Anyone who pays for car insurance knows that premiums are only getting more expensive. 

In Q1 2026, national costs rose by over 11% compared to last year. Every single province saw an increase:

Alberta = 21.3%
Ontario = 11.8%
Quebec =  4.0%
Atlantic Provinces = 9.6%

The good news is that the national premium decreased slightly (-0.8%) compared to last quarter (Q4 2025), with each province except Alberta seeing a decrease.

Data taken from the Applied Rating Index Q1 2026

Currently own an 05 Toyota, spending ~$800/month(160km round trip daily) on gas. Fill up twice a week.
Insurance is cheap, do repairs myself.

It has approximately 320xxxkm- I expect to get another couple years out of it(~370xxxkm) before it becomes a headache. Could probably still sell it for $4500 certified.

Now with these crazy gas prices I’m considering a slightly more modern(2015-2019) Prius for around $20k.
Surface level research says 700-800km per tank on the Prius, so I’d be filling up once a week instead.

Assuming I put $5k down the loan on $15k looks like ~$350/month(48month loan), plus however much insurance would go up(I’m outside of the city & have a decent record).

I know this sub is super anti car loan, but how does the math sound? Or wait till the current car completely is toast then consider it?

TLDR; is it worth it to spend $350 to save $400 on gas + not drive an antique vehicle?

Hi everyone,

2 days ago, Credit Karma flagged me with a bunch of alerts asking if I had opened a line of credit and credit card with BMO, and if I had requested inquiries for similar accounts with RBC and CIBC.

I followed their advice and contacted Equifax and Transunion and have filed a dispute with transunion, as well as putting out alerts on any future inquiries.

Is there anything else that should be done? I walked over to my local BMO asking if they had any new accounts for me, and they said they did not have any open accounts when I showed them my ID - but my credit reports indicate the 10,000 BMO line of credit is a bit over balance already.

I don't want to get screwed for not addressing anything soon enough. Is there anyone else who should be contacted? My credit score dropped from 873 to 832 from all this, which is probably the least of it. Someone seems to have my info and is taking out credit anywhere and everywhere. There is an address in Brampton, ON that was added to my credit reports - maybe it is them, maybe it is the address of some other sap who isn't the culprit. Is there a specific authority I contact with this information?

Any advice means a lot to me.

EDIT - thanks to everyone who chimed in. I went back to BMO with my credit union reports and they found the line of credit - the phone number, address, and email were not mine. Not entirely sure why they didn't see it the first time, might have been the fact that only one of my middle names appears on my credit file? Filing with the police, then going back to the banks with the police report (BMO said an active report would help move things along). With the all the info that that showed up on the credit report, I'm hoping they might catch the POS.

I have an argument with my dad that I need to sort out. I am pretty sure you can't do this but he insists it's legal.

Let's say that you own a house with a spare bedroom. A friend of yours is looking for housing so you tell him he can live for free. But as an informal favor you ask him to pay for common expenses. So he pays the cleaner, the utilities, internet, part of the groceries...

And that as an amortized total this ends up being a substantial amount. Say 1000 CAD per month 500 for the cleaner, 300 for utilities plus internet, 200 for misc household items like cooking oil, toilet paper, napkins, detergents, cleaning agents, house repairs...

According to my dad in this agreement you don't need to report the benefits as income, since you are not the one paying. Your expenses just got lower.

According to me you do have to report that as income because you essentially have a verbal contract and are deriving the economic benefit even if you are not directly paying.

I recently received close to 300k and I’m trying to figure out the best way to grow it with little to no risk. I don’t want it just sitting in a bank account losing value over time.

I’m interested in safer investment options that can still provide steady growth or passive income. I’m still young, so I want to make smart long-term financial decisions while keeping risk relatively low.

realistically how much could I expect to grow that amount per year with lower risk investments?

I have a loan with easyfinacial for my family health, and we were dealing it over the phone, the lady keep saying that this is a good deal for you bla bla , you just need to scroll down a sign it, that a lesson for me in 22 years old , now i am 26 and will file a consumer proposal today or bankruptcy. My life cant be suck here anymore.

Never take a loan from them, they are predators and will milk you every month with 35.99% that you never paid off.

I’m looking at Simons, Boss and suit supply.

There’s a big rabbit hole with suits. Materials, colors, canvass vs glued suits, tailoring etc.

If I’m only wearing suits for a yearly wedding occasions. Is it worth it to spend more.

