Contest Winner for a Free Book “Spend Smarter, Save Bigger”

1. 1. Jon Lee

   I already have the book Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies. Would you recommend this book in addition to it? I recently received a $20 chapters gift card and I’m wondering what I should do with it :D

   Mar 16th, 2007 @ 8:23 am

2. 2. Blain Reinkensmeyer

   Since when was this contest going on!? Must have joined the community after this one launched, look forward to the next one Frugal!

   Mar 16th, 2007 @ 10:15 am

3. 3. Bootsie

   Yay! I was the lucky winner! :) I just wanted to thank you again Frugal. The book was in the mail when I returned from a short vacation and the timing was perfect because I got sick and got to spend the day in bed reading Ms. Bai’s book!

   I wanted to make a couple comments on the book:
   1) great insurance infomation, both home and vehicle. We had recently made some of the recommended changes to our policy and they have been great money savers.
   2) I actually really enjoyed the safe driving bit – and I know a few people that could use the hints! ;)
   3) I also really liked the ‘true stories’ bit. It reminded me of “Your Money or Your Life” which I also HIGHLY recommend.

   There are a couple areas where I don’t necessarily agree with Ms. Bai and I think it might have to do with the fact that I don’t live in the Toronto area so I might have a different view on things. Most of this has to do with housing and the notion that buying a home is always a good investment and that buying is always better than renting if you can afford the down payment.

   This topic was discussed pretty heavily at the FWF:
   http://www.financialwebring.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1027

   Based on my own personal experience (in a declining market, which is quite rare in Canada but a real eye opener for those in potential ‘bubble’ regions) and after having read through each of these posts, I don’t think “buying is always better than renting” is necessarily true. In fact, I’d be inclined to say that the opposite may be more true in many cases…assuming you invest the savings.

   Lastly, wrt to vehicles – keep in mind that things do change in the automotive industry. Once upon a time it was known that the NA OEMs suffered wrt reliability but this is no longer true. In fact, NA models outperform European vehicles in the area of reliability. A friend of mine bought a VW because it “retains it’s value”. As far as I’m concerned, I could care less about the vehicles resale value – I’m going to drive it to the ground! My 1999 Ford Escort is coming up on 200k clicks and I haven’t had any major problems to date. I’d be willing to forego the extra $6-8k to buy a used North American model rather than a foreign model, especially since repairs are generally cheaper on the NA model.

   Anyway, these are just minor things I wanted to point out as I see them and maybe points to discuss. :) Sorry for the long post.

   Altogether I really liked the book – a good, quick read and potentially very informative for those starting out in their path to financial independence! Good job Margot and thanks again Frugal!

   Mar 23rd, 2007 @ 7:45 pm

4. 4. FrugalTrader

   Bootsie: I’m glad that you enjoyed the book, thanks for the detailed commentary on your thoughts of the book.

   Mar 23rd, 2007 @ 11:02 pm

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