This is one time of year where we really start watching our spending (and our waistlines) with so much to do, so many gifts to give, and so much delicious food to eat. It’s tough to stay on budget, but there are a few ways to avoid breaking the bank while still having a lot of fun!

6 Ways to Save Over the Holidays

1) Make a Budget, Track Spending

I love my apps! As a business owner I use accounting apps and software and I’ve started to use a few for my personal spending as well. Here are a few to try:

Mint Money Manager (Apple)

PocketGuard Budget App (Apple) (Android)

You Need a Budget (Apple) (Android)

GoodBudget (Apple) (Android)

Mvelopes (Apple) (Android)

2) Give Gifts à la Secret Santa

Mix it up with family and friends and do a Secret Santa gift exchange. My family is large – and it spans two countries – so we always do Secret Santa. Around Thanksgiving, everyone’s name is put into a bowl and then selected in pairs. The list of who-is-buying for-who this year is then circulated by email. You end up purchasing only one gift instead of twenty, and the gift opening event is always fun as there are so many surprises.

3) Gift Your Skills

I don’t necessarily mean a coupon for “one free hug,” but you’re probably great at something and can offer that to someone as a gift! Can you build, fix, cook, write, take photos, or drive? If it were me, I could offer to build a website or do blog consulting as a gift for someone – in fact I have in the past.

4) Choose Cheaper Traditions

Brew a cup of locally roasted coffee at home instead of buying the latest candy-topped creation at a local shop. Go for a walk in Stanley Park with a loved one instead of making another trip to the mall. Read stories as a family, or have a crafting party where you can make lovely DIY gifts and ornaments.

5) Attend Free Holiday Events in Metro Vancouver

I have a list with over a dozen activities that won’t cost you a rounded-up-or-down penny! Cherish experiences, not stuff, this season.

6) Waste Not, Want Not

Overcooking or wasting your food are two of the worst money wasters during the holidays. The single biggest reason that people waste perfectly good food is that they buy food without a plan for how to use it. Make a plan when shopping for groceries or holiday parties.

Here are some tips:

• Serve just enough so that guests eat their fill and food isn’t wasted.
• Store your food in a way that can help it keep longer.
• Portion your leftovers and store them safely to plan your lunches. They’ll keep for a couple of days in the fridge or months in the freezer.
• Use up your holiday leftovers in innovative ways. Make a dedicated “leftovers night” and plan a recipe. iValueFood.com recommends that you think about “ingredients” rather than “leftovers”.

Metro Vancouver estimates that each household produces $700 worth of avoidable food waste per year (2014 food prices).

Over half of the food going into Metro Vancouver’s garbage, food scrap bins and down the drain could – at some point – have been eaten. That’s over 100,000 tonnes per year! For more holiday saving tips, and to find ways to reduce your waste this Christmas, check out Metro Vancouver’s “Tips to Celebrate with Less Food Waste.”

Following the success of last year’s North Shore Foodie Book, publisher Brad Hill is at it again! The East Van Foodie Book in out just time for the holidays, featuring 47 restaurants, over 100 locally-inspired recipes, and 1,000 photos of East Van’s unique dishes and dining spaces.

East Van Foodie Book

A very real celebration of East Van and its food and drink.

The restaurants, bars, cafes, breweries and foodie businesses that nourish East Van influence the whole city, province and country. The East Van Foodie tells their stories in words, photos and recipes.

East Van occupies the fringe zone between downtown and the suburbs. It’s a crossroads. It’s a lived-in, mixed-use, gentrifying, cultural nexus, and a canvas on which the next generation asserts itself. It is a neighbourhood and the geographical focal point of a greater discussion.

One of the great indicators of a rich and dynamic cultural and artistic community is the food it serves, so documenting its food is at the heart of documenting the community. The East Van Foodie is a snapshot of a place in time and of the food it eats.

East Van Foodies is available for purchase at the 47 participating East Van restaurants and at various local bookstores including Chapters Indigo, Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks, Cook Culture, and Welk’s General Store.

Photography, recipes, editing, design and publishing by Brad Hill, and participant stories by Chris Dagenais.

Enter to Win

I have a hard copy of this deliciously inspiring cookbook to give away, here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click and post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win the #EastVan @foodiebook http://bit.ly/2gJqcQI” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner from all entries at 12:00pm on Monday, December 19, 2016. Follow the Foodie Books on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more info.

Update The winner is Kathy!

I had only previously been to Osoyoos during this desert destination’s summer months, when jetskis made waves on the lake, ice cream shops had queues of swimsuit-clad customers, and winery tours were on a morning agenda between brunch and beach time. This year, I was in town during the first weekend in December. This means there was the Light Up parade with Santa arriving to town via Main Street, and I got to attend opening weekend at nearby Baldy Mountain Resort.

I wrote about my experience for SnowSeekers, where I discovered the small town charm of this local South Okanagan ski destination.

