10 Ways to Save Money on Gasoline!

So you may have noticed that your wallet is a little lighter that usual after you filled you car with gas this week. Yup,this is the time of year when gas prices usually rise both in the Canada, and in the U.S. This is partly due to maintenance being scheduled by oil refineries in preparation for the summer months, which basically means that they have to slow or stop production for a while. A fire in an oil refinery didn't help much either In my part of Canada the prices have rose 10 to 15 cents in the last week or two.

OK, enough rambling Kev! Get on with the Tips!

Here you go: here's some tips on how to keep some of your hard in cash in your pocket!
(I know some of these are obvious but it never hurts to refresh the memory).

1. Check your tire Pressure
If your tires are low, you use more gas to get and keep your vehicle moving.

2. Don't Idle!
If you live a region of the world where it's cold in the winter (like -10 to -40 Celsius) you'll have to let yo car warm up (unless you have a good garage to park in). Don't let it run too long! Five minutes max. If you are waiting to pick someone up or have to stop for a few minutes, shut the vehicle off. I just learned this one. I was letting my truck warm up for 15-20 minutes because I had to take my 16 month old son to daycare. We had a real bad cold spell with about two weeks of -30 degrees Celsius. I was being over cautious. I started leaving it for 5 minutes and it was fine. Not fully warm but it doesn't take long once the car is moving. I saved around $10 -$20 a week.


3. Find a nearby gas station with a good discount incentive.
Most gas stations have incentives to bring in customers. You know, "become a member and receive 3.5 cents off per litre. These are mostly market tracking schemes to track what you are buy but hey a deal is a deal. My wife and I just signed up at a Co-Op gas station. You buy 5 common shares in their capital stock and they send you a cheque at the end of the year. My parents got a cheque for around $290 in January. Important: Don't drive too far out of your way for a goo deal. You'll just waste your savings in gas.

4. Drive the speed limit and watch the acceleration.
I know that's no fun, but you really will save yourself some gas. You'll also waste more gas if you constantly accelerate fast. Basically, drive nice.

5. Check you air filter.
Clogged air filters restrict the intake of air and effect the performance of a vehicle. Which means....? More fuel consumption.

6. Get rid of unnecessary weight.
Make sure you don't have anything heavy in your trunk. Do keep your spare tire though (-:

7. Turn off the heat/air conditioner
These make your engine work harder so turn them off if you can. If you can't, try turning them off for a few minutes every now and then.

8. Get a tune up
Get that oil and those spark plugs changed. Take it in and tune it up. You'll be amazed at how much better a car will run. That means burning less fuel.

9. Take the other vehicle.
This one is a no brainer! If you can, take the car that is cheaper on gas. If your family has to use both vehicles then who ever is going the furthest distance should take the car that's better on gas.

10. Take the bus.
When I was was a research assistant for the Government, I had to work downtown. It would cost about $6.00 a day to park. That's a lot of money. $30 a week to be exact (not to mention the gas it took to get there). It's a win win situation. You can even try it for 2 days a week!

Bonus Tip: Walk
Not only will you use no gas, but you'll do your body some good as well.

Well that's it folks!

Let me know if I missed any.

Bones of Jesus found, Canadian documentary claims

Bones of Jesus found, Canadian documentary claims:

The claim that the bones of Jesus have been found could challenge the Christian belief that Jesus died and was resurrected three days later.

Technorati tags: Life, popular culture, religion


Wouldn't that be something!

Slot Machines in Canada Found to Contain Subliminal Messages?

Do you play slot machines? Do you ever get that feeling that a particular machine is a winner? There might be a good reason for that!

The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) discovered that three types of video slot machine (vlt) games in Ontario were found to have sumliminal messages on the screen. Games entitled: Most Wanted, Sergeant Fritter and Billionaires were found to display jackpot symbols for 1/5th of a second each time you pull the handle.
The maker of all three games is a company called Konami. They claim it is just a glitch in the system for these games. Konami has been around for a long time. They helped develop Frogger in 1981. I have trouble believing that a "glitch" of this nature, in three different games, would slip past these guys. What do I know.

I just thought I would pass this on, for those of you who play the slot machines. Maybe there's more to the story of people getting addicted to these games................

That's it for now.....

Spend Some Money! Life Is Too Short

Do you save money for yourself? For something that you enjoy? We make all kinds of money as we travel through life, but how many of us actually get to enjoy much of it without have to scrimp, scrounge, and hope that we can still pay the bills at the end of the month. I recently found a way to make enjoying some of the money that we work so hard for a little easier. It's really very simple. Many of us just don't do it!

