November 2015 Frugal Chat Thread

[jasperandchar]

@thriftygranny lots of birthdays and cake, take it easy don't overdo yourself, I know easier said than done,
@lizzie bargain sorry to hear about your sil, hope things improve, pretty scary indeed

[jasperandchar]

On a frugal note I need to talk to ds1 about our internet usage....geez...I think he will either have to pay the overage or pay for the upgrade.

His hosting games on the xbox is killing our usage.

Wishing everyone a frugal afternoon.

Dh will be starting his procedure in 1/2 hour.

[Ciel]

For the SCers who've become fans of Tetley Signature tea via the samples, note that Food Basics has the four varieties on lockdown pricing of $2.99 so your $1 off coupons (or the $2 coupon if you get the Tetley email and can print at home) will be most advantageous.

While I tried two pants at Marks and a top, fit and waistlines (too low) were issues. The store does have the best dressing room with two mirrors and space and great wood finishes. Will have to go back another time to get a top and socks. Gave another shopper my coupon as the first person I asked had a coupon already. Found a tall pant pair on the sales rack at Reitmans ($24.99) so I bought them and will have to take up the hems. Might have to take in the waist a bit as well as the waistband is below the waist a little and the D-ring and strap don't seem to fight gravity enough to ensure they won't fail to keep pants up. Glad for two side pockets-not sure why manufacturers like fake back pocket designs. I like back pockets!!

Plan on going to a thrift shop on the Mountain tomorrow to see what prospects exists in tops (to wear or to alter). Most tops in stores seem semi-sheer and not durable enough to wear under a sweater or jacket for colder weather. If I was heading to Hawaii, then maybe the semi-sheer tops would be ideal layering pieces to purchase.

Had a Monopoly meal at McDonalds-three repeat stickers and a med. fry food prize that I'll use this week. Popped into Homesense-the store is starting to get the solid pastel and neutral flannel sheets sets by Lameirinho (Queen set in soft white, King sets in soft pink, a putty and a grey green)! Will have to check again in some days to see what comes in for full/double size beds.

Brother got a white/light grey plaid flannel sheet set at Costco for $39.99 (queen; also made in Portugal) last night so it got washed after supper and I hung the set outside on the line today. Totally agree with hanging tops and shirts on hangers for laundry if space is limited or one wants to minimize wrinkles to iron out later. Vinyl coated hangers rule for that laundry category!

Saving money is important to all of us--it's hard being the main messenger to family members to shift certain activities to more favourable electrical rate periods. Might as well wear a Target bag as a vest for all the commentary that comes my way!

[Ciel]

@Frugalbigmama -glad you were able to make a trip out to Mark's to check out the boots you wanted! @jasperandchar - hello! Wonderful to have you back online--easy does it while you heal. Perhaps you could tell DS1 he can take on supper tonight while you relax playing an xbox game! @Natalka -wishing your Taffy home soon. She might have been spooked by someone or something.

[Ciel]

Sage Nov/Dec magazine had a couple of interesting appetizer ideas. Since it is a publication of Alive magazine, this recipe was published in Alive's Nov. 2014 issue (good use of dried apricots and rosemary): http://www.alive.com/recipe/apricot-hummus-balls/

Thought the idea of frozen banana ice cream truffles was another recipe worth mentioning too:
http://www.alive.com/recipe/frozen-b...ream-truffles/

[coupon girl]

lizzie -sorry about your sil
-nat hope cat comes home soon
-take it easy jasper -we have the smallest internet use -we have netflicks and I monitor it always so we don't go over
ciel-good to see you got pants from reitmans -I love reitmans and thrift stores too

[thriftygranny]

Good luck to your hubby Nancy, hope it goes as well as you are both hoping it will.

[walkonby]

I am quite annoyed that I cannot find a thread! Been searching all over for about 15 minutes now. Plus I never have any luck with that " search " option no matter what clue words I type in.

ugh....... so anyways I just wanted to bump that thread up by posting that I received the $20.00 cheque today from TRUSTED15.
This was a thread someone made ( sorry to the OP, I have no idea who it was? ) about an offer for a rebate if you use Revolution for your pets ( which we do ) and I filled out the form, scanned the vets bill ( proof of purchase ) and forgot all about it.

If anyone else filled out the form just wanted you to know it will arrive!!

[sweet sparrow]

I am quite annoyed that I cannot find a thread! Been searching all over for about 15 minutes now. Plus I never have any luck with that " search " option no matter what clue words I type in.

ugh....... so anyways I just wanted to bump that thread up by posting that I received the $20.00 cheque today from TRUSTED15.
This was a thread someone made ( sorry to the OP, I have no idea who it was? ) about an offer for a rebate if you use Revolution for your pets ( which we do ) and I filled out the form, scanned the vets bill ( proof of purchase ) and forgot all about it.

