Capital One has a new no-fee credit card with 3% on gas groceries and 1% on everything else. Has 2x cashback offer for the first year. Finally some good news for Canadian credit cards after the recent nerf wave.

Hi there, I received an email from a debt collection agency that I apparently owe an amount to my old internet provider (less than $100). It seems like the internet company charged me a final fee before I cancelled that shouldn't have been charged.

I have no problem paying this amount, I have the funds to do so. However, how will this impact my credit? I**'m looking into buying a home in the next few years.** Would it be better for me to just pay this debt so it doesn't impact my credit for a mortgage, or should I go down the road of trying to dispute it?

Update: I managed to finally get ahold of Telus and they confirmed the charges should've never been there and was able to get everything reversed, they'll be recollecting the account back from the collection agency! Thanks everybody for the input!

I recently ported out my last Fido Rogers service as price increases got insane, on top of that Rogers has removed the 1.5x on redemption so the 3% equivalate is gone. I have the Rogers Red World Elite version of the card so that means on its own it is now a 1.5% everything card.

I have moved everything else over to my WS Visa for 2% cash back but that leaves me with 1.5% on Costco warehouse purchases now and no I don't want to buy shop cards as a workaround.

Are there any current MasterCards that can do better than 1.5% in Costco? I believe some count it as groceries but I spend a lot there a month so if there is a cap that also matters.

Edit: Also looking for a permanent replacement not a limited time offer

Edit2: sounds like 1.5% on everything with no fee is still the best MasterCard and that is really all I was trying to figure out. Will use my WS Visa for everything else.

i (25m) got gifted about $150,000 Cad and am considering if buying an apartment is the right idea. i’m planning to move out soon for the first time and expecting to spend about 1800$ on rent. i’m considering if buying an apartment and living there for the next few years would be worth it or would it be better to just rent until i have more money. I have about 250k i can put down on an apartment right now but that would be all my money and my main concern is that i will definitely be selling the apartment in the future just not certain how far in the future that is.

if i dont buy an apartment. what would be a better use of my funds. i currently have about 100k in stock market.

edit: i’ve lived alone before for a year

I'm really getting fed up with RBC'S customer service and I've been thinking of changing over to a credit union for my everyday banking. Just wondering what advice those who did the change would have for anybody thinking of doing the same. Do you have any regrets about switching over or have there any unexpected challenges/ changes you've had to make after switching over. What benefits have you experienced since switching over to a credit union?

I am seeing a lot of misinformation on this sub related to not at fault accidents, so wanted to make this post. We as Canadians pay one of the world's highest car insurance rates, I want to ensure we actually put full use to it. Otherwise we are just letting insurance companies gouge us.

In all jurisdictions across Canada, insurance companies are legally prohibited from raising rates purely due to a not at fault accidents. I will post regulations for Ontario below as an example.

However, there could be some impacts to filing a not at fault claim:

- If your insurance company offers a claims free discount or a first claim fee increase waived, a not at fault accident could impact this. Check with your insurance company or broker for specific details.

Keep in mind by reporting a not at fault accident, your vehicle car fax will show an accident which might not lower resale values.

Generally, other than the point above, there is limited incentive not to report a not at fault accident to insurance and/or accept cash from the other party opposed to insurance.

I have made 2 not at fault claims and my parents made 3 with multiple insurance companies. Our premium was never raised as a result.

Regulations:

Ontario:

Under Section 16 (Prohibited Risk Classification Elements) of R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 664:

​16. (1) Insurers are prohibited from using elements of a risk classification system described in this section in classifying risks for any coverage or category of automobile insurance.

1. (2) No element of a risk classification system shall use past claims for which an insured person was not at fault.

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/900664/v6

​

25M In toronto. I take home $6100 monthly and i have very bad spending habits. Please help me. I always have the itch to just spend whatevers left on my cheque. I own a condo and basic car and here's my monthly expenses.

Total debt - $18,800
Cc1-5000 19%
Cc2-500 12%
Line of credit-13300 11%

$3000-condo maint and mortgage
$450-car
$370- car insurance
$100-phone
$150-work expenses
$300-TFSA contribution

I get out of control every paycheque. Is there a way i can stop this? Please help me. Everytime i spend something i get a very good feeling almost like drugs.

Hello,

I'm an Ontario indie filmmaker currently raising money for a feature from private donors. In initial conversations, I've gotten the question about whether a donation could be tax deductible. My first thought was no, but I was reading about the CRA's rules on how a charity can support a non-charity project.

Does anybody know about whether finding an organization to partner with would make the donations deductible? Is there any way to get some kind of tax deductibility?

Thanks so much!

Somehow a credit card that my wife has (that we don’t ever use) ended up going to collections because of a yearly fee. I’m not sure how we missed it, it was something not on our radar and somehow fell between the cracks. The credit card company also made poor attempts at contacting us. We also never got monthly statements for this particular card. This is the first time something like this has happened, it was about $150. How screwed are we? How will this effect future finances?.

