Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Archive for the ‘Sunday’ Category

Last Day of Giveaway

Tonight at Midnight (or somewhere there about) a lucky name will be picked in the First Big Cajun Quicktax Software Giveaway , and we have been deluged with 10’s of entries, so your chances of wining are quite good! Remember you never miss the shot you never take!

Fatwa Against Credit Cards

In Ottawa last week Imam Khaled Abdul-Hamid Syed (local Muslim Community Leader) has declared a fatwa against Credit Cards, and I say to that, Good on you!.

“I conclude that it contains usury … which is forbidden in Islam, so it should not be used…”

I wonder if he reads this blog? The Imam is dead on (in my opinion) in his view that Credit Cards are the modern equivalent of usury and I applaud him speaking out about this topic.

The Imam has said that this Fatwa is not binding, and some folks are concerned about whether this means you should never use a credit card, even if you pay them off monthly (or only use them in emergencies)? I think any statement by any Community Leader that causes folks to talk seriously about this subject is a very good thing. Discussion causes folks to think about how they are doing things, and may cause some to change bad habits.

Will I soon be changing to Islam as my religious following? No, as most of my readers know, I am a devout Anglican, but I wouldn’t mind hearing what the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Anglican Church of Canada has to say about this interesting subject, as well.

Usury = Credit Cards?

As for the Credit Card companies and the banks, I wonder if they are worried about this or not? I doubt they care, but if a ground swell of folks stop using their cards, what might happen? Maybe the “Tea Party” should be looking into this (in the United States)?

Yes folks, here I got again, extolling the virtues of Lent and how you can use it to your advantage for your Personal Finances.

Easter is the time for new beginnings or restarting something you need to start doing again, and most people view Lent as a time to “find something to give up”, but that is dull and shows little flare, so another way is to look for something to Enrich your life for the 40 days of Lent (leading up to Good Friday and Easter).

Think about your spiritual journey, yes please do, however, also take advantage of this journey to work on your home finances as well!

Your Financial Lenten Journey

What areas of your personal finances could use either Enrichment or Better still a sacrifice that might help your financial well being? There are some very simple ones that I think about every year (and have done a few of them):

• The Latte withdrawal penance. Cut out buying coffee for the 40 days of Lent and put that money aside, to either save, give to charity or pay down your debt. Keep track of this and see how much money you might be saving here, it’s worthwhile finding out where this discretionary money is going.
• Read 4 Personal Finance books over the 40 days to enrich your understanding of your personal finances or your investing adventures. Building up your expertise over Lent is a good thing.
• Brown bag it for 40 days, give up buying lunch at work, and bring your lunch instead. Another way to find out where your discretionary spending is going.
• Take the bus to work for Lent, leave the car at home, buy a bus pass and take the Bus to work. Yes gas is cheaper right now, but not driving might have other benefits for you (less stress, more exercise, etc.,).
• Read financial blogs every day: another way to build up your understanding of finance is reading and learning.
• Open a TFSA and put found money there: OK, not really a Lent thing per say, but still somewhere to put your new found moneys.
• Live on cash for 40 days and get rid of your credit cards. Freeze them in your freezer, lock them in your safety deposit box, or cut them up, but live on CASH only (no debit either) and see if you can do it, does it change your spending habits? This one is one heck of a heavy one, and anyone who does try it keep me posted and I will encourage you as best I can!

Think about these or suggest others, I am open to suggestions myself. Shrove Tuesday is coming and then Ash Wednesday means Lent begins and your journey begins that day.

I’m giving you a weeks head start to start thinking about this stuff folks!

For those of you thinking, how can I help, here are a few sites to think about where you can make donations to help out in Haiti:

This list I have shamelessly borrowed from the Canadian Capitalist:

1. Donations through the Canadian Red Cross, which sent $200,000 immediately to support relief efforts, can be made here.
2. Donations to the Salvation Army’s Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund can be made through this website. Salvation Army is also accepting micro-donations of $5 from donors who text HAITI to 45678 from any Rogers or Bell phone.
3. Donations to UNICEF Canada’s Haiti Earthquake relief efforts can be made here.
4. Donations to the Humanitarian Coalition Online comprising Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec, Care and Save the Children can be made here.
5. Médecins Sans Frontières Canada is also directing donations to Haiti relief.
6. Michael J. points out that World Vision, which has been on the ground in Haiti for more than 30 years, is accepting donations here.
7. Matt N. says Plan Canada is helping children and families in Haiti. Donations are accepted here.

