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If you are still using the outdated washing machine that you bought ten years ago, chances are you are wasting a lot of water.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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

So we invested in a little cottage by the lake in Pembrooke - and this is our little getaway during the weekends - we just loved going there with our little bass boat and while PB and Chloe do their water sport thing, I just lazed around the sun and get a tan. But because Pembrooke is out of town, our cell phone signal isn’t the strongest but have no fear for in Canada - they have cell booster antenna that you can get from your local store in the mall - not expensive at all - and with that you will never have to miss a call. Although we say we are going there to relax, you all know that we need to keep our cellphone ready and available because of the store, so yes! thank God for gadgets like the cell phone booster else I doubt PB would want to buy this little cottage out in Pembrooke. The cottage was cheap and it has lots of potential, come spring next year, we are putting up a sunscreen porch and inviting friends over for more BBQ. woohoo!

12 yrs as a owner by association to the spouse’s business - you would think that he would get the hint and get me some business cards right? well apparently, my hint wasn’t that good - so I am going to get some business cards by postcards and the price is so cheap - the spouse cannot even say I spend too much on it. For as little as $6.99 for 100 business cards - you cannot go wrong with it - i’ll say. One can even upload your own photo if you so desire - for example if you are a realtor or a mortgage consultant and even a banker - like I get all the time when I visit my bank.

1000 of templates to choose from and if you are not internet savvy - no worries - they have a live chat person to help you along the way. But it’s very easy to do - just follow the instructions - and you will receive your business cards from as little as 2 days. I liked that moms like myself can order as little as 20 business cards just to have when we want to give them out to teachers, principal or other parents for play dates.

And since Christmas is just around the corner - I too am looking at making some personalized greeting cards with our family pictures on it - just like the ones I received every year from friends and family. I admired those cards tremendously and since they are so easy and cheap to make online - I’m going to try it out this year. So friends and family look forward to our family picture in our greeting cards for this year.

Chloe is currently in Grade 2 and besides her school friends - we also make sure she has friend from other schools. And since she is taking up so many extra-curricular classes, it is inevitable to be asked out for play dates and vice versa. But my play dates usually involves the mommies as well - that way moms can get together and eat, chat and drink - and most importantly relax. Thank God for electric grills , because we can grill just about anything for everyone. So everyone brings whatever they want to feed their kids and just throw it onto the grills I have and it’s that easy. I make lots of ice lemon tea and lemonade for the kids - and for us mommies - I add in a bit of my special liquor - like the cranberry ones that I bought locally from Lunenburg. My play dates are always a hit - because we have the trampoline - the swings and those big inflated castles for the kids to bounce and slide.

I watch a lot of movies from youtube - and I found it really to watch because you don’t have to pay for watching time on youtube - plus I also get to watch some of my favorite concerts on youtube as well. But I would much prefer to be able to download it and watch it anytime I want on my laptop - and there was no way as far as I know whereby one can download a youtube video - until I found video download. It’s great for both PC users and Mac users - I haven’t used it myself but am game to try it out because it said that it was pretty fast downloads. It’s definitely a great app for someone like me who loves her cantonese movies.

Saving for a child’s college education is something that takes certain level of dedication and commitment. Starting early and making wise choices will help to ensure that the adequate amount of money is available when the child is ready to attend college. There are a number of key factors to remember when looking at saving for college.

Image Source: http://forthemommas.com/articles/back-to-basics-saving-your-savings

Being Organized

People can have the best of intentions when it comes to saving money. Unfortunately, things get busy and schedules are often hectic. Something as simple as making a deposit into the college fund can easily be forgotten.
The best way to eliminate this problem is through the use of automatic withdrawals. Depending on the specifics, this can be set up so money is withdrawn from a checking account and placed into the college fund on a set schedule.

Regulating Debts

There are most likely going to be other factors that will affect the amount of money that can be placed into a college fund. This can include things such as credit card bills. If a good deal of money is spent simply on paying interest each month, it is difficult to save a substantial amount of money. When looking to set up the college fund, it might also be wise to look into things such as debt consolidation and paying down a particular credit card that carries a high balance.

Choosing the Optimal Savings Account

The type of a savings account that is used can certainly determine how good of a return can be had. For an education account, it is usually a good idea to have one that does not allow withdrawals to be made for a certain period of time.
This will eliminate the possible temptation when it would be easy to borrow money out of the account. Many high interest savings accounts will provide customers with a great interest rates and may feature this stipulation on withdrawals.

In addition to traditional savings accounts through banks, there are a number of different agencies and organizations that give individuals options when it comes to saving for college.

These can include state and federal agencies that offer the ability to set up tax deferred accounts and plans where all interest is not taxable. Looking into state and federal government agencies can usually provide a parent with a wide variety of options that many people might not have previously considered.

It is always best to start early in a child’s life when it comes to saving for his college education. With the right account and a good deal of dedication, any parent should be able to more than adequately provide for this.

