January 2020 Frugal Chatter

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Thank you for the kind words, I was going to make a second post but got distracted, seems to be a common factor in my life right now. I feel extremely scattered and unfocused lately.

I did have a few good days but then yesterday was a bad day.

I guess the one good thing is I have been focusing on cleaning. I am stuck in a mental catch 22 right now, I knew it would be impossible to clean my house from top to bottom in 2 weeks but for some reason as it gets closer to going back to work I really feel like I have not gotten enough done. I knew it would be impossible to get everything done but I think deep down I thought well maybe just maybe I can. With that being said I did get a good start on it and my plan once back to work is make sure every night I either tackle a space/area of the house or make sure I do at least 30 minutes of cleaning. This is the year I get control of my house.

With that being said I am ignoring the guest room and basement. Ignoring the basement is hard as so much of what we have on the main floor needs to go to the basement but well the basement brings on it's own challenges like the fact we had mice. We have 3 rooms in our basement one has been cleaned from top to bottom, the other two areas have been done but now we need to go in and do the rest. I am not sure I am up to tackling that one by myself.

There have been some struggles in cleaning mostly Mom's willingness to get rid of things. We talk about it and she is all like yes we need to get rid of stuff, we have too much stuff but then when it comes down to it, she is struggling to let go. I was cleaning the dinning room the other day and pretty much everything I said I was going to sell or get rid of the answer back was I do not have a use for it right now but maybe we will find one. As well for me it is just over coming the sheer scope of everything that needs to be done, it is really causing me some anxiety as it is so overwhelming.

With that being said we are making progress only thing is keeping the progress. We cleaned up one area, found the floor (I know normal for most people, not us) but now slowly Mom keeps moving things to this area and keeps saying "just for now." As well I dug out a broken arm chair we have in our living room that I need bro go come move out as I cannot lift and slowly over the last week more and more has been moved to the chair, I keep going and digging it back out but again in a couple days there will be more stuff there. I am trying to stay positive I am making progress but some days are hard when Mom wants this but at the same time it is almost like she feels like her stuff is okay because it has a purpose, does that make sense? probably not but I do not know how to better explain it.

We both craft, I crochet and she makes journals and jewelry and right now all of our supplies are in the living room she keeps pointing out my crochet stuff and that it needs to go. But she has literally taken over the whole couch and floor around the couch with her stuff as well she is now storing stuff under my table as she ran out of room but to her, her stuff needs to be here so she can keep working but mine needs to find a new home. It is just frustrating as I know I need to move my stuff but I just wish she was a bit more on board as right now I feel a bit like a dog chasing it's tail.

Alright well today I tackle the top of the basement stairs. Have a wonderful day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good morning! I better get rolling. Will make an egg mcmuffin then go out to do some running around.

[Frugalbigmama]

Breakfast is done and kitchen is clean. Off to get some fresh air!

[Granger]

. today frugal .. orgaising coupons. might call a few places as well for some. however i am a wuss and my ansixity get the best of me .. email is better. not as .. productive.. but better mental health wise.

No coupon is worth anxiety. If you don't get the coupons you have to call for, who cares?

I guess the one good thing is I have been focusing on cleaning. I am stuck in a mental catch 22 right now, I knew it would be impossible to clean my house from top to bottom in 2 weeks but for some reason as it gets closer to going back to work I really feel like I have not gotten enough done. I knew it would be impossible to get everything done but I think deep down I thought well maybe just maybe I can. With that being said I did get a good start on it and my plan once back to work is make sure every night I either tackle a space/area of the house or make sure I do at least 30 minutes of cleaning. This is the year I get control of my house.

I struggle with completion anxiety and often find myself in the same pickle. I will set a goal and then get 1/4 of what I wanted done. Again, your mental wellness is more important. Set realistic expectations and remember you cannot control your mom. I hope you find time to rest and can set some healthy boundaries this year.

Breakfast is done and kitchen is clean. Off to get some fresh air!

Yes, let's all get some fresh air or do something we love or be with someone we love.

***

Sorry if I sound like a know it all. I have had anxiety and sometimes I need someone to tell me it is okay to let a "thought" be a thought and not a "have to" (like cleaning my whole house or not doing something I "should" be able to do like make a call). You are loved and valued as you are, whether your home is cluttered, or making calls gives you stress.

