Fellow Canadian here too.
The scanning code of practice is not honoured in some stores. For example, Home Hardware does not honour it, and Zellers did not either. Target will not honour it either. But most grocery stores do honour it. When you walk into the store, look for a white and blue sticker on the doors. Also, if the store does accept it, there should be another sticker at each cash register. I have used it many, many times. It is there for the consumer. If you cannot get satisfaction, there is a toll free # listed on the sticker, but it is better to get it resolved at the cash register, not customer service. At Walmart, you need to use customer service, but the are still pretty good about honouring it.
When you finish your contract for the phone, you might want to consider using Presidents Choice long distance. it is $.04 a minute and very often there are times if you pruchase a $20.00 card, you get another $5.00 worth of minutes free.
http://www.pcmobile.ca/prepaid_long_distance_cards.jsp
Electricity is also a bummer.. I'm sure you have time of use where you live, so try to use electricity only during the evenings from 7pm to 7 am and on weekends. Every weekend, I cook a lot of meals to heat up in the microwave . Foods such as homemade soup, stews, casseeroles, chili are all better prepared a few days earlier. Use your freezer for meals like this if you don't have room in the fridge, and you will not miss going out for meals. The quickness and convinience is great.
Also, try not to use your dryer, maybe only using it to fluff your clothes for 2 or 3 minutes to remove wrinkles, and then line dry. If you don't have a clothes line, perhaps you could use a line from a friend, or hang the clothes on hangers in the bathroom or an unused room of your apartment.
Avoid buying canned foods or pre packaged foods, For example, someone mentioned beans. Did you know you can buy large amounts of beans, soak them during the day, and then at 7pm, drain them, put in fresh water, put them in a crock pot and slowly cook them through the night. In the morning, shut your crock pot off (before 7 am), drain the beans, package them up in baggies, and freeze them. When your recipe calls for canned beans, just take out your frozen cooked beans and use like canned. (better for you too).
Also, you might consider getting out that old thermos and pouring your coffee into it in the morning instead of letting it sit in the coffee maker, using hydro.
Have you considered using family cloths? A lot of people prefer them to toilet paper.
Buy a box of washing soda, another box of borax, grate some bars of soap, and make your own laundry detergent. I haven't bought laundry soap in years. The internet is full of lots of ideas for everyday homemade products that are ways to save. Haybox, homemade dishwasher detergent, cough syrup, etc.
I'm not sure if you have children or not, but something like a family games night is lots of fun. Pop up some popcorn, and clear off the table. Our family looks forward to it.
The library is a great place to borrow books, DVDs Cds etc. without the cost.
The scanning code of practice is not honoured in some stores. For example, Home Hardware does not honour it, and Zellers did not either. Target will not honour it either. But most grocery stores do honour it. When you walk into the store, look for a white and blue sticker on the doors. Also, if the store does accept it, there should be another sticker at each cash register. I have used it many, many times. It is there for the consumer. If you cannot get satisfaction, there is a toll free # listed on the sticker, but it is better to get it resolved at the cash register, not customer service. At Walmart, you need to use customer service, but the are still pretty good about honouring it.
When you finish your contract for the phone, you might want to consider using Presidents Choice long distance. it is $.04 a minute and very often there are times if you pruchase a $20.00 card, you get another $5.00 worth of minutes free.
http://www.pcmobile.ca/prepaid_long_distance_cards.jsp
Electricity is also a bummer.. I'm sure you have time of use where you live, so try to use electricity only during the evenings from 7pm to 7 am and on weekends. Every weekend, I cook a lot of meals to heat up in the microwave . Foods such as homemade soup, stews, casseeroles, chili are all better prepared a few days earlier. Use your freezer for meals like this if you don't have room in the fridge, and you will not miss going out for meals. The quickness and convinience is great.
Also, try not to use your dryer, maybe only using it to fluff your clothes for 2 or 3 minutes to remove wrinkles, and then line dry. If you don't have a clothes line, perhaps you could use a line from a friend, or hang the clothes on hangers in the bathroom or an unused room of your apartment.
Avoid buying canned foods or pre packaged foods, For example, someone mentioned beans. Did you know you can buy large amounts of beans, soak them during the day, and then at 7pm, drain them, put in fresh water, put them in a crock pot and slowly cook them through the night. In the morning, shut your crock pot off (before 7 am), drain the beans, package them up in baggies, and freeze them. When your recipe calls for canned beans, just take out your frozen cooked beans and use like canned. (better for you too).
Also, you might consider getting out that old thermos and pouring your coffee into it in the morning instead of letting it sit in the coffee maker, using hydro.
Have you considered using family cloths? A lot of people prefer them to toilet paper.
Buy a box of washing soda, another box of borax, grate some bars of soap, and make your own laundry detergent. I haven't bought laundry soap in years. The internet is full of lots of ideas for everyday homemade products that are ways to save. Haybox, homemade dishwasher detergent, cough syrup, etc.
I'm not sure if you have children or not, but something like a family games night is lots of fun. Pop up some popcorn, and clear off the table. Our family looks forward to it.
The library is a great place to borrow books, DVDs Cds etc. without the cost.
