WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.219 Thank you. Welcome to TGIF, Two Girls Investing 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:07.000 Friday, the podcast that proves you don't need 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:08.980 a finance degree or a trust fund to build wealth. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.080 We're just two regular girls who decided to take 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:12.939 control of our money, and now we're helping you 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:14.699 do the same. Each week we break down investing, 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:16.820 money, and mindset in a way that's actually fun 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:18.820 and easy to understand. We are not financial 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:20.800 advisors. We're just two friends sharing what 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.339 we've learned on our own investing journeys. 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:24.899 No jargon, no intimidation, just real talk and 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:26.559 real strategies to help you grow your wealth 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.239 and confidence. So grab a coffee, get cozy, and 00:00:29.239 --> 00:00:36.799 let's get into it. Okay, we are back after a 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.899 bit of a break because Jess was in Kenya. Yeah, 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:41.380 I don't know if you noticed or not, but we didn't 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.479 have an episode last week and that was because 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.899 I was away. And we originally planned to maybe 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:47.460 record while I was away, but there was no way 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:49.439 it was going to happen. So we did not get it 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.119 together, but it's been a great month. There's 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:54.259 been lots of listeners. So thank you for joining 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:56.899 us. And Jess, tell us about how Kenya was. Yeah, 00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:59.780 Kenya was amazing. I don't even know where to 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:01.439 begin. Like, I feel like where I was going for 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:03.280 two months because we did so many things that 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.480 felt really long and really... Yeah, it was just 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:07.640 a great trip overall. We started with the safari 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:09.459 first, which was amazing because we saw so many 00:01:09.459 --> 00:01:11.920 animals up close and personal. Unbelievable. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.040 Like more animals than I even thought we would 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:16.900 ever see. Oh my gosh. It was unbelievable. And 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:19.640 just seeing the landscape of the Masai Mara Park 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.599 was unbelievable. And then we went to the coast, 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:24.760 which when I originally thought of Kenya, I didn't 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.420 think of it having like a... tropical coast but 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:28.980 it has like an amazing coast with white sand 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:32.200 beaches and like beautiful so yeah really close 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:34.120 to the equator so it was really hot but on the 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.239 financial side of things it was interesting because 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:40.079 most things there are bought and sold in their 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.219 local currency which is canyon shillings but 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:45.819 a lot of the touristy stuff is in usd Which can 00:01:45.819 --> 00:01:48.200 be a killer for us in Canada. Because the exchange 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.859 rate is so hard. The exchange rate sucks, right? 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:52.780 Like it just flat out sucks for us. Yeah, it 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:54.739 does. It really eats up like a lot of your budget. 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:57.859 Yeah. So a lot of the tipping on the safari and 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:00.829 just like... at the resort and stuff too any 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:03.650 of the touristy stuff it's done in usd so that 00:02:03.650 --> 00:02:05.689 was one thing that i had read about but i didn't 00:02:05.689 --> 00:02:07.790 realize how much it was actually used there so 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:09.669 that was kind of a bit of a killer on the trip 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:11.629 but the rest of it was in kenyan shillings and 00:02:11.629 --> 00:02:13.870 it's about a thousand kenyan shillings is about 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:17.069 ten dollars canadian so it was an easy exchange 00:02:17.069 --> 00:02:18.949 rate to kind of do in your head that's nice and 00:02:18.949 --> 00:02:20.990 their money's beautiful it's like colorful and 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:22.750 it's kind of like canadian money like you had 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.000 some here Yeah. I have some on the counter here. 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:26.919 Yeah. Oh, it does look somewhat Canadian. It 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:28.319 kind of looks like Canadian money. Yeah. Yeah. 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.039 And their coins are really nice too. So yeah, 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:33.219 overall, amazing trip. Trip of a lifetime. Unbelievable. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:36.460 It was an adventure. Was there any, when you're 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:38.180 on a safari, was there any animals that you were 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:40.460 like, I forgot that even existed or like, I didn't 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:42.080 realize I would see that here? Or did you kind 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:43.319 of know all of them that you were going to see? 