Category Archives: Saving Tips

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 25 0 comments
Alternative Investments, Saving Tips

Schoolboard’s Continuing Education Comes With Many Perks

I am a big believer in lifelong learning and acquiring new skills (or at least trying out new things), so I am constantly taking new classes.  My newest challenge is a sewing class at the Burnaby, BC Schoolboard’s Continuing Education Centre.  I needed materials for the class so I went to Fabricana, a cloth and sewing shop.  Since I had my receipt from the class with me, I decided to ask at the till if I could get a student discount.  Lo and behold, I got 10% off my entire bill so it pays to ask.

I love taking classes at the schoolboard.  If you’re looking to acquire some beginner skills, get a new hobby, try something out for the first time or change/find a new career, the schoolboard is a great place to start you off.  They have languages, cooking, gardening, art, crafts, instruments, singing, computer, fashion, assertiveness, etiquette, business, dance, and many more.  Most of the instructors I have encountered there are good teachers and are passionate about their subjects.  The classes are reasonably priced, certainly more affordable than most University non-credit courses or classes at companies or studios.  As an example, there is a Pet First Aid course at the New Westminster Schoolboard that costs $48 taught by St. John’s Ambulance.  If you take the very same course at St. John’s Ambulance’s facilities, it costs around $70 for the very same course.

Other advantages to schoolboard classes are they are more accessible, no need to show a resume/portfolio to get in.  And as you can see from my experience above, you could get some discounts on materials.  Furthermore, some classes are FREE.  The community sponsored classes are offered free to the public, you just have to register early as they fill up fast.  So pick up a schoolboard continuing ed brochure at your local library or google your city’s schoolboard for a schedule of classes today!

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Mar 23 1 comments
Money Stories, Organize, Saving Tips

Year-Old Crackers, Anyone?

OK, just to make it clear, I’m not talking about baby red-necks in this post but actual crackers - the food.

And the story goes like this…  My mom has always liked to shop, she wears nice clothes and even hired a personal stylist to help her get the best fitting things.  She also loves to eat and entertain so she buys good food (and lots of it) so that she can have friends and family over and make everyone nice and plump.  She’s a busy woman on the go and doesn’t want to spend any time cleaning or organizing her home.  So, naturally, the clothes, bottles of half-used spices, food and other items have been piling up in her home and storage area.

A few months ago, being an empty-nester and close to retirement age, she sold her place and downsized from a five-bedroom townhouse to a two-bedroom apartment.  When she put her house up for the market, she had to clear up ten years of clutter and needed a lot of help.  She had to get 2 cleaners/helpers/packers and it took her, the cleaners, 2 junk men and a slew of family members working weekends and some weekdays 4 months to clear and organize all her stuff.

Last Sunday was moving day.  Up to the last minute she was throwing and giving stuff away, stuff she had forgotten she had.  While we were unpacking, we found that in the frenzy items that she didn’t want got packed and every time we would open a box she’d say she didn’t want it or it wouldn’t fit in her new apartment.  The worst part of it is that when when a family member got hungry, she opened a box of my mom’s crackers and after a few bites, she threw them up.  The crackers had expired a year ago!  We then discovered several boxes worth of expired food (many of them multiples of the same thing) that my mom kept and brought over.

My mom paid so much much money to move.  She paid the cleaners/packers/organizers, the junk men, she paid for a huge truck.  Obviously she wouldn’t have had to hire and pay for so much help if she had a better handle on her stuff, and she could have saved a ton of cash by not buying so much stuff in the first place, many of which just got donated or dumped.  The money instead could have gone towards her RRSPs.  And she wouldn’t have poisoned anyone with year-old crackers either.

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Mar 11 0 comments
Saving Tips

Travel Close By: Local Adventures

Want to get away from it all but are on a budget?  It’s likely you don’t need to go very far for a fun adventure.  Traveling or vacationing locally is a great way to have a great time, re-connect with the family, meet new people, get to know your area better, and save a few bucks.

Whenever we have some time off work, I push my partner off the couch and take him on mini-adventures - many of them in the city.  I love to explore, and living in Vancouver, BC, there is a lot of stuff to do and see within the city limits.  We have numerous parks, beaches, museums and galleries, China Town, etc.  We also have a lot of local events, many of them free to the public!  We’ve even gone to Dump Days.  Every year the local city dump opens their doors, provides free food (burgers and hot dogs), live music, gives away goodies like free compost and air conditioned bus ride tours (no we didn’t sort through the trash, that was not part of the tour).  I had no idea they had a garden in the dump nor that they employ falcon keepers to keep sea gulls away from the trash.  Anyway, it was a really fun and educational day for us. So, pick up a community paper from your local coffee shop and see what events you can enjoy in the next few day within your city.

