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A Rookie's Lessons in House Hunting

I learned a hard life lesson last week. My husband Mark and I began the hunt for our first home a few months ago. We’ve been pretty open in terms of what we’re looking for. Assuming there’s room to have a few chickens and space to expand our family by one someday, we’re pretty flexible.

And then it happened. Our realtor sent us the listing and it was love at first site: a beautiful little bungalow with an ocean view on an acre of land. We went to see it and it was even more amazing in person. The house was modest, but had some upgrades and looked to be in great shape. The ocean breeze smelled fresh, the seagulls sang and out front the “Sarah Michael” fishing boat was docked, saying, “Welcome to the neighbourhood, friends”. We made an offer, the sellers accepted and I shouted from the rooftops that we were homeowners and happily shared pictures of our little paradise. Emotionally, I was vested. In my mind, I was moved in. I had even mapped out the route to our daughter’s future elementary school. I was in love. The only hurdle was the inspection, but how bad could that be?

Well… the answer is bad. Very bad. The first indicator was the “grey-water” line from the sink routed to the ditch by a fire hose “secured” with electrical tape. Funny, I didn’t notice that the first time with my rose coloured glasses. Or maybe the illegal wood stove they’d configured in the garage that was adhered to the wooden frame with duct tape. Melted duct tape now. Fire hazard? These were signs of disrepair. Unfortunately, the owners had not taken very good care of this little ocean beauty. But, it was the foundation that was the deal breaker as we discovered it was being washed away by the day and needed extensive work. It was devastating. We just couldn’t take on the huge tasks needed to make it work.

As a result, I took a few weeks off from house hunting to get over the tragedy of my “first love” and now that I’ve had time to reflect, I thought it might be worthwhile to share a few tips for others who’ve begun their hunt for the perfect house.

Find a Great Realtor

We went to see the first house on our journey without a realtor, and met a realtor who was everything that is wrong with realtors. He assured us that we didn’t need a realtor; he could just handle it for us. But after spending five minutes with him, it was clear that he did not have our best interests in mind. When we asked where the property line went to, he said, “ummm, back there somewhere.”

Lesson learned. Invest the time and find a good, experienced, knowledgeable realtor. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with them and counting on their expertise, so be sure to find a good match. Don’t just go with your cousin’s friend who is new and needs the commission. Unless, your cousin’s friend is an excellent realtor.

Get Mortgage Pre-Approval

See your banker and make sure that you know your budget so that you’re not falling in love with houses that are out of your price range. If you know you’re pre-approved, you’re able to act faster when you do find “the one.”

Be Prepared

Do your research as you go. Line up that house inspector, insurer and lawyer before you get into the heat of the hunt. That will take some of the stress out of the scramble once you’re ready to make an offer. Everything happens fast and it’s a business of quick turnaround, so do what you can to be prepared in advance.

See It Twice

It’s really easy to panic and get caught up in the excitement of buying a house. A house might make a great first impression, but once you go away and come back (with less emotion) you’ll probably be able to look at things a bit more objectively. Take your time looking at the house. Open the cupboards and lift the rugs. It’s likely the biggest investment of your life. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest bringing the most critical person you know along for the second viewing.

Sleep On It

Give yourself a little time to think things over. In some markets you might not have the luxury to wait and sleep on it (and I suppose there’s no harm in making an offer) but make sure you don’t rush into the purchase. If you can, give it the night. Everyone feels more prepared to make a big life decision after a good sleep.

I wasn’t expecting it to be as emotional a process as it has been. I guess I fall in love easily, so it has been a good learning experience for me. I’m not yet wise in the ways of the homeowner but hope that over the coming months, I will be.

How to Spend $1000? Invest in Yourself!

What would you do if you suddenly came into a thousand dollars?

When I was a kid, I used to think a hundred dollars was a big deal, never mind ten times that amount. Now that I’m an adult however, a ‘cool grand’ has lost a bit of its lustre. Don’t get me wrong, a thousand dollars is still a nice amount of money, especially if one finds themselves the sudden recipient; it just doesn’t seem as infinite as when I was a child.

