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I used my favourite 0.5mm black gel pen, and jotted my first words of the year: the time and date of my first social event of the year (January 2, date night with Daniel to watch Star Wars, 6:45PM). Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables captures the excitement and hope of a new day best: “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? For the first time since before the first kid was born, Daniel and I were both working full time the entire year. With the new year, our resolution here at Urban Departures exercise financial austerity and embark a year of no shopping.

Originally published in 2011, Millionaire Teacher demonstrated how average individuals like himself could build wealth in the stock market while avoiding the damage inflicted by the self-serving financial industry. The first edition of Millionaire Teacher, explained how the stock and bond markets work, how to build a portfolio of low cost index funds, and how to avoid the psychological behaviors that plague investors. Rule #7: No, You Don’t Have to Invest on Your Own – While the plan is to invest across stock and bond indexes, ignore financial news and rebalance once a year might sound simple, it can be more difficult in practice. While market conditions and investment tools have evolved, Hallam’s second pass at Millionaire Teacher

There’s a clear cost advantage to buying second hand over buying new. At the rate they outgrow their clothes, it doesn’t make much sense to keep buying them new – especially when a new pair of jeans can run upwards of $40. It seems a little counter-intuitive, but the Kijiji’s Second Hand Economy index shows buying second hand perpetuates a better standard of living. An average $480 saved paired with $883 sold, adds up to over $1200 in accumulated wealth that can be used either to soften the burden of new purchases or be put to better use elsewhere.

If the property is between $500,000 and $999,999, the minimum down payment is 5% on the first $500K plus 10% on the next $500K. As of October 17,  2016, the Canadian government now requires “all insured homebuyers to qualify for mortgage insurance at an interest rate the greater of their contract mortgage rate or the Bank of Canada’s conventional five-year fixed posted rate. Assuming an interest rate of 2.24% with a 25 year amortization and a minimum 5% down payment, the balance owing of $394,861 would be subject to $296,050 in interest over the life of the mortgage – if interest rates did not change. Choosing the right combination of mortgage type, interest rate and payment options will maximize savings in interest and reduce the amount of time it takes to pay off the mortgage.