June 2015 Frugal Chatter

[avoncallingu]

Pipe work finished just before rain last night. Still have to let dirt and new work all settle before filling in. Also make sure it is all functioning!!!

Bowling and movie with school kids today. Super day. My class threw me a surprise shower at the bowling alley. Balloons and a card with a $50 Toys r us gift card. Feeling totally blessed. Inside Out was great movie and I would recommend to families with preteens. Rich themes to talk about at the dinner table. I cried, will blame pregnancy.

How lovely!

[avoncallingu]

KA-BANG! I swear the lightning hit in our back field! (But I didn't see any burnt parts today)

I finally got many of the last plants planted (procrastination is my middle name) but am not happy with how some look.

Tomorrow dh and I have to get some blood work done and then maybe we can get some 2 for 1 plants at a local nursery and finish things off here and also plant some geraniums at his dad's grave. We usually choose red and white, as he was a veteran. We also plant a small legion cross with a poppy and Canadian flag.

I would like to take all the white stones out of my parents grave site and clean them up but we'd have to bring them home and soak them in bleach, I think.

I need to put up some red and white (and blue) decor to get ready for Canada Day and July 4th.

Next step wrt the gardens is to add the fertilizer, weed and mulch. We also have this ANNOYING - very fast growing - "bush" of some sort. I cut it right back to the ground last fall with intentions to dig it out. Well, it said, "THANK-YOU" and replaced itself with gusto. I want to put clematis in there - so will be looking for "end of season" sales on clematis.

I planted a small crimson pink rose bush in today that I had found on sale and I also have to get the bleeding heart plant into the ground.

My neighbour planted a lovely garden last year but has decided she can't tend it to her satisfaction so she has offered me any of the plants that are there. I may take her "hens and chickens" as I have an area that I'd like to have some.

Dogs and dh have headed to bed. He really wasn't feeling well after his long day today and there was a HUGE slowdown on the 401 on the way home. He had been up since 6:00 this morning and was totally pooped and all his systems seemed to be "off" and he was in pain.

Well, folks, I think I'll go join the "men" of the house in snooze-land!
Have a great Wednesday tomorrow - or rather - today!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Made it to Wednesday so this week is half over, only 2 more days I have to be up for work . Yes I am still counting down to the weekend, I am freaking tired this week. Although I was quite surprised to see in the last 2 weeks I did 12 hours of overtime, I knew I would have overtime as I always do but rarely do I get over 10 hours because for us overtime doesn't kick in until you hit 44 hours/week plus your deducted time for lunch. Maybe that explains why I am a little tired this week, but really I am going to blame what feels like the never ending cold. I will start to feel better for a day and then the next day I feel way worse I feel like I stuck in one horrible never ending circle.

I need to go over and re work our budget this weekend, over the past 3 months we have managed to reduce our Cable/Internet/Phone bill by about $100/month, our Mortgage has gone down about $80/month plus our Condo fees have gone down $100/month. As well I finally have Mom sticking with our $50/week budget with no extras, if it is not within the $50 we go without. So hopefully I can work something out and give us a little bit more breathing room.

Looking at next week's flyer I do not see a lot we need so tonight we are going to head to Costco to price out a few things we need but have not been able to find on sale. The big must have item is oats, normally Robin Hood Oats are on sale occasionally I have been looking for months and they have not gone on sale. Oats are now a staple in our home we go through almost a bag a week so I need to see what prices I can find. A lot of these odd items we like to have but are hard to find on sale are on sale this week at Bulk Barn so I can going to take the Bulk Barn cost and compare it to Costco and see what is the better deal. Both Costco and Bulk Barn are in the same plaza so between the 2 I will get them at one or the other. I also need to factor in that Bulk Barn has their spend $10 get $3 off coupon out this week so I can get $20 worth of product for $14. Tonight will be full of a lot of math but I am sure it will be worth it in the end to be able to stock up on these odd items that have found there way into our daily diets.

Have a great day everyone, time to go through all the emails that came in last night, I read them but now need to see what needs to be printed and taken care of.

[sweet sparrow]

Our storm was worse than we thought. DH's cellphone is officially dead and we had to go back to Telus for a replacement. To get the newest model, he would have had to spend an extra $300, so he downgraded to get a lesser one. The downgrade was free, but we had to spend nearly $300 to break the existing contract to get another one. I'm a bit annoyed since we aren't breaking the contract and still need all the features of the current one. We still need to check and see if all the photos/videos are still there.

Our cordless electric phones are fried. I estimate around $140 to replace them, but we'll see what we can find on short notice. We're currently using an old corded model that we dug out of the basement, but running after LO, I think a cordless one will be more appropriate without dropping the phone on long distance calls if I need to give her some attention.

Our modem is dead. I don't know if warranties cover "acts of God", but I've called to find out. If not, it'll be about $150 for a new one.

The last rainstorm will cost us nearly $600 in total. Argh!!!

