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Thrify, Frugal or Cheap?
2008-01-12 18:37:00
Is this thrifty? Frugal ? Cheap ? A while ago I wrote about how I had become my mother and yet I continue to do things like pictured above. What is this a picture of? When you have bought a new bottle of Fabric Softener but there is still a little left in your old bottle, what do you do? Throw the old bottle out and don’t even think about the small amount left because it is insignificant and unimportant? Keep attempting to use the old one and then throw it out? Do what this picture shows, decanting the remnants of the old bottle into the new bottle? Do you do this for Ketchup and other condiments? Have you ever seen there were only a few Cheerios left in the box so you just dumped them into the new box of Honey Nut Cheerios (thus creating an amalgamation)? Is this being cheap? Frugal? Crazy? Question for your Saturday.

Random Thoughts
2008-01-11 12:34:00
Some thoughts for a Friday. New housing prices continue to hold steady with a 6.1% year over year price increase according to Stats Canada (up to November 2007). Most expensive year over year jumps were in Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton and Winnipeg. How do you young folk afford these prices? Spent over 3/4 of an hour updating my Quicken accounts yesterday for my kids’ RESP accounts. TD Canada Trust’s Easyline Mutual fund on line interface really does need an ability to download transaction into Quicken or Microsoft Money. If anyone knows someone at TD Canada Trust, please put that on a wish list. It would be nice if you could do that for Canada Savings Bonds too! Unemployment numbers remained steady at 2.1% for December (year over year), however Employment slipped a little. Still amazing numbers to see given I remember unemployment numbers much higher when I started working. Monday things should look different here, well not here, but over at Blogspot, stay tuned, hopeful...
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How do we measure happiness as part of the economy?
2008-01-10 14:20:00
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy is asking that very question. How can the economic measures done include the relative happiness of the populous in the economic growth ? Interesting question but who cares? If there is economic growth the relative happiness of any single worker has very little to do with any of this, that is the nature of the free market system. I am not saying that employers and governments should not care about happiness of workers in their companies or their countries, what I am saying, is: They don’t. The only time the relative happiness of employees or workers ever comes into play is when there is a scarcity of those employees and then the Employers must then make sure their employees are happy (to retain them). Case in Point Over my thirty years working various jobs my best examples of what makes people happy is simply whether they get good pay raises,whether their direct boss or the people they work with are good to work with, and whether they enjoy ...
More About: Economy , Happiness , Part

Investing Thoughts
2008-01-09 14:00:00
Since I have started with the new site I have had a few new folks ask me questions about, where should I invest my money, let me be very clear, I have no bloody idea and I should be one of the last people you ask about investing. I have links to some very smart people’s web sites who I use as research for investing, but I can say that I am the Luis Pujols of investing. I will on occasion voice an opinion on investing (like at the end of this post), but please do not invest your hard earned money on the basis solely of what I say (you will be very disappointed). Online Government My beautiful wife pointed out over the Christmas Holidays that I can renew my car registration on line with the Ontario Government and they will mail me my renewal sticker in the mail. I tried this on line service from the Ontario Government and I am here to give it a thumbs up. Worked fine, no worries, the system worked ok, my only complaint is that since I have two cars it was two separate transactio...
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The High Price of Green
2008-01-08 14:25:00
Over the holidays I channeled my inner David Suzuki and decided I needed to deal with some of the bigger trash issues in my house. I am a pack rat when it comes to High Tech devices and keep thinking that I will find a good use for things, so I collect them, much to the chagrin of my wife and to the dropping storage capacity of my house. I had a computer monitor (CRT) from my Church that I had taken thinking I could find a good use for it, but I finally broke down and admitted that it was never going to really get used (it was only 15″ in size), so I took it to a local store that recycles equipment. As soon as I got there I knew this was not going to be as simple as I’d hoped, as the chap I spoke to said he couldn’t resell the monitor because it was just too small and nobody wanted a small CRT monitor these days (I agreed with him in that area). He said he would take it to recycle it (i.e. take it apart and ensure the 4 lbs. of lead in the monitor and the various o...
