April Frugal Chatter 2016

[Ciel]

My local Shoppers has three rows of the little carts. Think it's time that two of the rows go and get replaced by 5-6 two-tier carts (mind you, there would be aisle dodging to get around the cardboard displays everywhere) for those bulk buying paper product customers or large shopping trips esp. if there are electronics on the list.
About the only time I see most carts in use is during a Seniors Optimum points day. And the carts are looking their age.
@jasperandchar -cannot believe April is in its last week. Where's the month going besides half in the fridge/freezer (rain/snow/cold temps) and other half outdoors in the sunshine?

Found an employment listing with a MacGyver reference:

How to apply for this position:
1. Read the ad, make sure you qualify. If you don't qualify, well.... do not apply : )
2. Important! Compose a cover letter and tell us about something you had to invent to get you out of a jam, MacGyver style!

Need employment income soon. Too many things are needed (for self, house, yard). I'd like to see a Costco club card burning session (like the CIBC Mortgage burning graphic)-club packs don't fit at our house.

[Andit]

Good afternoon, everyone.

Sorry I went awol. The computer decided to go on an extended vacation without bothering to inform me. Also been dealing with less than organized folks at the Cancer Centre - communications are not up to par with what I'm used to & we still don't have a plan of how to deal with my Mom's health (not even an official diagnosis yet!). I get that they have lots of patients, but sheesh. We'll see what next week holds (appt on Mon).

In the meantime, I've been dealing with the stress with theatre (lots of theatre) and having fun. Went to a party Sat night & didn't get to bed til 5am. Of course, Sunday morning my wet-nosed trainer decided I needed some exercise at 6am!

Kinda groggy today, but at least the computer is co-operating. Well, so are the brats. Sort of. Quincy cat decided 6am was the perfect time to play...and crash into the wall. I had a hard time pretending to sleep, I was laughing so hard while he hissed and told off the darn wall.

Better get back to the brats - I have a particularly clingy kitty needing my attention today.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Granger]

I have a question for those of you that trade coupons, I have a $10 Chapters/Indigo gc I rec'd from sdm this weekend, there is an expiry date of May 15, 2016, what sort of values should I expect to receive? any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

No help on value! To someone that might be very valuable and to others worth nothing. Be clear what you want out it. You are not someone to take advantage, so I know I am preaching to the choir on this...make a deal where you will both benefit and come out happy (maybe an auction?)! So many people (not SC regulars of course) get a high value coupon and want the world for it. In the end, they either screw someone over or lose out.

One tip, read the fine print. The last time I had one of these cards it was more like a coupon than a gift card and could not be combined with other offers (i.e. my plum points), which in my eyes, makes it less valuable than a gift card. Hope that gives you some help. I am not really into trading much anymore...but all my trades with you were stellar when I did (I still have your business card. :D)

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Mom came home in a good mood which was good but my mood was still not the best so I did not make dinner which meant Mom picked up McDonalds. I know we need to cut back on take out but I was just so done I gave up.

There is no extra money which is the issue. Mom jumps into things head first goes all Gung Ho and then realizes she cannot do it for whatever reason. Issue being every time she gets an idea she expects everyone to be as Gung Ho as she is and see what we can do to make it work. Really I just wish her co workers wouldn't give her ideas unless they want to help with some $$$.

I have lost track of how many times she has found "her thing" spent a bunch of $$$ usually that she borrowed only to have not fully researched it and realize she cannot do it after all for whatever reason. This is why I have hundreds of dollars in packaging in my basement.

On that note I am gone for the week, hotel living for me. I am just trying to relax and not worry too much. I am realistic I know I will still worry. With that being said I am distracting myself at work with helping set up for an event this week. I have come in and kind of taken over moving things, setting things up, sorting things. It is kind of nice I get to organize and be in my happy place.

Well think I will do some crocheting before bed since Hotel living means no cleaning. Although this branch has a great kitchenette so I washed all my dishes before I left work and am ready for tomorrow.

Have a great night everyone.

