Updates: April 8 – 14

In the fall, my employer offered the flu shot to all employees, free of charge. I declined, as I usually think these things are more media overreaction and paranoia. I say let our bodies defend us as they were designed to! I faced the consequences of these decisions over the past week, as I spent most of it in bed with the flu. I’m finally starting to feel normal again, although it’s meant that my plans to run in the Sun Run have been derailed for this year. The time recuperating gave me the opportunity to check out a bunch of the blogs featured on Modest Money’s Best Canadian Finance Blog contest (go vote for us!). Here’s what I’ve been reading:

• Last week, I successfully transferred our bean seedlings outside into the planters. It’s a little colder where Kerry lives, and you can check out her ingenious seedling pot solution at Squawk Fox. Eggshells!

• I recently pulled a book on ETF’s off my shelf, and was reminded I hadn’t read it yet after winning it in a Canadian Dream: Free at 45 contest. Young and Thrifty has a look at a different ETF book, which has me primed to dive into mine!

• We like to get cable TV and internet for less. Our current promotion is expiring and we’re on the lookout for the next deal. Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses gives their take on getting the best deal on cable internet.

• I’m guilty of not checking my bank account terribly often. Usually, just when I get paid every two weeks to execute the budget and at the end of the month for my net worth. Finance Fox points out that checking your bank account more often is a good habit as it provides you the opportunity to catch errors.

• For homeowners, Nelson asks “why don’t more people get a metal roof?” His numbers make sense, and I like that metal is not flammable. I have a thing about flammable roofs.

•  Mr. Money Mustache took a trip over to Financial Samurai and explained how he weathered the financial crisis of 2008. Yes, stock values would have gone down, but dividend payments from these companies decreased only slightly. Stock prices don’t really matter if you’re not looking to sell. This is the same philosophy we have with our TFSA investments.

• From CF: Brian and I try to keep a good stash of food in the house. It’s a great buffer against unexpected emergencies, time constraints, and even natural disasters. We don’t have quite as much food (or space) as SPF does but even in our little apartment, we have a solid month’s worth of food.

Here’s to good health!

3 Responses to “Updates: April 8 – 14”

1. Sustainable PF says:

   April 14, 2012 at 2:49 pm

   Thanks so much for including us this week!

   Reply
2. Financial Samurai says:

   April 14, 2012 at 6:14 pm

   I don’t think anybody can say with complete conviction that stock prices don’t matter if they don’t sell. Everything matters.

   Thanks for the highlight.

   Reply
   • Brian says:

     April 14, 2012 at 6:31 pm

     Hi Financial Samurai,

     Thanks for stopping by! I admit I’m on MMM’s side of the debate here and should say that I think it’s great you two are having the discussion.

     Categorically, I have to agree with your point here. Yes, if you own a stock that nobody wants, eventually it’s going to catch up with you. However, looking at it from the point of weathering a recession, I don’t think they matter as much because everything is relative. If your investment plan calls for buying low and selling high, yes the stock price will hurt you. If you are looking more for the dividend payments, then the stock price doesn’t matter as much. Was MMM’s investment portfolio ‘down’ in 2008? Of course. But he was still raking in the dividend payments from companies either didn’t cut, or cut very little the amount they were paying. In a real life, day to day sense, in this situation you wouldn’t notice a difference.

     If the stock drop is due to company specific rather than market forces, then a dividend cut won’t be far behind, so obviously the two are related. Looking at one or the other too heavily is often misleading to the overall picture.

     Looking forward to hearing more of the discussion.

     Reply