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| Half a Tank of Gas in 1 Month |
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 |
Hey everyone. No, this blog is not dead. I've just been busy the past couple of months with work and other projects, but I've been itching to get back to the blog, so I figured I should make time to post on my most recent money saving activity.
At the beginning of May of this year I decided to put together an Excel spreadsheet that I would use to keep track of our ongoing car costs (gas, insurance, maintenance etc). The idea being to use it not only as an informational tool, and a good way to track where our money is going, but also a motivational tool. If I have an ongoing reminder of just how much money I am pumping into the car it challenges me to avoid using the car as much as possible.
Now, to be honest, our car bills aren't that cumbersome to begin with. My wife and I share a vehicle between us (a Toyota Yaris), and neither of us tend to drive it to work (she buses, I bike). Still, for other trips such as grocery shopping, visiting friends, going to the beach we would still usually take the car. However, in the past month or so since I started this spreadsheet I've managed to convince her to bike with me or bus to these venues as often as possible.
My wife has been great, getting on board with this idea, and since I started the spreadsheet we've only filled up the tank once. That was on May 10th! So, as of today (June 10th) we've gone an entire month without fueling up! Not only that, but we still have almost half a tank of gas left, so we've got an outside shot of stretching that tank to a second month.
Now, as I mentioned above, we drive a Toyota Yaris, so even with gasoline prices at $1.36 per liter we aren't saving as much as other with trucks and SUVs potentially could. Still the extra $50 a month can go towards paying off the principal on our mortgage. Every little bit helps.
If you have been moaning and groaning about the high cost of fuel, and want to save money on gas, I suggest you start your own spreadsheet to track the money you are putting into your car(s)/truck(s). It can be a real eye opener and might just provide the impetus needed to make a positive change for bank account, your health, and the environment.
By taking this step now, I am hoping that we will eventually adjust our lifestyle to wean ourselves off the car completely. It will be difficult as public transit is far from ideal in our neck of the woods, but it is a goal worth striving for. If the price of oil continues its upward march at the same rate it has recently, then it may be a choice that is forced upon us and many others. By making the adjustment now, we will suffer less of a shock than most. Think gas prices are high now? This may just be the tip of the iceberg. Don't wait to make a change.Labels: fuel cost, oil prices, save money on gas
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posted by Cheap Canuck @ 10:01 AM  |
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| Wow - The Canucks Are Officially Eliminated |
| Friday, April 4, 2008 |
As I've stated in the past I am a huge hockey fan. As such, I will, from time to time, be posting on this greatest of all sports.
Despite living all my life in British Columbia I am a diehard Habs fans. Since the boys are battling for the Eastern conference lead going into the last game of the season I don't have much to complain about.
Still, growing up in BC I've seen a lot of Canucks games in my day, and although I'd never want to see them beat the Habs I still cheer for them against pretty much everyone else. Thus, it was with a sour taste in my mouth that I watched their late season meltdown. I can't even imagine how their diehard fans must have felt. Even with their last four games in their own barn, and their fate firmly in their own hands they couldn't find a way to get it done. One win in the last six, including blowing two leads against their division rivals from Colorado is just unacceptable for a team that is potentially one 40-goal man away from being a Stanley Cup contender.
So what went wrong? Well, for starters Luongo just didn't seem to be on top of his game going down the stretch. Whether this was due to the ongoing complications surrounding his wife's pregnancy, or just general fatigue due to the amount of games he's been forced to play since donning a Canuck uniform, only he knows. Still, with the goal-scoring woes of this team he can't be anything less than stellar if he expects to win. This must be frustrating to know that he has so little margin for error, but when you make 6.5 million dollars a season those sort of expectations come with the territory.
The second problem, as mentioned above, was not only a problem down the stretch, but has plagued the Canucks for the past two seasons. They simply cannot score goals! The Sedins, much maligned early on in their career, are now the only players on the team that are putting up good offensive numbers. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows put up decent numbers considering their respective roles on the team, but when your grinders are listed as some of your most offensive threats there is definitely a problem.
Thirdly, it is about time Alain Vigneault revisited his defense first strategy. It is clearly not working. Hockey at the NHL level is no longer about individual creativity, but about systems. The performance of players is constrained by the limitations of the system they are forced to play under. Guys like Naslund have taken a lot of heat for not scoring as much as they should, but if he was given the opportunity to play in a more offensive system many of Nazzy's critics might see he still has something left in the tank. Not $6,000,000 worth mind you.
