December 2016 Frugal Chatter thread (all welcome)

[sweet sparrow]

Oh dear. Stress, stress, stress. I have a big report today and only just submitted it to be signed. After that, it still has to be posted so I hope we're not scheduled for an audit. Tomorrow, I will have to make sure the annual report is done as well. Working from home is quite hazardous to my health. Because of the stress of the report, I have been constantly feeding on chocolate all day. I've even broken into the chocolate chips as all the bars are gone.

Our freezer is the one on top of the fridge, so it isn't terribly organized. Seafood is in the lower right, ice cream on the lower left, vegetables in between. On the top from left to right is beef, pork, and chicken. It sounds organized, but it isn't.

My next doctor's appointment is next week. I've been having the preliminary contractions all weekend. Nothing yet, but if I walk too quickly or move much, it brings on a series of contractions. The doctor was impressed that they were so strong getting on the examination table. I am not impressed as I still need to get some reports done this week and do some training with my replacement.

Timelines are too close. Panic!! As of Friday afternoon, I likely won't care anymore, but will still have access to my computer and phone from work in case I am needed. How much I will actually look is to be determined.

[Angela273]

We are currently in the middle of a blizzard. Dh is on the road for work, so I pray he gets home safely tonight. I'll have 4 toddlers, 2 boys, Dh, and I for supper tonight, so I'll need to change my meal plan. My brother's family will be snow stayed, so I'll have his 7yr old son and 21 month old twins again tomorrow. It is their son's birthday tomorrow.

edit: I had a doctor's appointment booked for tomorrow morning. She said that the three test results from Regina were all negative, so I cancelled the appointment. There is no need to be out on these roads with little ones, even if it is just across town.

[coupon girl]

-so tired from watching ashlyn (3 years old)ohh and she doesn't nap anymore so she tends to get grumpy come 5.00 p.m my daughter-in-law comes in at 6.00 -I think when I watch her on Tuesday may get hubby to take me to dollarama and the lcbo for a few xmas gifts
-its hard as she is reverting back to not running to toilet to pee-even thou she has been trained for 3 months -so today I put into place a sticker chart and I let her stick the sticker when she went on the toilet on a piece of construction paper -we showed her mommy when she came in she was so happy as she had 5stickers -oh toilet training was not easy back when I was in my 20's now at 57 even harder -I am a bit behind on xmas this year I may say -this week is full up mon /tues babysit wed go to Toronto with my son and ashlyn thur take my older brother grocery shopping -only have Friday but have no care as hubby has an specialist appt

[Angela273]

Dh's work agreed that he would stay close to town today and they were all told to head back to the shop at 4pm, so Dh was home at a regular time. Dh figures that tomorrow will be similar. All busses for the public and Catholic school divisions are cancelled for tomorrow, so we won't be driving our son to school tomorrow.

edit: highway closures have been implemented all surrounding our little city, even beyond that travel is not recommended. Currently 48km/hr winds, before gusts. Ned to stay safe and warm.

[Ciel]

The washing machine died on Friday night with the teens uniform in it and it won't drain. Dh thinks the repair is beyond him so a repair guy is combining Monday. I was really not planning on a new washing machine this year. But this one is close to 20 yrs old so I may not have a choice.

Your pump likely failed. To drain, unplug machine and turn off water hoses to disconnect. Then take off hose at bottom of machine (I assume you can move machine towards floor drain if you have one)? You'll need a plastic paint scraper to help pry off the machine's front panel two clips one near each upper corner). Then someone handy needs to take out the pump and get the next closest one. There's a second hand appliance shop on Ottawa St N in Hamilton. Oakville likely has one too (Speers or Kerr St?) is my guess. Whilst brother did not attend to said repair right away 6years ago, he did get another brand pump used (we have a GE machine). Only difference is machine hesitates or waits a few seconds after stopping the spin action to actually discharge. The original GE pump would discharge within a second of stopping but not the replacement pump. Our machine is 20 1/2 yr old-probably needs to get replaced in a year or so. Had the control knob set replaced 2x to date (they don't last long).