More About: Green , Price

Good Financial Habits
2008-01-07 14:22:00
Sometimes good habits start happening and you don’t notice that you are doing them. What do I mean? When I stopped biting my finger nails, I started over a Christmas vacation and when I got back to work, I noticed I hadn’t indulged my obsessive habit, so I just kept doing it. I haven’t bought any coffee at work this year so far. Yes, I have not been at work, but that doesn’t mean this good habit should be dismissed, changes are done, one day at a time. Interesting, I hadn’t even noticed until I started driving in to work (in the fog) this morning. Keep this in mind, have you started a good habit and you don’t even know it yet? Starting the Year Remember the year is starting, so starting planning the year. When are you going to have Christmas paid off? When that happens what are you going to start paying off after that debt is clear? Under Construction For those of you who haven’t noticed, there is a new version of this site being set up an...
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Sunday Thought: Charitable Donations
2008-01-06 13:11:00
I only have a few specific areas where I make donations year over year. I was surprised at how much my small givings impacts my final tax bill, and hopefully the money and time given will help the Charity as well. Which charities do you give to over the year should be part of your financial plan for the year, just so you remember to give and also you remember to write it off on your taxes. This doesn’t mean that if you decide to give more or to another charity you shouldn’t just that as part of your financial plan, you should take into account your Charitable Donations and works. Under Construction Just a note to my RSS readers that there might be a couple of bumps in the road as I am changing where this web site is being hosted and you lucky readers are the first to move, so please be patient with me in my new endeavor.
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Random Thoughts for the Beginning of 2008
2008-01-04 14:12:00
A quieter week to start the New Year of 2008 with not too much going on, however a few interesting notes: Fuel prices continue to soar in Eastern Ontario and Oil on the worldwide market continues to rise as well. Gold is actually at a new high as well for selling price, wonder if that means I should be melting down and selling off? Don’t think so. Just like in Trading Places the Orange crop was not affected by the Florida cold snap so those prices should stay down too (this is a great movie to watch and wonder just how realistic it is, and Eddie Murphy when he was funny adds to it as well). Anne Fisher from Fortune thinks this year is not going to be a good year for large pay raises. I have rarely got a “big raise” during a time when “everyone else is getting one too”, I typically get them when I am not even thinking about getting a raise. Remember if you get a raise, don’t just expand your spending to include this new money (a Commandment of Pe...
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Let The Spending Begin!
2008-01-03 14:17:00
For those of you without 17 year old in your house, January 9th is the deadline for them to apply to Universities using the OUAC system. I remember when I applied, it was a form with 8 carbon copies and if you were really keen you went to the Library and looked up the University’s programs, but now the whole thing is on line and my daughter has a chance to make a very informed decision, which is great. Some of the things I need to figure out in the next few months due to this application? RESP and whether I should start drawing funds from it as soon as my daughter starts school, or should I try to find enough cash to keep the RESP in tact for as long as possible. Why would I do that? The CESG grants stop coming after your child starts drawing from the funds (at least that is my understanding of the system, if I am incorrect, please someone correct me). If my child is accepted at a school away from home, where shall she live? Residence? Off campus housing? Which is the best ba...
More About: Spending

Belated Happy and Prosperous New Year
2008-01-02 19:24:00
Yes the new Year has begun, and naturally I procrastinated and am now a day behind, oh well. I didn’t actually procrastinate in terms of this site, I am working on my new project and forgot to post here, so my apologies. Start Your Year Out Right How can you do that on the Personal Finance side of things? Make sure your previous year is closed off and paid off. If you haven’t then it’s time to figure out how to deal with residual debts from 2007 (I don’t mean your mortgage, but I do mean Credit debt). Now is the time to make a financial plan. Remember without a plan how can you tell how you are doing? Simple Financial Plan for 2008 Here is a simple skeleton plan for you to work from: We will put our maximum amount in our RRSP for this year. We will put $3000 in each child’s RESP (or as much as we can). We will pay off all credit card debt and will put together a plan to pay off all residual debt (lines of credit etc.,) in three years. We will save $N f...
