My Saving Obsession that Saves Me Money

I have this one obsession with water: I like to save it and not waste any of it.  It all started when I wanted to wash dishes and it took FOREVER for the water from the kitchen tap water to warm up.  This happened every time I wanted hot water from the tap and I soon discovered that it’s because of the pipe length between the water heater and the kitchen is very long.  I could not let all the cold water go to waste so I started collecting it in pitchers in the kitchen.  My obsession was born.

I do not skip washing in order to save water, and I do laundry as much as other people.  However, I ALWAYS turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth or washing my face and I use the water from my pitchers in the kitchen to fill the kettle, boil noodles or rice, and drink water.  I also wait until there are enough dirty dishes to be ‘worth’ washing them and I use dirty dish water to water my plants.  Outside, I collect rainwater to water my tomato plants and I drive my car on the lawn before washing it so the water used also waters my grass.  I run the dishwasher on the shortest cycle will get my dishes clean.

My husband’s saving obsession is turning off lights.  As soon as I leave a room, he asks me to turn off the light (even if in my head, I know I’ll be back within 5 minutes).  Because I don’t like a house that is dark, I tend to keep a few lights on around the house, especially in winter.

Another of my obsession is to use natural light in winter; first thing in the morning, I open all the curtains and blinds in the house to let the heat and light from the sun come in. As soon as the sun sets, I cover all the windows so that we do not lose any heat through them (we have very large windows). 

You may not have an obsession yet; however, it`s relatively easy to find one.  Pick just one thing that you can focus on: electricity, heat, water, paying fees to exercise, wasted food, etc.  Pick any one thing where you can reduce your consumption, and go all out!

Free Stuff

There is not a lot of stuff you can get for free these days – and when there are, they are worth their price… almost nothing!  However, I have found a few things that are free and worth keeping.

- the plastic basket from berries: those small green cube-shaped baskets are perfect little colanders; I have two in my kitchen drawer and I use them 3-4 times a week when I need to rinse berries, veggies, or a small amount of pasta.

- rags: really who wants to buy rags to clean? not me.  I use my (and my family’s) T-shirts that are about to be discarded.  I cut them in pieces and use them to clean the bathroom, toilets, etc.  If they are very dirty after, I throw them out!

- bottles: I often need a plastic bottle for taking juice or salad dressing with my lunch.  Used plastic bottles that contained water or juice before are food-safe and if they were washed, good to use again – and most likely, they do not leak!  Do NOT heat them up though, the plastic is most likely not stable enough not to leach into your food.

- small brushes to clean around the sink, toilet, etc.  Yes, your old toothbrush is perfect for the job, AFTER it has given its life for your teeth.  Do not throw it out: rather, give it a good clean (you can disinfect it with rubbing alcohol and letting it dry after), and it’s perfect for lots of small cleaning jobs, including cleaning your suede shoes, boots, or bag.  Just label it so you do not mix it up with the brush for your teeth!

- condoms: these may not be the brand name you like best, but most student health centers offer free condoms, no questions asked.  If you do not like the ones they offer, take a few anyway and store them away in case of ‘emergency’ – when you run out of your usual ones.  And remember, they prevent unplanned pregnancies AND sexually transmitted diseases.

- food containers (for freezing, storing or lunches): once you have purchased margarine, yogurt, pasta sauce, peanut butter and jam a couple of times (and used them up), you have plastic and glass containers that you can use for storage and lunches.  I like to use glass ones (such as the ones from spaghetti sauce) for storing dried fruit from the bulk food store (where most food comes in bags), plastic ones for freezing left-overs and for lunches.  Yes, you may find that a square plastic container works better for a sandwich, but overall, your containers should be free (cream cheese containers are great for snacks).

- counselling: whereas the rest of the population has to pay to consult with psychologists and career advisers, for students they are free at your college or university – use them!!  Not only can they guide you with your feelings, anxiety, obsessions and choices of career, they specialize in your age group and stage of life (others outside education institutions can specialize in anything from depression in the elderly to toddlers with excessive aggression).

- public transportation: many universities and colleges have built-in bus passes – if you have one of these mandatory bus passes, use it!  Visit your town, go further to get a discount, etc.  Enjoy.

- banking: yes, most banks charge fees to hold on to your money and give you the service of debit and online banking.  However, as a student, you should not pay any of these!  Most of the large banks in Canada offer free student bank accounts.  Yes, there is a limit on the free services they include, but since you are not running a business, your number of monthly transactions is limited and therefore a free student account should be perfect.  Your bank does not offer this? Change banks!  There is no fee to closing or opening a chequing account so move.

So although not many things in life are free, a few are!

Going AWAY to post-secondary school is a privilege, not a right.

