Two Girls Investing Podcast

.We open this episode tackling the current reality of Canadian grocery prices, breaking down a $375 Loblaws bill and sharing aggressive, practical strategies to cut your food budget, from leveraging the Flipp app at Superstore to the forgotten ROI of a pantry audit. We then transition into the core financial safety net: the emergency fund. We explain exactly how to calculate your target number based on personal risk factors like job stability, single versus dual income households, and renting versus owning. Finally, we expose the danger of cash hoarding, why overfunding your savings account actively loses you money to inflation, and explain why a High Interest Savings Account is the only place your emergency fund should live so you never have to sell off investments during a market dip.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview
00:19 Grocery Bill Shock
01:07 Free Gift Grocery Perk
02:38 Frozen Produce Savings
04:58 Pantry Inventory Strategy
08:10 Price Matching With Flipp
09:19 Stocking Food at Work
11:30 Emergency Fund Basics
13:38 How Much You Need
16:42 Household and Housing Factors
21:31 Insurance and Risk Buffers
20:24 Avoid Overfunding Cash
24:45 Keep Emergencies Out of Investments
27:03 High Interest Savings Account
29:12 Next Week and Wrap Up

n this episode, we tackle the unglamorous side of homeownership, from the sheer sticker shock of premium paint to the frustrating reality of DIY door handle replacements. Shifting from renovations to wealth building, we break down exactly what we’d do differently if we started investing today. We cover how to strategically hold high-interest savings inside a TFSA to shield your money from taxes, the core flexibility differences between a TFSA and an RRSP, and why keeping a clean ETF portfolio across both accounts is the ultimate play. Most importantly, we highlight why women historically outperform in the stock market: patience, zero panic selling, and ignoring the noise. Start small, let compounding do the heavy lifting, and join us in normalizing everyday money conversations.

00:00 – Friday Catch Up
00:41 – Paint Costs & Home Reno Sticker Shock
01:45 – Door Handle Drama & DIY Reality
03:19 – Renovation Reality Check
04:16 – Investing Do-Overs: What We'd Change Today
05:58 – TFSA vs. RRSP: The Core Strategy & Differences
08:33 – Portfolio Setup: Sticking to Low-Cost ETFs
10:55 – Normalizing Money Talks
11:48 – Why Women Invest Better: Avoiding the Panic Sell
15:00 – Start Small & Build the Habit
17:41 – Compounding Beats the Lottery Ticket Mentality
19:49 – Teaser: Emergency Funds
20:19 – Wrap Up & Follow

In this episode, we (Jess and Colleen) break down the most costly mistakes beginner investors make and how to build a clean, straightforward portfolio today without the noise. Before getting into portfolio pitfalls, we share a quick laugh over local community Facebook drama and break down why switching to the Wealthsimple 2% cash back card beats complicated big-bank points systems. Then, we get honest about where first-time investors lose real money: high MER bank mutual funds, falling for internet hype, accidental ETF duplication, and gambling on penny stocks. Learn why simplifying your holdings into diversified, low-cost ETFs and mastering the emotional side of money is the fastest path to long-term wealth.
00:00 – Intro: What we’d do differently if starting today
00:48 – Unhinged local Facebook community boards & comment wars
05:11 – Credit card switch: Wealthsimple 2% cash back vs. Scotia bank travel points
08:32 – Mistake #1: Bank mutual funds and the hidden drag of 2%+ MER fees
09:44 – Mistake #2: Chasing internet noise, hype, and unresearched tips
11:38 – Mistake #3: Accidental portfolio duplication and ETF overlap
14:15 – Mistake #4: Penny stock gambling and the trap of survivorship bias
17:44 – The hardest part of investing: Managing emotions vs. logic
18:28 – Key takeaways & teaser: How much do you actually need in an emergency fund?

After an unplanned couple-month summer break due to busy schedules, the hosts return, share plans to improve their recording setup, release weekly episodes, seek sponsors, and eventually create courses and educational content for Canadian women. They discuss recent “frivolous” spending they don’t regret. They then outline what they would do if they were starting investing from scratch at 25 in Canada earning $65–70K with $5K saved, $15K student debt, and no investments. Each host shares what they would do and they highlight what they would do the same and what the differences are. They tease a next episode on investing mistakes.
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In this TGIF (Two Girls Investing Friday) episode, Jess & Colleen catch up on Jess’s music studio recording process. They then explain private equity by contrasting private vs. public companies, using examples like Dragon’s Den and startup investors, and describe how everyday investors can access private equity indirectly by buying publicly traded private equity firms or ETFs that hold them, noting higher potential returns but higher risk and suggesting it as a small, advanced allocation. They answer a question about investing as a single mom by emphasizing a strong foundation including an emergency fund and paying off high-interest debt, and discuss budgeting and portfolio planning using percentages, plus using credit score tracking as a way to gamify debt payoff and motivation.
00:00 Welcome to TGIF
00:34 Studio Recording Recap
00:54 Click Track Check
03:28 Karaoke
04:58 Private Equity Basics
08:10 How You Can Invest
10:56 Returns and Risk Talk
14:47 Portfolio Percent Allocations
16:54 Single Income Listener Question
19:10 Budgeting in Percentages
21:36 Credit Score Motivation Game
23:33 Wrap Up and Next Week