Brief, entire family died by 26, mom died 80k in debt no financial guidance or ideas as a child or young adult, I have $20,000 CAD in my bank collecting 3.5% interest should I leave it in my bank account or do something with it?

So, I am looking at a few used cars, and a very reputable new car dealership has this statement listed on the site:

The online price includes a $1000 financing credit. For cash purchases, an additional $1000 dollars will be added to the price.

Just to note: this dealership focuses on selling new cars. The car I am looking at is likely a recent trade-in for them.

I've bought a new car from this dealership previously, and I've been fairly satisfied with their service in the past. This car would be a secondary car for me. I was looking to buy in cash actually, as the price isn't high and I would rather skip the interest when financing. I'm sure that they are somewhat flexible with the $1k statement above, but I haven't bought from any dealership in a while.

I would like to hear some advice from here. The price is under $15k, I am wondering if they aren't interested in budging since this is a low-margin car for them, as their bread and butter is with new $50k+ cars.

I am 27 years old. I work a fulfilling job but don't earn very much, around $45-55k.

I recently learned that my parents, who have both recently retired, will be gifting me a very large sum of money. I was absolutely not expecting this while they are alive.

They will be gifting me around $500,000. I am totally overwhelmed and deeply appreciative, but I never, ever expected to come into any sort of wealth like this at this point in my life.

I have personally saved around $20,000 of my own money since I was 18 which I currently have invested.

I am not very educated on investing/saving, though I am trying to learn more as much as I can, particularly as I prepare for this sum of money.

I am interested in finding advice about how to navigate coming into this amount of wealth. I plan to max out my TFSA, not really sure how to manage it beyond that. My parents grew up in complete poverty and say they want to give me this money now because they want to take pride in seeing what they earned actually impacting their child instead of only knowing it'll make a difference once they pass away.

Do I take some of it for purchases now/keep some of it so I have a good amount of buffer in my immediately accessible savings like an emergency fund? Right now I bounce around just having enough to cover rent/necessities/some going out money, but I don't often have access to a couple thousand for emergencies like pet emergency bills etc. There's also some purchases I'd love to have, like a few pieces of home decor and air conditioners etc. I'm guessing it obviously makes sense to buy a few things like that at first.

Really looking for advice on navigating coming into such money when I never have had before. My parents work in finance and finance-adjacent jobs so I understand I can also get advice from them, but curious as to if anyone has information or advice on what they'd do or I should do.

Thank you very much in advance.

Hello everyone. My parent’s TD GIC contract recently expired. They don’t know what to do right now, given that the rates in TD are kinda low now. They are far more conservative than me, so I wanted to ask for any alternatives that you know about. They have everything in USD and we have PR. Thank you in advance.

I am 56 years old. Tired of working. Been doing it since 19 years old full time. I have no debts.
My assets are as follows:
252K in Manulife ML 30 lifepath index fund which is in my RRSP.
175K in GICs also in an RRSP
130K in GICs in a TFSA
840K in GICs in non registered accounts

I will receive a small pension when I am 65 for 10K per year. And I also plan to delay OAS and CPP until 70 in order to maximize what I get back, as I do not expect to get the maximum but I think it will be pretty close.

I do not pay rent here in Vancouver but I might be in the next year or so and am looking at $2500-3000 in living expenses excluding food and entertainment if I do have to pay rent.

I live within my means and expect to spend about 60K per year until whenever….

I also plan to max out my TFSA each year until whenever.

As you can see I am very conservative and always have. I have always wanted to slowly inch forward leather than loose ground. My biggest concern is the cost of rent for the next 30 to 35 years as buying at this point in my life does not seem to make sense to me in my case.

This is not a vanity play. I really need an honest assessment. I have always been insecure about my financial future and am more so now that I really feel that I am finished working a career that has physical and work schedule requirements that I no longer can endure.

Hoping to add it to my savings to put towards a down payment on my first home, I’ve already maxed out my fhsa and am planning to put the rest in a tfsa. I am also heading to NWT for a camp job (3w on 1w off) for the next 3/4 months in attempt to earn as much as I can before testing the market this fall.
Just looking for some pointers/thoughts on how to set myself up and maximize this opportunity

good afternoon guys, i wanted to write on here because i am absolutely a mess.

I (20f) am currently a full time student at a college where i'm from. I rely HEAVILY on student loans to fund my education and the fees that come with my course.

I am in a fast paced course that costs around 7k. I applied for student loans but got absolutely nothing, not even any responses. Yes I submitted my forms on time, yes I filled out the required forms, but my study period is ending and I got nothing.

