Well tomorrow is Tuesday, and for the last 13 weeks we've been heading over the the west end of the city to lead our weekly Financial Peace University. Steve and I have really enjoyed leading the course and seeing other people start down a path of financial security like we have.
We had such a great group, a good mix of ages, genders, and from all stages of life. Some were married, some were single, some were engaged. Some were grandparents, some had babies. Some people owned their homes, some rented, and some were hoping to move from renting to owning soon. It was a great opportunity for us to show what we had learned and to help pass that on.
By the end of the course, we had about 10 households pay off, or save up over $50,000 all together. I was so proud!! Quite a few of the families had completely paid off their debts and were working to get their emergency funds in place. Some families even accomplished their fully funded emergency fund!! We were very excited to see the progress that each family made.
As for Steve and I, we are now giving our kitchen a facelift, and the selling the house! We will be looking for a great deal somewhere, as we have been for a couple of years now. Our real estate agent feels that January or February should bring along a few great deals, and we need to be ready to jump on those quickly! We may even take the chance and sell our house before we find a deal. I'm not too eager to do that, because it puts us in a place where we could be without a home for a little while. At that point in time, we'd be far more motivated to make purchase and may not have the patience to wait for a great deal.
We are excited though, it's been 5.5 years in this little duplex, and we are simply outgrowing it. We are both looking forward to moving on to our next investment, another home that we can live in and add value to.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Electricity Providers
After much research, we have finally decided to switch from Epcor to Enmax for electricity. In order to further our savings, we also switched our natural gas provider from Direct Energy to Enmax.
We locked in our electricity costs at a lower price than we've been paying for the last couple of months, and we kept a floating rate for natural gas. The natural gas costs will not be any higher or lower than the floating rate we were paying before.
After hearing the electricity prices were going to rise up to 40% in December, I decided that locking it into a non-contractual plan was the best option. With Enmax, I can switch in and out of the fixed rates at any time I choose. This means that there is virtually no risk involved, and if I don't end up saving money, or if it costs me more, I'll simply switch back to Epcor.
We won't get our first bill from Enmax until the first part of January, so we'll have to wait a bit to see if we will come out ahead, the same, or further back. I do expect to come out ahead... otherwise I never would have switched.
I'm not hoping for a miracle here, but if we can save a few dollars each month, it will be worth it!
We locked in our electricity costs at a lower price than we've been paying for the last couple of months, and we kept a floating rate for natural gas. The natural gas costs will not be any higher or lower than the floating rate we were paying before.
After hearing the electricity prices were going to rise up to 40% in December, I decided that locking it into a non-contractual plan was the best option. With Enmax, I can switch in and out of the fixed rates at any time I choose. This means that there is virtually no risk involved, and if I don't end up saving money, or if it costs me more, I'll simply switch back to Epcor.
We won't get our first bill from Enmax until the first part of January, so we'll have to wait a bit to see if we will come out ahead, the same, or further back. I do expect to come out ahead... otherwise I never would have switched.
I'm not hoping for a miracle here, but if we can save a few dollars each month, it will be worth it!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Couponing in Edmonton
So today I am officially setting up a coupon binder!! This is not going to become a blog about couponing because I believe there are already a lot of blogs out there that do the job just fine. Here are a few:
Canadian Coupon Mom
Money Saving Mom Canada
Extreme Couponing Mom
Mrs. January
Frugal Edmonton Mama
Any google search will reveal a thousand blogs about couponing in Edmonton (and Canada), so it's not too hard to find that info.
I would recommend that if you get the opportunity to take a couponing course, you do so. These are usually only a few dollars, but they really give you a lot of insight into couponing and how exactly it's done legally and responsibly here in Canada.
My personal belief is that couponing is excellent, as long as it has some boundaries. Those boundaries include staying within the store coupon policies, and not spending a bunch more money on things you don't need just because you have coupons. I believe in finding coupons for the things I use, can use, or can give away. If I can find free things, I grab them whether I use them or not, because I can always donate them to a shelter or give them away. I also believe in taking the coupons that you'll use, and not taking coupons that are on products that you are not purchasing.
Using coupons can be very rewarding when done correctly. I look forward to progressing in my coupon skills, and I also look forward to being able to give a bunch of stuff away, and save money all at once!
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about couponing, but I think you'll find all the info you could need on one or more of those blog websites I posted above.
Canadian Coupon Mom
Money Saving Mom Canada
Extreme Couponing Mom
Mrs. January
Frugal Edmonton Mama
Any google search will reveal a thousand blogs about couponing in Edmonton (and Canada), so it's not too hard to find that info.
I would recommend that if you get the opportunity to take a couponing course, you do so. These are usually only a few dollars, but they really give you a lot of insight into couponing and how exactly it's done legally and responsibly here in Canada.
My personal belief is that couponing is excellent, as long as it has some boundaries. Those boundaries include staying within the store coupon policies, and not spending a bunch more money on things you don't need just because you have coupons. I believe in finding coupons for the things I use, can use, or can give away. If I can find free things, I grab them whether I use them or not, because I can always donate them to a shelter or give them away. I also believe in taking the coupons that you'll use, and not taking coupons that are on products that you are not purchasing.
Using coupons can be very rewarding when done correctly. I look forward to progressing in my coupon skills, and I also look forward to being able to give a bunch of stuff away, and save money all at once!
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about couponing, but I think you'll find all the info you could need on one or more of those blog websites I posted above.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Another Personal Update - Financial Peace
Little by little, we are reaching our goals of reaching financial peace. I'm very excited to share that we are completely finishes step 3, and have just over 5 months of expenses saved up in case of an emergency. I am also excited to share that we have started looking into our next options and have decided a good course of action.
With Steve working on some side jobs, our income has seen a bit of a facelift. It's nothing that will really make a difference yet, but it helps!
We thought about investing, and starting up my RRSPs again, and even looked into RESPs. At this point in time though, we've decided that we want to be moving to a bigger house within the next year. In order to do that comfortably, we are going to hold off on investments and focus on paying down our mortgage so we have a bigger down payment.
We even considered keeping this house as a rental property and buying another one to live in, but I don't think we are ready to take on that kind of risk yet. If the renters don't pay, or if we can't find renters, we are really in trouble!! Also, we still owe enough on this house that if the housing market really crashed, we could still be in a situation where we owe as much or more than the house is worth. If we turn our focus from the Emergency Fund and start piling that money into our mortgage, I think we can have it down considerably in a few months. Then when we go to sell, we can easily come up with a good down payment and feel good that we are saving a bunch of interest.
I have to admit, the idea of keeping this house as a rental property sounds good, and I know probably 95% of investment advisers out there would say that you want to keep a mortgage on your investment properties, because you can write off the mortgage payments on your taxes. Those payments offset the income that you earn through the rental property, and the theory is that you save piles of money. I just can't agree with that. I'd rather pay the government all that tax on the extra income, than pay all that interest each month and STILL owe a whole bunch on the rental property.
It would be much safer to have a rental property paid off, or very close to paid off, before I take the risk of having it trashed, empty, or simply not earning income.
Anyways, the outcome of all those discussions have let to one thing. We are going to focus on lowering our mortgage as much as we can, and once we find a new place, we'll be in a better position. We are looking for a place hopefully near my parents, and a house that we can take from being ugly to being a dream home.
We do know what we are getting in to, as we did that already once with this house! When we moved in, it really didn't look like much. After much hard work, paint, and soap, it wasn't too bad. Then when we tore out the basement and totally started from scratch down there, it was much better. Rebuilding the fence last year, and adding a deck this year, really helped the place to look much better too. I planted some bushes and shrubs in the front this past summer, in hopes of making the front part of the house look much more inviting and cared for.
There are a few things left to do here before we sell, little things that will bring up the value of the home, if only because it makes people feel better and have a better impression of the place. The last major project should be completed in February, and that is to renovate the kitchen. We want to replace the cabinets and the flooring in the kitchen, and possibly the counter-tops. If we can get by with replacing only the cabinets and not the counters, I'd prefer to do that. The counter-tops are still in fine condition and look nice. Once we do that, this house will be in great condition to sell.
