July 2018 Frugal Chatter thread (2nd half of 2018 and summer!)

The Thursday nights rains were a little funny. Light rain before 5:30 pm for about 10min then another longer rain around 9pm. There was random thunder but I don't recall seeing lightning.
Appreciated the chilly Friday morning! Stayed at home but I really should have done a walk. I was going through my page clippings and recycling the new First for Women issue (July 23, 2018 cover date) and I remembered to bring some recipes and tips for today!

Under the Summer Confidence article this year, the chafing tip recommends using spray-on deodorant on thighs (such as Dove Nourished Beauty Dry Spray). Last year, the same article suggested Vitamin E capsule oil mixed with petroleum jelly and applied and allowed to dry 5min or using original Chapstick as an on-the-go chafing remedy.

Slicing watermelon without the mess: place your cutting board inside a rimmed baking sheet (to contain liquid) and cut the watermelon as usual (I personally think this would be great for outdoor slicing but indoors, it means one more thing to wash).

Quick peach turnovers recipe: Heat oven to 375F. Cut 2 puff pastry sheets into 4 rectangles each. Spread each rectangle with 1 tbsp. prepared caramel sauce. Peal and dice 2 peaches; spread fruit over half of pastry. Fold pastries over peaches; seal edges. Bake 15 min. *Updated July 8*

Marlee Maitlin tips-her coping mechanism is chocolate (milk chocolate and caramel). She balances the good with the guilty pleasures by always having a bowl of fresh fruit and some almonds in her kitchen, along with the candy bowl for guests and her kids' friends.

Keep chalk from fading on menus-to prevent smuding spray an even layer of aerosol hairspray over the words, holding the can 10 inches away. As the spray dries the words will reappear (the chalk seems to disappear under wet spray). To erase, wipe the board with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol.

In-a-pinch fix for a small tear in a window screen-push the broken or frayed pieces of the screen flat, then apply a thick coat of clear nail polish over all over both sides of the tear. Once the polish dries, it will harden, acting as a temporary sealant until you can make a more permanent fix.

10 brilliant uses for salt:
1) de-puff tired eyes in a blink (puffy eyes): fill a cup with 16 oz of warm water and 1 tsp of salt, dip two cotton balls in the solution, then lay your head back, close your eyes and place the cotton balls over your eyelids for 5 minutes. The warm water will open the pores around your eyes so the salt can draw out the excess fluid, reducing swelling.
2) remove food odors from skin: wet your hands then sprinkle a generous amount of salt on your palms. Rub the salt all over your hands for a minute, then rinse clean. The coarse salt will scrub away lingering food particles causing the odor.
3) ease the itch of bug bits-combine salt with enough water to make a paste, then dab all over the bites (I've posted the toothpaste tip as a bug bite remedy on the go-leave it on for a day before washing it off).
4) lift stubborn sweat stains-have a t-shirt with yellow perspiration marks? Dilute 4 tbsp of salt in a 1 quart of hot water then dip a washcloth in the liquid and gently scrub the spots until they disappear. Launder as usual.
5)keep stovetop spills from hardening-immediately sprinkle salt on the spill to soak up the liquid so you can wipe up the mess.
6) Outsmart a flea infestation in a carpet-sprinkle salt liberally over it and let sit overnight, then vacuum thoroughly in the morning. Empty the canister in the outside garbage. The salt acts as a dehydrating agent to kill fleas and their eggs. (When this tip appeared in the Pets page, the carpet salt/vacuum tip was suggested 3 x in a week to ensure critters and eggs were gone for good.)
7)unclog a drain naturally-mix 2 tbsp of salt with 2 cups of club soda and pour down the drain. After a minute, follow with hot tap water. The abrasive salt and carbonation will dissolve the blockage and the hot water washes away any lingering grime.
8)extend the life of a toothbrush-before using a new toothbrush, add equal amounts of hot water and salt to a small bowl or cup and place the brush inside so the bristles are fully submerged in the water. Soak for 10-15 minutes, then rinse with clean water. The saltwater solution will stiffen the bristles to ward off fraying.
9)moisturize dry, flaky skin-DIY face mask: mix 1/4 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of olive oil to form a paste, then use your fingers to apply to skin in a circular motion. Leave in place for 5 minutes, then wash off. The salt buffs away dead skin while the olive oil moisturizes.
10)deordorize stinky sneakers-pour 2 tbsp. of salt into a paper coffee filter; tie closed with a rubber band. Repeat with another filter and place one sachet in each shoe. Let sit overnight. The salt granules will soak up odor-causing moisture, banishing the smell.

From a health question-a reader of FFW wrote to the doctors about her high vegetable diet causing her to gain weight after three months and wondering why that happened. They wrote it's due to lectins, highly inflammatory proteins which can disrupt cellular communication, impair blood-sugar control and switch on fat storage genes. Their tip is for the reader to peel and deseed vegetables (such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers and squash derived from genetically modified seeds) before consuming them. The step removes the most concentrated sources of lectins to reduce exposure.

I have debating posting this or not posting this as I kind of feel like I sound like a broken record but with that being said I am proud of myself and am going to share.

I decided a few weeks ago that I need to cut back at work and I have to make this a priority in my life. I was so emotionally and physically drained and my body was not holding up well. I have been getting sick really easily (which is not me at all) and even when I am not sick I have not been feeling well and I saw that I needed to make a change or pay the price. I also saw with my boss leaving now was the time.

