Toronto is great for those students looking to whet their artistic palette without breaking the bank. I’ve been checking out some places that offer free admission for students who present their valid Student ID and with the hot weather coming, it’s a free alternative to cool down and learn something at the same time.

The ROM or Royal Ontario Museum is free every Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Some specially ticketed exhibitions might require additional admission so check their website for details.

I’m personally not the biggest fan of the Crystal appendage attached to the more classic architecture and most people I know have voiced similar disdain, but I have to say the inside is nicely organized and pretty accessible. It flows well, which is what I found the earlier incarnation of the museum did not do. You should check out the Darwin Exhibit, which pretty much shows the justification for the theory of humans having evolved and Darwin’s research that led him to many of his theories. The man’s life was quite interesting as are all the cool skeletons and samples of a variety of insects, mammals and reptiles.

If you’re like me and like to read a good book the Harbourfront Centre has Weekly Readings where if you’re a student, you can get in for free to listen to a published author read and talk about his/her book. They have a schedule up so you can see if one of your favourite authors is going to show up, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly domestic talent that is there. However, there is the Festival of Authors in October, which is a pretty international event. I’ve been there a few years ago to see William T. Volkmann read from his book at the time and there’s nothing like having a Q&A with an author you enjoy reading.

There’s also a whole myriad of live poetry, dub and plays that offer free admission over the city, but I’ll have to keep you posted on those shortly because I have to run and start work on the next video. If you have any links to fun, creative and free (or cheap) activities in your city, post away!

Here's a video that I made about spare change, and how it can either ruin or enhance your life.

Hi folks! It’s been a while since I’ve sat down to write something for you guys, but I’ve been hard at work on the next video. Your feedback on the last video was fantastic and I can’t wait for you to see the next one.

Alas, this week, my significant other has left for a week-long vacation, which has left me to my own devices for now, which I’m not so sure is that much of a good thing! We’re trying to find ways to keep in touch without inflating our phone bills. Needless to say, I thought it would be easier than it actually is, but thanks to technology, there are ways to work around keeping in touch on the cheap.

I tried going through my phone provider to see if they had any long-distance plans for Bermuda (the place I wanted to call) and found out that they had nothing and that it would cost me $3.50 a minute to talk with someone from there! Thankfully we both have access to computers that run Skype, which allows us to chat via webcam. The problem with that is, we have to arrange times when we’re both going to be online, which is simple enough; we just text message each other when we are both able to be near a computer. The issue with that, as you cell phone owners must know, is that my phone provider charges an ‘international’ text message price. It’s a little higher than the regular rate and isn’t covered by my free text message package.

What I found interesting in all of this is that Skype allows you, for small, non-contractual monthly fee, to call someone’s phone from your computer. I think with that feature, the person receiving the call might still get charged a roaming fee for receiving a call in a foreign country, but for you it’s around $9.95 a month to call internationally. Way better than $3.50 a minute.

I really have to hand it to Skype because they don’t stop there. You can actually get phones that are ‘Skype phones’ and some phones can download the Skype software and you can talk for free as long as the other phone has Skype enabled. It’s worth checking out the site to find out what the best plan or route to take is for you. If you want to keep in contact with your jet setting friends, this might be a good option to explore.

Many phones are coming equipped with Wi-Fi or other options like Skype that allow you to make affordable calls to people, so it’s really worth exploring. Big phone companies can become complacent and charge exorbitant rates. ‘Customer loyalty’ shouldn’t be exploited and tolerating inflexible plan choices and ever-increasing rates is becoming a thing of the past thanks to new technology. It’s not perfect yet, but if we’re going to avoid getting dinged where it hurts, we have to explore new options.

Let me know if you guys have any stories or discoveries in this ever-increasing realm of alternative telecommunications.

I bought my first guitar, a well-used electric, from a friend just so I could start learning some songs. I knew that when I became a bit better, I would spend more money on a real beauty.

