Canada's Best Prepaid Mastercard and Visa Cards: Reloadable and Non-Reloadable "Credit Cards"

Posted September 13th, 2008 by Dan Matan
These prepaid stored-value cards aren't true "credit cards", even though they are Visas and Mastercards. They are, however, processed just like their credit card counterparts, and look just like them too.

Be sure to check out some of my other articles on Canadian prepaid cards, and alternatives for the typical prepaid card user:

Maintaining or Closing Down an Unused Line of Credit: My take

Posted May 1st, 2012 by Dan Matan

Should you close down your unused line of credit?

For the most part, I'd say no.

Use your Line of Credit as Your Emergency Fund


I like to think of a line of credit as an emergency fund, money that's almost always accessible/available to you, while allowing you to fully invest your savings or make extra mortgage payments.

A truly great quote about IT

Posted May 1st, 2012 by Dan Matan

From:

What is the Minimum Age to get a Credit Card in Canada?

Posted April 23rd, 2012 by Dan Matan
It depends on the province in which you reside.
Here's a chart:
Province/Territory
 Minimum Age for Credit Card
 British Columbia
    19   

Hotwire vs. Hotels.com vs. Priceline.com for Canadian Hotels

Posted February 19th, 2012 by Dan Matan
Just figured I'd share my experiences here.

I found Hotwire to have the cheapest rates. This makes sense because Hotwire doesn't publish the hotel name until you pay for it, you're taking a bit of risk, and the only reason you'd take that additional risk is for a lower price.

Credit Card vs. Secured Card vs. Prepaid Card

Posted February 19th, 2012 by Dan Matan
I figured I'd make this easy chart comparing the three, since my website talks a lot about all of them:

Canada: What's the Difference Between a Credit Report and Credit Score?

Posted February 19th, 2012 by Dan Matan
The short answer: Your credit report has just details about open and closed credit lines (ie: credit cards, lines of credit, mortgages, and sometimes unpaid bills), but no score.

HomeTrust Secured Visa Card

Posted February 19th, 2012 by Dan Matan
The HomeTrust Secured Visa card is often overlooked, probably because it is from a smaller issuer that most people have not heard of.   

I'd recommend this card, or the CapitalOne "Guaranteed" Secured Mastercard, for those that are:

Molecular Gastronomy / Spherification in Canada: Where to buy Sodium Citrate, Calcium Gluconate and Sodium Alginate

Posted January 21st, 2012 by Dan Matan
Ever want to make apple caviar? Or some faux 90s Orbitz drinks? How about molecular mojitos?
Well good luck if you're in Canada and don't want to spend a fortune.

2011 Average Currency Exchange Rates for CRA Tax Returns

Posted January 9th, 2012 by Dan Matan

Once again, it's another year, and I publish a set of the average currency exchange rates for 2011, which are usually used for converting gains/losses into Canadian dollars. These are the rates that you could use for your tax return due April 30, 2012 for the 2011 tax year.

Vancouver / YVR / Avis Car Rental Experience + Review + Tips

Posted January 2nd, 2012 by Dan Matan
All in all, I found Avis to have the cheapest prices for me, totaling $186, all inclusively, for a 6 day rental of what Avis considers to be a full-size car (which they specify as a Chevy Impala or equivalent).

Air Canada vs. Westjet

Posted December 27th, 2011 by Dan Matan

I'm sure this is a tired topic, but everyone has an opinion on it, so I figure I'll share mine.

I'm by no means a frequent flyer, in fact I signed up for Aeroplan so I could get the $3 discount per flight leg by being able to decline the Aeroplan points. They'll probably expire before I get anything out of them.

Here's my take:

Global Towing and Recovery - Tow Truck Service in Kitchener/Waterloo (and outerlying areas?)

Posted December 21st, 2011 by Dan Matan
Just wanted to put in a good word for Global Towing and Recovery in Kitchener/Waterloo. They hooked up a flatbed tow in good time at a good rate that was almost half of what I was first quoted from another major local company.

2012 Best Canadian Prepaid Mastercards and Prepaid Visa Cards

Posted December 21st, 2011 by Dan Matan
It's not quite 2012, but the financial world is usually a sleepy one over Christmas and New Years.

Here's the likely list for 2012. I'll be sure to update it if anything manages to change. I hope it does, but I must say that the options today are far better than they were a few years ago. It's a good time to be alive!   

TestDisk vs. NTFSTools for NTFS File Recovery

Posted December 21st, 2011 by Dan Matan
I just had an external hard drive, formatted NTFS, seem to fail in an unusual way.

The drive seemed to spin up fine and mount fine in Linux and Windows, but appeared blank.

2012 Best Currency Exchange Rates for Small, Medium & Large Amounts of Canadian Dollars

Posted December 21st, 2011 by Dan Matan
It's not quite 2012 yet, but I see the car dealers all have 2012 models out, so I think I'm allowed to play the same game too.

Equifax Canada Customer Service Number (Credit Reports)

Posted October 10th, 2011 by Dan Matan
Equifax is one of the two credit report bureaus in Canada. The other is TransUnion. There used to be a third, but they shut down their Canadian operations.

TransUnion Canada Credit Report Bureau Phone Number

Posted October 10th, 2011 by Dan Matan
Credit report bureaus are required by law to discuss your report with you if their report was used and you were denied or rejected credit when requesting a loan.    

I have absolutely no idea what kind of help they can offer over the phone, so if you're aware, please post a comment here.

Knightsbridgefx.com (Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange): Real? Risky? Secure?

Posted October 10th, 2011 by Dan Matan
Assessment down for review, as some people really didn't like it... Please come back November 18th, 2011 for the re-assessed assessment :) (Well I guess that didn't happen... yet...)

Buy Cheap Campbell Biology 9th Edition Textbook: SAVE YOUR BEER MONEY!

Posted August 17th, 2011 by Dan Matan

Buy Online and Save Money!


Most items on Amazon are tax-free, so you're almost always saving money even if the price is "the same"! Often the price is less, especially if you can buy used, rather than the ripoff used bookstore

Vehicle Transfer in Ontario through Ontario Driver and Vehicle Licensing Office: Hints and Tips.

Posted May 12th, 2011 by Dan Matan
I just bought a car, and I figured I'd write this article to help explain some of the things that I had a hard time finding an answer to, or being too confident in the information I had received.

Credit Union/Caisse Populaire Debit Mastercard: CUETS Global Payments Mastercard

Posted April 17th, 2011 by Dan Matan

Debit Mastercards have been around forever!

Since 1982, some credit unions in Saskatchewan have issued their own debit Mastercards.

Kitchener-Waterloo High Speed Internet Options (Bell, Rogers)

Posted March 4th, 2011 by Dan Matan
Most people think that there are only two internet options in most areas, usually something along the lines of "Rogers or Bell", but that's rarely true.

Two other, often far better options, available in all and some of KW respectively are:

Teksavvy