I’ve been a Fizz Mobile user for a few months now, now that I have to pay for my own mobile phone plan. With Rogers, my 10G plan was something like $80/month ($10 of that to pay off the value of my iPhone SE1). I rarely used much more than 1G monthly (I am a habitual WiFi user), but Rogers kept throwing more data at me, so why not2?
Anyway, after a bit of research (and here https://www.planhub.ca/ontario was helpful), Fizz popped up to the head of the list. Fizz is owned by Quebecor/Videotron and is expanding throughout Canada (see their coverage map). They support physical SIM cards ($5, available at Circle K in Ontario, or, lately, via eSIM for free) and the migration from Rogers to Fizz was easy and quick. It goes without saying that I got to keep my phone number. And I got to cut my normal monthly spend to $20 for3 for Canada-wide calling, unlimited texting, and 3G of LTE 4data. What’s especially nice about Fizz’s data plan is that
Unused data rolls over
You can gift part of your unused data to a Fizz friend
I ventured to the US this past week and instead of using my trusty Airolo eSIM, I chose instead a cheaper option: a data travel add-on for my Fizz account. Fizz offers better deals on roaming data in the US than even Airolo, which is a nice bonus. Airolo’s eSIMs have very limited time duration (7 days, 14 days, 30 days), but Fizz’s add-ons last throughout your current — and next — billing cycle, giving you up to 60 days with which to use your roaming data — even better, since I will make a return visit in the coming weeks…
Fizz’s travel add-ons are either data only, text only, or voice only. I typically use data-only, since I can use my free burner phone number from TextNow6 if I really need to send a text or have a traditional phone call. This means it’s not quite “roam like home”, but at a fraction of the cost, I’ll take it.
Anyway, I really have nothing to report. Everything just worked. I crossed the border, Waze navigation kept working, and I’m a happy camper. You can still receive SMS messages while roaming7, but you cannot send them8. I can’t tell you what happens if someone calls you since it didn’t happen while I was on the go.
If you want to give Fizz a whirl, using my referral code (INSWI) will net you (and me) some free $.
I’ve been using cell phones1 since their early days2, and the one thing I hate more than bank fees is carrier fees. In bygone days, every US vacation we took involved a trip to the ATT or T-Mobile shop for a cheap travel SIM. All this to say it’s been ingrained in me to make unusual communications preparations in advance of travel.
Back in my working days3 I had a company-reimbursed cell phone plan4 with Rogers. My job involved travel now and again, usually to the USA. And I usually made use of Rogers’ “Roam Like Home” feature. When this feature was first introduced, it was pretty innovative; before it existed, you normally had to contact the carrier to temporarily add roaming to your plan, which was a hassle. The idea behind Roam Like Home was attractive. It was automatic, it allowed you to use your phone in exactly the same way (no need to keep track of your “roaming minutes” or “roaming data usage”)5. And, at launch, it was a reasonably priced, at $5/day for US roaming. As most of my travel was of the day or two variety, this seemed like a perfect fit for the business traveler.
But surprise, surprise, Rogers got greedy. As a shareholder6, I approve, but as a user, their now $12/day charge is nothing short of robbery.
And that’s when I discovered the world of travel eSIMs. An eSIM allows you to install a 2nd, virtual SIM card in your phone so you can benefit from MUCH cheaper roaming rates. I’ve been a long time user of Airalo for my travel eSIMs. And a quick look at the prices will show you why. The $12 Rogers charges me daily would pay for two weeks of typical US travel using Airalo.
Like all things, there’s no free lunch here. A few warnings that may make eSIMs not for you:
Your phone has to support eSIM technology. Most phones purchased in the last 5 years do. But do check.
The very cheapest eSIMs don’t support voice calling or SMS. Just data7. So if talking on your phone is important, then make sure your eSIM supports voice8. With the plethora of apps that allow texting and voice (WhatsApp, Messenger, Signal, Facetime) and the prevalence of free apps like TextNow, my world hardly ever needs voice or SMS, at least not with friend groups. YMMV.
Setting up an eSIM can be a little intimidating the first time; the instructions are clear enough, but you do have to mess around a bit in settings menus you may not be very familiar with
I’ve used Airalo successfully on multiple US trips, in Europe (Germany, Switzerland), and in Asia (Hong Kong, Thailand). Never had a problem.
Airalo isn’t the only one out there, it’s just the only one I’ve personally used. Their focus is more on short-term travel needs with plans as short as 7 days. An alternative provider my trusted neighbour Steven swears by is eskimo. Their focus is on bulk, so if you frequently travel to the same place, it may be a better choice for you.