The thing is, when you go into a guitar store, you can’t help but play at least one of the really nice and really expensive guitars they have hanging up on the walls.  After hearing what a one thousand dollar guitar sounded like compared to my three hundred dollar one, I knew that I needed more cash and fast.

I was working at a bookstore at the time and making about $800 a month, but after bills, food, transportation and ‘fun’ expenses, I had very little cash left over to save. My goal was to save $1,100 for my dream guitar: A Fender Stratocaster American Standard. If anybody has seen the guitar Jimi Hendrix played on…  yah, like that one.

I began to look at things that I could do to save as much money as quickly as possible.

First, I looked at what areas in which I could save money:

TRANSPORTATION

You might ask, how in the world would a guy blogging in this forum think a Metropass is not worth buying if he takes the subway everyday?  Looking back, I admit, I was a little deranged. But I’ll be honest, I had a ‘thing’ for paying cash at the TTC ticket booth. That, and I never really thought I would use the subway on weekends as much as I did.

Paying Cash Fares $2.75 (x2 return trips) x 7 days = $38.50

x 4 weeks = $154.00

Student Metropass (unlimited travel per month) = 91.25

Transportation Savings/month = $62.75

FOOD

THIS is an area where I saved a lot of money. At my job I would get two breaks and a lunch. I’d always go down to the food court in the Eaton Centre and buy a little something to get me through the day. I’m kind of a creature of habit, so usually I would have the same lunch and snacks every day (I know, exciting). So here goes, from memory:

1^st Break: Pineapple and Strawberry Fruit cup = $3.00

Lunch: Pizza Slice and Drink = $4.50

2^nd Break: Tiramisu Desert (Mmmm!) = $3.50

Total Food Cost Per Workday: $11.00 and Per 5-Day Week: $55.00

My Solution was to buy some cold cuts, bread; cheap juice boxes and MAKE my lunch every day. I figured how many cold cuts I needed to make enough food per week. 

300 grams Cappocola = approx. $4.00

300 grams Provolone Cheese = approx. $4.75

*note price will vary, Provolone is an expensive cheese. Mozzarella and Cheddar are cheaper

Dempster’s Sliced White Bread = $1.99

12-pack Fruit Punch Juice Boxes = $ 4.00

*shop around and you’ll find super-cheap no-name brands

Total Food Cost per Week= $14.74

Food Savings = $40.26/wk -per month = $161.04

WEEKEND ‘FUN TIME’

Who doesn’t like to go out with their pals every weekend to blow off a little steam? But as the saying goes, ‘no pain no gain’.  However, the cost and savings of being a hermit for a little while is more than apparent. Of course everyone is different, but my weekends tended to be a bit costly.

Weekend Savings/month: $150.00

QUITTING THOSE BAD HABITS

I’m sure we all have at least one weakness that we pay for. In my case it was smoking.  That’s right, I wanted this guitar so bad that I had to bite that dirty bullet.

Cigarettes: approx. $8.75/pack x 3 pack-a-week habit = $26.25

Cigarette Savings/Month = $105.00

It wasn’t easy but I don’t think anything worth winning is meant to be easy. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get ‘er done! I’ll tell you a big incentive was looking in my bank account to see the money I had saved, which told me that what I was doing wasn’t for nothing.

GRAND TOTAL SAVINGS:  $478.79/mth

I don’t need to tell you that in just over two months, I walked out of that guitar store with a grin that still hasn’t left my face. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!

There’s nothing more frustrating than a losing all the information on your computer because of a computer crash or a virus. A few years ago, I was working on a bunch of songs that I wanted to eventually put together to make an album. I worked on the music for about 6 months on my computer when, one day, my computer wouldn’t turn on.

Panic.

The hard drive failed and I lost all my work, pictures, music and essays that I had sitting on there for years. The ironic thing is, I was actually thinking of backing up my files a few weeks before the crash happened. If there is one warning I’ll give you, it’s that you can never predict when a hard drive is going to fail or when a computer virus is going to nuke your hard drive. Fortunately there are programs out there that can help save that valuable information, which can also save you a lot of wasted time/money trying to put everything back.

