GoFrugal.ca

As I sit in a comfy chair in Montreal’s fabulously lofty Grande Bibliothèque, connected to free Wi-Fi, I felt it only appropriate to write about using public libraries. Memberships are free (or rather included in your taxes), and most good libraries have excellent movie and music collections.

Having grown up in small town, I didn’t make much use of the public library. Its encyclopedias were handy for grade school projects, but beyond that, it wasn’t of much particular value. Its fiction collection was outdated, and multimedia was virtually non-existent.

So imagine my surprise when I moved to Kingston in 2006. Even though its only a small city (or large town), it shows that even moderately populated areas can have excellent public library systems. The Kingston Frontenac Public Library is a network of 17 libraries with an excellent collection of music and videos. That’s where I was first introduced and became addicted to Absolutely Fabulous, because the library had the entire series on DVD. Through countless recordings, I also learned just how fabulous Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland are.

After my short 8 months in Kingston, I moved to Montreal and immediately got a membership to their Grande Bibliothèque. Due to their huge multimedia collection (70,000 music CDs and 16,000 films on DVD and VHS), in the 18 months I’ve been using it, I’ve saved a small fortune in foregone movie rentals and CD purchases.

Saving money on movie rentals is great, but a secondary benefit is that you explore films and genres that you wouldn’t necessary if you were paying. (I’ve developed a fondness for Poirot, but Miss Marple does nothing for me.) I’ve also seen world-class opera productions by the Met, and discovered the lesser-known but also fantastic Glyndebourne Festival Opera. 

While I can’t vouch for all cities, if you live in an urban area, you should take a day to explore your public library. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

There are certain areas where new and modern isn’t necessarily better. It’s just more expensive. But clever marketers have convinced us to drop traditional cleaning products in favour of over-hyped products that may work a little better, but mostly just make them more money.

In her Housekeeping Handbook, Martha Stewart discusses using a few basic products for cleaning your entire house. Not only are they cheap, but a couple of them are also completely natural, and environmentally friendly.

For a window cleaner, replace Windex with with white distilled vinegar, diluted 50/50 with water, in a spray bottle. Really dirty windows or mirrors will take a little extra rubbing, but it’s a much friendlier and less expensive cleaner. You can get 4-litre jugs of vinegar for just a couple dollars… that’s 8 litres of window cleaner once diluted.

For an all-purpose cleaner (cleaning counters, tables, etc.), mix 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid to every 1 cup of water in a spray bottle. Now that’s one less cleaning product to buy, and that ratio dishwashing liquid to water goes a long way.

For scrubbing power, forget those harsh products like Comet. Granted, Comet is pretty cheap, you can save a little more, and be gentler on both your hands and the environment by using baking soda. Great for cleaning tubs and sinks, use it generously with a wet cloth. Again, it takes a little more scrubbing power than Comet, but it’s much more gentle on porcelain. Guaranteed not to scratch. Deodorizes at the same time.

Every month or so, use both baking soda and vinegar to clear out your drains in a very environmentally friendly and inexpensive way. Pour a generous amount of baking soda (about 1/2 cup) down the drain. (I use a chop stick to help get it all in there.) With the drain stop in hand, quickly pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain, and quickly plug the drain. The chemical reaction creates carbon dioxide and water (remember the volcano demonstration from school?) which, since you plugged the sink, is forced to flow down the drain, helping clear any buildup. Not for seriously clogged drains, but safe and effective preventative maintenance.

So when your current supply of cleaning products runs out, try these cheaper and friendlier alternatives.

For more great uses for vinegar, check out this page from the Vinegar Institute.

Footnote:
Martha Stewart’s Housekeeping Handbook is a great book for explaining how to clean and organize things around the house, how often, and why. It’s an excellent reference, with handy weekly, monthly and seasonal cleaning checklists, and a stain removal table that covers just about everything.

The internet has revolutionized the telephone industry, taking per-minute fees and throwing them out the window. With voice over IP (VoIP), or what many cable companies are simply calling digital phone, you can get a fully-featured phone line with a long distance package, for less than the cost of a traditional phone line.

I won’t go into much detail here, but VoIP technology transmits phone calls over the internet using a high-speed connection. You still have a traditional telephone handset, telephone number, and can call anyone just as you would with a regular telephone line. Just instead of plugging your phone into a telephone jack, you plug it into a little device, that plugs into your internet connection.

(Only downside is that when the power or the internet goes out, you’re without a telephone. But that doesn’t happen enough to bother me.)

I first starting using digital phone in September 2006 when I got a Cogeco bundle in Ontario. Cogeco offers a high-speed internet and digital phone bundle for $90 per month: $45 for internet, $45 for phone. That phone service includes call display, voice mail, call waiting visual call waiting and call forwarding, plus unlimited long distance in Canada and the continental US. Goodbye long distance charges.

