July 2021 Frugal Chatter--treats for the heat!

[Giseledta]

frugal of the day....

1- made stain remover mix.
2- pulled out dryer.. cleaned out lint from hose at back... dryer should work better.

[SassyAshley]

Went into one of branches to work with a staff member today.

On the way home I stopped at No Frills as we needed some Milk and Fresh stuff. Originally my plan was to use up some of the Milk we had the freezer just to rotate it but one of my bags must have been bad when we bought it. We defrosted 2 bags yesterday and they both separated and had chunks in it. We do still have Milk in the freezer but I do want to keep a few bags on hand just in case. My plan is to restock next time we go to Costco.

As for fresh stuff I got: Green Onions, Apples, Potatoes, Peppers & cucumbers. Even sale prices are starting to go up, Potatoes were on sale for $2.88 so I only grabbed 1 bag, apples were all over $1/lb so I got a 6lb bag for $5.97 to stick to my goal of a a $1 or less per lb.

Then I found a nice surprise I was walking out of the produce section there was a bunker about half full of Ground Beef marked down to $1.88/lb. I believe it was on sale last week for $2.88/lb but I did not need any, I still do not need any but could not pass up $1.88/lb so I grabbed 4 packs.

Needless to say I spent way more than I wanted but about $35 of that was ground beef. That plus the higher prices on produce doesn't make me happy but it is what it is. Happy with what I got.

We will need to Costco shop soon, Mom was suggesting this week but I think I might push it out to next week. If I am being honest I have a super busy week and just feel next week would be a better week for a Costco shop. As of right now the plan is no meat, we are well stocked up but need some of those things we normally grab at Costco.

Storms have been rolling in since about 5 pm, a few flickers of the lights but power has stayed. Yippee as I am running a small download I do not want to lose for work. But just in case I did download a documentary and movie I want to watch on Netflix so if needed I could watch them offline.

Have a great night everyone.

[Ciel21]

Did my Food Basics walk and empty return around 7pm. Rio Mare Tuna is not stocked with other fish cans in aisle 4 but over in aisle 5 where the International Foods and Pasta products are. There was no sale price showing the $4.99 deal on tuna but I found the 3 can sleeve just past a pillar at eyelevel and took only one sleeve (in case it really was $6.49 as regular shelf card indicated). Got the sale price and also found a Pepsi Throwback bottle at the pop fridge (slightly flat-had a June 7 expiry date in very light gray print). Totally forgot to look at long grain rice prices as we out of that kind of rice.

Just finished a cup of sliced cucumbers for hydration/something to eat. Have not craved a freeze pop tonight, just salt and snacks.
Yesterday I had a couple of dishes of ice cream and they were not satisfying except for the cooling effect.

Have a comfortable and restful night, everyone! Up early to get the cool air and tasks done!

[Frugalbigmama]

frugal of the day....

1- made stain remover mix.
2- pulled out dryer.. cleaned out lint from hose at back... dryer should work better.

I need to do this!!

[Frugalbigmama]

Well my oldest left all in a huff not long ago because his alarm didn't go off at 630 as he thought he set it. He wanted to have time to relax and go for a run before he headed to his 1st job of the day. I packed him a cooler. Made him a hot coffee, an iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich to go. Just a mom trying to make her kids day go a little more smoothly

Yesterday was another $0 spend day. I could continue but I should get fresh kaisers for the boys for sandwiches. But it will be a very low spend. I am on a mission to use stuff up and not spend $.

Now to write myself out a list for what I would like to get accomplished today!

[Giseledta]

we are considering replacing th e dishwasher......... we havent used it in forever... so this would be a replacement. .. it would totally be to save me time.. and effort. as i am the only one who does dishes.... even though others claim they would... but.. they do not.. so this is a me thing...

i am having a bit of a time pulling the trigger on this one...

thoughts..

seriuously i am totally open to anyones thoughts

[HermanH]

My personal experience is that they do not save much time or water.

Too often, I need a particular dish and have to go in and grab it, clean it, and use it. I may as well just do all the ones at the same time.

Also, given that some things may not be clean, the extra time effort to pre-rinse/re-wash stuff means no water/time savings.

Hand-washing means I can survive with a single dish, bowl, cup, and cutlery. Dishwasher means I need a whole swack more to accumulate inside the machine before it is worthwhile to run a load.

[Angela273]

I got up with my alarm this morning. Ate breakfast and had a shower before heading out to Sobeys this morning. Dh helped me separate and bag the lean ground beef before he headed to work for the day.

I had no trouble redeeming meat rain checks. At the toll I was informed that they no longer accept rain checks that are over 30 days old. Our location used to scribble out the 30 day part and tell me that it never expires. That was not my experience this morning.

