Some may call me cheap but I like to see myself as being frugal. We all work hard for our money so it’s no surprise that we want to spend it wisely! Over the years, I’ve accumulated some clever little tips and tricks to get the most bang for my buck and I’m excited to share them all with you!
Restaurant Deals
I love going out to eat. There’s something about getting dressed up, getting together with friends or family and just enjoying a nice night out where you don’t need to worry about cooking or washing the dishes. Of course, pricey restaurant outings can definitely add up! Here are my favourite go-to restaurant deals.
Domino’s: Ok so this one is delivery or take-out but I’m still putting it at the top of my list because so many people in my life didn’t know about this deal. Did you know that you can have 50% off all pizzas at Domino’s every Monday?? All you have to do is add pizzas to your ‘cart’ and then apply this code at checkout: MON50P. Boom! Discounted pizzas. A few weeks ago I ordered two medium pizzas with plenty of toppings and two orders of cheesy bread and paid $27, tax in. I used another discount code for the bread sticks and chose to pick it up in-store to avoid delivery charges and tip but this was my way of getting a bunch of food for really cheap. Yes, you can combine coupons at Domino’s. I also always make sure to order through the Domino’s app because after you order 6 times, you get a free pizza. And who doesn’t like free pizza??
Souvlaki Bar: I’m a sucker for Greek food, souvlaki in particular. I always said that if I wasn’t born Italian, I would have definitely been Greek! My favourite special at Souvlaki Bar is their $2 mini pitas on Thursdays. Although they make their souvlaki pitas a bit smaller on that night (and you can’t have any substitutions), at $2 a pop, it’s definitely worth it even if you end up ordering 3-4 of them.
Carveli: Remember my love of Greek food above? Yup, it warrants another restaurant on this list. Carveli’s is one of those old-school restaurants in Cote St-Luc that has been around forever with the same man (hey Mike!) working the grill since the dawn of time. I love their pita souvlaki but they are actually on my list for their soup and pita deal. For less than $5, you can get thick traditional style Fakes lentil soup and the most delicious pita ever. I go there often for lunch because it’s so affordable, filling and above all else, absolutely delicious!
Melrose Resto: Oh Melrose, my home away from home! Having worked their since their opening over 6 years ago, the owners like to joke that I’m part of the furniture. This great resto-pub checks off all my requirements for a great night out. Good location, delicious food and super friendly staff/owners who make you feel like you’ve been friends forever. It’s one of those places where I don’t mind going by myself and just sitting at the bar. I know I’ll have plenty of fun people to talk to and hang out with. One of my favourite things about Melrose? Their 50% off ladies night specials. Every Thursday night, ladies get 50% off their meals and their drinks. It’s honestly SO affordable. I think I spent all of $15 the last time I was there and I ordered an alcoholic drink and a huge meat-lovers pizza. If you haven’t been, start planning your next ladies night. It’ll only take one time for you to become a Melrose regular.
Flyjin: If you’re looking for another place for a great ladies night, my bestie and I love Flyjin on Wednesdays – specifically because they have $1 oysters! The last time we went, we enjoyed two dozen oysters, two bowls of edamame and 2 drinks and came out spending $30 each. You can’t beat that!
Bacaro: I know I’ve mentioned Bacaro before in another pizza-related article (can you tell I love pizza??) but I’ve never mentioned their great deals. My favourite is their Monday night $10 take-out specials on margarita and pepperoni pizzas. You get fancy deliciousness for discount prices! They have great promotions other days of the week too, so make sure to check out their website (specifically the free Nutella fritters on Tuesdays for ladies who buy a meal!).
Subscription Emails
Nobody likes their inbox overflowing with useless emails. I totally get you. But there are a few emails I still get daily/weekly with some great discounts for their clients. Here are my top favourite!
Starbucks: This girl loves her Starbucks but I’m not always so in love with their prices. Their emails always notify me though when they’re having happy hour specials on their drinks! It’s the best time for a little splurge, especially since the drinks are usually 50% off! Of course, I also use their mobile app to accumulate “stars” that go towards free products later. Win-win!
Michaels: I’m not the most creative person around (shout-out to my artsy friends who take care of that for me!) but I love the emails I get from Michaels because they often include coupons to buy one regularly priced item at 40-50% off. Especially around Christmas when I’m trying to find affordable yet fancy decor, I always make sure to make a pit stop there!
Bath and Body Works: This is another favourite email subscription of mine, especially around the holidays or black Friday. The best deals I find there are usually for their 3-wick candles (perfect gifts) which get reduced to super low prices around November/December and their foaming hand soaps. A must for adorable gift-giving ideas!
Les Aliments M&M: I’m not sure if anybody shops there anymore but I surely do…specifically for two items. Their chicken parmigiana and their mozzarella sticks. If you haven’t tried their mozzarella sticks, don’t. They will ruin you. They are the best mozzarella sticks I have ever had (much better than the ones you buy in restaurants). Their emails are great because you get additional discounts on already well-priced items. Mozzarella sticks are usually $9.99 per pack but I never pay more than $6.99 or $7.99 because of the discounts.
SAQ: Last but certainly not least, I love my SAQ emails (especially when I’m not pregnant!). The SAQ will send you customized emails that include specials on certain products based on your past purchases. The discounts are always linked to their SAQ Inspire “points” system (so you get extra points on certain items) but these points add up FAST! My bestie told me that she loves trying new wines, so she always picks up a ‘featured’ bottle that awards more points, which makes her points add up that much faster. Cheers to great deals!