Lastly, and most inexcusably, is GM Dave Nonis's absolute failure to address the glaring need for scoring at the trade deadline. While in most cases I admire the determination to build within, and the need to not sacrifice too much of the future for success in the present, I think this approach may be flawed in the case of the Canucks. Why? Well, for the first time in their history, with all due respect to Kirk McLean and Richard Brodeur, the Canucks finally have a world class goaltender. Despite faltering down the stretch, Roberto Luongo is arguably the best keeper in the game today. This is a once in a generation opportunity for the Canucks. They can't afford to wait for their prospects to bloom four or five years down the road. The window is closing sooner than that. Luongo is only under contract for two more years. If the Canucks don't do enough to make themselves cup contenders in that time you can pretty much guarantee Luongo will be headed out of town to a team that he feels is truly committed to winning a Stanley cup.
In defense of the Canucks their season wasn't completely terrible. They play in an incredibly strong conference, and are arguably in the toughest division in the league. Their lineup, especially on defense, was decimated by injuries this season. All teams have to fight through adversity like this, but the Canucks seemed to get more than their fair share this season. Despite all this they managed to stay in the playoff picture until the 81st game of the season, so they should still have some confidence going into next season.
Dave Nonis has got his work cut out for him in the summer. With Naslund and Morrison's contracts expiring at the end of this year he has $9,000,000 extra to play with going into this summer's free agent frenzy. If he makes the right moves the Canucks will be a threat to hoist the cup next season. If he stands pat the fans will be howling for his job. All in all the future still looks bright for this franchise, but they better make hay now before their thoroughbred heads for greener pastures.Labels: hockey
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posted by Cheap Canuck @ 10:07 AM |
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| Frugal Living Tip # 17 - Brew Your Own |
| Thursday, April 3, 2008 |
Mmmmmmmmm Beeeeeerrrrrrrr... Like most thirty-something, hockey-watching Canadian males I like a nice cold beer. Whether it is at the pub, surrounded by scores of like-minded guys, screaming in unison at a big screen, or in my backyard, relaxing on the patio with a book and a bowl of chips, few things are tastier than a nice frosty mug.
For my wife it is red wine. Not that she drinks the stuff like water. But she enjoys a glass in the evening after dinner while winding down from her work day.
However, every trip to the liquor store to pick up a case of beer and a bottle of wine was leaving us fifty dollars lighter - a little hypocritical for a so-called "Cheap Canuck". However, neither of us want to cut out all the little things we enjoy in life, and having beer or wine handy to offer guests is always a good idea (if you want to continue having guests). Still, we want to save money, so we decided to compromise.
Our first step was a trip down to the local U-brew. This handy little business is both a great money and time saver, and required almost no effort on our part. A few weeks after initiating the process we returned to bottle our booze, and toted our prizes home at a cost far less than what the liquor store was charging us. The beer and wine was surprisingly comparable to what we were buying in the store (though true wine afficionados will undoubtedly argue this point. note: the word beer and afficionado don't even belong in the same sentence together, so you needn't worry about your friends turning up their noses at your budget brew).
For about a year we continued this process, quite happy with all the money we were saving, until a friend of ours, visiting from out of town, informed us we could be saving a whole lot more. Using some surprisingly simple and cheap equipment he was brewing his own beer, and making his own wine in his garage for a mere fraction of what even the U-brew places were charging. With my frugal mindset I was of course intrigued. I had always thought the process was expensive to set up, and very time-consuming if you wanted to produce a drinkable product. Well, the first assumption was clearly wrong. As long as you adhere to the mantra of always buying used you can find the equipment necessary for next to nothing. The second assumption about the time investment necessary proved to be a little more accurate however. If you want crystal clear, liquor store quality booze you have to be prepared to put some time into the process.
For me, in the case of the beer, I decided the time compromise was not worth the potential savings over the U-brew. With work and all the sports I am involved in, I didn't think I could give the beer the attention it deserved, and it would probably come out tasting like Iron Horse, Wild Cat, or the ever disgusting Beer Beer.
My wife, on the other hand, happily embarked upon her new hobby of wine-making. By waiting until the kits go on sale and stocking up, she has managed to keep the cost down to nearly a dollar a bottle! - mere pennies on the dollar when compared to the price in the liquor store. Over the past few years she has made dozens of batches, and has become so proficient at the process that it hardly seems to cut into her time at all. Now we always have a wide variety of wine, ranging in both flavor and age to offer guests, take to dinner parties, or give as gifts, and the bottles even sport our own personalized labels.
So if you are finding the cost of booze is putting a strain on your financial health, start by taking a trip down to your local U-brew. Being frugal doesn't mean giving up the good things in life, just finding a way to spend less while enjoying them.Labels: frugal
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posted by Cheap Canuck @ 9:15 AM |
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