October Frugal Chatter - Harvest the Savings

[coupon girl]

my last hydro bill in august was 326.58 and that is for 2 months and it is for water too=163 a month if you will

[cdngal75]

cdngal--- does your city have Driverzed... if so check out their deals.. they even offer their courses in your DDs' school.(at last ours did)
and you can go on a payment plan.

Our Hydro is ok.. we don't budget.. however, dh likes to overpay a little now and then esp. when its low. so that come winter it evens out somewhat. we don't have gas either, ours is electric.. EEK! i now.

When I got my license everyone I knew who took Young Drivers passed the driving test the first time. Kids who took Drivers Ed., failed the first time, every time. I used to wonder if the license office was in cahoots with YD. I will look into it for sure though. I know that when you take YD you get a discount on insurance or at least you did 21 years ago.

I pity you having to heat with electric....so expensive.

[cdngal75]

No, I'm not on equal billing ( I like to just pay my actual bill and be done with it) that's why I have a little savings account to save the extra so for higher bills I'm still ok) I have energy efficient lightbulbs where I can and am pretty good with turning lights off etc. Sometimes my son has every light on in the basement on but the bill is still pretty low. Year and 1/2 ago my average hydro bill was $35 when A/C wasn't on (and I was super good at not using the dryer) but rates keep creeping up. I'm still happy with my bills (that's why I'm scared to move and get a house that isn't as well built and have crazy stupid bills)

I went to YD too (thanks mom ) and want to do the same for my DS. He will only be 15 in the new year so I should have it saved up for that way before we need it

$35 average hydro bill...wow. I envy you. My hydro bill has been dropping, but no where near that low.

[MaddensMomma]

When I got my license everyone I knew who took Young Drivers passed the driving test the first time. Kids who took Drivers Ed., failed the first time, every time. I used to wonder if the license office was in cahoots with YD. I will look into it for sure though. I know that when you take YD you get a discount on insurance or at least you did 21 years ago.

I pity you having to heat with electric....so expensive.

I took a different driving course than YD and failed my driving test not once but twice.

And most insurance companies give you a discount for drivers ed regardless of which company you take it through.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[sweet sparrow]

Do you have a budget amount for utilities? (if you pay them)

We don't have a budgeted amount for utilities, as it's more like a necessary expense. The cost varies throughout the year, and now with me and LO staying home full time, I expect hydro, gas, and water to rise dramatically! The last water bill was insane, though I think in part, it's due to DH doing all the dishes and washing up now. He leaves the tap gushing on full while he's rinsing dishes. Then our fan was running 24-7 while our AC was broken this summer. Our hydro bill that month tripled, and I still had to suffer through 35C nights while 9 months pregnant! Not that I could sleep anyways; the darned pregnancy rash kept me awake, but I'm sure the heat didn't help the itching!

Last year, our average was $117.50 for water, gas, and hydro per month. For those of you who have higher bills, please don't be jealous as we have way, way, way higher bills in other areas.

I have to start saving for drivers lessons too. My daughter will be 16 in April. My parents gifted me with Young Drivers lessons when I was 17. I want her to go through YD for sure but it is not cheap!

It definitely isn't cheap. I went through them with graduated licensing a few years back and spent over $3,000 with them. They called me their best customer! Because I didn't have a car to practice with, all my in-car experience was through them. I had done my first road test in an automatic, and every car I had access to was a standard! Driving standard in the big city wasn't preferable and I had a horrible time on my first two lessons, so I continued with paying by the hour (and through the nose!). I passed all my driving tests on the first try (I think, because I couldn't afford to fail) at the test facility with the highest failure rate in Ontario.

I like their instructors and the training they do, so the money seemed well spent. If you think about it, you'll pay much more for accident and insurance costs, not to mention the defensive driving techniques practiced could save a life! Sometimes that few hundred dollars more is well worth it in the long run. Not that your daughter will be a bad driver, but she needs to look out for other drivers on the road and anticipate the stunts they'll pull just so they can get two car lengths ahead. It's really unbelievable how flippantly some drivers view speed and dangerous maneuvers.

It's been a really good past week at SDM. DH was emailed a coupon for $8 off any Pampers diapers, which was a super deal!

