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A little extra money is always a good thing.

When I was a kid, I remember my Dad getting frustrated by my continued requests for things - he would ignore me for awhile, and then would say - so who's going to pay for that?

With summer holidays soon upon us, parents are feeling the burden of their children's wants and desires for summer, but does it have to be just Mum and Dad paying for everything?

Families who want to help kids understand the value of a loonie or toonie can make a plan to help everyone lean how to save money, and create a family slush fund.

It's not so bad to be a man in the 21st century.

As men, you still earn more than the better half, pay less for services (spa treatments, haircuts, dry cleaning) and when you indulge in additions to the wardrobe, they're made to last.

In comparison to women's budgets for similar items, men are benefitting from being simpler creatures - you're not as obsessed with shiny new things, since your list of necessities is a lot shorter.

For those who want to stand out in the crowd of blue shirts and chinos, men have to emulate their dads and grandfathers.

According to RealMenRealStyle.com, the whole package is worth the effort to go for grey suits, new shirts with french cuffs, cufflinks, pocket squares, fedora hats, classic overcoats and wingtip oxfords. Or, they can just emulate ad-exec-about-town circa 1963, Don Draper.

David Letterman has an incredibly popular segment on his show called Top 10.

While not always shocking, it's always at least a perfectly surprising piece of comedy. Usually beautifully outrageous, too.

The Canada Revenue Agency, not to be outdone, has come out with its own Top 10 list. It's not as funny as anything David Letterman might produce. But what it lacks in humour, it more than makes up for in its usefulness.

So, without much further ado, and with a special drum roll, here are the Top 10 (LEGAL) ways to keep more money in your pocket while sending less money to the government coffers.

You've heard it before and we're saying it again, an emergency fund is important. It's what you turn to when there's an unexpected financial crisis such as medical bills or sudden unemployment.

Despite being told about Canadians' debt crisis and saving more, 38 per cent of Canadians don't have an emergency fund according to the 2012 TD Canada Trust Report on Savings.

It's not that Canadians are refusing to save an emergency fund. It's that when asked why they didn't have one, 56 per cent of them said they had no money, 46 per cent were paying off debt, 14 per cent were paying off their mortgage and seven per cent were saving for retirement or their children's education.

There are a few sacred things to women - and her beauty arsenal is one of them.

No matter if you're a lady who likes to spend hours with her powders, perfumes and glosses or a girl who happy to slap on sunscreen as her only face paint, we all have our indulgences when it comes to personal care products.

According to a recent article in BusinessInsider.com, women are happily still spending on one of their favourite luxuries: cosmetics. In fact, at the end of 2010, $36.5 billion was happily thrown down to make girls more pretty.

So if we're all dedicated to the regular purchases of lipstick, blush and mascara, how do we save money?

Ladies - listen up.

We all know we love a bargain. We're obsessed with the words deal and sale and will never pass up a good opportunity to save a loonie.

But do we really know how much it costs to be us?

On a daily basis, we're obviously priceless, but the reality of how much it costs to be a woman - well its probably more than you want to think about when it comes to actual dollar amounts.

So with the advent of spring, turning over a new leaf on how to be better women, shall we say more cost-effective than budget (which doesn't sound right), let's look at what it costs to be a woman and learn how to save some pennies.

What would our ancestors have thought of online shopping? Don't get me wrong, the naked commercialism of the season warms my cockles too but sometimes my bank account yearns for a simpler (cheaper) time. Here are some gift ideas you can make that are inexpensive and meaningful.

CLICK TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

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1.Get arty
Take a picture of something relevant and touching to you and a friend. Get it developed in black and white and frame it with an inexpensive frame from Black's. (You can order your pics at Kodakgallery.ca -- one 8x10 photo starts at $1.39 -- and get them shipped for free to your local Best Buy or Future Shop). Or, recruit your kids to paint a picture for Grandma and put it in an Ikea frame (frames start at $4.99).

The trend of giving a tiny piece of plastic with benefits is on the rise. According to a recent survey, eight out of ten shoppers plan to give a gift card this holiday season. Meaning -- chances are -- you will give or receive one within the next month.
Since these handy, wallet size cards are becoming an inherent part of our gift giving tradition, it's wise to know you're giving or getting what you can out of them.

Cards are becoming a bit more personalized and geared towards specific lifestyles -- no longer something you'd only give a colleague or distant aunt. For instance, with the economy in turmoil, a lot of my friends and relatives are hinting that they'd like more practical things this year, or a bit of extra "help" to get away for that much needed vacation. Nobody really likes giving cash in an envelope -- a gift card is a prettier, more festive way of giving money towards something a person needs or wants to do.

Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your money if you'll be giving or receiving one this season:

My husband and I were recently listing off the pros and cons of throwing a holiday party at home this year. It's something we generally like to do -- what other time of year is there really an excuse to gather good friends, new and old, in the same place and catch up for a brief moment in our busy lives. But with our growing family of two kids under four, costs are on the rise. And with the unpredictability of the economy, no doubt many people like us are thinking about the same thing. If you have decided to throw a party for friends -- even if it might be hard to afford on top of all the other excessive holiday expenditures -- here are a few tips to help you stay on track.

Digitize your RSVP's
In the pre-planning stage, send your invites on line for free. Sending invites by mail is a timeless hosting gesture but why bother when you can avoid invitation and postage costs and get the message to people more quickly? Make use of evite.com, and it's easy to see who's coming, who's not and who's too lazy to even reply.

When I was a kid I was signed up for so many different activities it's a wonder my homework ever got done. Whether it was making sure I wasn't "up to no good" or just a way of exhausting me so I was out of their hair at a reasonable hour, my parents were diligent in introducing me to sports and activities from a young age.

I want my kids to benefit from organized physical activity and the camaraderie that comes with being on a team or pursuing a sport. I am all-too-aware though that organized games for Johnny means less cash for Mommy so it is with this thought in mind I go searching for the best value in kids' sports.

Hockey
It's our national obsession and an integral part of the Canadian mythology but it's more expensive than heating your house in winter. Don't get me wrong, I love hockey and I know many of my kids' friends will play at least house league at some point in the next few years but with registration costs close to $500 a season and new equipment costing upwards of $1000, it's hard to argue that you'll get your money's worth. Plus, because it's a shift sport, they'll only see 15 minutes of the game a week. If they show a real interest in playing in a league I will oblige but until then I will be re-reading the kid's classic The Hockey Sweater to them, emphasizing the glory of the outdoor pond.
Value: Not great