People work hard for their money, but don't make their money work hard for them. It's time to fix that. Economist whips your income into shape with smart, practical advice. Photo by wvs from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. While on vacation, Economist overheard a man talking about his experience at Purdue: "In America, you have to do four years of university. It's not cheap either. It's like $2,000 a year." The Economist almost choked on......

Go ahead. Add "post-almost-bike crash traumatic disorder" to the list of things for which we are suing the manufacturers of Crocs (you know, the molded rubber-substitute monstrosities reluctantly categorized as "shoes"). That's after, of course, "severe aesthetic distress," "acute depression in regards to the future, as in, what could possibly be the next craze? Styrofoam sneaker-pumps?" and "recurring nightmares caused by the sight of a pylon-orange, perforated pair on the feet of the hitherto......

Cheap Thrills is a new bi-weekly column filling you in on fresh ways to get your kicks in the city and on the cheap. With a chill in the breeze this week, there's no doubt fall is whistling its way to our wind-tunneled city. Shorts and sunnies be shunned, it's time to break out the blazers and boots. And although the recession is looming, gloomy like the clouds overhead, that doesn't mean you can give......

PROTEST: Anti-Scientology group Anonymous is having another planned protest at the Church of Scientology today. If you haven't been to one before, hordes of people typically disguised by masks congregate outside the Scientology building and chant things like "Fuck Tom Cruise!" and encourage cars to honk their horns! Meanwhile, the staff at the Church of Scientology chill out in their foyer, have a potluck luncheon, and watch the festivities occur. We're not really sure......

Three years after A&P Canada was purchased by Quebec-based Metro, changes stemming from the deal are becoming evident to shoppers at the company's Dominion stores in Toronto. The Equality and Master Choice house brands are gradually being replaced with the Selection and Irresistibles labels. Bakery shelves include loaves of Première Moisson bread. Aisles are being rearranged and exteriors torn away as three aging stores (Yonge-Eglinton Centre, Bayview-Eglinton [top], and Bloor-Robert [bottom]) undergo renovations. Though......

WORDS: Breaking Dawn, the final installment of author Stephenie Meyer's vampire/romance book series Twilight, is being released at midnight. A masquerade-themed party at Indigo this evening celebrates the book launch, with Breaking Dawn-inspired activities, music, and prizes for the best costume. Plus, you get to buy the book—which will certainly suck—as soon as it goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. Indigo Books (55 Bloor Street West), 8:00 p.m., FREE. SALE: Vintage boutique Marylou Flamingo is......

DANCE: German electrohouse duo Booka Shade returns to Toronto for what will undoubtedly be a sweaty, sweaty dance party at CiRCA tonight. Hey, remember when CiRCA first opened and everyone was being all “Yeah right, I'm never going to CiRCA!"? Looks like the joke is on you, if you're a Booka Shade fan. CiRCA (126 John Street), 10 p.m., $18.50. SHOPPING: Although it's not technically a real IKEA, products from the 2009 IKEA catalogue are......

Overheard in line at the post office outlet in the Yonge-Eglinton Centre. Cashier: The total will be $21.94. (Customer hands over a credit card.) Cashier: Do you have a debit card? Customer: No. Cashier: Cash? Customer: No. Cashier: Debit card? Customer: Um, no. Cashier: No cash? No debit card? Customer: No. No. Cashier waits for a minute, then, gently: Debit card? (Silence.) Cashier: Fine. Hear something? Send it to streeter@torontoist.com.......

Even though back-to-school time is just around the corner and all the newbie university students will be dragging their apprehensive yet utterly relieved parents to IKEA for all their dorm room needs, it's not that group of unsuspecting hipsters who are being targeted by a brand-spanking-new ad campaign; it's their older, more-ready-to-settle-down counterparts, the yupster (think Smart car owner). Starting August 4, this fresh campaign (seemingly) targeting late twenty and early-thirty-somethings will air across......

If this reminds you of your childhood, then you've got plans this Saturday. Rain or shine from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. the Annex Cat Rescue is hosting a puuurfectly lovely little garage sale to raise money for those critters in need of a home. The event promises "great finds and bargains galore!" not that Torontoist has ever needed an excuse to hit up a garage sale. Since a portion of the proceeds from......

Imagine that you're an advertising representative assigned to handle a spot for Eaton's in a magazine distributed to audience members enjoying classical music at Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. The department store giant wants to spotlight their fine collection of pianos. As you struggle for ideas, you flip on the radio and hear Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder join forces to sing about the joys of piano duets and racial harmony. A light bulb......

The perfect t-shirt. Everyone wants it. Everyone wants to believe it exists, somewhere, either after weeks of shopping or years of wear (all so easily undone with one mistake in the wash). So few actually have it. Toronto's Shared claims to be among those precious. The local label's "extra-long staple cotton," soft as new kitten, is precision-cut and sewn into polos, v-necks, and boyfriend tees (for girls, of course). Prices flit around $40, but......

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. Dear Snappy, Yesterday I saw three different girls in the exact same pair of gladiator sandals. Serious gladiator sandals, too: mid-calf height and made of some kind of snakeskin. I love them, but is too late to get my own? Should I just wait for the next major sandal trend (what is the next major sandal trend)? xoxo Adrienne......

"What do you want to sell at my market?" demands a flustered, head-scarved Kealan Sullivan, 69 Vintage owner and entrepreneur extraordinaire. "You want to sell cupcakes? Sure. Homemade ice cream? Sure. Old records? Sure. Just not vintage clothes... because, you know, I do that already. Antique clothes? Sure." We don't actually want to sell anything at Queen West Market, which opens tomorrow, June 21, in the gallery formerly known as SPIN. (The gorgeous, dramatically......