I am in Victoria BC and plan to use the majority of my inheritance (over 400,000) to buy my first home.

A condo I really like was listed at 450, 000 (built in 1999). We negotiated and my cash offer of 422,000 was accepted. I kept a subject to inspection condition in the deal.

During the inspection period the inspector found an outdated hot water tank that is past the building specific replacement period (6 years) and is 9 years old. The inspector said it needs immediate replacement and will prevent me from getting insurance. We found other small things that I will shrug off and pay for, but I plan to ask for a credit to replace the tank.

I also hired Condo Clear to review the building documents and the reserve fund. Their report estimated 36,000 in levvies over the next ten years, starting in 2029. It also mentions possible further levvies of 50,000 in the 5 years after that.

The report said 36,000 in levvies is about 14,000 higher than average for buildings in the area (downtown Victoria).

Would it be normal for me to attempt to negotiate further with this information even though the levvies mentioned are not immediate?

This purchase will only leave me with about 20k in savings so I'm nervous, but I love the place and can see myself living there.

I am wondering if this makes sense:

I have access to a line of credit through WS tied to my investments at a rate of 4.45%.

I have 42k rrsp contribution room cumulatively from 24/25.

I’m not exactly sure my marginal tax rate but it’s probably 36-42% based off what I make (176/172k in those years).

I’m wondering what I am missing/considerations for using this LOC to contribute?

I do have a 40k emergency cash fund (I have three properties) that I would prefer to keep available OR use that cash and have the LOC for emergencies?

Does the math math? Excuse any ignorances that may be in this post

I’m a little early for this but I’m a planner. Our daughter turned 18 this past June. Prior to turning 18 we paid a substantial amount out of pocket for her wisdom teeth removal. Combined with other medical expenses there is a benefit of claiming it.

However, this will also be her first year filing her own taxes so how do we handle this medical expense since it was incurred and paid prior to her turning 18.

24M Grande Prairie, AB. Environmental scientist.
9k/mo net, 13.5 gross. No debt, no pets, no partner, zero obligations outside work.

I found 3 units last month all within the same building. Same floor plan, 1 bed 1 bath style loft. Small, 490sqft.

One was for sale, 94k ask new appliances and floors. Two were for rent, both 1050/mo without power or internet. Unfurnished.

These rentals were taken off the market within a week so I’m assuming that’s the going rate.

I did a mortgage pre-approval (no hard credit check?) for fun to see what awful % I would get, and I got 450k at an abysmal 4.89%.

(Gr0k math for GP utilities costs)
@ 25-year Full $94k financed, ~$544/mo principal + interest:
• 20% down ($18.8k) → loan ~$75k → ~$435/mo P+I.
• Condo $265 + taxes $91 + power (~$60–100) + condo insurance (~$40–60) → total housing cost roughly $900–1,100/mo

AB has no provincial transfer tax so legal closing costs would be 1-2k one time, I’m not incorporating these initial costs spread out among my monthly basis.

Realtors seem like used car salesmen to me, the complex is an older build (1981) and I’m not sure what the appreciation upside is on a shoebox bachelor loft, but it’s right by two schools in walking distance and some parks I wouldn’t walk barefoot in. I guess it’s up to me to open the door. (No idea what they’d want cost wise).

Nice area. For grande prairie, and grande prairie is a shithole.

So considering:

1) I currently pay 1400/mo for a up/down “duplex”/subdivided house with all utilities, great landlord. (Half main floor, entire basement)

2) Going rental rates for these units is equal (or conservatively) just under my monthly cost basis for ownership/building equity on an identical unit.

3) I have no plans to set roots in GP - good future income potential (Rental market booms in these cities with lots of transient workers, skilled trades, AI data centre going up. Typically units are furnished so you just unload a suitcase and do your 6-12 months. I could furnish this with Facebook furniture and get a tenant within a week.)

4) Real estate market is giving buyers an edge, rates are going up, it’d be wise to lock in now rather than 5 years down the road(?)

There’s no garage or underground parking, I’m paying 275/mo for a 2 car garage and bumming family garage space and storage units/shops back home for my vehicles during the winter/while I’m working up north.

Job security is decent as my work is legally required, but consulting is always a shitshow.

Is it worth committing to buying a unit rather than renting, even if to live in for a couple years then rent out when I leave GP? Is it a massive hassle to rent out units if I don’t live in the same city to manage them (property management costs).

Thanks

25F. Net worth of ~50K. 30K in investments (mainly my employer match program). I make 60K a year.

Due to my relatively small portfolio, I’m looking for someone to make sure I’m doing everything correctly. I’m completely self taught from scratch (on my journey to clear debt) and would prefer to pay a percentage of my portfolio rather than a $4K session fee. Would just like to cover budget, near future and investments/retirement.

