Home Archives - Page 14 of 16 - The Outlier Model

Gardening on the balcony

Gardening, grow your own, balcony garden, balcony gardening

CF / May 31st, 2012 / 11 Comments

It’s been about four weeks since Brian and I started up the balcony garden. We knew that it would be tough – our balcony is large but north-facing so there isn’t a lot of sun exposure. But at the same time, we didn’t want to be discouraged. There’s also a lot of great resources available online for those who are interested in small space gardening. Well, the initial...

Posted in: Home Tagged with: apartment gardening, garden, growing herbs, small space gardening

Dealing with condo emergencies

condo emergencies, emergencies, property emergency, broken pipe

CF / March 2nd, 2012 / 6 Comments

It’s Friday and I’m miserable because my leg is in pain and gimped up, its damn cold and now, my condo is leaking. Yep. Of course it’s leaking, what else would it do on a Friday afternoon? I received the email shortly after 1pm. My helpful tenant remarked that “several litres” of water came out of the ceiling. All sorts of horror scenarios ran through my head...

Posted in: Home, Real Estate Tagged with: dealing with emergencies, Emergency fund, home emergencies, homeowner insurance, pipe leaks, tenant insurance

Cutting down your hydro or electrical bill

cutting back, cutting back on bills, cutting back on expenses, hydro bill

CF / January 18th, 2012 / 3 Comments

When I received our hydro bill last month, I nearly had a heart attack. $160+ for two freaking months!? In all my apartment and condo-dwelling days, my bill has rarely exceeded $40 for two months. I called the hydro company to check in case there was a mistake but no… it was indeed $160 and change. Sigh. Photograph by jonlk, used under Creative Commons (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonk/14002934/) There’s...

Posted in: Home, Life Hacks, Minimalism and Frugality Tagged with: bills, electricity, home renovation, hydro, weather proofing

So we got a cat…

Medical Bills for Your Pet, pet medical bills, veterinary bills, Complacency, satisfied with life, we got a cat, adopt a cat, adopt a pet

CF / January 2nd, 2012 / No Comments

A few weeks ago, Brian and I acquired a new furry feline friend. He came with the unfortunate name of “Cronic” (their spelling, not mine….) and was soon rechristened as Chaucer. Fortunately, he is too stupid to know his name and so the change does not seem to have upset him very much. 😉 At first glance, having a pet doesn’t seem to fit our low-cost big-hack lifestyle....

Posted in: Home Tagged with: adopting cat, cat, cat costs, kitten, pet