There are only two sure things in the world: death and taxes. I’ve been writing a lot lately about the latter, but this past week I’ve spent a significant part of my days thinking about the former. Lately, a few hours of each day have been spent with a lovely group of people kicking around some of the big questions that surround death. It’s part of a workshop of Mozart’s Requiem. If you haven’t spent much time with the piece it’s definitely worth a second look. Even if classical music isn’t your thing, this is one of those pieces that ...

This artistic life can be a crazy one (and not always crazy fun). Seems like a lot of the time all we can do is strap ourselves in for the ride. Luckily we have each other; And so I'm launching a new segment here at R2R... Forming a panel of awesome artists who are kind enough to answer a few financial questions, share their opinions, tips, and foibles. Today we talk taxes with some lovely ladies and gentlemen from all over North America. We have JoJo, a stage manager from Toronto, Doug, a singer from the prairies, Jenna, a ...

Can I just say it. Receipts are getting out of control. No, I’m not talking about the ones that are aggressively taking over my apartment, but the ones that they’re passing out at stores all over the place. I can go somewhere and buy ONE THING, and end up with a piece of paper the length of my arm. Since I’m not planning on taking up ribbon twirling anytime soon, I’m left to ponder… why the *&$% this is happening. And so when I started having to write a few receipts of my own, and asking some other artists for ...

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Investing. The holy grail of financial wizardry. You put money in, you get more money out. Whether it excites you or it scares you it can be a little tough to understand the intricacies of the whole investment world. But there’s one great investment that a lot of people are sitting on that is 100 PERCENT GUARANTEED. Your debt. These days, most people seem to have some kind of debt… whether it’s the kind of debt that’s okay to talk about: mortgage/student loans, or the kind that we secretly stress about at 3 in the morning: credit cards, tax debt, ...

Borrowing money from family or friends... generally the consensus is... don't do it. This has to be one of the most common pieces of advice out there, and there are plenty of horror stories to back it up. But there’s a reason why, when the chips were on the table, it was one of the first places I turned. I talked a little while ago about how I got myself BACK INTO A PILE OF DEBT; But not the normal “I owe the bank” kind of debt… My debt came in the form of 10 grand worth of dental work that ...

Your number is what your life costs. Knowing how much YOUR life costs, is a really important piece of information, especially for those of us living on variable income. You know that fantastic feeling. You’ve just been cut a check for 4,000 dollars. Let the caviar RAAAIIIINNNN!!!! Or wait. I’m not working for the next couple of months. I wonder how much of this cheque I’m going to need... So you do some quick calculations, add up your rent, what you imagine you spend on food, a phone bill… oh right, and internet…..um.. There’s probably lots left. I’m just ...

I’m not a negative dude, but honestly February was a tough slog. And it wasn’t because anything dramatic happened. It’s just the time when all my motivation seemed to run out, and the big goals and dreams of January started to feel heavy and impossible. It’s a pretty classic February feeling, and I’m sure I’m not alone. But it does really bother me. I know it’s just a winter thing. Everyone feels this way. But I’m sick of justifications, and I’m sick of excuses. If there’s one thing that I know for sure it’s that waiting for habits and ...

You know how by the end of January all the gyms start to empty of all those fresh-faced eager members who joined in the first few weeks of the year. It's not that those wonderful well meaning folks are the worst.... it's just that change is freaking hard. After all the excitement of the new year fades (usually around January 10th), the following few weeks of the month take all of your stick-to-it discipline to plow through. And just when you’re celebrating the conquering of January, February hits like a hammer. Changing habits and patterns is hard. And not because it’s hard to get to the ...

You remember how amazing Christmas or your birthday was when you were a kid? The anticipation. The sleepless night. The setting out of the cookies… the eating of ice cream for breakfast (I’ll let you decide which tradition goes with which event). And the getting of sweet sweet stuff. You’d made your list, or dropped super subtle hints about the exact lego set that you definitely wanted. Then you wait, and the waiting is intolerable. But it finally comes. And there’s more anticipation. Will it be there? Will Santa come through? (Yes. He came every year on my birthday, too ...