By Sheryl Smolkin

“Best from Blogosphere” took a week off due to the Easter break, but our favourite bloggers just kept on writing. Therefore this issue reports on 10 interesting blog posts, rather than the usual five.

Contemplating winters in a warmer climate? Read the key questions Jim Yih on retirehappy says you should ask about retirement in a different country.

Saskatchewan blogger Tim Stubbs tells us on Canadian Dream: Free at 45   how he spent the week before Easter shovelling snow off his roof and away from his foundations to try and avoid a flooded basement.

On Brighter Life, Deanne Gage offers home-staging tips from the pros for those of you selling your house this spring and important information about insurance coverage for single parents with children.

$he Thinks I’m Cheap blogger Andrew explores the touchy subject of money and relationships. His rule #1 is do not discuss money on the first date!

If you are planning a one day or longer shopping trip to the U.S. check out articles on the Canadian Finance Blog about new cross-border shopping exemptions and how to save money on hotel rooms.

Continuing with a shopping theme, on Boomer and Echo, Robb Engen investigates how much you have to spend to make a Costco executive membership worth buying and Gail Vaz-Oxlade says companies marketing to women should cut the cute stuff and take them seriously.

And last but not least, Squawkfox (Kerry K. Taylor) gives detailed instructions on how to make a healthier McDonald’s Egg McMuffin for 65% less. We are NOT surprised that she managed to both cut the calories and cut the cost.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?”  Send us an email with the information to so*********@sa*********.com and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

By Sheryl Smolkin

With RRSP season in full swing, the blogosphere and more traditional media are chock full of advice for those of you who resolved to spend less and save more in 2013.

Live for today or save for tomorrow? How do you balance small pleasures with big investments? Toronto Star consumer columnist Ellen Roseman reports on responses from her readers when she posted a story on millionaire Kevin O’Leary’s advice to stop buying coffee, lunches, magazines and cigarettes.

BrighterLife.ca tackles How-to-dig-your-way-out-of-debt and Jim Yih shares ideas on how to Make RRSP Savings One of Your Financial Resolutions in his blog “Retire Happy.”

Of course, having enough money is not the only key to a happy retirement. You have to figure out what to do with your time. Tim Stubbs recently found himself with an extra 10 hours a week (wouldn’t that be nice!) when his gig as a Regina School Board Trustee ended. On “Canadian Dream: Free at 45” he writes about how he plans to spend his new-found “free time.”

And on another note, on Boomer and Echo, Robb Engen explores the difficult subject, “How to talk to your elderly parents about money.”