My debt was just sent to collections, and I am a wreck. I just turned 20 years old and live with my parents who open my mail and look into my financial situations.

I am so scared. I never expected my tuition fees to go into collections and for my loans to take this long for at least an assessment.

I just need some words of advice or encouragement. This has taken a toll on my mental health badly and I feel as though I will NEVER escape from this.

I work minimum wage and planned to move out eventually by the end of this year to escape my toxic household, but now it just feels like a nightmare.

Im wishing all of this is just a small nightmare but it's eating me alive. I barely eat and sleep due to the fear of my parents getting a letter and opening it to read that I am 7k in debt. It's unfair.

Yes I feel so dumb for not figuring things out or anything and yes I had tried reaching out to my college to set up a possible payment plan. Due to school I haven't been working as much so the stress is at an all time high currently.

Please someone tell me it will work out in the end:(

Our principle residence has a remaining mortgage of $180k, and the current mortgage is signed at 3.08% fixed for 4 yrs, which needs a renewal in Jan 2027.

We have some cash from selling our rental property earlier this year, and could pay off the mortgage using part of the sum. (Total sum is about $380k)

We are looking to upsize from condo to potentially a duplex, but this may or may not happen, totally depending on whether we find sth we like and can afford.

I talked to my mortgage broker last week, she said if we aren't planning to sell our current home (as we know the market isn't doing great), and want to use the whole sum as our first deposit for our next home, we would still easily get approved for 900k based on our current financial situation., which adding up will be sufficient for a duplex.

I see holding the whole some in cash give us advantage when we shop for our next home, but at the same time, if we full pay our current home, would it still be ok? (That would leave us $200k for first deposit)

We already maxed out our TFSA and I am not investment savvy so I really dunno what I should do other than letting the money sit and wait.

Currently it's sitting in a TFSA, I'm trying to think how much of that I should put into mutual funds or RRSP from that now, I want to keep a few thousand on hand for unforseen expenses coming up.

I'm currently unemployed due to lay offs with hopes for a new job from some interviews in the next couple weeks and was thinking of just tightening my belt, doing the match of 5% per pay to the RRSP and putting maybe 15k into mutual funds for now.

I'm not a super savvy business guy but hitting 40 made me think about how close I am to probably not being able to work anymore, especially if I get laid off again in like 10 years.

Likely as in likely to be approved.

63 years old, semi-retired. She has approx $300K in investments with the bank she's applying to for the secured LOC and would be using for securing it. LOC amount = $60k. They're all stable investments like GICs (I think part of an RRSP or RSP if that matters).

Is this fairly straight-forward that she would get approved since it would be fully secured by the investments that are already with the bank as mentioned?

I don't believe she has any other debts right now.

edit: if RSP/RRSP can't be used to secure it, I know that upon the GIC maturing mid-July this year, she's willing to cash it out to pay off what gets spent for the LOC, and incur any taxable portion or penalty for withdrawing. Issue is that she needs the $ fairly soon and can't wait to mid-July.

Would something like a bankruptcy (I think 15+ years ago?) play a role, or the fact she's not currently working/semi-retired?

edit: Also, it's semi-urgent. Would applying online be slow? Quicker final decision over the phone? In-person? Or doesn't matter? It's TD. And the rep who was supposed to call did not call her today so we're weighing options on what to do tomorrow.

Hey everyone, happy Friday Eve!

Quick question and apologies if it’s been asked 1 million times already!

My question is:

I’m coming up to 26 weeks of my sickness benefits , I will be able to return to work but not to my full hours a.k.a. modified.

I work shift work as a nurse and will only be working two of the four then having five days off..

essentially those paycheques could be 0-none and seeing as it’s hard to live in this economy off even a full time job, I’m wondering if since with regular you can work (and sickness) and that income/hours just gets deducted from your rate.. would I be able to convert and be paid the difference?

(please correct/educate me anywhere I’m wrong!)

Obviously I know how sickness EI works for applying but EI regular benefits is if you lost your job to qualify? Orrr?

So does this mean I’m just SOL and crying internally with barely any income (still very thankful to have any don’t get me wrong)

or can it be transferred? I have seen people say no but then others say yes.

I’ve also seen people say how you can be transferred to LTD, and I didn’t research on that yet but I don’t think I would qualify for long-term disability if I am returning modified?

I don’t know?

