March 2018 Frugal Chatter

[Frugalbigmama]

Been doing laundry all weekend and putting away as I go. Kitchen is clean. Dishwasher going. Crockpot is ready to turn on at 10pm for 10 hours on slow for DS's work dinner the next 2 nights. Porktenderloins with spices and hot peppers and carrots and potatoes. Will put in Tupperware containers in morning and soak crockpot during the day.

[Angela273]

Took twin girl out with me today. Dh took the boys for coffee. We dropped off pictures for an Easter colouring contest.

Walmart
$39.xx oop, $3.50 in coupons, $5 in CO51
$3.98 Casa Da Mia taco kits - $4.98 = SCOP
$3.98 Casa Da Mia fajita kit - $4.98 = SCOP
I’ve been SCOPing these Kits every time I go to Walmart for about a month.

Sobeys
$14.xx oop, $26.77 in coupons (3 FPCs), $0.50 CO51, earned 16 Air Miles

Lunch free rotisserie chicken wraps
Supper free rotisserie chicken, spiral ancient grains pasta, Alfredo sauce, mixed veggies.

I stripped the rotisserie chicken and it is ready for lunch tomorrow. I think I’ll make some of it into chicken salad.

I slept horribly last night, so I joined our kids for an afternoon nap. It got up to +6 today, so the snow is melting. We took the kids outside to play in the puddles. I collected nearly $1 worth of bottles and cans today.

Another load of laundry is on, the other load is folded and put away. Baths and clean the floors will get done this evening.

Twin boy has been making good progress with potty training. He is independent about it, but selectively so. He does it more for dad and when Daycare kids aren’t here.

[saundyl]

We've had a busy month so I kind of forgot to log on. At the end of February we brought home a foster puppy to decide if we wanted to adopt him we have absolutely fallen in love with him and I've decided that we will be adopting him sadly we have to return him to the shelter for Thursday so he can be neutered and we won't get him back until the 9th of April. Luckily the neutering is part of the adoption fee and we will not be having to pay for that later on he is also getting his first shots at that point.

Last week the boys Grandad on their mom's side passed away so BF drove them to Saskatchewan to her for the funeral tomorrow, as she had left last Sunday to be able to say goodbye to him. This weekend was quiet at home with just me and the pups.

During this week that we had them know it was Arctic Winter Games in the Northwest Territories which had nine groups competing including Alaska Greenland Russia Nunavut, Nunavik, Sampei Northwest Territories, northern Alberta. I'm missing one country. The boys were busy volunteering and we got to watch a lot of hockey we had a lot of extra RCMP in town and we had some awesome ones that went in and participated at The Athlete's lounge with karaoke and dancing.

Groceries were more expensive because we pre bought groceries and didn't do it all on sale because we were concerned that it was going to be a lot busier in stores restaurants etcbecause there was 1900 athlete's in town along with coaches and other volunteers. We did take soup two days do my work as I was working over lunch and I shared it was a big Crock-Pot each time I think we fed 9 people each day on the second day BF made a batch of fresh buns to take in as well it was fabulous he was getting Shootouts on the street from my co-workers

I did get my gift card from loblaws. But have not yet activated.

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[sweet sparrow]

yes just washed and dried the fitted sheet -it fits my queen bed and its a tiny bit softer -I am thinking its only 250 or 300 count thread sheet but hey for 6.10 I am happy

@coupon girl : I remember shopping for DD1's new sheets for her bed and getting overwhelmed in the store on what to get. So, I googled it and found this article on HGTV that mentioned the best sheets are 300 - 400 TC.https://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/be...-buying-sheets

I eventually got her a bright yellow green set in a 300 TC, 100% Egyptian combed cotton. The colour reminds me of new shoots in the spring. or the colour of grass, just before the sun goes down on the horizon and everything is bathed in a summery warm light - an ethereal green! I remember the full set was around $17. Best of all, it fits her deep mattress because DH splurged and got her the best mattress, which does not fit those $30 Walmart sheets for a set of two. Walmart sheets have a rough feel to them so these 300 TC sheets are just heavenly!

