December 2015 Frugal Chatter thread - all welcome!!!

[Crochetlady]

I`m with you Nancy. Love online shopping. I hate crowds and with having some mobility issues I can`t be on my feet too long. I even order some things from Walmart so I don`t have to lug them home.

I got some sticky mouse traps today when I was out. Hope they work. A friend told me today where I can get the good poison so I`ll be picking some up on Thursday. I`m declaring war...that little bugger has to go. It`s already messed with my chocolate stash. I can live with that...shouldn`t have it anyway but it had better not mess with my yarn!!!

[lilo0003]

I got a great SDM offer from PC MC, 40000 points if I spend 30.00 on three different days. I also got the movie pass from the Dial offer so today was a good mail day and I did not spend any money. Great way to end the month.


[walkonby]

pumped $10.00 in the gas tank today at Esso, will repeat twice more and I'll get 40,000 PC bonus points! Nice offer, I feel lucky that I got this one!

[saundyl]

Happy December! November has passed quickly.

My brag for the month is all our major Christmas gifts have bern purchased and mailed out (where necessary) The last gift got mailed today.

bf has to do some stocking decisions on what the boys his mom and i get. I think (barring anything impulsive ) im done his stocking so I'm done!

Also...Thursday night I got all of our Christmas cards addressed sealed then mailed out friday.

I have a week of out of town training to do...as well im sort if getting double paychecks for the month as im still on my old works payroll until the 31st as i agreed to help train and...when i left i had 3 weeks of vacation time to be paid out. New work pay kicks in within 20 days of the start date.

All of the "extra " will be set aside for covering shortages while bf recovers (ei for btw 8to13 weeks then disability )

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[saundyl]

In the last year due to shipping rates to the nwt being extra rather than free like they were previously i Have developed a bit of a hate for online shopping.
As an example last month Amazon had usb drives for sale5.99 each ..i wanted 4... $24 plus tax and then they tacked on. 45 dollars for shipping. I cancelled the order.

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[walkonby]

@saundyl I must say I don't know many people that still mail Xmas cards faithfully anymore, so thank you on behalf of my ex-coworkers who are still employed. Wow about those delivery charges!! I would have cancelled that order too.

printed off the Metro Flash coupon but now I see the tubs of Irresistibles Ice cream still comes to $2.00 for each tub....I may pass on it. First I'll check the freezer to see if 2 tubs can be squeezed in there somewhere.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! You gals are all on the ball with Christmas! I need to get my butt in gear this weekend and finish! No hockey so I have no excuses!

[SassyAshley]

I Love online shopping, I get the size, colour whatever I want shipped right to my door what could be better. I found shopping in stores I always had the worst luck they didn't have the size I needed or the colour I wanted and I would end up going to multiple locations of the same store to find what I was looking. This way what I want just comes to my door without driving hours out of my way.

[sweet sparrow]

What is your go to item to bring to house gatherings?

Like SassyAshley, I bring baked goods. With LO, I can't rush out to the grocery store last minute and we always have baking supplies stored away. Then I can adjust for nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, low sodium, low fat, sugar-free, or whatever dietary restrictions guests have. There's always someone now with an allergy or dietary restriction.

ooooh! the new thread! There may be more " I spent " confessions in here this month from me than " I saved " , but we'll see how our family plows through the holidays. Still have not dug out our stockings yet, put stuff away all in different areas last year and having trouble recalling where they are.

I think this is a heavy spend season by nature, not because everyone is materialistic but we see more people that we haven't seen for a long time. So yes, there will be good food, good presents, and good company. Well, at least some combination of the three.

I certainly do love online shopping. Hassle-free returns, being able to try on things at home, or try things on LO are absolutely priceless. Whoever came up with this is a genius and it's WAY better than sliced bread. Anyone who has ever tried to load a child into a car in complete winter gear, pack a diaper bag, snacks, extra clothes, child friendly entertainment, and special toys, only to have your child have a meltdown at the door knows this!

Online shopping for the win!

(I will put in a vote for parents of multiples or more than one child since they're probably too busy to respond. )

[Natalka]

^ I agree with the above comments about online shopping, especially those with free shipping! My orders from this last week were Linen Chest, Well, 10K Villages, the Bay, London Drugs.

I could hardly believe it was a new month til I saw this thread!

Have a great day, everyone!