I'm sure you've heard the term "pay yourself first". At it's most basic level, it means exactly what it says: Make sure some of your paycheck goes to you! Many people in the financial world suggest that to the best way to build wealth is to make saving automatic. David Bach wrote a book about this as well called: The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich. I'm obviously not talking here about a million bucks or anything. Just some extra bucks to enjoy something you love to do.

For me, it's golf. If you don't know that about me it's time you learned. I started playing seriously about 4 or 5 years ago and I can't get enough. As you may or may not know, it's a pretty expensive sport. about $30-$70 for a round in my neck of the woods. Not to mention all the equipment: golf clubs, that coold driver, golf balls that cost $20-$50/dozen, a golf bag, golf shoes, a glove glove, tees, and whatever else you can think of. So I was reading about making saving automatic and I decided to make an automatic savings fund for golf. I get paid weekly, so I take $30 right off the top and put it away. Now $30 dollars a week isn't much, but it is about $120/month. Up here in Canada the off season last about 5 or 6 months. That's quite a bit of ching that I get saved for the new season. I new club or two, entry to a tournament, or just a round or two a week. This makes my golfing habit a lot easier on the wallet. If for some reason my paycheck can't afford me a round of golf. No prob, I've got the golf fund.

So there you have it. Set yourself up a bank account, or just go and get an envelope and put a small amount in every week or two. Treat it like a bill. No excuses! It can be for something specific, or just for a treat for yourself. Life is too short to not be able to spend some of your hard earned money on yourself!

That's all folks!

Yesssssss!!!!!! Dot Com Baby!

My blog and my online store now have their own dot com domain name. WooooHooooo!
O.k. maybe it's not that exciting for you but I love it.

Go ahead and try these links out. I dare you!

Blog: www.krazycanadianblog.com

Custom/original shirt store: www.krazycanadianclothing.com
I'm still working on the website for the store but it's coming along.

That's all for now folks!

How telling your friends what you plan to buy can save you money!

I was over at the Free Money Finance blog and was reading an article called: Money Saving Tip: Tell Friends when You're Thinking of Buying Something. It basically talks about talking to friends and family about what you are planning to buy because you never know what kind of deal they may have for you. This totally happened to me this week:

I was at work talking to a friend (Dan) when he casually mentioned that he was going to buy a barbecue. I told him that I needed a new washer because the one we have in the house broke down and it's in our rental contract that we (the tenants) have to replace it or get it fixed. Dan told me that he had a washer and dryer which came with his house that he bought and wanted to get rid of them. Dan said that if I gave him a ride in my truck to pick up his barbecue, he would give me a deal on his washer. He asked if I needed a dryer too. I didn't want to spend any more money than I had to so I said no. He said he was just going to throw it anyways so I could just have it if I wanted. After I had a look at it, and made sure it worked I said I would take that too. It was actually better than the one we had. Since our dryer we have came with a timer that doesn't work I figured we could use the one from my friend Dan until we buy a house next year and then take it with us. I can't even begin to tell you how many times we've forgot about the dryer and let it run for about 4 hours. Huge bucks in electricity!
Anyway, not only did talking to Dan save me a lot of money on a washer that I had to replace, but we also got a dryer for free that looks like it will last us for years. To top that off, the new dryer will save us more than $50/year in electricity that we were wasting with the old one. It almost feels like I'm making money!


Tell people what you are planning to buy. Just casually slip it in. Your friends and family usually ask what your up to anyway. What a perfect time to tell them about that thing you have to buy.
It could save you a lot of cash.

What are you missing

Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.

Eddie Cantor (1892 - 1964)

Do you ever see those people who just go! Go! Go! Never stopping for a moment to appreciate life!
I'm guilty too some times of forgeting to stop and smell the flowers so I thought this would be an appropriate quote.

That's all for now folks

I've Got Some New Fashions.......I'm probably going to hell.

It's time for some shameless self promotion. Well I'm not really promoting myself, but rather one of my products. I have some new designs for the Krazy Canadian Clothing Company. This is one of the new ones:

There are a bunch of other new designs too (with the same theme) for both men and women.
Check out the original Krazy Candianan stuff too.

Oh ya, if yo live in winnipeg and you do want to order one contact me, instead of ordering through the Web Store. I will give you $4.00 of the shipping and handling. My next order will be going in around March 1st to the 3rd.
Prices in the web store are in $US funds.