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.680 Well, the biggest one I thought is like the antelopes 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:49.680 are so small. They're tiny. So the gazelles and 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.330 the impalas are super tiny. They're like the 00:02:52.330 --> 00:02:54.389 size of like a small dog, like really tiny. Oh 00:02:54.389 --> 00:02:55.889 my gosh. Yeah, but then the Impalas have these 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:58.689 huge antlers. So that I was shocked by how tiny 00:02:58.689 --> 00:03:00.650 they were. But no, I think it was like all the 00:03:00.650 --> 00:03:03.050 stuff I knew that what I was going to see. um 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:05.969 the warthogs were hilarious actually yeah tons 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:08.569 of warthogs and they were so funny yeah um and 00:03:08.569 --> 00:03:10.409 then obviously my favorite was the giraffe yeah 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.009 giraffes which we talked about oh man i saw so 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:15.909 many giraffes and so up close they're so they 00:03:15.909 --> 00:03:18.169 have like little like personalities kind of yeah 00:03:18.169 --> 00:03:20.430 like just they just kind of walk around and like 00:03:20.430 --> 00:03:22.710 you think they'd be really kind of clunky and 00:03:22.710 --> 00:03:24.610 clumsy but they're so graceful like we saw one 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:26.960 run across the road and up this bank And it was 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.520 like so graceful, but it looks like they move 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:30.860 so slow when they're walking. Yeah, for their 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:32.719 height, but they like just clear so much ground. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.400 It's crazy. That's so cool. Yeah. So we kind 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:37.280 of talked about the cost of my trip last time. 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:38.580 If you guys have any questions about it or you 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:40.620 want to hear more about like the cost and what 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:42.539 I ended up spending or how much things cost over 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:44.000 there, pop something in the comments because 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.919 we can talk about it a little bit more. Did you 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:47.719 have any surprise expenses that you were like, 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:49.039 that was more than I thought it was going to 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.620 cost or that was less than I thought it was going 00:03:50.620 --> 00:03:52.879 to cost? The scuba diving, actually. We did a 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.639 scuba diving trip and it was actually quite a 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.469 bit more expensive. I thought it was going to 00:03:56.469 --> 00:04:00.330 be, I think it ended up being 220 Canadian. So 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:02.330 it was like 170 US or something. And it was a 00:04:02.330 --> 00:04:03.789 bit more than I was expecting. I thought it to 00:04:03.789 --> 00:04:06.020 be a little bit cheaper there, but. But the scuba 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:08.139 diving was really amazing. I saw some sea turtles 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.159 for the first time. Yeah, I swam with sea turtles. 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:12.379 It was like a dream of mine. That is so cool. 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.639 Big gigantic ones, right? Big gigantic sea turtles. 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:17.439 Big green turtles and then the hawks build turtles. 00:04:17.699 --> 00:04:19.279 Yeah, so it's like always been a dream of mine 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.079 to see turtles. And I've scuba dived and snorkeled 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:22.560 a few times and I've never seen the sea turtles. 00:04:22.740 --> 00:04:25.060 So it was like, yeah, it was a really cool experience. 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:27.139 So in the grand scheme of things, worth the money 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:29.300 to spend on the scuba diving. That life experience. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:31.379 Exactly, yeah. Like I said before, one of the 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:33.500 things I don't mind spending money on is on like 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:36.120 traveling experiences. Because when I'm dying, 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.579 I'm not going to be like, oh, I wish I still 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:40.480 had that $200 from scuba diving. Totally. You're 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.959 going to be like, I saw sea turtles and I swam 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.199 with them. I know, yeah. We actually saw dolphins 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.160 when we were on the boat, too, on the way out 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:49.699 there. So it was cool. What an experience. Yeah. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:52.779 So part of what we shared before our little break 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:54.360 was that I was going to share a little bit more 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:56.379 about how I turned my love for shopping into 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:59.519 a business. Yeah. And I think this could honestly 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.639 be like an eight part series. So I'll try to 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:03.879 keep it a little bit concise and a little bit 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.779 more on like that financial lens. Yeah. I started 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:10.480 a subscription box out of my house featuring 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.500 all Canadian small businesses a few years ago. 