[Frugalbigmama]

I remembered to use 2 coupons last night that expired yesterday. Finally! Didn't mean to leave it till the last day but I did. Free Quaker item so got 2 packages of Quaker Oats. They were $3.39 each. So cashier rang in and called someone to enter coupons since she didn't know how so girl took off $3.39 twice. Cashier rang in the rest of my stuff. Noticed on my receipt that an additional $1.78 was take off bill. Guess Quaker was on a buy more get more off deal (2 for $5) No sign anywhere. But yeah a deal!!

[sweet sparrow]

I finally rec'd the parcel or order from hell from US for my ds1....geez...I've regretted this order from the time the order was place $47 USD came to $64 CDN...geez....ANYWAYS IT arrive around 5pm today and is wrapped.

We have a budget and I don't know how I am feeling that with the exchange rate ds1's gift mentioned above came to $64, I guess it is what it is, right???? he really really wanted these 2 items which are related to an online game called Destiny which he is obsessed with, I know he will be happy he got the stuff but definitely did not figure in the exchange rate, etc....

Any suggestions????

@jasperandchar: At first, I wasn't sure what you were asking for suggestions on. If it's purchasing from the US, I have some limited experience which may not be the best advice, but better than if I were to click "purchase" on the website.

When I purchase something not unique, I will do a google search on vendors for that product. I'll pick out five stores with toll-free numbers and ask for their best price for the item. I'll ask if there are upcoming sales, online coupons, or any discounts either current or future.

Then, I get the two best prices from the top two prices and call the second to say "Vendor #1 is selling at this price. Can you beat that price or better their offer?" Sometimes, companies have no room to lower the price or may lose the vendor's license by offering a lower price. They can offer a better warranty, free shipping, etc. to compensate.

I also picked up a fourth credit card for US purchases. Amazon VISA has instant approval and no conversion fee (2.5%) between funds. I might have saved about $80 on the necklace purchase that way, but then I have to add $80 for the conversion to USD. It's a wash, but it's better than paying $80 extra.

After I reach the next reward level on one of my three CCs, I'll be cutting one up and cancelling. DH and I have supplementary cards on all our CCs. That way, we can maximize rewards depending on where we're buying from.

Additional note: I applied and was approved for VISA (for a small amount) within minutes. The actual card should be coming this week and a $20 Amazon GC for applying for the card is in my account already. Does that mean I saved $100? Yay!

[sweet sparrow]

Other suggestions: If purchasing electronics from the US, check Amazon.com. You can open an amazon.com account and use free GCs earned from Swagbucks.

For shipping, if free to US locations and you are able to cross the border, there are several places that will rent mailboxes for a small fee. I've even had FedEx hold items for me for a few days at their facility.

Luckily, this year, I can ship to DH's workplace and their office will ship cross border. You can also ship to a friend if they're willing to send it to you or come visiting.

[Ciel]

I had the Milk calendar up on my bedroom wall by Saturday. ed the page on the bank calendar in the kitchen today.
Yes, November scuttled by! Am glad that aside from a few frosty mornings, no significant snow has appeared yet.
@jasperandchar -would it work to tell your sons that in the future, only US purchases will be made when the dollar is near par for gifts, so they better think of backup gift ideas for next birthday/Christmas if the US exchange rates are unfavourable. Say since so many things are going up in price, maybe they can realize there are limits to your money. Maybe they can consider saving money towards such gifts and you might be able to cover 50% for them if they have the other 50%? Do they sell off older games or gaming consoles through you so that the gifting process has some funds freed up?
Re: e-book gift cards (think this was a couple of days ago in the November Frugal chat thread). I have not checked Fortino's for the Enthrill gift card but I saw it at Shoppers last night. The brand claims it can be used for any e-book reader.
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2013/...-and-enthrill/

[jasperandchar]

I`m with you Nancy. Love online shopping. I hate crowds and with having some mobility issues I can`t be on my feet too long. I even order some things from Walmart so I don`t have to lug them home.

I got some sticky mouse traps today when I was out. Hope they work. A friend told me today where I can get the good poison so I`ll be picking some up on Thursday. I`m declaring war...that little bugger has to go. It`s already messed with my chocolate stash. I can live with that...shouldn`t have it anyway but it had better not mess with my yarn!!!

not the chocolate stash, he/she deserves to get caught ESPECIALLY with all your yarn and your master pieces.

They can do so much damage in such a short period of time, best of luck