5 ways to talk yourself out of buying a 1.7 million dollar house

5 ways to talk yourself out of buying a 1.7 million dollar house

by | Feb 23, 2016 | Housing, My Financial Journey

Buying a House - From Rags to Reasonable

I had a lovely weekend.

It was one of those rare weekends when you close the computer, set the smartphone aside and have wonderful quality time with the people you love.

I won’t bore you with the details, but it was capped off by a great day of diner brunch and walking through the neighbourhood with my girlfriend, and after 3 coffee stops and the discovery of a new secret perogie den we walked into our first open house.

I’m sure you’ve done it.

It was in our neighbourhood, and we were curious.

We’re not actively looking for a home, but we’ve definitely played around in the insanity of the Toronto mortgage market (if you want to read that whole sage check out THE MORTGAGE FILES, it's in 7 parts, and it's ridiculous).

So we walked into the house, and it was exactly what you’d expect. (more…)

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How I made my first dollar on the internet

How I made my first dollar on the internet

by | Feb 19, 2016 | Making Money, My Financial Journey

A man with a ponytale sits at the computer, the text reads "How I made my first dollar on the internet'

A dollar buys you nothing.

Well… a dollar can buy you some things… in fact there’s a whole menu of choices at your nearest Taco Bell.

But I think we can all agree that a dollar isn’t really anything to write home about.

Whether it’s a lot of money or not… I have to say that making my first dollar online felt like a real accomplishment.

How did I do it?

In late January I wrote a post about “how you make money on the internet’. In it I sketched out my plan to finally turn this site from a time consuming hobby into something that resembled a business (or so I hoped).

Step one was to earn my first dollar. (more…)

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Lindsay vs Her Debt: Part 1 – the $12,372.95 challenge

Lindsay vs Her Debt: Part 1 – the $12,372.95 challenge

by | Feb 16, 2016 | Artist 2 Artist, Debt

*This is a guest post by fellow artist and financial tinkerer, Lindsay. Here’s part one of what will be a 12 part series tracking her debt repayment process throughout the year. Enjoy!*

Hello friends! I’m Lindsay. I’m a singer, and I want to share a huge goal with you: I intend to pay off my credit card and line of credit debt by the time I turn 30. (SIDE NOTE: I turn 29 in like, 2 days.)

Lindsay is a singer, almost 29, how wants to pay her debt. Her debt is 12, 372.95

Now, this isn’t my first time attempting to pay off debt – I actually knocked out a pretty significant chunk (around 15k) about a year ago, but the way I was doing it just didn’t line up with my values. 

I was EXHAUSTED.  (more…)

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You don’t have a money problem, you have a relationship problem

You don’t have a money problem, you have a relationship problem

by | Feb 9, 2016 | Courses, Getting Started

Money Relationship

I knew that I had a problem with my money way before it all blew up in my face.

I’m not dumb (mostly). I was aware of it. 

I just really didn't know what to do about it. 

We’ve all heard many stories that sound like this:

“I lost all my money. I was so in debt, but it wasn’t until my car broke down and my record collection were stolen on the same day by my ex-lover’s new boyfriend that I finally decided to change my life.”

It’s a rock bottom story. Rock bottom sucks, but sometimes it seems like hitting rock bottom is the only thing that forces us to actually do something. 

In my case, I knew there was a problem. I knew that I wasn't handling my money all that well. But my solution was to completely ignore it until I absolutely had to deal with it. 

*Cue rock bottom*

So, was that my fault? Well… I guess it probably was. But I’m definitely not alone in all of this. I’m part of a long, proud tradition of people that knew something needed to change, who wanted to change, and who MAYBE even tried to change a few times (although it never really seemed to catch). 

So why does it always seem to work like this? 

MY NUMBER ONE EXCUSE: I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE TO START

Knowing that you need, or even want to change something is the first step… but it’s really far from actually doing something. 

Every time I tried to fix my money problems I became instantly overwhelmed. It seemed like all the ‘step ones’ that people were suggesting were already too advanced: 

Just make a budget. 

