Your Home

These days you can't quite wake-up like George Jetson, with your space age home launching you out of bed and into the shower and then drying you off, before dressing you and serving you breakfast. But technology is bringing us closer, with incredible leaps in home automation. You don't have to have Bill Gates money to have a home that responds to your preferences and whims. Gates' Redmond, Washington estate is well-known for responding to the temperature, lighting and multimedia display preferences of every guest from the moment they walk into any room in the house. This is because every guest receives a lapel pin that contains all of their preferences and these pins communicate with the relevant appliances in the house.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE WHAT A JETSONS HOME LOOKS LIKE IN 2012

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While the average automated home doesn't have to be that elaborate in execution, home owners can still automate a large number of the natural functions of their home relatively inexpensively and many of us are living with some degree of automation already.

If you're in the market for a new house or simply looking to
renew your existing mortgage, I'm sure you've noticed the "Mortgage War" being waged by most of Canada's big banks. RBC, TD, Scotiabank and BMO have been offering long term, fixed rate mortgages for 2.99 per cent. This is among the lowest fixed rate mortgages you're likely ever to see.

On the one hand, this has been a bit of a strange move from an industry that has expressed worries in the past about mortgage debt in Canada. On the other hand, now might be a terrific opportunity for first-time buyers to get into the market. So, what should you be conscious of if you're thinking about a rock-bottom mortgage rate?

With Mother's Day approaching, I find myself shamelessly
hinting to my husband and kids about what they can treat me to that will show their appreciation for me simply being the Mom of the family. I have to admit, Mother's Day is one of those occasions when I actually do feel like I deserve a bit of pampering or a thoughtful gift for the many sleep deprived nights I've experienced -- not to mention the many diapers I've changed and seemingly endless clean-up tasks I've endured. For anyone looking for gift ideas to appreciate all that Mom has done for you, here is some guidance on what Moms really want. In the under $50 range, you can actually go quite far with your money.

It's that time of year when no matter how busy we are, we get the
urge to exile every last stale winter dust specimen from our homes. Perhaps it's the extra light we're getting throughout the day that shows up the excess particles floating around. Or could it be with the arrival of spring comes the instinctual urge to renew and refresh? Whatever it is, a thorough clean is something that takes a lot of time, which most of us don't have. I spoke with Molly Maid franchise owner and cleaning expert Amelia Mackie to get some tips on how to be efficient and pick priorities during a spring clean.

1. Set goals and get organized
Being prepared and setting attainable goals are important to keeping your sanity. Make sure you have all the necessary cleaning tools before you start and make sure you have time to finish each task. Organize your work into smaller jobs, like cleaning level by level or room by room.This way, focusing on smaller areas can be less intimidating. Draw yourself a cleaning task map, so to speak, and your journey will be a smooth one.
Helpful tip before you start: Decluttering is probably one of the most important tasks to perform prior to spring cleaning -- it's the only way to clean efficiently and effectively.

Marc Springer used to sell Harley Davidson motorcycles, but then the economy took a dive and people didn't buy as many man toys as they used to. Springer's income was dwindling rapidly, so it was time for him to move on -- now what?

"I was a teamster truck driver back in my early 20s and I always had this burning desire to drive the big trucks. It was something I always wanted to do and it just never happened. So, when I began to strike out on my own I thought, 'Well, I've got zero income and zero working capital, how do I start a company?"

His wife reminded him that he had a leaf blower sitting in the garage and suggested he go clear the lawns in the neighbourhood. But Springer thinks big, so he began extrapolating how many employees he'd need to do all the surrounding neighbourhoods and quickly realized he'd need a trailer. But when he went on Craigslist looking for a trailer, he found a 1999 frieghtliner truck with a 20 foot flat-bed.

"They wanted $20,000 for the [trailer] and I thought, 'You know, I think I'm just going to buy a truck.'"

He booked a load the day he bought the truck and was just going to use his contacts in the scrap metal business to haul scrap metal in Seattle and the surrounding area, until he hit the internet and found a veritable trucker's Shangri-La.

