July 2017 Frugal Chatter Thread

[lizzie bargain]

Very warm here too-we don't have ac but have been opening the house up every a.m. to cool it down with the chilly night air. I am still in recovery mode from my back injury-at least I can comfortably ride my bike for 20 minutes now and drive a bit. Still can't stand/walk for long(lots of pain) and DH is still on grocery shopping duty. Got a temporary 3 month disabled parking placard today-so that on good days I can do small errands involving little standing and walking. Hopefully I will not need another one.

Relaxed summer pace around here with DH off work for the summer and DD done school-of course we do have a checklist of things that need to be accomplished in order to get DD off to school in BC in September. I told her to own the list and ask for help/guidance where needed-scholarships, student loan and grant applications etc. Her final provincial exam marks have not come in yet so she has a bit of a break to enjoy Stampede which starts on Friday. She is also doing a little bit of casual work this summer to save up for her school fees etc.

[lilo0003]

I have been totally off the rails a far as frugality is concerned in the past 3 months. I have been busy so no time for deals but also no time to shop. So this month I plan to increase my coupons used and points earned and redeemed. Last month was good for FB sales though. I managed to make 100.00 off stuff I no longer needed. Time to flex my frugal muscles.

[sweet sparrow]

Goodness, I seem to have missed an entire month! Frugality seems to have gone out the window here as well, or at least on DH's side of things. Since his mother passed away, there was a new non-iron shirt purchase for the funeral, dry cleaning of said shirt and DH tossed in his four figure wedding suit as well. (Aargh!) DH has also acquired a daily Tim Hortons habit as well. I'm trying my best to weather the storm, but it certainly isn't easy.

One of the deals I managed to find was on GoodBoy's suggestion to check Coupgon. With the $1.50 Chapmans sale, there was also a $0.50 coupon. I was able to pick up three boxes of ice cream at $0.99 each. Small victories....

[Frugalbigmama]

Went home at lunch and made a toasted sandwich. Oldest DS was leaving with his friend. Youngest left with his friend for the beach (with friends mom) Glad they are having a fun afternoon. I am back at work . 1 more day then its the weekend yippee!

[Angela273]

I've been taking the kids outside in the morning and have them inside from 10am onwards, during the heat of the day. We are enjoying the central air during this 30+C weather. I pull weeds whenever we are in the yard, and we water in the evening.

I have a GP appointment tomorrow, my neighbour will come over to keep an eye on the kids for me, that's why I took the latest appointment available. I think I'm healing well, but I also want the complications properly documented in my file, particularly regarding the vertigo and nasty migraine.

I have a small filling that I'm having replaced next week Tuesday, unfortunately it is at lunch time. I booked this appointment a couple months ago and I'm arranging a babysitter. The filling is being replaced because the seal might be breaking on it. This is the first time that I have had a filling replaced, this filling was done by this dentist 12hrs ago and he did a great colour match. I'm still not looking forward to this appointment.

I paid my ambulance bill, we received the 75% from dh's coverage before I paid the bill. I'm trying to plan for our round trip to Saskatoon. We don't have much time, so I'm not sure who we will see other than my dad's side of the family.

[coupon girl]

starting to feel a lot better still have the broncitus cough but not as violent as in the beginning and not as frequent -did 2 loads yesterday and helped hubby do a bit of staining on our deck railings
-going grocery shopping and taking my older brother this morning he needs help as he is short of breath again ,he may need another heart surgery -plus I haven't seen him in a few months

[Ciel]

Yesterday, I was keen to start grasscutting around 7:30am to beat the heat. It worked for me and I am so appreciative of the Yardworks gloves for minimizing vibration hassle while pushing mower around. Grass was quite dry by noon and laundry drying times were short-even had my shoes dry by lunchtime (I usually wash them after cutting grass and will keep this pair around for yardwork until we stop needing to do yardwork in the fall).

Today I returned some of parent's beer bottles and got a Toronto paper-he likes reading material and that means the tv won't be on as much. Heat is impacting all of us. Looking forward to rain later today (might be stormy). I did some morning shopping for snacks and produce and sparkling juice. Cooked some quinoa, to have some protein to mix in with vegetables later. Am making sure that each time I move the ice cubes to a freezer bag that the tray is refilled. For some reason, other family members are not making an effort to replace things when something is used up even if replacement needs to be moved out of a cupboard. I keep saying it's time to have a garage sale and sibling thinks I'm trying to make out like a pirate with loot. No, there's too much stuff (and he just bought used car #3-SIGH) and the idea that he's expected to curb his consumerism is not registering (same with dusting, throwing old things out).
@Sweets parrow -it must be hard to always be the vigilant spouse about money. I like the idea of no-iron shirt. It probaby would be easily to launder in the sink, spin or wring then hang on a hanger to dry. If DH could be convinced of doing so while savouring his coffee du jour, he would greatly help to offset any more clothing care costs. I do hope you have the October date in your calendar marked for giving work 8wks notice that you are coming back from leave.

[Ciel]

Monday will be OTB direct deposit day for Ontarians: healthcare and shoes for me. Still thinking about painting my room and will price paint by a pail vs small can (it'd probably cover two walls or one wall and the ceiling). Time to freshen up the room. I've been wanting some change since I've been following various SCers' projects and renos this year.
On Wednesday I was looking at bedding on sale and also mattresses. May be able to have Mom try out mattresses later this month for her purchase.

[coupon girl]

Well did the groceries spent 100.23 at freshco and metro (brother wanted to go into metro for his gluten bread for his wife so bought a few items there-I price matched every fruit and veggie I bought except the bananas ,then sister-in-law asked me if I could take her to a clinic for her chest xrays to pick them up -no problem I did a good deed today helped older brother and his wife out felt good .
Also used 2 of the Friday only cpns on granola bars saved 5.50 in the process by getting the bogo cpn used up.Oh and got gas by my brother's apt it was $101 a litre -in my area its 109

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF! My weekend is finally here. Homemade pizza is on the menu tonight. My honey should be off soon and said he will pick up what we need.

