October 2016 Frugal Chatter Thread All Welcome!!!

[momof5boys]

Canning pear sauce at the moment - no sugar...making it with a touch of honey, cinnamon, bit of ginger, and pinch of nutmeg + lemon juice.

As for the discussion surrounding dishwashers, we have one now in this new home but only use it when we have a crowd for dinner -usually Sundays. Otherwise, we always handwash because we like the idea of just getting it done and not wasting electricity. I tracked out electricity consumption with the dishwasher running and just wow...I'd rather save the money.

[coupon girl]

yes exactly momof5boys I just got my hydro/water bill on line today for aug/sept and its only 32.00 less than the last bill $363.00 for a 2 storey house(last year at this time a 100.00 cheaper) -mind you we did have the air on in the summer and it was a hot one -I was never cheap and turned it off but so glad I don't run my dishwasher everyday -or my bill would have been way more
-just talked to my daughter for a nice half hour while Sebastian was sleeping -I get to babysit on Friday night -they are coming to a function in our city so sleeping over the 3 of them are sleeping over for 2 nights again
-cleaned the bathrooms today that's all I have energy for

[avoncallingu]

It's been a wild week. DH started chemo again which we are happy for, but trying to make sure he gets food, meds, rest etc. is an on going challenge. Plus, in London, we have to pick up supplies for the nurse who comes to change his dressings.
I did manage to fly in and actually got 2 SCOP s yesterday. One for $7.00 worth of pasta, which I had to fight for and one for Dawn dish detergent which was rather, but not completely easy.
Because his chemo started Tuesday, I had to cancel our newly acquired cleaning helper and I don't think it's going to work as Tuesdays are the only day she had open and we won't be available for a couple of months with irregular Tuesdays off.
He has been totally exhausted and sleeping 90% of the day.
I scrubbed a bathroom today- with a toothbrush, no less.
And now I am pooped but it's time to think about supper.
Angela- I am so happy your little guy is feeling better.
The rest of you are so busy! I am going to try to live vicariously through your great stories for a while. I won't be getting out much.
DH is feeling guilty that he can't contribute right now. But I reminded him of all the times he's cared for me when I have been sick.
And I do recall a certain promise...."In sickness, and in health." Which I am honoured to keep.
BFN!

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF! Cool day here today but I have nice Fall clothes Taking the afternoon off from work today. So will get some things done and hoping to take DS for a hike! I see the sun behind the clouds so I hoping it is going to win!

I put away all the clean laundry last night while getting DS to bed. I really wanted to move it from my bed and deal with it later but I knew I needed to put it away. Motivated me to re-clean off my dresser
I charged my ipad last night so hoping to take a few pics this afternoon and post some things for sale.

Off to clean up my budget/transfer $ etc.

[barbis9]

More rain today. Was very happy that I got my Shoppers Optimum points back after an exchange (posted in SDM section). Today I am going into Hamilton to pick up a gift basket that I won! Very excited and also found out on the news that our prime minister is in Hamilton today. I doubt our paths will cross as I will pop into Giant Tiger afterwards....unless he is looking for deals ;-)

I hope everyone has a great Friday.

[sweet sparrow]

I don't know what it is about quoting a post, but now, it seems that I can't without posting with absolutely no spacing.

@barbis9: Congratulations on your gift basket win! And you can definitely get your points back with SDM or PC if you call in and tell them you purchased the product. They adjust things all the time and can view your receipt if you give them the code.

If it's a leisure trip, hang around in scenic outdoorsy places or boxing training centers and you might see Mr. Trudeau.

[Angela273]

I got our twin baby boy checked out by a doctor because he has been inconsolable for stretches of time this week, 3 long nights sign a high fever, pulling his ears, not eating great, sometimes refusing to nurse, etc. Doctor can't find anything wrong. She said it might be a virus or just having a bad time teething. She said to give Advil or Tylenol.

edit: Just to clarify, I'm still exclusively nursing our twins. Neither of our twins have had to take antibiotics yet.