The best software that I’ve used is Acronis True Image. This brilliant little software can even back up your entire hard drive and Operating System. The best thing about this is that if you have an extra hard drive to spare, you can ‘clone’ your existing hard drive so that you have an identical copy. When the first hard drive fails, all you have to do is switch the drives and it will boot up just the same!

After I had done what I consider a ‘major backup’ with Acronis, I would invest in a stack of DVD-R’s and schedule ‘mini backup sessions’ and put any newly downloaded or created files on those discs when the data became sizable enough (3-4Gigabytes) to merit being burned onto DVD [CD-R’s work well for smaller data backups].

To keep track of newly acquired files just create a new folder say, “Pictures-Summer 2008” this will help you know what is new on your hard drive and what already exists on the cloned one. For the truly diligent or paranoid a little USB drive can ensure you copy a file as soon as it lands on your hard drive. I must admit, I have copies in triplicate of certain files that it would kill me to lose and no, they are not stashed at the four corners of the Earth…

The new Macs offer something called Time Machine as part of their new Leopard OS. A friend of mine is gaga over it, but I haven’t looked into it that much. I know I have my own system of backing up files that works for me, but drop a line in the Comments below and let me know if you have found a way that may be better or more efficient, maybe Time Machine works for you, or maybe you want to start a support group for those still mourning the loss of their precious data. That is, if one doesn’t already exist…

I’m not going to get into why external HDD (Hard Disk Drives) are important, I’ll save that horror story for my next blog, and there is so much choice in USB Flash drives that I want to focus on people who want to make huge all-at-once backups, or those who progressively backup in chunks over a period of time.

Manufacturers of external hard drives have made it convenient for us folk who just want to plug the monster in, see it pop up as ‘New Hardware Found’ and start backing up those precious memories. Sure, the drive comes in a sleek case that looks like the black box of a Boeing 747, but the problem is, it’s even more difficult to open should the drive ever fail. Actually, it’s not recommended you do this because most of these drives are sealed with glue or fused plastic and you probably will break it if you do anything like go at it with a screwdriver. The convenience of the ready-made drive is obvious, but you’re making an investment. You wouldn’t throw out your whole stove if only the fuse needed replacing?

Do it yourself. This will have one of three benefits for you:

1. You’ll learn something new.
   
2. You’ll gain some personal power from doing it yourself (Tony Robbins charges for this, you get it for free!)
   
3. You’ll save money in the long run should a hard drive ever fail you.

This link will show you the typical hard drive that you’ll find. I picked one with the exact same specs so you can compare. I’ll tell you right now, this ready made drive will be a slightly cheaper buy in the short term, but I’m thinking long-term. Now to do this, you’re going to need two things: An internal hard drive and an enclosure.

 
An enclosure basically connects to your hard drive and then uses one of three connections: Firewire, USB 2.0 or eSata to connect to your computer. Check out the links for each connector to see which one fits your needs and more importantly, what your computer has. For simple backups USB 2.0 is fine, but our host Michel has special needs so he went all out and got one with all three. The Seagate drive was picked and the Vantec enclosure to match. Assembly was simple. It took all of 5 minutes to put everything together. I should note: Michel had never done this before!
 
Cost of internal drive: $178.99 and Enclosure: 59.99
Total= 238.98 (before taxes)
Cost of ready-made drive: $229.99

You are going to spend only $8.99 more to do-it yourself. But who cares?

Three years down the road when that hard drive fails (and it will-check this amazing blog) instead of dishing out another $229.99 for a ready-made drive (granted storage prices do fall as time goes on) all you have to do is pop out the old hard drive in your homemade enclosure and buy another internal drive at $178.99 (which will also be cheaper as time goes on) and you’re done.

Congratulations, you just saved 51 bucks!

