Giveaways, Oil tanks, Eagles and #FreeFormFriday

Yes, I am actually giving stuff away and this time it is easy to get a free online version of TurboTax just go to my article Turbo Tax Giveaway: What would you Rather be Doing, leave a comment and you might win one of 5 licenses I have for TurboTax on-line. There are already some amazing responses there, and some that have me wondering just what goes on in the minds of some of my readers, I think in a macabre way I feel closer to them (because I wish I’d written some of those comments).

I spent Sunday helping my Mum out with an oil leak in her basement. Luckily it looks like her insurance will be covering most of it, but that is because she had replaced her oil tank when the insurance company told her to, a while ago. If you have an oil tank in your basement, it would be well worth having it inspected regularly, and make sure your Home Insurance policy covers this kind of problem. Oh and for contractors who like to try to strong-arm seniors into stuff they don’t need, I really hope there is a special part of purgatory where they get to live inside of an oil tank for a few millenniums.

And here is my happy part of Ottawa, the local football team decided that calling themselves Redskins was bad form (after they were being sued by a First-Nations chap), so they decided to change their name. As background in Nepean, there is a very successful Little League team called the East Nepean Eagles. This team (in fact) about 9 years ago represented Canada at the World Little League Championships in Williamsport (one of Michael James’ sons played on that very team). The football team couldn’t decide what to rename themselves, so can you guess what name they took? You guessed it The Nepean Eagles, after all in a city that had a team called the Rough Riders, when in fact there was already a Roughriders team, how could that be confusing? Needless to say, this is gonna get mighty messy this summer.

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending January 17th What Kind of a Year Starts Like This?
Ugly Job Numbers to End 2013 Even more of a commentary on how this year is starting (or more specifically how 2013 ended).	TurboTax Giveaway: What would you rather be doing? Like I said, free tax software, for a pithy comment.	The Principal is always Your Pal For a while no one could comment on this article, not sure why, but it seems to be fixed now.	Gosh Darn it! CPP & EI Again!!! I hate it when CPP and EI premiums start up on my real pay cheque again. Yes, this site does not keep me in the lifestyle which I so richly enjoy.

Swiss Army Knife Section

Some very interesting ideas brought forward this week:

• The most touching story of the week goes to Go Team Kate with the story Dear ‘Daddy’ in Seat 16C flight from Philly, some folks are truly golden, bless this good soul.
• Golf may be good for business but the CRA doesn’t care, so says the Blunt Bean Counter in Golf – The Business, Social and Income Tax Aspects
• IO Active Labs Research tells me something I had already guessed, but I guess I feel vilified for being paranoid with Personal Banking Apps Leak info through Telephone Interface.
• Even big investors change their brokers, want proof? The Canadian Capitalist explains Why I moved to BMO Investorline. Good to see him writing a little more regularly.
• Michael James lamented that if he was retired last year would have been a great year for him, but instead he gives us  2013 Update of My Personal Portfolio Returns History where he had to pay more for his investments.
• Mark W at Second Career Search writes about My Investing Philosophy – Part 1, a new blogger that I am reading.
• Mark from My Own Advisor asks What’s in your portfolio? DIY Investor Richard Garand in his continuing interviews with prominent folks, about their investing practices.
• Phys.org always has a wide variety of things on it and this week they had Banking group sees limited future for Bitcoin I am still trying to figure out how the value is set for this alleged currency.
• The NFL’s hopes that the concussion issue was just a glancing blow to their head, has gone slightly off the rails with a judge stating the NFL Concussion Settlement May Be Lacking.
• Preet continues with his Podcast with  @brucesellery explains how you can rock your RRSP #podcast, you can also see Preet in the video below.

Ted Talks: How to Make Choosing Easier

Why can’t we decide what to buy? Too many damn choices!!!

What does 2014 Hold Financially?

Peter Mansbridge has a panel with Preet, Amanda Lang and some other folks.

Random Thoughts for 2014

Lots of these kinds of Best of articles in 2014. Here is a list of them.