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:17.139 And that grew into a retail store, a smaller 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.360 one, and then a year and a half go into a bigger 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.779 retail space. And we ship Canada wide, which 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:24.620 is great. And I really started the business because 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:27.629 I was looking for small businesses. specifically 00:05:27.629 --> 00:05:31.170 Canadian small businesses to support and it was 00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:33.730 hard to find and I also found if I found one 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:36.389 and I want to order like a product from one business 00:05:36.389 --> 00:05:38.009 I'm paying shipping on that and then if I want 00:05:38.009 --> 00:05:39.110 to order another product from another business 00:05:39.110 --> 00:05:41.269 because I want to support a few businesses I'm 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:43.889 paying shipping on all these businesses and so 00:05:43.889 --> 00:05:45.889 it was a way for me to say there might be a bit 00:05:45.889 --> 00:05:48.389 of a others might feel the same way as me and 00:05:48.389 --> 00:05:49.990 they might be wanting kind of this put together 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:53.459 curated box of items And so I started doing that, 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.920 but also selfishly so that I could also get those 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.639 items. Yeah, yeah. Like shop, then also make 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.100 money from shopping. Yes. And I like, I love 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:03.860 to look around, see what's out there, like see 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:05.800 what's trending. Like I love all of that kind 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:08.860 of stuff. And so for me to be looking for brands 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:10.639 or businesses to feature, it's actually a part 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:14.079 that I really like to do. And it kind of like. 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:17.920 makes me it feels that that spot of me that i 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.139 like and i'm not actually like going and spending 00:06:20.139 --> 00:06:22.759 on all these places yeah you found so many products 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.139 that i've never even heard of before yeah yeah 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:26.759 and they're all and they're all canadian yeah 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:29.040 and most of them are owned by women too yes majority 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.319 women owned majority like made in canada some 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:33.879 things are out or outsourced or sourced from 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:37.259 internationally But most of them are, yeah, like 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:38.939 a small business where they're like making it, 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:41.060 you know, in these small spaces. So it's really 00:06:41.060 --> 00:06:43.339 cool. Yeah. And what I think is really cool is 00:06:43.339 --> 00:06:45.480 you started this actually before this whole like 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.120 Canada first thing started. Yes. With, you know, 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:50.100 the States and Donald Trump and people not wanting 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:52.490 to support US as much. You started this before 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:55.569 and now it's really relevant because of this 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:57.430 movement that's going on where people want to 00:06:57.430 --> 00:06:58.949 keep the money in Canada and want to support 00:06:58.949 --> 00:07:01.209 Canada more. Yeah. So it's like you're in such 00:07:01.209 --> 00:07:03.250 a good position right now. Yes. And there's so 00:07:03.250 --> 00:07:05.089 much exposure for those businesses that maybe 00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:06.589 they don't always get that either because they 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:08.850 don't have that reach. Yeah. Whereas we're, you 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:11.730 know, sending boxes every quarter to, you know, 00:07:11.730 --> 00:07:14.189 I think we're at 70 now, but my goal is to get 00:07:14.189 --> 00:07:16.870 up to 100 in the next few weeks here. Amazing. 00:07:17.149 --> 00:07:19.730 Into like 100 homes across Canada. It's great. 00:07:19.769 --> 00:07:21.209 So it's cool that those businesses... has got 00:07:21.209 --> 00:07:23.970 that exposure too. It's really nice because a 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:25.790 lot of the times too, they might be beat out 00:07:25.790 --> 00:07:27.769 by a similar product in the US or something that's 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:30.170 bigger and they have more resources and more 00:07:30.170 --> 00:07:32.449 reach. And now you can kind of give that exposure 00:07:32.449 --> 00:07:34.750 to the Canadian companies. Exactly. Or they're, 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:36.870 yeah, those other companies are paying large 00:07:36.870 --> 00:07:39.670 amounts for advertising that small businesses 00:07:39.670 --> 00:07:42.370 just don't have access to. Yeah. And you're basically 00:07:42.370 --> 00:07:44.430 advertising for them because you're sending their 00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:46.410 product out to all these homes in Canada. Yeah. 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:48.740 Amazing. Yeah. I love it. It's very cool. And 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:51.300 on the financial side, some of the things I didn't 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:54.139 really think about when I, part of it I did, 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:56.120 but there's some things I thought about and some 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.540 kind of like added bonuses that I got out of 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:00.899 starting my business. And one of the reasons 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:03.040 I also started the business is that there is 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.100 a lot of really good tax incentives for owning 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:08.939 a business out of your home. And so you can, 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:12.420 you know, add part of that as expenses, your 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:15.259 heating, your utilities. your cell phone bill, 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:17.600 things like that. So I get to put that on my 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.319 taxes as expenses. Yeah. Gas sometimes too. Gas. