Denise's Blog Spot

Come out to 1877 Henderson Hwy from 8am-4pm today to find some treasures at our Garage Sale and donate some cash for Osborne House... Every penny raised locally for our foundation supports Osborne House.

Some information:

• 51% of women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.
• 360,000 children are exposed to domestic violence each year.
• One to two women are murdered by a current or former partner each week in Canada.
• Physical and sexual abuse costs Canada over $4 billion each year (factoring into account social services, criminal justice, lost employment days and healthcare interventions).
• www.shelterfoundation.ca/stories-of-hope

About Royal LePage Shelter Foundation

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to supporting shelters and ending violence against women and children. Through agent commission contributions and the fundraising activities of the Royal LePage network, we have raised over $10 million to help to provide a safe haven and new beginnings to more than 30,000 women and children each year. To break the cycle of violence, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation also supports long-term violence prevention and education programs. All funds raised by Royal LePage offices remain in their local community and because Royal LePage pays the costs of administration, 100 per cent of all money and effort goes toward this important cause. For more information on the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, visit www.royallepage.ca/shelter
 
 
 
 
 

A wise investment in financial literacy

Campaign encourages women to take control of their finances

By: Joel Schlesinger

Posted: 04/23/2011 1:00 AM        

SUBMITTED PHOTO Enlarge Image

Laurie Howard, Vanessa Kunderman, Luisa Alarcon, Leslie Hackett and Amanda Bibeau (from left) know the value of financial responsibility from personal experience. They tell how they overcame bereavement, personal and family illness and other problems, sometimes at an early age, and began budgeting, saving and investing even when they had next to no money.

LAURIE Howard could no longer afford her home while supporting four children after her husband suffered a severe disability.

Amanda Bibeau grew up in public housing and low-end rentals and was on the outside looking in as she watched her more affluent friends go on vacations to Disneyland.

And just as Vanessa Kunderman's family had recovered emotionally and financially from her father's death, she was diagnosed with cancer at age 16 -- and once again, her family's finances were sent into a tailspin.

Yet today, all three women are leading happy lives with solid financial foundations. Their stories of overcoming adversity are meant to serve as inspiration for Manitoba women in a new financial literacy program launched by the Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) this week called I'm Worth It.

Manitoba Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk attended the launch of the initiative last Monday at the MSC office downtown and told those in attendance that despite all the advances in equality for women, they still are less likely to invest than men.

And women typically earn less, have less pension income in retirement and are more likely to live in poverty after age 65 than men.

Financial literacy is crucial to improving these statistics, she said, but equally important is that women take the initiative with their finances -- something Wowchuk did many years ago when she wanted to start a business.

"I'm a country woman. I married a farmer, gave up teaching and after raising children, I wanted some financial independence," says Wowchuk, in charge of the provincial government's purse strings and arguably the most powerful financial figure in Manitoba.

A ceramics instructor, she had wanted to start a small business and went to the bank for a loan.

"The banker said, 'Oh yes, we'll lend you the money, but your husband has to sign for you,' and I thought, 'Not a chance. I want this independence.' "

She went from bank to bank and eventually she got a loan without her husband co-signing.

"When I look back, I realize I'm not the only one who had to start something like that."

The I'm Worth It initiative is largely focused on personal stories similar to the minister's. It also includes all the basic information, such as tips on budgeting, how to choose a financial adviser and even advice from local financial expert Evelyn Jacks, president of the Knowledge Bureau and adviser for the Federal Task Force on Financial Literacy.

While it may seem that developing a 60-page booklet and a website campaign about the basics of financial literacy is a little far afield for a regulatory body in charge of protecting Manitoba investors, ensuring Manitobans have basic financial literacy ultimately leads to a greater pool of savvy investors, says Ainsley Cunningham, manager of education and communications at the MSC.

"The more educational opportunities the public has concerning money and finance, the better informed they will be and the more likely they are to make wise decisions."

Certainly, anyone could benefit from the information provided by this program, but Cunningham says it's deliberately aimed at women because market research conducted by the MSC found financial literacy is lowest among women.

Yet what makes I'm Worth It more than just another collection of basic financial advice are the five compelling stories of Manitoba women.

Below are the stories of three of the women, including their personal tips and advice to build a stronger financial future.

Laurie Howard, former retirement activities counsellor

In 1996, Laurie and her four children found themselves without a home. Her husband had always suffered from illness during their 25 years of marriage, but they still had managed to make ends meet. After his second aneurysm, their safety and their financial situation became untenable.

"I couldn't afford the mortgage payments so I sold to the only bidder for next to nothing," the 56-year-old says.

"I didn't make any money, but paid off all the debts."

With no money for a down payment, Howard and her kids were living in a friend's basement.

