Category Archives: Resources

Apr 01 0 comments
Resources, Saving Tips

Student Cards: Some Benefits

Most of us have experienced being the broke student.  Having to go to school, never having enough money, maybe working part-time to pay the bills.  Many businesses and organizations now recognize how difficult this time of life can be and so have cut people who carry a valid student card some slack. Here are few below:

1. Transit Companies: BC transit here in the Greater Vancouver area recognizes Go Cards, U Passes and Student Cards with a $2 transit sticker on them as special fares. For example, Go Cards holders get a discount on fares and Student Cards with the sticker can buy a one-zone pass yet can travel to any of the 3 zones with just that one-zone pass.  If you don’t live in Vancouver, it might be worth your while to check with your school and see if you have similar benefits in terms of transit.

2. Rec Centres: Thinking of going to the gym or taking a fitness class?  A valid student card might get you a discount on fees.

3. Cafes and Restaurants: Some eateries in downtown Vancouver will offer discounted rates to students.  So flash that card!  Other cities, especially University towns, might offer these discounts as well, so ask.

4. Boutiques and Clothing Shops: Need to get some new clothes and accessories?  Some stores give students discounts if they have a Student Discount Card like SPC or CFS, etc.  Valid Student Card holders can apply to get a Student Discount Card.  You’ll have to pay around $8 initially, but if you do a lot of shopping, it might be worth paying the application fee.  If you frequent certain stores, ask if they take part in a student discount program like the ones mentioned above.

5. Museums, Art Galleries and Theatre Companies:  They want young minds to get educated, so most will let students in at a discounted rate.

6. Art and Supply Stores: Discounts on most supplies are offered to students.

7. Motels and Hotels:  Not all of them do this but its worth doing some research to find out which establishments might.  Helps cut down the cost of travel!

I tend to take a lot of continuing education courses.  If I am trying to decide between two similar courses between two different schools, one of the factors I consider is if the schools will provide me a with a student card while I am taking their class.  If one school will provide a card and the other won’t, I will most likely pick the former.  The savings a student card provides is definitely worth while.

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Mar 30 1 comments
Alternative Investments, Resources, Saving Tips

Electronic Energy Meter

Curious how much energy your appliances are using?

Many people own electronic appliances that use electricity 24/7.  And most do not know which of these use the most electricity or even when they are using energy. An Electronic Energy Meter will help you know how much electricity is used by your appliances and electronic devices.  Tracking this energy consumption could help you modify your usage and save you a lot of money each year on your electric bill.

You can buy a meter at many electronic shops, but I borrowed mine from the local library.

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Mar 14 0 comments
Alternative Investments, Resources

Free Geek - Volunteer and Get a Free Computer!

Looking to volunteer your time?  Perhaps you’re looking to update your computer skills?  Or maybe you need a computer?  Check out Free Geek and get all of the above!

Free Geek is a Not-For-Profit organization that promotes ethical computer recycling and re-use.  It helps the planet and the local community by taking old, beat up, busted computers and fixing them up and then donating them to schools for re-use.  They also have a volunteer program where you can sign up.  They’ll teach you how to fix one of those old computers and in the end, you can take it home for your own use free of charge!  I think it’s a pretty sweet deal, not only will you learn some new skills, but you’ll help keep computers out of landfills, help local schools and get a new-old computer to boot.

Interested?  Just “Google” Free Geek and see if your city has a local Free Geek thrift store or repair centre.

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Mar 04 0 comments
Money and Relationships, Resources

Til Debt Do U$ Part

This post is about a TV show a reader recommended I watch (A big thanks to you, Aims!) called “Til Debt Do U$ Part”.

Til Debt Do U$ Part follows host and financial guru Gail Vaz-Oxlade as she helps couples get out of financial disaster.  She studies the couple’s financial statements and gives them the hard truth; almost every couple is surprised to realize how badly in debt they are when she lays their paperwork out on the table for them to clearly see.  She then educates each couple on how to change their debt situation in one month by giving them steps and exercises to follow.  Although Gail gives couples simple and practical exercises, the exercises are not often easy.  As an example, a few couples have been asked to downsize by selling homes and cars they could not afford.

