I can't believe it's already January 5th. To be honest I am glad the holidays are over though so everyone can get back to a sense of normalcy around town!

My sweetie and I decided to take advantage of boxing day sales this weekend to replace some things that we should have replaced a long time ago. He won $200 playing poker with friends (they have tournaments every so often) so we decided to use the money for useful things instead of wasting it. We replaced all our cutlery and dishes. Dishes for 8 people cost us $30 (set of 32 pieces) and cutlery was found at a bargain store (Cuisinart brand originally for $120 and we paid $55) for 8 settings. We were so excited!!! Finally good cutlery that wasn't going to bend or rust..these babies are SOLID :) We also replaced the old comforter & cheap pillows we had in the guest room. Paid $45 for a very fancy fluffy queen comforter made in Zurich with two lovely pillows that came with it! Now the guest room looks great, I just have to paint it a deep purple. I want the room to look kind of Zen/Buddha like. Now if I could get cheap paint! We also cleaned out our closets, put clothes we didnt want in large bags and the diabetes association will pick it all up (including dishes/cutlery). I love donating items to charities.

We also stocked up on staple foods and household items. I now have enough toilet paper & kleenex for at least 6 months! I have lots of food in the fridge/pantry too. If anyone were to see our pantry and fridge they'd think a family of 5 lives there but its just the two of us. We have the luxury of owning a large house with LOTS of room so if I can buy stuff cheap and store it, I will :)

The only time we spent money on things that weren't needed, was when we bought good Lebanese food. My dad passed away a year ago yesterday and it was imperative that we buy quality lebanese food because last year when I went home for the funeral, his best friend kept bringing it over and now it's total comfort food for me. I needed to remember him with that. I didn't want to cheap out and wanted the best Lebanese food i could find (dad is worth it!). The owner gave me a deal and threw in a few extras so that was nice! We spent $45 on prepared food which will give us a few meals this week.

I thought about sending my mother flowers to brighten her week. I can't imagine she's having a great time right now. I found a website online that sends bouquets for $20 and i have a 15% off coupon which i might use. I also got an email from Boston pizza to get a free individual pizza! If you sign up for their newsletters, you get free stuff on your birthday and one year anniversary of being a member. So i'll indulge this week as it expires soon.

Oh, I did have one slip-up...bought a handmade dress on Etsy.com. I am a firm believer in supporting fellow artisans and while most of my clothes are thrift, i splurge on the odd piece of handmade clothing. I paid a lot for it, but like the other handmade things I purchased in the past, it'll be worth it! And it's being custom made for my body!

Work is quiet, looks like I'll be writing in my zine all day...could be worse!  

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I must say I am MORE than pleased to see 2008 go. I've never been so excited to ring in a new year. Somehow this has been the worst year I've ever experienced, one event being my dad's death almost a year ago in January. Then the year just kept going downhill after that and most people I know have had a similar experience. My best girlfriend lost her mom a month after my father passed away.

Trying to keep things positive and in perspective, I decided to make the best of it regardless of all the things that have happened in 2008.

I am lucky to have one of my closest friends here with me for New Years Eve. He and I decided to buy tickets to a bar here which will host a dj from L.A. We paid $27 per ticket which isn't all bad considering my boss paid $75 for his tickets for the theater tonight! yikes! We will have a few drinks here then head out. They will doubtfully have happy hour at the bar because I find bars want to make as much money as possible at this time. This means maybe ONE drink purchase while I'm out. There is supposed to be 30cm of snow coming tonight, so let's hope we can get a taxi back (or I might have to pack my big boots and walk home which would take about 30mins).

I thought I might do something for dinner, perhaps make a special African Peanut Stew or something rich as it's so cold out, basically comfort food is what i'm after! Part of me wants to pick up sushi but that's another $20 I could probably save. Dilemmas! I made some Chex Mix snacks for this evening too, and will take out my famous zucchini salsa for all to feast on.

Thankfully I have the day off, which means I have lots of time to ponder my dinner choices for this evening. My sweetie will be home around lunchtime and I believe we'll be making the baklava. We were supposed to make it Christmas but neither of us wanted to then.

Have a happy 2009, I think it's going to be a GOOD year!

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Whether you want to make this for a new years pot luck, to feed a lot of people or to freeze, this is such an easy recipe!

Chick Pea Curry for a Crowd

1 restaurant size can of chick peas (industrial size, i think a few litres (maybe 10 cups?) - undrained

1 large sweet potato - peeled and cubed small

2 cans of coconut milk

1/2- 2/3 cup of madras curry paste (or any other curry paste) - the amount will depend on what paste you use, so start out with a bit then add more if you need it.

1 bunch of fresh coriander (or 1 tbsp dried)

In a large pot, add all ingredients and stir. Bring to boil, then simmer for at least 30 minutes with the lid off. Turn heat off, cover and let sit overnight or for a few hours, the sauce will get thicker as it cools. Store in containers or serve on a bed of rice. Add salt & pepper to taste if desired. Serves 12

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I had such a relaxing time off work, believe it or not I was looking forward to coming back as I didn't have much to do during my time off!

My sweetie and I cleaned the house on Christmas Eve/Day, took us an entire two days to clean everything as we have a large house and only two of us and the cats live there. We also stepped out to see what was open on Christmas Day..sadly only a coffee chain so we decided to get a coffee there as we do every year. I also read an entire book in one afternoon (in between doing laundry). Since our bathroom now looks really hip and groovy, my sweetie organized it and threw a bunch of things out. I LOVE the new bathroom and low flow toilet! (gee, i never thought I could get excited over a new toilet!)

