IM's blog

Best Canadian Dollar to US Dollar Exchange Rates

IM — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:42:15 +0000

Looking to make a trip to the USA?

Travel (cheaper) internationally from the US? Flights there are usually a lot cheaper than in Canada.

Buy a car in the US?

Going to University/College in the USA? Or need UK Pounds to g o to school in England?

Buy a vacation home in Florida? US Stocks?

For all of these things, you'll need US Dollars/American dollars to make the purchases.

Sell Silver & Gold Scrap and Coins: Where to Sell Gold (as a consumer)

IM — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:47:43 +0000

Selling Gold Scrap and Silver Coins

Canadians need to be a bit careful as to where they sell off their scrap gold and silver, or gold/silver coins.

Lowest Cost Mutual Funds MER Fees in Canada

IM — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:31:02 +0000

TD E-series Low-MER (Management Expense Ratio) Mutual Fund Fees

Are you unhapy with mutual funds that are charging Management Expense Ratios (MERs) of 1% or more, sometimes upwards of 2.5%?

There's no good evidence to prove that higher MERs result in greater returns.

TD has a relatively unadvertised line of mutual funds with exceptionally low MERs. Perhaps the lowest in Canada.

US Dollar - Canadian Dollar Exchange Rates - September 2009 - Day-by-Day + Monthly Average

IM — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:26:18 +0000

Hi Again,

Here are the September 2009 exchange rates between the US Dollar and the Canadian Dollar as per the Bank of Canada. The Bank of Canada is Canada's Central Bank, like the US' Federal Reserve Bank.

Exchange rates are only published on weekday business days. Generally, exchange rates don't fluctuate much on weekends, but you are free to take an average of the before and after trading day to get a rough estimate of what it would be.

Cogeco Overage Fees/Charges - Bandwidth - Call, Complain + Cancel!

IM — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:05:00 +0000

It looks like Cogeco, the worst cable provider in Canada (I like to call them "Cage-co") is now actually charging overage fees on their internet service.

Apparently their internet service infrastructure is so bad that they had to resort to absurd usage caps. In reality, they're just doing it to steal more of your money, there's no real shortage of bandwidth!

BMO Mosaik Mastercard: $25 Annual Fee on New and Soon Old Accounts

IM — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:25:48 +0000

BMO American Dollar Credit Card Fees

I've been quite a fan of BMO Mosaik's No-Fee US$ Mastercard.

Bank of Montreal had the only fee-free US$ credit card in Canada without making you jump through any hoops. TD Bank has a "free" one if you subscribe to their most expensive banking plan (or free with a minimum $5000 deposit, ya right!).

Banking & Currency Advice for a Canadian moving to the USA

IM — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:30:02 +0000

I received an email from a reader (and got permission to repost it anonymously). I'm sure it is a situation familiar to many that end up on this website:

Blue is my writing, green is the reader's.

Guide to Opening Canadian Bank Accounts for Americans (and other foreigners).

IM — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:15:58 +0000

Canadian Banking Industry Information for Foreigners/Americans

First, I'll give a brief introduction to banking in Canada before providing the information on how to open a Canadian bank account as a foreigner.

HorizonPlus Prepaid Credit Card

IM — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:30:38 +0000

It looks like the Horizon Plus Prepaid Credit Mastercard Lives On.

HorizonPlus Prepaid Credit Card

Looks like this is still available, despite the lack of usability of Peoples Trust's Website. That's right, they don't put a possessive apostrophe on the Peoples. Grammar Fail.

How to Send Money to a TD Bank Account / Canada Trust Bank Account

IM — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:55:57 +0000

If you need to send money to a friend/relative via TD Canada Trust, there are two good ways of doing so: