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Personal Finance

Portable DVD Player To Amuse Kids On Car Trips

We recently bought a Dynex portable dvd player for my son to use in the car on long trips.  This isn’t something that I really wanted to do since I grew up in the era of playing road kill identification games and making fun of people in other cars to help pass the time on long trips.  The idea of watching the “moving pictures” in the car still seems fairly alien to me.

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The problem is that my son is often extremely loud in the car and it drives both my wife and I nuts.  We take a lengthy road trip several times a year to visit my parents so we have to deal with this fairly often.  It got so bad that my wife and I seriously considered drawing straws to see who got to ride the bus on the next trip.  My daughter doesn’t seem to be as loud in the car, although with a bit more training from her older brother – I’m sure that will change.

I bought a fairly cheap player from Best Buy which cost $70.  Even though this will only get used in the car, if it can create some peace and quiet then it would be worth paying $700!  You can pay quite a bit more for these kind of players but the main differences seem to be the screen size (ours is 7″) and battery life. Larger ones with better sound and picture (and more weight) can run $200 or more.  I can tell you and  that the screen and sound quality for our dvd player is quite adequate.

The unit itself is pretty small and light which is great since my son holds it in his lap.  It has an internal rechargeable battery which is supposed to last for a few hours.  It also has a cigarette lighter plugin so you can keep running it after the dvd internal battery has run out of juice.  I believe you can also get some sort of splitter in order to have 2 players plugged in at the same time.

We tried the dvd player out on our last big trip at Christmas and all I can say is wow!  It worked so well that I bought another one for my daughter.  The kids were surprisingly well behaved on that trip so we didn’t whip it out until the last hour of the return trip.  Next time we’ll bring it out a lot sooner!  I’m not a big fan of too much tv for little kids but on road trips things are different.  I don’t care if they watch movies and eat french fries the entire trip – whatever it takes to get them quiet!

What kind should I buy?

Portable dvd players come in all sorts of sizes and quality.  It really depends on your requirements.

Here are some considerations:

Screen size – Ideally it would be nice to have a larger screen size but the drawbacks are more weight, batteries won’t last as long and higher cost.

Battery/plugin – If you are using the player exclusively at home and in the car then the battery life isn’t that important.  On the other hand if you are using it in a plane or camping where you can’t recharge easily, then getting a longer life battery will be more important.

Weight – Obviously, the bigger the unit is and the bigger the battery then the more it will weigh.  A larger player isn’t necessarily ideal in an already crowded car.

Summary

I definitely recommend a portable dvd player for someone who wants to watch movies when they are on the go or don’t have access to a tv.  I can’t state enough how useful they are to get the kids to shut the f*** up in the car.  🙂

The type you buy is really dependent on your usage and needs so think about what is important for what you want it for.  I would suggest that unless you have a specific need that requires a more expensive player then just buy a smaller cheap one.  They don’t cost much so you can always upgrade to a better unit later on.

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Personal Finance

Buying An iPhone From Rogers? – Don’t Believe A Word They Say

I recently wrote about my experience buying an iPhone from Rogers. To summarize: when I called, I had only planned on trying to get the $35 activation fee waived. I was fairly confident I’d be able to accomplish this since I’d read online that it was fairly common for new clients to get this. To be honest I didn’t really care about the $35, but I would have felt like I didn’t negotiate hard enough if I didn’t try to get something. I’ve always been a poor negotiator so I wanted to try to improve on that skill.

When I called, the guy I talked to didn’t even let me try to negotiate – he just started giving me stuff; activation fee waived, first month free, upgrade data plan from 500mb to 1 gig. Of course I agreed thinking that I had done quite well. In a similar vein to my Swiss Chalet story, I thought that giving the first month free was a bit dumb, but I wasn’t complaining.

Unfortunately, it turns out that while I thought I had been talking to the ol’ Gil of Rogers, in fact I had actually been talking to the Lloyd Braun* of Rogers.

