March: Spring into Savings (frugal chatter)

[cdngal75]

I posted this thread and it should help you with you taxes, so easy to use.

Freebie Studio Tax 2013

Thanks!

[cdngal75]

simpletax.ca - I used this last year and hopefully they are still around because I had no problems and that site was so easy to use.

Thanks, I need it to be simple math is not my forte.

[Frugalbigmama]

Dinner done! Kitchen cleaned. Load of laundry hung to dry (from other night washed-whoops) Next load ready to put on. Waiting till DS has a bath so I can add his clothes from today Not much planned now but cuddling on the couch and maybe reading my new cookbook I borrowed from the library. We have hockey the next 2 nights 1.5 and 2 hours away each way! So no relaxing Wed or Thurs. Will be long days.

[macw1960]

Tired of screening my calls because for the last three to four months I have been getting this very annoying phones calls from the same person who knows me by name and I am on the DNC National Registry. After six calls today I flipped and *69 it. I called it and it does not even ring and does not register for the DNC Registry.

I called Bell and they were so helpful after I explained the whole story to them. I now have a new phone number that will be active in two days for free rather than $49.95 plus tax.

I guess I will be on the phone tomorrow letting the important people our new number.

[hydroxybutane]

Ouff I'm tired. It's been a busy week already! This weekend we were out camping with the Cubs. Fun, but so exhausting. Monday, I was home all day, but I did "a big cook day". I made tons of meals which have been frozen into supper and lunch portions. I made chili, shephard's pie, beef stew, cabbage rolls, butter chicken, pepper steak, chicken noodle soup, hamburger soup (more like stew), carrot meatballs, chocolate chip cookies and banana bran muffins. It was a lot of cooking, but it means that there are lots of easy to heat meals in the freezer. Hubby-proof!

Today, worked for a bit today, had blueberry pancakes for supper. Yummy! Tomorrow will be a very very long day. Early morning Ash Wednesday service, then work, then groceries, then home, then tutoring, then Cubs.

It's also been a good money week. We received a large respite cheque for last month, I picked up two new clients and booked some existing clients for extra March Break lessons and best news of all: Hubby got a raise and will get retroactive pay of over $300 I was sooooooooo excited!! We paid a bit extra onto our power bill and are going to the local meat market to stock up this weekend.

Life is busy, but good

[jasperandchar]

Hubby had pancakes and a salad for lunch.

Finally had an update on my brother. They are very pleased with his progress but will be in rehab at least 2 more weeks.

Great news crochetlady!

[jasperandchar]

Ouff I'm tired. It's been a busy week already! This weekend we were out camping with the Cubs. Fun, but so exhausting. Monday, I was home all day, but I did "a big cook day". I made tons of meals which have been frozen into supper and lunch portions. I made chili, shephard's pie, beef stew, cabbage rolls, butter chicken, pepper steak, chicken noodle soup, hamburger soup (more like stew), carrot meatballs, chocolate chip cookies and banana bran muffins. It was a lot of cooking, but it means that there are lots of easy to heat meals in the freezer. Hubby-proof!

Today, worked for a bit today, had blueberry pancakes for supper. Yummy! Tomorrow will be a very very long day. Early morning Ash Wednesday service, then work, then groceries, then home, then tutoring, then Cubs.

It's also been a good money week. We received a large respite cheque for last month, I picked up two new clients and booked some existing clients for extra March Break lessons and best news of all: Hubby got a raise and will get retroactive pay of over $300 I was sooooooooo excited!! We paid a bit extra onto our power bill and are going to the local meat market to stock up this weekend.

Life is busy, but good

you are putting me to shame with all that cooking, great job I love the hubby-proof part

Great news on the retro pay it makes a huge difference.

Sounds like a great week indeed!

[MrsSunshine]

just when all is going well..
life tosses you 'um ok'

will see how things work out.
tomorrow im going to work on a couple of projects to refresh my collection.

[Angela273]

I am in a rediculous amount of pain today. . Both my migraine and leg pair are being absolutely brutal.

I somehow still managed to teach Gr. 7 all day. Picked up a toddler bed & mattress for $20 for our LO to grow into. Sobeys grocery shopping. Would have cost $150. Cost us $86 after coupons, 10% discount & rebates = $64 in savings. I'll probably post some details tomorrow.

[avoncallingu]

Hello folks! I've been missing from the thread for too long! DH's health took a sudden downturn in mid-January. and we've had quite a few life-changes to get used to. He's had surgery and then developed a blood infection from the instruments used in the surgery and spent another week in hospital. He's been in a lot of pain and had to delay his regular appointment at the pain clinic but we'll be heading to London tomorrow for that, thank heavens!
I've been having fun reading all your March frugalness!
Congratulations Granger on the sale of your house! We will be listing ours again this week. We're hoping to make a move to a condo so that we won't have to worry about outside maintenance. It would be a major downsize, but I think Natalka can give me good advice about that!
Congratulations macw on your reducing your LOC! That's wonderful!
Thank-you, Mrs. S. for the kind thoughts you've been adding to the other thread! Congratulations on your success in your wreath-making business!

And congrats to all of you for keeping this wonderful thread going.

