Here is a money saving tip I just learned the hard way: Read your contract closely before signing!
My wife really wanted an iPhone for a long time now. I had grown tired of Bell for several reasons and when I got my Blackberry I did so through a friend of mine at Rogers. I figured I'd save some money by getting a couples plan, but because we signed a 3 year contract with Bell, I knew getting out of it was going to be expensive.
I was told that canceling even 1 day early was going to cost me the minimum cancellation fee. So I waited until the contract expired (November 27th) before getting a couples plan and an iPhone at Rogers. Rogers took care of the phone switching which is supposed to cancel the contract, so you can imagine my surprise when I got notice that my phone was cancelled on December 27th.
I called to ask what this was about and it turns out that after the 3 year contract expired it automatically went into a month to month contract. To get out of the month to month contract I needed to give them 30 days notice. As hard as I tried (maybe threatened a little) I realized I wasn't going to get out of paying 2 phones in one month. Even though I couldn't use the Bell service if I wanted to because the number was switched over.
I'm usually pretty good at reading my contracts before signing, but in my defense it was 3 years ago that I signed. Plus this was the second contract with them, so I didn't read the second one as close as the first. Also, it just didn't make sense to me that if I transferred my number the number after the contract expired, I'd automatically be in a new contract.
I knew a year before the contract expired that I wasn't going to renew with them, so I guess I should have double-checked what I needed to do to end the "expired" contract. Still boggles the mind, but lesson learned!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
My Whereabouts
OK, I suppose I should explain why I stopped writing, so here goes my list:
1. Running out of post ideas.
Intermediate Financial Accounting I & II didn't really lend themselves to topic ideas that I could share with the general public. Calculating the future value of bonds is fun for me, but I doubt any of you really care. I was also hoping to feed off of the comments, but I wasn't receiving as many as I had hoped for.
2. Tougher courses.
I'm no longer into level 1 courses and it is obvious to me. About the time I stopped writing a final was approaching, I had fallen behind on studying, and was seriously close to failing that exam. I dropped everything and even took a sick day to buckle down so I could pass. For the other reasons I'm mentioning I didn't pick it up again after the exam was done.
3. Lack of comments.
I realize this is mostly a one-sided conversation, but I was hoping for a little more participation. When I stopped writing it felt like no one was going to notice, so I didn't bother to explain myself then. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lot of verbal communication to continue writing. So thank you all very much, and I will try not to take it personally in the future.
4. Depression.
After 8 years of schooling, my wife was finally about to graduate as an RN. However, it appeared that the best she could hope for was going to be part-time work. From what I was hearing from her and all her classmates, was that there was no work to be had. That meant I was stuck at my job indefinitely! Writing about becoming an accountant didn't seem to be all that important anymore.
Now she is working full-time and they call her on every day that she has off asking her to come do another shift! I'm still at the same job for now, but at least we're not solely reliant on my income.
---
So hopefully you can forgive my absence. I probably won't write as regularly anymore, but I'll aim to have one of these a week (less around exam time).
If you ever have any financial questions you'd like me to try and research and tackle, please send me a comment or e-mail. If you ever disagree with anything I write, I'd love to hear that too! Honestly!
Thanks again to everyone for the support. Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone!
1. Running out of post ideas.
Intermediate Financial Accounting I & II didn't really lend themselves to topic ideas that I could share with the general public. Calculating the future value of bonds is fun for me, but I doubt any of you really care. I was also hoping to feed off of the comments, but I wasn't receiving as many as I had hoped for.
2. Tougher courses.
I'm no longer into level 1 courses and it is obvious to me. About the time I stopped writing a final was approaching, I had fallen behind on studying, and was seriously close to failing that exam. I dropped everything and even took a sick day to buckle down so I could pass. For the other reasons I'm mentioning I didn't pick it up again after the exam was done.
3. Lack of comments.
I realize this is mostly a one-sided conversation, but I was hoping for a little more participation. When I stopped writing it felt like no one was going to notice, so I didn't bother to explain myself then. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lot of verbal communication to continue writing. So thank you all very much, and I will try not to take it personally in the future.
4. Depression.
After 8 years of schooling, my wife was finally about to graduate as an RN. However, it appeared that the best she could hope for was going to be part-time work. From what I was hearing from her and all her classmates, was that there was no work to be had. That meant I was stuck at my job indefinitely! Writing about becoming an accountant didn't seem to be all that important anymore.
