Category Archives: Money Tips

Spooky! A Series of Financial Articles for Hallowe’en

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I continue to wait for my RBC Direct Investing account to open. Actually, October 24 they welcomed me aboard with an email and invited me to start using my new account. There’s just one problem: I haven’t received my account number or password yet. Apparently they come by Canada Post. The login information screen says I’ll “receive one in the mail shortly.” It’s the October 30 today but still no sign of it. Sigh.

So I have lots of time to do some reading around the internet. Here’s a few Hallowe’en related articles I found to share.

Big Cajun Man explains how the best way to save money at Hallowe’en is to go out for a few hours, preferably with a pillowcase. He didn’t say it, but I expect he thinks you should have nets in front of the house to catch the eggs, too, so you can use them for breakfast.

Squawkfox let out her inner Swedish Chef one Hallowe’en past and created gruesome but edible treats. Check out the Big Eyed Frog at Recipes: Gross, Easy, and Fun Halloween Foods for Kids.

Canadian Budget Binder lists every conceivable way to save money but still have fun at Halloween, but more importantly asks Would You Pay $40.00 For a Can of Soup?

Gordon Pape considered Finance Minister Flaherty’s surprise Hallowe’en announcement on income trusts to be proof you can’t trust what anyone says during an election. Fortunately, many Canadian trusts survived in a new form but pensioners lost a great source of income.  With another election looming in the not too distant future, it’s something to keep in mind.

Dividend Ninja also explored that dark time in Canada’s investing history in What Happened to the Income Trusts?

And for those of us who care about the world we live in, some really spooky news: Bats may become extinct.

Perhaps the worst part is knowing the most likely cause is humans who didn’t wash their boots after exploring caves in Europe before exploring caves in North America. Some simple hygiene could have saved millions of lives.

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Book Review of Fight Back by Ellen Roseman

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While scanning the new titles shelf at our local library, my eye was caught by the bright red and white colour scheme of Fight Back. I enjoy reading Ellen Roseman’s column in the Star where she battles big businesses (and small) to help ensure customers get a fair deal. So I signed it out and started reading. Here’s my review.

Would I Buy This Book?

Possibly. If I wasn’t already working in a related field: Probably. Even though I’ve now read it, if someone gave me a copy as a present, I would keep it, not exchange it.

Fighting Back is a good source of information and reference and the material should be useful for several years to come.

Guest Authors Have Contributed Topics on Their Areas of Expertise

Rather than try to understand every topic in minute detail, Ms. Roseman wisely invited experts to contribute articles on very specialized areas such as dealing with Telecom companies and car leasing services.

Enlightening Anecdotes Add Interest and a Dose of Reality

Ms. Roseman draws on her extensive personal correspondence with consumers to provide examples of the problems we all face. The anecdotes make great illustrations and add humour and human interest to sometimes dry topics.

New Ideas and Topics to Consider

I expected that I would already have read most of the ideas before in her columns. I was wrong.

I came away from the book learning new things, even about old issues.

For example, I have heard people say they charge everything to a credit card so they can dispute their purchases more easily. I was a bit surprised to read in the book that most major credit cards only allow you to dispute 2 or fewer “unauthorized events in the past 12 months.”

An example of an unauthorized event from the book: A customer paid a deposit for furniture that was never delivered after being made to order because the company went bankrupt.

I found that information useful to tuck away. As with making a home insurance loss claim, I might not want to dispute a $5 credit card charge if I think I might need to dispute a $500 charge next month.

Another example: A Rental Car contract included a clause in its collision damage waiver that said it did not insure against damage caused by striking a stationary object. In other words, if you swerve to avoid a head-on collision and hit a tree instead, you could have to pay all the costs to repair the rental car yourself!

While I don’t have to worry about this type of insurance right now, I have children who may need to buy it in the future. I’ll be warning them to watch out for clauses like this one. (When I first had my licence I did not have a car, nor therefore any car insurance. I always counted on the CDW to protect me. Good thing I never had an accident: I don’t know if I had this clause in my contract or not!)

Useful Reference Information

The book includes tips and various websites to refer to while trying to solve problems. For example, there is an internet forum listed to help find the best telecomm deals for cellular/wireless phones.

Layout and Ease on the Eyes

The book is well designed.

Each topic is covered in about 2-5 pages. That’s an ideal length for reading in quick bursts—while on the subway, while waiting for a spouse to get ready, or while boiling the pasta.

The articles are grouped in logical sections as listed in the table of contents. The titles are useful not just humorous. And there is an extensive, detailed index at the back.

Drawbacks of the Book

Like all paper-printed books, one problem is changing information. For example, the book warns that Aeroplan points have an expiry date. Recently Aeroplan has removed that upsetting limitation.

In general, though, I found most of the articles written in a way that their information will still be useful even if minor changes are made to various programs and policies. In fact, it was kind of nice to realize that some improvements are actually being made thanks to people making organized complaints such as those suggested in the book.

Fight Back: 81 Ways to Help You Save Money and Protect Yourself from Corporate Trickery by Ellen Roseman, Toronto Star Columnist.

Related Reading

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Have you read Fighting Back? What topic or tip was the most useful for you? Please share your experiences with a comment.