Each life season serves a purpose...🌻

Issue 9: 10 min read

🙋🏽‍♀️Dani’s Doings: I was invited to the House of Commons for Canada’s Federal Budget announcement(!!!), reflecting on life 1 year after my first-ever layoff, and celebrating life’s seasons.

💸 Money Matters: People around the world are worried about inflation, Gen Z isn’t doing so bad financially, and more.

✈️ Travel Tings: Forcing airlines to cough up cash for travel delays, golden visas are being cancelled, among other things.

🫶🏽 Community Corner: My must-have products for solo travellers + how I’m earning money & re-investing it while being as lazy as possible 😴

I was invited to the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada for the reading of the Federal Budget 2024! 🇨🇦💰

Every year in Canada for Budget Day, the Federal Government announces how it plans to manage Canada’s money (with a large percentage of that money coming from taxpayers). I was one of 5 Finance Creators invited to the House of Commons to attend the Budget 2024 festivities (full recap of the day here!!) and I got to meet the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, herself!

We, as Creators, were invited because the government is aware that younger Canadians don’t watch the news as much anymore and instead, they get their news from social media. I’ve broken down some of my key takeaways that I think will be most impactful for my community in 8 parts here on YouTube, or you can check out my last few Instagram posts. I’m so grateful for this opportunity because who would have thought making personal finance content on the internet would get me in rooms like these?! 🤯

It’s officially my one year layoff-iversary! ✌🏽🧍🏽‍♀️

Exactly one year ago, I was laid off from my once dream job. The layoff came promptly after I took an 8-week “stress leave” (or short term disability) because I was burnt out and my mental health was in shambles. It was a mass layoff of ~2300 people (or 20% of the company) and I was one of the “lucky” ones to make the cut. I’ve been reflecting on the journey, and here are my 5 major lessons from being laid off from my once dream job:

👩🏽‍⚕️ 1) Health over everything

Say it with me: No dusty job is worth sacrificing my health for. I will prioritize my health over any meeting, presentation, “after work drinks”, etc.. I will also take every single one of my vacation days, and use all of my health benefits because they are part of my compensation package. There’s no prize for overworking myself. In fact, the reward for great work is often…more work 😅.

🤷🏽‍♀️ 2) Everyone is replaceable

Unfortunately, we live in a world where profits are often prioritized over people. The sooner you accept this harsh reality, the sooner you will understand the importance of building your own personal brand, networking, keeping your resume updated, being open to new opportunities, etc..

💰 3) If you stay ready you don’t have gotta get ready

One stream of income is too close to none. It is not wise to rely only on the income from your job, because what would you do if you were to lose it? With that in mind, I always recommend looking into a side hustle or a creative way that you can make more money, to be extra safe financially. I wish it didn’t have to be this way and that one job was enough, but that’s the way things are right now unfortunately.

Also, in this very tough market, I’d argue that you should work to build your emergency savings to cover at least 5 months of expenses. You should hold that money in a high interest savings account, so that money will make money. Do not leave your emergency savings in a chequing account earning little to no interest. Canadians: I personally recommend EQ Bank’s Personal Account or Wealthsimple Cash (referral code: WHIM_W). Note: both are affiliate links that you will get an extra bonus when you sign up using them). Also, this should go without saying, but your emergency savings should not be invested in the stock market due to market fluctuation and unpredictability. You need your emergency account money to be easily accessible for you if/when you need it.

💪🏽 4) Don’t be afraid to be seen trying

Your fear of “looking stupid” is holding you back. Don’t be afraid to try new things that could allow you to live your best life. That could mean dabbling in a career change, trying your hand at entrepreneurship, etc..

🤔 5) Before jumping into your next “thing”, take a liberty leave

I define a “liberty leave” as the act of giving yourself time and space to leave behind what doesn’t bring you liberty, for what does. It’s all about the purposeful pause, plan, and pivot. If you get laid off, take some time off to really think about what you want for your next chapter of life (if you have the privilege to do so— I fully acknowledge that not everyone does!).

FAQ: Danica, why do you keep going back to Thailand 🇹🇭? You’re not tired of it yet?! 🤔

Thailand is the place I learned to fall in love with my own company. I’ve spent months here on my own and that time taught me to trust my intuition, lean into my curiosity, and stop fighting the flow of life by letting go of my need to control everything (that last one is still a work in progress). I visited Thailand in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, and now I’m back in 2024. Each life season that I was experiencing while visiting Thailand was a different version of Danica, and I’m so happy to be back to show current Danica where she took her biggest life steps. It sounds strange but this country really does hold a strong place in my heart. I’m so grateful that one of my closest friends, Shamara, moved to Thailand and encouraged me to visit her in 2014 so I could experience this place.

