November 2015 Frugal Chat Thread

[thriftygranny]

I am so sorry about the situation your family is in Saundyl, I hope in a few months this will just be a bad memory>

Nancy, I have no time for the gofundme campaigns. We had a secretary that decided to take a year off to write the great Canadian novel and set up a page for people to support her year off and when she only had a few dollars pledged she wrote a scathing post on the page to all of the staff in our office that chose not to fund her. Are you kidding me?? If I want to donate to a cause I will seek them out and give the money directly...period.

Coupongirl I am glad you only had a scare with your heart, I ignored my symptoms and ended up with 90% blockage. It will be a year on Friday that I had my cardiac stents done and feel blessed it was caught in time.

I have had a sleepless week with a cough that magically appears as soon as I lie down and I hack all night. My son had it and it lasted a couple of weeks, I am glad I am feeling organized for Christmas because very little is getting done around here!

I was diagnosed with type two diabetes as well last week, I just had general blood work done and my doctor and I were very surprised the glucose test came back with those results. I think I was chalking a lot of the symptoms up to my blood pressure meds. I am waiting to see the dietitian and hopefully I can get it under control with diet alone...it's always something isn't it?

Well I am going to get some gifts wrapped today and make a list of things I still need to get. Housework will be there tomorrow!!!

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! Ended up feeling much better last night and powered away on the kitchen and laundry. Everything is washed and put away.....and it all starts again today! Went to bed later then I planned but still feel much more rested today. Tonight we are away for a hockey game (only 30 mins from home) so will be a bit of a rush to get home and DS in the shower and to bed. He needs his sleep and he has been staying up way to late the last while so I am getting him back on a regular routine. Oldest works right afterschool and we will eat quick (taco salad!) and head to the rink. Will pull something from the freezer tonight for tomorrow nights dinner. Thinking a roast with gravy and mashed potatoes, veggie and ceaser salad sounds good. Will prep it all tonight!
Running around on my lunch hour today Get DS's skates sharpened. RCSS to PM a few things I didn't have a chance to get the other day (Quaker Oats $2 (buy 3 get free Tropicana with coupon) 2 cartons of Chapmans ice cream- free after PM and coupon.

[jasperandchar]

If you don't find it within Loblaws, SDM has both. If you have PC Financial, you can redeem your PC points for them, or get points on your MC/Debit.

SDM will give you points, and you can also buy them with the gift cards you bought for the extra points.

When has sdm allowed people to redeem pc points for gcs? I have not heard this yet but if it is that's perfect thanks

[jasperandchar]

@saundyl perhaps your bf needs to come to another agreement (for a short term anyways) with his ex as circumstances have now changed re income & child support perhaps and to boot he has to pay back CRA and everything else in life...geez...the stress, hope it all works out hun
@avoncallingu have a great vacation
@thriftygranny sorry to hear about being diabetic, that sucks my mom has been on insulin for years and it's not fun. Hopefully it can be managed for you with meds and diet (hugs)

[Ciel]

Managed to get a curried lentil stew cooked today-it's been on my to-do list for a few days. Might do baking tonight-tea biscuits or focaccia-as I crave munchies at night. Have been indulging in shredded napa cabbage for two nights while reading books (sequels based on Pride & Prejudice, having watched the A&E DVDs on the weekend).

This month has been a humdinger for money, health and time juggling for SCers. How to pop those pressures...

[SassyAshley]

Thriftygranny hope you start to feel better

Saundyl hope things turn around for you and your family and soon it will behind you all.

[Granger]

Checking in briefly. Made my first pot of chili yesterday evening. Trying to cook more with beans to help a little one in the bathroom. Can't believe we were missing out on this yummy dish. I made it smooth and finely chopped veggies; and kids and big kid also known as husband were happy.

I redeemed my air miles for Christmas baking groceries and my PC points for holiday lights. Next will be shoppers drug Mart for stocking stuffers.

I'm having a hard time paying off the line of credit despite the fact that we have debt, I feel very blessed and I'm choosing to continue with generosity for the holiday season. I'm picking up feminine products each time I am out as the ladies group in our church is collecting them for a nonprofit organization. Part of the holidays for me is being generous so I guess that is taking priority over the credit line. It's only a couple thousand and the car will get paid off. There's a few other things that we're doing to help others throughout the holidays, with having a pastor for husband we seem to be privileged to information about families that others are not.

[Angela273]

Sorry I haven't been in this thread in a while. For those who are struggling in any way, I hope that your situations improve soon.

I weighed the twins yesterday. Baby boy weighs 13lbs 10oz. Baby girl weighs 10lb 13oz. They are both smiling, talking, rolling, and giggling.

I'm still baking from scratch, trying to cook at home (dh is usually the one who insists on eating out), pm'ing, loading my weekly Air Miles offers for Sobeys (which usually gives me 2x 50% off offers each week, plus bonus AM offers), coupons, rebate apps, and PC Plus. Our 3yr old is in gymnastics and skating. I also take him to free programs at our local Family Center and public library.

Our 3yr old son is named after my grandpa. This grandpa was taken to the hospital last week because he passed out suddenly. Grandma thought that he was having a stroke. As far as the doctors know it was caused by a sudden drop in his blood pressure. He was released from the hospital at supper time on Saturday. They are supposed to be scheduling tests in Saskatoon to find the source of this new medical problem. He turned 82yrs old the day that my twins were born. He is still an active farmer.