I'm very excited to see our hard work pay off, but a little sad to think that the work will start all over again with the new house. Perhaps it won't be so bad though... but if it is, there's money to be made!!
So that's the update on our own journey to Financial Peace. One step at a time, we keep on keeping on.
With Steve working on some side jobs, our income has seen a bit of a facelift. It's nothing that will really make a difference yet, but it helps!
We thought about investing, and starting up my RRSPs again, and even looked into RESPs. At this point in time though, we've decided that we want to be moving to a bigger house within the next year. In order to do that comfortably, we are going to hold off on investments and focus on paying down our mortgage so we have a bigger down payment.
We even considered keeping this house as a rental property and buying another one to live in, but I don't think we are ready to take on that kind of risk yet. If the renters don't pay, or if we can't find renters, we are really in trouble!! Also, we still owe enough on this house that if the housing market really crashed, we could still be in a situation where we owe as much or more than the house is worth. If we turn our focus from the Emergency Fund and start piling that money into our mortgage, I think we can have it down considerably in a few months. Then when we go to sell, we can easily come up with a good down payment and feel good that we are saving a bunch of interest.
I have to admit, the idea of keeping this house as a rental property sounds good, and I know probably 95% of investment advisers out there would say that you want to keep a mortgage on your investment properties, because you can write off the mortgage payments on your taxes. Those payments offset the income that you earn through the rental property, and the theory is that you save piles of money. I just can't agree with that. I'd rather pay the government all that tax on the extra income, than pay all that interest each month and STILL owe a whole bunch on the rental property.
It would be much safer to have a rental property paid off, or very close to paid off, before I take the risk of having it trashed, empty, or simply not earning income.
Anyways, the outcome of all those discussions have let to one thing. We are going to focus on lowering our mortgage as much as we can, and once we find a new place, we'll be in a better position. We are looking for a place hopefully near my parents, and a house that we can take from being ugly to being a dream home.
We do know what we are getting in to, as we did that already once with this house! When we moved in, it really didn't look like much. After much hard work, paint, and soap, it wasn't too bad. Then when we tore out the basement and totally started from scratch down there, it was much better. Rebuilding the fence last year, and adding a deck this year, really helped the place to look much better too. I planted some bushes and shrubs in the front this past summer, in hopes of making the front part of the house look much more inviting and cared for.
There are a few things left to do here before we sell, little things that will bring up the value of the home, if only because it makes people feel better and have a better impression of the place. The last major project should be completed in February, and that is to renovate the kitchen. We want to replace the cabinets and the flooring in the kitchen, and possibly the counter-tops. If we can get by with replacing only the cabinets and not the counters, I'd prefer to do that. The counter-tops are still in fine condition and look nice. Once we do that, this house will be in great condition to sell.
I'm very excited to see our hard work pay off, but a little sad to think that the work will start all over again with the new house. Perhaps it won't be so bad though... but if it is, there's money to be made!!
So that's the update on our own journey to Financial Peace. One step at a time, we keep on keeping on.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Investment tool!
Investing has always seemed a little scary for me... so many big words and so many variables!
We personally ended up in a bit of a pickle over some bad investment advice, and are still paying the consequences of our decision. In order to avoid the same mistake again, we've done our best to talk to lots of different people, researched things online, and have done our best to just get a general education on what investments are and how they work.
There is a fantastic site that we learned of in the last week, that gives you the ability to check out how funds, companies, and stocks have been doing for the last few years. If you have bought into a stock or other fund like that, you will have an ID number of some sort on that fund. Using The Globe and Mail's website, you can enter the name of any stock or fund into their search bar near the top of the window, and use the tabs on the fund's page to view information on the fund. Most importantly, you can view how well the fund has performed in the last 10 years, and then make a solid decision on whether or not you want to get in.
I'm told that when investment brokers are showing charts, they can easily (and legally) leave some information out of the picture and make their graphs look rather rosy. The Globe and Mail tells it how it is. Good or bad, it's the real picture.
If we had looked at those charts before we invested, we may not have been so easily convinced to buy in. Thankfully, we are learning much more now and will not make those mistakes again.
As Dave Ramsey says, "Never buy into something that you can't explain- something you don't understand well enough to explain it to a 7th grader."
We personally ended up in a bit of a pickle over some bad investment advice, and are still paying the consequences of our decision. In order to avoid the same mistake again, we've done our best to talk to lots of different people, researched things online, and have done our best to just get a general education on what investments are and how they work.
There is a fantastic site that we learned of in the last week, that gives you the ability to check out how funds, companies, and stocks have been doing for the last few years. If you have bought into a stock or other fund like that, you will have an ID number of some sort on that fund. Using The Globe and Mail's website, you can enter the name of any stock or fund into their search bar near the top of the window, and use the tabs on the fund's page to view information on the fund. Most importantly, you can view how well the fund has performed in the last 10 years, and then make a solid decision on whether or not you want to get in.
I'm told that when investment brokers are showing charts, they can easily (and legally) leave some information out of the picture and make their graphs look rather rosy. The Globe and Mail tells it how it is. Good or bad, it's the real picture.
If we had looked at those charts before we invested, we may not have been so easily convinced to buy in. Thankfully, we are learning much more now and will not make those mistakes again.
As Dave Ramsey says, "Never buy into something that you can't explain- something you don't understand well enough to explain it to a 7th grader."
Monday, November 7, 2011
Granola Recipe! (Money Saving Breakfast, and healthy too!)
When people find out that I make my own granola cereal for breakfast, a lot of people ask me for my recipe. I haven't ever come up with an actual recipe, as I usually just guess on every amount and keep tweaking until it works... until now.
I have officially come up with my Banana Granola recipe, that will save some money on healthy breakfasts. I'm not sure if this recipe is actually cheaper than purchasing puffed rice or corn flakes, but I can guarantee you that it's much more healthy! And for the price of the higher quality cereals, I think you'd be better off making your own!
This recipe has a banana base, rather than an oil base like so many other granola recipes. If you really want to save money, check for the overripe, brown bananas that the grocery stores will sell you at a discounted price!
Blend the following ingredients until liquified:
In a separate bowl, or directly in the roasting pan you will use, mix together the following ingredients
Once properly cooled and dried, this granola will keep very well for a couple of weeks (we've had it for up to 3 weeks) in a sealed, clean container stored in a cool dry place.
Variations:
This recipe is extremely easy to change by adding and subtracting ingredients, and switching them with what your family prefers.
Raisins and other dried fruits can be added, but only after the granola is cooked and has cooled for a couple of hours. If you add the raisins directly the recipe before cooking, they will all burn and you will have black little burnt raisins all through the granola. It's not very tasty that way!
You can add wheat germ, oat bran or rice bran in place of, or in addition to the flax seeds and bran flakes. If you want to add more than a couple cups of dry ingredients in this recipe, make sure you add another banana to the original blending mixture to offset the additional dry ingredients.
Instead of or in addition to peanuts, you can use almonds, cashews, walnuts, or any other type of nut that you like. Or, if you and your family don't do nuts, switch out the nuts for some nutritious seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and/or sesame seeds.
Instead of vanilla flavoring, feel free to try some other flavors that will better match the other ingredients. For example, if you use walnuts, try using maple extract instead of vanilla. You can use almond extract as well to enhance the addition of almonds.
I like to limit the sugars that I use in my baking, so I am careful to use unsweetened coconut. "Normal" coconut has icing sugar in it. If your family prefers a sweeter taste, you can add more honey, 1/2 cup of corn syrup, sweetened coconut, or 1 cup of brown sugar to the mix.
So there you have it! If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment here and let me know what you think.
I have officially come up with my Banana Granola recipe, that will save some money on healthy breakfasts. I'm not sure if this recipe is actually cheaper than purchasing puffed rice or corn flakes, but I can guarantee you that it's much more healthy! And for the price of the higher quality cereals, I think you'd be better off making your own!
This recipe has a banana base, rather than an oil base like so many other granola recipes. If you really want to save money, check for the overripe, brown bananas that the grocery stores will sell you at a discounted price!