It also helps that the food is delicious, the people are kind, and Thailand has everything from the metropolitan city vibe (Bangkok), to beach vibes (Krabi, where I’m heading tomorrow), to mountain vibes (Chiang Mai, where I lived for a couple of months).

My solo travel era really shaped me into the woman I am today. If you haven’t already taken a solo trip, I’d highly recommend it! I personally don’t think there’s any feeling more liberating✨ (especially if you’re a woman!).

Cost of living in Malaga, Spain update 💰🇪🇸

I won’t be publishing the monthly spend from my partner and I in April or May because in April, we spent almost 2 weeks in Toronto and in May, we’re spending 2 weeks in Thailand. I’ve received feedback from my community that the spend data is used to understand how much it’d cost for them to potentially live in Spain one day and the data for these 2 months wouldn’t be a good example. But, you can check out my January, February, and March spend. I’ll start sharing these roundups again in June when life calms down (and I need to sit my a$$ down because all these travel costs are adding up lol!).

🚚 P.S. We move to a new 2 bed/2 bathroom apartment in Malaga (outside of the city centre) and our rent will be decreasing from 1592 euros to 1400 euros (aka $2,061 CAD/$1508 USD).

• Adults are now celebrating their half birthdays, and they’re spending $$$$$ on these. Etsy, for example, has seen a 57% increase in half birthday-related items compared to the prior year. Galentine’s Day celebrations are up, too! Read the article here. (For the record, I am in-support of all of these celebrations!).

• 🇨🇦 Canada’s 2024 Federal Budget was released on April 16. Read the whole thing here, or some highlights here. I broke down my key takeaways from it here.

• A new study shows that inflation has been the number one global concern overall in the What Worries the World survey for the last two years. No surprises there. Read the full study here. Canada and the U.S. are in the ten countries that have inflation as their top concern.

• Despite popular beliefs, Gen Z is actually wealthier than other generations at the same age. Read about why/how here.

• In the U.S., the transportation department is seeking compensation for flight delays. These new rules would mandate airlines to promptly provide customers with automatic cash refunds when their travel plans are disrupted. Check out the fact sheet. I hope this happens across all countries! For those of you who are victim of delays by Air Canada (like I was just a couple weeks ago by 5+ hours), read about your rights here!

• Spain announced that it is cancelling the Golden Visa program for real estate investors. For those who aren’t aware, Golden Visas are are like “immigrant investor programs” that allow people to gain citizenship by making sizeable investments (such as via purchasing property). This comes after Portugal’s similar announcement. I do completely understand why are they doing this though, as the housing market is being destroyed and locals can no longer afford to purchase homes in their own countries.

• South and Southeast Asia are experiencing severe heat waves that are breaking records. In Thailand, at least 30 people have died from heat stroke this year alone. Full story here. I get it, too, as this is by far the hottest I’ve ever experienced this country. If you have any upcoming travel plans to this part of the world, you may want to consider rescheduling…

• 💡Travel tip: Did you know that it’s recommended for you to register with your embassy when you travel abroad in case something were to happen such as a natural disaster, political unrest, or even if a personal emergency were to occur at home? I personally know a lot of people who were supported by doing this when the pandemic first started. Canadian friends, here’s an FAQ on how to do it. Here’s one for my U.S. friends.

• For those of you looking to take a solo trip this spring/summer travel season, I’ve created an Amazon storefront list of my must-have items for making my trips a breeze while keeping me safe. Check it out here.

• Y’all know I love investing, but did you know I’m a lazy investor that’s dedicated to doing as little work as possible? That’s why I’ve been LOVING Wealthsimple’s “Automatic Dividend Reinvestment” feature. Don’t know what a dividend is? Here’s a quick 101. I love to see my money make money while I just sit back and watch! If you want to sign up for Wealthsimple, too, you can do so using my affiliate link here. If you’re already a Wealthsimple user, learn how to turn this feature on here.

• I have a few spots available in July and August to run virtual workshops for your community/workplace. Here are the topics I cover. Want to book me for one? Simply reply to this email and we’ll set something up!

_{These may include affiliate links where I earn a small commission (and you pay nothing!), which helps me to continue to grow and produce content like this newsletter. Thanks for your support!}

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