Link to someone's Youtube channel on washer repairs (GE)!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJBdwhGqL4Y

[Ciel]

Inquiring Minds want to KNOW!!!

How is your freezer organized?

The small or flexible packages go under shelf or into the two door wire racks. Big boxes (8-10 count pks) or frozen packs go on the shelf but can block the upper right freezer light. I actually have a Post-It note by the ice tray to not put anything on the tray. The men at home have put frozen food on tray when it's in use-makes me think vision is an issue.

[Ciel]

Noticed on Twitter that the Instant Pot that Angela has been posting about is being raved about by a Canadian magazine:
http://www.chatelaine.com/recipes/fo...nt-pot-canada/

It looks like a multifunction cooker. Not quite the Moulinex Cuisine Companion that is not yet here in Canada (but is in Europe and UK and Australia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhvvw7_ZLeA

Either way, both gadgets look more high-tech than a slow cooker!

Earlier today, I went into Pinterest (been away from it for over a month) and got looking at recipes. Found a melon pan recipe, green tea chiffon cake recipe and a few other sweets (like steamed carrot pudding) to try on an ambitious winter day. The segue started because Washington Post had a cookie generator for their publication's cookie recipes (that is fun: try it here- https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...liday-cookies/ ).
And a few minutes prior to see the generator post, the lovely team at Ricardo magazine posted a list of their top 25 desserts! http://www.ricardocuisine.com/holida...php?c=desserts

I recall that SC has some butter tart trail fans. Mississauga.com posted a few places on that trail and the article has a link to two recipes at the end. Thought I'd post the link here:
http://www.mississauga.com/community...art-adventure/
http://www.mississauga.com/living-st...-tart-recipes/

[lilo0003]

Your pump likely failed. To drain, unplug machine and turn off water hoses to disconnect. Then take off hose at bottom of machine (I assume you can move machine towards floor drain if you have one)? You'll need a plastic paint scraper to help pry off the machine's front panel two clips one near each upper corner). Then someone handy needs to take out the pump and get the next closest one. There's a second hand appliance shop on Ottawa St N in Hamilton. Oakville likely has one too (Speers or Kerr St?) is my guess. Whilst brother did not attend to said repair right away 6years ago, he did get another brand pump used (we have a GE machine). Only difference is machine hesitates or waits a few seconds after stopping the spin action to actually discharge. The original GE pump would discharge within a second of stopping but not the replacement pump. Our machine is 20 1/2 yr old-probably needs to get replaced in a year or so. Had the control knob set replaced 2x to date (they don't last long).

Link to someone's Youtube channel on washer repairs (GE)!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJBdwhGqL4Y

Lol, actually Ciel, J&C called it. It was the switch on the lid. We had already called for service by the time this was suggested and we kept the appointment as DH doubted he would get yo it quickly. It's the 1st service call and its 20 yrs old so it's money well spent. It's amazing how we take modern conveniences for granted.
We have an upright freezer that allows me to see what we have on hand and to rotate stock. Right now it has a bit of space as there has been no great deals.

[Angela273]

Just for clarification, last week Monday morning we had zero snow and green grass. Then we got his with 30cm of snow over the next 3 days. We are currently getting a repeat performance with extra wind this time.

[Ciel]

@Angela273 -whoa, that is quite a storm system. Estevan should become the winter adventure paradise of Canada this month for snow/ski enthusiasts. Weather like that is when you appreciate having neighbours or friends/acquaintances who check with you about shovelling/helping out or taking turns to get stuff done if someone can help with pets/kids/elders etc. (Please sneak in a snooze when you can!)
@lilo0003 -ok, rep for @jasperandchar on the washing machine repair diagnosis!

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone.

Still have way too much going on in my life, so will likely be awol til Jan. Brats are ok, sadly Murray went off to fishy heaven. My friend was babysitting, while I was working on clearing out my Mom's home (still have things to do there), and felt so guilty about Murray (went to the pet store and tried to replace Murray). Since there was no one there who looked like Murray, we now have Malee, a royal blue female betta. She is quite pretty and actually quite bright. Might even try to teach her tricks, once life settles down.

Hope everyone is well. Have a wonderful day!

