As a kid I recall rules being a pain. It made no sense to me that I needed to go to bed at 8:00 PM in the summer when it was still light out, I wasn’t the least bit tired and all the other neighbourhood kids got to stay up. Nor did it make sense […]

It was the Friday night of the August long weekend and I was all ready to step out the door for the start of my summer holidays when I surprisingly stepped in to a large puddle of water… in my basement. Looking further, I discovered that my three-year-old hot water tank had been leaking and […]

In the fall of 1997, I moved back home to live with my parents. I had been living on my own since I was 23, attending university, teaching and living abroad. I boomeranged home when I was trying to decide my next career move. While my parents made it easy to live with them, it […]

In 1998 my family sold my grandma’s home, a home that she had lived in for 40+ years for $91,500. Back then, there were no multiple offers and we weren’t experiencing a “hot” sellers market. Even so, she would have been astonished at this princely sum.  My grandmother had always treated her home with pride, […]

If you are in the position to purchase a home, it is imperative that you be realistic about what you can afford and understand what you are getting into. As my niece, Tekla, prepares to purchase her first home, I sat down and answered some questions for her on the basics of home ownership – […]