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.139 Yeah. And the other part that is now one of my 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.620 favorite parts that I like that I didn't think 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.480 of when I started was, or I thought of, but I 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:33.320 also didn't anticipate that my business would 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.509 grow to where it's at today. But I have a business 00:08:36.509 --> 00:08:38.850 credit card and I earn points on that every month. 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:42.370 And I'm spending a lot on it for the space and 00:08:42.370 --> 00:08:46.690 for the products and the boxes. And so that's 00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:49.529 all through the business, but I get the points 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:52.389 of that. And so we're actually saving up for 00:08:52.389 --> 00:08:54.909 a family trip next year that I'll mostly be able 00:08:54.909 --> 00:08:57.269 to use on those points. Amazing. That's not on 00:08:57.269 --> 00:08:59.049 my personal credit card. It's all from my business. 00:08:59.309 --> 00:09:00.870 Amazing. So you're running your business and 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:02.450 you're getting this bonus that you can use for 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:04.909 your family as well. Exactly. So great. It's 00:09:04.909 --> 00:09:07.110 like a little perk. I love that. I mean, I do 00:09:07.110 --> 00:09:10.129 work a lot. Yes, you do. They don't see me as 00:09:10.129 --> 00:09:12.070 much or I don't see them as much sometimes. Can 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:15.299 confirm. Yeah. She works a lot. My schedule is 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:18.240 very strict. But yes, so there is, you know, 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:20.500 those benefits as well that, again, when you're 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:23.659 trying to save and plan and do these vacations 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:25.320 and these experiences, it's really nice that 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:27.340 I get to do that on point. Yeah. A little perk 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:29.460 to the job. Yeah. Perk for all your hard work 00:09:29.460 --> 00:09:31.759 that you're doing. Yeah. And another part that 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:34.460 I'll add that I'm seeing a lot, especially this 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:37.889 year, because 2025 was our first year. first 00:09:37.889 --> 00:09:39.649 full year in our space that we're in. And so 00:09:39.649 --> 00:09:41.509 it allowed me to really look at my numbers in 00:09:41.509 --> 00:09:44.490 that space and like how we're doing. And these 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:46.769 past few weeks, especially while Jess was gone, 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:48.769 so she might not even know this part is I've 00:09:48.769 --> 00:09:52.190 really dove into the financial side of the business 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:55.529 and where every single penny is going. And it 00:09:55.529 --> 00:09:56.950 made me think of our conversation where you're 00:09:56.950 --> 00:09:59.009 saying your money needs to work for you. And 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:01.210 it's like every single penny or every single 00:10:01.210 --> 00:10:05.090 dollar needs a job. And a lot of mine is like, 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:06.679 As soon as the money comes in, I'm like, hey, 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:08.120 I've got to pay all my bills. I've got to get 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.460 more inventory. And so now I'm being a little 00:10:10.460 --> 00:10:12.019 bit more proactive, a little bit more strategic. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:16.059 And it's like every single dollar has a job at 00:10:16.059 --> 00:10:18.379 any given time. And what is that job? And so 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:21.200 mapping it out really clearly and separating. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.620 And I've just set up kind of like bank accounts. 00:10:23.740 --> 00:10:25.779 I call them like buckets where it's, you know, 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:27.419 part of it goes into operating. Part of it goes 00:10:27.419 --> 00:10:30.000 into inventory to restock. And then part of it 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.600 goes into business debt payoff and paying myself, 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.080 which I haven't really done. Yeah. So it really, 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:38.080 as I was going through all my financials, I'm 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.000 like, Jess is over there saying like, your money 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.159 needs to work for you. Where's every dollar going? 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:44.440 Make it have a job. Make it work for you so it's 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:46.059 doing something for you. Otherwise it's just 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:47.600 like coming in and then it's going out and it's 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:49.100 like, well, what is it doing? It's buying you 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:50.899 more inventory, but like, could it be doing more 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:54.600 for you? Probably. Yes. And timing of that inventory. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.960 So maybe that inventory can wait a few days and 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.850 you can put that elsewhere. Right. Yeah. To pay 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:04.470 off like a debt or whatever, finally pay yourself. 