December 2016 Frugal Chatter thread (all welcome)

[jasperandchar]

DH announced today he doesn't want to buy a brand new vehicle given the prices I get it the only reason I was considering is because of the peace of mind of warranty etc.

So I've been looking at local dealers and there are some great deals on not very old vehicles, I told dh we should go have a look and if we can get the price point we are comfortable with then just buy it now....he's not reacting so, I guess I'll let it slide for a while

Went to C. TIRE today and many other places for errands and groceries. Scored some beautiful glass balls reduced to .50 that are $8.99 reg (they were used to decorate the display trees in the store) so we'll tuck them away for future gifts.

Wishing everyone a great evening.

[Angela273]

DH announced today he doesn't want to buy a brand new vehicle given the prices I get it the only reason I was considering is because of the peace of mind of warranty etc.

So I've been looking at local dealers and there are some great deals on not very old vehicles, I told dh we should go have a look and if we can get the price point we are comfortable with then just buy it now....he's not reacting so, I guess I'll let it slide for a while

Went to C. TIRE today and many other places for errands and groceries. Scored some beautiful glass balls reduced to .50 that are $8.99 reg (they were used to decorate the display trees in the store) so we'll tuck them away for future gifts.

Wishing everyone a great evening.

We bought our last three vehicles used from a dealership, then we paid a bit extra for extended warrantee. We have been happy with the coverage and peace of mind.

[Natalka]

Happy Caturday!

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! My honey is working today so I wonder if I should get up now lol. Snowing outside and so cozy in bed! Taking all laundry to laundromat this morning to get it all done and put away before noon. Then cleaning out the fridge. Tonight we are making Philly cheese steak! We have everything on hand but needed the bread. My mom gave me a new loaf of french bread so now we have everything! I'm planning on a freezer clean out this month as well. Just need the fresh stuff but really shopping the sales for that. Time to get up and tackle the day! Have a good one everyone!

[lizzie bargain]

Well today will be busy-doing a few errands, filling up the car before the new carbon tax kicks in tomorrow and going out to the country to have a family lunch at my sisters! Also popped the oven on self clean this a.m. DH and I have done our year end financial review and everything appears in order-not that our net worth went up by 22%( well done Lilo) but it did go up so all good-did not calcualte the %. My DH was shaking his head saying considering we (I think he really mostly means me and DD) travelled so much this year, that is amazing. Of course we do live frugally day to day, and both work PT in our retirement, mainly for fun but it does give us extra $ too. Once we start paying DD's tutition in the fall and room and board etc I expect our expenses will go up so will just keep reviewing income vs spending each year. So far so good since I retired in 2010. Besides we will soon be at the stage where we can add CPP/OAS income too-or delay longer. All set next week to top up our TFSA's-but don't look forward to all the fun( not) of doing taxes come Feb/March!! <br>
<br>
I read on BBC today that Canada is the second best place in the world to live-just edged out of first place by Sweden. No doubt every rating system would have a slightly different result but on the whole I think we Canadians are a pretty fortunate bunch compared to so many places in the world. Happy New Year to all!

[barbis9]

That's incredible 22%, great job

I hear ya about the stuff dh has really decluttered this year and I'm extremely grateful, what a difference it makes.

And like you I dread having to deal with my parents stuff as they have a house, a summer place (NS) and my dad's storage building....so much crap. They go to garage sales and continue to buy, I just don't get it to be honest. There house could be considered organized hoarders if there is such a thing but the other 2 buildings is definitely HOARDING.

yes there is such a thing as organized hoarders. I have a friend who has lots of stuff and keeps collecting - you name it she has it and its organized in a clutter type way, if that makes sense.

I have decided to use each one of my rooms fully and have been slowly decluttering. What a great feeling it is, I no longer have any desire for souvenirs, trinkets, etc.

