I will be closing off these questions for the Gail Vaz-Oxlade teleseminar on Sunday March 2, 2008.

Make sure you enter the contest and post a question soon!

I would really like an electronic gadget where I could input all my cash spending, while I am out and about in order to keep track of my spending. I have a block when it comes to tracking these things, but maybe something that will calculate and show what i have left will keep me in the here and now of my money situation. My husband always knows what he has in the bank, not me. He is also careful with his money, but guess who remits the family bills.... and does the quality shopping.
Is there such a gadget. If yes would it be sync'd with desktop program.
I am highly motivated to have a substantial savings by 2010 when we will be building our dream retirement home.

My husband and I are not in a huge amount of debt (about $8400 not a small amount either) and we're trying our best to pay it down asap. It seems that no matter how much we try we just can't get the debt down. I think that part of our problem is that we pay too much towards the debt and leave ourselves high and dry for the rest of the month. How do you suggest we pay down the debt without leaving ourselves high and dry. I've tried your budgeting chart but it shows we can only afford about $600 per month to pay down debt. Since we make approx $5000 per month net it seems as though we should be able to pay more. Help!!

We've got 6 days until our Teleseminar with Gail Vaz-Oxlade on March 4th , 2008.

Keep your questions coming!

Hi Gail~
How do I plan ahead for inevitable inflation when I am planning for my retirement?

I would like to to retire 2-3 years before my 60th birthday. I have investments as well as a company db plan. My pension has some built in protection against inflation but only 75% of the yearly inflation rate to a max of 4%.

I realize I will need my extra investment income to counter inflation . Is there some formula that I could use to predict how much inflation will cut back my buying power over time?

I am a single mom of two kids in my early 40s and I have saved about $30,000 for retirement and $10,000 towards a downpayment on a home. I have lots of expenses,and a moderate income but manage to put away about $150 each month in my retirement fund and $350 into my house savings. Real estate is getting so expensive so fast and my mutal funds in my RRSP are not growing very quickly. Would it make sense to pull my money out of the mutal funds and use the Home Buyers Program to buy now before things get even more expensive? Is that putting all my eggs in one basket or good use of my assets to leverage them forward?

As we slowly pay down our credit cards, Is it better to take the amount that you were paying to one card (that has now been paid off) and now put it all towards the next card (debt snowball) or should you take some of that extra money and set it aside for an emergency fund?

My husband and I have locked heads over how to set a budget and save for our future. He thinks not spending is only way to go. I think if you have a plan, set goals you can buy items that are needed.
So in 16 years I don't think either plan is working. We are getting closer to retirement and we are not ready. Help what do we do?

You can see the press release on this event.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb702363.htm
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2008/2/prweb702363.htm

As a teacher who receives a considerable amount for a pension, I was wondering approximately how much extra I should put towards RRSPs or any type of savings to contribute towards retirement? Thank you!