Also, if you or your team (I've got baseball tees) want a custom made shirt, let me know and I'll make it up for you. Bulk prices are available even on 2 shirts.

These shirts are not meant to offend anyone. They are purely for entertainent value.

That's all for now folks.......

A quote about success!

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."
Vincent T. Lombardi

Do you know the Secret?

Do you ever meet those people who can only focus on what's negative it their life? You know, the one who is always talking about something bad that's happened to them or something bad that some one has done to them. The one who never has anything good happen to them. Can you think of someone like that? I think we all can. You just know these people are thinking the same way. Could you imagine only thinking negatively? I mean we all have our ups and downs but some people only seem to be down.
Aren't you glad that you're not one of those people. One of those people who can never look at their lives and find something to be thankful for. It's funny, but that's all you have to do. Find something to be thankful for.

Let me tell you what I've learned from a video (you may have heard of it) called "the Secret". It's attempts to show you how successful people in both the past and preset think in order to be successful. Anyway........
Have you ever been mad because you slept in for something important? Then you got up and on your way to the shower you stubbed your toe, got into the shower and realized that you left the towel across the room and now you have to get the floor all wet in order to get it. Ohh....it's cold too! Do events like this ever seem to snowball and last the whole day. You know....One of those days. I learned an exercise that can help:

Shortly after you wake up, make a conscious effort to think about some things in you life that you could be thankful for. You know, some family members, a pet, a lesson learned in life, or maybe some new toy you bought yesterday. As you're thinking of each thing, think of why you are thankful for it. Try to feel the appreciation. I know it sounds hokie but it can really help. Wouldn't that be better than waking up and dreading all the things you have to do that day. I like to think about my family (Corinne and Carter), my education, my dog, and things that I've accomplished recently (like I just quit smoking). You could even be thankful that the bills are paid and you don't have to worry about them for another month. The point is:

Everyone has something to be thankful for.

If bad things that happen in the morning can snowball and effect your whole day, then why can't good things do the same. It's an exercise to help change your negative thinking patterns and help you appreciate life a little.
Try it for yourself and see what happens.
I do it for about 3-5 minutes in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. It works wonders.

I will post some more stuff from the secret in some upcoming posts. I will try to explain it in a more down to earth way then the movie does. If you do see the movie, don't take it too literal. You have to look at the underlying truths. This is what I will try to uncover.

You might be able to find a deal on the video here:

I bought this about a eight months ago. There is some truth to this if you look for it.

That's all folks.....

What I Have In My Wallet!

I was reading a blog that I subscribe to at Free Money Finance and apperently there is a little game going around the financial blogging world. You basically list what's in your wallet. Well, I thought that might be interesting.
Holy Crap I have a lot of stuff in there.......
Well, here goes:

• Debit Card
• Visa (The one I'm working on paying off)
• Petro Canada Points Card (it got 3.5 cents per litre off my fuel today)
  
• Manitoba liquor Card (I used this for ID when I didn't have a driver's licence)
• Block Buster movie Card
• A credit card style business card from an Insurance advisor friend of mine
• Eddi Bauer Rewards car (this is basically for them to track what I spend but it does get me discounts sometimes).
• Prescription drug card from my insurance company
• Husky "Big Summer Score" instant win ticket (one of those enter on line things)
• Costco Card(currently expired)
• Golf town membership card
• My wife's Airmiles (didn't know I had that one)
• Furniture Card (Through HSBC). It's almost paid off....WooooHooooo
• Eb Games Card. (From a video game system I bought 2 years ago and barely played)
• My business card from my recording studio
• Business Cards from my Job
• Medical health card
• Picture of My cousins daughter Jade (she's a cutie!!!!)
• My "It's good Business Card" for Bartending
• RCGA golf handicap card (It was last signed at a 10)
• Picture of my son and Santa
• Driver's Licence
• $1.35 in Canadian Tire Bucks
• two receipts from Canadian Tire
• A receipt for my wife's Valentine Cards
• $50 Real Bucks

Holy Crap! I obviously need to do some mid winter cleaning in there.
What's in your wallet? Leave a comment here or post in your blog and leave a link here.

That's all folks!

Choose to be Stupid

I came across this Quote today and thought it was worth posting.
It's from the Simple Dollar blog written by a guy named Trent.

"If you're scared of looking stupid for asking questions, you're basically choosing to be stupid."

That's all for now folks...

It's Been awhile

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy and I guess I'm guilty of being a little lazy with the blog. Let's see if we can't change that shall we.