$180 oop (gift cards)
$42.50 in coupons
$24.20 for 10% Tuesday discount
133 AM earned

I plan on taking our kids to library when it first opens at 9 on Wednesday. Twin boy was so cute about it. He’s excited to see the new books. All the take & make kids will be ready for pick up for this week. I don’t expect it to be busy, so depending on what’s available, etc. we can stay for a while. I think it’s cute that our kids are now counting down to going into the library. I don’t think they’ve been inside the library since February 2020.

[GoodBoy]

we are considering replacing th e dishwasher......... we havent used it in forever... so this would be a replacement. .. it would totally be to save me time.. and effort. as i am the only one who does dishes.... even though others claim they would... but.. they do not.. so this is a me thing...

i am having a bit of a time pulling the trigger on this one...

thoughts..

seriuously i am totally open to anyones thoughts

We replaced ours in January. Have ended up using it daily. It does indeed save water and cost and I do not need to worry about any dishes or how many are used in meal prep. It saves me time. That is the biggest benefit. We are only the two of us. We figured we just spent a load of $$ on a new one and warranty. Why not use it!! So we do!

[Ciel21]

@Giseledta Given that you operate a daycare too, your dishwasher likely has sanitization duties for certain items beyond dishes too. Maybe you are considering features like third rack or eco wash mode or quieter operation? Or maybe you want both a countertop one for the daily small dishes/items and a larger one for those big cooking days or preserving days? You could likely expense part of the dishwasher cost towards your daycare operation if you know what portion of use is for daycare, either monthly or by the number of weeks you operate? Also, if any family or friends replaced their units in the past couple of years, have you had a chance to explore their features? Maybe you already which bells and whistles you want in your new unit as a result of that research!

Despite all of the following offers, the big thing after price/features would be availability of product and delivery dates. You have read that sometimes product is not available when you need it. There's also the option of getting a unit on clearance/outlet sale too to help with costs (after doing your Consumer Reports research to see pros/cons for your preferred models).
Offers and promotions to review:
Miele has 2: free 6mo dish detergent supply with purchase of Miele dishwasher by July 15; special promo for purchase of Miele Professional at Home dishwasher (2 specific models) by July 15
https://ca.miele.ca/en/Promotions

Goemans Appliances (there's a London store) has a few different promotions for dishwashers including Euro-Line
https://www.goemans.com/home/promotions/

TA Appliances offers a dishwasher buying guide (46 pages)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aOl...VhSYEabHm/view

https://www.taappliance.com/collections/dishwashers-1

Ikea has 20% off sustainable appliances for the month of July
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/campaigns...er-pub632f3020

Bosch Canada https://www.bosch-home.ca/en/

https://www.badboy.ca/appliances/kit...amsung&cat=282

https://www.leons.ca/

[Ciel21]

Today's collection crews are running about 2hours behind. I think there is a truck or staff issue. Our side of street has had 2 of 3 collections done. Other side is still waiting for collection. There was a late night thunderstorm/shower around 11:30pm-Bro was mansplaining that it was a plane and I said I know what I hear outside the window.

Did the ironing of laundry right after I had my shower and a cold drink. Rather stunned how much plastic packaging is going to the recycling box lately. Too hot for a library visit for me but our branch now has 10 am start time-YAY!

The Bay is sold out of the larger sizes of the polka dot dress that I saw last night. Sizes 10 and under were still available. Checked my gift card balance and no refund as yet--tomorrow should be the magic day of the fund return.

For some reason, Giant Tiger only has stock of the car wipes I want at two locations near known auto store/service areas in Hamilton. Guess I'll have to visit a mountain store if I want the package soon. Not in stock at store near Eastgate Square.

Dinner plan-to pop corn kernels and to douse them in melted butter. Seriously!

[Frugalbigmama]

Went to the mailbox and found the Chapman's $4 coupon. I ordered that long ago and forgot about it.
Good till next December so no rush to redeem it. Will probably save it till next summer as the ice cream doesn't seem to be eaten around here much lately. Have a few in the kitchen freezer and I know for sure 2 in my mom's freezer (the dairy free kind I like!)

DS went to meet his friend at the park to play basketball. Think they are planning to go to the beach later when their other friends get off work. He has such a good group of friends! So happy about that!

[Ciel21]

OK, Hudson's Bay has really surprised me (in a good way). My refund amount just arrived in the mail on a new HBC gift card. Since I didn't have any payment method saved, and I had used an e-voucher through Air Miles redemption, I now know how their refund process works.

Guess I'll pop into my local Bay store and redeem the two cards *balance on e-voucher and new gift card* on some impulse item.

[Frugalbigmama]

My upright freezer is finally clean! I just wiped it down inside with a bucket of hot soapy water. It looks like new. Maybe I should sell it? lol Guess I should wait till the boys are out of the house.

[SassyAshley]

I am 100% pro Dishwasher, our current house did not have one when we moved in and it was one of the first things we did.

There are only two of us so we only run it every 2 to 3 days but 100% a time saver. Without I would never stay on top of dishes.

So easy to run it at night and unpack it in the morning.