EQ BANK – HIGH INTEREST SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Long gone are the days of parking your saving account(s) and emergency fund in an account with a 0.01% interest rate from your standard bank.

The EQ Bank Savings Plus Account helps Canadians save money faster at a 2.30% everyday high interest rate*. Plus there are no fees, no minimum balance and safe, modern online banking practices. It’s the solution I use for my short-term savings and I’m a big fan of their service.

*Interest is calculated daily on the total closing balance and paid monthly. Rates are per annum and subject to change without notice

TANGERINE – NO FEE CHEQUING ACCOUNT

For day-to-day banking needs I use the Tangerine No-Fee Daily Chequing account. As noted in the name, there are no-fees, you get free access to the 3,500+ Scotiabank ABMs around Canada and 50,000 ABMs globally, plus a ton of other services and protections you expect from a bank account in the present day.

Tangerine is currently offering a free bonus up to $200 when you open a chequing account.

Free money? Yes please.

BORROWELL – MONITOR YOUR CREDIT SCORE & REPORT FREE

Borrowell gives you free access to your credit score and credit reports – there’s no catch or hard pull on your credit. It’s a great tool to stay on top of your credit score, which in turn will affect your overall financial health and credit opportunities available to you as you move forward.

Borrowell is simple, secure and free. It takes 2 minutes to register your account and from there, you’ll be able to monitor and track any monthly changes in your credit score and report.

RATEHUB – COMPARE & SAVE

Ratehub is a platform that allows you to compare and explore various financial services and products. Including the latest rewards credit cards, high interest savings accounts, mortgages and more.

Ratehub also has financial calculators embedded to help you best understand the nuances between the various offerings. It’s a great tool and allows you to gather supporting data before you make a financial decision.

CREDIT SESAME – MONITOR YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Credit Sesame gives Americans free access to their credit score and reports. Safe, secure, easy to use and full of other value and benefits. Sign up today for this amazing free service.

No catch or hard pulls on your credit just a great tool to stay on top of your financial health and monitor your credit as you progress through your financial journey. Plus Credit Sesame members get free identity theft protection (up to $50,000 insured). 

NERDWALLET – RESEARCH & COMPARE

Nerdwallet is essentially the American counterpart to Ratehub and Rate Supermarket – a platform for researching and comparing various financial services and products. Credit cards, investment accounts, savings and chequing accounts, mortgages and more.

Nerdwallet a holistic tool that also features a great blog and tons of supporting resources to help you better understand the current marketplace in the financial space.

SWAGBUCKS – MAKE MONEY ONLINE IN VARIOUS WAYS

Swagbucks is a great way to make money online. You earn rewards, or SBs, by: taking surveys, doing your normal online shopping, using the Swagbucks search engine, watching videos, playing games, discovering deals and buying gift cards.

Is Swagbucks legit? Yes, they have an A rating on Better Business Bureau and have paid out over $270 million their users. You earn your SBs and then convert them to PayPal cash or gift cards to your favourite retailers.

Sign up for Swagbucks using my special link to earn a FREE bonus $5!

CHECKOUT 51 – GROCERY & PHARMACY CASH BACK

Checkout 51 is another app to help you earn cash back rewards for grocery and household item purchases. They include a wide-range of product offerings all with a set cash back value and also release ongoing weekly promotions and one-off deals to help you push your earnings further.

Open the Checkout 51 the app before you go to the store(s) to make note of any offers, purchase your items, upload a photo of the receipt into the app once you’re back home and let your cash back dollars build up.

It takes less than a minute to upload your receipt and get that cash deposited into your account. Plus you can get $5 FREE when you use this link and upload 3 receipts.

IBOTTA – SAVE ON GROCERIES (FREE $10 WELCOME BONUS)

Ibotta is another popular cash back app that helps you make money on your grocery shopping. Their partner network of stores is extensive and they have new timely offers to keep you earning cash back.

They have paid out over $438 million to their members.

Get the free Ibotta app with your $10 welcome bonus and start to make money from your phone today.

EBATES – FREE CASH BACK ON EVERYDAY PURCHASES

Earn FREE cash back with Ebates for the normal spending you would traditionally do online. All you do is register an account and click through the links on the Ebates website (or install the Browser Extension). Ebates earns a referral fee for driving you to these different stores sites and at no extra charge to you, you get a percentage of that cash back for free.

Ebates has affiliations with almost every major retailer (2,500+ stores and counting) including Amazon, eBay, Indigo, GroupOn, Expedia, etc. So the cash back opportunities on your normal shopping habits are endless. Sign up today and start earning!

