Your Friendly 24/7 Internet Repairman

There are so many ways that the internet has made life easier: money management (paying bills, budgeting, banking), staying in touch with far-flung friends (Skype and Facebook), crafts and home management (blog tutorials and guides) and reserving library materials are just a few that come to mind!

One of the things I am increasingly grateful for is what I've come to think of as my "internet repairman". My dh is a pretty handy guy, but occasionally things come up that he doesn't know how to deal with right off the top of his head. In the last year or so, there are two particular occasions where finding help on the internet saved us a significant amount of cash:

1. A holiday plumbing problem: On Christmas Day of 2011, we had a severely backed up toilet (yes, really, Christmas Day, at about 10:30 p.m. when we were all exhausted!) As this is our only toilet, it constituted somewhat of an emergency. My hubby ended up having to "pull" it (remove the toilet completely) to remove the blockage. He's done that part before, but after he got everything all put back together there was water leaking from around the shutoff valve (this is an old house, so the shutoff valve is fairly ancient). The leak was significant enough that we couldn't just leave it until normal business hours returned on December 27th. We shut off the water overnight and dealt with it the next morning. By Googling "leaky water shutoff valve" I was able to find a great article on the Family Handyman site which explained exactly how to fix this problem. It ended up being a 5 minute fix and saved us from calling a plumber on Boxing Day (I don't even want to think about how much plumbers probably charge on statutory holidays).

2. A stove that wouldn't heat up: We had noticed that our gas stove was taking longer and longer to heat up, and one day it finally ceased to heat at all. Once again, Google to the rescue! By searching "gas oven won't heat up" I easily discovered the problem was a part called, quite unsurprisingly, the igniter. Initially I figured we'd have to call in a repairman for this one, as tinkering around with gas appliances sounds a bit on the dangerous side. But I thought I might as well see what I could find on the Internet first. As it turns out, there are several helpful YouTube videos explaining how to replace the igniter in your gas stove - one of them featured a stove that was virtually identical to ours! Watching the video demonstration, it was obvious that this was a job that was well within Joe's skill set (heck, it looked easy enough that I think *I* could have done it!) Thankfully, we have a great appliance-parts store in our city, so we purchased the needed part and Joe installed it in just a few minutes, watching the YouTube video on his phone as he went along. It was a fairly expensive part (about $90), but calling in a repairman to diagnose the problem and do the installation would undoubtedly have been much more expensive!

It's not ALWAYS possible to fix things yourself, but with the amazing resources available on the internet these days, it's much more likely than you might think that you can do a needed repair without calling in an "expert".

Have you ever repaired a major appliance, or solved a plumbing, electrical, or other "technical" household problem using the wealth of resources on the internet?

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Change One Thing and Save $12,000 a Year

Want to reduce your expenses by $1000 a month in one fell swoop? Consider ditching your second car (if you're particularly brave, you can consider getting rid of the first one, too). The Canadian Automobile Association estimates that it costs $11,964.85 annually to own a car as of 2011. That's more than we spend on our mortgage!

Now before you shake your head in disbelief and click on over to the next blog on your reading list, stick around and read the rest of what I have to say - it might just convince you to at least consider the possibility of life with less cars :)

I'll admit I'm often amazed at the fact that cars are one thing even families who are quite frugal in most other aspects just won't consider giving up. Of course, I know there are some situations where it's just not possible, but many families (especially those living in urban areas) could easily live with a single car if they seriously explored other alternatives. We currently have one vehicle, and were entirely car-free for about three years with two small children. In addition, we know several other families that live quite happily with one car (or none at all).

There are quite a few factors that allow us to live quite easily with only one car. We live in a highly walkable urban neighbourhood, with many amenities an easy 5-10 minute walk away (that includes everything from the library, bank and grocery store to the community pool and arena). We're also a half hour walk from our city's downtown, with a shopping mall, Farmer's Market and many other facilities. We also have access to public transit (although it's far from a stellar transit system). We don't often ride the bus, though, because cycling is usually a quicker and more convenient option. The bike in the photo above is my primary form of transportation, along with walking. It was trash-picked and rebuilt by my husband a few years ago (mostly using parts he'd scavenged from other free bikes). It takes me everywhere from yoga class to my yard sale rounds, and I often ride with my boys down to their drama classes, about 5 km away.


