Archive for October 25th, 2009

ING Direct – Referral Bonus

October 25th, 2009 / / 8 comments

I know I’ve mentioned this at least once before but ING Direct has changed it’s referral bonus structure.

Now if you sign up for a new ING Direct account using my “orange” code they will give each of us a $25 bonus (assuming you open the account and keep at least $100 in there for a pre-specified amount of time etc etc).

$25 is pretty good for free so here, once again, is my “orange code” for those interested in getting the free $25.

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(Just go to this page chose which account is right for you, and enter my orange code where it asks for it on the bottom right corner.)

I’m not just flogging ING Direct for the free money, they’ve actually got the most user friendly GUI of the “online” banks, and they can easily be used to push and pull money to/from other high interest accounts (for example Peoples Trust, PC Financial, and Citizens Bank where the user interface is less friendly.).

Other aspects aside the automated savings program is the one I recommend. In a few simple keystrokes you can set up a recurring transfer of any size from your chequing account to your ING account (and you can change this automated transfer on a moments notice as circumstances dictate – push it back two weeks, increase the amount this paycheque or decrease the amount – with very little effort).

If you’re trying to get into the habit of saving, this is likely the account you want. And as there are no fees associated with keeping an ING Direct account, why not give it a try?

Alarming

October 25th, 2009 / / 3 comments

Sure, I’ve always done things bass-ackwards. We’ve had a perimeter surveillance system for the past three years, but only recently did I actually get around to installing the more common and conventional alarm system.

DSC alarm system

Now generally speaking getting a security system installed these days is a snap. Make the call and some guy will show up in a marked van, will attach a large number of wireless devices to your walls, window and door frames with double sided tape and be gone fairly quickly. The cost of the alarm hardware (plus a nice markup for the security company) is included in the $30/month monitoring fee.

Just two problems here. I’m not big on wireless, and I’m not keen on paying thousands of dollars amortized over three years. Other than that it sounds great, no?

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Yeah, yeah… I am a bad monkey.

October 19th, 2009 / / 6 comments

Ok, I know I’ve been really, really bad with the updates. I’ve been busy, I swear it.

A few months ago I took a chance and took a job with a subcontractor for the local cable giant. It involved a substantial (40%) paycut but involved some real training and absolutely no dealing with drunks or issuing parking tickets.

Lisa and I decided I should take a chance on something that involved no polyester. It certainly seemed like a good idea, there was oodles of training and I certainly learned quite a bit (both in the in-class component and with the ride-along OJT stuff).

Sadly, it really didn’t seem to be the job for me. Just something about piece work that didn’t sit well with me.

Suffice it to say that I now own two $700 Rogers hats that I’ll be paying off for the next six months or so (I owe the company for the training that I took).

There is good news however. I’m no longer the cable guy, I’ve returned to more familiar ground and have just started a new job I’m rather excited about. There are still many hoops to jump through, so I’ll keep the rest to myself.

The picture by the way is only me getting fitted for a mask, and just in time for halloween.

Happy Piet?

 
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