Travelling frugally as people begin to take vacations again
 
As pandemic lockdowns ease and the world slowly starts to reopen, many people are eager to take a vacation after being cooped up at home for months. While travelling isn’t cheap, there are some options to save money and still enjoy your trip at the same time. Here are four ways from The Associated Press to help you cut your travel bill. 
 
Zero-down mortgages gaining steam in hot Canadian housing market
 
At a time when interest rates are hovering around record-lows and the price of real estate continues to soar in Canada, many Canadians are taking on riskier loans to be able to afford a new home, according to Bloomberg News. Some people are even enticed by zero-down mortgages to just get into the elusive market, which has been flagged by the Bank of Canada as a potential concern. However, exotic products like these zero-down mortgages still represent a small percentage of all mortgages but could become commonplace if the housing market continues its hot streak. 
 
Consumer debt levels on the rise as Canadians escape lockdowns: Survey
 
As the Canadian economy opens back up following months of pandemic-led lockdowns and people are eager to get out and spend, consumer debt levels are on the rise, according to the latest MNP Consumer Debt Index. The index concludes that the number of Canadians concerned they cannot make ends meet without going more into debt has reached its highest level in three years. The survey found 57 per cent of respondents are taking advantage of low interest rates during the pandemic to buy things they normally wouldn’t have, and some are even feeling “house poor” because they took on too much debt to purchase a new home. 
 
Canadians finding creative ways to enter housing market: Poll 
 
As housing prices continue to rise, some Canadians are exploring alternative ways to get into the market. A Leger poll commissioned by real estate brokerage Re/Max found one in three Canadian homebuyers are considering unique “workarounds” to buy a house. Those include renting out a portion of their primary residence or pooling finances with friends or family to come up with enough money to afford a home. One Re/Max executive said it's promising to see the ingenuity of Canadian buyers but the urgency of underlying affordability issues has to be addressed. 
 
Why you shouldn’t overlook credit union credit cards
 
Many people sign up for credit cards from big banks as their rewards are typically better than what you could get through from a credit union. But some credit union-sourced credit cards may have more generous incentives and other forms of value than their bigger bank counterparts, according to The Associated Press. These benefits include lower fees, lower interest rates, healthier rewards and more flexibility which may be worth taking a second look at.
 

TIP JAR
 
“When you look at loan-to-value ratios, it doesn’t take much to tip the balance to negative homeowner equity.” - David Rosenberg, president and chief economist at Rosenberg Research & Associates, to Bloomberg News on the risk of rising exotic, zero-down mortgages in the Canadian housing market