My sweetie surprised me with a bag of goodies in Sinterklaas (Dutch Saint-Nicholas) tradition. He handed me a stack of about a dozen papers, each with a special story and photo on it pertaining to each gift. Each gift in the bag was numbered, so as I read each page I would open the gift corresponding to it. It was sooooo sweet! He knows I love pedicures and I also take very good care of my skin so the entire bag of gifts were spa themed (like foot cream, electric foot file/buffer, machine that makes bubbles in the bath, bath gel...). He got named brand things but he could have purchased dollarstore items and the bag of gifts would have been cheaper. I also got some of the warming foot scrub that olay makes. NICE! :)

My close friend who is visiting from away came over Friday and handed me a  seed catalogue. He said to pick vegetables I wanted for my garden and that he would purchase the seeds for me!! YAY! He also is making me baked vegan goods for New Years Eve! Wow I love that i have thoughtful people around me who are creative! :D

Saturday night a bunch of us ended up going out to a bar, then disco. Fun night and I only bought drinks during their happy hours which is between 11pm-1am. After 1am I didn't buy anything :) Then my friend called his uncle who is a cab driver and we got a ride home for free. Considering how long I was out, I probably only spent about $35 which isn't bad considering I had a fancy martini (which my friend treated me to) a few drinks for me and friends and paid for cover at the disco, got a plate of fries and got home. At least for where I live, not bad for a night out! :)

Last night, I made a big batch of chick pea curry (I'll post the recipe in another posting!). This will make enough for lots of meals for work and home when I don't feel like cooking. Work is very quiet today so I'll just be writing and reading a lot! Yay for government jobs :)
 

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First of all i'd like to wish everyone a Happy Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Channukah, Christmas or anything you do celebrate! Even if you do not celebrate anything I do hope you have a peaceful and stress free holiday season! :)

I had to come into work this morning to babysit the office just in case. There is no one here and I am sipping on apple cider that is much to expensive...I had a craving for it and the coffee shop downstairs has Starbucks prices..yikes! I also  had my ipod on, dancing around here (it's a HUGE office). Figure I might as well enjoy myself if I'm going to be stuck here all morning!

I will head home in about 90mins and probably do some writing. My partner won't be home till 2ish. When he gets home we'll light a fire and chat, perhaps have a relaxed dinner eating on the couch and sip on a few martinis (his idea!). Apparently he has made me a gift (or at least something he was working on). It's unlike him to do things like that so I'm thinking he is trying to be sweet since this is my first holiday without my dad and I wasn't able to get home. I'm actually curious as to what he's come up with! I will hand him his two Gap thermal long sleeve shirts and call it a night :) I think he wanted to finish installing the new sink and toilet too! can't wait!

Tomorrow is Baklava making day, followed by our usual drive around the city to see what's open. We'll try to find a chinese place to have lunch (as many chinese are Buddhists and open their restaurants..YAY!) and we know of one coffee chain that will also be open. Nothing in store for the evening, I'm thinking just a downloaded movie and microwave popcorn!

Unlike for most people, this is a VERY quiet and boring time for me. I usually have nothing to do and no one to see. The only friend I have here is out of town though i do expect to see another friend this weekend who has come to town to see his family. :)

I received a special surprise from a woman i never met but we've communicated online alot as we have many of the same interests. It was a $25 Ebay gift certificate delivered to my email! WOW! LAst  year she was out of work and i gave her a box of organic fruits and veggies delivered from a local place where she lives. She told me not to feel bad and not to feel like i have to give back. I guess that's the spirit...giving!

I think I'll do some more dancing, followed by more writing :)

Peace and blessings to all during this holiday season!

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I was listening to my favourite podcast this morning and the host was talking about how broke she was last year and discussed a few frugal things she did for friends. She called it "Romantic Dinner for two in a bag". What she did was get together with a friend, made a bunch of pesto and placed it in small jars, then went to the dollar store and bought candles & pasta. She placed the jar of pesto, bag of pasta and candles in a gift bag and gave this to couples! This would be a great idea for anyone! She said it didn't cost her more than $3 a gift. How amazing is this?

Other ideas included placing coffee mixes in baggies then placed into a cup from the dollar store & adhorning with ribbon and added peppermint sticks. Something which i did as well this year!

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Yesterday I came into work even though the weather outside was terrible. There was no one on the roads or even in the bus, so what was I doing going to work? I am running the office on my own this week so I had to venture in. 15 mins after I get in the office, head office calls to tell me to shut down. So I was home within an hour of starting work! $4 spent on public transportation for nothing..argh.

I spent the day making some food and preparing my last minute parcel to ship off to a friend. My sweetie and i also went to RONA to pick up a few items to hook up our new sink. We bought a vessel sink for the bathroom which makes it look so much bigger. Sadly, our tap didn't fit the new sink as vessel sinks require very specific taps which usually cost over $100 (we had no idea until after we bought the vanity!). 95% of regular faucets dont fit vessel sinks. argh. And we also had to  buy a special drain for $20. So a $200 vanity with sink turned out to be a $350 project. yikes! Still, it looks amazing! I suppose this is our holiday gift to ourselves. We cringed at the cost of it all, but had to get one or else we wouldn't be able to use the sink. The pedestal sink we had in there stuck out too much and I felt as it was a little invasive. I also wanted a nice euro two button flush toilet (very enviro friendly!) and my mom decided to spring for it for us. Just saved $300! It's a more expensive toilet but is well worth the price. Combined with our new washer and dryer, we'll now be saving more power and water! yay! Now our bathroom looks really "euro"  and hip! (my hubby is from holland so he loves everything) A little investment that is well worth every penny. We spent more money this week than we have in a long time which i felt a little bad about but i've come to realize that it was worth the money. Our old toilet also had a crack in it so it was time for a new one.