[jasperandchar]

Good morning, everyone.

Still have way too much going on in my life, so will likely be awol til Jan. Brats are ok, sadly Murray went off to fishy heaven. My friend was babysitting, while I was working on clearing out my Mom's home (still have things to do there), and felt so guilty about Murray (went to the pet store and tried to replace Murray). Since there was no one there who looked like Murray, we now have Malee, a royal blue female betta. She is quite pretty and actually quite bright. Might even try to teach her tricks, once life settles down.

Hope everyone is well. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for checking in, slow and steady wins the race. Take care of yourself

[jasperandchar]

Lol, actually Ciel, J&C called it. It was the switch on the lid. We had already called for service by the time this was suggested and we kept the appointment as DH doubted he would get yo it quickly. It's the 1st service call and its 20 yrs old so it's money well spent. It's amazing how we take modern conveniences for granted.
We have an upright freezer that allows me to see what we have on hand and to rotate stock. Right now it has a bit of space as there has been no great deals.

Awesome as that's a cheap fix compared to a new washer. Enjoy your time off

[jasperandchar]

Morning all,

Supper tonight is sweet and sour chicken as the chicken was not thawed enough for last nights supper and I hate defrosting meat in the microwave. DS2 was disappointed when he walked in the door to find pizza, oh well, the sweet and sour chicken is his fav so I can understand.

Downstairs is all tidied up again so I'm off to a great start today. Laundry is hanging to dry.

I'm really hoping for a few great sales before the month is over to use up some December coupons,

hoping for a sale
Barilla pronto (hoping for .99 or $1)
Johnsonville sausages
Cavendish fries
Royale Tiger (missed out on Sunday/Monday sale at sdm)
And a few others.

Wishing everyone a super day.

[sweet sparrow]

-so tired from watching ashlyn (3 years old)ohh and she doesn't nap anymore so she tends to get grumpy come 5.00 p.m my daughter-in-law comes in at 6.00 -I think when I watch her on Tuesday may get hubby to take me to dollarama and the lcbo for a few xmas gifts
-its hard as she is reverting back to not running to toilet to pee-even thou she has been trained for 3 months -so today I put into place a sticker chart and I let her stick the sticker when she went on the toilet on a piece of construction paper -we showed her mommy when she came in she was so happy as she had 5stickers -oh toilet training was not easy back when I was in my 20's now at 57 even harder -I am a bit behind on xmas this year I may say -this week is full up mon /tues babysit wed go to Toronto with my son and ashlyn thur take my older brother grocery shopping -only have Friday but have no care as hubby has an specialist appt

LO has been fighting naps as well. She's probably grown out of them, but DH still puts her in for naps as daycare says she naps and she's truly cranky if there is no nap at all around 5 PM. Sometimes, she'll fight naps until 2:30 - 3 PM, and then falls asleep for an hour out of sheer boredom, while I go grocery shopping and DH gets a bit of a break.

LO still loves her sticker chart, even though it's been over 14 months since it's been up. @coupon girl : It's amazing how well stickers work!

I took the one down upstairs ages ago, but she still uses the one downstairs and as long as she's interested in the stickers, she'll use it. She seems to be fine at home, but I find she waits a teeny bit too long if she's in the care of others, like at choir practice, and requests a change of clothes, even though she hasn't had any accident. My dad is shocked that she still has diapers at night. I think I should start tracking the afternoon naps and if she's consistently dry, get rid of those.

Daycare hasn't been using diapers on LO since last September (gosh, 15 months ago!) but she has had two or three naptime accidents in that time. I wish I could get a rebate on how many diapers I've saved them because it was one of the reasons they justified charging us so much for the toddler room (no space with the preschoolers). I called to see if she could be moved at 2.5 years to the upper class as they needed to be toilet trained, but they moved children older than she who weren't toilet trained because of their age. However, they did tell me she was really bored with the toddler activities and was ready for the move though.

Oh daycare woes, how I wish I didn't have to go through all this again! On the bright side, if the new baby is born in December, that will mean possibly 2 years, 7 months in daycare, while LO had 2 years, 2.5 months in daycare.