00:11:04.629 --> 00:11:06.149 Cause I know you've been working so hard at this 00:11:06.149 --> 00:11:08.429 and haven't really had the time or the ability 00:11:08.429 --> 00:11:10.409 to pay yourself out of it. And now you are. Yeah. 00:11:10.509 --> 00:11:13.850 Which is great. Yeah. Yeah. So I've been really 00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:16.929 focused on that this, these past few weeks and 00:11:16.929 --> 00:11:18.970 maybe in a few months time, I'll update on how 00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:21.409 that's going, but it's really like. Yay. Yes. 00:11:21.509 --> 00:11:23.250 Doesn't that feel good too? And just like so 00:11:23.250 --> 00:11:25.870 organized and. Kind of like you're reaping your 00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:27.990 benefit kind of from all this hard work. Yeah. 00:11:28.149 --> 00:11:30.309 Like you said, it does feel good because there's 00:11:30.309 --> 00:11:34.070 a plan in place and it's very clear. And if I 00:11:34.070 --> 00:11:37.870 follow it, then it allows room for the business 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:39.870 to grow and for me to get paid and for our products 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:42.029 to be on the shelves. Yeah, amazing. As opposed 00:11:42.029 --> 00:11:44.350 to like kind of feel like you're like on a hamster 00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:46.370 wheel. Yeah. Constantly. So it gives a bit of 00:11:46.370 --> 00:11:48.350 a pause and time to say, okay, let's actually 00:11:48.350 --> 00:11:51.309 get our like ducks in a row. Totally. And yeah, 00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:53.330 I love that. And it's like we talked about, yes, 00:11:53.350 --> 00:11:55.070 having every dollar have a job. And it's like, 00:11:55.070 --> 00:11:56.950 if you think about your life that way, kind of 00:11:56.950 --> 00:11:58.629 as a business and all the money that's coming 00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:00.370 in, you give it a job for that, for your personal 00:12:00.370 --> 00:12:03.470 life too. It can... reap the same benefits for 00:12:03.470 --> 00:12:05.529 you as well it's like yes i have this paycheck 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:07.929 comes in it can just have a lump into your bank 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:09.649 account you can just leave it there and just 00:12:09.649 --> 00:12:11.809 spend it whenever or you can take it and be like 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:13.950 hey the x is going here x is going towards my 00:12:13.950 --> 00:12:16.789 debt x is going towards rent this much is going 00:12:16.789 --> 00:12:19.889 to my investments and this much i get to just 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:24.230 spend on myself yeah 100 and those uh that's 00:12:24.230 --> 00:12:26.230 not something i generally do in my personal life 00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:29.049 like i said my my spending and tracking is more 00:12:29.049 --> 00:12:32.500 like Is my debt going down? And am I paying it 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:35.100 off? And am I doing it quick? So I just like, 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.820 I track in every month and track it. And I think 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:39.419 similarly, that's how I was doing it in the business. 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:41.740 So I like that you said that it can transfer 00:12:41.740 --> 00:12:44.460 over to your personal life. I'm learning it in 00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:46.379 the business sense and it's making so much sense 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:49.639 to me that I think it's very transferable to 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.080 the personal side. And I've seen it in the budgeting 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:54.299 apps where it's like you have to really get an 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:55.759 understanding of what your expenses are every 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.299 month and the ones that fluctuate versus the 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:01.100 ones that are more concrete. Yeah. But it's just 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:02.919 never been for me. But I think now that I'm doing 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:04.500 this, it'll be interesting to see in six months 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:07.039 time if I do. move that over to my personal and 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.960 start doing the same strategy. Yeah, totally. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:10.620 Like once you get a hang of it in the business, 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.580 then it'll probably kind of drip over into your 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:14.480 personal life as well. Because if you think about 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.940 our personal life, it's like money in, money 00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:18.659 out. We have expenses, we have costs, we have 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:20.960 income, just kind of like how a business is too. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.100 Exactly. They're very similar. So yeah, very 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:25.840 cool. Setting up all those buckets so that you 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.899 have the money going into a separate account 00:13:27.899 --> 00:13:30.490 too. And again... It's challenging with like 00:13:30.490 --> 00:13:31.950 a personal because you don't want bank accounts 00:13:31.950 --> 00:13:33.570 where there's bank fees on all of the accounts. 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:36.190 But there are different savings accounts where 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:38.149 as long as you're transferring in or out of it 00:13:38.149 --> 00:13:40.850 online or on the mobile app, you don't actually 00:13:40.850 --> 00:13:43.509 pay for that account. And if you want to avoid 00:13:43.509 --> 00:13:45.149 the bank fees completely, you can always do one 00:13:45.149 --> 00:13:46.669 of the online banks that we've talked about. 00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:48.529 Like, obviously, I've talked about Wealthsimple. 00:13:48.750 --> 00:13:50.830 And then there's also like EQ Bank, Tangerine. 