*In one Seinfeld episode, Lloyd Braun worked for a short time for George’s father, Frank Costanza, allegedly selling computers (although the phone line he was “using” to make sales wasn’t even connected). He was the superstar salesman that George couldn’t be.

Things were fine the first month – no charge on the visa and everything was great until I got charged $126 in the second month. I called up to see what the deal was and the girl I talked to said that it was for the monthly charges and the activation fee. I told her about what I had been promised and she said that my account had none of those things noted. She couldn’t do anything for me – couldn’t waive the activation fee and would only upgrade the data plan if I paid $5 per month. I told her that I was pretty annoyed that I had been promised all these things and none of them happened. She documented my claim and promised to escalate to a manager who would get back to me within 4-24 hours.

Still waiting for that call.

Young and Thrifty (an excellent new blog) recently wrote about her experiences with “negotiating” with Rogers. Her take on it was a lot more upbeat than mine, but it seems that the same modus operandi was used in her case – a deal was reached (with Lloyd Braun*), but later on it turns out that there were “no notes” with any details about the deal.

Maybe someone should tell the Rogers reps that the “notes” screen is actually the equivalent of the Springfield power plant pneumatic tube system.

Homer drags Marge away from her paperwork for lunch. He takes her
form, puts it into a canister, and sends it through the pneumatic
tube system.

Marge: But where does it go?

Homer: Don’t worry Marge, the tube will know what to do.

The canister takes a wild ride through the tube
system, eventually being deposited… outside, where a nearby beaver
collects it and adds it to a dam built entirely of message canisters.

I hadn’t really thought about it before, but when someone promises you something on the phone then you really have no way of making it happen. Now that I’m an existing customer, Rogers can treat me like shit like all their other customers so I can’t get anything done until my 3 year contract is up

FU Rogers! You won’t be getting my phone business next time around.

I did learn one thing from the call – apparently I had been given the upgraded data plan for a couple of months free. I didn’t even know that. Oh well – I think that time frame is almost over so I better get going with some downloads.  After 2 months, I have yet to download an app.

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Personal Finance

Don’t Believe? Don’t Call!

There have been a number of signs that have gone up in my area that promise “EARN CEO INCOME FROM HOME”.  On the face of it, this is clearly a scam.  The way to make CEO income is to become a CEO.  There is NO WAY anyone will sell you a program that easily let’s you earn a massive salary at home.  It’s a claim that’s inherently ludicrous.  Sadly, some people will believe and will call (and I’m not sure if there’s any way to protect them from themselves).

What really got me about this sign (I still chuckle every time I see it), is that these scammers aren’t even willing to sell to pretty stupid people (who would call with a few questions before handing over their credit card number).  Nope!  They want COMPLETELY IDIOTIC people who believe them based on nothing more than this sign and a phone number!  And if you don’t believe?  Don’t call (their life in the fast lane doesn’t allow them to explain their fabulous system or listen to people tell them off for being crooks).

Years ago, I was involved in “buy and sell” communities on newsgroups or BBSes.  Occasionally someone would advertise something that was very overpriced for what it was.  Often other members of the community would call them on this, which invariably was met with some (less polite) variation of “mind your own business”.

Part of what was surprising was that this would normally shut the critics up (and they would then let the scammer try his best to sucker people in peace).  As a society, we’ve allowed the same thing to happen when slander and libel laws are abused by people behaving badly.  This happened to Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money when Monavie sued him.  The same thing happened to John T. Reed for criticizing Russ Whitney.  Sadly, with deep pocketed low-lifes, this is a standard approach to suppressing their critics (and really, should critics be expected to subject themselves to the ordeal of a lawsuit just to publish the truth?).

Heck, I even covered up the phone number of the picture in this post (since I didn’t want them coming back and accusing me of defamation).  And for the record, the only labels I’m applying to Monavie and Russ Whitney is to call them low-lifes (which is defensible as opinion).  Nothing else in this post applies to them.  At all.  In any way.  I’m not even sure why I included that paragraph in this post…

I think Ellen Roseman does a fabulous job as a consumer advocate, but I sometimes get the feeling that she’s holding her comments in check (and being careful how she criticizes companies).

