Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Yup, glad to see that Quebec politics continues to be the most entertaining Theatersport in Canada. I am impressed that mes freres et soeurs Quebecois have caused the rest of Canada to go, “Why did they do that?”, again. Never try to understand Quebec politics, unless you want to end up in a rubber room, in a jacket that allows easy access to your kidneys! Bravo mes amis!

On the personal finance side of things, here is a good case study for you. For many years I have been a member of Aeroplan, Air Canada’s points per mile frequent flyer system (I am not endorsing this product, per say, I simply am giving you information). I have been doing a lot of driving lately, and figured I was going to have to rent a car to get to my daughter’s provincial championships (so I could leave my wife our van, since she has to drive my other kids around). I was lamenting how much it was going to cost, when a smart friend asked, “Don’t you have points somewhere?”. I thought and didn’t really take in what I was told, and kind of blew this friend off.

I went home that night and checked on the Aeroplan web site, and sure enough, yes I can use my miles to rent a car for the weekend. Now at the end of it, it costs me about the price of a round trip ticket from Ottawa to Toronto to do it (in points), however, given Aeroplan’s new “use them or lose them policy” of aging points (they last 2 years now?), using these points is a good thing, and all I have to pay for now is the gasoline for the weekend (and I am renting a Yaris, so that shouldn’t be as much as if I’d used my van).

Using points systems is a good thing, but remember that it is only an asset when you USE the points. –C8j

Yes, the sounds of Gilles Vigneault ring in my ears, as my Quebecois brethren go the polls in one of the hardest to call elections in years. What effects will this have on Canada’s economy? Really can’t tell, but instability internally to any nation causes interesting ripples in the economy. Sometimes it is opportunity, like how Rene Levesque was voted Man of the Year, by the Toronto board of Trade one year, sometimes it is other things. We shall see, but as with any Quebecois politics, it is going to be hard to explain!

According to Stats Canada, Canadians are less lazy these days, but still not as productive as our American friends. What is more interesting is that our productivity has dropped since 2000, but the number of hours we Canadians work has gone up, way up! So we are working harder, but not smarter? Why aren’t we as good as our U.S. cousins? That’s rhetorical, I think this is a numbers game, and it reflects data, but means little about the “working hearts” of Canadians, I think we are a hard working group of folk (but we might value our free time a little less now, which is troubling). Remember work Smarter, not Harder!

Lent is slowly coming to a close (but remember it ends Sunrise Easter Sunday, in case you were wondering). Has it been the experience you wanted spiritually and/or financially? Why or why not? If not, maybe write the major reason why it didn’t work, but also make a list of things that did work during your Lenten devotions.

If you were trying to save as much money as possible, and did manage to cut out buying coffee at work, but then had to replace the muffler on your car, that’s ok! You controlled what you could control, sometimes things just come up, no point in beating yourself up.

Enjoy this Sunday, relax, and know that Easter is coming soon.

Yup, I just noticed, that since it is my son’s second birthday, my blog is also 2 years old (it actually happened last week on March 17th). I’m quite surprised this has lasted this long, I thought for sure I’d get bored and pull the plug on this (I almost did this past summer, due to work issues), but no I am still here and still kicking, as it were.

It has been a very interesting journey so far, and I hope I can finally learn from my own writings.

To the other bloggers who link to me, I thank you, to my sponsors, I thank you as well. To those who comment, I also thank you because a lot of times your input is what inspires me to keep going.

Oh and Happy Birthday son, I am still amazed that you are 2!