I have been working on and I will admit struggling the last few weeks to only work at work. Now I realize at times things will happen like this week I had to do an update well everyone was logged out so I did it at night but I only did that and no other work. I am also working weekend as our weekend project needed to be completed but I am only doing what needs to be done and nothing else. I will admit I was temped since I needed to work anyways to pull other things out and work at them but had to tell myself nope it is the weekend yes you have to work but not the whole weekend.

I won't lie it has been a struggle as I am my own worst critic, I always feel I can do more or I should done more. I see how important this is and I am not going to back down, I have to do this for me. So now I working at not working which I know to most sounds odd but for me it is work. My natural tendency is to work but I need to break habit. So this is what I am working on now, I am working on not working outside of work.

Ashley, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, you have to look after yourself first.

yes Ashley- take care of your yourself first

my dear daughter had a learning curve to figure out with this new job -as she was in a different but similar line of work ,she is getting it she has been there 3 months now -but the other night she told me she went home and cried (I told her nothing is wrong with that )her hubby has been so helpful with Sebastian dropping him off at daycare and picking him up most days
and sassy sometimes her work goes in to evening t home when she was here last weekend she sent a few emails in the morning also -she has to have a work life balance -this weekend she has gone away to a 3 day get away in Ontario with hubby;s family so that in itself should be nice for her

well gotta go reading a great novel

@SassyAshley that is a good choice to make. Your health is important. I had noticed in your posts and I certainly support uypur decision. I have an uncle that is a workaholic and he has often done computer work for work, but off the pay clock.

Work / life balance is one of the hardest things to achieve I find. hugs.



today is my anniversary. 18 years. I am not sure of what we will b doing. prob just relaxing. Might do a movie.. prob do a dinner somewhere. ... just not sure.... have a good one everyone

Happy Anniversary Giseledta

@Giseledta

Congrats on your anniversary!
Wishing you many more years of love and joy! :rose:

Thanks guys!!!

I think I may have just fixed my dishwasher..... omg. I ran a clean cycle. and now running a load with dishes. I will be honest and say this is exciting for me .

also .. played with the new vacume. Shark rocks. no more cheap vacumes for me. I am just simply impressed . and a tad icked out on how bad our old vacuum did. granted .. this one is currently on sale for 179 via amazon. so not a horrible price.

Happy anniversary @Giseledta ! Lovely day to enjoy outside if you can with treats and fun. 18th anniversary gift is porcelain-anything you'd like in porcelain?

My weekend indulgence is watching episodes of Season 7 of Gilmore Girls. About half-way through the set and have Season 5 waiting at the library.
Just going to quickly skim read the rest of Metabolism Revolution and return the e-book. The author has three meal plans based on one's MIS score and she does not say what becomes of people who score between 6-7 or 9-10. However, she does write some interesting stuff about how to lose weight, how to calculate one's min and max weight and which foods are not in her plans. There are menus and charts too in the book plus recipes. Think batch cooking to have meals for the week--that is basically the idea to help people have meals ready for when they need them in their lives.

I found a few ripe mulberries on the one tree on my walk today-most of the fruit has fallen or new fruit is still quite white/red. If you have trees in your area, you need to enjoy the juicy/tart fruit now while a few days remain. The heat has been steady and the fruit turns very quickly once picked. Don't miss this free fruit experience!

Dinner will involve cooked rice (last night it had the tomato paste, chili pepper flakes and frozen green peas plus salt) and salad tonight. I missed a chance to have a slice of pizza last night after my rice dinner. I have been thinking about Harvey's 2 for $6 original burger offer but there is no budget for such juicy eating right now.

I noticed a house in my neighbourhood is sold within 3 weeks while around the corner from that property, another listing is marking 3 months on the market. Hmm...both were built nearly the same time.

giseledta-happy 18th anniversary-have a great day enjoy

-went to hidden treasure this morning -spent 19. something got a dishcloth1.00,fitted double sheet 9.00 they seem to have put the price up from a few months ago as I paid 7.00 for a queen -oh well still needed ,underwear that is too small for me I will give to my sister-in-law plus a few other small items oh and huggies wipes 184 for 5.54 I think

Did any SCers attend the Linen Chest store opening in Rockland QC yesterday and see Ricardo during his noon hour appearance?
There's a Facebook post about the new store on the corporate page: https://www.facebook.com/linenchest/...type=3&theater

Yesterday we took our kids to a free plane event at the local airport. They are too young to go for a free ride, but we watched serial small planes take off and land. They were given their own small foam planes to take home. They were also able to check out various parked planes. I wasn’t impressed when I found a wood tick crawling on my bare leg. Yuck!

Dh had a code for a free car wash. We used it on my van and saved $16. It looks good again.

Today I learned that Humpty’s has changed some of their promotions and have now added an app. You receive 1pt per $1 spent before taxes. You answer a couple of short questions and take a pic of your receipt. You receive $10 for every 100pts.
Dint forget to submit any coffee or resterant receipts to the Na My Eatd app. You can earn $1 Amazon.ca e-gc per 3 receipts, max of $5 per month.

I picked up ankther adult bike bike for free today. Dh will see if he can make a usable bike with the parts from 2 free project bikes that we have picked up this year.

We plan on taking our kids to the free splash park after they’re done their nap.