We don't really celebrate Christmas but I did make a nice meal on Sunday for Winter Solstice. My hubby wasn't finished making my gift, but i gave him his which he loved. His own Lampe Berger for the lounge where he sometimes likes to work and hang out. He smokes and the lamp kills all smells. We have one in the living room and works wonders! It came in a kit for $37 which my mom bought because they don't sell them where i live. She told me not to pay her back which means my gift to my sweetie was technically free! I ended up going to The Gap to pick up 2 thermal type long sleeve shirts on sale half price for $15 each which i will give him tomorrow evening. Other than that, we'll be making Baklava on Christmas Eve like we do every year, light a fire and just chat. I love quiet holidays.

I work tomorrow from 8am-12pm, then time for a very long weekend. No plans so far except for possibly seeing a close friend who comes into town this week :)

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Since there are only two of us who officially work in the office (there are ministers coming in and out and their staff on occasion), the office never really had holiday parties. I decided to take it upon myself to have one today. Kind of...

I bought a 99cent large can of apple juice and made Spiced Apple Cider spiced it up with some fresh ginger (1tsp minced), 1/2 tsp anise seed,  a few cloves (say 5) and one medium cinnamon stick broken 4 pieces. I didnt have any oranges to put in it though. I made it last night in the crockpot at home, strained it and brought it to work. Placed that in the crockpot at work and am keeping it on low.

I made a Red Pepper Bean Dip which took me all of 5 minutes to make: 1 can white kidney beans (drained & rinsed), 2 roasted cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup roasted red peppers in a jar, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp hot chili sauce, juice of half a lemon & Salt & Pepper to taste. Throw it all in a blender and voila! Serve with chips.

I also made some Dairy Free Peanut Butter Fudge, also a 5 minute time investment (plus cooling time): 3/4 cup margarine, 1 cup organic peanut butter (not sweetened) & 2 cups icing sugar. Melt margarine in a saucepan, then take off heat & stir in peanut butter till blended, then add icing sugar a bit at a time till well incorporated. Pat down in a 9X9inch pan and chill for an hour. Cut & Serve.I find using sweetened peanut butters with this makes it way too sweet, at least for me.

The boss was thrilled, we've been pigging out on the stuff since this morning. I haven't even had lunch yet because i am too full! :)

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Yesterday I had the day off. I made my way over to the mall (which i only do a couple times a year as I don't like them much) to see if I could find boots. I have terrible rheumatoid arthritis on my right big toe (quite rare), and sadly i can not purchase inexpensive footwear. I had been looking for a few months, even when I was in Toronto visiting a friend. Most boots I saw that were suitable were at least $250.. I made the mistake of getting a $40 pair and a month later the heel broke off while i was at a club!! argh. i walked around with one heel for 2 hours. no dancing for me that night! Learn from my mistakes I suppose!

 Most of the time I get shoes and boots on sale, very fancy ones for half price so I get Clarks on sale as well as other ones. I wish I could just go to payless shoes and get a $40 pair but unfortunately i cant. I have boots (i have a boot problem! LOL) but none of the black ones i have were fancy enough for work or for my New Year's outfit. I like funky more alternative footwear and sadly those don't go with my more conservative outfits. After looking at half a dozen shoe stores in the mall, i found a $200 pair marked down to $140. Still steep but for good boots still not bad considering they will last me a long time. I asked the salesperson to set them aside for 30minutes. I walked around the mall again, looked at more boots and pondered buying the $140 ones. I bit the bullet, went back and got them. Not only are my feet not hurting today (have had them on 5hrs already) but I feel sexy and fashionable!

They finally delivered our front loader washer and dryer yesterday morning! Boy was i excited! I heard you have to buy special HE soap which i did, on sale. yay! I usually use vinegar as a softener but won't use that until i read more about my washer. I bought enviro friendly softener also made for front loaders. I can't believe how fancy these machines are! wow. Our other washer/dryer set is being picked up by a couple tomorrow. We wanted to get rid of it ASAP so sold it for $250. This set usually sells for over $1000 new.

In the evening i met my friend for coffee and to give him his holiday gift bag of goodies. He loved everything in it, and thought all the gifts were very thoughtful. Most were homemade things (spice & coffee mixes, caramels, chocolate covered pretzels, soy candle...) Apparently he's getting my gift where he's going (bigger city a few horus flight away).

3 more hours of work to go, then it's the weekend. No plans tonight, maybe some yoga if I can get to the studio on time and perhaps a downloaded movie and some yummy tofu veggie stir fry for dinner~

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It's snowing pretty hard out today, my boss might close the office which means I could go home early! Would be nice if I could, that way I would have time to make by sweetie some birthday muffins instead of having to go buy some :)

I left a box of After Eight chocolates near the coffee machine before leaving work. My sweetie loves them! He discovered them on his way to work this morning and was thrilled. Best part is that I paid $2 for them at the dollar instead of the usual $6 they sell them for in the store! He said he still wasn't sure what he wanted to do tonight, he is very low key and not big on birthdays anyway, so if he ends up liking his Dexter DVD I bought, i bet he'll be watching that! I have yoga tonight but if he wants to go to dinner i will cancel for sure. Somehow I don't think he'll want to go out though, he's very low key and doesn't like it when people make a big deal on his birthday. I also purchased him some nice underwear from mensunderwearstore.com . They had a sale on, he loves good quality underwear so I splurged :) They haven't arrived yet, hopefully today! If not, i'll need to run out and get a little extra something and save the underwear to give him at Yule this weekend!

