Summer arrived this week in the National Capital Region, with authority with sweltering hot temperatures, high humidity and the occasional power outage. I am contemplating whether getting a generator might not be a bad idea, but maybe not, but would be interested if anyone else has an opinion on the feasibility and usefulness of having a generator around the house (I live in the City, as background). I realize it is another security issue that may need addressing at home.
Remember I did Welcome You to the 2nd Half of the Year , so enjoy the second half of 2010.
My Writings from the Past Week
- Random Thoughts: HST, HST, HST!!!! HST Welcome Evil Tax Overlord The big news of the week is the coming of the HST and it’s ramifications on folks in Ontario and B.C.’s wallets and pocketbooks.
- Measure What Makes Life Worthwhile What does make life worthwhile? This is a very good question, as I am fairly sure everyone has their own perspective on this topic.
- Why I Loath the HST My guess is that the Harmonized Sales Tax is a necessary evil, but I still can loath it, and I have a specific area that upsets me to no end, and that is the HST.
- Welcome to the 2nd Half of the Year! Yes folks, the second half of the year is already almost a week old, astounding isn’t it? What have you done so far financially this year?
- The 3rd Lemma of Money There are many ideas about money, but BCM’s 3rd lemma of money outlines how money use tends to expand with the amount you earn.
- Simple Security and Your Money Do you wander around announcing your PIN number for your accounts loudly on City Streets? If you are doing online banking, do you yell your Account ID’s in crowded rooms?
From the Blogosphere
- If you have ever wondered How to Leverage Your Philanthropic Gifts Promod over at Riscario has some hints for you. I can barely spell philanthropy, so I am not as worried.
- We all get relief in our lives in many diverse ways, but Birthday Boy Michael James gets Relief by Indexing, which is much better than using Preparation H or Ex-Lax (I suppose that depends on what you are attempting to get relief from).
- Ellen Roseman (who’s book Money 101 is now available for Free from the Apple Canada iBooks Application) has more Advice my readers want to share, part two. You would have learned about the free iBook, if you’d followed me on twitter.
- Preet points out that no matter how you slice it the Dogs of the Dow – Underperforming Last 15 Years, an interesting idea, but it sounds like all systems they may not work in the long run.
- Gail V-O points out there is usually a large Gap Between Knowing & Doing , which is the same as my statement, do as I say, not as I do! Do, however read my 3rd Lemma of money, if you haven’t.
- The Canadian Capitalist gets into the summer vibe by putting out a Summer 2010 Reading List, for those lazy days in the hamoc. No it doesn’t include Under the Dome or Sh-T My Dad Says, but still a good list.
- The Balance Junkie gives us 10 Ways to Protect Yourself from a Double Dip, and no he is neither speaking of ice cream cones, nor roller coasters (although there are many interesting pictures of coasters).
- One of my favorite expressions for dealing with my kids is, You can’t push a rope and Million Dollar Journey takes up this discussion with a guest post Learning the Hard Way and Being Ready to Learn. The 3rd time you run into the glass door, will you figure out you should open it?
- Money.Smart Blog points out 10 Resources to Check BEFORE You Rent In An Apartment Building, very good stuff, luckily I no longer rent (for now).
- For those wondering what their kids might want this summer, MoneyNing helps out with Five Things Your Kids Don’t Need, my only query is, only 5?
- I believe that Larry MacDonald is mocking me in some fashion with his post Get Your HST Discounts, since I did rant about Why I Loath the HST.
Employment Numbers on Monday
Stats Canada will be publishing the employment numbers today, but my Analysis of them will wait until Monday, for those looking for that.
Weekly Reminder
Remember that if you enjoy these weekly review of useful links in Personal Finance and Investing to subscribe to my Twitter feed where I retweet many great articles by some of my featured writers (and make the occasional odd or off colour commentary on life (in 140 characters or less)).
The unseen time bomb in all of this is that as peoplefight to downsize debts the knock on effect of all of this then emerges as cashflow tightens up with less available cash being spent and more saved…and so on. The end result if Central Bankers don’t get it right is the complete break down of the financial system.
3 out of 5 statistics are inaccurate. Thanks for the mention, now turn down the heat already!
Maybe 1 in 3 people feel their finances are worse than a year ago, but about the same proportion of people believe in astrology. I’m not a big fan of polls.
I hear 2 in 5 people don’t believe in polls too!