Banana Granola
Preheat the oven to 300
Blend the following ingredients until liquified:
- 6 overripe bananas
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup of oil
In a separate bowl, or directly in the roasting pan you will use, mix together the following ingredients
- 2.25 kg of rolled oats (about 24 cups)
- 6 cups of unsweetened coconut
- 2 cups of ground flax seeds
- 8 cups of unsalted peanuts
- 1 cup of bran flakes
Once properly cooled and dried, this granola will keep very well for a couple of weeks (we've had it for up to 3 weeks) in a sealed, clean container stored in a cool dry place.
Variations:
This recipe is extremely easy to change by adding and subtracting ingredients, and switching them with what your family prefers.
Raisins and other dried fruits can be added, but only after the granola is cooked and has cooled for a couple of hours. If you add the raisins directly the recipe before cooking, they will all burn and you will have black little burnt raisins all through the granola. It's not very tasty that way!
You can add wheat germ, oat bran or rice bran in place of, or in addition to the flax seeds and bran flakes. If you want to add more than a couple cups of dry ingredients in this recipe, make sure you add another banana to the original blending mixture to offset the additional dry ingredients.
Instead of or in addition to peanuts, you can use almonds, cashews, walnuts, or any other type of nut that you like. Or, if you and your family don't do nuts, switch out the nuts for some nutritious seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and/or sesame seeds.
Instead of vanilla flavoring, feel free to try some other flavors that will better match the other ingredients. For example, if you use walnuts, try using maple extract instead of vanilla. You can use almond extract as well to enhance the addition of almonds.
I like to limit the sugars that I use in my baking, so I am careful to use unsweetened coconut. "Normal" coconut has icing sugar in it. If your family prefers a sweeter taste, you can add more honey, 1/2 cup of corn syrup, sweetened coconut, or 1 cup of brown sugar to the mix.
So there you have it! If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a comment here and let me know what you think.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Frugal Edmonton Mama Ebook Special!
For a limited time, if you haven't read the guide to using coupons and saving money in Edmonton, you can get the Frugal Edmonton Mama E-Coupon class for only $4.99!
Check out Frugal Edmonton Mama's post for more info!
You will learn where to get the coupons, how to use the coupons and where you can start to get FREE items too. Just in time for the holiday season, you can change the way that you shop and be on your way to saving more money on your next trip to the supermarket - just by learning to time when you shop and other simple methods.
Check out Frugal Edmonton Mama's post for more info!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Huggies Diapers - $16 off!!!
So I did it!!!
I bought a $20 pack of diapers for $4.04. How? Armed with 4 coupons and a Zellers flyer, I made my way to London Drugs. I was admittedly pretty nervous, wondering if this could work! I was so nervous that I totally forgot to step into Superstore and pick up my fifth coupon which would have brought the price down to $2.02.
I went and found the diapers that I wanted, and went to the customer service desk. I used the Zellers flyer to price match the diapers from $20.99 down to $9.99. Then I set out the coupons. I must have looked like a total coupon amateur as I sat there nervously watching the clerk read through the coupons. She scanned them and said, "That's $4.04 please."
I tried to act all casual, but inside I was literally leaping and dancing, screaming, "IT WORKED!!!" I had visions of myself dancing through some flowery meadow, receipt in one hand, diapers in the other, cash still left safely in my wallet.
I paid, and then left the store before my excitement came bursting out through my skin.
I am hooked. I purchased a couponing how-to guide for $12.99, and just saved $16 in one single transaction. I am so excited, if I can save money on diapers alone, I will be saving around $40 a month, if not more!
So my dear readers, if you want to start saving some big money, take a peek into the world of couponing. Not just using a coupon here and there, but look into actually figuring out the system and how you get stuff for free or at a very low price!
I bought a $20 pack of diapers for $4.04. How? Armed with 4 coupons and a Zellers flyer, I made my way to London Drugs. I was admittedly pretty nervous, wondering if this could work! I was so nervous that I totally forgot to step into Superstore and pick up my fifth coupon which would have brought the price down to $2.02.
I went and found the diapers that I wanted, and went to the customer service desk. I used the Zellers flyer to price match the diapers from $20.99 down to $9.99. Then I set out the coupons. I must have looked like a total coupon amateur as I sat there nervously watching the clerk read through the coupons. She scanned them and said, "That's $4.04 please."
I tried to act all casual, but inside I was literally leaping and dancing, screaming, "IT WORKED!!!" I had visions of myself dancing through some flowery meadow, receipt in one hand, diapers in the other, cash still left safely in my wallet.
I paid, and then left the store before my excitement came bursting out through my skin.
I am hooked. I purchased a couponing how-to guide for $12.99, and just saved $16 in one single transaction. I am so excited, if I can save money on diapers alone, I will be saving around $40 a month, if not more!
So my dear readers, if you want to start saving some big money, take a peek into the world of couponing. Not just using a coupon here and there, but look into actually figuring out the system and how you get stuff for free or at a very low price!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Couponing in Canada
Alright, so for a long time I have believed that it is virtually impossible to do couponing in Canada. Yes, I could save a buck or two for each grocery trip, but really, is that worth it? And I'd probably be buying the higher priced stuff anyways, where I could just use the store brand and save more!!
I used to think that.
Then I came across http://www.frugaledmontonmama.com. She helps people get free groceries over and over again!!! She claims that with her course, (only $12 for the e-course) she can teach you how to reduce your grocery bill by up to 90%!!! I think it's time I take the course.
With some tips from her site, I'm armed and ready to go get some nearly free Huggies diapers. If I could do nothing else but get my diaper costs reduced, I would save hundreds of dollars a year.
I will let you know how it goes... and I'll let you know when I decide to take the course. I may take her in-class course, which is more expensive, because I want to be able to ask questions- or even interrogate!! ...Nicely of course. :D
Check out the site for yourself, you might be pretty surprised at all the deals to be found here in our own city!
I used to think that.
Then I came across http://www.frugaledmontonmama.com. She helps people get free groceries over and over again!!! She claims that with her course, (only $12 for the e-course) she can teach you how to reduce your grocery bill by up to 90%!!! I think it's time I take the course.
With some tips from her site, I'm armed and ready to go get some nearly free Huggies diapers. If I could do nothing else but get my diaper costs reduced, I would save hundreds of dollars a year.
I will let you know how it goes... and I'll let you know when I decide to take the course. I may take her in-class course, which is more expensive, because I want to be able to ask questions- or even interrogate!! ...Nicely of course. :D
Check out the site for yourself, you might be pretty surprised at all the deals to be found here in our own city!
Friday, October 7, 2011
No analog TV signals means I have to get cable?
So, as most of you have noticed, there are no longer any analog TV signals- which means that those of us who have old TVs and relied only on "peasant view" TV, are hooped!
With winter coming, the kids spend less time outdoors, and a little more time in front of the TV. That may be bad mothering on my part, but it's pretty much a fact of life in this house. I like to monitor when and what my kids are watching, but with all the TV signals disappearing, they have really missed some of their CBC Kids shows!!
I looked into getting cable or satellite, but was seriously turned off by the high monthly prices!! In order to get the few shows that would actually be worth watching, we'd end up with a bill of at LEAST $50 a month. But really, as far as bills go, the sky is the limit! It's crazy... totally insane. I cannot believe that people spend that kind of money so that they can turn on the TV and watch!
But... I too was going to go down that route in order to at least have something that the kids could be entertained by when I needed it.
My brother mentioned that if there were just a few shows that my kids wanted (Word World, Busy Town, Little Bear, etc.) I should look into Netflix.
Netflix is definitely the answer to my dilemma! With a free trial offer for the first month, and $8 each month after that, we decided to give it a try. I was immediately pleased with the results!! We use my computer or the Wii to view our shows, I don't have to worry about any commercials or shows that I'd rather my kids not see, and we don't have to wait until a specific time for them to watch what they want to see!
