BP #29 – $100 in Free Gas

///$100 in Free Gas///

Last Thursday I received a lovely gift in the mail: my four free gas cards.

Each is worth $25 of Texas tea. I felt like Jed Clampett.

If you don’t recall, this was part of the $350 in free money that I expect to receive from TD Canada Trust. I want to compliment TD Visa and their bonus program manager: the process was extremely simple and I got my free gas cards ridiculously quickly.

If you followed me on Twitter, you’d have known about this momentous occasion as soon as it happened (as well as immediate updates about other important events, e.g. my daughter’s birth):

Got these for free. #HatersGonnaHate twitter.com/TimelessFinanc…

— TimelessFinance (@TimelessFinance) August 10, 2012

If you have a Twitter account and you don’t follow me, what are you waiting for? Do it! My Tweets aren’t hilarious (unlike Nelson’s). But the pictures I post are usually interesting or adorable. I’m getting close to 100 followers (82% of the way) — help push my Twitter account over the edge!

///The Movie Project///

Note that this video is NSFW. Who knew a theoretical physicist could have such a potty mouth!?

Does “nothing” really mean “nothing”? Or is the ‘vacuum’ of space a boiling cauldron of dark particles popping in and out of existence? Does this explain why we exist? Why there’s “something” rather than “nothing”? If you have an hour, you should sincerely consider watching this. It’s under ‘The Movie Project’ because I forced my partner to watch it. Oh yeah, and we’re all made of stars.

///Catherine a.k.a. Hello Kitty///

*FACEPALM*

Cat definitely tries to laugh now, but her laughs don’t produce any sounds yet. In itself, that’s funny.

///Mentions///

• Nelson of FU mentioned Adina’s column about Responsibility Fatigue. He also mentioned my YouTube channel to which I’ve uploaded a whopping five-ish minutes of video. I’d post more, but I have no idea what people would want to watch. Probably nothing, hence I’ve established an equilibrium.
• Echo of Boomer and Echo mentioned my article on stock analysis for value investing in their weekly roundup. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out!

///Amendments and Addenda///

I was going to complain that nobody commented on yesterday’s article about value investing, and then Boomer and Echo mentioned it. Honestly made my day

///Tweet(s) of the Week///

See my “free gas”-related Tweet in the main section.

///Keyword Fun///

Money-Smart Keyword Award goes to:

close my td select service account

TD, in my experience, has been very courteous and prompt. They’ve also given me free money (per the main section of this article) and they’re going to give me more. But let’s be clear: I’m only in it for the money.

The Select Service account is supposedly inclusive, but it doesn’t even include bank drafts or Interac email transfers. For almost $30 a month, it’s really not a good deal. I’ll close my TD Select Service account — with great zeal — as soon as I get my cash.

Money-Stupid Keyword Award goes to:

cmhc coming after me for money

Well, if you signed on the dotted line and personally guaranteed money, you’d better open your wallet or call a bankruptcy trustee. Oh, and here’s a bonus “Money-Stupid” search:

when you are bankrupt in alberta are you allowed to get financial help from a friend to pay your rent

“Yuck” Keyword Award goes to:

when does lip gloss expire mine is ten years old

Ew. Ugh, long ago. Throw it out.

Notably missing keyword to SEO-optimize this post by increasing the keyword density

free gas

///YouTube///

I assumed that all large ships were built in dry docks and then flooded with water. I was wrong:

People who get caught up in marketing hype and brand loyalty will get worse products at higher prices.

I am deathly afraid of heights but I love tall buildings. If the Burj Khalifa wasn’t in an oil caliphate, I’d love to visit it.

“Letters to My Student Loan Officer”

///Quote of the Week///

The world’s shortest horror story:

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…

- Frederic Brown

///Links///

1. Dave at 6400 Personal Finance explains the nuance of “buying what you know” as an investment strategy. Also, only buy stocks that pay a dividend. This is a key tenet of Warren Buffett’s investing style. Here’s an example of a stock that I mentioned in my article yesterday:

I don’t take out car loans. But I understand why a car loan is so profitable — it’s a high-interest consumer debt (often believed by the money-stupid to be a “good” debt) taken out for an overpriced, emotional purpose. It’s also secured by an asset, albeit a depreciating one. In the long run, the auto market and car finance market face challenges but they’re poised (on the whole) for continued strength. That’s why I bought Carfinco’s stock at the depths of the credit storm in 2008 for less than a buck fifty. I sold a portion of the stocks to recoup my invested capital. Now I collect over 30% of my original investment in dividends each year. On the house’s money.

2. “Down with Shareholder Value” is a stupid article by a man who clearly doesn’t grasp the concept of shareholder value. It’s a series of straw man arguments and non sequiturs. The average Fortune 500 company has a grotesque compensation plan that bespeaks a breakdown in corporate governance, not this author’s imaginary ills of shareholder value run amok.

It’s a money-stupid article but, then again, what should we expect from the New York Times? Faux journalists who mistake their assertions for facts. These are the same fools who think the credit crisis was caused by big business. They were caused by big government. Banks responded to perverse incentives generated by government interference in the market — e.g. the government’s implicit guarantee for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I’d love to see one of these “stakeholder value” clowns try to do a cost/benefit analysis.

3. Face it: Garth Turner is right about everything. Housing is going to fall off a huge cliff. Or maybe it’s going to fall off a small cliff, stagnate, and then fall off another cliff. The mountain itself might be imploding right at this moment. In any case, the speckers, house horny HGTV youth corps, and realturds should duck-and-cover beneath the nearest granite counter. I don’t care how many pot lights you put in your shoebox war home or your dog-kennel-in-the-sky. It’s worth 50% less than you think. That especially goes for Peterborough. Somebody give Garth the Order of Canada. Even I have a medal from the Governor General, yeesh.

///lol-worthy///