January 2020 Frugal Chatter

[Ciel]

Via e-mail-Salvation Army thrift stores will have a flash sale-50% off jeans and sweaters tomorrow.

Mission Thrift Stores have the $1 clothing sale and children 0-6x clothing is 0.50 tomorrow. Don't forget to give your e-mail address and phone number for their points program 1 pt per $1 spent. Got a 10% off next purchase coupon to use by Feb. 5 as result of yesterday's visit to the Hamilton store. Did not get clothing but other finds!

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! Sunny but cold day here today.

I'm killing it at work. This is usually a very stressful time for me at work but for some reason all is awesome! Hope it stays this way. We leave for vacation in 20/21 days so I am making sure to keep on top of everything so I can go with no worries.

New flyers start today and lots of fresh items I want.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I did it, we went grocery shopping last night, not as bad as I expected we only spent $50 which is good. But tension are rising at home as now Mom is getting really annoyed with me freaking out over money.

I have told her all of the stress and anxiety is bringing back all of the stuff that happened when I was a teenager, I am super stressed about money and cannot help it, like mentally I just feel like we need to spend no money. My OCD are seriously back, I have not washed the skin off my hands yet but we may still get there not to mention if I could I would literally shower multiple times a day. So she is frustrated with me and keep telling me to stop. It is like okay do you not remember from the first time we did this, I know I am being irrational but I cannot help it and telling me I am being irrational actually only makes it worse.

Literally I am in a losing battle because I fighting with myself and I know this but I am not going to the doctor as the meds scare me more than just living like this right now. My hope is sometime soon it gets better but who knows as this whole situation is out of our hands. For now, I am trying to keep to myself and limit interaction with others which was working until now I have had to set up a bunch of training session so now I have to let people in my safety zone of being alone in my office.

The good news is I am doing well with eating, I have actually been eating 3 meals a day plus a couple snacks so that makes me happy.

I have to figure out a plan for the weekend, I got nothing done other than grocery shopping last night as I got a wicked headache and ended up falling asleep on the love seat last night. I need to get more cleaning done plus I need to get some cooking done but I feel like I am in a catch 22 as I need to meal prep to keep on track but since I am trying to limit our groceries so I am torn about using things.

Alright well back to work I have a training session in 10 minutes so I better get set up. Have a wonderful day everyone.

[Ciel]

Tim Horton's coupons from a recent mailer are making their treats affordable. The 10 pk Timbits for $1 off saved me $1.39 yesterday and today's half dozen classic or specialty donuts coupon for $3.49 saved another $2.50. No, the Dream Donuts are not eligible for the coupon--I too was eyeing the Chocolate Truffle coupon but picked three other donuts instead.

This week, each day has its share of sandbagging stress that puts me sideways and peaks my anxiety level. Donuts to the rescue today (last night I dearly wanted 4L of cola but did not have anything on hand beyond juice and beer). I'll run the Good Times opening theme song video later--need to bop to those lyrics to help shake off.

[coupon girl]

Morning -popped over to shoppers did the 20% seniors discount plus a 10.00 promp card for theis month .Ineeded my dry mouth xylimelts ,biotene spray and nasal spray plus a few other items and the meds hardley go on sale

The hand sanitizer was cleared off the shelf -people must be on high alert .I did buy 2 small peach scented purse ones 3.79-20%=3.03 as going to Toronto on Friday for 2 days ,so I know hubby will want to put it on if he is touching a bunch of handles etc when we take Sebastian out to his gymnastics and out for supper.

[Ciel]

The Life Brand hand sanitizer pump makes a good buy to refill a travel size bottle for coat pocket carrying. I sometimes buy the Purell original sanitizer but the Life Brand bottle seems to be bigger. Or else I pay the $1.99 or $2.xx+ for a new travel size bottle!

Given that I was shocked at seeing how much one LED bulb to replace a 100W incandescent bulb is ($8.99-shriek!) at Fortinos, I'm waiting for next Tuesday's possible 20% off Friends and Family deal at Shoppers (coupon will be posted on the SC blog by one of the regular contributors) because I'll head to a certain larger Shoppers to check out household goods and food items. There was one of the LED bulbs (99 cent) that my brother had and I installed it last summer in the dining room and so much for getting 3-5 yrs' worth of use--so glad I had bought one of the last incandescent bulb packs at my grocery store a couple of years ago. Feels much better with visible yellow light, not the cold fridge light effect of the LED bulb!

