August Frugal chatter

[lizzie bargain]

Smart-don't feel bad at all. Anytime you take him to a hotel he would be sleeping under a used sheet and blanket!! Or if he sleeps over at a friends! You have washed it and he likes it and you got a great price too!

[lizzie bargain]

Well went back to my favourite North Vancouver Safeway today for 10% Tuesday. They also had some meat and loose bananas marked down too so I ended up with several grocery bags for $50 which is very good around here! We have found a delicious local bakery but hardly frugal-$7.00 for a loaf of multigrain bread( of course it is twice the weight of any other loaf you would buy and one slice is enough) and pies for $27.00. Like I said it is expensive around here! I better stick to Safeway but luckily I did have money set aside for some treats on our holiday!

[jasperandchar]

Wow, that seems excessive. If they have better things than you do, I think you need to stop. We're not destitute but DH has had his eye on a PS3 for years and years. I bought him an XBox 360 nearly five years ago because it was half the cost. A leather couch is also on the list, but also not on the near radar. Our microfibre couch with a tear in the back was donated by kind friends who couldn't fit it into their basement. They even lent us their steamer to clean it with.

We have Bell internet and a landline and those were expensive enough. I drew the line at satellite. If they can afford three different services from Bell, they're doing just fine on their own. There are some things we try to be frugal on, but there are a lot of things we don't have (like chairs for our dining table, a vacuum cleaner, a bed, etc.) because we're slowly saving up for them. I don't know the situation personally and I hope I'm wrong, but it sounds like they want everything and don't want to work towards anything.

thanks sweet spararrow I hear ya they sound like they are doing fine which is not the impression that was initially portrayed to me which does hurt. I hear ya on saving up for items for your home as we are the same here. I would love a new couch but I'm saving up for that and have been for a while. thanks for your feedback and input I really appreciate it.

[jasperandchar]

I don't know how frugal we've been doing. LO has been putting us through the paces. Cloth diapers during the day, disposables at night to wick away the moisture. So far, we've saved a few diapers from landfill, but I find with the disposables, we'd change her and she'd soil a diaper almost right away. Just now, she went through two extra diapers after a feeding. Three diaper changes in one sitting and if there are eight (minimum) feedings a day, that would be 24 diapers! That's nuts.

Then there's all the work involved in scrubbing the cloth diapers, soap, water, then operating the washing machine, ... I wonder if it's really saving anything?

I never did cloth diapers so I can't put input but I do remember that babies pee & poop a lot, I remember changing him/them feeding them and then changing them again so I think that's normal but it comes down to what you prefer (cloth vs. store purchased diapers). I think most people do cloth diapers for personal reasons (diaper rashes, saving the land fill, etc) but having not done it I really can't expand. Wishing you all the luck with your final choice cloth vs. purchased diapers.

[jasperandchar]

Good day, all!

Well, I guess I didn't realize how much my frugal ways were rubbing off on my son - though I suppose I should have...

He's 21. He did some grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, came in the kitchen with the bags, and started apologizing right off the bat... I had to slow him down. He just said he felt so badly that he made a few mistakes, but it was busy and he said his head just wasn't in it!
(that said, when he goes, I don't overload him with complicated coupons or anything, just so you know...)

Anyway, all he had done was forget to give the FPC for OJ - he offered to go back and try get them to take it, but I said no.
He also bought two loaves of bread at two different stores. LOL - so we have four loaves of bread, and both hamburger and hotdog buns... will have to carefully meal plan!

However, I never give him flak when things like this happen - I'm just grateful when he does go shopping when I'm unable to! Be assured I let him know it, too!

He did feel better when he told me of his own deal - he needs a car part for his windshield washer mechanism (uh, not sure what, it's little), and the only place a new part could be sourced was in Toronto, but it would cost $50 for shipping, let alone what the part cost.

So he went to the junkyard yesterday afternoon, took apart two cars, got two of those parts - and when he went to pay, the guy just waves him through, said no charge and have a nice holiday! How nice! - they are little parts, but still... sometimes little ones cost the same as big ones!

you should you be proud, great score on your son's frugal ways = a freebie at the scrap yard

[cdngal75]

Smart-don't feel bad at all. Anytime you take him to a hotel he would be sleeping under a used sheet and blanket!! Or if he sleeps over at a friends! You have washed it and he likes it and you got a great price too!

I was going to say this too. I watched a news story once about how the sheets in hotels are washed daily, but the top comforter/quilt is not. So, if you have ever stayed in a hotel where hundreds of people have slept in and on the blankets, then you are more than safe buying a comforter that was likely only used for one person. I think the same way with shoes. If you have gone bowling, then you can wear used shoes. My kids and husband would disagree but whatever.

