A Night with One Of Canada's Gems

When we returned from our NYC trip, that night, we went to the University of Ottawa to hear Gail Vaz-Oxlade. She is a Canadian financial guru. She has been a feature writer for the Globe and Mail newspaper and Chatelaine magazine and since has turned into a television celebrity for the shows, Till Debt Do Us Part (helping couples get themselves out of financial ruins) and Princess (giving spoiled women harsh reality checks when it comes to spending). Big Guy and I have been watching her program since we were newlyweds and really like how real and practical she is when it comes to spending and saving. At the University, she was giving students lessons on saving and avoiding student debt. She said that undergrad students should only get into debt the amount they would be making the first year of working (that's the maximum she would allow). So, if you start your first job out of university making $60, 000, you should only go into debt that amount, any more than that you are just setting yourself up for failure. A student asked her about how much debt a student in a professional program should go into. Big Guy and I listened closely. She said that is difficult to say because it is so much of an investment and eventually an individual (doctor, dentist, lawyer) would be making loads of money that it doesn't really matter, just get through the schooling. Phew! We can spend as much as we want. Just kidding.  I feel like even when we are making money, I am still going to be that lady with the designer purse arguing with a cashier over a coupon. That's just how I've been programmed, I guess.  

With my camera, for the life of me I could not get Lil' Dragon to look up!!

Big Guy asked Gail about what kind of education savings account we should get for Little Dragon's university tuition. At first we were in some sort of group savings program that we both felt sick about. We went to a lot of "Welcome Wagon" events when I was pregnant to get advice on things and hoping to  win free stuff. At one of the booths was this lady who preys on young couples. She wrote down all of our details and later called a few days after Dragon was born. We had her over to discuss things, which was a very bad idea because being young parents, we were completely sleep deprived and really weren't in a state to be making long-term financial decisions. She dressed so trashy that even I couldn't stop looking at her cleavage. Before we knew it we had signed up for the plan with really no idea of what we did. Thankfully, we did get out just in the nick of time. Here is the video of Gail's response to Big Guy's question: