July 2021 Frugal Chatter--treats for the heat!

[Frugalbigmama]

My guy wanted to go to Walmart last night so we went at 930 before they closed. They just rolled out the reduced produce bags.

4 Large blueberries- in perfect condition for $2. I grabbed 2
$2 bag with a cucumber, kiwi, 2 limes, 2 apples 2 bananas, 3 tomatoes, 2 peppers and 1lb of strawberries.

As soon as I got home I washed most of the blueberries/strawberries and put in containers for ready eating.
So much fruit for $6!!!

[coupon girl]

morning -last week when i talked to my brother in london ,he told me his granddaughter(age 21) worked near my city and then she drives and hour and a half to her mom,s place .I told him she can sleep over here anytime.Guess what she called and asked if she could -no problem hon i said .She arrived at 7.45 and brought us a bottle of wine and we chatted til 11.00 p.m Such a nice girl she is in university near my city also .

She thanked us and i gave her a book and old pictures to bring to my older brother in london,so refreshing to talk with a 21 year old for a few hours .

Off to get groceries and enjoy reading this afternoon ,before my daughter moves in on sunday with sebastian .

[Frugalbigmama]

Productive morning so far!

Kitchen is clean. Laundy on the go. 1 bathroom cleaned.
Cleaning my vehicle is for sure on the list! Just getting some house stuff done before I venture outside.
Made a pot of coffee so I am just enjoying that now while I surf online researching one of my future road trips

[Ciel21]

Sirens have been going off the past hour in the area for two different situations. I intend to head out to Food Basics, Shoppers and the library soon as sibling read that rain is coming again in the late afternoon. Had some ironing to do and to put away. Have a few items to toss into the washer and some mending to do (have put it off but no more). There are two small repair things that need doing but sibling is not seeing it as something he could do. They've been left too long and best need doing before the heat returns. He has one more week off then he's back at work. YAY

Noticed that there is a particular Joe Fresh kids' sandal recall-check your little ones' footwear:
https://www.thespec.com/local-burlin...mended_for_you

In those municipalities where it is allowed to set off fireworks two days after a statutory holiday, today's the last day. In Hamilton, they cannot go past 11pm for the noise bylaw. If you have neighbours who think its ok at all hours to set them off, call the police.
In Barrie ON, council passed changes restricting fireworks use to only actual stat. holidays. https://www.barrietoday.com/local-ne...barrie-3916083

[HermanH]

Noticed that there is a particular Joe Fresh kids' sandal recall-check your little ones' footwear:
https://www.thespec.com/local-burlin...mended_for_you

The front strap on the sandal may detach at the seam and may cause potential safety concern for tripping, as well may pose as a choking hazard to children," Loblaw said.

If your child is in danger of choking on a sandal, faulty footwear is the least of your problems.

[Giseledta]

good afternoon. i am on vacation!!! and very happy abut that.
went to rcss .. spent to much money. was not hapy about that. made sure i got all the points i was to get. had to put in 3 inquirires. ... but got them easy peasy.

total points 58300. price matched 2 items. complemented someone on price matching. free item was frozen fruit. youngest is happy .. she has fruit for smoothies.

i am bbqing later. it will be marvolous!!

one of my goals for the next half of the year.. is groceries... really get back to my roots and do it well. first up is a full on pantry reorg, and sort. and honestly prob the freezer as well.

[coupon girl]

So fed up with my kerig -i know you can totally take it apart as on y-tube ,when they hit 2 years they start to go -its the rubbertubing problem inside most likely .(dont wish to do this now just spent and hour on it descaling the tank etc.)uggg

Is there any regular coffee machine you guys would recommend that is a good one and does like one or 2 cups as i dont drink coffee.?

[SassyAshley]

@coupon girl not sure if they still have it but Black & Decker used to make a 4-Cup mini Coffee Maker but with all of the personal brewers available now available not sure if they still have it.

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
Feeling pretty tired today and not sure why. So did not get as much done as I would have liked but I will make it work. I might have gotten pulled into my own little mini Grey's marathon on Netflix.

This morning I grated Parmesan and Cheddar for the week, honestly the parm will last a couple of weeks. Every since I got my new grater, I grate cheese each weekend and if we do not use it the next weekend I toss it in the freezer. Once the bag in the freezer is empty I grate again, I still have mozzarella in the freezer.

I also cut up and roasted 4 Sweet Potatoes that needed to be used up. I do not like to add sweetness to my Sweet Potatoes so I baked them with a bunch of spices and topped with Parmesan Cheese, oh so good I can just snack on them like chips.

I did not get to cooking up the potatoes I need to use yet or make a Pasta Salad with some leftover Pasta in the fridge. I was trying to get the cooking done before it get warm again tomorrow but it is okay as I am going to do the potatoes in the Instant Pot.

Just found out Mom wants to make a Roast tomorrow so maybe it is a good thing I did not do the potatoes as we are low on potatoes so if she wants to make Mashed Potatoes might be a good thing.

Tonight for Dinner we are having Burgers with Poutine and thinking I will make a Salad on the side.

Have a great day everyone

[coupon girl]

Cleaning ,cleaning emptied a 3 drawer plastic tote -i will use for my clothing while daughter is living here -t-shirts ,tanks and skirts and capris .