In fact, with credit card bills, utilities, car payments and rent or mortgage amounts due, a thousand dollars can come and go in the blink of an eye. In fact, one can spend a thousand dollars so inconsequentially that just a few years later, it may be difficult to recall exactly where the money went – a sad state of affairs for an amount of money that used to ‘razzle-dazzle’ me as a child.

Now, if you have reckless tendencies like me, you might make the suggestion to go ahead and “Treat yourself! Buy something nice!”. A new iPad? Perhaps a high-end handbag? Maybe even a glorious full-package deal at a spa? These are all fantastic but the joy will most likely be fleeting and again, in a few years, it’d be difficult to recall exactly how that thousand dollars was spent.

Investing is always an option. It’s super easy to funnel a thousand dollars into retirement savings, a children’s education plan or even just a tax-free savings account. Doing any one of these things is a smart move but again comes up a bit short. Inching one’s retirement savings from, say, $28,000 to $29,000 hardly qualifies as fulfilling, memorable or exciting.

Sticking within the realm of investing, the option to gamble on the stock market is always there. This approach is risky but can yield much higher returns on an investment, which definitely ups the excitement factor. However, what I personally found out this year is that a thousand dollars is kind of a lame amount to invest. I made a thousand dollar stock purchase and saw my money grow by about 15% in just a few weeks, providing a pretty good return on investment. What soon became apparent is that in actuality, this meant I only gained $150, which winds up being about half that after taxes are applied. The lesson here is that the stock market is designed, more or less, for those wishing to invest much larger sums of money.

So what to do with a thousand dollars?

Just recently, I came across an article in MoneySense Magazine that asked this very question. While it covered several different approaches, one suggested action really stood out: Invest in yourself. The gist is that should a person ever come into an unexpected thousand dollars, an intelligent use of that money would be to spend it on increasing personal knowledge, abilities or skillsets with the goal of being able to use the newly attained qualities to generate income. For instance, if you’ve always had an interest in woodworking, then you could enroll in a part-time course that teaches cabinet making, birdhouse building or even something unorthodox like intarsia.

The opportunities for investing in yourself are vast and varied. I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia and in just a few minutes, I was able to come up with a handful of self-improvement courses and workshops that suit my fancy. Here are just a few examples:

• Learn How to Keep Bees, $225 
• Photo Manipulation with Adobe Photoshop, $397 
• How to Bake Wood-Fired Bread, $500 
• SCUBA Diving Open Water Course, $350 

While the above are local to Halifax, opportunities like these are almost always available in-and-around towns and cities across Canada. Apart from investing in yourself being a unique approach to spending a thousand dollars, it can also provide an actual return-on-investment. By investing in a skill, while money is initially lost, over the long run a person can actually earn that money back (and then some) by turning the skill into a small business. This can also be a big benefit when one retires, as having the ability to self-generate income helps with financial security in old age. Lastly, apart from the practical aspects of acquiring a new skill set, the other bonus is that investing in yourself guarantees that you’ll never forget when and how you spent that extra thousand dollars.

So, how would you invest a thousand dollars in yourself?

Canadian Voices Rise Up to the Sky

National news can be learned directly from children, which was the case in my household regarding a new song my kids are learning at school. The song I.S.S. Is Somebody Singing was collaborated together by Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson and with how interactive Hadfield has been from space – the kids rate this partnership as something very cool! Officially commissioned by CBC Music, the goal is to bring attention to the importance of music education in Canada. The debut of the song Is Somebody Singing happened in February with the glee choir of Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts and not only is it a great song (and Chris Hadfield can really sing!) but it’s a coalition spreading a great message of unification through music across Canada. Music history was made when the song was recorded both on Earth and Space while Hadfield is in orbit on the International Space Station. Have a listen below!

