bargain

It's been almost 6 months since Groupon burst on to the Victoria stage, followed shortly by Couvon, SwarmJam, ethicalDeal, TeamBuy, Wagsta and WagJag. In that time, I've bought eight deals (all from Groupon) and cashed in only two; so far I haven't let any expire.

You don’t have to dig too far to find coupons online; here's where I regularly check:

Most of these are print and present:
CityWide Coupon Directory -- if you are looking for services rather than products, this is the place to check (no one should ever need to pay full price for carpet cleaning!)
Flyerland.ca -- includes store-specific coupons.

Coupons can sometimes be purchased by the book -- from the fundraiser-friendly Entertainment Book to niche-markets like Savvy Squirrel who cater to new and expecting parents. Here’s a rundown of the local deals (reviews of the edition available to me in Sept.2010):

Entertainment Book: Greater Victoria and Mid-Island Area
Cost $35 -- stated value “over $14,200”

Last week I put the question to you, the readers, what's your best tip for new or expecting parents?
The most frequent response was, not surprisingly, to buy used! UsedVictoria.com was singled out as the best place to get lots of clothes. If you are buying furniture or equipment, I'd urge you to check the Consumer Product Safety section of Health Canada first for safety recalls.

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!

Almost every mall now has a “dollar store” or similar discount store whether it is a large chain like Dollar Giant or the Great Canadian Dollar Store or something quirkier like the Mini-Price store at Colwood Corners.
The value you get for your dollar varies, however. After a couple of decades of discount shopping, here’s my pick for the best and worst products you can find in a typical discount store.

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) -- free entry to all after 1 PM -- to browse as many as 50 vendors from 9-2 on Sundays.
More info (including any schedule changes and vendor information) at victoriafleamarket.com

If you need to build something -- from a side table to a barn -- if it uses wood, chances are you can find some assistance through the Woodworkers' Library, an amazing resource of 175 e-books (HTML and PDF) from the past hundred years or so.

[photo by somjuan on Flickr]

I love a good freebie and if you run a business you should know the value of Seth Godin's books. If you aren't familiar with his work, pop over to his blog for an idea of what he's all about.

All 8 books below can be downloaded free!