If you want to give Airalo a spin, mentioning my referral code will get you $4.50: ROB1033.
And in my very first use of same, the first words I uttered, with no small amount of delight, from a bag phone (remember those?) were “Guess where I’m calling from?” ↩︎
My current provider now that I’m paying the bills is Fizz, Videotron’s low-cost carrier. So far, so good. My referrer code on Fizz is INSWI, in case you want to get some free cash 🙂 ↩︎
It was not uncommon in those days to hear a tale of woe involving a roaming charge of several hundred dollars charged to a less-attentive traveler. ↩︎
Be very careful, Apple iOS users. The Messages app is either SMS or a data service, depending on the colour of your bubbles. Blue bubbles — it’s a data service, green bubbles means it’s an SMS. ↩︎
But again, careful. An eSIM with voice comes with its own phone number. That’s fine if you’re the one making calls, but not if you’re the one expecting to be reachable on your usual phone number. An answered inbound call is roaming, I’m afraid. ↩︎
I am writing this blog entry from a Acer Aspire 1551, released about 15 years ago, a time when Windows 7 was the state-of-the-art PC OS. When I took this laptop out of the closet, it had Windows 10 on it, and was essentially unusable because the poor CPU1 just couldn’t eke out enough hamster-wheel turns to make it go. It looked like it was headed to the great bit bucket in the sky2. This caused me a bit of pain, since, after all, I had paid good money for that laptop3.
But then I discovered ChromeOS Flex.45 It seems capable of turning just about any old hardware (PC or Mac, I’ve done both) into something quite usable, if not terribly feature-rich6. Simply put, it’s the operating system used on Chromebooks that have been widely deployed to students everywhere.
And installing it really is quite easy. You just need a USB stick, some other internet-connected computer, and about 30 minutes7 to complete an installation. You can test-drive an installation before committing, too, since you can boot right from the USB stick. All the steps are outlined here.
The result is (more or less) a Chromebook with support for a modern browser (Chrome). And since I write this blog using WordPress, all the tools I need to build this site are accessible from that browser. And of course with Google Sheets, Google Docs and Google Slides (all quite feature-rich from the browser), I have no need for Microsoft Office, either8.
The only investment I made (and even this probably wasn’t strictly necessary) was to purchase a new SSD to replace the creaky old spinning hard drive in the original model. Total cost: $30. The keyboard and mouse are from Value Village9 (about $10 total) and the external monitor I had lying around.
So what’s a ChromeOS Flex machine good for? Off the top of my head,
Writing a blog
Inexpensive bare-bones laptop to take when traveling
Simple laptop/desktop for a favorite relative
If you want to breathe new life into old hardware, then I declare Chrome OS Flex cheapskate-approved. You can see it in action, below:
The Money Engineer’s Retro-Tech Design Environment
An AMD Athlon II Neo X2 K325, no less. I think it had a flux capacitor. ↩︎
There are of course a plethora of Linux distributions out there for the more adventuresome and/or those with a lot more time on their hands. I’ve played around with a bunch of those, too. But ChromeOS Flex is the simplest installation experience I’ve experienced on a range of computers. On some computers, you can actually get a working Linux shell underneath ChromeOS Flex. ↩︎
“Chrome OS” is what Chromebooks run. “Chrome OS Flex” is what I’m talking about. Similar, but different. Google carefully. ↩︎
You’re probably not editing your Hollywood movie on a Chrome OS Flex machine. ↩︎
Google’s instructions say 5. I think it took me that long to remember how to get into the BIOS so I could boot from the USB stick. ↩︎
Sorry if I’m a bit late to the party here, but CRA has generously(?) extended the period whereby you can make a charitable donation and have it count against LAST year’s tax calculations.
Because of the postal strike, CRA is letting you claim donations made until the end of February 2025 on your 2024 taxes. If you’re looking for a good way to reduce your 2024 tax bill, a donation to a worthy charity in the next month would be a great way to do that! (And don’t worry that your tax receipt shows “2025”, CRA says they will honor it with only a few exceptions — charitable donations via payroll deduction and donations made from an estate.)
Generosity to registered charities has always been a good way to reduce taxes (and in the future I’ll talk about the BEST way to do that — by donating shares directly from your non-registered account).
Travel is something I like doing. Spending money on seeing new places, trying new things, all good from my perspective. But spending unnecessary money to line the pockets of a bank? I’m not so good with that.
For many years, I’ve used my credit card everywhere, in every country. Very convenient. I recall my first big trip abroad (circa 1992) where my main source of money was Travelers Cheques, if you can believe it. (Looks like they aren’t even available in Canada anymore).