[Frugalbigmama]

Decided to do running around after the laundry was done since the weather is snowy here and getting worse. Finally putting stuff away now. Used the change I collected from casino so no real money out of pocket. Redeemed 3 of the Wing Wong coupons. We may have tomorrow night or save for another night.
Exciting news. I was ready to buy a brand new "good" treadmill. ( not a cheap one) I just don't like walking at night in the cold and need it so this is my treat to myself ( good health is a must). But my BIL told me his tenant left a expensive one behind ( he couldn't move it) and I can have it for free!!!! We hope to pick it up on MOnday. Can't wait!!!

[jasperandchar]

@Lilo 0003 and @lizzie bargain how do you calculate your net work growth? I would love just for fun to do a calculation as well. ________________________________- Dh is now interested in buying a used vehicle now, I did some research and searches on autotrader and it seems we will be driving out on Tuesday to test drive a 2014 Juke, it's in our budget and it's not very old which is suits us. My only concern is dh is a 6'2 and quite a big buy, will he fit, I guess we'll find out (haha). I saw on the news that 3 out of 100 people have an emergency fund, they have a guy I forget his name does the business/finances. I was rather surprised. They also said that 5 months worth of expenses are ideal. Thought I would share on here as some may find that number also surprising. Wishing everyone a great evening & Happy New Year.

[lilo0003]

J&C: I have a spread sheet with all of the investments. Only what I consider to be retirement focussed so the TFSA is counted but my ESP (employee stock plan) is not. Every three months I look at the investments and update the spreadsheet with any gains or losses included what we have added to it. Since DH & I both still work full time with employers that have a matching contribution our net worth can grow faster as we have no mortgage so we max out where ever possible. We both hope to downsize our careers in 6 years @ 55 so we are in full on saving mode. but not sacrifice mode, so like you we save before we buy. We are thinking of another road trip to South Carolina in March so I will start setting some money aside for that.
I only started tracking this about 4 years ago and this was the best year by far but any increase is encouraging. I found once I started tracking we seemed more committed to the saving.

[Frugalbigmama]

We are getting snow. I have shovelled the walkway twice today. He is done work now and will snow
blow. I'm sure it will need to be done in the morning again.
Went to RCSS. 6 pk romaine was $2.99 and I received 600 PC pts. Lots of salad this week!! DS loves taco salad so will make for him for lunch later this week.
I posted some stuff for sale while I sorted some stuff in my room. Will get back at it tomorrow and start clearing stuff out.
Happy New Year! Hope everyone has a wonderful evening. 2 different couple friends have asked us out tonight but we are looking forward to a quiet evening in. Couch cuddle time. And a treat of cheesecake that I have hidden in the freezer

[thriftygranny]

Good afternoon! well after much deliberation I switched my gas and electricity providers to ATCO, not sure if this is Canada wide or just Alberta but they are offering free gas and power for the month of January to old and new customers plus a 50.00 credit every January for 5 years. Not locked in to anything and I chose variable rates which I can change at any time so I couldn't see a downside to switching. I tried to get through 3 different times this week and was on hold for hours but managed to get through today to qualify for the savings.
Christmas is put away except for a few things on the Mantle I wanted out for a few more days, I am on a purge and get organized mission, I need to make roman shades for my office and the powder room so I may venture out to Fabricland tomorrow for their big New Years sale. Having dinner at my middle daughters home with her in-laws, they are an absolute riot so I am looking forward to it. I had made a double batch of hot spinach and artichoke dip on Christmas and froze one and I have a bag of Costco dried ribs and a bit of baking left over so will pack it up and bring it along. We are going to fondue tomorrow, I am still looking up recipes but so far we have a chocolate one and a cheese and will do an oil with some halibut in tempura and some battered mushrooms and zucchini.Should be low key and fun. I have nailed my husband down to go through his closet and purge some clothes tomorrow morning with me so I hope we can make some room, the closet is crowded!!
I am going to track my grocery spending more carefully this year, just out of curiosities sake and try to shave a couple hundred off our grocery bill a month. Just a personal challenge I wanted to set for myself. I believe meal planning saves me a bundle so I am planning on doing more freezer batch cooking.
Enjoy your evening everyone and have a safe and Happy New Year!!

