January 2016 frugal chat thread

[Ciel]

For SCers who have been finding their local Walmarts bereft of store specials, I guess the news on the SC blog that Walmart will start charging for bags on Feb. 9 is going to save you future trips. Since family members usually go to Walmart for convenience and the free bags, I expect this will have impact on grocery trips unless the list is small and portable in one bag (for the ones that walk). Anticipate that this change will make checking out much longer if pricematchers don't have pals/family on hand to bag/tote groceries (if not buying bags) as cashiers ring them through.

Talking about the cost of things-I redeemed my McCafe card for a hot choc last night and noticed a small hot choc is renamed Valentine hot choc and it's $2.39! Wasn't it $1.89 last November before HST? It's hard to read the fine print on the changing digital board unless I'm right at the pickup counter and know how far down the list to look at.

Hamilton SCers near Upper James St.-the 1408 Upper James beer store is closed for maintenance as of today through Feb. 4. Don't go there to return empties-sign indicates Mtn Plaza Mall or Westcliffe Mall locations for returns/sales. Guess who did the hike to Mtn Plaza Mall? I tweeted to the Beer Store to update the store details because site shows store as open. At least I found a $2 coin on my long walk back to Rymal Rd. and got a BurdaStyle patterns Spring preview booklet at Fabricland. $16.29 for the Dressmaker's Grid Burda tracing paper (the white felted kind, not the tissue kind)-shocking-at the store.

[jasperandchar]

@jasperandchar I am just kicking myself for not dehydrating a large mason jar full when i had the chance, but I just NEVER thought celery would be something that would soar in price? If I find ANY on a great sale I am getting the dehydrator out!

that's a great idea

[lizzie bargain]

Sorry to those feeling unwell or having ill family members.

I thought I would do a little cost comparison here in Argentina to compare to Canada( for those who are interested).

Things that are cheaper-bus ride about 40 cents Canadian, taxi about $50 Canadian for 1/2 hr ride to the airport( in Calgary it would easily be $80). According to my sister electricity and gas are very cheap also.

Things I find expensive-food in general-6 bananas for about $3 even though they are grown close by in Ecuador-I think I would pay about $2 at home. 2.25 litre of diet coke is about $10-crazy. Restaurant meals-but very good and one meal can often feed 2 people. Gas for the car is about $2 per litre!

Another interesting thing is you can buy many medicines at the pharmacy with no RX. For eg antibiotics etc. I forgot to bring enough of one med I take and they had it over the counter-of course they were charging about $80 for 30 pills so I got the generic form which was 1/3 of the price.

I know my sister asked me to bring razor blade refills, ibuprofen and Robaxicet as they are very pricey here.

May be cheaper in the countryside but I think living in Buenos Aries would be very expensive.

I think there is about a 20% sales tax on most everything-ouch!

Anyway we continue to have a good time and very thankful to stay with my sister as I can't even begin to imagine what hotels charge here. Thankfully it is 30 degrees or lower for the rest of our stay so it is more comfortable to get out and see the sights.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! Once I get my work day out of the way I have a quick meeting then home for the night (well have to pop out to pick up the teen after his work shift) Dinner tonight will be a meat pie with ceaser salad and sliced up cucumber. I will also take out a roast and defrost overnight and prep tomorrow nights dinner.

[Angela273]

Well that was the best night's sleep that I have had in a long time. Our 3yr old and baby girl slept from 10:30pm-8:00am. Baby boy nursed at 1am and again at 7:30am, so I managed to get 6.5hrs sleep in a row. That is a great improvement after the last 10 nights.

[sweet sparrow]

@lizzie bargain : Thanks for the numbers! It's quite interesting to see how the other side of the world lives. Who would have thought it's so expensive to live in an area where their heating costs aren't half what ours would be!
@Ciel : Yes, I'm still in a tizzy about the upcoming Walmart bag charge. What will I do for free bags now? We use two a week in our garbage. The typical garbage bags are too big. Hmm.

Are there any other places that offer free bags?

[sweet sparrow]

Well that was the best night's sleep that I have had in a long time. Our 3yr old and baby girl slept from 10:30pm-8:00am. Baby boy nursed at 1am and again at 7:30am, so I managed to get 6.5hrs sleep in a row. That is a great improvement after the last 10 nights.

@Angela273 : Oh, I'm so glad things are better! LO had fever, chills, vomiting two weeks ago and it was horrible. It was a constant state of red alert and we were worried that she was getting dehydrated. She was crying for water but kept throwing it up. Thank goodness that's over and I'm happy you're getting some sleep finally. Yay!

[Frugalbigmama]

@lizzie bargain : Thanks for the numbers! It's quite interesting to see how the other side of the world lives. Who would have thought it's so expensive to live in an area where their heating costs aren't half what ours would be!
@Ciel : Yes, I'm still in a tizzy about the upcoming Walmart bag charge. What will I do for free bags now? We use two a week in our garbage. The typical garbage bags are too big. Hmm.

Are there any other places that offer free bags?

The odd time I went to Walmart I would grab extra bags for the bathroom garbages! But now I notice my Shoppers hasn't been charging for bags.

[sweet sparrow]

The odd time I went to Walmart I would grab extra bags for the bathroom garbages! But now I notice my Shoppers hasn't been charging for bags.

I mentioned in another thread how I once bought milk at SDM and left paying $3.97 on my CC. After checking my bill at the end of the month, I saw that they charged me an extra $0.05 after the first transaction! (I only tapped my card once.) I didn't know they could do that without my card and without my PIN!

[Angela273]

I mentioned in another thread how I once bought milk at SDM and left paying $3.97 on my CC. After checking my bill at the end of the month, I saw that they charged me an extra $0.05 after the first transaction! (I only tapped my card once.) I didn't know they could do that without my card and without my PIN!

I hadn't heard of this before.

[jasperandchar]

@Angela273 a good nights sleep does wonder, fingers crossed this is the new "normal" for your and the babies

[jasperandchar]

Eldest is home today and tomorrow studying for exams.

Tonight will be tacos which we don't have often so it will be a nice change but I will wait until the reviews are in (haha) years ago when ol el paso had the ground beef coupons on the boxes we had tacos every week and well let's just say the guys at times still dread them. I'm being positive as we haven't had any in about 6 months so time will tell.

My folks stopped by yesterday which was a surprise visit. She picked us up some items from Costco that she knows we use often to help out which was very kind.

Wishing everyone a great afternoon.
@Andit I hope your bff's family is coping as well as can be expected with their loss of their father/husband (hugs).

[Ciel]

Are there any other places that offer free bags?

All I can think of are Cdn Tire (sometimes you might have to ask for one if cashiers don't offer), local health food and independant food stores, dollar stores and clothing stores. Basically most grocery chains are going for the pay for bags plan.

Two weeks ago, I did notice that Fortino's had the small square PC black carry totes on sale for $4 rather than $4.99 reg. Wish I had spotted it earlier in that week and bought at least one. Think I have to plan on getting two so heavy small items can be carried in those totes rather than the plastic fabric PC tote bags.

[Ciel]

Gail Vaz-Oxlade is coming to Oakville next month-ticketed event for her new book.

[Angela273]

Re: free grocery bags: Sobeys, CT, CO-OP, Dollarama, etc.