household

Weather, fuel costs, and other issues are finally catching up this year and economists are warning of steep increases in food prices. What can you do to insulate yourself from the rising costs?

If you're frugal through the rest of the year, Thanksgiving shouldn't be a reason to deviate, but sometimes the added pressure of extended family can make it tempting. Here's a few tips to help you make it through without breaking the bank.

The cheapest way to beat the heat is to not let it in your home in the first place. 

1. Use blinds and/or curtains to block out the sun wherever possible, especially in south or west facing windows. Assuming you have window coverings already, cost of this is $0. If you miss the sunbeams, go outside!
2. Install retractable awnings. We put one over our front, west-facing window and it has made an enormous difference. If you're willing to do the installation yourself, you can pick up manual retractable awnings at Home Depot or Rona for around $200-$300.
3. For about $150 you can get an energy audit and find out where you can save more -- often you can adjust the insulation in your attic or roof to find savings year-round.
4. Don't use the oven to cook meals -- use a bbq outside, or a smaller appliance like an electric frying pan in the kitchen or just eat cold foods.
5. Similarly, turn off home electronics that kick out heat especially computers, televisions, DVD players, PVRs and game systems.

Whether you work from home full time or just need somewhere quiet and organized to sit and pay bills or blog or whatever, you probably have an office area at home. Often, this home office is a glorified term for the spot where your computer is sitting but it doesn't have to be. If you spend any amount of time trying to get stuff done, you deserve a nice, organized space in which to do it.
 

Join CBC host Sook-yin Lee for an exploration of being "cheap," where she asks: does being "cheap" really pay off? (Originally aired Saturday March 6, 2010). Followup show airs March 16th.

Listen here: http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/MT/2010/03/listen_to_dnto_mar_6_on_the_ch.html

Some of what's discussed:

While it rarely gets really cold in Victoria, it still dips below zero regularly through the winter months. Here's a round-up of ways to keep warm without spending a lot of money:

When I started Frugal Victoria, I couldn't find any Canadian coupon or freebie sites but there are plenty now. Three that I consistently follow are Bargain Moose, Smart Canucks and Frugal Freebies -- all of them offer links to great deals in Canada, though some are not available Canada-wide.

If you are looking for coupons or free offers, be sure to follow all three sites as the content overlaps but is not the same between the sites.

Getting groceries can be a time-consuming and frustrating task -- especially when you are on a tight budget. Even now that grocery stores now put their flyers online, it can be tedious going to each site to check for the weekly deals. 

If you don't get the weekly newspapers there are some other options:

Flyerland.ca -- sign up and receive local grocery flyers (or almost any flyer) weekly.

If you need some heavy pottery pieces (think drainage or large-scale mosaics), head down to the lower parking lot of Capital Iron where you will find a bin or two (or today, three!) full of broken pots, mostly glazed. Got another use? Leave a comment!

Sometimes, if you don't know what you're doing, DIY can go very wrong. A story in the New York Times suggests, "Even to Save Cash, Don't Try This Stuff at Home" The list includes replacing your own toilet and, having done that, I can attest to its challenges -- not something I enjoy doing either; replacing a tub is even more difficult.