• Cuba, Rubles, Christmas and #BestThisWeek – getting close to Christmas but Ian McKellen can teach us about impulse control.
• Snow, Christmas, Enhanced and #BestThisWeek talk of more festive ideas, like how to save money at Christmas.
• A Gentleman, Day of Disability, Christmas, Rugby and #BestThisWeek noted the passing of Jean Beliveau and John Oliver’s views on Lotteries.
• Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek speaks of the blessed Black Friday and associated sales but also includes a Fanfare for the Common Man.
• Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek November brings snow in Toronto, as we see, and other financial ideas.
• Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek how many times has the Earth almost been hit by an asteroid? Too often to remember.
• Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek lame duck leaders never really get that much done, no matter how they negotiate.
• Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek a wonderful financial time of the year is Halloween? Maybe income splitting is a better subject.
• Ottawa We Shall Remember, Bank of Canada and #BestThisWeek after a bad week in Ottawa, with senseless violence.
• Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek even in 2014 the markets were a little volatile.
• Hockey, Turkey, Leaves, Carry On Bags and #theBestFin4TheWeek is it right that the hockey season starts before Thanksgiving?
• October, Hello Ebola, Give Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek October arrived unexpectedly this week, almost unnoticed. As we have entered the final (calendar) quarter of the year 2014, it may be time to start considering a year-end review of your financial plans.
• Autumn , United Kingdom, Beer Money, and #theBestFin4TheWeek the colours in Ottawa during Autumn are truly spectacular.
• Pins, Alibaba , Apple Pay , Lecosse , and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when Alibaba the IPO happened, those were heady days.
• Home Despot, iPhones, and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• Back to School, Tim Burger King, Knee Defenders and #theBestFin4TheWeek will the dutchie ever come back? I can only hope.
• Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when we thought Ebola was going to wipe us out?
• It is Done, Ice Bucket Challenge, Media Perceptions and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek
• Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek
• All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek the world cup was a big thing in 2014 as was Bastille day too.
• Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek you mean Brazil can lose at the world cup?
• Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial Canada Day is the start of the summer for most Canadians, and financial stories too.
• The Stand, Football Biting, Naughty Banks and #BestofFinancial even in 2014 the banks were misbehaving with shenanigans.
• Elections, Dad’s Day, World Cup, Friday the 13th and #BestofFinancial somehow the Liberals won the 2014 Ontario Provincial Election
• No Rate Hike, Better Performance, Montreal Grand Prix and #Bestof-Financial back in 2014 we were worried about rates, but they were already pretty low.
• Elections, Farewell Knowlton, May Done, and #Bestof-Financial Knowlton Nash was the voice of news for Canada for a while.
• Internet Memory, Grand Prix of Monaco and #FreeFormFridays the Internet has memory?
• Time Off, Elections, Victoria Day and #FreeFormFridays Victoria Day is always a fun weekend.
• Frosts, Elections, Farley Mowat and #FreeFormFridays it does get cold in May!
• Rain, Budgets, Bloggers Meeting, May Day and #FreeFormFridays When financial bloggers meet what happens?
• Beware the Financial Jabberwock, Netflix Expansion, Model Trains, Backups and #FreeFormFridays a thematically odd article.
• Easter is Here and a Saturday #BestOf for the Weekend a time of renewal, new beginnings in life and financially as well.
• RIP Flaherty, Heartbleed, Tax Time, Quebec Elections and #FreeFormFridays the former finance minister did a lot of good for the economy.
• #Selfies, Quebec Election, Big Joe, Awareness, and #FreeFormFridays would Big Joe Mufferaw have been a good fit for the Redblacks? We’ll never know.
• Don Quixote, Tax Time, Cheap Mortgages and #FreeFormFridays gotta hate tax time.
• Spring Has Sprung, March Madness, Celebrity Blogger and #FreeFormFridays talking about Spring in March in Ottawa can be a bit early.
• Pi Day, March Break, Two Ferns, Snow and #FreeFormFridays given pi is infinite, how much pie can we expect?
• Quebec Elections, Eating Sugar, Suing Parents, Big Rocks and #FreeFormFridays those elections in Quebec are never dull.
• Saint David’s Day, Big Posts, RRSP Time, the Dating Game and #FreeFormFridays always a good time to put a Welsh Choir Clip in an article.
• Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays Hockey day in Canada? Well it does happen, right around RRSP time too.
• More Olympics, Budgets, Love Day and #FreeFormFridays Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Love and Dealing with Financial Whining.
• Olympics, Not Super Bowls, Creationism and #FreeFormFridays 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremonies and Soshi Stadium’s Doppleganger: The Super Bowl.
• Senators, Weak Loonie, Superb Owls and #FreeFormFridays Rugby is a Hooligan’s game played by a Gentleman.
• Polar Vorteces, Olympics, Mayors and #FreeFormFridays The Polar Vortex brings Winter in Canada. But don’t worry – -30C highs in Ottawa in January are normal.
• Giveaways, Oil tanks, Eagles and #FreeFormFriday Have you checked your oil tank if you heat with Oil? What will your insurance do if the tank ruptures?
• Truly Canadian Issues, Ultra HD TV, Car Loans and #FreeFormFriday Get your lock de-icer and unlock your Super Mailbox cubicle like I did – Canadian Tire to the rescue!
• Some #RandomThoughts from 2014 Some of the best of, best of posts on my random thoughts weekly post.
• CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.