Serious September Savers Frugal Chatter

[MrsSunshine]

heh Lilo... time to get the kids involved in making lunches

[jasperandchar]

gOOD MORNING! September already. I just finished posting my post i typed last night in August frugal chatter. Found out right after i clicked post that one of my goals is met. I DO have a pt job 4 shifts for 8 hours this month.

We discussed it this morning and this month the extra $$ are going to thw power bill the changed satellite bill and the phone bill. After this month i'll pay the phone bill and keep $200 each month for christmas shopping funds. We do a shop in earl dec as thats when we get out of town for hockey to some larger more selection stores. I also do alot of amazon ordering!

Congrats on attaining 1 of your goals already. Awesome to have some shifts lined up for work already . Your definitely taking on the September title seriously "Serious September Savers" with your bill payments. Keep up the great work!

[jasperandchar]

Just started the bread. That'll give me 6ish loaves in the freezer, so I won't have to worry about making some for a couple of weeks. A friend bought me this amazing bread knife. It's like slicing butter. It's made my life so much easier. And pita bread is rising.

Couldn't find any fresh white fish yesterday (and I am far too inexperienced to actually go fish some myself), so I'm going to make lasagna tonight and make the white fish next weekend.

I made waffles this morning. I've started quadrupling the batch (you should see my poor mixer, it can't handle anymore than that) and freezing them. Then the kids just toast them for breakfast like you would an eggo. I can't decide if it's cheaper than eggos (especially since there are usually coupons out there for them) but they are FAR more filling and healthier.

Stockpiling your freezer with easy "toast & go" breakfast for the kids is a great idea and so much healthier than an eggo. Fantastic start to September I must say!

[jasperandchar]

Hi folks! Happy Labour Day weekend! It's SO hard to believe the kids will be heading back to school on Tuesday. First time in 59 years that I won't have to be "listening for the bell". In fact, I'm going to a "To Hell With The Bell" retired teachers breakfast on Tuesday.
Today, dh is making some of his famous devilled eggs (got eggs on sale at SDM) and I'm going to a PotLuck supper with my db and some friends from our church.

Yikes, I was SO tired yesterday that I didn't even run out to use up some expiring coups. Then we went to Detroit for a baseball game. Treat for my db. We sat in the handicapped section so he wouldn't have to deal with stairs. (He has CP.) He was thrilled and there were fireworks afterwords. But we didn't get home until after 1:00am. (Detroit beat Cleveland btw)

I'm still purging. My aim is to get rid of one of the dressers in our second bedroom and give it a more "open" feel. Was taking pictures out of frames today so i can store them in a more space-saving way. Someone suggested to me to take pictures of "memories" and store them on a memory stick. These are my mil's pictures, though, so, for now we're keeping them.

One more drawer and it's all stationary stuff and pens, etc. so that can be "re-purposed" in someone else's drawer - they're going to St. Vincent De Paul. They give a tax receipt which other second-hand places do not.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Wow you are off to an exciting start: baseball game with fireworks and then tackling your 2nd dresser to create room, I think your goal(s)/challenge(s) will be accomplished in no time at this rate.

[jasperandchar]

Subscribed. September goal, no unplanned lunch purchases for back to work, or drive thru snacks on the way home.

Great goals/challenges those ones can lead to big monies.

[jasperandchar]

WOW.. September already. I actually forgot it was this morning.. im just really hoping that when we take my son to school Tuesday morning.. he gets to stay.. a little confusion regarding paperwork.. really hoping we can clear it up that day.
anyway.. today was a wonderful day.. dh and I had a very cheap date. after more than a year of waiting for one..
started with breakfast... cheap..$4 each.. then we headed to bowling.. paid $2 for two games.*shoe rental was $3.49*.. alot of fun though..
then we went to a local park for a fall fest.. i actually bought 3 xmas presents there... $10
went to William's met some more Sc'ers.. and traded coupons.. actually save $15 on my shopping trip after using some..
lets see what the rest of the month has in store for us.

Glad you got your hubby all to yourself and you were a cheap date (lol). Score on getting some Christmas presents done @ the fall fest and of course trading coupons with others sc'ers! It sounds like a win win weekend.

[Angela273]

For the girls who've ever been on mat leave, how often does the EI cheque come/money get deposited? Is it each week or biweekly? I think I've spent my entire amount for August on diapers.

My maternity leave just ended a week ago. The money was always deposited every two weeks. I get paid monthly as a teacher, so I think that EI always pays biweekly.

[jasperandchar]

Just dropping by to wish everyone a happy labour day. Hope everyone is enjoying the last long weekend of summer.
The last two weeks of August, I set up a goal for the boys, eldest son to start reading and the youngest son to be able to write his alphabets and numbers before school and we both met the goal. Im very happy, just need lots of patience.

My goal for this month is to stay on budget, I will be off work till the end of the year (hopefully if my medical leave gets approve) and my mat leave pay is about to finish this month. So we will be definitely living very frugal, frugal as it is will be even more tight.
Will try to keep up with you ladies.

