My new wheels.

No...these were the old wheels.

Sometimes we do not choose frugality but have it thrust upon us.  Until recently I was driving a 2008 Honda CRV.  And let me tell you, that is a beautiful vehicle.   I bought it for practical reasons...and the fact that I just fell in love with all the nifty luxuries.  There was lots of room in the back to accommodate dump runs, animal crates, and building supplies.  It had all-wheel drive to handle the country back roads of the Highlands where we lived in the winter months.  It was comfortable to fit four adult passengers and all of our Pipeband Gear on our way to parades.  And it handled like a dream.  I swear I haven’t been paid to endorse this vehicle.  

My point is that when I bought the vehicle there were practical considerations aside from ‘oooooh....it’s pretty!’.   A few months later I unexpectedly moved from a rural area to an urban one.  The vehicle was no longer practical but I hung onto it anyway partly because I needed a vehicle and partly because I was too stupid  stubborn to admit the vehicle was now too much for me.  The vehicle cost a considerable amount to keep on the road and spent most of its time sitting parked and unused.  Eventually the extra money it cost to keep ‘the beast’ running put me into financial hardship and I fell behind in my mortgage.  I made the decision to get rid of the Honda. 

At this point I had to consider my transport options:

a)    I could use public transit.  This would have been a perfectly viable option except for the fact that I work full time night shift and there are nights that the transit system shuts down too early and starts up too late in the morning.  I don’t fancy the idea of sitting around for two hours every day after work waiting for the bus.  Especially with my critters sitting by the door crossing their legs and patiently waiting to pee.  Taxis were prohibitively expensive. 

b)    Purchase an old ‘beater’, ie something that had a few hundred thousand kms on it and was (barely) considered road worthy.  I looked around half earnestly and became distraught pretty quickly.  After having driven my dream car for two years it’s more than a little difficult to lower one’s standards enough to get excited over a ‘91 Buick.  (Hardly any Rust!  Only 400K on it!  Nevermind what that unidentified smell under the rear seat is!  Oh, the brakes stick sometimes...and you have to manually adjust the antenna to get FM stations...)

c)    Walk.  Again, maybe this would have been an option but for the fact that I live in a terrible neighbourhood and work fulltime nightshift at the other end of the city.  It’s slightly further than I am comfortable walking or biking.  Especially during the dark. 

This is when I did my research and discovered the e-bike.  An electrically assisted bicycle that has been becoming more popular in recent years.  Especially in urban centres.  The more I read about the things the more intrigued I became.  Especially when I learned that it's completely legal to drive on the roads and the trails of Ontario and you don’t need insurance, registration, or a license plate.  Long story short I bought one outright for about $50 more than what my SUV was costing me per month.

The new wheels! 

The company I chose is one called Gio.  It is a Chinese company (which I am not thrilled about) that transports these bikes to BC and distributes them from there via auction.  These bikes have become a preferred means of transport in China because they are quiet, small, and do not require the use of fossil fuels.  They are bicycles even though they look like scooters.  Under all that molded plastic is a typical bike chain, typical pedals, and typical grip brakes.  But the electric motor propels it forward somewhere between 20-30 km/hr. 

I’ve been riding my Gio-Bike for five months now.  Through rain or shine she gets me to work every day.  Sometimes I'm a little damp and have bugs in my teeth...but I'm there on time and that counts.  Every night I plug it in to recharge and I'm told that it costs about $0.08 a charge.  My favourite part of having an e-Bike is driving past gas stations and looking up at the towering advertisement of $1.03/L and realizing I don't have to buy gas for my e-Bike...ever.  I'll be honest, I've been known to grin obnoxiously at the people with their anxious expressions pumping gas into their vehicles.  I'm a jerk, what can I say.  Then again I have found that people in their cars grin obnoxiously at me from inside their warm and dry cars while I'm being rained on.  


