December 2020 Frugal Chatter thread (ring in the holidays)

[SassyAshley]

Does anyone else find a little bit of joy when the Holidays are over and you can reclaim your house?

Kitchen is clean, all the hand dishes are done, dishwasher is unloaded and ready for the dirty lunch dishes (Dish, there are always Dishes) and counters have been scrubbed.

We decided on Homemade Pizza for dinner which we will top with Pepperoni, Bacon, Mushrooms, Onions, Cheddar Cheese and a Sprinkle of Parm. I will put the dough on around 3 pm which means dinner will be around 5 pm. Many have mentioned to me making pizza dough is so easy and so much quicker made by hand but I cannot help it, I love my Bread Machine. Yes, it does take longer but I can just dump everything in and walk away, do other things and come back to beautiful dough ready to go.

After lunch I will tackle the Dining Room Table (it was my dumping area well I was baking) and try to take back my Dining Room. Then I need to find homes for all of my new Christmas Gifts.

[coupon girl]

sassy -my house is not even messed up -no grandkids have been in ages .I did sweep under one couch and found a lego from when sebastian was here back in the summer -lol

I did 2 loads of laundry today ,even picked up my neighbours blue box that tipped over this morning as its our garage day.

I noticed the bay yesterday didnt give me the 10% off the one item boxers for sebastian so i called today a 1.40 credit back on my credit card .Also i got an email from the gap for an extra 10% off as the stores are closed so they were being nice and i called customer service to apply it to this mornings order saved an extra $2 and something.

[Frugalbigmama]

Went to SDM this morning to see what gift sets they had for 50% off. I had off for 20x the points wus $75 +.
And a $75 prepaid GC gifted to me so figured it was best ro use it ASAP.
Bought 3 gift sets ( 2 razor ones for boys for Christmas 2021 and an Olay one for Grandma for her June birthday) A toy for my niece for her June birthday.
Milk. 3 x meatballs 1 x chicken strips. Paid $6 OOP after gift card and received $22 in PC points. Happy with my little haul!!

Cooking some meatballs and fries for lunch today for DS and I.

Not doing any cleaning/laundry today. Just relaxing and enjoying the day.

[lizzie bargain]

Picked up some fresh cranberries for .50 and threw those in the freezer for muffins. Got some marked down chocolates to gift to a friend who brought nibblies over before Xmas-I was not organized then so I will drop these off. We have a light snowfall today after our huge dump earlier in the week. Shopped for my Mum's groceries and dropped them off for her-she said she is down to 102 lbs so she needs to eat a bit more-my brother had dropped off a turkey dinner and trifle and she has lots of good food. I guess she isn't too hungry-anyway she is just a shade under 5 feet tall so if she keeps her weight around 100 lbs she should be good. I however do not have that problem!!

[crafter]

We've had a nice relaxing couple of days. SIL goes home tomorrow and then it's time to get thinking about plans for next year.
Received a basic "normal" sewing machine that wasn't heavy. I had an old one that I parted with a few years ago during the big downsize purge. I most definitely don't have any future clothing projects on the horizon....I'm just not a "stylish sewer for people" some of my projects have been absolutely horrid. It's simply not cost effective. What I think would be cost effective though are home decor items and dog coats (yeah I have one of those shivering dogs). I feel that my machine will pay for it quite quickly if I factor in small mending repair/items. Perhaps another savings category for next year.
We also received an Instant Pot from our DD and partner. We can apparently make dried beans in less than an hour instead of soaking overnight. It is really amazing how much cheaper dried beans are versus canned. Ours apparently cooks poultry and, beef, rice, acts as a crock pot or sauter. Looking forward to trying some recipes.
Have a wonderful restful weekend.

[SassyAshley]

@crafter I have an Instant Pot and love it. We were tempted to get a second one but got an Air Fryer instead.

Okay, pretty good day here, got some things done but at the same time took it easy.

My goal for 2021 (I do not do resolutions) is to find balance in my life. Accomplish and get things done but not push myself until I crash. I have noticed I have two speeds Go-Go-Go or Crashed on the Couch watching pretty colours on the TV.

This morning I did the kitchen and then this afternoon I tidied up the Dining Room Table. I wouldn't call it clean as that is where we are storing the leftover Christmas Cookies and I have been lazy, they are still in the big containers I used for all the cookies before I packaged them. I could put them in smaller containers but it would just be more dishes.

Then I found a home for all of the leftovers from my Christmas Baking & Cooking, I ended up with extra Peanuts, Pretzels, Cereals (Chex, Shreddies & Cheerios) & various Chocolates. Most of these were living in bags at the backdoor so now the backdoor area is cleaned.

