I commend my parents for teaching me the value of a dollar at a young age. I had to do chores to get an allowance. I was told 'no' on a regular basis to things I wanted and when I turned 15, my dad drove me around Ottawa with a folder of resumes while I hopped out and tried to land my first real job. At the time, it seemed like the end of the world. While friends were sleeping in on Saturday mornings, I was at work for 8am getting ready for a long day of packaging raw meat and weighing out bacon. Glamorous. But at this tender age of 15, I gained a sense of pride about earning my own paycheck, a growing passion for staying on budget and of course, I learned every meat joke under the sun.
Being frugal and saving money is a really big part of who I am. Now don't get me wrong, I do spend money on things other than 'needs', I tip my servers (I'm not an asshole), and I can enjoy a nice evening out with friends or a new pair of shoes like any other girl. Recently moving out has put a strain on my money hoarding so I've had to dig up ways to satisfy that fiscal craving.
I've compiled a list of ways to save some cash and make a little money. None of them will make you a millionaire but it's a way less destructive habit than eating peanut butter out of the jar.
1. Airmiles. It's an obvious one. I have an Airmiles credit card and usually redeem my points for movie night vouchers (two passes, two drinks, and a popcorn) ie: Free date night. You can also sign up for their Airmiles Surveys which they send by email a couple times a week, earning you even more points for every one completed.
2. This awesome website called Women Freebies which gets updated several times a day with coupons, free samples, and travel contests. The best part? It's all Canadian. I recently won a free gift card just by tweeting them online.
3. Another awesome website called Opinion Outpost Here, you create a profile then they e-mail you online surveys and pay you for your thoughts. A friend told me about it a few years ago and it really works. You can redeem your points for Paypal credit, Amazon credit, Online games, or donate it to charity.4. Viber. This is a FREE app for you Iphone users. It's probably one of my favourite apps in the whole world. It lets you talk and text for free with anyone else who has downloaded it. I'm able to chat with friends on the other side of the world for free which would normally cost a pretty penny. Wait, no more pennies. Did you know it was actually costing 1.6 pennies to make a penny? That's why they're phasing out.
Feel free to share your skrill saving tips or ask any questions about the sites I mentioned :)
