April Showers of Savings the sequel - 2015 Frugal Chatter

[jasperandchar]

Honestly, just getting through March!

I hear ya, that's a great accomplishment, hope your ankle is doing much better (I believe it was you @Natalka )

[jasperandchar]

Freezing rain warning in Ottawa are tonight....come on spring....and snow flurries later this week....however, I have found we spend less on stuff in the winter months, anyone else

[Natalka]

Thanks, j&c -still having foot trouble, unfortunately kind of worse this past week - thank goodness my wonderful husband massages it out every night.

Yup, odd weather - cold here after having 19 yesterday! Wind blows right through this room the puter is in, so I get quite cool after being in here for a while, especially my hands. We'll be getting more snow, too.

[cdngal75]

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!

What was your biggest accomplishment in March???? anything goes

Surviving it.

[saundyl]

@saundyl scary that your dealing with credit card fraud, any idea how it started or where. Kids and there electronics/game systems....sigh don't even get me started, we have an egg timer they use to switch off turns. Good luck with the interview, I can say you are definitely not lazy, very hard worker and very committed to your financial situations.

Thank you Nancy.

The Electronics are cut off here at 1:00 on weekends if theyre "good" and do chores and find something else to do other than fight or ask every 5 minutes for the Xbox they get it back around 4:30. Internet is cut off completely between 1pm and 7am and a parental password has to be put infor them to get an hour of internet. during the week...they get them after school until supper then have to do homeowrk baths etc and maybe get it back until 8pm. that was a battle to get that instituted.

[saundyl]

Dh has always done our taxes paper copy. This year he has decided to buy a program and do it with that. We want a program where you don't have to finish it all in one sitting and where you can review it all before submitting. I'd like some recommendations please, with reasons for your recommendations.
Thanks

I use Ufile online - you can log in and out as many times as you like....as well as into previous years.

[momof5boys]

Dh has always done our taxes paper copy. This year he has decided to buy a program and do it with that. We want a program where you don't have to finish it all in one sitting and where you can review it all before submitting. I'd like some recommendations please, with reasons for your recommendations.
Thanks

I've used simpletax.ca for three years now - costs nothing but I do donate some (there is that option at the end). Easiest program to use ever!

[Natalka]

Angela, we have used Studio Tax for the last two years, it's free and easy. There is a 'wizard' you use to get through every step if you want, and there are prompts to doublecheck if you haven't forgotten anything.

[bobbiegirl2010]

After my really bad experience with Turbotax online this year I will never use them again. I'll be looking for a different tax software next year. I can't use any of the free programs out there so besides turbotax I'm not really sure what other software there is for small business owners.

I do my BIL's taxes every year for him and use u-file which is free for him since he qualifies. It's not as user friendly but it's free. His taxes are straightforward so I can complete it in 15 minutes so I don't know if there is a save option or not.

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone.

Have yet to accomplish any of my baking, so that will be on the list of things to do today. Good thing I'm not going home to my Mom's til tomorrow (even if it's cause I got an invite to a party tonight - but since she's the one who insisted I go....). So, between baking and getting out my Easter decorations (yes, I know, but better late than never ) and going partying, I might not have time for any naps today. But I will make time to play with the critters, that's always the first priority.

Speaking of whom, both are tucked away in their beds, sound asleep. Sheesh, I think this might be the first time I have the morning sunshine to myself.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Natalka]

Good morning all!

Woke up to a blanket of fresh snow, sheesh!

It's going to be nice to have husband home for a three-day weekend - but it's not our Easter, we celebrate that next week. So some things I have needed to buy this week, some others can wait til next week.

Sweet son is coming for supper tonight, so I look forward to that happiness!

Hoping everyone has a great day!

[sweet sparrow]

Collectively these thoughts make me insane. I think I can, I think I can...10 more weeks of the online course. I hope the final of the trio of courses won't feel as much of a chore, but be mental stimulation when I am off on mat leave.

@Granger, I don't know how you do it. My friend was working full time, taking care of her newborn, and taking courses to become a CGA while her husband was working long hours (often away) and doing extra charity work on the police force. I think during the insane times, we somehow keep plodding away until the craziness subsides. Or maybe it never subsides and we settle into the new normal. Either way, keep going! You can do it!

This April is special to me since it will mark one year since my chemo treatment ended.

Congratulations!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!!!

What was your biggest accomplishment in March???? anything goes

Hmm. It could be getting out the stain on the tablecloth that I've been trying to do for almost a year. Or negotiating on our new doors and windows that DH said he didn't think the salesman could come down any lower on. Or maybe LO telling us that she needs to go to the potty now (okay, that one might not be my accomplishment). Or that I finally made the decision to cut internet ties with Bell. Oh, and I also got our taxes done and paid back what I borrowed for HBP for this year!

Dh has always done our taxes paper copy. This year he has decided to buy a program and do it with that. We want a program where you don't have to finish it all in one sitting and where you can review it all before submitting. I'd like some recommendations please, with reasons for your recommendations.
Thanks

@Angela273 : With StudioTax, you download the program and you can save previous years taxes. When the new year comes, you can download previous years into it. I love the screen where you can enter information line by line on your T4s. The calculations are automatically done and it just takes minutes! You can save as many times as you like, review your numbers on the "summary" page, and there's an optimizer that tells you if you or DH would be the best to claim transferrable expenses like tuition, donations, medical expenses, etc.

The only downside is that we did "pay" for it this year. Downloading the program took us over the cap for our internet and we had to buy extra MBs.

[sweet sparrow]

QOTD: Some stores are testing putting out shorter flyers with good prices on one or two day sales. Do you like it or do you prefer the flyer to extend for the entire week?

I appreciate the sales, but sometimes it creates such a frenzy at the store that by the time I get out (when LO naps), either the stock is gone or the crowds make the trip a lot longer than it needs to be.

Pre-LO, I definitely liked it a lot more than I do now.

[Natalka]

I like the flyers to be for the whole week - but most of them have three-day specials. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are a pain, though.

[jasperandchar]

QOTD: Some stores are testing putting out shorter flyers with good prices on one or two day sales. Do you like it or do you prefer the flyer to extend for the entire week? .

I like the longer flyers as I don't feel the pressure to venture out during those 2-3 days.

I also like it because they have time to restock supplies unless flyer states limited quantities, no rain-cheques,

I find it a gimmick to get people into the stores but that's just my 2 cents