Good Food Still Is Not Cheap in Canada (Inflation for March 2016)
Buying good food is never cheap, but in 2016 prices of those became even more expensive.
Disabilities, Tax Time, The Queen and #MoneyStories
The CBC had an interesting story about a disabled person who had both legs removed, who had to re-file to keep their disability claim (effectively to prove their legs had not grown back). While this sounds horrible, it was most likely an admin error at the CRA, as normally they are pretty good on the disability claim side of things. The CBC however also trumpeted, Delay at CRA hurting disabled Canadians, advocates say, which is sensationalized, but has some ring of truth. The entire disability claim system is complicated and quite daunting for a lot of folks, if you want proof check out my article CRA Child Disability Benefit (How To) and the 160 comments on it from various folks asking for help. The article also talks about the private firms that folks engage to help the process that end up gouging their customers (in my opinion), which I outline in Disability Tax Credit: Please Do It Yourself. No one should be profiting on someone’s disability claim. I also agree with the assertion that the system needs to be made simpler for the average person to make a claim, or there needs to be more help for those folks. The CRA does have a Nurse on call that can help out with disability claims, if you tweet their account (so keep that in mind as well).
Sad to hear we have lost another great musician with the death of Prince this week. Remember folks, your hero age the same way you do. I never saw Prince live, but evidently it was something else.
Remember that your tax deadline is April 30th, and there is no extension planned by the CRA. You had your chance to have free Turbotax, although I have 5 licenses to give away, and only 3 comments on my giveaway post, who knows?
The Queen turns 90, and continues to work a withering (to me) schedule of events. I have problems getting to work in the morning, and this nonagenarian still works harder? I gotta step up my game, God Save the Queen!
My Writings for the Week Ending April 22nd
Another week where I wasn’t overly motivated to write. I assume this is a short lull, so I continue to find older writings from my archive of over 220 unfinished posts, with A Personal Spending Surplus ? If you have a spending surplus, you should pay off debt, and then once that is done, you should save it, stop lifestyle creep!
A Money Thought
Read More »Disabilities, Tax Time, The Queen and #MoneyStoriesTime is the only limited resource in your financial plan, keep that in mind!
A Personal Spending Surplus ?
Are you aiming to have a personal spending surplus, just like the Government? Too bad you can’t just print money the way they do.
Loose Money, Free Stuff, Hockey and #MoneyStories
For all of you worried about interest rates jumping, you have another month’s reprieve with the Canadian Dollar rebounding (along with Oil Prices) and a “strengthening” of the economy, The Bank of Canada kept the overnight rate the
same for a while longer. Their exact statement about why they kept the rates the same is:
Overall, the risks to the profile for inflation are roughly balanced. Meanwhile, financial vulnerabilities continue to edge higher, in part due to regional shifts in activity associated with the structural adjustment underway in Canada’s economy. The Bank’s Governing Council judges that the overall balance of risks remains within the zone for which the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate, and the target for the overnight rate remains at 1/2 per cent.
So the Canadian economy seems to be “in the zone” for now, however, that zone continues to be the in dire need of stimulation zone.
The hockey season in Ottawa was a complete disappointment, and it’s unfortunate that the team owner, who seems to be more skilled at finding organ donors than winning coaches, has fired all the coaches. Since there are no Canadian teams left, it’s time to move on and find another team to support. Personally, I’ll be watching the Jays and Formula 1, as they are both thrilling and entertaining.
Under the your mileage may vary category, I submitted my tax on-line on this past Saturday, and when I checked at MyCRA on Tuesday, the return had been processed and I am due to receive my refund on this coming Monday. That is a very quick system, given these are the dog days of the Tax Year (i.e. the CRA is most busy).
Sorry to see Tom Mulcair get the boot from the top seat at the NDP, but someone was going to have to eat that stunning election collapse. The only question now is, will the NDP return to being the Political Party of the Oppressed and Downtrodden, and the conscience of Canada or continue their move to the center? The Liberals are hoping for the first one (I bet).
I have a special treat for you, at the bottom of this post another great John Oliver video, but this time on something very on topic, Credit Ratings.
My Writings for Week Ending April 15th
When people make statements like I Just Don’t Like Saving I kind of scratch my head and wonder how they got to that point, but surprisingly I hear this more often than you think.
You would think a giveaway would cause a flourish of comments, however, not on my site! No comments have shown up yet? This explains my inability to get a date when I was younger as well (I suppose), but remember I have 1 comment now, and 5 on-line Turbotax licenses to give away (thanks to my friends at Intuit ).
I have Said This Before
Read More »Loose Money, Free Stuff, Hockey and #MoneyStoriesExperience is learning from your mistakes. Wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others
Tax Tips for Prize Winners
Are there tax tips for prize winners in Canada? Yes, even though as long as the contest was legit, you don’t pay tax on it.