Yes, we have a lot of advantages that allow us to live easily with only one vehicle (and, in case you're wondering, it's largely my husband's job, which absolutely requires a car, that's keeping us from going car-free again). The bottom line, though, is that we are really committed to the idea. Yes, sometimes it is slightly inconvenient not having a second vehicle. At times, it can take more planning and creativity to get everyone where they need to go. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, though. We're getting a lot more exercise than most people, and my kids are learning not to be depend on driving, which will serve them well later in life. Hopefully they will give careful thought as to when (and if) they need to own a car of their own.

If you're thinking about ditching your second car, what I would suggest doing is what we did when we were first considering going totally car-free: Keep a log of how you're currently using that second car, and brainstorm the alternatives you could have used. In the book Cutting Your Car Use by Randall Ghent, it states that more than a quarter of all car trips are one mile or less. These trips can easily be made by walking or cycling. Many trips could be eliminated altogether by better planning to combine multiple errands, or by taking advantage of Internet shopping rather than driving to the store.

It's also important to keep in mind that just because you get rid of that second car, it doesn't mean you can't occasionally have access to a second vehicle if you really need it. Car sharing groups are an option that is available in a growing number of cities (local reader can find information about the Hamilton CarShare here). Of course, you can also rent a car on occasion, too. When we were car-free, we found we needed to rent a car only a few times per year to meet our transportation needs (there wasn't a car sharing option back then!).


This is a topic about which I feel particularly passionate (in case you haven't already figured that out!). I feel that reducing car dependency has many benefits beyond just the financial ones and it's something I wish more people would consider exploring. I hope I might have convinced you to give it some thought, anyway. Here are some resources I would recommend checking out for more in-depth information about alternatives to driving:








(Disclaimer: The above are Amazon affiliate links - of course I recommend checking out your local library first, but if you decide to purchase any of these resources, you can help support this blog by using these links). 

Does your family live with one (or no) cars? Do you have any great resources or tips to share?

How to Get What You Want Without Money

The bounty from my produce cooperative's final swap of the season 

Money can be a really handy tool for procuring the things you need and want - but it's by no means the only way to do so! You might be surprised at just how many things can be achieved without using money, if you are willing to be resourceful. Whether your budget's particularly tight, or you just enjoy the sport of acquiring goods and services without having to exchange any money for them, here are some ways to go about it: 

1. Put the word out

Let your friends and family know what you're looking for - it may be something they have lying around that they can't wait to get rid of! Put a "wanted" request out to your local Freecycle group. I've given many things away through my local group, so I have no qualms about asking for something when I need it. You can also put a "wanted" ad on Craigslist and Kijiji. While you're there, check out the "Free" sections on these sites - you may find a listing for the exact item you need. We've received a lot of wonderful items through these avenues - including a washing machine (that ended up lasting us 5 years), some good quality dress shirts my husband is still wearing several years later, and a perfectly good television we've been using for the past couple of years.

2. Become a scavenger

It's surprising what you can find lying around at the side of the road or by a dumpster in a parking lot. While I'm not quite brave enough to venture into full-on dumpster diving, I'm quite happy to drag something home I found in a neighbour's trash pile. Almost every bike my kids have owned came from the side of the road (as well as the mountain bike that is my primary mode of transportation). Most of these bikes needed some type of overhaul to make them functional, and since my hubby's a pro at that sort of thing, he's happy to take on the challenge of bringing them back to life (although often, they only needed pretty simple repairs to make them functional again). We've also found a perfectly good TV stand (to hold our free TV), free hostas for the garden, and a wide variety of other odds and ends we've put to good use. My husband also knows a couple of good spots to find piles of discarded wooden pallets, which are an excellent source of free wood for small building projects (such as the planter boxes on our deck).