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:53.730 These online banks now offer bank accounts with 00:13:53.730 --> 00:13:56.340 no fees. and you can have like several bank accounts 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:57.759 with them if you wanted to have like separate 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:59.279 accounts for different things kind of like you 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.379 were talking about yeah which is really nice 00:14:01.379 --> 00:14:05.019 and then they also um you also earn interest 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:07.360 on your balance as well with the online banks 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.840 as well which is really nice yeah that's my yeah 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.059 the coho one that i have that my spending money 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:14.080 goes into yeah that one is the same thing. It 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:15.700 has that small. Yeah. It kind of works as like 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:17.620 a high interest savings account as well as a 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.100 checkings account. So yeah, a little bit of both 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:22.500 worlds that it's like, yeah, being more strategic 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:25.000 and proactive. So you're doing it with any, any 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:26.600 amount of money that comes in. It could be your 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.539 paychecks. It could be like, if you have a child 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:31.700 tax benefit or, um, or a GST payment that, you 00:14:31.700 --> 00:14:34.039 know, you get quarterly and making all of them 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:35.559 work to you and having those buckets so that 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:38.279 they all get, so they get divided up into those 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.259 accounts and they all get assigned a job. Yeah. 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:41.860 Yeah. They bought their job, they're working. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.720 And then at the end of the month, you just take 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.299 a quick look and put them all where they need 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:48.399 to go. And yeah, there's one other thing I want 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:49.659 to say about high interest savings account. We've 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:51.220 talked about high interest savings accounts before. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:53.399 It's like a regular savings account, but you 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.860 earn higher interest on it. So one of the pitfalls 00:14:56.860 --> 00:14:59.679 or one thing that people get wrong, I guess I 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.120 could say with these is that say I have a high 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:04.320 interest savings account and say the interest 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:07.000 rate is 3%. One common mistake that people make 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:10.190 is they think that that is like what they make 00:15:10.190 --> 00:15:12.289 monthly. So say they get their interest paid 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:14.190 out monthly from that as well, which is what 00:15:14.190 --> 00:15:16.889 Wealthsimple does. I'm not making 5 % of my money, 00:15:17.169 --> 00:15:20.370 or sorry, 3 % on my money every month. That is 00:15:20.370 --> 00:15:24.409 a yearly interest rate. So it's 3 % on whatever 00:15:24.409 --> 00:15:27.029 money you have in your account for the year. 00:15:27.230 --> 00:15:30.450 So you have to calculate 3 % of that, but then 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:33.049 divide it by 12. And that's what your interest 00:15:33.049 --> 00:15:35.149 payment will be for the month. Right. So a lot, 00:15:35.169 --> 00:15:37.779 I've seen this online, people being like, You 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:40.340 know, oh, you made 3 % of the year. It's like, 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.200 I make that a month in my high interest rate. 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:44.919 But it's, you're not actually, it's 3 % for the 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.259 year. So you have to divide that up to get your 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:49.659 monthly payment. Okay. Yeah. So if you had $100 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:53.159 in that account, what you would make on that 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:57.320 would be $3, but that's divided by 12. And then 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:00.179 add that to your $100. I'm not going to do the 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:02.519 math on that, but then add that. But then that 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.320 interest that you make then starts accumulating 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.340 interest as well. Right. With the compounding. 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:08.240 So yeah, that's just one common little pitfall 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.460 with interest rates in general. Yeah. I think 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:11.879 that's an interesting one that people probably 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.639 don't. I mean, I've seen it here and there, but 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.559 I... I don't know like the extent of where it 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:18.759 applies. So it's nice to hear that when, if you 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.019 have a high interest savings account that you're 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:21.820 putting money into, that that's how it's calculating 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:23.899 it. Yeah. And you're expecting the right amount 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:25.659 of money getting back into your account, right? 