I don't decorate for the holidays. If you walked into my house it looks like any other time of the year. No lights, no tree, no decorations. We tend not to get into the whole Christmas thing and neither of us have family here anyway. It just seems pointless to me. I have one friend that will visit after Christmas but that's all the company we'll have. It's my first holiday without my dad around too. I wanted to get home for my mom but since i am on call i am not allowed to leave the city. Luckily I have my parcels ready to ship to send home, my sweetie gets 75% off to ship it via the courier company too! So I'll ship them tomorrow and they will get the boxes on Monday...all for about $10 :)

My sweetie and i will celebrate Yule on Sunday (Winter Solstice). We'll exchange gifts, have some cider and a nice dinner, then back to work on Monday morning. Something tells me he hasn't bought anything though. I LOVE giving gifts but he never does. I've been with him 13 years and have never seen him send his parents anything for any birthday or holiday. That's just him. A phonecall is what they get. Good thing I am not materialistic, and to be honest he's the most devoted person i've ever met. I could never be with someone who showers me with gifts all the time but isn't the best partner. Mine is the best because he lets me be me and gives me all the freedom I want. Yay for true unconditional love! He can surprise me sometimes though...so who knows?

Friday I'll get together with my friend for dinner and a movie and to exchange gifts as he is leaving town the next day. We had a little altercation last night so hopefully things will settle down and the plans won't be cancelled. He's pretty upset with me right now..don't like fighting with friends. These things happen.

I get more pictures today from another photographer who took free shots of me. She sent me one via email which i liked and will get the others on disc. I'll have to run and get some printed before sending my boxes tomorrow! Can't wait to see them.

Here's hoping I can leave early today *crossing fingers*

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I realized this morning that I really need to get organized for my sweetie's birthday tomorrow! I am missing one present that hasn't come in the mail yet *crossing fingers it'll come today*! I also don't have time to make a cake, which means i'll have to resort to going somewhere. I thought about gettting a jumbo muffin somewhere (he loves muffins!) and put a candle in it. Could be frugal and he would probably like it! Work usually buys him a big cake and since he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, i probably won't get one as he'll be tired of cake by the time he gets home..hehe.

I purchased a dvd of a tv series for him on sale online, $29.99 instead of $49.99! :) I also purchased a yankee candle car scent thingy for half price on sale, he likes them and we don't usually purchase them as they are expensive full price. There is a nice bistro in town which has a special pizza/pasta night Wednesdays for $10. It's a little upper scale so that's an idea for dinner! I'll let him decide, he's pretty low key anyways.

I forgot my lunch at home today as I was in a rush this morning. This means i have to spend money to eat...argh. Problem is, I have to go to yoga right after work and I usually bring a snack with me to eat an hour and a half beforehand for energy.  So I'll have to spring for lunch and a snack today. Looks like I'll be eating the $3 indian plate and grab an apple or banana at the corner store since there are no grocery stores around my workplace! If I'm lucky, my friend will come with me to yoga (which means a free ride there and back, saves me $4). I also had to grab a mid morning snack at the fancy coffee palce in my building. $2.50 for a cinnamon bun...eeek. i never forget my lunch, this is unusual. Good thing I am in a good mood today!

We put our washer/dryer for sale on kijiji.ca and got lots of responses. Likely it will be purchased sometime this week! :) We priced it low so we could get rid of it ASAP. It's a great unit so that's why we're getting responses.

6 more hours to go at work. Looking forward to the end of the day already!

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I had a fairly frugal weekend apart from buying a washer and dryer! :)

Friday night my friend and I went out to dinner. I ordered a veggie dragon sushi roll and ordered water. It costed me $11, not bad for a sushi dinner out! We also went to Linen's and Things which is going out of business so I bought a few fancy items 50% off that i needed for the house. I spent $45 but ended up bringing home a couple of gifts and some reed diffusers for the house..i love those!

Saturday we needed to go grocery shopping as I wanted some items to bring to my hubby's work holiday party. As I knew I wouldn't be able to eat most of the food there. I purchased some veggie kabobs for the bbq (as the host was only serving salmon & steak so I had to bring my own food), some chips for the salsa and non-dairy dip I was bringing and a few staple items for the week.

Saturday night was the party. We live in the city and the party was out in the middle of nowhere..thank goodness he could expense the $50 cab ride there! *phew*.  We received a $50 gift card for a fancy restaurant from his colleague. It's hubby's birthday Wednesday so perhaps we can use it then! :) As I suspected, I could only eat one of the salad's at the party and the grilled veggies, none of the desserts though. I brought my banana bread in case, but they forgot to bring it out which meant no dessert for me. Apparently the guy brought it into my hubby's work today to share. Party was a bust for me. I don't do well with small talk and no one seemed to want to get into intellectual discussions. I also have a rough time relating to most women so I was glad when that party was over! yikes! I told hubby I might not attend next year..i'm just too weird compared to most people. LOL No one ever understands the ecclectic artist types :)

Oh, my mom gave us money towards the purchase of a front loader washer/dryer. We had something picked out, but when we went to the store they had a set for the same price but MUCH higher quality. It was an in-store special. The set was normally $1800 and we got it for $999 with free delivery! We had been looking for years but always felt they were too pricey. This new set will be MUCH better than what we have now, will save water, soap, energy costs and won't ruin my clothes like that other one. YAY!

