March 2020 Frugal Chatter Thread

[Giseledta]

Quickly things change.... Conference call today and am now working from home starting Monday. Packing up my office now. At least I will be home to supervise my DS's cleaning chores His 1st chore is wall washing!

my youngest is a amazing painter..... she is painting a sky scene on one of my daycare walls.... i am totally looking forward to it.

[coupon girl]

evening -had a nap for an hour this afternoon
I chatted with my daughter ,she got a few groceries in toronto today and managed to get a pkg of toilet paper as I took her one down last sunday (I am such a nice mom).She was saying how hard it was to work with a toddler at home (its a juggling act),her and hubby are sharing the time with him ,she got him out on his bike today.

My daughter cancelled the dinner with her friends and sebastian,s friend from daycare ,he doesnt understand .Must maintain the social distance .Told her I loved them as I don't know when I will see them ,a family birthday celebration was cancelled on her hubby's side.

[Ciel]

no they call us hoarding persons.....

Please tell me that the rude neighbour who blocks the fire exits has gotten a few notices about his collection of stuff and maybe some fines...

[Ciel]

Wow everything is closing - arenas, Y, library, city hall. The stores are empty now of people. Have some returns but will wait. All Apple stores are closing because of the virus......

Sat night news indicated HPL closed for now until April 6. I was upset but understood. However every single news broadcast that keeps saying visit our website for details raises my blood pressure. This is my second sneak-on when I find bro's laptop open and logged in-so yes, I'm not delighting in lack of Intenet (Youtube app on tv saves some evenings for watching news elsewhere but it's not Google chrome).

Miss you all!

Did a walk to nearby stores: Food Basics, Fortinos and Longos are all on 8-8 schedules. Cdn Tires store and auto dept are on 8-5 schedule M-Sat and 10-5on Sunday. CIBC on Wilson St-no Sat. hours and 10-4 hours weekdays for now.

[Ciel]

Walmart Ancaster still has 7am-11pm hours. Asked a staffer if she knew when next Live BEtter issue is coming out-she did not know.

[cath007]

Please tell me that the rude neighbour who blocks the fire exits has gotten a few notices about his collection of stuff and maybe some fines...

I dont even think so...so that is unfair

[cath007]

I am seriously panicking about my school year.......legault said schools will maybe reopen just in may.....*(&*(&?*(?*(?&

[cath007]

had to transfer funds in my debit card because it seems to be the only way to pay now....and no purell anywhere...seriously who has enough of this crisis already???

[lilo0003]

I just did a zoom meeting with a group of local moms. It was actually a fun way to get together. I am going to suggest a few friends do coffee this way.
I plan to do some baking this weekend but living a no spend last is pretty easy when you are pretty much in lock down. I am not going out for groceries mail we have a significant list of stuff we need. I have been getting bread at Cobs. I think it’s important to support the small business now. The weekend will be interesting spending but I will get lots done.

[greentires4me]

My mom said she’ll look into getting farm eggs for me so hopefully that’ll be a non issue on Wednesday. I am hoping to go into Walmart in that morning to get tp. Hoping if they don’t have it then no frills. I have $2 to my name on my debit card. Maybe instead of money withdrawal I’ll just take out like 50$ in small bills then rest keep in there for debit card usage.


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[Purdee]

can't go out much these days = less/no spending, so i was able to make a payment for my car insurance and paid in full for my condo insurance
just wondering what everyone's thought on deferring mortgage payment? i read that banks will deal with the request on a case by case basis. My question: should i defer and use the money to pay down other debts like credit card debts? TIA

[SassyAshley]

Purdee at this point, since I am able to pay it and my pay will continue and I cover our Mortgage my plan is to keep paying it. I do not fully understand deferring your mortgage works and I have heard some people say that there will be added interest to the payments you miss so I figure as long as I can pay I will.

But with that being said this is a personal choice and I am fortunate that my work will continue to to pay me. Even for our staff if they end up off we will be topping up their pay so I realize those working at our company are fortunate.

But on the flip side, my Mom works retail and they announced yesterday unless they are forced to close by the government they will be staying open (I should add they are not essential). Mom voiced her objections yesterday after serving a customer who told her, her sister is in quarantine but the rest of the family living in the same house feel it would be overreacting for them all to go into self isolation and they have made the choice to live their lives. So we will see where Mom falls into all of this when it comes to pay.

