Buying A New Printer – 1

My quest for a new printer began a few months ago. I currently have a Brother HL1240 b/w laser printer, which I bought more than eight years ago. It cost me a fortune, but it has been a solid workhorse.

There was no particular reason to buy a new one; I was contemplating a colour printer. As well, it would be nice to have networking facility so that I could connect a second computer.

After going through the reviews of some computers, I decided to put off buying one for now.

Then, as if it sensed my desire to ditch it, the Brother stopped working.

Now, I have to buy one.

Again, I have spent hours pouring through various online reviews.

My requisites are:

All-in-one (scan, copying, faxing and printing)

Good quality printing

Network facility (Ethernet is sufficient)

Colour not essential.

I finally closed-in on three models:

Brother 9320CW (the most expensive)

HP CM1312NFI

Brother 7840W (the only b/w in the lot and the least expensive)

The reviews are as confusing as it can get. If one review says that the print quality of one is particular model is good, the other would make it doubtful. And for one printer, one reviewer complained bitterly about software issues. But another review claimed that while it had software issues, they can be tackled easily.

Then another review threw in a new aspect: the newness of the models. It seems that except the first one, the rest two are kind of reaching their peak time, but obviously, I would like to buy a new one.

So, I will do some more research, and keep posted.

Three Weeks Before EI Exemption For Self-Employed Expires

There is a little over three more weeks to take advantage of an exemption to the newly introduced Special Employment Insurance (EI) Benefits programs for self-employed people in Canada.

The programme offers certain types of EI benefits – maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care – to self employed people.

It does not include payments that regular employees receive when they are laid off, and that could be one of its weaknesses. To be fair, though, self-employed lack the employer-contribute component of premiums.

The new rule came into effect on Jan 31, 2010, and is part of a government program to extend certain EI benefits to the self employed through the Fairness for the Self‑Employed Act.

One has to wait a minimum of 12 months after starting to pay premiums to be able to receive benefits, but if those joining the programme before April 1, 2010, can receive benefits as early as January 2011.

Anyone who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and is self-employed can join this ‘voluntary’ programme.

Those who are self employed while working part-time can also join the programme.

Formally, to join the programme a self-employed person enters into a contract with the Canada Employment Insurance Commission.

And this can be done online from home or through a Service Canada kiosk.

Some critical information on the new EI Special Benefits for the Self Employed programme:

The Premiums

Calculated at the rate of $1.73/100.00 of earnings, up to a maximum earning of $43,200.00 for 2010. It would mean the maximum amount one could pay as premium per year would be $ 747.36. Because of its own, separate benefits programmes, those in Quebec will pay only $1.36/100.00

This programme does not apply to hairdressers, taxi drivers, and drivers of other passenger-carrying vehicles who are not employees per-se but whose employment is insurable under the EI Regulations.

The Benefits

Maternity: available to birth mothers, and covers a period of up to 15 weeks surrounding a child’s birth.

Parental: available to biological and adoptive parents, and can be taken by either parent or shared between them up to a period of 35 weeks.

Sickness: available if the insured person is unable to work because of illness, injury or even quarantine, up to a maximum of 15 weeks.

Compassionate Care: paid if the insured person has to take off from work to care for a family member who is gravely ill with a ‘significant risk of death’, for a maximum of six weeks.

Termination:

One can terminate the programme within sixty days of signing up, or if no benefits had been received. If benefits had been received, then payment into the system is mandatory during the person’s self-employment career.

More information can be obtained here.

Basics of Housing Mortgages

The Canadian government has announced tightening of mortgage and financing rules beginning April 19^th. The government has though declined to consider reducing the current maximum amortization period of 35 years and the minimum down payment of five percent of the value of the house.

Here are some basic pointers to the different types of mortgages available in Canada.

Mortgages can be in general classified into two types;

• Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM):

These are closed mortgages. Interest rate is fixed for specific term (for example, five years) and you cannot end it beforehand without paying a penalty.

Advantage: you will know the amount of interest and principal you would be paying for the term.  Even if the interest rate rises you mortgage interest rate will remain same until end of the term.

Disadvantage: If the interest rate goes down, as it has been over the past few quarters, you will not benefit as your interest rate is locked for a fixed term.

• Variable Rate Mortgage (VRM):

Here, the interest rate is pegged to prime rate. If prime rate changes your mortgage interest rate will change accordingly. Your payment amount remains same but interest component of the payment will change.