CANADIANS

Use my link to register and you’ll receive a FREE $5 Welcome Bonus and be on your way to start earning free cash back.

AMERICANS

Use my link to register and you’ll receive a FREE $10 Welcome Bonus and be on your way to start earning free cash back.

GREAT CANADIAN REBATES – GREAT OFFERS & CASH BACK

Great Canadian Rebates is another cashback site for those of us North of the border. They have relationships with over 500 merchants including all the big names you’d expect like Amazon, eBay, Expedia and so on. Great Canadian Rebates has daily cash back boosters and special offers to give you the opportunity to earn even more cash back on your everyday online purchases.

One area that they really shine is with the bonuses they offer on credit cards. They have cash back rebates of $50 – $100 when you go through their page to register for a new credit card. I just signed up for the American Express Cobalt (amazing card for millennials) and got $50 free…no tricks or extra charge to me just $50 back to my own bank account.

Sign up today and starting earn free cash back!

PARIBUS – MONITORING YOUR PURCHASES TO GET YOU MONEY

Paribus is a free service that can save (make) you money by monitoring price changes on your recent purchases.

Most stores offer a price match within a specific time period should they drop the price of an item you bought. However, tracking and keeping up to date on that can be difficult. That’s where Paribus comes in.

To date they’ve helped members save over $15 million.

You can sign up today for free and let Paribus go to work for you on saving you money.

TRIM FINANCIAL APP – SAVING MONEY FOR YOU

Trim helps you save money on your subscriptions, bills and recurring expenses. It’s like an automated savings assistant that reviews your services to identify cost-saving opportunities based on your ongoing bills and purchases.

Trim is a free tool and their users saved over $1 million in the last month.

Some examples of the free services it provides to help you save are:

• Subscription Analyzer
• Bill Negotiation
• Deal Finder
• Price Protection

Trim is free, secure and another service to add to your financial toolbelt to help you save money. Sign up today for free to review your own spending habits and subscriptions.

MINT – FREE MONEY MANAGEMENT & TRACKING

Tracking your money is an essential step to taking better control of your financial journey. I’ve used Mint for almost 3 years and sync all of my financial accounts so that I have optics on everything in one place. Mint also helps with budgeting, bill payments, overspending, credit score tracking, goal setting and more.

Free, easy to use and accessible by web and mobile app, Mint is a great tool for those looking to track, budget and manage their finances.

PERSONAL CAPITAL – FREE TRACKING WITH A BIT MORE

Personal Capital is a must use platform for Americans looking to track their finances, monitor their net worth and manage their investments. It’s a shame Personal Capital isn’t available in Canada. However, I have used the platform and almost all respected members of the financial community recommend it as a amazing money management tool.

Personal Capital is a similar service to Mint but with a more robust and fully integrated investment management component. Personal Capital features all of the budgeting and tracking features of Mint but with more robust investment analysis tools. Sign up today and start to take control of your finances.

QUESTRADE – LOW COST INDEX FUND INVESTING

Questrade is the online discount brokerage of choice for many Canadians, including myself, and is often voted or regarded by industry as the “best”. I use Questrade for all my investing needs as it fits my long-term index fund holding investment Canadian Couch Potato strategy.

From the fully digitized sign-up process, intuitive user-experience, and ease of use, Questrade is a great platform for DIY investors. In terms of the costs, there are no opening or closing fees on a TFSA or RRSP,  no account holding fees, no withdrawal fees and best of all ETF purchasing is free, while ETF selling is $0.01 per share ($4.95 minimum – $9.95 max).

If you want to open a free Questrade account, use my QPass key 606106362419068 to unlock a free $25 – $250 cash bonus depending how much you deposit.

WEALTHSIMPLE – ROBO-ADVISOR INVESTING

I used Wealthsimple for a year and had nothing but positive experiences. Wealthsimple remains and continues to grow as one of the largest and most preferred robo-advisors for Canadian investors looking to take a more hands-off approach. An amazing user-experience and intuitive platform, quick set-up process, $0 account minimums, unlimited transactions and strong customer service make Wealthsimple a great choice.

Wealthsimple offers 3 portfolios based on your risk tolerance (conservative, balanced and growth) and an extensive account mix (TFSA, RRSP, RESP, RRIF, LIRA, Personal, Joint and Corporate)  plus takes care of rebalancing your portfolio and dividend reinvestments.