Happy almost New Year! Things have been pretty quiet around here for the past few weeks as I’ve been busy relaxing and packing for my imminent move to Halifax. The house is about half packed right now and things are a bit chaotic, so I thought this would be a good time sit down and look at which posts were most popular on the blog in 2014. Here are my most visited blog posts of 2014:
30 Financial Milestones to Reach By Age 30
This post was inspired by one of the same name from Bridget at Money After Graduation. Basically it’s a list of money milestones you should hit by age 30 – according to Bridget. The comments on her original post get a little snarky as people debate the merits of each milestone, but I think it’s a good quiz overall. I scored 22 out of 30, which means I need to check 8 more goals off that list in the next five years. I think I can do that! Tell me how you scored in the comments.
What Can An Average Income Buy?
In this post I examine whether the average Canadian two-income household can afford to the average price of a Canadian home. The answer? Well, you’ll have to read the post to find out for yourself, but I can definitely say un-affordability of housing struck a chord with many readers and sparked a lively debate!
If You Can’t Save 5%, You Don’t Deserve to Borrow 95%
In Canada, the minimum downpayment you can have to buy a house is 5% of the overall purchase price. Now, 5% down is not very much, and in my opinion, if you can’t afford to even save 5%, you shouldn’t be trusted to borrow 95% of the purchase price. There are some banks that disagree, and have devised mortgage products that essentially give you the 5%, meaning you don’t need to save anything at all to buy a house. I think this is absurd and will get a lot of people into trouble.
My Debt Repayment Spreadsheet
My biggest weapon against my debt was my debt repayment spreadsheet, and in this post I share exactly how it works and how you can customize it for your own debts. There are screenshots and even a free downloadable spreadsheet! If you’re having trouble making progress on your debt repayment, I highly recommend this debt repayment spreadsheet to help motivate yourself.
Staying Minimalist in a 3-Bedroom House
In December 2013 my husband and I moved from our 400 square foot cottage to a 3-bedroom house. It was quite an adjustment and I was worried that all of this new space would mean my minimalist ways would go out the window. Now that I’m packing up this house I realize that our possessions haven’t gotten out of control in the year that we lived here, but they could definitely stand to be paired down a little bit.
Which post was your favourite in 2014? I want to know!