Rockies Rentals

We talk about it all the time — the cost of living is getting high! This is not just a Bow Valley issue — this is a national (if not international) issue.

Here are some ideas to help you save money on meals without having to eat Ramen noodles for the rest of your life.
1. 10% Tuesday: Did you know that Sobey’s offers a 10% discount on the 1st Tuesday of every month? Try to buy unperishable food, toiletries and cleaning supplies on the 1st Tuesday. If you have a freezer, buy extra items that can be frozen and used throughout the month. And while you’re there, go to Nutter’s as well — they also offer a discount on what they call Power Tuesdays.
2. Plan Ahead: Plan out your meals for the week and put together a grocery list. Otherwise, you buy stuff you don’t need, or end up throwing out food that has gone bad before you can eat it.
3. Cook Large Quantities: Spend a day cooking up a storm! Look for recipes that freeze really well (casseroles, soups, stews, lasagna, muffins). Having home-cooked meals on hand and ready to pop in the oven will save you from eating out.
4. Find A Food Buddy: You make an extra batch of your meal, while they make an extra batch of their meal — then swap. If you work together, alternate days on which you bring lunch for each other.
5. Join a Community Kitchen: Members of a Community Kitchen meet once per month and make an abundance of food. Because they are buying food in bulk and splitting the cost across the group, the meals are ridiculously cheap. Call 678-7131 (Town of Canmroe FCSS) and ask about their Young Adult Community Kitchen) or start your own.

That’s it for now — I’ll add some more cost-saving ideas later. If you have some ideas you’d like to share please add a comment below.

What is a MagicJack, you ask? It is a tiny device about half the size of a deck of cards. MagicJack + High Speed Internet + telephone = A slick little machine that gives you unlimited long distance calling to any Canada or US number from anywhere in the world for only $20 per year — not too mention a whole lot of other cool features.  No, really!

I first learned of MagicJack from a friend.  If it wasn’t for her personal recommendation, I, would have thought that this deal was too good to be true and never taken the plunge. In my online research I discovered that the company believed in their product so much that they offered a free 30-day trial.  You can make as many long distance calls as you want — if you don’t love MagicJack at the end of the trial, just send it back.  Unless you hate saving money and have no family/friends to chat on the phone to endlessly, I PROMISE you will not be returning your Magic Jack.

If you are pleased after your 30-day trial, you will pay $39.99 + shipping and tax.  This includes the little contraption (yours to keep) and one year of service.  Additional years are $19.99/year.

Oh, MagicJack, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways …

• I love calling all of my friends and family at any Canada/US phone number for free, and talking to them for hours. (Outgoing calls to any US/Canada number are included in the annual fee)
• I love that I can travel to any country in the world and still call my friends, assuming I have access to a computer with high speed internet access
• I love that I can send this as a gift to anyone in the world and they can call me (and any other Canada/US number) — it’s the gift that keeps on giving!
• I love that my family/friends can get a hold of me while I travel around the world.  They don’t need to know where I am, and I don’t need to send a detailed itinerary of hotel information.
• I love that I can choose my own area code — now I have a New York phone number, so my friends in NYC can call me for free.
• I love that you send me an email each time I get a phone message, and that you attach the message as a .wav file so I can keep my phone messages in perpetuity. (You can turn this feature off, and you can also check the messages from the phone, or by calling your phone number).
• I love that you have given me an extra phone number, which I can use for incoming calls
• I love that I can use my new phone number anonymously.  I can give it to people that *might* need to get a hold of me, but whom perhaps I don’t want to give my personal number (I could just as easily use my MagicJack as my personal number, but I choose not to)
• I love that I can store contact information for all of my friends/family on the MagicJack, and no matter where I plug it in I can have access to those details.
• I love that you include a list of each incoming and outgoing call.
• I love that you count how long each call has been — so that when the regular phone company finally answers my call I can say “Hey.  I’ve been on hold for 38 minutes and 42 seconds. Please cancel my service — I’m a MagicJack customer now!”
• I love that it’s so easy to use, and that I can use it on any computer without installing any software.
• I love that I can plug any telephone into it so I don’t have to use silly computer microphones and headsets (but I can still use those, If I want to).
• I love the little mini-phone that I bought with my 2nd MagicJack.  Now when I’m staying in a hotel, I don’t have to pull the bed out to unplug the hotel phone for my use.
• But most of all, MagicJack, I love you because you cost me a $1.75* month for all of these features.
  *does not include cost of high speed internet or computer access.

There are a few things to consider:

1. You need a computer (or access to one) that has high speed internet access.  If you don’t already use these things, then buying them will cancel out most of the cost savings.
2. MagicJack will be blocked for use on certain corporate networks.  I find about 5% of hotels block the service. If you are planning on using it on a network other than your own (ie. work, internet cafes, etc), use the 30-day trial to make sure the network will allow you access.
3. 911 Service is only available for US addresses.
4. If the internet and power are down, you won’t have a phone.  I recommend having a cell phone or regular land line in case of emergency.
5. You can’t upload/download major files while chatting on the phone. You can still surf on the internet while chatting, but the call quality will diminish.  Playing World of Warcraft Online while chatting will definitely not work.
6. The computer must be running to make or receive calls.  (If the computer is off when someone calls, they can leave you a voice message).
7. Canadian area codes are not currently available (but they are working on it).  You can change your MagicJack number once for free — so if Canadian numbers become available, you can switch to one.  But to be honest, it’s handy to have a US number.

If I have convinced you to give it a try, please click one of the many links on this page so that I can get a few bucks for my personal recommendation.  You should know that I had my 2 MagicJacks for 8 months before I signed on as an affiliate and during that time had recommended it to every person I knew, every person I met, and on every online forum for which I am a member merely because I think that when someone finds a product this great they should share it with the world.

If you have any questions about the MagicJack, feel free to contact me at info@rockiesrentals.ca