For the days when we really feel the need to get away, we still travel local.  Within two hours drive, we can visit a National Park, visit a native reserve, or climb on a gondola.  What places can you visit within a couple of hours drive?  Pick a direction - east, west, north or south then grab a guide book from your library and see what quaint little towns, silly road landmarks, or attractions you can visit in that direction.  Happy exploring!

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Mar 09 0 comments
Saving Tips

Extra Charges at Canada Post Outlets?

Did you know that Canadian Postal Outlets can  charge you pretty much anything they want for shipping?

Apparently  postal outlets are not obligated to follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by Canada Post. That means that they can charge extra fees and apply additional service fees to products that they sell.

So, if you do a lot of shipping, it might be to your benefit to find an official Post Office Depot rather than going to the closest convenience store postal outlet to send your grandkids their birthday gifts or to send your friend that care package.

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Mar 02 2 comments
Saving Tips

Finding a Good Rental

So, I am back after taking February off to move to a new home.  I wrote another article last January with some saving tips when moving (see: Moving On The Cheap) and now I’d like to write about my experience of looking for a new place to rent.  I believe I did a few things that have helped me and my family find the perfect place for us and our lifestyle while still sticking to our budget.  If you plan on moving soon, I hope these tips will help you, too.

1. Decide On What You Want and Where.  I had a dream place in my head: lots of space for me and my family, in suite laundry, a modern kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lots of light, walking distance to the train, a mall, rec centre and library, great neighbours, lots of trees, pets allowed, etc.  At this point, I didn’t think, “Oh, we’ll never be able to afford that!” I did this just so that I knew what I wanted.

2. Research Prices.  When we found out our house was being demolished and we had to move, I right away started looking online for rental units.  I set aside at least an hour a day to look at ads just to have an idea on what people were asking for in terms of prices for rentals.  We wanted a 2 bedroom plus den or a three bedroom and so I scoured all the online sources I knew for these.

3. Decide How Much You Want To Spend/Can Afford. Now that I knew roughly how much a new rental would cost for us and for what we wanted, we did some compromising.  On my wish-list, what was it that was most important to have and what could we live without?  I used this as a guide to finding the best possible place for us since we found that we couldn’t afford a place with everything on the list.  So, be realistic but at the same time you want to be able to get as close to what you envisioned, so never give up the hope/image of the dream place!

4. Start Looking for the Best Places and the Best Deals. After deciding on a budget, make those calls and set those appointments for viewing around a month before you have to move.  Look at LOTS of places.  Create a list or chart of the places you see with the pros and cons of each and then re-evaluate after you have viewed the place and met the agent or landlord.  For example, the rent might be within your budget but the Electric and Gas bills might be too high.  Or, the rent is a little bit more than you wanted but you’ll save on transportation since you will be able to walk to work from there.  All these things you’ll need to take into account budget-wise.

5. Put Your Best Foot Forward. Make sure you look presentable when you go to the viewing, be articulate and friendly.  You want to make sure the landlord or agent will want you living in their rental unit.  If they like you, you will be first on their list and you might even be lucky enough to negotiate the rental price down or at least be able to ask for new appliances.

6. Take a Tour Around the Neighbourhood on Foot and Talk to the Neighbours. You want to make sure you are moving to a safe environment and that you get along with your neighbours.  It can be hell living in an area where you are not comfortable or where you do not like the people around you.  If possible, have a chat with the old tenants.

7. Be Patient, Don’t Stress. I think the reason why we got an apartment with almost all my wish-list items is that I pushed my partner to not stress out.  He wanted to take the first decent place within our budget but I asked him to trust that we would find a place close to our wish list if we looked a little bit longer.  Because I trusted my gut and believed that we deserved a place close to the image I had, we got everything we wanted (except second bath and no cats or dogs) and stayed in our budget.

Next time, I’ll give some tips about how to get organized and save some money after you have moved to the new place!

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Jan 19 0 comments
Organize, Saving Tips

Moving on the Cheap

Having moved several times in my life, I know moving can be expensive.  My family will be moving to a new apartment in just a little over a month and already I am starting to organize our stuff, pack and make moving arrangements.  I believe that the earlier you start to prep for the big day, the easier the transition from one home to the next will be.  You’ll also be able to have a few dollars in the process.

