Amanda Collins

I tracked every dollar out of our family garden for three seasons so I would never have to guess at this again. The short version: the first year cost us far more than the vegetables were worth, the second year came close to a wash, and only in the third did we actually come out … Read more

The easiest vegetables to grow with kids are the fast, forgiving ones a child can actually harvest: radishes, lettuce, snap peas, green beans and cherry tomatoes. They sprout within days, they need almost no equipment, and they survive imperfect watering better than most other crops. That matters more than it sounds. A kid-friendly garden does … Read more

Yes, composting is worth it for most small families — but the payoff depends on which of three returns you actually care about. You cut roughly 30 percent of your household trash, you gain a free soil amendment, and you spend about two hours a month on it. Whether that trade feels good depends almost … Read more

Every July, the same thing happens in homes across Edmonton: the power bill climbs, someone decides the air conditioner is the villain, and the family spends the month quietly sweating instead of switching anything off. It does not have to be that way. Knowing how to lower your electric bill in summer comes down to … Read more

Every January, the same thing happens in this city. The gas bill lands, it is much bigger than the one before it, and somebody starts wondering whether the furnace is broken. It usually is not. Your bill went up because the weather turned and because heat is escaping through the same doors, windows, attic hatch … Read more

Yes, smart thermostats are usually worth it. ENERGY STAR figures put the realistic range at roughly 8-12% off your heating and 10-15% off your cooling, which pays back a device-and-install cost of a few hundred dollars in about two to four years. Apply a utility rebate and the same payback can land inside a year. … Read more

Short answer: most energy-saving gadgets are worth it, but the plug-in electricity saver boxes are not. The gadgets that pay back do one of three things — they cut standby draw from idle devices, they shift when energy is used, or they show you what is actually running so you can act. The boxes that … Read more

If you are searching for how to lower your water bill with a big family, you are probably past the point of small tweaks. Five people, three kids, laundry running most days of the week, and an Edmonton summer where the yard needs water too. The bill climbs, you cut a few showers short, and … Read more

The cheapest cell phone plans for families come down to prepaid and MVNO carriers running on someone else’s network, where per-line cost stays flat no matter how many people you add. Mint Mobile and Visible are the two names that come up most often in family switching conversations, and for most households of four they … Read more

If your internet bill climbed after a promotional rate ended, the fastest way to cut it back is to match your plan to what you actually use and to remove the line items you never touch. In my experience helping Edmonton households audit their bills, the money is almost always hiding in three places: a … Read more