Don't feel bad about $6.10 sheets. That's a win in my books!

[Ciel]

@sweet sparrow -love your RCSS deals (the candles must smell lovely!) and thanks for mentioning Joe Fresh offer. This week I still have the points offer for every $5 spent and I'll have to visit a JF store by Wed to use the offer. I can understand your concern over the sweeping incident-the men at my home rarely think to wash the brooms after sweeping something icky or potentially a health hazard. You have peace of mind knowing you did a detailed cleanup. Maybe it's time to have a separate broom set for the dining room and one for downstairs to help matters-just ensure they don't look the same.
@coupon girl -I know Waterdown's Value Village and Treasure Hunt are near each other and I plan to head there this week. The Treasure Hunt store is now open on Mondays until 8pm and I have heard that it seems to have mostly Zellers stuff but I hope to see what Target merchandise might be in-store!
@Angela 273 -lots of good things happening at your house! Wish we could help you solve the sleep issue now that days are getting longer. Yes, the compression socks at Winners are not as long as yours but might be knee-high only.
@SassyAshley -bell peppers--I want them! What I have been doing with leftover ones or peppers starting to get wrinkly on the counter: top and bottom them and core, cut peppers into strips, pile them onto a sheet pan with 1 or 2 tbsp of oil and a little salt and roast at 400F for about 25min. The cooked peppers are nicer on pizza (fresh peppers alway seem too raw on homemade pizza) or mixed into hot pasta or in a pasta salad. Or toss into leftover quinoa or rice and add soy sauce.

[coupon girl]

went out as the car is limited to me this week-first stop library this
then to the lcbo-bought a few cans beer for son and son-in-law for easter plus a few cans of A&W rootbear with vodka maybe 1 for me or daughter-in-law ,my daughter likes wine
then a few items at fortinos -saved 20.00 from my p.c account also got a tub of iogo yougurt for 2.99-1.50 cpn-600-.89 cents a tub

-hubby made a shelf for our shed out of an old ikea bookcase our son gave us years ago and he had scrap wood to hold it in place -now that's a thrifty job cost us nothing

[Ciel]

This morning after breakfast and some hand laundry, I managed to finish cutting the log into three pieces (YAY from the suburbs) and collected spruce cones and small pine cones from two areas. Also fit in some fallen branches into the green cart. I feel like raking the lurking leaves in edges and crevices so they can be bagged for tomorrow's collection. Still have about 8 trash tags left for the current cycle (year end) and have not managed to convince two family members to do a search and toss of items in order to use up said tags. I even have a small urge to run the mower around but I do need gas first...

Yesterday, two can walks netted $3.20 (spent $4 on lotto, won $1, got another ticket and won 0) and two McCafe stickers. Managed to find a $1.49 pair of striped socks at Value Village and a $3 clearance pair of black socks at Winners-they are laundered and drying now. Yes, a pair of socks got a hole on Saturday (Third pair in March or 8th pair overall since Feb-black ruffled pair purchased at Sears last August) so the new sock acquisitions came at the right time. Did a bit of browsing at Cdn Tire and Walmart for possible gift ideas for Mom to take to an event but then last night, I felt miffed and thought I should make a gift registry for me! That got my list started.
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In the spirit of @sweet sparrow 's revival of the QOTD---

If you could make a gift registry for yourself for this year, what would its theme be?

A: For me, it's be called the 2018 Block party aka home renovation registry.

[coupon girl]

my gift registry would be called

2018 is the year to replace a few household items ...sheets ,cereal bowls ,wine glasses etc

[sweet sparrow]

I've really only found one RCSS deal as the candles were for my sister, one sunblock for my SIL and one for me.