What’s most interesting to me about this show is that Gail is a firm believer that improving the couple’s relationship will help the couple manage their finances.  Therefore, the last exercise couples tackle in the show is a relationship challenge.  Depending on the couple’s communication style, exercises range from physical challenges like rock climbing and geo-caching, that force couples to work together as a team to other challenges seem simpler like sending couples to massage classes or an intimate dinner where the couples get to know each other again and reconnect.

Til Debt Do U$ Part is a great show and I am glad it was brought to my attention.  I’ll be watching it often and taking down tips from Gail.  Who knows, I might just send in an application myself and be lucky enough to get chosen for Gail to come into my home and address my family’s money issues.

Til Debt Do U$ Part can be viewed on the Slice Network in Canada and CNBC in the US.  Check your local listings for show times.  For more info, visit Gail’s Blog at www.gailvazoxlade.com.

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Jan 14 0 comments
Cheap Eats, Resources

FOOD INC

If you haven’t seen the film “Food Inc” yet, I suggest you go and see it.  It will outline the true cost of the foods you buy and consume on a daily basis.  It has been said by the author of book entitled “The Value of Nothing” that a fast food burger actually costs $200 USD if you factor in the damage it does to the environment as well as the impact that burger has on your health.  Food Inc outlines how and why organics and healthy food is priced way higher than fast food, chips and chemically altered foods.  And more importantly, the film gives suggestions on what we can do about it.

Other films of a similar topic include “King Corn” and “The Future of Food”.  These as well as Food Inc can probably be found at your local library (if they lend out DVDs) or at some video stores.

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Jan 12 2 comments
Resources

Talk About Your Money

There’s still a lot of secrecy about money.  Individuals simply do not talk about their personal money issues often enough.  If they are badly in debt, they hide it.  If they have a shopping or gambling addiction, they hide it.  If they are living off their credit cards they don’t tell anyone or get help before things are really bad.  Why not get help sooner?

I understand it is scary to go to a stranger like a financial planner or a debt counsellor about your money issues.  So why not start with a trusted friend or relative first?  The point is to talk to someone and know that there is someone who cares and could possibly give you some good ideas on how to change your situation or help you to go on to the next step.

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Jan 05 0 comments
Resources

Free Store

Ever been to a Free Store? A Free Store is exactly as it sounds like, a store where you come in browse around and just pick up and take what you want for free. The concept was introduced to me a few years ago during a Car-Free Day event on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC where bunch of organizers set up an area where they displayed stuff like clothes, books, CDs, small appliances, furniture, etc and anyone could come in and browse and take what they wanted. I think it’s a brilliant idea. Those who need will grab stuff and those who can afford to, have a place to be generous.

I’ve become aware of a group of people who have set up a free store event just off Main St. in Vancouver close to the holiday season for the past couple of years. They start by asking people on their Facebook list for donations for the store; items that are used yet in good/decent condition. They pick the items up, categorize them then display and offer them for free at the event.

Last December the store was giving away gym equipment, books, clothes, accessories, etc. They even had an electric keyboard, a digital camera, an Epson CX series ink jet printer, a blender/mixer, and several flashlights (unused and still in their original wrappers). I walked away with a sewing machine, a couple of flashlights, a hardcover kids book, a Swiss Army travel bag, floor mats for my partner’s martial arts dojo, a CD of meditation music, a The North Face toque, a Firefly hat, and several small jewelry boxes. All of them were in excellent condition and in working order. The sewing machine needs a new foot but otherwise it works perfectly.

Interested in going to a Free Store event? See their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8847330980&ref=ts

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Nov 05 2 comments
Affordable Gifts, Resources, Saving Tips

Shop at Local Craft Fairs for Gifts

Tis the season, the Christmas craft fair season! I visit and buy many of my gifts at local craft fairs and farmers markets because I like to support small businesses and my fellow Canadians in their money endeavors.

