Since I didn’t really share any trip photos on Monday, I’m gonna share some with you today. Tomorrow me and the HB leave for Jasper then onto Grand Prairie after that. We are still trying to decide what route we want to take to drive to Toronto. We are thinking for going through the U.S. because gas and hotels will be cheaper but we’ll see. Ok, onto some fun trip photos!

Here’s me in front of the Disney Castle. Sadly, it was smaller than I expected it would be, but it did look really cool lit up at night.

This was me at Universal Studios with the Mr. Bean car! I frickin’ love that show so I was pretty darn excited to get my photo with it.

One of the things I was told to make sure to do when in California was to eat at In-N-Out Burger. And man am I glad I did. Delicious! Also their chocolate shakes are out of this world.

We visited Santa Monica Pier on a Saturday which was obviously a bad idea. It was beautiful but so busy. Basically we took some photos, visited the pier, then left after about 10 minutes.

For any of you Kardashian fans (ya I know, it’s a crappy reality show but I can’t help but like it), we drove by their DASH store and I took a quick pic.

And last but not least, the Hollywood sign. I miss Cali already, but I think next time we’ll visit the northern part and check out San Francisco and maybe Sonoma or Napa Valley.

-Mo’ Houses out!

This is a guest post, but check back tomorrow for a fresh post by yours truly - Mo’ Houses

Moving to a new house is expensive, but there are ways to save money while you move.  If you plan out the relocation and be patient, you can save yourself from being financially drained and stressed. 

Through planning, you can also make sure that your personal things that are important to you don’t get left behind by opting for a reliable service like movers and other similar moving companies.

1.  Donate or sell things that aren’t important 

The fewer things you’ve to move, the less expensive the relocation is going to be. You should start unloading things that you don’t need weeks or even months before your actual move.

You’ll also find some things that were an expensive purchase but you don’t really require them in your new house. The best option would be to sell them and the money that’s generated can be used to finance your move. You’ll also be able to get a fresh start at your new house.

2.  Find free boxes

You don’t really need a lot new cardboard boxes while moving. Why spend extra on something that is most of the times used during big moves. Before you splurge the cash on cardboard boxes, try to get as many free as you can; from neighbors, friends and relatives.

You can also visit local stores to look for any free boxes. Some people who’ve just moved also list their old boxes on websites like Craigslist, so you can get them from there and return them after your move is complete.

3.  Pack yourself

You may be tempted to hire someone for packing, but that will only lead to extra cost. Why not pack most of the things yourself? The early you start, the more things you can get packed before the moving day comes.

Inexpensive packing materials should be used wherever possible such as old newspapers. You’ll be able to unpack easily after the move if you label the packages and place them for moving in an organized manner.

4.  Don’t neglect the post office

Post office can help you to save money for books and magazines. You can opt for this service when there are a lot of books, newspapers you want to keep and magazines in your house. The U.S. Postal service has good rates for magazines and books.

The postal service will get the books and magazines at your new house pretty slowly, but it’ll save you a lot of money in the process.

5.  Get people you know ready for moving day

Try to round up friends, relatives and other people who would be willing to help on the moving day. You can start telling about the big day in advance, and if you can also agree to return the favor yourself later on.

Talk to the people you know weeks before, because if you do so in the end, they may not be able to find time instantly, but talking before can allow them to schedule other tasks for later than on your moving day.

Plan everything ahead of the moving day if you’re really serious about saving money. Waiting for long to plan and make decisions can cost you in the form of having no help or the required equipment when the time comes. 

(Image: Mary-Lynn/flick)

Hi everyone! Sorry for being silent all of last week but it was hard blogging while I was away in California. My 10 day honeymoon in SoCal was awesome by the way. The first two days on our holiday we visited Disneyland and California Adventure Park. Seriously people, it is the happiest place on earth. And probably a bit happier since my HB and I didn’t have a bunch of whiny kids to haul around. I am still amazed at how much detail went into both parks and all of the rides, and I’ll be honest, I almost peed my pants when I rode Space Mountain. That coaster is not for sissies (like me)!

After that we visited Tonya from Budget and the Beach and enjoyed some amazing happy hour specials at Hermosa Beach. It was so awesome to connect with a blogger I’ve been a fan of for so long, so thanks for meeting up with my Tonya!

Later on we visited Hollywood and did a bunch of other touristy things like going to Universal Studios (which was also awesome, but there’s still just not comparison to Disneyland). We also fit in a bit of wine tasting in Temecula which was lovely, especially for people who like wine like us but don’t necessarily know anything about wine.

On our last day in California, which was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced, me and the HB got to be part of the studio audience for Jay Leno. Not only was it totally free (holla!), we were both on frickin’ TV! Well in the background, but still it was pretty cool.

Now, usually after a trip I post how much it all cost but I haven’t had time to go through all of our receipts yet and probably won’t get to it for a while. Let’s just say, we could have definitely done a nice all-inclusive trip to Mexico for at least 7 days. All in all it cost us about $3,500. Listen, things aren’t cheap in L.A. Hotels average about $200 a night for a place without bed bugs, restaurants aren’t cheap either, and of course tickets to Disneyland and Universal Studios are pretty pricey and so was our wine tour in Temecula. Whatever, it was our honeymoon and we had a great time.