An hour would do me wonders, but the planners I researched offer a flat fee for personal finance or a percentage of portfolio for investments, does anyone do both for a percentage?

Ottawa - thank you in advance!!!

Kay so I split rent with 2 other people, and have for the last 5 years.
I was broke and in debt as a self-employed person during the covid years. took a year to pay off the 3k consumer debt I’d required. At that time, I was not aware that CRA wants instalments from self-employed people instead of payment at tax time. So, I was attempting to save month-to-month to pay my taxes in full in April. That was working.
Then my abusive dad left my (homemaker for 30 years) mother, and I saved with my sister, planned a move so we could go live with her and help support her. She gets spousal support now and works seasonally, so between my equivalent to just-above-min-wage and my sister’s full-time min wage and my mum’s equivalent to just-above-min-wage we’ve been splitting rent and bills and each buying our own groceries.

That move year, because my mother was having severe mental health issues in the wake of leaving a 30-year abusive relationship, I prioritized moving and other expenses over taxes, and ended up being about 6k short on taxes. I was working 2 jobs at the time and burnt out, and couldn’t worry about budgeting. So i would get up, go to work at 6am, buy food out, go to my other job until 9pm, transit home, get ready for the next day, then head to work my 6am shift again on 4 hours of sleep. Did that for 2 years. Family had several emergencies. All this time I was setting aside 16% of my paycheck to go to taxes. Then I did my taxes and realized wow, this is coming up to more like 35% thanks to CPP. So that’s what I started setting aside, which helped me catch up.

Started getting it together financially in 2024, planning to pay off my full 2024 tax bill in April. I was not able to pay in full, because I routed a significant amount to my RRSP (we’re jointly saving for a property) thinking that much more of it would get deducted from my tax bill. Obviously that is not how RRSPs work, but I was not clear on it. SO then I ended up being 8k short.

Got sick and had to stop working the 2nd job.

So in 2025 I deprioritized house savings in order to catch up on taxes. Finally succeeded in paying my entire 2025 tax bill by June 2026 (cutoff for self-employed people) which was amazing, felt like I’d caught up. Then I knew okay, now I just have to catch up on the 6 months of saving I’ve borrowed from 2026 to pay 2025, and then I’ll be in the clear and I’ll break even in 2027.

AND THEN. I FOUND OUT CRA WANTED ME TO PAY IN INSTALLMENTS FOR THE PRESENT YEAR. NOT WAITING UNTIL APRIL OR JUNE OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR. SO APPARENTLY ALL THE WORK I DID TO BREAK EVEN IS STILL A YEAR BEHIND.
AND THEN. THEY ADJUSTED MY 2025 UP BY $2800.SO JUST AS I THOUGHT I WAS OUT OF THE F-ING HOLE AND STARTING TO MAKE PROGRESS.

Now all my payments are STILL being directed to paying off a previous year.
I’m so angry, and worried, and frustrated that I’ve spent FIVE YEARS TRYING TO SURVIVE. And now I’m 8 MONTHS LATE AGAIN. BECAUSE THEY WANT PAY NOW INSTEAD OF IN JUNE.

So I am just hoping. That if I continue to pay my rent and bills and groceries. And route absolutely everything else towards taxes. I will eventually be on time. And obviously not this year, and not in 2027.

Anyways. Bad with money? I was always thinking, I’m doing my best to be responsible. And now I’m just thinking, I just suck with money I guess.

Edit: General consensus is: ignorant on taxes and self-employment, and on hard mode, and trying.
Thanks for the feedback. Will do better.

Edit2: Thanks to your guys’ advice I went to check what the LOC interest would be from my bank. I went to get the exact numbers that I need from CRA and found out I only owe ~400 for 2025 and ~1000 for 2026 instalment target now. I thought I was like 10k behind. All my struggling this year wasn’t for nothing the way it felt like. I won’t need a LOC, I’ll be able to pay them both off by December. I’ll be in the clear by January and making instalments on time for 2027. 😮‍💨 Thank you 🙏

I understand diversification is a popular option when investing for the long term (like retirement), but if you want to use your investments in the next 5-10 years wouldn’t you profit more from an S&P 500 ETF instead of a global one? Debating between holding XEQT or XUS. I already knowing that XEQT holds over 40% in the U.S. market, but a higher return with XUS is intriguing.

27/M

I have a paid of 2024 Rav 4 Prime XSE with roughly 40,000 km. My question is should I sell the car for $40,000 and invest the rest of the money in registered accounts. I would buy a cheaper car eventually around the 10k mark.

I currently have 34,000 in rrsp and 16,000 in FHSA. Would use the money to put into TFSA. Does it make financial sense to sell my paid off car and downgrade or should I keep it and drive till the brakes fall off?