I don’t offer any suggestions on the best way to strengthen the role of people sharing reputations about shady dealers in society.  As John Reed described his battle:  “No one was paying me to put on such a show. I was just defending my home and life savings.”  I think it’s vital information which is being provided by Messieurs Reed and Man and Ms. Roseman, and I don’t think it’s right that they have to put themselves in such a vulnerable position to do so.  It’s my belief that society (that’s us!) should go to greater lengths to protect them.

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Personal Finance

How To Fix Errors On Old Tax Return Plus Claim Your Kids Deduction

Thanks to commenter David on my recent QuickTax software review, I learned that you can claim your kids and I now need to refile my tax returns for the last two years.  It is on the federal TD1 form and is plain as day (now that I look at it). So much for saving money by doing my taxes myself!  Mr. Cheap has asked me a few times if I’ve even considered going to an accountant and I now realize that he wasn’t asking so much as he was suggesting.  🙂

The good news is that I researched how to make corrections on tax returns that you’ve already filed and it looks to be very easy.  Here is the T1 form you need to fill out.  Basically all you have to do is fill out the line number you are changing, the old value, the new value and that’s it.  CRA will recalculate your tax return.

As for the child tax credit you get a $2,000 deduction amount per child starting in 2007.  This amount goes up each year and was $2,089 for 2009 tax year.  It applies to kids who are under 18 at the end of the tax year.

In my case I had 1 kid during the 2007 tax year and then 2 kids for both the 2008 and 2009 tax years.  Please note that I’m counting my kids for multiple tax years – I don’t have 5 kids!  I believe this works out to a bit more than $300 per kid per year which means that I will get back $300 for the 2007 return, $600 for the 2008 return.  A good payoff for a fairly small amount of fixing.

I had researched writing off dependents before but I had only found this article about dependents which clearly doesn’t cover my situation and made me think that you couldn’t claim your kids.

If you live in the United States and are looking for the relevant information then check out this article called Amended tax return.

How about you guys?  Did anyone else cheat on their old returns and need to correct them?

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Personal Finance

Send Me Your Tax Software Review And Make Some Money

Yesterday, Marianne made a comment on my QuickTax post asking if I could mention or review free tax software options such as StudioTax. I responded that although I don’t have the time or interest to review other tax software, I’d be more than happy to publish any reviews provided by a reader.

So with that in mind I’m going to throw the idea out to you, the readers that I would love it if someone writes a review about whatever software they use.  It doesn’t matter if you like the software or hated it – a review is a review.

As a special bonus I’ll even pay $20 for any such reviews.  I will only pay out money using Paypal so you need to have an account (it’s free).

What I’m looking for

I don’t have a set format or length for reviews but I doubt anything less than 400 words would not be of much use.  Most of my reviews are much longer than that.
If you can just describe your situation ie what version of software you need and talk about the different features, what you like about it, what you didn’t like about it, how much it costs etc then that’s probably all you need to do.

I’ll accept reviews for the next week or so.  My email is qffpillars at gmail dot com

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Personal Finance

QuickTax Canadian Tax Software Review – Get 10% Off

If there is one thing I can’t stand is doing taxes.  I’ve always done my own taxes and although it wasn’t too much of a chore when my financial situation was simpler it was still a pain.  Now I have investment income, investment sales, a small business and things are a lot more complicated than they used to be.  Of course once I finish my return this year I’ll be thinking “that wasn’t so bad” but the problem is that by the time I do my next year, I’ll have forgotten too much info and the process will be painful once again.  This is one of those tasks that if you did it monthly, it would be a lot easier to do.

Please note that Canadian QuickTax is now called TurboTax

I decided to use QuickTax Business edition this year – at one time the idea of paying $40 for fancy software just wouldn’t have happened, but now I value my time far more than money so I don’t mind paying a bit extra if it will make the tax return easier.

