May It Be Frugal frugal chatter thread 2014

[jasperandchar]

chitter chatter about frugal living and tips and friendly encouragement & advice.

Frugalbigmama - Schools out savings!

Mrs. S. -
Summer saving spectacular.
Saving for summer fun

[jasperandchar]

Goals, challenges and life (lol)

LuvToUseCoupons
Meal plan will have to be key....
Making it and sticking to it.
I will use as much as I can from the freezer/cupboard.
But meat is very low (so I'm praying for a CHEAP sale).
The plan is only to buy Food this month, everything else we should be ok for the month.
I've never done the no days spend count, but I'm hoping to do that this month.
I hoping they'll be a lot more days of no spend, rather than days of spend.

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jasperandchar
1. Strip paint off old baseboards that we are repurposing on Jaden's new bedroom downstairs which was one dh's office.
2. Make baked goods for the boys lunches (muffins, cookies, etc) enough to last 10 lunches and snacking
3. Continue making 1 new recipe as a main course each week.
4. Do large grocery order every 2 weeks, so next shop is scheduled for weeks of May 15th and May 29th
5. Continue baking & cooking main course with kids alternating every other week between them.
6. Tackle the filing that is all over the desk (need to purchase accordion folder from dollar store) and purge whatever receipts that are not necessary.
*** that's it for now!!!

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lilo0003

Save another 500.00 for the down payment on my new vehicle. This will be achieved by:

• Eating from the freezer/pantry.
• Meal planning ( I suck at this)
• Use points and GC to minimize groceries, both DH & I just cashed out 25.00 on CO 51 & PC Plus was good to me last month so I have 120.00 in points. I am saving that a good meat sale so I can restock the freezer after this month.
• Packing lunches for myself. I try to go for a walk at lunch time and always end up at Subway.
• Aim for 10 no spend days. I usually have zero so this one will be tough. It is now dollar drink days at McD’s and that ginormous diet coke sings my name as I walk through Union Station. So having more no spend days will minimize my temptation, or my “it’s just a dollar” mentality.
  
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MaddensMomma

MAY GOALS

1. Zero take-out or eating out
days for the month of May (aside from Dads birthday dinner)
2. Zero thrift shop days
3. Zero clothes shopping (no one needs anything!!)
4. Twelve "no-spend" days or more.
5. Meal planning more based on freezer stock and sales.
6. Finish 30 handmade cards and 10 scrapbook layouts.
7. Clean up the backyard gardens, get cannalillys planted, deck power washed and sanded and stained, more fertilizer spread... Generally lots of outside work

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[cdngal75]

May already.....insanity!! It seems like Christmas was just last week

[Frugalbigmama]

May 1st! Yeah! Washed a load of laundry last night and hung it to dry this morning I will stick to my goal of no dryer use! And staying on top of laundry

[Crochetlady]

subscribing

[Frugalbigmama]

Brought my breakfast and lunch to work today. Oatmeal with Almond milk and fresh strawberries. Will toast a bagel for lunch with roastbeef and lettuce.

[Angela273]

Yes, where did April go?

[jasperandchar]

Hi everyone,

Yes it's hard to believe that May has begun , here's wishing everyone a month of plentiful savings and frugalness

I have set some goals for myself for the month of May, I am going to post them so that I follow through as it will be written in stone
1. Strip paint off old baseboards that we are repurposing on Jaden's new bedroom downstairs which was one dh's office.
2. Make baked goods for the boys lunches (muffins, cookies, etc) enough to last 10 lunches and snacking
3. Continue making 1 new recipe as a main course each week.
4. Do large grocery order every 2 weeks, so next shop is scheduled for weeks of May 15th and May 29th
5. Continue baking & cooking main course with kids alternating every other week between them.
6. Tackle the filing that is all over the desk (need to purchase accordion folder from dollar store) and purge whatever receipts that are not necessary.
*** that's it for now!!!


off to tackle my meal plan for 2 weeks.

[Natalka]

Great name! Happy May day!

Being even MORE frugal is going to be a huge challenge this month, but it's a must.

Eating out of the freezer and cupboard even more than usual is the biggest thing.

[lizzie bargain]

Good luck to all of you with tight budgets this month-hope some of you are able to grow some fresh veggies to help out your budgets. We normally do, but as we are away quite a bit this summer it would be too neglected I think.

J and C-it has been my experience that when you give the kids a clothes allowance they are suddenly more selective and careful with their money vs your money when choosing their items and suddenly even more interested in hand me downs and thrift stores. I simply added up what I thought I spent on clothes for my daughter in a year, divided by 12 and handed it over once a month and said go for it with a reminder to put a bit aside for big ticket items like winter coat and boots.