3. Swap, swap, swap!

You never know what you might have that someone else might want - whether it's no-longer-needed possessions gathering dust in your basement, or special skills and talents that others can benefit from. It's easy to do informal swapping with friends and neighbours. Sometimes you might swap related items (i.e. trading childcare services with each other, or swapping different types of garden plants), or maybe you could swap a haircut for some lawn and garden cleanup. If you really love to barter, you can take swapping to the next level and join a more formal bartering group. There are a growing number of these types of organizations available, as interest in bartering is growing around the world. LETS (Local Exchange and Trading Systems) are going strong in many areas and allow members to trade a wide variety of skills and services with one another; you can search for a local group here. A dedicated bartering site which is growing in popularity here in Canada is SwapSity, which I am planning to get more involved with this year. You can also search for trades and swaps on more traditional classified sites like Craigslist and Kijiji. A couple of years ago, I posted an offer to swap plants on Kijiji and ended up receiving enough perennials to landscape my entire front garden for free! Swap groups can also also have a specific focus; produce cooperatives (where local veggie gardeners swap their surplus garden produce) are gaining in popularity and the group I started last year got off to a good start. Some of these groups have evolved to become general food-swapping groups with a wide variety of edible offerings, such as the Boston Food Swap.

4. Be creative.

I've long thought that creativity and resourcefulness can be much more powerful tools than money. Sometimes, it may take a combination of several strategies to figure out how to get what you want with little or no money. Combining scavenging or swapping of materials with skills such as carpentry, wiring, or sewing may be necessary to create your vision. Need a new rug? With some old sweaters or T-shirts from Freecycle, you can easily make one. A few pieces of beaten up, trash-picked furniture might be disassembled and rebuilt to create the exact piece you're looking for. Busted up hockey sticks and an old futon frame can be transformed into a conversation-starting Muskoka chair. Take a close look at your junk before you discard it - it may have a second (or third) life you hadn't considered!

Have you ever gotten something great without using money? If so, please share the details with us!

Accomplishments, Goals and Another No-Spend Month

 Photo: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot/FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

I guess it's finally time for me to admit that the holidays are over and a new year has begun! 2011 was a *very* busy year at our house, and I promised myself that I'd take a bit of quiet time after Christmas before jumping back into the rhythm of my usual routine.

In 2010, I shared my top five frugal successes of the year, and I wanted to do a similar look back on 2011 to see what I'd achieved in the past 12 months. As I took a look back, I realized that our family accomplished much more than I'd realized in one short year: 

1. Paying off our last credit card balance: Yes, it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but we did have an outstanding credit card balance we've been working on paying off. Rest assured that we didn't run it up on big screen TVs or other frivolous purchases. Let's just say we were in a really tight spot financially a while back, and had some expenses we had no other way of dealing with at the time. It took a good deal of discipline to finish paying off the balance, but we did it! 

2. Writing a book: I finished my book, Cheap Appétit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible), which I actually started back in 2010. Writing a book is a long and sometimes very frustrating process, and I have to admit there were more than a few times I just wanted to chuck the whole thing out the window! So I'm thrilled it's finally here - a real, live book at last! While this is a satisfying accomplishment for me personally, book sales will also provide a source of passive income for our family. 

3. Paying cash for a couple of large purchases: We made a couple of major purchases in cash in 2011 and receiving substantial discounts for doing so, saving us several hundred dollars.

4. Discovering soapnuts: I wrote about this inexpensive, eco-friendly and effective alternative to laundry soap here. I'm so glad I decided to give soapnuts a try - they are quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened to my laundry!

5. Making my own lip balm and hard lotion: One of my goals for 2011 was to continue finding homemade and inexpensive solutions for more of my personal care products. I'm very satisfied with the homemade lip balm and hard lotion I made a few weeks back (instructions here). Hurray for adding two more low-cost and effective personal care products to my repertoire!

