Michaelann Dahlman's blog

Friday, April 07, 2023

I came up with a new idea recently, trying to share more of my frugal money-saving ideas with more people. I am going to combine several videos that I posted previously on my YouTube, along with some pictures & a scattering of ideas, which I will add to from time to time & will re-share on my Facebook weekly.

I have designed 4 logos for my new enterprise, which I am calling Canadian Frugal Chick. I'll rotate them & see if there are any favourites.

This video is on fast fashion, taking care of things & several other useful money-saving tips.

This video is on making a re-usable shopping bag out of a tank top.

 

And here's some pictures of the variety of t-shirts that I have seen available in the local Abbotsford dollar trees. Most were $1.25 each, recently some have gone up to $1.50, I always ask to keep the hangers, after all they came with the shirt & they often just toss them instead of recycling them, which makes me sad. And who can't use some free hangers? 

Speaking of saving money, have you ever considered giving up cable? I did & it ain't that bad. If you are in Canada, CBC, CTV & Global all have shows online that you can watch for free the day after they come out on TV. Links are here:

 https://www.globaltv.com/shows/

https://www.ctv.ca/shows/all-shows#/

CTV also has a list of older shows available free online, as well as movies: 

https://www.ctv.ca/throwback

https://www.ctv.ca/Movies

For CBC, go here: https://gem.cbc.ca/  & create a login account. They will of course, try to sell you a premium membership, you can just ignore it. You'll need to do some digging after that, but they have some interesting shows, including Coroner & Endlings. 

In the US, CBS, & NBC also do this (have shows online that you can watch for free the day after they come out on TV). ABC has something similar, but you have to wait a week after the broadcast date. Fox gives you a free hour, I think. Netflix is still under $10 a month I think, & in the US, Hulu is $7.99 a month & it also has a free trial & optional add-ons for HBO, Showtime & Cinemax (at an extra cost, of course). 

Slice TV is available online for free:  https://www.slice.ca/video/

Crackle is available for free: https://www.crackle.com/ (Not available in Canada)

 Another interesting free site, lots of nature shows & documentaries: www.waterbear.com

I just found another one:  https://pluto.tv/

Another new online free streaming site, is TubiTV:  https://tubitv.com/home

Both PlutoTV & Tubi are wonderful. But alas, the selection of shows is much more limited on Tubi in Canada, just like Netflix's is.

Plus there's a lot of interesting content available on YouTube.  I even have a channel there: https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelannDahlman/videos 

I am planning on doing a lot more videos there, including book reviews & other vlogs.

And here's a helpful article, lots of streaming services are offering steep discounts &/or free trials: https://www.tvguide.com/news/streaming-services-for-free-discounts-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR0fEld_iePx8_6gJwleVySUWWHZDhgHio8wGnaswM0bngSBb0GbJrEecqA

(This article is over 1 year old, some links may no longer work& some offers may be expired).

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This post is about the environment, as well as saving money. We have to remember that the terms "disposable" or "single-use" aren't necessarily accurate. Take plastic cutlery for instance. I noticed recently that Washington state has instituted a ban on automatically giving take out customers plastic straws or cutlery. You have to ask for it, specifically. Canada is doing something similar. I save my plastic cutlery, have been doing this for decades. I wash it & keep it in a drawer. They came in handy years ago when my kids were young. Now that I am an empty nester, I don't need it nearly as much. when a piece breaks, I throw it in the recycling bag. I have never had to buy a package, ever.

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I know in one of my previous money saving videos, I mentioned that Dollarama had the cheapest re-usable shopping bags, but that is no longer true. The green dollarama logo bags have gone up from 3/$1, to $1 each. However, Freshco now has their light green bags on for $0.35  I also recently discovered that Shoppers Drug Mart has re-usable bags for  $0.35

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I remember posting about saving money at Christmas, but it just occurred to me that these ideas would also be useful for Mother's day, Father's day, birthdays, anniversaries or even house warming gifts. So I will re-share them here.

Select a good photo of the family, 8 x 10s are generally around $1 & many places have free offers from time to time. Select a pretty frame from the dollar tree & voila, a lovely gift for someone on your list.

For anyone who has access to a printer. Home-made calendars, with family photos. You can design one online here: https://www.calendarprintables.net/2023-printablecalendars.htm Or if you prefer, you can get an excellent free calendar program, here: https://photo-print-calendar-from-yokohama.software.informer.com/

Here's an excellent idea for someone who loves cooking &/or baking. Holiday-themed oven mitts, with matching hot pads &/or dish towels.

Or coffee mugs, in a small gift basket or bag, along with a small bag of coffee, or packets of hot chocolate, or the recipient's favorite candy.