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If you want to improve your financial fitness, The Globe’s MoneySmart Bootcamp newsletter course is for you.

Hi, I’m Erica Alini, a personal finance reporter at The Globe and Mail and author of the best-selling book Money Like You Mean It. If the past few years’ ups and downs – from the economy, through housing and the financial market to inflation and interest rates – have taught us anything, it’s that it pays to up your financial game.

This is the personal finance crash course you never got in school. It’s ideal for absolute beginners, those looking to brush up on the basics, or people hoping to pick up some useful new tricks.

Subscribe to the MoneySmart Bootcamp and you’ll receive an e-mail a week to work a different financial muscle. Lessons will land in your inbox Wednesday afternoons.

Click to subscribe to MoneySmart Bootcamp now

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Week 1: Managing the money you have. Find a budgeting system that fits your style, learn to anticipate unexpected expenses, and tame impulse spending. We’ll also look at how to prioritize saving goals.

Week 2: Debt and borrowing. Learn to be a debt connoisseur so you can borrow wisely. There’s a lot more to interest rates than you may think – and there’s a lot more to loans and credit cards than their interest rate.

Week 3: Investing. How to invest in the financial markets in a low-cost, low-effort way.

Week 4: Rent vs. buy. A simple, clear-minded approach to this fraught housing question and how to keep your largest fixed monthly expense in check.

Week 5: Disaster-proofing your finances. From insurance to writing a will, things you may not realize should be on your crisis-prep checklist.


Ready to get your finances in shape?

A new 5-part newsletter course to improve your personal finance skills, including budgeting, borrowing and investing. Taking the course? Tag us on Twitter (@globeandmail) using the hashtag #MoneySmartBootcamp.


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