My friend's husband is in critical condition (I am trying to be hopeful but the text I got this morning was grim). I am feeling the weight of this. If anyone has advice on reaching out to someone who has lost a husband, I am open. Last week I went over and helped her sister with the kids for a day and brought some groceries and a gift card to Wal-Mart while she was at the hospital. I know grief is not a one-size fits all. I feel I am in a position to be there and want to do so respectfully, so advice welcome. Her situation is unique and I won't get into detail but it involves foster children and an adoption plan, so right now only her sister and parents can babysit for them. Thanks friends. And hugs to you all for all the things life throws your way. And, if you are the praying type, please pray.

[coupon girl]

sassy -hope this year will be better for you,one day at a time

granger -how nice of you to help out with the giftcard and groceries etc .Grief is hard and there is no set rules -my dear son-in-law lost his mom this past summer suddenly. My daughter said at first he was angry ,shocked and now at xmas he was sad -a whole range of emotions.My dear grandson who is 3 years and 3 months says"daddy sad nonna is up in the sky " so I try to give my son-in-law that extra big hug at xmas and some of his favorite things ,its so hard .

[coupon girl]

yippee went and got a huge amount of groceries lots of veggies and fruit also $123.00 at no frills nope I used 60.00 in p.c points and paid 63.44 nice as my credit card will be coming in soon from xmas

I got my dyson today -wow does it really work great and free from airmiles (not really I can imagine what I spent over the years )its a corded slim ball one .This took me about 6 years of saving and I only upped the game the past 2 years since sobeys moved into my neighbourhood

[SassyAshley]

Thank you all for the kind words.

I have actually gotten more done than I realistic expected too which is good but I find for me I am one of those you can always do more. It is like a weird game I play with myself internally. I will write myself a to do list and even if I have 5 things on my list and get all 5 done than it becomes a game of how many more things can I get done. Then I constantly try to one up myself if I had 5 things on my to do list, got 7 done then the next night I start with my 5 things but now I need to top the 7 things I got done the night before so I am aim for 10 things.

Yes I struggle with not doing anything. I can admit it, I get so run down between work and home but I find it next to impossible to not do anything. No matter how badly I want/need a weekend off I feel guilty if I take that weekend off. I feel like I always need to be on the go and if I am not there is something I am not getting done.

All and all at the end of the day we are our own worst enemies because the person we judge the most is ourselves. The issue is how do you stop it, I mean I realize I do it, I thought I was in a good place but all of a sudden the holiday season started and it just felt like the world was crashing down on me and I started to feel like I was not good enough. For me, it was everything, how do I cover Christmas $$$ wise, then when I did cover Christmas I felt guilty for the money I spent and started freaking out over how much was spent. Then again another Holiday was upon us and the house is still a mess so I took on the house, but than I started to feel bad because if I had not of been stubborn and tried to stand my ground with Mom and get her to help I could have had this done a long time ago. There is always something and like I said to my family at Christmas our biggest issue is not many people talk about the bad. I admit so much of what I say on here I would never say to anyone to someone I work with. Just saying.

[SassyAshley]

Time to share something completely different.

A little late but oh well.

So I am always responsible for taking dessert to Dad's for Christmas Eve and I will admit over the last few years I have been scaling back a bit but then this year came. Did I over do it? Nope, instead with everything going on I completely forgot to plan dessert.

On the Sunday before Christmas I made sure everything as ready to go, presents were wrapped, everything was packed. Then I woke up Monday morning thinking I am missing something I need to take to Dad's tomorrow (we celebrate Christmas Eve, which was the Tuesday), then it hit me, I had nothing planned for dessert.

I had to get creative as I was in no mood to go out so I had to work with what we had on hand. Plus I was mid freak out, panic, anxiety about cleaning so I needed to get the baking done but also my cleaning for the day. I am happy to say when all was said and done, I had everything on hand and made the following:
Lemon Ricotta Cake (the main dessert)
Cream Cheese Cookies (was so worried about these as they did not have a lot of flavour but after they sat over night, oh my)
Pecan Balls (okay, they were a little dry, think next time I would add more butter)
Shortbread (this became a debate as Mom's recipe called for Brown Sugar which I used but Step Mom makes hers with reg sugar, oh well they ate them)
Forgotten Cookies (these are my new favourite cookie, I will making these again)

Best part was I got all of this done in a few hours and still managed to get all my cleaning for the day done and dessert was a hit. Everyone loved the cake and cookies and no one realized I completely forgot to plan dessert.

[coupon girl]

so nice out i changed a light bulb on the front of my house a lantern -had to stand on a stool and unscrew the fixture but figured why wait til may ,when I had a chance today before more snow comes our way

[lizzie bargain]

Granger-it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job supporting your friend. Offers of food, childcare, laundry etc are usually welcome..