Here are a few savings tips I have learned on my many moves:

1. Start Early.  The earlier you start planning, organizing and packing, the more efficient your move will be.  This will eliminate undue stress and keep you from making those last minute purchases like extra packing tape and boxes, or mistakes like underestimating the time you need to move which might cost you to pay for an extra day for the moving truck (if you rented one) or worse, paying the movers overtime.

2. Take Inventory.  Make a list of what you own.  Estimate how many boxes it might take to pack everything, how big a truck you might have to rent and how many trips you’ll have to take to and from your old and new homes.  This will help you estimate how much the move will cost.

3. Give Stuff Away.  After taking inventory of what you own and if you did a good job, you’ll likely find some items that you haven’t used or looked at for years lurking in your closets or storage area.  You can have a yard sale, if you have the time, or donate your unwanted goods to a local charity like the Salvation Army.  Most charitable institutions that take these types of donations will pick up your goods from your home.  Giving stuff away is a great moving strategy because it not only lessens the amount of stuff you need to pack or move, but also helps your community.

4. Trash Day Vs. The Dump.  You might find that you have a few things that are too far gone to donate or give away.  Before taking a trip to the dump and paying to use their services, call City Hall or your local Recycling/Garbage Disposal Centre to see what types of trash items they will pick up.  Where I live, the city will pick up one bulky item per week that won’t fit into your regular garbage bins as well as old appliances.

5. Plan your budget. Too many times people are caught unaware of how much a move will cost and end up charging their credit cards then carrying that balance for months.  After you do tips 2-4 and estimate the cost of the physical move, add in the amount of money it will take to do mail forwarding to your new address, cable re-installation, phone hook-ups, etc. After listing all these amounts down, start putting away some cash to help pay for your listed expenses up front.

6. Drive Vs. Fly.  Can you drive to your new home?  If you can, consider doing so as it might be cheaper to bring everything with you in a truck than shipping them or hiring movers to do so.

7. Get Help. It’s always cheaper if you can move your stuff yourself.  Movers are expensive, so if you can, rent a truck and ask your friends to help.  Or consider hiring your friends’ or neighbours’ kids just to help load and unload the truck.

8. Reduce Work for Movers. If you find that you need to hire movers, reduce their work hours by dismantling shelves and beds before they arrive.

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Nov 12 0 comments
Organize, Saving Tips

Holiday Shopping: Some Tips To Keep Your Cash and Purchases Safe

These tips were originally posted in August, but as the Holiday and Christmas Season is the biggest time of year for shopping, I thought it might be worth posting them again (some have revisions) as reminder to us all…

a.  I bring a couple of big, sturdy bags with me where I can stuff several stores’ worth of goods inside with the logic being the less packages you have to carry, the less likely I will lose or leave one behind in the fitting rooms or when I take a breather and sit down at a coffee shop or restaurant.  Even better if your sturdy bags are very distinct with loud patterns and such (many eco-friendly bags have such designs… hint, hint) so that you can spot/see them easily.

b. I also keep all my purchases’ receipts and never leave the receipts in their shopping bags for 3 reasons - if I go home and am unhappy with the item I bought, I can go back to the store for a refund and not just an exchange because I have the receipt; I can calculate how much I spent; and in the odd event that someone lifts one of my packages and I catch him/her I can prove to security that the package and items are mine because I have the receipt.

c. I look at the purchase total before I sign a credit card receipt or punch in my debit card number and I never let my cards leave my sight while they are with retail clerk.  (Once a harried retail clerk handed me back another person’s credit card!)

d. I count my change carefully while still at the till after a cash purchase.  (Too many times I have been given back the wrong amount of change)

e. On a particularly large shopping spree, I take a break and bring the packages I currently have to the car (if I drove there) before continuing on to buy some more.  Makes for less things to carry and therefore less likely I will lose a package.

A little extra attention to the above details while shopping at any time has saved me from more costly errors!  And I hope they help you save some cash, too.

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Nov 08 0 comments
Affordable Gifts, Saving Tips

Recycled Gift Wrapping

Starting to buy your holiday presents and paraphernalia?  If you’re like me, you are.  The holidays can be very expensive and if your wallet could feel pain, this will be the time of year it would.  But the holidays can not only tax your wallet, but Mother Earth as well.  Tons of wrapping paper and gift bags are bought and then thrown away each year.

So, this year, let’s save some energy and cash by using the comic strip/funnies section of your newspapers instead of store bought gift wrap.  Or if you subscribe to magazines, start tearing out and saving some of the pages now.  The Earth will love you for it, and your gift recipients will appreciate your unique wrapping.

Happy wrapping!  :-)

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