Those were fabulous goals for your kids before starting school.

[jasperandchar]

Hi folks!

Last month a experiemented with hanging lots of cloths to dry instead of putting them in the dryer! I am very pleased!

I also bought a used electric tire gauge to ensure my tires have proper hair, to make sure I am not wasting gas.

And I'm going to stop my obsessive vacuuming. Sometimes I do this twice a day.

Thanks for this thread, i am going to go look for other ways to be a bit more efficient and wiser with my resources.

yahoo!

You're off to a great start vesper, hang drying clothes has lots of benefits, the smell for 1, saving on hydro. Purchasing items 2nd hand is a fantastic way to save $. Glad to see you on the frugal chatter thread for September.

[jasperandchar]

With kitties, I find that you have to stay on top of the dustbunnies. My long haired cat could create quite a lot of hair in a few days. Thankfully, we didn't have any carpeting (also useful for the weekly hairball she left me).

For the girls who've ever been on mat leave, how often does the EI cheque come/money get deposited? Is it each week or biweekly? I think I've spent my entire amount for August on diapers.

I'm looking forward to a more frugal September! Apple season is coming up though and I have such a weakness for all the interesting varieties.

EI I believe is still bi-weekly. Diapers are costly that's for sure, try different varieties, however, some are better than others.

[jasperandchar]

2 weeks in England is over, and now the back to school rush is on us. It was nice not to worry about the cost while we were away and we stayed pretty much within budget. We stayed on a working farm while away in the second week so we had fresh eggs and apples as well as tomatoes all for free. The kids loved just going out to the apple tree to pick an apple when they were hungry for a snack The only unplanned was the 200.00 Hilton stay on the last night as we wanted to be closer to the airport. But I am sure I will have racked up lots of airmiles for groceries and I had saved 60.00 worth of PC points for the groceries when we came back. It was 80.00 to restock And that was all fresh food and bread. Nothing went into the stock pile or freeze, but it was nice to pay only 20.00 for it all. We need to be frugal this month but with 4 birthdays and my parents anniversary that will be tough. We bought our soon to be 13 yr old a camera and gave it to him before we left so his gift is done. The camera was beyond his birthday budget so he asked both sets of grandparents to not buy a gift and to contribute to the camera. The younger one turned 10 while we were away and we surprised him with a tour of the new Harry Potter studios in London.
now the laundry beckons

Welcome back to Canada & of course the Serious September Savers! Photography is a great hobby for kids never too young or old to start. Your youngest must have been over the moon with the Harry Potter tour. Overall it sounds like your trip was pretty frugal & well planned.

[jasperandchar]

morning all -glad to see you joined us vesper -hanging clothing out is always great -fresh scent-save on hydro too-well had a great day yesterday-daughter asked us to pick her up was in town visiting her sister-in-law-then went to an late lunch with her on locke street they have great restuarants-earth table bar awesome small place-well she decided to pay half of the bill (such a nice daughter) I think cause she wanted a bottle of Ontario reisling wine-she was stressed over a few problems with hubby(si I listened and drank a bit with her) then we came back to our house and her hubby joined us they worked out their problem and we had a great evening-with them hubby and I -they stayed over too -I love seeing my grown kids-today we were going to go on a road trip but we decided against it (need a frugal day today ) cause we spent at the restaurant yesterday-oh we have 2 slices of pizza left over to -frugal lunch for hubby-see ladies and men sometimes we have to splurge a little -I saved 34 in coupons on Saturday so the lunch was a treat-anyway off to do laundry-its cheaper today-even did my daughter's and her hubbies laundry yesterday anything to save them time -my daughter lives in Toronto and works 50 hours or more per week-so for that I got a big hug and kiss -loll

coupon girl sounds like you have an excellent relationship with both your adult children. I am sure your daughter felt better after your chat & of course the wine (lol). Glad they worked out their problem and you were their to listen. I wish someone would do my laundry (lol) I don't mind but on days like this (rainy & thunder) after being away since Wednesday I have no choice but to dust off the dryer and use it. I have not used my dryer since I can't remember.

[jasperandchar]

I'd love to join the chatter and challenge this month I've been inspired by cheekysaver to get back on the couponing/restocking wagon and to actually keep track of everything.. I've definitely let things slide over the summer.

My goal for september is to clean up the dark and scary cold cellar, and stock it up with canned goods, and root cellared fruit and veg. It should be an interesting experiment.. If I'm really on the ball I'd like to do some youtube videos about it to share my progress.

welcome to the thread & the challenge portion. Sounds like you have been inspired and that goes a long way when taking on challenges & goals.

[jasperandchar]

well.. we were supposed to work on the xmas stuff.. but dh is working tonite.. so.. maybe this weekend. today is about catching up on some laundry, housework.. making lunches for tomorrow.. and trying to tackle.. 'it'.. if i don't make it back from 'it'.. send the calvary!

I'm on laundry duty too - see ya behind the lint traps (lol)

[MrsSunshine]

LMAO.. @ jas..