Astronaut Hadfield helped co-write the song and I love the line “You can’t make out borders from up here.” Ed Robertson from Bare Naked Ladies has a wonderful quote about how we can all feel connected, even the wonder of what Chris Hadfield experiences in Space. Robertson’s quote is here:

“I wanted it to be a celebration not about the remoteness of space, but about the connectedness of a human being on the I.S.S. who looks down and sees the whole planet in a way that, from our perspective, we don’t have the opportunity to.”

I love listening to music that my kids enjoy and the goal for May 6 is to have the entire country united in song across the different time zones and have Hadfield hear the voices while still in space. It is the official song for Music Monday to promote and celebrate music education in schools. Share this message so that children that are home schooled, school music departments, and music makers of all backgrounds learn the song together and lend their voice in May.

Access free downloads and lyrics through the Coalition’s Music Monday website, and join the coalition to fill the skies with music. There are some great Music Monday ideas for getting started:

• Music Monday in a field
• Joint School Event – organized with multiple schools
• Community Wide Event – community partner with a senior music group, local choir, etc.

Play the video, learn the lyrics and help bring awareness for music education in your communities with this special song. Champion children to believe that anything is possible – whether it be travelling to space or hearing a song there.

Gotcha Sriracha? Homemade Hot Sauce

About three years ago, I decided to change my life around by adopting a progressively healthier eating and exercising regimen.  The experience has been awesome as I’ve focused on taking baby-steps in order to make sure all the lifestyle changes become permanent.  As of today, I am back to my proper weight, having lost approximately 30 pounds – weight which I’ve now kept off for the last two years.

The journey hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure.  Out of all the obstacles and there were many, one in particular proved immensely difficult to overcome: My love of condiments.

Gosh, do I like sauces.  So much so that I refer to myself as a “sauce guy”.

I could guzzle down pretty much any type of condiment except for mustard, which I’m not a fan of (ironic since mustard contains almost no calories).  It doesn’t matter the food – eggs, chicken, pasta, you name it – I enjoy slathering it with a tasty sauce.  But since sauces can add hundreds of calories per day to one’s diet, and since the added sugar in sauces is quite bad for you, I decided I had to break free.

In my dash for freedom, I decided to hitch a ride on the ‘hot sauce train’, seeing as hot sauces are usually low in calories and have little in the way of sugar (and they’re not mustard).  I fell in love with Sriracha sauce, which I’m sure many of you have tried or at least heard of.  Sriracha sauce is fantastically, awesomely tasty, hitting all the right notes of heat, spice, vinegar, garlic and a touch of sweetness.

Unfortunately though, underneath all that awesomeness lies a health monster.  Sriracha sauce is laced with sulfite preservatives, which have recently been questioned in relation to chronic bodily inflammation, asthma and a host of other issues.  So for me, in my attempt to get healthier, this hot-sauce freedom-train had gone off the rails.

That is until I came across this recipe for homemade Sriracha-style hot sauce.

It’s not exactly the same as store-bought Sriracha but where it comes up short, it gains in overall freshness of flavours, an absence of artificial preservatives and, if you’re interested, it’s paleo-diet friendly (if you use honey instead of sugar).  Over the past few months, I’ve eaten tons of it, enjoying it so much that I feel I really should pass-on the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound red chilies (I use the red hot finger peppers but feel free to experiment)
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey

Equipment:

• sealable container
• fine-mesh kitchen strainer
• blender

Instructions:

1.  Dice the garlic and peppers, place all the ingredients in a sealable container and give them a stir.

WARNING: Wear plastic gloves or at the very least, only handle the pepper with your non-dominant hand.  The chemicals from the peppers can burn your skin and eyes (I found this out while removing my contacts at the end of the night!)

2. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24-hours.  Feel free to stir the mixture a few times to keep all the peppers soaking.

