There was a recent Groupon "deal" for a $200 furnace cleaning/inspection for $89. I really doubt that the $200 value has any relation to reality (who would ever partake of a "regular price" $200 furnace cleaning? Sounds like fraud to me), but $89 is still a rip-off when the competition is $0.
To be fair, if you have a house in Edmonton then you're already paying $50 a month to the gas company for nothing, so *it's not really free, but...
Once a year you can get the gas company to inspect your furnace. They'll clean the pilot light if necessary and scrape the dust out of the gas... uh... BBQ thing. It's probably worth doing every few years. Anyone who ordered the Groupon "deal" is a sucka.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Money for nothing
If you use a small enough amount of natural gas, Direct Energy might not even list it on your bill. Instead of usage amounts, you'll get a Rate Code of "Low Residential", and you'll be billed as if you used no gas at all (I wouldn't doubt that it'll still add up and show up on a future bill). This may be because Direct Energy doesn't want to send you a bill for say 100x the cost of the gas you've used.
This can happen if for example you've turned your furnace pilot off for the summer, and set your hot water heater to "vacation" while away.
So how much is a bill for no gas? With administration fees, riders, "Franchise fees", fixed delivery charges, and GST, it comes out to $50. This is $600 per year per household that goes to these companies just for remaining hooked up to the gas.
What's crazy about this is that Alberta government must approve these fees, and also that the city legally requires you to be hooked up to gas. If Direct Energy has 833,334 customers (I don't know the actual number), they would be making half a billion dollars a year on extra fees.
Are there alternatives? I know EnMax is an option but I don't yet know what they offer and what their fees are like.
In my opinion, if the government legally obliges you to purchase a service (such as natural gas, or car insurance for those who drive) then they should be legally obliged to ensure that that service is available at a minimal cost. Approving $50/month in fees does not seem acceptable. Privatizing an industry, making it legally required, and allowing it to be a monopoly makes the whole thing seem like a big corrupt scam to me.
This can happen if for example you've turned your furnace pilot off for the summer, and set your hot water heater to "vacation" while away.
So how much is a bill for no gas? With administration fees, riders, "Franchise fees", fixed delivery charges, and GST, it comes out to $50. This is $600 per year per household that goes to these companies just for remaining hooked up to the gas.
What's crazy about this is that Alberta government must approve these fees, and also that the city legally requires you to be hooked up to gas. If Direct Energy has 833,334 customers (I don't know the actual number), they would be making half a billion dollars a year on extra fees.
Are there alternatives? I know EnMax is an option but I don't yet know what they offer and what their fees are like.
In my opinion, if the government legally obliges you to purchase a service (such as natural gas, or car insurance for those who drive) then they should be legally obliged to ensure that that service is available at a minimal cost. Approving $50/month in fees does not seem acceptable. Privatizing an industry, making it legally required, and allowing it to be a monopoly makes the whole thing seem like a big corrupt scam to me.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Keep on moving, don't stop (like the hands of time)
I just fixed my bike at the EBC shop, and I highly recommend it!
It costs $5 per hour of shop time, and the friendly volunteers will help you out and tell you everything you need to know. They have piles of new and used parts for cheap, as well as used bikes.
Even with the right tools (which I don't have), I wouldn't have been able to fix my bike on my own. A bottom bracket cup was so bent that it sheared half of the threads right off, and stripped the threads on the bike frame. They helped me cut new threads into the frame, which I didn't even think was possible.
Beware, it might take more time than you think (it took me 2 hours for a job I was expecting to take 40 minutes), especially if you don't know what you're doing. It cost me $10 for shop time and $10 for a sealed bottom bracket. At a commercial bike shop, they would have charged me $80 for the labor to replace the bracket (which would include a general tune-up), and maybe $30 for the part. I'm not sure they would even do the machining of the bike frame, but if they did I'm sure it would cost extra.
On the down side, it took more time and physical effort than I expected. Also, the shop got busy and the volunteers were scarce, but they managed to help me as much as I needed. It's cheaper than buying your own tools, easier than trying to figure it out yourself, more satisfying than having someone else do it, and of course much much cheaper than a bike store. I feel like I'm riding a new bike! A+++++++ highly recommended!