Student Discounts
Going back to school this year, I was surprised to see just how many student discounts there were if you looked or asked. Honestly, the money you save is almost worth paying the $100 for a university application fee to get a Student ID card that doesn’t expire for 3-4 years.
SPC: Entitled the “Student Price Card”, this one has been around for a while but it just keeps getting better. For about $12, you can buy this card that will unlock over 450 great deals. From 15% off at Jack Astors to 15% off at Foot Locker to even discounts on travel, this card can do it all!
iTunes: Have a student email address? You can pay much less for your iTunes music account. I pay only $4.99 a month to download unlimited music as opposed to the $9.99 price for non-student members. Through this student discount, you also get access to UNiDAYS which is another student discount website where you can enjoy more perks!
Amazon Prime: I honestly don’t go to physical stores anymore. Mostly everything I buy is through Amazon and thankfully, my Amazon Prime membership usually gets products to my house within 24 hours. Students get 50% off the Prime fee (so only about $40 instead of $80 a year) plus access to all of the regular perks like Prime Music and Prime Video.
Museums: This student discount varies depending on which museum you go to, but most if not all of the museums I’ve been to offer a discounted student rate. A few months ago I visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and instead of paying the normal adult ticket price of $14.50, I only paid $9.25.
Provigo: I haven’t tested this one out on all Provigo locations but I do know that the Provigo on the corner of Sherbrooke and Cavendish in NDG offers students a 10% discount on Mondays.
Bulk Barn: Who doesn’t love their candy in bulk? I love browsing the aisles of Bulk Barn and discovering all of the delicious treats they have to offer. But most importantly, I love their 10% discount for students on Wednesdays (this discount also applies to seniors 65+)!
Price Matching
When it comes to saving money, I probably rely on price matching the most. Although I’m not as talented as those crazy couponers in the US, I have definitely saved hundreds of dollars this way without even having to carry around the weekly fliers. Thanks to the Flipp app, all of the most recent fliers are loaded to my phone as soon as they become available. I make my grocery list and the app searches for my items to see which store is selling the product I want for the lowest price. It’s important to note that not all stores will price match. Walmart and Maxi are my go-to spots where I will no doubt save a few dollars. While Walmart will match their prices to any location (even tiny ethnic stores), Maxi will price match with most of the large retailers (ie. Walmart, Pharmaprix, Super C, IGA, Provigo and Metro). So for example, if I am at Walmart and want to buy the $12.99 1kg package of Saputo mozzarella cheese but see that it’s on special for $8.99 at Pharmaprix, I simply need to show the cashier the flier listing the sale price and they will adjust their price accordingly. It definitely takes some practice and organization (I leave all of my price matched items in my cart to be passed last) but it’s worth every single penny!
Other money saving tips
Costco credit card: The hubby and I did a lot of research before settling on the Costco MasterCard. Obviously, I would recommend this card if you actually go to Costco on a regular basis. I love two things about this card in particular. Firstly, the cashback is fantastic. There is no annual fee (you just need to pay for your Costco membership) and you get 3% back on all restaurant purchases, 2% back on all gas purchases and 1% back on all other purchases. All of this cash back definitely covers the price of your Costco membership, and then some. I often get cheques for $300-400! The second thing I love about this card is that it covers you for travel accident insurance as well as car rental insurance. This has saved us hundreds already since we don’t need to pay for extra insurance when renting cars while abroad.
Netflix: This might seem like a simply one, but get rid of your cable and share a Netflix account with your friends. Super simple way to reduce your spending on unnecessary channels you don’t even watch.
Amazon Fire Stick: This one is a little tricky to set up (I’m definitely not techy) but my husband bought the Fire TV Stick for about $60-70 from Amazon and downloaded apps that now allow us to watch the equivalent of cable TV (as well as international channels and movie channels) from around the world. It’s worth the initial investment because we don’t have to pay for any other cable TV service.
Libby: Have a library card for your local library? Download Libby! From here, you can have access to thousands of audiobooks and ebooks directly from your device.
Scribd: I’ve recently discovered audiobooks and I must say, I’m “reading” so much more now. I spend my morning and afternoon traffic route listening to various novels and it’s actually made me a much calmer driver. I debated between Scribd and Audible for a while and compared both free trials and Scribd definitely won! Audible costs about $15 a month for 1 credit (1 book) but Scribd costs me about $9 a month (I subscribed for a year so it would be cheaper) but you get unlimited downloads. Also, Scribd isn’t limited to audiobooks – they have ebooks and magazines and other stuff too!
Costco discounted tickets: Although most avid Costco members are aware of this, I felt like it was important to mention that they offer many discounted gift cards and tickets. Spa discounts (make sure to check out Way Spa), restaurant discounts, tourist attraction discounts and many more! My favourite discount? Their movie tickets! When hubby and I want a cheap date night, we head over to Costco for dinner (hands up for their $1.50 hot dog and drink combo!) and grab a movie discount ticket. We prefer buying the Cineplex coupons and for less than $35, we get two movie tickets, popcorn and drinks! Any date night under $40 is a win for me!
Costco Photo Centre: I used to be an avid Vistaprint user until one day, my mother-in-law showed me these beautiful invitations she got…from Costco! Vistaprint kept charging me cross-border duty fees on all of my orders so it was a no brainer to switch over to a ‘local’ store where I could pick up my items in person. And the quality and prices are fantastic!
Have any other great money saving tips?? Comment below!