The Saturday Weekend Review #22: Our Neighbours And The Fence Plus Free Stuff

This Saturday weekend review is going to be filled with what I’ve been up to this past week. First off, lets talk about Free Stuff. I don’t know if you remember a while back, maybe a few weeks now where I was complaining about our fence post needing repair. We were convinced the neighbour would hear nothing of it since they didn’t want to participate in preserving the fence a few years back for a mere $50 per neighbour.

So, I thought I would just get the post for however much it costs and get it done on my own. I figure if the bloody fence is going to fall over I don’t want it happening on my vegetable garden this summer so it’s something I have to get done.

Our Neighbours and The Fence

In yesterday’s blog post I talked about how the May 2-4 holiday brought almost everyone outside to clean up their yards mainly because there was nowhere to go. The day was very relaxed and people were having a good time. The most intriguing thing happened though and that was the neighbour coming to talk to me.

In my head I thought it was a miracle and that he must be an alien from another planet. Where were my neighbours? You aren’t who they are? They don’t talk to us, they don’t pay for projects. He had made reference to the fence and actually wants to pay for a portion of the project. I told him if he was OK with it that I wanted to do the work so I made sure it was done right.

You can imagine the look on my face when he offered to purchase the post. I was at the point where I didn’t really give a rats about the money I just want to sort out the fence. I guess I can say our neighbours aren’t so bad after all, maybe we just need to get to know them a bit better, that or they don’t think we are the street slobs any more now that we are spending thousands to get the landscaping sorted out.

Yes! Another job almost jobbed! I’m only 1 guy so I can only get so much done at a time….. any other guys out there have a to-do list that could last them a few years? That’s mine as well.

Do you have neighbours that you don’t talk to or get along with? 

Here is the best part of this story…

I Love Free Stuff

I was out with the wife taking the dog for a walk when all of a sudden we see one of those “FREE” signs. Any time we see something on the side of the road we check it out. This time it was a fence post, brand spankin new with the tags still on it. It was like it dropped and fell from heaven at the right time with my name written on it. I didn’t care if I looked like a right wally walking down the road with this 4x4x12 fence post in broad daylight, it was FREE and I now owned it.

Now I can tell the neighbour not to worry about spending any money that I found a brand new fence post for free. I’m sure he will be happy because who wants to spend money when you don’t have to.

I’ve got all the rocks in place for the landscaping project and we spend a boat load on flowers and materials which you will see reflected in our budget and net worth updates later next week. We’ve saved the money for years now and that’s what it’s there for. We hope once this project is complete that we no longer need to spend any more money on landscaping for the next little while.

Here is a photo of our Elephant’s Ear Hosta that the Old Guy up the road gave us. It’s only part of the hosta as it’s been split a few times so I can use it around the landscaping. I was in awe when he offered it to me and will be forever grateful.

Other than that all my seedlings are in the garden and all 11 of the hanging baskets are completed. I know 11 but they look awesome. We love flowers all summer long as it transforms our yard into an oasis of colour and beauty that we can bathe in while enjoying a beer on the back deck.

Product Price Adjustment

I was able to bring back my receipt again to Canadian Tire this past week after purchasing some garden tools and the black tar for the driveway at regular price. The tools I had we had gotten either free from freecycle or cheap at a garage sale. They did their time with the original owner and with me as I tend to work tools hard. That’s what they are designed for so I give it my best shot.

Wouldn’t you know it, they go on sale the very next week. So off I went and was able to have just under $30.00 returned to my Canadian Tire Credit Card. Then I turned around and blew it on some top quality soil with food mixed in to mix with my compost for our hanging baskets. I can’t stand that cheap $1 a bag soil. If you want to have a garden that stands out, don’t get the cheapest stuff going and feed your lawn and garden what it craves.

You have 7 days from the time of purchase at Canadian Tire to see if the product you purchase goes on sale or the price is lowered in that time-frame. If so bring your receipt in for an adjustment and enjoy the free money!

The Pita Sandwich

Lastly, my friend dropped by with some homemade German Sausage so I thought I would give it a try. So, for lunch today I made a whole wheat pita stuffed with mixed greens, fresh cucumber slices, mozzarella, ham, sausage, and a dressing. You know how much I like my dressings so here is how I made this Maple Mustard-Lime Yogurt sandwich dressing recipe. I served it with some bread and butter pickles and a huge strawberry.

Maple Mustard-Lime Yogurt Dressing or Dip

• Juice of half of a lime
• 2 tablespoons of Greek Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon of PC Maple Mustard
• Mix and serve on top of your favourite sandwich or use as a light dip!

Canadian Budget Binder’s Weekly Blog Posts

If you are a regular reader you would have already received these awesome posts  in your email but just in case you missed reading one I’ve put them all together here just for you.

