Just in time for Christmas, here are 10 of my personal strategies to reducing my cost of living in Toronto.
*Update 3-Jan-2014*: I forgot to include Toronto On A Shoestring - another wonderful source of cheapskate knowledge!
RedFlagDeals also offers cash back on purchases made through many other vendors, including for big ticket items from vendors like Dell, Apple, Travelocity.com and hotels.com. Check out their website for a full listing.
For purchasing from well.ca, use the coupon code CancerSux until January 31 for $10 off any purchase of $40 or more.
For techies out there, your card will get you onto Safari Books Online. The cautious shopper can browse issues of Consumer Reports. Travelers get online access to Ulysses publications. Through Overdrive, you can listen to 2/3 of John Hodgman's brilliant trilogy (More Information Than You Require and That Is All) read by John Hodgman and including a long list of guests. If you only listen to one audio book in your life, it should be the final book of the trilogy, That Is All. In this audio book, Hodgman has perfected his formula for presenting his written book in live (and hilarious) voice format. One warning though -- you will never fall asleep while listening to this. If you wish to listen to an audio book that will help you get to sleep, try Siddharta Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies. The audio version is about 10 pounds lighter (in physical weight) and is read in near monotone.
Ditch Rogers and sign up with Netflix. If you absolutely need access to hockey games and news, install a good TV antenna to get over the air HDTV. There are also subscriptions available via Apple TV and other smart TV services for live broadcasts of sports games. And you can always watch shows (including news and sports) that your region's television stations stream to the web.
*Update 3-Jan-2014*: I forgot to include Toronto On A Shoestring - another wonderful source of cheapskate knowledge!
Aveda Institute
Aveda offers services performed by their students at a rate of $21 for a first year student or $40 for an advanced student. All services are closely supervised by their instructors. Plus they offer free fringe touchups between haircuts. If you sign up for their newsletter then they will notify you of their all too infrequent sales on their products and their occasional promotions on services - for example, November was free colour with a cut month.LiveGreen Toronto Card
The LiveGreen discount card is available to everyone who lives in Toronto. The card, which is free, gives you discounts at various stores. All you have to do is fill in the online form. There's even an app for that.RedFlagDeals Cash Back
Do you partake in Groupons? Did you know that if you purchase your Groupons through RedFlagDeals that they'll give you 2.5% cash back? It doesn't get much more awesome than making money while saving money. (Usual caveat regarding Groupon vendors applies, though. Unscrupulous vendors are out there trying to get free money by offering Groupons that they never intend to honour. Don't let them get away with it! Groupon customer service is there to help and keep Groupon's reputation intact.)RedFlagDeals also offers cash back on purchases made through many other vendors, including for big ticket items from vendors like Dell, Apple, Travelocity.com and hotels.com. Check out their website for a full listing.
Mineral Sunscreens for Babies/Kids
I am an avid user of sunscreen, but I find that normal sunscreens just don't stay on in the water at all. Mineral sunscreens, however, while not waterproof take a lot longer to fail than chemical sunscreens. Unfortunately mineral sunscreens tend to be much more expensive. I have occasionally found Aveeno's mineral baby sunscreen on sale at my local Shopper's, but here are three options that you can buy affordably every day:- Thinkbaby Sunscreen ($12 for 88 ml at MEC)
- Matter Company Substance Baby Sun Care Cream ($18 for 180 ml at well.ca)
- Banana Boat Natural Reflect Kids Sunscreen ($12 for 120 ml at well.ca)
For purchasing from well.ca, use the coupon code CancerSux until January 31 for $10 off any purchase of $40 or more.
DakPig's Toronto Free and Cheap Event Twitter Feed
The great thing about living in a city like Toronto is that there is always something free or cheap going on. The difficult part is keeping track of just which free movies are showing tonight or which bars have craft beer deals on. DakPig does her best to alert her Twitter followers to what's going on each day in T.O.Toronto Public Library
Your TPL card not only gets you access to their stacks - you also get free access to a large amount of digital content via their website, including Audio Books, eMagazines, and eBooks. You don't have to leave home and there are never any late fees!For techies out there, your card will get you onto Safari Books Online. The cautious shopper can browse issues of Consumer Reports. Travelers get online access to Ulysses publications. Through Overdrive, you can listen to 2/3 of John Hodgman's brilliant trilogy (More Information Than You Require and That Is All) read by John Hodgman and including a long list of guests. If you only listen to one audio book in your life, it should be the final book of the trilogy, That Is All. In this audio book, Hodgman has perfected his formula for presenting his written book in live (and hilarious) voice format. One warning though -- you will never fall asleep while listening to this. If you wish to listen to an audio book that will help you get to sleep, try Siddharta Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies. The audio version is about 10 pounds lighter (in physical weight) and is read in near monotone.
Ditch Bell and Rogers
No need to put up with sub-par customer service and high prices. Ditch Bell and switch to using a cell phone only or replace your landline with VOIP. (Note that with VOIP your phone service will be vulnerable to any internet service outages, so make sure to have a backup plan for 911.) I replaced my $35/month Bell landline with $10/month VOIP from TekSavvy, since I found that the landline seems to only be called by family members and telemarketers. There are many options for VOIP depending on your level of comfort with the technology. For example, if you are comfortable with configuring your own VOIP ata, I have heard good things about voip.ms.Ditch Rogers and sign up with Netflix. If you absolutely need access to hockey games and news, install a good TV antenna to get over the air HDTV. There are also subscriptions available via Apple TV and other smart TV services for live broadcasts of sports games. And you can always watch shows (including news and sports) that your region's television stations stream to the web.
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