[SassyAshley]

Forgot to mention even though I am on the road and my meals are covered I still try to keep things frugal so for my meals I got:
A store made Salad at the grocery store
Yogurt Marked down 50%
Milk for Granola (brought from home) and Tea

Tonight's dinner was a Dinner Box from Pizza Hut, this thing was huge I did not even eat half of it so I will take some to the branch to pick at each day plus I can easily have at least one more meal from the leftovers even after I remove what I will take to the branch.

Not bad for food on the road.

[jasperandchar]

Perhaps the solitude away from home will do you both good @SassyAshley

I have posted a wish list / trade list $10 Chapters/Indigo gc exp. May 15/2016 up for auction and also create a trade/wishlist for trades, hoping I get some offers.

Wishing everyone a wonderful evening.

[lilo0003]

Sassy: I hope you enjoy your alone time. You need the break.
I was excited yo get my sample source today. It's been a while since I was able to get one. This one was good. It has 3 FPCs all for products we use.
I also did some advance meals on the weekend. I have been waiting for a good deal on ground pork and then decided buying it as Costco was the way to go because I already had the family pack of ground beef. Dh and I made 1 meatloaf and 24 hamburger patties. We are in a crazy lacrosse season and if we don't plan meals we either don't eat or eat poorly or get takeout which we are rarely trying to avoid.

[sweet sparrow]

I don’t know why, but I’ve been having major salt cravings lately. I even wanted Campbell’s soup late one night but talked myself out of it when I read that the can had 56% of your daily sodium intake. Now I really want sushi, but what I truly want is the soy sauce.

A few nights ago, I had a craving for cherry pie filling. Not the pie, just the filling. I had to go into the basement and raid my cherry jam stash. I’ve always seem to have had odd cravings beginning from my teenage years, but they come and go quickly. This is super odd. We’ve been trying to go with low sodium meals at home and I think my body may be rebelling.

Shopping at Walmart has been the low point of my weekends. It’s the closest store so I can take LO there in the mornings, but I hate it so! This weekend, I got the cashier who was trying to push the credit card again. I weaseled my way out of it by saying I was using a GC today. Then she took offense to the SC flyers (under the flyer tab) because they did not scroll from left to right but you had to flip through the pages. She could only accept flyers that you can scroll though, but I’ve never had issues with anyone else. She told me to get a new phone…. Most days, I can’t understand why I still go. Oh, right. Because it’s right across the street. From now on, I will profile cashiers and line up in the dreaded mile long aisles to buy two things just to avoid her. It takes 20 minutes to get to another store, but it takes 20 minutes to go through the WM lines.

Hoping your mom gets some answers soon, and that she's better. Are you able to go see her?

@Natalka : We haven’t seen my mother yet. The first week while she was in hospital, there was an MRSA infection detected on her floor. Everyone that visited had to wear the white cover-up suits and sanitize before they entered and left the rooms. She was panicked when she was moved to an empty room all of a sudden. I found out from my sister after she came home that it was her roommate that had the infection so they had to isolate her too in case it had spread. I’m glad we didn’t make it with LO, with her being at daycare for almost 10 – 11 hours daily.

Last weekend, the day after my mom came home, I asked if it would be a good time to visit. She had my other siblings visit, one on each day, and she seemed to prefer we wait a few weeks more. She was too tired to see too many people at once. She felt horribly guilty about not able to cook for all her visitors and went on about how it was terribly rude. Oh Mom!

We’re still waiting for an appointment in Toronto as there were no procedures done and no surgery due to the complications. The pain could come back at any moment so we’re hoping they call soon. I’m glad our healthcare is free, but the wait times are not accommodating unless you’re in critical condition!

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! Had to spend $2500.00 for work so of course I went to Loblaws brand store so I could use my PC MC- just over 75,000 PC pts for me woohooo!!!!! Can't wait till I let myself do a "free" shopping spree

Youngest's crazy schedule starts today- After school practice then his summer hockey starts tonight- So we are on the road and home late tonight. Only good thing is that I can pick up his brother afterwork on our way back in town. So nothing will get done at home tonight. Will feed him quick (peameal bacon (already cooked) eggs and toast and a few clemintines) clean up the kitchen then hit the road. Oh well, I will miss all the busyness I am sure down the road when they are off on their own!