• PF Reading List #22 Grab A Brew- Making Someone’s Day
• Buy or Sell First: One House, One Home, Two Mortgages and A Pool
• Free Plants And Easy Ways To Save On Gardening
• The Grocery Game Challenge May 27-June 2, 2013 #4 Shopping Hungry
• Crispy Fresh Spring Rolls
• The Loss Of A Dog , Euthanasia Costs and Dealing With Grief

Garage Sale Finds

For the summer I will feature garage sale finds from Jen and the fans. Since Jen has started budgeting and saving money she tends to find her best deals at garage sales. Join in the fun! I’ll pick one fan each week along with Jen’s finds if you send in your photo and write up no later than 12 noon on Saturdays.

Jen’s Finds-Today’s garage sale finds: 2 x Elmo DVD’s $1.00 for both (were asking $1.00 each), carabineer clip $0.10, 8 plastic Ikea cups $0.50 (were asking $1.50), Starfrit mandolin type slicer $1.00 (were asking $3) and PC 8 pack of travel size 3 ply tissues unopened $.50 (were asking $1) =$3.10 

What do you think of her deals? Win or Loss?

Here are some of my most popular Garage Sale Posts:

• How To Price Garage Sale Items
• What You Can’t Sell At A Garage Sale in Canada
• Garage Sale Tips –For Buying And Selling

Making A Difference

If you are a personal finance blogger making a difference and would like to get featured please email me today. I can’t promise I will feature every site as it runs only once per week but you can’t get featured if you don’t share your site.  So now I’ll hand it over to the star of today’s Making A Difference. A big warm welcome to Prairie Eco-Thrifter.

PET-It’s been said that a person needs three things to live a satisfying and balanced life: something to do, someone to love and something to hope for. This motto is really what I live by. Feeling this way is the only way to find true happiness and contentment- the greatest gift of all.

At Prairie Eco-Thrifter I blog about all the components in life that I feel are necessary to feel balanced and satisfied. One needs to be focused at work, balanced with money, and organized with their time hence my Money Tips, Organization Tips, and Career Tips articles. We can’t go about our days without some sense of plan of action. Failing to plan financially, work hard, and being unrealistic with the time we have really does lead to disaster.  

One also needs to be healthy, both physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in order to look after our “whole selves” and live a long life. Life is a gift so we should treat it that way and take care of it. I believe in a holistic approach and and so my sections on Getting Healthy and Getting Growing help others to look after their”whole selves” and not neglect any aspects of their health. 

All of us should give back to those around us and to our environment. Taking things for granted eventually catches up to us and we suffer the consequences. I am a firm believer in being supportive, kind, and caring to those around us and doing whatever we can with whatever capacity to make their day and/or life better.

I also strongly believe in looking after our planet. Our future generations will not survive if we don’t and I am sure none of us want to be responsible for their fate in a negative way. My Giving Back and Going Green sections highlight the numerous ways I have been able to practice these things in my life. 

I am not going to change the world but I do hope to inspire others with my passion for the above. We can all live a long, healthy, balanced, and meaningful life if we approach each day with that focus. Life is truly a journey!  It is filled with up-hills, down-hills, curves, and forks in the road.

It is a journey that everyone is on, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. Some will wander aimlessly and others will map out a plan, but everyone is on a personal  journey.  I want to help you make that journey as amazing and fulfilling as possible.

Who’s Talking Canadian Budget Binder

Thank you all so much for taking the time to share CBB this past week!

• Debt Round Up
• I Heart Budgets
• My Own Advisor – Mark answers an investing question that I had asked him. Check it out!
• Club Thrifty
• Prairie Eco Thrifter
• Monster Piggy Bank
• Edward Antrobus
• The Frugal Farmer -Shares Mr. CBB’s Sloppy Joe as their Recipe of The Week! Thanks FF!
• Fix Em Up And Rent Em Out

Carnival Glory

• Budgeting and Economics Carnival 
• Carnival of Personal Finance Memorial Day Edition
• Festival Of Frugality
• Carnival of Retirement
• Personal Finance Carnival #7

Google Search terms really help me to understand what people are looking for at Canadian Budget Binder! Any typos below are simply how the person who searched Google and typed it in search incorrectly, or me  Another week of thousands of search terms but only a few good ones worth mentioning.

Top Pick: Sloppy Joe’s are Soooo Good! I love when people just do random searches like this as if they have no one else to talk to but the computer. 

• What Women like in Men– Well, I can think of 2 things off the top of my head…..
• Rob Ford Financial Worth- Yep,  because here is where we tell all.. the CBB tabloid!!
• How To Enter Toronto Illegally- Ya, like that’s a post I want to write.. NOT! How about trying it the legal way. It worked for me.

That’s all for now folks. If you are wanting an update on our dog, that will be coming soon, I promise I won’t miss telling you about the thousands of dollars we’re about to spend. Happy Saturday.

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Related articles

• The Saturday Weekend Review #20-The Young Cookie Selling Entrepreneur (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
• The Saturday Weekend Review- #16 Are You Making A Difference? (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
• The Saturday Weekend Review #19- Mothering Sunday Is Mother’s Day! (canadianbudgetbinder.com)
• The Saturday Weekly Review #17- All Mouth And No Trousers! (canadianbudgetbinder.com)

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