Saving Money Is A Choice?

An opinion piece by Jerry

My wife and I finished buying our children's clothes and school supplies 2 weeks ago.  It was a lot of money to spend in one weekend, and there is more to come with school fees and the fall sports/activities registration coming up.  In fact we have found mid August to mid September to be more expensive than Christmas for our family.

We are fairly frugal, and my wife is amazing with a budget.  Before we did any clothes shopping she went through the kids current clothes to see what still fits and the shape of the clothes.  None of them had much of a growth spurt this last year, so many of the clothes can be worn again, those that didn't fit were given to friends that could use them or to goodwill.  There were a few new things they needed, so we made a list.  We went to Old Navy and stuck to the list.  Old Navy carries its own brand and doesn't carry popular brand name clothing, but the quality and prices are decent, although we did notice price increases over last year.

Make life easier in case of an accident

If something were to happen to you would your spouse, guardian or executor know where to look for your important personal information?  Most of us would have to say no, it would be very difficult for someone to find our information/documents if something happened to us.

It’s a difficult subject to think about, and even harder to talk about with others, but preparing your personal information in case of an accident will help both you and your executor in a difficult time. 

A Sandwich Generation

A lot has changed in our family cultures of the past 100 years.  In 1900, the life expectancy of an average person was around 50 years old, while today it is closer 80 years old.  In 1900, it was very common to have 3, even 4 generations living in a home.  Today, while it is more common for the younger generation to stay with parents until their late 20’s, the expectation is that they will leave, and over the past 50 years it has been pretty rare for people in their 50’s to have their parents living with them.  This is changing for many Canadians.


Canadian Baby Boomers are facing something that many have never really prepared for: the caring of their aging parents.  As Baby Boomers hit their 50’s and 60's and their children start leaving home, they are finding that some of their parents are in their 70’s or 80’s and are having difficulty living on their own.  Baby Boomers are starting to take in their parents, sometimes for health or financial reasons.  The health reasons tend to be obvious reasons for care, whether mental or physical, but the financial reasons are not always discussed.