Easter Monday Notes And LinkStuff

I hope everyone had a happy Easter this past weekend.  I really don’t understand why the government and banks get today off but the rest of us (who actually work for a living) have to work.  What a rip!

I just finished filing my taxes – if you are a student or family making less than $20k per year then check out the QuickTax Student option – it’s free!

Best Canadian rewards card

A reminder that the best Canadian rewards credit card which I wrote about a while back  is still being offered.  I have to admit I haven’t gotten around to applying for it yet but mark my words – it shall be done.

Top link

Finance Freelance Life wrote a very touching post called “Why I’m glad I didn’t kill myself“.? She has suffered from depression in the past and considered ending her life a few years ago – luckily that didn’t happen and she is doing much better since then.? I’ve gotten to know Mrs. Micah fairly well over the past year or so and I can say that I’m really glad she is still around. I’m not going to admit that any blog post made me cry – but if there was any post out there that might come close to doing that – this one would be the one.

Some links

The Good Human talks about two new green initiatives he has accomplished – an outdoor catbox and a manual lawn mower.  I’m a huge fan of manual lawn mowers – you can see a picture of mine (and my son) here and the idea of an outdoor catbox is just fantastic.  We are currently temporary owners of 4 cats and the output and smell is incredible.  My kids have a green plastic frog sandbox in the backyard which might get converted for this purpose.  Yes, the sandbox is plastic (which is bad) but it’s also green (which is good).  🙂  Fewer cats is another good option which I’m pursuing.

Simple Trading System came up with an amusing explanation for the derivative markets (and the subprime housing markets).

Million Dollar Journey asked if organic food is worth the extra money.  Read the comments since there are a lot of different opinions in there (including mine).

Preet has a link to download the financial classic “The richest man in babylon“.  I plan to read this quite soon.

Financial Blogger talks about what you need to do before you die in terms of estate planning.

Cash Money Life is about to have a baby and wrote about shopping for baby items – the temptation to spend.   I’ve written a post or two on baby expenses and I agree that it’s hard not to buy!

My Two Dollars reports on Suze Orman’s new strategy of only paying the minimum on your credit cards.

ABCs of Investing hosted the “Spring has sprung” edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance.  Good timing considered it snowed the next day.

Blunt Money explains why she choose a 15 year mortgage (vs 30 year).

Canadian Capitalist suggests that going with a longer term mortgage might make more sense now.

Money Ning wrote about the secret power of positive attitude.

The Intelligent Speculator says to stop being so naive.

Good Financial Cents has 7 questions to ask your financial planner.  Jeff is a financial planner so he should know the right questions.

The Oblivious Investor talks about his new upcoming book on investing.

The Consumer Boomer asks do consumer boomers need an IRA?

Moolanomy explains how to transfer credit card balances safely.

My Dollar Plan does a review of Zecco online brokerage.

Investing School did a pretty comprehensive comparison of Etrade vs Tradeking vs Zecco.  Kind of like King Kong vs Godzilla vs The Moth.

Wise Bread hosted the 2nd ever Carnival of Pecuniary Delights (great name) and featured one of Mr. Cheap’s posts called ethics in business and life.