Lent is Here, Bricked iPhones, Love Day and #MoneyStories

Lent has arrived early this year, and it’s time to take advantage of this opportunity to make positive changes in your life. I hope you had your fill of pancakes on Tuesday night because now it’s time to buckle down. Lent is not just a time for piety, it’s a time to grow and improve, regardless of your religious beliefs. So, let’s get to work and make this Lenten season count!

Have you tried to save some money by getting your iPhone repaired by a 3rd party (not wanting to deal with the “geniuses” at the “Genius Bar” at your local Apple Store)? If you have be prepared, because your phone may brick itself as Apple doesn’t want you to be doing that, they want you to only use their technicians. How can they do this? Error 53 will happen if you have had specific repairs done, and if that happens, you will end up at an Apple Store, hoping they can do a “Lazarus Job” (keeping with our Lenten theme) on your bricked phone.

Love Day is coming this weekend, time for folks to gorge themselves on Chocolate, buy expensive diamonds and of course roses, or not. For me it is a time to remember my parents’ wedding anniversary and to enjoy being with the love of my life. Much like financial planning, if you only show the person you love attention on 1 day, you are not doing it right.

Our new PM (aka Le Dauphin) is now shying away from his bold statements of balancing the federal budget by the time his first term is complete? No big surprise there, given the shape of the economy, the price of oil and such, but yet another bold promise by a candidate becoming like a kitchen cockroach and scurrying away when the stark lights are turned on?

My Writings for Week Ending February 12th

For some reason I had 4 actual posts this week, maybe this means I will be writing more? Maybe.

More Folks Looking for Work in January and there are some more interesting graphs in there about where the jobs seem to be currently, well worth checking that one out.

The Financial Celebration of Lent is here, but even if you are not religious, you could take advantage of this time to try to make some positive changes in your life.

Lotteries are not a Financial Service, and I am calling out Red Flag Deals for categorizing their Lottery Deal as such. C’mon man!

Finally I loaned out my pulpit for a guest post by the folks at ProLiteracyCA, have a read if your child is getting close to University age.

Our Lenten Journey Begins

Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter has had a lot more readers than me (rightly so), and he is now expanding his writing to include what he thinks are important topics for small businesses as well, and with this he starts What Small Business Owners Need to Know – Intercorporate Dividends are not Necessarily Tax-Free Anymore. Looks to be a very interesting set of articles for small biz folks (like me).

Marie from Boomer and Echo asks the hard question what is The Real Cost Of Personal Debt ? Debt is an insidious thing that really can suck the life out of a person or a relationship (if you are not careful). Bloomberg weekly talks about a much more worrisome problem in Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems: The Rise of Wealth Therapy. Yes, rich folks have a lot of deep seeded problems with being rich, it seems. I read this and wondered how I could cash in on this too, I could be a Wealth Therapist for a hefty fee. Blonde on a Budget hits the nail on the head with You Weren’t Born to Pay Off Debt and Die

For you folks that might have hoarded some American Dollars and are now reaping the benefits, you might want to read the Million Dollar Journey’s piece on Capital Gains Tax when Converting Currency. Capital Gains on currency arbitrage sounds logical once you see it, but it wasn’t something which I was aware.

If you are as big a lover of Dividends as Mark at My Own Advisor, you will want to read his article Top Canadian dividend stocks to buy now. I like buying Index Funds and ETFs, so I own Dividend paying ETFs instead (which hold most of these stocks). Speaking of Mutual Funds (sort of), Barry from Money We Have asks How Many Mutual Funds are too Much? Depends on the funds you buy, I suppose, or you could look at Boomer and Echo’s 2 ETF Portfolio, I suppose.

Michael James wants to help clarify some points for folks in his post Understanding Bank Profits. I enjoy Bank Profits, as a shareholder, yet I loath them as their customer, so my point of view on this topic is a bit bi-polar in nature.

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Mostly Money Video Podcast

Preet has decided to start off RRSP season with a helpful set of videos on RRSPs and what they are. This is just the intro, and yes, you should subscribe to his channel.

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2016 Random Thoughts

• January 7th, Market Meltdown, TFSA, WildCard Weekend and #MoneyStories
• January 14th, Cheap Oil, Cheap Dollar, Dead Folk, and #MoneyStories
• January 21st, Loose Money, High Household Debt, Weak Loons and #MoneyStories
• January 29th, Doomsday Clocks, Rogue RRSP Receipts, Cash Crops and #MoneyStories
• February 4th Bouncing Loonies, RRSP Season, Superb Owls and #MoneyStories

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