January 2018 Frugal Chatter (new calendars & spreadsheets)

[coupon girl]

well took Ashlyn back to my daughter-in-law's at 10.30 and I got to cuddle baby cara (fun she is 6 weeks on Friday)
then came home and went to a local deli store "zarkys" and got meat and buns and a tiny bit of fruit and iceburg lettuce -yes I am not going near romaine with the amount of sickness I have had ,plus popped into shoppers it was seniors day today and got my milk and orange juice and a snack for Sebastian gerber treats with my 20% discount saved 2.45 from seniors discount -hey everybit helps that's a great tip in its self
-supper tonight kraft dinner with a dinner roll for hubby and a turkey deli sandwich on a bun with a tiny bit of kraft dinner for me ,went to shovel the side of the house as our garbage day is on sat and my fingers were starting to freezein only about 15 minutes -lol man its chilly

[Newfiescreech]

Did not get much done today, well I was waiting for the system to come back up I went to take a shower and fell in the shower. I came down on my right side and tweaked my back. I am really sore and standing hurts but I do not think I have seriously hurt anything. So I have propped myself up with many pillows and have been doing various work tasks all day so I can stay seated.

Kind of afraid of what tomorrow will bring, I have a feeling I will be extremely sore tomorrow. We will have to wait and see, I have finished what I had to get done over shut down expect for sending it out but I do have other stuff I can work on if I am stuck on the couch again tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great night

Take good care yourself sweetie!!

[lilo0003]

I have to say I love the flurry of frugal activity that hits this thread in January, all the regulars are stull here plugging away and then a number of friendly faces come back and a few new people dip their toes in. Personally I love it because it makes this whole saving thing fun and reenergizes me.
Angela: that is a shame about the clothes. I just picked up a load of baby stuff from a FB group to send back to Belize for a new moms home and I paid 16.00 for 30 plus pieces in pristine condition. Why do moms try to take advantage of each other. I have had my 1st sale of the year. We still had 2 kids movie passes and the boys are too old so some family will enjoy a cheaper movie and I can kick off my 2018 savings. I have also posted a few things for free, but sometimes giving stuff aware is harder than selling it.
Staying in today, even worked at home to avoid the cold.

[Giseledta]

thanks I sent a request to join

I don't do a lot of coupon trading for donations other than the local cat shelter but I do donate freebies from coupons I won't use or can't trade or freebies from AM's like the Bick's deal last summer. I also donate my free 2L pop when we order pizza. I coupon for my mom too and do donate to the foodbank but not like some of the others on SC
I guess I can't help you much in that aspect but maybe you should join this group on FB too.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/417778198559988/

[Angela273]

We had leftovers for supper tonight.

I took twin girl and our son with me to the mall after supper. Twin boy refused to nap and fell to sleep during supper. I splurged and spent $11.66 at Arden’s. I bought myself a sparkly bracelet, plus a necklace with matching earrings. I’ve never had my ears pierced, so I’m not sure what I’ll do with these earrings. It’s been a couple years since I bought myself any jewellery.

I’ve had a young mom on Facebook contact me more than once for baby clothes, but she has yet to come and buy anything. I understand that people want to get a good deal, but she wants to spend about 1/4 of what I’m asking for the items, which are already a good price. I have it priced per item, but she was offering me money for two entire boxes full. She outright said she wanted to get lots for cheap or free. I pointed out to her about the free clothing program at the local church, but I guess she’s too good for that. I’ve already donated 2 black garbage bags of clothes to the church’s clothing program. Dh says I shouldn’t waste my time or energy with this particular person.

[coupon girl]

angela some people always want something for free ,my daughter-in-law may just give her clothing to me after cara grows out of it (as they only wish to have the 2 girls)to take to once upon a child ,a few summers ago she bought a sweater on a moms group and when it was dropped off on the porch (it looked like crap)wasted 5.00-the thing is when you call these people out they say no it was in good condition (which can be a vague term depending on what each individual considers good condition,my daughter sold a gap one piece snowsuit in Toronto and the woman said one foot slip on cover was missing ,now my daughter knows she had all the pieces there so she told the woman she would give her and outfit if she wished to pick up ,maybe the woman dropped it as she didn't bag it .
-maybe a bit of cleaning today as I don't wish to go out today except putting the garbage out and getting my mail

[Giseledta]

Angela I agree w ith your hubby.. dont waste your energy.


I am making my shopping list, costco ( need to go for my mom) and no frills. I am hunting coupons as well. lol and matching up some co 51
I have a big shop and earn credit today, then I will cash out for a 50 on amazon. I am buying a new house phone. ours is dying quietly.
we have 3 days of snow and cold forecast. I am hoping for nice weather next week.

[Frugalbigmama]

Angela I agree w ith your hubby.. dont waste your energy.