As you’ll come to find out, I have a certain fondness for gadgets and electronic stuff in general. That’s why I signed up for one of those ‘Rewards’ cards which are usually given out for people who want to earn points every time they buy from their store of choice. At some point, after so many purchases, you can cash these points in and buy stuff.

I practically live at Best Buy (although they need to work on that walking around the store thing- padded conveyor belts?) so I figured why not get their Rewards Card. So, standing in the aisle at Christmas Rush and staring out the window, desperately wanting to get out of line and out of the store, I barely noticed saying ‘yes’ when the girl at the counter asked if I wanted a free Rewards Card. RECOMMENDATION: Do not attempt to make decisions that may impact the distant future at Christmastime!

CUT TO: Distant Future
GEORGE is smiling as he stares at the computer screen. A $5 Gift Certificate from Best Buy prints out on the laser printer.

And it was. Many purchases followed. About a week later I looked at the Reward Card Statement and saw that I had almost two thousand points in my account! In Gift Certificate-language, that’s a twenty-dollar coupon! That’s a new DVD, earphones, or a stack of DVD-R’s! I was excited. Especially because the first Gift Certificate came SO FAST. Now that I spent a whack of cash, I was looking forward to a bigger Reward.

The problem was the points were ‘Pending’ on my account, waiting to be ‘Posted’ so that I could get my coupon. “No problem”, I thought. “Shouldn’t be too long. It’ll be as quick as the last time”. Was I ever wrong. First, the Rewards people were having some kind of problem with their servers so the points were miscalculated for a bunch of customers and it would take a week to sort out. Second, after two weeks of waiting I sent an e-mail, which was responded to quickly. I was told that the points were posted now and I should receive an e-mailed coupon in 3WEEKS!

This was a far cry from the ultra-fast service I was used to and I felt duped. I must say that in the Terms of the card, it is mentioned that it can take about a month for points to translate into a gift certificate. Correct me if I’m wrong but, wouldn’t you wonder how spending more money at a store somehow equates to slower service?

All things aside, you still have a way to get stuff you like, even if you have to wait. There are lots of cards out there, usually credit cards that have some sort of points feature built into them. My advice again: Read the fine print and if you don’t, patience is a virtue that you’ll need when you find out what not reading the print really signs you up for. My hope is that it’s something quick, easy and convenient.

I get a huge charge when I’m able to pull out that wad of well-earned cash, slap it on the table, look the sales rep in the eye and say I want THAT (insert item of choice here). Each bill that he counts out brings me one step closer to walking out of the door with that something new, feeling like a champ and thinking “I OWN this”.

Not always the case though. Most of the time, I’ll be in that store (usually a guitar store) on my umpteenth visit to pay homage to that dream guitar, to worship it, to do anything but buy it. Even if I did have just the right amount of money on me, there are still bills that need to be paid and I don’t think my landlord would accept personal live performances as a method of payment, although I’m tempted to ask.

Guitars are one thing, however, I also like to record the music I make which involves a whole bunch of other items needed to get the job done: microphones, recording software, compressors; the list goes on, but there’s something I found that worked for me and allowed me to build up a nice little personal recording studio to help put my ideas down.

Financing is the destitute artist’s salvation when it comes to a tight budget and an obsession with gear. Some stores offer their own purchase financing where you can put down something like 10% of the value of the item and then pay monthly installments for something like 12 to 24 months (depending on the store) until you fully own your equipment. Sometimes you’ll find ‘no-money-down’ offers that allow you to walk out that day with that wonderful microphone, but usually that means you have a lesser amount of time to pay off the item in full. Read the fine print because usually if you end up going over your time limit, you’ll have to actually pay the accrued interest that was initially waived as a condition to paying in full by the agreed date.

The other option is to check to see what the interest rate on your credit card or line of credit is and compare it to the rate offered by the store, perhaps considering paying for the item in full with credit and budgeting to pay off the credit card if the interest is lower. Do the math, it doesn’t take long and it saves you money unnecessarily spent. Above all, weigh your options and ask around. If you’re ever in doubt, go USED, perhaps more on that later, any takers?