They may have lost their home, but they hadn't lost their resourcefulness, she says. They cut coupons and they budgeted fastidiously.

But most importantly, Howard was always on the lookout for financial aid programs, a strategy that soon paid a life-changing dividend. When one of her children was considering post-secondary education, Howard got to work researching grants.

"He got awarded a huge one," she says, adding it provided for living expenses. "And with his money and the little money I had, we bought a house."

Today, Howard's children are all financially stable adults, and Howard is moving to the East Coast to take her masters in divinity.

Her advice to those who "hit rock bottom" like she did: There is a way out, even when you have nothing.

"You think 'There's no way you can save money.' Well, yes you can. There are all kinds of strategies for saving, even if you don't have enough money."

She says she became a master budgeter, trying to finish each month under her set spending limit.

"I made a game of it, and if you can beat it, that's savings."

She even found ways to keep her children in sports and other programs.

"If your kids are in sports, every community club will sponsor your child," she says. "The Y will sponsor your child, so the kids can still participate, even if you don't have the money."

Amanda Bibeau, administrative assistant

Growing up, Bibeau didn't get to enjoy many of the activities other children take for granted.

"My parents weren't as financially stable as my friends' parents," she says. "I really felt left out when my friends would go shopping at the mall and I couldn't go because my parents had no money to give me and I wasn't yet old enough to work."

But the school of hard knocks taught the 21-year-old the true value of money, a lesson she has put to good use today.

"I think watching my parents struggle helped, because I didn't understand what was going on so I asked a lot of questions like 'Why can't I go to Disneyland when all my friends get to go?' or 'Why do we live in a small apartment when all my friends live in gigantic houses?' "

Now Bibeau is a financial role model for anyone her age. An administrative assistant with the Manitoba government, she has a pension, has maxed out her RRSPs two years in a row and contributes to a tax-free savings account (TFSA) for a down payment on a home.

"I'm a bit of a penny-pincher, but I will treat myself," she says. "I know what I need and I know what I want, and I'm able to tell the difference between those two things."

When it comes to taking control of your finances, ask questions, even if you're afraid you'll sound dense, she says.

"Of course, I felt stupid, but as I went through the process, it became easier and it's so helpful."

Vanessa Kunderman

Fresh from Toronto Fashion Week, the 22-year-old is full of artistic inspiration for her job as art director at Sandbox, a Winnipeg-based fashion and culture magazine she started with a group of friends.

The quarterly magazine is quickly gaining national readership, and Toronto may have been a business trip, but it certainly was enjoyable work, she says.

Yet that's not Kunderman's day job. She works full-time as an investment adviser with Freedom 55 Financial, a somewhat ironic twist of occupational fate, considering how tenuous her future was a few years ago.

At 16, Kunderman was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma -- cancer of the immune system, a disease she battled for two years until it went into remission.

The illness was challenging enough, but it wasn't the only tragic turn her family had to overcome.

When she was 11, her father died of cancer. The family's income fell by 80 per cent and the insurance benefit wasn't enough to cover all the bills. Still, her mother persevered and just when they were in a better place financially, Kunderman was diagnosed with cancer.

"My mom couldn't work because she was taking care of me," she says. "It was really hard. I wasn't able to get insurance. I wasn't able to plan for my future."

When she was healthy again, Kunderman realized she needed to take control of her finances.

"I thought, 'Wow, I have to be really smart with my investments to protect my family when I'm older.' "

Today, she says she takes great pride in advising other young women about their finances, preaching the financial planning mantra of 'paying yourself first.'

"We want the cellphones and the lattes, but we also have to remember to put some money in a savings account, a TFSA or an RRSP -- however you want," she says. "I don't mean to throw out a lot jargon; it's just so long as you save and plan for the future."

Learn more...

Two other women also offered their stories about the financial challenges they faced. Leslie Hackett, a counsellor, says she is a reformed shopaholic who spent her 20s in the malls buying clothes and shoes on credit. And Luisa Alarcon, who works in marketing and advertising, fell ill while attending university and soon found herself buried by student loans. To find out more about their stories, as well as information about saving for retirement, a home or education, visit www.imworthit.ca.

giganticsmile@gmail.com

In the ever changing world of Social Media sites here are some common sense tips to post by.

1. Your pages should reflect your personality BUT be careful on content… if you would offend your grandmother then it isn’t appropriate content. Also, do not include your birth year as there is so much public information on other sites on the web that this info can make it easy for scammers to find out enough to steal your identity. (see below) Don't put anything on the social that you don't want your future boss, current client or potential clients to read.

