Steps in Buying a Home for First Time Homebuyers

You just saw your dream home on realtor.ca – and you want it – now! You call up the listing realtor only to be told it’s already sold conditionally to another buyer. How did they act so fast? That buyer already had a plan in place, and were likely shopping many months before you were …

Moving House — the horror and beauty

In the course of waaaaaaaayy too many moves I’ve become pretty good at doing it *nearly* all myself. Add four (yes, FOUR) children in the mix and suddenly Netflix becomes the electronic babysitter, and it’s pizza, again, for dinner (served on rustic paper napkins) because I don’t have time to cook, do dishes, and pack …

The 5 P’s of Moving, or Moving is a Pain in the @ss

Winston Churchill said ‘war is hell’ – I’d say moving is an alternate version of his darker hell – maybe heck, or an especially irritating purgatory. Total household upheaval, stress, chaos, complete disorganization – and that’s a good move. The bad ones cost you time, money, and major headaches when the moving truck suddenly cancels …

The Illogic of Spending on Stuff

Stuff weighs us down, physically, emotionally, and mentally. You have to move, store, and maintain it. You need to plan organizational strategies, take care of your belongings, and make sure it’s in good condition. Stuff becomes an emotional burden as well, where we’re spending more time cleaning, managing stuff (the buying and selling processes that …

The High Cost of Crap

Crap – the stuff that fills our lives and somehow takes over, overwhelming and eventually burying the owner in a landslide of minutia – takes many forms. Emotional crap, the burdens we absorb from others, or perhaps create in ourselves; obligatory crap, the duties and commitments we must uphold because of some important reason. (I …