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

[greentires4me]

I fractured my toe on my left foot I never been in so much pain until now. Geezus...*howls in pain*

I was bored I woke up at 5:30am it was really hot yesterday 31 feels like 33C.




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[Frugalbigmama]

angela -way to go on the free storage unit -a few years back my neighbour gave me a 4 shelf wooden stand (an older one ) so on it goes our used paint on the bottom and laundry detergent and fabric softner ,dryer sheets on the top 3 shelves

so tiring always playing with a 4 year old(for us) she is now playing playdoh with her papa after waking up at 6.50-i am going to mention to my son you don't always have to spend money on kids we took her to 2 splashpads yesterday -free-only mcdonalds cost us 20.79 for the 3 of us but that was a treat

doing laundry early so Ashlyn has no dirty clothing to take home along with my small load

The best days with the kids when they were little were free! My guys loved picnics so we always packed food and drinks so our day wouldn't be interrupted by having to wait in lines etc. To this day I still pack food for road trips/to hockey tournaments etc

[sweet sparrow]

Well, the numbers are in. I calculated how much DH spent on work and how much was returned. He spent well over $20,000 on work expenses but only part of it was reimbursed. In 2017, he lost $8,845.64 to his work that we will never get back. Add in the taxes that he has to pay on this "income" and it's even more. I don't know where it goes or how they calculate it, but not all of his expenses are paid out. The amounts are not itemized and some of the costs are in US funds so they do their own calculations on the exchange rate and don't use our actual numbers. I've given up being angry or emotional about it as it doesn't change a thing. We lose money to his work every year, but the numbers keep growing.

To spend that much money, I figure that could support both of us eating out daily for the year. Maybe. I never eat out so I have no idea. Nearly $9,000 buys a nice vacation though.

I feel quite stuck. DH never has any time at work to calculate where that money goes and when he comes home, he's just exhausted. He's had a horrible time trying to find other (permanent) work, and he's tired of the three hour daily commute, which sucks up even more money. I'm tempted to ask him to quit work and build up his online business, which frankly, I'm not sure is self-sustaining and we're not in a good position with the children being the ages they are.

In other news. My TFSA refund is still not in, but my CCB payment is in my account.

[sweet sparrow]

I fractured my toe on my left foot I never been in so much pain until now. Geezus...*howls in pain*

Sorry to hear it! I've done that before and it's super painful! Hang in there for a few weeks and try not to put pressure on your toes. You'll develop a new walk to compensate these next few days.

After two children, all my physical pain is compared with childbirth. It probably hurt more than DD2's birth, but nowhere near DD1, so I greatly sympathize.

[Angela273]

Tonight’s supper plan is shepherd’s pie with sliced cucumber.

I kept out a package of Johnsonville breakfast sausages to have later in the week with home made waffles and fresh fruit.

[Frugalbigmama]

Came home for lunch and made a BLT. Yum!!!! Wrote out a list of chores for DS. Keeping up on housework tonight so it can be a fun weekend!

[coupon girl]

dropped Ashlyn off at 9.30 stayed to see baby cara 8 months today she is (my daughter-in-law was throwing out 2 old pillows from ashlyn's room -I took them as they are better than the crappy spare room pillows I have )


then drove to rexall 20% off seniors day and got my pills
only spent a bit one good deal was concealor almay brand 15.97-20%=12.77-3.00 cpn=9.77
tresseme hairspray 3.99 plus I had a load and go airmiles offer 6 airmiles


supper tonight chicken breasts ,mashed potatoes and corn on cob

[coupon girl]

today my dear dad has been gone 44 years -yes my dear dad passed when I was 15 years old -much tooo young for a daughter to lose her dad-I remember he always told me "good things come in small pkgs" as I was tiny and "your the apple of my eye" I found a tea towel in indigo after xmas with that saying and I bought it mind you it was 5.00 more than I would pay but just having that saying on it evoked some special feeling in me

[sweet sparrow]

I wandered through Value Village today to see the selection in children's clothing. I was surprised to see items being sold that were so close to being worn out, like shoes that had a thin layer of fabric before showing toes, or stained and worn on the bottoms. I was surprised to see personal items like bathing suits. I was also disappointed to see a lack of selection in leggings and sweat pants. I'm guessing others like them as much as DD1 does.

I'm searching for a backpack for DD1 for senior kindergarten and I'm wondering if it's worth getting the $10 flavour of the month ones from Walmart or the $48 one from MEC that should last longer. I say should, but there's no guarantee with kids....

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
I made Lemon Garlic Quinoa in the Instant Pot last night, it did a nice job on the Quinoa but I need to work on the flavouring. The garlic flavour was not what I wanted but with that being said I ended up using Garlic Powder and Dried Minced Garlic as our fresh Garlic has gone bad. Also it had a hint of Lemon but I think next time I will add more Lemon Juice.

