Canadian Personal Finance Blog

I figured I’d move my lazy post for the week to Saturday, for those that might wander by and wonder what has been going on, and to reward Friday readers with an actual post and not just me rehashing.

An interesting week, where I got fixated on the high prices of Cell Phones, but a few other bloggers had other interesting posts as well:

• In I am Paying How Much for My Phones and Cell Phones Again , I discuss the relatively large amount of cash I put out for the privilege of being connected in this world. Some very good comments from my readers on these posts, well worth a read.
• In Understanding the BCE Mess, Michael James attempts to decipher the twists and turns in the largest leverage buy out ever. As a shareholder, I hope it settles down some time soon.
• Larry MacDonald had a posting about 7 Good Blog Posts this week including my story about Bar B Q disposal.
• I lamented about the High Cost of Flying and am getting sick of dieing by 1000 service charges.
• The Canadian Capitalist asked the question Is A Costco Membership Worth it? It never made sense for me, but he, as usual, has a good angle on the charges.
• My wife managed to get a credit card so I asked again, My Wife is Worth How Much?
• Over at Free at 45 an interesting article about how to Appeal Your Taxes .

All in all an interesting week.

The Friday after a long weekend always feels good because you know it wasn’t a full week of work, and this week was no exception. Many interesting posts from the talented Financial Blogosphere and here are but a few of my favorites from my reading list:

• Michael James wrote about a Credit Card Arbitrage scheme run where the author has floated her debt on zero interest credit cards and has managed to play the balancing act to make sure she never gets dinged with an interest charge, and has banked her mortgage payments instead. I do not recommend this in any way shape or form, however it is an interesting read.
• Our old friend Inflation returned this week with Inflation Jumping 1.7% for April year over year, thanks to higher gasoline prices. What is interesting is there is still a prediction of interest rates being lowered again next week? That seems a little odd, but we shall see.
• Gail Vaz Oxlade wrote about how You Measure Up Financially and the areas you might want to look at to make sure you are measuring the right thing. Remember the old carpenter’s adage, measure twice and cut once.
• Debt Reduction is like Teenage Sex was my attempt at telling folks that you need to discuss more with your family and trusted friends about Debt Reduction if you have a problem.
• Any entry title, Porn, Wealth and Burning Through $60M has got to be an interesting read, and it is an interesting read over at Everybody Loves Your Money.
• If Debt Reduction is Like Teenage Sex then Debt itself is like Fat , where I outline my personal fight against obesity and how it is very much like my fight against debt.
• The Canadian Capitalist answered a reader’s question about Reinvesting Dividend Income, which is a subject near and dear to my heart.
• Anybody looking for a humorous stories about Bar B Qs, my post on Flames and Bar B Qs fits the bill nicely.
• Larry MacDonald chimes in on the BCE Takeover SNAFU and whether BCE can win it’s appeal (as a shareholder, I hope they do).

Have a great weekend.

My Blog Reading List

In case you wonder what financial sites I read and haven’t looked at my right side bar lately.

• Canadian Capitalist
• Canadian Money Blog Reviews
• Dividends Matter
• Investment Jungle
• Larry McDonald’s Investment Ideas
• Michael James on Money
• Ellen Roseman on Money
• Free Money Finance
• Loonies and Sense
• Cdn Money Advisor
• It’s Just Money
• Million Dollar Journey
• Free at 45? Dreamer!
• All Things Financial
• Your Money
• Quest for Four Pillars
• Investor Geeks
• Dividend Guy
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade

Finally a long weekend, it has been months since Easter (ok it feels like that), and we finally get our long weekend in, whoo hoo! It has been an interesting week (read tomorrow’s humorous story about why I am buying a new Bar B Q for more fun).

Lots of great posts across the board from my regular readings and some of my postings, let us recap:

• I resurrected one of my favorite humorous posting about The High Price of Daycare and Alternatives, which makes me laugh every time I watch it (thanks the Onion).
• On Sunday we found out that if I had to pay my wife, I’d have to get a second job, because as a Mother I cannot Afford her.
• The Canadian Capitalist wrote about The High Price of Eating Out, but more importantly how more people are eating out. I remember when my parents took us out to dinner it was a special occasion, not to my kids.
• Should I join a Credit Union just to avoid service charges, read the comments, it’s pretty entertaining.
• Michael James wrote about MER the Gift that Keeps on Giving for your mutual funds. You must read this just to understand how much you are spending to “save”.
• What does a Shredder have to do with Personal Finance? Read the article and see.
• I added Gail Vaz Oxlade to my Financial Bloggers list, this is the lady from ’til Debt Do Us Part (with the mason jar budgeting system), very interesting reads.
• I started to get up on my soapbox espousing my views in Computers: Another Great Financial Tool , and then topped it off with Security the Most Important Financial Concept where I went off the deep end talking about computer security. Sorry folks, when I get on my home turf (i.e. High Tech) I get a little wacky.
• Ellen Roseman answered a lot of questions this week, well worth a read to see what folks are asking her.
• Larry MacDonald started the warning bells about Inflation and how it may have a global impact, especially in China. Given how supercharged their economy is right now, I am not really surprised to see that possibility on the horizon.
• Our Amigo Average Joe resurfaced over at Dividends Matter and did a post on Saputo the Cheese Maker (they also sponsor soccer stadiums in Montreal I hear).
• Loonies and Sense resurfaced as well with an Apologetic Post this week as well.

All in all a good week of reading and research. Enjoy your long weekend, buy a hammock and lie out in the sunshine (with SPF 50 on).

Random Thoughts

It is Friday again, and it has been yet another interesting week financially in this world.

• There is now serious talk of Gasoline going for $200 a barrel, which would mean it’s price in Ottawa would be around $2.20 a liter, which may well cause folks to seriously look at alternate transportation methods.
• I reviewed my Family’s Personal Spending for April and found some interesting spending oddities of my own.
• Ellen Roseman asked a good question about Who Speaks for Investors, and she was part of a group who tried to, and was even asked to, however, not much seems to have come out of her work.
• Stats Canada talked about how Family Incomes haven’t really changed too much in the past few years, certainly doesn’t look like it keeps up with inflation.
• The Canadian Capitalist asked us if We are Comfortable With our Portfolio, I think my answer is, it’s doing ok, but it would be nice if it doubled tomorrow.
• The Government has an Auditor General to make sure spending doesn’t get out of control, shouldn’t we all have our own Personal Auditor General?
• Any way to control your spending is by creating Artificial Scarcity in your own money supply according to Michael James.
• My mail bag does have some very interesting things in it, as well.
• The Quest for Four Pillars states boldly Zero Down Payment On a House is Just Fine, which on the surface sounds wacky to me, but the article isn’t espousing buying houses you can’t afford, simply not waiting until you have some magic number for a down payment. Interesting concept, not sure I completely buy it, but interesting.
• Finally the Globe and Mail is having a poll about picking the Top 5 Financial Bloggers in Canada , I note I am conspicuous by my absence, but I am not bitter, where did I leave my copy of the Ottawa Sun? I’d vote for the Canadian Capitalist myself (but I would have also included Michael James on Money on that list as well).

Flash: De-Crapification Set Back

Never go to a Gar(b)age sale if you are trying to get rid of your crap. Our Church is running one, and I came home with something, I have however removed something from my bedroom (which is where the new item will go), however, I am ashamed of myself. I did get a trouser press for $10 however, which I think is still kind of cool, and I could bring a lot of crap back to my Church’s gar(b)age sale tomorrow, so maybe this will work out.