health posts

Coffee may be King, but tea is certainly becoming the Queen.

The official drink of England since 1790, tea has always been the preferred hot drink in many countries, but in the past years, has gained a strong following in North America, thanks to the knowledge of its many health benefits.

Not just a drink made from orange pekoe, there's now many options to be had when asking for tea - green, white, black and even red (aka roiboos), let alone the endless combinations thanks to herbs, flowers and spices.

So for those devoted to the beverage, here's 10 things you didn't know - like what's the most expensive tea available?

According to the Canadian Toy Testing Council, these are the toys that are hot this summer. As you will see, old favorites have endured from generation to generation, while some new incentives to get kids outside and active have arrived on the summer scene.

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Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer who enjoys searching out the best the dollar store has to offer. Visit her website for tips and ideas on decorating with dollar store finds.

Father's Day is coming up and you may be stumped as to what you could possibly give him. After all, guys are notoriously hard to buy for. However, if you can pinpoint one of his interests, you're half-way to finding the perfect present for the special man in your life.

For example, if your dad is someone who loves to cook, consider one of these great gift ideas for dad the gourmet.

When my parents downsized, they sold their house and bought a condominium. That was in the seventies. Condo and apartment living was the way to go for retirees of the time and it was expected that, when baby boomers retired, there would be an oversupply of single-family homes on the market.

Fast forward three decades and things have really changed. Downsizing baby boomers are shunning condo living. A report by Royal LePage finds that boomers like their garages and backyards too much.

So, you're in Florida on your winter vacation and you fall off your jet ski and break your leg. The hospital slaps you with a $35,000 bill, but it's OK. You have insurance, right? Um, please say you have travel health insurance.

Sure, it's not often that you break a leg, so you think the chances of it happening during your holiday are low. But, then again, how often do you play around on a jet ski? And think about more common traveller health complaints, such as food poisoning or that trip to the hospital to relieve your child of that scary asthma attack.

Royal Bank of Canada says about one in 10 Canadians will travel outside Canada this spring break, according to a poll of more than 1,000 Canadians.

The cost of medicines to cure what ails you can make your wallet feel poorly, too. As dollar stores expand their medicinal offerings, they are able to offer products for much less than your local drug store but you may be wondering if the cheaper prices come at the cost of quality.

You may be pleasantly surprised. Here's what I found at a Dollarama recently.

We all want to be well-groomed and advertisers are out to make you believe you absolutely can't live without their clients' wares. However, there are a lot of products on the market today that we could probably do without and still face the world with our chins up.

Here are four ways to save money on personal grooming products.

Dollarama has pulled two products from their shelves after tests showed unacceptable levels of bacteria in cosmetic and baby wipes, according to the CBC.

Huggies Pure wipes and Merida cleansing wipes are the products involved. One is a Kimberly-Clark product, the other made by a manufacturer in China. These product recalls have given critics a new reason to denounce dollar stores.

Financial literacy efforts are growing in popularity in recent years. Those tasked with the job of developing curriculum to teach children, however, still have a significant challenge on their hands.

This type of education simply does not exist in any formal way, or it didn't until recently – it needs to be developed, virtually from scratch, but also in a coordinated way. Then there's the task of trying to make it seem interesting.

Take a room full of 600 high school students, and spend the day trying to teach them about money. Can you say tough crowd?

Across the province and around the country there is a relatively concerted effort going on to develop curriculum for students. In Ontario, for example, there's a widely integrated approach underway to develop a financial literacy program which runs from grade 4, all the way through until graduation in grade 12.

Unfortunately, a lot of the kids graduating this year and next won't have the benefit of that education. It's a gap the Investor Education Fund (IEF) hopes to fill, to some degree, with their school assembly programming. This week, the IEF is kicking financial literacy month by hosting its first-ever youth summit in Toronto.