VRM can be further divided into two sub-categories.

Closed VRM:

Interest rate is variable for the term. But you cannot collapse before the end of term unless you pay penalty.

Advantage: If interest rate drops your mortgage amount will drop too. The interest portion of your payment will be less and you will pay more towards principal.

Disadvantage: If the interest rate goes up your mortgage amount will also go up and you cannot collapse the mortgage. If this happens interest rate of your payment will be more and you will be paying less towards principal.

Open VRM:

Interest rate is variable and it is not locked for the term. You can pay off the mortgage any time.

Advantage: If interest rate drops your mortgage rate will also drop. The interest portion of your payment will be less and you will pay more towards principal. If you feel the interest rate is going to rise, or if the interest rate has gone up, then you can convert it to a fixed closed mortgage without any penalty.

Disadvantage: Interest rate for these types of mortgages is usually higher than other two.

Analysing Canadian Gas Station Cards

The price of gas (petrol) has gone up over the years, but there is nothing we can do about it. If there is at least a small degree of comfort, it is that with strategic use, you could get something back from the gas stations or companies, and this is in the form of the now-favourite points.

The series of essays will consider some of the benefits offered by the gas stations. We will only consider the status in Ontario, and also only the following four majors – Petro-Canada, Shell, Esso and Sunoco.

Obviously, there is one big question: which is the most beneficial card.

In Part 5, we try to get to that, even though it is no easy task.

First, this is NOT a scientific analysis; rather a very basic analysis with some simple and basic presumptions.

The Input Method

I tank about five times a month, each time about 40 litres.

I have also assumed that I pump only regular gas which, again I have assumed, to be a dollar a litre.

Calculation

Let’s say, I have tanked for 2000 dollars and want to know the rough monetary value of having used the various stations.

Petro Points: 10,000 Petro Points. According to their website, 10,000 Petro Points would earn a gas gift certificate to the value of $5.00.

Sunoco: 6000 Sunoco Performance Points. 20,000 Sunoco Points equals $20.00. Based on this, 6000 Points would equal $6.00

Esso: 2000 Esso Extra Points. 1800 Points equals $10.00. Therefore, 2000 Points would equal $11.11

Shell: 80 Air Miles. It is a little bit tough to calculate the value for this, but 175 Air Miles can get a $20.00 fuel certificate. Therefore, 80 Miles would have a value of just over $9.00

So, a rough translation of the value of the various cards would mean the following:

$2000.00 spent=$5.00 @ Petro Points, $ 6.00 @ Sunoco, $11.11 @ Esso and $9.14 @ Shell.

Again, I wish to stress this is a very simple calculation, and one might be able to get more out of the cards by being a strategist – for example, linking HBC to the various cards would bring more points. But that is for another day.

Sunoco Performance Points — A Gas Card With Rewards – 4

The price of gas (petrol) has gone up over the years, but there is nothing we can do about it. If there is at least a small degree of comfort, it is that with strategic use, you could get something back from the gas stations or companies, and this is in the form of the now-favourite points.

The series of essays will consider some of the benefits offered by the gas stations. We will only consider the status in Ontario, and also only the following four majors – Petro-Canada, Shell, Esso and Sunoco.

In Part 4, we analyse some of the benefits of using the Sunoco gas station.

Benefits come primarily through two types of cards – Sunoco Performance Points and the HBC Credit Card or HBC MasterCard.

Both are free.

Sunoco Performance Points Card

Points are awarded for the following:

Ultra 94 fuel: 20 points/litre

Sunoco 91 fuel: 5 points/litre

Sunoco 89 fuel: 5 points/litre

Sunoco 87 (regular) fuel: up to 3 points (you will have had purchased 100 or more litres of regular fuel during the previous month to receive 3 points; otherwise, you get one point/litre)

Gold diesel: 10 points/litre

Regular diesel: up to 3 points/litre (same rules as Sunoco regular fuel apply in terms of the number of points awarded)

Eco-wash/Eco-bright/Eco-brilliant car-washes: 30 points/dollar

Eco-wash/eco-clean: 20 points/dollar

In-store merchandise: 20 points/dollar

Rewards:

20,000 Performance Points= $ 20.00 Sunoco gift card (to be used to purchase fuel, car-wash or in-store merchandise)

Partnership Programs

If you have HBC Credit Card or HBC MasterCard, link your Sunoco Performance Points account and receive 50 HBC Points for every dollar spent.

