The Mogo Blog

2013 Christmas Spending Guide (A How-To Guide On Avoiding Spending Aftershock)

We are in the heart of spending season. Whether it’s a party, secret Santa, not-so-secret-Santa, flights, or stringing up lights on your house, there are a million and one ways to spend during December. In the lead up to the end of the year, there are some ways you can lock it down (Budgeting all year long, keeping careful track of all your purchases, re-gifting the double crockpot that Nana got you last year) but frankly, those are tough. They take a lot of work, and they’re not realistic when

A Canadian in NYC: A Spending Primer for US Shopping

Hey Canada, guess what? I’m not in you right now! It’s true, I’m on the road. For the next month or so, I’m hanging out with friends and spending my time—and my money, oh man, my money—in one of my favourite cities in the world, New York. Next week, I’ll give you a full account of my NYC shopping style, but this week I’d like to touch on some basic stuff I think about while traveling anywhere. It’s very easy to get swept up in the excitement of traveling and to forget the obligations that go w

How to Deal With Sunk Costs & Be A Better Spender!

OK – it’s time to get psychological here, and no, there won’t be a test! We’re going to talk about the effects ‘sunk costs’ can have on your finances. A sunk cost is money that you’ve put towards something you can’t get back. Whether it’s a non-refundable purchase (sale items), a phone or a deposit on a vacation rental, it’s spent money – regardless of what you do afterwards. Sunk costs can get dangerous when you need to spend more just to get value out of what you’ve already spent. For exampl

An Easy Way to Track Spending: Use Only 1 Payment Method

We’ve talked about budgeting your cash before, and knowing what you spend money on – but let’s face it, sometimes that is a tall order. With bills, one-off purchases and the options to use cash, debit or credit it’s easy to get to the end of the month and have no clue where all your funds went to – and how are you going to budget properly when that happens? Here’s an idea for getting your spending on the right track: simplify your methods. Rather than use the combo of cash, credit and debit, s