[jasperandchar]

Yesterday I found some luck! we needed a new blanket for our dog crate so we ran into goodwill, they had a deal on that was 75% off 'green tags'. We thought sweet!! Just find a green tag blanket and we are set, walking through the store I was able to find 1 lululemon top (looks brand new) marked at $3 green tag, a sweater for dh for camping $3 green tag, Capri jogging pants $2 green tag, shorts for dd $3 * not green tag, but they look brand new. And an NHL comforter (in brand new condition) $8 green tag. We paid $7!! I was super excited!

Our ds asked us if he can have the NHL blanket and give the dogs his spare comforter. We have washed it twice and I'm hanging it out to dry, I will likely Lysol fabric spray it too before I let him use it. But I couldn't say no, he is super into hockey and his spare blanket is a Thomas the tank engine (he is 9, he grew out Thomas years ago). I am debating that that makes me the 'cheap mom' because I am giving him a comforter that I ultimately paid $2 for but I really think it's alright because it's in really good shape and I washed it well.

What do you think? Cheap mommy? Or smart?

Lisa never doubt you are a practical and smart mom. YOur shopping skills are fantastic and wether the blanket was purchased at WM for $50.00 or more or purchased at goodwill the point is your son loves it - great job. Why pay full price for anything is my opinion unless you want to. And this is a great lesson for your children that you can find great 2nd hand items at thrift stores, win win all around in my opinion.

[cdngal75]

Good day, all!

Well, I guess I didn't realize how much my frugal ways were rubbing off on my son - though I suppose I should have...

He's 21. He did some grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, came in the kitchen with the bags, and started apologizing right off the bat... I had to slow him down. He just said he felt so badly that he made a few mistakes, but it was busy and he said his head just wasn't in it!
(that said, when he goes, I don't overload him with complicated coupons or anything, just so you know...)

Anyway, all he had done was forget to give the FPC for OJ - he offered to go back and try get them to take it, but I said no.
He also bought two loaves of bread at two different stores. LOL - so we have four loaves of bread, and both hamburger and hotdog buns... will have to carefully meal plan!

However, I never give him flak when things like this happen - I'm just grateful when he does go shopping when I'm unable to! Be assured I let him know it, too!

He did feel better when he told me of his own deal - he needs a car part for his windshield washer mechanism (uh, not sure what, it's little), and the only place a new part could be sourced was in Toronto, but it would cost $50 for shipping, let alone what the part cost.

So he went to the junkyard yesterday afternoon, took apart two cars, got two of those parts - and when he went to pay, the guy just waves him through, said no charge and have a nice holiday! How nice! - they are little parts, but still... sometimes little ones cost the same as big ones!

I think you have succeeded as a parent. I hope my kids are picking up on frugality too. It is wonderful that your son would use coupons. My husband is all for saving money but there is NO way he will ever use a coupon.

[cath007]

Anyone had bad moments with coupons?I feel my skills are going down.But I hope it came back like doing bicycle.

[cath007]

@Frugal Lisa: I paid in a garage sale my currents sheets of bed 2 $ and my dish set like 2$ too instead of 25$ lol...like brand new instead of the same thing new for 50-70$ at least.It is the utility that count.Smart mom

[Frugalbigmama]

Looks like I don't have to feed the kids dinner so I will get right to work on the laundry/storage room. Wish me luck!!

[jasperandchar]

Looks like I don't have to feed the kids dinner so I will get right to work on the laundry/storage room. Wish me luck!!

good luck hope you get a lot done!

[jasperandchar]

Anyone had bad moments with coupons?I feel my skills are going down.But I hope it came back like doing bicycle.

I don`t know about bad moments other than the stores not having the products in stock besides that I am finding it pretty difficult to lower the grocery bills on price matching alone, I`m finding a real lack of coupons that we can & will or could actually use. I think I am emotionally in a rut but things hopefully will change and my mood will improve atleast I hope so. August has always been a challenging mood for me since childhood, I always tend to get a little more down ``emotionally`` I don`t know why but I`m hoping it won`t be so bad.

[jasperandchar]

Trying to motivate myself to get outside once the sun sets and get back on doing the 2nd coat of stain around the house windows....sigh...time will tell (lol). Washed the couch throw & dried it on the line and now have the large cozy blanket that the dogs like to sit on (Charlotte in particular) washed & hanging on the line to dry. So I wanted to say a big thank you to all you wonderful ladies for your feedback, input & comments with respect to ``project freshstart`` and I have decided that I will be pulling back, the freebie parade has ended and will not continue. I made the decision based on the initial donations requests that have since been never ending. As well wether the ps3 or leather couch do belong to them or if they are borrowed it doesn`t really matter as what I was told from the beginning and what I have been told now are not the same. Also trying not to judge them or myself, however, I maybe have a `stereo-type``on subsidized housing, I thought people that lived there struggled to survive I guess I never suspected that they could afford satellite tv, internet and other perks like a stainless steel bbq which looks brand new. thanks ladies

[Frugal Lisa]

I hope you are Ll able to be as productive as you'd hoped! I haven't gotten anything done... Maybe I'm still recovering from the long weekend, not sure!! Lol