3. Pour the contents of the bowl into a pot and bring to a boil.

4. Stir in the honey, reduce heat and simmer for 5-minutes.

5. Remove from heat and let stand until room temperature.

6. Transfer mixture to a blender and blend for at least 5-minutes.  The length of time is key, as the mixture goes from quite runny to a thick, smooth sauce the longer it is left to blend.

7. Smush the mixture through the strainer and into a sterilized jar.  The strainer removes the fibrous seed husks.

8. Refrigerate.  The hot sauce stays good for about a month.  Enjoy!

If you try any other types of peppers, feel free to share it in the comments section.  I’ve already tried Thai chilies myself and found the sauce much too hot and chemically tasting.

Milk Sharing

Becoming a parent has been such an education. I had no idea how much I didn’t know until I became a mom. To be fair, it’s mostly stuff I would not have been interested in knowing prior to having a baby. My most recent lesson was about breast milk banks and donating human milk; the fact that they exist (in some places) and how to get involved.

I’m not going to focus on the breast milk vs. formula debate because it’s a personal choice. However, if you are a breastfeeding mother (or plan to be in the future) this post is for you!

My lifelong best friend recently gave birth to triplets at 33 weeks. The babies were all in great health but had some growing to do. While her plan was to use formula prior to having the babies, once they were born she decided she wanted to breast feed them all (and give them only human breast milk instead of formula). As she worked on building her supply, there was a bit of a shortage in how much she could produce (there were 3 babies after all). Enter, the human milk bank.

There are only two official human breast milk banks in Canada. One in Vancouver, BC, based out of the women’s hospital, and another based in Calgary, AB. They both provide screened and pasteurized donated human milk to babies in need (receiving milk from these banks requires a prescription from a doctor). They will ship milk across Canada and the recipient is responsible for a processing fee as well as the cost of shipping. If you live in either of these cities, you can go through the screening process and become a donor quite easily – if you’re in good health. It’s a rewarding, free way to give back.

For those of us living outside of Calgary and Vancouver or with babies who do not have a medical condition but are still in need of breast milk, there are some other options. One way is to connect with women looking for a donor, or looking to donate through a network called Human Milk 4 Human Babies. They have community Facebook pages set up for most major cities across Canada. The concern with these networks is that you are responsible for screening your donors. If you are accepting milk from a family member or close friend, who you know is in good health, there’s less of a concern about the spread of disease (most pregnant women undergo a host of blood work to confirm they are in good health).  At milk banks, women are screened for multiple diseases: HIV, Hepatitis B & C, HTLV and Syphilis.  However, if you’re connecting with someone you don’t know, you will need to use your own discretion.  In a lot of cases, you can find one donor and have them screened and use their milk for your baby’s needs if you’re not able to produce enough milk of your own.

While it’s not the right fit for everyone, it’s something to consider if you’re a breast-feeding mama. It’s another way to give back to your community and help a baby grow strong and healthy.

Man-Gifting

Everybody loves to receive gifts, including me. In fact, I think that buried deep down inside, I prefer receiving gifts over giving gifts. But of course, it’s not socially acceptable to admit such a thing.

The thing though, is that the only way to ever receive a gift is to give one in the first place. For every gift-gotten, a ‘giver’ had to have been on the other end. As such, I made the decision that this year would see me start giving a little more, spreading a little extra joy, randomly, thoughout the year. The question I had though, was: Who should I give to, and What, exactly, should I give?

I’ll spare the finer details of the brainstorming and elimination processes and instead just let it be known that I decided to focus giving gifts to the men in my life. Yes, that’s right, I decided to start man-gifting. From fathers and brothers, to friends and co-workers, I chose men because quite frankly, we are the most under-gifted category of humanbeings. Women? Children? Girlfriends? Grandmothers? They’re always receiving gifts – always. Men on the other hand are the forgotten ones. Like wisps of smoke or the last shimmering beam of a setting sun, the gifts we receive are fleeting, precious and rare.