[Frugalbigmama]

Went to Food Basics and Giant Tiger then dropped it off at home. I used change to pay for it all.
$3.97 4L milk
$2.50 3Lb apples
.99 English muffins
1.97 Spinach and a Dill dip (for Superbowl party we are attending Sunday)
.99 bagels x 2
.99 peanuts
3.99 chicken balls (for the teen)
Something else but I can't remember.

[Frugalbigmama]

I just ordered a $5 produce box from my RCSS with Flashfood. It has tons of peppers, clemintines, kiwi's and apples. We are set till Tuesday!

I have a ripe pineapple to cut up so I will make a nice fruit salad for everyone for lunch tomorrow.

[Miss Molly]

I just ordered a $5 produce box from my RCSS with Flashfood. It has tons of peppers, clemintines, kiwi's and apples. We are set till Tuesday!

I have a ripe pineapple to cut up so I will make a nice fruit salad for everyone for lunch tomorrow.

My Flash Food at Loblaws in East York is finally kicking things up a notch, including fruits and veggies as well as salads. Love it!

[Frugalbigmama]

My Flash Food at Loblaws in East York is finally kicking things up a notch, including fruits and veggies as well as salads. Love it!

This is only my 2nd purchase and I love it too! We are still working on the 1st box but for that price and I wanted peppers so the rest is just a bonus! Vegan chilli making tonight!

[coupon girl]

I just got an email from rexall ,they are opting out of airmiles as of may1/2020,its getting harder to get the miles .Good thing sobeys is 10 minutes away from me.

Walkonby posted about it also under rants

[Giseledta]

Sassy = please take care of yourself.


ok. did not work on teh family room. did pick up dog poop outside... monday they are saying 5 above...

killer headache.
waiting on all teh first of the month stuff to happen.. then move money around.
this will be alow.. low gr shop weekend. i really dont need alot and really want to use up stuff...

any ideas for cream cheese.. i seem to have a bit...

[Granger]

@SassyAshley I am taking an antidepressant for migraines. I can't believe how much anxiety I was living with. My only regret? Not starting them sooner. There is of course a LONG story to this as I believe my migraines were triggered by a type of "PTSD" in combination with going off of birth control (hormonal changes). Everyone has to find their own healing, but I am so happy I tried medication after almost half a year of suffering.

In today's news of income less than the budget...

Good news!

$25 Indigo Gift Card (gift from a student who was moving)
$25 Giant Tiger Gift Card (cashed in VISA rewards, will use on groceries)
$200 Costco reward check (we will stock up on groceries)
$100 Foodland gift card (thanks mom, she knew the upcoming strike days would hurt the budget with hubby not working / our furnace and fridge fiasco)
$130 Check from the YMCA (we cancelled our membership for Dec, and were still charged. The refund was a surprise. I thought they would just cancel moving forward and was pleasantly surprised, and it should have been refunded).

So that is $450+ dollars I didn't have yesterday!

Happy dance. AND, my colleague gave me an Iced Capp coupon for $2 Iced Capp! My fav.

[lilo0003]

@Granger how nice to have the extra cushion. We have had 3 bought of unemployment in our marriage and I know how stressful it is. I feel bad for the teachers and people with little kids. My younger son is 16 so I can leave for work with out a care in the world. It would not have been the case 10 yrs ago.
Today I picked up a rotisserie chicken from Flashfood. It made for an easy dinner and the bones will be used to make broth. We used the insta pot to do it recently and it was so easy and yummy. So that’s the plan going forward.

[Giseledta]

the strike is ... mind numbing. i am consistantly getting calls for temp care. and legally cannot go over my numbers. however i know of lots of providers who are. and lots of small groups who are charging a insane amount for care .
our area we have tuesday for public, catholic and high school, and thursday for elementary.


ok. today. i am taking my kids on our daily walk. this group seems to dislike winter intensly. lol.
i am waiting on a phone call or 2 today.
but it should be a good. day

i got a total of 90.00 in sb money for the month. little slow , but still very decent.
my grocery budget was a bit high, but we had 3 sick people. so there were a few emergency runs to the expensive grocery store. totally dont regret it. we needed items i usually dont stock in the house... also i bought several items for my mom for during her pacemaker.

all in all . i am pretty happy to see the backside of the month.