I've noticed that Netflix changes their lineup quite frequently... they used to carry all the Mythbusters episodes, but recently dropped those. My kids LOVED WordWorld, but in the last week, those are gone too. However, it's not like the kids won't find something decent to watch, there's always Veggie Tales movies, Little Bear, or even Dora. Steve and I have enjoyed seeing all the Blue Planet shows, and other nature style shows. If we want, there's a ton of movies to choose from as well.
I'm pleased! For $8 a month I can choose when and what my kids watch, without having to sign up for a cable or satellite connection that would cost me a lot more!
With winter coming, the kids spend less time outdoors, and a little more time in front of the TV. That may be bad mothering on my part, but it's pretty much a fact of life in this house. I like to monitor when and what my kids are watching, but with all the TV signals disappearing, they have really missed some of their CBC Kids shows!!
I looked into getting cable or satellite, but was seriously turned off by the high monthly prices!! In order to get the few shows that would actually be worth watching, we'd end up with a bill of at LEAST $50 a month. But really, as far as bills go, the sky is the limit! It's crazy... totally insane. I cannot believe that people spend that kind of money so that they can turn on the TV and watch!
But... I too was going to go down that route in order to at least have something that the kids could be entertained by when I needed it.
My brother mentioned that if there were just a few shows that my kids wanted (Word World, Busy Town, Little Bear, etc.) I should look into Netflix.
Netflix is definitely the answer to my dilemma! With a free trial offer for the first month, and $8 each month after that, we decided to give it a try. I was immediately pleased with the results!! We use my computer or the Wii to view our shows, I don't have to worry about any commercials or shows that I'd rather my kids not see, and we don't have to wait until a specific time for them to watch what they want to see!
I've noticed that Netflix changes their lineup quite frequently... they used to carry all the Mythbusters episodes, but recently dropped those. My kids LOVED WordWorld, but in the last week, those are gone too. However, it's not like the kids won't find something decent to watch, there's always Veggie Tales movies, Little Bear, or even Dora. Steve and I have enjoyed seeing all the Blue Planet shows, and other nature style shows. If we want, there's a ton of movies to choose from as well.
I'm pleased! For $8 a month I can choose when and what my kids watch, without having to sign up for a cable or satellite connection that would cost me a lot more!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Electricity Calculator! How much does your stuff cost you?
When I opened my Epcor bill last month, I nearly fainted. $180??? Are you kidding? We didn't really do anything differently, I certainly didn't have the AC running for the month of September, and I didn't really have the furnace on a lot either.
As I sat there staring at the bill, I do realize that electricity costs fluctuate, but for the most part, I wanted to make sure that what I was doing wasn't causing our bill to rise. I am pretty clueless when it comes to knowing what electricity costs... and even what it all does and how it all works. I had no idea how to know what used more and less electricity, and I didn't even know how to lower our usage!
I found this handy calculator that did all that funny math for me, and was very useful to my limited knowledge self! :) FortisAlberta offers this electricity cost calculator on their website.
After typing in my numbers, I was shocked... I had no idea it cost me about a dollar for every hour that my oven was used. I didn't realize that to let my printer stay on in stand-by mode all day and night, it was about $10 a month. I had no idea that using a small burner on my stove used half the electricity as a large one.
I'm sure some of you are shaking your head right now at my ignorance, but I'm also sure that there some of you who are having a "light bulb moment" (okay, bad joke...) and are also learning the same things I just did.
If I'm to save money on electricity, I need to know what things are most effective in doing that. Obviously things like the furnace fan, some lights, and other odds and ends aren't going to change. But I can use my crock pot instead of my oven, and I can set my dryer to a setting that will leave the clothes dry, but not bone dry. I can limit the amount I use my dishwasher, and make sure that the lights aren't on when they don't need to be.
Here's hoping for a smaller electricity bill next month!!
Do you have any realistic tips on how to save electricity?
As I sat there staring at the bill, I do realize that electricity costs fluctuate, but for the most part, I wanted to make sure that what I was doing wasn't causing our bill to rise. I am pretty clueless when it comes to knowing what electricity costs... and even what it all does and how it all works. I had no idea how to know what used more and less electricity, and I didn't even know how to lower our usage!
I found this handy calculator that did all that funny math for me, and was very useful to my limited knowledge self! :) FortisAlberta offers this electricity cost calculator on their website.
After typing in my numbers, I was shocked... I had no idea it cost me about a dollar for every hour that my oven was used. I didn't realize that to let my printer stay on in stand-by mode all day and night, it was about $10 a month. I had no idea that using a small burner on my stove used half the electricity as a large one.
I'm sure some of you are shaking your head right now at my ignorance, but I'm also sure that there some of you who are having a "light bulb moment" (okay, bad joke...) and are also learning the same things I just did.
If I'm to save money on electricity, I need to know what things are most effective in doing that. Obviously things like the furnace fan, some lights, and other odds and ends aren't going to change. But I can use my crock pot instead of my oven, and I can set my dryer to a setting that will leave the clothes dry, but not bone dry. I can limit the amount I use my dishwasher, and make sure that the lights aren't on when they don't need to be.
Here's hoping for a smaller electricity bill next month!!
Do you have any realistic tips on how to save electricity?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
On to Step 3a!!!
We are now pretty much done Dave Ramsey's baby step 3. That means that if Steve got hurt or lost his job, we'd have enough cash in our savings account (Tax Free Savings Account...) to hold us for 5 months. Over the next couple of months we'll top that up to a full 6 month savings account, but we kind of put it on hold for a bit to do some much needed spending.
For example, my dear husband allowed me to go out and shop for some clothes!! After having my third baby, nothing fits me anymore. It would be so easy if every pregnancy lasted through the same seasons, and after every time I snapped back quickly to my old body shape. And it would be even nicer if each time was the same shape before, during, and after pregnancy. But no, it's just not like that. So... I had virtually no clothes that I could feel pretty in. Nothing fit me well, and certainly nothing was new, especially after doing the whole Financial Peace University (FPU) for the last year!!
I bought a bunch of new clothes, and then it was Steve's turn. He also bought some new stuff to make him feel great too. Now we are getting back on track though, after a small detour, and we will be much more frugal again to make sure we don't waste everything we've worked so hard to attain!
We are now on Baby Step 3a. What's that, you ask? Well, Dave Ramsey outlines this on his website (but not in the FPU) as the step you can take to save for a down-payment on a house. We currently have a home, but in order to move up to something that will comfortably fit us, (we are sitting at 650 square feet... pretty small,) we want something somewhere around next year. If we want to keep our payments similar, and not feel house poor, we need a much bigger down payment than the equity that we have in this home so far.
Basically, we are now going to push as much as we can into more savings accounts so that we can save for our down payment.
So that's the update... we'll keep you posted!
Oh... and we've now had the privilege of leading a FPU course. We are on week 3, and it has been great! We know that we can expect the participants to make the hard choices because we did it ourselves. We've been there... we are still sort of there. Now that we are coming out on top, it's much easier to keep making those right choices, but it still means denying ourselves what we "want" now, for what we can easily attain later.
For example, my dear husband allowed me to go out and shop for some clothes!! After having my third baby, nothing fits me anymore. It would be so easy if every pregnancy lasted through the same seasons, and after every time I snapped back quickly to my old body shape. And it would be even nicer if each time was the same shape before, during, and after pregnancy. But no, it's just not like that. So... I had virtually no clothes that I could feel pretty in. Nothing fit me well, and certainly nothing was new, especially after doing the whole Financial Peace University (FPU) for the last year!!
I bought a bunch of new clothes, and then it was Steve's turn. He also bought some new stuff to make him feel great too. Now we are getting back on track though, after a small detour, and we will be much more frugal again to make sure we don't waste everything we've worked so hard to attain!
We are now on Baby Step 3a. What's that, you ask? Well, Dave Ramsey outlines this on his website (but not in the FPU) as the step you can take to save for a down-payment on a house. We currently have a home, but in order to move up to something that will comfortably fit us, (we are sitting at 650 square feet... pretty small,) we want something somewhere around next year. If we want to keep our payments similar, and not feel house poor, we need a much bigger down payment than the equity that we have in this home so far.
Basically, we are now going to push as much as we can into more savings accounts so that we can save for our down payment.
