Bye and Thanks for all the Fish, CBC Questions, Holiday Hours and Friday #Shoutouts

Well it has been fun, but I guess it all had to end some time, it’s been a good run. Today is officially the End of the World according to the Mayan calendar, so I wish you all Bonne Chance, and as the dolphins said in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy “Good Bye and thanks for all the Fish“.

Now if the world doesn’t end today, Ottawa will allegedly be pounded with SNOWmagedon (i.e. another snow storm (which is surprising in Ottawa, given it is December and such (sarcasm alert)). I think I like snowstorms, because Winter in Ottawa with no snow, is cold, nasty and depressing. However, if the Mayans are right, at least we won’t have to shovel the snow.

Given this is the start of the holiday season, I will be taking some time off, however, I will be posting a few things over the holiday for your amusement, as well as a few best of posts as well (depending on whether the world still exists and I get bored enough with my family that I feel I must write something).

If we make it to next Tuesday:

Merry Christmas !

Snowmagedon Explained

I found a classic Percy Saltzman video to help you understand the coming storm:

Weekly Recap

For some reason I didn’t touch much on the impending demise of the earth, hopefully fate won’t make me look silly:

• Don’t Confuse Spending Less with Saving is me borrowing an idea from another blogger, but I have written about this important semantic difference before as well.
• No_Op Storefronts is me lamenting the complete castration of the storefront outlets for most of the major telecomm companies in Canada.
• A Script for Customer Retention Deals is how I have gotten deals from these same firms, but remember that Your Mileage May Vary (i.e. don’t call me and say it didn’t work, this worked for me).
• I Don’t Have Time To Learn All This! espouses the use of Podcasts and Blogs to help your financial literacy, however, remember that your Library is your best friend in this area.
• 11 More Sleeps, 7 Days Left, Hobbitses and Friday #Shoutouts a recap of the best from the week before.

Links for the Week

There have been a few funny pictures about the weather on Friday around the World being 12000 Degrees Farenheit and such, however none of my favorite writers lowered themselves to that kind of crass writing (like me):

Top Stories of the Week of December 21st 2012 Merry Christmas and a Happy 2013 Edition (or end of world)
Lotteries over the Long Run Michael James points out that no matter how you count it, Lotteries pay marginally better than Nortel Common Stock did (if you held it ’til bankruptcy). Do you still want to give a Lottery Ticket as a holiday present?	Your Money or Your Life No Mr. Money Mustache is not becoming a highwayman (though with his mustache, he might well be), he is tipping his hat to the book that may have coined the phrase, “financial independence” and surprisingly he hasn’t read it yet.	Which Wine Should You Get Drunk On This Holiday? [Infographic]Popular Science is fast becoming one of my favorite non-money and free sites on the web. What a great article, and so topical too!	Newspaper Paywalls – The Future or the Last News Stand? The Blunt Bean Counter wonders if the trend for Pay Wall Content limitations with major newspapers will save them or be the final nail in the Newspaper Coffin.
Personal Finance Basics: Spend Less Than You Make Alan Schram at the Canadian Personal Finance Blog, points out the obvious, but if so, why doesn’t everyone know this?	Your advert here send an e-mail for info to bigcajunman at canajun finances dot com !	2012 Blog Year In Review Mark @ MyOwnAdvisor goes over his blogging year in detail, he seems to be doing quite well. I note a name not on his list that brings him traffic, are you folks not looking at this site? You should!	Report: data caps just a “cash cow” for Internet providers ARS Technica points out a report which says that the charges on your internet overusage are simply a large company gouging you (yet again). These charges are like the phone company charging for “touch tone service”, pure and simple.
A Financial Check-up Gail Vaz-Oxlade rightly points out that you should have a Health Check-up every year, and you should do a Financial Check-up as well! How financially healthy are you?	How Much Are You Paying For US Dollars? The Canadian Couch Potato wonders how much are you getting gouged on your transactions in U.S. Dollars. My guess is, I am getting scalped.	WHY WE GET BAD ADVICEIs Riscario pointing out that you need to learn how to sift through advice to figure out whether it is good or bad. Advice can be either good or bad, but if you follow it who’s fault is it?	What is a “Professional Financial Advisor” (Podcast) Preet has another podcast you should be listening to about how some Financial Advisors are compensated, and some funky Techno-Bally theme music.