We Missed The Big Quake!

Red Pin = epicenter Yellow Arrow = were we live

Last night we had a nice evening cozy by the fireplace, candles burning, watching scary movies (Rosemary's Baby) and shows about haunted houses on the PVR. Apparently we missed the "Second Largest Earthquake to hit Canada Since 1949". Last night at 8pm a 7.7 earthquake hit on the Haida Gwaii Islands, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, about 1000 km from here.

According to news reports we should have had our nickers shaken - we felt nothing. We were oblivious to the Tsunami warning afterward as well, cozy snug in our beds. That is until my slightly senile 80 year old Mother-in-law who lives in Alberta called early Sunday Morning asking about the storm and were we ok. I thought she was talking about Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast as she has quite vague rememberings of geography class from 70 years ago (we live on the West Coast for those not familiar with Canada). She was actually talking about Tsunami warnings and as we were totally oblivious we assured her we were fine.

I got up, put my fuzzy slippers on, and made a cup of tea ready to read my Sunday blogs. Went to check my email and noticed the "7.7 EARTHQUAKE ON BC COAST" headline on yahoo. We missed the BIG ONE! The rest of my morning has been spent looking for cracks in the ceiling and to see if any of my bottle collection got knocked over.

This quake has made me realize that I am unprepared for a large disaster. I can sustain a power outage of 24 hours but any more and things could get ugly. We would not perish from cold as it rarely gets below zero here and we have a ton of blankets and warm clothes left over from previously living in Alberta. I have lots of candles (bit of a candle hoarder really) and fully stocked cupboards but as I mostly cook from scratch our cupboards hold very few items that can be eaten out of the can.

So, this week I am going to spend $50 to create an emergency stockpile of canned goods like tuna, baked beans, chunky soup and canned fruit. Things that could be eaten with only the heat from a candle for a period of four days which they say is the average time it may take to be evacuated or for help to come.

I am also bulking up our first aid kit, but it helps to know we also live within one kilometre of the hospital.

Are you prepared?

The C Word

Yes, Christmas is just over two months away. Using your frequent point programs to supplement your Christmas giving is an excellent way to reduce the cost of Christmas - but many of these programs must be redeemed now so that you receive your gifts in time for Christmas. This year is our tightest year financially in the last ten as we are paying expenses on two homes, child support on three children and both work out of the home for hubbys new company which after ten months is just now paying our bills. As my mother says, "every little bit counts" and anything I can get at reduced cost or by freebie for Christmas is one less dollar that comes out of our pocket.



Swagbucks (click the link if you wish to join)
I like swagbucks because you can take a poll a day to earn a buck, find secret codes, watch videos, do surveys or by far the easiest - use their searchbar for your every day internet searches. I really don't enjoy surveys so mainly use the searchbar and take the polls. So far this year I am up to $45 in amazon.ca gift certificates (each country has access to different gift cards, Canada is more limited than USA) and generally earn $5 per month or more. They rarely email you so are not spammers and are extremely easy to use. After three years they have my loyalty. My stepdaughter is a big kindle reader so she is getting some giftcards for her to buy books from Amazon.ca as part of her presents this year.

We belong to airline programs and although we use all of those points ourselves to see family and for business if you don't need your points many of these programs offer gift cards apart from airline tickets.

I belong to five different grocery store point programs and intend to redeem those points for goodies for stockings and to reduce our grocery requirement in the month of december.

Planning saves money so get out your point cards and have a browse - I guarantee you will save money this way!

A Small Thrift Store Clothing Spree

Clothing is one area of the budget that I have gotten down to an art buying 95% used clothing at thrift stores. I will never be called a fashionista but do like to look good. Now that we are self employed with hubbys business there is no longer a call for business attire except for the occasional function.

In order to maintain a decent wardrobe, even on a tiny budget one must be constantly on the lookout for pieces to add and pieces to cull.

My total clothing budget for the year was $200. Due to grocery overages I transferred out $109.69 to attempt to reduce the defecit and had spent $60.31 this year on clothing, shoes and accessories.

This month's clothing spending:
New: nylons $5.60. These were purchased for a business dinner for an organization hubby joined. In the end I did not end up wearing a dress and wore dress pants and a dressy top instead so now have a pair of unused nylons for my next formal event.

There is a great clean well run local thrift store that I have just discovered has really good quality clothing. Their prices are great too!

Used: $17
Jeans $5
Belt $1
Liz Clairborne Flex shoes $12

The shoes appear never to have been worn and still had part of the original sticker on the bottom. These were my favorite find as I have been looking for this exact kind of shoe to wear under jeans - they look like a boot but are a comfortable shoe.

That leaves $6.40 for the remainder of the year which should not be a problem based on shopping second hand.

The jeans replace a pair I bought last year (yes, used) that I really don't like the fit of. Those will go back to the thrift store donation pile. The shoes replace two pair that are worn out. Those go into the garbage pile.

Thrift clothing shopping is not for everyone but I save loads of money doing it. New clothing in Canada costs a fortune (almost twice as much as in the USA) so this is the easiest way to stay on budget.

A Fall Walk

Gigantic rosehips and Canadian Geese - the beauty of Vancouver Island in the Fall. You may have noticed my new blog header - that picture was also taken on this fine fall day. Cheers!

Curbside Find!

So....I have never actually found anything on the side of the road worth stopping for - until today. I didn't even have to get in the car for this find. I was getting my garbage ready to go to the curb when I spotted this fabulous find directly across the street!

