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Canajun Finances Home » Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek

Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek

Black Friday

The month of November is effectively Black November, but today is allegedly the beginning of the Christmas rush with Black Friday. The folklore behind it being called Black Friday is that this day is when Retailers actually get into the Black (in their accounting books), and from now on is profits. My e-mail inbox has been inundated with great Black November sales and such, some almost too good to believe. Who would believe I could buy a TurDuckEn 🍗 at Costco for $95?!?

Will all this spending help everyone get that much more festive about Christmas and such? I really have no idea, but Advent begins on Sunday for those wondering what the Christian Church view is on the topic.

There is talk again of the Tampa Bay Rays moving, for now to St. Pete’s (across the bay) but there is also an undertone of Montreal getting in the mix as well. Thanks to Jeffrey Loria (one of the most hated owners in sports) Montreal lost it’s team in the 90’s, but a returning team that was in the same division as Toronto and had the hope of a new downtown stadium? That brings old Expo lovers like me, hope. I grew up within walking distance of Jarry Park âš¾  , and would go to games if they came back.

There seems to be a bit of a backlash in the US about stores opening on Thanksgiving Day, for the Black Friday sales, and I support that backlash. The next logical step is opening on Christmas Day for Boxing Day sales. We live in a Consumer Society, but we do not need to consume that much!

My Writings for Week Ending November 28th

The snow all went away this week, but we are left with the cold weather and we can now see all the “early deployment” Christmas Lights as well:

  • Inflation Stays High Despite Lower Gas in October is another example of how numbers don’t necessarily mean what you think they do. I still think the collective lifestyle of Canadians is slipping due to price increases, but you wouldn’t think it looking at the reports.
  • I tried a small poke at the mainstream media with the TFSA Retirement Welfare Bums, but no one seemed to get too indignant about my analysis.
  • RRSP to TFSA Grand Jeté is really just a rehash of many other articles about what to do with your RRSP refunds, although Mark from My Own Advisor pointed out the model does loan the government money, which is something I never like doing.
  • I had some spare time on the weekend so I came up with Financial Tweets of the Week, just to expose you to some other good financial stuff.

This Week’s Finest

It is in you to give
Yup, that is my arm again. Give Blood, it’s in you to give!

Now that we are fully in the Yuletide season, I look forward to the plethora of articles on “How to do Christmas on a Budget”, here is all of them summed up, “Don’t Spend Money!”, there you have it, but there are some very good articles this week (on other topics):


A Fanfare For the Common Man

Aaron Copeland’s music resonates with me for many reasons, just listen to this tinny old TV tape, and you can hear the majesty in this composition:

Never let it be said that I don’t have class!


Random Thoughts for 2014

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


My Twitter feed is 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)).

Feel Free to Comment

  1. Great list of articles that you shared with us. Thanks.

    Great to see that you’re donating blood. I’ve been donating regularly for the last 6 years or so.

  2. Last year we bought an Amazon Prime subscription ($79), which came with free two-day shipping, and did 90% of our Christmas shopping online. You can even have the gifts shipped directly to the recipient, which is great when you have family all over the country.

    Verdict: I’d pay $79/year to avoid the crowded malls, and I wouldn’t set foot in a mall or electronics store on Black Friday.

    Thanks for the mention!

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