Category: Useful Links 101

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Christmas At The Lodge

PB’s cousin may be coming to town for Christmas and will be staying at the lodge – so we’ve decided to loan him our cell phone boosters for the lodge as well as his car – since he doesn’t have one. I know how important it is for him that he gets his calls when he is here for the Christmas vacation – so we are just trying to be nice. I think he must have the cell phone booster at home, else he wouldn’t asked if we had one at our cottage to loan him. Earlier this year – we had bought a cottage for our summer vacation and for the same reasons – to make sure we get a better cell phone reception – we had gone out to look for cell phone boosters and found one at our local store in the mall. No regrets buying it because we never missed a call when we were at the cottage – and we could enjoy our time in the country without worrying about the store.

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Clever Ways To Cut Down Your Laundry Bills And Help The Environment

Image Source: Frugal Living

When it comes to being frugal and eco-friendly, many people may not realize the amount of laundry that they do can have a significant impact on their expenses and their energy-consumption. The average size household will do at least 7 loads of laundry per week, which totals around 400 loads of laundry per year. A load of laundry can use 20-40 gallons of water meaning a year’s worth of laundry will use 16,000 gallons of water.

That is not to mention the amount of electricity that will be used to wash and dry 400 loads of clothes, towels, and blankets.

When you are looking for ways to save money and reduce your family’s carbon footprint, the laundry room and your washer dryer is the perfect place to start.

Pro Tip 1: Wash in Cold Water

By washing your clothes in cold water, you can cut the amount of electricity you use by more than half! The average load of laundry washed in hot or warm water, uses 4.5kWh of electricity (about $0.68 per load-$265/year) whereas a load washed in cold water uses a mere 0.3kWh ($.04 per load- $16/year). [Source]

Pro Tip 2: Use Other Drying Methods

The clothes dryer is a major culprit in raising electric bills. Any item that generates heat uses more electricity to operate. Use a clothesline to dry your clothes or hang them from hangers on the shower rod in the bathroom. Clothes will take longer to dry; however, you will save a great deal of money on your energy bill.

Pro Tip 3: Avoid Expensive Detergents

Yes, expensive detergents smell great and will leave you with the impression that your laundry is clean because of the way it smells. However, cheaper, economy-sized laundry detergents contain the same basic ingredients and will work just as well.
For half the price, you can purchase larger containers of laundry detergent and your clothes will be just as clean. Furthermore, there will be less packaging to recycle or toss out. You can also choose eco-friendly detergents. Environmentally-friendly ingredients to look for include grain alcohol, coconut plant oils, rosemary and sage.

Pro Tip 4: Top Load Versus the Front Loading Washer

If you are still using the outdated washing machine that you bought ten years ago, chances are you are wasting a lot of water. The average top load washer uses almost 40 gallons for one single load of clothes. A front-load washer only uses about 20 gallons per load.
Upgrading to a new washer can dramatically reduce the amount of water that you use in your home and is an eco-friendly choice.

Pro Tip 5: If It’s Not Dirty, Don’t Wash It!

Okay, this does not mean that you and your family should wear dirty clothes just because you are trying to reduce the amount of money you spend on laundry. Just make sure that you are not washing clothes that are not dirty. If you wear your nice dress slacks for an hour and then change, they most likely will be fine to fold up and put back in the drawer.
Some other tips to try:
– Cut your dryer sheets in half (or omit them altogether). This way you can cut these dryer sheet costs by half!
– Dilute your laundry detergent. By keeping an extra detergent bottle aside, you can fill it half way with detergent and the other half with water.
– Use vinegar instead of fabric softener. ¼ cup of fabric softener (for big loads) saves money and does just the trick.

By paying a bit more attention to how, and when, you do your laundry, it will be completely possible for you to save hundreds of dollars each year. This will help reduce the impact that your family has on the environment by cutting water and energy usage as well. Everyone likes to have clean clothes to wear, but this should not come at such an expensive cost and it really does not have to.

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Flu Shots

We never did get our flu shots till last year – but this year – we were all quite gung-ho about taking our flu-shots and of course Chloe had her flu-mist – that goes thru’ the nose. She was a wee bit frightened of it initially because she had almost forgotten about it – but after taking the flu mist – she decided it’s not that bad after all. Plus, she met her favorite doctor this visit – Dr Randall – who gave her a hand drawn sticker on a sticky note – like last year – boy! was she tickled. Then we had to get our flu shots – and she didn’t want to look at it – so she went out to play in the hallway where all the medicine carts were lined up in front of the doctor’s consultation room. The girls at the clinic was very nice and let her hope around it – and explained to her what were the medicine carts for and what were in them. We left the clinic after half an hour for we needed to make sure that we didn’t have a bad reaction to the flu shots. Thus far, we feel that the flu shot had been good for us – for we’ve noticed that we don’t get sick as often as we did the previous years. So for now – we will continue taking the flu shots every year. Flu shots are free in Canada.

