By 2 Cents on January 13th, 2012 | Category: Spending | The following is a guest post. I’ll have my 2012 outlook up on Monday. Have a great weekend! ~ 2 Cents
Looking for a credit card can be difficult because there are so many different types of cards that offer their holders different advantages. Some credit cards have rewards for making purchases from certain stores, but others will offer people cash back when they spend a set amount of money with their cards. Finding the one that is perfect for them has gotten easier because of the credit card comparison sites that have begun to make their way to the Internet.
Credit Cards for People with Excellent Credit
The comparison sites cater to different types of people and cards. For example, some people are looking for a card that will give them a 0 percent interest rate, and these comparison sites will have several examples of credit [...]
Read on and enjoy … Use Price Comparison Sites to Get the Best Deal
By 2 Cents on December 16th, 2011 | Category: Spending | The following is a guest post. While it speaks to American consumerism, there may be some food for thought for debt-laden Canadians here too.
The economy is in shambles, and while many would like to blame the deterioration of our economy on big government and big business, a large percentage of the blame also lies in the spending habits of the American people. As a whole, we spend too much, borrow too much, and save too little.
“Look at consumption levels and control for purchasing power over the last several decades, and America is simply in a league of its own.” states Sheldon Garon, Princeton Professor and recent author of Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves. “The only people who come close are people in Britain, but they are about 85 percent of the level of American consumption. Germans, French and others [...]
Read on and enjoy … America is the Most Indulgent of Any Other Country
By 2 Cents on January 26th, 2011 | Category: Spending |  It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
~Albert Einstein
Last week our electricity meter was taken out and replaced with a smart meter. I live in Ontario, the first Canadian province to install smart meters for all homes and small businesses. The program has cost about $1 billion and has been the source of much debate and political posturing.
I guess I should have done the research before the meter was installed, but human nature and my nature being what they are, I didn’t fully comprehend what the program was all about or how I felt about it until it actually happened. It looks like this type of program is going to be rolled out in British Columbia as well, so I thought I would write about the experience to give others an idea of what may be coming to their [...]
Read on and enjoy … Are Smart Meters a Dumb Idea?
By 2 Cents on September 27th, 2010 | Category: Spending | Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.
~Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course, 1997
Update: This story was included in the Carnival of Money Stories #74 posted at Sustainable Life Blog. Thanks!
When we had our home built 7 years ago, we went with a rental for our hot water heater. I realize now that this is not the norm everywhere, although it seems to be the route most people here in Ontario choose. It seemed, at the time, like a good call.
Renting a hot water tank means that your up-front costs are zero, and you just pay a monthly rental fee of $15 – $30. Service is covered for as long as you rent the tank, so you don’t have to worry about unexpected expenses. A couple of years ago, a sensor went on our hot water heater. A technician showed up the [...]
Read on and enjoy … Hot Water Heater: Rent or Own?
By 2 Cents on September 6th, 2010 | Category: Spending |  You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.
~ Eric Hoffer
Remember when you were a kid and you begged, pleaded with, and nagged your parents to buy you something for months on end? You wanted it so badly. It would solve all of your problems and provide you with endless happiness.
When your birthday came along and you finally received the desired treasure, it probably did give you the boost you predicted. But how long was it before that treasure ended up collecting dust somewhere and you moved on to the next desperately needed gadget, trinket, or toy?
For many of us, this cycle repeated over the course of our youth. For some of us, it continued well into our adult years. Indeed, the decades following World War II saw society as a whole adopt much the same pattern. Our homes gradually [...]
Read on and enjoy … The Law of Diminishing Returns
By 2 Cents on July 16th, 2010 | Category: Spending | Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
~ Henry Ford
Update: This article was featured in the Carnival of Money Stories – Starting a Sideline Edition posted at The Financial Blogger. Thanks!
If only the government had followed the advice of Henry Ford when it came time to decide whether or not to let GM and Chrysler fail. I recently made the case that a failure to fail has made a pretty big contribution to our current financial problems and I pointed to the auto bailouts as an example of this unhealthy trend. I live in Windsor, Ontario, traditionally a huge employment centre for the big 3 automakers. Mr. Cents and I both grew up here. We lived in various parts of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) for about 5 years, but returned home 12 years ago. (Has it [...]
Read on and enjoy … Buying a Car: Is It Wrong to Buy Foreign?
By 2 Cents on January 22nd, 2010 | Category: Spending | Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.
~ Author Unknown
Update: This post is included in The Carnival of Personal Finance @ My Journey to Millions. Thanks Evan!
Have you ever replaced an item before it really stopped working? Recently, we bought a new washer and dryer. Our old ones were working fine, but they were over 10 years old, and we began to worry about a sudden service interruption. We do a lot more laundry at our house than we used to. Here’s a tip for those of you with really young children out there: their clothes get bigger too! This means it takes a lot fewer pairs of jeans to fill the washer.
Mr. Cents did a lot of research online and decided that the most likely future problem would be that a bearing might go on the washer. It would [...]
Read on and enjoy … Preemptive Purchases: Wasteful or Worth It?
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