Random Thoughts: Happy Advent!

Advent is Here!

Yes, the season of hoping and waiting is finally here, for all of us to enjoy, Happy Advent. Advent is actually the start of the new year, for the Christian Church (at least some of them), so Happy New Year as well! Now you can put up your decorations and such, but don’t overdo it too much, no point in getting a Huge Ontario Hydro bill either (or only turn on your lights off-peak between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM, which may not make you very popular with your neighbours either).

Happy Hanuka to my Jewish readers as well, enjoy 8 days of giving too (but don’t overspend)! Can someone tell me why a Harmonica is a good Hanuka gift? Music? All my Jewish friends in school lamented that they’d get yet another harmonica for Hanuka, I never understood why.

This week Happy Advent topics I covered included:

• I took a day off and enjoyed a Guest Post: Side Effects of Credit Card Debt Build Up, which is good advice, no matter what time of the year it is. Thanks Janet!
• Nobody got too upset at my post Gifts You Shouldn’t Get Your Kids (ever) just folks pointing out I didn’t mention chainsaws and such.
• I missed Nancy Zimmerman‘s challenge for Buy Nothing Day but evidently many of my readers think they can succeed where I failed.
• I let my curmudgeonly side write with Billing Costs Money Too ya know! where I pointed out I didn’t appreciate Bell Mobility’s new green tax for getting a paper bill.
• If you read my Twitter feed you also saw some great OBG Oldie but Goodie posts like: I don’t know what to give for Christmas?, Christmas Shopping Perils, the controversial Men’s Health, Is Debt a Moral Issue, and many others.

Were other financial bloggers full of the Festive Spirit of Advent/Hanuka/Festivus? Well some are, and others are a bit Grinchy, but all in all a good lot.:

• Million Dollar Journey asks the relevant question Have You Forgotten that the Stock Market Can Go Up? No, I have been enjoying some growth during the great financial swoon.
• No Michael James isn’t going soft, but he did ask us about Taking It Easy on Financial Advisors, Financial Bloggers beating up on Financial Advisors is like Sportscasters on Monday Morning pounding on a losing home team on the Radio, it is expected!
• Preet wrote in the Globe and Mail about Performance Anxiety? Know Your True Rate of Return, which fits with my Men’s Health post, but that is for another story.
• Like Boomer Ellen Roseman is lamenting What Happened to Canada’s Consumer Movement? We got apathetic and caught up in the BUY, BUY, BUY frenzy?
• My Own Advisor points out the parallels between Project Management and Personal Finance, which being in both businesses I notice every day.
• Riscario Insider quotes Albert Einstein on Education, which is a real gift to try to give this Holiday Season, buy your kid an RESP!

Other Bookkeeping

Remember that I also micro-blog on Twitter, where you can see a whole plethora of good articles and pithy comments by me as well. Twitter feed where I re-tweet many great articles by some of my featured writers (and make the occasional odd or off-colour commentary on life (in 140 characters or less)). I am also on Digg as Big Cajun Man, and Reddit as well.

Also remember my RSS feed is available too, for those who enjoy reading without looking at my archaic page layout, and I have added an RSS Comment Feed as well.

Remember that this site is iPhone Friendly (and Android & iPod Touch Friendly), enjoy it on the go, in a readable format for the device. If you are reading with an iPhone or Android device, drop me a comment and tell me if this needs any improvements. This site is also in the Kindle US Blog list, if you are interested, not available in Canada yet (because no Blogs are available in Canada on a Kindle?!?).

Remember

“Christmas is a time when you get homesick – even when you’re home. “

Author: Carol Nelson