In many middle-class families, there is an assumption that puts us on a dangerous financial path: going away to college or university is the logical step after high school.  This is often seen as a ‘right’, rather than a privilege, in certain circles, and you may feel like an outsider if you cannot afford it or if you choose to live at home for your studies.

Please do not feel bad.  In large parts of Canada, the norm is to live at home during college and university.  In Québec, for example, the culture is that as long as you can, you live at home during your studies.  I remember my mother saying: ‘there are four universities in Montreal: choose one!’  We did not even live on the island of Montreal, but in the suburb, and my commute while going to McGill WAS long: 30 min by car (if no traffic) to reach the island of Montreal, and then 45 min by subway to reach campus.  Twice a day.  Five days a week.  For three years.  And I survived!  I did not have to worry about meals much (Mom was happy to cook dinner for the two of us), laundry was in-house, the house was warm and I didn’t have bills to pay except for tuition, books, and my own expenses.  I could commute with my mom who went to Mtl every day for work – she would drop me off on her way to work – and later I purchased an inexpensive car and had to pay for gas, maintenance, insurance and the like, but it gave me much more freedom than commuting with Mom.

In many other Canadian cities and cultures, going ‘away’ to post-secondary education is rare.  In many families where children live at home until they marry, children also attend college and university locally.  Just like my attitude in Montreal was, many people feel that learning to live on your own is something you do when you can afford to do it on your own; i.e., without your family’s financial support.  I moved away for my master’s degree, for which I had financial support from the university, as a research assistant (RA) and a teaching assistant (TA).  Even though the university experience while living at home is different from that of students living on campus (or at least away from mom and dad), it is DIFFERENT, not better or worse. 

Every college/university experience is valuable and can be wonderful; moving away from home is just a very optional and small part of it.  Enjoy YOUR experience, wherever you live.

Don’t Throw it Out, Clean it!

Many items in my home seem to be ready for the dump: some shoes; the shower curtain AND bathroom rug; oven mittens; a few water bottles; white leather sandals; gloves, a baseball cap, and my kitchen garbage can.

However, I have learned over the years that many of these can be cleaned and used for many more years.  Cleaning them is cost-saving AND better for the environment than throwing out AND buying new; throwing out adds trash in garbage dumps; buying another item means it has to be manufactured and this not only uses new materials (plastic, etc.) but these materials require some type of transformations to be made into the product you are buying.

So can you clean everything? almost!  Let’s start in the bathroom: you can wash and disinfect almost anything in there.  A grimy shower curtain is easily thrown into the washing machine (you can use the shortest cycle – and hang dry in the shower!) and it will come out clean, especially if you do this every few months.  While talking about shower curtain, remember that no matter how expensive a shower curtain you buy, it will become full of soap scum at about the same rate so skip the designer one and buy the one from the dollar store. I do the same with the bathroom rug – but not at the same time as the shower curtain!  Use the cold cycle if you have a rubber-backed rug because heat dries out rubber.  Do NOT put in the dryer.  Finally, make sure to wash the toothbrush holder every week; the slimy stuff that’s in it is from non-rinsed out toothpaste from someone’s mouth  - enough said. Make sure to have more than one toothbrush – by letting your toothbrush dry between uses (best done by alternating the use of 2 toothbrushes), you are preventing the growth of bacteria on your toothbrush.  This is especially important when you are sick and trying to GET RID of bacteria!  And when a toothbrush is too old to use (dentists recommend every 3-4 months of use only), clean it well (disinfect with rubbing alcohol) and save as a cleaning device (and label as such).  Use a shopping bag to line the trash basket in the bathroom so you don’t have to touch anything when you empty it, and to ensure that it remains clean(er).

In the kitchen, wash the draining rack and its tray, especially its tray; soap scum accumulates and can turn someone’s appetite.  Wash the sink at least once a week – use a scouring powder and scrub a little (use an old toothbrush to get in the drain area).  All it takes is 5 minutes and you are reducing considerably the amount of germs and bacteria on your food and dishes. Water bottles should not use indefinitely, especially the ones that are meant for single use; the degradation of the plastic in the sun can add chemicals into your drink.  However, kept cold they are generally safe, and you can use them a few times before tossing them.  Keep them clean with hot water and soap, rinse well and let dry before using again.  The reusable ones need cleaning too: use a brush made for this purpose (less than $5), lots of soap and hot water.  You may need a bit of soaking with a bit of bleach and hot water to disinfect them well – if you use bleach, make sure to wash with soap and rinse well before use.  Still in the kitchen, oven mittens, dish cloths and dish towels all go in the washing machine.  Finally, the kitchen garbage pail can take on some awful odors after a while; scrub with water and soap (dish soap is fine) and let air dry before putting in the next garbage bag (oh yes, use a garbage bag!). 