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2007 The Year That Was
2007-12-31 14:52:00
For me 2007 has been a great year, but not necessarily in the financial areas I wished for, but that is not all life is about. With an end of year recap in mind, I give you the: Best of Canadian Financial Rants 2007 I started off the year finding out that my Pension was about to be capped by my employer, so I asked the Question: How Much is Your Pension Worth? . In February I outlined the Tim Horton’s Savings Plan where if you drink a lot of Timmy’s coffee you might want to go and have a look. In March my son’s train set inspired me to write Zen, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Art of Financial Planning, and I’d like to point out his train set has grown since then too. In April my continued hatred of the Pay Day Loan industry erupted in the post Pay Day Loans No, No, No! and I continue to get inquiries about advertising on my site from these kinds of places. In May I ran through my yearly scenario of how much my wife is worth in terms of the government with M...
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Receipts and Friday Random Thoughts
2007-12-28 13:38:00
Keep your receipts Remember all that spending you did before Christmas? Hope you kept your receipts! Why you may ask? Let’s run down a few of the important points about keeping your receipts (and maybe scanning them into your computer for archiving?): You have a record of where you shopped, and this is important because what happens if another charge appears from that same store next month? If you don’t have your receipt, you might think, oh they are just billing slowly and pay it again. This happened to me more than once. So you know exactly how much you spent, and you can figure out a plan now of how to pay off the gross national debt of Zimbabwe off (that is my pet name for my Christmas debt hangover). You know where you didn’t shop as well. You end up with a strange charge from somewhere you know you didn’t shop, you can have that charge reversed. Remember this doesn’t mean you have to hoard all those little pieces of paper, just make sure you kee...
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Survey Results
2007-12-27 17:54:00
I figured I’d try out a survey from Blogspot to just see if anyone would actually “vote” and I was impressed to see the following results: If you found $213,498.42 on the ground what would you do with it? Pick it up, spend it, and then lament my loss 28% Yell, “Hey anybody drop their wad?” 13% Pick it up, and give it to the Salvation Army lady on the corner 10% Take $3.14, and feel guilty for doing that 1% None of the Above 48% What does this mean? Not sure, it was my first survey, but interesting that some folks enjoyed my humorous answer #2. Another survey may be coming soon. Changes Coming Watch this blog for changes that are coming very soon, I hope. For those who are on the RSS feed, you won’t notice anything (sorry).
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Let the Boxing Quarter Begin
2007-12-26 13:34:00
Boxing Day sales used to be a one day type thing in Canada, then they became a week long event, now they seem to start December 1st and end March 30th! This is not a sale folks, this is an excuse to get you in the darn store to buy crap you do not want or need. My Mother used to buy wrapping paper and that was about it. If you go to one of these sales, know what you are going to buy and don’t be swayed by the first shiny bobble you see. I looked at all of my favorite electronic stores (who have been having an On Line Boxing Day sale since 8:00 PM on the 24th of December) and see a couple of things I’d like, but not enough to attempt to get into the stores for 6:00 AM when they open to get one of the 10 that is guaranteed in each store, that is for sure! Why not enjoy another day of peace and quiet and maybe go out on Friday? Yes all the “best buys” will be gone, but at least you may not get run over by over zealous shoppers in the parking lots?
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A few last Yuletide Thoughts
2007-12-24 14:01:00
I may rant about Boxing day and such at the end of all of this, but I will attempt to make this my last posting about finances and Christmas. Christmas cards are not late if they have been mailed before Christmas day (that means even if I mail them on Christmas day they are not late). Late Christmas cards are the ones that show up in July, there is no LATE in Christmas, just delayed. If you are paying bills, remember to get them done TODAY because they won’t be “paid” until the 27th if you don’t (I got burned on that one once). I once did buy something useful at a Boxing Day sale, but it was mostly due to the fact that I needed something, AND it was on sale, AND I got there and there was still some left. Boxing Day sales seem a little too much for me. (it was a Stereo Amplifier). My Christmas this year is astounding even before it happens, because I have had an amazing year, and really don’t need any gifts (however, I won’t ask anyone to return ...
