December 2020 Frugal Chatter thread (ring in the holidays)

[SassyAshley]

I am going to do our bedding and couch blankets tomorrow when the Hydro rates go down LOL.

Both Mom & I need to clean out clothes so hoping to get it done over the next week then I can wash them all up, some I will sell, others I will post for free. Whatever is left at the end January (or maybe February, depending on the weather) will be donated.

[Frugalbigmama]

Just had a $10 porch pick up!
I had posted a few items for sale yesterday.

[Arjon]

This is the first year I have kept track of the total value of the coupons I used, so I had no real expectation of how much that would be. It turned out to be more than I would have guessed, $952.46.

What I don't know - because it would be complicated to track - is how much of this amount was actually money saved, which I define as how much less I spent than I would have without the coupons. As a basic example, if I normally buy brand A of something for $1 but instead buy a premium brand for $1.50 minus a 50-cent coupon, I don't consider the 50 cents as money saved because I still spent the same $1. It does, however, get counted in my total.

In a similar vein, when I use an FPC to get something that will go to the food bank, I spend net $0 on an item I wouldn't have gotten at all, so IMO, the FPC saves me $0, not the cost of the item which is also included in the total.

Other times, I'll buy something discretionary on a coupon deal where I wouldn't have bought anything at all; in these instances, using the coupon means I spent more than the $0 I would have spent without the coupon.

[crafter]

Nice savings on cpns @Arjon . The savings really do add up.

I hear you on your "actual savings" on items that you donated or bought premium versions of.. I have a similar issue with that as well, especially with store cpn deals from SDM etc, I count my cpn savings as "what I would normally pay on sale for the item"
I track 3 main categories during the year for different savings goals
1) Loyalty points redeemed (I tend to use these for everyday deals versus saving for big ticket items, that I would simply "blow points on"
2) Coupons and Rebates (I don't count rebates until I receive the cheque/deposit)
3) extra work- negotiated prices, discounts, not missing SDM seniors day for milk/eggs or other forms of savings, fpcs from product issues
I try to only track what we really saved.
Wishing you a fantastic frugal year!

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Broccoli Cheddar Soup turned out great. I used up some frozen broccoli we had that was not the best for just eating, a lot of stems and small pieces but they worked great in the soup after it was simmered. It also used up some Half & Half that was past it's date but still good.

Potato Buns are done, they are super light and fluffy but oddly instead of spreading out and joining on the pan like I thought they would the puffed up instead out. Either way, so so good, had one with a bowl of soup for lunch.

Tomato Sauce is made I cheated a bit, I let the Food Processor do the chopping for me and then let it simmer for hours on the stove. It is now in two huge containers in the fridge, I will have to package and freeze tomorrow.

It was not on my list so I forgot I had some apples I needed to use up, oh well maybe tomorrow.

Did not get the kitchen floor done, the cooking didn't feel like it took that long but when I looked at the clock it was later in the afternoon than I expected so I just did all of the dishes and scrubbed down all the counters. The floors will need to wait for tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will do our day-to-day laundry, bedding, couch blankets & the scrub the kitchen floor. As well I have to do something with some apples that need to be used up, thinking Special Apple Pie.

Hope everyone has a wonderful night and a Happy New Year.