2. Some platforms are meant for family and friends so they should be mostly personal... but remember that personal and PRIVATE are different. If you are not ready to announce it in the newspaper, don’t share it on social media. Limit your privacy settings to Only Friends. That will restrict who sees your information, including pictures, videos, and applications used. Another thing most people will want to do is uncheck the public search results box so people can't find their Facebook page through a Google search.

3. Change your security questions on all your social media platforms, banking (most important) and other pasworded sites, etc… Remember that your mother’s maiden name has become easy to find with Facebook and other platforms, as is your place of birth, and other common security questions. Make security questions for banking and other passworded sites more specific personal or private events – like what time you were born or who you first kissed, etc.

4. Never be too open about details. Share your fundraising efforts for a favorite cause, what is going on in the community, share where you had a good meal, share generalities about what you have going on but don’t share private details that should be kept between close family and friends – especially things that haven’t been told to everyone that should be told… Like Grandpa passed away - That should wait till the obituary is being sent to the newspaper.

5. Don’t post cryptic status updates about your mental state — "Rachel is trying so hard," "Rachel wishes things were different," "Rachel is starting her life over" — don't make you sound intriguing, just lonely and pathetic. If you need a lifeline, phone a friend — don't ask the audience.

6. Use the send message feature. Friends may prefer it to the wall. Everybody else may not be as open as you. Some may prefer to have conversations using the private messages feature rather than the wall. Keep that in mind as you talk to your friends. And whatever you do, don't compromise their privacy by posting something confidential on their wall.

7. Never post when you're overly-tired, jet lagged, intoxicated, angry or upset and do not air out your grievances with someone in a public forum.

8. Don’t be a Keyboard Gangsta- Probably the worst thing about the Internet is the keyboard gangstas. You’ve surely run across at least one of these in your lifetime. They sit at their keyboard talking trash to everyone they encounter. They say things online that they would never have the nerve to say to a real person’s face.

Besides the annoyances of the people that ignore the above, there are the extremes of online predators, cyber bullies and scammers. Keep in mind there are a lot of sites out there that can give stalkers and scammers information very quickly. But there are things we can do to prevent that information from hurting us without hiding ourselves under a rock in the 1970s.

I can find out by checking canada411.com your phone number & exact address, I can google you and find you on linkedin with your title and place of work, race results from when you walked the marathon, groups you are part of… by checking passages obituaries for your family name I can find at least one obituary that you are listed in with your whole family (including your kids names and husbands name), I can google street view your house and quite possibly see your vehicles in the driveway, I can search you on Court of Queens bench to find out about your divorce, maiden name/married name and any judgements against you, and if I am really interested I can go to the land titles office and pay for a search to find out all the property you own, which bank holds your mortgage and any other leins. I'm sure if I was really interested I could find out more and I haven't even looked at social media... but again someone would have to be very interested and take the time to do it.

To protect yourself, call your bank and put custom security questions on your files. Do this with all your social medias, and other passworded accounts. Make them more specific personal or private events that are difficult or impossible for other people to know – like what time you were born or who you first kissed, etc.  Do an ego search once in a while, not to see get a swollen head but to see what information people can get about you if THEY google you or your family.

Ensure your GPS cabable cell-phone's geotagging for photos is shut off before posting or emailing pictures.   This ensures that the location of where the picture is taken can not be tracked.

Teach children not to talk to people even if they are familiar with them or say they know the family. Teach them to go to an adult from a predetermined "safe list" for help - Good examples are: a mother with children, a counter clerk in a store or a uniformed police officer. Next time you visit a store, practice picking these types of people out with your child(ren). Teach Children about the Buddy System. Children can be very trusting of adults, especially adults whom they may be somewhat familiar with. It is critical that you and your child(ren) have a password system. Work out ahead of time an arranged password that any adult whom tries to accompany them must have before they will go anywhere with them. Pick a password that is both easy for your child to remember and something that is not easy for a stranger to determine (don't make a password out of a name or address). Share the password only with your child, family members and trusted friends.

Remember that the net is here to stay and that instead of cowering from it, learn about it. Help control the searchable content about you and your family.

By, Denise Young

Royal LePage Prime office is taking part in this national event because…

• 51% of women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.
• 360,000 children are exposed to domestic violence each year.
• One to two women are murdered by a current or former partner each week in Canada.
• Physical and sexual abuse costs Canada over $4 billion each year (factoring into account social services, criminal justice, lost employment days and healthcare interventions).
• www.shelterfoundation.ca/stories-of-hope

Will you help?  We need items we can sell dropped off at our office at 1877 Henderson Hwy (no clothing)... starting NOW! And we want your support on May 14th so mark it on your calendars now to come visit us at the garage sale.

It may not look like Spring out there this weekend but it is time to Spring ahead so don't forget to change your clocks tonight.