The whole thing was dirt simple to use. You get one little box from Cogeco that combines your high-speed modem with the VoIP box. One end plugs into your cable connection, the other end has a connection for your computer, and a connection for your telephone. The box even has an 8-hour battery backup so you can use your phone if the power goes out.

When I moved to Quebec, Cogeco where Cogeco didn’t service, I was left to find a new solution. I looked into Vidéotron, which also offers a digital phone service, but they price it like a traditional phone line. Basic line is $17 per month, plus $10 for the phone features, and long distance plans are extra. Total waste of money.

That’s how I signed up for Vonage. I initially got their unlimited package for $40 per month. Similar deal to Cogeco where you get all the phone features and unlimited long distance included in that price. Vonage one-ups it by including free calls to certain European countries in their unlimited plan.

I was on that plan for a few months until I realized I don’t make that many long distance calls. Vonage offers a plan with 500 minutes of free long distance for $20 per month. That’s more than enough for me, and you can’t beat that price. (I don’t get free calls to Europe with this plan, but I didn’t use that anyway.) You can barely get basic phone from Bell for that price.

Having digital phone and internet from two companies complicates things a little, because that means 2 bills and two boxes to plug in, plus a jungle of wires, but Vonage come with great instructions for figuring all that out.

So please, stop wasting money on a traditional phone line, and get digital. For $20 including voicemail and long distance, you can’t go wrong. 

I’ve owned a slow cooker for the last 6 years, but I’ve only recently started using it. My parents never used a slow cooker, so when I won it as a prize, I never really knew what to do with it.

But I recently brought it out, and I’ve been using it once a week for the last month, to give myself a break from cooking one night a week. (Well, to tell the truth, the recipes I’ve been doing are not completely hands-off, but oh-so delicious.)

The great thing about slow cooking, is that it takes cheap pieces of meat, and makes them fabulous. Meats that are tasty, but are chewy or tough when cooked by other methods.

My favourite: pork shoulder. They’re sold in 2-4lb bone-in roasts which will make 3-6 meals, and cost $5-$8. When slow roasted, the meat falls off the bone, is succulently tender, and loaded with flavour.

Place a few peeled carrots, cut in half width-wise, in the slow cooker. Add a peeled, quartered onion, a few cloves of crushed garlic, a few whole cloves (the spice), some sprigs of fresh thyme, and a bay leaf.

If the roast comes with a strip of skin, cut that off before cooking. Rub all sides generously with kosher salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan on med-high heat, and when quite hot, cook the roast on one side for 2-3 minutes to develop a nice golden crust. Repeat on all the other sides. This searing is the key to extra flavour when slow cooking. (Skip this step if you’re in a rush.)

Place the roast in the bottom of the slow cooker. (Push aside the vegetables, so the roast sits flat.)

Deglaze the hot pan with 2 cups of chicken stock, to which you add 2 Tbsp of tomato paste. Bring the liquid to a simmer, and scrape off any bits of pork. Pour the liquid into the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

The roast is now ready, but if you have some spare time, you can make a fabulous jus from the cooking liquid.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and cover to keep warm. (I find the roast cools down very quickly, so I place it in a covered sauce pan in the oven at 200°F.) Pour the liquid into a small sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Let it reduce for a good half-hour.

To the broth mixture, add 2 Tbsp of brandy or whiskey (optional) and 1 tsp mustard. Separately, mix 2 Tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt with 2 Tbsp flour in a small bowl. Add a little of the broth mixture to the sour cream mixture to warm up, then return the yogurt to the broth. Continue simmering until it thickens slightly.

Serve the jus over the meat and mashed potatoes. Add a vegetable of your choice, and enjoy! A restaurant-worthy mouth-watering meal, for a few dollars per serving.

Tim Hortons and Starbucks are everywhere. Restaurants offer free coffee refills. What do these statements have in common? They suggest there’s huge margin in brewed coffee, and that you’d be better off making your own coffee at home.

Let’s say you’re buying a Starbucks coffee every weekday before work. At $3-$4 for a latte, you’re easily spending $1,000 per year on coffee. Even if you’re only getting Tim Hortons coffee, you’re probably spending $350-$400 per year. (These estimates are only counting 1 coffee per work day. I don’t know any coffee addict who can survive on that. So these are conservative estimates.)

For less than half that Starbucks bill you can prepare a great latte at home and buy the equipment. All you need is a stovetop espresso maker, a milk frother, and the coffee and milk. The ubiquitous aluminum Bialetti espresso maker can be purchased online for less than $30, but I prefer these stainless steel versions. (I have both the 6- and 12-cup Vespress Black.) The 6-cup makers will make 2 small lattes or 1 large latte; the 12-cup maker will make 4 small lattes or 2 large lattes.