Good news here. Good old Revenue Canada has decided to accept my audit response - I did make a slight error which should cost us about $80, I think. So, after 2 separate audits this year, I can now turn my attention to this year's income tax.

My "little" brother and his wife and my wonderful 2 nephews are going to be dropping by on Friday on their way south for their March Break. I can hardly wait!

My tummy is growling as I went to our church for a pancake supper tonight but didn't eat very much. I think I might have a sandwich. So, I'll bid you all adieu!

[Insane]

Congrats on selling your house Granger! And paying the LOC mac.

I managed to squirrel away some leftover travel money. But last friday we woke up to the cat's neck covered in blood. After some debating (meaning me insisting and hubby telling me I am overreacting) I took him to the vet. Good thing I did (yet again, I was right! LOL) Very long story short...turns out it was an abscess. Looks like he had gotten biten or clawed by our other cat and developed an abscess. He had to be taken into surgery, so you can imagine the vet bill. He's going to need more antibiotics in 2 weeks too. So there went all the money I had tucked away. But I guess the good news is at least I had the money tucked away for this kind of emergency. Sucks to use the money, but better than having to put it on the credit card!

[sweet sparrow]

I have managed to add an extra $2620.48 to our LOC as of today since January most of it due to our income tax refund which arrived today. That was a big surprise since I only filed on the 22nd of last month. The interest dropped $9.00 in difference from January to February which was nice too.

Finally got DH and his friend to get the oil barrel removed from the basement this weekend. Now it is sitting by the side of the house along with my stove just waiting to be picked up by the scrap metal guy. We figured it is just easier for it to be picked up for free rather than borrowing a truck and driving for 1/2 hour to a scrap yard.

Wow, you are a model for getting rid of debt! Congratulations!

Do many of you do your own taxes? I am seriously debating doing ours this year. I work less than part time so mine is super basic. My husbands is not the complex either. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I usually pay a lady $80 to do both of ours and while not a huge amount, if I can buy the software and do it myself, that would save a bit.

Oh, me! Let me do it!!! LO is still napping on me so I have to sit still for hours a day, plus BF time. While she's feeding, I'm reading my tax forms and the new tax guidebook. Wouldn't you know, I picked up two French tax forms by accident this weekend instead of the English. I did well in high school French, but nowhere near enough to do my taxes in French!

I'm pretty excited about doing taxes this year. It'll be the first time figuring out all the child deductions, so it'll be more colourful than last year. I think if I didn't have LO, I'd be volunteering at those places that help others with their taxes. Is it strange that numbers in little organized columns make me happy? I know, don't answer that....

Wish I could use StudioTax, but I am restricted to a Mac this year. If anyone knows of any tax programs that let you NetFile on a Mac for free, I'm all ears.

tomorrow im going to work on a couple of projects to refresh my collection.

I forgot to mention when you posted that pink wreath to tell you I really liked it!

I had a lovely day today. An old friend who moved out of province came to visit. I haven't seen her in ages and we had a few short hours to chat before she left for the airport. Wished she could stay longer but she had another flight to catch tomorrow. She also brought some fancy chocolates from a chocolaterie (I suspect that's French for expensive - ha ha!), a new car seat for LO, and lunch and dinner! I didn't have to cook at all! It was such a treat to see her today that I'm saving the chocolates for later this week when there's no one visiting. Oh, I could eat chocolate while doing my taxes....! Om nom nom!

[sweet sparrow]

Congrats on selling your house Granger! And paying the LOC mac.

I managed to squirrel away some leftover travel money. But last friday we woke up to the cat's neck covered in blood. After some debating (meaning me insisting and hubby telling me I am overreacting) I took him to the vet. Good thing I did (yet again, I was right! LOL) Very long story short...turns out it was an abscess. Looks like he had gotten biten or clawed by our other cat and developed an abscess. He had to be taken into surgery, so you can imagine the vet bill. He's going to need more antibiotics in 2 weeks too. So there went all the money I had tucked away. But I guess the good news is at least I had the money tucked away for this kind of emergency. Sucks to use the money, but better than having to put it on the credit card!

Oh that's terrible, both on the money front and kitty. I'm glad you had an emergency fund. Using it every once in a while is a great (though unwelcome) reminder of how much it's needed. Hope your cat is better soon!

[macw1960]

So much happened and it is not even a full page.

Hydroxybutane Boy you sure were busy cooking all those meals...wish I could do the same but I am trying to empty our freezer at this point so it is daily cooking for me. Also congrats on the extra money.

Crochetlady Great news about your brother.


Angela273 Hope the pain goes away soon. Great shopping trip.

avoncallingu Hopefully your trip to London will be a good one and your DH receives a clean bill of health. Good luck on the house selling. More money from the government is always nice. Enjoy your visit on Friday.

Insane Hope you kitty gets better soon but at least you had the money to get her fixed even if you didn't get to spend it on what you wanted to. Our pets our like family here.

sweetsparrow Sounds like you had a super visit with your friend. Enjoy your chocolates and doing your taxes. I used to do mine on paper also up until 2 years ago. I have been using Studio Tax now and I love it.

[Natalka]

macw has pretty much said what I was going to respond to the above postings, so I won't repeat it all, but her comments sure echo mine!

Hugs to you all and I hope Wednesday treats you well!