Think Outside The Piggy Bank

does anyone NOT hate Bell Canada?

Hating Bell Canada (Canada's largest telephone and telecommunications company) is about as traditionally Canadian as liking Tim Hortons (Canada's favourite place to buy coffee and doughnuts), and I've written about this monolithic/moronic institution before, but why stop when there's always something new to complain about? This time it's about their Internet service, and I'm annoyed enough that after having been with Sympatico for a long time, I think I'm finally ready to switch.

One of the many sucky things about Bell Canada is their policy that if you want to terminate your current contract early (and they're very keen on having you sign up for two-year contracts at a time), then you have to pay a $100 cancellation fee*. What they don't feel obligated to do in turn is to inform you that your service fees are going up. Nope, at their whim they simply raise their fees without telling you. In my case, I happened to notice that my monthly Internet bill was suddenly $2 higher. Now this may not seem like a huge amount, but it's the principle of the thing that matters. No explanation given for the increase, and no advance warning. Were they hoping I simply wouldn't notice?

Fortunately for my brother though, this will likely mean that I'll be switching over to his TekSavvy group as he's been urging me to do for months. Why didn't I do so before (especially given my obvious dislike of Bell)? Well, laziness in part as I'll have to change my online email address in about 100 places. Just wait until I inform Bell Canada though. They have a habit of trying to talk you out of leaving instead of providing you with the kind of customer service that would make you not want to leave in the first place, snort.

And in case you think I'm exaggerating the national hate affair with Bell Canada, check out the 617 responses to Ellen Roseman's Bell Blues column! Also, check out Bell Blues: one year later for more happy reading. ;)

*to my knowledge I'm NOT on a contract at the moment

Monday's money question 7

What is your very first memory of money?

I'll let you think about that while I dig deep into my own memory bank.

My first memory? Well, I must have been about six, and I've never admitted this to anyone before, but I climbed onto a kitchen counter, stole a coin from a jar in the cupboard (nickel or dime probably), and bought some candy at the store down the block. Isn't that terrible? My first memory of money involves criminal activity! Makes you wonder how (or if) that affected my relationship with money at all, snort. How about you?

charity and pets

The problem with after Christmas sales is the lack of after Christmas money. --MAXINE

Don't know about you, but Christmas seems like a loooong time ago already. And while it's a tad late to talk about Christmas gift-giving, I came across an article that I had clipped that I still want to share. The holiday season is a time when we are more likely to donate to charity and here in my hometown this past December a few local organizations got together and came up with the idea of including pets when asking for donations. A veterinary clinic hosted a 'Fill My Tummy' drive and collected pet food, leashes, collars, treats, toys and litter for clients of two area food banks. Given that there has been a 15% increase in surrendered pets here over the past year and that people shouldn't have to choose between feeding themselves or their companion animals, this venture was a good idea, and I hope, a great success!

and so a new year begins

May you have a prosperous New Year! I may need to borrow some money. --MAXINE

Ha ha, I'm sure she's only kidding. But can you believe 2010 is here? Hope you've all had a joyful holiday season with no need to borrow, then or now. Sorry I haven't been around much. Will explain later. Or not. ;)

reward points

Are they worth it? I'm thinking more about store reward programs than the reward points earned with credit cards. Let's take the Shoppers Drug Mart (Canada's largest pharmacy chain) Shoppers Optimum Reward program as an example. When you rack up 7,000 points, you can save $10 on your next purchase. Sounds great, but in reality that means (if you don't end up earning extra bonus points along the way) that you've spent $700 to get the measly ten bucks. If you make it to the highest level of 75,000 points, you get rewarded with $150. But of course you've spent (again, without extra bonus points thrown in to help) a whopping $7,500! Now, it's true that if you would have spent that amount in that particular store anyway, then the reward is kinda nice (although still paltry), but I think the reward system entices you to spend more than you normally would. At least, it did with me a number of years ago. When I found myself deliberately buying things I didn't necessarily need (yes me, the frugal one!) just to get more points more quickly, I stopped using the Shoppers Optimum card and am glad I did.

Ha! Here's someone with a different take. Kathryn uses the reward system to much greater advantage, so perhaps I need to rethink my strategy.

Canadian Tire 'Money' coin

I've written about Canadian Tire 'money' before, but now they've come out with a $1 coin (featuring the same weird guy as on the paper bills), which depending on your point of view, is either kind of cool or just plain stupid. Now I personally wouldn't mind getting this coin, but the problem is that you have to spend $25 first to get it. And it's only available this Saturday and Sunday. Touted as the first ever Limited Edition Canadian Tire 'Money' coin, I wonder how many people will go for it. Like I said, I wouldn't mind having it, but there isn't anything worth $25 at the store that I actually need. I even scoured the weekly flyer hoping that something, anything, would catch my eye, but nothing did. Well, except for the Sesame Street sandwich maker (yes, it's a sandwich maker that toasts two sandwiches with an impression of Elmo & Cookie Monster), which also is kinda cool OR stupid depending on your point of view. In my case it first caught my eye, but then made it roll, snort. And another problem with the coin (like the bills) is that you can only use it in Canadian Tire stores. It can't be used in general circulation, although I'll bet you someone will try!

black friday and buy nothing day AGAIN

Good grief. I was going to add a pithy post about Black Friday/Buy Nothing when I decided that I had better check and see if I had written anything last year, and lo and behold I had even come up with the same post title! (Now changed a bit of course.) But there's no point in restating what I said about Black Friday a year ago, so if interested, have a gander at last year’s post. Alternatively, take a look at why one person feels we really SHOULD shop on Buy Nothing Day. And if you are absolutely determined to drop your dollars, why, then you might as well drop in on the box below. ;)

razor-sharp thinking

It is vain to do with more what can be done with less. --WILLIAM OF OCCAM (1300-1350)

 

see Occam’s Razor

think inside the mouse

So I nearly killed my mouse the other day. No, not that kind of mouse (I'm vegan after all), but the mechanical one that you probably have your own hand on right now. It had been giving me trouble lately and I could barely get it to point to where I needed it to go. Even dragging was well, a drag, as it would only drag down and to one side. Finally I got so frustrated that in a fit of computer rage (yelling, "Bad, bad mouse!" -- as if that would really help) I slammed it several times on its pad (because you know, I couldn't throw it against the wall like I really wanted to do), when I remembered that I should probably just clean it. That, as you likely know, involves removing the ball inside and scraping the little bars with your fingernail of any dirt. Unfortunately that didn't do the trick, so I sadly pronounced the mouse dead and had my unofficial computer tech give me another one. But before attaching the new mouse I decided to open her up (note: vegans are officially opposed to opening up real mice, snort) and compared her to the old one. Sure enough I discovered that I'd overlooked the little white wheel and after cleaning that as well (a pesky job I admit), the old mouse glided across her pad like a graceful young figure skater and was as good as new.

The moral of this mouse tale? Computer mice get dirty on the inside real quick, and even though they're inexpensive to replace, a bit of elbow grease will get them squeaky-clean in no time and save you both a bit of money and a whole bunch of frustration to boot.

money quirk # 2

Not sure if this counts as a quirk, but whenever I get change I always look through it to see if there is anything from out of province or country. Or old, like the penny on the left. I've been handed back coins from Bermuda, Barbados and France, and so far have quarters from the following fifteen provinces and states: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Yukon, Northwest Territories, North Carolina, Alaska, Missouri, Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Eventually I hope to have quarters from each state and province, so if you happen to be able to add to my collection, I'd be more than happy to exchange good old Ontario change with you! :)