But there’s not much time to relax now that we’re back. We’re trying to spend as much time with family and friends before we leave this Thursday for Alberta for our friend’s wedding. That being said, I’ll try my best to keep you up to date with everything going but I have a feeling my posts for the next few weeks will be a bit scaled back. But thank you all again for continuing to read and comment, and I’ll share more with you (plus pictures) soon!

-Mo’ Houses out!

This was a big question of mine after I came back from my bachelorette party in Vegas where I was expected to tip pretty much everywhere even though almost all of the service I experienced was pretty much the worst ever.

Maybe it’s because I never worked in a job where I got tipped, but I have never really understood the purpose of tipping. I still do it, and even if I’m out at a restaurant and our server is terrible I still leave a tip (though usually less than 15% percent), but lately I’ve felt like people everywhere are expecting a tip.

For instance, I got my hair coloured before my wedding and it wasn’t cheap. With tax is was about $140, and on top of that I had to leave a tip. Yes, the hair stylist did a great job especially since my hair got pretty messed up from the overly chlorinated water in my apartment’s shower, but isn’t that what she’s supposed to do? I do understand that hair stylists, if they don’t own the salon they work in, they have to rent their chair there and most likely only get paid for as many clients as they get, but still!

Another experience I had, and not a good one, was when I was getting my nails done the day before my wedding. I booked me and my two sisters at Pure Nail Bar near my parent’s place and it was not the relaxing pampering session I was expecting. I’ve gotten mani-pedis at a number of places in Vancouver before, and all of them have had those massage chairs with the foot tubs and cost about $45 for the combo. This place I guess was going for the minimalist feel but really it felt like they just cheaped out on everything. Instead of massage chairs there was just one long couch you had to share with a bunch of other patrons. Instead of foot tubs they used metal bowls with soapy water in them. Then, to top it all off, the customer service was abysmal. I felt like they wanted to just get my nails done as fast as possible so they could get started on the next customer, and when I came home I noticed a ton of mistakes I had to fix with nail polish remover. I ended up only tipping about 5%, but my little sister said she didn’t tip at all. I probably shouldn’t have either but again, it just seems like if you don’t tip, even if the service is crappy, then you’re a douchebag.

Ok, now for something completely different I’ve got a giveaway today! Thanks to The Debt Myth for organizing all of this, and good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you tip no matter what or do you only tip when the service makes sense and/or deserves it?

-Mo’ Houses out!

(Image: gesinek/rgbstock)

No, my blog’s name isn’t changing nor am I saying goodbye to this blog, but as for my last name, after much deliberation I’ve decided that it’s out with the old and in with the new! I’m gonna take my HB’s last name after all!

If you read my post back in November, then you’ll remember that I was still weighing the pros and cons of taking my HB’s last name and I hadn’t quite made up my mind about the whole thing yet. And honestly I still didn’t know what I was going to do up until the week before our wedding. My HB was always super supportive of whatever decision I made but he did make it known that he would be extremely happy if we shared the same last name. We even talked about combining our last names into a new name, but all of the combinations we came up with were so ridiculous sounding that we both knew that it just wasn’t going to happen.

Anywho, the deciding factor for me choosing to take my HB’s name is actually quite a simple one. This year is all about fresh starts and new adventures for me. I went to Thailand for the first time this January, I got married, I quit my job, and in just a few weeks I’lll be on my way to setting up a new life in Toronto. With all of these new and exciting things happening, I thought changing my name would be a great way to commemorate the start of this new chapter in my life with my new husband.

It’s funny actually, my original plan was to surprise my HB with the news at our wedding reception. I told our MC to announce us as “The new Mr. & Mrs. …..” and that’s how my HB would find out. Unfortunately things didn’t really go as planned because our priest announced this right at the end of the ceremony! The crazy thing is I never even told our priest I was taking my HB’s name, he just assumed I would! Oh well, what’s done is done. I’ve never been very good at surprising people anyways.

So what does this mean for Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses? Nothing at all. I’m still keeping Jessica Moorhouse as my blogging name, and I won’t even be changing it legally until we settle in Ontario. I’ve been told changing your last name is actually quite a pain in the neck, so I’m gonna wait until after the honeymoon to start tackling this hefty checklist.

Did/would you change your last name when/if you got married?

-Mo’ Houses out!

(Image: krappweis/rgbstock)

When I first moved out of my parents house and got my first job, tracking my spending and my income was a breeze. I had no more than four bills to pay per month and my job was salaried so I made the same amount of money every two weeks.

Three years later things have definitely changed: I have several more bills to pay, a few investments, and income from about four different gigs. Basically, the older and richer I get, the more complicated my finances also become. Not that I’m complaining exactly, but it does make it more difficult to track my spending and make sure everything looks as it should in all of my bank accounts.

