Greetings from the Canadian handbasket travelling at warp speed! Here’s some very light reading that I wrote as a respite from the news.
In lieu of a yearly budget review for 2021, I’m focusing on some experiments I’ve tried since moving to the apartment at the end of 2019.
- Apple TV+. I enjoyed Netflix in WA but, after I moved back to NS in 2017, I went without any streaming service up until December 2020 when I decided, mainly due to the pandemic, to try Apple TV+ on my iPad. It costs only $5.99* per month and has the two best comedies I have seen in a looong time plus lots of other great shows. I also stream CBC for free so feel my video distractions are fulfilled for now.
- Quip. This is a product subscription service that has worked well for me for over two years—for $10 (USD), I get a toothbrush head replacement, battery, and floss sent to me every three months. I prefer power toothbrushes, but the cost of replacement heads for my big electric toothbrushes always felt like a scam to me. This company did something about it.
- Public Mobile. My brother recommended this discount cell phone service and I’ve been pleased with it since switching over in February 2020—I have the $25* per month plan (and have never needed extra data) and get discounts for loyalty, referrals, and autopay.
- Costco. I joined Costco for a year shortly before the pandemic started to see if I would save money with the amount of nuts and frozen berries and other organic items I buy (this vegan eats a lot of nuts). Even without SIP (which reduced my travels into Halifax where Costco is located), I wouldn’t have renewed—membership was just not worth it for this one person. And, as for the nuts, my friend Leonie clued me in to a small online organic nut company in Ontario that now has my business.
- Subscriptions. There are a few new yearly subscriptions I’ve tried and been happy with in the past two years: local online investigative journalism, online yoga videos, and a podcast. With all three of these, I feel like I’m getting something for my subscription but I’m also supporting good people and their good work for others to enjoy.
- Internet. The high cost of internet and lack of provider choice has long been a peeve of mine. When I was living rurally, I was paying over $100/month for not-really-high-speed. When I moved into the apartment, I got a “deal” for two years with $25 off each month. Well, the two years is up and so the cost is now at $114.95*.
- Rent. Nova Scotia, particularly Halifax, has such a housing crisis exacerbated by the pandemic that the provincial government implemented a 2% rent cap through the end of December 2023. Since, in my apartment complex, a comparable unit to mine rented recently for ~ $400 more than what I’m paying, looks like I’ll be staying put until November 2024. She-of-the-long-term-planning is not even trying to imagine what that next move will be.
*Plus tax, of course, which in Nova Scotia is 15%.
References and related links:
- SIP: Shelter In Place.
- simpler-living report: CY21Q4 (post #175)