January 2017 Frugal Chatter - All Welcome!!!!

The Sobeys manager said that their surveillance camera only covers the street in front of the store, not any parking spots. I'll try again next week to get ahold of the mall management to see if they have any surveillance cameras that face that way. I've been hit and run in Estevan and in that parking lot several times. It is so common that it's not even funny. I admit to often not reporting it to the police because it seems like an exercise in futility, depending on the amount of damages. I feel like if I reported the accidents over the years they would accuse me of lying because it has happened so many times...I have literally lost track.

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Originally Posted by lilo0003

J & C: will you be letting the 16 yr old drive the new car? we have told our son he can only drive dad's car as its a 4 cylinder, wagon so totally uncool. He begins lessons this month. I will be happy when he can drive himself o and from work, its a lot of back and forth.
I have pulled something in my back, ouch. I never have back pain and this is not fun. I can't even bend over.

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@jasperandchar @lilo0003 asked the very question I had about the new car-does DS1 get to drive it at some point with you or DH?

I had not thought to see what kinds of bulk teas might be sold at Bulk Barn. There is a store in the same plaza where Talize is located, so that tea idea is something to check next time! The book I'm reading suggested the raspberry tea could help with joint pain (no specific mention of which kinds) so I'm willing to give the tea some time to do some relief work if it can. The flyer mention was the prompt I needed to see what was available. Glad I looked!
@lilo0003 -did you happen to lift anything heavy earlier? Sometimes back pain shows up later (hours) after a heavy item is moved. I moved a heavy bag of play sand from the basement up the stairs and outside to the garage and my back squawked.

Next time that I make thumbprint cookies, I want the kitchen to myself! My dough came together well-it was like a stickier tea biscuit version. The problem was making the wells-first I made pinch pots then I just used my thumb to press down the centre then pinch up the sides. The oven baked the cookies well in 10min but the centres and sides had almost levelled out and looked like 1-1/2 inch wide shortbread. I was able to put the gummy bears into each depression (kids will love watching the candy melt through the oven window-I had fun with that) but about half the cookies leaked their centres over one side. Glad I used the parchment paper-I should have let the cookies cool completely on the paper (no wire racks) as transferring the cookies to plates-well, cooled down gummy leaks sure develop duct tape like adhesion to the plates. Warm water and dish soap helped to soften the parts stuck on the plates after I lifted off what cookies I could.

I put the intact cookies in one container and the runners into another container. Cookie tastes fine and buttery.

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

Toy R Us and Amazon both sell 100 pc puzzles.

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@SassyAshley : I completely forgot about Toys R Us. Thank you!

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Originally Posted by coupon girl

-sweet sparrow -have you tried thrift stores like value village or talize

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@coupon girl : I think I will have to ask you to do some shopping for me. Those are great suggestions but I can never seem to get past the grocery store. Both are out of the way and a bit far. I'm forever asking my friend where she picked up something and she always tells me the dollar store, but that is where I never have time to go. My trips are limited to food and essentials, unfortunately. Toys R Us and Amazon deliver to the door if I order a minimum, so I have a special love for online stores at the moment.

@lilo003: Are you covered for the chiropractor? DH put out his back months ago and it took time to heal, even with visiting the chiropractor, but it was certainly better than not being able to move.
@Angela273 : Rotten luck! I hope it works out well for you in the end.

Must go rescue DH. LO is screaming her head off tonight!

-ordered from the bay this morning 15% when I use my credit card -I just realized last night since it is cold here now I am down to 2 p.j's bottoms -so I ordered a pair online lets hope they fit this time (different brand ) plus got hubby a new shirt ,camo shorts for Sebastian 4.39 after discount and a few other small items -so got 72.00 credited back to my account yesterday ,spent 52.00 today oh well it is stuff that is needed
-ordered one lovely face cloth 2.97 after discount (even walmart had a clearance end before xmas and one facecloth was marked down to 5.00-so they are not always cheap that's for sure-gee face cloths are so costly -some of mine are rags now

Morning! At the laundromat! Time is money lol. This way I can get it all done and put away before noon and get some house cleaning in too! Cold but sunny here today. Once done here I will plan dinner. Some meat of some sort from freezer. Ceaser salad for sure (romaine to use up) (free bacon to cook up) green beans.

well here is something frugal-we had a few paint cans downstairs from the last 2 or 3 years -well we mixed them all up in one plastic pail (just beige and white and a brown )-ended up with a nice light brown and painted one drywalled wall down the basement -have enough to do another wall on sunday (my sister-in-law gave me a tip for paint she said to put plastic saran wrap over before you put the lid back on helps with it lasting longer )

Lots of cleaning done. Bathrooms. Fridge cleaned out. Washed down, took shelves out and washed. Tossed crap. Put open bottles of 2 same items in one.
Steak thawing for dinner. Have everything ready to make nacho dip tomorrow for DS'S school lunch next week (he just tried it and loves it) Tomorrow I will prep my week lunches. Going to try making mason jar salads! And back to my oatmeal.

thanks for the tips on my back. I do have coverage but I am not a fan of chiro. Its somewhat better today so I am just taking a wait and see approach. I many book massage if I can get into see my favourite person.
I am going to do some baking today to get ready for lunches and I took a turkey out for supper because I want to make some space and I want turkey soup. I did go to NF for the chicken breast. I am not a fan of the quick frozen but they are fine in fajitas and butter chicken & both are faves around here so I am doing up a batch of butter chicken for the freezer and then we will see how these turn out and if its decent I will go back. They had a two bag limit. For 1.88 a pound its worth a shot. I also picked up the KD at 5.88 for a 12 pack. Its been a long time since I have seen it so cheap and Logan and his BFF love it. Bought a case for the BFF too. Also used the 5.00 off GM coupon for cheerios @ 1.88 a box, always happy to get a product that is somewhat good for you for cheap.