Why don’t I use an accountant you might be asking?  Well, I don’t know – I had thought about it this year but one of the problems I have with an accountant is that I still have to do all the bookkeeping tasks in order to give the proper info to the accountant.  I don’t have an accountant so I have to go through the process of finding one.  It might happen still but not this year.

I had been using a cheap efiling program for the last few years which was basically the electronic equivalent of using paper forms.  In other words – no help at all.  I was always skeptical of claims about products like QuickTax and TurboTax (American equivalent) that they could “help” you with your return.


I have to say that I was quite amazed with TurboTax.  Basically you go through the screens filling in appropriate data.  If you need help or clarification at any point then you can branch off onto a different set of help screens.

One of the main advantages I found with QuickTax over the simple program I used to use is that you don’t have to know anything to use QuickTax.  For example if you made RRSP contributions and want to record them on your tax return then you need a schedule 7 form.  With my old program, I had to look that up and ask the program to load that form before I could enter the info.  With QuickTax, it asked me during the process if I had any RRSP contributions and then provided boxes to fill in.  Same thing with dividend income, interest income, interest expenses, business income and expenses.

An example of the type of help

I thought I would show exactly the kind of help you can expect.   At one point in the return it asks you if you are eligible to claim for the spousal amount.  There is a little check box in case you don’t know if you are eligible or not.

If you don’t know what the spousal amount is or whether you are eligible for it then click the box and you get a pretty good explanation of the spousal amount.

Drawbacks of QuickTax

I was very impressed with some of the features of QuickTax – the help function and interview process is a huge benefit for someone who is filing taxes for something they haven’t done before (ie new business) or haven’t filled out many tax returns.

The problem is that if you do know what you are doing then the interview process gets very cumbersome, very fast.  In my case I have struggled with a simple tax return program for the last couple of years, but I have learned all the forms I need and how to fill them out.  After a while I realized that I would be better off with the old program and decided to give up on QuickTax.  It’s a great software package but it’s just not useful if you know what you are doing.

I also haven’t given up on the accountant idea either – one of the things that came apparent with the QuickTax interview process is that there are quite a few questions that I need answered regarding my business (incorporation?) and even dependents – are kids dependents for tax purposes?

QuickTax versions

For the record, if you don’t have a business then there are lower priced options – in fact there is a free option but you need to have a fairly low income to qualify.  The cheapest version for most people is the online $15 version which should  be pretty good.  The premier version will cover things like investment moves and the business edition will handle your unincorporated business.  There is also a corporation business version but I doubt very many people with corporations will do their own taxes.

Online or desktop?

I was planning to get the desktop version (the one you download to your computer) but the cost was $100 whereas the online version was only $40.  Pretty easy choice.

What do you use to do your taxes?  Does anyone else with a business do their own taxes?

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Personal Finance

Use Your Cell Phone Apps To Manage Your Money

This guest post was written by Investing Thesis: Credits Toward Financial Freedom – a personal finance and investing site from a Canadian perspective. If you like this article, I would encourage you to subscribe to our articles

You would be hard pressed to find a person without a cell phone in this day and age. Parents buy cell phones for their kids in order to have a way to “keep in touch” and even seniors are becoming more comfortable with the technology available today. While some people still prefer to use a cell phone for the original purpose, to make and receive calls, there are many other perks associated with today’s phones. Specifically, owners of smart phones like the iPhone or iPod Touch have so many features on their phones, they might not even be aware of all the benefits they could be experiencing. There are new cell phone apps available that allow cell phone users to manage their money on the go.

Here we look at these cell phone apps and how they can help you manage your cash.

Bloomberg- This free mobile app is available for iPhone users as well as Blackberry users. Bloomberg.com is a website that helps active investors follow stocks, bonds, commodities and other business news. You can download the mobile app free of charge and keep track of all news associated with your investments from your cell phone. This is very helpful for busy investors who don’t have the time to be parked in front a computer all day.

