me repeat that for you...mortgage brokers don’t cost you a penny. So not only do they work for you, and save you thousands....their services don’t cost you a thing.

So..who pays the brokers? Good question. Brokers are actually paid by the lenders once they close a mortgage deal with you.

#2. Mortgage Brokers Do the Leg Work

Over the years I’ve learned many car buying tips and tricks from various friends and relatives as well as from my own online and offline research. I have been buying vehicles for about 18 years and these tips can and do work very well. Some are easier to use then others, but if it means saving a few hundred or thousands of dollars, it’s worth it!

Buying a new car isn’t like buying a pair of jeans; you’re spending a huge amount of money. Of course if you’re buying a $500 used car that looks like “The Old Jalopy” from the Archie comics, then you won’t have much to negotiate on.

Keep in mind, I have only used these car buying tips at actual dealerships. Buying privately is different and you don’t have as many techniques to work with, and cars sold privately are always sold as is. I personally have never bought a vehicle privately.

11 Car Buying Tips You Can Use At Any Dealership:

One of our customers once emailed me and asked …“Kelvin – it’s not just about GETTING a mortgage is it? It’s all about what happens after that. How do I pay it off faster? What’s the trick?” I couldn’t but think – she is SO right. There is so much info out there about how to get a mortgage…but the key to saving money is what happens next.

This article is dedicated to that customer, as well as anyone else who wants to adopt great money practices to pay off their mortgage faster. (And just to be clear – that should be anyone WITH a mortgage.)

#1: Switch to Rapid Payments.

Consider this…with a mortgage of $300,000 amortized over 25 years (basically an average mortgage), this would save you $19,887 in interest payments, plus cut 2 Years off your mortgage (based on an interest rate of 3.52% - our average best 5 year fixed rate over the past year). That’s right…$19,887 and 2 Years!!! (And if you don’t believe us, do the math by using our Mortgage Calculator.)

SO - how do rapid payments work exactly and why do they save you a small fortune? Take Bi-weekly rapid payments for example. This splits your monthly payment in half and means that you pay it every other week. The result? You make one extra full payment a year. That’s right – that one extra payment spread out over the course of the year, saves you a butt load of interest.

#2: Make Lump Sum Payments.

You’ve found your perfect dream home, and shopped around for the best mortgage rate (high five). So - you’re sitting down at the bank with your mortgage specialist and they offer you Mortgage Life Insurance. You want to protect your mortgage, because who wouldn’t want to protect the biggest money decision they’ve made? By answering a few “simple” questions, and by filling out one more document you can get the protection you need. How easy! How convenient! Take our word....don’t do it.

The banks try and sell you Mortgage Life Insurance just like BestBuy tries to sell you extended warranties - with the sole intention of boosting their profits. Not to say that protecting your mortgage is a bad thing. It’s actually a wise move...BUT chances are the Mortgage Life Insurance your bank is offering will not only be overpriced, but can end up burning you in the end.

Here are four reasons why you should never EVER get Mortgage Life Insurance from your bank....

Reason #1: You are ONLY Approved Once You MAKE a Claim

When it comes to Mortgage Insurance banks use something called post claim underwriting. What this means is, you are only approved AFTER you make a claim - NOT before. So what’s the big deal?

If let’s say the worst happens and your family needs to make a claim, you could be denied for coverage even though you’ve been paying your premiums the whole time. PLUS if you answered any of the questions on your form incorrectly, that’s enough to reject your claim all together.

Of course you will be reimbursed for the premiums you paid out...but what about your coverage? If you’re paying for protection, we think that a product should do just that.

(The CBC did an awesome expose on this a few years back. Check it out!)

Reason #2: The Longer you Pay...the LESS You are Covered for