So in consideration of this, I decided to make the men in my life a priority and throughout the year, start surprising them with random gifts. The biggest problem however, is that it’s kind of weird for one man to randomly give another man a gift, unless they’re in a romantic relationship. Traditionally, men are frugal with their emotions and in terms of gift-giving – especially as an act of kindness and friendship – a certain type of awkward masculine intimacy exists. So to avoid this, it’s necessary to get creative.

For my first attempt, I decided to man-gift a friend that lives, coincidentally, in my apartment building. I knew he was a massive hockey fan and that he had been mourning the NHL lockout quite heavily. So after the news broke that the lockout was over, I thought “Bingo!”, this is the perfect opportunity to launch my quest. What better way to man-gift than to unsuspectingly mark the return of his favourite sport with a game-night snack-pack with “Congratulations on your New Arrival: The 2013 NHL Season!!!” written on it. Inside the snack-pack (which by the way, was gifted inside a black box because black is the “manliest” of colours), I included the following:

- six pack of beer
- frozen pizza
- bag of chips
- beef jerky
- pepperoni sticks
- peanuts
- chocolate bar

And how did I deliver this manly man-gift? Not with ribbons and bows or with a grand presentation. Instead it was done with stealth and surprise. I waited until a game-night, crept up to his apartment, placed the box in front of his door, knocked loudly and then sped off down the stairwell. And how did my buddy respond to receiving this unexpected offering? Well, he figured that it must have been me, as we live in the same building and as a such, immediately texted me the following: “Hey, man. Assuming the snacks were from you. Thanks for the gift! Big game tonight. Go Sens!”.

It was, perhaps, a less than fulfilling response but remember, fulfillment isn’t the reason we’re supposed to gift. It’s altruism, right? Besides, if you really think about it, a muted response should probably be the expected outcome of man-gifting, as us men are so rarely the recipients of random acts of kindness that we don’t know how to respond when it occurs. Regardless, for me it felt good; beginning my quest to spread gift-giving to those who need it the most: men.

At present, I’m already planning my next round of man-gifting; in which a muscle car, a bottle of scotch and a shooting range are being considered. Whether to include them all in one gift is the question.

Five Uses for Wine Corks

Last time I blogged about the versatility of the mighty toilet paper roll. As it turns out, it’s not the only item you can use for countless other purposes. Another very useful little gem is the humble, yet steadfast wine cork. I actually don’t drink a lot of wine, but after seeing the possibilities with wine corks, I might have to pick up the habit – or at least have my vino-loving friends start collecting them for me.

Here are just a few fantastic things you can do with a wine cork:

1. The Jewelry Wall

Forget that crowded, disorganized jewelry box. What you really need is a jewelry wall; an easy way to hang and organize all your earrings. Even better?  You can add corks that face outwards to hang your necklaces and bracelets.

2. The Heart Stamp

You can make adorable stamps from wine corks. Since Valentine’s Day is creeping up, making a heart might be a fun idea but really, you can make almost any simple shape. A little creativity and just five minutes with a box-cutting knife will do the trick.

3. The Bath Mat

Useful and beautiful, this wine cork bath mat is apparently super absorbent and naturally resists bacteria and mould growth. Here’s a tutorial for how to make one. It requires 500 wine corks, so you’d better get drinking. Or, if you know someone who works at a bar, that might be a faster route.

4. The Bar Countertop

You can use corks to convert an old dresser to a wet bar. Just glue the corks directly to the top of the dresser and you have an interesting and appropriate little wet bar.

5. Wall Art

Do you have a big empty wall you’d like to fill? Why not get creative with your wine corks and conjure up some unique (and free) wall art. Here’s one example of what you can do, but just use your imagination to create a one of a kind art piece.

These are just a few uses for wine corks, but I have come across many, many more. Have you ever used wine corks in an upcycling project? Please share!

