Growing and Learning 2/3

What is a Sinking Fund and Why Do I need One?

Nov 25, 20212 min read

What is a Sinking Fund and Why Do I need One?

A sinking fund is a fund that includes all the once a year expenses that we sometimes forget to include in our monthly budget. Quick,...

What is Financial Infidelity? and How Can You Get on the Same Page with your Spouse?

Ruthy Siemens

Nov 16, 20219 min read

What is Financial Infidelity? and How Can You Get on the Same Page with your Spouse?

"What is Financial Infidelity and am I a victim or a perpetrator of it?" Financial infidelity is hiding your purchases and debts from your s

COVID I hate you! Encountering Hard Times...

Ruthy Siemens

Nov 10, 20215 min read

COVID I hate you! Encountering Hard Times...

Oh man, COVID is such a struggle and I'm still not over it and neither is the rest of the world. I never dreamed that we would get COVID...

For Such a Time as This...Mercy Ships Onboarding Class

Ruthy Siemens

Oct 28, 20217 min read

For Such a Time as This...Mercy Ships Onboarding Class

We have entered a weird world of transition this past month. One of our On Boarding class leaders called it a “vacation with God!” They...

20 Random Facts About Living Onboard the Africa Mercy Ship

Ruthy Siemens

Oct 20, 20214 min read

20 Random Facts About Living Onboard the Africa Mercy Ship

In honour of the twenty years that I have been waiting to live aboard Mercy Ships, here are twenty random facts. 1. We get to have church...

Ruthy Siemens

Aug 27, 20215 min read

The Final Countdown

The last week of preparing to leave was definitely emotionally taxing. Probably one of the most difficult mixture of emotions between...

First Time Canadian Homebuyers Part 3: Options for Affordable Homebuying

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 28, 20212 min read

First Time Canadian Homebuyers Part 3: Options for Affordable Homebuying

I'll be the first to admit that I had to do quite a bit of research about Canadian Homebuying rules because it's been 16 years since I...

First Time Canadian Homebuyers Part 2: What is the Mortgage Stress Test?

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 23, 20213 min read

First Time Canadian Homebuyers Part 2: What is the Mortgage Stress Test?

Buying your first home can be super overwhelming and confusing with all the rules and regulations, especially surrounding Mortgage Loan...

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 14, 20213 min read

First Time Canadian Homebuyers

I’ll be honest, when we purchased our first home, I knew nothing...absolutely nothing...My husband and I were very naïve. Did you know...

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 9, 20215 min read

Travel Health Insurance for Canadians

Canada is an awesome place to live! Our healthcare system is fan-freakin-tastic! As a nurse, I know full well the many flaws in our...

How I earned over 300K in Aeroplan points in One Year!

Ruthy Siemens

May 11, 20216 min read

How I earned over 300K in Aeroplan points in One Year!

So I started playing around with my credit card rewards points and soon realized that the travel redemption could be worth more value than t

Ruthy Siemens

Mar 30, 20215 min read

Steps to DIY Investing

Well we took the leap of DIY investing mid-January and it's been an interesting journey so far. Now, I know why my dad always said, "I don't

Ruthy Siemens

Mar 9, 20214 min read

Are Women Afraid of Personal Finance?

Why are we as women sometimes afraid to take ownership of our own personal finances? Or at least be equals with our partner or spouse?...

Why I'm breaking up with my Financial Advisor

Ruthy Siemens

Feb 22, 20212 min read

Why I'm breaking up with my Financial Advisor

(warning: this was meant to be in jest and not mean-spirited). Dear Financial Advisor It's a scary step. It's not me, it's you! I know...

Ruthy Siemens

Oct 5, 20204 min read

To DIY or not to DIY!

Show yourself that you really can learn a new skill! Prove that inner voice wrong!

Ruthy Siemens

Sep 14, 20206 min read

7 Steps to Prevent Student Loans

Today I'm proposing something different. What if we didn’t have to deal with student loan debt because we avoided it like the plague or lik

How to Turn Your Family From Frantic to Intentional!

Ruthy Siemens

Aug 11, 20206 min read

How to Turn Your Family From Frantic to Intentional!

In light of the recent school announcement about children in grades 4-12 wearing masks when necessary in schools and on buses starting this

Financial Mistakes that I have made over the years: my seven deadly financial sins

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 30, 20208 min read

Financial Mistakes that I have made over the years: my seven deadly financial sins

It seems easier and less acutely painful to learn vicariously through someone else's mistakes. My hope, is that you can learn from some of

How WE got MY Husband prepared to go to University without any student loan debt

Ruthy Siemens

Jun 2, 20205 min read

How WE got MY Husband prepared to go to University without any student loan debt

Anyway, that’s our story of how we made it through university from 2015-2017 and saved and prepared for that great adventure!

Part 3: The ‘why’ to the ‘how’ Tools for planning

Ruthy Siemens

May 25, 20207 min read

Part 3: The ‘why’ to the ‘how’ Tools for planning

When you decide to start this journey towards your goal, please remember that it is a marathon and not a sprint.