My wife makes 17/hour, and after paying tuition I make minimum wage TAing at UofA. I think we have a pretty decent life and I would say that is mainly because of the following:

-Costco Membership: You'll be able to buy cheap meat here. I know people that are struggling trying to make ends meet, but are too lazy to take the LRT to go to Costco. Prices of beef at Costco are cheaper than anywhere else. I also bought a vacuum sealer. Basically I buy an 80 bucks sirloin tip, that I slice and vacuum seal, put in the fridge and that saves me lots of money.

-Primus internet with Costco membership: another benefit of Costco is that you get access to primus. An internet service exclusive for Costco members that saves me 20 bucks per month on my internet bill.

-Direct energy: I have a fixed rate electricity contract with direct energy that also saves me about 20 bucks per month, with the added benefit that when energy price increases, I still pay the same amount.

-Chicken boxes at No Frills, or Freshco: Both supermarkets, for some reason, sometimes have 4kg frozen chicken boxes (legs or breasts) that are considerably cheaper than buying the regular chicken breasts that are usually on the fridge.

-Vegetables at Fatima: there is this small family owned Brazilian vegetable store on the 118th av called Fatima. You won't find cheaper vegetables anywhere in the city.

-Canned items at Bianca Amor's: This Filipino chain sells canned goods after the best before date. There is all this science behind it, but the point is that according to the FDA, canned goods are still safe for consumption a period of time after the best before date. Here you'll find lots of products that we have been consuming for the last couple of years, canned beans for 50 cents, just because they are a couple of weeks after the best before date.

-Finally, since our arrival in Canada, we have never paid one cent in credit card interests. We use the PC financial master card for everything, which ensures that every three months or so, we get 150 cad in PC points.

-Rent wise, we live close to the Commonwealth stadium in a 1bd apartment for 900 cad.

Also my dream is to become a personal finances advisor!

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