April 2018 Frugal Chatter Thread (is it spring yet)

[Angela273]

Last night’s supper was Hamburger Helper lasagne and boiled mixed veggies.
Tonight’s supper will be roast pork with yellow onion, steamed fresh cauliflower, pan fried perogies, sour cream, and unsweetened apple sauce.
I have 3 bread pans, so I pulled enough banana from the freezer to be able to bake 3 loaves of banana bread. One to eat and two to slice and freezer for the Kindergarten snacks.

If Dh is home from work before 5pm today, then I want to run to the post office to mail pictures to MIL.
I also need to drop off soccer registration forms for our twins, hopefully they still have room in their young age group.
Today is 10% off Tuesday at Sobeys. They have cheese on sale for $3.99 for 400-450g blocks (max 4), need 2 jugs of milk, might get some Highliner fish sticks, etc. Doesn’t take much to spend $50 on groceries.

[coupon girl]

Yesterday walked 80 minutes in my daughter's neighbourhood (pushing Sebastian in his stoller)-found a mcdonalds sticker also -but today I have pain at the back of my knee ,could be my arthritis acting up so I am applying heat and cold ahh the joys of getting older
I did make homemade turkey soup this morning have 3 containers for the freezer ,ate a bowl at lunch -yummm
-supper tonight fish /French fries and squash

[Ciel]

Welcome back, everyone! I felt like I was a little adrift (no Internet for two days and sibling was not helpful when I asked him to look up ONE thing-he said no) so I made a point to take walks. Baked banana oatmeal cookies after starting laundry at 6:30am (could not go back to sleep in early morning) yesterday and headed out to Walmart for baking supplies. Popped into McDonald's for cookies only so I could read the two papers. Found a dime on walk two as I had a card to put into the mailbox. Bought a lovely spiral bound address book ($3.99) at Value Village in the hopes that Mom will transition her listings from the almost 20yr address book full of too many ink colours and listing changes (I started transferring some addresses to get the project going). I had not fallen in love with the inexpensive dollar store version of the address book and my used buy only had one page written upon-the rest of the book was in great shape and with lined pages waiting for addresses and numbers. Will admit to a McDonald's buy 1 sandwich with a side item and get 2nd sandwich free meal deal was last night's dinner before my milk and hydrangea run at Longos (such pretty blooms in a pot! Needed some fresh flower energy in the house.)
@Natalka & @Angela 273 -parts of Ontario (central and eastern regions) has snow or will soon today and Southern Ontario might see flurries if not tomorrow then by Friday. Which would be fine if it's Friday-I expect to feed soil to the flowerbeds on Thursday. Not looking forward to high winds tonight-really don't want another rake and pick up branches sessions to fill a green cart. Have Easter baking on my mind instead.
@cath007 -super that you pulled out the remaining March coupons. I have to try to check coupons after I check flyers here or at home, so that I don't find a missed deal after a coupon expires.

[cath007]

Happy that I got my trade today

[sweet sparrow]

I must keep an eye out for diaper coupons as DD2 is very rarely wearing cloth diapers now that she's in daycare. She's impossible to hold down for diaper changes as she only wants to run. The $10 diaper coupons disappeared from the coupon boards early on.

I found a dime at the playground with DD1 while DD2 stayed home with DH for a nap on Sunday.

Today, I found that my dental coverage starts in full at the beginning of the year. If I haven't gone to the dentist yet, it would be the perfect time for my plan to cover the work for my crown. It will still only cover half, so I will have to see if DH's plan covers any.

[Angela273]

My new regular drop-in Daycare girl is coming tomorrow. She still hasn’t settled in yet, so I’m expecting it to be a long day. Still gives me a little extra money. Her mom wants her to come 1 or more days per week, but she doesn’t want a contracted spot...but it works for everyone right now. Like I said, extra money and flexible days.

[coupon girl]

Morning -very windy here this morning -so my leg feels better today ,so when hubby comes in this morning out I go

[Arjon]

I hope to see the 1,50$ off coupons for Oasis orange juice on allens cans appear soon

I used quite a few of all 3 Oasis coupons last year, so I'd very much like to see them again in 2018 too. Was last year the first time that Allens had on-pack Oasis coupons, or were similar coupons also available in previous years?

[sweet sparrow]

I heard on the radio that we are getting 90 km/hr winds today. The clouds were zooming by as I was driving into work. DD1 and I raced to her school to see if we could get her hat blown off. I hope people in parking lots hold on to their doors today. The wind is surprisingly strong.

I will be working on using up my PC points balance and the FreshCo gift card I bought for the Air Miles promotion for this month. I feel much safer when the balance is lower or I've used up all the points. There's too much loss and theft these days.

In January I used up $50 in points, February $110, and March was a grand total of $220. It's not all free money though, as I know some things were purchased with the points discount in mind. I knew if I was buying a $25 item with 5000 points, I set out to buy that "$20" item, or if there was another rebate, etc. While $370 in savings looks nice on paper, I wonder how much of it is really extra money! I didn't subtract the points from the grocery bill as they were accumulated, so the real out of pocket was $223.38/month from January - March.

I know that the food wastage has been absolutely dismal lately. Sometimes things get so busy with the little ones, family visits, etc. that there is no time to deal with high maintenance fruit and foods that they just get tossed. I've tossed at least three bananas, a basket of kiwis, two cantaloupes, and lots of dairy. DD2 still has not taken to her 3.25% milk and bottles of it get dumped from the refrigerator. Thank goodness her big sister is doing her part in it's consumption.