Mint- Available to iPhone users, Mint.com has a mobile phone app that brings all the benefits of the online system to the palm of your hand. A popular website that allows users to track and manage every aspect of their personal finances from checking account balances to credit card payments, Mint.com offers a free mobile phone app that will help you budget and manage your finances when you are away from the computer.

Paypal- Paypal is used worldwide as a means of sending and receiving money. Whether you want to track payments received, send payments or view past transactions you can do so from your mobile phone while on the go. The mobile phone app offered by Paypal is available to iPhone, Android and Blackberry users free of charge.

Stockwatch- Keeping track of your portfolio performance each day is made easier with the mobile app offered by Stockwatch.com. This app will allow you to organize stocks and mutual funds while automatically calculating your daily return. You have access to news, charts, analytical tools, all for just $2.99.

Tipulator- A tip calculator does not offer life changing financial advice, however it can be fun app to have on hand when you are out for dinner. You will pay just under one dollar for this mobile app that helps you calculate the proper tip based on percentage and how to split the bill if there are several parties. Is it necessary to have a tip calculator? No, but it’s fun to try out and very handy for people who are not proficient at doing math in their head.

Pennies- If you need help keeping track of your spending, the Pennies app is a great way to establish a monthly budget while recording and tracking daily expenses. Instead of jamming your money and receipts in your pocket or purse, you can simply update the information on the Pennies app and see if you are in line with your desired budget. This app is not free but very affordable at $2.99.

There are many more mobile apps available for cell phone users. Most large banks offer apps that allow users to receive mobile alerts and reminders to avoid going over their limit or paying a bill past the due date. In the increasingly mobile world in which we live, it only makes sense to take advantage of cell phone apps that make managing your money on the go easier. By staying on top of your financial transactions you can improve your personal finances, in this case, with the touch of a button.

What apps do you guys use to manage money or check balances with?

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Personal Finance

Working On My 2009 Tax Return – Pep Talk To Me

It’s that time of year when I get to do something I really don’t enjoy doing – my taxes.  I’ve concluded that the main problem with taxes is not the form filling but rather the book keeping.  I’ve improved my record keeping system over the last year but it still needs some improvement.  My taxes are a lot more complicated than they used to be so that is also part of the problem.

I had toyed with the idea of using an accountant this year but decided against it since I couldn’t be bothered to find one and I also decided to splurge on QuickTax tax software which so far is making things a lot easier than in past years.  I’ll be doing a proper review of QuickTax next week, but so far I like it a lot.

Why are my taxes so complicated?

They aren’t really – but gone are the days when I used to just have a T4 with my income and a few deductions (taxes, employment insurance, CPP) and a couple of RRSP contribution receipts.  I still have the T4 and the RRSP receipts but I also have a few other things.

Taxable investment income/investment loan and capital gain

Until late last year I had a leveraged investment plan in place which means that I need to declare any dividend income from the investments as well as write off the interest on the investment loan.  This is complicated by the fact that switched from RBC Direct to Questrade last year.  Because I sold all the leveraged investments last year, I need also figure out the ACBs of all the stocks to determine how much capital gain there was.  The good news is that this is the last year I need to do this since I collapsed the leveraged plan.

Home Buyers Plan (HBP) loan repayments

Ok, the accounting for home buyers plans loan repayments isn’t very complicated but it is one more thing than I used to do before owning a house.

Small Business

My business which consists of this site among others makes up the bulk of the work for my taxes.  As a sole proprietorship business it is surprisingly easy to do the taxes for it but the book keeping is another story.  Last year I totally revamped how I kept track of my expenses and income by using an income/expense  spreadsheet inspired by Finance Freelance Life.  I’m going to be experimenting soon with QuickBooks to see if that helps a bit as well.

So that’s my tax story so far this year – has anyone else started their taxes yet?  Using an accountant?  Planning on doing some major cheating? 🙂