April Showers of Savings the sequel - 2015 Frugal Chatter

[coupon girl]

yep lizzy you are right -hamburg is a treat -that's why I grabbed the 6.00 extra lean marked down to 4.00 yesterday at freshco -gonna make a few meatballs this afternoon
-well lady is coming 9.30 to 10.00 for the shoes 12.00-then off to visit son he watches "ashlyn" today -he is going away for 3 days this weekend to montreal with friends to see fighting match -he told me he will miss "ashlyn" ahhh such great dad he is

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning all! Just popping in quick on my day off work . Cleaned up a few things, posted stuff for sale. Went for a walk! Now going to sort a few things in my "for sale" room then quick shower and go out for a bit. Grabbing a timmies coffee with my free rim win

[Angela273]

I just posted dh's weight bench for sale on two different local garage sale Facebook pages. One woman already spoke with me about it, but the conversation was very frustrating. She has not idea what she is looking for or what it should look like. *sigh* Turns out she is looking for dumb bells, but doesn't even know what to call them. She private messaged me a picture, hopefully all my information was able to help her...but I'm done.

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone.

bff's Dad is still in hospital. They're not sure why he's so dehydrated & running a fever. They *think* he has an infection in his gallbladder (hopefully that's all, since that's an easy fix, once the antibiotics kick in). bff feels guilty for not going out there, but she worries she'll be more hindrance than help (her Mom will have the added stress of wanting to take care of her). Hoping her Dad gets sprung by tomorrow & she can pay a visit (might go with her, depending on what else is going on).

Critters are in a happy mood, since there is a bit of sunshine. Me, not so much. Mailman didn't bother buzzing me to tell me I had a package, so I had to go down to the post office to pick it up this morning, only it hadn't been dropped off yet (my stupidity in not reading the fine print on the notice). So more exercise for me tomorrow. This is the 4th time this year I've had to pick up a parcel that should have been delivered. And apparently I'm not alone. This isn't our regular mailman (he makes a point of getting to know folks on his route & will bring a parcel right to my door so I don't have to carry anything), but one who only seems to deliver parcels (when the mood strikes him).

On the plus side, I stopped into the Bulk Barn & discovered that they had Summer Fresh dips & hummus on 2/$5. I bought 4 and used the spend $10 get $3 off, making them $1.75 each. Can't wait to try the Aged Cheddar & Chipotle dip for lunch. Lily dog feels the same way, she's been staring at the fridge since I put them away when I got in a few minutes ago.

Still trying to hunt down the missing receipts so I can finish the taxes. They were sitting on the table before I moved them when company came over on the weekend. I don't think Quincy cat stole them, but ya never know with him. Maybe I should get him a suit so he can play Junior Accountant.

Better get back to sorting through papers. At this rate, my place might actually be organized...if only for a day or 2.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Andit]

For those who have ethnic stores nearby, that might be a better option for meat. There is a nice Chinese grocery store near my Mom that usually has ground pork for less than $2/lb (from what I remember, if you buy 1-2lbs it's one price, $0.10 cheaper for the next 2-3lbs, $0.20 cheaper if you're buying 5+lbs - worth it if you're stocking up, which is what my friend, my Mom & I do - buy in bulk & split). They also have nice produce that is always fresh (they supply restaurants so the quality is there). I also used to be able to get free soup bones & cheap liver for the brats from a nearby European deli (until the vegans moved in & turned it into a new age little restaurant).

Might be an option worth exploring?

[Angela273]

LO's cold is getting worse, so I'm taking him to the doctor tomorrow afternoon.

We booked our garage sale fundraiser for May 30th. I'm looking forward to it.

I now have 3 people all in line to buy dh's weight bench for the $50 I was asking for it. It's in great shape, but dh just doesn't use it. Figured it could be one big thing sold before the actual garage sale next month. Dh bought it for a lot less than $50 at a garage sale years ago.

[sweet sparrow]

Just got some sad news - my favourite nun passed away this morning.

@Natalka : I'm very sorry about the loss of your friend.

Dinner at the inlaws was cancelled due to DHs aunt being rushed to the hospital with breathing problems. She is hooked up to a ventilator and that's all we know so far. We will visit her after work tonight.

@harbie : I hope your DH's aunt is feeling better.

Costco run so did not go as planned, found some meat deals which were great but so had not planned to spend that money this week so checking out hurt a little. Feels like right now no matter how hard I try money just keeps flying out the door and I just hope to stops soon.

@SassyAshley : I think many of us have that exact same feeling. Is it the time of year, I wonder?

We got up early and headed to the hospital this morning as Round 3 of anti-biotics was STILL not working for DH. Well, the blood work showed that DH's white blood count had come down since last week but Dr. said he is STILL contagious and will not be declared NOT contagious until 2 more rounds of lab work have shown that he is clear.

@avoncallingu : I hope your DH feels after this treatment of antibiotics.

Question of the Day

Does anyone have any tips for surviving a sudden drop in income?

This week I had one full-time child leave on Friday (Mom was advised to take early Mat Leave - I was expecting to watch him until end of May). Then I had another parent notify me today that they can no longer afford to pay daycare for their 2 children and Grandma has offered to watch them. They are giving me 2 weeks notice for their full-time child but would like me to continue watching their school age child for the remainder of the school year (so he doesn't have to change schools as they live in a different district). I live in a small town so filling daycare spots can take several months

@bobbiegirl2010 : Oh bobbiegirl, I wish you were closer. I'm desperate. LO has no care for July and with five daycares shut down in our city, everyone is competing for the same spots. I'm on two waiting lists with pretty much no hope. The daycare that charges $1600 told me I have no chance of getting in. It's the most expensive spot so I thought they might have one spot, but it's subsidized so it's full. I was told I made $5 too much to qualify for subsidy.