I did not get the bathroom done and the Kitchen Floor needs to be cleaned but I think that is a project for tomorrow.

Even though we will both be home all week, I am thinking about doing some Meal Prep tomorrow for those nights when we do not feel like cooking. Plus we have some room in our freezers now so I would not mind making some freezers meals for those grab and heat kind of nights.

Hope everyone has a great night

[lilo0003]

@crafter my DS1 bought us the instant pot a few years ago. He uses it far more than I do but I love it for beans. I cook a whole batch and freeze the extras. So easy and cheap. It’s also amazing for making broth. Pre Covid it was handy to cook meat from frozen.

[Giseledta]

Sassy.... tomorrow i clean my daycare rooms... all Christmas stuff gone... omg.... i am totally looking forward to it.

[Frugalbigmama]

Yes im looking forward to packing up the Christmas stuff and tree early this year. Remember i was naughty and still had it up in August? Only had sin .ove it to garage (still decorated) because we were having the house appraised.

Ive started my Christmas 2021 bin. I am on a mission to shop smart and simple and have it done early. Will continue to put $100 away monthly in the Christmas account. We still have lots of Christmas wrap and tags so doubt i will buy any at all this year on clearance. ( unless super cheap and i love it)

Looking forward to eating from the freezers and cupboards the next month. All part of my downsizing efforts.
And setting up the budget for 2021. I have plans!!!

[Granger]

Happy Belated Christmas Friends. Late to the party. It has been on my mind to check in. Haven't had a moment until now. We maintained our Christmas plans and saw family in person, but I removed myself (and our crew) from any eating. We also wore masks and kept distance. Both sides of the family kept meals and we were the only ones who said no thank you. My mom is attached to my sister anyway for child care. On the other side, my one SIL had a false positive COVID test in the family and the other is an anti-vaxxer, so they aren't as cautious.

Here was our run down...

Mon 21 - sent kids with cousins to Creative Bug day camp where they did art all day, health protocols followed so it was like school, but together, this was my gift to my kids and nieces and nephews, and parents got a day off!
Tues 22 - food prep
Wed 23 - DD1 birthday, had xmas with MIL and FIL, virtual bday party
Thu 24 - virtual church
Fri 25 - xmas with my side
Sat 26 - recovered and vegged

Today will be starting to put it all away and reclaiming space! YES!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slower start to the morning here. I was up early but lounged in bed for awhile before I got up.

I had some work I needed to get done, it was supposed to be done our last week before Shut Down but since I was helping out in our Branch and back in Production I did not get it done. I was hoping it would take me about an hour, took a little longer but it is what it is, I had to get it done. I wanted to get it done so this week I only have to deal with new stuff coming in.

I had been planning on Meal Prepping today but not sure I really feel like cooking now so might come up with plan B for today.

Tonight's dinner will be Steak with Baked Potato (So happy my last bag of Potatoes I bought had some larger Potatoes in it that will be perfect for Baked Potatoes, it has been so long since we had Baked Potatoes because I am too cheap to buy Baking Potatoes), Sauteed Mushrooms & Onions, Garlic and Parm Roasted Butternut Squash & Cesar Salad.

Think it is time to go do a little shopping in my basement and see if it brings me inspiration for the day.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day

[Granger]

coupon girl - thinking of you during this time. Death is hard. The leading up is hard too. We are missing our friend Peter (death due to COVID in January last year) and DH's grandparents who also passed in 2020. I had a good cry in the car on Christmas Eve.

Ciel - how are you? If I remember correctly (and I could be incorrect so please correct me if I am wrong), you have been unwell.

SCers have a special place in my heart. Much love to all the aches.

[Frugalbigmama]

Oh Sassy! Perfect idea for the steak dinner. I have everything on hand for that including fresh mushrooms, sour cream cheese etc Planning what night we will do that now!!

[coupon girl]

Thank you granger -death sure is hard .

Hubby and i may order swiss chalet today (curbside pickup) as we havent had a xmas meal -we had leftovers .We will see .

[Giseledta]

good afternoon.
off for a walk soon, going to pop in and grab buns. making burgers and salad for supper.

playroom is clean. it needs a really good vacume , but i am not doing that today.
i do have a toy i want to list for sale.

when we get back , plan is ... kitchen... sigh.. it needs love... alot of love.

i am working on some goals for the next 3 months...

ad something i saw on twitter... instead of new years resoulutions... working on a bucket list for 2021.... very intreging