Spring into Savings - April Frugal Chatter

[sweet sparrow]

This year I have a few special things planned that I know will blow my budget a bit but than I wonder, is it really blowing you budget when you know you are going to?

Nope, that's planned spending. Or enjoying life.

Unless of course, it's something huge like a trip to Paris (and I don't meant Paris, Ontario, unless you're from out of province!) that you can't afford.

[blueeyetea]

What are you frugal summer plans: My husband and I used to go out for day-long drives which usually involved shopping, and eating in restaurants for lunch and dinner. Last year, we decided to scale this down, especially on days where the weather is so nice, you just want to relax and enjoy it the summer. We found a spot by a river (free and with toilets) about an hour away in the country to drive to and we take a picnic with us. We leave our house early afternoon, bring out chairs and picnic, and just relax. My husband brings his fly fishing rod and I bring a book and my knitting. We have our picnic supper and when the bugs start coming out we leave and stop in the nearby town for an ice cream. We really enjoy it.

[matty's mom]

Does anyone buy Ground Chicken? Found a few recipes I want to try using ground chicken but I have no idea what a good price would be. I saw it in I think Loblaw's flyer for $3.00/lb this week is this a good price?

That isn't a bad price, if you are buying it to be healthier really check the label.Some ground chicken is breast and some is thighs which is a cheaper and fattier.I make tiny meatballs with it for Italian wedding soup, I also make a chicken cordon blue meat loaf with it.It is definitely different than ground beef but I like it, really lean but a bit bland so play with your spices.

We eat it a lot as FIL has to limit how much beef he eats. It definitely tastes different. But, I have used it spaghetti sauces, as hamburgers, meatballs (chicken teriyaki meatballs are really good!), and meatloaf. Because generally, it is leaner, often a recipe calls for extra fat (mayo, cheese, milk etc) of some kind to make it easier to cook and keep it from drying out. And yes $3.00 is a good price.


Frugal Summer plans? Well it starts with DH being in Guatemala building a roof. Provided he comes back (he is heading to the murder capital of the world as of last year stats )... we will be enjoying our backyard. It was our big purchase last year. DH had dug t up to allow for the new weeping tile as well as a drainage pit (all underground). So we put up a new fence, new sod, and new plants. I was blessed by a lady on kijiji last year who was getting rid of her lilies. I dug up this large round area in her garden only to find that there were about 32 small plants in total. So, I made this large back bed of them against my garage. They are growing/spreading like gangbusters. It will look fantastic this year.

What are you frugal summer plans: My husband and I used to go out for day-long drives which usually involved shopping, and eating in restaurants for lunch and dinner. Last year, we decided to scale this down, especially on days where the weather is so nice, you just want to relax and enjoy it the summer. We found a spot by a river (free and with toilets) about an hour away in the country to drive to and we take a picnic with us. We leave our house early afternoon, bring out chairs and picnic, and just relax. My husband brings his fly fishing rod and I bring a book and my knitting. We have our picnic supper and when the bugs start coming out we leave and stop in the nearby town for an ice cream. We really enjoy it.

This sounds like a lot of fun. We did something similar last year once. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can do it again. But both DH and I are tiring of renos, so the push is on!

[jasperandchar]

that's absolutely priceless, nice date night.

What are you frugal summer plans: My husband and I used to go out for day-long drives which usually involved shopping, and eating in restaurants for lunch and dinner. Last year, we decided to scale this down, especially on days where the weather is so nice, you just want to relax and enjoy it the summer. We found a spot by a river (free and with toilets) about an hour away in the country to drive to and we take a picnic with us. We leave our house early afternoon, bring out chairs and picnic, and just relax. My husband brings his fly fishing rod and I bring a book and my knitting. We have our picnic supper and when the bugs start coming out we leave and stop in the nearby town for an ice cream. We really enjoy it.

[thriftygranny]

What are you frugal summer plans: My husband and I used to go out for day-long drives which usually involved shopping, and eating in restaurants for lunch and dinner. Last year, we decided to scale this down, especially on days where the weather is so nice, you just want to relax and enjoy it the summer. We found a spot by a river (free and with toilets) about an hour away in the country to drive to and we take a picnic with us. We leave our house early afternoon, bring out chairs and picnic, and just relax. My husband brings his fly fishing rod and I bring a book and my knitting. We have our picnic supper and when the bugs start coming out we leave and stop in the nearby town for an ice cream. We really enjoy it.

Sounds like the perfect day to me!

[Caseythegoalie]

We don't do much in the summers.
Its business as usual lol with a little extra ice cream and more outside play time lol.
DH and I work and the kids go to daycare down the street instead of school.
The DC provider does have an above ground pool that they enjoy though.
The kids have soccer until end of June and then thats it.

We enjoy the free parks and splash pads on our days off.
This summer we are planning to drive to Sauble Beach for a weekend to spend with my brother and his family, so just the cost of gas and food while we are there. Really looking forward to it!

[gwennad]

We go visit my parent's in the summer, every long weekend and for a few extra days when I take my vacation. They live in Wellington ON so are close to Sandbanks, and a short walk down the street to a dock. My dad plans to teach the boy how to fish this summer, got him a little rod and everything. I enjoy it because I can relax We have a much nicer yard this year so I hope we are able to enjoy that as well, and my sister is now walking distance with her pool. My niece took all the life guarding courses and is going to teach kiddo how to swim, I hope. Otherwise I'll put him in lessons. I don't plan on signing him up for really anything just yet. He goes to daycare still, so I'm not in a rush. We also go to a little animal farm but it's not cheap, so we usually only go once or twice. And the local water parks with their splash pads. I also like to go hiking in the Greenbelt trails, short drive but a nice walk and if you take birdseed the chickadees will eat from your hand. We spend more on gas all summer, but it's worth it, and then do save on gas all winter lol.

