Recent Articles
This & That: Family Matters Edition
May 10, 20129 Comments
A Wrote: My father passed away about a year and a half ago and I have since found out that I will be inheriting 1 million dollars.
My husband and I have been discussing how to go about making this work best for us and our future children. I am employed as a registered nurse and [...]
Sweet-Potato Stuffed Cannelloni
May 9, 201221 Comments
Years ago I had dinner in a little restaurant on King Street in Toronto where they served the most wonderful sweet-potato stuffed ravioli. When I eat something delicious, I inevitably try to reverse-engineer it at home. While I’m no good at making my own ravioli, I found a way to achieve much the same effect [...]
Mother’s Day Savings
May 8, 201236 Comments
Are you ready to tell your mommy just how wonderful she is? Ya better be since Mom’s Day is this weekend. That’s, of course, if you have a great mommy. For those that don’t, good luck hiding from Mother without bringing the wrath of the entire family down on your head!
Mother’s Day as been around [...]
Do the Legwork
May 7, 201216 Comments
People are always looking for ways to short-cut. Lazeee! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to create an app. Hey, I’m not about short-cuts when it comes to managing money. I’m about being conscious. If that means doing it the long way to keep you honest, I’m all for that. That’s [...]
A Mind of My Own
May 4, 201224 Comments
Chapter Two — A Strong Silent Boy (Part 2)
Once I discovered the holes in Malcolm’s language I set to work. For the category word problem, I cut out hundreds and hundreds of little pictures and played the game of putting them into categories. Boats, cars, planes helicopters, skidoos, bicycles, tricycles, and everything else I could [...]
Cheap & Cheerful Weekends
May 3, 201228 Comments
If you work all week – be it on the road, in an office, or hauling kids hither and yon – you might see the weekend as your opportunity to kick back, forget about rules and schedules, and splurge a little. But if every weekend turns into an excuse to spend money – eating out, [...]
What Makes a Good Parent?
May 2, 201235 Comments
Having children fundamentally changed who I was. It’s no surprise really? The things you must learn to do as a parent to help raise happy and well-adjusted children means you’re running up a very steep learning curve. Most people manage well. Some, not so much. And the innocent are left to deal with the fallout.
So [...]
Your mortgage is likely the single largest debt you’ll every take on. And if you take a mortgage for $300,000 at an average rate of 5% and pay it off over 35 years you’ll end up paying $331,789.91 in interest. Wow!
There are ways to significantly reduce the amount of interest it costs and the time [...]
Making Choices
April 30, 201223 Comments
Over and over people tell me that they’re “just not good with numbers.” The numbers don’t mean anything to them. One dollar, $10, $100, $1000, a million? Is it just a bunch of extra zeros tack on? Many people just can’t relate.
So how about instead of focusing on numbers you focus on choices you must [...]
Gail's Tools
Now, easier to find than ever, here are the tools you’ll need to take control of your money and your life… like the Interactive Budget Worksheet. Make sure you read Gail’s Guide to Building a Budget or my latest book, Debt-Free Forever, before using the Interactive Budget Worksheet so you know how to put it to good use.
And have a look under Favorite Blogs for what I’ve written on topics people most often ask questions about.
Gail Vaz-Oxlade
Hello! I'm Gail Vaz-Oxlade. I'm a mother, step-mother, grand-mama, friend, confessor, writer, TV host, money maven, teacher, artist, and ex-wife. I'm loud, large and laugh a lot. I'm passionate about learning, committed to sharing and hell-bent on getting people to take control of their money and their lives.
I've written 13 books on personal finance, hundreds of articles for the financial media, published a financial magazine for women, hosted three prime-time television shows and worked with Canada’s leading financial services companies to help educate employees and clients. (I've been busy, eh?)
My corporate projects have ranged from the design of a product knowledge and sales curriculum to cover every product sold through the branch network, to the writing of several consumer-oriented brochures, the development of web content, the on-camera hosting of consumer-oriented videos, and myriad public presentations. I can make the most complex financial topic accessible to everyone, even kids.
For those of you who have detected an accent, go ahead and guess! I immigrated to Canada in 1977, lived in The Big City for a long time and then moved to the country. I have dozens of houseplants, read or listen to about 150 books a year and I'm a fabulous cook. I’m learning to knit and dying to get a new puppy… but the time’s not quite right yet so I’m practicing what I preach and being patient.
I’m all about change, and I believe that we can have anything we want in life…anything. It’s all a matter of what’s important to us and how hard we’re prepared to bust our butts. I also believe that a well-balanced life is one of the keys to happiness, and so I strive to achieve a sense of balance.
I’m happy with my life. I am determined to do interesting work and to be useful. I love to learn new things. And I’m practicing living in The Now. I am a work in progress.
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