June 2017 Frugal Chatter thread

[Frugalbigmama]

Good morning! Back to work for me for the week but a short day on Friday since it is the long weekend which is nice.

The house is looking so good....finally!!! Tonight we have out of town hockey so not planning to get anything extra done, just the regular daily stuff (Make sure the kitchen is spotless before bed)

Tomorrow night I have 2 pick ups that will total $30. Will put the money in my "crap sold jar". Will post some more stuff for sale tomorrow night. I have large shelf in my room that needs to be cleaned off and then I will put my new items for sale on it so they are easy available for pick up. Will move it to the garage when we finally decide to have a garage sale.

Leftover pasta from Sunday night ready to heat for DS tonight on the way to hockey. I will eat once we return home. Oldest has been working everyday so he seems to miss dinner all the time and has been enjoying whole cooked chickens at work and is full when he gets home (finally he is full!!! lol)

Have a great day everyone. The count down to the end of the 2016/2017 school year is on!

[SassyAshley]

Think I may have caught some sort of bug yesterday. I was feeling very off yesterday and by about 2 pm I was feeling extremely nauseous. Manged to make it to 3:30 and went home, still a full day as I was in the office at 6:30.

Nothing got done last night as I fell asleep on the love seat and when I woke up I still wasn't feeling well so I just went to bed. Been a long time since I have been in bed by 7:30.

Not sure what will happen tonight after work, Mom mentioned going to Costco and the local Chinese market so not sure if we are going to go tonight as I think it is the only night both of us can go.

Well back to work. Have a great day everyone.

[Angela273]

Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the week, so I'm hoping to let the kids play in the water table. I may have convinced a male friend to stop by and help me later in case the twins need to be carried inside when we are done.

I had a $4 sale this morning.

I've made arrangements to go out for coffee with a friend, and then she'll help me get some stuff from The CO-OP. I'm mainly wanting the $2.99/lb lean ground. We'd with $3 La Grille coupons to use on the $2.29 small La Grill seasoning pouches.

Lunch: fruit smoothies and leftover hamburger veggie soup
Supper: oven baked quesadilla, some with seasoned ground beef and some with leftover chicken drumstick meat.

[Frugalbigmama]

I love that $3 La Grille coupon wub meat. A few weeks ago the small seasoning pouches were $2 each so $1 extra off the meat. I gave a bunch of them to my co-workers since we won't use them all. The chicken rub is on for $2.98 so I will grab one of those to try this weekend. For free I will try it!

[Frugalbigmama]

I had to take DS to a quick orthodontist appt. on lunch. I was a nice mama and brought him to grab a slice of pizza to take back to school for lunch ($3 no tax and it's really good) He was happy

[Frugalbigmama]

Last night I dropped DS off at hockey and went to Costco. Snowsuits etc are available now Bought DS 2 pairs of the good HEAD winter gloves. If I didn't get them last night I would never get them. Finding 2 in black in his size was very hard as it was
I have about 4 brand new pairs from last year to return. They are too small (new with tags) so will have to return them next time I am there. I will appreciate this purchase in November.

I went to look at a cell phone for youngest DS. I think it is time. He has an old phone that I bought a $100 pay as you go card for that he has used for the while (just for when he isn't with me he would take it so I can keep in contact) It has served us well but I think he is ready for the responsibility of his own shiny new phone. He has worked hard at school and has proved to be a gentleman. Will find out the deal at RCSS mobile and then decide if I'm going back to Costco tomorrow or not

[Ciel]

My red plums purchased yesterday proved to be more bother than value so I pitched them out this morning. I roasted the chopped yellow and purple cauliflowers with salt and herbes de Provence with some oil-they tasted like chips (enough salt, I guess) last night so there are some veggies ready to eat. I baked most of the cookie batter last night and the remainder will be baked on the weekend. I appreciated the cookies with a mug of Earl Grey tea for breakfast.

Walmart has the Kraft salad dressings for $1.50, so I went to buy one last night. Not sure if the offer continues tomorrow with the new flyer. I forgot to linger at the Fortino's Coupon Zone board but it seems at least one new coupon was added to the board as I glanced at it on my way into the store.

My hands feel less achy than they have been since Friday. Not sure to credit curried root veggies I had at lunch or something else because the unsettled rainy weather over the weekend is making me think is there enough time to do this task before the next rain falls?

I was leafing through the July 10 issue of First For Women and realized I forgot to share some of the tips. There are 10 things to do with tennis balls and I know of a craft thread on SC about tennis balls. One FFW tip advises to put a slit in a tennis ball, slide 180 pennies inside, then superglue the slit closed. The weighted tennis ball can then be used as a weight while walking to help you build muscle tone! Another tip is to put a tennis ball into a sock, tie off the sock then lob the ball into the ceiling areas where they are too high to reach to clean off cobwebs. (Make sure any breakables or valuables are not in the zone under "clean and toss action.")

