FrugalVictoria is Live (again)

My much-neglected FrugalVictoria website is once again shiny and ready for its closeup. (Many thanks to my Hubby for wrangling it on to the server; the initial screw up was my doing, when I moved the dns, I only did half the job. Oops.)

I started FrugalVictoria.com at a time when our finances were much tighter and every dollar added up. We bought factory-second disposable diapers by the carton; we used natural cleaners; we grew our own food; and we tried every brand of coffee on the shelf until we found a suitable replacement for the higher end beans we preferred.

At the time, there were a handful of sites devoted to "tightwads" and "dollar stretchers" but they were all American; there was very little in the way of Canadian -- let alone local -- information or resources. I kept it up for a couple of years, but then got busy with other things (blogging among them) and since finances were better, it didn't seem like I needed to focus on living cheaply.

Of course,Victoria is still one of the least affordable cities in Canada -- there are statistics to prove it -- but it's also one of the most desireable locations to live. And for every "high roller" who moves here, they're going to need a host of people able to survive on low wages in order to serve them coffee, sell them clothes, and care for their children.

On the other hand, there is more to FrugalVictoria than just finances. There's also living with less; simple living and getting back to basics. Some of the things that our grandparents took for granted -- knowing how to darn a sock, tend a garden, pickle cucumbers, or build a chair from scrap lumber -- these things are getting lost in the shuffle. Sure, most of us don't need to know how to do these things, but they are helpful and part of our cultural heritage.


Overall, I hope FrugalVictoria will be a great way for me to highlight free (or cheap) local events, big sales, and issues like finding affordable housing (no I haven't written that article yet....) as well as share tips on living for less and with less in the City of Gardens. Come over for a visit...




[And, yes, I not only get to scratch one more item of the List O' Unfinished Projects, but I also learned a whole lot about Drupal along the way that I can now apply to other projects.... which means another thing I can cross off the List!! Whee!]