Spring into Savings - April Frugal Chatter

[gwennad]

Work here. Rather be home doing something fun, or even not fun lol.

Did find a way to save some money. My son decided last night he doesn't want to wear pj's to sleep any more as they make him too hot. He's 3. So I guess I'll be saving on summer pj's this year I already bought two pairs for him but we'll save those for visits to Nanny's house since she might not like him running around like that lol.

Glad spring has finally sprung! Looking to get my garden stated up, or at least figure out where I want to put it and get some soil for it. We got some spring bulbs to plant, so we'll have some pretty flowers. I'll probably put some fall bulbs in this year too. And I guess I can put the window a/c I have up for sale soon. The landlord where I am is supposed to put in central air, it's in the lease he'll do that by May 15th. Though given the weather I'm not in a huge rush. I assume it will be nicer than having window a/c's in all the windows, both less electricity and the fact I'll be able to open windows easily.

[amandabananda]

You post reminded me about the last time I made baked potatoes.
I cooked them in the slow cooker (crockpot). They were the best baked potatoes we have had in a long time.
Easy to make, just wash the potatoes , prick the skins with a fork or knife, wrap them in tin foil and put them in the crockpot on low for 8 hours.

This is an amazing idea! I never have time to make/prep potatoes when they go on sale. I buy a bag and wind up wasting most of it (bad I know!). I'll have to give this a try!

We've got a goal planned for next year, a trip to Paris, so we're more focused than every before.

Sorry about your MIL. The cost of parking at hospitals is outrageous. When my MIL was in for about a week a few years ago, it cost us a fortune to visit her.

Work here. Rather be home doing something fun, or even not fun lol.

Did find a way to save some money. My son decided last night he doesn't want to wear pj's to sleep any more as they make him too hot. He's 3.

My daughter is the same, she's 2. We put her to bed with her pyjama shirt and pants on and when I get her in the morning, pants are off. I don't think she's quite figured out how to get her shirt off yet, I'm sure that's only a matter of time.

I'd rather be home to take her to the park today. I'm so jealous of her daycare provider, I know they'll be outside all day, and I'm stuck here at work!


Hoping for some great meat deals this week, my stock is getting a little low!

[Giseledta]

Just came in from outside, kids are having a apple snack. good day.
heat is off.
on our walk we found 2 long planters I had been looking for- gotta love free dump day. everybody puts out stuff for a week before , and its a free for all. love it.
puttingmy plants out to harden them off a bit. hoping to plant in 2 weeks inthe garden.

thats it.

[SassyAshley]

I am also at work today and so tired. Trying to clean up our house and the only time I have to do this is after work, normally I will only do the bare minimum at night when I am working such long hours but do not know when the long hours will come to an end. I could so use some magic fairies to break into my house and clean it lol, a girl can dream but this girl is smart enough to know she is going home to more cleaning. Good news is our basement needs to seriously be cleaned out and it looks like one of the neighbour's sons is going to come and help by hauling everything upstairs and to the dumpster for us, which is great as that is the hardest part (I HATE HATE HATE our basement stairs).

[saundyl]

I'm at work today - would rather not be as I'm not feeling so hot. Have a dr's appointment in the afternoon. My bf figures they're going to want to put me on IV antibiotics for a couple days. Its gloomy out here - cloudy and almost feels like its going to snow. I'd almost rather it rain!

I haven't been doing too well at being frugal the last few days but everyone needs to have a little fun - we went to the movies on Sunday - GI joe and it was 21 dollars for 2 of us to go...plus the treats which we did indulge in. 40 dollars doesn't get you very far anymore.

[gourmetsue]

I'm with your SassyAshley, our basement has become a dumping ground. We had water coming in so we started to move everything over to the dry side and it's just been sitting there looking sad and messy every since.

I've spent the last 90 minutes chopping up all our veggies and making potato soup for the freezer. I've got enough veggies ready for snacks, to make a veggie lasagna and to make some veggie quiche.

Off to my pinterest board to find a good recipe for the other 7lbs of potatoes I've peeled :D

[sweet sparrow]

Success! Yesterday, as a nutritional pregnancy treat for me, we decided to try a new recipe for fish last night (with many substitutions). DH hates fish, but yesterday, he said the fish didn't taste like fish! I've only heard that said once, about my mom. A friend who hates pork said Mum makes delicious pork that doesn't taste like pork. (Of course, this confused poor Mum and thought it the oddest compliment ever.)

So I am allowed to make fish dishes not just for myself from now on. Oh happy day!!

[jasperandchar]

Sorry to hear about your MIL.

Glad to have you back and with a goal to boot.

Morning all! Back to being very frugal after March. With my MIL being in the hospital we were spending a lot of money on parking and petrol. I certainly don't regret all the time we spent with her before she passed, but we need to rein our spending in just a bit.

