With summers getting hotter and drier, homeowners should think about how they can conserve more water - in their homes and in the garden. It's easy to put these practices to work and that will pay off big time when it comes to your water bills. This is especially true now that many municipalities are moving to a consumption based model, where homes are metered and charged accordingly.

In Toronto for example, a typical monthly bill for a single family home runs about 600 dollars. But the city has had a long-term plan to increase water rates by 9 per cent each year through 2012. And like everything else, water costs are only going to rise, so start saving with these easy-to-implement fixes.

SLIDESHOW: 10 EASY WAYS TO CUT YOUR WATER BILL

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For Olympic champion and sports icon Hayley Wickenheiser, representing Canada in both the summer and winter Olympics hasn't been her highest honour. Nor is it the sports arena, in her hometown of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, that was named after her. And, although, receiving the Order of Canada comes extremely close, her highest honour is being a mother to her 12-year-old son.

Being a mother comes with the responsibility of shaping and nurturing a future generation. This is a role that she is proud to share with 9.2 million Canadian women, who make both small and large sacrifices to raise confident, well-adjusted contributors to society. Indeed, mothers are worthy of public praise.

Walmart Canada agrees, and starting on May 10, 2012, Walmart Canada is celebrating Mother's Day by asking Canadians to nominate his or her mom for the Mom of the Year Awards. Hayley will be one of five Mom Ambassadors who will determine who will be the lucky eight finalists and the winners of a $10,000 award. Plus, the overall winner will receive an additional $100,000 to be donated to a charity or cause of her choice. We spoke with Hayley to discuss the life and financial lessons that she has learned and her personal experiences as a mother.

Three years ago APEX Public Relations CEO Pat McNamara was at a career crossroad. After 10 years of building and leading a multiple award-winning company, she felt that it was time to take a step back and thoroughly examine her options.

From the start, McNamara chose not to make her business all about her and had always made a point to develop a strong leadership team, in case she wanted to take some time away from the business. While the NDP leadership race continues to heat up. McNamara is calm, cool and collected. Her forward thinking has paid off. She recently handed over the CEO title to APEX President, Linda Andross, but she still enjoys hanging around the office.

Q: When did you start thinking about finding your successor?
A: It was always on my mind. I got pretty serious about it about three years before I had did it. I actually was working with a [business] coach to help me through the process..

Mother's Day is fast approaching. (Psst ... May 13^th, in case you haven't marked your calendars.) After all the countless hours and seemingly limitless energy our mothers have spent taking care of us, isn't it always a great idea to treat her like a queen? This year show mom why she's tops in your books with some of these budget-friendly and beauty junkie approved gift ideas.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And we, laid-back Canadians have been behind some of the greatest inventions in the world. However, studies show that two thirds of Canadians are unaware of the homegrown inventors and inventions that helped to change our world. Let's change that and continue to innovate.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO LAUNCH THE GALLERY:

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Story follows below:

1. Light bulb

Who invented the light bulb? If you said Thomas Edison, you're wrong. Canadian Henry Woodward invented it. Between 1873 and 1874, Woodward with the help of Toronto innkeeper Matthew Evans, invented a glass bulb with an enclosed carbon filament and nitrogen gas. It was patented in 1874. But that's where it ended because they didn't have enough money to produce and sell their own invention. One year later they sold the patent to (drum roll please) Thomas Edison.

April 30^th is just around the corner, and if you haven't filed yet because you are looking for creative ways to reduce your tax liability, take comfort and learn from the fortunes and misfortunes of other taxpayers.

The key to maximizing your tax return is to plan ahead, so you won't miss some of the little deductions that could make a big difference to your tax return.

Beyond the usual deductions, there are more that people have successfully argued are valid deductions. Have a look and see what has worked - and what hasn't - in the murky world of tax write-offs.

CLICK PHOTO FOR A GALLERY OF ODD TAX WRITE-OFFS

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1. Claim pet food

Sometimes being a pet owner can really add up. So, the cost of feeding your pet should be an allowable deduction. Right? Um ... maybe. A farmer took this issue to the Tax Court of Canada and won on the grounds that his outdoor cat and dog were protecting his blueberry fields from wildlife.

Clikbrix, an award-winning QR Code and mobile website solution for real estate professionals is changing the way you buy or rent your next home.

Usually, when it comes to looking for a new home, house hunters spend hours poring through one-dimensional data found on the Multiple Listing Service. And, with the vast number of properties and the vast number of agents to help move them, the sea of sameness can create a stressful situation for a potential homebuyer.

In today's time-crunched world, this isn't good enough. The world has gone mobile and consumer expectations have changed.

Thousands of college and university students across Canada are gearing up to muscle their way into the tight Canadian job market.

Clarke Sciamanna isn't one of them.

Armed with the knowledge that some people have earned their living from posting content on YouTube, he turned his hobby of creating videos targeted at high school students into a well oiled-cash machine. Since 2009, his InformalMantis self-help videos have gradually built a steady, loyal following.

"I could live my dream of helping people on YouTube by posting how-to tutorials," he says. "Right now it's putting a big dent in my tuition and I'm not even a full-time YouTuber, but it helps as a university student."

Last month the organizers of Colorado Springs' annual Easter egg hunt had to cancel the event because of aggressive parents hell bent on getting Easter eggs for their kids. People, it's only a game. Maybe the event would have fared better if the participants knew that everyone could and would get a basketful of treats, especially when the treats are pretty cheap. Here are seven budget-friendly Easter ideas to try that are, hopefully, aggression-free.

1. Create a family Easter basket. Place a large plate on a table and decorate it with Easter
grass and goodies. You can purchase Easter grass from Walmart for just $1. If you want to
keep an eye on the amount of sugar your child consumes, top the grassy heap with filler
eggs (Walmart 42-pack $2.97 each). As an alternative to a gooey sugary centre place
stickers from the dollar store inside.