May 2020 Frugal Chatter Thread

[coupon girl]

angela -I have a lavender plant I bought about 2 years ago right near my cement pad close to my front steps .It smells wonderfull when in bloom ,plus I cut a few twigs when in full bloom ,then put them upside down ,tied up in a bunch and dry them out in a dark place (my basement) then I put them into a baggie with a few holes and put in my underwear drawer .

Last year one part shot off a small 2 twigs and I uprooted them and gave them to my son he has some now.

My son called me at noon and said "I am out front mom" he left a box of hand painted tulip cookies for me (of course the girls were with him and I gave them one each (we social distanced also )so that was a nice visit out front .

My daughter called me to wish me happy mothers day (remember the gift from my son and my daughter was the tablet ,which I still am not use to when we zoom chat )

So that made my day just hearing from my kids and of course my son pulling up with the girls -my daughter-in-law was home taking a bubble bath with no one around for a bit of peace .

[lilo0003]

had a video call with my mom and then my Sister law this morning. Older son made breakfast and dinner is a curbside pick up from a local place we all like.
I was able to see the snowbirds fly over today, we are just 20 minutes from the Toronto airport so had a really good view. We actually heard them coming before we saw them as we have a cloudy day today.
I am just working on the budget, holy cats. We spent $1100.00 on groceries last month, its usually about $650.00. I had a lot less PC points to use and I did zero price matching and used 2.00 in coupons so I know why but man it still hurts. We also did an eat from the pantry/freezer change in January and February so for a lot of stuff we were depleted before this started. This month my goal is to bring it back to $750.00. Of course we usually spend about $250.00 a month for gas and last month was 55.00 and the GO train amount was 0 compared to over $300.00 in a normal month so that's a significant savings.
Happy Mothers day every. I enjoy hanging out with a group of like minded people especially in such an odd time.

[FinallyFree]

Definitely understand your frustration @lilo0003 , as we also spent more on groceries for many of the same reasons. However we do not dwell on just the food costs, but rather the overall budget YTD (as you mentioned fuel and GO train costs), and when all taken into account we were $1000.00 under budget for the month. That makes the higher food cost palatable. We have not been doing takeout so will start the occassional meal to support local small business this month.

[SassyAshley]

For the past 2 months we have been about $100 to $150 over on groceries per month. Granted as I break down the shops a lot of it was the unknown, would there issues with supply, can I get later so I would say about $100 of each trip was more of a stocking up because they had it and we will need it soonish.

I am hoping over the next few months our totals go down as I can already see a few things we over stocked that we should not need to buy.

We will see as time goes on how this goes on. I am still working my Master Costco Shopping List but once I have it complete I will start looking at what we may need next month. I know a few things already as they are perishable items we are using up like Ricotta.

[Giseledta]

my grocery budget is blown. however, we are very well stocked, and i should be able to make the budget for May and June workable.

fell asleep at a decent time last night.. work up about 3 hours later.. been up since.

painted the back door...
cleaned the kitchen
worked on my to do list.

yep... thats a thing. sigh.


ok. waiting till about 630 , then sleep again. do my 3 videos . work on the dc rooms.- S is painting tonight . get the laundry room spotless.
sloppy joes and salad is supper.
get mail.. expecting seeds.

if nice, i may spread the 3 bags of mulch i had from last year.

[greentires4me]

I guess I missed a parcel Canada post I guess is going to deliver it today. I thought it was tomorrow for some reason my days and times are mixed up. I gotta go back to sleep.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Well, yesterday did not go as planned. We had our family chat when I logged out they were still talking but Roger's was on their way to look at my internet, when I logged out we had been on the chat for almost 2 1/2 hours. I then spent over 3 hours with Roger's trying to fix my internet, that was pointless i am no further ahead, turns out my signal issue was that I was getting too high of speed of internet and it was not reporting my usage back to Roger's (I am on unlimited so really it did not matter).

Last night I managed to get a little bit of work done but it is so hard because if I connect I lose other programs so I have to try to get the information I need log in but if I forgot something to get the other program to work again, I have to completely shut down and re start. I have emailed IT, this needs to be sorted out soon. This morning we have a staff member getting an error message, I cannot even send in a request for help to helpdesk as I cannot open the two programs I need at the same time.