Goals for 2012:

I'm not one for setting New Year's Resolutions as I don't think they're effective. What I prefer to do is to pick one big thing to focus on for the year, and doing as much as I can on a daily or weekly basis (depending on the type of goal) to bring myself closer to achieving it. Last year, my big goal was to finish writing my book, which I managed to squeak out with a couple of weeks to spare at the end of the year! This year, my husband and I have decided to focus on working on our house. We've lived in this house for eight and a half years now, and while we knew it was a fixer-upper when we bought it, we'd like to tip the balance so it starts feeling less fixer and more upper! We did do some work on the house in 2011, including installing a banister in the front hall and continuing to work on improvements to the backyard. We're currently at work on the next round of renos in the front hall, so I hope to be able to share updates on that area later this month! If you want to see the complete list of our DIY projects, check out my Domestic Arts & DIY page for links to all the relevant posts.

January = No-Spend Month

I did a fairly successful No-Spend Month back in October, and I've declared January another No-Spend Month to kick off the new year. After the relative indulgence of the holiday season, I'm more than ready for a break and look forward to a month of buying as little as possible! I'm going to try and keep grocery spending as well as general household purchases to a minimum. We kicked things off with a $55 grocery bill this week (not bad as we didn't buy groceries the week between Christmas and New Years!), which was further reduced to $30 as we had a $25 gift card we received from a generous neighbour over the holidays. My husband has also accumulated $20 worth of free gas (through the "rewards" program of the gas station he frequents) and we have another $20 gift certificate for a local grocery store on the way (received through redeeming Air Miles). We will need to purchase some supplies to complete the front entranceway project, so I'm excluding those expenses from the "no-spend" challenge as we need to get this reno complete ASAP. I'm hoping that our lack of spending in other areas will offset the costs of completing this DIY project!

Book Update:

Before I sign off this post, I'd just like to give a quick update about my book! It's now available for purchase on the following sites:

Amazon.com: click here
Amazon.ca: click here
Amazon.co.uk: click here
Barnes and Noble: click here

I'd also like to ask a favour of those of you who do purchase the book (or have already done so). If you enjoy the book and find it useful, it would mean a lot to me if you would review it on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long and involved - a couple of sentences and a star rating would be really valuable! (A note about the Canadian listing - it says it will ship in 1-2 months, which is definitely not the case - it should read 1-2 days and we're working on getting that fixed!). We're going to be doing the big "official" launch for the book in a few weeks, and having some positive reviews online will help make the launch more successful.

What are your favourite accomplishments of 2011? 

Do you have big plans for 2012?

A Look Back at My "No Spend" Month

At the beginning of October, I issued a "No Spend" Challenge for the month. My plan was to buy nothing except the absolute necessities for the entire month, and to keep my grocery bill below $325 as we'd gone over our grocery budget the last couple months prior (mostly due to purchasing surplus in-season produce for canning and freezing).

I'd planned to give you an update on this a bit sooner, but what can I say? I feel like I'm a bit behind in just about every area of my life right now! So, here's how it went:

Our grocery bill came in at $312.61 for the month, so we squeaked in at $12.39 under my goal. YAY!!

I had identified a few items that we would probably need to buy in October: a winter coat for my older son, winter gloves for both boys, Halloween treats, a birthday gift for my older son, and some coconut oil.

My husband found a great winter coat for my son at Value Village for $11.54 (I was *very* happy about that, as I was beginning to think we were going to have to break down and buy him a brand new one, which would have cost a heck of a lot more!). We didn't end up purchasing my son's birthday gift until the beginning of November (his birthday was yesterday, so yes, it was a bit on the last-minute side). We also didn't get around to buying winter gloves yet as it's been a relatively mild fall so far. We spent $33.31 on Halloween candy and $6.99 on coconut oil.

So far, so good, right? Well, we also had a few unexpected expenses thrown into the mix. Hubby had to go stock up on wood screws to fix my younger son's bed when it broke ($7.45), and he bought two new inner tubes for his bike after he got a flat ($22.58). We also needed some new bungee cords ($10.16 for a multi-pack) and I forgot to bring my yoga mat to class one day and needed to rent one ($2). My husband and son both needed new hockey water bottles ($6.76) and we splurged on a top hat at Dollarama for my younger son's hobo costume ($2.26).