It’s common for a credit card company to charge a foreign currency conversion fee between 1% and 3% of the transaction amount.
What’s especially sneaky, and the reason I never gave it much thought, is that the fee is buried in the exchange rate that is posted as part of the transaction. As a result, it’s easy to miss how much you’re giving to the bank.
Now, 1% to 3% extra for a cup of coffee or a taxi ride isn’t going to break the bank, but for a multi-night stay in a hotel? Show tickets? Car rentals? It can start to add up.
Here are two products that I use to help get rid of those fees. There are others out there, but these I have used myself and can recommend them.
Wealthsimple’s Cash Card
I’ve been rather curious about Wealthsimple for a while now. I started with using their “pay what you want” tax service and saw it got a mention from the Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick (an excellent resource, by the way) which led me to investigate further. This is NOT their “beta” Wealthsimple Infinite Visa credit card that is coming out in 2025.
Now you can feel like a local while shopping abroad. With no additional foreign transaction or ATM fees from Wealthsimple, your Cash card is a must-have travel companion.
The Cash Card, as far as a vendor is concerned, looks like a MasterCard. But to you, the card holder, the Cash Card looks like a debit card. Any transaction charged to the Cash Card is instantly debited, so you have to have the money available in your Weathsimple account before you go on a shopping spree.
Signing up for the Cash Card was done online, in minutes. Putting money on your Cash Card can be done using Interac e-transfer from your “usual” bank account, and is available pretty much instantly as well. Cash Card supports Apple Pay and as a nice bonus, also provides you with a “virtual card” accessible from the Wealthsimple app so you can enter credit card details for online purchases. You can also order up a physical card, but I’m still waiting for mine….The Canada Post strike apparently is still being used as an excuse in that regard. (Not a big deal, I rarely use a physical card anymore).
I’ve now successfully used the Cash Card for US dollar and British pound purchases, and the rate I got was exactly the same as the rate I saw in real time from Google (cries quietly at the current exchange rate):
Pro: Very easy to set up, does what it says — no extra foreign exchange fees
Pro: Supports multiple foreign currencies, with only a few exceptions.
Pro: It’s free, and the money in your Cash account actually earns a bit of interest.
Con: You have to have the money available up front, it’s not a credit card that you can pay later.
CIBC’s US Dollar Aventura Gold Visa Card + CIBC US Dollar Savings Account
If instead you’re looking for a REAL credit card and you’re only interested in US dollar transactions, then CIBC’s US Dollar Aventura Gold Visa might be a choice. I signed up for this card because a lot of my retirement funds are in US Dollars, I travel and shop in US Dollars pretty regularly, and I happen to bank with CIBC which also makes things easier.
However, unless you already have a US Dollar bank account that can pay off your US Dollar credit card, you’ll need to set that up at the same time. So for that I used the CIBC US Dollar Savings account. This should not be confused with CIBC’s US checking account which isn’t required (I have this account too, but have very limited use for it).
So, applying for these products is the typical Canadian bank experience. Multiple days, multiple forms, mildly unpleasant, but as a self-directed investor, not unusual, either.
The Visa card has an annual fee ($35, which includes up to 3 additional cards) and allows you to collect a small amount of Aventura points which can be redeemed for cash or gift cards. The card supports Apple Pay and generally works like any other card you may have used. Just make sure you don’t accidentally use it for a Canadian dollar transaction or else you’ll get charged that extra conversion fee that you were trying to avoid in the first place.
The savings account pays a paltry amount of interest (0.05% for balances under $10,000 USD) and charges $0.75 USD for every transaction. So, nothing to write home about there. But it is in essence a Canadian bank account in every way; this means (for example) it can be set up as a legitimate bank account with your online broker.
Pro: if you’re already banking with CIBC, both the credit card and the savings account are linked to your existing CIBC bank card, so you can see everything from one login.
Pro: Related to the above, you can set up auto payment of your USD credit card from your USD savings account
Pro: Related to the above, you can easily move money from your Canadian accounts to your US accounts. Of course, with this convenience comes the added foreign exchange fee that you were hoping to avoid, but if you’re short US Dollars, then it’s an option. (In another post, I’ll talk about how I convert US dollars cheaply).
Pro: It’s a real credit card, meaning you can defer payment.
Con: Compared with Wealthsimple, it’s somewhat painful to set up
Con: it’s only useful for US dollar transactions
For most people, the Wealthsimple Cash Card is the easy way to save money on foreign transactions, and the downside is small. If you have access to US dollars (maybe you’re paid in USD, or like me, have investments in USD), then perhaps the CIBC Aventura card might make sense, too.
The Money Engineer 