When the winter comes, it will no longer be practical to ride a bike around the city.  At that point I'll have to look at my options again (dog sled?!?)  and figure out what I'm going to do for the winter months.  In the meantime I'm enjoying the leisurely ride and the freedom from fossil fuels and insurance companies.  I'm also enjoying the fact that while cars drive around downtown constantly looking for parking,  I can legally park anywhere a bike can.

Honestly, I do miss my SUV sometimes.  I miss the convenience and this summer in particular I miss the a/c!  I miss the luxury of being warm and dry on rainy days.  I also miss being able to shop at Big Box stores and buying in Bulk.  I can also no longer go to the hardware store and buy more than a couple pieces of lumber or other renovating supplies.  I have to plan carefully when I shop, and this too is saving me money.  I have far fewer impulse buys and I've started to carefully read all the Flyers and compare prices.   I miss my SUV until I realize how much it was costing me...and the environment.  Then I get over it, hop on my e-Bike, and drive past all the cars waiting in line at the lights.  That's the ultimate irony, I think.  Their vehicles are faster and far more powerful, but while moving around the city I get around about as quickly as they do.  At a fraction of the cost.

The Scanning Code of Practice

This is a post that only applies to my fellow Canadians.  It seems as though very few people, actually no one,  I’ve spoken to are aware of this nifty little policy that has repeatedly saved me a good deal of money.

It is estimated that 2% of all purchases scan through at the incorrect price when you take them to the cash register.  Rarely do these errors ever seem to be in your favour.  Unless you diligently check your receipts for errors every time you shop, that’s a good chunk of your wallet gone for no particular reason. 

The Scanning Code of Practice is a policy that many retailers have agreed to, I suppose in order to make it look as though they’re not intentionally trying to rip you off.  Or as they officially phrase it on the government website:

The purpose of the Code is to:

• Visibly demonstrate retailer commitment to scanner price accuracy;
• Provide retailers with a consistent national framework for dealing with scanner price accuracy issues; and
• Provide the retail industry with a mechanism for consumer redress in scanner price accuracy cases, to be managed by a Scanner Price Accuracy Committee.

Here’s how it works: If an item is scanned at the register and the price on the register is higher than the posted price, the customer is entitled to $10 off the price of the item.  If the item costs less than $10, the item is free.   It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

If you don’t believe me, here’s a report from a couple of years ago about it on Marketplace.  (Sorry, I couldn't embed the video, and can't find it on youtube).

Most large outlets adhere to this rule.  Places where I have personally used it are Costco, Loblaws, Sobeys, Home Depot, Walmart, and Canadian Tire.  Especially Canadian Tire.  Our local store seems to make a ridiculous amount of pricing errors...none of which are to the benefit of the customer, believe me.  In the last year alone I’ve gotten frozen chicken breasts, milk, a frozen cheesecake, router bits, a thermometer, a litter locker, some yard tools, and various kitchen wares either free or at $10 off. 

If the store is bound by this policy, and many of the large retailers are, there will be a sticker somewhere in the vicinity of the cashier, or on the front door that looks like this: 

In my experience, it’s usually partially obscured.  I don’t believe it’s something they want people knowing about.  I’ve also personally found that no cashier in the last year has argued the point with me...but none of them has volunteered the information either. 

So next time you’re at a major retail chain have a glance around for the sticker and keep an eye on those receipts, you could save yourself a pretty penny. 

Purslane!

What is it, you ask?  Well, basically it’s a weed.  One that grows wild...and one that you can safely and nutritiously eat.  I’d read about this plant here and there on the interwebz, and my interest was piqued.  A food that's wonderfully healthy for you, reputed to be delicious, and possibly...free?  Oh, yes.  I'm all over that like bees on honey.  It’s apparently becoming quite popular in culinary circles and with the locavore movement.  In a time where food costs are soaring, anything that can cut down on the grocery bill is a bonus.

