Category Archives: Saving Tips

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.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Mar 02 0 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!

Share/Save/Bookmark

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.

Share/Save/Bookmark

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.

Share/Save/Bookmark

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!  :-)

Share/Save/Bookmark

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!

Share/Save/Bookmark

Nov 03 2 comments
Affordable Gifts, Organize, Saving Tips

Early Holiday Shopping Equals A Little Less Holiday Stress

Yes, I know, Halloween has just passed and already I am writing about Holiday shopping. But for good reason! My family celebrates Christmas and we have dinners, get-togethers, gift-exchange, etc. And since I tend to be a little obsessive about giving gifts people will cherish (or at least like), I have to start early (at least by early November) to avoid undue stress.

This is the time I tend to do a lot of window shopping. Whether I am looking to order online, buy something at the mall ready-made and off the rack, or planning to make a gift by hand, I take some time to browse at lunch time or after work and get some gift ideas (and prices). It is also handy to have your gift list ready and with you at this time.

After a week or so I have an idea of what handmade gifts I am making so I buy the materials and I start creating them. As I create, I wrap and tag them so that I don’t forget what goes to whom. If I decide that I am making something edible, I carefully calculate and then buy as many of the ingredients as early as I can to avoid mad rushes at the food stores closer to the holidays. A day or two before our celebration, I can bake/cook without too much worry that an ingredient is missing.

Same goes for ready-made gifts. I tend to buy early for fear of not getting the right size or colour of toy, garment, gizmo, etc. or worse, not being able to get the thing at all for the “hot” items. And for the online orders, now is the time to buy them to make sure the gift arrives on time. You really don’t want to pay more for a last-minute gift!

Happy shopping, everyone. And for those looking for some gift ideas, I’ll be posting some articles on those in the coming weeks.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Nov 01 0 comments
Cheap Eats, Money Stories, Money and Relationships, Saving Tips

A Bottle of Spaghetti Sauce

Last night my partner made dinner; spaghetti and meatballs. He used a bottle of Ragu Pasta sauce and added chopped green peppers, mushrooms and meatballs. But he also added water. It would have been an awesome meal except for the added water in the sauce. Instead of a lovely sauce that stuck to your noodles, the sauce instead was an almost tasteless soup that collected at the bottom of our plates.

When I asked my partner about it, he said he added the water because some of the thick sauce stuck to the bottom of the bottle and it was hard to get it out. The water made it soupy enough to get out. I was upset. The meal wasn’t appetizing so I felt we wasted money while trying to save a few pennies by getting the most sauce he could from the bottle.

Moral of the story? I guess my partner and I learned it’s not worth trying to save a few pennies at the risk of ruining a good deal (or meal in this case). This initial story might sound just a little bit silly but it reminds me of another. My relatives had an after-school tutor for their child to help her with Math. This tutor was wonderful, the kid liked him and her grades were improving, he got along with the parents and he came at a reasonable price. However, he was always 10 minutes late. Even when the family suggested that they bump the session times a bit later in the day, he still came 10 minutes late. After a few months, the parents fired him. They were not able to find another tutor that was as effective after that. They lost their good deal.

So, another moral might be, don’t be TOO anal about savings or getting your money’s worth. It might just bite you in the a$$.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Oct 29 0 comments
Organize, Saving Tips

Buy Good Candy

Just two more sleeps and it’s Halloween! I love Halloween as it gives me an excuse to dress up (this year, I will don a cardboard head and wear my lab coat because I’m dressing up as Beaker of the Muppets) and it allows me to by hoards of candy and chocolates (I have a huge sweet tooth).

During this time of year, I splurge on a big bag of candy, and I don’t buy the cheap kind, I buy the “good” candy. I think this is a worthwhile investment. No, I will not keep it all to myself, but I do buy stuff that I like and most people like, you know, the popular stuff like Cadbury’s and Hershey brands. Why? When Trick-or-Treaters come to your door, then bring the candy home to eat, you want your stuff to get eaten by someone, anyone. More likely, the popular brand candies will get eaten. There are too many homes that give out the rock hard, plastic tasting no name brand candies that get stuck to the plastic wrapper and become inedible by the time the little Halloween ghouls bring their loot bags home. These yucky treats get thrown in the trash and that’s a waste!

Another reason to buy the good candy is because each year the number of Trick-or-Treaters that come to my door varies. Some years I have so much left over candy that my family has to consume it ourselves. If we don’t like the candy, it goes in the trash. But if we do, it eventually gets eaten.

That’s why I buy the “good” candy. More chance of it getting eaten, less waste.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Oct 27 2 comments
Saving Tips

Very Affordable Halloween Costume - Beaker of the Muppets

ticket stub frame

Uh-oh no costume yet?  Halloween is only 4 days away but it’s not too late to make yourself a very cute and affordable Beaker Costume. Really easy, it only takes around an hour to make.  Here’s how to make his head…

Materials:

Pink poster board - $0.50 at Dollar Store

Orange flat foam material - $1 per pack at Dollar Store (or you can use orange poster/card board)

Styrofoam balls, 2 sizes (for eyes and nose) - $1 per pack at Dollar Store

Markers or acrylic paint, glue, pencil, eraser, scissors, ruler, tape and/or stapler

1. Wrap poster board around your head.  Mark it with pencil just above where your eyes are and where you mouth is.  Then draw an arch in the middle of the poster board.  The top of the arch starts from where you marked and bottom points end just around your mouth.  This arch is going to be the opening for Beaker’s mouth and doubles as your eye holes.  Cut along the arch with scissors.

2. Paint bigger styrofoam ball orange and make a black dot on each of the smaller styrofoam balls.  These will be Beaker’s nose and eyes. Glue the orange nose styrofoam ball just above the arch you cut out and the two styrofoam eyes just above the nose.

3. Shorten the poster board by marking one inch above the styrofoam eyes then cutting across.

4. Cut the orange foam or poster board into triangles.  These will be Beaker’s hair.  Glue, tape or staple hair to top of poster board.

5. Roll the poster board into a cylinder and tape ends shut.  Put over your head and wear a lab coat or long white shirt over a patterned shirt and tie and you are Beaker from the Muppets!

Happy Halloween!

Share/Save/Bookmark