May 2020 Frugal Chatter Thread

[Angela273]

It is sunny and currently feels like 28. We have the water table full, water guns, hats, sun screen, and smoothie popsicles on the agenda.

My oldest daycare girl’s mom surprised us this afternoon. She brought small Slurpees for the kids and a medium slurpee for me. Her daughter later dropped her orange Slurpee and splattered if over a large area of my white deuce and on my legs. I quickly tried to rinse it out of my compression stocking, but I doubt that I got it all. I sprayed off the deck, siding, and plastic table. Accidents happen.

[Frugalbigmama]

Went to No Frills to grab a few things. Spent $31.55 (redeemed $30 in points so $1.55 OOP)
Cheese bars were on for $3.97 so grabbed 4 (1 Mozz to make pizza on the bbq at a later date !) Notice price increase on a bunch of items. Ugh.

Have our steak dinner on the go. Had 4 crackers with cheese for lunch so I could enjoy a good dinner

Need to pop into Food Basics for the romaine on sale as I see it jumps in price on Thursday. The line up was too long when I tried to go earlier.

Have a good night everyone. It is around 20 out here today! So nice out!

Feel motivated to clean up the back patio and set it up all nice (I have all the stuff needed, new cushions, fancy lights, a nice rug etc that I just didn't use yet) DS will clean off greenery growing in the morning for me. I also think I am going to plant tomato and pepper plants in one of the front gardens. It gets lots of sun and I want some fresh veggies

[Ciel]

@coupon girl Try looking at Stitch It site for mask order as HQ is in Burlington somewhere on Harvester Rd. Can get shipped order or arrange pickup.
@Angela SK is the Phoenix, AZ of Canada by temperature! Enjoy that slice of summer while we shivering Ontarians keep adjusting layers for outdoor and indoor use. Soon our warm weather will stick around longer than the sunshine in a day.

Lucky Canadians that have their Bay stores open! Mom was wanting to shop at garden centre and instead of Bro saying no, he told her to walk. I thought she needed something at Walmart and went one trip then did another one at FOrtinos for the juice and watermelon. Friend and I were surfing online at Walmart and watched a stray cart at closed side of store door a Ford EScape. Really. AFternoon WM shop-half the shoppers are following the arrows but staying in middle of aisles. This social distancing might last another day or two then I expect all heck will break loose with shoppers wanting to scramble for their things and pay and go. STore was half-busy. I need a I'm paying Cash sticker as no less than three staff asked me to use self-checkout and I said no thanks. Basically I had a good checkout and was not queuing in another line.

Brag of Day-Air Milers who go to Sobeys-that bonus 95 AM wus shop Sobeys has a $5 minimum spend *saw it on my receipt today*. Bought $5.99 McCormicks spice, used $1.50 coupon, paid $4.49. Got the 95 AM on receipt-will get points likely in 10 days' time. My offer had to be used prior to May 28. Fastest $10 in pts earned this year.

[Ciel]

Local Staples stores are now open 10am-6pm. Might venture into one once I figure out what is actually in stock and avoid online ordering.

Still want a mobile printer-June quest.

Fingers are getting chilled in the cooling day outside. Wishing for warm Internet but that is coming up this week with outside temps. Just had to say Hello and let's keep MacGyvering through May because we might get a few laughs and inspirations by being creative solvers.

Yesterday's pop is down to two bottles. Bonus was getting my hair wind-blown and wet in rain yesterday--kind of like a day at the beach hair, so that was a win. I walked to Value Village-no new update on door-and caught the bus on trip back home (as rain resumed). No tea-=will have it tonight with dinner. Glad for a couple of positives yesterday and no I did not mind the absence of fireworks. The quiet was lovely as was the 4h TVO documentary Tripping the Rideau Canal (though I don't get boating's appeal, the scenery and sound effects and drone imagery were cool).

[coupon girl]

ceil -I already ordered masks online from old navy ,posted it awhile back but thanks anyway.

Dug dandelions from front lawn as I kneeled on my sponge pad -just til my back gets sore then I stop .Too many this year ,my neighbour said how lucky as she cant bend (knee replacement).

Supper frozen pizza and white cheddar popcorn with a rootbeer we had for snack right now -yummm miss the taste of rootbeer (we don't care for much pop but do love the odd rootbeer.)