That brings the grand total for our "no spend" month to $103.05. It's not quite "nothing", but it's a heck of a lot less than we've been spending on miscellaneous expenses the past few months. 

I think I might just have to have another "No Spend" month in January! Maybe some of you will care to join me?

Clean, Green - and Cheap?!?

I've been using non-toxic cleaning products since long before it was the "in" thing to do, but for some reason it wasn't until much more recently that I became aware of all the nasty things that might be lurking in my personal care products. Over the last couple of years, I've gradually been phasing out products that are less than friendly and replacing them with safer choices. I've found this to be a somewhat daunting task for a variety of reasons.  Many of these safer products are astronomically expensive compared to "mainstream" products, making it a bit difficult to wiggle them into a modest budget. To make matters even more confusing, a lot of those more expensive products that are labeled "natural" and/or "organic" are not any safer than the mainstream stuff - they still have many of the same harmful chemicals in them! And finally, some of the natural products leave a lot to be desired in the performance department - and if they're not effective, I'm certainly not paying a premium price for them!

I eventually came up with a set of criteria for my "ideal" products:

 -rated between 0 and 2 on the Skin Deep Database. This is an excellent, free online resource which allows you to look up over 69,000 personal care products and get a rating from 0-10 of their safety (0-2 is their "low risk" rating).

-Canadian made

-not tested on animals

-manufacturer has signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics

-product performs well for its intended use

-it's affordable enough for my family to use on a regular basis


Ultimately, I would love the product to meet ALL of the criteria, but that hasn't always been possible so far! The Skin Deep rating, price and performance are my biggest priorities, and after that I try to find a product that will fulfill as many of the remaining criteria as possible.

Before I share the specifics of the products I'm currently using, I'll share my 3 main strategies for keeping costs down:


1. Eliminate as many products as possible from your regimen: Because my personal care routines are pretty simple, I use only a small number of products, which helps keep expenses (and bathroom clutter) to a minimum.


2. Look for homemade options first: I have been successful in making several of my own products, all of which are extremely inexpensive compared to commercial products. They all work great, and I can customized them to exactly meet my own needs and preferences.

3. Buy in bulk where possible. Once you've found a product you love, buying it in the largest size available will often yield substantial savings (sometimes reducing the cost by 50% or more).

I also have a little opportunity for my readers to save some money at Well.ca. You'll notice I've linked to them a few times further on in the post (those are NOT affiliate links). They are a great online Canadian company, and have a HUGE selection of natural products, as well as offering free shipping anywhere in Canada with no minimum purchase. I have a coupon code I can offer you for $10 off a $40 purchase if you're a new customer. It's not supposed to be posted on public sites, so if you'd like the code just email me at abundanceonadime AT gmail DOT com and I'll happily send it to you!

So, without further ado, here are my current favourite all-natural personal care products:

Liquid hand soap: Nature Clean Citrus Liquid Soap. I totally love this stuff! Not only does it have a great clean citrusy scent, it meets every single one of my criteria, making it about as perfect as a product can get. It's also supposed to be available in a 3 litre refill jug, which would help reduce the cost and packaging, but so far I've yet to track it down anywhere I shop.

Bar Soap: Guelph Soap Company Eucalyptus and Mint Bar Soap. This soap is made less than an hour away from me and it's a great bargain for a natural soap! I've seen many natural bar soaps priced from $5-7 a bar, which is just not realistic for my family's budget. I purchased this soap for $1.59 a bar (you have to buy a pack of six to get it at this price, but it's worth it!). My husband and I both use it for shaving. It has a rich, creamy lather and doesn't dry out my skin. It's also a nice solid bar which doesn't melt away to nothing like a lot of other soaps do.

Body wash: I've been using Nature Clean Body Wash which I received as a gift. It's a pretty good product as far as meeting my criteria, but I've been underwhelmed by the scent. I'm planning to switch to Dr. Bronner's Organic Citrus Liquid Soap when I run out of my current body wash. As an added bonus, it's an extremely versatile product; I've been using their peppermint liquid soap in my homemade cleaning products as well as for handwashing and pretreating laundry.