Some clothing and bags may seem extremely difficult, if not impossible, to clean: shoes, boots, sandals, and anything leather or suede, and ball caps because they contain cardboard or plastic in the bill.  To clean most types of shoes, brush with an old dry toothbrush first to get rid of surface dirt.  Then, to wash the deeper dirt, clean with dish soap and an old toothbrush.  This can be done as a spot clean, or for the entire shoe (they are of limited size!).  Fabric shoes, after this treatment, can be washed in the washing machine; this will help refresh the inside of the shoe as well as the outside and therefore transform putrid-smelling athletic shoes into less offensive equipment.  I have completely immersed and washed leather shoes before, with very good success.  Suede is more delicate; however, if they are so dirty that you cannot wear them anymore, give it a try – they may not end up with the same appearance as when they were new, but they may end up with acceptable looks – at this point, you have nothing to lose.   Try the washing of your baseball cap with a brush and avoid soaking the bill; you can still lightly dampen the fabric of the bill, just don’t immerse it.

Washing and cleaning everything is what people three generations ago did, when housewives had more time than money and when common goods were not so cheap as to be seen as disposable.  On a student budget, shouldn’t the same principles apply?

Thanksgiving is Coming – Be Thankful!

As Thanksgiving is looming this coming weekend (for us, Canadian, Thanksgiving is October 12 this year – to our American readers, if we waited until November, all our fields would be frozen by then!), some students will be able to go home for the long weekend, and some won’t.

If you go home this coming weekend, be thankful for the family you have and the time you have to enjoy them.  Enjoy a home-cooked meal, hugs from relatives perhaps, and a relatively clean bathroom.

If you cannot be with family this weekend, do not feel lonely.  Be thankful for what you have regardless, and why not enjoy a meal with friends? You are not alone in your situation because for many students, the trip is too expensive to take for 3 days, and the mid-October holiday often means mid-term time too.  Set aside two or three hours on Saturday or Sunday night for dinner (you have to eat, right?) and get together with friends for a shared meal.  You don’t even have to cook!  Prepared entrees can be found in the frozen section of the grocery store and if you organise a pot-luck event, nobody will be stripping their wallet down for the event. You may not be able to get Mom’s pumpkin pie, but you can certainly get a store-bought one or use the recipe at the back of a can of pureed pumpkin; add some real whipped cream (the type in a can that you shake and ‘spray’) or some ice cream, and it’ll feel like Thanksgiving.

There is one thing you can do for another: international students and students from the other side of our beautiful country will most likely not be able to go home.  While organizing your plans for Thanksgiving dinner, why not ensure that everyone you know also has fun plans: invite a student you don’t know so well, just because you suspect he or she won’t have a Thanksgiving dinner.  Invite someone who has not traditionally celebrated Thanksgiving because it was not in their culture to do so.  This person may have their first Thanksgiving dinner with you – and remember it for the rest of their lives.

Finally, if all your friends are going away for Thanksgiving but you are not; if you cannot find another person in your situation and the thought of having a weekend alone is depressing, volunteer.  Many places, such as woman’s shelters, soup kitchen, churches, and the likes need people to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner to others.  There, for certain, your presence and your work will be appreciated. 

Most of all, don't feel lonely; you are NOT alone!

The Housemate Agreement

Unless you are a very lucky student who is not sharing living space, most likely you have to put up with other people where you live.  One great way to make the process less painful for everyone is to come up with a good Housemate Agreement – this way, everyone is on the same page and agrees to the same ‘rules’.

Cleaning: obviously (or not – you may want to point this out!), each person should clean their own room and clean after themselves in the kitchen and bathroom after they use it.  However, there is lots of clean up to be done in common rooms, such as the entry way, the hall, the kitchen (just cleaning after cooking and eating is not enough), the bathroom, etc.  Make a list of what should be done weekly (including shoveling the snow and mowing the lawn if you are responsible for some outside areas) and divide it up.  A tip: if everyone chooses to be in charge of cleaning the room/are they are the most ‘picky’ about, the cleaning will be done very well.  For example, I’m picky about bathroom cleanliness; I don’t like touching the toilet seat if there are any hair around or on it.  I don’t like the soap muck around the sink.  Therefore, in a shared house, I’d be happier cleaning the bathroom, not for the act of cleaning it, but because I trust myself to do a job I can be happy with.  Make sure people are accountable for their cleaning: once a week should be a minimum (since many people are sharing these spaces) so a check list is not a bad idea – put a check mark after your chore when you are done.

Bills: it’s not a good idea for one person to have his/her name on all the bills and for others to give that person money each month to pay the bills.  Why? Because every time someone is short of money, the same person suffers.  Have each person handle one bill and have one person calculate who owes what to whom every month.  Or even better, find a place that charges rent inclusive of everything1

Noise: if you know the people who are sharing a house/apartment well, you probably know how much noise these people make.  Sometimes though, we know people a bit and have to make a quick decision about sharing a home.  Have an honest discussion about noise: would it be all right if everyone tried to be quiet (in case someone is trying to study or sleep) after 11pm and before 8am?

