Watch out for bad things today, as it is Friday the 13th (and watch out for crazed machete-carrying killers wearing hockey masks as well). I don’t subscribe to the Friday the 13th concept. Every Tuesday is the evilest day of the week (all bad things happen on Tuesdays in my book). An example? September 11th, 2001, was a Tuesday, enough said. Don’t walk under any ladders and watch out for black cats too.
Wow, the UK will be privatizing the Royal Mail? That is pretty astounding to hear. The Royal Mail was a bastion of all communications things for the longest time in the UK, now they want to sell it off? It is an interesting idea, and at a price tag of £3B pounds, not exactly cheap.
Stats Canada published their 2011 National Household Survey: Income of Canadians which showed that the top 1% of Canadians in terms of income usually make 10 times what the average Canadian makes. If you make more than $80,400 (in 2010) you are in the top 10% in terms of income in Canada, but have a read of the document there is a lot of interesting info collected from the census and such.
My Weekly Recap
Wonder if I started wearing a large cross if I might get a better deal to work outside of Quebec:
My Writings for Week Ending September 13th
Voyager 1 Reaches InterStellar Space? Hope he packed his Long Johns.
| |||||
More Part-time Jobs in Canada in AugustStats Canada says there is reason to be optimistic, but not too optimistic about the job picture in Canada. |
Stupid CheapI like that phrase better than Penny-wise and pound foolish, and if I ever catch someone dumping a box of kittens or puppies I will kick their arses! |
TD and Free McAfeeIs free anti-virus software from your bank worth using? Commentators seem to think, NO! |
Guest Post: How Hard Could it be to Book a Hotel Room?Mrs. C8j has a try at guest posting about her odyssey attempting to book a hotel room for one of our child’s graduation. | No Verizon, Microsoft Phones, NFL Kick Off and Friday #ShoutOutsA recap of last week’s finest articles | |
Links for the Week
Russia and our U.S. friends exchange pleasantries via the New York Times, oh joy, what wonderful things will come from this :
Top Stories of the Week of September 13thPrince William leaves the Military (in one piece) | |||
Getting Some Money Back from Tyco StockMichael James laments the lost funds from his days of investing in specific stocks, but he did get a little money back (not much) |
58% of Canadians have a mortgage.. is that a big number?That’s a lot of Canadians that have mortgages (wonder how they counted), Canada Mortgage news wrote. | Why mortgage insurance doesn’t work for everyoneMark from My Own Advisor comments that if this is your first home don’t get caught up in the hype from your lender to get mortgage insurance from them (maybe just buy some cheap term insurance?). | |
Sleepy Mini Portfolio Q3-2013 UpdateThe Canadian Capitalist shows off a new page format and updates us as well on the Sleepy Mini Portfolio. I like the new look! | Insurance You Shouldn’t BuyGail Vaz-Oxlade extends on Mark’s writings about mortgage insurance with other insurances that you shouldn’t be buying. |
The Costco Rule of $10 And Other Bulk Buying TipsThe Money Beagle comes up with an interesting spending heuristic for Costco (and other ginormous warehouse stores). | |
The CRA’s Matching Program – Mismatch and You May be Assessed a 20% PenaltyThe Blunt Bean Counter is back in the swing of things and has put out a two part post about the CRA’s penalties if you don’t report income (that they know about). |
How (and How Not) to Buy a HouseMr. Money Mustache gives us a blow by blow on good practices when buying a new house (as he a Mrs. Money did). |
Students, are you paying for health and dental insurance twice?Preet makes an excellent point and one of my daughters does make sure she gets the refund for the included Dental & Medical insurance with her student fees. | |
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.
Thanks for the link. Could you share with us how did you improve your moderating skills?
I didn’t, I mostly apologize and never get asked back (the scorched earth moderation scheme).
Thanks for the mention BCM. See you next weekend in The Big Smoke.
Looking forward to seeing your moderating skills. I suspect more people at the conference might know who you are vs. Bobby Ryan on the streets on Ottawa. We really have no hockey fans in Ottawa #depressing
You mean my anonymity is lost? Might have to go deeper underground then 😉
If someone steps up to the plate with £3B for the Royal Mail, we should do a bait-and-switch and give them Canada Post instead. I’m not looking forward to paying my share of the hugely underfunded pension.
Maybe they’ll just raise the postal rates $25 a letter to mail things!!!!
All of my financial problems could be fixed if I could catch me one of those 1% fellas. Perhaps instead of paying down my debt or buying more of the Vanguard ETF I am currently loving I should invest in a push up bra and polo lessons.
Where do the Canadian 1% hang out?
In Polo clubs, I hear, looking for possible spouses with push-up bras?
They aren’t hanging out in bars, or on RichSingleDudes.com either, good luck with your hunt, I am sure you’d have a winning site if you could publish “The Secrets of finding that 1% spouse”.
I could write about where to find the 1%. It would be an unintentionally humorous blog about a middle aged woman who keeps getting charged with trespassing and keeps having restraining orders sworn against her as she tries, unsuccessfully, to sneak in to private golf courses and Bay Street board rooms.
I guess the easiest place to meet a large collection of wealthy Canadian men would be to hang around the Senate in Ottawa. Oh, wait – they get paid an awful lot but they don’t show up for work very often.
Scathing! (but true)
Hey BCM,
Thx for link, how did you arrange that easy moderator gig at the conference. You must know the right people. See u next week
I am a moderator because the folks in charge were afraid what might happen if someone asked me a direct question.