“..as the sun crested Anarchist Mountain behind Walnut Beach Resort, it painted the lake pink – a sign it was going to be a perfect ski day. I packed up my gear, got in the car for the 60-minute ride up to Baldy.

Winding up from the Osoyoos Desert – beautiful with a light dusting of snow – we drove the mountain highway, and climbed to 5,650 feet above sea level, giving Baldy the rights to highest base altitude of any Canadian ski resort.
Keep reading… »

I had flashbacks on the hill with my guide Kyle as everyone who passed us said “Hello!” or “Good morning!”. I remember when I was a little girl, my dad always said hello to people that we passed on a hiking trail. I would turn and ask him, “Do you know that person?” and he would say, “No, it’s just what you do.” While I barely get eye contact from a passerby on trails in the big city, this friendly and courteous gesture is abundant on the runs at Baldy.

Short lines, great food, lots of family fun (dogs can come too), and ending the day around an outdoor fire pit. It was so lovely to meet locals who were excited to have their mountain back, and optimistic for a fantastic grand re-opening season.

Plan your trip to Ski Baldy and Stay Osoyoos with some great hotel deals this winter. Read more about Baldy on SnowSeekers and follow SnowSeekers all winter on Facebook and Twitter for coverage about ski resorts and slopes in BC and Alberta — including the latest snowfall reports and conditions.

John and I are all about the date nights and we have one coming up at the Vancouver Christmas Market. We’ll shop for some hand-crafted gifts, perhaps pick up a stein, listen to live music, and enjoy the twinkle of the lights with snow-capped mountains as a backdrop.

Sharing some of the love this season, the Vancouver Christmas Market and its vendors have put together an ultimate date night prize package for a lucky Miss604 reader to enjoy.

Win a Vancouver Christmas Market Date Night

Prizes may not be exactly as shown in this collage.

The lucky winner’s Vancouver Christmas Market Date Night includes a Couples Combo ticket package (included below) and all of this:

• 2 Adult Season Passes with Express Lane Access
• 2 Carousel Rides
• 1 Gingerbread Treat from the Gingerbread Haus
• 1 Couple’s Photo Session at the Photo Hut
• Authentic German Spätzle Dinner for 2 from Captain and the Chef Spätzle Haus. Spend a romantic evening at the Vancouver Christmas Market dining on an authentic, hand-made, Spätzle Dinner for 2 (egg noodles) with one of 3 toppings, and gurkensalat (German cucumber salad). Enjoy your choice of traditional cheese and caramelized onions; wild mushroom cream sauce, or their dairy free fusion of inspired coconut curry tomato sauce. This delicious meal also comes with a pair of sparkling beverages.
• 2 Chocolate Bars from ART Meets CHOCOLATE Hut
• 1 Christmas Glass Ornament from Unique Glass Ornaments Hut
• 1 Vintage Brown Genuine Leather Belt with a Wood Inlaid Buckle from the Mistura & Fento Hut. This is just a glimpse into the craftsmanship of the fine products offered by Mistura & Fento including wooden watches and sunglasses, leather belts, wallets, and bracelets.
• 1 Bottle of Raspberry Liqueur from Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery Hut.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Tag your date, like, or share this post on Facebook (1 entry)
• Click and post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win the ultimate @VanChristmas Date Night http://owl.li/LUZj3076mg0 #VanChristmas” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner at 9:00am on Friday, December 16, 2016. The prize package will be waiting at the Vancouver Christmas Market on Friday morning so that the winner can attend the market during the weekend before Christmas.

Jordan Kutev Architect Inc.

The market is open through to December 30th (closed on Christmas Day) at Jack Poole Plaza (Vancouver Convention Centre West). Follow along on Facebook and Twitter for more information this season.

Update The winner is Eran!

Mt Seymour had the most fresh powder of any ski resort in BC or Alberta over the weekend, including a 24 hour stretch where 73cm fell! It’s our local, family owned and operated ski resort that offers a relaxed West Coast feel only 35 minutes from Downtown Vancouver. Whether you’re into skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, tubing and tobogganing, there’s something for the whole family.

Mt. Seymour has 200 acres of downhill ski and snowboard terrain with 40 trails and 5 lifts. There are 4 terrain parks with 12 trails, 4 snowtubing lanes, 8 toboggan runs, a vertical rise of 330m and a longest trail reaching 1.6km.

Win Lift Passes

On track for a great season, I have a pair of single day lift passes to give away so that a lucky Miss604 reader and their guest can hit the slopes. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click and post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a pair of @Mt_Seymour lift passes http://owl.li/peHy3073ZjT” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner at 9:00am on Friday, December 16, 2016 so they can get up as early as this weekend to enjoy the fresh powder. Prize passes are valid for one full day of riding during the 2016/2017 season.

Follow Mt Seymour on Facebook and Twitter. Miss604 is a proud Social Media Ambassador of Mount Seymour this season.

Update: The winner is @Barbitza!