So that's the update... we'll keep you posted!
Oh... and we've now had the privilege of leading a FPU course. We are on week 3, and it has been great! We know that we can expect the participants to make the hard choices because we did it ourselves. We've been there... we are still sort of there. Now that we are coming out on top, it's much easier to keep making those right choices, but it still means denying ourselves what we "want" now, for what we can easily attain later.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A personal update
There have been a few changes since my last post... specifically a new baby boy! Josiah was added to our family on April 2, and is such a blessing to us!
I have also snagged a bookkeeping job that I can do at home, so that has REALLY been helping to stretch out the budget a little. Our diaper budget is going up a little now that there are 3 in diapers, though the oldest only uses a diaper at night. He may be ready to leave the diapers behind all together, but I don't want to be doing laundry every morning or in the middle of the night if he isn't.
Grocery budget is going up as well, as we have added some extra in there due to the fact that I now have a job. It's really a priveledge that we've worked hard for, and now we can "splurge" a little without touching the amount going into savings each month.
I'm so very excited to say that this year we bought a new laptop, digital camera, built a deck, and are planning a vacation- and we did this all without going into debt or spending money that was designed for something else. We've been saving for a deck since last year, so when it came in underbudget by about $1000, we were thrilled! My old laptop bit the dust that week, so we were able to purchase a new one, and a digital camera, with the let-over funds from the deck. The vacation was also being saved for, and we are excited to be going soon! The vacation is nothing extravagent yet, but sometime in the coming years, we will be going all out on a vacation.
It sure is nice to know that all these things were planned for, saved for, and will cost us nothing for interest and fees.
We are also VERY excited that our emergency fund is very rapidly reaching the top! By the end of August, we will have a Dave Ramsey style Emergency Fund. This is very exciting!!
We are starting to look into RESPs for the kids, RRSPs for us, and possible investment opportunities. It's kind of scary... we feel like we are slowly stepping into the world of the wealthy people. We have a LOT to learn about investments before we will make any decisions as we are certainly not interested in getting into something that will hurt us. We realize that investments have risks, but we want to understand each one completely before deciding what's right for us.
So that's our update. We are still plugging away at the 7 Baby Steps that Dave Ramsey lays out, and we have nearly completed step 3. Once our Emergency Fund is in place, we will be saving towards a down payment for our next house (hopefully next year). Dave calls this step 3a.
Hope you are all doing well!
I have also snagged a bookkeeping job that I can do at home, so that has REALLY been helping to stretch out the budget a little. Our diaper budget is going up a little now that there are 3 in diapers, though the oldest only uses a diaper at night. He may be ready to leave the diapers behind all together, but I don't want to be doing laundry every morning or in the middle of the night if he isn't.
Grocery budget is going up as well, as we have added some extra in there due to the fact that I now have a job. It's really a priveledge that we've worked hard for, and now we can "splurge" a little without touching the amount going into savings each month.
I'm so very excited to say that this year we bought a new laptop, digital camera, built a deck, and are planning a vacation- and we did this all without going into debt or spending money that was designed for something else. We've been saving for a deck since last year, so when it came in underbudget by about $1000, we were thrilled! My old laptop bit the dust that week, so we were able to purchase a new one, and a digital camera, with the let-over funds from the deck. The vacation was also being saved for, and we are excited to be going soon! The vacation is nothing extravagent yet, but sometime in the coming years, we will be going all out on a vacation.
It sure is nice to know that all these things were planned for, saved for, and will cost us nothing for interest and fees.
We are also VERY excited that our emergency fund is very rapidly reaching the top! By the end of August, we will have a Dave Ramsey style Emergency Fund. This is very exciting!!
We are starting to look into RESPs for the kids, RRSPs for us, and possible investment opportunities. It's kind of scary... we feel like we are slowly stepping into the world of the wealthy people. We have a LOT to learn about investments before we will make any decisions as we are certainly not interested in getting into something that will hurt us. We realize that investments have risks, but we want to understand each one completely before deciding what's right for us.
So that's our update. We are still plugging away at the 7 Baby Steps that Dave Ramsey lays out, and we have nearly completed step 3. Once our Emergency Fund is in place, we will be saving towards a down payment for our next house (hopefully next year). Dave calls this step 3a.
Hope you are all doing well!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
West Edmonton Mall Toddler Time
West Edmonton Mall offers Toddler Time so parents and their young children (up to and including 5 years old) can enjoy some of the attractions at a discounted price.
Here's the details, as taken from their brochure:
World Waterpark Toddler Time
Monday to Thursday: Noon to 3 p.m.
Admission is only $10 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
Galaxyland Toddler Time
Monday to Thursday: Noon to 3 p.m.
Admission is only $10 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
Ed’s Rec Room Toddler Time (Bowling)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 11 a.m. to noon
Play a maximum of two games of bowling (offer includes shoe rentals).
Plus: Lanes use automatic bumpers.
Admission is only $6 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
According to one source, the waterpark only charges $10 for any number of children (from one family) under the age of 6. This has not been confirmed by anyone else, and does contradict what the website brochure advertises, but hey, it's worth a try!
I've been told that ( at least for the waterpark) you are not kicked out after 3pm, and can stay through the main public attraction times later on into the evening.
If you'd like to take advantage of those prices, and I do certainly hope that the all for $10 works for you, this is a good opportunity to take the kids out for some fun.
Here's the details, as taken from their brochure:
World Waterpark Toddler Time
Monday to Thursday: Noon to 3 p.m.
Admission is only $10 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
Galaxyland Toddler Time
Monday to Thursday: Noon to 3 p.m.
Admission is only $10 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
Ed’s Rec Room Toddler Time (Bowling)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 11 a.m. to noon
Play a maximum of two games of bowling (offer includes shoe rentals).
Plus: Lanes use automatic bumpers.
Admission is only $6 per child five years of age and under!
One adult may chaperone each child for free.
According to one source, the waterpark only charges $10 for any number of children (from one family) under the age of 6. This has not been confirmed by anyone else, and does contradict what the website brochure advertises, but hey, it's worth a try!
I've been told that ( at least for the waterpark) you are not kicked out after 3pm, and can stay through the main public attraction times later on into the evening.
If you'd like to take advantage of those prices, and I do certainly hope that the all for $10 works for you, this is a good opportunity to take the kids out for some fun.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Cell Phone Bills
I was recently reminded of a tip regarding cell phone bills that I feel is very important to share with you readers. Always, ALWAYS check through the bill and make sure there are no charges for things that are already included in your plan!
I worked as an administrative assistant for a large Edmonton business before I had kids, and my responsibilities included coordinating the cell phones for many of the employees there. Every month, I went through the details of each bill and regularly saved the company over $100 on their bill. Most of the time, these charges were for long distance calls that should have already been included in the plan.
Nothing frustrated me more than seeing extra charges for things that we had already paid for! It was usually a hassle to get these charges turned around into credits, but a little time and perseverance goes a long way. If you were wrong, and the charges are valid, you can always change your plan or avoid those charges in the future.
When dealing with the cell phone companies, it's best to stay calm but very firm about what you are asking about. Do not take their word for it until it makes sense to you and you see clearly why you should pay for the charges. I have spent hours on the phone with various cell phone companies and I know that at first, they seem to think you are completely clueless. After all, how could they be the one who made the mistake? If you are not getting through, immediately ask the representative to escalate your case to a manager or supervisor.
I don't believe that the cell companies are specifically out to get us, (though sometimes I wonder!) but people and computers do make mistakes.
Check carefully through each cell phone bill to make sure that any additional charges are things that you actually need to pay for.
I worked as an administrative assistant for a large Edmonton business before I had kids, and my responsibilities included coordinating the cell phones for many of the employees there. Every month, I went through the details of each bill and regularly saved the company over $100 on their bill. Most of the time, these charges were for long distance calls that should have already been included in the plan.
Nothing frustrated me more than seeing extra charges for things that we had already paid for! It was usually a hassle to get these charges turned around into credits, but a little time and perseverance goes a long way. If you were wrong, and the charges are valid, you can always change your plan or avoid those charges in the future.
