Dave Life Adventures

Howdy friends I read this morning that the Canadian government is again starting to consider tweaking mortgage rules. http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/news/item/1384-imf-warning-rattles-flippers This is being considered in order to protect the Canadian economy from the increasing debt toll the average individual Canadian is carrying. I have agreed with most of the measures that have been implemented to secure our housing market, and  continue to agree that something must be done t o address the potential financial crisis that would be inevitable if people fail to change their spending/saving habits, I also don't believe that mortgages are where our greatest vulnerability lies. I would like to suggest that it is not secured debt that has us veering towards a cliff of economic uncertainty but rather our unsecured financing options that will finish us if we are not careful.  Currently the requirement to gain a mortgage far exceeds any requirem...

Earlier this week, there were more announcements regarding plans for the new stadium that is to be built here in Regina.  http://metronews.ca/news/regina/376284/new-stadium-plans-revealed/ http://www.cjme.com/story/photos-reginas-stadium-concept-design-officially-released/75966 This news has not come with out a touch of controversy. Since the idea of a new stadium initially went public it has had with it its share of very passionate proponents and critics alike. Truth be told I am fairly neutral in this whole stadium debate. Don't get me wrong I love the Riders as much, often more than the next guy and as a season ticket holder I am super pumped about this new facility. I also believe that it will bring some much needed revitalization to the north central area. But I also don't disagree that we need to be doing more to help those who need it in our community and personally to be honest I really like Taylor Field I will miss it when its gone as it's a major source...

Hello hello! Hope this post finds you well. At the start or the year I posted that I had set certain goals for myself this year and as an act of accountability with just over 100 days left in 2012 I figured I would update how I am doing. And so here WERE my goals for 2012: Physical  - 160 lbs - ok so I realize I am not what most would consider fat but as I near closer and closer to the 180 mark I realize that I need to pay closer attention to my weight and health in general.   I am getting closer and closer to reaching this goal. As of this morning I was hitting the scales at 164 lbs. As I am nearing this goal I have added a personal goal of recovering my abs in the process. Cant wait to look down and see a flat stomach as opposed to my somewhat round prior shape. I owe a lot of credit for this accomplishment to Zija, a natural health supplement I got involved with a few months ago. Since starting it I have felt great and have a tonne more energy to burn! ...

Ok I'm going to do my best to completely update here otherwise we will be home and you won't have heard all the exciting stories and I will forget some of the amazing details. Friday was a long one. Up super early to get to a school where we spent time with kids, chatted shared our stories and ministered praying for kids and encouraging them in their walk. From there we went straight over to a primary school, (Piets childrens old school actually) where we met up with the Year for Christ team (a group of young adults who have come together to give a year after they graduate to just serve the Lord) who work in the school. Their team kicked things off with a skit and a lesson. Then we followed with Sarah leading the kids in a song and then performing for them ourselves. The morning wasn't over yet it was time for one of my favorite activities of every trip... SURFING! The locals think we are nuts but we hit the waves. There was some apprehension among many of the student...

My update continued Wednesday was back at schools hitting up 2 of them chatting in classrooms and to Christian clubs. We always get a fabulous response the kids we chat with are so great there is such an underlying hunger to know more and our feedback from the teachers is encouraging too as they are excited by the impact we are able to have as encouragers. Wednesday afternoon we again went for some small group time with the all boys/girls schools. Later that night we returned to Piet and Ilsa's home where we joined their life group (bible study). They have a good 30 or so young adults that attend life group so I felt right at home in a cramped living room. (made me mss my Monday night crew) the conversations were great and I really like how they link their life group teaching to what is being preached on Sundays. Thursday was a challenge, lol to say the least, as they needed me to drive :-p But I did it and all survived as we travelled the streets of Capetown and never once di...

Hello all! 5am tomorrow morning we are headed to South Africa! Boot camp has been remarkable. Everyone's life has been incredibly impacted by Christ working in their heart. Last night was incredible in attaining freedom by forgiving those who have hurt us and forgiving ourselves for not meeting our own expectations. These kids have such amazing hearts I wish the world was more like them it would for sure be a much better place. Please hold our travels in prayer. Your support has such an impact. Thank you for caring about these kids.

To anyone who doesn't know, I'm in Africa right now for the next two weeks leading a team of youth from Saskatchewan and Alberta to Capetown, South Africa. I love it here it always so amazing and inspiring! It's been an interesting trip for sure already. After 45 hours of travel from Eston, SK to Capetown, South Africa with very little sleep. We arrived 8am Sunday morning to a beautiful Capetown sunny day. (Lord please let most of the days we are here be like that one) We immediately went with our hosts Piet and Ilse to the church (Lifechurch) where he is a pastor. We were so warmly greeted it was indeed a blessing, the lead pastor spoke a passionate message of being more than a fan but a follower of Christ. After service we met our host parents for the week and shared a pot luck meal (I love that pot lucks are international) before going to our new residences for some much needed rest. That evening we returned to the church for a video message that was the kick off to t...