My daughter receives a CPP survivors pension each month from her birth dad who passed away before we adopted her. Currently it is $230 per month and as she turns 15 next month I told her I will give her all this as a monthly allowance starting June 1. It may sound like a lot( and more than we give her at the moment) BUT it has to pay for everything for her other than school supplies and school fees. In other words- clothes, bday and Xmas gifts for friends and family, movies, cell phone if she chooses to get one, high school lunches next year if she is too lazy to make one etc,etc. All her personal expenses. My reasoning is that once she is 18, that money will come straight to her from CPP anyway, up until age 25 if she stays in school so she needs to learn to budget it now. In the meantime she just gets her money once per month and I don't get bugged for money every day and if it doesn't last until the end of the month there are no loans. She rarely runs out before the end of the month and she knows if she wants/needs more she can accept a babysitting job!

[Angela273]

Ok. *rant warning*
I came home pissed off from that dental appointment. I hadn't gone to that clinic in years. After being at the clinic for 1.5hrs (including new paperwork), I didn't even get my teeth cleaned! They had booked me in for a 2hr appointment, shortened the appointment to 1hr and neglected to tell me. Their policy had changed and they don't book 2hr appointments anymore, but they booked my next appointment for 2hr with a note NOT to shorten it. Every time I come in for a dental appointment I have to take 1/2 a day off work without pay. Now the pregnant dental hygienist that I dealt with today will be gone on leave before my next appointment, May 14th. I had dh take LO to daycare for me so that I could take the morning off work and get my teeth cleaned. The dental hygienist did a visual examination and a periodontal measurement (first time anyone has ever done this). I had quite a few 3s (good) and 4s and a few 5s, which apparently is not good. She said that a 5 means that I have bone loss. The 4s are reversible with diligence. The front teeth in my mouth were better, 3s and even some 2s. Dh said that this is all based on statistical averages, they don't have numbers from my previous exams to compare it to. The dentist was busy with a priority case, so he could not do an examination and no x-rays were done. I really felt like this appointment was a waste of my time. I was frustrated and flustered. I was home before dh even left to work, which in theory means that LO didn't even have to go to daycare (even though I pay a monthly rate). I'm going to leave LO there fore a while and let him play, like dh said.

My plans for the morning...in no particular order. Laundry, take one cat outside on his harness and give him a good comb over...he'll like that, go grocery shopping (didn't get around to it yesterday), deposit my cheque, then get LO...after he has eaten lunch. He has been really cranky since Saturday night...as in screaming inconsolably.

[LuvToUseCoupons]

Hi All,
Happy May....
Once again thank you Nancy for continuing this thread.

I think I'll follow your lead Nancy and put it down here too...
That way I'll have to follow through....

I will have to be creative this month in coming up with meal ideas.
Especially as the budget is depleted with the added expense of my aunt funeral.

Meal plan will have to be key....
Making it and sticking to it.
I will use as much as I can from the freezer/cupboard.
But meat is very low (so I'm praying for a CHEAP sale).
The plan is only to buy Food this month, everything else we should be ok for the month.
I've never done the no days spend count, but I'm hoping to do that this month.
I hoping they'll be a lot more days of no spend, rather than days of spend.

So May is here, bring her on! May it be a frugal one for all of you.
Have a great day ladies.

[MaddensMomma]

I will think of some goals for this month and post later on.

I am curious to know, based on yesterday's question of the day, do you or your kids wear the same shirt or pants several days before washing?

Dh thinks it's gross I will wear a t-shirt a couple times and jeans up to 4 times before washing them. Where he comes home from work, changes into jeans and a t-shirt at 6 pm and in pjs by 9 pm and that outfit is "dirty" and goes in the laundry. Drives me so nuts, I often pick them up and fold them nicely and put them back in his drawer on the bottom and he has no idea...

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[Angela273]

Ok. I have a question for all of the parents.
Our LO will be 20months old next week. The dental hygienist was talking to me today about her older child who just turned 18months old last week. Apparently they have been putting him on a potty since he was 12 months old, grandma takes care of him 3 days a week. She said that her LO did #1 & #2 yesterday on the potty and really is nearly potty trained during the day. My neighbour's youngest son is going to be 3 in November and I'm pretty sure they aren't potty training yet. Dh and I were thinking about potty training our son during the summer because he won't be attending daycare at that time, so I would be responsible for potty training him at home. Many people have told me that potty training boys is harder than potty training girls. Our Lo will often let us know when he is poopy. We use disposable diapers. I want to get him some good potty training pants. I have read good reviews about Hanna training underwear, saying that they absorb a ton of pee when there is an accident. Suggestions? Input? We have not potty trained before.
* Just remembered that I can sign up for the potty training freebies.

[LuvToUseCoupons]

I am curious to know, based on yesterday's question of the day, do you or your kids wear the same shirt or pants several days before washing?

Dh thinks it's gross I will wear a t-shirt a couple times and jeans up to 4 times before washing them. Where he comes home from work, changes into jeans and a t-shirt at 6 pm and in pjs by 9 pm and that outfit is "dirty" and goes in the laundry. Drives me so nuts,

We are like your DH.
All outside cloths once you come inside gets put in the laundry.
No we don't even re wear jeans, we wash it after every wear.
But I'm fine with it. As I do the laundry.