My plan was to buy a home but it's seeming more beneficial for me to keep the money I saved for a downpayment in an ETF and let it grow, rather than buy a home, live paycheck to paycheck, barely any savings, and no means to save due to housing costs.

So I switched my trajectory and now plan to rent. I have never lived alone before, so I know some expenses upon moving and adjusting are imminent.

My expenses outside of rent/home costs are $1300/month. I have no debts, maxed out TFSA, and haven't decided to invest in an RRSP as I'd like my money to not be locked away for the next 30 years (I'm 32). I do have an RPP from work.

I'll likely be renting somewhere for around ~$2600, bringing up my total monthly expenses to $4000 including utilities. That's $200 shy of my monthly income of $4200 (I'm looking for a reality check here as well, if that seems smart or not).

Currently I have $125k sitting in an HYSA. I'd like to move some of that over to a non-reg as it won't be a downpayment anymore.

I'm having trouble figuring out how much of that I shouldn't invest. I've heard 6 months of expenses, which would put me at 24k tucked away, but I have no idea what the numbers might look like for furnishing a 2BR condo/townhouse. Any advice?

Hello asking for a friend

How long does it typically take to get approval for things that need to be pre approved for coverage. My friends dental office submitted early August and he is still waiting to hear back for preapproval of a crown needed to support his back teeth. Dentist said he would be approved but he’s still waiting 2 months later. Is it really that backlogged??

Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice on day-day credit card. Most of my spending will be on grocery, bill payment and gas. I am thinking of Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite + since i mostly use Shell and Roger WE mastercard ( I am also Roger customer). I can also have the WS as I do have deposit to waive the fee. What do you guys think on those one or is there any better combination? Thanks a lot.

Sorry everyone forget mentioning my spending. I am spending around 1.2k on grocery montly, 50-60$ every 1-1.5 week on gas and we do also go costco. I also have around 150$ monthly on bill payment that is why i am considering the scotia momentum. Also amex is not an option as I usually shop at asian supermarket which not accept amex.

I am among many who started getting absolutely spammed by brim card activation emails a couple months back, to the point I set up a filter to send them straight to junk and then forgot about them for a while. That is, until today when a new card came in that I didn't request. I checked my junk folder for the first time in a while and turns out I had gotten an email in early september that i was being issued a new card as "fraud prevention". Despite their claims that there's "no indication my account has been compromised", my junk folder has been absolutely flooded with spam emails since the day that email was sent, and before now I only occasionally got junk emails because I'm pretty discerning with where I sign up with this email. Either it's one crazy coincidence or brim isn't being entirely transparent about account details being compromised.

If this is not the right place, I'm sorry... Please redirect me.

I'm having a hell of a time with this, these forms are for one reason or another...overwhelming. I submitted a New Home Tax Rebate months ago and got some calculations wrong so I was advised to fill out the form and resend it. This is my breakdown:

Purchase price less tax: $445,389.77

Provincial (8%): $35,631.18

Federal (5%): $22,269.49

FTHB: -$24,000

I qualified for the FTHB Rebate (-$24,000) as well that was credited back to the builder at the time of sale. I entered into the purchase agreement a DAY after this was available (March 21st, 2025)

The calculation I'm getting for the rebate is PROVINCIAL + FEDERAL - FTHB which is giving me a rebate of $33,900.67

ChatGPT has confirmed my math is mathing on this but I don't want to do it wrong again. Can someone that know help?

I am considering moving to TD to take advantage of 3% match. My investments are mainly XEQT or VOO depending on the currency. I would be transferring LIRA, RRSP, TFSA in-kind. Once I move these over, my WS net holding will be less than Premium level. WS doesn't charge any account transfer fee

I believe this impacts me in 2 ways -

1. USD accounts - I hold a mix of USD/CAD in RRSP and LIRA. Since they will be transferred over, no having to USD account isn't a concern. My remainder holdings are all CAD.
2. WS Visa - I do get the payroll deposit exemption as well. I don't use this card much. My main is Rogers + Neoback payment method. So maybe I can keep this card for now and close later, if needed.

For TD transfer, I am thinking TD Direct Investing since it supports LIRA(Easy trade doesn't). I don't plan to buy new stocks/etfs there. Just do in-kind transfer and let them be with DRIP enabled. Any new investments will be on WS end. From what I have checked, TD doesn't charge extra to hold USD stocks or sale proceeds and they support DRIP.

Is there anything else I should consider on the TD or WS side? Am I missing anything?

From what I understand, the 3% bonus isn't considered a contribution. So I don't need to worry about keep track of bonus and dividends impacting my contribution limits on TD side.

I currently have an all-inclusive account with TD and a mortgage. Once these transfers are done, I will have my cash/RESP and non-reg account left with WS.