Yesterday I made homemade caramels, chocolate dipped pretzels and some french vanilla instant coffee mix for gifts. Since i'm not celebrating as no one will be around, I had to prepare all the boxes i need to send to Montreal for my family/friends there. This means I had to  be more organized as the boxes have to get there on Friday. I had a tough time, it's my first holiday without my dad (R.I.P.) and i found it strange not to be putting gifts in the box for him. Sadly I can not make it home beacuse of work commitments.

Last night  i was in a bad mood, so my sweetie drew me a bath and lit some candles in the bathroom. :) He's good like that!!

Brought lunch to work today, a $1 veggie microwave rice package i bought at the dollar store which will give me two meals! :)

Sold more e-zines on etsy!! 4 this week! YAY! I now have almost $60US in my paypal account.

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Yesterday I went for another free yoga class and there were only 3 of us there. The teacher and I had a really good connection and we ended up talking for an hour after the class, as I also want to become an instructor so I was asking alot of questions. She mentioned that I should come back but I told her my budget is limited so I would try to drop in every once and awhile. She then said not to worry about the cost, that I could just pay what I could or not at all! WOW! Next week is her last class till after the holidays, so I will go with a basket of small gifts in exchange for the free class. Amazing what happens when you tell people you're on a strict budget!

I intended on going to another open house for a spa which was offering free mini massages and hand paraffin wax as well as free food and drinks! I had attended their fall open house and it was amazing. My plans got changed when i ran into a close friend who had just arrived to town! Him and I planned on hanging out this evening but we ended up having a coffee, going to the fruit & veggie market where he purchased the red pepper and discounted broccoli I wanted for me! I then got a ride home from him, meaning I saved $5 in total including my saved bus fare, the veggies he bought for me! 

In the evening, I ventured over to the dollarstore and spent $20 on various last minute Yule items to fill up a few gift bags, also bought 4 mugs to put my hot chocolate mix in for acquaintances :)

Today I wasn't as frugal, but still good. I bought a $2 organic fair trade coffee this morning. I get free coffee at work but it's not fair trade and I really wanted some. Also bought lunch (something i never do) for $3. Indian Rice and veggies at the food court. Cheapest healthiest filling meal in the entire foodcourt! Had a sweet tooth and bought a mammoth $2 muffin. Not sure my body will like this, but....oh well! It's friday!

I have a busy night, out to dinner with my friend (cheap place of course!), going to squeeze in an hour yoga class after dinner, then have to meet another friend for a few drinks as this is his last night in town before he goes back home :(

So glad its the weekend!

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This weekend, we're going to a Holiday Party at my sweetie's colleague's house. Apparently yesterday, the host asked my sweetie if I prefer Beef or Salmon. He said neither. I think at first the man was confused. It really bothers me that no one ever considers vegetarians (or vegans) for holiday gatherings. Each year I have to negotiate a meal with the kitchen (at a restaurant or hotel) where my sweetie's company usually has their parties. Everyone gets a set meal, and apparently i have to do the work myself to get the kitchen to accommodate me. No one seems to want to bother doing that for me. Many people are not eating meat anymore, and for some reason society is still very ignorant of this fact (unless you live in a cool city like Vancouver, San Francisco or NYC). Meat eaters tend to be oblivious sometimes and don't even think that i might need protein. "Oh, just eat the salad and potatoes". What if I told them that's all they were getting for their meal? Don't I deserve a nice holiday meal too?
 

The host said he'd grill extra veggies for me..thoughtful but ignorant..sadly. argh. Where will I get my protein? Why do all meat eaters think all I eat are vegetables? So now, I have to bring my own food because the host doesn't want to put any effort into accommodating me. Maybe I'm just bitter and wish someone would be more respectful of my eating choices. :( It makes holiday parties very stressful.

I am also bringing a banana bread and three appetizers (all vegan of course) as I know it's unlikely I'll be able to eat anything there. I don't expect people to prepare entire vegan meals just for me, but even just one dip that I (and everyone) can enjoy. I'm actually surprised that more people aren't eating better and cutting out things their bodies don't need.

My plan is to bring a booklet of veggie recipes, so perhaps the next time they have a party and someone is vegetarian, they can make something easy and make the vegetarian feel welcome.  

Funny thing is, every year when I get my vegan meal from the kitchen of wherever we are, everyone else is always envious and says my stuff looks way better then what they have. For dessert everyone was eating dairy filled calorie rich desserts while i was eating a healthy fruitcup...then everyone wanted a fruit cup. hahaa.
just because a meal is vegan, doesn't mean it tastes bad, most of the time it even tastes better and is healthier, and this is what i hear from a few of my meat eating friends whom i've cooked for.

So for your next party, if there are going to be a lot of people, it's easy to make allergen-free (no dairy, wheat, soy or peanuts) appetizers that everyone will enjoy. try serving the following with veggies or chips:

*Hummus, Guacamole, Onion Dip (with vegan sour cream & mayonaise), Salsa...

Making a cake without eggs is easy too, look up "Wacky cake" which is a frugal recipe. A healthy fruit salad is good for everyone too :)

So sorry for the rant, it's just getting a little tough as I've had to deal with this for several years. Good thing my yoga teacher training course only offers veggie meals! YAY!
 

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I'm noticing that I am missing a few gifts for people, so naturally being an internet geek, I go online to websites which list sales and coupons for various websites for online shopping. EVERY store seems to have alluring deals that make me want to buy....yikes!

Twice this evening i caught myself filling a cart with stuff I didn't need to buy for people, then after a few minutes when I was just about to fill in my credit card, I closed the window and decided not to do it. Yes, free shipping is great (if you spend $50!) or free stuff is nice if you buy some items from their store, but in the end you end up spending more than intended. Oh boy.  Good thing my frugal brain is shouting at me before entering my card information : "STOP, you don't need these things!!"