Help, if you can.

No not another Sunday post, just a post about the perils of Temptation.

As I gaze upon the basket of candy a co-worker brought in (so she didn’t have candy at home to tempt her), I really think the root of most problems with life is temptation and an inability to say NO to the things we know we should say NO to.

The candy basket is an excellent example of temptation to me, since it is full of sugary treats (luckily no potato chips) that are so enjoyable for a very short period of time, but then cause my brain to scramble due to a sugar rush, my mood to crash (after the sugar rush wears off) and the guilt that comes from the aftermath of eating this sugary temptation. Can I eat the candy? Sure, I can, but SHOULD I eat the candy, the simple answers are:

1. Yes, but only in moderation
2. No, if you feel that one candy will simply lead to another

Financial Temptations

Every day most of us are availed of many different financial temptations that may be much like the candy, in that it may cause a short term rush, but at the end of it, all it leaves you with is guilt and displeasure. Some examples might be:

• Do I drive this month or do I buy a bus pass. I must admit I succumb to this temptation, but luckily the Ottawa transit system is so expensive I can rationalize this temptation by pointing out I am not saving that much money taking the bus.
• Should I make my lunch or buy it at the cafeteria (or worse go out to a restaurant). The money you save by making your own lunch can be a significant chunk of change, and you are more likely to make a more healthy lunch at home, than you might find at your local fast food establishment.
• How about a $7.50 Latte to start my day off. This one I easily avoid, because I can’t understand why anyone would pay that much for a “… lousy stinking cup of coffee …” (to quote Denis Leary). Coffee tastes like coffee to me, paying that much doesn’t make it taste that much better than the cheap stuff I get at work. This temptation I can put on a pious tone with.
• Shall we make dinner or simply pick something up at the fast food place? Some nights it is all anyone can do to even decide what is for dinner, let alone cook it (if the food exists in the house), and the only way to fight this is to make sure you either have a well stocked freezer with stuff you have cooked previously (my mother’s tactic), or you figure out how to motivate yourself to cook (what you have in the house). Any ideas here would be appreciated.
• Let’s go out for a beer at the bar after some social gathering or sport event. No it is not a sin to go for a beer after your pick up hockey game, but how much do you spend on this, and how many times you do it is the question. I have friends who have “beer pools” for their after game drinking, where someone brings a cooler to a ball diamond and cheap(er) beer is enjoyed that way (is this legal? depends on where you live I guess).

All these temptations are not Mortal Sins against your finances by themselves, but if you keep tripping up on them, they can add up to a fair amount of money that maybe should be use to pay your debt down instead?

Temptation and how to deal with it, is all a matter of self-control, do you have that kind of self-control?

At Least They Didn’t Throw the Shredder

Seems in their zeal to celebrate the Yankees victory some of the smarter folks in the Financial District (you remember the ones they gave HUGE bail outs to) decided to start throwing unshredded financial documentation when they ran out of confetti (onto the Yankees below). Luckily someone found most of them later?

This is kind of a Sunday Thoughts, Humor and Best Of post all in one, I had forgotten about this one, hope you enjoy the humor (and remember the importance of home security systems too).

So this one has little to do with finances, and isn’t really a religious thought, and I am stealing it directly from Joel Osteen, but I laughed out loud when I heard it and sometimes that is a good thing.

Jesus Is Watching!

A burglar broke into a house and as he was picking up the HD Plasma TV in the living room he heard a voice say, “Jesus, is watching YOU!”.

The burglar turned on his flashlight and he looked around to see where this voice came from, and he saw off in the distance a parrot, who squawked, and repeated, “Jesus is watching YOU!”.

The burglar walked over and said quietly to the parrot, “Are you talking to me?”

The parrot said, “Yes, I am, and Jesus is watching YOU!”

The burglars said, “Well what’s your name?”

The parrot said, “I am MOSES!”

The burglar chuckled and asked, “What kind of a person calls a parrot Moses?”

The parrot replied, “The same kind of people who call a 150 lb. Rottweiler JESUS!”

OK, a corny joke, but I had to share it. Remember also that every day Jesus is Watching You!