Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, so then we shall see how well a ground hog can prognosticate the weather (about as well as I can prognosticate financial stuff is my guess). The Groundhog him (or her)self usually seems quite irked by the whole thing, however, if it keeps them well feed, what does it matter? I enjoy seeing Groundhog Day the movie on TV as well (another guilty pleasure about this fine festival). Remember, “People like blood sausage too, people are morons.“, that is a deep concept.
The Canadian Penny will start disappearing (for real) on Monday, as they stop being created (which is good because they cost more than a penny to make), so soon will be unable to use the expressions, “A penny for your thoughts”, or “I need to spend a Penny”, or my favorite, “Knock, Knock, Knock: Penny?” (well maybe the last one will stay around). I remember as a youngster putting pennies on the train tracks and seeing perfect examples of pressure and it’s effects on metals (make them real flat!). I also remember buying Bazooka bubble gum for 1 cent, but gone are those days. Good bye penny, I wouldn’t get too comfortable Mr. Nickle, you are next!!!
I think I’ll be passing on the new Twitter thing Vine, for now. Can’t really figure out what it’s for, or how it helps getting my message out, but I am willing to hear from anyone what it can be used for in terms of personal finance thoughts.
Weekly Recap
Last week’s polar temperatures have given way to rain, and fog, that is the great part about Ottawa is that all weather is possible (in one day):
My Writings for Week Ending February 1st
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Glimpse at the BCM for Free Style Sunday ThoughtsA quick look under the mask of one of your favorite financial bloggers. |
Inflation Below 1% to end 2013 in CanadaInflation continues to run fairly low, which means the B of C is less likely to raise rates (for now). |
RDSP and TD AggravationsMy continued battles with my bank and their investment wing to put money into an RDSP I have set up for my son. Never a dull moment here. |
The Problem with Some Folks Who Are in DebtIf you are in debt, do something about it other than bitching at your friends (or worse still around some financial blogger). |
Links for the Week
Given the rain we have had and then the re-freeze, we may all be skating to work in Ottawa today, but we won’t let our favorite writers skate by this week :
Top Stories of the Week of February 1st
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Hot Diggity DogThe BBC brings us a good breakdown of how much it costs to own a dog, although I must admit I haven’t seen Hot Diggity Dog in print for a few decades! Gee Willikers! |
All Debt is BadMichael James writes an interesting discussion about whether the whole “Good Debt” thing is just semantics. I think “Good Debt” is a fallacy perpetrated by banks, and will leave that comment on any blog that talks of Good Debt (be warned!) |
If Disability Insurance is Good Enough for RG III then it’s OK by MeMark @ My Own Advisor points out the importance for disability insurance, just make sure that you understand how the program works (or you could end up like some former Nortel employees). |
What Would Buffett Do?The Canadian Couch Potato reviews a book that has been sitting on my desk waiting to be read, and I guess after reading the review, I should read it? Wish I had more time to do such things. |
The 2012 Sleepy Portfolio Report CardThe Canadian Capitalist writes about one of his passive investing portfolios and how it did in the past year. I use a variant of this investing scheme for an RRSP of mine so 10% growth is glad to hear! |
Tax Considerations for Single Income HouseholdsEcho writes about the important issues being faced in terms of taxes for the single income household (more of a rarity in Canada these days). |
FYI: What is Deer Antler Spray and Why Would Football Users Want it?What is all the fuss about Deer Antler spray? I didn’t really understand it until our friends at Popular Science put this all together for us. If you are a sports lover, read this one! |
He Faces 150K Lawsuit for Speaking OutEllen Roseman points out the dangers of taking your disagreements to the public forum. There are many litigious organizations out there, careful what you say or they might sue you too! |
Can’t Save? Know Why?Gail Vaz-Oxlade asks the hard questions no one likes to answer about why the heck you can’t actually save any money. |
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Podcast Interview with Ellen RosemanPreet interviews Ellen Roseman about her new book Fight Back! I like Ellen she dislikes the things I dislike as well like Bank Fees and Cell phone service charges! |
Best of 2013
Some of the best of posts from 2013
- CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.
- No Verizon, Microsoft Phones, NFL Kick Off and Friday #ShoutOuts Verizon won’t enter the Canadian wireless market, meaning Mobilicity may disappear and consumers will pay ridiculous monthly charges. Learn why with this blog post!
- Mandela gone, Canada “Post”, Gail on the Shelf and #FreeFormFriday Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013, after a long illness.
- Christmas is Coming, Christmas Lay Offs, Electric Fees, Commie Pope and #FreeFormFriday Celebrate Christmas with more online shopping – BMO and many other companies announce layoffs during the Holiday season.