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:27.120 You're not like, what the heck? This doesn't 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.419 make sense. Yeah. It's the same with bonds with 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.059 their interest rate, which is called a coupon, 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:32.980 but we'll just call it interest rate. It's the 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:34.740 same thing if you're making, you know, like three 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:38.240 or 4 % interest on your bond. that is a yearly 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.659 interest rate. So you have to divide it up if 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:42.779 it's getting paid out monthly, which I think 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:44.620 can be misleading because I do see that a lot. 00:16:44.659 --> 00:16:46.120 And I'm like, oh, that's like quite good, but 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.139 it's helpful to know that it's going to be lower 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.399 than what you think, which is okay. It's just, 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:52.299 you need to know that. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:54.740 And especially when it says it's paid out monthly, 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:56.539 you really have to remember that it's divided 00:16:56.539 --> 00:16:58.740 up from the yearly interest rate. Yeah. Yeah. 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:00.399 You get the payment in your account monthly, 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:02.840 but it's divided by the 12 months. Exactly. Jess, 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.099 I know we talked a little bit about my business 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:09.579 and my absolute love for shopping and how I turn 00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:12.160 it into a business that keeps me busy and it 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.720 keeps me kind of being able to shop, but it's 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.700 for the store and in a way that works for me 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:18.140 too. I'm not buying it and like keeping it all 00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:20.680 for myself, although I do. try a lot of the products 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.119 and write it off. Well, you have to. It's part 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:24.460 of the business model. Yeah. It reminds me of 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:26.559 that Schitt's Creek episode where he's like, 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.240 you write it off. No, he had it on his credit 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.740 card. Yeah. And he's like, okay, well, who's 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:33.160 paying off the credit card? He's like, it's a 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.960 credit card. You just pay for it on the credit 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.180 card. His dad's like, well, who's paying off 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:39.480 the credit card? He's like, that's not how it 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:42.250 works. Yeah. He's like, it's a business expense. 00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:45.269 I think he said you write it off. Oh, maybe that's. 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:46.730 And I think there might be two different scenes. 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:49.609 You just write it off. And he's like, who writes 00:17:49.609 --> 00:17:52.609 it off? I don't know. I don't know. They just 00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:57.450 write it off. Yes. It's a write off. So yeah, 00:17:57.529 --> 00:18:01.410 it is the taxes on it. But yeah, it is nice that 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:04.049 I've been able to do that. And I still get to 00:18:04.049 --> 00:18:07.250 shop, but I obviously still do it in a very strategic 00:18:07.250 --> 00:18:10.160 way. It's not like. 11 p .m before bed that i'm 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.019 ordering fun little things for the store it's 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:14.079 like very strategic and thought out and put together 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.279 yeah um but i want to hear a little bit about 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:18.799 because you have an airbnb yeah and so you do 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.500 have some of those you know tax benefits as well 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:24.519 so what have you found that has been beneficial 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:26.819 for owning you know your own business as well 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:29.079 yeah there's a lot of stuff so we don't technically 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:30.920 own like a business license for it you don't 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:32.859 need a business license for rental properties 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:34.720 unless you have three or more here in whitehorse 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.200 in the uconn i guess um so we just have the one 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:39.400 But there are a lot of expenses that you can 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:41.819 write off against your income, which means you 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.359 pay less taxes on your rental income. If anyone 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:47.680 hasn't owned a rental before, any income that 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.220 I make from my rental property, I have to pay 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:53.160 taxes on that. It's taxed at my income rate. 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:57.170 a way that you can kind of get around that or 00:18:57.170 --> 00:19:00.009 decrease how much tax you pay is is writing off 00:19:00.009 --> 00:19:02.549 expenses so things that can be written off for 00:19:02.549 --> 00:19:05.990 rental properties is your mortgage interest so 00:19:05.990 --> 00:19:07.630 not the amount that you pay onto the principal 00:19:07.630 --> 00:19:10.380 but just the interest that you pay on When you 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:12.920 buy a new place, they front load your mortgage 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:15.240 heavy with the interest. So the first few years, 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:17.500 like most of your payments are going to interest. