Just chilling in January (2015 frugal chatter)

[Frugalbigmama]

It really is the best BBQ sauce! So good on ribs on the bbq which we may have this weekend as I found a huge pack I the freezer and both kids like them It has so much sugar in it I'm not worried about using it past the expiry date which I think is September 2015 for many of my bottles. We have about 15 left at least!

[Scottishgal]

Good Morning Everyone Just reading back through the posts. Always so many good ideas and advice on things. Thanks for all the great feedback Craving Egg Salad Sand. so I think I will make that and a big pot of some kind of soup for supper Hope everyone has a wonderful day. Off to finish my morning routine and then back to sorting items. I'd better giddy -up though I don't seem to have the drive this morning. Mmmmm.....maybe more coffee will help

[Frugalbigmama]

Ceaser Dressing recipe- Please share once you perfect it lol. I usually just wing it and had it perfect one night but now I give up. I think I'm going to splurge for a fancy one that I saw at a fancy store. And a restaurant sells it an hour away so may treat ourselves to it next time we are in the area.

[Scottishgal]

That Sweet Baby's Ray Sauce is Amazing. I think I still have 6 bottles left as well. Maybe I will pull out some Porkchops for supper tommorow and put this on them. Rice and Carrots. There thats done Thanks for the idea

[Frugalbigmama]

mmmmm Egg salad sandwich! Awesome idea! I have boiled eggs in the fridge and all the fixings including a fresh loaf of rye. You solved my what to have for lunch dilemma! Thanks!!

[cdngal75]

is anyone else surprised by the price of fruit, and veggies..... I wen to buy grapes yesterday.... abut 4 c worth....10.00!!!!!!!

Sent my husband to the grocery store a few weeks back. He hadn't been grocery shopping in years. He came home with a big bag of grapes. I was glad he purchased produce until I looked at the receipt. $10 for a bag of grapes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now he knows why we hardly ever have grapes . After my heart stopped palpitating, I told him I only buy grapes at .99 cents a pound. He said "wow, groceries have really gone up in price!" Uh-yeah....that's what I have been saying every grocery day for the last 6 years.

[cdngal75]

My price points for produce: I will only buy grapes, strawberries, blueberries if they are under $2/lb. Melons under $2 but mostly buy off the reduced rack for 99 cents. Apples and oranges under $1/lb. Bananas are always 57 cents/lb and I usually buy 2 bunches per week for breakfasts.

For veggies: I stick to $1 or less each (cucumbers, broccoli etc...) Some things I will go a little higher (cauliflower, celery etc...) as they usually don't go under $1. I stopped buying baby carrots and only buy the 10lb bags of carrots now for $3 a bag or less.

This time of year we mostly eat frozen or canned fruits (smoothies, applesauce etc...) and frozen veggies with meals and stick to raw carrots, apples and oranges and dried fruits (raisins, craisins etc...) for snacks. We eat a bigger variety in the summer when produce is cheaper.

Your price point for produce is more generous than mine. I will not pay over .99 cents a pound for grapes. It pains me to pay over a $1 a pound for apples(but I do for my kids). Peaches and plums must be $1.50 a lb or less. Usually I will only fruit that is on sale. No fancy fruits for us during the winter months.

[Frugalbigmama]

Me too! $1.00/1.00B or under for apples, pears, grapes, broccoli, lettuce.

[sweet sparrow]

My current obsessions are pearls and semi-precious gemstones. I took up jewelry making a few years ago (my neighbour held a workshop & I got hooked), and now my friends get pretty shiny things on their b-days. There is one website that keeps having these darned sales that are too hard to pass up. Right now, they have a strand of pearls on sale for less than $1 and even with the exchange rate & customs, it's still far less than what I can find locally (a strand runs about $5 and with less selection than I can get online). As for gemstones, I have a soft spot for rose quartz and amethyst, although garnet (my birthstone) will also catch my eye.

Oh, Andit! Now you are speaking my language! I have had the "jewelery itch" for the longest time. I call mine the Seven Year Itch, since that's about the time I really start looking for something special. I've been looking for something pretty in amethyst for a long time. Have you ever considered selling your creations? Or have pictures of things you've made?

I have the whole collection of the old Dr. Seuss books, I bought them about 20 years ago from a man at a garage sale..it was pouring rain and I just started getting into garage sales and I thought I'm not going out in this..then I thought I would probably get better deals!! Off I go, this man had boxes and boxes of books Dr.Seuss, hardy boys, Nancy drew, etc..I asked him how much for the Dr. Seuss, he said $3.00, I thought $3.00 each he said for all of them!!! That was one of my best deals, I bought all of his books..the Bernstein Bears. I loved reading to my 3 children...I still have most of them, I just can't get rid of them!!

I'm looking forward to reading to the little one, and something other than board books. I should look into the Bernstein Bears - I loved those in Grade 1!

Zinc cream for hands when they dry out-I read online that it was the suggested treatment for healthcare staff if they kept up the handwashing routine between patients and their skin was drying out (according to poster who learned the tip during training, I guess many years ago). Is this the same cream that is used for babies' bottoms after diaper changes?

