Comments on: This and That

By: Canadian Capitalist

Canadian Capitalist — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:14:46 +0000

brad: I’m always a few days too late in mowing our lawn, so I couldn’t manage with a reel mower. I wonder how effective the rechargeable electric mowers are these days.

DAvid: Good point. Unfortunately, in Ontario, unlike some other places, we can’t just walk away from our mortgage, so we’ll still be on hook for our debt.

By: WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo

WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:54:41 +0000

Thanks for the links CC – hope you had a great weekend!

By: DAvid

DAvid — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:51:42 +0000

What mind altering substances is Larry MacDonald consuming? He states: “Even if Canada is insulated to a large extent from such dramatic declines, they still can occur on a local basis as when, for example, your house is destroyed by some event not covered by your insurance.

How would the investment portfolio have any benefit over having paid off the mortgage? You’re still into the bank for your uninsured losses, and while you can pay some of it by collapsing your portfolio (with tax costs) you would be financially ahead of the game having paid down your mortgage.

DAvid

By: brad

brad — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:08:45 +0000

When I lived in Vermont and had more lawn to mow than I do now, I did a test: I timed myself using a gasoline-powered push mower (mowing my lawn took two tanks of gas) and then using the manual human-powered push mower. The human-powered one won! For two reasons: 1) I didn’t have to stop to fill it with gas, and 2) the human-powered one was a bit wider than the gasoline one, so it cut a bigger swath. I’ve been using a human-powered push mower ever since.

The only drawback I’ve found in over 15 years of mowing with a push mower is that if you let the grass grow too high, you’re toast. Most of the tall grass (especially the flower spikes) just bends down under the blades and doesn’t get cut. So you have to be diligent, and sometimes even that doesn’t work if you get two weeks of rain or you go away on vacation. But otherwise, I’m a fan. I don’t think it provides any more exercise than a regular gasoline-powered push mower, and in fact maybe less because the human-powered ones are lighter. But obviously if you compare it to a sit-down mower you get more exercise. And at today’s fuel prices, of course you can save a significant amount of money over the life of the mower as well.

By: Dividend Stocks Inside vs. Outside an RRSP at Investing Intelligently

Dividend Stocks Inside vs. Outside an RRSP at Investing Intelligently — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:00:52 +0000

[...] “Dividend tax breaks make blue-chips a wise buy” in the Toronto Star (linked from the Canadian Capitalist), Ellen Roseman says: Buying blue-chip Canadian stocks can be a good strategy for do-it-yourself [...]

By: ThickenMyWallet

ThickenMyWallet — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:25:03 +0000

Thanks for the link. Have a good weekend.

By: MillionDollarJourney

MillionDollarJourney — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:56:07 +0000

Thanks for the link CC!

By: Big Cajun Man

Big Cajun Man — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:19:42 +0000

Thanks for the link have a great weekend -c8j

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:51:45 +0000

I really do enjoy the manual mower!

TMW – it’s about friggin’ time!

Mike