I quite enjoyed the  Carmel Brulee Lattes and the Skinny Vanilla Lattes.  So much in fact that I ordered Ventis.  That is the special Starbucks name for extra large or shall I say, extra expensive.  The drinks I had were between $5.09 abd $5.41.  Ouch!

Looking back at the week I had a coffee every day and one day I had 2.  That is over $30 last week for coffee.   Although the “special” coffee was tasty, this trend will not continue.  I may indulge once a week, but that will be it.  $30 on coffee in a week is ridiculous.

• A third of older Canadians with a mortgage will carry debt into their 70's

This is not the way to spend your "golden years."  A 2011 CMHC report revealed that 75% of new home buyers intend on making paying off their mortgages early.  Hopefully the younger Canadians can do without the new vehicles, big screen TVs and bi-annual trips to Mexico and follow through on paying their mortgages off early.

A recent report by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada reaffirms this and goes into a little more detail. You can read this report here.

Please keep in mind that everyone has unique circumstances where prepaying their mortgage may not be their best option.  One such situation is employer matched RRSP contributions.  If your employer is matching you dollar for dollar it will be impossible to beat an immediate 100% return on your investment.

Cascade
14 km one way, elevation gain 180 m, moderate
Trailhead: Upper Bankhead Parking Lot
Formerly a fire road, this gravel trail leads into the
wild Cascade valley and runs through prime bear
habitat. The cycling trail ends at Stoney Creek
primitive campground—buy a Wilderness Pass and
try backcountry bicycle camping.

I figured that if I can do 30KM in the city and stop for beer and wings all in 3 hours this shouldn’t be bad at all. Well let me say that I would not consider this moderate at all. It was a tough ride to the end at the primitive campground. Over about 90 minutes I battled mostly uphill and I didn’t see a soul. About 10 minutes in I checked my Blackberry to see the GPS coordinates and I had no service. All alone in the wilderness and totally off the grid kind of spooked me. My mind started playing tricks on me. I was hearing noises and concerned about having a fall or my bike failing.  I had ridden for what seemed like forever with no concept of how far I had gone. Yes, I am way to reliant on technology. I was considering turning back, but was hell bent on reaching the goal. I stopped about 80 minutes into the ride for a snack and set my alarm on my phone for 20 minutes. I would be turning back when it went off regardless if I reached the goal or not.

About 10 minutes later there was a fork in the path. It was obvious which one was more traveled, but I was wondering where the secondary path went. I went down it about 10 feet and saw a Canadian Flag in the distance. What a relief. I had reached my destination. I wandered down and found the Stoney Ranger Station. After eating, looking around and taking some photos I began my journey back.
I am not sure if the trip back seemed so easy because it was more downhill or the fact that I was on my way back. It only took 60 minutes to get back. At times I was going so fast on the declines that my eyes watered even with my glasses on. I just held on for dear life. It was invigorating, but makes it hard to concentrate on the terrain when you can’t see. Although I enjoyed the speed, common sense got the best of me and I slowed down. It felt good to get back to my truck.
Once back in the Banff Town site I went to get some information on other trails and I made the mistake of asking if the Ranger Station was the same as the primitive campground. Apparently they are not the same. If I would have continued another 50 – 100 meters along the main trail I would have made it. I was not impressed.I had a burger and a couple beer in Banff and headed back to my room. A soak in the hot tub, BBQ dinner and a relaxing night of reading before heading to bed finished my day.
This morning I did some business and then planned on riding Lower Stoney Squaw Trail. It is e described like this:

Lower Stoney Squaw
5.2 km one way, elevation loss 170 m, moderate
Trailhead: Mt. Norquay Ski Area Parking Lot
Ride past the day lodge and down the ski area
service road for 1.4 km. Watch closely on the right
for a sign indicating the trail. The trail features rough
and rocky sections and drops almost continuously to
the highway. Combine with Mt. Norquay Rd. (#12)
for a challenging 15 km loop from Banff. Please
watch for bears and horse users on this fast,
downhill ride.

Ok, I will fully admit I did not read this properly or plan properly for this train. I did not fully realize the elevation drop.

Bears Near Road

Once on the Mount Norquay road I had to stop because 2 momma bears and 4 cubs were too close to the road. This was only a five minute wait and they let me pass. I had a short discussion with the Park Rangers about my safety while biking with the bears around and he told me it should be ok. He asked if I had bear spray and when I showed it him strapped to my backpack he suggested that it be more accessible. He told me that bear attacks can happy quite quickly. I moved the spray to the front shoulder strap of the pack and thought about his words, “It should be ok.” I then took the long windy road up the mountain.
I got to the parking lot for the ski resort and unloaded my bike. After a minor error in directions I got myself on the path. It started easy enough but got more difficult as I continued on. It was far from the old fire road I was on the previous day. Roots, rocks, and steep declines kept me on my toes. There was some fear as I reached speeds I was not comfortable with and on a couple of occasions I just rode it out because it was so rough I didn’t want to loosen my grip on the handle bars to brake. The problem with that is I was less than a meter from very sharp, long drops.

