By Sheryl Smolkin

And before you know it it’s almost the middle of August. I haven’t seen any coloured leaves drifting down…yet. But already the days are getting shorter. This week we feature interesting blogs from top bloggers who kept on writing even when many of us were on vacation.

In GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, Caroline Cakebread shares 5 ways to tap your home for cash in retirement. They are: sell and rent; sell and downsize; become a landlord; rent out your home  temporarily; and, get a reverse mortgage.

If you are in your 50s and starting to get really serious about planning your retirement, take a look at Rich at any age: In your 50s by David Aston, Romana King and Julie Cazzin on MoneySense. They suggest that you get a ballpark figure of what you will need; max out your savings; and then, pick the right moment.

Are you still agonizing over whether it makes more sense to save in an RRSP or a TFSA? Then take a look at RRSP Myth – Retirement Income Has To Be Lower For RRSP Benefit by Mike Holman on MoneySmart. He gives interesting examples to illustrate that even where income in retirement is a bit higher than in the earning years, RRSPs will likely still save you some taxes or at worst – won’t save you any tax, but won’t cost you anything either.

Mr. CBB gives advice to a couple with $5,000/month of discretionary income on Canadian Budget Binder about buying their first home. He says they should talk to a financial advisor about retirement savings and life insurance; figure out the size of mortgage they can afford on one income; factor in home maintenance costs before they buy; and understand how to be prepared for emergencies.

Dan Bortolotti writes on Canadian Couch Potato about Calculating Your Portfolio’s Rate of Return. Rate of return calculations fall into two general categories: time-weighted and money-weighted. If a portfolio has no cash flows (that is, the investor makes no contributions and no withdrawals), both methods produce identical figures. He says the key point to understand, therefore, is that any differences in reported returns come about as a result of cash inflows and outflows.

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 with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Well it actually reached +1 degree yesterday and I had a “spring” in my step. However its back to -15 plus who knows what wind chill, so I’ve had to downsize my expectations and put on another layer. Even in his new sweater, our cockapoo Rufus says it’s too #’%!@ cold to stay out for long.

By the way, if you’ve never watched the Rick Mercer clip RMR: Seven Day Forecast – YouTube, it’s a “must see” that will warm up your day.

I’ve just discovered Patricia Gass’s blog Let’s talk About Money. If you are close to retirement or already there, you will enjoy her Reflections From The Early Days Of Spending In Retirement, Part 1 and Reflections From The Early Days Of Spending In Retirement, Part 2. She says running out of money in retirement is NOT an option, especially for the “conservative accountant” in her.

On a similar theme, Kira Vermond from the Globe and Mail writes about Personal financial rules that help stop you from spending too much money. Many of us play simple mind tricks on ourselves and create rules to save money, whether at the checkout counter or in our bank account. How about the Costco customer who decides she will forgo a push cart while shopping there so she’s not tempted to overspend? Her rule: If she can’t lift it, she won’t buy it.

Don’t Buy A Pre-Sale Condo. Ever. says Nelson Smith on Financial Uproar. His blog was triggered by story in the Toronto Star this week about local home buyers who put a $40,000 deposit on a condo in 2011 and four years later got their deposit back, but no condo because the developer decided to convert it to a rental building.

Mr. CBB on Canadian Budget Binder writes about a Free Trial Offer that Cost a Woman $232 in Credit Card Charges. It seems that she paid $12.00 U.S. for a couple of bottles of diet pills to help get off her post-baby weight. However, she didn’t read the fine print and she was charged $116 twice on her credit card which pushed it over her $500 credit limit. So don’t believe everything you read unless you read everything, and remember rarely, if ever, is there a free lunch.

And if you are still wondering How the Bank of Canada rate cut will affect consumers, wonder no more. Brighter Life editor Brenda Spiering says its bad news for interest-based savings accounts and GICs. But it’s good news for variable rate mortgages and lines of credit.

As for vacations, with the loonie in the cellar and low fuel prices, Rob Carrick at the Globe and Mail says this is the year for a big road trip in See Canada and save money. I think he is onto something. Beautiful Saskatchewan, here I come….

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 with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

In our eternal quest to link you to the best in personal finance blogging, once again this week we combed the web looking for great stories that will incent you to watch your nickels and save more for retirement.

On Boomer & Echo, Robb Engen discusses his experience  Breaking Subconscious Money Habits. Something as simple as eating weekend breakfasts at home instead of at Tim Hortons saved his family over $500/year.

Sarah Milton writes on Retire Happy about how Impulsive spending can derail your finances. While it may be tempting to buy something on sale because it’s a bargain, it’s only a bargain if you need the item and will use it within a reasonable period of time.

Automated arrangements where money comes out of your account to pay bills or amounts are regularly charged to your credit card are a great idea until something goes wrong and you don’t catch the error. That’s why Mr. CBB on Canadian Budget Binder says it is essential to review automated bill payments every month. That way you can discover and rectify inadvertent overbilling, duplicate bills or amounts incorrectly charged to your account.

If you really want to decrease the amount of income tax you have to pay, Big Cajun Man, Alan Whitton tries the idea Work Less and Pay Less Tax on for size. He says he’d rather take an extra 10 weeks of vacation off than go down to a four or three day work week, because he probably would have to do the same amount of work in a shorter period of time. Nevertheless, rather than working less, he would be more inclined to try to earn more money, so the tax hike didn’t hurt as much

And finally, Dan on Our Big Fat Wallet discussed what everyone loves to hate – bank fees. In I Hate Bank Fees, So I Bought the Banks he admits being frustrated by all of the bank charges he pays each month. So he decided to buy bank stock. The big 5 Canadian banks have had stellar capital gains and paid great dividends over the last five years.

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 with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Whether you simply can’t face the pile of paper on your desk or you are waiting for the last few T5s to come in the mail, the deadline for filing your income tax return is on the horizon.

In Income Splitting 101: Tips On Keeping It In The Family Boomer & Echo’s Robb Engen discusses the Conservative government’s proposal to permit income-splitting for families with children and some legitimate income-splitting strategies that are already available under the Income Tax Act.

Many young people are considering post-secondary education with a co-op component. On canadianbudgetbinder.com Mr. CBB tells us How his co-op program at a zoo shaped his work ethics.

He says one of the greatest parts of his co-op program was when he was feeding the animals and visitors to the zoo asked him questions he learned how to interact with people and share his knowledge freely.

Blogger Krystal Yee has a new job working close to the downtown Vancouver core. She says Having a car is expensive, particularly now that she has to rent a downtown parking spot. But her home is in the suburbs and she’s not ready to give her car up yet.

Brenda Spiering the editor of brighterlife.ca has some great ideas for spring cleaning your finances. Begin by digging out all of your essential financial documents. If you are unsure what they are, check out Twelve key documents you need to gather.

And as wedding season comes into full bloom, take a look at How I Made 100 Wedding Invitations for Under $60 on whenlifegivesyoulemonsaddvodka.com. All it took was card stock from a stationery store, an online template and a new printer cartridge.

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 with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.