September 2016 Frugal Chatter Thread - ALL Welcome!!

Our family pictures are done. I should be able to see them and place an order by the end of the week. Absolutely none of our relatives are local, so pictures have been requested in the mail for those who don't use smart phones or computers. We went out for a buffet lunch and used a reusable $5 discount that is part of our high school's annual fundraiser card that I purchased for $20 from my neighbour. This is the newer neighbour who gave me the $10 winter boots for free for our son. I have yet another migraine, so I'm going to try to catch a nap. Dh has a supper meeting tonight, so I'm not sure what the rest of us will be eating. I need to meal plan for the week and pull some meat from the freezer. I'll still need to go to WM early this week to take advantage of some deals.

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Originally Posted by thriftygranny

^^^
The sun is peaking out now and it is windy so I am thinking we will be out in the yard by noon! Kind of a crappy forecast for the week and I am itching to get it done!!

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Funny how things change - sun is also out here, though it's terribly windy - so it should have been a go for the yard.
Unfortunately, my son called and said he can't come, he's got a terrible migraine.

Finally rest time. Kitchen is cleaned from dinner. Tons of Tupperware containers made with full dinners for kids. All laundry put away. Last load of odd blankets in washer. Went to walmart while ds was on ice and grabbed men's dove body wash. 6 bottles and used buy 1 get 1 free. Glad to have teen stocked up for a bit. Will get more shampoo when pc pts and sale match up since I have some still. Our RCSS is closing the electronics section and all video games were $3. Found 2 good ones for Ds for Christmas. No tax yesterday so even better deal. Looking forward to some mindless tv time on the couch with my honey once you get is tucked in bed.

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Originally Posted by Natalka

Funny how things change - sun is also out here, though it's terribly windy - so it should have been a go for the yard.
Unfortunately, my son called and said he can't come, he's got a terrible migraine.

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I find my son gets horrible weather change migraines, especially with a lot of wind involved. Sorry you won't get your Sunday visit in with Milan. Lawn is cut, edging done, poop picked up and I hacked away at an old sad looking juniper that needed shaping, trimmed up all my potted plants (still looking pretty good considering the time of year). I put one vegetable garden to bed for the winter and we are still enjoying fall lettuce and chard and carrots from the other one. I hosed off the deck and weeded the back flower beds and back alley.I am pooped but will try and get a batch of muffins made for the freezer for company next week!!

Took our pups to a fundraiser for cibc run for our lives. Git theur nails clipped $10 per pup.

Yesterday i got meat fir the freezer. Bf can cook from there this week or decide on something else but im hoping he leaves some for me to use on the weekend with the boys.

I cancelled my sirius radio as it hasn't been useable since April locally on my way to work. Ill reconsider activation when we take it out of town next. No sense paying monthly for something that is frustrating me!

Sold 4 dvds today and our youngest sons bed. Its $$will go on the brick card to pay for the new beds arriving in October. Til then boys bots have 2 mattresses on the floor.

Did some laundry today and tidied yos room enough to get the bed out. Not impressedwith at the time i had to spend on the room he supposedly cleaned. 3 bins of stuff a garbage bag of stuff and a bag of trash later i can move the bed. Also discovered hes stuffing all clean clothing in the closet without folding or sorting so when he says hes put it away it's improperly done. Thus hus complaints of not being able to find things.

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-ahhh wish my daughter was in the same city-she had a hard time with Sebastian last night and today -hubby helped her thou -she feels like one day is rolling into the next -she is pumping ,feeding changing him(he has a doctor apt in the afternoon on Monday -the baby) -on Monday my son/daughter-in-law and ashlyn are going so I asked if I may come-no problem they said -we are going in afternoon and staying for supper then coming home after rush hour in Toronto-I cant wait to look at him again -oh and of course give my daughter a big hug as she is a wonderfull mommy

I have been avoiding stores except for groceries and Shoppers. However my weakness is the clearance area and online shopping. Trying really hard to stop ordering online but it is so tempting.

Thinking of joining Costco but can't justify the membership fee - $55. May ask for it for my birthday later this year.

@ barbis9 Welcome to the thread.
The closest Costco to me is 2.5hrs away, so I have only gone once with my aunt many years ago. We have friends who like to shop at Costco whenever they go to Regina. A lot of people say that it is hard to walk out of Costco without spending a lot of extra money on things you didn't plan on buying, so you may need to be careful if you do get a Costco card.

Good morning! Beautiful sunny day today and they are saying it will reach a high of 32 and be muggy. Have windows and curtains closed at home so hopefully it cools down after the sun goes down so I don't have to put on AC.

Tonight we are planning on fish and ceaser salad for dinner. The fish needs to be used up so happy we are finally doing so. We are making extra and will make Tupperware containers for lunch tomorrow.

Loving my clean family room! I am making sure to keep it clutter free. Making the boys remove their stuff at the end of the day. I am thinking about Christmas and since we used a fake tree last year (it was in the storage locker we bid and won) I think I will use it again this year (saves $25 instead of going to the cut your own down) We still can go to the place and hang out and look at the trees/wagon ride but just not have to buy a tree. I guess I better get rolling on my Christmas planning since it really isn't that far away!

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Originally Posted by barbis9

I have been avoiding stores except for groceries and Shoppers. However my weakness is the clearance area and online shopping. Trying really hard to stop ordering online but it is so tempting.

Thinking of joining Costco but can't justify the membership fee - $55. May ask for it for my birthday later this year.

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I am not really a big shopper so groceries/household stuff is my fun lol. We have a Costco membership and we enjoy going together so we keep it as "entertainment" really. We don't spend foolishly on food/stuff we know we can get cheaper/on sale elsewhere but there are some good items to get there. We purchase our cell phones there since they have great deals and the people that work the phone kiosk are great. I have bought TV's, computers, laptops, Ipods etc so I think it is work it for us. Oh and socks and yoga pants!!!