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Best of: Boxing Day Last Year
2007-12-23 12:41:00
This was originally posted on Boxing Day last year, after I had returned from the “sales” this year promises to bring the same lack of enthusiasm: So this is the first boxing day I have spent in Ottawa in 20 years. I grew up in Montreal, and Boxing Day there was simple, all stores opened at noon and away you go (some had sales, etc.,), but I kept hearing about HUGE SALES and GREAT BARGAINS and people lined up for blocks and over $1.4B spent today alone (the second biggest day of buying in the year), all I can say is, Really? I went out this morning to get some milk and bought some storage containers at 1/2 price ($1.49, great buy). We went to Staples, Wal-Mart, and Indigo along with a grocery store, and it felt like a Sunday. Wal-Mart looked a little whacky, I must admit, but the craziest thing I saw was the RETURNs line! Why would you go to a store to return something on Boxing Day, unless you had no life and wanted to spend a long time in line? A lot of stores don&rs...
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Friday Random Thoughts (before Christmas)
2007-12-21 14:18:00
As Christmas Looms on the event horizon a few final thoughts on finances and such: If you don’t have everything you want to get, and you think you won’t find it in time (say like a copy of Guitar Hero III) remember you can simply leave a card with a note or an IOU for the present and get it later (instead of driving all over town in a mad attempt to find said present). Keep your receipts, for your records, and in case anyone wishes to return one of your presents. Watch your credit card balances as well, now is the perfect time for someone to defraud you without you noticing. Ask your husband, “Did you charge something to ‘Big Bouncy Beauties’?”, if you don’t recognize that charge. Here are some interesting presents to give kids to teach them about money (Larry McDonald also is talking about this) : The game of LIFE, that one is an amazing tool, if you talk to your kids about all of the events that come up. Pay Day, again, that game is a li...
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The Business of Sore Muscles
2007-12-20 13:02:00
As a middle aged man (you lookin‘ at my gut? I’m workin‘ on it!), I have sore muscles most days, but after attempting to keep up with a bunch of 14 year old girls, I have real pain from some simple exercise (and I didn’t work very hard either). My house goes through Ibuprofen very quickly, due to many reasons but my lack of exercise is one of them. Do I buy Advil or Motrin? No, I tend to buy the “No Name Generic” versions of these kind of drugs because most of the time they are much cheaper than the “Name Brand” versions of these drugs. Cheaper is fine by me, since the active part of the medication is what I care about. Generics if they work are the right choice in this area. Canadians Using Less Energy Is it due to global warming? Don’t think that is the only reason. Canada’s demand for energy fell by 2.0% in 2006, thanks to declining consumption in the nation’s industrial, transportation, residential and commercial ...
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Two Cars Better Than a Van and a Compact?
2007-12-19 15:30:00
With the purchase of a smaller more reliable car, I now start to ponder whether it might be cheaper to have two small cars instead of having a small car and a Van. My wife and I have this discussion regularly and I am still curious to know whether cost wise it might be cheaper to drive two Corolla sized cars and rent when a van is needed? I guess the parameters you need to look at are: How much did the two cost together. I am assuming I would buy another used Corolla-like vehicle, so the two small cars win here (over Van + small car), except that my Van is actually paid for right now, so the numbers for me are a little different. Maintenance costs, and this is where I may end up driving my van into my mechanic and see if he’ll trade it in for one of his used cars. I have a lemon of a van, which if I hadn’t had a long term warranty would have been a MASSIVE drain on my finances. This is the biggest problem, my guess is if I had a more reliable van (say a Honda or a Toy...
More About: Cars , Compact

Inflation at 2.5% Core Inflation still in check?
2007-12-18 15:28:00
Up slightly from October’s year over year rate of 2.4% the Consumer Price Index is now at 2.5% for November (year over year), with Gasoline prices and Mortgages leading the major cost increase areas. The interesting quote from Stats Canada was: However, the Bank of Canada’s core index, used to monitor the inflation control target, rose only 1.6%, posting its slowest 12-month increase since April 2006. This means that the Bank of Canada is not likely to react to this inflation hike with an interest rate hike in January? We can only hope that is the case. Tomorrow back to the land of personal finance, but inflation is something I view that directly affects (effects?) my day to day life and like to comment on it every month. Consumer Price Index and major components (2002=100) Relative importance1 November 2007 October 2007 November 2006 October to November 2007 November 2006 to November 2007 Unadjusted % change All-items 100.002 111.9 11...
