October 2016 Frugal Chatter Thread All Welcome!!!

[Angela273]

I haven't a clue how you are able to manage with two sets of twins under two. How do you have a second to post!? I really hope things get better for you and your family. You're quite strong and amazing and can manage a lot more than you think.

I'd rather not have to manage. Life is easier and less stressful without some of these challenges.

[Angela273]

I just finished washing and chopping up 24 medium and large sized yellow and red garden tomatoes. They filled two medium sized pots. One I will put through my sieve, I put all the skins, etc in that pot. The other pot will be left chunky. I'm leaving it plain. I'll put sauce into little bags, layer them in an ice team bucket, and then put the whole thing in the freezer. I still need to tackle a dozen smaller sized zucchinis. I'm surprised that all 3 of my kids are still napping.

I haven't spent any money yet today. After dropping our son off at Pre-K this morning I took the twins with me to visit an adopted grandma. I was happy that I made a point of visiting with her. She didn't get to celebrate Thanks Giving this year. She has one daughter in town, but that daughter has been struggling with health issues and has a house full of family visiting. I got a few errands done thus morning before picking our son up from Pre-K. We had leftovers for lunch. I still don't know what we will be having for supper tonight. I think I'll cook the bison toast tomorrow, it is still thawing in the fridge.

[jasperandchar]

Evening all,

All caught up once again, busy bunch as always.

I jimmy rigged my clothes line as it fell down on Thursday and the guys left on Friday am for hunting. So far so good I've hung laundry out since Saturday.

The house is getting cool, I need to talk to FIL when they get back from hunting to clean our chimney, dh is afraid of heights and I'm not strong enough to take the gummed up cap off.

My folks came on Saturday and left yesterday morning, I'm happy to have my house back (haha). MIL & BIL showed up at exactly the time I said we would eat and didn't help with dishes etc. I'm seriously thinking about not hosting Christmas the only reason I would is otherwise my parents have nowhere to go BUT it's very overwhelming for me, time will tell.

My eavestrhouging, facia & soffit is book for later this month, I'm so excited I chose specific colors so it should look fantastic, the $ is set aside so that's great news.

I wish I were as lucky as @Angela273 for selling produce but no such luck, I have been working with tomatoes for months now, I posted a 1/4 buishels and 1/2 bushels but no takers and the prices are very reasonable. If they do not move soon I will see if I can someone how get them to the food bank.

My latest & most exciting news for me is I got a FREE PVR from Bell, I've been wanting one for quite sometime, I call in once a month for any promotions etc and it's been about 8 months BUT it paid off as I was fully prepared to pay the installation (no it was free) and was willing to pay $8 rental BUT was surprised when they offered it to me for absolutely nothing.

Wishing everyone a great evening

[momof5boys]

Not complaining but the pears are never ending - canned 21 jars and still have a lot ripening in the basement Thanksgiving dinner went well this year - more people pitched in for clean up. At one point I did ask someone if they could finish the dishes and then I left the kitchen for a while....I'm learning to ask for help because some people just never see work. When I came back into the kitchen, the dishes were done but the counters were a mess. Baby steps It was a joy to have everyone together!

[coupon girl]

yes i had a lovely turkey meal at my son's and i brought home all the bones and dark meat made turkey soup yesterday a few containers for me in the freezer and 2 large containers i took to my son's today for them and ashlyn as i babysat -had fun watching ashlyn today as she has new toys from her birthday -we did a wooden face puppet craft an owl craft and played with a Barbie large head of hair -fun times (as you can tell i am feeling all better and great now -mind you i really need to grocery shop at some point this week )
-we got the 50.00 esso gift card in the mail today -free form credit card points -oh and daughter gave me a bay gift card for my birthday from sept (to buy myself nice clothing she said -mind you i bought a nice silky blouse on -line from the bay a few weeks back cost me 6.90 from the clearance section online)-haven't seen her since sept 19/16

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I am on vacation this week and I think my body got the memo loud and clear as I just seem to have no ambition. I almost feel like I am fighting something off so maybe vacation came at the right time.

Yesterday I just did a little tidying up around the house. Today I am going to cook, my plan is to make:
Cinnamon Buns
Pizza Dough
Pork and Chicken Dumplings
Banana Muffins
Carrot Muffins

Everything except the Cinnamon Buns I will put in the freeze, the Cinnamon Buns I will leave half out and put the other half in the freezer.

I have spent quite a bit of time looking for new recipes we can work into our meal plans. On Sunday when we went out, I went to the local Chinese Market and grabbed some various sauces to use, as well as a few veggies. I plan to make dumplings to put in the freezer, previously we had purchased pre made frozen ones which were okay but after looking at a few recipes I think this is something I can make myself for much cheaper.

Alright well I better get moving I have a lot I want to get done today. Have a great day everyone

[Frugalbigmama]

Happy hump day! The house felt cool (was at 17 when we woke up this morning) Good thing we all had to leave

Finally a day off from sports but still feel rushed/busy. Suppose to meet my friend at gym afterwork but feel so rushed but I have to take time for me too. I need to remember that!

The laundry drying in the diningroom was dry this morning so will put it all away tonight. Will put one load in tonight and hang to dry again to put away Friday morning before we leave.

Hope everyone has a great day!

[jasperandchar]

Morning all,
@momof5boys I hear ya about the produce, still working on tomatoes, made 5x 1 litre jars yesterday and used 1/2 a bushels to make the concentrated sauce. I'm thankful my garden was so plentiful but it's been months and I don't think I will want to see a fresh tomato until next summer (haha). I did pears last summer and that is quite the process as they don't ripen on the trees, I can only imagine what your basement looks like having them all spread out AND the shocker for me with the pears was fine 1 day and overripe the next, BUT we will be thankful to have all this great produce available come winter time when the prices are outrageous.
@saundyl that's quite the amount of potatoes, what's your trick, the past 2 years we've only had enough potatoes for 2 meals.