Okay. I’m going to make a budget. 

Step one… write down your average monthly income...

……

……

Um….

......

*Closes computer and turns on Netflix*

THAT SURE DIDN’T FEEL LIKE STEP ONE. I didn’t know how to average out a variable income. I didn’t really know what I was spending on food, entertainment, and chunky sweaters. It didn’t take much for my lowly resolve to be completely overwhelmed by even the simplest of “step ones". 

My conclusion: I guess I’m just not one of those people who is good at money. I can’t even make a budget… the most ‘basic’ of financial tools (or so everyone made it seem). 

can't make (or stick to) a budget? start here

This 10 day email guide will help you build the fundamentals that make budgeting actually work. 

LEARN MORE

MY MONEY PROBLEM WAS A SYMPTOM OF A WAY BIGGER PROBLEM

The thing that I’ve come to realize is that the money problems that were stressing me out (taxes, spending, debt) were just a result of the fact that I had a terrible relationship with money. 

I didn’t understand it. I didn’t relate to it. I didn’t interact with it unless I had to. 

Money Relationship Problem - From Rags to Reasonable

I was starting in the wrong place, and until I improved that base relationship nothing was ever going to change. 

But how do you do that? That doesn’t sound simple to fix…

INTRO TO YOUR MONEY - A 10 DAY EMAIL GUIDE

Well… I’ve got something that just might help. I’ve developed a little 10-day email guide. 

You won’t learn about budgets, or debt plans, or taxes. You won’t learn financial words or anything about investing. 

It’s all about giving people like me a place to start. 

You’ll learn a few simple habits that will help you start to fix your money relationship. And once the fear, negativity, and stress come out of that base relationship… well… that’s when things can really start to change (and you don’t even have to hit rock bottom first!). 

If any of this sounds like it you… sign up below and you’ll get Day 1 (of 10) right now. 

It’s 100% TOTALLY FREE, will be delivered to your inbox every morning, and includes some daily homework (as well as way more personal information about me than you ever thought you needed to know). 

If you want to learn a little more, go HERE. 

So… If you’re tired of the money stress, if you want a place to start that isn’t completely overwhelming… 

Let’s get started….

sign up for the perfect 'step one'

SIGN ME UP

Want to start getting control of your money? How can I help?

Chris Enns

Chris Enns

Financial Planner/Opera Singer

Money never came naturally to me. In fact... I was a bit of a disaster. I remember (very clearly) what it feels like to be 'financially out of control'.

And honestly, I still get stressed about money... that doesn't stop... the difference is that now I have the tools to deal with that stress.

And those tools are what's made it possible for me to build a life full of the things I want: art, creativity, travel, family and more.

If you want to start getting control of your money I'd love to help. You can start with THIS QUIZ, visiting my GETTING STARTED PAGE by checking out my SERVICES page.

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Why community is your most important asset (and how to build one for free)

Why community is your most important asset (and how to build one for free)

by | Feb 3, 2016 | Business Tools, My Financial Journey

Community - From Rags to Reasonable

I haven’t had a lot of jobs in my life, but the ones I’ve had have been in very different fields: 

Farmer. Opera singer. Personal finance blogger. 

I’m not sure if there are any 3 businesses out there that are more different (#gauntletthrown), but one thing I’ve learned from all of them is the importance of community. 

Community is one of those words that gets tossed around a lot in business. Sometimes people call it their network, or their contacts. People born before 1970 refer vaguely to a Rolodex… but what most people will agree on is that, no matter what you call it, there is little that is more valuable to your business than the connections you make, the people you meet, and the ‘community’ you can draw support from. 

But it can turn out to be a real hurdle for small businesses. How to you build that support system? How do you create a network? How do you make contacts in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re just trying to ‘get something from them’? 

It’s something I’ve really struggled with, both as as artist and on the blog. 

So today, we’re going to talk about why a network is so important, the myth of the self-made man (person), and a few ways that you can build a killer network/community/contact list for free.  (more…)

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