your-money

A study released a few weeks ago challenges the stereotype of the shopping bag princess. Called Financial Lives of Girls and Women, it shows that in fact women - not men - hold the purse strings: 89% say that the final decision about how to spend household money rests with them.

Eight years ago this month I walked away from a good job with solid benefits to go freelance. A few friends thought I was crazy - most were really supportive. They’d watched me struggle in my job for a couple of years.

A few years ago, my cell phone bill was pretty straightforward because I paid for one cell phone that I used for one thing only: making phone calls. Since then my family has upgraded to using a few different devices, including two smart phones and an iPad, all of which run on data plans.

Lately, every time it rains, the drain in our basement bathroom backs up. One very rainy night last week we called in a plumber to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He put a tiny camera down the drain and through the pipes as my husband and I looked on anxiously. “Wow” the guy said as the camera snaked its way under our basement floor. “Clearly a do-it-yourself job.”

My husband and I are hosting Christmas this year - 13 people (including 4 kids) in our tiny Toronto row house. By the 26th, I’m pretty sure we’ll be flat out exhausted.