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. You could also create a quick 40(-ish) day long financial plan to try something out in the short term to see how you like it? In some derivations of Christianity you can even ADD things for Lent, so adding a financial plan for spending for the period would work well (or give up coffee, and put that money into your RRSP? If you do, remember to not comment on my site for a week or so until you have gone completely through caffeine withdrawal).
The nice part about Lent coming is Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Tuesday if you like) on February 12th , so remember to get yourself some pancakes, bacon, sausage and breakfast out for dinner on Tuesday night! You could also have Flapjacks, Johnny Cakes or possibly Crepes if you wish to be fancy. Any excuse to eat breakfast for dinner is OK by me.
Love Day is on February 14th, it is also the celebration of St. Valentine as well, but Love Day is much more financial relevant, given the amount of money that will be spent in the name of Love Day. I guess there is a need to keep the spending going after Christmas and before the Easter spending splurge, luckily the Boxing Quarter Sales are still going on.
Weekly Recap
With Love Day coming, have you got your sweety something nice, if not, good for you! Don’t be swayed by all this commercialism! Sleeping on the couch for a week is a small price to pay to show you are not a sheeple :
My Writings for Week Ending February 8th
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BCM Love That TechnologyAnother glimpse of what makes the BCM tick, and I do love the technology! |
A Guaranteed Lottery Pay OutA shameless lifting of a piece from the Million Dollar Neighborhood on OWN Canada featuring Preet B. |
Turbo Tax Giveaway Time AgainI am giving away copies of On Line TurboTax all you have to do is leave a comment, and so far not that many entrants either! |
RDSP TD and a little progressOne step forward and three steps to the side for my son’s TD RDSP. Guess I gotta call someone about this. |
Links for the Week
The big discussion in the USA is whether Wal-Mart should sell Bazookas and Tanks or simply sub-machine guns (I jest with my over armed friends down south), but remember folks, the most important thing right now is the ECONOMY :
Top Stories of the Week of February 8th
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Paying for Private School with Tax-Free Money“ Got an Extra Million?What the What? Free school tuition? Well as usual the BBC points out it is not as simple as you might think, but it is possible. |
Why Does CRA Limit Us to 20 Tax Returns Per Computer?That’s a very good question, I guess they don’t want folks starting your own Tax Preparation business out of your home? Curious to know if anyone really knows that one. |
Goodbye Canadian penny, goodbye great penny idiomsMark @ My Own Advisor sadly laments the demise of the Canadian Penny and how it will be a tragic loss for many great phrases that are part of our culture. |
Record equity inflows have contrarian worriedLarry Mac points out that when the money starts flowing into a particular areas of investing, maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting your money away from the madding crowd? |
A look at the Performance of the BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB)The Canadian Capitalist looks at another interesting ETF from BMO, for those that think that you can judge an ETF on 1 year performance, you should read this closely. | Your advert here send an e-mail for info to bigcajunman at canajun finances dot com ! |
When Will The Internet Become Faster Than FedEx?If you want to send many TB of info to someone it is still faster to send it via FedEx overnight than try to FTP it, but when will that change? I remember transferring 100 KB over a serial line and thinking that took forever, but I am very old as well. |
Scary When They’re Down, Scary When They’re UpThe Cdn Couch Spud points out that investors are now so shell-shocked they are afraid of bull markets as much as bear markets. Did you realize we are in a Bull Market right now? I didn’t… 🙂 |
Work Life BalanceGail Vaz-Oxlade points out that many women cannot find that elusive balance in life, and being a mother makes it 10 times harder! |
Banks charge for statements, despite record profitsPlucky Ellen Roseman tilts at one of my favorite wind mills service charges by banks for paper statements! I love having to pay $1.50 to get a piece of paper, or get it free in an e-mail that my SPAM filter might delete. | Your advert here send an e-mail for info to bigcajunman at canajun finances dot com ! |
Digital Assets: assets in life, problems in death?Who would inherit this Domain Name if I died tomorrow? Who the hell would want it? Evidently I need to make sure it is mentioned in my will, if someone wants it leave a comment and I might consider leaving it to you. |
Tweet of the Week
Given that Love Day is coming so soon, here is a fun tweet to follow-up on from our amigos at Stats Canada:
A Non-Financial Video to Think About
Here I give you an interesting video which talks about your brain, so food for thought:
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.
BCM, thx for the link. I figured this would be the perfect tax vehicle for you given I am sure you have $500k lying around given all the adv. revenue you have from your sight.
Funny guy, I am still at the “slave wages” level for this blog. Still sticking with the “This season don’t matter for the Blue Team” concept? They seem to be playing well 😀 . If I make $500K in revenue on this site one of two things has happened:
1) I sold the site and someone who knows what they are doing has made the money
2) The Canadian dollar reaches the Peso level, and thus $500K Canadian is comparable to 50 cents American (or Euro)