LinkStuff: Globe & Mail Mentions and Canadian Tire Parking Lot Edition

I bought a few more camping supplies last weekend at Canadian Tire. There were no price discrepancies this time, but it wouldn’t be a CT trip without some kind of incident.

I was walking along the sidewalk to our car with my two kids riding in the shopping cart. Up ahead there were two carts perfectly positioned to completely block the sidewalk. I mentioned this to my kids and they volunteered to move them. My five year old son moved one of the carts, but unfortunately it rolled right off the sidewalk onto the parking lot. There were no cars where the cart rolled onto – I think they were “customer pickup” spots or something.

The parking area has a slope where the cart was and it started rolling towards the driving lane. The three of us stood there and watched as the cart ended up crashing into a mini-van trying to park.

I thought “oh no”, thinking that the driver was going to be mad and expect money or something. However, he didn’t do anything at all. As I got the kids into my car, he had his trunk open and was just acting normal. Later I went over to apologize and the guy was super nice. He said he had two little kids in the back as well and understood what it’s like. It was just an accident, so no problem.

Thanks to the Canadian Tire parking lot stranger for being such a nice guy and sorry about the dents!

The Globe & Mail

I chatted with Roma Luciw of the Globe & Mail recently and she quoted me in two separate articles.

1. A primer on how to withdraw from RESPs.  Find out my little RESP secret.
2. Are you getting the most from your RESP?

I’ll be doing an online chat with the Globe & Mail site answering RESP questions on Wednesday, September 7th at noon.

On with the links

Susan Crossman wrote a beautiful piece on her kids going to summer camp and what it all means.

My buddy Matt Jabs has put together a neat book of 60 natural DIY cleaner products. Matt is really into DIY everything (to put it mildly) and cleaning products are a pretty good application of this.  I might have to make some of these for my housekeeper.  🙂

The Globe reports that schoolyard design is contributing to child obesity. This is the biggest bunch of b.s. I’ve ever read. The schoolyard at my old public school was right out of a prison movie set sans the high walls and guard towers. One big flat expanse of asphalt and black rock gravel with the obligatory basketball court. That was 35 years ago when there was only one fat kid per school. I mean come on – kids today are not as active, they have more access to crappy foods and they are fatter because their parents are fatter. The other problem is that parents won’t let kids do anything on their own anymore. Fine, but it’s up to the parents to stay active, so their kids will stay active.

Canadian Financial DIY says we need to include total returns when talking about stock market returns.

My Own Advisor brags about how old his car is.

The Oblivious Investor explains why markets are relatively efficient. Even if they don’t seem that way at times.

The Wealthy Canadian bought one ounce of gold.

Rob Carrick had a very good list of 20 things I don’t understand about personal finance.

Sustainable Personal Finance advises to pay yourself first.

Canadian Capitalist lists the things he liked about the Wealthy Barber Returns.

Echo explains why he doesn’t need a mortgage broker. I couldn’t get my bank to budge without one.

Michael James doesn’t think that high gas prices are changing behaviour.

Million Dollar Journey wrote a primer on futures contracts part deux.

And a few more links

• Why An Inverse ETF Is A Bad Choice, Even In This Economy
• Preparing for Emergencies- Hurricane Irene in North Carolina
• Should You Start Your Own Business?
• Don’t Waste Your Credit Card Cash Back
• What’s The Best Time & Way to Buy a Home?
• Auto Shopping: Tips For Buying And Getting The Best Price Your Next Used Car
• How To Invest Money For Your Kids
• Will Roth IRA withdrawals be taxed in the future?
• TradeKing Online Discount Brokerage Review