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Spa Time

It’s that time of the year again – I’m getting prepared for the holiday parties and also birthday parties not only for Chloe but for Chloe’s friends too. We have a few friends who were born at about the same time as Chloe – and every year I try my hardest to attend all of them. This year I have no excuse – since we have Gary to help out in the store. And you all know when you attend any holiday parties you want to look your best. So I’ve booked myself for a haircut and hair coloring, a facial and a pedicure – and then I’m also looking at getting some eyelash tinting done. But PB laughed at me – and said I should get some eyelash growth serum first before doing the tint – because my eyelashes are not as long as Chloe’s – so if I want my tinting to stand out – first to grow some more eyelashes. So yes! i’m seriously thinking of the eyelash growth serum – anything to look pretty right.

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Making Learning Fun: Top Educational Toys for Kids

Many of us remember when educational toddler toys began and ended at alphabet blocks and pull-string toys that emitted animal sounds. These days, however, the emphasis on encouraging your children to use their minds from an early age means that the field of educational toys has exploded. There are some wonderful toys out there created specifically to feed your child’s brain from infancy onward.

1. OLLO Action Robot Kit

If you want to give your child a head start on those mechanical engineering programs you hope to inspire him or her to delve into later, this OLLO kit is an excellent educational toy. Five different pre-planned robots can be built from the same pieces included in the kit, including a windmill, walking T-Rex, dog, and more. There are also plans not included that can be looked up online. All of the designs work on a single AA battery.

2. Creative Puzzle Peg

Intended for children 18 months and over, this unique puzzle toy goes a bit further than your typical sort-and-stack toy. It encourages problem-solving skills and helps to develop fine motor control. The base comes apart in four puzzle-piece shapes and each piece has a post featuring small nubs. The included brightly-colored shapes stack on the posts, but they first have to be manipulated to move the opening of the shape over the nubs to get it down to the bottom.

3. First Time Gear Clock

This child-friendly clock is based on the first mechanical clock’s design. It teaches how gears work, as well as how to follow directions, and encourages cognitive development. The color-coded set of directions shows your child how to assemble the 27 parts into a working clock that runs for over eight hours without requiring a battery.

4. Mozart Magical Cube

The popular theory that Mozart’s music helps to improve spatial-temporal reasoning in infants and toddlers continues with this toy. This is a bit more than a music box, though. It features five large buttons that are easy for small hands to work, each of which plays a different instrument – piano, violin, flute, harp, or French horn. A sixth button plays them all in a choice of eight of Mozart’s compositions while the toy flashes to the tempo.

5. Chinese Magnetic Poetry

In a world where everything and everyone is connected, being multilingual has never been more important. Many schools are teaching foreign language from preschool on up now. This magnetic poetry kit builds on this by providing an array of 140 double-sided magnets with a simplified Chinese character and its pinyin pronunciation on one side and the English translation on the other, allowing for vocabulary-building. The set comes in a hard plastic case to keep them organized.
Learning just got more fun!

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Job Hunting In Canada

I haven’t been job hunting for a long time – but many who are planning to migrate to Canada or even in United States would prefer to secure a job first before migrating. Some looking for Psychiatric Technician Jobs will find that there are plenty of jobs in this field – and even without a head hunter – you can land a job easily. But what about other jobs in the sales department or clerical field ? I get asked these questions very often as an expatriate.

I have friends who’ve migrated here but didn’t stay because they say they can’t find a job here but truth be told I don’t think they got the right job – and most likely feeling a bit homesick and inferior – to the Westerners. So one good advise before migrating is to make sure you know what field you want to be in. I think those who are in the health industry have plenty to offer in the West – whether you are a pharmacist or a health nurse – there are plenty of jobs here for you. As for other industries, if they can find their candidates from within – I think they rather hire their own. So shape up or ship out!

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Dead Zone

Taking a car ride out to Chloe’s grampie’s or anywhere in the country, we’ve noticed that there are quite a number of dead zones – where we cannot call out or receive calls. So whenever we need to leave the store and head out to the country – we sometimes worry about not being able to receive calls from the store. Paranoia I guess – but the store needs to know that they can reach us anytime – so we went out to our favorite store at the mall to get a cellular booster , that is said to be able to improve the signal on any vehicle. We did find one at the mall – and for $39 – I think it’s a good investment – so no more dead zones for us when we are in the car. That should make PB happy and the store happy as well – for I know PB don’t like to be in a dead zone at all.

