Monday, March 29, 2010

Hey frugal foodies, recipes requested

I just stumbled upon an article headlined Eating Well on $50 a Week. Even though the story is over a year old, it's understandably one of the most read on the Maclean's website. I imagine a lot of people wish they could shrink their grocery bills (though I don't know how many would like to do it by dining on sardines and navy beans).

I for one love the feeling you get when the Safeway cashier enters your Club Card number and you watch all the discounts dropping off your bill. And then the numbers stop spinning and the cashier says, "You saved $23.18 today." It's kind of mesmerizing and rewarding, like playing a VLT.

Some months our food budget bobs perilously close to our mortgage payments. Not because we're foodies - on the contrary, our recipe repertoire is limited to about ten dishes....most of which involve chicken or fish. I had planned to ease us into vegetarianism, starting with Meatless Mondays, but I keep forgetting. If you've got recipes for fortifying dinners for two that cost less than $7.14 and don't involve pre-soaking legumes, please send them my way!

Friday, March 26, 2010

A cosy commercial and bargains for knitters

Knitters, it's time to have fun!

To begin, watch these two videos. My friend and avid knitter Steph W. sent them to me this week. First, one of the most tactile commercials I've ever seen. It's supposed to be selling natural gas, but really I think it's about the transformative power of knitting! The making-of video is equally charmant, oui oui.

Now that you're in the mood to knit, head to Ram Wools at Portage and Sherburn, for their anniversary sale. It's been a year since they moved to the new location, and everything in the store is 25% off! Time to stock up on yarn, books, needles, buttons, whatever you need for your next project. The sale runs 'til Wednesday, March 31 so you've got some time.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Thanks to you, Mr. Robinson


Today by chance I ran into the man who put the Robinson in McNally Robinson. Ron Robinson is always lovely to chat with about a myriad of topics - Fringe plays, Coronation Street, Eaton's, and of course books. Sounds like he has a serious case of hoarditis. His partner suggested that they buy the house across the street because their own is wall-to-wall books. "I always think of it as insulation," was Ron's defense. As a result, Ron has been on his own quest to monetize his literary assets. So I asked him for his suggestions of good spots to sell used books.

His first go-to spot is Bison Books, with the proviso that they don't always offer top dollar. He brought a book there a while back, and was offered $3 for it. He decided to hang on to it, as he was planning a trip to London, England. Once there, he walked into a shop on Cecil Court off Charing Cross Road and asked for their appraisal. The shopkeep eyed it. "First edition, The Tin Drum, good condition, I'll give you £30; for it." "Sold!" said Ron. (He originally paid 50p for it). He promptly donated his $60 CDN to CKUW, the campus and community radio station where he hosts the programs Pages (Thursdays at 5 p.m.) and The Saturday Morning Show (Saturdays at 6 a.m.)

His second go-to spot is Aqua Books, located in a former Chinese restaurant on Garry Street. One plus is that the owner, Kelly, will donate any books he doesn't buy to the Children's Hospital Book Market. So once you take your books to Aqua, you don't have to worry about the rejects languishing in the trunk of your car. After selling books there, Ron usually spends his proceeds on a tasty dessert from the cheerful in-store bistro, EAT!. That Ron Robinson is a wise, wise man.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

We've found heaven, and it has a bouncy castle

It's tough to find cheap indoor activities for under-fivers in this town. When both I and the baby were crawling the walls this winter, too often we had to pay for our escape from the Land of Stir Crazy. For playdates we've tried the Children's Museum (pricey at $7), the West Portage Y ($12 for a family of 4), and Bimi Sushi (half-price sushi on Mondays and Tuesdays). I know lots of people swear by the play areas at McDonald's or Indigo or St. Vital Centre. One friend takes her little guy to the play area at the airport, but of course you have to pay for parking. This city is in dire need of warm public space for toddlers.

This week (thanks to Brent!) we found Winnipeg's toddler and parent paradise: the Ride and Play program at Earl Grey Community Centre. The bright, open gym space is filled with ride-on toys (from radio flyers to scooters), a couple of play houses, the aforementioned bouncy castle, and a craft table. They've got train sets and building toys and for pre-crawlers, there are exersaucers and play mats. Alison the coordinator has thought of everything, including bins for toys that have been "slimed" and need to be disinfected. I think the only thing that could improve the Ride and Play is a couple of massage chairs for parents to sit in while on kid watch.

Admission is just $2 (not $3 as stated in the Free Press article). The drop-in program runs Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Wednesdays from 9:15-2:30 p.m., and every session ends with a grand finale involving clean-up music and balls and ribbons. Good times!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Presentation isn't always everything

MAWA's Over The Top! Art Auction and Cupcake Party is just over a week away. Last year the cupcakes were a real feast for the eyes, elaborately adorned with butterflies, and sparkly sprinkles atop perfect piping. With that in mind, I thought I would try something a little more festive than my default Betty Crocker meets Duncan Hines creations. My friend Sarah lent me her Cupcakes! recipe book. After eyeballing the cupcake porn, I had pictures of Chocolate-Covered Brownie Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes dancing in my head.

