Nancy Zimmerman: a canadian money coach (not a financial planner!)

Canadians wanting to donate to help efforts in Haiti -
super easy via your cel phone.
Text 45678
Type: HAITI
$5 will be added to your cel phone bill, and all proceeds go through Salvation Army to relief efforts in Haiti.
I just did it and it was as easy as that.

Read Full Post »

Remember that delicious movie, The Devil Wears Prada?  My favourite scene was the one where Miranda scorningly points out that while it may be politically correct amongst intelligentsia to dismiss fashion, at the end of the day, the colours we all select from our re-used, recycled clothing were determined months and months before by the [...]

Read Full Post »

So having tweeted and facebook statussed Copenhagen multiple times daily, I was increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that I’m flying to Vancouver for Christmas.   Emissions, much?  (well, 0.7 tonnes to be precise)
Fortunately my friend and former colleague Lucinda pointed out that I could purchase carbon offsets through Offsetters.ca.
They have a handy calculator and payment [...]

Read Full Post »

I can list the money books I wholeheartedly endorse on one hand.   A new one just got added to the list, and I’ve got one copy to give away to a reader, or someone you care about, who would benefit from some thinking about money.
The Secret Language of Money is not The Secret redux, its [...]

Read Full Post »

I found this Radical (my word) Advent Calendar on the Toronto Sun. Yay, you, Suzanne Elston, for writing this.
It reminds me of one of my favourite quotes, by a remarkable Presbyterian priest/author named Frederick Buechner:
“Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It’s the knowledge [...]

Read Full Post »

Photo Credit: kanegen
Massive DISCLAIMER – see masthead – I am not a financial planner.  I want to post a wee bit in the coming days on the topic of ethical investing.  But these posts should in no way be construed as advice or recommendations.  Do your own homework, or contact a licensed financial advisor/planner.  These [...]

Read Full Post »

photo credit: Jaroslaw Pocztarkski
If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will over the coming months:  Bees are disappearing and the implications for our food supply are a whole lot scarier than you probably think.
Eat apples?  check
Eat carrots?  check
Onions? check
Blueberries?  check
Garlic?  check
Broccoli?  Tomatoes?  Squash? Cherries?  Almonds?  What about oranges?
Each of these foods among countless more, [...]

Read Full Post »

Photo Credit: mysza
One of my girlfriends dreads gift shopping events – birthdays, weddings, and above all else, Christmas. She feels like whatever she purchases just won’t cut it with the recipient. Similarly, a former client of mine deliberately traveled out of town on any occasions involving gifts, holding the firm view [...]

Read Full Post »

I love when disparate elements converge. Yesterday, a twitter pal asked for info on investing ethically. Today is Blog Action Day and the topic is Climate Change. (check out Gordon Brown’s blog post on the topic, or The White House’s post, er, but they’re not much better than mine – wicked grin) And the rapidly [...]

Read Full Post »

I’ve been a bit glum recently.
Bono summed things up for me with the query:
When you look at the world
What is it that you see?
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees.
What I’m seeing up here in the north, increasingly, is just how complicated is the relationship between Canada and First Nations peoples. [...]

Read Full Post »