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening,
So fairly good day here, the top of the basement stairs is cleaned, just a few things still there for Mom to look at and let me know if we are keeping or tossing. This then lead to me cleaning the hallways, well except for one section, again I need Mom to tell me if we need to keep the stuff or if it can go. Mom doesn't do cake decorating anymore but for some reason she very hit and miss on what we can get rid of. I understand some of it as we use it for baking but like the hundreds upon hundred of cake magazines I hope can go as well as all of the items we have to stick pins and thing in well flowers dried. We will see her thoughts when she gets home.

I also cleaned the front hallway and discovered 2 boxes that have been there for awhile are full of recycling that just needed to be taken out.

I need to go and buy some bins so I can box up my yarn, once the basement is clean it will move on their but I have decided I will not tackle the basement alone. I have been feeling bad lately about some of the ways I think and one of those is being resentful that Mom does not help me clean around the house so instead of discussing it, I just also refuse to clean as well. This cannot continue but with this being said there is just no way I can tackle the basement alone. I will keep the main floor and upstairs (with the except of the guest room as this is full of Nanny's Stuff Mom needs to go through and stuff from her room that was put in the guest room when they repaired her ceiling) clean and do my best to work through everything that is there but I cannot do the basement alone.

The kitchen and the hallway floors have been scrubbed, I forgot how much I hate the tiles in my kitchen and hallway until I try to clean them. I was literally at one point on my hands and knees trying to scrub the kitchen as it kept ripping my cloth to pieces.

Then I made a batch of apple pie pancakes which will broken into serving sizes and frozen. I think tomorrow I will make waffles.

Well the pancakes were cooking I did a little tidying up, moving stuff as well as the dishes.

For dinner I am making marinated Chicken, I found a bag in the freezer that had lost it vacuum seal so I will cook that up. We also had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge which I have turned into Mashed Potato Bake, will probably serve this with a Salad as our veggie options are limited right now but I holding off grocery shopping until next week. I have also made a Nanny's Special Apple Pie to use up some of the apples I have.

This year's gifts were mixes and butters, all went well except I never made the apple butter so that left me with 12 lbs of apples I need to use up. As well I realized Christmas Day I forgot to package and give out the Peach Butter so this is still in my fridge. I had some with my pancakes last week and it was yummy.

Time to put dinner in the over and clean up the prep dishes. Have a wonderful evening everyone

[Angela273]

Frugal accomplishments of the day.
50% off day at our local Salvation Army - $2.50 for 2 pairs of pants for my boys.
received some coupons in the mail, including for Tim Horton’s.
Mended some kids clothes that had been waiting. I still have more clothes to sew by hand, but I do some of it at a time. 2 loads of laundry almost done.
Walked our kids to the park and collected a grocery bag full of bottles and cans to recycle.

[Giseledta]

Granger you do not sound like a know it all. not in the least . thank you for your advice.


ok. so hubby has been dealing with a medical issue. scared the silliness out of me. he is going to have a few life changes happening. he might not be fond of them .. but i dont care. we have been together long enough but not nearly long enough if you know what i mean.


i am trying to redifine a few boundries with a family member.. they need to start being a bit more flexible or understanding ...

ok. thats pretty much it for me.
i am still working on the twitter money thing. most of it is easy... just the core values thing.. i am redefining... this and firming it up .. most is solid.. i just need to think it though a bit more.
next week we start in more stuff.

[lilo0003]

Currently thawing out my freezer, it was left slighly ajar a few weeks ago and the frost drives me batty. We have been eating it down and I decided today was the day. Found some stuff to use up next week and I think we will take advantage of the mild weather and BBQ Saturday. There is a package of steak bought late in the year and the only way we eat steak is BBQd so it makes sense to use it now not April. I am actually feeling good about how much met we have on hand so that will keep the grocery budget.
For the 1st time ever I ordered the Chapmans coupon, so easy. I have no idea why it took me this long.
Used another free pass to go to the community centre today to work out with DH. Also took advantage of the cheap oatmeal at Metro. I failed to notice I could have bought two for the Caddle app so may go back Saturday. Its my closest grocery store & I love the steel cut oats. @gisel dta I totally get what you mean, I have been with DH 27 years and it feel like forever, but its certainly not long enough.

[Granger]

I think the anonymity of the group is the perk. People need a place to chat. Good and bad. I have much I can't share with others but I can share here.

Communication from my friend has gone silent. It is a waiting game now. He is on life support and will be given some time, but if his vitals crash again, there isn't much they can do.