Mom has gone to do the grocery shopping today as she was meeting a friend who likes to tag along with her as she does the shopping. We will see how this goes last I heard they had added more stops as her friend needed to go to Costco. I am hoping she gets the essentials we need as there were a few thing on the list we just needed. This will also mean that I probably need to figure out dinner I was will probably be home before her. I did not really have a plan as I expected her to be home and making dinner tonight.

Hope everyone has a great evening

[SassyAshley]

Oh I forgot to mention for anyone who uses Almond Flour last time I was at Costco I saw they are now selling it.

[coupon girl]

sweet sparrow -I agree with you some of the clothing items at value village or talize -you really have to look them over as I have bought the odd top with pin holes in the front but not noticed as the fabric was dark -as for back packs ,ashlyn's still is good my daughter-in-law said but her two lunch cloth bags were ruined from all the spills of fruit syrup,leftover food Ashlyn would bring home in them or else they stunk as washing them didn't help-lol

is there a once upon a child in your area?? -also I just got a email notice salvation army is 50% off this Friday july 27/18

a little yeah after putting the patio door (partial payment on this months visa ,hubby new muffler and tailpipe,and roof on my visa we have enough points added to our remaining points for a 100.00 petro gift card for gas -so I ordered it today

[Ciel]

I wandered through Value Village today to see the selection in children's clothing. I was surprised to see items being sold that were so close to being worn out, like shoes that had a thin layer of fabric before showing toes, or stained and worn on the bottoms. I was surprised to see personal items like bathing suits. I was also disappointed to see a lack of selection in leggings and sweat pants. I'm guessing others like them as much as DD1 does.

I'm searching for a backpack for DD1 for senior kindergarten and I'm wondering if it's worth getting the $10 flavour of the month ones from Walmart or the $48 one from MEC that should last longer. I say should, but there's no guarantee with kids....

I do hope you'll score a backpack find the next time that Value Village has kids stuff on sale. I personally have admired some Vancouver 2010 one shoulder strap packs in my local store and computer bags or insulated lunch totes with logos on them.

I have to agree on what you said about kids' clothing-I've seen similar wear on some adult clothing on the racks.

MEC is quite a good equipment place but for a young child, maybe something less expensive would be less tempting for other kids to try to take from her. You never know with classmates what they will try to "borrow" or to steal from other students.
I can speak from experience -any $10 backpack special that is not sturdy is not worth buying. I recall my $10 pink backpack with straps that was just nylon and it took only one or two heavy books to rip side seams on said special.

Any chance you might know someone with the Japanese backpacks schoolkids in Japan use?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srf5NEiLi1c

I believe there is a bottom compartment for shoes (indoor) and other useful places. Or I can tell you the Quebec maker of leather diaperbags with a similar design (but in the $200 range) to make your eyebrows go up (though I think they'd make a great commuter bag for adults).

[Ciel]

Value Village offers Club Members 30% off Housewares on Wednesday. If you need a trifle bowl or a piece of china or your chip bowl is no longer useful or you could use some new glasses, then this sale is for you! I have not spotted a chip bowl that would be good for use but I also recall who used our former bowls for snacks and never washed them afterwards (found it odd how hard it is to see those Corning Ware Corelle serving bowls-they are hard to find).

Pantry staples are diminishing and cold produce is the winner so far today (plus a nap or two to deal with heat). I've had a headache since yesterday but late last night and all through the early hours of today, the headache just would not let me rest. Think a food item and the heat combined to KO me. I have not figured out what caused a rash on me-probably something spicy that I did not drink much water with.

Morning laundry was washed and dried to make the most of the winds and Ms. Sunshine. Afternoon rain soothed the plants somewhat but the ground is very dry and MORE rain would help. I did a little flowerbed weeding and trimming (some flower stalks are spent or dried out) just before the rain began.

In the afternoon, I continued work unpicking seams on a lovely polyester floral top that I want to alter. The light is best during the day but I have found I cannot see the stitches well enough at night under my bedroom light to rip them out. Wonder if all the carrot sticks I've had in the past three days might tweak my eyesight a tad better for the rest of the week?

On my Sunday can walk, I found a serviceable small PC grocery tote bag and gave it a wash on Monday. Saved myself $1.12 from spending cash on a new bag.

Sibling is away for a few days and I have some notions how things ought to be arranged in the basement. I'd like to see more walls and less stacks of stuff. I have to be subtle so Mom and Dad don't get mad as usual. They gave me heck for the old rack takedowns of last year (but I did a great job opening up space).

Given the rain tonight, a clear bubble type umbrella seems like a great idea. My umbrella is white with different widths of blue stripes but as a wider umbrella, more of me is kept dry!

Have a marvellous evening, SCers!

[lilo0003]

@Sweets parrow I found when the kids are smaller it's harder to buy a decent backpack because the bag is to big. By the time to boys were in grade 3 they could manage a larger bag. The older one is 18 and has used the same bag for 7 yrs. it's to Swiss army from Costco. The younger one is on year 4 with a Jansport badge and they have a lifetime warranty. So far we have not had to try that out. Both carry laptops most days.
Do you have any local Facebook buy and sell groups. I often see moms selling clothes by the bagful and it looks to be decently priced.