Sadly, I was too lazy to follow the exact recipe. I replaced the fancy chocolate batter with a simple yellow batter. Then once I mixed the batter, I had to suspend production for a meeting with a contractor. The end result was a disappointment. The cupcakes were hard and dry, and the ones I made in Jumbo cones didn't rise enough. Only three of them actually looked like ice cream cones (that's why there are only three in the photo). And it turns out, eating a cupcake out of a cone is actually kind of awkward and unappealing (unless perhaps you are three years old and have a side dish of ice cream). On the plus side, the chocolate dip was super easy to make. For my next dessert, chocolate-covered strawberries!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Monetize me!

For the last several years our friend Jeff has organized a Winnipeg edition of the Amazing Race, complete with karaoke detours and rock-climbing road blocks. Jeff masterminds a course that takes teams to historic parks, overlooked monuments and funky neighborhoods. I love being a tourist in my own town, and travelling to corners of the city that I've forgotten about or never seen. If it weren't for Jeff, I might have missed the cartoon hydrants of Bruce Park.

Winnipeg is full of scenes that you never see, but are right in front of you all the time. Take the second-hand scene. I've been checking out some of the small businesses that buy and sell used stuff (since we're trying to de-hoard, we may as well monetize our assets). I'm impressed by how much money is flowing through this city's hand-me-down micro-economy. I'm starting to think it's the real reason Manitoba escaped the recession relatively unscathed. Here are some high points on my monetize-me map:

Music Trader: Since Christmas we have been digitizing our music collection, which means importing hundreds of CDs into the iPod. Music Trader in Osborne Village happily bought about fifty of my now-redundant CDs, for $170 cash. (If you opt to trade rather than sell, you get up to 25% more.) Billy Bragg was a hit there. The Cranberries were not.

Entertainment Exchange: I took the remaining CDs to Entertainment Exchange in Grant Park Mall (across from Safeway). The guy there was really friendly, and bought about 24 CDs (including The Doors and The Proclaimers) for $80.

Wolseley Wardrobe: They sell men's, women's and children's clothes on consignment, and they are super-friendly and helpful. Anything that doesn't sell gets donated. I highly recommend this store, since they also have a lovely yarn selection for knitters and they always have their radio tuned to CBC. Details on how to become a consignee are on their website.

The Neighborhood Bookstore & Cafe: I brought in a small box of about 25 books - mostly art, poetry and literature to this store on Westminster Avenue. The owner, Bill, gave me the option of cash or credit. I took $45 in store credit, which I spent on a whole lot of delicious tuna onigiri. Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore will buy your mystery paperbacks for $1 each. (Or you can donate them to the Children's Hospital Bookmarket).

Movie Village: This landmark Osborne Village business sent me a cheque for $40 for a handful of movies and TV series on DVD (including the disappointing third season of Veronica Mars).
They promised to send me the cheque within ten days. When it didn't arrive, I called and discovered there had been some kind of computer glitch and the cheque had not been cut. So make sure you keep your receipt, and follow up if there's a problem.

Mom and Children's Paradise: This store on Nairn Avenue is next on my list of places to visit. They buy and sell clothes for babies, kids and women, as well as "baby needs" and toys. My friend Meagan did some de-cluttering of kids toys and baby stuff, and got $55 for her trouble.

Do you have a favorite spot for monetizing your assets? Do tell! I would love to add to the list.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Happy International Women's Day!

This is the perfect day to share a few creations made by awesome women and girls. International Women's Day is almost over, but for me, this stuff is inspiring year-round:
* Amy Poehler's web series, Smart Girls At The Party, especially The Feminist - Ruby.

* Andrea Dorfman's video for Tanya Davis's song, Art

* Cecil Castelluci's graphic novel, The Plain Janes

* India Arie's song Beautiful Flower

* Bust magazine, "the magazine for women with something to get off their chests"

Saturday, March 6, 2010

House of hoarders

A couple of years ago, I got the rare chance to tour Habitat 67, the stunning modular housing complex designed by Moshe Safdie for Montreal's Expo '67. I was in modernist heaven - I'm a sucker for humanist design, not to mention built-in bookshelves, natural light and a river view! I was surprised to discover that some of the Habitat dwellers were not as enamored of the original units. One owner transformed his lovely clean wood-and-glass cube into a black-and-white Zen garden, complete with stones, bamboo and water features. It was very sleek and glossy - and disorienting. I couldn't figure out where the family kept the detritus of daily life - the weekend paper, the umbrella, the dustpan. Then I accidentally caught a glimpse of their closet (I opened the door thinking it was the washroom) and discovered it was crammed full of junk. Slippers, cleaning supplies, lightbulb and two-litre bottles of Sprite were all ready to bust out at any moment like so many skeletons. It was a relief to realize that even the most minimalist of us are hoarders at heart.

On the spectrum from Zen minimalist to hoarding horror, our house is perpetually on the cusp of horror. (My sister tells me that if you have to close doors to certain rooms when you have visitors, you are a hoarder). Once every couple of months I pack up a box of clothes and other stuff for Canadian Diabetes. I've taken our VHS machine and old battery chargers to the e-waste depot. I've donated boxes of baby stuff to Villa Rosa. I have been known to visit Unclutterer. But still stuff accumulates. Lately I'm getting a kick out of spinning our household junk into cold hard cash. (And no, I'm not selling stuff on Kijiji or Used Winnipeg). The fact is, a surprising number of businesses in this city will give you money for stuff you no longer want. I'll walk you through a few of them in a post later this week.