Most of my shopping is done already for my friends and family members and I still have a few items to make. Sadly I am missing a few key gifts for two close friends and I can't figure out what to get as hard as I try. I've managed to spend less than $150 in total for ALL my gifts but if i am not careful i'll break my limit. :S

Tomorrow I have another day off, so I will venture out to buy a used book for a friend (something i should be able to find as the book he wants has been out a few years), and a gift card for a girlfriend of mine who likes to buy books online. Now I just have to find a bunch of stocking stuffers for my partner and i'm done. Good, I think I made it through the night without spending a dime. :)

 

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Yesterday I had the day off which I always love! I work 3 days a week right now which is giving me enough income on top of a few other things i do.

I decided to take in another hot yoga class, as they owed me a few free classes for the volunteer work I did there. Boy, I didn't think I was gonna make it out of there! Being in a 95degree room doing yoga isn't easy, you sweat in places you never though sweat could even come out! So as much as i felt rather detoxed afterwards, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Might leave that for hardcore A type personality athletes, not me :)

I ventured over to the grocery store with my friend, he likes it when we go together as he knows he'll spend a lot more if he's alone. I found whole coffee beans for $2 for 1lb! I normally buy organic coffee beans from a local roaster for $6 for half a pound which lasts us all week. I am very picky about my coffee and this is where I splurge. But who could pass up $2 coffee and whole beans at that? So I'm crossing my fingers that it won't be terrible! I spent $40 in total on groceries for my sweetie and I which will last us a few weeks. I replenish my produce & tofu at the farmers market on weekends but every two weeks I spend anywhere from $40-$60 on staple items. I also found Almond Milk on sale, 3/$5 which is the best price ive seen in ages. I use it in my oatmeal each morning. I do have a soymilk maker but only use that when I will be going through a lot more milk as the fresh stuff only lasts up to 5 days.

For dinner, I made some organic vegan-gluten free macaroni and "cheese" which I bought in a box for $3. To make it go further, I added 2 veggie dogs and a whole bunch of broccoli to make 4 meals. Since my mom eats gluten free and no dairy, I will find a recipe to make some packages like this for her so she can enjoy it too. I bought the box for convenience and realize I could probably reproduce this myself quite easily. :)

In the evening I went to my monthly one hour "figure modelling" gig at the local pottery place. I get paid $25 to sit for an hour and local artists draw or sculpt me. I drank Jasmine tea and talked to the illustrator who was drawing me. Usually there are a lot more people there and I get to see amazing art, but it was quiet last night! I also found out the local art school needs "figure" models for their art classes which pay a little less ($15/hr) but apparently there is a lot of work. So if I do this 4-5 hours a week, that's an extra $300 a month! The work is easy, I just sit there and pose. I imagine they pay well because most people are too shy to do this work :)

So I spent about $45 yesterday and made $25 so in the end I really only gave out $20. Not bad for coming home with lots of groceries and taking in a yoga class. I also sold two zine packages on Etsy for a total of $24! Good day overall!

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I had an amazing frugal weekend!

I had the day off on Friday and decided to stay home for most of the day apart from having to go hunt for a dress to go to my sweeties holiday party next weekend. Perhaps this isn't quite frugal, but i went to a store which sells really beautiful european clothing for decent prices. I don't shop there often but the pieces I find there I keep for a long time. I scoured the sale rack and found a dress for 50%off. I also found another dress, but wasn't planning on purchasing two..what's a girl to do? The other dress was not on sale but wasn't very expensive. The owner of the store could see that I hadn't planned on getting both, so when I did she gave me an extra 10% for looking so good in the dresses. LOL. Wow...nice confidence booster! I planned on purchasing my dress at the thirft store, but when I saw these I couldn't resist and i got them both on sale so I couldn't really complain right?

That night I went to a hot yoga class for $5. All monies go to a charity so I was happy to support it and get a nice yoga session while I was at it! Apparently they do this friday nights on a weekly basis, so i may have to do it again next Friday.

Saturday I went to an open house for an alternative therapies place and got a free chair massage, $5 off gift certificate to one of their services, a coupon for a free yoga class, some free cider and treats and on top of it the acupuncturist decided to give me free allergy testing! I had always wanted to get that done. yipee! I didn't spend a dime there! I also got some free consultation from the holistic nutritionist and walked out of there with LOTS of free information for my well being! Yay!

Saturday evening I received my free photographs from this professional photographer I did a shoot with. I got over 140 digital photos of me, and about the same amount of my sweetie and I! I got 271 photos from two shoots. WOW!  They are art nudes which he's been doing for over 20 years! My friends cant' believe how incredible these photos are. My sweetie and I will go to Walmart to print out some of the photos and get some frames for gift giving. Good thing I have open minded family & friends! :) All free!

Sunday morning I ventured out to LuluLemon as they offer free weekly yoga classes and free snacks afterwards. The class ran for 80mins (usually only 60!) and we got free apple cider and fruit afterwards. I normally do this every Sunday.

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Zodiac Gifts: (you can purchase horoscope books everywhere, this is a nice addition to these gifts!)

Capricorn:  They love stuff & pretty things. They like beauty. So either some art, nice framed photographs of family, beauty products or something shiny!

