Greater Victoria

Thank you for being a Frugal Victoria reader! To celebrate, we are giving away a copy of the 2010 Entertainment Book for Victoria and area which expires in November. There's still lots of useful coupons -- more if you choose to register your book online.

When you're looking for something to eat between Fringe shows, be sure to show your button at these locations:

University and college courses are notorious for requiring expensive text books. While some of these costs cannot be avoided, there are other options. Lifehacker offers a few options (including, amazingly, digitizing a whole book which is usually not worthwhile when you consider the time it takes and is currently still illegal), some of which are important to consider.

Rather than a list of thrift and second hand stores, I decided to curate a collective map. I will be editing this (adding and subtracting as need be). I encourage you to send me any news of thrift stores, second hand stores, and (reputable) pawn shops in the Greater Victoria area!

The annual Fringe Festival is just three weeks away and even if you don't take in the shows (which you should, because they are some of the most fun you'll find in the City), there's lots more that your one-time $5 button purchase can get you.
Read on for the inside scoop from Sammie who sent me a note via the Frugal tip submission!

Lots of questions this year because July 25th came and went with no Luminara in Beacon Hill Park. There will still be Luminara but rather than one single, central location, the celebration will be spread across the city in several neighbourhoods:

 I was asked by an out-of-town reader for suggestions of frugal places to eat downtown. I put out the question to my other readers and decided it needed to be a section on the site. I've divided the suggestions by meal-type, basically:
For breakfast:

Both Manhunt, a grown up variation on hide and seek, and Guerrilla Drive-In, a mobile movie-house, play out in various locations around the city and if you want to be a part of the action, you need to sign up for details!

Manhunt works like this:

Did you know there is now a regular flea market happening on Sundays in Vic West? Held at the Leonardo da Vinci centre, the Victoria Flea Market charges a $2 entry fee (kids under 12 are free) to browse as many as 50 vendors from 9-2 on Sundays.
More info (including any schedule changes and vendor information) at victoriafleamarket.com
UPDATE 4May10: The flea market is now closed for the season and will re-open in September.

Free wireles/wifi can be a challenge to find -- unless you are in Langford where it is everywhere. Most of these locations offer free wifi for customers but it can often be accessed otherwise.