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Remember the good old days of straightforward loyalty programs? It was simple—get a dozen Subway stamps and redeem them for a free six-inch Cold Cut Trio. Those flimsy paper cards made tracking your progress (and purchases) much easier than today’s programs.
Driving the news: Canadians use loyalty rewards programs to help pay for their everyday expenses by collecting virtual currency like points or miles they can later redeem. But watered-down rewards and shifting partnerships have made the loyalty landscape a bit convoluted.
Why it’s happening: Loyalty rewards programs tend to take off when the economy is shaky for a few reasons.
Why it matters: Companies don’t offer reward points out of the goodness of their heart—you’re the product they want! All that precious data around your spending habits is a money-maker for them.
Still, rewards programs can be a good way to save some cash—here’s how to make the most of them:
The most important stories from the week impacting your portfolio.
No dip in Dollarama shares. Budget retail remains robust, proven by Dollarama's Q2 earnings report. It saw sales grow over 20%, and profits increased to almost $180 million from $145.5 million year-over-year. Dollarama's earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, and the company attributes strong sales to high demand for lower-priced necessities.
Bank of Canada pauses its pause. All good things must end, like the central bank's temporary rate hike pause. The BoC raised its key benchmark interest rate to 4.75%—the highest since 2001. The 25-basis-point increase is an attempt to bring inflation down to a manageable 2% since "excess demand in the economy looks to be more persistent than anticipated."
OPEC+ cuts more barrels. Expect gas prices to tick up this summer as oil producers plan to cut their output. Saudi Arabia announced it will decrease production to 9 million barrels per day (BPD) from the current 10 million, and OPEC+ has decided to extend voluntary cuts to output that were to end this year into 2024. Analysts say the cuts are intended to "defend a price floor."
Travel math is pretty simple: The more money you save getting to your destination, the more you have to spend once you arrive. Unfortunately, airfare prices are up and only projected to get more expensive as the summer progresses. But a simple tech hack could help you score a seat at a discount.
Using a virtual private network (VPN) will scramble your IP address and make it look like you're browsing from another country, where the cost of flights might be drastically cheaper.
How it works:
According to NordVPN, this flight search technique can reduce your ticket price by up to 47%.
Yes, but: As with all travel hacks, some risk is involved. Some banks and credit card companies will charge a transaction fee for international purchases, and booking through a VPN might nullify any consumer protections around the trip.
New parents have a tough choice between the ease and convenience of disposable diapers or the environmentally friendly but time-consuming task of reusables. It's quite the conundrum since babies will go through over 3,000 diapers in their first year and about 1,800 the year after—that's almost 5,000 diapers by their second birthday!
But how much money can you actually save by using cloth diapers over disposable ones? And is it worth the time and effort?
What it is: Cloth diapers have come a long way from those puffy bottoms held together by a giant safety pin—they are now sleek and stylish, adjustable (so they grow with your baby) and have removable inserts to absorb most of the mess and make cleaning them more manageable.
What you'll spend: Cloth diapers will be cheaper, ranging from $1,000 to $1,300 for the first two years of your child's life if you DYI the maintenance. Cloth diaper services will do the dirty work for you and cost around $22 per week or $2,300 for two years.
What you'll save: A month's worth of disposable diapers costs around $80, cheaper than the reusable service but more costly than cloth.
So, is it worth it? Choosing between cloth and disposable diapers is profoundly personal and more than a time/money calculation or even an environmental decision.
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