Valentine's Idea: A Year of Dates

As far as Valentine’s Day goes, my husband and I have never really celebrated it. I suppose there was that one year when Mark bought me a couple of baby guinea pigs because I said I wanted a real, human baby. But in general, we’ve always let V-Day pass on by, perhaps because Mark and I have always made a habit of doing regular date nights. Though now that we are new parents and have not had a date night in six months, Valentine’s Day seems like a good excuse to force a date! Even more importantly than that, it is an opportunity to think about our relationship (read: appreciate our relationship) and make spending time together a priority.

Just recently, I read a great idea about pre-planning one date per month. The idea behind the article was that quality is better over quality, and that if you take the time to plan a no-babies night, you can actually make it happen! So here’s our year of dates at a glance. I did my best to make sure they weren’t too expensive either and that a few were home based so we won’t always have to get a babysitter:

February- A Romantic Dinner

Mark and I have been dying to get back to a lovely little downtown French bistro, so we’re going to spend our first date night going for dinner. We are planning our date for Valentine’s weekend, but not actual Valentine’s day so it will be less busy, crammed with other young lovers, and (hopefully) less expensive!

March- A Hockey Game

We’ve been wanting to check out a Halifax Moosehead’s game all season, but we haven’t gotten around to it yet. Last year, we went to a few university games and had a great time, but they’re not quite the same as an arena packed full of thousands of fans.

April- Try a New Recipe

Our New Year’s resolution was to expand our cooking repertoire. I thought it would be fun to make a date of choosing and preparing dinner together from start to finish – after the baby goes to bed, of course.

May- Visit the Art Gallery

Another thing I’ve wanted to try out for the past year. Our art gallery has free admission on Thursday nights, so I would love to spend an enriching evening strolling through the art gallery, holding hands and maybe stealing a kiss or two.

June- Make Ice Cream

It’s summer! And we have an ice cream maker we bought over a year ago that’s just sitting there, collecting dust in our cupboard. It would be a great summer treat to make ice cream together. Maybe we could even compile all our favourite foods. Peanut butter, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon ice cream, anyone?

July- A Late Night Picnic & Star Gazing

Every time I visit the country, I just look up in wonder at the stars. I thought a romantic and cheap date night would be to head out for a late night picnic and some star gazing. We can have a friend come by once the baby is already sleeping!

August- Play Catch

When we lived in North Vancouver, we used to make a point of getting out once a week to throw a ball around. Actually, we started with badminton, but I was so terrible that we moved onto baseball. It was a lot of fun and would be a great to make it a date for this summer!

September- Test Drive Nice Cars

Mark loves cars and we had a great time test driving cars when we were looking, earlier last year. However, the Kias and Hyundais we were considering were far from exciting to take out for a spin.  So I thought, why not head out one evening to test drive cars priced out of our range? Sounds like fun, right?

October- Visit the Bookstore & Have a Hot Drink

This is another one of our favorite activities that has fallen by the wayside since we’ve become parents. A great fall date is heading to the book store for the evening and strolling around with a nice hot bevie. The smell of new books and coffee mixing together and the quiet that tends to surround books, makes for a nice, relaxing environment.

November- Games Night

Mark loves video games but he rarely has a chance to play them. I thought it would be fun to have a games night with him. Even though I’m terrible, it should be good for a few laughs. If we’re feeling really adventurous we can play online and have eight year olds smack talk us all night long.

December- Drive and Look at Christmas Lights

This is a date we could even bring a sleeping baby along for. One of our favorite Christmas activities is to go looking for Christmas lights. There’s something about listening to a Christmas tune in a nice warm car, surrounded by sparkling lights that’s super romantic.

Now all I have to do is line up a semi regular babysitter and my year of dates is complete! Do you have a regular date night with your significant other? What are some of your ideas?  Please feel free to share as it’ll help get started on an entirely new list for 2014!

5 Uses for Toilet Paper Rolls

The toilet paper roll. Who knew this little household leftover could be so useful? In our home, the only function for the tp roll, is a guinea pig toy (does that count?) Yes, one of our guinea pigs loves to dip them in his water dish and munch on the sloppy aftermath.

