The Pope, Autumn, Elections, Volkswagen and #MoneyStories

I have never been a big fan of the Catholic Church and specifically the power of the Pope, but I must admit that this new Pope is making me rethink my low view of the Papacy. The riches at the center of Vatican City has always been a stumbling block for me, but when I read the Pope’s statement about migrants and Churches that refuse to help refugees, I was pleasantly surprised, Pope tells religious orders they should lose their tax breaks if they refuse to take in migrants and are more interested in making money than helping the needy , wow. I keep wondering just how long this Pope will last if he keeps making more sense than the Republican Party candidates in the U.S. ? Pope Francis is even talking about Global Warming too. He truly seems to be a Pope for the 21st Century, and I hope he keeps going.

The Autumnal equinox has come and gone and Autumn is here, for those that didn’t notice (or Spring is here if you are in the Southern Hemisphere). Autumn is nice, but the biggest problem I have with it, is that it is just before Winter.

This week’s Election highlighted the need for a basic knowledge test for all candidates and possibly a background check. One NDP Candidate made a very bad Auschwitz reference and claimed to have never heard of Auschwitz ? Was she out of the classroom when that topic was brought up, or is it not part of the new curriculum in Ontario? A PC Candidate had an old YouTube video bite him on the tuchus when he made a statement about abortions and 9/11 , you can find the quote but it is just “too beaucoup” for me. I weep for this generation of candidates, the only things sadder are the folks that will vote for them.

Volkswagen is in the news for finding a way to pass every diesel emission test with flying colors, by having their on-board computer figure out that it is being tested, and do what is needed to pass the test? Some might say that this was just good planning on their part, but I would never say that. People drive diesel cars was the more astounding part of this story (for me).

Glad to see the Rugby World Cup has some drama, when Japan defeated South Africa, and the South African Springboks had to apologize to the entire nation for the loss.

My Writings for Week Ending September 25th

Now that Autumn is here, we can enjoy those long nights by catching up on my writings?

• The week started with more fun on the Twitter machine with Speaking of Money on Twitter.
• Inflation and Silly Gasoline Tricks Continues in August points out that the election has little to do with consumer issues and more about “nice hair” and “Stop Harper”, how else can you explain food prices running at double the published inflation rate and no one talking about it?
• Does watching an ecosystem, cause the ecosystem to change? In The Financial Hawthorne Effect, I argue this is the case when you decide to “fix your money problems”.

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Money Stories and the Autumnal Equinox

The Blunt Bean Counter gives us an important tip with Recent Changes in Legislation Make Reviewing Your Will A Must, and he also points out that parents or folks with disabled loved ones, really do need to consult a lawyer (and maybe an accountant) for their wills. Barry from Money We Have brings us an important and helpful hint with Building a Good Credit Score, and he shows the ranges that your credit score can span. Funny there is no rating of “Never Loan Money to Ever, Ever, EVER!“, not that I ever had that rating.

Here is something to think about, my daughter (who just graduated from Young Drivers of Canada) sent me a text message asking, “How do I put gas in a car?”. I guess they didn’t teach everything in those classes, and luckily she did text, because she was going to fill up a diesel car ( I pointed out you most likely want the pump with the square headed nozzle). Speaking of cars Jim Yih gives some solid advice with Don’t Finance Your Car Loan for 8 Years, which is very sound advice, too many folks keep rolling old car loan debt into new car loan debt, creating a very distasteful debt roll.

Yom Kippur is a time for atonement, so I apologize for all the snarky remarks I have made about Pay Day Loan places, that should hold me for another year. I typically confess at Church too, but you can never apologize enough. Speaking of atonement, Marie from Boomer and Echo brings us The Real Cost of Getting Married, and I can attest to some of the expenses she talks about. More on the angle of atonement, Million Dollar Journey brings us Net Worth Update September 2015 – SmilingSaver (Digging out of Debt), that is real atonement, publishing your finances on line.

Mark from My Own Advisor wants us to Make these personal financial issues election issues in 2015, and he makes some interesting points, however, we have a contrarian view from Michael James in his own article Personal Finance Election Issues, where he disagrees with Mark. Hopefully this is not start of a Bloggers Financial Showdownâ„¢.

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2015 Random Thoughts

• January 2nd Random Thoughts on 2014, Welcome to MMXV and #BestOf
• January 9th Frigid Temps, Plunging Oil, Paris and #BestThisWeek
• January 16th Canadian Economy on the Edge, Frigid Temps and #BestThisWeek
• January 23rd Looser Money, Plummeting Loons and #BestThisWeek
• January 30th CLBs, Weak Loons, Tax Time, Superb Owls and #BestThisWeek
• February 6th Superb Decisions, Gas Going Up, Rugby and #BestThisWeek
• February 13th RRSPs, Valentines, 50 Shades of Debt and #BestOfThisWeek
• February 20th Lent Begins, Freezing Temps, Apples and RRSP and #BestOfThisWeek
• February 27th RRSPs, Saint David, Right Arm and #BestOfThisWeek
• March 6th Illness, K-Cups, Interest Rates and #BestOfThisWeek
• March 13th March Madness, Taxes, Friday the 13th and #BestOfThisWeek
• March 20th Spring has Sprung, Ten Years, The Madness and #BestOfThisWeek
• March 27th Death of EPost, More Madness, and #BestMoneyStories
• April 10th Senators, Retiring Rich and #BestMoneyStories
• April 17th Playoffs, Tax Time, Beer tax and #BestMoneyStories
• April 24th RRIF Allowances, Bursary Changes, Budgets and #BestMoneyStories
• May 1st Tax Extensions, Golf Season, Bank Fees, May Day and #BestMoneyStories
• May 8th Alberta Valium, Mother’s Day, Che Guevara, Pay Day Loans and #BestMoneyStories
• May 15th Starbucks, Monty Burns and #BestMoneyStories
• May 22nd Coach Money, CPP Up 18 pct, Losing $15B and #BestMoneyStories
• May 29th Easy Money, Better Cell Deals, Dirty Football and #BestMoneyStories
• June 5th Starbucks, Hacked Government Folk and #BestMoneyStories
• June 12th Voldemort for PM, HSBC Cuts 50K, Hockey Talk and #BestMoneyStories
• June 19th Aeroplan Student Loans, Dad’s Day, Kill CSBs and #BestMoneyStories
• June 26th Summer is Here, Canada Day, Christmas and #BestMoneyStories
• July 3rd 2 Day Work Weeks, 4th of July, Greece, and #BestMoneyStories
• July 10th Glitches, Greece, Recessions and #BestMoneyStories
• July 17th Loosest Money, Weddings, Greece and #BestMoneyStories
• July 24th, Family Allowance, Diving Dollar, Access Sharing and #BestMoneyStories
• July 31st, Elections, Heat, Cheap Oil, and #BestMoneyStories
• August 7th, Cheap Gold, Cheap Oil, Weak Dollar, Election Week 1 and #BestMoneyStories
• August 14th, RDSPs, Thrifty NFLers , Election Ho Hum and #BestMoneyStories
• August 21st, Rhinos Return, No Good Debt, Election Banter and #BestMoneyStories
• August 28th, Boom Goes the Markets, Market Cheese, and #BestMoneyStories
• September 4th, Back to School, RESPs, Banks Behaving Badly and #MoneyStories
• September 11th, That Day, I Miss Jack, Easy Money and #MoneyStories
• September 18th, Surplus, What Surplus, NBA Frugality, National Debt and #MoneyStories

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