Sky is blue. Guess we aren't getting the thunderstorm they were calling for. Will have to water my hanging baskets tonight (meant to this morning)

I have some odds and ends in the washer that I will hang out to dry tonight. Will do another load of bedding since we will be home relaxing.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

[Ciel]

Afternoon walk was hot-found a few cans to return-so bought a cold pop and a new issue of First for Women (Shoppers did not have it but Walmart stocks it by the conveyor belt at checkouts, not the main store magazine dept.) Time to share some tips and things to make time pass for us all.

Very summer themed issue-electrical safety (3 things to consider), foods, sunburn remedies (lactic acid in sour cream helps with cell renewal when you apply the product for 15min on burnt skin), why we should be wary of plastic water bottles (estrogenicity even in BPA-free plastic-but as a pedestrian, I'd rather carry plastic than lug a hunk of stainless steel that is a heat trap).

Food ideas:
4 no-cook easy treats using watermelon (sorbet, gazpacho, salad and parfaits)
Peaches and cream angel food cake *using premade cake* with tip on how to spike the fruit for an adults-only version
Top 10 ice pops with names like inflammation easer (chocolate fudge dream)
Fun in the sun sensational menu (avocado-basil tofu salad wraps, baked potato chips with avocado-ranch dip, pressed Italian chicken sandwiches, roast beef hoagies with tomato jam, lemony asparagus ribbons, sweet and tangy rainbow cabbage slaw, pink lemonade cupcakes)

Two smart food ideas:
frost cupcakes the easy way-when you don't have time to whip up frosting, try this: five minutes before the treats should be done, remove them from the oven and top each with a large marshmallow; return to oven and finish baking. The heat will melt down the gooey treat into a pretty (and delicious!) coat of frosting.

So-easy bbq pulled pork. In slow cooker, combine 3-4 lbs. pork butt with 12oz. of root beer (1 can); cook on low for 4-6 hrs. Shred meat with fork; stir in 1 (18oz.) bottle bbq sauce. Serve on buns as desired.

How to outsmart chafing on inner thighs when wearing shorts: mix an ointment made of petroleum jelly with vitamin E (recipe in magazine) or use lip balm containing petroleum (like ChapStick Classic original), and apply to inner thighs before wearing shorts. Reapply as needed.

Genius way to get a campfire roaring (can someone verify this works?): scatter broken potato chips or corn chips from your bbq over the wood then light as usual. The grease in the chips will help the fire to ignite quickly and keep the flames going for hours.

10 brilliant uses for charcoal-a few tips:
Eliminate static from a radio-place a piece of charcoal on a radio not picking up a signal. The briquette will attract electromagnetic radio waves in the air and transfer them to the stereo, ensuring static-free audio. (Wish I kept my pet coal around...)
Rust-proof outdoor tools. Place three lumps of charcoal in the leg of an old pair of pantyhose and tie it closed, then place the sachet wherever you store your tools. The charcoal will absorb rust-causing moisture.
Protect plants from pests-simply sprinkle a circle of cooled charcoal ash around the base of the plants the pests frequently eat. Slugs dislike the gritty texture of the ash, so they'll avoid your garden and find somewhere else to snack. Problem solved.

[avrose]

Good evening! Very hot today so it's a fend for yourself night. We go slurpees and I can barely drink it, too sweet! bleh
Canada Day was great, we were camping so we spent a lot of money, but ended up getting our campsite fees waived. (almost $20 per night for 3 nights) We spend a lot more on booze and bbq type foods in the summer, along with camping. Also I lost my fishing licence so had to buy another, and sure enough the park patrol was in the campground. (never seen them there in 5 years) So I'm glad I sucked up the cost.
This weekend we will be stocking up on drinks at shoppers, some good saturday/sunday deals. @Sweets parrow it's partly because my husband always buys drinks out (like 7-11) but never wants the case so I just started saying too bad, pick something. He has a hot job.

[lilo0003]

Kitchen is coming along. Now it's just its cosmetic. I did a special order for the counter height stools and because it's summer it could take 8-10 weeks for delivery. So I was very please when the store offered us loaners.
Had a good saving week. So I am feeling sort of back on track. I also had another FB sale, so glad you ladies turned me on to this.

[coupon girl]

yeah daughter came down at noon today with Sebastian and for supper she just made 2-margareta pizza's from scratch -so good

[Angela273]

We took the kids to a nearby paddling pool late this afternoon. One paddling pool is open each Saturday throughout the summer. They are forecasting a possible thunderstorm tonight, which isn't surprising with all the heat. No one wanted to cook supper, so we used some A&W coupons.

I've arranged a babysitter to come to the house on Tuesday so that I can go to the dentist. We know her and she babysat for us the night before my hospitalization for appendicitus. I'll need to get my neighbour to water my garden when we are away next weekend.

The crawl space on our house is supposed to get properly cleaned next week. The company that is supposed to do the work is currently working through the weekend to deal with a house that was destroyed by a storm earlier this week, located in Alida. We'll wait and see if this further delays our repairs. We need to have the work completed and paid in full before the end of the month, otherwise PDAP can try to refuse to reimburse us. The company was supposed to do the work on our house back in May, but their new dump trailers were stolen. Since our forecast is 30+, they will be allowing us to run the AC, but we'll need to replace the high quality air filter once a day.

I ordered another $20 cheque from CO51. I like this week's low value offers on regular food items: berries, eggs, and bread.