- Giveaways, Vacations, No Sun and Friday #ShoutOuts Win a software worth almost $100 and go on the vacation of your dreams! Enter my intelligence test and get the chance to take the trip of a lifetime. #vacation
- Stock Frauds, Senate Expenses, Twitter wrong and Friday #ShoutOuts Canadians beware of stock fraud? U.S. Justice department investigates alleged penny stock swindler. Senator Pam Wallen scrutinized for spending. Find out more about the scam!
- Black November, Bitcoins, Tablets, Unloseable Lottery and #FreeFormFriday So Black Friday is upon us, however, it seems to be losing a lot of it’s “thunder” thanks to the “sales” starting earlier.
- Mad Dog, English Men, I’m OK and #Shoutouts Maurice Mad Dog Vachon was a tough son of a gun, but did he have a financial impact too? Read on to find out.
- Toronto Circus, Prince Charles Retires, More Word Puzzles and Friday #ShoutOuts This whole Toronto thing really is just a reality TV show gone off the rails, isn’t it? The three-ring circus that is unfolding in the media
- Identifiable, the Iron Sheik, Remembrance Day, More Word Puzzles and Friday #ShoutOuts So my concerns that if I put my natural face on my Social Media accounts were just paranoia.
- Incestuous Bloggers, Word Puzzles, RDSP Menu, All Saints Day and Friday #ShoutOuts Sometimes blogs become a little closed in and don’t recognize new folks and we become incestuous bloggers.
- Senate Fun, Apocalypse Averted, Asteroids and Friday #ShoutOuts News Canadians can’t ignore: investigate the scandal and discover if the Harper Government’s demise is near!
- Kicking the Can, Throne Speech, Windows 8.1 and Friday #ShoutOuts Seems our friends down south had so much fun with almost upending the world economy, they’d like to try to do it again in January.
- Government #Defaults, Fake Reviews, Turkey Time, Fall Colours and Friday #ShoutOuts Given that for some odd reason shutting the government down wasn’t enough our friends down south are now attempting to disrupt or possibly completely f*ck the world economy by defaulting in a few days.
- Government Shutdowns, Hockey Returns, New iPhone and Friday #ShoutOuts Explore the debate surrounding the US government’s shutdown with insight into potential resolutions outside of the standard back pay for civil servants.
- Financial Bloggers, 35 Million Strong, Odd CRA Cheques and Friday #ShoutOuts I had a very good time at CPFC13 where I got to moderate a panel of Investing Smart folks, and I learned a great deal from a few outstanding presenters,
- A Better Friday and #CPFC13 Not a regular Friday after this week and my preparations for the coming weekend, I didn’t really get enough time to put together my regular Friday Random Thoughts, but here is a shortened version.
- Friday the 13th, Private Royal Mail, Canadian 1% and Friday #ShoutOuts Watch out for bad things on Fridays – it’s Friday the 13th! Don’t subscribe to the concept? Tuesday is the most evil day. September 11th was a Tuesday! Don’t forget about ladders and black cats either. UK privatizing the Royal Mail? A price tag of £3B pounds!
- King Louis, Braun Follies, Lice and Friday #ShoutOuts Greetings and Happy Birthday to Prince George Louis Alexander Windsor (and future King of Canada), welcome to the media “sh*te storm” that will be your life.
- Loose Money, Faster Sites, the Heat is On and Friday #ShoutOuts The new Bank of Canada Governor announced on Wednesday no change in the interest rates for now, with the overnight rate continuing at 1%.
- Floods, Explosions, See Thru Lu Lu’s and Friday #ShoutOuts Looks like the Engineer is now being “thrown under the train” as it were (i.e. the finger of blame is being pointed at him by his CEO).
- Egypt, July 4th, Sweltering Summer, Alfie and Friday #ShoutOuts Interesting how the Egyptian military throwing out an allegedly democratically elected President is being hailed as a great democratic change.
- Canada Day, 4th of July, Flooding and Some Random Thoughts A hard week in 2013 for my family with the passing of my Mother-in-law to Cancer. One day that disease will be done.
- Fathers, Corruption, Horton’s Hedgings and Friday #ShoutOuts Hopefully everyone enjoyed Father’s Day, I know I did, very nice day, lovely meal and some peace and quiet.
- Stanley Cup, Turbans, Car Tracking and Friday #ShoutOuts The Stanley Cup finals have started, and hopefully all the games aren’t going to go that late into the night, or I will need to start working the night shift at work.
- Baseball “Cheats”, D-Day, Fun with Fiji and Friday #ShoutOuts It seems baseball is embroiled with yet another “performance enhancing drugs” scandal with a few very well-known names being implicated by yet another “wellness clinic”. Are the accusations true?
