///ING Kids Bonus for my Daughter///
I’ve written before about how Canadians can get free money from ING Direct. But is there an ING kids bonus? At this very moment, yes. I got a postcard this week from ING Direct:
I’m not sure if this is only for existing customers. But luckily we’re well-positioned to take advantage of it to benefit our baby, Cat. Here’s my beautiful daughter in case you forgot what she looks like:
Sometime after she gets the $25 bonus in her new savings account, we’ll put her savings into an RESP, resulting in an immediate 20% grant on the funds. This effectively turns $100 into $150, risk-free. Assuming compound interest neutralizes the ravages of inflation, that’ll be enough for a biology textbook. But you may be able to help her acquire more educational savings, and get yourself some free money, too. Hear me out.
You’re likely well aware that if you open an ING Direct account using somebody’s Orange Code, then you get $25 and the referrer gets $25 (so long as you fund your new account with $100).
My partner opened her account using my Orange Key, so we both got a bonus. My partner now has her own Orange Code: “38658955S1“. Here’s the deal: any referral bonus that my partner gets, she will deposit into Cat’s savings account. That means that you and Cat will each get 25 bucks. Copy the Orange Key (“38658955S1“) and click here to sign up. The process is quick and easy.
Remember, Cat’s $25 will turn into $30, thanks to an RESP grant. And it’ll earn compound interest. Medical school is expensive! (Speaking of Medical School, check out her Halloween costume in the next section.)
That’s as close to a “win-win” as it gets. Copy the code “38658955S1“ and click here to sign up!
And the “new customer” bonus is separate from the “Kids account” bonus. If you’ve got a child, look into setting up an account for him or her to get the limited-time ING Kids offer!
On an unrelated note, Steve Zussino of GroceryAlerts.ca liked the new cartoon avatars discussed in yesterday’s post. He commented on Facebook, however, that I looked like a teenager in my avatar. So I sent him an edited caricature that I’ll be using for Movember:
///Catherine a.k.a. “Chatty Cathy”///
For Halloween, we had planned on doing a turtle costume — using a green onesie and buying a costume shell for her to wear. But we couldn’t find a turtle shell (Ninja Turtles must not be popular this year. Dumb kids.). Instead we’ve gone with a more aspirational costume and ordered it online:
///Mentions///
Sometimes an article seems to “click” with Dear Readers. Last week’s post “Living Life to the Fullest with Macro Frugality” seems to have been one of those articles.
- Robb from Boomer&Echo was nice enough to link to it, despite the fact that my Twitter account recently (and temporarily) turned into a fight against the bourgeois.
- The gents over at DQYDJ not only mentioned it, but gave a plug for TF’s RSS feed. That’s paying it forward.
- Vicky, the writer of Vix Money, liked the post and provided some analysis of my thoughts.
- Even FinancialUproar‘s Nelson liked it.
///Amendments and Addenda///
- Regular commenter Kathy gave me a cool (hot?) idea this week, but I’m waiting til next week to discuss it further.
///Tweet(s) of the Week///
TF is a website made with the support of energy drinks, @adina_j, and readers like you. — TimelessFinance (@TimelessFinance) October 13, 2012
Due to increased brain activity, people with higher intelligence tend to have a harder time falling asleep at night. — Google Facts (@GoogleFacts) October 13, 2012
///Keyword Fun///
Money-Smart Keyword Award goes to:
how to maximize a professional wardrobe with a few items
Here’s part 1 of 4 in Adina’s series on building a frugal work wardrobe. All four posts are now uploaded, so sit down and read them. You’ll learn a lot.
Money-Stupid Keyword Award goes to:
how much does it cost to light a 40 watt bulb for an hour in ontario
Like a penny dude, quit stressing.
lol wut? Keyword Award goes to:
compare price between pizza hut and swiss chalet
It’s not even the same kind of food.
Notably missing keyword to SEO-optimize this post by increasing the keyword density
ING Kids
///YouTube///
I always assumed that the Old Spice commercials were produced with a ton of digital editing. Turns out that they were (e.g. CGI fish), but they also used a single shot and a ton of moving props.
I’m in this Investor Education Fund video six times (two of my “sightings” are literally blurs). It’s like playing Where’s Waldo?
Brilliant:
If you happened live under a rock specifically for the last week (I dunno, maybe you were testing out a new lifestyle?), then watch this video to catch up:
///Quote of the Week///
“Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.”
- Major General John Stark
///Links///
1. Apparently, Millennials are spurning “ownership” in favour of “access” – e.g. instead of car ownership, Gen Y wants to use ZipCar. The author pretends this is some kind of extremely special social trend; in which case, the most ahead-of-its-time business model would have been the now-defunct Blockbuster. Millennials do want to own homes and cars. They’re just broke.
2. Dollar store chain 99 Cents Only is opening a Beverly Hills location. Big news? Not really. Dollar stores are pretty awesome. The neat part is that the Canadian Pension Plan is heavily investing in American dollar stores, which proves about six of my beliefs in one fell swoop. Why isn’t CPP piling into Canadian real estate!?
3. Speaking of which, I read a great article on Seeking Alpha called (Uh) Oh! Canada, by a CFA from Washington state. It presents yet another statistics-based, highly-convincing argument that Canada’s housing bubble is going to implode sooner than later. Bonus points for the use of frightening graphs.
4. Yes! I finally have a sound justification for taking a daily multivitamin. I’m 8% less likely to die of cancer. Actually I think it’s now fair to say that I am, in fact, invincible.
5. I found this tour of Google’s data facilities to be interesting. Maybe the internet really is a series of tubes.
///lol-worthy///
I have been a Dollar Store shopper for years – Canada still hasn’t seen the level of dollar stores like the US.
Every time I’m in the States, I’m so jealous. They have real “DOLLAR” stores; nothing over a dollar. And the selection is better than Dollarama — where some items now cost as much as three bucks. One that I stopped by in Lewiston had a frozen food section; and it wasn’t gross food, we’re talking reasonable and often name brand items.