Canadian Personal Finance Blog

So the following story on the CBC got me worried, and I guess I’ll need to check the CSB’s I have in my kids’ names to make sure they weren’t pilfered. You would have thought that Canada Savings Bonds would be a low risk investment (with a very low pay back), but when the government’s own system can be broken into who’s system is safe? Always watch those balance sheets you get telling you what you have (and make sure you check those credit card bills too, you never know).

Of course it isn’t the government’s fault is it:

The Bank of Canada outsourced all its data and support services to EDS Canada in 2001 and transferred 500 bank employees to the private company.

Amazing, so the security of a government asset is controlled by a private firm? I don’t know it just seems wrong to me (but maybe it’s just me).

Other places my oddly crafted words can be found this week:

• The Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by My Money Blog
• The Carnival of the Capitalists hosted by Business Opportunities
• The Festival of Frugality over at The Canadian Capitalist

Remember it’s important to read many opinions out there to figure out what works for you financially.

–C8j

Now our friend over at Free Money Finance has written a bunch of interesting essays on what kind of financial drain pets can be, and I agree with them whole heartedly. I have a dog and two cats and two years ago had a cat die of basically old age, but it cost me $1500 over 6 months for this to transpire. I remember my parents having cats “put to sleep” because they were old, and it not costing that much at all. Is that heartless, maybe yes, but putting yourself into financial peril for an animal does strike me as a bit excessive.

Why am I ranting about this today? While away this weekend our local vet called twice to “remind” us about shots or pills needed for our pets. I am sure this person is well meaning, but part of me keeps thinking this is like a drug pusher calling to ask why you hadn’t been by lately.

If you haven’t got pets but are thinking about getting them, read the articles on FMF and think about how much this is going to cost you, and where that money might go better (like a family vacation?).

My suspicion is that the “pet” industry is now a very large industry, and it is expanding rapidly. How big a company is Purina? Maybe it’s time to buy some stock in them?

I am mentioned in the Carnival of Debt Reduction #30, so go have a look. –C8j