May 2, 2012 the moment I got frustrated enough with carrying a huge debt load that I made a critical decision.... ITS TIME TO SELL! My taxes came due ,you see, and while I had done so well to manage and plan ahead and not take on new debt, somehow I over looked/chose not to see the freight train of a bill I was about to receive. Faced with losing all the gains in my debt fight thus far it was time to do something drastic. It was time to sell my home. I tried not to. I really didn't want to. I liked my little pad and have spent the past 6 years that I owned it refinishing it completely to be exactly as I liked it and it was finally to a point that it felt finished. And so I avoided it, tried to refinance and get rid of my consumer debt and tax bill by sliding it into my mortgage. DIDNT WORK. Turns out there's a rule against using your house to pay your taxes. GRRRR! It was possible to work around it but I just didn't have any peace about it and so I listed my place. I ...

The Finite Reality of Life - this was riginally posted to a friends blog but when she closed hers down I figured I would share it here Life is limited. We only have 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week. No matter what you do you can’t add or subtract from that time. We all get the same amount. Each moment is valuable because of the simple fact that each breath we take is one closer to our last. My intent is not to be morbid but rather to inspire those around me to live each day to its fullest. Think for a moment how much of your life is spent in negative thoughts and situations. For me the largest stress in my life is my debt load. I have expended countless hours figuring out how to juggle everything I owe and get all my payments paid on time. That is until I got fed up with it all and made a conscious decision to change my life. Those of you have followed my blog you will know that I am devoted to getting out of debt and I write this I am nearing the end of that journey. ...

So it's been a while since I updated on my journey to financial freedom so I figured I would take a moment and catch you up to speed. I have made some fairly heavy decisions so here is an update on what my thoughts have been. In January, I made one of the biggest decisions I have had to face since beginning this journey. After a slow Decemeber, (typical in real estate) I faced the sincere reality of having no money and nothing coming in with bills due NOW! Not a wonderful place to be in. My choices: go backward into debt to survive or cash in my investments. One of the few places of diligence in my financial life over the past years was saving 10% and investing for the future so this was not an option I particularly relished. Add the fact that pretty much all of my investments were below what I paid was not increasing my attraction to this option. Capital losses only ever look good on a tax return.  But in the end I made the choice no going backward, I am committed to getting out...

So its been far too long since I have posted, and for that I apologize, I promised to bring you all along on my journey to financial freedom and I kind of went off on my own for a bit there. I will catch you up soon on that adventure (a lot has happened) but for this post I just want to share what God has been doing in my heart in this time. You see, I had been lacking in the motivation/inspiration department for the past month or so but through that desert time came an awesome revelation. I NEED Christ in my life! This is a common statement of Christians but unfortunately it can sometimes become just words. I would never have said that I didn't need Christ but actions speak a lot louder than words and my actions were screaming unbelief. Since early in the new year I must admit that I was being lax in my walk with God. Its not that I cognitively loved Jesus any less, I simply went through a period where I just didn't care, and out of that ambivalence I lost my dependence on C...

Ok so for a while now a friend of mine has been working as a distributor for a company called  Zija .  Zija sells health products derived from a tree called the  moringa  grown in countries such as India and Africa and is supposedly one the most useful trees in the world. Now I do realize that it seems that everyone is promoting some nutritional supplement and personally I fully admit that I am skeptical. What I must admit though is my distributor friend looks and apparently feels great, meanwhile over the past year or so I continually feel worse and worse.  Im tired, gaining weight, my excema(skin issue) seems to be worse and in general just been feeling blah and so I figure, what have I got to lose, I'll give it a shot. So I called up Candice and ordered a months worth of their SmartMix and decided hey why not blog about my experience while I am at it. So here goes: Day 1 - My Zija SmartMix came yesterday which really wasn't bad for turn around time, my...

I believe that too often Regina gets a bad rap. So often it is criticized for its appearance. BUt anyone who has looked out over the city from Douglas Park Hill. This is my favourite spot of the entire city. From the top of the hill you can basically look out over the entire city. For a time I got up everyday and went to the top of it and pray. Prayers for our city, for our people, for our University, for our arts, and our sciences, for our government and for our businesses because representations of each can seen from here.

The holiday season has come to a close and with all the "Christmas cheer" floating around I am sure a few of you woke up a morning or two a little under the weather. Unfortunately for you there's not a lot of advice from me in that area. What I am here to chat about is the inevitable evil January Credit Card hangover! Christmas spending pushes most of us beyond our means and then with a swipe we cripple our selves with credit card debt. I read an article earlier in the season which read that something like 1/2 of people surveyed hadn't fully paid off their last years Christmas purchases by this year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that adding new debt to this old debt is creating an incredibly dangerous cycle. SO STOP IT! BREAK FREE! This year do one simple thing to help release yourself from this stress and follow this simple steps: 1. Add up what you spent this year 2. Divide that number by 26 (assuming you get paid every 2 weeks) 3. Eve...