When dealing with the cell phone companies, it's best to stay calm but very firm about what you are asking about. Do not take their word for it until it makes sense to you and you see clearly why you should pay for the charges. I have spent hours on the phone with various cell phone companies and I know that at first, they seem to think you are completely clueless. After all, how could they be the one who made the mistake? If you are not getting through, immediately ask the representative to escalate your case to a manager or supervisor.
I don't believe that the cell companies are specifically out to get us, (though sometimes I wonder!) but people and computers do make mistakes.
Check carefully through each cell phone bill to make sure that any additional charges are things that you actually need to pay for.
Kijiji (Local online ads)
So, I've mentioned Kijiji (Pronounced "Ki- jee- jee") before, but I just want to give you an update of the excellent deals you can find on that site!
Kijiji is a free classified ads site, which you can set to view only ads in your area.
I've found many deals on Kijiji, in their free section and throughout the rest of the site, but most recently, I have found another interesting way to get what I want for less money. Kijiji offers an option for you to post ads for the things you are hoping to find. Instead of checking the site every day for what you are looking for, you can simply post a wanted ad, and see if anyone replies!
In the last two weeks, I posted ads for dressy shoes and a bathing suit for my daughter. In both ads, I specified my budget, (up to a max of $5 for each item) and wrote what I was hoping to find.
For example, I wrote:
I am looking for nice girl's black dressy shoes, toddler size 5. I am not willing to pay over $5. They don't have to be in perfect condition, but I am hoping for something she can wear out to some upcoming special events. Will pick-up in the Edmonton area.
I had a few replies and was able to find a beautiful pair of shoes for $4!!
I was successful in my search for kids items as well. I purchased 2 bathing suits, one in my daughter's size, and one in the next size up, for $2 each! For my son, I found a suit (pants, dress shirt, vest, and coat) for $10, and a pair of winter boots for $3.
If you post a wanted ad, someone is likely to see it and think, "gee, I think I might even have that boxed away. I might as well get some cash out of the deal!" Most of the people who respond to a wanted ad haven't ever really thought of selling their item, and are therefor not set on obtaining the highest dollar possible for what they sell. Stating your budget in the ad will help people too know whether it's worth it to them to reply.
On a site like Kijiji, you have to remember that you may have to be patient, and possibly re-post your ad before you will get what you want. At times, you'll have an answer immediately, but sometimes it takes awhile for your ad to be read by the right person with the right deal on the right item.
The other side of Kijiji want ads is that you can find things that people want, and sell it to them! You may have never thought of selling that box of old Christmas ornaments until someone specifically asks if anyone has any for sale. Clean out your clutter, make a buck, and help another person get an excellent deal!
It's a winning situation for everyone. (And if it's not, you can just refuse the offer or sale!)
Kijiji is a free classified ads site, which you can set to view only ads in your area.
I've found many deals on Kijiji, in their free section and throughout the rest of the site, but most recently, I have found another interesting way to get what I want for less money. Kijiji offers an option for you to post ads for the things you are hoping to find. Instead of checking the site every day for what you are looking for, you can simply post a wanted ad, and see if anyone replies!
In the last two weeks, I posted ads for dressy shoes and a bathing suit for my daughter. In both ads, I specified my budget, (up to a max of $5 for each item) and wrote what I was hoping to find.
For example, I wrote:
I am looking for nice girl's black dressy shoes, toddler size 5. I am not willing to pay over $5. They don't have to be in perfect condition, but I am hoping for something she can wear out to some upcoming special events. Will pick-up in the Edmonton area.
I had a few replies and was able to find a beautiful pair of shoes for $4!!
I was successful in my search for kids items as well. I purchased 2 bathing suits, one in my daughter's size, and one in the next size up, for $2 each! For my son, I found a suit (pants, dress shirt, vest, and coat) for $10, and a pair of winter boots for $3.
If you post a wanted ad, someone is likely to see it and think, "gee, I think I might even have that boxed away. I might as well get some cash out of the deal!" Most of the people who respond to a wanted ad haven't ever really thought of selling their item, and are therefor not set on obtaining the highest dollar possible for what they sell. Stating your budget in the ad will help people too know whether it's worth it to them to reply.
On a site like Kijiji, you have to remember that you may have to be patient, and possibly re-post your ad before you will get what you want. At times, you'll have an answer immediately, but sometimes it takes awhile for your ad to be read by the right person with the right deal on the right item.
The other side of Kijiji want ads is that you can find things that people want, and sell it to them! You may have never thought of selling that box of old Christmas ornaments until someone specifically asks if anyone has any for sale. Clean out your clutter, make a buck, and help another person get an excellent deal!
It's a winning situation for everyone. (And if it's not, you can just refuse the offer or sale!)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Walmart - Follow-up on fresh product
I wanted to pop in here and follow-up on my last post about the Walmart Super-center in NE Edmonton.
The fresh produce department is now open, and on Saturday, I managed to take a good long walk through there and compared some of the prices. I'd say that the produce prices are equal, and possibly a little cheaper than Superstores, depending on what's on sale at the time. Though the produce looks fresh and of great quality, the prices still cannot beat H & W Produce. Apples are at least $0.20 cheaper per pound at H&W, and potatoes are about half the price.
H&W doesn't have the brand name bags of potatoes, and their apples are sometimes bruised and marked. But again, that's what makes it a discount store, and that's why their prices just can't be beat.
Walmart had bananas for $0.57 a pound, which matches perfectly with H&W's regular price. Lemons, limes, and pineapples were also priced similarly.
All things considered though, I have to say that I'll be sticking with H&W for my fresh produce and only purchasing produce that is on sale at Walmart.
The fresh produce department is now open, and on Saturday, I managed to take a good long walk through there and compared some of the prices. I'd say that the produce prices are equal, and possibly a little cheaper than Superstores, depending on what's on sale at the time. Though the produce looks fresh and of great quality, the prices still cannot beat H & W Produce. Apples are at least $0.20 cheaper per pound at H&W, and potatoes are about half the price.
H&W doesn't have the brand name bags of potatoes, and their apples are sometimes bruised and marked. But again, that's what makes it a discount store, and that's why their prices just can't be beat.
Walmart had bananas for $0.57 a pound, which matches perfectly with H&W's regular price. Lemons, limes, and pineapples were also priced similarly.
All things considered though, I have to say that I'll be sticking with H&W for my fresh produce and only purchasing produce that is on sale at Walmart.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Walmart - 137 ave & 40 Street, Edmonton
Okay folks. So I've raved about Walmart's recent grocery prices, specifically their "Great Value" brand items, but now it got even better.
At the Clareview Walmart here in Edmonton, AB (137 ave & 40 Street), they've just added a fresh food department. I was a bit skeptical about the quality of their food verses the prices, so I went in to see for myself. When I walked in, I was slightly overwhelmed at the magnitude of the changes in the grocery department.
To me, Walmart is full of clothes, toys, kitchen gadgets, electronics, and health and beauty supplies. When I walked in and saw bins of potatoes, piles of yellow bananas and fresh tomatoes, and a host of other fresh foods, I was amazed. Then I started to see the prices. $0.57 a pound for bananas? $6 for a massive pizza that doesn't even fit on the biggest pan I own? $12 for two healthy looking roasting chickens? $23 for 2.5 kgs of frozen chicken breasts? $.1.50 for a 900g package of pasta- no matter what type of pasta? That impressed me.
I have yet to try the Great Value brand meat, and haven't yet tried too many of their vegetables, so I cannot comment on the quality yet. What I can say though, is that I was very impressed with the prices on nearly every grocery item in the store. Even the brand name products seemed to be well priced.
Since shopping for 80% of my groceries at Walmart, I have been able to save a lot of cash. I notice only minor quality differences. For example, the Great Value brand pasta is a little stickier than Catelli, and it takes a little longer too cook. The Great Value cheese seems to be softer and more difficult to slice than some of the other brands. To me though, these differences are not worth the money I save by not purchasing brand name products. I don't mind if my noodles aren't perfect, a little sauce will cover that up nicely. My cheese simply looks a little squished when I slice it, and that's just too bad!
