Happy Pseudo Boxing Day

Did you have a good Christmas? Are you out there fighting your way through sales crowds trying to return the Deluxe Left-Handed Cheese straightener that you got for Christmas? I might well be doing that myself, and if I do that, then I can’t be writing excellent copy for this blog, now can I? All of this is to say, here are a few of my all-time favourite posts from my blog (in fact, if you checked the Faves Tab at the top of this page, you might find a lot of these posts).

Enjoy this retrospective across the five years of blogging I have been doing, and tomorrow I’ll start looking at what I have written this year in particular. Have a look at a few of these, and enjoy!

Personal Financial and Planning

1. Free Banking
   One of my favorite topics on how to get your bank to give you FREE banking for a while at least.
2. Quarterly Personal Finance Status Report
   A way for couples to keep each other up to date on their financial status.
3. Debt is Like Fat
   Another way to look at trying to get out of debt.
4. Debt Makes Me Sick
   A frank article on my feelings about debt.
5. I Should Divorce My Wife?
   An interesting point of view from the tax side of things.

Children

As most of you know, I have kids, and I write about their effects (affects?) on my financial life.

1. Real World Example: Kids Allowances
   Where I outline a system to ensure kids get their allowances on time. My kids were pretty mad at me until I implemented this system, and as a bonus, I am still watching them (financially).
2. Kippers
   Not just a salted fish eaten for breakfast in the U.K.
3. Hidden School Costs
   Not just for universities are there hidden costs in education, public schools rake a lot of money off parents too.
4. Advice to Future University Students
   No, not money related, but still very useful.

Investment

1. Einstein: The Rule of 72
   Understanding what a doubling period is, and how the rule of 72 can help you with this concept is important to the start of your investment plan.
2. RRSP or Mortgage?
   Should you invest or pay down debt, always a good question to ask.
3. Top 5 Investing Mistakes of my Life
   This one hurts to read EVERY time, seeing how much money I lost.

Parables

In personal finances, sometimes a lot can be learned in parable format.

1. Parable: Money and the McDonald’s Play Structure
   How can my son getting stuck in a McDonald’s play structure have anything to do with money? Read and you will be amused to see where I went with this story.
2. Best Financial Advice Ever Given
   Outlines a parable my Dad told me when I borrowed a large amount of money from him. I have used this parable many times myself.
3. Don’t Pass it to the Other Team
   How does the Carleton basketball coach have anything to do with finances? Read and you’ll see a long stretch.
4. The Dangers of Advice
   How I inadvertently gave very bad financial advice to a dear friend.

Humor

I enjoy a good laugh, mostly at my own expense and here are some of my favourite personal finance posts with a humorous angle.

1. Always Have A Target
   OK, yes, my humor normally drops to toilet humor, but this one is funny too!
2. God and a Stock Broker?
   This is funny, except last week.
3. Why Banks are always funny
   Going into banks, talking to banks, interacting with banks, etc., you had better have a sense of humor, because if you don’t you’ll go crazy.
4. Get Off the Throne
   A perspective on the Throne Speech, that Stephen Harper might not have appreciated.

Previous Boxing Days?

I have written on the topic of Boxing Day a few times.

• Boxing Day? Big Bloody Deal! was my first rant about the day. In 2006 there were sales, but were they that exciting?
• Let the Boxing Quarter Begin does sum up the entire concept of Boxing “day”, it just keeps going on.
• Just because it’s on sale, another classic rant about impulse buying the day after Christmas, 2008.
• Holiday Cheer Volume 4 got lazy in 2009 and just put out a list of posts from that year.
• Carnival of Money Stories: Happy Pseudo Boxing Day! Back in the day when Blogging Carnivals were all the rage (2009).
• Sales and What is the Price?!? started to figure out the connection between Black Friday and Boxing Day sales. Neither really saved you much, did they? Not really in 2010.
• Happy Pseudo Boxing Day was just really a best of kind of post, no real commentary on Boxing Day itself.
• Mayhem and Sunday’s Best (on Monday) it seems that Boxing Day was an excuse for me to post a best of posts list? This article seems to prove the point?
• Advice for the day in 2012? Don’t buy crap, which is good advice any time. If something you need is on sale, buy it, if not, don’t!
• One Thing You Can Buy on the day is to buy something you need.
• Mayhem is always present on Boxing Day, but remember just because it is on sale, doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
• The 12 Days of Christmas Debt is something to think about on Boxing Day? Maybe think about that at Thanksgiving?
• Weirdest Boxing Day Ever? What do you expect during a Pandemic, I suppose?
• Happy Boxing Day 2023! Will we return to the mayhem we are used to?