Facial cleanser: I make my own "cleansing grains" (pictured in the glass dish above) using my adaptation of Crunchy Betty's winter face scrub. I make it with just the rice flour, oats and coconut with whatever essential oils I feel like adding (my current favourite is grapefruit) and I'll add calendula and/or chamomile if I happen to have some around. I've been using this for about a year now, and my skin has been wonderfully soft ever since (I gave it to my sisters-in-law for Christmas last year, and they all raved about it!)

Moisturizer: I use coconut oil on my face and body. People with less mature skin than I might find it a bit heavy, in which case grapeseed oil might be a better option. I've been looking in vain for a good affordable heavy-duty hand moisturizer for the winter months and I'm planning to try my hand at making some hard lotion any time now (I'll report back on how it goes!)

Deodorant: My husband and I have been using this homemade deodorant for about a year and a half now and we both love it. I like to add some essential oils to give it a pleasing scent - equal parts lavender and grapefruit for me, tea tree and peppermint for hubby. Our two boys have started using it too, now that they're old enough to need it!

My two remaining holdouts are toothpaste and shampoo/conditioner. I have really sensitive teeth and haven't found anything that works as good as the toothpaste I've been using since I was a kid. And I have a hard time finding hair care products that work well for my thick, curly, frizz-prone hair (I've tried the no 'poo thing with little success). I have my eye on the Yes to Carrots line as a possibility when I've used up my current shampoo stash.

Do you have some favourite personal care products or recipes to recommend? Please share in the comments!

Five Ways Having Money Can Save You Money

 Photo by Graur Codrin/Freedigitalphotos.net

When your budget is particularly tight, it can be hard to build up savings. I know, I've been there! But I'd have to say that, right after paying off debts, building savings is the second most important thing you can do to gain more control of your finances. Having extra money in the bank will not only let you sleep better at night, it can actually help you to save even more money, thus allowing you to contribute even more to your savings account. Even if you have to start by saving a very small amount each week, it's worth it to make it a habit, and it will always pay off in the long term.

Here are five ways having extra money will help you save even more:


1. Paying in full for large purchases upfront can result in substantial discounts:
As I've alluded to previously, my husband has been in the process of getting a dental bridge made at a nearby university's dental school. Getting the work done at the dental school rather than at a dentist's has already saved us a HUGE amount of money (in the thousands) but we had an opportunity to save even more when we paid for the lab fees in full immediately, rather than putting them on a payment plan. We were offered a 20% discount, which on the $1600 bill amounted to a savings of $320. In the past, other businesses have offered us discounts for paying in cash. It can't hurt to ask, and you may save yourself a large chunk of change!

2. You can take advantage of great deals and buy things BEFORE you need them

The worst time to shop for something is when you needed it yesterday! By having extra cash on hand, you can more easily plan for your needs in advance, and purchase items when you find a terrific sale. You can also afford to buy items in bulk, which often results in a large savings. Having the ability to buy in large quantities when staple items like food, personal care and cleaning products are at their rock-bottom price means you can avoid having to pay full price for household necessities.

3. You can take care of little problems before they become big problems

Getting repairs done as soon as you notice they're needed will usually stop them from becoming much bigger, more expensive problems. Ignoring that funny noise your car's making because you don't have the money to pay the mechanic will usually end up costing you much more in the long run.

4. You can more easily cope with unexpected expenses

Life happens, and even those of us who try our best to plan ahead will likely be hit with some type of unexpected expense at one time or another. Appliances sometimes die without much warning, and a sudden death or illness in the family might require a flight across the country. Having a cash reserve to draw from when these type of expenses crop up means that you can avoid putting them on credit cards and accruing huge interest fees.

5. You can buy larger-ticket items secondhand

If you want to buy things secondhand from private sellers, you usually need to have cash on hand to do it (unless you're buying online on a site like eBay). Shopping locally for larger ticket items like appliances and cars will require the ability to pay in cash. When our washing machine died this summer, we were able to replace it within a couple of days by making a cash purchase of a 2 yr old machine in pristine condition, from a private seller we'd located on Kijiji. If we didn't have the cash on hand, we'd have had to buy retail *and* slap it on a credit card, both of which would have meant we'd have paid a lot more to replace our washing machine.