For bread though, I still hit the Bread Basket for their 10 loaves for $10 sale. All the day-old bread is $1 a loaf, provided that you purchase 10 loaves. There is usually a good selection of what types of bread you can purchase, everything from bagels to wraps, to nutritious breads. I freeze 9 loaves, and put one on the counter. If you don't have the space to freeze the bread, try finding a friend who would like to split the deal with you, $5 for 5 loaves each.
Is there better places in Edmonton to shop for groceries? Let me know! I'd love to find new places to save money, and it's a bonus to be able to share with others and help them save money too.
At the Clareview Walmart here in Edmonton, AB (137 ave & 40 Street), they've just added a fresh food department. I was a bit skeptical about the quality of their food verses the prices, so I went in to see for myself. When I walked in, I was slightly overwhelmed at the magnitude of the changes in the grocery department.
To me, Walmart is full of clothes, toys, kitchen gadgets, electronics, and health and beauty supplies. When I walked in and saw bins of potatoes, piles of yellow bananas and fresh tomatoes, and a host of other fresh foods, I was amazed. Then I started to see the prices. $0.57 a pound for bananas? $6 for a massive pizza that doesn't even fit on the biggest pan I own? $12 for two healthy looking roasting chickens? $23 for 2.5 kgs of frozen chicken breasts? $.1.50 for a 900g package of pasta- no matter what type of pasta? That impressed me.
I have yet to try the Great Value brand meat, and haven't yet tried too many of their vegetables, so I cannot comment on the quality yet. What I can say though, is that I was very impressed with the prices on nearly every grocery item in the store. Even the brand name products seemed to be well priced.
Since shopping for 80% of my groceries at Walmart, I have been able to save a lot of cash. I notice only minor quality differences. For example, the Great Value brand pasta is a little stickier than Catelli, and it takes a little longer too cook. The Great Value cheese seems to be softer and more difficult to slice than some of the other brands. To me though, these differences are not worth the money I save by not purchasing brand name products. I don't mind if my noodles aren't perfect, a little sauce will cover that up nicely. My cheese simply looks a little squished when I slice it, and that's just too bad!
For bread though, I still hit the Bread Basket for their 10 loaves for $10 sale. All the day-old bread is $1 a loaf, provided that you purchase 10 loaves. There is usually a good selection of what types of bread you can purchase, everything from bagels to wraps, to nutritious breads. I freeze 9 loaves, and put one on the counter. If you don't have the space to freeze the bread, try finding a friend who would like to split the deal with you, $5 for 5 loaves each.
Is there better places in Edmonton to shop for groceries? Let me know! I'd love to find new places to save money, and it's a bonus to be able to share with others and help them save money too.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Cell Phones
Well, one MAJOR lifestyle change in the last few months has revolved around my cell phone.
Because I was locked into a voice and data plan, I was paying at least $150 a month for the cell service. Because we didn't have a land line phone, we couldn't put the cell phone onto a less costly plan. I used a lot of minutes each month, including a lot of long distance minutes.
At first, we looked into pulling the cell back to a very basic plan, and getting a land line. Unfortunately, that would have been just as expensive, as I was still locked into a voice AND data plan on the cell. I asked about getting the cell phone contract canceled, and was told that it would cost me over $500 to do so. $500 seemed like a whole lot of money to spend in order to save money.
I then came up with a plan to give the cell phone contract to someone else, and include the cell as an incentive. I had a really nice Blackberry, and though I was fiercely attached to it, I am more attached to the idea of saving money.
After trying to give away the contract and the phone, we were unsuccessful. Truthfully, this made me cheer on the inside because my cell phone was pretty much my life. It was my phone, my calendar, my email, my alarm clock, my kids time-out timer, my camera, and my entire life organizer. It seemed like I would have nothing if I did not have my phone. I felt naked without it, and usually panicked at the thought of leaving it behind. Yes... I was truly addicted.
Over the summer, I kept looking at ways to save more money, and the one thing that kept coming up was the large cell phone bill each month! I had to come up with a solution.
I finally resorted to paying someone $150, to take my cell phone plan, and offered the phone too as a bonus. The person who took the contract was not actually interested in the phone, so I lucked out! I sold the phone on Ebay for $90, so I made back some of my "closing costs" on the contract. I was a little scared to begin life with only a land line, but thrilled to save ourselves $150 a month. That's $1800 a year!!
I have learned that life without a cell phone is actually easier! It's surprisingly less busy, and though I tend to be a little harder to get ahold of, that's okay. If I go out for a walk with the kids, people simply have to wait until I get back home to know that they called. It seems like such a foreign concept, but it actually much less time consuming. I spend much less time "tinkering" with my phone - checking emails, checking social networking sites, checking text messages, random tweaking, and all that stuff.
I have saved a lot of time and money by not having a cell phone. My husband still has a cell phone because his employer requires him to carry one during business hours. I use this phone if I go out in the evening without my husband, but for the most part, I am cell phone free.
What did I learn? Sometimes our "needs" are not needs at all, but just very high priority wants. Sometimes, it's okay to let go of those things in order to save money, and sometimes, it can even be better for us when we do let them go!
Because I was locked into a voice and data plan, I was paying at least $150 a month for the cell service. Because we didn't have a land line phone, we couldn't put the cell phone onto a less costly plan. I used a lot of minutes each month, including a lot of long distance minutes.
At first, we looked into pulling the cell back to a very basic plan, and getting a land line. Unfortunately, that would have been just as expensive, as I was still locked into a voice AND data plan on the cell. I asked about getting the cell phone contract canceled, and was told that it would cost me over $500 to do so. $500 seemed like a whole lot of money to spend in order to save money.
I then came up with a plan to give the cell phone contract to someone else, and include the cell as an incentive. I had a really nice Blackberry, and though I was fiercely attached to it, I am more attached to the idea of saving money.
After trying to give away the contract and the phone, we were unsuccessful. Truthfully, this made me cheer on the inside because my cell phone was pretty much my life. It was my phone, my calendar, my email, my alarm clock, my kids time-out timer, my camera, and my entire life organizer. It seemed like I would have nothing if I did not have my phone. I felt naked without it, and usually panicked at the thought of leaving it behind. Yes... I was truly addicted.
Over the summer, I kept looking at ways to save more money, and the one thing that kept coming up was the large cell phone bill each month! I had to come up with a solution.
I finally resorted to paying someone $150, to take my cell phone plan, and offered the phone too as a bonus. The person who took the contract was not actually interested in the phone, so I lucked out! I sold the phone on Ebay for $90, so I made back some of my "closing costs" on the contract. I was a little scared to begin life with only a land line, but thrilled to save ourselves $150 a month. That's $1800 a year!!
I have learned that life without a cell phone is actually easier! It's surprisingly less busy, and though I tend to be a little harder to get ahold of, that's okay. If I go out for a walk with the kids, people simply have to wait until I get back home to know that they called. It seems like such a foreign concept, but it actually much less time consuming. I spend much less time "tinkering" with my phone - checking emails, checking social networking sites, checking text messages, random tweaking, and all that stuff.
I have saved a lot of time and money by not having a cell phone. My husband still has a cell phone because his employer requires him to carry one during business hours. I use this phone if I go out in the evening without my husband, but for the most part, I am cell phone free.
What did I learn? Sometimes our "needs" are not needs at all, but just very high priority wants. Sometimes, it's okay to let go of those things in order to save money, and sometimes, it can even be better for us when we do let them go!
Produce Deals (Edmonton)
This is a grocery tip specifically for those in the Edmonton, Alberta area.
H & W Produce is my favorite place to find some great deals on fresh fruits and vegetables. The prices are almost always considerably less than Superstore or Safeway, and most of their produce is just as good in quality. I say most because though we've had incredible luck with apples, oranges, carrots, potatoes, and a few other things, I find that their bananas are usually very green (and never ripen very well), and their lettuce tends to go bad quickly.
Thankfully, I live within a few minutes of one of these stores, and find that even though some things spoil easily, I can make a trip to this store every week and be just fine.
