a spendthrift's tale

reduce, reuse and recycle....food....

bunches of forgotten cilantro and parsley usually languish in the drawers of my refrigerator until they are scarcely more than slime in bags. i finally decided to try to use the excess of anything that is not being used and find a way to preserve them.

it's as simple as these few simple steps. now i just have to remember that i have cilantro and parsley on hand when needed. you can also rescue unused unpeeled ginger before it dries into hard unusable nuggets by simply, chopping it up storing it in a freezer bag until needed--or select smaller chunks at the grocery store :0P. i'm giving it a go with peeled ginger, because i happened to find myself with a surplus of it. the success of this little venture will soon be borne out.

salvaging and using food that would normally be thrown out works two-fold. first off you are not creating more volume of material that would normally be stuffed into the garbage, and you don't have to buy more. these little bags (labeled, of course), take up negligible space in the freezer. if i had a the space for compost and the use for compost i would put the unusable bits and pieces of organic material into that, but i got vetoed on that one. maybe when we have a yard. in the meantime, i do what i can.

the dog difference between robson and granville and georgia and granville

i was horrified to discover most street dog vendors in vancouver are charging 4 bucks or more for the lowly portable meal. in front of future shop on west broadway, somewhere west past granville street, a vendor has the audacity to charge $6! he had a disclaimer slash guarantee that claimed the tube steaks were filled with 100% natural and pure ingredients and if it wasn't the best you ever had that you could get your money back. frankly i wouldn't put myself out like that. there's no accounting for taste. i didn't buy one, because i simply could not bring myself to part with that much dinero for something i am used to paying for with pocket change in the wee hours of the morning.

that's vancouver, where the cost of living is exorbitant on every front, but not always. if you do happen to be hankerin' for a good dog in the afternoon, there's a vendor in front of the london drugs at granville and east georgia that has an early bird special. before 2:00pm he sells his product for $2.50, after 2pm they go for $3, which stilll is a bargoon compared to his compatriots just around the corner and a little south on robson street.

he's amicable and easy going, and he knows a bargain. he and a friend were talking about a possible trip to thailand. funny, i never imagined that a hot dog vendor could even entertain international travel. but he and his friend posited that for a few thousand dollars a person could live like a king somewhere in thailand. i didn't linger to hear exactly where, as i am sure it isn't as cheap as it used to be there either, but i am curious nevertheless. endless summer, some risk of rain that could couple with winds and sweep you away, but even so, a gem of a destination. i could stand that sort of sabbatical instead of the one i am living now, the one that sucked up easily $10k or more of my savings in the effort.

the dark and ominous sky parted to host a sky brilliant blue and a generous warm washing of sunshine. a welcome departure from several days preceding. i sit down in a seat formed by a deep window and tuck into my dog. it is bang on and completely hits the spot. it's only missing one of my favourite condiments, banana peppers, nevertheless. perfeck. just like the day.

it's free so it qualifies as thrifty

I've never had one of these things myself, so I'm an inclined to give one a try, and then make my judgement.

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free is a very good price

in celebration of Earth Day Starbucks is offering a free coffee if you bring your mug into one of their stores tomorrow. I reckon I've done my bit to support Starbucks over the last 10 years or so, and i am definitely going to capitalize on the offer. just because. i have gotten to the point where i defer having coffee anywhere if i don't have my mug with me anyway. it's part of a larger exercise in conscious green consumerism. that is, if i haven't already had coffee at home, which is the goal in the pursuit of saving money. it's a win win.

it's not much but it's something

who says nothing comes for free?

jonesing for coffee, and even though i have forgotten my mug and i am miles from a decent coffee place, i succumb to the cheap siren call of mc d's. corporate policies aside, the coffee is a bargoon on the worst of days, but they are having a promotion during the next two weeks and they are giving away a small coffee for absolutely nothing. i wanted a large and they gave it to me anyway.

saved myself $1.49 and got my hit of caffeine. works for me.

trying to paint the big picture

how does one educate themselves without growing broke or incurring more debt than they already have?
i've been researching volunteer opportunities that might relate what i am interested in but there isn't much that is applicable. matter of fact, there is nothing. i need some inspiration, some big idea.

no job = no $ and that's just no fun

i had to politely decline from attending a friend's birthday party tonight, once it was clear no pennies were going to drop in my lap and make it possible to attend afterall. i made it sound like i was too busy or somehow otherwise engaged; making me look like a class A heel, since I had rsvp'd an enthusiastic affirmative. it wasn't that i couldn't be bothered. not like that. i haven't seen her in ages, and looked forward to the chance to reconnect but finances didn't really permit me to mix and mingle at some upscale downtown restaurant. 'spensive cocktails are definitely not in the budget. an intimate and informal house party would have been far easier to fake. A decent bottle of plonk and the party is afoot. 

keeping the yard lookin' pretty

this is for the girls only. boys avert your eyes.

the first thing i am doing when i get a job is to get the bush trimmed and the hedges pruned back. you know what i'm talkin' 'bout. seriously. the temple is in a fine state of disarray and being unemployed doesn't mean i should risk razor burn to keep looking halfway decent or that i should even be ignoring it or letting it all go to hell. (don't even talk to me about all the messy methods.) whether or not i get a job i am going to try a local aesthetic school and see how that goes. i am getting a bit of a visual in the theatre of my mind that i want to banish, because it will put me off the whole idea even though i want to go that route anyway since it is the frugal thing to do.

let you know how it all works out.

watch this!

i'm trying to get my favourite watch crystal replaced without being extorted. the small shop in oakridge that so obligingly and reasonably replaced the watch battery in shaun's watch wants $60 - $80 to do the job. it's a little glass not schwarovsky! i think they threw the number out there testing the water to see if i would bite but it is no go. i am no doyenne of 41st avenue but a chick looking for a job.  the lack of a big rock on my left finger should have given it away. even if i had a job i'd cough up a hairball before i'd give over that sort of money for this small service. hell, i could fedex my watch back to t.o. and have someone take it to harry's. 20 bucks thank you very much. i feel naked without my watch, but i won't get it fixed until i feel the price is reasonable, which could mean, sadly, i could be without it for awhile.

free wine...always good

Great Films and Free Wine at the Cinematheque

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