I guess it was inevitable; I was on a steep incline when I hit the brakes and apparently the momentum was enough to toss me over the handle bars and off the trail. I was lucky to be stopped by a tree, because it was a long way down. As I lay there I felt pain in different places. I got myself up and evaluated. I had some scrapes and “road rash” the worse being a cut on the side of my calf and the blood running down to my sock. When I got back to the resort I realized that the blood was not running down, but the cut / scrape was actually 6 inches long. I straightened my seat, brushed myself off and got back on my bike.
I continued on a little more cautiously and only fell one more time. No damage that time though. Again I found myself all alone on this path but now I did have cell service should a mishap occur. As I was riding I keep a watchful eye out for bears, but realistically at times I was going so fast that I would have crashed right into a bear if it was on the path. Not a good situation.
The challenges continued until I got to the bottom of the path. That is when I remembered that this is the path that ends and I have to turn around and go back. That was not an option, luckily the path ended right near the highway. Then it occurred to me that I had just biked down to pretty much same place where I started driving up the mountain. The whole ride had taken less than an hour and there was not a lot of pedalling to do. It was hard work though traversing the rocky terrain. There was no way I wanted to ride back up the trail.
I took the highway a few hundred meters to the turn off to the ski resort and I was not looking forward to the assent on my bike. I bumped into a set of Park Rangers and explained my situation hoping I could throw my bike in the back of their pickup and no have to pedal all the way up. No such luck.
I started heading up the road and ran into the same Park Rangers that were doing traffic control for the bears earlier. He was nice enough to tell me that I couldn’t ride my bike past the bears because they were still only a few meters from the road and it would not be safe. Would I have to go back up the mountain on that path? I don’t think I had it in me.  Luckily a pick up truck had been stopped by the Park Ranger as well and he was nice enough to drive me and my bike up the mountain to my truck. Although it was a fairly short ride I was done for the day. A short drive back to the Banff Town site for some food and a beer was in order.  I sat in the sun and enjoyed my meal and then headed back to the resort.

Ouch!

I hopped right into the shower and the is when I realized I was more banged up than I thought. Hot tub, nap, eat, hot tub and typing this up concluded my day.
For the next trails I am going to have to read the descriptions thoroughly and plan better. Today was definitely and experience though.

*** this will be better editted when I have reliable internet  ***

The monthly percentage increase is: 0.65%

The year to date percentage increase is 7.96%

The break down is as follows:

Savings / Future Home Down Payment: $140,979 Percentage Decrease: 5.34%

This decreased this month for a couple of reasons.  I made my maximum 2011 RRSP contribution which took a chunk.  I did receive some business income in June, but I also paid for a majority of my vacation in August.  They basically offset each other.

RRSP: $152,166 Percentage Increase: 6.61%

This increase was due to the annual RRSP contribution and due to the markets dipping a bit it I have actually lost some ground. Hopefully July is a better month.

Pension Plan: $92,622 (estimated)

Vehicle: $8,587 Percentage Decrease: N/A (Depreciates 3% per month)

I have set my goal of having a 1% increase per month in my Net Worth so a gain of .065% is a little disappointing. I have paid for a majority of my vacation already and although I am being a little less frugal with summer being here I am hoping I can still hit my 1% goals in July and August. With any luck the markets help me out a bit.

Over the summer I will be posting a little more, but mostly about my vacation.

The monthly percentage increase is: 1.71%

The year to date percentage increase is 7.26%

The break down is as follows:

Savings / Future Home Down Payment: $148,930 Percentage Increase: 4.13%

This has an abnormally large increase because I am not including the balance in my chequing account at the beginning of the month Normally it is around $2,000.

RRSP: $142,733 Percentage Increase: -0.26%

Pension Plan: $91,291 (estimated)

Vehicle: $8,853 Percentage Decrease: N/A (Depreciates 3% per month)

I have set my goal of having a 1% increase per month in my Net Worth so I am happy to see an increase of 1.71%, although some of that is due to me adding another account. I will have a bit of business income in June which will help, but I have also been using my credit card a little more freely than usual so it may even out.

It seems I have been spending more money than usual as my credit card bill has been substantially higher the last couple of months. I will have to look at this in greater detail.

In August I have 24 days off and I will be spending a great deal of this time mountain biking in Banff National Park. This will end up being fairly expensive, but definitely worth it. I am not going to concern myself that much about my progress in June, July and August and I will get focused again in September.

