A good friend is looking for a used car. Off and on for past 3 yrs. This month, it appears her 22 yr. car is truly near its final dying stages. She's checked all the usual local sources at the lots, dealers . She herself has a wide network of family (6 siblings, plus 10 adult nieces, nephews), many friends and with workers who she knows well. (She works full-time for Roads). She would have tapped into her personal contacts a long time ago. The price tag between used car and new car... Buying new or used car - cost ..read more

At the other forum, a couple married for 42 years, will go to Arby's for their anniversary...because she had a coupon for Arby's. She tends to be the uber frugaler, he is more relaxed. My partner and I celebrated well with gifts and meal for b-days and Christmas. Certain years we would coincide a trip destination with person's birthday or Christmas. Anniversary's were less spendy but often with a special dish/meal. Valentine's was usually very modest, a card / a few handcrafted... Cheap / lower-cost celebration ..read more

What certain (rare?) things do you buy in multiples whenever on sale, 'cause you know you use or think you'll use? Moi: cycling gloves (especially long-fingered) for both spring-summer and winter riding (lobster claw) sunglasses - probably have 3 prs. art painting brushes --all sorts of bristle shapes and sizes. Am discovering my hidden caches. After awhile, certain heavily used brushes get warped/trashed. canvass boards, palette paper for painting... Inventory or hoarding of favourite / needed things ..read more

It's in frugal area, since it seems enough of us seem to approach purchases from a money perspective with maybe attitude, if it adds value ..read more

For past 30 years, I enjoy wandering in bike shops in all the cities I've lived, worked and biked in. Plus I do go into bike shops in towns and cities if convenient, where I've vacationed in U.S. and in Europe. (In Japan and Seoul, we lacked time. And what we saw, we were underwhelmed. No time to wander further out to better bike shops there.) I am not a bike mechanic nor inclined. But I have 2 close women friends who are definitely are bike mechanically inclined: ie. they can take... Your hobby/work with expertise + tips for frugality in that area ..read more

I notice that a lot of people buy those bags of individual use dish detergent, the ones that come in small packets (pods?) that you pop into the dishwasher. I suspect they are very expensive. So I counted how many loads I got with traditional dishwasher powder. I wanted to share what I measured. I used a 2.12 kg box of generic powder. This is not the cheapest kind, and you can get cheaper powders at Loblaws/Superstore. I counted 58 loads in my standard dishwasher (fully filling the... Dishwasher detergent, cost per wash ..read more

I see all these ads promoting 40/50/unlimited gigs of data and scratch my head. Why is so much data needed? Now I am an "old guy" but spend a lot of my time on my phone. But I do it mostly reading texts, or news sites, and sometimes actually using it as a phone and calling someone. I rarely watch videos and have never watched a movie on my phone (for the same reason I don't use my desktop computer to listen to music. I regularly check my data usage most months and it has never gone over... How much data do people really need in a phone plan ..read more

A friend couldn't believe that I give a token amount of money to a sibling whenever a visit and stay overnight for several days as a guest. I am a guest, sibling is secondary (but with built-in privileges as a family member to feel more at ease /understanding certain home messes). So I will give a gift to sibling, pay for a meal with her or offer buy groceries to prep. some meals. When I hear of grumbling situations in other families about stayover as a guest for a while or maybe need a... Staying with family for over 1 wk. or more- hospitality ..read more

I don't get it. In September when I went to the dentist, the receptionist submitted my claims electronically to both my primary and my secondary insurance companies. I was given the printouts for the two submissions. So I didn't have to do anything and a few weeks later received my reimbursements. Then yesterday the receptionist submitted electronically to the primary insurance only and was told to mail in the claim form to the secondary. I asked her why she hadn't submitted the... Inconsistent dental claim submissions by receptionist ..read more

How many people here have been paid unsolicited visits by Bell and Rogers these past two weeks? I think it's their new year nrw client drive. Or their schedule just happens to coincide together at the same neighbourhood ..read more