To know more about the program, or to apply, go to the Sunoco Loyalty Programs Website.

Shell Canada — Tanking With Rewards – 3

The price of gas (petrol) has gone up over the years, but there is nothing we can do about it. If there is at least a small degree of comfort, it is that with strategic use, you could get something back from the gas stations or companies, and this is in the form of the now-favourite points.

The series of essays will consider some of the benefits offered by the gas stations. We will only consider the status in Ontario, and also only the following four majors – Petro-Canada, Shell, Esso and Sunoco.

In Part 3, we analyse some of the benefits of using the Shell gas station.

Benefits come primarily through two types of cards – Shell’s partnership with Air Miles Program and the four different types of MasterCards from Bank of Montreal (BMO).

Air Miles Program

You can swipe the Air Miles card to get the following:

One Air Mile for the first 20 dollars, and one Air Mile for every $ 30.00 thereafter for fuel and other purchases at Shell.

Two Air Miles on oil change services for up to $ 14.99, three Miles for between 15.00-29.99 and five Miles if the value is more than $30.00

There are also special offers from time to time.

Shell/BMO MasterCards

No Annual Fee Cards

Shell Air Miles MasterCard

Benefits:

Save 1.5 cents on every dollar spent at Shell, to a maximum purchase of $2500.00 per month.

1 reward Mile for every $20.00 at other locations

1.5 reward Miles if you rent car through National Car Rental or Alamo Rent A Car

Discounts on car rentals of up to 25%

Shell CashBack MasterCard

Save 2.5 cents on every dollar spent at Shell for first three months, to a maximum purchase of $2,500.00 per month

Save 1.5 cents on every dollar at Shell after first three months.

Save 0.5 cents per dollar on purchases made using the card elsewhere.

1.5 cents per dollar on National Car Rental or Alamo Rent A Car locations worldwide.

Annual Fee Cards

Shell Gold Air Miles MasterCard (Annual Fee $ 99.00)

5 times bonus miles for purchases at Shell for the first three months

2 times bonus Miles after first three months, to a maximum of $2,500.00

One Mile for every $15.00 on all other purchases

25% discount on number of Air Miles required for flights worldwide and no blackout

2 times bonus miles on National Car Rentals and Alamo Rent A Car.

Discounts on car rentals

Shell Premium CashBack MasterCard (Annual Fee $49.00)

10 cents on every dollar at Shell for first three months, to a maximum of $2,500.00

3 cents for every dollar spent after the first three months

1 cent per dollar on all other purchases

BMO Roadside Assistance at no cost

3 cents on every dollar spent at National Car Rental or Alamo Rent A Car rentals.

To know more about the Shell advantages, go to Shell Canada Website.

Esso Extra Points Card — A Gas Card With Rewards – 2

The price of gas (petrol) has gone up over the years, but there is nothing we can do about it. If there is at least a small degree of comfort, it is that with strategic use, you could get something back from the gas stations or companies, and this is in the form of the now-favourite points.

The series of essays will consider some of the benefits offered by the gas stations. We will only consider the status in Ontario, and also only the following four majors – Petro-Canada, Shell, Esso and Sunoco.

In Part 2, we analyse some of the benefits of using the Esso station.

Benefits come primarily through two types of cards:

Esso Extra or the RBC Royal Bank Esso Visa Card.

Both are free.

Esso Extra Card

One or more Esso Extra Points for every dollar spent at an Esso station. (from my understanding, points can be collected even for buying non-fuel items, such as washer fluid or food items such as chips)

If you have RBC Royal Bank Esso Visa Card, then the points are mostly doubled.

Value of Esso Extra Points and Redeeming

You can use 1800 Esso Extra Points to get a gift certificate to the value of $ 10.00

Esso Partners

Esso Extra Points can be redeemed at the following places:

Choice Hotels – 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00

Chapters, Indigo, Coles – 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00

Swiss Chalet, Kelseys, Milestones, Montanas & Harveys – 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00 dinner gift card

Empire Theatres, Cineplex – 4500 Esso Extra Points = movie passes for two

Roots – 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00 gift card

Shoppers – 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00 gift card

Zellers, Bay, Home Outfitters — 4500 Esso Extra Points = $25.00

Tim Hortons – 4500 Esso Extra Points = 25.00 QuickPay Tim Card

Exchange of Extra Extra Points with RBC and HBC Points

2500 Esso Extra Points = 15,000 RBC Rewards Points

500 Esso Extra Points = 25,000 HBC Points

Aeroplan

Aeroplan Cards could also be swiped at Esso stations.