This weekend I was reminded how beneficial getting away for a couple of days can be. I love the mountains and biking so I decided it was about time I did some biking in the mountains again. After some use of Google I found that a new trail from the East Gate of Banff Nation Park to the town of Banff had been built. The Legacy Trail runs between the TransCanada highway and the wildlife fence. The trip is approximately 12 KM one way. I road into Banff, had lunch and rode back in 2.5 hours. It was definitely an experience.

After my ride I went back and soaked in the hot tub at the Copperstone Resort. I don't normally endorse anything on my blog, but this resort is worth a mention. The rooms were fabulous, the staff was friendly and the setting was incredible. It is different than a hotel in that it comes equipped with a full kitchen. Rather than eat out 3 times a day I was able to bring my own food and buy some groceries to save a few bucks. I woke up in the morning to 6 - 8 deer about 100 feet from my suite. The last two days have prompted me to take my vacation in the same place. Two days was not enough, two weeks should be!

Remember to get out and enjoy once and awhile because you can`t take it with you!

The monthly percentage increase is: 1.68%

The year to date percentage increase is 5.46%

The break down is as follows:

Savings  / Future Home Down Payment: $143,202 Percentage Increase: 2.67%

RRSP:  $141,505    Percentage Increase:  1.13%

Pension Plan:  $89,963 (estimated)

Vehicle:  $9,127  Percentage Decrease:  N/A   (Depreciates 3% per month)

I have set my goal of having a 1% increase per month in my Net Worth so I am happy to see an increase of 1.68%.  I will have some business income in April and May so I should be able to exceed my goals for those months as well.

No major changes for income or expenses this month, but I did tend to eat out a bit more than usual.  I will be moving my RRSPs this coming month to a different institution which will cut the fees in half.  I am looking forward to the end of June when I will be done paying CPP and EI for the year.  Some extra money on the pay cheques never hurts.

Refinancing is basically a process of replacing a current debt obligation with a new or better debt obligation, which could have different terms. To date, the most common type of consumer refinancing revolves around home loans or mortgages.

Benefit from more competitive interest rates

Borrowers who apply for and obtain home loan refinancing products are usually those who intend to take advantage of more competitive or better interest rates. Your current home loan may have an interest rate that is higher by 2% or greater compared to the rates of the current products in the market. Refinancing could be your best and most feasible strategy to reduce your monthly payment amount for a home loan or to shorten your loan term.

Your decision to lower your monthly repayment amount each month could also bring about several effects to your mortgage. Your home loan refinance initiative could lead to a longer term. Remember that when it comes to loans, there is a general principle that the longer the term is, the lower the monthly repayment becomes. Short term loans could make your monthly repayments higher.

Cash generation and debt consolidation

The second most common reason to refinance your mortgage would be to free up some cash. The refinance mortgage could be your strategy to obtain liquidity, which you may need to finance your important investment activities. You may opt to use the refinance mortgage amount to repay your current home loan in full and then use the remaining money to fund your investment or business needs. You could also opt to use the full amount for investment activities.
Debt consolidation is another common reason to refinance. Use the loan amount from the mortgage refinance to repay all or some of your current loans or debts. This way, you are consolidating those into one, with a single and lower interest rate. Debt consolidation would make your life easier as you would pay for a single loan every month. It could also help avoid the risk of delayed repayments or possible default.

Where to get mortgage refinance

You should start scouting the market to find and choose the best mortgage refinance product that would suit your personal and financial situation. You may ask lenders and other mortgage loan providers for such products. It is also ideal to talk to your current mortgage lender if it could offer you a refinance product with better rates and terms so you would not have to change your loan provider.
The Internet has also become a good venue to find and get such refinance mortgage products. You could be surprised at how numerous such refinance loans have become. Most traditional lenders and mortgage loan providers have established their online presence now to cope with rising and intensifying competition.

Andrew Black has been helping people to refinance their home loans for several years. When he is not working, Andrew likes to share his knowledge online.

The monthly percentage increase is: 1.28%

The year to date percentage increase is 3.72%

The break down is as follows:

Savings  / Future Home Down Payment:  $139,303 Percentage Increase: 2.28%

RRSP:  $141,505    Percentage Increase:  0.48%

Pension Plan:  $88,369 (estimated)

Vehicle:  $9,409  Percentage Decrease:  N/A   (Depreciates 3% per month)

I have set my goal of having a 1% increase per month in my Net Worth so I am happy to see an increase of 1.28%.  I will have some business income in April and May so I should be able to exceed my goals for those months as well.

My major expense is rent and I pay it every 3 months so there will be months where the increases are not as prominent.  This was a rent month.