[Andit]

Morning, all. I'm sicker than the proverbial dog, fighting a bad cold (first day this week I've felt remotely human, sigh). Brats are sort of taking care of me, at least they're only demanding half a dozen meals a day. Going to go crawl under the covers and try to nap. I'm in a bit of a topsy turvy world these days - I'm up most of the night, then sleep during the day. Have I mentioned I hate being sick? Yes, I know how ironic that is, given my history. Think I hear snickering, must be the cat. Hope everyone else is well and stay dry (the 2 days of rain is not helping me get better - want sunshine and heat!). Have a wonderful day.

[sweet sparrow]

@Angela273 : I really hope your son feels better soon. I've forgotten about the first year of daycare where LO seemed to catch everything and anything under the sun. I don't think I've had to take time off since sometime in 2015, which I'm quite surprised about. Three nights is quite awhile, for the both of you.

Some happy financial news finally, DH is borrowing Game of Thrones from the library. I'm glad he's using our library more and more and at least trying to save money.

On Wednesday, he went to Tim Hortons because he had a conference in the morning and didn't think he'd have the time to brew a pot or be able to have much of it. He gave the cashier $10 and he realized that she gave him back a $5, $2, and $3 in loonies. When he looked up, she was gone assisting someone else and another cashier had pressed the cash register for a different transaction. They had huge lineups and he had to make a conference an hour away so he left.

This past week, I was fretting on how to ask him for the monthly receipts for the website he was building for a charity. He wasn't going to submit them with the intent of them being a donation, but they said to expense them and then claim it as a deduction on taxes. I've been saving our donations for the past five years for this year's taxes. Today he actually agreed to forwarding them to me. I don't know how they'll handle it as it will be in US funds, but that will be one less item in making things a little better for us financially.

DH also has decided on a Christmas present, called around and bought a used game. I was afraid they wouldn't take it back, especially including their guarantee cost that it's fully functional, but they did. Phew! He also didn't use a credit card for points, didn't sign up for their free membership which reduces the total cost, and didn't let me know he was shopping for it. I looked on kijiji, but no one wanted anything but a trade for it. The price for it on Amazon is now $15 more, but I'm sure that can be covered by Christmas with points. The nicest thing about Amazon is their free shipping and I don't have to leave the house in winter. Tra la la!

Does anyone have anything on their Christmas list yet? Or bought for someone else? I feel like I only see the insides of grocery stores and with a time limit of an hour or so. There's nothing I have my heart set on in there.

[coupon girl]

-ahh angela hope your little guy is feeling better
-sweet sparrow -our grown kids always ask us what we need (they like hints)so I need new cordless phone (only want the set of 2) no answering machine either and our k-cup machine is acting up-its 7 years old son bought it for hubby when he retired so that would be nice
-I am working on the grand kids -want to buy ashlyn this play tassimo machine from indigo(14.99) but its sold out on line and in stores in my city -so may have to try in another close by city ,Sebastian I have a top for him so far
-just cleaning my house today dusting my bedroom and vacuuming as Sebastian comes tonight and we babysit at our house ,then on sat we babysit ashlyn in the evening and a babyshower on sunday -busy weekend

[thriftygranny]

Angela I hope your little guy is on the mend today, so worrisome when the kids are unwell.

Coupongirl, you are such a good grandma, your kids and grand kids are so lucky to have you!!

Well it isn't going to be a frugal couple of weeks here, It is my son's 19th birthday, my husbands, one of my daughters and my son in laws all coming up with in days of each other, I have always done some separate for each of them but I am going to try a big family dinner next week and try to do it all in one full swoop, it will make my life so much easier!!!

Sweet sparrow, I am well in to my Christmas shopping, actually getting close to being done I hope. I shop after January for great sales and stockings and keep my ears open all year for ideas, I don't like to shop much in December and except for my granddaughter we are all grown ups so it gets easier!!
I am volunteering to do the toy shopping for the Salvation Army this year, I am looking forward to it but it will make my December a little busier. It is going to be a nice weekend so I am going to do the Christmas lights outside, I normally wait until after Remembrance day but my brother in law is in end stage cancer and he has been told two months is optimistic.I really want to get my Holiday plans and shopping done because I can foresee a trip to Ottawa in the next while and I want to be able to stay a few weeks to visit family and be with my sister.