[momof5boys]

yes there is such a thing as organized hoarders. I have a friend who has lots of stuff and keeps collecting - you name it she has it and its organized in a clutter type way, if that makes sense.

I have decided to use each one of my rooms fully and have been slowly decluttering. What a great feeling it is, I no longer have any desire for souvenirs, trinkets, etc.

I know someone who would hold these workshops on organization and one person told me that she was amazed how organized this person was. Fast forward to when we helped them move and it was chaos. She has so much junk in her house - it may be organized but no thanks. Who needs three drawer fulls of knives (and this doesn't even include dinner knives). She has more in her kitchen than I do in our entire home!

[coupon girl]

hey ladies went to kelseys at 4.30 with hubby's brother and sister-in-law -I saved us 17.99 from the cpn so basically my balsamic chicken was free plus got scene points too
just totalled up my year savings
-coupon usage -only cpns I totalled 574.81 down from 800 and something the year before -okay I don't stock up as much
-other money savings $874.41-which includes shoppers redemption 3 times ,surveys ,aeroplan points ,plum rewards,p.c points redemption ,ebates etc
-refunds 6.97 -need to work on doing a few more this year
-checkout51 and caddle I made 348.10 for the year
-scoops I made 59.19 for the year
-kijiji I made 545.00 for the year

so a grand total of 2,408.48 for the year -down 400.00 less from last year -but then again I am buying less or found less coupons -who knows -pretty happy with the total amount thou for just a family of 2 in our house


happy new years ladies

[SassyAshley]

This was like my Mom's Mom she claimed she was not sentimental and did not keep anything. When you look at her house it looked very well organized and only special items on display. This was until we starting opening cupboards, closest, dressers and drawers, it is shocking how much she fit into that little house. Then we got to her shed which was full of anything and everything me and bro ever owned she kept it all.

I am hoping for full on purge this week with both of us but we will see how the week goes. First thing first is our living room we have some many things that do not belong in the living room. I have already emptied 2 large bins to start packing things in.

I know someone who would hold these workshops on organization and one person told me that she was amazed how organized this person was. Fast forward to when we helped them move and it was chaos. She has so much junk in her house - it may be organized but no thanks. Who needs three drawer fulls of knives (and this doesn't even include dinner knives). She has more in her kitchen than I do in our entire home!

[lizzie bargain]

J and C. My husband tracks all our finances in Quicken-but I am sure there are other spreadsheets you can use too, to calculate the value of all your assets minus debts. This time I was really just looking at cash and investments and not including things like our house and car etc. Anyway it is quite motivating to track and see you are moving in the right direction.

TG-we switched to Atco too a few months ago to take advantage of another promo and are also looking forward to free gas and power for Jan. We drove back from my sisters around Didsbury this evening and lots of cars in the ditch-called the RCMP to come and assist some of them rather than risk stopping and being struck.

Just did online check in for DD-as she is too busy out with her friends for dinner in NYC-they won't be at Times Square though with all the heavy security and I heard people who wait there for the ball drop at midnight have to wait 8-12 hrs with no food, drinks or bathrooms right there-not my idea of a good time. Anyway DD should be back tomorrow evening so we are looking forward to having her back-although it has gone by pretty quickly with company, Xmas etc.

DH and I will have a quiet NYE at home-not big partiers and I don't imagine either of us will be up until midnight!! In fact he just wished me a Happy New Year and it is only 7 p.m., so clearly we will not be ringing in the New Year at midnight! It would appear that 3 of my sisters 4 children will be getting married in the next 18 months, so I imagine my sister and BIL will need to fly back from Argentina a few times! Of course all the weddings seem to be staggered about 6 months apart.