[sweet sparrow]

What are you frugal summer plans: My husband and I used to go out for day-long drives which usually involved shopping, and eating in restaurants for lunch and dinner. Last year, we decided to scale this down, especially on days where the weather is so nice, you just want to relax and enjoy it the summer. We found a spot by a river (free and with toilets) about an hour away in the country to drive to and we take a picnic with us. We leave our house early afternoon, bring out chairs and picnic, and just relax. My husband brings his fly fishing rod and I bring a book and my knitting. We have our picnic supper and when the bugs start coming out we leave and stop in the nearby town for an ice cream. We really enjoy it.

That sounds like a fabulous idea. There's actually a nice pond we can walk to and use the nearby washrooms at the nice library. If it gets too hot, we can step into the library and pick out movies or books for the evening entertainment. There's always ice cream in the fridge, so it sounds about perfect. Well, I hear kids change everything, so we'll see.

[lizzie bargain]

We are doing a house exchange with a family in Vancouver for two weeks in August so that will be an economical holiday.

[Crochetlady]

We don`t do much different in the summer. I meet a couple friends for a picnic in the park about once a month. It really depends on how hot it is. I hate the heat so spend a lot of time in front of a fan.

[gourmetsue]

Good morning ladies!

Question of the day

What is the strangest or oddest thing that you price matched or ask for a better price and what store/business was it?


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Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!! - FOLLOW-UP QUESTION

A follow-up to last weeks "what's on your kitchen counter" has anyone put anything away that they realized they didn't need out after listing all there items?

Since I didn't get to last week's question I'll jump in. My kitchen counter space is very limited but we have a Keurig, Dolce Gusto, Kettle, Toaster and Magic bullet on there. I tried to convince DH we could put the Keurig away since he's using the Dolce more lately but apparently it's a no go. I miss the days of just a kettle.

My mum rang me today so excited! She got free tooth brushes from a shop near here that was promoting a local dentist. She knew I'd be proud of her.

Found a local hospice today that will take the Ensure left over from my mother in law so I'm happy that it will go to good use. Plus I RAOK'ed a whole bunch of coupons that are on their way to good homes!

All in all a good day, but the wind knocked over my greenhouse and crushed my pepper and tomato seedlings. Time to start again tomorrow. Grrr.

[momof5boys]

...day was off to a grand start - washed some window coverings, windows, etc. Then off to a shoe store b/c my Mom gave me a $50 gift card she has received and didn't need. This shoe store is specialized and has narrow sizes (yeah!!) but expensive. Found a pair of wonderful Clarks shoes - slip ons rust colour (reg. $129 on sale for $80) not too bad a deal with the GC and I told my guys here they can donate to my shoes instead of hunting all over town for a Mothers Day gift that I probably won't use lol.... This is honestly my first pair of brand new shoes since in about 20 years or so....I usually am pretty lucky at second hand shops.

[MrsSunshine]

Plans for the summer well.. at this point im not planning on much, as im not sure where will be job wise with dh, his current 'contract' ends June 1st. will have to see. but we do have a beautiful backyard now as hubby built a deck last year nearly half way through summer so this year i'd like to be out there early. we usually do suppers out there weekly, hubby also has a huge new bbq we love to use..then come weekends were out there with a little firepit/ some music/ drinks and some chit chat. it quite calming. even with the busy street in the background, its like a like a cottage type feel. now just to get that stupid broken sliding screen fixed..

[gourmetsue]

...day was off to a grand start - washed some window coverings, windows, etc. Then off to a shoe store b/c my Mom gave me a $50 gift card she has received and didn't need. This shoe store is specialized and has narrow sizes (yeah!!) but expensive. Found a pair of wonderful Clarks shoes - slip ons rust colour (reg. $129 on sale for $80) not too bad a deal with the GC and I told my guys here they can donate to my shoes instead of hunting all over town for a Mothers Day gift that I probably won't use lol.... This is honestly my first pair of brand new shoes since in about 20 years or so....I usually am pretty lucky at second hand shops.

Clarks shoes are so great! The wear so well and last. I used to buy rubbish shoes but they wear out so quickly and my poor old feet suffer terribly.

[SassyAshley]

OH MY I am feeling so overwhelmed, my coupons have been neglected lately. They are pilling up everywhere and I just cannot find the time to sort and clean them up. Now we are getting busy at work (yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, but OH NO I was hoping for a few quiet weeks to get caught up after the the chaos of the last month or so). I am trying to clean up tonight but everywhere I turn there is another stack to be sorted and I think I am going in circles which is bad my living room is so small right now as more than half of it is full of boxes.

Goal for tomorrow go in early, clean off my desk at work, work magic and rent all of the supplies for the Grand Opening (that one will be hard as I am pretty sure I need Dad's approval on the final numbers and he isn't in tomorrow, but maybe just maybe since Dad knows I always have to find a deal he will let me run with it), get off work on time and come home and get down to work on my coupons and plan this week's grocery shopping. Saw a few good produce deals I want to pick up and a few other deals. I am hoping to get a few good deals and come in under budget this week.