And the Winners are and Random Thoughts

For those wondering, yes I did give out those TurboTax on-line licenses to some deserving folks. I was impressed with over 25 folks wanting the 5 licenses I had (but then the odds were pretty good, less than 1 chance in 5).

Here at the comments of the winners, all very good and I added one from the loser pile, which I enjoyed as well:

• I want online Turbotax for free because I deserve free presents for Valentine’s Day.
• I want online Turbotax for free because my wife is expecting Twins in April and every penny counts!
• Nothing is free in life but I will gladly take a copy of turbo tax.
  I will advertise at our local seniors center to do a minimum of 5 tax returns with my almost free copy of Turbo Tax.
• I want TurboTax for free because we have moved provinces and I don’t have a lot of time to figure out the different system of tax reporting here with a baby and toddler running circles around me all day! I would really appreciate the help from TurboTax!
• I want Turbo Tax for free because I’ve been wasting money using HR Block for years and I’m sick of it.

The notable loser’s reason was quite good too: I don’t want TurboTax. I use Studiotax for free already. It’s easy to use, and fits my budget. I used to use Intuit products, but they kept raising prices. Zing!

Weekly Recap

Not just a week of love day, and giveaways, but a great deal of ranting about the cost of safety deposit boxes:

• As a recap of my tweets for the week we had Pourriels and Sunday’s Best which outlined my archival research for the week
• With TD Safety Deposit Box: Prepare for a Service Hike, which started my complaining about TD grabbing for more money for this important financial service.
• To show my lover for Love Day I wrote St. Valentine’s Day Financial Massacre, how is your financial planning going?
• If you are saving money, you aren’t earning that money, you are just not spending it was my point with Carrying Minimum Balance for Free Banking.
• Big Giveaways, SPAM and Random Thoughts was last week’s recap of things.
• When is a Holiday not a Holiday is an interesting question here in Ottawa.

And thanks to those who added me on Twitter I am now over 1000 folks who follow me, holy cow! Check out my facebook page as well (but no I won’t be buying Facebook stock because of this either).

Links for the Week

This week there have been a lot more giveaways this week, and with our Greek friends causing more financial grief, there was a lot to write about:

• Mike from Money.Smarts gives us an interesting response to the question Who Controls Withdrawals from an RESP, and no it is not discussing how hard it is to extricate your money from your bank (surprisingly).
• The Blunt Bean Counter gives parents something to think about with Sibling Rivalry – Parents Beware it is NOT just a childhood issue, having older children, I have noticed that too, who knew people cared about who I favoured? .
• Red Vines and Red Wine go completely off the rails with an interesting Love Day Post: Be My Valentine ; Oh hell let’s just have sex, a sentiment shared by most men, but surprisingly, not that many women!
• Tom at Canadian Finance Blog explains to us How to be Financially Responsible in 2012, hopefully it is not specific to this year, since it is good to be that way all the time.
• Mr. Money Mustache  goes into an interesting area helping us Understand the Marginal Utility of Booze and Drugs, I think I get it, but maybe I need to study it closer..
• Larry MacDonald seems to be pretty busy doing other stuff this week, but we’ll check in with him next week again.
• Michael James revisits an older post of his with Second Look: Long-term Investing in Bonds, I look back on some of my older posts and stand by most of my statements, and ignore my mistakes (like all financial folks do). He is also giving away copies of UFile as well.
• Canadian Capitalist is also busy on other projects, but did post a This and That, which did include me (which is always appreciated too).
• Notre copain at My Own Advisor wonders What Would You do with $1000, and if you answer buy $1000 in lottery tickets, please step to the back of the line!
• Boomer of Boomer and Echo quotes Wimpey from Popeye in the post Quick Cash Solutions: A dangerous game, and as usual I agree whole heartedly with the sentiments as well (not just the Wimpey quote).
• Miranda at Planting Money Seeds, .
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade gives us some Helpful Tips to Stay on Track, with your financial goals at least, if you have other goals, the advice is pretty transferable too.
• Preet is giving away 10 copies of TurboTax, so if you didn’t win here, GO THERE!! NOW!!

Other Bookkeeping

A Financial Thought on Valentine’s Day

Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position

• Christopher Marlowe