Optimist Gold Plate Dinner

Friday March 4th 6:30 pm

Transcona Canad Inns 826 Regent Ave West

$80 All Inclusive or Table of 8 All Inclusive for $640

Their goal is to raise funds for a variety of programs including Youth Appreciation, Just Say NO to Drugs, Special Olympics, Dreams Take Flight, Optimist Junior Golf, Christmas Hampers, Safety on Wheels as well as Essay and Oratorical Contests, all of which are dedicated to helping youth within Transcona.

Cori Knapp – President – 794-2296 or president@transconanationals.com

Laurie Hoel – Treasurer – 793-2411 or treasurer@transconanationals.com

Each ticket includes dinner, cocktails all evening, a free ride home if required, and the opportunity to win numerous prizes.

Prizes include a Grand Prize of $750 cash!

 

With Valentines Day just around the corner I thought I'd share a cute (although somewhat embellished) storey... 

It all started...

It was a warm August afternoon and this handsome young couple had just spent a good portion of the day walking around the Transcona Hi Neighbor Festival. She had needed to get out badly as she was tired of being cooped up and it was just a short walk from the duplex suite they shared on Park Circle. 

Her feet were swollen and her back was killing her and she needed to find a bench to sit on. Her belly was already so big with baby that she could barely lower herself to the bench without help. Another lady on the bench commented on how she must be due "any day now" but no, she wasn't. She was only 6 months pregnant and not due until October. The other woman with her tiny baby bump said "oh, my that's when I'm due!" 

The two couples became fast friends and started spending many evenings together playing cards and having fun. The young men often had too many drinks and sometimes found themselves in a bit of trouble. One evening they were horsing around by climbing the trees in Park Circle park after having a couple drinks and it wasn't surprising that one of them fell out of a tree. The other man quickly came to his aid and pumped his legs to get his breath back.  "He saved my life!" exclaimed the breathless man. 

In all their horseplay they'd come up with a great bet...  Who will have their baby first?

When October came they waited and waited. It wasn't until the 11th that the first baby came... It's a boy! And then a couple days later... It's a girl!

The couples became so busy with their bundles of joy and drifted apart almost as quick as they had become friends.

About 15 years later....

A young girl (about 15 years old) was trying to call her friend's boyfriend but his little brother was such a pain in the butt. He would never give her a straight answer as to if her friends boyfriend was even home. Just kept changing the subject and telling jokes. It really reminded her of her own little brother, who was only 6 - a big pain in the butt! She remained persistent though as she was hoping her friends boyfriend could give her a ride to her friends birthday party. When she did finally talk to her friends boyfriend, he said his little brother was going to ride his bike over to her house. "That's kind of odd but ok" Since living in the country for a short period of time there was nothing else to do. 

The little brother came over on his bicycle with his friend. The young girl was shocked to realize these boys were her own age! It was quickly apparent that the little brother and the young girl were drawn to each other.  After and evening of mindless chatter and countless hours on the phone back and forth the little brother's mom got on the phone to talk to the young girl.  A couple of quick questions revealed her suspicions were true. The young girl was the daughter of their "friends for the season" back when they'd been pregnant! She said "Tell your dad he still owes us fifty bucks!"

And the little brother and young girl lived happily ever after. 

I love the Super Bowl Ads.... I was so into them that I watched the game just to see the ads.  It ended up being a good game. 

 http://www.youtube.com/user/adblitz With this link you can see the 2011 Super Bowl Ads and many prior years.  My favorites from this year are the Pepsi ones (especially the husband beating one), the Doritos ones... especially the creepy finger sucking guy, and the Bridgestone ones ("Canadians we love our Beaver" Classifed, Oh Canada Song) and my Ultimate fav was Eminem/Chrysler 200 commercial. 

One's I wasn't too impressed with... While I liked the mini-Darth Vadar in the Volkswagon commercial I was dissappointed it was just a shortened version of what they already had on TV, their drifting beetle for the VW Bug was ,also, super cute.  Many of the car commercials were impressive but Audi was, also, a dissappointment... although slightly humerous... pretty forgettable.  Talking babies are cute but over done for commercials.  Other unforgettable one was the Career Builder one with monkeys in a parking lot the Sealy Posterpediac "love glow" and the Teleflora one with Faith Hill "Your rack is unreal".

Honorable mentions: The Bud Light dog waiters, the Snickers with Rosanne Bar getting hit with a log, the Carmax service station one, Chatter with animated Black Eyed Peas was cute and had me checking out the website, and the "go first" Cars.com.  And you can bet we'll be standing in line to see Pirates of the Caribean, Fast Five and Cowboys and Aliens. 

Just a note about the tastless Groupon commercial... they forgot to mention in the ad that their website was raising money for the causes they made fun of.  Or was this an afterthought to make up for their gross offense?

My opinions only, Denise Young