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.579 Yes, I've seen that on my own mortgage. Yes, 00:19:19.700 --> 00:19:23.299 100%. So in the first few years, like a lot of 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:24.819 our payments that are going on there is going 00:19:24.819 --> 00:19:26.700 to interest. So it's quite a bit of money that 00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:28.819 we can write off. The other thing that you can 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:31.299 write off is utilities, home insurance, anything 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:33.980 for maintenance. So anything that you're fixing 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:36.559 around the house, anything we buy for supplies 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:40.029 for the hot tub, that's all written off. Anything 00:19:40.029 --> 00:19:42.470 that we buy for like snacks and coffee and stuff 00:19:42.470 --> 00:19:44.650 for the guests, that's all written off. Cleaning 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:46.769 supplies. Cleaning supplies. Everything you need 00:19:46.769 --> 00:19:49.069 to actually have the Airbnb furnished. Yeah. 00:19:49.130 --> 00:19:52.910 I had to buy like an electric saw for the firewood 00:19:52.910 --> 00:19:55.410 for the back for the fire pit. Write that off 00:19:55.410 --> 00:19:57.490 because it's for the Airbnb. So there's a lot 00:19:57.490 --> 00:20:00.309 of stuff that you can write off against the income 00:20:00.309 --> 00:20:03.309 that you're making to make your taxable income 00:20:03.309 --> 00:20:07.500 amount lower, which means you pay less tax. So 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:09.640 it's kind of like a business too. Like you have 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:11.460 income, you have expenses that you write off 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:14.000 to lower your tax. And you have to keep and track 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.539 all of it. Track all of it. Yes. So I have receipts 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.539 for everything in my folder. And then when tax 00:20:20.539 --> 00:20:22.240 time comes around, which is happening pretty 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.880 soon, I go through all of my receipts and I kind 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:27.200 of like categorize them into what's maintenance 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.940 and blah, blah, blah. Any furnishings too that 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:32.940 we buy for the house can write off. So there's 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:35.359 a lot of stuff. that can be written off and it 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:37.859 actually gets our income pretty low, whereas 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:41.400 we don't have to pay much on the income tax. 00:20:41.619 --> 00:20:43.980 The other thing I do to offset what we pay on 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:48.500 taxes is I also contribute more to my RRSP because 00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:50.819 your rental income goes onto your personal income. 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:54.480 So anything that I put into my RRSP then decreases 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.740 my personal income as well. So last year, I actually 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:02.069 paid zero income tax on my rental income. Which 00:21:02.069 --> 00:21:03.309 is really nice because I lowered it enough with 00:21:03.309 --> 00:21:05.650 expenses and then I dumped a bunch into my RRSP. 00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:07.589 Luckily, I had a bit of room left in my RRSP, 00:21:07.710 --> 00:21:10.930 which brought our taxable income for the rental 00:21:10.930 --> 00:21:15.490 down to zero. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. So there's 00:21:15.490 --> 00:21:17.589 lots of little tips and tricks because, you know, 00:21:17.609 --> 00:21:19.430 it... it can kind of suck if you get a rental 00:21:19.430 --> 00:21:21.049 property and you have a bit of income and then 00:21:21.049 --> 00:21:22.730 you're like whoa like you have to make sure you 00:21:22.730 --> 00:21:25.750 have enough at tax time to pay any of the taxes 00:21:25.750 --> 00:21:28.089 on it yes and if you're not aware about that 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:29.730 kind of stuff or you're not aware about the expenses 00:21:29.730 --> 00:21:31.170 that you can write off you can kind of get yourself 00:21:31.170 --> 00:21:33.190 into hot water there if you if you're not tracking 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:36.630 it so yeah and i think these you know owning 00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:38.950 a business whether it's you know an airbnb like 00:21:38.950 --> 00:21:42.269 you or you know a brick and mortar or e -commerce 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:44.849 store like i have there is so many more expenses 00:21:44.849 --> 00:21:48.410 that uh I definitely didn't think of when I started, 00:21:48.450 --> 00:21:50.769 but my expenses are so, so, so high. And the 00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:52.670 goal is always how do I bring those down? But 00:21:52.670 --> 00:21:55.250 also making sure that you're capturing everything 00:21:55.250 --> 00:21:57.950 so that at tax time you can at least, yeah, use 00:21:57.950 --> 00:22:01.130 it against your income. I think we should maybe 00:22:01.130 --> 00:22:04.650 do our next episode on taxes. Yeah, we should. 00:22:04.750 --> 00:22:06.829 Tax season is here and we can talk a little bit 00:22:06.829 --> 00:22:09.470 about things that we claim on our taxes that 00:22:09.470 --> 00:22:11.210 people might not know about. Yeah, that's a good 00:22:11.210 --> 00:22:14.680 idea. Little tricks there. Okay, that is great. 00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:16.980 So we'll wrap up today and we will see you next 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:19.559 week where we talk about taxes. Taxes, so fun. 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:22.400 Everyone's favorite. That's it for this week. 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:24.200 Thanks so much for joining us. Don't forget to 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.039 follow us wherever you listen so you never miss 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:28.400 an episode. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:30.599 at Two Girls Investing. If you loved this episode, 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:32.759 share it with a friend. Never stop learning and 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:33.539 we'll see you next Friday.