What subscription changes have you noticed at your library branch? This month, National Post is no longer offered in the newspaper section at my branch.

Yesterday I had the Italpasta white cheddar mac & cheese that I bought from Dollarama along with the Annie's versions. There was a definite strong taste (chemical) beyond the white cheddar flavour. I am going to try the Annie's one tonight to see if it has the same taste issue.

Monday brings prospect of gas shutoff. There were two reports issued in Nov requiring corrections within 49 days. Brother this week did arrange for heating contractor to come yesterday am-company called yesterday and said no one can attend. What other day is good for you? So now there is a revised possible visit in the Mon early am as long as the gas supplier has not arrived to shut off the gas. Coincidentally, a gas meter reader came to read the meter Friday morning. I've had two arguments with Dad about the matter and he does not care. Oh, today he left a lit candle on the table (Xmas) after he finished his breakfast. To keep my cool, I had to choose not to have another argument-hope the house is still standing when I go home. I can tell you I am not looking forward to having to heat water on a 2 burner electric unit if this shutoff proceeds. And if another -15-20C snap happens, I'm certain there will water pipes going broke as well.

Since the gas meter got changed in November, the contractor for the gas supplier wrote up two things when relighting the gas appliances-not seeing an annual furnace check report (I've deduced TSSA wants homeowners to do an annual check on furnaces for CO accident prevention based on what their website states and gas supplier seems to have a similar requirement in its terms of service) and noting the screws in the metal dryer vent pipe (a no-no sibling has corrected).

Just for perspective, I did an online search about shutoffs in winter and supposedly the gas supplier has a voluntary no shutoff policy for customers behind on payments during Dec.1-Mar.1 (article two years turned up with that nugget). Doubtful this will apply to our situation given that the supplier has other reasons in which it can shutoff one's gas supply. My father is not one keen to spend money on necessary precautions so that is another wrinkle in the situation-but he seems to always have money to spend on cuts of meat he should not be splurging on.

Please don't ignore those violation reports for heating appliances. Your supplier definitely is counting down the days to shutoff and will send a letter (one arrived on Thursday but with wrong reference date of the incident reports) too.

Value Village e-mail came today confirming Club Card members get pre-sale access tomorrow to the 50% off clothing, shoes, accessories and bed and bath sale (no red tags and other exclusions), with sale open to the public on Monday.

@Granger -thank you for your Everydollar report! Will examine the site tonight.

Ciel! Please post about what happens on Monday. This is a terrible time to have your gas shut off. I am getting so *&^%$ t'ed off with energy providers of all stripes that I could spit in someone's face. And I'm close to being a pacifist, politically speaking. They just don't care. They don't *&^%$ care.

Good Afternoon Everyone,
Oh my what a day. I started the day off running, I have done Mom's bedding (will do mine tomorrow, I hope), did the blankets off the couch and a set of sheets that were thrown in the basement but never washed.

Well the laundry was going I did the dishes and since I was in the kitchen I made dinner to put in the fridge. I had this funny feeling that come dinner time I would not feel like cooking and I was right. We have a massive amount of pasta in our fridge as Mom cooked a whole bulk package the other day. So I mixed the cooked pasta with Mushrooms and Pasta sauce, I then I topped it with chicken chucks i tossed in some reserved pasta sauce. Half way through the cooking process I will add mozzarella and parm to the top to give a nice cheesy crust.

I also cleaned up our front hallway, which always seems to be a disaster area as everything seems to get dropped there to be dealt with later but later never seems to come.

Think this is enough for today. I do not believe in new years resolutions but have decided I need to be better to me this year. The week before shut down I just kind of shut down and ended up working from home most of the week as I just couldn't handle everything so I hide out at home put my head down and got a ton of work done. Then shut down came and I just kind of collapsed so to say. I began sleeping a ridiculous amount and had no ambition at all. I really felt like my body was just giving out it was like you pushed so hard all year and now nope I am done. So I trying to be more careful to not wear myself out and take better care of me. I tend to work (both at work and home) until I cannot do anymore even when I write a to do list and complete it that is no longer enough and I now seem to play this little game of how many extras can I do. As well I have not been eating properly for quite some time. With all the travel and one day trips I got into the horrible habit of living off tea all day and only really dinner which usually wasn't even a balanced meal as I was so tired. So this year I have decided I need to focus more on me and care less what others think, yes I can work myself until I collapse and accomplish a ton but obviously it does catch up with me.

Off to relax until it is time to put dinner in the oven. Have a wonderful night everyone

Ciel: I could not stop thinking about the gas people and so I did a bit of research. The info may be known to you already but here it is in any case.

The United Way of Bruce Grey (where I live) has a "Utility Assistance Program" for those who are at risk of disconnection or who have been disconnected. http://unitedwayofbrucegrey.com/serv...tance-program/ I have no idea if United Way chapters in other counties have such a program, but it would be worth inquiring.

You might find information by dialing 211, or visiting http://www.211ontario.ca online. 211 helps find services and assistance of many kinds. As far as I know, that's province-wide.

The Ontario Energy Board has a "Low-income Energy Assistance Program" which "provides a one-time grant towards your electricity or natural gas bill if you are temporarily unable to make ends meet in an emergency situation." http://www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/OEB...ergy+Consumers --