If anyone else filled out the form just wanted you to know it will arrive!!

Just popping in for a moment - no chance to post, but I did find @walkonby 's thread:

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/104615-...tes-canada-99/

Post #1476 by macw1960
@walkonby : Yes, I find the search function practically useless. I use Google.

[Natalka]

Nancy, hope you are healing well - and I hope everything went well for your husband.

Lizzie - praying that all goes well for your SIL. When I was teaching primary, I would get viral laryngitis all the time, but it was just a pain, never life-threatening - how scary for them!

On the cat front, no Taffy YET - I keep saying yet, because I have hope; I keep dreaming of her coming home in all different sets of circumstances.
Interesting that Vader made a change yesterday - for the first time in all these days, she ran and played -and did the same this morning. She has also been hanging out on the couch, instead of on top of the chair so she can look out the window all the time.

Honestly, this cold and rainy weather does nothing for the psyche!

[momof5boys]

On a frugal note I need to talk to ds1 about our internet usage....geez...I think he will either have to pay the overage or pay for the upgrade.

His hosting games on the xbox is killing our usage.

Wishing everyone a frugal afternoon.

Dh will be starting his procedure in 1/2 hour.

We nearly went over our limit last month b/c our son bought a new computer, downloaded a bunch of programs but then our usage was still super high. He found out that it was his computer using up so much internet (not sure why because he isn't on it a ton) but fixed it so now it's good again. Thankfully we have a computer savvy son

[cdngal75]

Hydro One used to offer tiered pricing-the first 750 kwh were charged at the lowest rate, then the next set of kwh were at a higher rate. Then the utility went with time of day pricing--cue much gnashing of teeth and money arguments in the home.
Some utilities still offer tier pricing-lucky!

So glad I am signed on with a distributor for hydro. As I was with a distributor when time of use came in, I was never switched over to it. I have been warned that should I ever choose to leave the distributor I will be put on time of use and can never go back. I pay the same low rate all day long. One smart money move I made in life .

[YOU AND ME]

Cathy i got 2 cans of coffee paid$.99 +tax i had 2 $3.00 coupon

I hope Melitta Arabica coffee is good because with the Uniprix sale and everyone having sample source coupons that the 2 left I got....I hate the new policie of maxi et cie no pm of the pharmacy....or when everyone run of the deal.......still one coupon to use ,....hope they will restock before the sale end wednesday......please please lol

I usually drink Colombian coffee


I paid 1,99 after coupon for a little container

[YOU AND ME]

Wow lizzie bargain that really scary about your sil you just never know even the smallest thing can turn into something bigger .Hope she's on the mend soon

We have the same weather here as TG and Natalka-suddenly I am not so anxious to get out for my daily walk! We had a scare yesterday-my husbands sister in law in the US suddenly could not breathe and called her husband and 911-long story short the paramedics got her to the local hospital where they paralyzed and intubated her and life flighted her to a bigger hospital as nobody had a clue what was going on-she had just had a cold. DH just called his brother this morning for an update and he said it was very touch and go yesterday and she is still on the ventilator but now they have woken her up and she can write notes. They have finally figured out she had viral laryngitis and her vocal cords swelled to the point she could not get enough air in. I was shocked to think something so seemingly minor could become life threatening so quickly. I guess it is extremely rare. Anyway they are giving steroids and waiting for the swelling to go down before they attempt to extubate her-scary stuff and thank goodness she called her hubby and 911 so fast. DH's brother says she is not completely out of the woods yet but they are optimistic that she will be okay.

[jasperandchar]

Dh came home and they did not do the procedure, the doctor who was scheduled to do the procedure said he did not agree with the pre procedure interview/appointment and decided to give dh a steroid shot instead. he goes back on December the 1st and then back again in January, fingers crossed this works BUT if the steroids don't work then they will re-visit the the procedure.

He has decided to not take any calls for tomorrow because he won't know how sore the injection site will be. A the phones not ringing for substitute jobs for tomorrow anyways so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Dh has made his Christmas list sadly most of the items are in the US which means expensive with the Canadian dollar being so low. His list is not very large and many items I don't want to order as pants size vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and I don't want to get into an issue of having to pay shipping fees to return the pants if they don't fit especially to the states.

Fingers crossed he adds more Canadian priced items to his list. Generally the list is overflowing with movies, cds etc BUT not 1 on this years list...sigh.

I started my Christmas list today, I'm so hard to shop for as I don't want anything. I'm thinking Home depot gcs so I can put that towards a new window or such....I would prefer something of substance like a window vs. something that I don't really want and don't need.