A few of our most popular posts about saving time.

STOP LOSING EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW

Has your handbag, keys or luggage gone AWOL? You won’t need to spend hours looking for lost stuff if you can put an inexpensive Bluetooth tracker on the case.


Mezzi CosmiaNEW NOW NEXT | There’s a new luxury handbag in town and it’s vying for the affections of those who would shell out $1300 for Louis Vuitton’s legendary Neverfull or $1,000 for 3.1 Phillip Lim’s Pashli satchel.

Mezzi matches its high-end competitors for quality and beauty and then goes one step further by packing tracker technology inside its handbags, briefcases and totes. It’s difficult to permanently misplace a Mezzi because each one features a “seamlessly integrated MEZZI Trackr allowing wireless connectivity” between it and your smartphone.

Now that’s a great idea; but really, you don’t need to buy a Mezzi handbag if its just its tracker technology that you want. You can make each and every one of your existing handbags (or your luggage, laptop, keys, whatever) Mezzi smart for as little as $18 with one of the new wave of tiny, inexpensive Bluetooth tracking devices.

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Jean Shrimpton Big Hair - David Bailey

The Next Best Thing To Having A Live-In Hair Stylist

The BaByliss Big Hair Rotating Air Styler will give your hair Victoria Beckham-quality volume and shine in record time.


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MONEY WELL SPENT | I have a lot of hair. This is both a blessing and a curse. While I’m grateful that in all probability I’ll never go bald, my abundant mane is a royal pain when it comes to styling it myself. Not only does my mop take a discouragingly long time to blow dry, but the results never look polished because I can’t really work a round brush and dryer in tandem. Read more

guacamole iStock

Appetite For Easy: One Minute Guacamole

Here’s a recipe for the best guacamole you’ll ever scoop on a chip: it’s fresh, seriously delicious and you can make it in a minute.

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ONE-MINUTE WONDER | It’s a holiday today in British Columbia and we are having friends over for a dinner, which means I’m going to need appies: lots of them. I can get away with serving strictly store-bought stuff—cerignola olives, edemame in the shell, gourmet potato chips—if I serve it in small, one-of-a-kind containers that give it an air of exclusivity. But store-bought alone feels ungracious to me so I like to mix in a few homemade or half-scratch appies I can turn around on a dime. One of my all-time half-scratch favourites is cheater guacamole. I’m always surprised by how many people ask me for the recipe. Read more

Loopy Mango Cowl

Got An Hour? Knit A Loopy Mango Scarf!

Super chunky yarn + giant knitting needles = the coolest handmade neck warmers on the planet

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EASY & QUICK | Got and hour? Why not make yourself (or someone you love) an arresting hand-knit cowl with gargantuan yarn from Loopy Mango. Clueless when it comes to knitting? No worries. Loopy Mango’s merino wool kits for infinity and super long scarves come complete with monster-loop yarn, giant birch wood knitting needles and instructions so explicit rank beginners will be churning out neck-wraps in no time.

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Shine Your Silver To Perfection Quickly Without Commercial Polish

This homemade concoction will put a shine on your silver with minimal cost and effort. (VIDEO)

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THIS STUFF WORKS | Until recently, I have polished my wee cache of silver—both sterling and plate, everything from jewellery to flatware—with pricey silver polish from a local jewellery store. “Why do you use that stuff?” my friend and Frugalbits contributor Brendan Power asked one evening after I complained about the bits of pink paste that had become lodged in the nooks of my newly cleaned Tiffany bracelet. I could avoid this residue, and polish up everything nicely, he explained, “using tin foil, soda and salt.” Read more

Color coded keys

Never Mistake One Key For Another Again

A quick way to differentiate the keys on your keychain is to use nail polish to colour code them.

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THE CREATIVE SOLUTION | Do you have keys on your keychain with bows (the handles used to turn the keys) so similar that you continually confuse one key for another, an activity that wastes time and causes frustration? You could use plastic key caps to distinguish important keys, but key caps are bulky, often fit poorly and don’t last all that long. Another less obtrusive way to differentiate your keys would be to use nail polish to colour code them. Read more