We have our own matching patio set of a couch and two chairs so this find is destined for someone else - my mother. She is in the process of readying her place for sale in the Spring so I may have to store it - hopefully it fits in our crawl space. It needs a coat of paint but is in otherwise good repair.

Keep your eyes peeled - you never know what you will find!

Bits & Bobs

Lots of applesauce making this week with that free box of organic apples - made easier by use of the slow cooker. My house has a fabulous baked apple smell now, no need for air freshener! We ate some, froze some and used some for a batch of applesauce muffins which turned out very well. Of the large box that was given to me I have only used about 1/3 so am on the hunt for apple recipes to use the rest up. If you want to make applesauce in a slowcooker there are many recipes but I prefer just a cup of water and tablespoon of sugar per 8 apples and a sprinkling of cinnamin and a dash of vanilla.

I decided to sell the painting I picked up this summer for $20 as hubby does not like it as much as I do. I tried Craigslist and no luck so have put it on consignment in a new used goods store that just opened up. They thought they would list it for $75 and whatever they sell it for I get to keep 60%. I will keep you posted if it sells.

I haven't done any updates on freebies of late - all this haul came in the last two weeks. It pays to sign up for freebies, especially when on a tight budget but I only sign up for things either ourselves or an immediate family member can use. Hubby is allergic to Tide so that sample is to be given to my Mother. I have given up on signing up for hand cream samples as have enough lotions to last several years as it is.

It finally started raining here so it has been hard to get out and mow the lawn that is now growing again due to moisture. The leaves are turning (photos to come - I have to get out and take some pictures) and there is the lovely smell of ocean salt and woodstove smoke in the air. I love fall. Time for cozy warm drinks like tea, hot chocolate, and spiced rums by the warmth of the fireplace.

I hope you all are enjoying your lovely fall weekend! Linking up with Elaine at Sunny Simple Life's Sunny Simple Sunday.

September Budget Results & Apples Apples Apples

September's Grocery Budget $400
Year to date overage prior to September $242.90
Actual September grocery spend $399.53 reducing year to date overage to $242.44.

If you are a new follower the grocery budget includes all over counter medications, grooming and cleaning products.

Coupons Used $9.97. Low again but I have been getting deals without using coupons and scratch cooking so am not too worried about how low that is. This month I discovered that with my Quality Foods card every grocery trip I am entitled to one unadvertised special for any item that I am purchasing that is not already on sale or that you must weigh. This month that gave me discounts on items that almost never go on sale like food colouring and horse radish. This store normally has higher prices than where I usually grocery shop but I have been hitting it up for loss leaders and last minute purchases as is only a block from my house.

Rather than wait until 2012 I am increasing the monthly food budget from $400 to $425 per month - due to higher taxes in BC versus Alberta and the fact that we eat 99% at home rather than eating out. I have the room in our budget to do this - if our budget was tighter we would have stuck with the $400 budget.

Annual Clothing Budget $200
Zero spent in October - leaving $64.79 To Go.
I have decided to transfer all of the budget($34.79) from clothing except $30 for the remaining three months of the year to the grocery overage as really do not need any clothes.

Annual Hair Budget $400

Spent $19.12 on haircut at a discount hair cutting place(that included $4 tip). I have also decided to transfer out $25 to the grocery overage from this budget so have $104.73 left for the year. The hairdresser also complimented me on my home root job from last month so that was quite nice - she actually gave me a good haircut too. I was sure to get her name and will try to use her again as this was a great deal.

With the transfers from hair and clothing budget grocery year to date overage is now reduced to $182.65.

The last of cherry tomatoes were picked to turn red inside as never expected to have tomatoes on the vine outside in October - a frost could happen anytime now and I didn't want to lose these guys as only got 30 cherry tomatoes from this plant. The beefsteak plant only produced one tomato which we ate with burgers last week. Next year I am going to start 12 plants from seed inside in April and will keep most and give away a plant or two to neighbors. Hopefully next year there will be a better tomato harvest.

A few weeks ago I asked my Mother if she had been offered any apples from friends as I was looking for some to make applesauce and crisps. One of her friends has an older well producing apple tree and she gifted my Mother three boxes for helping her pick them - two for my mother and one for me. The lady said she couldn't possibly use all the apples and after they were done she called in a gleaning association who picked ten more boxes off the tree for the local food bank. What a great idea. This weeks job will be making crock pot applesauce with the less appealing apples and will separate the nicest ones for eating. There are at least ten pounds here so I have a big job ahead of me but I never turn down free groceries, especially organic apples!


This week I am not grocery shopping at all and will be making our meals out of items in the cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Have a great week!

Canadian Thanksgiving!

Here lies the proof that my pie making skills are not limited to a single homemade pie crust. For Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend I made two pumpkin pies including crust from scratch (just keeping it real - all the dirty dishes were not photographed :).

My mother drove up Island and spent two nights with us for Thanksgiving Weekend and we had a very nice visit. Lots of lovely things were on the menu: turkey, corn, salad, homemade stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes with bacon cheese and chives, gravy and of course hot buttered rum and pumpkin pie for desert.

We watched some good movies (Avengers and Sherlock Holmes II) and managed two visits to the ocean this weekend including spotting eagles, seals, and starfish and picking shells. It was a great weekend.

September budget results will be posted tommorrow. Cheers!