February Frugal Chatter

[lizzie bargain]

Ciel-yes there were lots of choices of clinic location and times for Covid vaccines. It chose the closest clinic to my Mum's ( although you could override it) and I simply chose the first available date for the first and second dose. I was rushing as it was hard to get onto the site and I was worried about getting kicked out. They were running about 45 minutes behind yesterday at the clinic-she got the Pfizer shot.

Today we have some friends passing through town so we will have a distance visit with them-otherwise a quiet day. Tomorrow is supposed to hit 9 degrees so looking forward to that.

[Arjon]

It's very generous of you to keep the Food Bank in mind. They have been running a fairly active campaign here to inform supporters that all donations are gratefully accepted, but that cash donations easily triple in value due to their bulk purchasing power. So, every $1 bought for the collection bins translates to $3 in food if cash is donated instead. Perhaps you might consider writing them a cheque?

Since it's not either/or, I encourage everyone to donate what they can, both money and goods if/when possible. In our case, we've been making an automatic monthly donation for a few years, and also give food, household items and personal hygiene products as suitable opportunities arise, which primarily happens through FPCs and other deals where the OOP is (almost) $0.

One thing to keep in mind that isn't necessarily intuitive for everyone is that at least some food banks specifically ask people NOT to donate certain things. Sugary cereal and vitamins are two examples I've seen that come to mind. Furthermore, whether a food bank explicitly says so or not, some food items are less welcome than others, basically those with little or no nutritional value like sugary foods in general as well as both sweet and salty snacks.

Otoh, it's also not necessarily intuitive that some (maybe many) do take various non-food items such as dish soap, garbage bags, laundry detergent, food wrap, shampoo, soap, menstrual products, etc.

[flemeth]

@cath007 prayers for your dad

[Giseledta]

we seem to be doing the exact same thing. for now it is working...

@Giseledta thank you for the follow

I feel you on buying the bare minimum, I think that is what is getting me. I keep doing a large shop to get us through just in case. I went in January hoping to get to the end of February end of March which I accomplished. But I thought my last large shop would be the last time I completely stocked up hoping by March we would at least be back to our "New Normal." Now they are saying March or April we will see a 3rd wave so again I did a complete stock up.

Kind of like before Christmas I figure if we see the 3rd wave I am stocked up if needed, if we do not see the third wave then I can go to bare minimum shopping. I just wish prices were rising so quickly and the biggest increases seem to be on everyday staples:
Butter
Eggs
Produce - Unless potatoes are on sale they are so expensive, was shocked to see a 10lb bag of carrots that used to be $4.99/bag at Costco is now $8.99 and tomatoes, when did tomatoes get so expensive

It is so hard to not shop the sales so I am just going to try to find a middle ground that works for me.

[Giseledta]

good morning all.

ok.. currently we have rain... it will end later. then restart.

thinking roast chicken salad and maye rice for supper. hmmm i might just roast 2... have enough for a chicken pot pie tomorrow, and wraps for the girls lunches... hmmm. options options.

ok. on track for today..
bathroom upstairs done,
left to do .. kitchen , dc rooms , laundry.. tidy family room..... and cat litters.

i should have a easy ish type of week.. and that is good. i need to do some planning of activities ect .. i an get a bunch done on that this week . i have a few things i am making for the dc so , those just take time to do .

have fun all

[Angela273]

February savings total $371.45.

Coupons used$64.42

10% off Tuesday
$9.18

Amazon gc - Swagbucks
$20

PCO - NF
$50

Air Miles
$50

Caddle
$32.20

SCOP
$17.16

Mr. Mikes Rewards
$30

Gift Cards
$15 - Indogo gc from work

Stuff Sold
$47

Domino’s Pizza Points
$16.50

Contest wins
$19.99 - 10” pizza - Trifon’s pizza

[SassyAshley]

Angela's post reminded me today is the last day of February, I started March's thread:

https://forum.smartcanucks.ca/442675...coming-canada/

[Giseledta]

fabulous angela!!!

[cath007]

I did not sleep well again last night..so I hope my sleep will be better this week with this stressful health dad new.Appetize is ok altrought today I am not hungry.....I still have a few options for 3 days and for supper...Manage to get out the garbage and recycle and compost....but I am not there mentally for going for a small walk today so I think I will pass my turn today...will enjoy the beautiful sun on the balcony...I will do a little bit of cleaning this week i think ....to change my mind....eve the cat is not feeling well with that new ..she know her daddy is not there and she eat less but I will take good care of her and she will be okaie.....I have many chances to have a cat in those hard moment of life....i thank the sky for that...I cleaned a little bit of junk on the stove and I am there for now...

Have a good day all!!!

Update: my father called me...He have others exams to pass and will be operate monday or the other day..fingers crossed all will be good.

[Giseledta]

menu plan done. lots of yumminess

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Got almost everything done today, there are still a few things on my to-do-list but I will tackle those this week. Does anyone else have certain household tasks they prefer to do on a weekend or on a weekday?

I like to clean the Kitchen and Bathroom floors, empty the dishwasher, take out garbage and recycling and do laundry (now that we moved to tiered pricing) during the week. I find these are tasks that perfect to tackle during a work break. They get me up and moving I can get them done within 10 to 15 minutes.

Today I got the following done:
Emptied the Dishwasher
Made a Baked Apple Oatmeal which used up 2 cans of Evaporated which were just past their expiry and some older apples
Mom made the Meatloaves, she used half a pack of Beef plus two package of Ground Pork pulled from the freezer and got 3 Meatloaves
I processed the Romaine Lettuce - I have to admit I am a little disappointed in this package, it took me forever to find a package I liked as most where mashed and mangled, I thought this packaged looked good but as I processed them I did have a bit more waste than normal. Also they looked like normal size but once I started pulling back the layer they are quite small, oh well it is what it is, we may need lettuce before our next Costco Shop, hoping I can find it on sale.
I made Chicken Fajita Rice, I had Mushrooms and Peppers that needed to be used up and this dish uses both, ended up using more Mushrooms than I normally would but all of the old mushrooms have been used and 2 peppers that were going soft
I packaged the Buns to go in the freezer
Took out the garbage, kitchen garbage needed to go out plus we had a bag full of meat packaging and I had a bag in my room to go out

During the week I need to:
Grate some Parmesan
Freeze the Provolone Slices
Put away the stuff that goes in the bathroom (I need to clean out the Bathroom Closet)
Clean the Kitchen & Bathroom Floors

For dinner we made a whole roasted Chicken using one of the Chickens I got from Costco, it was amazing, so tender and juicy. We used up the last of the sprouting potatoes to make Mashed Potatoes and found Asparagus on sale at Costco so we Roasted some of that as well. Oh and we made Gravy.

Still working on this week's meal plan, realize this afternoon I had not made a Meal Plan so working on that now

Hope everyone had a great day

[lilo0003]

It was a no spend day,took some stuff to a local charity and then treated DH to Starbucks as I had some stars expiring in the morning. I am hoping for a trip to Costco this week but need to psych myself up as the lines are still crazy. I did a whole chicken in the air fryer today and it was meh. I will keep trying as it’s a meal my kids love, but I was especially excited to use up loads of the older veg for a roasted veg tray.