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
May have gone a little overboard on dinner tonight, I took some breaks today (more on that later) but just before 4, I decided I was done for a bit (still need to edit a document and read two documents for tomorrow's meeting). I made a batch of Chocolate Cookie Bars to use up a small random bag I found of Salted Caramel chips that will not fit in the jar we store them in. Then I made a Greek Salad, Foil Pack Potatoes, Crispy Green Beans and cleaned Mushrooms also for dinner. Then Mom made the Steak and did Mushrooms & Onions, it was a lot of food but oh so good. I am really driven to cook right now, just helps me feel more normal. Also well dinner was cooking I chopped up the last 3 Romaine Hearts and put those in the fridge.

Well I took a break around Lunch time I finished all the spices, everything has been put away and we now have so much space so it is time to tackle the cupboard above the dishwasher. We want to completely change what is stored in this cupboard.

I wanted to make some Rice and try to cook Chickpeas in the Instant Pot but that did not happen, may not happy tomorrow as I have 2 back to back morning meetings. Oh but I did also make Cookie Dough Overnight Oats that I can I just grab and eat tomorrow morning before/during my first meeting, I just need to add a sprinkle of chocolate chips.

We found out yesterday Mom would be returning to work, she is one of the select who has been asked to come back, although they aren't really asking, if you do not come back to have to apply for a 1 month leave of absence and upon your return you are not guaranteed your current job. She was supposed to get a text on Friday telling her but turned out a number of people did not get but she got a phone call from her boss on Monday. She is not happy but she agreed to go back. Her first shift back is Saturday.

I was going to try to tackle a few more things after dinner but now feel like that will not happen, I am feeling really tired so think I will just get my work done.

Have a great night everyone

[Frugalbigmama]

Just back from the great outdoors. It is so nice out there and quiet .
Folded my 2nd load of towels and put the 3rd load in dryer. Will put it and the stuff hanging to dry in laundry away tomorrow.
Making pancakes or French toast tomorrow i have decided! Will make extra so DS can heat and eat later in the day when hungry.
Movie time!

[johnb56789]

Went to No Frills to grab a few things. Spent $31.55 (redeemed $30 in points so $1.55 OOP)
Cheese bars were on for $3.97 so grabbed 4 (1 Mozz to make pizza on the bbq at a later date !) Notice price increase on a bunch of items. Ugh.

Have our steak dinner on the go. Had 4 crackers with cheese for lunch so I could enjoy a good dinner

Need to pop into Food Basics for the romaine on sale as I see it jumps in price on Thursday. The line up was too long when I tried to go earlier.

Have a good night everyone. It is around 20 out here today! So nice out!

Feel motivated to clean up the back patio and set it up all nice (I have all the stuff needed, new cushions, fancy lights, a nice rug etc that I just didn't use yet) DS will clean off greenery growing in the morning for me. I also think I am going to plant tomato and pepper plants in one of the front gardens. It gets lots of sun and I want some fresh veggies

I've noticed the prices of a lot of items are trending upwards. And to add on to that, not as many good sales, especially EGGS!!! My friend in Whitby goes through them like crazy and we haven't been able to get a sale on eggs since this whole thing started (Although I did get some with Rexall about a month ago now for $1.99 and some at my work with a PM)

[SassyAshley]

I have to agree on the comments about sales not being there. I thought this would be one of the hardest parts of only shopping once a month was not chasing the deals but even as I look at flyers I am not seeing much that makes me think oh we need that.

With that being said, I am so happy with where we stand food wise right now, my plan is to shop next week and we still have so much food in the house. This month we really are not going without. There are a couple things we are getting low on but have enough to make it to next week or if we run out before it is not a must have item, we aren't about to run out of milk or anything like that.

I think still being stocked on food is helping, I saw the sale on Cheese this week but we are fully stocked on cheese so that was not a temptation. But in general there is not a lot I see that we need. Right now honestly Costco is our best bet for a lot of things especially eggs, they aren't as cheap as the $1.99 but way cheaper than buying regular price in a grocery store.

I am just hoping as we go into Summer we will see some of the produce prices at Costco lower a bit on fresh produce but that might be a pipe dream right now with Covid. Although I have to say, I normally only buy a few fresh produce items at Costco due to Price but last month we grabbed a few produce items we do not normally buy but I felt the price was Okay (close enough to sale prices I was okay with the slight increase to not go to another store) and I have to say, so far I am impressed. We are 3 weeks out from our last shop and Cucumbers are still good, Mushrooms still perfect, even my Romaine couple small spots to cut off but all and all normally if we still had these items on hand 3 weeks out they would be going bad. So a slight increase in price might not be a bad thing on certain items, although there still are some I cannot justify (ie grapes for $13.99).