[coupon girl]

-tired after watching "ashlyn" 2 days -but yesterday managed to get a 45 minute walk in pushing her baby bike -as long as I avoid her seeing the playground we can keep walking
-bubble bath for my aching bones then hang clothes on line -since hydro rates went up may 1-I try to always hang when I can
-the next few weeks gonna try the one car-may get rid of mine to costly to fix 11 year old car(we may become the one car family)

-noticed this morning a man in Grimsby won the cha-ching car -I had 31 entries in (you never know) he may have had a few its just luck of the draw right(well at least my friend anna from smartcaucks won the rogue she has 4 little ones so that helps)

[Natalka]

Granger, oh so much work for you guys, but glad it worked out well. So nice your class treated you so nicely!

avon - wowsers, so much gardening - good for you!

sweet sparrow - awful that it did all that for you. Did it affect the cellphone because it was plugged in?
When we had power surges last year one morning - actually the first surge was handled by our computer's power bar, but unfortunately a second one shortly after fried the power supply (I think that's what it's called) - but our son was lucky enough to get one free from a friend's old computer for us.

Power went out this morning from 4:15 for about a half hour, but all was okay. No reason for it - no storm or anything, just a pain.

Yesterday, computer was giving me big hassles - working slowly for no reason, no viruses, etc. Just a big bother. Hoping today it stays as it is now, it's okay!

I sure hope everyone has a lovely day - for us, it's our last day of mid-20s temp - I'm not looking forward to the heatwave which is being forecasted.

[lizzie bargain]

Me either Nat-mid twenties is comfy for me!

[jasperandchar]

@lilo0003 I love the Montreal chicken spice also a big fan of the Montreal steak spice but I think Costco has switched to the keg steak spice.

[jasperandchar]

Our storm was worse than we thought. DH's cellphone is officially dead and we had to go back to Telus for a replacement. To get the newest model, he would have had to spend an extra $300, so he downgraded to get a lesser one. The downgrade was free, but we had to spend nearly $300 to break the existing contract to get another one. I'm a bit annoyed since we aren't breaking the contract and still need all the features of the current one. We still need to check and see if all the photos/videos are still there.

Our cordless electric phones are fried. I estimate around $140 to replace them, but we'll see what we can find on short notice. We're currently using an old corded model that we dug out of the basement, but running after LO, I think a cordless one will be more appropriate without dropping the phone on long distance calls if I need to give her some attention.

Our modem is dead. I don't know if warranties cover "acts of God", but I've called to find out. If not, it'll be about $150 for a new one.

The last rainstorm will cost us nearly $600 in total. Argh!!!

oh geez not fun

I believe your house insurance would cover this but I think you made a claim on your roof (maybe I'm mistaken) but give them a call and see, good luck & I truly hope you can transfer your photos/videos off the phones.

[jasperandchar]

@Natalka hope you are feeling like yourself these days now that the lady troubles are behind you

[jasperandchar]

I'm watching I wrecked my house, I heard a new term which I think most men and yes some women are guilty of it's called "obsessive starting/started disorder" (lol). My dh has a serious case of this so many projects on the go, I told him last month we need to prioritize as our renos suffer from ADD (attention deficit disorder). I can laugh at both the OCD as I truly do have the actual disorder (sigh) and Jaden has a severe case of ADHD

[jasperandchar]

Wishing everyone a wonderful day, we are on track budget wise as long as we don't spend on anything until Friday with the exceptions being our prescriptions which we get reimbursed for. I have solid #'s for July's budget and need to review with dh but it's looking good, We want to play catch up by depositing to a new savings account for Jaden. We used to put $25 a week into both boys account but haven't for over a year (geez time flies).

[sweet sparrow]

I believe your house insurance would cover this but I think you made a claim on your roof (maybe I'm mistaken) but give them a call and see, good luck & I truly hope you can transfer your photos/videos off the phones.

I'm sure home insurance covers the costs, but I'm sure it falls well under our deductible.

sweet sparrow - awful that it did all that for you. Did it affect the cellphone because it was plugged in?
When we had power surges last year one morning - actually the first surge was handled by our computer's power bar, but unfortunately a second one shortly after fried the power supply (I think that's what it's called) - but our son was lucky enough to get one free from a friend's old computer for us.

DH happened to plug in the cellphone that night, yes. Normally he doesn't overnight but he was hoping to have a fully charged phone when he started the long commute in the morning.

[coupon girl]

well went to home depot to get my 10.00 credit from them ruining my sweater -got a lovely planter for my new deck 32.00-10.00=22.00
-then popped into pharmasave got a few items palmolive dishsoap 739 ml= 1.99 -1.00 checkout51=.99 and a large gel pkg or the freezer for my aching knees or other parts that need feezing -lol 4.99
-son dropped into chat for visit

-called my older brother in London,ont -he Is 68 today -we chatted for awhile

[coupon girl]

-ohh supper tonight pork loin roast reg 8.90 I paid 3.45 back in may price matched with potatoes ,roasted carrots in with it