I could do an entire blog about cheapness just on the topic of my bike. It's about 23 years old now. It's a BRC, which I've come to pronounce "brick", because it's as heavy and solid as one. Once each year for 3 years now I've gone shopping for a new (lighter, more comfortable) bike, and each time I fail to find a perfect bike for the right price, and instead just keep riding the old one for another year.
This is the second time I've replaced the bottom bracket. Both times, I destroyed a ball-bearing cage inside, but continued to ride for months, with bits of metal inside the bracket grinding metal, like Ripley when she blew the APC's transaxle.
Really, the only interesting story about that bike was the time I broke the chain riding out of Hawrelak park during Heritage Days. There were so many busses on the road that I just left the chain where it was, in the middle of the street. Later in the week I went to buy a new chain, and found out that it's best to replace a chain and the gears at the same time, because they wear down together and a new one of either won't work as well as the old. I didn't want to buy new gears. So I went back to Hawrelak park to look for the chain. I found it in the road, buried in the tar of a repaired crack, having been ground into the pavement by who knows how many busses. I dug it out of the road, washed the tar out with gasoline, took the broken link out of the chain, and put it back on the bike. I'm still using it, years later.
It costs $5 per hour of shop time, and the friendly volunteers will help you out and tell you everything you need to know. They have piles of new and used parts for cheap, as well as used bikes.
Even with the right tools (which I don't have), I wouldn't have been able to fix my bike on my own. A bottom bracket cup was so bent that it sheared half of the threads right off, and stripped the threads on the bike frame. They helped me cut new threads into the frame, which I didn't even think was possible.
Beware, it might take more time than you think (it took me 2 hours for a job I was expecting to take 40 minutes), especially if you don't know what you're doing. It cost me $10 for shop time and $10 for a sealed bottom bracket. At a commercial bike shop, they would have charged me $80 for the labor to replace the bracket (which would include a general tune-up), and maybe $30 for the part. I'm not sure they would even do the machining of the bike frame, but if they did I'm sure it would cost extra.
On the down side, it took more time and physical effort than I expected. Also, the shop got busy and the volunteers were scarce, but they managed to help me as much as I needed. It's cheaper than buying your own tools, easier than trying to figure it out yourself, more satisfying than having someone else do it, and of course much much cheaper than a bike store. I feel like I'm riding a new bike! A+++++++ highly recommended!
I could do an entire blog about cheapness just on the topic of my bike. It's about 23 years old now. It's a BRC, which I've come to pronounce "brick", because it's as heavy and solid as one. Once each year for 3 years now I've gone shopping for a new (lighter, more comfortable) bike, and each time I fail to find a perfect bike for the right price, and instead just keep riding the old one for another year.
This is the second time I've replaced the bottom bracket. Both times, I destroyed a ball-bearing cage inside, but continued to ride for months, with bits of metal inside the bracket grinding metal, like Ripley when she blew the APC's transaxle.
Really, the only interesting story about that bike was the time I broke the chain riding out of Hawrelak park during Heritage Days. There were so many busses on the road that I just left the chain where it was, in the middle of the street. Later in the week I went to buy a new chain, and found out that it's best to replace a chain and the gears at the same time, because they wear down together and a new one of either won't work as well as the old. I didn't want to buy new gears. So I went back to Hawrelak park to look for the chain. I found it in the road, buried in the tar of a repaired crack, having been ground into the pavement by who knows how many busses. I dug it out of the road, washed the tar out with gasoline, took the broken link out of the chain, and put it back on the bike. I'm still using it, years later.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Requests
Please post requests for information about specific things in the comments. If there's something you think ought to be free, ask here.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Donuts on the cheap
Safeway stores are usually open until 11pm and they have a decent bakery. Chances are, if you don't have a job to go to in the a.m. you're not averse to late-night shopping. In some locations there will be a rack in the bakery that contains discounted products. One thing you can look for is bags of 6 assorted donuts, "reduced to clear" at 99c. Score! They are probably donuts from that day, so not quite day-olds. I scoured the aisles and could not find a better deal on unhealthy snacks. Perhaps I'll post more info sometime, like when the bakers go home and abandon these unwanted donuts.
Update: I went to the Westmount Safeway for donuts, and discovered that unfortunately not all Safeways sell day-olds. It is left up to the store manager. Bonnie Doon's location sells discounted bakery products; Westmount does not.