Aquarius: Ecclectic, progressive and inventive. Don't get anything that everyone else wants! They like to  be different. They are the underdog. Gift certificates to eco stores (not trendy ones!), new age stores or some science center would be cool. Handmade things are also extremely appreciated, they will love you for it no matter what it is. Stay away from anything trendy or showy, they'll hate it. Keep it real & from the heart :)

Pisces: Sensitive and intuitive. They like things that feel and smell good. They smell everything! They are also quiet so getting them something like a journal to write in (handmade is better!), perhaps something smelly like a candle, bubble bath, or a nice fuzzy blanket with a book to curl up. they love gifts that are thoughtful & come from the heart.

Aries: Very outgoing & talkative. They love people and like to keep busy. They enjoy new things and are curious. Maybe a date calender, calling card, a new trendy book or dvd (self help or business),  a bus ticket (so they can go explore!), a cd with downloaded podcasts of a topic they'd be interested in..

Taurus: Taureans are extremely social. They can get along with anyone. They generally like structure and more traditional things in life. ). They are also great with money! They'd love something like a homecooked meal, a gift certificate to their favourite clothing store, something for their house (like decorative candles, paintings/photos, a throw for their sofa) or  a gift certificate for a free movie night out.

Gemini: They have a strong work ethic and are social, curious, & humanitarians. Most geminis are tied to their work or take a lot of pride in everything they do. They have a lot of interests! A gift certificate to a new yoga place or gym, subscription to satellite radio, a spa basket for them to relax (they have trouble relaxing!) or some homemade goodies as they rarely have time to do their own cooking and baking as they can be workaholics.

Cancer: Cancers like to be home bound. They are very caring and enjoy the company of family and close friends. They also enjoy good food. A gift certificate to a restaurant, a movie basket (with video rental, popcorn, treats...) to enjoy at home with family or a basket of homemade goodies will be well appreciated!

Leo: Leos love attention and themselves. They are quite funny too! Get something that has their name on it (like printed towels) or mugs,  perhaps a joke book, dvd or video. Maybe take a picture of them, and get an artist to do it in charcoal/pencil. A gift certificate to a spa would also be appreciated. They like quality things, so spoil them with their favourite fancy coffee or foods!

Virgo: (will fill this in as soon as i can!)

Scorpio: Scorpios are sensitive, like some structure and security. They are passionate about the things that they do and take a lot of pride in them. They like to read up on everything. Books on their favourite topic or hobby would be appreciated, or a gift certificate to a bookstore. Gift certificate to a clothing store is also nice, as they tend not to splurge a whole lot on themselves with extra luxury items.

Saggitarius: Smart, optimistic and laid back. They tend to be very low key, open minded and not materialistic. They'll be happy with almost anything as long as you're not trying to impress them. Make the gift real, they love useful things. Making something for them, or inviting them out for social drinks or a movie is always a safe bet! Perhaps a gift certificate for their favourite coffee place. Get them something they'll actually use. They also love gadgets.

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I had the day off yesterday and spent most of it just writing and doing research for my upcoming "zine". Tired of being inside all day, i ventured out to Sally Ann's to see if I could find any Holiday mugs to purchase so I can store small hot chocolate mixes in there for neighbours and my colleage. In the past I've seen these mugs for 20cents but when I got there, they were pricing USED mugs for 99cents! WHAT??? Some grungier ugly ones were 49cents but at that price I might as well buy a fancy one at the dollar store. I was so disappointed. Then I ventured over to where they have magazines. My friend collects national geographics from the decade he was born. I was lucky to find a box of 60 of them on Kijiji.com for $15 ranging from 1974-1997. Luckily most of the issues were of the decade he collects but not all of them were there. I was lucky to find 4 issues at 69cents each to add to his gift :) He'll be thrilled...over 65 issues for him and I spent less than $18!

I also discovered that this particular store has clothing for 50% off each wednesday. I arrived just before 5pm so I didn't have time to look around and the lineup at the cash was outrageous, but definitely worth going back for gifts next week.

I was in kind of a bad mood, so my sweetie suggested we go rent a movie. He wanted a pizza too, so we ventured over to the pizza place located near the video store (Their pizzas are really cheap if you pick them up instead of getting delivery), he ordered his pizza and they told him that night was 2for1!! Since I don't eat pizza (I'm vegan and try to stay away from bread products too), we weren't sure what to do with the second one. Since he eats pizza once a week as a treat, I decided to make packages in ziplock bags, wrapping two slices in plastic wrap first, then in a ziplock. Now he has 4 meals in the freezer when he is craving pizza!

I currently temp in a fancy government office, and we always throw out tons of  milk & creamers. We are obliged to have them on hand but every two weeks we throw out tons of them because they are rarely used. I asked if I could take a small baggie with me, which wasn't an issue at all! I have a friend who loves cream in his coffee but says when he buys the container it always goes bad. So I bring him a dozen creamers to use from my office. Everyone is happy and there is less waste.

It's my colleages birthday on Monday and since I haven't been here long and I don't really know him (it's just him and I in the office most of the time, no one else), I wanted to surprise him with something but didn't know what. I made some of my peanut brittle last week for a friend but kept a little bit and brought it in. He loved it! So I secretly discovered that he likes peanut brittle, I will make some of this and add some French Vanilla Coffee Mix with it too (He loves french vanilla coffee). woohoo!

Another long day at this office, looking forward to yoga tonight, boy I need it!

Peace.

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MAKE A PAYMENT TO YOURSELF

A few years ago I opened an ING savings account. This is not my primary bank.  When they sent me the bank card in the mail (we don't have ING branches here), i just discarded the pin number so i wouldn't use it in ATMs. I set it up so that $25 a week would be taken out from my main account and into my ING account. I work it in as if I am paying a bill, even $5 a week that you forget about ads up! I use this money for when I travel home (I get there with airmile points or super seat sales and use the saved money for spending). Since I like to get away every three months (travel is my luxury!) and my budget is tight, I need to put money away like this if I want to indulge. In three months, I collect roughly $300 which is more than enough for me when I travel, as I stay with family and friends so most of the money is for going out to eat a few times and some shopping! 