Can you think of any more ways having money helps you save even more?

October "No Spend" Challenge

 Image by Ambro/freedigitalphotos.net

Despite my hubby's vigilance saving us $100 at the auto service department, it seems like we've been going through money hand over fist these last few months. We busted our typical clothing budget, and got ourselves a new front hall banister and a patio in the backyard. We bought a new washing machine (secondhand on Kijiji) when our (really, really) old one died and took a couple of camping trips this summer. My younger son needed to replace almost all of his hockey equipment because it was outgrown or worn out (which cost us over 200 bucks even though we bought most of it used!) We've even gone over our usual grocery and gas budgets these last couple months, for crying out loud!

Now, all things considered, this is not entirely a bad thing. We did some long-awaited renovations to our home, had some great family vacation time, and replaced household items and sports equipment that needed replacing. We had more than enough money in the bank to do all of these things, and still have enough left to pay cash to replace our 40-year-old furnace next month (another long-awaited item on our "to-do" list).

Still, being the frugal type of person that I am, I feel a need to take a little break from spending for a while. So, I'm declaring October a "no spend" month and am going to make an effort to buy nothing but the bare necessities this month. Right now, aside from the aforementioned furnace, the only things (other than food) that I know we will need to buy are a winter coat for my older son, winter gloves for both boys, some Halloween treats, and a birthday gift (also for my older son, who will turn 14 on November 4th). I also need to stock up on coconut oil to try my hand at making some hard lotion (I was planning to go buy this today, before the challenge started, but didn't have a chance to get to it).

I'm also hoping to spend less than $325 on groceries this month. Our average grocery bill over the course of the year is around $350 per month, but it's typically much higher in the summer months as we are buying lots of seasonal produce to can and freeze. So, since we have a pretty well-stocked pantry and freezer, I'm planning to eat strategically this month and minimize our grocery purchases.

I'm really looking forward to a month that involves a lot less running around and buying stuff than we've been doing of late. 

Anyone else care to join me in the October "no spend" challenge?

Paying Attention Can Really Pay Off!

Photo by Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sometimes it seems like saving money involves a lot of work: canning, hanging laundry, cooking from scratch, mending clothes, etc. So it's nice to know that sometimes you can save a significant chunk of change just by paying attention!

We saved $100 last week thanks to my husband's vigilance at the auto service department of our van's dealership. Our van, which we purchased used 2 years ago, was still under the original factory warranty for 100,000 km or five years, whichever came first. We had not quite hit the 100,000 mark, but the van had officially turned five at the end of August. When we bought the van, we opted to purchase an extended warranty for an additional three years (for most types of products, extended warranties are NOT worth it, but given the ridiculously high costs of getting modern vehicles repaired, we feel in this case it will be worthwhile). So, since the original warranty has expired, we are now covered under the extended warranty, which has a $100 deductible.

Hubby took the van in last week to have some warranty-covered parts replaced, and because we were now under the extended warranty, they were going to charge us the $100 deductible. However, we had originally brought the van in to have this work done back in August, and they had been unable to complete the work because they had ordered the wrong replacement parts. The van was still covered under the original factory warranty at that point, and when Joe pointed this out to the staff at the auto service department, stating that the work would have been done at that time if it wasn't for the dealership's error in ordering the wrong parts, they agreed that it should be covered under the original warranty and we were NOT charged the $100 deductible.

That sure was an easy way to save $100 just by paying attention to the details!

(As an aside, one of the things that needed replacing was the passenger seat, because of a faulty airbag sensor. If we had to pay to have it replaced, it would have been $1800! Because cars are so sophisticated now, seemingly "small" problems can often be very expensive for parts and/or labour - one reason we opted for the extended warranty).

Have you ever saved an impressive amount of money in a similar fashion? If so, please tell us all about it in the comments!