Pampers Swaddlers $10.99 - $8 personalized coupon ( Holey Shmoley at the HV coupon!)+ 3,000 VIB points
(2) Carefree liners $2.49 - $5 off WUB2 insert coupon
(4) U by Kotex liners (clearance) $1 - $1 mailout coupon
Pampers Wipes (unadvertised sale) $2.99 - $1 P&G Brandsaver + 2,000 VIB points (mailout)

Subtotal: $4.98
HST: $0.99
Total: $5.97
Points: 5,130

The points more than made up for the purchase, even at the lowest redemption level. Yay!

I may try my hand at baking this weekend (if LO allows me) since the temperature has dropped. She was up sick last night so I'll have to play it by ear.

[LuvToUseCoupons]

Luv, in SK, Sobeys sells them.

Maybe Food Basics has them since they are in the Metro family?

Thanks ladies, I'll check Sobeys and FB.

[SassyAshley]

SweetSparrow hope you little one feels better soon

Just going to say it, I am so happy last week is over. It was one long rough week.

[jasperandchar]

Hiya ladies, watching extreme couponing marathon on TLC channel 521 on the bell sat. Even though I've seen them all I still like the excitement, I know it's not real but it's a pass time

[saundyl]

I saw a pair of boots a the store today and i fell in love. I think it was a good thing i was cardless and cashless or there would have been a spur of the moment boot purchase made. I'm having a hard time now that I'm away from them justifying the extra 65 dollars in the budget for them.

could you put the boots on lay away?[/QUOTE]


I'm honestly not sure if the northern store has a layaway program. I've tallked myself out of them as i dont have pants to wear with them ---i have boot cut jeans and dress pants not skinny jeans so the cool lace at the top would be hidden anyways.

You could put them on your Christmas wish list....



"Think baby steps" as DH always tells me.

That was how my SIL made some diaper money when she was a SAHM of two. Definitely give the soap project a try and let me know how it goes!

Christmas list is an idea.I found a sweater yesterday on the penningtons site i want i'm going to telll my mom about.

Do you have a budget amount for utilities? (if you pay them)
I budget $170 a month for Gas (Enbridge) and Power.
I started transferring the difference (I'm usually under) to a savings account so on the few months when I'm over budget I have the excess $ there and ready and it doesn't affect my monthly budget. (in the summer I have a few high power bills due to the A/C on 24/7. My goal for my utility account is to get to a $500 balance (I'm almost there) and then will have to decide what to do with the difference after I get to my goal. Maybe put the difference in an account to save up for driving school for DS?
This month my gas bill was $53.14 and power was $69.84 so transferred $47.00 to my utility account.

Our water bill in the non summer months is around 75 a month. I put 80 aside just incase as last year we had a pip burst and it was 120 in feb. Summer varies due to lawn watering and car washing and company.

Power - i keep 225 set aside as it varies from 160 to 225 from month to month depending on whos around and if someone is doing hair in the shop atached to the house.

Propane...summer its about 50 a month winter is quite a bit more - last year i didnt pay attention as bf took care of that part of our bill - this year i plan to atleast look even though hes still taking care of it.

SweetSparrow hope you little one feels better soon

Just going to say it, I am so happy last week is over. It was one long rough week.

I hope everyones weekend is going better than their week!

[Insane]

Okay, I need to wine and have a pity party....

We are struggling substantially, financially right now. For a number of reasons, we just can't seem to get our head above water, then I get an email from the club where my son plays squash. Apparently he has accumulated a $241 tab! Yup, my jaw dropped too. I insisted it had to be a mistake. Of it, $124 of it is fees and such. Most of which I know we paid but I'm sure I'll never find the receipt for it at this point. This tab goes back 11months! 11months! Why the heck are they only coming to me now??? When he wins a tournament he gets a tab to use to buy drinks and snacks, ect.... They tell him when it's done. Or they used to. This time, they just let it accumulate on and on and on and now we are 11months later. I still think he's missing a credit on there, but how am I going to prove that 6months later (a tab credit from a tournament he won in May)? My son is going to have to pay for it (well, not the fees) obviously. There is a valuable life lesson in this (and a math lesson apparently!) but we are going to have to pay for it and he'll have to pay us back. Where am I supposed to just conjure up this money? Go to my money tree and pick some? I'm just frustrated. We keep getting kicked while we are down. I also have some job frustrations, which are making me not enjoy my job. And then, today, I gave the kids chef boyardee as treat (I'm sick as a dog and couldn't bring myself to make lunch, so I let them have a can, which in our house is a HUGE treat). Carrying the bowl to the table, it slipped out of my hands and dropped, splattering sauce EVERYWHERE. Like everywhere. All over me, the walls, appliances and the ceiling. A gigantic mess. Which on any other day, wouldn't get me so worked up, but right now I am just feeling so frustrated and exasberated, it seems like a catastrophe.