For the steamed milk, use this simple milk frother. Simply pour milk (from skim to homogenized, it’s your choice), pump it to incorporate air, then microwave it to warm the milk, and set the foam. (For large batches, you can use a microwave-safe French press. It’s virtually the same thing.)

Brewing coffee at home allows you to splurge a little on the coffee beans. Starbucks beans sell for about $15 for a 1lb bag, which should last a single person 3-4 weeks. Throw in the milk and that’s only $250-$300 per year. Starbucks everyday for less than the price of Timmy’s.

(Costco members can cut that price in half. Costco sells Kirkland-branded whole coffee beans roasted by Starbucks for only $12 for 2lb bags. That price alone is worth getting a Costco membership.)

If you want an even more authentic experience, get yourself a coffee grinder, and use freshly ground coffee every morning. I use a KitchenAid A-9 coffee grinder I found on eBay, but Espresso Planet stocks many other options. Avoid blade grinders, because you can’t control the grind level. Only use a burr grinder.

So for a minimal investment—you don’t need one of those fancy expensive espresso machines unless you’re trying to impress someone—you can start making lattes at home that will rival any coffee chop.

If you still need convincing, consider this interesting article about a “Tim Hortons Savings Plan”. It shows that if cut out 15 Tim Hortons coffees per week (or about 5 Starbucks coffees) and invest that money at a 5% interest rate for 10 years, you’ll have accumulated almost $12,000. If that doesn’t make you think twice, I’m not sure what will.

If I had to create a get-rich-quick scheme, I would start a bank. Not only do banks charge you for holding your money (monthly fees and other transaction fees), they pay virtually zero interest on deposits, and they charge high interest on lines of credit and mortgages. They’re making money everywhere.

That’s why I refuse to pay for banking services.

If you’re a post-secondary student, TD Canada Trust waives the monthly fee on their Value Plus account.

For the rest of us, there’s PC Financial. I have been banking with them since 2005, and couldn’t be happier. Their no fee bank account, as the name implies, has no monthly fee, offers unlimited free transaction at PC Financial and CIBC bank machines, online and telephone banking and free cheques. To get that same level of service from another bank, you’d have to pay over $100 per year.

The catch? They don’t have branches or tellers, so all banking has to be done online or at a bank machine. But in this day and age, very few people really need teller services. If you can survive without a teller, I urge you to open a PC Financial bank account.

(If you’re hesitant, open an account, but keep your old banking services for a while. Give it a try; it’s free, so you have nothing to lose. Of course, there are fees for extraordinary things, like overseas withdrawals, stop payment requests, and bounced cheques, but they’re cheaper than other banks.)

PC Financial also offers a couple savings accounts, if you tend to have some spare cash lying around that you don’t want to tie up in other investments. As of this posting, they pay 3.05% interest on balances over $1,000. (For comparison purposes, TD Canada Trust’s best-paying savings account only pays 2.25%—and that’s on a minimum balance of $5,000.)

And while you’re at it, apply for their PC MasterCard. There’s no annual fee, and you collect PC Points on every purchase that can be used towards free groceries at Loblaws, Zehrs and other participating stores. The point system translates to a 1% cash-back, and can be redeemed as soon as you have $20 worth of points. (I charge about $2,000 to my card per month, which translates to $20 in free groceries per month. I pay my balance in full every month, so it’s a credit card that actually pays me to use it.)

So if you don’t remember the last time you used teller services, or think you can live without them, open a PC Financial bank account today. And start saving. (Sorry for the pun.)

“White label” or “no name” ATMs are bank machines not run by a major financial institution. They’re the bank machines you’ll find in independent convenience stores, bars, subway stations, and even some grocery stores.

Whereas the use of your bank’s ATMs is usually included in your monthly fee (up to a certain number of transactions), white label ATMs can cost $6.00 or more per transaction. A part of this is charged by the ATM operator, but another part is also charged by your bank for using this ATM. (Luckily, these bank machines are required to disclose their fee, and allow you to cancel the transaction.)

While usually less expensive than white label ATMs, using ATMs of bank other than your own is also expensive. Both your bank and the ATM’s bank will charge you a fee.

So when shopping with cash, it always pays to seek out your bank’s ATM. The transaction cost will be minimal, if not free. If you have to, leave early and swing by your bank. Or visit your bank’s website and find ATMs in the areas where you shop.

The Oxford American Dictionary defines frugal as “sparing or economical with regard to money or food; simple and plain and costing little”. Yet being frugal is not about being cheap or skimping on things you enjoy.

Being frugal is about saving money in certain areas, so you can spend it on things that really make you happy. Cutting from areas that will have minimal impact on your lifestyle, and spending it in areas to maximize your enjoyment. It’s all about spending money wisely, which of course varies from person to person.

This site is dedicated to sharing my tips on saving and spending to achieve a fabulous lifestyle on a small budget. Not all the ideas will be suitable for your life, but I’m sure there will be a few things that make you rethink what you do.