Saving money starts by re-thinking the way you live your life. Here are some tips and tricks to save money in ALL areas of your life:

TRANSPORTATION

Buying A Car: Cars are a HUGE waste of money. They lose value the second you buy one, but sometimes you just NEED to have one. When buying a car, some things to consider that will save you money are: new vs. used (a car that is a couple of years old is always cheaper than a new one – let someone else take the price hit), fuel efficiency, maintenance costs (higher end cars are more expensive to maintain), and dealer incentives (free gas or maintenance). Always compare prices between dealerships, negotiate the price. Don’t fall for the silly add-ons like rust proofing and fabric protection (either unneeded or you can do it yourself at a fraction of the cost). Avoid the expensive upgrades (especially if you are leasing) as paying for the upgraded stereo will only benefit the next owner when your lease ends. There is too much to cover about this topic so stay tuned for a future post on this topic.

(Image via freephotosbank.com)

Gas: Here are some tips on how to save money on gas.

Insurance: Shop around! Compare quotes with many insurance providers and try using a broker. Always do research on companies before choosing one because you don’t want to be screwed if anything major ever happens with your car.

Maintenance: Dealers are a rip off! Unless your car came with a maintenance package, always get your regular service done elsewhere. Many people think this will affect their warranty, but in many cases it will not. Don’t be afraid to shop around as prices can be as much as 75% less than the dealer! Continue Reading »

TBEX is on this weekend in Toronto, which is the world’s biggest conference for travel writers and bloggers. While I don’t really consider myself a travel blogger, I really LOVE to travel and want to figure out a way to do more and incorporate it into my blogs. And if you are gonna travel, might as well try to save some money in the process as it can be a very expensive hobby!

Wednesday night I attended the GAdventures launch party at Tryst Nightclub in Toronto and met several travel bloggers. One that stood out the most was a young woman by the name of Alouise who runs a blog called Traveler Ahoy. She told me she did some budget travel blogging, but what really caught my interest was how she made her way from Edmonton to Toronto for the conference; a service called Hit The Road.

Hit The Road is a car delivery service that lets travelers use vehicles while getting them to their destination. For example, if Hit The Road has a customer that needs their car delivered from Toronto to Los Angeles (as was on the site when I wrote this), you can sign up to drive the car and they will cover most (if not all) of the gas to get it there! To make it even better, they don’t want people driving more than 800kms per day, so you can stop off at many places along the way and see a lot of Canada and the United States.

I had a brief chat with the owner of Hit The Road, David Smaller, yesterday and he told me a bit more about the service. Here is how it works: Continue Reading »

So I was sitting around my house about 20 minutes thinking, “damn, I wish I had a nice cold pop to wash down this pizza (which I had heated up for lunch)”. Then it hit me, I did! I completely forgot about the SodaStream machine that I had been given to try last week after attending an event that they held with Rob Stewart (you may know him from the documentary Sharkwater) so I decided to give it a try.

I had already tried making sparkling water with the machine when I first opened the box, but decided I would try the pop feature to see how it tasted. The machine came with a cool pack of 9 different flavours to try, so my girlfriend and I opted to go for the Orange-Mango. After about 5 minutes of fiddling around for the instructions (though it turned out to be just as easy as I suspected) I had a nice cold glass of Orange-Mango pop in front of me. It was delicious! Basically like an Orange C-Plus with a hint of mango. (EDIT: I’ve since learned after making this video, the syrup is supposed to go in AFTER the carbonation process. Oops!)

Continue Reading »

The following is a guest post by Amanda Blake. You can chat to her on twitter at @amandablake9.

Planning your perfect day can be overwhelming in more ways than one. The biggest issues related to planning often come down to money!  Stressing about money and getting yourself into debt is not how you want to start off your marriage, so here are some amazing money saving tips that will not only keep your wedding memorable and beautiful but budget savvy too.

NOTE: This article has nothing to do with sacrificing quality, but more to do with coming up with some ways to save money on the most common expenses related to planning a wedding. After all, your big day should be special, but it doesn’t mean you need to break the bank!

10 Tips For Planning A Cheap Wedding

1) Plan ahead.

Planning and organizing is not over rated when it comes to events, big or small. The key benefit to planning ahead is that it allows you time to brainstorm which will in fact save you a ton of money. Venues, catering, and transportation can add up to mind blowing proportions of money. Leaving things to the last minute can mean you’ll be paying double the cost then booking ahead. Putting off things like booking limos or hotels if required can be a very costly mistake so be sure to get these things booked shortly after you’ve secured your venue.  It is also important to consider your guest list well in advance so you can then decide how big of a venue you actually need Continue Reading »

It is the time of year where many people are looking for new patio furniture or to replace their existing patio set. If you don’t do your research, you can end up spending a lot of money for a decent looking set. Fortunately, you don’t have to as there are many places where you can find quality furniture for a good price. From outdoor sofas to table sets, this guide is meant to help you find excellent patio furniture for cheap.

While I am writing this guide from a Toronto perspective, much of this guide applies to all of Canada because most of the stores listed can be found in every province.

Here are some of my favorite places to find cheap patio furniture: Continue Reading »