February Frugal Chatter

[Giseledta]

ok, shoppers done. picked up the tax program, got 20x points. went to Lynns bakery , anyone in the London area would know it... sucha fabulous store. and they are doing very very nice covid protocols, as well as selling yeast and flour.

home.. having a bit of a break... then cleaning the kitchen.. and a deep clean on the family room.

last night i finished a hat,and matching headband. i like headbands.. keep my ears warm.

tonight, i am hoping to start a new project... maybe a shawl.... i think i have enought yarn for it....

[coupon girl]

Just chiling today ,maybe start my new puzzle i got at sobeys of all places.

Hubby just said i bought too much groceries ,i didnt he grew up with 5 siblings and his mother's fridge was always empty .I made the nicest smoothie this morning ,romaine ,carrots ,frozen peaches and a bit of banana -yumm

My grocery shop was 14 days apart the other day ,other than running out of milk or bread .Less time in stores .I sure do miss going in and out of a few stores in one day ,like i use to do .

Angela so cute what your kindergarden kiddies did for you .

[lilo0003]

@coupongirl I agree. I miss just popping in for a few things. I am currently planning on groceries Sunday, just don’t feel like the hassle today and since we have not made the menu for the next two weeks it makes no sense to go out. I might bake cookies today and clean a few closets. Looks too cold to go out. I will use the treadmill later so I can get some steps in.

[coupon girl]

I found an adult colouring book "from the 70's" is its title ,i bought it a few years ago at dollarama ,so i decided to colour .That is relaxing ,when i am done this page with a million circles and little beads i will put on the fridge to show my grandkids one day .

I even have laurentian colouring pencils -from when my grown kids were little!

[SassyAshley]

I agree when it comes to grocery shopping, I miss going to multiple stores and just running out to grab a few things. I also just miss the experience I used to love going to new stores just to look around or going to areas I do not normally shop in and just wondering around the store.

I have to admit the last few days I have really wanted to just get it out and do something, take my mind off work, off stuff to do at home. But, there really isn't much you can go and do right now.

Oh well I kept busy today, I got almost all of my meal prep done. The only thing I did not get done was making homemade Enchilada Sauce, there is always tomorrow. What I did get done today was:
A batch of Peanut Butter Cookies - Mom bought the wrong peanut butter and does not like it so we are using it for baking
A pot of Potato Soup - I had some potatoes that came up but there not used and were start to sprout so I turned them into Soup
Cut up a Pineapple, more Romaine and Carrots & Cucumbers I will use for my snack plates this week
Washed some grapes that are also in the fridge for snacking

Before I got started I washed all of the hand dishes and I did some dishes as I worked away. I still need to wash the Air Fryer (used it at lunch) and the Salad Spinner.

Dinner tonight will be Pan Fried Pork Chops in a Flour Breading, Roasted Zucchini, and Roasted Potatoes, also thinking I might make some corn too, I really want veggies tonight.

Only cleaning I got done was in the kitchen, although last night I did finish sorting the last load of darks. So now I just need to sort and try on and decide what I am getting rid of.

Have a great evening everyone.

[Ciel]

Agree with sentiments about missing being able to browse in stores (it seems it was still possible to do at Value Village but on a faster speed in order to try to keep 2m apart from next customers in same section). Keen to know what happens to retail for Feb.10 as we are all on cliffhanger alert that Monday's news will talk about reopening economy in stages. Actually watched tonight's 6pm news so am up to date on the latest stories, as I have not been watching every day.

Cold day, as forecasted. Started off well then got a bit depressing. Went to bed in clean sheets and whiled the afternoon in my room. Too bad I did not make tea before then but having had an argument blocked out any other consideration than to find a place to be alone. Thankful for warm bedding-once I got my breathing to slow down, I was able to drift off.

Popcorn will be made to watch the Super Bowl program/half-time show. Only found out about the Wknd being the headlining performer as I saw the Pepsi ad online. Chips don't last long in the house (mine are done) and the Dr. Pepper was done as of yesterday.

Only two more weeks to await the paper copy of the income tax return. Always must-read material for me when it arrives!

Good night and sleep well, everyone!

[coupon girl]

Gee up at 5.00 a.m .Oh how i wish i could sleep in .It doesnt matter if i go to bed later either still up between 5.00 a.m and 6.00 a.m .

Chatted with my daughter last night ,she was working before she called me .See sassy i have a daughter that works all week and if she isnt done ,it goes into the weekends .She has to keep on top of it thou.

Finished one book my daughter gave me back in the summer and she told me to pass it on to daughter-in-law.Now on a fluffy book my daughter-in-law gave me to read .The library hasnt called me for my holds for awhile ,which tells me more are most likely using the library for reading enjoyment .

Yes i tell you after the stores reopen and i return 3 items .I for sure would love to go thrifting but i wont wait in lineups. I sure can use some new winter clothing .

I only have 16 winter tops,some are getting older too .I purged 5 tops from my closet ,will give to hubby's sister who is on a disabilty pension.How many winter tops does everyone else have ,just curious ?

[crafter]

Interesting you asked about winter tops @coupon girl . Normally I wear them more often in the winter when going to drafty community centres etc. With the lock down, I find myself wearing more t shirts and just grabbing a cardigan if chilly.

I definitely need to purge the clothes I'm not wearing. I have a few tops at the front door for donation that I should bring to put in the bin this morning. Thanks!