Anyway, I found some at the Farmer’s Market and brought home a bag containing more than I’ll possibly be able to eat for $2.50.  You can eat it raw, (And I did nibble at it a little.  It tastes like any other raw green...with an unexpected almost lemony zing to it!) or you can use it in the same way you’d use spinach. I opted for the cooked method, since I'm not a huge fan of green salads.  For my first experiment with the stuff I tossed a handful of the little leaves into my rice maker with some brown rice, onions, red peppers, and split peas.  Garlic and seasonings too, of course. This is my go-to recipe when I want something filling and satisfying without putting a whole lot of work in.

I'll be honest, what came out of the ricemaker didn't look nearly so appetizing.  The leaves had wilted, of course, and the colour had changed to a pale and washed out runny green.  Whereas spinach usually keeps it's deep green colouring.  But the whole mixture smelled pretty good and I was famished, so I dug right in with my fork.  The outcome?  Delicious, as advertised. That lemony zing I mentioned really comes out when you cook it.  Quite tasty.

In the future, I'll be keeping an eye out for areas where I can harvest the wild stuff.  Or maybe it will become a fixture in my 2011 garden.  In the meantime, even if I eat it every day for the next week, I probably still won't make it through the whole bag.  Pretty good value for $2.50.  Even better value when I find my own source.  I'll keep you updated.

Yummy Yoghurt For the Frugally Inclined

I should start by making it clear that I love yoghurt.  I use it for Smoothies and Lhassis, I bake with it, I cook with it and sometimes I just like to roll around in it.  Okay, I was kidding with that last part.  Honest.  But I cannot emphasis how important Yoghurt is to this family. 

Decent Yoghurt around here starts at about $4 for 500 ml.  If I were to actually have to pay for decent quality yoghurt I’d be a lot poorer than I am now.  I probably average about a cup of the stuff a day for myself, and then as a treat the critters get some with their food now and then.  If it were up to Mau, the white cat, he’d subsist solely off of Yoghurt.  

Mau would kill you and everyone you love for Yoghurt.

In the spirit of being a huge cheapskate, yes I am playing the Scottish stereotype, I needed a way to keep Mau and I from going into Yoghurt withdrawal without also ending up in the poor(er) house.  And then I found a ridiculously easy recipe on the interwebs.  Since then I’ve altered it a bit and made it even easier.  Cheap and lazy, that’s me. 

Using this recipe I've avoided having to buy yoghurt for over a year now.  

Yaz's Yummy Yoghurt

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Bags    2% Milk (2 bags is about 3L)
• 1/3 - 2/3 cup    Sugar Depending on taste
• 6-8 oz pkg    Starter Yoghurt (must read "contains active cultures" if bought in store) or Active Bacterial Cultures.  Or you can use a cup of yoghurt from the last batch you made with this recipe.
• Flavour    If you desire you can add Vanilla Extract or such.  I like my Yoghurt plain. 

Also Needed:

Thermometer
Canning Jars or regular glass jars with lids.
Heat source for Incubation.  (Eg. Heating Pad, radiator, sunny windowsill)

DIRECTIONS

1.    Heat Milk to 180 F.  Add Sugar.  Stir until completely dissolved.

2.    Remove from heat.  Cover and allow milk  to cool to 115F.  Add starter yoghurt (And flavour if you desire) and stir well.

3.    Pour mixture into sanitized jars.  Set some aside as the next starter batch so you never have to buy yoghurt again.

4.    Incubate yoghurt at 115F for 6-12 hours.  Longer incubation results in a tarter yoghurt. I place a regular heating pad inside of a cooler and leave it on the low setting with the jars sitting on it.  But anywhere you can keep it nice and warm will do. 

5.    When you take it out it will probably look pretty gross.  The whey seperates from the yoghurt so you end up with a blob of yoghurt floating inside yellowy liquid.  You can drain it off if you like. I just stir it in for a slightly more liquidy yoghurt.  

6.     Allow yoghurt to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.  It's good for about a month.

Seriously, it's that easy.