Oh, and I suppose I used them once before, on a budget Halloween when a judge’s wig was concocted from months-and-months of saved rolls. That was pretty good too.

But there is more to a toilet paper roll than meets the eye. It appears to be the perfect little device for upcycling. Here are five craftier uses for your toilet paper rolls.

1. The Heart Stamp

Here’s an easy arts and crafts project. You just bend the tp roll into the shape of a heart, wrap it with tape to hold it in place, dip in red paint and you have the perfect little heart-stamp. Your kids can help you out with this year’s Valentine’s Day cards!

2. The Cord Organizer

I love this one. For quick, easy, organized storage, roll up the cables you aren’t frequently using and stuff them into a toilet paper roll. Even better, you can write what the cord is on the outside of the roll.

3. The Musical Toy

Tape one side of the toilet paper roll, add something dry (I used popcorn kernels), then tape the other side and you have a homemade maraca! I used duct tape so it was waterproof (read: slobber-proof). Simple.

4. The Fire Starter

A toilet paper roll is the perfect fire starter. Just stuff it full of dryer lint (cotton lint, not polyester); light it up and you’re got the beginnings of your next bonfire. Start collecting rolls now to use them the next time you head out camping.

5. The Art Piece

Apparently people are using this nifty little item to make some pretty incredible wall art! The sky’s the limit and thanks to pinterest, there are lots of inspiring ideas.

So, there you have it. Five interesting or useful things to do with your toilet paper rolls instead of recycling them. Is there anything you do with toilet paper rolls?

Out With The Old, In With The New: Donate Your Gently Used Stuff

Another Christmas has come and gone. You’re happy, stuffed full of turkey and enjoying the chaos that fills the house with the bounty from the holidays. The kids of playing with their shiny new toys and you’re enjoying your new gifts. Ah, life is good.

Then, as you wake up on Boxing Day, you realize you have more stuff than you know what to do with. There isn’t room for it all! Well, good news. There are many places that would gladly take your gently loved stuff as you fill your home with your new treasures.

Here are some ideas for where to spread the holiday cheer.

Your Local Hospital

Most hospitals will accept gently used plastic toys that have been cleaned or books.

Brody from UsedRegina did a blog about this exact topic earlier this year.

Your Local Sports Club

Example: KidSport, Winnipeg, MB

KidSport is national charity administered by Sport Manitoba that helps to remove barriers and assist less fortunate children participate in sport – so all kids can play. They will accept new or gently used sporting equipment. There are organizations like this in most major cities. A quick google search will help you locate the one nearest to you.

Your Local Women’s Shelter

Example: Victoria Cool Aid Society- Victoria, BC

Most Women’s Shelters will accept used or new items: household items, like dishes, pots and pans, linens and towels; small household appliances like toasters and microwaves; computers; and office equipment or supplies as well as toys.

Big Brothers & Big Sisters

Big Brothers & Big Sisters is a national organization that will come to your home and pick up gently used clothing and small appliances.

Canadian Diabetes Association

100% of net proceeds raised by Clothesline® directly support the Canadian Diabetes Association and world leading diabetes research, education and advocacy.

Moores Clothing For Men

Moores Clothing hosts an annual suit drive to collect business clothes for unemployed people looking for work. They have yet to announce their 2013 dates yet but if you have a donation, you can just put it aside.

Usedeverywhere.com

Lots of people comb our site for freebies. If you there is stuff you’d like to pass along to another family that might not be accepted by a charity (furniture, large toys etc.) feel free to list it on our site. Our “Community Angels” also gather free used stuff on the site to help families in need. Here’s what our Angels have been up to this holiday season.

These are just a few ideas of how to pay-it-forward this holiday season. There’s no better way to teach your kids about the holiday spirit than by sharing with others. And, it’s a great way to clean house and get a start on those new year’s resolutions. A real win-win.