Another benefit I see to buying at craft fairs are that most likely, the item bought will be handmade and therefore not likely mass produced so the recipient the gift won’t be wearing the same shawl, shirt or bracelet as his/her neighbours. And buying local helps reduce our stamp on the environment (less fuel used to transport goods), too.

It is true that farmer’s markets and craft fairs are not always the cheapest places to buy gifts and other items but at least you know where the goods come from (most likely the vendor if also the maker of the item and no sweatshops) and you are helping the economy so in the long run, you may just be helping yourself, too.

If you live in the Vancouver area, here are the upcoming crafts fairs that you can visit for this season be sure to check out:

1. Bonsor Community Centre’s Christmas Fair -
November 21 & 22, Saturday and Sunday, 10AM-3PM
6550 Bonsor Ave., Burnaby, BC

2. Blim Craft Fair -
Sunday, November 29, 11AM-5PM
215 E 17th Ave., Vancouver, BC

Or visit the link below to get a list of fairs around town all year round!

www.gotcraft.com/aroundtown

Happy shopping!

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Sep 20 0 comments
Resources, Saving Tips

Fitness Club memberships are a scam

Fitness Club memberships are a scam.

Let’s tell the truth.  Very few people exercise and keep fit regularly.  Majority of the population are just too busy and/or lazy to keep a regular exercise program.  People have good intentions especially during the new year but after 3 months, they are back to their regular routine of eating too much and not exercising.  Fitness Clubs know this and they take advantage.  They sign you up for a long term contract when you are eager for a change knowing full well that after a few months you’ll probably be paying the club for a service you’ll never use again.

For those who don’t already know, when you join a fitness club, they make you sign a contract stating you must continue to pay monthly until your contract runs out regardless of whether you keep coming to the club or not.  And, with some clubs, unless you tell them specifically not to, they will keep renewing the contract over and over again so that you continue paying.  They make it very hard to get out of the contract, they either make you pay a fee to break the contract or won’t let you break the contract at all.  I know someone who kept her fitness club membership for 8 years and only set foot in that club in the first month she signed up.  When asked why she never canceled the membership, she said that she had to go down to the club and had to cancel the membership renewals in person and she was so busy it was easier to continue to pay the fee.

If you want to exercise, try your local rec centre or some other place where you do not need a membership to use the facilities or to join the classes; where they accept a drop-in fee or at the most, ask you to buy a 10-visit punch card.

I love the rec centres in my city (Burnaby, BC).  They have great fitness facilities, yoga classes, boot camps, weight training, Pilates, step classes, dance fit classes, etc.  You can come to any class or use the weight/fitness room at any time for a drop-in fee of $8-12.  Just as good as any fitness club, no obligations or contracts, way cheaper and no scams.

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Sep 15 0 comments
Resources

The YMCA and YWCA

The Village People were right.  When you need help, there’s a place you can go!  The YMCA and YWCA are great community resources.  Chock full of excellent facilities and great programs to help men, women and youth.

My first experience with the Y was quite recent.  Around 3 months ago I joined the Focus at Work Program at the YWCA located in downtown Vancouver, BC.  It’s a free program that helps women find the job and/or career best suited to them.  I am in a transitional stage right now with my small home-based business and would like to take it into a different direction or let it go altogether and pursue a different career path.  I needed help figuring what to do and so I joined the program.  I cannot say enough good things about this program and the Y.  They try and get you everything you need to in order to get the career of your dreams including free transit passes and even business attire in collaboration with another program called Dress for Success.

Aside from Focus at Work, the YWCA and YMCA have other career and job programs catering to many types of individuals and their needs.  They have excellent fitness facilities and classes in their fitness centres and even have a government-funded self-employment program where you can submit your business idea and if accepted, you’ll have access to bookkeeping, marketing and biz development classes as well as your own business advisor, all for free!  And, oh yeah, they even give you a living expense while developing your business.

So, if you haven’t checked out your local Y in a while, or ever, visit their website (just type in YMCA or YWCA + your city) and find out what programs and facilities are available in your area.

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