_____________________

Morning all,

The clothesline is still holding up thankfully, I have a load out drying as it's supposed to go up to 20 today

Did the 1/2 month checkup on the budget all is still on tract, I looked at the flyers online for the new set of sales and I'm so grateful I really don't need anything other than milk

I'm getting super excited to really dive into my Christmas shopping, I have making list as I hear someone say I should get this or that so I really don't think I will need to ask the inlaws for a list this year. I purchased my dad's gift in the spring and I always get my mom her expensive perfume using SDM points.

I have been setting financial goals for projects that need to get done at the house & cottage with vision boards on pinterest so I'm excited to get some of these projects done in the near future.

Wishing everyone a fantastic day.

[sweet sparrow]

We tried turning on the furnace yesterday and it didn't work. The fan didn't work either. It always seems to be one or the other, either the furnace won't turn on or the air conditioning won't work. We seem to be calling these people twice a year. Not what I'd expect for spending $8,300!! I will have to take a day off to let them in. Grrr.... Thankfully, there are no deep freezes planned in the forecast yet.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning all,
@momof5boys I hear ya about the produce, still working on tomatoes, made 5x 1 litre jars yesterday and used 1/2 a bushels to make the concentrated sauce. I'm thankful my garden was so plentiful but it's been months and I don't think I will want to see a fresh tomato until next summer (haha). I did pears last summer and that is quite the process as they don't ripen on the trees, I can only imagine what your basement looks like having them all spread out AND the shocker for me with the pears was fine 1 day and overripe the next, BUT we will be thankful to have all this great produce available come winter time when the prices are outrageous.
@saundyl that's quite the amount of potatoes, what's your trick, the past 2 years we've only had enough potatoes for 2 meals.

_____________________

Morning all,

The clothesline is still holding up thankfully, I have a load out drying as it's supposed to go up to 20 today

Did the 1/2 month checkup on the budget all is still on tract, I looked at the flyers online for the new set of sales and I'm so grateful I really don't need anything other than milk

I'm getting super excited to really dive into my Christmas shopping, I have making list as I hear someone say I should get this or that so I really don't think I will need to ask the inlaws for a list this year. I purchased my dad's gift in the spring and I always get my mom her expensive perfume using SDM points.

I have been setting financial goals for projects that need to get done at the house & cottage with vision boards on pinterest so I'm excited to get some of these projects done in the near future.

Wishing everyone a fantastic day.

I have started my 1st Pinterest project My entrance closet. Had those hard to move mirrored doors. I have taken them off and cleaned out the closet. Waiting for the screw driver so I can remove the track and the bar. Need to remove the trim so I can remove the old dark blue carpet (house is hardwood now so that must have been what it was!!) I have new tile from entrance job (and for kitchen) have extra for other bathroom too. Have tons of paint so will give it a fresh coat of paint and new flooring then I start to design

[Frugalbigmama]

Just went to RCSS to see if they marked down the Turkeys yet. They did! Fresh Butterball turkeys at .99 LB. I had PC Plus offer of 2,000 pts per $10.00 spent. I bought 6 at about $9 each for $52 and change. Received 10,000 PC PTS

[sweet sparrow]

As an update, I was able to submit my turkey receipt via smartphone. Thank goodness! We bought it for $19.42 and received $19.40 back. We were asked to spend at least $20 next time, so the store doesn't have to make change. Out of the entire company, only three people took advantage of the $20 free turkey allowance. I guess everyone hates turkey/tofurky or ham!

Still, for a whopping three people, I can't believe the guy who works in retail at the store complains about making change. Talk about first world problems!

For a $0.02 turkey, it's not so bad. We'll have to do this again at Christmas. I wish I had the PC Plus turkey offer before Wednesday night! I think I saw it afterwards.

[Angela273]

I spent $62 at Wal-Mart this morning. Once I was home I discovered issues with 3 different items on my receipt, so I'll have to get that fixed. I had to pick our son up from Pre-K, so I'll have to come back tomorrow to get that fixed, I already called the store.

I pm'd Maple leaf bacon from NF for $2.37 x 7 = $16.59 - b2g1 (x2) - $10 coup = $1.85, $0.26/each. I still have another $10 off coupon, but the bacon was fatty, so I decided to keep it for another time.

I got $1.50 back in fresh produce rebates, so I just cashed out $22.50 from CO51. 25c back on Zweet for fresh fruit.

I'll continue this post in a bit, gotta run.

[SassyAshley]

Some people go to the beach for vacation or a cottage, maybe a resort.

Me I make homemade Chinese Dumplings for the freezer. I just put 50 Chicken dumplings in the freezer. Cinnamon Buns are done and cooling. Now it is time to clean up my work email and see if there is anything I need to address in the few areas cannot cover for me.

[lizzie bargain]

Lazy day at home today-got some paperwork and cooking done. Off to a Grade 12 parent meeting at the school tonight-who knew graduating from high school could be so complicated-and no doubt expensive!! Next up will be the university applications-and then a ton of $ going out the door-luckily it is in the RESP!

Topics covered will include: Transcripts (reviewing diploma and certificate requirements for graduation), MyPass, Diploma Examination (Winter schedule), Graduation Ceremony and Banquet, Graduation Photographs and Grad Gowns, applying for a 4^th year of high school, Work Experience and Apprenticeship, Post-Secondary, Post-Secondary Fairs hosted at EMHS, and Scholarships.