You can use the stuff marketed to babies. Most are just skin irritation creams and barrier creams to protect the transfer of moisture (hands drying out or for babies, moisture soaking on skin). The ones for babies have different bases. LO uses an expensive one right now that uses lanolin as a base. Not only is it less pasty, it clears up her redness by the next day. Something like Penetan seems to take forever for some reason.

Have you ever cut open your toothpaste tube, to get the last bit, before throwing it out?

Creams, yes, but I've not tried with toothpaste. It's always seemed too thick and messy.

My price for grapes is .99LB or less. I never pay more then that. Last week I bought 5 LB clementines for $3.77 (and they were really nice!) and 8Lb bag of apples for $3.77. I have a pineapple on my counter rotting that I paid $1.97 for. Need to cut that up tonight!

Before LO, that was my limit too. Now, grapes are the only fruit she'll eat readily, besides bananas. I keep trying her on others, but there are only so many refusals until it goes bad.

I have already looked at my notes from my pregnancy with LO and I threw up daily until 16wks. At that point I went down to throwing up 2-3 times per week. I am only 9wks pregnant now, so since this one is currently being worse than last time...I'm not holding my breath.

Congratulations on the pregnancy! I'm sorry to hear it's so tough. I'd tell you to hang in there, but when you're pregnant, it sounds like something flippant a non-pregnant person would say.

[cdngal75]

Just finished watching 2 shows of "surviving evil" and OH MY GOD! The world is full of bad people (mostly men ).

Praying that no girl, mother, daughter, sister, has to go through the evil things i have watched on the tv, and all the good men, brothers, sons, husband stay safe from all the evil people.


We dont own a house yet but i have already decided to install a front and back door security cameras in our house. OMG! I dont want to go outside alone. No jokes!

I mean you cant even trust the people living in your area, living in the houses on your street...... who knows what "gentleman" is a serial rapist and a serial killer. My heart sinks!

Those shows are American, and while bad things do happen in Canada( Tori Stafford, Tim Bosma), for the most part we do not need to live in fear. Sometimes I wonder what the point of shows like that are except to make women more afraid. I do watch Dateline Real Life Mysteries and Disappeared and have been amazed at just how many women in the U.S went "missing" only to find out her husband killed her. Sadly, the conclusion I draw from this is that one is more likely to be harmed by someone close to them than by a stranger. Happy thought eh?

[cdngal75]

I need a little help from all of you. My husband is on leave for next 12 days, he is home, he is awake mostly at night and sleeps throughout the day. We (me and kids) keeps waking him up to play with us during the day etc.

Bytnow that he IS awake right now, he says he is getting bored. Our son is in the school, i am at home with him and our daughter, he doesnt want to get his butt off the couch.

My question to other stay at home moms is what do you do when your husbanbs are on leave. What activities do hou do? Besides...ahem ahem......

Your husband must be military(noticed you are in Comox). I was an army brat and haven't heard the term "on leave"(in reference to vacation time) since I was a kid. When my husband has a week off here and there, it is spent relaxing around the house and doing house jobs that need to be done.
Enjoy your time with him off.

[MrsSunshine]

oh geez d'oh, now i get it cdngal, sorry Amira.. i should have known that saying.

its a coollldd one out there.
sending my youngest on a errand, as we have an appt. tomorrow. i'll fill you in later.
as far as i know dh and i have one this morning.
bundle up and stay warm.

[jasperandchar]

Afternoon all,

Had a $10.00 pick up yesterday and have another $50.00 pick up this afternoon all is going into renovations .

DH is in the sell sell mood it's starting to drive me nuts as he is taking way too many pictures and uploading them on facebook groups primarily his own facebook group which not many people belong to, so I need to then take the pics and copy to local facebook groups where there is activity well atlest he is parting with things these days

Hamburgers tonight with onion rings in the oven, I'm on my last bottle of sweet baby rays so I am hopeful that they will be in the inserts soon

Dh is picking Jaden & his friend up later as the football coach asked the boys to show up for some excercises that he would like them to start working out, so dh will run into home depot (fingers crossed he sticks to the list). Men in hardware stores is a dangerous place....power tools, etc..

Wishing everyone a great day

[Crochetlady]

Not much going on today. Went for groceries yesterday and spent way too much. I bought a bunch of grapes...very expensive...but there is only me eating them so they last quite a long time. Figure it`s better than snacking on candy. Should get the fridge cleaned but will probably crochet instead.

Have a great day everyone!

[amira84]

Sorry @cdngal75 and @MrsSunshine for the confusion about "on leave". See the joy of english not geing your first language? You make everyone confused! Lol

And thanks everyone for the ideas and advices about what to do on his days off from work. I guess he gets very very very lazy when he is at home. I showed him a couple posts with your ideas on what to do but he was not very interested. He likes his bed way more than doing household chores.

And frugalbigmama.... Are you a robot or what? You do so much everyday that i feel tired just by reading your posts. Dont you get tired?