Just cleaned two heavy upstairs bedroom windows took them off the bedroom windows and put a dent in the trim putting the one back on -oh well .

Cut the back lawn today also .

[lizzie bargain]

DH is out cutting our lawn before the next wave of thundershowers comes through. We had DD's birth grandpa over from the nursing home for lunch today and then she took him back and took her dog to the dog park to meet one of her old litter mates. Extended family all coming for dinner tomorrow-planning a BBQ but we will see if the rain holds off.

[lilo0003]

@coupongirl would your DH use a pour over or French press. They won’t take a lot of space and are relatively inexpensive. Personally I don’t understand the appeal of the single serve machines but likely because I am too cheap and I drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning.
Today I splurged and bought new bras. I wanted to go bra shopping last March and then Covid hit so this is long overdue.
Tomorrow the younger Son is going to spend some time with my mom for the first time in 18 months. He still loves hanging with gramma and since he is almost 18 this is pretty cool.

[Ciel21]

I looked at my Air Miles account tonight and had exactly 95 miles! Decision, decision>went for $10 HBC e-voucher. Zeroed out my miles and looked for deals in kids/baby clothing. Pity that some of the clearance deals I was trying to get weren't at my store (seemed possible to find a cheap baby boy's t-shirt and a clearance pr of baby girl's leggings but I was not keen on the $8 shipping fee). In end, bought a 8pk of baby socks to pick up! Have 55 cents left on my gift card/voucher. Also stopped the HBC Reward points conversion to Air Miles (under HBC Rewards points tranactions history, there are three options of what to do with points>points for points>Under Air Miles click Learn More and choose)-(weekly setting; can turn it back on if I want in the future) and deleted my debit card number. Nice to have that little detail remedied!

Noticed how many Marketplace sellers seem to be on the HBC site. Just try Home>Food and see how most of the 1300+ options are from Marketplace vendors, then click your local store to see the count drop to like 33 items actually in-store.

Current HBC flyer mentions some weekend only clothing deals--make sure you don't miss out. Also this is HBC Rewards points redemption weekend. See flyer for details.

No afternoon rain. Sibling said he saw indications of rain while he was driving through Mississauga today (he went north of GTA) but nothing landed here. I was checking the outside laundry regularly to chase the shrinking sun as the tree canopies blocked the light most of the afternoon. Goal was to airdry as much as possible with very little left to hang overnight and avoid dryer use.

Bro grilled me a hamburger and I shared a summer beer with him during our late lunch. I made a point to wash the dishes and keep counter tidy but it seemed more things popped up. Mom had fried bread dough into her usual doughnuts and I kept eating the salted treats as they were (did not bother to slice them lengthwise and fill with jam as is usual) while waiting for the burger. There were lots of her dishes to wash and I need to reclaim two dinner plates for our meal so thus, suds and Ciel21 were a team for several minutes.

I am so grateful that I bought a big box of Crush freeze pops. Feel like 11 year old with each treat. I sometimes break one up into smaller pieces to fit into my silicone cup so treat can melt and be sipped!

Seems the heat is coming back for the next three days! Not a fan of this 30+C stuff. I'm sure there are garden plants growing up in spurts.

Speaking of crops--The Weather Network has a video from the July 1 showing that day's hail that affected corn crops in the Flamborough area (our area just got heavy rain). Expect to see high corn prices due to reduced corn availability in the Hamilton area and anywhere else that got hail.

[coupon girl]

morning -up and out the door at 8.30 to go to son's and pick him up as hubby was driving a u-haul to toronto ,her items back .

Lilo -we do have a melitta pour over .I fixed the problem thanks to you-tube and i didnt have to take it apart either .My daughter-in-law has a really older model of k-cup machine and no problem ever .I believe the newer ones are made crappy as i am on our second one .


This morning i got 2 lovely t-shirts not cotton (70%polyester and 30 %rayon )tops in walmart for me $10.00 each "penmens" .I believe this to be a good brand ,i remember my dear mom mentioning the brand from the states .I got lilac and teal colour ,so happy as they were the only 2 in XL left .

This week we have the girls for 3 days babysitting -ahhh this summer will be a challange thats for sure ,but enjoyable .

[Ciel21]

This morning, I made the trek to Shoppers (nice & breezy weather plus no crowds in the store). Discovered that the Pepsi blue pop is not part of the 3 for $5 Promo this week (realized the pricing when I read the receipt at home, not at checkout). Got 2 Blues (and entered the codes for the contest-no wins) plus enjoyed my Crush Grape pop on the way home. Wore my Saucony runners -need to find neon laces soon to brighten up the grayness of the footwear.
Have 2 bus fares on my Presto card ready for my trip to mall and to a store later in week when we are back under 30C!

Happy to read of the Eurovision winners Maneskin in the NY Times supplement in the Sat. Spec (supplement is likely in the Saturday Toronto Star edition too). Gives an overview of the band and where they were known prior to winning Eurovision (and Italy's San Remo music festival, not a traditionally rock heavy event).

Small ad in Spectator's classifieds section under Volunteering. A McMaster University project involving seniors 65+ using Facebook to do a Zoom interview (about seniors and wellness) will provide a $20 Amazon card to each registered participant.