Lately, I've been feeling like a celebrity. I've been going through my older clothes and after wearing them once, tossing them out if the elastic's gone, or they are discoloured beyond saving, completely threadbare, etc. Some of them are over two decades old and it's about time they retire. It's nice to get rid of things that are no longer usable.
@Ciel : That separate broom thing wouldn't work for DH. He just grabs the first thing he sees, or the one he wants to use most. It happens the same with all our dry goods (he'll take the freshest and furthest from expiry), fresh foods (uses the one bought today instead of using up the one from last week), or uses the credit card that is in the front of his wallet, and not the one we'll earn the most rewards on. I think I will save my money on a duplicate broom and get a new mop though.

Today, I'm doing some research on the kind of toilet we'll be replacing ours with. The one we bought when we moved in does not have a high enough water level and there is too much cleaning involved.

Instead of decluttering the kitchen yesterday, we took DD1 to the park, returned some library books, and I got to the Metro for some bonus AM. I did do two loads of laundry this weekend though. Load # 3 coming up in a few days as I'll be doing the sheets next!

[Ciel]

@mcminsen posted an image of the new Walmart Live Better magazine with the coupons so we have something to look forward to soon this week!
BTW, on Walmart Canada's Twitter account, I noticed when I clicked on the #LiveBetterMagazine hashtag, many of the results relate to some past issues' recipes now pinned on Pinterest here there and everywhere. https://twitter.com/hashtag/LiveBetterMagazine?src=hash

Canadian Tire-
-their special collection 2018 patio and bbq guide-you might not be able to find those items marked with + despite the guide saying they are available in-store and online. I asked an employee about the Napoleon grilling apron (store computer said to ask an associate and there was no count shown)-the employee said that the Burlington (Fairview) store was the closest one with stock. Area (Hamilton ON) stores do not have the item in stock. However, the floral Canvas chair cushion was in stock (and there are some clearance prices on what I assume are older cushions).
-I checked out gardening and yard tools. Saw a $5.43 Clearance sign on Kids Tools (Gallant plastic spades in red, pink or blue). YMMV-check online to see if your local store has them. I'd like one for the flowerbeds as my plastic hand tools are sometimes inadequate for bigger jobs.
-Yardworks gloves have a 2-year limited warranty tag on them now. My gloves from last year said lifetime warranty on the tag (which I kept along with the receipt). So I'll have to see when to time my replacement request (now or after spring yardwork is over).

[Ciel]

If you are a Fortinos shopper, check the Coupon Zone board for new offers. I checked yesterday as my local store's boards seem to get reset on Saturday nights after the week that @mcminsen posts scans of new coupons. I got 6 of the new coupons including the Uncle Ben's Bistro Express b2g1 free offer.

Mom's not able to wear the gray linen/cotton jacket (fit issue). I have decided to start a small bag of clothing items to donate to a local hospital's clothing closet. I will add in that men's polo shirt and the black cap sleeve women's top to the bag along with the jacket and see if I have anything else to add in.

[Ciel]

This is the last week to use the $10 off Longo's Impress meal kits coupon, as well as their online discount for Grocery Gateway orders using the code (limit of 1 use per account).
Good time to seek out the last of the March coupons and use them or recycle/donate them. Some of the recent coupon inserts have varied April expiry dates as well, not the end of April.

[Ciel]

Talize has a 50% off clothing sale TODAY. Gee, that will teach me not to get through all my newsletter e-mails in one go when I do open my emails. Not sure if I should pop by or just sit this one out.

[Ciel]

Have keen child bakers and cooks in your household? Kitchen Stuff Plus has many kids' aprons on sale.
https://www.kitchenstuffplus.com/cat...esult/?q=apron

[cath007]

Received my trade of 10 fpcs of uncle bens bistro rice from french fb couponning group.Now I am waiting on the whiskas perfect portions fpcs's hope they will make it to me this week before easter holliday!!!!Went to pick another 2 boxes of janes chicken with the coupons(burgers and strips again) not so many boxes left with the coupons,I think I am not the only one doing that but now no more place in the freezer so maybe another bag wenesday because we will have chicken burger and patatoes wedges for supper tonight !!!