- Obliterating Rock, Floods, Senators and Friday #ShoutOuts If you are reading this after 4:35 PM May 31, 2013 I guess we survived another close fly by of a “Civilization Killer” lump of Rock.
- Senators, Twisters, Water and Friday #ShoutOuts To say the entire Senators Expenses Event is more ridiculous than a Christmas Panto (usually an excuse for men to dress up as women
- Mothers, Hab Nots, Trains, and Friday #ShoutOuts What does a Walrus, Model Trains and Mother’s Day have to do with each other? Not that much but more financial stories too.
- Taxes Done, Drones, Playoffs and Friday #ShoutOuts Hope your taxes were in on Tuesday, because if not, you might be in trouble (especially if you are part of the $29 Billion dollars still owed to the government in Taxes).
- Disk Crashes, Daffodils, Password Trappers and Friday #ShoutOuts High Tech always proves that it is much like Mother Nature, in that, you should never ignore it or take it for granted, because things can change very quickly at the most inopportune times.
- Loose Money, Trudeau-mania II, Nut Bags and Friday #ShoutOuts If you missed it on Wednesday the Bank of Canada continued to keep their key overnight rate at 1%.
- Snowmaegedon, the Masters, Windows and Friday #ShoutOuts Today, we are experiencing a late version of winter, with a nasty snow/ice/rain storm that proves that just when you think it is Spring, you might be mistaken.
- Final Four, Dark Matter, Tax Time and Friday #ShoutOuts The NCAA Men’s basketball Final Four is this weekend, and my bracket is completely shot.
- Budgets, Dark Side of the Moon, Eight Years Later, Palm Sunday and Friday #ShoutOuts Minister Flaherty gave us a very vague budget (2013) yesterday. For Hockey Moms, reasons to rejoice, given tarifs on Hockey equipment, Golf Clubs, Baby Clothes and a few other things are now gone.
- Pope Picked, Pi Day, St. Patty’s Day and Phriday #ShoutOuts Seems our Catholic brethren have chosen a new Pope (Francis) this week, thus ending one of the greatest talent hunts of the year.
- Thanks Stompin Tom, Loose Money Continues, Tax Time, Pope Picking and Friday #Shoutouts Stompin’ Tom Connors a true Canadian treasure has left us, and I for one am sad to hear it.
- St David’s Day, Snow, RRSP Season Over, Tax Time and Friday #Shoutouts Happy Saint David’s Day to all my Welsh brethren today.
- RRSP Time, Winners, Tax Time, Short Weeks and Friday #Shoutouts Yes, it’s that magical time when your Savings Institution pressures you to top up your RRSP account so you can take full advantage of the savings on your taxes.
- Lent , Pope Out, the Senate, RRSP Time and Friday #Shoutouts Lent is finally upon us, have you started making your plans? No? Me neither, I just haven’t had a heck of a lot of time to think about this kind of stuff.
- Lent , Pancake Tuesday, and Love Day Soon and Friday #Shoutouts For those of you unaware, Lent begins next Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) February 13th, so here is yet another chance to restart (or start) your financial plans for the coming year.
- Groundhog Day, Farewell Penny, No Vine and Friday #Shoutouts Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, so then we shall see how well a ground hog can prognosticate the weather (about as well as I can prognosticate financial stuff is my guess).
- Loose Money Continues, Polar Temps, More Info Lost and Friday #Shoutouts Wednesday our friends from the Bank of Canada kept their loose money policies in place.
- Hockey, Armstrong, Idle Folk, Lost Loans and Friday #ShoutOuts What happened the week of January 18th in 2013? Some NHL stuff, but a lot of interesting financial stuff too!
- Drop the Puck, Death Pills, Strikes and Friday #Shoutouts For those die hard NHL fans (like me) there will be hockey soon.
- 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.
A few kids at school had pennies an quarters flatted on the tracks, however I had this huge fear that my penny would cause the train to derail so I never did make one for myself. Man, the weird things I thought as a kid!
Thanks for the mention.
Ah, the poor penny…. Just not the same saying “Nickel for your thoughts?”
Enjoy the big game,
Mark
Knock, knock, knock Penny ( repeated 3 times) is only surpased in humour by Sheldon’s statement “I am not crazy. My mother had me tested”.
Groundhog Day! Guess what’s for dinner!
Around Ottawa, frozen road kill!
I never pass up an opportunity to pick up a Penny. I never met a Penny I didn’t like.
Remember, see a Penny pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck. I’m not sure it means the same thing to you in that context, but you catch my drift.
Thanks for the mention. Maybe a good debt is one that someone owes you. On second thought, they’re no good either.
As you have learned with any debt where I owe you!