Charley horse tip-when pain strikes in your leg, pinch the divot under your nose with your thumb and forefinger for 30seconds and release. The action increases circulation in your lower legs. Mom tried the tip that night when a Charley horse struck while in bed and she said it worked.

I'm off to the LCBO store to get the new Food & Drink issue. Need something to distract from the grey sky again. BTW, Tall Ships are coming to Hamilton on Friday!

[Ciel]

Purchased some mineral water for Mom at Longos, a shandy for me at LCBO with the free magazine and confirmed an appointment for next month. Temperature is warming up outside but the sky keeps going light and dark. Guess rain is going to dance again.
Tomorrow is the last school day for public elementary school students in the Hamilton area. There is a summer student bus pass aimed at teens for July/August on the HSR-see the transit site for details. Other GTA transit services may also offer bus passes discounted for summer or free for certain age groups.

[Angela273]

Our twins started their day at 5:30AM, so they were down for their nap before 10am. I've got the big kids outside in the yard with me, of course we brought the babymonitor with us. I've been continuing to weed. Yesterday I found two volunteer tomato plants. They came up where my beans should have been, but few yellow bush beans actually grew this year. Here's a picture of the radishes that I just harvested.

[Frugalbigmama]

I wish I liked radishes! Those look nice. My bestie loves them and I will eat them if she has them cleaned and ready but would never otherwise. Maybe I will buy some and shred them in my next coleslaw! I hope to hit a farmers market on Sunday morning.

[Natalka]

Oh, Yum on the radishes, Angela! I love them! Glad things are growing well for you!

[Frugalbigmama]

We are getting closer to the long weekend! This week has dragged on and I had Monday off.

Last night I didn't have a plan for dinner but was able to whip something up quickly. Made rice and fresh asparagus that I needed to use up and pulled homemade meatballs from the freezer (already cooked so that saved time) Oldest was out for dinner but youngest ate every bite.
Tonight I need to cook up some pasta for a cold salad I am making for tomorrow night. (Greek pasta salad)
Also have to do a quick once over the house so we are ready for our company tomorrow night. We were hoping to sit out and have a fire after dinner but sounds like rain so will have to wait and see. DS is in the Canada Day parade with his rep hockey team Saturday morning so hopefully the rain stops by then. Then other friends are coming for dinner Saturday night and we are going to watch the local fireworks. Busy weekend!

[Angela273]

That daycare Dad was a no show last night. There has been a lack of communication, so I'm not holding my breath. Over 12hrs after the Dad was a no show, he made arrangements to come tonight. This morning I had a potential daycare mom contact me about a part-time spot for her son for the summer. I was just messaging with a dad regarding his son that will need full-time childcare starting in August. Things are looking up.

Dh has Monday off work, so a 3 day weekend. My daycare girl is gone with her older siblings to their grandparents until next week Wednesday, so I'll get a break.

We'll be going to Sobeys tomorrow for Blue Friday deals and try to redeem the Free Fridays bogo Cheerios coupon.

Estevan is having a Canada 150 Street Fair tomorrow. Dh agreed that we will go in the evening, after he was done work. A lot of the activities will be free, including some bounce houses.

[Angela273]

I sorted all of baby girls clothes, boxed up the small stuff for the next garage sale. I sorted out all the small clothes ithat were in baby boys dressers, but stopped before I sorted his pants. The baby boy clothes made me cry because both of my sons wore much of the same clothing. I still have 2 big bins full of boy clothes to sort, my neighbour returned about twice as much as what I gave to her in my 68L bin.

I have a daycare dad coming to meet me on Sunday. He requires full-time care for his son starting in August. He was very happy with my rate and asked some questions.

edit: I know a mom from children's programs in town. She had been given lots of clothes for her girl (middle child), but had a boy next. She let her friends pick out the clothes they could use, then she invited me to to have a turn. I just saw a post that she was looking for baby boy rompers, so I pulled out 6 rompers that are small on our baby boy and put them in my mailbox for her to pick up for free. I told her she gave me for baby girl, so I'm giving her things she needs for her baby boy.

[Frugalbigmama]

I sorted all of baby girls clothes, boxed up the small stuff for the next garage sale. I sorted out all the small clothes ithat were in baby boys dressers, but stopped before I sorted his pants. The baby boy clothes made me cry because both of my sons wore much of the same clothing. I still have 2 big bins full of boy clothes to sort, my neighbour returned about twice as much as what I gave to her in my 68L bin.

I have a daycare dad coming to meet me on Sunday. He requires full-time care for his son starting in August. He was very happy with my rate and asked some questions.

I saved my good clothing and my 2nd wore some outfits his brother did (different seasons so some didn't fit etc) I have to look at the background/house to figure who it is sometimes since they looked similar as babies (and we moved to a new house before 2nd was born)