By the way, when I inquired, I was told that I wouldn't want to buy day-olds at Safeway. Actually, I think I do know what I want, and that is 6 donuts for 99c please. If stores can't tell what we want by our dollars (or by our lack of dollars when we shop elsewhere), would it help if we told them in person what we appreciate and what we'd like to see changed? Sure, that 99c isn't a loud enough argument to convince anyone of anything, but what about the other nine dollars and thirty-four cents that I spend on other groceries while I'm there getting donuts?
Speaking of cheap baked goods, Walmart super-centers have semi-edible low-priced snacks, like donuts and minidonuts (the processed, long-lasting, somehow artificial ones) for about a dollar. Sobeys has similar donuts for a dollar but only during Dollar Days. Superstore sells similar products but for over $2. For the sake of comparison, Sobeys seems to have a lot of good deals during Dollar Days, and these "good deals" seem to be matched or beat by Superstore during the same sale period. Save-on-foods is of course a big scam and has over-priced, inferior products.
Obsessive cheapness shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a grocery store. Unprocessed, organic, and locally grown foods are healthier for ourselves, the environment, and the economy. Avoiding excessive driving is also desired. Sadly, larger and less expensive stores tend to require a commute, and other grocery chains tend to divide up sections of a city, reducing competition and undermining our shopping choices. Organic stores unfortunately tend to over-charge, simply because people are willing to accept it. One way to mitigate the inconvenience of store locations is to use Debbie Meyer green bags (also available at "as seen on tv" stores). They let you cut down on the number of shopping trips needed, and also let you buy "in bulk" for cheaper.
Various factors contribute to shopping choices but in the end, every dollar is a vote. Whatever you are willing to pay for, people will tend to make available in the future. The art of frugality involves finding the gems in an environment that caters to people who don't all share the same values as you.
Update: I went to the Westmount Safeway for donuts, and discovered that unfortunately not all Safeways sell day-olds. It is left up to the store manager. Bonnie Doon's location sells discounted bakery products; Westmount does not.
By the way, when I inquired, I was told that I wouldn't want to buy day-olds at Safeway. Actually, I think I do know what I want, and that is 6 donuts for 99c please. If stores can't tell what we want by our dollars (or by our lack of dollars when we shop elsewhere), would it help if we told them in person what we appreciate and what we'd like to see changed? Sure, that 99c isn't a loud enough argument to convince anyone of anything, but what about the other nine dollars and thirty-four cents that I spend on other groceries while I'm there getting donuts?
Speaking of cheap baked goods, Walmart super-centers have semi-edible low-priced snacks, like donuts and minidonuts (the processed, long-lasting, somehow artificial ones) for about a dollar. Sobeys has similar donuts for a dollar but only during Dollar Days. Superstore sells similar products but for over $2. For the sake of comparison, Sobeys seems to have a lot of good deals during Dollar Days, and these "good deals" seem to be matched or beat by Superstore during the same sale period. Save-on-foods is of course a big scam and has over-priced, inferior products.
Obsessive cheapness shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a grocery store. Unprocessed, organic, and locally grown foods are healthier for ourselves, the environment, and the economy. Avoiding excessive driving is also desired. Sadly, larger and less expensive stores tend to require a commute, and other grocery chains tend to divide up sections of a city, reducing competition and undermining our shopping choices. Organic stores unfortunately tend to over-charge, simply because people are willing to accept it. One way to mitigate the inconvenience of store locations is to use Debbie Meyer green bags (also available at "as seen on tv" stores). They let you cut down on the number of shopping trips needed, and also let you buy "in bulk" for cheaper.
Various factors contribute to shopping choices but in the end, every dollar is a vote. Whatever you are willing to pay for, people will tend to make available in the future. The art of frugality involves finding the gems in an environment that caters to people who don't all share the same values as you.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Shout out for contributers
Leave a comment if you'd like to contribute to this blog.
If you're unemployed, barely employed, out of the rat race, living an alternative lifestyle, have escaped the consumer world, consider money to be of low importance in your life, or just have some good ideas for how to exist in this world and this city without always playing the role of customer, your input is certainly welcome.
If you're unemployed, barely employed, out of the rat race, living an alternative lifestyle, have escaped the consumer world, consider money to be of low importance in your life, or just have some good ideas for how to exist in this world and this city without always playing the role of customer, your input is certainly welcome.
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