We've got a goal planned for next year, a trip to Paris, so we're more focused than every before.

I'm putting soup on the stove this morning and marinating some tofu or stir fry tonight. I've also got a huge stash of coupons that I need to go through and RAK out the ones I won't be using and get back into saving on the products we do need.

Glad to be back among the frugalistas again.

[dreamcatcher1962]

So pleased with myself today. I contacted our phone/internet/cable company and got them to lower our bill by $30 a month.
They have a special on for new customers for a bundle pkg of $99 a month, so I went in and told them I wanted my bill lowered to the same deal. I got it .

I've heard of other people doing this but this is the first time I have done it myself, so I am pretty happy.

Two years ago I did the same thing with our house insurance. Our Insurance agent sent us a renewal notice which was $500 more than the previous year and we have never had any claims. When I called around for quotes, I got it for $700 less than what our existing agent was going to charge us. Needless to say, we changed companies.

[jasperandchar]

Hiya Ladies,

Busy day, where has the time gone (lol), had to bring oldest son to audiologist today.

__________________________________________

Question of the Day

Now that the warmer weather is approaching (where or how do your cooking plans change)???

1. Do you cook outside more BBQ or use the BBQ side burner vs. stove
2. Crockpot more
3. Doesn't change
4.


Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!

How do you keep your house cool during the warmer days and months (besides air conditioning) close curtains, don`t use oven,
SHARE YOUR TIPS.....Need to save on hydro cost as of May 1st the allowable kilowatts go from 1000 to 600 here in ON (after 600 the rate goes up). I`m not on time of use yet.

SHARE SHARE SHARE!!!!

[Giseledta]

TOU sucks. thats my warning. really. I have the bills from the past 3.5 years( as long as I have been in this house. ) with the increases, my bills have gone up 25.00 per month. usage has not gone up at all . down just a bit. and that was on the highest tier. we do 85% of stuff on the lowest time frame. sorry. its frustrating to do all we do energy saver wise, and still..... pay alot.


ok. so , I use my crockpot for pulled pork sandwiches, beef dips, taco meat fillings. I have even put iton the side deck outside, so that the little heat from it , doe not stay in my house.
everything gets line dried. the dryer does not heat up my house at all.
heavy inslted curtains on all windows. - makes a huge difference.
bbq stuff outside.
lights off as much as posible.

[saundyl]

Question of the Day

Now that the warmer weather is approaching (where or how do your cooking plans change)???

1. Do you cook outside more BBQ or use the BBQ side burner vs. stove
2. Crockpot more
3. Doesn't change
4.

We use the BBQ way more in the summer/spring and fall than we do in the winter. I only use the crockpot on rare occasions once a month or so.
Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!

How do you keep your house cool during the warmer days and months (besides air conditioning) close curtains, don`t use oven,
SHARE YOUR TIPS.....Need to save on hydro cost as of May 1st the allowable kilowatts go from 1000 to 600 here in ON (after 600 the rate goes up). I`m not on time of use yet.

SHARE SHARE SHARE!!!!

We do things like have "cool meals" like fruit salad or salads or things that can be reheated via microwave or bbq. Close the curtains during the day and when it cools off outside open the windows. Use the oven less. Turn off extra electical items like computers or tv when not in use. Leave the house and go to work where AC is!

[gourmetsue]

Must buy a barbie this year. We've been two years without one and with having two sets of guest visiting in the near future I need a cooler (and cheaper way to cook).

Lots of pasta salads and green salads for us in the summer months. Sandwiches too.

[MrsSunshine]

i never thought of putting the crockpot outside in the warmer weather to keep it from getting hot in the house.. what a great idea. just as long as the animals don't decide to help themselves.

[Caseythegoalie]

Hiya Ladies,

Busy day, where has the time gone (lol), had to bring oldest son to audiologist today.

__________________________________________

Question of the Day

Now that the warmer weather is approaching (where or how do your cooking plans change)???

1. Do you cook outside more BBQ or use the BBQ side burner vs. stove
2. Crockpot more
3. Doesn't change
4.



We do BBQ more and "cold plates" for lunches, veggies and dip, cold meats, cold salads, etc.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!

How do you keep your house cool during the warmer days and months (besides air conditioning) close curtains, don`t use oven,
SHARE YOUR TIPS.....Need to save on hydro cost as of May 1st the allowable kilowatts go from 1000 to 600 here in ON (after 600 the rate goes up). I`m not on time of use yet.

SHARE SHARE SHARE!!!!

Hmm, I do indulge on AC as I'm uncomfortable in the heat!
However, we do keep curtains closed, lights off, use fans, etc.
Do chores in the AM and evening to keep cooler.