Most people write and ask me about finding work in Canada after migrating here - and they also want to know how difficult it is to look for the kind of jobs they are trained for back home. There are lots of jobs to be found around Canada - it’s the matter of finding the right one for you - assuming you speak fairly well in English as well as write in English too. Restaurant Manager Jobs may not be as easy to land - but the hospitality industry has plenty one can opt for. Like I tell everyone - as long as you are willing to work hard - and speak fairly well in English and is computer literate - you should have no problems landing a job in Canada. Places like Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver are more likely to have Asian bosses but even the Canadian bosses have no problems hiring an Asian worker here. But of course - you need to have a Permanent Resident status and not a tourist/visitor status.

This weekend is Grandparents’ Day - although some may argue that it’s a way commercial business make you buy more gifts and spend money - I think it is important to acknowledge Grandparents who played a very important part in your child’s life. After all, Grandparents are the next closest relative besides the parents right? and even though grandparents don’t look for gratitude - I think it’s important to show Grandparents how much we appreciate their help, love and gifts they pour onto your kids. While I had gotten my mom gifts at Shari’s Berries - for grandparents’ day - we are going to order some cheese and flowers. So for those who are not aware that Grandparents’ day is this weekend - you still have time to order your gifts now - it doesn’t need to be a whole bunch of gifts - just chocolates, cheese or flowers are very nice gestures to show you appreciate them.

So Hurricane Irene is coming our way - everyone in the East Coast was warned and told to be prepared. We don’t know what is going to come this way - it’s a hit and miss around here but everyone is busy putting away their patio furniture and swing set - and anything that is left out in the yard. We are very lucky because we have a wooden swing set that is nailed deep down into the ground - and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. So each time we have high wind or bad weather - the only thing that doesn’t need moving around is the wooden swing set. We bring in the trampoline, the patio set, the cloth hangers and even the mosquito net comes right down. I hope we won’t get a lot of wind and rain - because it can get nasty - so are you prepared for Hurricane Irene?

As adults boaters, we learn a great deal about safety on the way to earning our boat license. What we often don’t learn, however, is how to share these skills with our children. This can be tricky business because kids tend not to learn well when they’re disinterested and when we overload them. The key then is to seize their attention and to expose them to the information in bite-sized chunks.

Image Source: http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/news/last-call-for-kids-safety-program-72624.aspx

Here are a series of tips that should help:

Tip #1: Teach the kids to swim, and make sure they have ocean experience. Swimming in the ocean is a very different experience, and those with pool-only practice may freeze up in an emergency.

Tip #2: Once the children know how to swim, introduce them to personal flotation devices (PFDs), and explain to them why a PFD is so important. Stress the importance of wearing a PFD at all times, and give them experience wearing the PFD in and out of the water before their first boat trip.

Tip #3: Don’t wait until the first time on the water. Acclimate kids to your boat while you have it on the trailer parked at your house. Make a game out of understanding the terminology, safety locations, danger zones and so forth.

Tip #4: Ensure that they understand the risk of horseplay while on the water, and a great way to avoid this type of behaviour is to give children seated responsibilities while you are driving. If they are having fun and feel as if they are doing something important, they will continue to focus on that activity.

Tip #5: Stress the importance of sitting at all times while the boat is in motion. Standing is only OK when the boat is stopped, and stress that it is never all right to sit or stand on the sides of the boat.

Tip #6: Expose children to all of the equipment on board, and let them learn how to operate it. Begin teaching children how to operate and drive the boat at a very young age. This can prove invaluable in an emergency, and the safest boaters are self-reliant boaters.

Tip #7: However, stress that it is never OK to use that equipment without adult supervision unless there is an emergency. It also important to be strict about your rules, so if the child breaks them, they should lose boating privileges.

Tip #8: While on the boat, always set a good example. Don’t let kids be around adults who don’t take the experience seriously. Keep your eyes on them at all times, and consider using a safety harness for particularly young children who may stray on larger boats.

As owner by association to the spouse’s business - I still have to worry about what is going on in the store - and our financial situation and dealing with customers as well as suppliers. Although I tell people that it’s all about PB - it’s not true as we all know it - my ears and eyes are always open and when I am at the store - I play both the good guy and the bad - while PB plays the boss. If you’ve ever run a business - you will know that there is more than meet the eyes - those that think that we are sleeping on money - must be crazy. I wished we had a friend or a business lawyer - like the raleigh business lawyers who handles all aspect of dispute and negotiation for businesses. But in a small town like ours - PB don’t think that there is one that specializes in doing just that. And even though we are a small business - it is always good to have someone who knows all about dealing with irate customers - or what we can do at our store and not do. There are so many little things that I would like to ask our business lawyer if we had one - and since we don’t have one - we are always worrying if we can do certain things or if the cops came for somethings that were sold to us - that were reported stolen - what are our rights as store owners. So yes! being an owner by association - is not as easy as some of you might think - I still worry a lot about the ins and outs of the store.