Canadian Personal Finance Blog

More Canadians Buying on Internet

In Canada we enjoy our Internet shopping to the tune of $12.8 Billion and 61% more purchases for products and services than in 2005 according to Stats Canada. An interesting statistic is that the average price for each transaction was $183.00 which seems astronomical to me, but since delivery is usually a major cost in Internet purchases (unless you are buying a product or service that can be downloaded), I suppose this isn’t as strange as I think it is?

I spend a fair amount on the Internet for services and software, and I do buy the occasional “do-dad” on E-bay but I don’t think I have spent $183 on any purchase in the last little while, maybe I need to buy a fur coat to help compensate for this lack of spending?

Oil Companies Care About Environment?

Another article from Stats Canada had me a bit confused as well, evidently the industry that spends the most on Environmental Protection is the Oil/Natural Gas business? The stat that had me floored was:

In 2006, $4 of every $100 invested by oil and gas extraction went to environmental protection

So 4 cents out of every dollar spent goes to environment protection? Wow, that must mean they must be making one heck of a mess? I really don’t know what to make of that number but it is very interesting that is for sure.

Interesting to see the continued decline of Petro Canada, given the roller coaster ride of income they have had this year, I wonder if the amount spent of Environmental Protection might change?

Live Now, Pay More Later

With the credit crunch it seems consumer credit companies are squeezing their clients even more, and will increase their late fee penalties, in response to the alleged credit crunch. Does this mean that some of the store credit cards that were already charging close to 50% usury fees on their credit vehicles are heading even higher? Goodness, maybe Loan Sharks will get back into business, and create competition? (someone please tell me what the correct font is for sarcasm). I really wonder what the rates will be for the Usury Pay Day Loan Businesses?

Is it Safe?

One of the most terrifying movies I have ever sat through is the Marathon Man which stars Sir Lawrence Oliver as a crazed Nazi dentist hiding jewels and Dustin Hoffman as a pawn in the entire scheme, and in this movie there is a set of scenes where the crazed Nazi dentist torments the Dustin Hoffman character with a hobby drill, drilling his teeth and the only question he keeps asking is “Is it safe?”. Just recollecting this scene puts chills up my spine, but it is actually a good metaphor for the current financial crisis.

Is it Safe?

At the macro level governments have no idea whether “It is safe” and they really don’t know what the answer to the question is, but in fact this movie is an even stronger metaphor at the Personal Finance level.

Is it safe? What does that mean? Is our money safe? Is our job safe? Is our lifestyle safe? Is what safe? Is our economy safe? Is my credit safe? Is my RRSP safe? Is it safe to retire? Is my house safe? (to paraphrase a frantic Dustin Hoffman), the question without context is very hard to answer, and there is the harder part, what is the answer? Is it safe? I have no idea, but I think we are all fighting to find out “Is it safe?”. I hope we are safe, but I guess we really won’t know what the question means and what the answer is, for a while.

Are you safe?

Pension Info Arrives

My final pension settlement has arrived from my former employer, which makes me feel a little more safe. I must now answer the question, “Is it safe(r) to stay in the pension or go to the LIRA?”, I think I know the answer but I will keep my readers posted.

Montreal Grand Prix Dead

One of the major economic events in Montreal every your for a while has been the Grand Prix of Canada held in Montreal, however, this year the F-1 board decided to not return to Montreal for 2009. The Quebec Government has been attempting to change Max Mosely (no comments about Nazis and prostitutes) and crew’s mind, but Jean Charest has said he has no more economic cards to play. I enjoyed the Grand Prix and am an F-1 fan and am saddened to hear of this turn of events. This will have a serious impact on the bars in downtown Montreal that relied on the Grand Prix to draw customers.

Given the photo thematic premise of the week that is about as pithy a title as I could pull together for this week’s wander through the world of Financial Blogs.