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Snowbound Personal Finances
2007-12-17 12:54:00
So far in Ottawa we have more snow on the ground by today (December 17th) than we have had most years for the entire year, and we have had days where I can’t get to (or don’t want to) go to work, which made me think about the economics of “working at home” (I put quotes around it because I have far too many distractions at home, so for me it is rare that I actually get a lot done). Economics of Telecommuting? I know a few “telecommuters” and when the whole idea started some 15 years ago or so, the tools available were very primitive and it usually meant a significant outlay of cash by someone to set up elaborate high speed access (at the time my company gave you an ISDN line, which was incredibly slow by today’s standards, but not back then). Today the technology to work at home is quite simple and setting up a home office is simply a matter of: Gettting high speed Internet access (ADSL, Cable, or even dial in) Your company needs to have ...
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Friday Random Thoughts (and a rant)
2007-12-14 14:26:00
After a snowy week in Ottawa, here are some random thoughts in the area of Personal Finance: New housing prices are up 6.1% year over year for October. This rate is slowing, but is still pretty darn crazy in some areas. Saskatoon is up 47.9% year over year for new housing prices Edmonton is up 24% year over year Amazing More statements about young Adults staying at home to build up a “nest egg” to buy a house. Stats Canada reinforces that statement, sure hope my kids aren’t reading this, remember moving out is a good thing! Get rid of those darn Kippers! The net financial debt of Provincial and Territorial governments is down again, which is a great thing to read, but then again, how about the municipal debts in those areas? In Ottawa evidently 0% is actually 4.9%, where our Mayor ran on a ticket of 0% property tax increases and now the City council has passed a budget with a 4.9% property tax increase. Luckily OC Transpo is also increasing their bus pass costs...
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Home Finance: Case Studies
2007-12-13 13:25:00
The topic isn’t really just Home Finance but it is a subtopic, so good enough, I guess. Spend $6 to Save $24 per week? While at the Tim Horton’s which is run inside of my company I noticed that they had their BIG MUG on sale (big porcelain mug) and I decided to buy one for myself. I got some free coffee with it, which was nice, however, I bought it to save money (it’s always odd to say that, but in this case it is true). My company has free coffee stations all over the company (however the Tim Horton’s run by our Cafeteria company still does roaring business), however, I did not have a mug at work to drink this free coffee with, so I decided to purchase the Big Mug, to take advantage of this free coffee. My figuring is I will save 3 cups of Tim’s coffee a day (about a $5 value) each day so about $25 a week with this mug. I can hear my regular readers pointing out that if I had just taken one of the THOUSANDS of mugs I have at home I could have saved tha...
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Quarterly Financial s: Addendum End of Year
2007-12-12 14:14:00
This morning it dawned on me that while Quarterly Personal Financial Reports are very important as a communication tool, the most important report you can create is a Year ly breakdown of your Personal Finances for your spouse and who(m)ever else you want to communicate this information to. Yearly Personal Finance Report You need to think what exactly needs to be in this report, because it is easy to “kitchen sink” the report and put way too much information in it, so that your spouse becomes confused and/or loses interest in the message you are sending. The advantage you have if you have done quarterly reports, you already know what is going on, but summing up the year may take a little more work on your part and some of the more interesting things you could show in this report would be: The progress you have made paying down your large debts like: Your Mortgage Automobile Loans Student Loans Credit Card debt How your retirement savings have grown over the year How ...
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Christmas Shopping Perils
2007-12-11 14:37:00
As my lovely wife is likely to point out I have not done any Christmas shopping as of yet, however, from experience I can put out a quick primer on some of the big mistakes that I have made over the year Christmas shopping (no not what to buy, although I have made plenty of mistakes with that too) but the Art of Christmas shopping is the topic. If you are attempting to pay for everything with Cash, that is a good idea, it puts a HARD limit on how much you can buy on a single trip. If however you need cash, don’t use the WHITE or unbranded cash machines to get your money, because of the incredible user fees on them. Just because you are under pressure, don’t forget the basic principles of not throwing your money away! I like to think I go Christmas BUYING not Christmas SHOPPING. Shopping has connotations of comparing and browsing and such, and there is no time for such fun and frivolity (unless I am buying something for my wife, in which case it isn’t BUYING it is ...