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Guitar Lessons For Chloe

So we were up in the city a few weeks ago – and had seen all these guitars for sale – and Chloe had asked for one as well – but she already has one – that her ex-babysitter’s father bought for her one year for Christmas. Once in a while she would strum on it and try to make music out of it – but refuses to go for lessons to learn how to play the guitar for real. So I told her that when she decides that she really wants to learn guitar or learn to play it for real – and not for the fun and strumming it and making noises – we will get her a proper guitar for the guitars that we saw on sale weren’t cheap at all. Like we all know that kids can’t really decide on what they really want for now – and unless she is learning how to play classical guitar – I doubt she can play the guitar without the nylon strings – the other type of strings are just too hard on the fingers even for me. I’m all for music lessons – but knowing the brat of mine – she would probably give up after a few lessons – so for now – we’ll just have to play by ear.

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Frugal Family Travel Tips

In these tumultuous economic times, vacations seem like a luxury that many families can’t afford. But going on vacation doesn’t have to mean blowing the family budget. In fact, taking some time off to be together can be really good for everyone. The following are some vacation money-saving tips that will help you to have a great time while still economizing.

Source: http://frugalfamilytips.com/tag/traveling/

Set a Budget

The first and foremost step is to set a clear budget and stick to it. Rather than be vague about what expenses will be, figure out how much money you can afford to spend total. Then sit down and write out a list of what you’ll be spending money on. Set a food budget, activity budget, gifts (if necessary).
This way you’ll see what the actual monetary outlay is likely to be, and figure out ways you can save on the trip. It will also show you just what you need to make over your ordinary day to day expenses to afford the trip at whatever style level you choose.

Though it would be ideal to spend only cash on a trip, credit cards provide an added level of protection and security. You might even want to incorporate use of a travel oriented credit card such as the Aeroplan Plus Gold Card into your trip. This type of card offers all sorts of travel perks and advantages like sky miles, breakdown assistance, and various travel related types of insurance, so using them is actually a good idea when taking a vacation.

Book Hotels in Advance

Booking hotels is advance is a good way to save on accommodations. You can actually ask the hotel clerk how much you stand to save by booking in advance and then compare various hotels to see which ones are the most competitive in this regard. Try to choose hotels that reward you the most for good early planning.

Get Airline Tickets in Advance

Airline tickets are another area where advance booking can mean a much cheaper rate. There are a plethora of websites online that give you rate comparisons on various airlines and flights. These sites will give you exact rates and saving possible for given booking dates so they are a great way to compare advance flight booking rates and savings.

Consider Off Season Travel

Off season travel is always cheaper than peak season. This usually means the late fall, winter, or early spring (for locations that are reasonably cold at those times) and times not very close to the holidays. Consider planning trips for these times since they can often make for fine vacations that are also more cost effective.

Consider Camping

If camping is something you enjoy you can save a lot of money by camping rather than staying in hotels. This also gets you in touch with the outdoors and gives you a real feel for the flora and fauna of whatever locations you’re visiting. Consider this as an option if outdoor living is something you feel comfortable with. Even if you don’t there’s always a first time, so maybe you should give it a try!

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My Lifestyle In Canada

Looking back to my life before living in Canada makes me smile – because never would I have thought I was so passionate about supporting our local businesses and online shopping. Where I come from – we have shopping centers 8 stories high in department stores. Where I am now in a remote area in Canada, it’s really hard to shop for everything in town. I’m passionate about buying local because the spouse owns his own business – a small one – and without the support of the local community – we could never have a comfortable life. Therefore, whenever I can – I will only shop locally or within Canada – it’s smart move to shop within Canada because shipping is cheaper and in a lot of cases it’s even free. Most importantly, I don’t have to pay for brokerage fees. If I needed to buy a big item like a painting (made the mistake once and paid as much for the brokerage and shipping fees as the painting itself).

Since I can’t head to the city every time I need something (because of the store and Chloe at school), shopping online at places like Centrsource or Roots are my best options. I like to shop for everything under one roof, so it’s great when you find an online shop that carries most of the things I need. And I never shop for anything that is not on sale or has a deal/great offer, for I get a little carried away when I shop – don’t you? I’m checking out Centrsource as I write and it’s very unique, it brings you to the site the offer is on – and you deal directly with the seller/shop – pretty neat. And I can shop after Chloe has gone to bed so I can read up on the things I love and get the best deals. Now if only they carried Asian groceries I’d be all set.