Now she is working full-time and they call her on every day that she has off asking her to come do another shift! I'm still at the same job for now, but at least we're not solely reliant on my income.
---
So hopefully you can forgive my absence. I probably won't write as regularly anymore, but I'll aim to have one of these a week (less around exam time).
If you ever have any financial questions you'd like me to try and research and tackle, please send me a comment or e-mail. If you ever disagree with anything I write, I'd love to hear that too! Honestly!
Thanks again to everyone for the support. Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Stop the HST
I've had a lot of people ask me where I've been and to urge me to continue, so here I go. I'll explain where I disappeared to shortly, assuming anyone is still listening. Before I do though, I have to throw out a quick blog on something that has been bothering me.
I made it pretty clear before that I was pro-HST. That still hasn't changed, but recently I've taken a greater interest in our political system now. Its a very interesting time to do so with two leadership races on the way here in BC. So, I now have a better understanding on what the anger is all about, and I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the actual tax being a good or bad idea. I know its not a political blog, but it is hard not to discuss politics when trying to discuss the HST. Please bare with me and we'll get to my point at the end.
The government is supposed to be our elected representatives. Meaning they should represent what we want. When the premier of BC decides unilaterally to introduce a tax without MLA approval it violates how the system is supposed to work. Gordon Campbell lied to get elected, but that isn't surprising for a politician. What is surprising is his disregard for the democratic process. I'm sure if it had been taken to a vote it would have been struck down.
I still insist it is a better system, and I'm not trying to say that the general public is stupid for fighting it. However, no one can expect the general public to just take a politicians word that something is good for them. Or for that matter, any salesperson. I'm convinced that if the public was educated first and then asked to vote for it, it would have gone through.
Regardless, a wrong has been done and needs to be corrected. Is remove the HST really the best solution though?
Something just dawned on me today though. I think the Anti-HST movement is asking for the wrong thing. HST is just a harmonizing of the PST and GST taxes. We could reverse the HST, but without adding back the PST exemptions we had before the HST was introduced the changes would be irrelevant. Imagine how happy you'll be when the HST is reversed and now you pay 7% PST and 5% GST at the restaurant instead of 12% HST. Woo hoo!
In reality, I assume if the tax is reversed, these exemptions will be put back. However, what we really care about is paying more tax on services (maybe a few other things). A lot of companies have gone to a lot of work to get the HST introduced (the software company I work at for one). So, is it fair to penalize them for the Premier's mistakes? We already have a few exemptions on the HST, and adding a few more will leave a lot more people happier overall. I mean, do you really care what they call the tax?
Curious on your thoughts.
I made it pretty clear before that I was pro-HST. That still hasn't changed, but recently I've taken a greater interest in our political system now. Its a very interesting time to do so with two leadership races on the way here in BC. So, I now have a better understanding on what the anger is all about, and I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the actual tax being a good or bad idea. I know its not a political blog, but it is hard not to discuss politics when trying to discuss the HST. Please bare with me and we'll get to my point at the end.
The government is supposed to be our elected representatives. Meaning they should represent what we want. When the premier of BC decides unilaterally to introduce a tax without MLA approval it violates how the system is supposed to work. Gordon Campbell lied to get elected, but that isn't surprising for a politician. What is surprising is his disregard for the democratic process. I'm sure if it had been taken to a vote it would have been struck down.
I still insist it is a better system, and I'm not trying to say that the general public is stupid for fighting it. However, no one can expect the general public to just take a politicians word that something is good for them. Or for that matter, any salesperson. I'm convinced that if the public was educated first and then asked to vote for it, it would have gone through.
Regardless, a wrong has been done and needs to be corrected. Is remove the HST really the best solution though?
Something just dawned on me today though. I think the Anti-HST movement is asking for the wrong thing. HST is just a harmonizing of the PST and GST taxes. We could reverse the HST, but without adding back the PST exemptions we had before the HST was introduced the changes would be irrelevant. Imagine how happy you'll be when the HST is reversed and now you pay 7% PST and 5% GST at the restaurant instead of 12% HST. Woo hoo!
In reality, I assume if the tax is reversed, these exemptions will be put back. However, what we really care about is paying more tax on services (maybe a few other things). A lot of companies have gone to a lot of work to get the HST introduced (the software company I work at for one). So, is it fair to penalize them for the Premier's mistakes? We already have a few exemptions on the HST, and adding a few more will leave a lot more people happier overall. I mean, do you really care what they call the tax?
Curious on your thoughts.
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