Canadian Capitalist

I use Virgin Mobile’s prepaid service and have been very impressed with their 120-day expiry period for top-ups of $15 or more. I referred many friends to their service and now find that Virgin Mobile has significantly shortened their expiry periods. While Virgin Mobile continues to offers the best value for occasional users, I would [...]

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After years of using the American Express AIR MILES credit card, I recently applied for the American Express Costco Cash Rebate Card. The rewards rate on the AIR MILES credit card is 0.68%, whereas the Costco Cash Rebate is 1.5% (on spending over $5,000 to a maximum of $500).
In the comments to the earlier post, [...]

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It is very fortunate that we are having a milder-than-normal winter as the costs to heat our homes are soaring. The effective gas supply rate charged by Enbridge Gas (TSX: ENB) has risen to 41.19 ¢/M³ (effective Jan 1, 2006) from 29.47 ¢/M³, an increase of 40%. Enbridge advises that the increase would add $239 [...]

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President’s Choice is offering a new mobile service, but Virgin Mobile is still superior.

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Canadians have been dealt a raw deal in two consumer protection initiatives: the Do-Not-Call Registry and Number Portability.
A column in the Toronto Star points out that the draft legislation to implement the Do-Not-Call registry has been amended to include exceptions for charities, political parties, polling companies and businesses with “existing business relationships”. What a farce? [...]

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I was shopping at Costco today and the cashier gave out a brochure for an American Express credit card. I regularly use the American Express Air Miles card and the President’s Choice MasterCard, never carry a balance on both the no-fee cards and use them primarily for the rewards. All credit card solicitations get thrown [...]

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I’ve been impressed with the many free offerings from Google in the past and I regularly use Picasa, Google Desktop Search, Blogger and Google Earth. Recently, Google unveiled the next version of Desktop Search and in typical Google fashion, they have made the product better (like the ability to search PDF documents). They have also [...]

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There is a controversy going on over how expensive average auto insurance premiums in Ontario are compared to other provinces. Consumer’s Association of Canada claims that premiums in Ontario average $2,384 per annum compared to $1,325 in British Columbia and $1,715 in Alberta. The Insurance Bureau of Canada, an industry association, on the other hand [...]

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This story in Time magazine notes that inflation is actually much higher than the official CPI measures indicate. People living in Main Street have felt the effect of inflation for the last few years in increasing home and auto insurance, higher property taxes, higher home heating bills and lately, a small fortune to tank up [...]

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I found the RedFlagDeals.com website while surfing the web. It is filled with coupons, flyers, online and in-store deals applicable in Canada. They also have fairly detailed articles comparing high-interest savings accounts (e.g. ING Direct vs. Amex Bank) and no-fee credit card reward programs (e.g. American Express Air Miles vs. Canadian Tire Options MasterCard). It [...]

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