[johnb56789]

Well... Just got off another OT shift at work. I wasn't even gonna go in last night to have a day off. But one of my coworkers texted me and asked If I could come in. They got too much product and not enough bodies to work it. So I went in. Now I'm on 6 of 9 in a row at work, and that could change when our manager gets back from leave next Monday. I'm suppose to have Tues and Wed off, but he may ask me to come in, and I don't really want to say no, but want to at the same time...

Apparently there is talk that we may get another $1.00/hr premium on top of our exisiting pay structure until this COVID stuff is all over. So that would bring me up to $16.35/hr, OR $24.53/hr on OT. Those are rates I can't say no to for now, all this extra cash will help me to pay off my student loans by the end of the year (Combine with the 6 months payment waiver from Trudeau and Ford till September)

Well... As it is now in the news and on our corporate portal, we are now gaining a $2/hr premium on top of all other pay, so $17.35/hr OR $26.03/hr OT Pay! I am doing my best to stay as safe as I can while doing the work, but at least with my position, there is MINIMAL interaction with the public, mainly my coworkers.

[SassyAshley]

Ok, so busy couple of days but that was kind of my own doing. My anxiety is going through the roof as I feel like I cannot find my new routine or new normal, I am really hoping next week things calm down a little bit. I am not unrealistic I realize we are looking at weeks and possible months before all of this calms down but by calm I mean finding my new normal.

Thursday after I posted, I went out again. I realized the rug I bought for the front hallways was too wide so I went out to return this and grab Mom's Halls that I forgot. I noticed that weirdly before all of this being home calmed my anxiety but for reason on Thursday driving was so I made the choice to go on a yeast hunt. I had tried 10 stores here, so I went to the bigger town about 30 minutes away (I was halfway there being at Wal-Mart). The first 2 stores were a bust but the 3rd store had 1 case of Rapid Yeast on the shelf, so I grabbed 2 bottles.

I then grabbed my Mom a French Vanilla and took it to her at work and asked if she would meet me at Wal-Mart when she was done. She wasn't happy as she was tired but she agreed. I made her get new shoes, we have had needed to do this for probably a couple of months but we kept putting it off. So that is done and off my list.

Yesterday I had two more Covdi-19 meetings for work, like Lillo we are using Zoom for all of these so we are not coming together. I also went into the office to move work stations to keep social distancing. I also helped someone who isn't used to using a Laptop but will move remote on Monday understand how the laptop works.

On the way home I went to Shoppers to see if they had soap, this is for work. Right now we have 10 Costco jugs and ordered I think 10 more jugs from Staples (but it is online order so it could get cancelled or delayed) so right now the family has all decided when we see soap to grab the limit just in case. We are also staying open but we are able to allow out staff not to come face to face to the public. Right now the catch 22 is we are getting so many calls from customers who want to confirm we are open as they are still working but to stay open we have to keep running production. Not to mention with the fears on both side of the boarder our US business has exploded.

Today, I am hoping to do some cleaning, maybe some cooking. I feel like if I can get back into some of my old routine it will help. My house is overflowing with food, although Mom keeps coming up with it might be nice to have. Like I said I need things to calm down a little bit but last night I got her to admit we are good for now, so my hope is maybe Tuesday or Wednesday I will run out and grab some fresh stuff. Other than Toilet Paper it does look like our stores are starting to restock and I was in No Frills Thursday and they said in produce the only thing they are completely out of when it comes to produce is Ginger and some fresh herbs, so I feel like they have the basics.

Alright, well off to get my day started. Have a wonderful day everyone.

[CheriLyn]

@Purdee
Some people are having trouble contacting their bank about deferring their mortgage payments and the banks haven't been clear yet about who qualifies (like you said, case by case): https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5503478
Also, @SassyAshley is correct. Deferring the payment will mean a larger principle balance when calculating you mortgage interest, and usually means more interest in the long term. I. e. from RBC:
There is no fee for this option, and your payments won't change during the term of your mortgage. Instead, any skipped interest is added to the principal balance.One thing you need to keep in mind is that you may significantly increase your interest costs over the life of your mortgage, so it's important to carefully evaluate your financial situation and priorities with us before exercising this option.


@johnb56789
Congrats on the OT and premium pay, but stay safe!