I'm about a few weeks away from a total meltdown. Almost all the daycares here require a deposit of $70 or more just to be entered into the computer to be put on the waiting list. No guarantee of a spot and if you don't get a spot, you lose your money. With three separate daycare searches in four months, I'm going to tour all the ones nearby. LO will probably go there eventually.

DH and I have good paying jobs but choose to live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada. We always thought this would be our retirement home, but have decided we will sell any move west back to the London area where we come from. With close to a million in equity it's just the smart thing to do. We stay here now becuase our kids are still in school and with no mortgage it is manageable to live here. But I often wonder how people can buy in this city.

@lilo0003 : Lucky you! I have no idea how people can buy too. We managed to scrape by with a loan from my parents, but if it wasn't for them, I'd have spent a lot of time watching mortgage rates. This year, I hope we'll have them paid back in full. It all depends on what happens between now and then though. I'm with everyone that unexpected costs keep cropping up. I was hoping it would happen by LO's birthday, but we just booked our windows to be fixed. At least we'll have the door on the laundry room not leaking heat anymore, and a lock on the patio door. I saw DH lift the glass door panels right out of the frame from the outside though, so I have no confidence in locks on patio doors anymore....

Can use any prayers that you can spare - bff's Dad went into hospital yesterday, they're running tests & still aren't sure what's going on. Too similar to what I went through with my Dad, so needless to say, I got nothing done yesterday, besides the essential squishing of critters. Hoping things went well overnight & they have a diagnosis soon (really really hoping that my theory is right & it's a simple infection that can be treated easily).

@Andit : Prayers sent. I hope it is just a simple infection.

[sweet sparrow]

Question of the Day

Does anyone have any tips for surviving a sudden drop in income?

We've just recently switched internet providers (today!). When their cancellation department called, they made me an offer that was still more expensive than what we're going to be paying so I said no. I've called to comment on their high prices so many times, I don't get how they can suddenly "find" a lower price when you cancel. That drives me bonkers.

My tip, call your phone/internet/cable provider's cancellation department and ask if they can lower your bill. Even if we took their offer, it would have saved us hundreds of dollars.

[coupon girl]

well sold my shoes from 4 years ago today I think I paid 35.00 at sears for my son's wedding and sold them for 12.00-i will never wear 4 inch heels gain in my life-the young lady that bought them had a baby almost a year and she buys his clothing on mom to mom groups and checks kijjj for cheaper prices -see others are looking for deals too

-made 36.25 so far this year on kijii-(not a lot but hey free money for me)

[bobbiegirl2010]

@Sweets parrow Looks like I live in the wrong area! $1600 per month for one child - that is crazy!!!!! I have a daycare family leaving because subsidy is increasing their monthly fees to $900 for 2 children (1 fulltime and 1 school age). There is not a big market for daycare here as housing costs are lower so there are a lot of stay at home moms or families that have relatives that watch their kids.

[jasperandchar]

I'm going to be watching the federal budget today at 4pm anyone else? yes I have no life

AND here's another kick to the balls (excuse the expression) the Ontario energy board just gave hydro one the increase they requested so our rates are going up another 5%....breath in....breath out...

On a positive note dh & I drove the pc pavilion and everything is ticky boo, I have already called a bunch of companies that I have direct withdrawals with and changed the information.

I need to call my employers and see if I can update my direct deposits over the phone, I'm thinking not because they are govt. I will have dh call WSIB when he wakes from his nap.

If anyone wants to post name suggestions for May please feel free or do we just want the month name and year, etc????

I'm thinking starting next month I am going to be doing 1 meal per week that is super cheap, anyone else up for a challenge?

[Granger]

^^^May Frugal 2015 is fine with me JnC.

I am all over the cheap meals. Perhaps those who wish could post one or two ideas in a saved thread at the start (make it a wiki I think so all can add/edit) then we would only need to come up with one or two ideas each and could use other's for the other weeks. I am up for the challenge. My meal won't involve ground beef!!!

[coupon girl]

-I just made 18 meatballs to put in the freezer(all for me)hubby doesn't like them
-went to library then to shoppers -got a few great point and ice cream for .99 ,fresh effects makeup wipes for 1.10 after cpn and checkout51(may give them to daughter as she travels a lot)
just hung a second load out the wind is whiping them dry

[lilo0003]

Sweet sparrow, it does get better. We once had to borrow money from the parents because the house needed a roof and we could not afford it. The key to our success was buying a house we could afford and then never leaving. 20 yrs in the house, but we never had to deal with all those costs associated with moving, so many people do this multiple times and it all adds up. It was never the plan but we quickly realized buying a bigger house meant leaving Oakville. For us the luck was buying in Oakville long before it was so crazy expensive
I am sure you have exhausted your options but if your employer has an EAP they may have a child care service that helps you see what if any other options are out there. One of our best experiences was with home daycare, but it is not for everyone. But the costs now are crazy, I think at the most costly I was paying 200 a week for 1 child.
Granger: for cheap meals I again suggest a web site called budget bytes dot com seriously the teen would eat Dragon Noodles every day and I just use egg noodles, but it is so easy and cheap. Today he discovered they make a yummy leftover lunch at school. We have added chicken but its still yummy with no meat..

[lilo0003]

Granger: I know you need GF, I'd you look under misc., it gives you all the GF recipes. She also breaks down the cost per person. She is is new Orleans so the prices don't really compare other than to help you choose the less expensive options.