According to Statistics Canada, the country’s employment saw an increase of 35,000 jobs, predominantly part-time, causing concerns over worker benefits and job security. Over the past 12 months, employment rose by 0.7% with majority of the growth happening in the second half. In January, part-time employment spiked by 47,000 while full-time saw no significant changes. This trend of rising employment, driven mainly by part-time roles, has been prevalent for the last five years. The growth was largely attributed to women aged 55 and over, suggesting older employees are increasingly filling part-time job vacancies.
Being a fervent football enthusiast, the game on Sunday emphasized the criticality of making prompt and confident choices, as anyone who witnessed the match can attest. Despite some justifications, it’s hard to deny that it could be one of the worst play decisions ever made, even surpassing Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. However, the game was entertaining, but what gave me immense pleasure is the fact that the Giants remain the only team to have defeated the Brady/Belicheck Patriots in a Super Bowl. Regarding finances, it’s imperative to remember not to count our chickens before they hatch, as one erroneous decision can wipe out all our hard-earned money in no time.
Some fine CIS Rugby
Did you realize that the man who brought us Ketchup Potato Chips died this past week? Did you know he was Canadian? Herman Neff (a German immigrant) is that man, and I for one, thank him for that forbidden snack flavor.
Gas prices in Ottawa have jumped about 15% over the past week, and look like they will not be slowing down any time soon, which will make for very interesting stats on Inflation next month. Even with Oil going up in price, the Canadian Dollar has not started to rebound, which could make for some interesting “re-thinks” on the part of the Government in terms of tax breaks and such.
The RBS 6 Nations Cup starts today, with England playing Wales, and I’ll be watching (somehow). In 1972 the (then) 5 Nations Cup ended up tied each team went 2-2, so they all shared in the championship.
My Writings for Week Ending February 6th
Back to my regular 2 a week schedule, which is interesting because right now I have about 175 unfinished articles sitting in my “drafts” folder, I should have a contest to have a lucky writer finish one of those fine topics :
I think a financial fit bit might be a cool thing to have, or at least some kind of interface to monitor spending, that maybe shares with your spouse, you spending habits?
Car Insurance Savings Devices is me being a paranoid consumer, but there is an excellent (and civilized I might add) discussion with “Chris” who works in the industry about how this might all work. Well worth a read.
One of my favorite old stories is the Financial Shock Collar as a spending control device. My view is that any time I can add Star Trek (the original series) into an idea, it makes it much better.
The Big Cajun Man received a Fitbit as a Christmas gift, a device that tracks physical exercise and heart rate. This prompted the idea of a “Financial Fitbit” that could monitor spending and financial activities in a similar way. The Financial Fitbit would have features such as:
Real-time spending tracking for all types of expenditures, including cash, credit cards, and debit transactions.
The ability to set spending limits for the day to prevent overspending.
Direct data downloads into popular financial tracking systems like Quicken or Mint.
The possibility of integrating these features into smartphones or touch payment capabilities, making them more accessible.
The author also considers the idea of competitive groups using the Financial Fitbit, similar to Fitbit’s activity tracking groups, but humorously suggests that it might lead to a competition of “Who is the cheapest?” among friends.
The predicted snowmagedon for New York didn’t really appear, however, Boston took it on the nose as did the Maritime provinces, Ottawa continues to be storm free (for now). Ottawa’s weather has been cold but lacking in precipitation, but we still have February and March to get through yet.
Can I have this one?
This week we heard about SmartSaver which looks like a good program to make sure that the folks who the CLB (Canada Learning Bond) was designed for, receive the money they deserve. I also got mentioned by Rob Carrick so lots of new eyes have been wandering across the site, let us hope a few of you have stayed around to continue visiting.
The Canadian Dollar is now below 80 cents US, and how this changes the economy remains to be seen. Imports will start getting more expensive (again), but will this help Canadian Manufacturing? It also means that there won’t be an NHL team in Quebec City for a good long time (this will hurt the Canadian NHL teams in terms of having to pay their payroll in US Funds, but earning their income in Canadian Funds).
It is also time to start thinking about your taxes, joy! You better start making a list of all the forms you will need to be able to file your return, and try to get it in as soon as possible (unless you owe money, but even then, you can file early and then only pay on the last day (on-line at your bank)).
Evidently there is a celebration of Owls this weekend, and a quest to find the one that is the most Superb? It’s called the Super Bowl? Oh, well that makes more sense then, good luck to both teams, and I hope they both lose (being a Giants fan).
My Writings for Week Ending January 30th
Something must be in the air, I wrote 5 articles this week? Haven’t done that for a good long while :
I tried another chapter of Good Money Tweets, but only published it Sunday, I’ll see what I do this weekend
The very nice folks at TurboTax want you to use their product to do your taxes, and have give me a few copies to give away and thus I wrote Tax Time! TurboTax Giveaway