[Giseledta]

morning all.
woke , to find one of my moms cats passed away. she is very upset about it.

todays plan is to do everything i just couldnt yesterday. my mental energy just seems to be lacking lately.

i am making pizza for supper. tonight. so hubby will like that.
i need to sit down and do a bit of paperwork as well... and menu planning... need menu planning. ..

i will either work on my desk or on crocheting while hubby is watching superbowl... actually , i am hoping to really work on my desk this afternoon... just need ... motivation and energy

[SassyAshley]

@coupon girl, your comment made me laugh as last night I was working on this massive spreadsheet for my Dad. We have an interoffice message system we can use to message each other and another girl messaged me to chat well we both worked away on a Saturday. I also noticed that as the night went on more and more people came online which means more and more of us were spending our Saturday getting caught up.

I also read an article the other day about more people working from home. It said the study found in Canada, the US, New Zealand & the UK workers who have been moved to work remote full-time are actually putting more hours than they every put in working from the office.

I get it, I had a conversation with a co-worker a couple weeks back (they are working in the office) but they were asking how it is different and it is. When I worked in the office there were nights I would come home and just refuse to bring my laptop out but now my work is just always there and yes, the temptation is there oh, I will just jump on for an hour and finish this report or proof-read this policy so I can sent it out tomorrow. The other thing at least for me I find is you do not have the markers of co-workers, when I am in the office I see others day breaks, go for lunch, leave for the day where is now if I am really into something I just pop on Netflix lose track of time and how many episodes I watch and before I know it I have been working for hours without a break. It is weird to say it but we are coming up on a year of my working from home but I still feel I have not found my routine.


@Giseledta, sorry to hear about your Mom's cat, losing a fur baby can be so hard.

I feel you on the metal energy, last weekend I "took the weekend off" hoping it would be a reset, recharge. But I still feel like I am struggling along lacking ambition and energy. I see a million things I should do but finding the ambition to tackle them is a whole other story.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slow start to the morning, woke up at 6 am but still tired and had a headache so I went back to bed, not a good idea my headache was even worse when I woke up. Between sleep and headaches but pushing through it.

Spent some time this morning catching up on some of my TV shows on PVR and spent some time online reading various things and just not doing much.

Thinking I might make French Onion Pasta Bake for dinner but will see what Mom feels like when she gets up so it may totally change.

Okay, time to try to find some motivation.

Have a great day everyone.

[Angela273]

I went to NF this morning. -46 with the wind chill. It’s -51 with the windchill tomorrow morning. We’ll have to make sure that their bus is still running in the morning. They never close the schools due to cold weather.

We live in Sk. We knew this would happen eventually, it does every winter. This week and next week we’re Dh’s scheduled vacation time...for a hot holiday. No hot holiday, so he cancelled this week. He’s home Feb 15-19, which is our school break in SK.

My hands were hurting from the cold when I got home. I ran my van before I went. I wore my winter clothes and gloves while driving. Just super cold outside.

I bought 3 pork loins $1.88/lb + 100pts/$1. 2x $3.97 Dold just add chicken - $3 coup.
Dh will cut up the meat.
I also redeemed $40 in points, that I earned last weekend. I earned 10,000pts on this trip.

I’m roasting a 4kg ham this afternoon. It will make for a few easy suppers, then I’ll strip and freeze the rest. Too bad NF was out of stock of every variety of canned pineapple.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good day!
We slept in till 11 this morning ( we were up till 2am) then he made us coffee and breakfast.

I didn't make it to Costco yesterday because I ended up buying a new to me phone in the morning from Facebook (I have never bought a used phone before!) The girl selling it thought it was unlocked (it wasn't) but she told me at the start she would give me my money back if I coudn't get it to work with my network. It took all afternoon with waiting on hold 3 times with 2 different wireless providers and a visit to the local wireless dealer (the young girl was awesome) and a final message to the seller telling her they had to call in and unlock but finally got it working. So that was my Saturday.

So I was going to go to Costco this afternoon but when I was getting ready to go we realized it was a snow blizzard outside and that is the forecast all day long and through the night! So I just came into the office for a few hours to get some things done and then I will go home and shower and enjoy the Superbowl and have a nice dinner.

Stay safe everyone!

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
I do not think my ambition is going to make an appearance today. I managed to unload the dishwasher and just put the lunch dishes in and wiped down all the counters.

I decided since I am feeling lazy, I would try to get some work done. Hoping if I get a jump on the week maybe during the week when I have more ambition I can take some time and tackle some stuff around the house.

My lower back is hurting a bit today, I noticed it yesterday but thought it was all the standing in the kitchen but still seems a little tender today. Not going to push it, the pain is where I fell a few years ago and it feels like it might be on the edge of my back going out so going to be careful.

Mom announced she would like Meatloaf for dinner, so that is Dinner. We pulled a homemade Meatloaf from the Freezer and will make Homemade Mac & Cheese to go with it, still need to figure out a veggie, thinking I might just make a Salad.

We are not sports people so I think I may try to find a movie on Netflix for us to watch tonight. We watched the Step Mom last night, we have seen it before, I really like this movie but it was first time I did not watch it on TV and never realized there was swearing in the movie until last night. Not that it matters jus found it funny.

[flemeth]

@Giseledta so sorry to hear about your moms cat listing a fur baby is really tough on pet parents.