Any other items worth getting at Costco? I'm getting a gift card. Costco is 4hrs away

The items are buy at Costco are:
Almond Butter
Chia Seeds
Organic Honey
Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts)
Bananas (Best quality around)

When on sale the prices on the following cannot be beat:
Downy (Only kind I can use due to skin issues)
Dish Washer Tabs (My dishwasher only comes clean when we Finish Tabs)
Paper Towel

There are other deals to be found, since my Mom works in the same plaza as Costco we really shop their weekly Sales

Wow this post makes it sound like I eat a lot healthier than I do.

It does sound like you eat healthy! Thank you so much for the list :)

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Originally Posted by saundyl

Took our pups to a fundraiser for cibc run for our lives.

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I always thought CIBC had the Run for the Cure event. Run for Our Lives sounds like a special zombie marathon I've read about in the running magazines. :eek:

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Originally Posted by coupon girl

-ahhh wish my daughter was in the same city-she had a hard time with Sebastian last night and today -hubby helped her thou -she feels like one day is rolling into the next -she is pumping ,feeding changing him(he has a doctor apt in the afternoon on Monday -the baby) -on Monday my son/daughter-in-law and ashlyn are going so I asked if I may come-no problem they said -we are going in afternoon and staying for supper then coming home after rush hour in Toronto-I cant wait to look at him again -oh and of course give my daughter a big hug as she is a wonderfull mommy

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Three more months and that may be me! Although I don't think my mother would ever say that about me. :-) I think until I had LO, she'd always tell me I wasn't holding babies correctly. I must have loads of practice with LO, although she still wants me to pick her up and she's getting so heavy with the pregnancy tummy and her 35+ pounds.

Wedding is over. Thank goodness. No more unexpected expenses. No more mandatory obligations. No more fittings! I've always dreaded whenever DH has to spend money for anything because he somehow always gets the short end of the stick. After that crazy expensive tailored suit, the jacket won't fit and the store insists that it's the proper width and length. DH swears that it's too tight and too short in the sleeves. For the price, I think they could afford to remake it several times but they just don't want to bother.

I've just seen the costs for the bachelor party. Since the booking was done in DH's name and they took the money at the time of booking, DH had to pay for the entire event (higher price on Saturdays, of course) and he paid for the groom's ticket. Then, he paid for all the food, and only half the guys gave him money to cover the cost. He didn't say if the guys gave him enough to cover the cost, but they gave him something more than nothing. So that also cost several hundred dollars. I think he spent probably 10% of the cost that we spent on our entire wedding just to be a guest, definitely well over four figures. :eek: :cry: If there was a fainting smiley, I'd use it here.

To keep costs low, I borrowed a steamer from our friend so he wouldn't be drycleaning anything. I steamed LO's dress and DH's shirt. Then I wrapped a gift from our wedding that we never used. It was a beautiful set of crystal toasting glasses, still wrapped in the gold box from William Ashley. I remember going in to do our registry years ago and just in awe of all the ladies with their 2+ carat diamond rings picking out tableware. I was too embarrassed to send out the gift registry cards, but I really, really wanted them for our wedding scrapbook. :embarassed: I bought our entire dish set at their warehouse sale for twelve settings for the price it would have cost us for two in-store. Same boxes, minus the gold paper wrapping. Eventually, the company did get our money and I didn't waste much of their time during the registry process. I used to buy small gifts there quite often when I lived in the neighbourhood.

I found a wide brown fabric ribbon from a gift from Birks (the Canadian jeweler) years ago and tied it around the sturdy gold box. Then, I rooted around in our basement until I found a swanky invitation to my friend's wedding (she married the heir of a family who owned some pricey patents). It made me a bit sad to do it, but I took off the front and inner decoration to use the heavy shimmery bronze cardstock as the backing for my card. I cut some light grey and white Michael's cardstock (which is quite obviously cheaper weight), used a bit of glue, and embossed two diagonal prints of some Japanese flowers on the front in a golden bronze tone. I tucked the card on an angle behind the wide looping ribbon, and I have to say, even for someone who is not used to design or layout, the result was visually very pretty! I even ran back to the car to get DH's phone for a photo because I was so pleased that my last minute effort didn't look so last minute. I did stay up until three AM, but I don't think I could have done much better had I spent actual money.

Edited to add: I should mention a side note that the married couple are very much wine connoisseurs. They put things like crystal decanters and silver ice buckets on their registry, so I hope no one thinks I just found some random gift in our basement to give them. It was done very much with the couple in mind and we do not drink wine at all. I thought they could toast each anniversary as they celebrate it. :love:

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Originally Posted by juliemadden

Any other items worth getting at Costco? I'm getting a gift card. Costco is 4hrs away

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We get our coffee filters, pure vanilla extract, and tea tree oil at Costco. The coffee filters are $3 something for more than 300, so they do us for the year, and go straight to our compost bin. The vanilla extract is such a big bottle that it covers our baking for a year or two, and if you have any young children, the cleaners you can make with the tea tree oil is perfectly fine for little hands and feet to roll all over in.

You might be able to ask if you can use the GC at the service centre. My BIL swears by their car service and winter tires during Christmas. They will install and remove your tires if you purchased from them for free. I used to buy their wiper blades on sale, but don't think they fit our windshield or last as long as the dealership ones, unfortunately.

LO also loves their organic raisins. We used to buy NN and PC, but the Sunmaid ones stick less and seem to come with less stems. I still eat the NN ones, but I give LO the organic ones since they make less of a mess and grapes are supposed to be one of the fruits with the most pesticides.