Photo by Stephanie Fysh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. All along Queen Street West, consciously kitschy cuckoo clocks are ticking down to tomorrow's grand opening of Toronto's sophomore Urban Outfitters. Just west of Spadina, but still east of cool, the kaleidoscopic shop takes up residence on the far end of what is fast becoming the strip mall stretch of Queen. Little problem: that block, and the accompanying teenage wasteland demographic, has been ruled by......

When Kealan Sullivan was 22, she never wore the same thing twice. The 69 Vintage owner would throw together an outfit at Value Village, trash it on the town, and toss it in her closet at the end of the night, never to see the flash of a camera again. An undisclosed number of years later, she's cleaning out that closet—and the basement of her beloved Queen West boutique—to indulge the fickle desires of......

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. Hey Snappy, My partner and I are about to begin renovation on a house we just bought. We are going to get new floors, a new kitchen, a new bathroom, and new appliances. Although "new" in this situation is good, it means, by definition, that there is old. And a lot of it. We want as little of the......

Miss Rowe Fall/Winter 2008. Photos courtesy of Miss Rowe. Ashley Rowe had nothing to wear. Then 24, she was a big city girl with the big interview at the big Bloor Street store every clothes-lover dreams of calling home: Holt Renfrew. Well, their clothes were just too expensive, and H&M? She loves it. Who doesn’t? But... it’s H&M. So, Miss Rowe designed her own collection and called it just that. "I wanted to make......

If you thrill to the authenticity of a one-of-a-kind vintage find, but could do without the authentic experience of digging through a factory-sized, moldy basement-scented Value Village for hours on end, you’ve probably already discovered Upside Dive Inc. And if not, you’re about to have a moment. Bicycles and biker jackets, desk chairs and secretary dresses, sunburst clocks and butterfly shades... Upside Dive is a purveyor of all things preloved, a one-stop wonder emporium founded......

Heads up on the hands-down coolest things at the Interior Design Show: most of them spring from our own backyard. And literally, too. There is a flourishing trend toward the incorporation of nature in contemporary design—a welcome wandering off from the hard lines and materials often associated with modernism—and local designers are embracing it wholeheartedly. Toronto installation artist Rob Southcott's "United We Stand" (pictured at right) is actually a seat of sorts, a grouping......

While February 14th is reserved for lovers, and February 18th is all about families, February 13th has 'em all beat...tomorrow, Wednesday, is none other than Dead Bra Day! This is a chance for all bearers of boobs to come on out to Secrets From Your Sister (560 Bloor Street West) and: A) Save 20% on all of the boutique's fabulous, well-fitting and long-lasting bras by trading in a "dead" bra for a wicked discount, and;......

Weeks of record-breaking, finger-numbing, Antarctican weather are leaving Torontonians frozen across the city—and someone thinks it's hilarious. Who could be cruel enough to snicker as you stand miserably in a pool of slush, waiting thirty-something minutes for the streetcar that was stopped up by unprecedented snowfall? On February 16, the jerks themselves want to watch, photograph, and videotape you at your frozen-est... inside the Eaton Centre. Frozen, that is, in time. Would you believe the......

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. Hello, I am new to the city and am looking for advice on where to find great vintage clothing shopping. Can you please recommend both general areas of town where I might have some luck and, most importantly, specific stores I should check out? As someone on a budget, I'm looking for good deals. Also, I heard something about......

When we think of Disney our minds don't usually jump to wedding dresses, but players in the Canadian bridal industry are hoping you’ll think cartoon princesses when planning your grown-up “special day.” It only makes good marketing sense given that the big, white wedding dream is often one we come up with, or get forced upon us, in childhood. If you manage to keep that (perhaps unrealistic) dream alive, why not be honest about......

Any sweetheart worth his or her weight in Godiva's will tell you that all they really want for Valentine's Day is something from the heart, made by hand. Lovely and true. But did said sweetie specify whose heart? Whose hands? Unromantic as it seems, we believe it's perfectly acceptable to outsource your labours of love. Why spend hours wrestling with hot glue and lace when someone else can do it for you—and better? This......

Shouldn't every mall should include a place to pose against an elegant concrete wall with your favourite magazine or a romantic hidden spot to meet that lawyer you're having an affair with while their spouse shops? The Bayview Village neighbourhood was one of several planned communities that sprang up in North York in the wake of Don Mills. Before unveiling the design for Bayview Village with developer A.W. Farlinger in 1954, planner Eugenio Faludi......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. A big-time hero for 2007 is the expansion of Queen West's Made You Look jewelry studio and gallery. in......

Gift cards may make convenient presents for Christmas, but they're a lump of coal for the environment. According to the Consumers' Association of Canada, Canadians will spend $3 billion on gift cards this year, which means a lot of rectangular pieces of plastic will end up in the garbage. Gift cards can be reloaded to extend use, but a person who receives multiple gift cards for a retailer usually keeps only one to reload......

With self-check-in a success at airports around the country, Air Canada is preparing to implement a system that would see passengers check and tag their own luggage. Coming in 2009: who wants to learn how to fly a plane? In spite of fears that we might not be as greedy as last year, yesterday stores were jammed with eager bargain hunters seeking shiny stuff. The crush is expected to continue through the rest of......

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo (or two) from a photographer in the Torontoist Flickr Pool. It's our way of giving the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention that they deserve. Eaton Centre Double Exposure 120 Format BY METRIX X......