Oh and how could I forget that my son's school volleyball team decided at the last minute to take a trip to a tournament out of town? That's $200 for the bus and another $100 for meals. I sent him with his own snacks, but still. I mentioned to the school that the $200 might be hard for us, and they said they'd look at what they could do (especially if it meant the difference between the entire team going or not going-they had to have 6 kids). I feel bad having that discussion with the school considering we are a 2 income family. But we aren't squandering away our money (my biggest splurg this month is a new bread pan!). Our expenses are just huge lately. Again more money I don't have.

I've trimmed our grocery budget so far that now we are running out on basics, which means I'll need to restock soon. I'm just feeling overwhelmed.

Okay, wining over.....

I participated in a thrift sale. Sold a tonne of stuff (I just tag it and they sell it for me). I won't know how much I made until next week, but it should be a nice chunk of change. At the very least, it'll pay for the registration fee and stuff I bought at the sale (a mec snowsuit, a coat and a few other things). And as a plus all that stuff is out of my house!

[jasperandchar]

Okay, I need to wine and have a pity party....

We are struggling substantially, financially right now. For a number of reasons, we just can't seem to get our head above water, then I get an email from the club where my son plays squash. Apparently he has accumulated a $241 tab! Yup, my jaw dropped too. I insisted it had to be a mistake. Of it, $124 of it is fees and such. Most of which I know we paid but I'm sure I'll never find the receipt for it at this point. This tab goes back 11months! 11months! Why the heck are they only coming to me now??? When he wins a tournament he gets a tab to use to buy drinks and snacks, ect.... They tell him when it's done. Or they used to. This time, they just let it accumulate on and on and on and now we are 11months later. I still think he's missing a credit on there, but how am I going to prove that 6months later (a tab credit from a tournament he won in May)? My son is going to have to pay for it (well, not the fees) obviously. There is a valuable life lesson in this (and a math lesson apparently!) but we are going to have to pay for it and he'll have to pay us back. Where am I supposed to just conjure up this money? Go to my money tree and pick some? I'm just frustrated. We keep getting kicked while we are down. I also have some job frustrations, which are making me not enjoy my job. And then, today, I gave the kids chef boyardee as treat (I'm sick as a dog and couldn't bring myself to make lunch, so I let them have a can, which in our house is a HUGE treat). Carrying the bowl to the table, it slipped out of my hands and dropped, splattering sauce EVERYWHERE. Like everywhere. All over me, the walls, appliances and the ceiling. A gigantic mess. Which on any other day, wouldn't get me so worked up, but right now I am just feeling so frustrated and exasberated, it seems like a catastrophe.

Oh and how could I forget that my son's school volleyball team decided at the last minute to take a trip to a tournament out of town? That's $200 for the bus and another $100 for meals. I sent him with his own snacks, but still. I mentioned to the school that the $200 might be hard for us, and they said they'd look at what they could do (especially if it meant the difference between the entire team going or not going-they had to have 6 kids). I feel bad having that discussion with the school considering we are a 2 income family. But we aren't squandering away our money (my biggest splurg this month is a new bread pan!). Our expenses are just huge lately. Again more money I don't have.

I've trimmed our grocery budget so far that now we are running out on basics, which means I'll need to restock soon. I'm just feeling overwhelmed.

Okay, wining over.....