[coupon girl]

ahhh thank you thriftygranny -I try besides I wont see Sebastian much in the winter as they are not coming for the hour to 2 hour drive -we can go to them
-I have a neighbour and my girlfriend wanting to come and see Sebastian tonight -my girlfriend has a gift for him -so its great I have homemade blueberry muffins in the freezer and a tiny bit of banana bread left so I sat them out
-supper we had a cheap ham I had from using the cpns a few months back mashed potatoes and carrots -gotta eat nice meals sometimes ,I am really tired lately thou just not much energy

[thriftygranny]

You have had a rough go with the flu and colds coupongirl, I know it takes me a lot longer to recover from things in my 50's than it did in my 40's. I had a flu in August and I still am coughing a bit from it, we all plan to get our flu shots next week so I hope it helps!!

[Angela273]

@ Sweetsparrow we haven't decided if we will be travelling to visit family this Christmas, which would cost us $1,000+ for about 3 days, not including special presents. I've been working on my Christmas gift ideas for our small family. Our children all have July & September birthdays, so that often eats up my ideas. We keep birthdays and holidays low key, especially in regards to presents. Dh's birthday is December 28, which can make it even more difficult to figure out a gift for him. Some years we do a "present" for ourselves, which sometimes means a major purchase for the house. I don't really have gift suggestions to give to Dh regarding myself. I like to do stockings, something my mom did when we used to visit her at Christmas.

We have several Halloween activities to pick from over the next 10 days. Remembrance Day is a special and emotional day in our family. Remembrance Day is also my Aunt's and my older brother's birthday, this is the brother with the sick wife. I'm certainly not in the Christmas spirit at the moment.

PDAP person isn't in the office today and we are still waiting on the adjuster in regards to cleaning up our crawl space. I was told last week that they planned on replacing our furnace at the end of this week, but that still isn't done either. I left a message this morning and the owner still hasn't called back to tell me when I can expect the furnace to be installed. We can't run the furnace until our crawl space us clean...so it is a but of a chicken and the egg scenario at the moment. It's supposed to be raining this coming week, so kind of damp and cold, expensive to heat our home with area heaters, etc.

[momof5boys]

@Angela273 : I really hope your son feels better soon. I've forgotten about the first year of daycare where LO seemed to catch everything and anything under the sun. I don't think I've had to take time off since sometime in 2015, which I'm quite surprised about. Three nights is quite awhile, for the both of you.

Some happy financial news finally, DH is borrowing Game of Thrones from the library. I'm glad he's using our library more and more and at least trying to save money.

On Wednesday, he went to Tim Hortons because he had a conference in the morning and didn't think he'd have the time to brew a pot or be able to have much of it. He gave the cashier $10 and he realized that she gave him back a $5, $2, and $3 in loonies. When he looked up, she was gone assisting someone else and another cashier had pressed the cash register for a different transaction. They had huge lineups and he had to make a conference an hour away so he left.

This past week, I was fretting on how to ask him for the monthly receipts for the website he was building for a charity. He wasn't going to submit them with the intent of them being a donation, but they said to expense them and then claim it as a deduction on taxes. I've been saving our donations for the past five years for this year's taxes. Today he actually agreed to forwarding them to me. I don't know how they'll handle it as it will be in US funds, but that will be one less item in making things a little better for us financially.

DH also has decided on a Christmas present, called around and bought a used game. I was afraid they wouldn't take it back, especially including their guarantee cost that it's fully functional, but they did. Phew! He also didn't use a credit card for points, didn't sign up for their free membership which reduces the total cost, and didn't let me know he was shopping for it. I looked on kijiji, but no one wanted anything but a trade for it. The price for it on Amazon is now $15 more, but I'm sure that can be covered by Christmas with points. The nicest thing about Amazon is their free shipping and I don't have to leave the house in winter. Tra la la!

Does anyone have anything on their Christmas list yet? Or bought for someone else? I feel like I only see the insides of grocery stores and with a time limit of an hour or so. There's nothing I have my heart set on in there.

Our extended family exchanges names so we only have one person to buy a gift for with a $20 limit. And that is it - the rest of the time is spent enjoying each others company. Easy peeasy. Oh, but we do have to make a poem to go with the gift - can be quite hilarious what some people come up with.

And my gift wish is a donation to charity....I know, I'm boring but I have everything I need