Property Taxes and such
2007-12-10 14:13:00
Didn’t really have too much to write about after a busy weekend of buzzing from gym to gym, however this morning I was watching a local “Morning Show” and on it was someone from a site that claims they can lower your property tax assessment Guaranteed (this of course caused me to wake up a lot more and listen). The site in question is called AssessYourAssessment (this is not a paid ad for this site). You go to the site type in your Ontario address (I believe this is an Ontario only service) and they will then check the municipal rolls (roles?) and more likely than not do a comparison with what your neighbours pay and then tell you that you are overpaying your property taxes (in my case they claim it is over $525 a year). That sounds like a lot of money I’d like to keep for myself. The other interesting point they make is that if you appeal you assessment now you can get money back from this year and you will save the money next year as well (hence the numbe...
More About: Taxes , Property

Friday Random Thoughts (and Employment Numbers)
2007-12-07 12:57:00
To end the week let’s wander around the financial world this week: If you were planning on giving a gift card for Christmas, careful where you buy them from. Evidently “Mall” gift cards (i.e. a gift card for all the participating stores in the Mall), are not covered yet under the new Consumer Protection Act in Canada. This means they can have expiration dates and all the other dirty tricks that used to haunt this “gift giving vehicle” so keep that in mind. The Canadian Capitalist posted a whole bunch of fun gift ideas on his blog, hope he has a good Christmas Saving Plan in place to pay for all of them. There are more foreign born folk in Canada than in the past 75 years (19.8%), being the child of immigrant parents, I am proud to say immigrants helped make Canada what it is today. Unemployment bounced a little for October with it going up for the first time in a while to 5.9%, the Manufacturing sector took a big hit with the stronger dollar and new j...
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Christmas Saving Ideas
2007-12-06 14:18:00
When is the right time to start saving for Christmas ? For next year, the time is NOW (for this year, I am sorry to say, you are on your own). Ways of Saving For the Holidays Here are just a few of the methods I have heard of seen or tried for putting some money away for the Christmas or Holiday season: Put everything on your credit cards and hope that in January or February you get paid a bonus that pays everything off (hopefully). Admit it, you have either done this or know someone who does this, and I am including this for the purposes of being complete in our discussions about how to save for the Holidays. If you do this, please stop doing it, it is dangerous financial Russian Roulette. At least put a plan together before doing this one. Put a small amount away every pay cheque, and then on December 1 take that money and buy all of your gifts and such with this. December 2nd figure out that you didn’t put enough money away to cover all of your costs, revert to the Credit...
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Caution: Rant Ahead (Investor Profiles)
2007-12-05 14:01:00
I was wondering what topic to write about today, because after yesterday’s drop in interest rate by the Central Bank I was a bit confused and not really sure what was going on in this wacky financial world we live in. Luckily TD/Canada Trust dropped a topic near and dear to my heart straight in my lap. Automated Investor Profiles I was doing my end of year RESP investments into one of my daughters’ accounts, and I decided to keep going with one of the mutual funds that seemed to be doing quite well in her portfolio. I did a little research, saw the return was suitable and the MER was low, so on line I go to purchase said Mutual Fund. I thought no more of it, as I had put in my purchase instructions and was given a transaction ID and I assumed that it was all going to just happen (I can hear you already, oh you poor naive boy). Unknown to me was that my “Investor Profile” for this specific account was going to come and bite me in the tuchus. (yes when I get a...
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Rates Drop by a 1/4 %
2007-12-04 14:31:00
A big Christmas Present from the Bank of Canada with Interest Rates dropping by a 1/4 %. This is a bit of a surprise to me, since I was assuming they would keep them the same, however, this means maybe a strong Canadian dollar was not what the government actually wanted? Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate target by 1/4 percentage point to 4 1/4 per cent OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 4 1/4 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered, and the Bank Rate is now 4 1/2 per cent. Since the October Monetary Policy Report (MPR), there have been a number of economic and financial developments that have a bearing on the prospects for output and inflation in Canada. Consistent with the outlook in the MPR, the global economic expansion has remained robust and commodity prices have continued to be strong. The Canadian economy has been growing broad...
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