Back to School, Food Inflation, and #MoneyTalk

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It has been a while since I have written one of these; plenty of things to write about. Back to School or End of Summer is what the end of August means in Canada. Back to school shopping is horrendous, the price of everything seems to have tripled! A reminder this is also RESP season, have you signed up for the free money yet?

Given Meta and Google choking off Canadian news, I wonder whether this might hinder my readership?

Back to School Numbers

Inflation (year over year March 2022)	3.3%
Bank of Canada Overnight Rate August 30th	5.01%
Unemployment Rate (as of March 2022)	5.5%
Real GDP By Expenditure (Q4 2021)(quarterly change)	0.3%
The population of Canada	40,000,000+
CIBC current prime rate	7.20%
BMO current prime rate	7.20%
Scotiabank prime lending rate	7.2%
TD prime lending rate	7.20%
Tangerine prime lending rate	7.20%

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What’s New?

I am at home recovering from rupturing my patellar tendon. If I was 40 I am sure I would be more gung ho about things, but given I am 60+, recovery will take a while. I spent 20 hours in Emergency in Montreal (yes, a whole day), and then 11 more hours in emergency in Ottawa. Why? The Quebec and Ontario medical systems do not talk to each other. I got surgery quickly and once I was diagnosed, things went well.

My brother passed away in May of 2022, yet his estate remains open. I await a certificate of closure of taxes from the CRA and Quebec. This system is broken. The twists and contortions and financial tom-foolery that goes on with Estates are insane. I have many articles to write about this, so stay tuned.

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The Latest from Me

I haven’t done one of these in about a year, so here is some of my writings.

• The last two things I wrote about were both about Food Inflation. While the Consumer Price Index looks lower, food prices are still astronomical: Grocery Inflation in Canada at 8.5% and Grocery Inflation in Canada at 9.1%
• More Free Credit Bureau Access also known as yet another data breach so my information is out there.
• RDSP Grant Entitlement Statement 2023 and this is the last year this will be based on our family income.
• Simple Cryptocurrency Explanation is an attempt to use AI to describe Cryptocurrency.
• Wills and Power of Attorney is a glimpse at the odyssey that is my brother’s estate.
• CPP and EI for 2023 is my traditional yearly CPP and EI maximums.
• N Things to Do Before you Retire is me stealing the title from MathNews from the U of Waterloo.
• Diabetes and DTC is an essential perspective on the CRA, the DTC and how things work there.

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Other folks’ writings

• Michael James writes about a Misleading Retirement Study, not surprising really. Trying to convince folks they have enough/not enough money for their retirement seems to. be a full-time job for. a lot of “Financial Influencers”.
• Doug Hoyes asks College & Student Loans, are they really worth it? An interesting perspective on a hot topic these days.
• Is now the time to sell? Preet interprets one alleged sign of the coming Polar Bear Market, and as usual, debunks things for us.

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Free Banking

Of course, there are plenty of folks that offer free banking

• EQ Bank
• Tangerine for another, but not that good.

Social Media

Social Media seems to be changing again. As you can see I am all over the place, look for BigCajunMan usually and you will find me. On “X” I have a blue checkmark☑ now, I paid for it.

The Business of University Fees

Yes it is #BackToSchool and for those older students time to pay your #Tuition, but do you have to pay for all that stuff? No, there are optional charges, that aren't always well marked.#University #Fees #Tuition https://t.co/1LPEPsapO5

— Big Cajun Man (aw) (@bigcajunman) August 29, 2023

The updated gambling act : "also restrict the use of celebrities, role models, social media influencers, entertainers, cartoon figures, and symbols that "would likely be expected to appeal to minors." Note to radio, tv and podcast hosts

— jonah (@yyzsportsmedia) August 29, 2023

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Random Thoughts from the Past

• Back to School, Food Inflation, and #MoneyTalk what did things look like a year later? Inflation was down, but not for food. Life went on.
• Inflation , TZ3, Interest Rates and #MoneyTalk were back in May of 2022. Note those very different numbers compared to now.
• April Ends, Tax Time, Pandemics and #MoneyTalk is the first best-of posting of the year. A bit of a hack job, but not a bad read
• Happy New Year 2022 and #MoneyTalk how the year began, little did we know what fun that was to come?
• Emancipation Day and #MoneyTalk was a good long while ago, but still some interesting info.
• Good Friday, COVID continues, XRP, Tax Time and #MoneyTalk Good Friday was still during the odd time of full COVID lockdown too. (April 2^nd)
• Happy New Year 2021 and #MoneyTalk wrapped up the year that was (2020) and talked of new and exciting days ahead (January 2^nd)
• Vaccines, Here Comes Christmas and #MoneyTalk (December 11^th)
• COVID19 Opening Up, Middle Aged Canada and #MoneyTalk (July 17^th)
• Happy Canada Day #MoneyTalk (July 1^st)
• Fathers Day , COVID, Unsubscribe & #MoneyTalk (June 19^th)
• Boxing Tuesday, Opening Up and #MoneyTalk (May 16^th)
• Opening up, May Day, COVID19 and #MoneyTalk (May 1^st)
• Unemployment Spikes, Easter and #MoneyTalk (April 11^th)
• Covid-19, Stay Home and #MoneyTalk (March 27th)