It always amazes me that I fill my grocery cart full of fresh fruits and veggies, and then when I go to the checkout, they say, "$25 please". The deals are really incredible!!
Last week, I got apples for $0.57 / lb, and a 10lb bag of potatoes for just over $2. I bought several large bags of apples, peeled them, chopped them, and froze them! I used one frozen bag already to make a nice apple crisp.
You can check out H & W's current special deals at: http://www.handwproduce.com/specials.php
Even if you don't live near Edmonton, you may be able to find a small discount produce store near your home. You'll probably find, as I did, that things aren't always as high quality as they may be from higher end grocery stores, but as long as you use them quickly, they sure do save you money.
H & W Produce is my favorite place to find some great deals on fresh fruits and vegetables. The prices are almost always considerably less than Superstore or Safeway, and most of their produce is just as good in quality. I say most because though we've had incredible luck with apples, oranges, carrots, potatoes, and a few other things, I find that their bananas are usually very green (and never ripen very well), and their lettuce tends to go bad quickly.
Thankfully, I live within a few minutes of one of these stores, and find that even though some things spoil easily, I can make a trip to this store every week and be just fine.
It always amazes me that I fill my grocery cart full of fresh fruits and veggies, and then when I go to the checkout, they say, "$25 please". The deals are really incredible!!
Last week, I got apples for $0.57 / lb, and a 10lb bag of potatoes for just over $2. I bought several large bags of apples, peeled them, chopped them, and froze them! I used one frozen bag already to make a nice apple crisp.
You can check out H & W's current special deals at: http://www.handwproduce.com/specials.php
Even if you don't live near Edmonton, you may be able to find a small discount produce store near your home. You'll probably find, as I did, that things aren't always as high quality as they may be from higher end grocery stores, but as long as you use them quickly, they sure do save you money.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Ebay Buying and Selling
Ebay is one of my favorite ways to purchase gifts at a discounted rate from your regular retail stores. For example, I purchased a Webkinz brand stuffed kitty for my little girl as a Christmas present. In stores around here, the kitty would have cost about $25 brand new, but I got it for $2.50, plus $2.50 in shipping, for a total of $5!
Because the kitty came with sealed code tags (Webkins has a huge online community where you can play with your animal and your friend's animals in a virtual world) I decided to resell those on Ebay. My daughter is far too young to care about any online games, and just enjoys snuggling with this kitty! I managed to sell the sealed tags, with no plush, for $5.50! I used $0.98 to mail the tags to the buyer, and paid $0.40 in selling fees on Ebay.
In the end, I paid basically $1 for my daughter's Christmas present, and got a quality toy that will last for years. It was brand new, and I was thrilled to find such a deal!
I have purchased and sold many things on Ebay, and have learned a few things.
I have also had some poor luck with Ebay... selling a pair of $100 women's formal shoes for $0.90. Ouch. Oh well, the laptop and other things have made up for that one. Sometimes you just can't win them all, but if you keep trying, you never know what will happen.
Take advantage of local buy-sell boards online, such as Kijiji (my other favorite online shopping/selling place!) where the buyers won't have to pay shipping fees. These deals are usually done in cash, and usually the buyer meets directly with the seller to close the deal and make the purchase.
My advice to you... look through your house, find things to sell! Broken stuff, old stuff, new stuff, you never know when there's someone out there who is looking for that very thing.
Because the kitty came with sealed code tags (Webkins has a huge online community where you can play with your animal and your friend's animals in a virtual world) I decided to resell those on Ebay. My daughter is far too young to care about any online games, and just enjoys snuggling with this kitty! I managed to sell the sealed tags, with no plush, for $5.50! I used $0.98 to mail the tags to the buyer, and paid $0.40 in selling fees on Ebay.
In the end, I paid basically $1 for my daughter's Christmas present, and got a quality toy that will last for years. It was brand new, and I was thrilled to find such a deal!
I have purchased and sold many things on Ebay, and have learned a few things.
- Look out for Shipping fees when purchasing items!
- Think carefully about the customs and duty fees when purchasing an item.
- When selling, make sure you take good clear pictures.
- You can even sell broken electronics for a good price! Someone out there just might want it.
I have also had some poor luck with Ebay... selling a pair of $100 women's formal shoes for $0.90. Ouch. Oh well, the laptop and other things have made up for that one. Sometimes you just can't win them all, but if you keep trying, you never know what will happen.
Take advantage of local buy-sell boards online, such as Kijiji (my other favorite online shopping/selling place!) where the buyers won't have to pay shipping fees. These deals are usually done in cash, and usually the buyer meets directly with the seller to close the deal and make the purchase.
My advice to you... look through your house, find things to sell! Broken stuff, old stuff, new stuff, you never know when there's someone out there who is looking for that very thing.
Long time - Getting back at it.
Boy, it's been awhile since my last post, but I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things. Since my last post, we had a lot of things happen in our personal lives, including a pregnancy! =) We are now expecting our 3rd baby on or around April 1, 2011. We are very excited.
To give you all an update as to where we are in our goal of financial peace, we now have over $5500 in our emergency fund, as we slowly crawl towards our goal- 3 months of expenses. Eventually, we will bump that number up to 6 months, but for now, it seems easier to reach the smaller goal first.
We have finally found our groove in this cash budget world, and for us, it breaks down like this:
Every two weeks, our budget consists of:
$240 - Groceries/ food/ all dining out
$30 - Diapers/ Wipes
$10 - Childcare
$20 - Clothing
$10 - Gifts
$10 - Personal Care (Mainly haircuts)
$20 - Miscellaneous
We are thrilled to report that we have been sticking to these numbers like glue, despite our dietary concerns (which makes groceries more expensive) and having baby coming.
In the grocery department, Walmart's Great Value brand items have been excellent deals all around. I am very excited that within the next 2 weeks, Walmart will be adding in a fresh groceries department in the location near my house. They claim that the prices on the fruits and vegetables will beat Superstore, but I'm hoping that the quality will still be there. For now, I shop for my fruits and veggies at a small discount produce store (H&W Produce) near my house. The prices are very low, and the quality is usually pretty good.
In the last week, I bumped up the diaper budget a little to start stockpiling the cash for when baby3 is born. I know that in the first month, those babies go through a LOT of diapers!!
I also bumped up the clothing budget as I found that I just couldn't keep to the old budget of $30 a month. Kids grow fast, and with that comes clothing expenses! I was able to keep up with the kids, provided that we shopped only for really good sales and at thrift stores, but I didn't have enough for when my husband and I needed something. With $10 more a month, it will make it just that much easier for us to clothe our family.
Hope you are all doing well out there, remember too keep saving!
To give you all an update as to where we are in our goal of financial peace, we now have over $5500 in our emergency fund, as we slowly crawl towards our goal- 3 months of expenses. Eventually, we will bump that number up to 6 months, but for now, it seems easier to reach the smaller goal first.
We have finally found our groove in this cash budget world, and for us, it breaks down like this:
Every two weeks, our budget consists of:
$240 - Groceries/ food/ all dining out
$30 - Diapers/ Wipes
$10 - Childcare
$20 - Clothing
$10 - Gifts
$10 - Personal Care (Mainly haircuts)
$20 - Miscellaneous
We are thrilled to report that we have been sticking to these numbers like glue, despite our dietary concerns (which makes groceries more expensive) and having baby coming.
In the grocery department, Walmart's Great Value brand items have been excellent deals all around. I am very excited that within the next 2 weeks, Walmart will be adding in a fresh groceries department in the location near my house. They claim that the prices on the fruits and vegetables will beat Superstore, but I'm hoping that the quality will still be there. For now, I shop for my fruits and veggies at a small discount produce store (H&W Produce) near my house. The prices are very low, and the quality is usually pretty good.
In the last week, I bumped up the diaper budget a little to start stockpiling the cash for when baby3 is born. I know that in the first month, those babies go through a LOT of diapers!!
I also bumped up the clothing budget as I found that I just couldn't keep to the old budget of $30 a month. Kids grow fast, and with that comes clothing expenses! I was able to k
Publish Post
Hope you are all doing well out there, remember too keep saving!
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