The Financial Apocalypse Has Been Delayed This Week

Well not really, given how badly the markets have been and how far the Canadian dollar has dropped, it has been a rough week for most folks, who are investing, and a good week for those who have cash.

• Given this week I have been “piling on” about dinosaurs and my former employer, I’ll add another voice which is the Financial Post saying, Nortel’s New Target Price is Zero . It is not just me who is bitter and twisted on this subject, but now more than ever I want ALL my money out of them very soon.
• For those of you wondering Has The Hadron Collider Destroyed the World Yet, the link will take you to the site to answer that question. If it answers yes, feel free not to read the rest of this posting.
• Michael James asks the very good question Do Investors Need to Be Good at Math ? I think the answer in my mind is YES, but I have a Math degree as well.
• Larry MacDonald found a very interesting Growth Stock for a Depression, however I would never have thought of this company.
• The Canadian Capitalist mentioned about Discount Brokerage Fees especially with TD Canada Trust. I have noticed this one myself, and Nerd Money has also been talking about TD RRSP fees, as well.
• That One Caveman points out the advantage of a Cash based Christmas , something I always espouse. Once you run out of cash, you have finished buying presents!
• Preet over at Where Does My Money go announced His New Career , showing a lot of courage during an economic downturn, to decide to change careers. I wish him good luck, although it isn’t really a new career, just new ways of doing things, which is cool too.
• Nancy Zimmerman points out that Canadian Spies are Paid Well . I hope so, I am hoping to get a job there, but I guess since I am talking about it, maybe I won’t be getting that job.
• Promod over at the Riscario Insider talks about How an Actuary Invests, which is interesting because he is someone who knows his Math!
• Canadian Tax Resource tells asks What are In-Trust Accounts (and answers the question too).
• Money, Matter and More Musings points out that we are all Socialist when Poor, Capitalist when Rich , which I tried to explain to my kids, but they looked at me like I was from the U.S.S.R. !

I was wandering around a mall here in Ottawa (and learned that is what retired people do as well, not just unemployed folk), while my wife shopped for a new snowsuit for my 3 year old son. I did what every other husband does (ok most husbands) do in this situation, I wandered away and looked at something I was interested in.

I wandered over to the Fido kiosk (Fido that is now owned by Rogers now) and talked to the young gentleman who was shilling (selling) the iPhone.

Now as background I have always wondered whether it is better to keep my current cell phone (or better still go for a cheaper pay per use phone) and buy an iPod touch (which is essentially the same technology as the iPhone) or should I buy the iPhone.

An iPhone from Fido with 16 GB of memory would cost me $299, however this is before I turn it on. A 32 GB iPod touch would cost me $409 from Best Buy, which already has more memory than the iPhone. The difference in price is about $110 right now, before I start using my iPhone (I can already hear my wife wondering what is he doing, we can’t afford an iPhone).

My current cell phone costs about $45.00 a month or so, but it does not include data. The two packages available from Fido is either for  $60 or $75 a month to use the HSPA 3G network with my iPhone. This means to recuperate the $100 price difference is about 8 months (if I go with the cheapest Fido plan).

For me, the choice is obvious, don’t buy any of this, since I am unemployed and this kind of discretionary spending is completely off the scale, however, if I did have a high paying job, I would buy the iPod touch and find a cheaper cell phone to use. No, in my model with a cell phone and an iPod touch, I don’t have a 3G data access for my touch, as I would with the iPhone, however, I do have Wi-Fi access with both devices, which is fine for me.

My only question is, who is buying the iPhone? Is it a toy or is it a business tool? Is it a status symbol or a piece of advanced technology? (it’s not advanced technology, everything in it is pretty old hat).

I also have come to the conclusion I need to go and find a cheaper cell phone plan, although I suspect with the coming competition, it may be much cheaper, much sooner.

Carnivals

• My Family’s Money hosted the Carnival of 20 Something: Gummi Bears Edition where my pillar post Einstean Rule of 72 post.