Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Life”
Every January I make a point to sit down and look back on the previous year. I check in with my goals for the year, and then I use my progress or lack thereof to help myself set goals for the upcoming years. 2018 was a little strange for me, because I didn’t set any goals whatsoever. I didn’t set …
This post is part of a sponsored collaboration with TD. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog. Over the past five years of writing this blog, I’ve examined whether I should have life insurance a few times. The first time I asked this question was when I got married. At that time I didn’t have any dependents …
Financial literacy rates in Canada are staggeringly low. In a recent study by Statistics Canada, only 22% of men answered 5 out of 14 standard financial literacy questions correctly, and a mere 15% of women did the same. With basic financial literacy rates this low, it’s not surprising that the most often read financial headlines in Canada these days …
For the longest time, I was afraid to check my credit score. I wasn’t sure what I would find, and I felt that my massive debt load meant I surely had a score below 600. At the time, my husband was also afraid to check his credit score, but for a different reason. He has a very common name, …
This post brought to you by Chase. The content and opinions expressed below are that of My Alternate Life. I’m sure this has happened to you: You wake up, grab a coffee, and log into your computer. After flicking through your Facebook feed, you load up your credit card account and quickly scan the recent transactions. Then you almost choke …
When I went to university, I enrolled in a program that had co-op work terms. My choice was not accidental. I intentionally chose a program with work terms because I wanted to get experience in my field, work in an office, and get paid a decent wage. But when the time came to secure my summer job, I was not …
This post is part of a sponsored collaboration. All opinions and views expressed are my own. Back in November 2015, I blogged about whether or not it was time to buy life insurance for my husband and myself. I went through the different scenarios of “what if I die” and “what if he dies” and concluded that although he and …
In Fall 2014, I attended FinCon in New Orleans. Since New Orleans has a reputation as a great city, my husband, his sister, and her husband came along with me. We had a blast, and we knew that the rest of his family would enjoy a trip there as well. When we got back, we all talked about some day …
2015 was a year of transition. My husband and I made some big changes in our lives (that I outlined in my net worth update) and that meant I was pretty conservative with my 2015 goals. I planned to save just $11,000 this year. I set this conservative amount because I didn’t want to set any goals I couldn’t keep. …
Happy Christmas Eve! My gifts are purchased, my full-time job has wound down until the new year, my stocking is stuffed and I’ve even finished all of my freelance projects for the month. There is officially nothing left for me to do this year, except write this final blog post of 2015. The next several days are going to be …