Before the family chat I did manage to get a few things done around the house. I made a Triple Berry Ricotta Cake for dessert. I used the rest of the Ricotta from the tub to make Spinach Ricotta filling for shells. Now I just need to cook and fill the shells. Well I was in the chat Mom made a huge batch of Pizza Sauce using some frozen tomatoes we had in the freezer. There are still a tub of Tomatoes left so Mom will turn those into Pasta Sauce today.

To top off my grrr day, I gave up after an hour of dealing with Roger's and ordered pizza for dinner as I could not get dinner made, so not my plan.

Well, time to try to turn this around and see what today will bring, working is almost impossible right now, hopefully IT gets back to me shortly.

Have a great day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! Looks nice and sunny outside! I have to pop out and get my mom some groceries today and deliver them to her.

Need to clean out our fridge and give it a good wipe down and figure out what needs to be used up.

Saturday night we made tons of burgers and pasta salad so we ate the leftovers yesterday.

Watched a movie last night. Inheritance it was called. Ate salad and cheese and crackers while watching. My guy had a glass of wine. I had too much Saturday night so no wine for me . Was a nice change from our Netflix series we are watching.

On the to do list (not normal chores) Clean out the 3 shelves beside stove (spice etc). I already have one emptied on to the counter and see tons of stuff to toss.

Have a great day everyone!

[Arjon]

my grocery budget is blown. however, we are very well stocked, and i should be able to make the budget for May and June workable.

Keep in mind that as we progress through the year, the YTD total becomes increasingly more important than the each month's, assuming our cash flow is such that we don't have a hard maximum we can spend each month.

[Angela273]

I just received a great surprise message. I entered a family contest last week. It has a weekly winner and the grand prize (after 5wks) wins an iPad. I won last week’s prize. I picked a Dollarama gift card.

edit: I’ve already received the e-gift card for $25 and printed it to put in my purse.

[Giseledta]

Keep in mind that as we progress through the year, the YTD total becomes increasingly more important than the each month's, assuming our cash flow is such that we don't have a hard maximum we can spend each month.

exactly.. its not something i am to worried about.

gas budget is down, takeout is non exisitant. special occasion - cut out totally.
i can easily make it up.

i would be concerned if the trend stayed this way...... and i wasnt able to rein it in as it were.

however, sometimes i need a kick in the pants and a .. hey girl .. you know what to do .. just do it. ..lol

[SassyAshley]

I feel the same way, at first I was freaking out (that is just me, when I have not had time to process) but now I am sure over time it will level out and even thought we did take-out last night if needed I will just move the take-out budget to groceries and I will balance. I am not at the point of doing this yet but over the next couple of months I will see how things go and then decided.

Right now, I am going to be happy that we have the money and even though yes I am spending more on groceries we have the money to do so and still pay all our other bills.

exactly.. its not something i am to worried about.

gas budget is down, takeout is non exisitant. special occasion - cut out totally.
i can easily make it up.

i would be concerned if the trend stayed this way......

[Giseledta]

I feel the same way, at first I was freaking out (that is just me, when I have not had time to process) but now I am sure over time it will level out and even thought we did take-out last night if needed I will just move the take-out budget to groceries and I will balance. I am not at the point of doing this yet but over the next couple of months I will see how things go and then decided.

Right now, I am going to be happy that we have the money and even though yes I am spending more on groceries we have the money to do so and still pay all our other bills.

yep. when all this started.. as our house, i am shut down.. hubby is working. Hubby and i talked... goal.. all bills current, nothing left behind. no getting more debt. we got this

[Angela273]

I have been busy applying for various teaching positions for the fall. I just had a phone call from one of my references. She’s filling out her part regarding my recent teaching applications, answering emailed questions, etc.

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
Yippe, IT fixed my computer I think it took about another hour of him having control of my laptop but it is fixed now, I can access all programs at the same time. Now, I am playing catch up as I have spent almost 2 days not being able to access everything so a lot was pushed to the side.

We were going to have Roast Beef for dinner as when we re organized the freezer on Saturday there was one roast that would not fit in the bin so we took it out. Change in plans, we also took out some chicken legs and thighs we had which I do not know why we have as it is not something normally eat. So Instead Mom is breaking the chicken down and making a Chinese Style dish which will be served over Rice with Vegetables.

Not much has happened today, did not get many beaks once I was back and up and running so think I might break for a bit see if I can get some stuff done and then start working again maybe after dinner.

Have a wonderful evening everyone