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Had an odd occurrence last Friday, I got my pay stub from work (I remember when I used to get a pay cheque, and how it felt so nice to look at it, but I digress), and opened it expecting to see my regular bi-weekly pay. There are only 3 points in the year where my net pay changes:

• First pay cheque in January where CPP and EI payments appear
• Some pay cheque in the year, where my CPP and EI are paid in full
• If there is a tax cut or my benefits start costing more.

I was surprised to see the "magic pay deposit number" on my pay cheque was askew $20.00 (less unfortunately). I went to Quicken which keeps track of this for me, and I saw that my benefits package charge went up $20 or so, which caused me to wonder what was going on.

I have "Flex" benefits, which every year get more and more expensive and the coverage I get is less and less (I think I have whined about this a few times so I will reserve my rant about this for when I have to enroll again this year). Nothing had changed, yet my benefits charge was up, so I sent in a complaining note to my payroll department, who are "investigating" what happened. I await an explanation still.

It is important to watch your pay stubs as they go by, and not just assume it is all working fine. Remember it is your money they are fiddling around with.

More Fuel Guzzling

We Canadians love our fossil fuels and our consumption continues up 1.1% year over year from last year at this time. I guess with the powerful Canadian dollar, we can afford it.

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