I participated in a thrift sale. Sold a tonne of stuff (I just tag it and they sell it for me). I won't know how much I made until next week, but it should be a nice chunk of change. At the very least, it'll pay for the registration fee and stuff I bought at the sale (a mec snowsuit, a coat and a few other things). And as a plus all that stuff is out of my house!

oh Insane I totally understand where you are coming from, if only money trees existed and produce large bills I would be out there picking with you. I would call the club where your son plays squash and ask for a full statement, credits for wins, payments etc and you are allowed to do this. I like you don't understand why they let it go so long, not very responsible on their part. Wow $200.00 for bus seems a little expensive and if the sport is through school I think perhaps they should have the teams raise funds throughout the school year to cover such expenses. I would absolutely be sending him with snacks as well as boys are always hungry and even though he has $100.00 for food that may not go far depending on where the kids eat, if at the venues they tend to charge top dollars. Hope you make a good amount of money on the things you have for sale as the funds would come in handy. Also I understand what you mean about trying to cut costs where you can but things keep popping up, I had my pity party earlier on this week and well I'm still upset but what can you do. Don't worry yourself sick as that is what I did it's so not worth it. Things will fall into place before you know it, just keep doing what you are doing by trimming the fat off the bone per say and still enjoy life as it is so precious and sometimes trying

[sweet sparrow]

We are struggling substantially, financially right now. For a number of reasons, we just can't seem to get our head above water, then I get an email from the club where my son plays squash. Apparently he has accumulated a $241 tab! Yup, my jaw dropped too. I insisted it had to be a mistake. Of it, $124 of it is fees and such. Most of which I know we paid but I'm sure I'll never find the receipt for it at this point. This tab goes back 11months! 11months! Why the heck are they only coming to me now??? When he wins a tournament he gets a tab to use to buy drinks and snacks, ect.... They tell him when it's done. Or they used to. This time, they just let it accumulate on and on and on and now we are 11months later. I still think he's missing a credit on there, but how am I going to prove that 6months later (a tab credit from a tournament he won in May)? My son is going to have to pay for it (well, not the fees) obviously. There is a valuable life lesson in this (and a math lesson apparently!) but we are going to have to pay for it and he'll have to pay us back.

Do you have bank statements or credit card statements that you can print, showing the paid fee? If you can reproduce that statement, they should be able to credit your account. Ditto the payment on your son's tab.

I have to admit, my fee statements have been very handy for my record keeping as I can't be bothered to keep every single receipt. I have a friend who does, however, and she has a closet of shoeboxes of every receipt she's ever been given. Her DH has been nagging her to get rid of the ones that are past their return date, warranty date, and just plain not useful (like the carrots they bought and ate three months ago).

[sweet sparrow]

SweetSparrow hope you little one feels better soon

Just going to say it, I am so happy last week is over. It was one long rough week.

Awww...thank you. I hope so too. She is not cold sick, but she needs to gain weight and throwing up her milk is not helping.

I hope this week, you find an equivalent of an $8 off coupon on diapers.

Friday was rough. I was actually going out for a diaper run and opened the garage door to find an unmarked police car in the driveway. He was investigating an incident. A few doors down, a neighbour's house had huge spotlights lighting up the front. There were police cars, firetrucks, ambulances, ... After picking up some milk, diapers, and wipes at SDM, I couldn't even get back onto the street. There was even more activity, onlookers, and....a forensics van parked outside my home. They were completely dressed in full gear and having a conference outside the home. My heart dropped as I had to leave my car and walk to the house.

Yesterday was a late night, not only because of LO being sick, but I stayed up a bit thinking of the residents of that house. I've never seen them before, and it's a bit awful to think that I'll be reading about a horrible event in next week's papers. I hope no one's been hurt.

[Angela273]

Just figured I should give an update about LO. Saw the doctor yesterday afternoon. Good thing I called the office because the doctor was late getting to the office, so we were seen 1hr after the appointment time. He said that LO was doing ok (not dehydrate). He has a red throat and just let it run its course. We are not fans of antibiotics, if they can be avoided...so I just wanted to get LO checked out. LO has been doing a bit better tonight. He's been eating a bit more today and we were able to avoid giving him Tylenol most of the day.

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon to get my CAT Scan results regarding sinus issues that I have had for nearly a year. I have had a sore throat for 2wks already, so I'll probably get the doctor to check it out while I am there. *shrug*

DH hasn't been feeling well this week either. There are so many things going around right now and we are all sleep deprived because LO hasn't been doing that well. Hope everyone has a good night and my LO sleeps ok tonight. We could all use some rest.

[momof5boys]

I'm looking into grocery shopping without using my vehicle. Does anyone have suggestions as to a good shopping cart...I'm looking at a Rolser (double wheels) on amazon. It's a tad expensive but I'm wanting something that will last a number of years. For those who walk to the grocery stores, what do you use?