You will gain one mile for every three dollars spent

And if you want to donate your Esso Extra Points to a great cause, then connect to Kidney Foundation of Canada, Canadian Hockey Foundation or to the Hockey Jersey Program.

To know more about Esso Extra Card, or to join the program, visit the Esso Extra site.

Petro Points Card – A Gas Station Card With Rewards

The price of gas (petrol) has gone up over the years, but there is nothing we can do about it. If there is at least a small degree of comfort, it is that with strategic use, you could get something back from the gas stations or companies, and this is in the form of the now-favourite points.

The series of essays will consider some of the benefits offered by the gas stations. We will only consider the status in Ontario, and also only the following four majors – Petro-Canada, Shell, Esso and Sunoco.

In Part 1, we analyse some of the benefits of the Petro Points Card offered by Petro Canada.

Petro-Canada’s Petro Points Card

This is a free card, with great benefits.

Collecting Points

If you are buying SuperClean or SuperClean 94 gas — 10 points for every litre

If you are buying PlusClean fuel – 7 points per litre

If you are buying RegularClean – 5 points per litre

If you are buying anything from the gas station’s convenient store – 20 points per dollar

Car wash – 20 points/dollar

Certigrad services – 20 points/dollar

Besides this, every now and then there are special offers, such as cheaper gas for a limited amount if you buy a particular number of car washes.

Direct Rewards

10,000 Petro Points will get you fuel worth $5.00

Petro-Canada’s advantages do not end here, though. The card is tied with a number of other retailers and you can use your points to exchange or redeem.

Canadian Automobile Association (CAA)

Once you link your CAA card to your Petro Points account, you will get 20% more points each time you use the PP.

Besides, 75,000 Petro Points will get you a basic CAA membership.

Sears

Once your Petro Points membership has been linked to Sears Club card, you can collect points whenever you use the latter to shop at Petro-Canada.

You can also exchange points between Sears and Petro-Canada at the following rate: 20,000 Petro Points=1000 Sears Points= Cdn$ 15.00

Citicard Petro Points MasterCard

You will earn 2 cents off every litre/

You will earn 10 Petro Points for every dollar you spend at the tank

Amazon.ca

You can buy Amazon gift certificates using your Petro Points. The value is: 16,000 Petro Points = Cdn $ 10.00

Itravel2000.com

• You can collect Petro Points when you use Itravel2000.com to book your flights, cruises, vacation packages, hotels and rental cars. The value is 10 Petro Points per every dollar spent.

• If you have CitiCard Petro-Points MasterCard, then you earn double the points.

• You can also redeem your Petro Points towards your purchases at the value of 10,000 Petro Points= Cdn$ 10.00

And if you want to donate your Petro Points to a great cause, then connect to Canadian Cancer Society.

Your money goes towards two key programs: Cancer Information Service, which is a bilingual service giving out information on cancer, and CancerConnection, which is a telephone-based one-to-one help service connecting cancer patients or their caregivers with volunteers who have experienced cancer either as victims or as caregivers.

New No Fee MBNA Platinum MasterCard With 1.99% AIR

MBNA is offering a special offer of a no-fee, 1.99% annual interest rate (AIR) card.

According to the mail sent by the company, the introductory AIR for MBNA Platinum Plus MasterCard will be for ten months, after which the standard rates apply.

The Current offer is valid until Oct 19, 2006. A special sticker that comes with the mail is needed for the application.

online address to apply for the card is creditrsvp.com

RBC Rewards Visa Gold – A Rewards Card

Royal Bank’s RBC Rewards Visa Gold Card is yet another credit card with fringe benefits.

RBC Rewards Visa Gold Card’s key features:

No annual fee

You get a point for every two dollars spent. This does not apply for cash advances, fees or on returns.

According to the bank, you can shop anywhere, without having to go to the stores in their list.

You can claim/redeem points at participating restaurants.

Protection from fraudulent claims, provided you can prove you took ‘reasonable caution’ in protecting your card.

Points can be redeemed for Esso points (3000 RBC points=5000 Esso points)

You have to have a minimum annual income of $35,000 to apply for this card.

There are 3000 bonus points if you sign up by September 30, 2009, but this is valid only if you do it online or send in the application form you may have received by mail.

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