Things are changing and trying to adapt is where I am at. My hope is to be back on budget this month but honestly it may or may not happen. I have started our list and right now I feel we can be on budget but meat may be a huge factor, I do not "need" any right now but I am thinking long term I need to keep stocking up so one month we are not out of all meat. We will see, I have started my list but need to go down the basement and check a few things. I am afraid if I get too confident we will blow the budget again. This once a month shopping has been a challenge but I think we can do it, but I am also considering maybe upping our grocery budget, we will see, it is too hard to look long term right now.

[Angela273]

I spent 6hrs outside with our kids yesterday. They had lots of fun with the water and made a lot of stuff out of mud. They all went into the bath tub right before supper. I was surprised that despite the t-shirt and sunscreen, twin girl still burnt her arms and shoulders some. All of my children have fair skin like me, so I am extra careful. I put aloe Vera on her arms/shoulders several times since then. It’s not a bad burn and it isn’t bothering her.

[flemeth]

Good afternoon all was busy doing spring cleaning. All the walls on my main floor is wash. 1 bathroom wall is also wash. Will do the kitchen tomorrow and start the upstairs hallway. I am really tired from all that work. Always like to give the house a good wash when all the windows can open before the Air conditioner needs to turn.

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Well as always my day did not go as planned. I had 2 meeting this morning and then my plan was to take a break and tackle the cupboard above the Dishwasher. That did not happen after my last meeting 3 of us stayed in the meeting and had what I call a secondary meeting, then I had an early afternoon meeting. So I did not get to take my break until almost 2:30.

When I took a break instead of tackling the cupboard, I tackled all the stuff in the freezer that needed to be packaged, we had:
Homemade Pizza Sauce we froze in a muffin tin, they are now in bags or 2 to make pizzas
Spinach Ricotta Shells been packaged in bags of 4 to grab and cook
Frozen Croissants packaged in 2s, bought these as a treat and they are good but will probably never buy again as they so mess up my freezer it is just this big bag that is always in my way
Chicken Poppers packaged in per meal packages, we bought these as a treat as we used to get Poppers when we ordered Pizza so I had hoped getting these would also sway Mom from wanting to order pizza, gotta be honest had them with dinner tonight not overly impressed will not buy again

Now I need to re organize my freezer again, it is a mess right now. My food saver kept acting up so I kept running sealed bags down just dumping them in the freezer and then running back up to see if I could get the Food Saver working again, I got it all done but it is all just thrown in the freezer. I think this is a job for the weekend.

Maybe tomorrow I can tackle the cupboard, as of right now I have no meetings but I know marketing is contacting our website company for a meeting so that might happen tomorrow, we will see.

I did some work after dinner, got a bunch of website edits I have to work through, they are easy just time consuming so I decided to tackle well I sat in front of the TV. Now I am going to work on my Costco Master List, when I was downstairs I took a mental inventory on a few things and know for sure there are a few things we do not need this month.

Have a great night everyone.

[lilo0003]

I went to Superstore for the second time since Covid and still stupid long line for checkout. I don’t have this issue at any other store but it’s like they want you to impulse shop through Joe Fresh. I did splurge on a roasted chicken and wedges which the kids love. I managed to get 6 of the tomato plants in today, I have peppers that I want a bit more growth on before I plant. The leaf lettuce looks like we will have the 1st harvest soon. Younger son is going to build the new planter boxes and I am planning to try my hand at squash this year in the new space.

[coupon girl]

Went to my girlfriends/her hubby for a social visit with myself and hubby ,I gave her the small giftbag for her birthday ,she loved the soap pump and bar of soap (very much needed items)plus the socks and candle

We chatted for 2 hours nice to talk to someone other than hubby.She gave me 6 apples as a gift as she went to an orchard the other day ,so nice of her as I didn't even have any apples .

Hubby has to take our car in an electrical problem -more money.Ah that's life .

[johnb56789]

Already have my two days off next week planned out... Gonna do another late night (Early morning) grocery shop at work (Just before 4am) for my friend in Whitby. It'll be another big one, but not as big as last time (Budget is set around $225 for the deal of the week).

So I'll do my shopping then head right over to drop off her groceries, then back to St.Kitts. Need to do laundry and maybe some meal prepping.

I will say this coming cycle seems really good from what I've seen (Especially the No Frills $2 Sale), so we should be able to get quite a bit with that $225 budget!