Author: Mike Holman

My wife and I both have old phones (mine has an elastic which holds the almost dead-battery on [see photo below]) and have been thinking about getting new ones.  We didn’t want to get a contract and haven’t had time to look around for a good deal.  Luckily, staff writer “Henry” took the time to do a rather extensive analysis recently on cell phone deals and concluded that for the light user, the 7-11 deal is the way to go.

The Nokia 5130 is basically the new Four Pillars staff phone since Mr. Cheap, myself and my wife all went out and bought one after reading Henry’s post.  I like my phone so far – I love how it can take pictures although I have no idea how to get the pictures onto my computer. [edit – I figured it out] The drawback of this phone is that unlike my old phone it doesn’t fold up so it is a bit bigger than I am used to.  I still can’t believe 7-11 sells anything other than beef jerkey and over-sized pops but as it turns out – they sell pretty good cell phones as well.

Basically they have 5 phones you can buy.  If you get $100 of airtime then the phones are half price until Sep 30/2009.  For the $100 you get 452 minutes which last for 1 year.  Addition minutes are 20 cents per minute which is pretty good.

On these phones you get voice mail, caller ID, call waiting and 3-way calling.  I was talking to Mr. Cheap the other night and he tells me that there is even a video recorder on the phone.  I can’t imagine how unbelievably crappy the video picture must be, but hey…if Santa Claus shows up and you don’t have time to get your real camera then it will have to do.  The phones range in price from $59 ($29.50 on sale) for the basic Nokia 1661 to $140 ($70 on sale) for the 5130 which has an mp3 player and 2mb camera.

Keeping your minutes active

If you don’t use all of your 452 minutes in the first year then you can keep those minutes active by buying more minutes before the old ones expire.  They can be purchased in blocks of $25 (for 100 minutes) /$50/$75 or $100.   Once you buy more minutes, ALL the minutes on your phone (the old ones and the new ones) now have an expiry date of 365 days from the top-up date.

Downloading pictures/media

The camera in this phone is no substitute for a proper digital camera however it can take reasonable photos in the right conditions (apparently not indoors as you can see from the pics so far) and makes a satisfying “camera taking picture” noise when using it.  If you buy the phone then you will need to go to the Nokia support site in order to download the proper software.  When you get to the page choose your phone (you can move the green thingy below the phones to show more phones).  You have to download the “PC Suite”.

It takes a while to do all the downloads and is a royal PITA in my opinion. In fact I think you could probably download several versions of Window in the time it took to get this Nokia software installed.

Once I figured everything out then it worked really well.  You can select a default download folder so from then on – anytime you connect the phone it will download there.  You can select a subfolder based on the download date or picture date or other options.

The photos shown so far in the post look like crap.  This phone camera does not work very well indoors – which is ok since you’ll probably have your normal camera available.  Here is a photo taken from the phone down at Ashbridges Bay which looks a bit better.  It’s pretty good for taking pictures of people outdoors.

It’s back to school time and most university and college students are probably looking forward to a long winter of tough studies, late night Ramen noodles and figuring out how to cut costs in order to get by on not very much money.

Here are some suggestions from a current student who has done some research in the field and came up with the following tips.

1) Laptop

Are you looking a new laptop? There are a lot of sales going, but you can save by asking for another $50 to $100 off. If you are interested in Macs, be sure to get the free iPod Touch through Apple’s back to school promotion. By the way, do not get the extended warranty plans. Most credit cards give you a free year of extended warranty.

Potential Savings: $50 to $200 for laptop purchase, $80 to $100 for using credit card extended warranty.

2) Beer

Molson non-alcoholic beer costs about $5.99 a dozen. Regular beer costs $24 a dozen. By going non-alcoholic, there is about a 75% savings. There is less calories as well. A suitable solution for many people

Potential Savings: $1.50 for every can of beer.

Potential Annual Savings based on 60 cans of beer: $80.

3) Cell Phone

Retention, retention, retention. Do you have a retention plan? If not, call in to get one. Why pay $50 a month when you can pay $30? Since you get more with a retention plan, there are fewer worries about overage as well. If you do not need to talk a lot, check out 7-Eleven SpeakOut Wireless.

Potential Monthly Savings: $15 to $40.

Potential Annual Savings: $180 to $480.

4) Internet and TV

Big players are giving great promotions to new student customers for internet services and TV services. Be sure to call in and ask to be put on the promotions if you are already a long time customer. TV isn’t always necessary nowadays. You do save quite a bit by not getting the TV channels

Potential Monthly Savings: $10 to $50.

Potential Annual Savings: $120 to $600.

5) Home Phone

If you have a cell phone with a retention plan, it is most likely that you do not need a home phone. Skype can be a good option if you need to call a lot. If you really need a phone, make sure you bundle and call in for the best plan.

Potential Monthly Savings: $10 to $30.

Potential Annual Savings: $120 to $360.

6) Credit Card

Some student credit cards do not have rewards. You should definitely have a credit card with cash back or a good reward program. Looking for the best cash back credit card with no annual fees? Check here for information on best canadian rewards credit cards.

Potential Monthly Cashback: $5 to $10 based on $250 to $500 spending a month.

Potential Annual Cashback: $60 to $120 based on $250 to $500 spending a month.

7) School Supplies

There are some crazy back to school sales right now. 18 cents for a 80 page notebook!!! A fraction of the regular price!!! Stock up. Stock up.

Potential Savings: $1 per notebook and lined paper, Various for other items.

Potential Annual Savings: $20 to $100.

8) Textbooks

Brand new textbooks from the bookstore are very, very expensive. Many courses do not need textbooks to prepare for exams and many textbooks are available in the library. My rule of thumb is that if I need to use a textbook for more than one course, I will get the textbook. Getting the textbooks for courses that are harder and more important is a good idea too. There are so called “international versions” of textbooks that are bought and shipped from outside of North America. These usually cost $30 to $40 each, a far cry from regular textbook price of $90 to $150 each. Buying international versions from Ebay or other resellers would work.

Potential Savings per Textbook: $60 to $120.

Potential Annual Savings based on 10 courses: $600 to $1200.

9) Personal Hygiene Items

There are a lot of personal hygiene back to school packages at various supermarkets and drug marts. I buy a few and stock up on them for the whole year. Some of the best deals out there.

Potential Savings: $10 to $30 per package.

10) Travel Costs

My experience is that aircanada.com and westjet.com offers the best prices for airplane tickets within Canada, but you need to try to catch the various sales. However, international flights tend to be cheaper when booked through a broker rather through the internet in Canada. I usually ask two to three brokers for the same route before making a final decision, because different brokers have access to different systems and different tickets. From past experience, I have saved around $400 per trip. By the way, do not buy various form of travel insurance due to the high mark up and basic common carrier travel accident insurance is free through many credit cards.

Potential Savings: $200 to $600 per international trip.

More information on how to travel cheap.

Conclusions

By trying to save here and there, it is possible to save at least a thousand dollars a year by getting some of the best deals out there and being flexible about things. Most students have a tight budget and any savings is a good idea.  For more savings ideas check out 397 Ways to Save Money book review.

Also check out get your back to school educational finances in order.

Photo Credit: monkeycat