We bought new wiper blades for the car and it's amazing the difference good wiper blades are. I think I have a defective one though. The one on my drivers side has a rubber nub that leaves a ribbon of water right in the middle of my field of vision. If DH hasn't recycled the package, I wonder if I can ask if there's a guarantee. My sister bought it from Costco and her DH doesn't return anything ever. I'm stuck with them.
4506445241764297
New bathroom fans are definitely in order. We're working towards a bathroom renovation in the front washroom and I'll be slowly picking up the pieces as we find out what we need. I'll be calling a few places for suggestions and quotes now that I know the brand and size I'm looking for. Toilets will be next!

Oil change is next and will be pricey. The old owner always used synthetic so I know the charge will be around $70. Speaking of cars, I think I'd better get that plate sticker put on this week before I forget or it gets lost.

[Frugalbigmama]

Happy Hump Day! Glad to be at work today then running around in this crappy weather.
Master bedroom is looking so much better! Cleaned piles of crap and dresser tops etc. Finally pulled the Christmas gifts from the closet and put them in a Rubbermaid bin. Found 2 birthday gifts for my niece that I forgot I had bought so I have 4 things for her so far!
Did lots of laundry and the last load is in the dryer that I will put away tonight. I will put a load on tomorrow night to keep up on it. I'm done with having to do so much at a time to keep up. I'm thinking doing it every other night as needed will let me follow thru to put away without feeling overwhelmed. And then can do bedding on the weekend etc.
Tonight I need to cook up some food and make Tupperware containers for the oldest for his work dinner. Think I will go and see what fresh meat I can find on clearance today and then cook that up tonight.
Had a plumbing issue (3 actually) and am paying for service with homemade chili and pasta sauce! So I will be cooking that up tomorrow night since I need diced tomatoes and they are on sale at Food Basics tomorrow (good timing! didn't realize I only had one can left- Which is fine since I was trying to use up things so all good)
Stay safe today and the next few days with this crazy weather we are getting

[Frugalbigmama]

I heard on the radio that we are getting 90 km/hr winds today. The clouds were zooming by as I was driving into work. DD1 and I raced to her school to see if we could get her hat blown off. I hope people in parking lots hold on to their doors today. The wind is surprisingly strong.

I will be working on using up my PC points balance and the FreshCo gift card I bought for the Air Miles promotion for this month. I feel much safer when the balance is lower or I've used up all the points. There's too much loss and theft these days.

In January I used up $50 in points, February $110, and March was a grand total of $220. It's not all free money though, as I know some things were purchased with the points discount in mind. I knew if I was buying a $25 item with 5000 points, I set out to buy that "$20" item, or if there was another rebate, etc. While $370 in savings looks nice on paper, I wonder how much of it is really extra money! I didn't subtract the points from the grocery bill as they were accumulated, so the real out of pocket was $223.38/month from January - March.

I know that the food wastage has been absolutely dismal lately. Sometimes things get so busy with the little ones, family visits, etc. that there is no time to deal with high maintenance fruit and foods that they just get tossed. I've tossed at least three bananas, a basket of kiwis, two cantaloupes, and lots of dairy. DD2 still has not taken to her 3.25% milk and bottles of it get dumped from the refrigerator. Thank goodness her big sister is doing her part in it's consumption.

We bought new wiper blades for the car and it's amazing the difference good wiper blades are. I think I have a defective one though. The one on my drivers side has a rubber nub that leaves a ribbon of water right in the middle of my field of vision. If DH hasn't recycled the package, I wonder if I can ask if there's a guarantee. My sister bought it from Costco and her DH doesn't return anything ever. I'm stuck with them.
4506445241764297
New bathroom fans are definitely in order. We're working towards a bathroom renovation in the front washroom and I'll be slowly picking up the pieces as we find out what we need. I'll be calling a few places for suggestions and quotes now that I know the brand and size I'm looking for. Toilets will be next!

Oil change is next and will be pricey. The old owner always used synthetic so I know the charge will be around $70. Speaking of cars, I think I'd better get that plate sticker put on this week before I forget or it gets lost.

The last 2 cantaloupes I have bought I have ended up throwing out! They are nice and hard and then when I go to cut them up they are a mushy mess. Guess I wait to long!!

[sweet sparrow]

The last 2 cantaloupes I have bought I have ended up throwing out! They are nice and hard and then when I go to cut them up they are a mushy mess. Guess I wait to long!!

@Frugalbigmama : I find it's been hit or miss with cantaloupes lately. The small ones I've been buying from No Frills, Walmart, and RCSS have been either in poor shape when I bought them, or I cut them up thinking they'll go bad within a few days if I don't, have been absolutely tasteless. The one I bought at Metro, which was bigger and pricier, turned out to be sweet and juicy. I have one more to cut up tonight. I can't let this one go to waste. It was almost triple the cost of the others and so yummy!

[cath007]

Yes very windy,we have snow and frozen rain too in qc.

[Frugalbigmama]

@Frugalbigmama: I find it's been hit or miss with cantaloupes lately. The small ones I've been buying from No Frills, Walmart, and RCSS have been either in poor shape when I bought them, or I cut them up thinking they'll go bad within a few days if I don't, have been absolutely tasteless. The one I bought at Metro, which was bigger and pricier, turned out to be sweet and juicy. I have one more to cut up tonight. I can't let this one go to waste. It was almost triple the cost of the others and so yummy!

My co-worker just told me that our RCSS has Honeymelon on for $1 and they were really nice so will go grab one tonight! And cut it up for snacks at work for the rest of the week.

[Angela273]

My work day has changed. My youngest daycare girl is coming later this morning because her mom’s workout class was cancelled. My drop-in daycare girl is sick, so she won’t be coming. She’ll be back again next week. Both of my twins agreed to wear underwear this mirning, no pull-ups. We’ll see how this goes.