[lizzie bargain]

Rather cold here the past couple of days-I confess to hibernating yesterday but I think I will go out shortly to my 2 closest grocery stores and SDM and see if there are any bargains to be had and finalize the dinner plan. Meantime I have been semi-productive at home catching up on some paperwork, cooking etc. TG-I hope, and I think it is likely, that you will be able to control your Type 2 diabetes with diet/exercise and/ or oral meds. For all of us, younger and older, coping/managing with chronic diseases and/or pain is not fun and often also costly in terms of time and extra expenses that are not covered by health plans!

[Frugalbigmama]

Had a great lunch break from work. Went to RCSS to pm a few things. Couldn't get one thing I wanted! Empty shelves etc. But did find New PC Greek Yogurt - Coconut with chocolate chips 4 pk for .94 with instore 300 PC pts. (choc chips are in side container so will save for baking!) Best part- I had a personal offer of 800 PC pts per package that I didn't even realize so I paid $2.82 (with a GC that I redeemed for with PC PTS lol) and received 3300 PC pts!!! Score! Also shopped for work and received 16,690 SDM pts as well as a SCOP on a bag of Lindt chocolate $5.49 sign said (rang in $7.99) Was a good lunch break!

[jasperandchar]

Just got a call from CBC go public as I wrote to them in a state of worry with respect to TransUnion and Equifax, she wants to do a story. She wants to wait until I receive my reports back from both companies and go from there. She also wants dh to try and do the request over the phone as she is curious if his TransUnion address is also 20 years out of date.

I may or may not have mentioned but Equifax charged cc for the fee for the credit score portion so hopefully I should receive the report and credit score back in a week or so.

Anyways thought I would share, the lady told me that they have often thought about doing stories along these lines but just have not gotten around to it and it may be time (gah). The 2 ladies that do the show are in Vancouver and Calgary....geez...I wonder if they'd fly me out (haha) I don't think so as she was wondering how far from Ottawa I am.

Wishing everyone a great afternoon and evening.

[sweet sparrow]

When has sdm allowed people to redeem pc points for gcs? I have not heard this yet but if it is that's perfect thanks

@jasperandchar : Sorry I wasn't clear. At SDM, you can purchase gift cards with your credit card (and get rewards through your credit card, whether it be cash back, PC points - if a PC MC), etc. You can scan your Optimum for the base points. I picked up a bunch of cards a few weeks ago where they awarded 8,000 points if you purchased a total of $150 in two cards or more.

The rules used to be much more lax and they would give full points for buying transit tickets. That was about a decade ago or more.

At PC stores, you can redeem PC points for GC, or purchase them with your MC for more points.

[Frugalbigmama]

@jasperandchar : Sorry I wasn't clear. At SDM, you can purchase gift cards with your credit card (and get rewards through your credit card, whether it be cash back, PC points - if a PC MC), etc. You can scan your Optimum for the base points. I picked up a bunch of cards a few weeks ago where they awarded 8,000 points if you purchased a total of $150 in two cards or more.

The rules used to be much more lax and they would give full points for buying transit tickets. That was about a decade ago or more.

At PC stores, you can redeem PC points for GC, or purchase them with your MC for more points.

Yes, I can't believe they are still letting us do this. I thought for sure they would change it. I like to redeem for the PC/Loblaws gift card then get my groceries and redeem. Then I don't have to worry if I have exactly $20 etc. And the best part is you can still get bonus PC offers when paying with a GC (but not when your redeem is seems sometimes)

[sweet sparrow]

I have had a sleepless week with a cough that magically appears as soon as I lie down and I hack all night. My son had it and it lasted a couple of weeks, I am glad I am feeling organized for Christmas because very little is getting done around here!

I was diagnosed with type two diabetes as well last week, I just had general blood work done and my doctor and I were very surprised the glucose test came back with those results. I think I was chalking a lot of the symptoms up to my blood pressure meds. I am waiting to see the dietitian and hopefully I can get it under control with diet alone...it's always something isn't it?

@thriftygranny : I'm so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I hope the dietitian can point you toward some great recipes using ingredients that are healthy and that you love. Please get well soon. I know exactly what hacking all night feels like.

I have a superficial dilemma, not to take away from the seriousness of the real issues that everyone is going though, but maybe more as a distraction that there are still silly things to fret about. Lately, I've been missing sales. Either I'm too slow, too hesitant, or just too oblivious to recognize a good deal when I come across one. So, if anyone has any input, I'd love to hear what you think.

I lost a necklace in 2013. If I purchased it from the US then, it would have been par, dollar for dollar. Now, the Canadian dollar is $0.75 to the US dollar. I haven't been able to find it in Canada, but found it in the US for $240. It's normally $300, but I called around to several places and it wasn't easy to get that $60 discount. Despite that, the Canadian dollar figure will be $320, plus a 2.5% conversion fee for using the CC. I never bought it because I kept holding out hope that it would turn up. No luck.

I'm hesitant because it will be $80 more than the original, even though it's been more than a decade, I still remember that the original was $163. Now, I could wait for the dollar to improve, but I may not get this deal again. The price could increase, or the necklace could get discontinued. What does everyone think? Should I get it or wait some more?

DH says yes because the price is good, the necklace is in stock and I've gone without for several years and I still want it back. Then there's the possibility that the Canadian dollar could sink lower and I would kick myself for not getting it now.

[SassyAshley]

Sorry sweet sparrow I am of no help, I am over think everything even things I NEED and usually end up going without because exactly what if I can find a better deal, find it cheaper, find an alternative, the list goes on and on.