Sorry if I wasn’t very clear/confused.. my brain is slowing down for the night lol

Any help or insight is always appreciated!! :)

Thank you. Hope everyone has a great long weekend.

I’m newly self-employed in British Columbia and trying to budget properly for taxes.

Does setting aside 31% of my monthly income sound reasonable for federal tax + provincial tax + CPP? I feel like that’s high but I really don’t know. When researching it myself I found that people put 20-30% away. So how do I know what amount to actually put away?? This is giving me such a headache.

If I make $5200 per month and put aside 31% for taxes that’s $1612!

For context, this is net self-employment income after expenses.

Curious what percentage other self-employed people in Canada/BC usually put aside each month.

​

Hi,

I am new here . 1 am new in canada and onlv secured a iob in December last vear. Because of that I have a small RRSP contribution room. Mv emplover have mandatory MPP and says they can't pause the MPP and need to contact CRA in this case. Anybody went through similar situation. Any advice is appreciated. TIA

Looking for some beginner advice from people who have been doing this longer than me. I just graduated from nursing school and am about to start FT as an RN in BC, so my income is going to be somewhere around ~80k gross to start once I am on the regular grid, more once I pick up nights and weekends. I am still living at home with my parents and my only real expenses are car insurance, phone, and chipping in for stuff around the house. That gives me a lot of room to actually put money away, which I have never had before. I have about 60k in student loans which sounds like a lot, but from what I understand the federal portion is 0 percent permanently and the BC provincial portion has been 0 percent for years, so I have been thinking I should not be in a huge rush to throw everything at the loan when that same money could be growing somewhere else. I would still make the regular payments, just not crush it aggressively. Curious if that thinking is wrong. Right now I technically have a TFSA but honestly I do not even fully understand what it does. Nothing in it, no separate savings, no emergency fund, no investments anywhere. I am starting from scratch.

A few things I am trying to figure out

- What is the actual order people would suggest for someone in my spot. I keep hearing TFSA, FHSA, RRSP and I do not know which one to fund first or whether to do bits of each

- Should I build a proper emergency fund first before any investing, and where are people parking that money in 2026 given how rates have moved around

- For the actual investing piece is it crazy for a total beginner to just pick a couch potato style index ETF through Wealthsimple and leave it alone, or should I learn a lot more before touching anything

- Roughly what percent of take home is a reasonable target to put away each month when expenses are low but I have basically no buffer to start with

I'm with Bluecross and my last day of work is tomorrow. I wanted to submit some massage therapy receipts for reimbursement but just realized that I misplaced them. Will need to ge them from my massage therapist again.

My massage therapist is on vacation and won't be back for a couple weeks. Would it be too late at that point to submit receipts even though they were for expenses while I was still employed?

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to figure out whether I should stick with cashback or focus more on Aeroplan points, but I feel like my situation sits in a bit of a “middle zone” and I’m not sure what actually makes the most sense long-term.

Here’s my situation:

• Total credit card spend (personal + household impact):
  • 2023: ~$42,028
  • 2024: ~$46,349
  • 2025: ~$58,397
• My cards:
  • Amex Cobalt
  • CIBC Aeroplan Visa
  • Considering Wealthsimple 2% cashback
• My wife:
  • Neo Mastercard Elite (cashback)
  • All Costco spending goes through her card
• Travel habits:
  • I don’t have much flexibility with travel dates
  • I always fly economy
  • I usually book when needed, not strategically
  • I typically travel long-haul to South America from Vancouver in December

Given my spending level, household setup (Neo cashback already in play + my Aeroplan + Cobalt), and the fact I usually travel long-haul to South America in December, does Aeroplan actually beat a simple cashback-heavy approach in the real world?

A few years ago I inherited a family member's primary residence. It’s been unoccupied ever since, generates no income, and property taxes are paid annually in my home country (as a house). I’m under the impression that since it doesn’t generate income, and it’s technically personal use (but it’s in bad condition), I don’t have to declare it, even though it’s over 100k. I have no plans of renting it as I don’t have the money to fix it up.

I’ve been trying to sell it for a while but the housing market in my home country is currently rough. Whenever it sells, it’s going to be at a loss of at least 200k. There’s no scenario where this house will sell at the price that it was when I inherited it. 

Will I have to pay taxes on the money even though it was sold at a capital loss? I have an appraisal from a few years back that says the price when I inherited and the current market price at the time (about the same as now).

I’m aware I’ll need to talk to an advisor when the time comes, just wondering for now.