"I was looking to fill the truck with scrap and I was doing pretty well at that, making decent money and one day, I was on the computer wondering, 'How do you find loads? There's got to be a better way to do this. How do these guys find the freight to get on their trucks?'"

That's when he stumbled onto uShip.com. It opened all the doors to all of the business opportunities he enjoys today, including becoming a reality TV star as the handlebar mustache sporting, big-rig driving, cast member of A&E's Shipping Wars.

Related Links:

• Free Shipping Day Comes to Canada
• Moving Day Scam - Busted!
• Gilt.com Now Ships to Canada

Every month WalletPop searches the MLS listings for attractive homes at a reasonable cost. We've limited our picks to homes selling for less than $400K for a survey of homes that most people can afford. The average selling price was $$372,763 in February across Canada, and many of the properties we highlight are even less than that. With mortgage rates at record lows, there's no better time to go house hunting and lock in at a low rate.

Have a look and see if anything surprises you this month.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO LAUNCH GALLERY

When it came to the squared-circle "Heavy Metal" Ric Savage could never quite equal the heights achieved by that other Savage we all know and love. Sure, he wrestled for well-known promotions like ECW and WCW, but he admits it wasn't really his true passion. "I was big and I could talk well, so I was able to get some little pushes here and there, but I never really made it that far. I wasn't a superstar or anything."

Good thing too, because eventually the road took its toll and after various concussions, reconstructive knee surgery and three back surgeries, it was time to find something else to do. Enter Savage's true passion, American history. "My dream was to be a college history professor," says Savage. Instead, he began collecting relics and meeting people who metal detect and do the same.

"No matter how you slice it, it's treasure hunting," says Savage. "There's really nothing like getting your hands dirty, digging down and seeing what you've got. You get hooked, and once you get hooked on it, that's it."

Now, he runs the top artifact recovery company in the country -- American Savage -- leading a team that includes recovery expert Rue Shumate, battlefield historian Bob Buttafuso, Savage's wife Rita (who manages the business and sources leads for digging) and their 25-year-old son Giuseppe (who is their resident tech expert and acts as the muscle for the operation). They tour neighbourhoods known to be built on former battlefields or towns of the old west and go door-to-door asking residents permission to dig on their private property in hopes of finding valuable relics that they can sell and then split the proceeds with the landowner.

Related Links:

• Picking the Brains of the 'American Pickers'
• 'Auction Hunters' Roll the Dice on Storage Units for a Big Payday
• Flipping Foreclosed Homes for Fast Cash on Spike TV's 'Flip Men'

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It seems like every year we get collective amnesia as tax season rolls around. It's like we've all forgotten how much we hate it.

We grumble as we reflect on how much of our hard-earned cash is deducted from our paychecks but at least the rationale for income tax is pretty straightforward: as a society we have to pay it in order to maintain a decent standard of living.

What really drives us all nuts are those taxes that are not at all clear, and just seem downright unfair. In honour of tax season, here are the top five most irritating money grabs:

PHOTO GALLERY: Click image below to see "The Five Most Hated Taxes."



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It doesn't look like it but spring might be coming. And with its arrival, people are going to intensify their house selling and buying activities. Why it always picks up in the spring, nobody can say with any certainty: better weather, more conducive to moving, can't be the only answer.

Still, with the increase in this field of human activity, there pop up numerous proposals on how to pay for a new home, especially when it comes to mortgages.

While the basic rules stay the same throughout eternity (throughout the time period mortgages have existed, that is), some specifics change with time and, in particular, with the current macro-economic situation.

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How long has it been since you've invested in yourself? It's easy to get caught up in investing for retirement but one of the best investments is in continuing education because you control the return. The harder you work the more the investment will pay off (and out). Here are some classes to consider that don't cost much but could be a huge benefit to your financial situation.

Financial Management
What better way to improve your fiscal fitness than understanding the ins and outs of money management. Many colleges have basic accounting courses you can take at night. You could also look into Credit Canada's Financial Coaching Series, which involves six sessions of basic financial coaching (each session costs $120 or you can attend all six for $600). This would be more personal than a basic college course since you're assigned a finance coach who will analyze your own situation and help you explore your own goals and beliefs about debt, credit and your financial future.

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