Food: decide together if you want to share some food (such as salt, pepper, flour for baking) or if should all foods should be individual.  It can be a little silly to have 6 salt shakers in the house; however, it can be frustrating to want an omelet and find no eggs left.  A bit of both is probably best.  Share what lasts a long time should be shared (you can share the cost).  And label what is yours or others won’t remember if they finished their chocolate chip cookies bag and they will eat yours.  A tip: buy plastic bins, label them with your name, and put your food in them in the fridge, freezer and pantry.  You can also keep some pantry-type food in your room if there are no issues with pests.

Car: if one of you has a car, find a way to get a ride to the grocery store without taking advantage of the person who owns the car.  Let’s say Bob has a car.  Yes, Bob would be paying for gas, maintenance of the car, insurance and such even if nobody else ‘bummed’ a ride to where Bob is going.  However, it’s not fair that everyone gets the convenience of the car but nobody except Bob pays for it.  Put a jar in the kitchen and put in $1 or 2 whenever Bob gives you a ride.  He’ll appreciate it and will be more likely to make a small detour to drop you off next time he goes out.  And make sure the responsibility of shoveling the driveway is not added on to Bob’s list: he should not have extra work to do when everybody gets rides.

Laundry: if you are lucky enough to have laundry facilities in your house or apartment, be considerate of others and only start your laundry if you can take it out promptly and dry it, so you can leave the appliances empty so others can use them.  It is frustrating to always have to take one housemate’s wet stuff out of the washing machine on a regular basis.  Make sure you empty the lint catcher (on all dryer, and some washer) so that the appliances run efficiently, saving you money; as well, you landlord may not have to replace an appliance if it was not used properly or if it was neglected.

Overall, be kind and put expectations forwards so that there are no misunderstandings between housemates.

Choosing a College or University Well.

Many of you will be either returning to post-secondary education, or starting in it this September.  Not only is education after high school very different from high school, but the social scene is different, especially if you will not be living at home.  For international students (anyone changing country to study, even if the change is ‘only’ Canada-USA), the change is even more important: a new culture, new weather, often a new language, new foods, new social cues, and new legal, financial and red tape structure.  Queen’s University, in Kingston Ontario, has a special program called Atlas which helps international students welcome these changes.  I’ve stolen their diagram of what constitute all the health issues you must monitor when making the changes to post-secondary education.  If you change the middle bubble to ‘success in post-secondary education’ or even ‘success in life’ , you’ll get a good idea of what I mean.

(http://quic.queensu.ca/international-students-and-staff/welcome-and-orientation/international-orientation-fall/aculturation-and-transition-to-life-and-academic-success-atlas/ )

To be successful in university, you can’t just count on academic success; obviously this blog is about doing it cheaply, but you also need to come out unharmed, healthy, and happy.  This is why I promote cutting down the fancy coffees, but not your meds; why I recommend jogging over club hopping, and why choosing a university close to home has lots of advantages. 

When studying more independently than in high school, you may end up meeting lots of different people.  You will be exposed to many different opinions, takes on life, philosophies, ethics, morals and religions.  It can sometimes feel a little overwhelming, especially if you are not sure what your beliefs are.  Luckily, university is a great place to do a few ‘taste-tests’ to solidify your beliefs or to find a philosophy that meshes with you. 

Where I wanted to draw your attention is to a couple of the bubbles:

The Emotional and Mental Health bubble: this is an extremely important one that many people ignore.  If you are treated for a mental illness or emotional problem or both, and that your team is a good one, consider not moving away for post-secondary education.  Two benefits will come from this: 1. you will keep your team of professionals assisting you.  In emotional and mental health, having a team that we are comfortable with is more important than in physical health because so much of mental and emotional health is talking about problems that are very difficult to talk about and because measurement methods involve divulging personal information.  The second benefit of not moving is that the cost will be less, so the stress of being able to pay for your years of studies will be less.  For anyone, with or without mental health problems, this stress can be enormous.  If you are dealing with mental health problems, this stress is by definition something you want to avoid.

The other bubbles I want to draw your attention to are the Social and Interpersonal Health bubble and the Socio-Cultural and Spiritual Health bubble.  Both of these rely heavily on finding peers you can relate to and develop meaningful friendship.  If your culture and religious background are very important to you, finding a city and a university where these are strongly represented should be a priority when choosing a school to attend; you may feel lost without them, and you may feel that you have no one to relate to if you are the lone person of your ethnicity or religion.   So make sure you can feel at ease where your study; it will be your home for a few years, so choose it well.

Remember: choosing an establishment of education should not be an academic decision alone; it should be a mental health and cultural decision as well.