PENNIES!

Another option which is to keep a jar of pennies. I tend to dip into jars with silver coins but I usually turn my nose up at pennies..haha. So i have started a jar of pennies at home and although this will not get me anything expensive like a plane ticket, after a year you could have enough for a gift for someone or perhaps a few food items when you're really down and out. 

DINER & COFFEE CARDS

I also keep coffee cards from every coffee place in town as well as a few restaurants. This weekend I got a free 1/2lb of organic coffee beans and accumulated a free meal at a diner near my place.  I also have a Burger King card too. (though i tend to stay away from junk food). My sweetie and i usually go there when we're just craving for grease! When I go on "dates" with friends, we like to save money by just going for coffee instead of dinner. One of my close friends and I frequent a cafe about once a week for long chats, he lets me use my card for  both of our purchases which means after 5 visits i get a free drink! Him and I also go for cheap sushi for lunch every few weeks and again i use my card for both purchases. 3 more sushi lunches then I get one freeI YAY! I also tend to keep the freebies for times when I am in between paychecks with little or no money to spare, I don't use them when I have money to spend.

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Today I was thinking about what I could give the women who work at my temp agency. I've come up with a few ideas and will end up choosing one of them. I wanted to give them something environmental/green. Here is what I came up with so far:

*Travel Coffee Mug from the thrift store with a $2 organic coffee gift card in it and a few candy canes, then wrap it in newspaper tied with raffia (or a "one pot" package of organic fair trade coffee) - could also make soy hot chocolate mix! (I posted the recipe on this website)

*A plastic container filled with homemade biscotti

*HandMade Soy candles in vintage tea cups from the thrift store or mason jars

*Handmade Eye Pillows using flax seed or rice with lavender flowers and thrift store fabric or cut up clothing.

*To each give them a plant from clippings, pot them in thrift store found clay pots and decorate or paint the pots.

*Handmade Bath Salts using non iodized sea salt from the grocery store.

I find that people give each other so much food during the holidays that I was trying to think mostly of non-food useable gifts. I find that consumeable gifts are still always the best, like soaps, bath products, drink mixes...

I also went to the Salvation Army today looking for clothes for one friend but ended up finding clothes for another! I already had enough gifts for him but couldnt' resist because the clothing is normally VERY expensive retail and was in excellent shape. I paid $10 for a pair of pants and shirt that would normally cost probably $200. He loves these brands so he'll be thrilled. Also found an old Disco record  for $1 as he has dj turntables and loves retro music :)

Will go again this weekend to find items for the others! Phew..just two more people to go then i'm done "shopping"! :)

Peace.

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I do quite a bit of yoga but it is very expensive where I live. If I go to a regular studio, it's at least $100-$150 a month to go unlimited. I can't afford this and found that doing yoga at home with videos doesn't really do it for me as I love the energy with classes and it forces me to stick it out to the end!

After quite a bit of research, I located several places which offer free or cheap yoga. Now I can do yoga 4 times a week for $10!! Lululemon always offers free classes. It used to only be on Sundays but now they offer them on Sundays and Tuesdays! They are one hour and also offer free snacks afterwards.Check out www.lululemon.com for store locations and a listing of community events (free yoga!)

 Another yoga studio offers 2 community classes for $5. The classes go on for 1 1/2 hours. Moksha yoga (google it for studios in your area) offers karma classes on Fridays for $5 as well which means if I did yoga 5 times a week it would cost me $15!

I also found a woman who offers $7 classes and they are really good. It took me awhile to look around, but check local papers or entertainment magazines where yoga classes are listed.

Another option is to take a class offered weekly through the city you live it. THey are usually taught in community centres and run for about $50 for 8 weeks or so, which is nice.

If you are new to yoga, studios normally offer a free trial class so to start you can go to all the studios in your area and ask for a trial class.

As a last option, joining a community gym is usually inexpensive and gyms tend to offer yoga classes. I still have passes for a gym I used to go to which have 45min classes. I keep these passes on hand in case I can't attend other weekly ones.

I absolutely love yoga and hope to become a teacher next year!

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I realized this morning that my pantry is fairly empty but I didn't want to go grocery shopping till I get paid next week. I decided to take what I had on hand, throw it in the crockpot and see what happens!
Here is what I came up with:

1/2 cup lentils (I had 1/4 cup of green & 1/4 cup red)

1 1/2 cups brown rice

4/ 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 tsp each of oregano, celery salt & onion powder

1 large carrot (sliced)

Place everything in the crockpot on low and cook until rice is done.

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I recently called my credit card company to ask how i could get a lower interest rate as I am trying to pay it off and currently only work part time. I saw that they had cards on their website with better rates than mine. Because I had never missed a payment and was in good standing with them, they decreased my interest by 6%!! So I am now paying 14% instead of 20% just for calling. This took all of one minute. He also said my balance would reflect the new rate in 45 days. Better late than never! I can't believe I didn't call sooner!

 

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Homemade Bread and Jam

In the summer and at harvest time I love to make jams, butters and salsas. If I am looking for a quick easy last minute gift for someone, I bake a loaf of whole grain bread in my breadmaker and give them a jar of jam/butter with it!

If you are making the winter salsa (recipe found on this site), then you can buy a nice bag of organic tortilla chips to go with it.!

I like to package these gifts in large brown paper bags :)

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