Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Yes folks, it’s that time of the year, where the lines at Tim Horton’s gets longer because all those Starbucks snobs try to WIN with their morning coffee in the infamous Roll Up The Rim to Win Contest. For some of us this is either our bonus program for the year, or our one chance at winning a lottery (since I don’t buy lottery tickets, but I buy enough coffee to compensate).As some of my more regular readers know this is a yearly thing for me to rant about this contest and it’s fine print (remember this one from last year), so my apologies for those in the states who wonder what exactly I am ranting about.

For the benefit of those who don’t want to go to the web page, here is your chances of winning by region:

Regions:

<!–[if !supportLists]–>1. <!–[endif]–>British Columbia

<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories & Yukon

<!–[if !supportLists]–>3. <!–[endif]–>Ontario

<!–[if !supportLists]–>4. <!–[endif]–>Quebec (excludes Bas St.-Laurent, Gaspésie & Iles-de-la-Madeleine) & Labrador

<!–[if !supportLists]–>5. <!–[endif]–>Atlantic Provinces (excludes Labrador) & Quebec region of Bas St.-Laurent, Gaspésie & Iles-de-la-Madeleine

<!–[if !supportLists]–>6. <!–[endif]–>USA (New York, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Kentucky, West Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania)

This is my retyping in from the web site, so check it out yourself on the links above, don’t go suing me because my information is incorrect. There is also a break down by cup size as well, which is well worth reading.

And from our friends at Stats Canada we have the following good news as well:

In December, the average weekly earnings of payroll employees (seasonally adjusted) increased 0.1% to $757.27 from November. This leaves the year-to-date growth in earnings at 3.0%. This rate of change is obtained by comparing the 12-month average for 2006 with that of 2005, and is subject to revision for next month’s release.

So you have a little more cash in your pocket to buy your coffee, unless of course you gave that up for Lent, then you are in trouble! Remember your Sundays off!

Hey, those ain’t my rules, that’s what our minister told us. If you actually count the days in Lent from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday, you get more than 40 days, so the story I get is that on Sunday you get a break from your Lenten vows. Now I usually forget this one, and if you are doing financial stuff, maybe it’s not a good day to go “off the wagon” as it were, but if you are giving up chocolate or coffee, enjoy a little today, but get back to your vows ASAP on Monday!

My alcohol free Lent has started, but it is not going to be easy that is for sure. Oh well, if it was easy, what’s the point in doing it.

If you are putting away your credit cards for Lent, drop me a line with your progress, I am very interested in hearing from you.

Cheers, –C8j

Personal Business and Finance in India is hosting the Carnival of Money and Finance and they mention my rants about Einstein Finance and the rule of 72 as well as my explanation of Dividend Reinvestment Plans.

An interesting post by Money $mart Life about pay day loans, where he is looking for stories about using pay day loan companies. He is offering $50.00 for the best story, so go on over and have a look.

My Top 3 Posts of the Week are:

1. Tim Horton’s Savings Plan where I lay out just how much that daily double double can cost.
2. Looks bad but that is good outlining the importance of having your injury look worse than it is, to get better service?
3. Inflation only at 1.2% right now, but how much longer will that last?

First, I was mentioned (yet again) in the Under 30 Financial Carnival hosted at EFIPO , they selected my quick outline on Dividend Reinvestment Programs. Go have a read, the author this week worked hard to make this more than just a list of articles.

How safe is your job? This week that hit home close to me and not too far away in Smiths Falls. Where I work is doing some downsizing and a few people I know have been affected (effected?) and Hershey’s has now made it official that they will be closing their plant in Smiths Falls very soon. This is always a touchy subject with me, and I remember a good question I once heard which is “How many pay cheques are you from living on the street?”. If you don’t know, maybe it’s time you figure that one out. Remember to hope for the best, and plan for the worst.

An interesting article about Canadians and who and how we go to the Doctor came out from Stats Canada this week. Most Canadians consulted a Doctor some time in 2004, which is good to hear. I think with all of it’s flaws and such, the Canadian Medical system is quite good. I think we could learn from the British system as well, but I think everyone should have access to Medical services, if they need them (which seems contrary to my normally small “c” conservative point of view, but I am a complicated kind of guy that way). Another subject close to my heart, for personal reasons.

Gas prices are soring here in Ottawa and in Southern Ontario thanks to a refinery fire at an ESSO refinery and the CN rail strike. The predictions have gas being over a $1.00 a liter very soon (if not today). Naturally I have to do a lot of driving this weekend, so I am just delighted with this news!

The Canadian Capitalist continues to scower the Blogosphere to find new and exciting financial blogs, and he has another list of new sites to have a look at.

I view with happiness and concern TD Financial’s latest results. I am a share holder so I am glad to see good results, but I also bank there and wonder how the heck they make so much money, then I remember how much I pay for “services” and realize where some of these profits come from.

All over the board today folks, but still an interesting Friday.