[lilo0003]

FBM: that's our life as well. We have games and or practice all day Sunday and then 4 nights a week. So lots of meal planning in advance. We pack lunches and snacks and lots of drinks so no one is tempted by the drive thru.

[Frugalbigmama]

FBM: that's our life as well. We have games and or practice all day Sunday and then 4 nights a week. So lots of meal planning in advance. We pack lunches and snacks and lots of drinks so no one is tempted by the drive thru.

The best part is my youngest doesn't like to eat crap so it works well for us! Glad I did an amazing shop on Sunday so we are stocked on food and fresh stuff. I did the same as you with prepping food on the weekend for the freezer- Beef sale so made taco meat, nacho meat and burger patties! Was hoping to go home at lunch and get organized for tonight a bit but forgot I have an appointment to get my taxes done! Never ends!

[jasperandchar]

Afternoon,

Contractor left for the day, tomorrow should be another coat of mud and then sanding on Thursday and paint primer on Friday. And my new window gets installed on Saturday...happy dance.

Dh rec'd spend $30 get 8k on his sdm card, he is finally receiving Monday & Wednesday offers. So I will use his card as we need granola bars, dish soap and some other items.

I've never used coupons at sdm since I started shopping there religiously, do they do it like all other places or do the total amount of the product count i.e $3.00 - $2.00 = $1.00 or does it count as the total price $3.00????? Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Dinner tonight is hamburgers (beef) with some side dishes.

Wishing everyone a great afternoon/evening.

[Giseledta]

hi all. sorry I disappeared again. life is busy. just busy.

I have supper in my crockpot ... I am doing a Mongolian beef dish. it sounds delish. I am hoping it goes over well.

Everyone around here is complaining about the hydro bills. everyone. it is a tad ... concerning. we got ours the other day. yep.... usage down cost up. Joy.

right now I am trying to figure out ways to get supper on the table without being exhausted at the end of the day. Yesterday was a bust. ended up with subway. Not impressed. poor planning on my part. and part of it is I did my back in on Saturday. still hard to move on Monday. but ... I got everything done. and kids were happy.
I need to geta few quick and easy meal ideas or stuff in the freezer forsuch nights. they help out a lot.
and as lovely ( sarcasm ) as subway is... it is to expensive.

[coupon girl]

-well made a banana loaf today
-having a parcel delivered today
-oh and had a friend call last night to see if we wanted to sell my mom's chair lift (mom paid 1,900 when she moved in with us and it was referbished ) we were gonna keep it for us as we age but hey that wont be for 10 or 15 more years -they may not have the parts for it then and if something electric sits that long may not work right -so a couple is coming from Toronto and I asked 300.00 on kijij the cheapest was 400.00-so happy if they come on Wednesday cause I don't want to move that thing again -motor unit is heavy
-so 300.00 towards my visa bill I just got in -yippee

[Frugalbigmama]

hi all. sorry I disappeared again. life is busy. just busy.

I have supper in my crockpot ... I am doing a Mongolian beef dish. it sounds delish. I am hoping it goes over well.

Everyone around here is complaining about the hydro bills. everyone. it is a tad ... concerning. we got ours the other day. yep.... usage down cost up. Joy.

right now I am trying to figure out ways to get supper on the table without being exhausted at the end of the day. Yesterday was a bust. ended up with subway. Not impressed. poor planning on my part. and part of it is I did my back in on Saturday. still hard to move on Monday. but ... I got everything done. and kids were happy.
I need to geta few quick and easy meal ideas or stuff in the freezer forsuch nights. they help out a lot.
and as lovely ( sarcasm ) as subway is... it is to expensive.

I hear ya! I find with my kids busy sports schedule that ham/eggs/toast is quick to serve him so we can be out the door. And it is easy to whip up. I usually wait till we get back but he has to eat.