I am making my shopping list, costco ( need to go for my mom) and no frills. I am hunting coupons as well. lol and matching up some co 51
I have a big shop and earn credit today, then I will cash out for a 50 on amazon. I am buying a new house phone. ours is dying quietly.
we have 3 days of snow and cold forecast. I am hoping for nice weather next week.

Sounds like the same forecast we are in for here too! I pulled my car out of the garage this morning and let it warm up while I finished up in the house. I haven't been to the mail in a long while but I better go tonight! BRRRRR!

[Frugalbigmama]

I am thankful for my boxing day deal. Sportchek. My long butt covering winter coat (thought it was a good style for the hockey rink!)
Reg price was $249.99 plus tax. It was on for $124.99. We went before 10am for no tax. I had a $65 promo card from the Team Assist program that sadly has ended. I paid $57 for the jacket It has been needed during this cold snap.

My other boxing day deals:

$70 in meat (boneless skinless chicken breasts, extra lean ground beef, port chops and pork loins) all at $2 lb.

New jeans from Maurice's. $26. I just bought a pair in October but they are too big for me now so bought a size down but keeping in bag with receipt since I think I need to go down to the size 8 New clothes is motivation

Phone upgrade. My contract was finished. I wasn't in a hurry for a new phone but my friend wanted to take a look. I ended up getting a new phone because they basically paid me to take it. Since my plan was old it was at least $10-20 cheaper then the new plans per month. I was able to pay the same amount per month, received a better plan (more mins and data) a brand new phone, a free $60 otterbox case, wall charger and car charger and 200,000 PC PTS! I walked out with the new phone all these freebies and didn't pay a penny! The PC pts were added on the spot so I used $100 pts to pay for my $100.78 order ($70 in meat and 5 Axe and Dove men gift packs that were on sale for $4.99 each)

Was a great Boxing day morning for me

[SassyAshley]

Angela as soon as someone says free or cheap I tend to back away. I have learned they really mean free, in most cases even if we some how agree to a price when they come to pick up it changes again and they start to push for the free again. I usually just say that is my lowest price I am willing to take and they usually stop messaging me.

[Arjon]

I am really trying to do better with couponing...

It will probably help if you figure out your personal definition of saving in as much detail as you feel comfortable doing so. Take the example of buying air fresheners because they're cheap. It's obvious that if I use them anyway, I save by getting them when they're cheap, and depending how cheap, I may decide to stock up.

But if I don't already use them, getting them cheap doesn't fit my personal definition of saving. No matter how little I pay, I spend more than I otherwise / normally would to get a product I don't normally use. I know some people who feel they're saving money when they do this. They're not right nor wrong in the absolute because there is no absolute. It's a matter of each individual's personal definition of saving. So, you have to decide how you define it, and where to set your boundaries.

Various factors can matter, and to varying degrees. Brand preference is a possible example. Let's say I prefer Green Giant frozen corn to the house brands that are sold where I shop. If I pay a little more to buy GG when it's cheap vs. a house brand when it's cheap, am I saving money? IMO, if I'm willing to buy the house brand, no. I'm paying more for a product I prefer. This is fine; I do it quite often. But it isn't saving in terms of how I define it.

It's not strictly about coupons, but you may also find it helpful to figure out how you count your savings. For instance, if I pay $2 for something that's normally priced at $4, do I save $2? IMO, only if I'd pay the $4. If I only buy it when the price is $3 or less, the most I can save when I pay $2 is $1. And while I don't do this, what if I know that the average price I pay is $2.50? Am I saving $1 compared to the most I'll pay, or only 50 cents compared to the average I actually pay? Fwiw, in my definition, I save $1, but this is probably influenced to some degree by a practical consideration, the fact I'm not willing to do the kind of detailed record-keeping that would be required to know my average cost, which would change slightly every time I paid more or less than what the average is at that moment.

My key point is that couponing can get very complex if you're willing to let it - far more so than I ever thought about when I was a far more casual saver. So, you need to figure out how much complexity is worth it for you​.

[Natalka]

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Off to a slow start today, Mom picked me up some Advil PM yesterday, I took it last night and passed out, slept in and am still feeling a little groggy. I am feeling okay right now but I am worried about pushing it too far, by the time I went to bed last night I was in quite a lot of pain just from the day.

Not really sure what my day will bring yet, I see a lot that I would like to do but most of it I know I cannot do. It is the simple things right now like I cannot take the garbage out as there is no way I can get the bag into the dumpster.

Have a wonderful day everyone

[macw1960]

Cold again here today so I will be house bound again today which is fine by me as I have a pounding headache. I will send DH to Foodland to pick up the few sale items I need other that it will be a do nothing day until my headache disappears.

[wendymac]

Arjon. Great advice.