Case in point, my HB was looking at his bank account yesterday to check to see if he paid me back for something and he noticed that something didn’t look quite right. The balance in his chequing account looked a bit lower than the last time he checked it and it turns out it’s because someone stole his money! Someone in Miami of all places! I guess someone somehow got a hold of his card number, went to a Moneytree in Miami (my HB googled the address), and then stole $400 right out of his account!

Luckily his bank is great and when he called to explain the situation they said they would send him a new card and refund him his money right away. But it just goes to show how important it is to check your bank accounts (and credit cards too) regularly. I’d say checking it once a week is probably a good idea, though me being a personal finance blogger and somewhat obsessed with my finances, I check my accounts through Mint.com every few days. Good thing we got everything sorted out before leaving for our California honeymoon tomorrow, that’s all I gotta say!

How often do you check your accounts? Have you ever had money stolen right out of your bank account?

-Mo’ Houses out!

(Image: pedrojperez/morguefile)

This is a guest post, but check back tomorrow for a slew of fresh posts by yours truly - Mo’ Houses

It’s no secret that moving to a new home or condo can be quite expensive if you aren’t careful, but that doesn’t have to be the case.  Most people are able to save money when they’re moving as long as they know what to look for and the money they save can be put toward better things such as renovations and design for their new home, which is just one reason saving money while moving is so important.

Whether you’re moving to Ft, Lauderdale, Los Angeles, or Boston, it will save you a lot of money if you use a local [RD1]  company rather than running to grab items every time you need them. In Ft. Lauderdale, Uncle Bob’s is an extremely inexpensive option for local storage and you can use them while you’re still getting the home ready - it may also help keep your stress levels down.

When you move, it’s prime time to look at everything you own and start getting rid of things you don’t need or those items that are too damaged to keep.  Renting a moving truck is ultimately the only way you’re going to get most of your things moved from one area to the next, but the more things you have, the more you’re going to pay.  This isn’t including, of course, the gas you’ll be paying if you have more things than can fit in one truck load.

It might seem tempting when you’re in a hurry, but don’t pay for cardboard boxes.  A lot of retail shops have these in abundance and if you ask the manager when their next shipment comes in, the chances are very likely they’ll let you have them.  If you do this with a few different stores, you’ve suddenly accumulated more than enough to cover your entire move and you didn’t pay a dime for them.

While you’re going through your things, check to see if any of your furniture is unusually large.  If it’s possible, it will be a good idea to measure the doorways and entranceways to your new home before you start toting along these larger pieces because there’s a chance you won’t be able to fit them.  You don’t want to pay to move them if you won’t even be able to use them later.

Try to do everything yourself.  Carrying a lot of heavy stuff up and down the stairs doesn’t seem like a lot of fun, but it can save you a ton of money rather than paying the movers to lug your things for you.  The chances are likely that when it comes down to it, you’ll be a lot happier you saved the money and suddenly those heavy boxes won’t be as annoying to you.

Keep records of everything you do while you move.  There are a few tax credits you might be eligible for depending on where you’ve moved to or why you chose to move, but you’ll need proof in order to get these credits.  Stick to the paper trail and don’t forget to look on next year’s taxes.

Moving doesn’t need to be an incredibly expensive thing and with just a few tips and tricks, you can end up saving quite a bit of money without sacrificing a lot.  Just keep a few things in mind and do a little bit of research and you’ll be well on your way to keeping your moving costs down.

(Image: WordRidden/flickr)

In the past 3 years I’ve moved a total of 4 times. First, I moved out of my parent’s house into a friend’s apartment where I house-sat for a month. Then I moved into my first real place (ugh, that place still gives me nightmares), and not two months after that I moved into a basement suite close by. Finally, a year after that I moved into my current place with my HB where I’ve been for a year and a half.

Honestly, moving one more time, even if it is to the other side of the bloody country (with only as much stuff as will fit in my HB’s hatchback Hyundai I might add) doesn’t feel like that big of a deal to me. Or maybe the whole idea hasn’t quite hit me yet. Though the fact that today is my first official day as an unemployed bum has definitely hit me! I know I’ll be fine (hopefully) this round of unemployment, but I’ve been used to a steady stream of income for 3 years, so living on a fixed budget for who knows how long is kind of scary!

On the upside, I do get to go to Disneyland next week, plus I’m going to visit Tonya from Budget & the Beach! So excited! I was also lucky enough to get together with all the Vancouver PF bloggers before I leave for some yummy Thai food last week. I sure will miss all of you guys, but I’m super excited to see who all you Toronto PF bloggers are!

And now, it’s time for my list of my favourite blog posts of the week. Enjoy!

Celebrating One Year of Debt Freedom by Careful Cents

Freelancing is Making Me Fat by Club Thrifty

First Impressions of Cambodia by NZMuse

Excuses Are Just Going to Hurt You by Plunged in Debt

Reviewing Your Professional Profiles by Savvy Financial Latina

Coming Up for Air by So Over This

Happy Graduation Day to Me! by Vanessa’s Money

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Mo’ Houses out!